Return of the Mount Hua Sect Chapter 1378: The Preparations Are Never Complete. (3)
“Shoot, shoot!”
Paaaaaat!
An arrow sliced through the air. Jo Gul’s face contorted.
“Damn arrows! I’m sick to death of them!”
Bang!
The moment he shoved off the ground, his sword cleaved the air like a ray of light. In the sword-shadow drawn in the air, the raining arrows bounced off like raindrops striking an eave.
“Ugh.”
Jo Gul landed after dealing with the arrows, clutching his side and groaning. Then he shouted angrily.
“Those Evil Sect bastards don’t charge with swords like men, they cowardly shoot arrows? Aren’t they ashamed!”
Baek Cheon muttered as if stunned.
“...Isn’t being cowardly why they’re called the Evil Sect?”
What on earth does that bastard picture when he thinks of the Evil Sect?
Baek Cheon was baffled, but Yoon Jong worried about Jo Gul.
“Don’t show off and fall back! You’re not even in good shape!”
“Psh, who here’s really in good shape? We’re all the same.”
“That crazy bastard...”
Jo Gul charged forward like a colt again. An incredulous sigh escaped Yoon Jong.
Of course, it’s not entirely wrong. There are fewer truly fit people here than those who aren’t.
The problem is that even the unfit come in different levels.
“He’s about as good as a walking corpse!”
Yoon Jong stamped the ground with fiery eyes. Rather than lecture Jo Gul until he understood not to show off, it would be easier to tell a three-month-old puppy to stop barking and sit quietly.
“Taap!”
In an instant, Yoon Jong surged past Jo Gul and pierced the throat of the man who’d been engaging him.
Jo Gul’s eyes went wide.
“Sa- sahyung! That was mine!”
“Shut your mouth, brat?”
Yoon Jong, uncharacteristically coarse, spat the words and immediately dropped his stance, cutting down the Evil Sect thug’s blade as it rushed in. As he prepared to counterattack, suddenly someone vaulted over him and drove a sword down—he saw that person’s back.
Kwaduk!
“Grrr!”
The Evil Sect man, his chest cleanly pierced through the center, collapsed with an expression of disbelief. The swordsman who drew his blade without hesitation and pushed the falling man shouted loudly.
“Sasuk... huh?”
Yoon Jong, who had naturally assumed it was Baek Cheon, flinched. It wasn’t the Mount Hua uniform.
“Press the attack at once! It’s nothing!”
“Yes!”
Martial artists in blue uniforms flashed past Yoon Jong to his left and right. He couldn’t help but smirk for a moment.
“I’ve seen this scene somewhere a lot before...”
Gwak Hwan-So, having felled his enemy, never looked back. The Southern Island’s disciples doggedly followed behind him.
Yoon Jong habitually twirled his sword to fling off the blood and straightened his back.
‘Is this when you use the phrase “to regard someone with fresh eyes”?’
Of course it’s still lacking. If imitating Chung Myung’s tone, he’d say, “You’re still a long way off, you rookies.”
This isn’t just Yoon Jong’s arrogance. Objectively, they still look like children holding fine swords. Especially in how they struggle to properly execute the martial skills they’ve learned.
Yet despite that, they are wielding those fine swords. It’s a world of difference from when they first trembled in fear, unaware of what was in their hands.
“...Experience really is...”
“Ah, damn it! Watch your words!”
“Huh?”
Muttering to himself, Yoon Jong turned in bafflement at the admonition that came flying to him. Jo Gul contorted his face and shouted loudly.
“I understand what sahyung is thinking, but if you say it like that, it just justifies that rotten bastard putting us through every hell!”
He was, of course, talking about Chung Myung.
“...That won’t do.”
That’s that and this is this. Ahem.
“So just keep your mouth shut!”
“...Got it.”
Yoon Jong answered humbly. But then he let out a short laugh.
It’s true the enemies before them aren’t that strong, but if the Southern Island hadn’t stepped up and fought fiercely, there wouldn’t have been time to converse comfortably with Jo Gul like now.
‘If they fight calmly, they can’t help but be a capable force.’
Even if they’re called the least of the Nine Great Sects, they’re still one of the top nine sects under heaven. There’s an enormous difference between those called part of the Nine Great Sects even by the smallest margin and those who are not.
If they keep fighting like this, they’ll definitely become reliable troops. And the moment they lose all hesitation in fighting, they might become one of the sects representing the Heavenly Friends Alliance.
Especially...
“Your sword-tip’s shaking! Don’t get excited!”
“Yes!”
Yoon Jong narrowed his eyes.
‘That person is definitely great.’
His gaze was fixed on Gwak Hwan-So’s back, who fought fiercely yet never forgot to issue precise commands.
‘Because of him, one occasionally forgets that the Sect Leader Geum is even here.’
Under normal circumstances that would be impossible.
Even a leading disciple cannot be compared to the current Sect Leader. Even if one is to become a future Sect Leader, you can’t compare realized achievements with vague possibilities, can you?
But what’s remarkable about Gwak Hwan-So is that he can sometimes make even Yoon Jong, who fully knows that fact, mistake him.
The image of Gwak Hwan-So seen at the Shaolin martial contest in the past is hardly recalled anymore. His present form is so striking that the past is all but forgotten.
