Return of the Mount Hua Sect Chapter 1436: Yes, Remember This. (1)

Grrrrrrk!

Chung Myung ground his teeth with all his strength.

A terrible killing intent that could stop one’s breath shimmered in his eyes. That intent spanned the distance and fixed itself on a single person.

A man wearing a crimson robe as red as blood.

His face was pale to the point of blanching, and when the blood-red line across it curved gently, Chung Myung’s blood rushed backward.

He’s the one. It’s him!

How many bled from his schemes, how many died under that demon’s mockery?

No matter how he tried to suppress it, the emotions piled in his chest refused Chung Myung’s control and burst out in a shout at once.

“Jang Ilsoooooooo!”

The roar echoed thunderously, anger so fierce it held the heat of lava pouring from a ruptured Mount Hua.

Woooooooom!

The Dark Fragrant Plum Blossom Sword in Chung Myung’s hand responded to its master’s rage, giving off a sword-cry. Chung Myung gripped the hilt tightly and was about to launch himself from the ground.

“Stop!”

Yu Yiseol, who had caught up to Chung Myung, seized him from behind and restrained him. She held his thrashing body tightly, and Yoon Jong, who had rushed up behind, joined in and clung on.

“Calm down, you madman! He’s not someone you can recklessly charge at. You’ll die!”

As Yoon Jong shouted, a thin stream of blood ran from Chung Myung’s bitten lip.

Doesn’t he know Chung Myung?

Neither the main force of Mount Hua nor the Tang Family’s main force had arrived. In that situation, charging at Jang Ilso, who was escorted by the Ten Thousand People Clan’s main contingent, was nothing more nor less than extreme suicide.

The opponent was Jang Ilso. Even if Chung Myung rushed alone, Jang Ilso would not face him one on one. Instead, seizing the opportunity, he would exploit overwhelming numbers to crush Chung Myung.

Yes, he knew. Now was the time to be calm.

But no matter how hard he tried, the boiling anger wouldn’t subside. His stomach churned as if turned inside out. Chung Myung’s teeth bit deeper into his lip.

“Aaaaaah!”

Chung Myung shook off Yoon Jong’s restraint and leapt forward.

“Chung Myung!”

He knew. Everyone knew. Yoon Jong was right. At times like this, one must remain composed.

Kwaaaargh!

But the anger he could not hold back surged and poured into his sword. Chung Myung squeezed every last bit of his scant recovered qi into the Dark Fragrant Plum Blossom Sword.

“Aaaaaargh!”

Like a bowstring pulled to its limit, his twisted body snapped forward. Chung Myung’s blade shot out. The Dark Fragrant Plum Blossom Sword, merged with his infused qi, tore through dark clouds and surged toward Jang Ilso like lightning striking the earth.

Kreeeeeeee!

A thunderous roar echoed as if the sky itself were being warped.

Yoon Jong and Yu Yiseol’s gazes darted forward. For a moment, the terrifying power on Chung Myung’s blade sparked a hopeful ‘maybe’.

They clearly saw Chung Myung’s sword slicing through space and the man standing before it. In the slowed, almost frozen world, the rings on Jang Ilso’s hands scattered multicolored light.

Jang Ilso’s hands, shrouded in power of many hues, struck the incoming sword.

Kraaaaaaaaash!

For an instant, the silence that had suppressed everything shattered like glass, and a tremendous boom struck the world.

A clash of force and force. Unable to withstand the colossal repercussions of colliding energies, the Ten Thousand People Clan members were flung back, spattering blood from their mouths.

Kraggggggak!

The Dark Fragrant Plum Blossom Sword, wedged between Jang Ilso’s rings, trembled as if alive. As the blade pressed between the rings as though to pierce his throat, Jang Ilso burst into laughter.

“Haah!”

Kraaaaaaang!

With another explosive boom, the Dark Fragrant Plum Blossom Sword shot into the air. Having failed to cut Jang Ilso’s throat, the sky-tearing blade exhausted its power and fell.

Thunk!

The Dark Fragrant Plum Blossom Sword had driven into the hard earth like it were tofu, leaving more than half of it buried right before Jang Ilso. As he reached to grasp the sword, two of his rings crumbled with a ‘crack’ and fell at his feet.

Clack.

A bright red drop of blood fell onto the shattered ring fragments. Jang Ilso, looking at the rings, glanced down at his hand. Blood flowed from a split on the back of his hand.

Jang Ilso’s eyes contorted briefly, but only for a moment before he returned to his usual gentle expression.

“Well, well. How violent.”

Jang Ilso raised his hand and slowly licked the blood flowing from the wound. With his red tongue out, he stared at Chung Myung, his eyes radiating a suffocating, uncanny madness.

“To fly into a rage without heed even in that state, at this rate, who is the Taoist and who is the Evil Sect bastard, I couldn’t tell! Hahahahaha!”

His voice, laden with power, pierced clearly into Chung Myung’s ears even from a distance.

As Chung Myung clenched his fist and was about to shout, his and Jang Ilso’s gazes collided and locked in the distant air. Jang Ilso smiled serenely.

“You want to kill me, don’t you.”

