Return of the Mount Hua Sect Chapter 1385: Of Course, That Would Never Happen. (5)

“Ta- Taoist?”

The fleeing disciples of Southern Island Sect were startled when they saw Chung Myung running toward them from across.

“Keep going!”

“Yes!”

But at Chung Myung’s shout they soon regained their composure. Besides, this wasn’t the first time Chung Myung had acted unpredictably.

What actually unsettled them was not Chung Myung but Im So-Byeong standing like a stone behind him, staring at him.

Green Forest King Im So-Byeong.

He was hardly someone the disciples of Southern Island Sect would feel close to. Had they not come together under the name of the Heavenly Friends Alliance, they wouldn’t even have had cause to meet him.

That made it all the more disconcerting. Im So-Byeong, who always looked at everyone with a cynical air, was standing like that.

“...No, Green For...”

Grit.

At someone’s voice, Im So-Byeong bit his lower lip for a moment. The fan he usually held casually in his hand bent as if about to break in his veiny grip.

Im So-Byeong’s gaze, which had been glaring at Chung Myung’s retreating back as if to devour him, turned to the Southern Island Sect disciples who had frozen in front of him. He said coldly.

“What are you doing?”

“...Yes?”

“Don’t hesitate, fall in and follow ahead! Now!”

“Ah, yes! Yes!”

The disciples of Southern Island Sect charged forward without knowing why. Glancing at them, Im So-Byeong bit his lip, glared at Chung Myung’s back, then turned sharply.

‘Damn it.’

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t understand.

They could just be abandoned, couldn’t they? What meaning does a bunch like Southern Island Sect have? Comrades who shared life and death? People who might help someday?

Ridiculous!

Comrades, the future—first I have to live for any of it to mean anything, isn’t that so? You can make new comrades; you can train those who will become strength. Nothing is more important than my life in the moment. No, it can’t be.

Then why should I invite danger for such things? What on earth is in that lunatic’s head?

At that moment, Yoon Jong, having noticed the Green Forest King, asked with a puzzled look.

“Green Forest King. Chung Myung...?”

Im So-Byeong barely forced back an expression that was about to contort and answered.

“He’ll cover the rear. Don’t worry about him and move forward!”

“Cover the rear? Two people already...?”

“There’s no time! Break through ahead! If you don’t want to see the people left behind killed!”

“Ah, understood!”

Yoon Jong quickly nodded and stomped the ground.

The Green Forest King bit his lip hard. He wasn’t lying. It was true—they had to force their way ahead urgently.

If they sensed the Mount Hua’s Sword Saint’s intent and acted against it, it would be ruin. Im So-Byeong knew better than anyone that plans failing to commit to a clear course end in destruction.

He looked at Chung Myung one last time. He had already run far toward the rear.

Creak.

In the end, Im So-Byeong snapped the fan in his hand and turned his head coldly, unaware that his bitten lip was bleeding.

“Monk!”

“Understood!”

Boom!

As the hearty stamp of stance echoed, dozens of currents of power burst from Hae Yeon’s fists. It was too flashy to be the typically solemn, weighty Shaolin martial art, and thus appeared all the more menacing.

Those who had been surging in an unstoppable tide faltered before that power. Hae Yeon’s fists were desperately suppressing a terrifying blaze that looked ready to ignite.

‘But it won’t last long!’

Hae Yeon knew as well: that he and Namgung Do-Wei alone had their limits in holding them back. For now they were merely buying time so those ahead could get a bit farther.

“Woooaaaah!”

Namgung Do-Wei’s sword emitted countless white rays.

His sword was not much different from Hae Yeon’s fists: flashy and vast, but lacking substance—a sword meant only to intimidate and push enemies back.

“Guh!”

The onslaught of sword qi made the Ten Thousand People Clan warriors hesitate. They knew not to underestimate how much inner force those two attacks carried. But the cost was fatal.

Crack!

“Ugh!”

A bloody blade jutted out, having pierced the neck of one who had staggered back. The eyes of the man who had driven the blade into his subordinate’s throat were bloodshot and bulging as if about to burst. He let out a howl.

“Those who retreat will die by my hand! Choose! Will you die by those bastards, or by me?”

No one could step back after hearing that. All gritted their teeth.

“Charge them, now!”

Instead of an answer, beast-like roars burst forth.

Hae Yeon expelled his power once more to try to sap the enemies’ momentum.

“Amitābha!”

A majestic blaze burst forth with a mighty roar, battering and crushing the chargers like demonic foes. Yet the attackers did not stop advancing even as their skin split under the pressure.

“Diiieeee!”

Before Hae Yeon, a Ten Thousand People Clan warrior had crawled forward, matted in blood. At the moment Hae Yeon grit his teeth—

Fwoosh!

A red sword qi flew instantly and mercilessly sliced the Ten Thousand People Clan warrior’s throat.

Startled, Hae Yeon turned his gaze and saw Chung Myung surging in like a divine bird.

“What are you doing, you fools!”

“Taoist!”

Chung Myung wasted no time and passed them, plunging into the heart of the enemy.

Whish!

