Return of the Mount Hua Sect Chapter 1379: The Preparations Are Never Complete. (4)
A riverbank shrouded in darkness.
A few men in tattered, shabby clothes were stamping their feet anxiously.
“Have they missed each other?”
“That can’t be! This is information from the main force!”
“No, no, didn’t Shaolin leave a long time ago? Even if they’re fast, they wouldn’t be this far apart...”
“There must be some reason.”
“Isn’t this about rescuing Mount Hua’s Sword Saint? What could be more important to the leader of the Heavenly Friends Alliance than that? Even if Mount Hua were on fire and its passages burned, they’d ignore it and go straight to save Mount Hua’s Sword Saint, so why are they being so leisurely...”
“All right, just wait a little longer!”
“Ugh.”
As the beggars craned their necks, staring upriver, it happened.
“Th-there they come, the Heavenly Friends Alliance!”
“Damn it, why are you so late!”
Spotting a group running in the distance, the beggars dashed toward them.
“Where are they?”
“Not up front... there, over there! Branch Leader!”
The moment they spotted Hong Dae-Kwang mixed in the group, the beggars shouted loudly.
“Hwa-Um Branch Leader! Here! Over here!”
At the ruckus, Hong Dae-Kwang looked around.
“What is it!”
A swarm of beggars was wildly waving their hands from the riverbank. What they shouted at Hong Dae-Kwang all at once was this:
“Branch Leader, report...!”
“I don’t have time to stop and listen — you come here, you bastards!”
But Hong Dae-Kwang cut him off irritably before he could finish. The beggars flinched and ran toward him.
“Branch Leader! Reporting the situation!”
“I know, so hurry up and speak!”
“...H-here? Here...”
The beggars showed reluctance and glanced around. The place was full of members of the Heavenly Friends Alliance who had come with Hong Dae-Kwang. If they didn’t move, they’d have no choice but to give their information where everyone could hear.
Hong Dae-Kwang was no fool; instead of understanding, he became angrier.
“What the hell is wrong with you beggar bastards being so lax! You can’t even beg properly and you’re going to starve to death! Aren’t you going to speak quickly?”
“T-the listeners...”
“If you’re not going to tell me, get lost! Don’t bother busy people.”
“Ugh... I’ll tell you!”
Reluctantly, the beggars opened their mouths as if in pain.
It would normally be impossible for the Branch Leader of a place as small as Hwa-Um village to talk back so loudly to members of the main headquarters.
But Hong Dae-Kwang is no ordinary Branch Leader. He is a key figure mentioned as a candidate for the next leader of the Beggars’ Union, and he’s the only beggar who can talk with Mount Hua, the sect currently attracting the most attention in the world.
So even those from the main headquarters had to give ground... or rather, several steps of deference.
“First, this is an order from the Leader of the Beggars’ Union: do not act together with the Heavenly Friends Alliance...”
The beggar, eyes darting uncertainly, squeezed his eyes shut and spoke.
“That... said to move to the Nine Sect side...”
He tried hard to speak so others wouldn’t hear, but that effort was completely useless.
“What? Nine Sect? They’re telling me to stick with the Nine Sect?”
“B-Branch Leader, y-your voice a bit...”
“Is the old man really senile? Sending people to spout nonsense? Enough, next!”
“It’s an order from the Leader...”
“Enough, next!”
A small sigh escaped the mouth of the reporting beggar.
Hong Dae-Kwang was never an ordinary Beggars’ Union member, but ever since he allied with Mount Hua’s Sword Saint, he seemed utterly reckless.
“...Hmph. Currently, the Pirates are heading toward Nanjing...”
“Hey, you beggar bastard!”
Hong Dae-Kwang suddenly reached out and struck the reporter hard on the back of the head.
Thunk!
“Aaah! Why—why are you hitting me...”
“Is the Yangtze split into some other branches? Is there another direction? Do those ships have another route to take?”
“...”
“Don’t waste words — tell me the important info! Before I kick you clean away.”
“Yes! Um... intelligence reports say that remnants of Black Ghost Fort, who had been stationed east of Southern Lands, are also moving toward Nanjing!”
“...Black Ghost Fort?”
“Yes.”
For a moment, Hong Dae-Kwang’s face contorted.
Once counted among the Five Terrors of the Divine Prefecture, Black Ghost Fort is now a faithful retainer of Jang Ilso.
‘Black Ghost Fort with the Pirates, and Jang Ilso personally leading the Ten Thousand People Clan to Nanjing?’
Moreover, the Ten Thousand People Clan that had headed to the Southern Island is likely moving north as well, meaning at least sixty percent of the Four Sects Alliance’s total forces could be converging at Nanjing.
By sheer numbers, this far surpasses those gathered at the Black Dragon Fort during the Yangtze Incident. In the past hundred years, there’s never been such a concentration of forces.
“That madman... is he really going to try this?”
If this happens, it won’t just be a question of whether Mount Hua’s Sword Saint can be saved.
The Justice faction, based in the north, and the Four Sects Alliance, based in the south, could come into direct conflict with the vast city of Nanjing between them.
War.
Those two words flashed through Hong Dae-Kwang’s mind.
Two powers clashing centered on the great city of Nanjing?
‘It will never end with a brief skirmish!’
Igniting a fire is the hardest part. Once lit, it spreads easily. During the Yangtze Incident, the Southern Lands Non-Invasion Pact acted like water poured on the flames, but this time no sect will accept that humiliation.