A wry smile tugged at Yoon Jong’s mouth.
He finally understood the reactions of those who knew Mount Hua when they saw the current Five Swords. If someone had changed even half as much as Gwak Hwan-So, they’d naturally be shocked.
“Sahyung, front!”
“I know!”
“I’ll take the front.”
“Fall back! This is my position!”
And the Southern Island’s disciples, who took orders from Gwak Hwan-So, showed absolute trust in him.
People who overcome crises together become inseparably close. The bonds they’ve built in this short time might even surpass long periods spent together within a sect.
‘They’ll grow stronger.’
Of course, the damage the Southern Island Sect suffered isn’t easily recoverable.
They lost countless things. They had to leave the Southern Island that served as their stronghold, and many disciples departed in the process. Nearly half of the remaining disciples were sacrificed while breaking through the Southern Lands.
Frankly, Southern Island Sect might already have lost the right to be called one of the Nine Great Sects. Even if no further losses occur, it will clearly take a very long time to recover the strength they’ve lost.
Still, Yoon Jong believed the Southern Island would become stronger.
He’d already experienced that what makes a sect strong isn’t conditions. Neither territory, wealth, nor even justification is what matters.
What makes a sect strong is solely the hearts and will of those who belong to it.
And the Southern Island Sect has that now. The will they didn’t have when they left the Southern Island Sect is now present.
“Yeah. Grow stronger...”
“Don’t daydream on the battlefield, you pathetic fool!”
Baek Cheon shouted and dashed forward like a gust. Yoon Jong’s brow twisted oddly.
‘Should I try asking the Southern Island Sect to swap their leading disciple?’
Would the Southern Island Sect refuse?
Smiling at the thought, Yoon Jong gripped his sword and quickly fell in behind Baek Cheon.
“Sasuk, their numbers are increasing.”
“They’ll get more.”
Baek Cheon coolly surveyed the enemies rushing in.
‘They’re still riffraff.’
Honestly, they’re not much of a threat. Small and medium Evil Sect groups called up aren’t worth his intervention. They’re not even a match for the Southern Island Sect anymore.
The important thing isn’t how easy the enemy is to handle. It’s that the enemy has begun to identify the locations of the Heavenly Friends Alliance and the Southern Island Sect.
From now on they’ll have to cross dangerous roads again.
‘But that also means we’re almost at the Yangtze.’
Once they get past this crisis, there’s the Northern lands. A peaceful land where you can lie with your feet stretched out and no one attacks.
A hell worse than anything they’ve faced so far will await ahead, but there’s no way to reach the Northern lands without breaking through it.
“Green Forest King!”
“Yes, Acting Sect Leader.”
“How far to Nanjing?”
“If we run at full power...”
Im So-Byeong glanced up at the sky. After checking the dark sky for a moment, he answered in a calm voice.
“At most, a day.”
“A day...”
Baek Cheon’s expression darkened slightly.
‘Then our fate will be decided within a day.’
With the Yangtze ahead, there’s no option to wait for a chance to cross. The moment they reach the river they’ll have to decide: cross it, or die fighting.
‘And the latter isn’t an option.’
They must make it so.
“Let’s just deal with the men over there, then change direction!”
“Is that necessary? We’re only about a day’s distance away now.”
“It’s not the front but the rear that’s the problem! There are men chasing us.”
“Ah...”
Jo Gul quickly nodded. The ones they truly should be wary of weren’t the clumsy Evil Sect men blocking the way, but Ho Ga-Myung, who was chasing them with furious intent.
“They know we’re heading for the Yangtze, but they don’t know we’re going to Nanjing. There’s no need to give them precise direction.”
“Understood!”
“You scoundrel!”
“Yes, Acting Sect Leader!”
“Please relay this to the Sect Leader as well! And be sure to leave clear markings so our directions don’t diverge!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll check personally.”
Baek Cheon nodded.
Thanks to the Southern Island Sect’s Sect Leader Geum Yang-Baek leading the elders to move separately, their breathing room widened considerably. Defense is inherently easier when the place to stand and block is narrow. Simply dividing the group brought enormous advantages.
‘He’s an extraordinary person.’
Geum Yang-Baek doesn’t show the kind of strong leadership other sect leaders might, but he has a firm trust from others that they lack.
To entrust the command of one’s disciples to others in the midst of the enemy and personally lead a detachment is never an easy choice.
But Geum Yang-Baek volunteered for that role—to save even one more disciple and send them to the Northern lands.
“I won’t lose either.”
“Uh?”
Instead of answering, Baek Cheon grabbed his sword and stared straight ahead.
“We’re going! Follow me prepared to die!”
“Yes!”
Leading Heavenly Friends Alliance’s elite, they charged forward.
The will to definitely survive, the hope of success, the heat to overcome—it all mixed and flared.
But amid that high-spirited atmosphere, one person’s gaze remained cold and composed.
‘A day...’
Chung Myung, who had been watching everything from the very rear, glanced back.
A day. Short if it’s short, but unbearably long if it’s long, especially when spent inside enemy territory.
Chung Myung’s eyes darkened, knowing that harshness better than anyone.