At that calm voice, killing intent poured from every part of Chung Myung. Others might have flinched at the stare alone, yet Jang Ilso only mocked him further.

“If only you had been a little, just a hair, faster, you could have killed me. You must be twisting with frustration at missing me right before your eyes. Isn’t that so?”

Chung Myung’s body trembled and shook. It looked as if he could scarcely contain the burning hatred.

“But… Mount Hua’s Sword Saint.”

The smiling Jang Ilso suddenly covered his face as if clutching at it with bloodstained hands.

Through the fingers partially hiding his face, his eyes gleamed with a chilling light, regret, hatred, portent, and warped desire mingled together, causing onlookers to instinctively recoil.

“That’s… the same for me.”

Because of the circumstances, Jang Ilso too had to let a target he should kill go. If the price to pay had not been his own life, he would have done whatever it took to kill Chung Myung right then and there.

“So there’s no need to be so disappointed. You know as well as I do that the end between you and me is already decided.”

Jang Ilso chuckled.

He knew it and Chung Myung knew it. The two could not live under the same sky. Whether he or Chung Myung died, one of them had to be finished. That was what their coming fight would be about.

Not because of grudge or hatred. The will of heaven? A predetermined order? This wasn’t a place for such pretentious phrases. They simply could not tolerate each other.

“Wait just a little while.”

Jang Ilso grasped the Dark Fragrant Plum Blossom Sword lodged before him. The blade spat a sharp cry as if rejecting him, but he paid it no mind and pulled the sword from the ground.

“I’ll be the one to cut that stubborn life short soon.”

Fwaaaargh!

The Dark Fragrant Plum Blossom Sword unleashed from Jang Ilso’s fingertips flew fiercely toward Chung Myung.

But Chung Myung didn’t blink as the blade flew straight at him. His gaze was fixed solely on Jang Ilso.

Screeeech!

The flying Dark Fragrant Plum Blossom Sword grazed Chung Myung’s face, slicing a long wound before embedding in the ground.

Blood ran from the long scar just under his eye. Both Chung Myung’s and Jang Ilso’s faces were stained red with the blood from the wounds they’d inflicted on each other.

Chung Myung’s mouth opened slowly.

“You don’t need to come.”

The voice was a growl, not as loud as Jang Ilso’s, but Jang Ilso heard it more clearly than anyone.

“I’ll come.”

A flash of color crossed Jang Ilso’s gaudy, oily eyes. Chung Myung continued.

“You’re the only one whose end is decided. Wait. I’ll cut that throat of yours for sure.”

A fishy smile spread across Jang Ilso’s lips. His eyes curved like a waning moon.

Clink.

Whether something annoyed him or he was lost in thought, each time Jang Ilso slowly clenched and opened his hand, blood dripped and stained the ground.

Krrrack.

At those moments, the rings on Jang Ilso’s fingers rubbed together, creating an eerie tension.

Everyone held their breath. As the sound of Jang Ilso’s rings quickened, so did their heartbeats. An oppressive weight, making it hard even to breathe, pressed down on them all.

Even though it was a simple hand motion without a hint of internal qi, it had that effect.

“Hm.”

But eventually his hand relaxed and opened again.

At once, several who had been tense slumped down as if exhausted. Their legs gave out.

“When expectations are high, disappointment is great… but if you say it like that, how can I not be expectant?”

An emotion, whether joy or hatred, flickered across Jang Ilso’s face. A gruesome smile surfaced on his eerie features.

“Then try to cut it. My neck will always be right here.”

“Remember this. The moment you die, you’ll surely recall those words.”

Jang Ilso stared intently at Chung Myung. A small laugh escaped his lips.

“Hahhat.”

“…”

“Hahahahahahahah!”

Jang Ilso laughed until it seemed the world would go away. In the silence where no one dared breathe, his manic laughter filled the desolate plain.

After laughing for a long while, Jang Ilso glared once at Chung Myung, then turned. The hem of his crimson robe billowed.

“Yes, remember this.”

Jang Ilso began to walk away slowly. The Red Dogs escorting him also cast a murderous look at Chung Myung, then all turned their bodies.

“Then we’ll meet again, Mount Hua’s Sword Saint. Hahhat! Hahahahahahah!”

Jang Ilso, accompanied by the Ten Thousand People Clan, receded into the distance. He moved leisurely, in no hurry. Those left behind could do nothing but watch him go.

Leaving only a few drops of blood and the debris of shattered rings, Jang Ilso’s figure vanished beyond the horizon.

“…Chung Myung.”

When Yoon Jong called with concern, Chung Myung bit down on his lip.

‘Jang Ilso.’

Chung Myung carved those three syllables into his soul.

Until now, the only thing he had ever hated so intensely was the Heavenly Demon.

Jang Ilso was different from the Heavenly Demon.

The Heavenly Demon was literally an inhuman being, one that could collapse the world by its existence. But Jang Ilso was merely human, one of the most human of men, fashioned from the sum of human malice.

That made him hateful, and therefore dangerous.

Chung Myung muttered.

“We’ll see each other again soon.”

And on that day, his sword would surely pierce Jang Ilso’s throat.

Even if he had to stake everything.