Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1274. A tiger trapped in a cage of poison (4)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
Humans employed every conceivable method to conquer the sea. Thus beings who originally couldn't traverse the waters became capable of venturing beyond coastal waters to distant oceans.
For ordinary people, such an achievement might be hard to imagine, but it was undeniable that humanity’s resolve to defy the sea culminated in this monumental success.
Ironically, however, those who fight against the sea inevitably find themselves face-to-face with its overwhelming grandeur. No matter how much they row or unfurl the sails, there inevitably comes a moment when they cannot sail as they wish.
In such moments, one could only wait. Wait for the sea to guide them. Pray that the Dragon King of the Sea might show mercy.
Gwak Hwanso stared at the ocean with a somewhat dazed gaze.
High waves surge and headwinds blow. At times like these, human strength was utterly useless.
The only course of action was to furl the sails, pull in the oars, and wait in silence.
In truth, Gwak Hwanso didn’t particularly dislike such moments.
In a way, this was the moment humans became one with the sea, when the flow of the sea and the flow of people aligned.
But what rose in Gwak Hwanso's eyes as he gazed at the sea now wasn't satisfaction from harmony, but rather utter powerlessness.
He had always believed that nature wasn’t something to resist but to harmonize with, and that being swept along by the sea’s surging tides wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Now Gwak Hwanso was painfully realizing his philosophy had been mere self-consolation of the powerless. '
‘War.…'
His hands were still trembling. They hadn't calmed down even though they had long been away from the shore. He hesitated to even pull his hands out of his sleeves, fearing someone might notice the uncontrollable tremors.
How laughable. In hindsight, wasn’t what had just happened exactly what Gwak Hwanso had dreamed of his entire life?
He had waited so long for the day he could wield his sword against the evildoers of the wicked Evil Sects who wreak havoc on the world.
Circumstances had forced him to endure until now, but he had sworn countless times that if the chance arose, he would fight more valiantly than anyone else and prove through his blade the honor and spirit of Hainan Sect’s swordsmanship.
But… the war he saw with his own eyes was nothing like what he had imagined.
The bloody stench lingering in his nostrils still wouldn't fade.
He first realized how nauseating human blood's smell could be. For the first time, he understood how harrowing the screams of a person dying with their guts spilled could be. And it was the first time he learned that in the midst of such a brutal melee, even stepping on the severed heads of his comrades to push forward was a common occurrence.
The romance of battle he had once heard of and dreamed about was nothing but an empty facade. Chivalry and honor blooming amidst the intersection of life and death?
'What a dog's crap...'
Gwak Hwanso bit his lip hard.
He wanted to show the person spouting such drivel the wide-open eyes of someone whose heart had been pierced as they died. Anyone who had seen the vacant eyes of someone searching for their severed arm would understand that battlefields hold nothing but the stench of corpses.
Gwak Hwanso clutched his shoulder with trembling hands.
The screams of the dying still seemed to ring in his ears.
What made it even harder to bear was the fact that among those who had screamed as they died were some of his Sajes.
“Yang So (양소(楊笑))….”
He was s Saje he especially cherished.
Smaller in stature than his peers, with a kind-hearted nature, Yang So had always seemed out of place among the rough and boisterous martial artists of Hainan Sect.
One whom he thought would be better off leaving the sect to build his own life.
However, Yang So did not abandon Hainan Sect until the end. Though his skills may have been lacking, his unwavering determination to share Hainan Sect's fate had led him to accompany them on their journey to Gangnam.
And thus he met a futile death before even leaving Hainan Island.
So miserable that they couldn't even recover his body.
The indescribable sense of loss tore through Gwak Hwanso’s heart.
'What the hell was I looking at?'
If he could, he would rip apart the younger version of him who had once dreamed of glory on the battlefield.
The blood flowing on the battlefield was the blood of the Sajes he cherished, and any shining reputation gained there came at the cost of countless lives.
What had he been looking at, and what had he been dreaming of?
"Sahyung."
Gwak Hwanso turned his head. Saje Lee Jayang was approaching. His face was paler than usual, clearly showing that he too was struggling with emotional turmoil.
"What is it?"
"....Eight."
"......"
"Eight are missing."
Gwak Hwanso squeezed his eyes shut.
'Even in such a one-sided battle...'
They continued to charge forward without losing momentum. They broke through the enemy's defense line like a surge and seized the ships in one go.
Mahayana. It is a victory so overwhelming that it cannot be expressed in any other way.
And yet... and yet eight had died.
Then in the lands of Gangnam, where they would face battles incomparably fiercer than Hainan Island's, how many would die?
“...Have their identities been confirmed?”
“Yes, Sahyung…”
Gwak Hwanso was about to ask for their names but stopped himself, his face twisting into a look of misery as he shook his head.
What meaning would it have?
Even if they identified the fallen, there was no way to retrieve their bodies or conduct a proper funeral. They weren’t just leaving one battlefield behind; they were heading straight into another.
"The losses weren't small."
“Yes... but if it weren’t for Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword, the losses would have been much greater. Perhaps…”
Lee Jayang's words trailed off. But Gwak Hwanso could guess what he was going to say.
'He meant to say Hainan Sect might have been completely annihilated there.'
And he wasn’t wrong.
Even though they had seized the ship swiftly, if they had been pursued and caught before the ship could set sail, it was highly likely that they would all have ended up as fish food.