Even as he ran forward, plum blossom petals streamed from the tip of his sword in a steady line. It was as if a trail of petals opened behind Chung Myung as he ran.

‘That’s...!’

Hae Yeon opened his eyes wide. He recognized it. What to others might seem merely wondrous contained a sublime pinnacle of martial art.

“Plum Blossom Sword Ghost!”

“Kill him! Don’t fall back, kill him!”

The Ten Thousand People Clan warriors who had hesitated surged forward with even more explosive momentum. Their arch-enemy of the Ten Thousand People Clan had appeared before their eyes—of course they reacted.

“Kill him! Whoever severs the Plum Blossom Sword Ghost’s neck will enjoy riches and glory beyond imagination for life! Kill him by any means!”

There was no way out anyway. The moment they retreated they’d die at their allies’ hands. So they could only risk everything and drive their blades into that fiend’s body.

The Ten Thousand People Clan warriors accelerated in a moment, their charge like rapids turning into a waterfall.

Amid that brutal onslaught, Chung Myung’s sword moved calmly. Small, then smaller. From the neatly drawn circle at the tip, plum blossom petals curled forth.

The plum petals trailing the sword tip began, at some point, to spread in all directions. At first they were so slow their spreading was barely noticeable, but they gained speed and soon fully enveloped the surroundings. The sight of the area covered was spectacular.

The Ten Thousand People Clan warriors widened their eyes at a sight they could hardly believe.

“Wh- what...?”

The trembling forest and the people before them were all covered in plum blossoms. The whole scene turned crimson.

“Th- that’s!”

At that moment a breath escaped from Namgung Do-Wei’s mouth.

“Plum blossom... fragrance....”

It couldn’t possibly be, yet it felt as if he had smelled plum blossoms. The sight before him, each petal, was so vivid it created that illusion.

Plum Blossom Sword Formation, Plum Blossom Ten Thousand Mile Fragrance.

The pinnacle of Mount Hua sect’s swordsmanship. At this moment a line of the Plum Blossom Sword Formation bloomed as if reenacting a scene from a hundred years past.

A truly dreamlike spectacle.

Even those who had charged with all their might momentarily forgot what they were doing. The fluttering plum petals gently settled on their bodies.

Shing!

A sharp pain awakened their hazy consciousness. Those who came to saw a cascade of petals around their bodies, like a faint scent seeping in.

“Ah, no...!”

Fwoooosh!

The fluttering plum petals spread like a blaze and covered everything: hostile intent, the people bearing it, and even their screams.

The petals, shattered and scattered, soon vanished like an illusion—present yet leaving nothing behind, like a scent.

“Uh....”

As the plum petals vanished right before him, the ashen-faced man raised his head and looked ahead.

The world had stopped.

Those who had screamed and rushed at the Plum Blossom Sword Ghost, and the Plum Blossom Sword Ghost facing them, were all frozen in place as if time had stopped.

It was a scene that bred doubt. Had they perhaps already died? Would they now gaze upon this sight for eternity?

And then.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The Ten Thousand People Clan warriors, frozen like statues, all collapsed at once, as if the stopped time had begun to flow again.

“Uh....”

Those overwhelmed forgot their positions and looked at Chung Myung with dazed eyes.

Sss.

It was felt distinctly.

The movement of the sleeve tips swaying in the wind, the residual tremor on the sword tip not yet steadied, and the movement of the foot beginning to step toward them—all were felt.

Had they ever been so mesmerized by someone in their lives? Even with all their concentration?

This was not their will. That sword was bewitching everyone. That sword was forcibly drawing them in, as if being sucked into its tip were natural.

Then, to those drifting somewhere between reality and illusion, Chung Myung charged in.

Fwoom!

The sword he swept in a sudden rush instantly cut down the neck of a Ten Thousand People Clan warrior who still hadn’t come to his senses.

Three necks shot into the air at once, and red blood spouted like fountains.

“That....”

Before the smell of blood could spread, Chung Myung’s voice, laced with mockery, was heard first.

“You little brats... how dare you think of killing someone?”

Ho Ga-Myung clenched his fist tightly. He clearly knew the man standing in the distance and staring coldly was looking at him. Standing before that gaze made his insides boil. Rage and venom seemed about to burst from his mouth.

Chung Myung shook his head slightly.

“You still don’t know your place. You and that idiot Jang Ilso are the same.”

Then he scanned the surroundings.

Even the Ten Thousand People Clan warriors surrounding Chung Myung had stopped. Not missing the moment, Southern Island Sect’s main force was steadily putting distance between this place and themselves.

Glancing at the situation, Chung Myung smiled, baring stark white teeth in contrast to Ho Ga-Myung.

“Kill him!”

Ho Ga-Myung shouted loudly. Somehow his voice sounded like a scream.

“Make sure to kill him! By any means necessary that bastard must die! Kill him! Kiiiilllll!”

As if infected by him, the Ten Thousand People Clan fighters who had survived among the plum petals rolled their eyes back and charged again.

The Ten Thousand People Clan’s sprint toward a single person. At its culmination, Chung Myung gripped his sword so hard it seemed it might snap.