Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1231. Is that so? (1)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
For a moment, it felt like a piece of flesh was ripped of his heart.
Even though he had expected it, his heart sank the moment he saw the smeared plum blossom pattern with his own eyes.
It’s absurd.
Here, the value of a life lost was no different between one person and another. Whether they fought in the name of Mount Hua or under some other name, the dead all deserve equal respect.
So there was no reason to treat Mount Hua's name or the fact that a plum blossom sword was buried here as anything special.
And yet, the reason he couldn't take my eyes off that plum blossom pattern... probably because even Chung Myung was still just an ordinary person who couldn't remain detached.
Chung Myung silently raised his head.
The others were looking at him with expressions difficult to describe. Chung Myung spoke briefly.
"Bury them."
"...Chung Myung-ah."
"Tsk. I said we don’t have time for this."
In the end, Yoon Jong heaved a long sigh. Then he began gathering the exposed weapons and bones toward the center of the hole. It seemed he was trying to make a burial mound.
Chung Myung didn’t stop him this time. Then, one by one, the others who had been watching began to quietly help Yoon Jong.
Even Im Sobyeong, perhaps finding it awkward to just stand around, quietly approached Yoon Jong and started patting down the piles of dirt.
Chung Myung watched this for a moment before turning his gaze away. He could see the sharp peaks of Ten Thousand Grand Mountains rising in the distance.
'Sahyung.'
Here lay not only the disciples of Mount Hua but also Cheong Mun. Chung Myung even remembered clearly where they had become wandering spirits.
To others, it was an event from a hundred years ago, but for Chung Myung, it was just a few years past. If he wanted to, he might be able to climb that mountain and recover Cheong Mun's remains. If he could spare just a day—a single day.
But....
Chung Myung slowly shook his head, as if trying to restrain himself.
'It's pointless.'
The dead are just dead. Only the living find comfort in tending to the dead.
And knowing Cheong Mun as he did, Chung Myung knows his Sahyung wouldn’t want him seeking comfort in such a way. Rather, he would scold him for wasting time on useless things instead of saving lives that could be saved.
Chung Myung, lost in thought, drew an image of Cheong Mun and let out a faint laugh.
There was no one left here to scold him like in the past. Not Cheong Jin, who lecture him until it was hammered into his ears; not Cheong Mun, who always gazed at him with stern eyes, wanting him to walk the right path; and not Tang Bo, who always whined in a way that didn’t suit him. None of them remained.
And yet… And yet, the memories they left behind, the meaning they instilled in him, binds Chung Myung’s entire being tighter than any shackle.
'How cruel, really.'
Chung Myung sighed softly and glanced at those making the burial mound. Their hands showed a surprising amount of care in the way they piled the dirt.
"What a luxurious tomb..."
Mount Hua's acting sect leader, Namgung's Sogaju, Tang Family's Sogaju, Northern Sea Ice Palace's Gungju, Nokrim King...
Not one of them was insignificant. It’s almost humbling to see these great figures personally creating a burial mound.
'Be grateful, you damned rascals. My corpse must be lying around here somewhere too.'
While Chung Myung chewed on the bitter taste, Yoon Jong covered the last empty spot on the mound with grass and stood up. With his eyes closed and his hands clasped together, the words of scripture flowed from his lips.
The solemnly resonating Taoist scripture and Hye Yeon's Buddhist sutra spread softly across the quiet mountain.
Until the brief chant ended, Chung Myung simply gazed endlessly at the lofty peaks shrouded in clouds in the distance.
***
"...I can see it."
"Really...."
"Finally...."
The group of Heavenly Comrade Alliance, who had become ragged as beggars, all let out exclamations with faces that could not contain their emotion. What lay before them was vast and blue.
"It's the sea!"
"Waaaah! We made it!"
"So the sea really does exist!"
Each expressed their joy in their own way.
“…It’s even bigger than the Yangtze.”
“That’s putting it mildly, isn’t it? You really can’t see the end!”
"Tsk, tsk. That's just how the sea is."
"Huh? Have you seen the sea before, Sahyung?”
"No. This is my first time?"
The feeling of the sea breeze was beyond words for them.
"...How many days did it take?"
"About seven days."
"We arrived sooner than I thought."
"Right."
Now that they had finally reached the sea heading towards Hainan, there was only one thought in everyone’s mind.
"Should've just taken the detour..."
"That's what I'm saying..."
"...What riches and glory were we expecting?"
Everyone sighed with gloomy faces.
Was going through Gangnam a bad choice? Looking at the results, it wasn't a bad choice at all.
After all, reaching the coast in just seven days and nights without significant casualties wasn't just good- It was an amazing achievement.
But that was just how it looked from the outside Those who actually carved through that path couldn't evaluate it with such ease.
“…I still don’t understand how I didn’t die of a heart attack in Ten Thousand Great Mountains.”
"Were you that scared too, Sahyung?"
"Honestly, halfway through, I barely held back from clinging to Chung Myung and crying, begging to go back."
"Actually, I begged him a little."
"...What did he say?"
"'Would you rather die by my hand or Magyo's?' That's what he said."
“Then better to die by Magyo.”
Because those bastards would be a little less cruel.
"...You worked hard."
Baek Cheon, who was listening to the conversation between Yoon Jong and Jo-Gol, quietly patted their shoulders and offered them comfort. He thought to himself,
‘I thought my heart was going to give out.’
Throughout the journey, the Ten Thousand Great Mountains had remained eerily quiet. Looking back, there may not have been a safer route.
The problem was that the group here knew the terror of Magyo better than anyone.
“When I think about it, it just makes me angry all of a sudden.”