The worst-case scenario was prevented by Chung Myung single-handedly.
"...Thinking about it now, it was truly reckless."
"Indeed."
“If I had known this was the plan, I would have refused to take part.”
"Perhaps."
Gwak Hwanso's responses remained consistently calm. At this, Lee Jayang's face contorted.
"Sahyung, aren't you angry? We nearly all died! And because of that reckless plan, our Sajes lost their lives!"
Gwak Hwanso stared at him silently. That made Lee Jayang clamp his mouth shut.
"Is it their fault that our Sajes died?"
"...No, I meant..."
"And if they had told us this would happen beforehand, as you say, we wouldn't have participated. Then what would have become of us by now?"
Lee Jayang couldn't answer.
By now, they would all likely be dead, slaughtered while defending the main sect. There was no guarantee that heading to Gangnam would save Hainan Sect, but there was no denying that it buy them a little more time.
‘They couldn’t have told us in advance.’
This wasn’t something anyone would believe just by hearing about it. It was the kind of thing you would have to see with your own eyes to even begin to believe.
Who in the world would believe that one person could hold back Myriad Man Manor's main force and buy time?
That's why they couldn't tell them. A truth that no one would believe holds not even a hair's worth of value.
"They didn’t do anything wrong. If anyone is to blame, it’s us who blinded by the prospect of reaching Gangnam and failed to properly assess the situation."
"But that’s…"
"How could people from the mountains know when the tide ebbs? No, did they even know the tide could recede at all? You should have thought about it, and I should have. It was our stupidity that nearly killed everyone. And now you want to blame someone else?”
"......"
"Without any real skill, we were all too eager and failed even to handle what little we were capable of. And now you want to go so far as to blame the innocent?"
Lee Jayang’s face twisted as he bit down on his lip so hard it bled.
Gwak Hwanso sighed at the sight.
He understood Lee Jayang showing this unsightly side. His Saje had no way to handle the situation. How could one console the heart that lost Sajes needlessly due to weakness and stupidity?
Even knowing better, people instinctively search for someone to blame. Even knowing it’s unreasonable, they can’t help but harbor resentment.
"I'm sorry. Sahyung."
At that moment, Lee Jayang bowed his head deeply toward Gwak Hwanso.
"I…"
He closed his eyes tightly before continuing.
"…was foolish and cowardly."
"Jayang…"
Gwak Hwanso watched him silently before shaking his head.
Because he understood Lee Jayang's heart better than anyone. Moreover, Lee Jayang had always prided himself on being the most level-headed among Hainan Sect disciples. The shock must have been that much greater.
For a brief moment, silence hung between them.
As Gwak Hwanso opened his mouth trying to break the awkward tension, Lee Jayang spoke again.
"Sahyung."
"...Say it."
“How can they be like that?”
Lee Jayang said with a dejected face.
“I just can’t understand. How they manage to stay so composed in situations like that. How, even facing that Myriad Man Manor..."
His words trailed off into silence. The depth of his shock was evident.
It was like someone who had only ever seen clouds suddenly leaped above them, only to discover an endless expanse of sky stretching even further above.
Rather than joy, it brought only despair and bewilderment.
"How can anyone remain so composed in such situations? How do they not feel fear in moments like that?”
“Do you think I would know?”
Gwak Hwanso shook his head.
Strength was comprehensible. They were strong, and we were weak. That needed no explanation. If they trained harder, if they worked more diligently, they could perhaps narrow the gap even if they couldn’t overcome it completely.
But…
Even now, the image was still vivid. The sight of Chung Myung charging alone against a frenzied tide of hundreds.
‘Even if I were as strong as him, could I ever do the same?’
Gwak Hwanso already knows the answer.
"What’s clear is that while we sat on this island, fuming and feeling wronged, they were out there bleeding and fighting."
"...."
"We mocked the mainlanders as pretentious spineless weaklings..."
Gwak Hwanso chuckled dryly.
“But the real cowards were us. Weaklings who had never properly swung a sword to kill someone."
"Sahyung…."
"You asked how they can fight like that?”
Lee Jayang looked at Gwak Hwanso with questioning eyes. Gwak Hwanso’s gaze was fixed on the distant shores of Gangnam.
"I don’t know, but we will soon find out. No…”
Gwak Hwanso's face had hardened coldly.
"We have to understand. If we don’t, we’ll die there."
Lee Jayang nodded slowly.
Their journey had only just begun. If they could survive and break through that Gangnam filled with Evil Sects.… perhaps they might finally begin to gain even a little understanding of the battle that took place on this shore.
‘I can only hope.’
Gwak Hwanso quietly closed his eyes.
After a long moment spent calming the turmoil within, he finally spoke as if something had just occurred to him.
“How about Chung Myung Dojang?”
"…He’s pulling out the needles embedded in his body and stitching up his wounds, it seems."
"Pulling out needles?"
"Yes. Apparently, there were over ten needles longer than a finger embedded in his body. Yopdong said that if it were any ordinary person, they would have died ten times over."
Gwak Hwanso was momentarily shocked.
"He looked fine…"
"...It seems it's nothing much."
Lee Jayang continued in a defeated voice.
"To him, that is."
Gwak Hwanso's gaze shifted toward the cabin.
He stared silently for a while at the room where Chung Myung was being treated before letting out a long, heavy sigh.
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