In the end, it will come down to fighting until one side is reduced to ashes.
‘Could it... could it really escalate this far?’
What on earth started this.
Was it the Gu-gang ships being attacked? Or did Jang Ilso move directly?
‘No... it was before that.’
In the end, all of this was clearly triggered by Mount Hua’s Sword Saint’s move to Southern Lands. If he hadn’t headed to the Southern Island, even if the Southern Island burned, it would have taken much longer for a war of this scale to break out.
There’s no law against a small thing snowballing into something huge, but this far exceeds that level.
“What about us? What are the main headquarters’ beggars doing?”
“The main headquarters says they’ve dispatched reinforcements to Nanjing!”
“Wait, hold on. There are beggars already at the Yangtze, aren’t there?”
“That’s not enough — they’re even sending the Red Band and the Blue Band as reinforcements.”
“...Damn, insane...”
Hong Dae-Kwang’s face went even paler.
The information held by the Beggars’ Union main troops is far greater than any single Branch Leader could possess. The Beggars’ Union uses that to understand the world.
If the main troops are sending help, it means they judge the probability of a clash between the Four Sects Alliance and the Nine Sect at Nanjing to be very high.
“Messages have flown out to all the other Nine Sect as well. Everyone’s being summoned. At the same time, smaller sects around Nanjing are being pulled in.”
“Damn it, do you think they’ll actually come because of that!”
If they were the sort to arrive just from receiving a single notice, they wouldn’t have to struggle so hard to gather forces.
Those who are distant and have always been unable to intervene in the heart of the martial world will probably be watching this situation with derision, daring the so-called center to try and stop it.
“So? Will they send support?”
“The notices probably haven’t even arrived yet. At least a day or more...”
“Hey, you damn... then even if they come it’ll be after everything’s dead! What’s the use! They should have sent them earlier!”
“We... we had no choice! The Hegemony Lord moved so suddenly...”
“Isn’t preparing for that the main headquarters’ job? What are you beggar bastards doing eating handouts?!”
At Hong Dae-Kwang’s fierce scolding, one beggar twisted his face and tried to explain.
“Well... we do have something to say, but there was nothing we could do.”
“Save your moralizing for a school! Why are you talking about morals here?!”
“No, that’s not it. Normally in situations like this, Shaolin acts as the center while Wudang and Southern Edge Sect buy time until the other sects arrive.”
“...Huh?”
“Wudang and the Southern Edge. Wudang and Southern Edge Sect! No matter how hard we try, how could we fill the void left by those two sects? Do you know the standing those two have within the Nine Sect?”
Hong Dae-Kwang clamped his mouth shut.
No matter what anyone says, Shaolin is the center of the Nine Sect, but it was Wudang and Southern Edge that perfectly supported Shaolin. And of all times, those two sects have both shut their gates now.
“Th-that’s true, but...”
Hong Dae-Kwang trailed off awkwardly.
Normally he would have cursed all day about these bastards needlessly sealing their gates and causing this situation, but Hong Dae-Kwang couldn’t say that now.
Because it’s undeniable that Mount Hua had a tremendous influence on those two sects’ decision to seal their gates.
‘Damn it! Things are getting screwed up!’
Hong Dae-Kwang raised his voice in frustration.
“No, that doesn’t mean we should just sit and do nothing! Send people to tell them to open their gates, at least! Are those madmen just going to lock their doors and watch everyone else die?”
“It seems the main headquarters has already sent people.”
“And?”
“They couldn’t even get inside to deliver the message. They were driven out as useless intruders.”
“...This is maddening, really.”
Even sealing gates should consider the situation! What are they thinking, insisting on this now? Those damned Nine Sect ruin things out of pride. Because of that pathetic pride.
“That is the report. For the reasons I mentioned, the Master ordered the Branch Leader to join the Nine Sect...”
“I’ll handle that myself! Enough!”
Hong Dae-Kwang ground his teeth.
Even if the Leader of the Beggars personally led elites to join the Nine Sect, he had no intention of serving under them. In fact, his allegiance was to the Heavenly Friends Alliance, not the Nine Great Sects.
“You’ve heard it all, but the situation...”
“But Black Ghost Fort is coming to Nanjing from the east right now?”
But at that moment, Tang Gunak, who had been listening quietly, suddenly asked.
“Th-that’s correct.”
The beggar glanced at Hong Dae-Kwang and nodded.
“Half of the Ten Thousand People Clan led by Jang Ilso are heading to Nanjing from the west.”
“Say something obvious...”
“The other half of the Ten Thousand People Clan are moving north.”
Hong Dae-Kwang’s face slowly hardened.
“And the Yangtze is being controlled by the Pirates, effectively blocking the river?”
He understood what would come next.
Tang Gunak murmured in a bleak voice.
“Our boys are heading to that Nanjing. Into the center where the three sects of the Four Sects Alliance are gathering from all directions.”
They cannot survive.
Hong Dae-Kwang’s face went pale.
So far, Mount Hua’s Sword Saint has made a reality of countless things everyone declared impossible. Common sense does not apply to him.
But no matter how extraordinary Mount Hua’s Sword Saint is... he could never survive heading to that Nanjing.
“No, this can’t be...”
Hong Dae-Kwang’s gaze hastily turned beyond the river.
The world beyond the river was simply darkened and stood in silent stillness.