Yoon Jong kicked Jo-Gol out of nowhere.
"Ow! Why are you hitting me all of a sudden!"
"If you hadn't brought up that name, we could have traveled comfortably!"
"…What was I supposed to do when it came to mind?"
Every problem began from that cursed damned blabbermouth. While crossing the Sipmandaesan Mountain, Jo Geol-i suddenly started talking, ‘By the way, those remnants of Magyo we met back then. That guy Cheonsalin or something. What if that guy is here?"
They replied that it was ridiculous and that there was no way, but the words that were already stuck in one’s head would not go away easily.
From that moment, in their minds, the Ten Thousand Great Mountains transformed from 'an empty mountain that was once Magyo's headquarters' to 'a dangerous Magyo's lair where Magyo cultists and Cheonsal who invaded Jungwon might be hiding.'
Thanks to that, their nerves were completely on edge, and by the time they escaped the Ten Thousand Great Mountains like fugitives, they were nearly unconscious from exhaustion.
If it had ended here, Yoon Jong wouldn’t have been so furious. The bigger problem was that the region they had to pass through afterward was Guangdong, Myriad Man Manor's headquarters.
Of course, now that the main force was concentrated in the Yangtze River, it was almost like an empty base, but even so, isn't Guangdong still Guangdong?
"…We somehow made it here alive."
"Who was the bastard who suggested cutting through Gangnam?"
"That rotten Evil Sects bastard!"
“…Thank you for enlightening us. Namgung Sogaju."
Sighs escaped from everyone's mouths simultaneously. Lament and relief were mixed together.
"Anyway, well...."
Baek Cheon spoke as if to wrap things up.
“There were at least half a dozen times passing through Guangdong where we nearly died… but as long as the outcome is good, isn’t that all that matters?”
"…Is it really okay if just the result is good? I think we should reconsider this on a fundamental level, Sasuk."
"Isn’t a decent result better than a complete disaster?"
"No, that's true, but...."
Baek Cheon shook his head.
"It was a stroke of luck. Of course, even if it was Evil Tyrant Alliance, it would be absolutely impossible to control all the routes that people could travel in this vast land of Gangnam... But still, I thought we would run into the enemy at least once in Guangdong."
"That's right. The gods of heaven and earth helped me...."
"Kuhuhuhuhum!"
"Helped us..."
" Kuhuhuhuhuhuhuhum!"
Yoon Jong, Baek Cheon, and Namgung Dowi looked at the person who kept coughing. Im Sobyeong, who was half-dead from exhaustion, raised his head with the most triumphant expression in the world.
Finally, Yoon Jong spoke with a sigh.
"That… rather than the gods of heaven and earth, we should thank Nokrim King for choosing our route so well.”
"Hahaha! There's no need to praise me, really! I’m simply dedicated to always giving my all for the good of everyone here. Hahaha!”
Everyone shook their heads watching Im Sobyeong happily fluttering his fan.
"...Yoon Jong-ah. Every once in a while, I realize that you are truly a Taoist."
"What?"
“To be able to say that with a straight face while looking at that expression of his. I, for one, would rather bite my own tongue than speak up.”
“Same here, Acting Sect Leader.”
"Hnggh."
Honestly, there was no way they could not acknowledge Im Sobyeong's abilities.
Not only on the mountain paths leading to the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, but in Guangdong too, without Im Sobyeong's quick thinking, they would have faced trouble several times.
“…Honestly, I’m not sure whether to call it fortunate or unfortunate that he was born into Evil Sects.”
"Huh? It's of course unfortunate?"
When Namgung Dowi asked as if hearing nonsense, Baek Cheon's face was slightly distorted.
"Imagine if that yangban was born into Magyo or an official family."
"…It really is a blessing he ended up as a bandit."
"Right?"
It was fortunate not only for them but for the entire world.
Baek Cheon lifted his gaze and stared out at the vast, open sea.
'Anyway, we've made it this far.'
Though the real challenge lay ahead, he felt a little more at ease, knowing they had arrived here unscathed.
"But, Sasuk."
"Yes?"
"How do we get to the island?"
"That’s obvious…."
“We swim, of course!”
At the sudden voice, everyone turned toward its source. Chung Myung stood with one leg cocked, looking at them sideways as if saying 'Why ask the obvious?'
"Is there any other way to cross the sea?"
"...Chung Myung-ah. It's an island, an island."
"So what if it's an island? Is it going to drift away or something? It won’t go somewhere. Just keep swimming, and we’ll get there eventually.”
Namgung Dowi turned a helpless look toward Im Sobyeong.
"Please make some reason this punk, Nokrim King."
"...This is difficult even for me. I don't even know where to begin picking this apart."
"No, but still...."
"How can you argue when it’s anything but logical..."
Namgung Dowi sighed repeatedly as he looked at the dumbfounded Im Sobyeong.
Then, a hand of salvation reached them.
"Enough with the nonsense; let’s arrange for a ship."
"No, why even bother…."
"Enough."
Baek Cheon cut off Chung Myung's words immediately.
"Even if something happens and we end up swimming halfway, it's better to conserve energy as much as possible first. Since there aren’t many of us, we don’t need a large ship, and getting a small fishing boat shouldn’t take long. So, let’s try find a boat first.”
Chung Myung pouted. But perhaps considering it was the acting sect leader's decision, he didn't press further.
"Good. Then let's split up and look for a boat. But keep your identities hidden as much as possible."
"Yes!"
Exchanging glances, they scattered in different directions.
Baek Cheon, who remained until the end, fixed his gaze on the small piece of land that looked like a dot in the distance.
'Hainan....'
For now, getting there was the first step.
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