Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1294. It's a sight you’ll sick of seeing (4)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
Gwak Hwanso, finishing Small Cyclic Heaven, opened his eyes. (An energy circulation method. Also known as microcosmic orbit.)
The moment he opened his eyes, he checked his physical condition and a gloomy expression clouded his face.
‘This much…’
Normally, he could have released most of the fatigue accumulated in his body with just the Small Cyclic Heaven technique. But not this time. While his internal strength had somewhat recovered, his body still felt as heavy as water-soaked cotton.
What was worse was that the foggy feeling in his head wouldn't go away.
However, Gwak Hwanso decided not to overreach. He shook off the lingering thoughts and stood up.
Even while they were like this, the enemy continued their pursuit. If they were to have their tracks discovered, it would truly be the end.
‘But… can we really escape?’
Their course of action until now hadn't been wrong.
No, rather, it was astonishing how quickly they had managed to break through the enemy's formations. Without the assistance of Mount Hua Sect, they wouldn’t have even dared to attempt such a thing.
But perhaps because of that, the anxiety grew even greater.
‘Even at this pace, we can’t shake them off…’
Could they truly reach the Yangtze River safely? Could they maintain this current pace all the way through Gangnam?
Gwak Hwanso quickly shook off the anxious thoughts creeping into his mind. It wasn’t through his mental fortitude but rather because the meditating Lee Jayang stood up just in time.
“Are you alright?”
"…My body feels like a wreck."
“Yeah. Same here.”
Lee Jayang looked around with a deep sigh. Many of the other disciples were still in the middle of their meditation cycles, trying to recover their energy. Lee Jayang bit his lip tightly and then spoke.
"Sahyung."
"Don’t think about anything else."
Gwak Hwanso shook his head.
"For now, let's think only about escaping their grasp."
“…Yes, Sahyung.”
Hainan Sect disciples who had finished their qi circulation stood up one by one. Their faces too bore the same deep and unshakeable fatigue.
“Are you all right, Saje?”
“…Yes, Sahyung. I’m fine.”
"This is hell itself…"
Those who rose first had no choice but to wait for those still meditating to finish. During that time, the only thing they could do was share quiet conversations about their current predicament.
And this was something that neither Geum Yangbaek nor Gwak Hwanso could stop it, whatever words might pass between them.
“…How far have we come?”
“We’ve barely reached Guangdong. We’ve just managed to cross Zhanjiang.”
“Barely?”
The one who had asked the question stared in stunned disbelief.
Of course, it wasn’t a short distance.
The distance from the shore where they had landed to Zhanjiang was roughly equivalent to crossing Hainan Island itself. It was a distance that would take ordinary people more than five days.
Covering such a distance in less than half a day was undoubtedly a remarkable achievement. But…
"Barely…."
Hainan Sect disciples knew too.
Gangnam was vast. And the distance they had covered so far was merely one-tenth of the total path they needed to traverse.
Yes, one-tenth.
They had broken through just that much distance, yet their strength had already hit bottom, and they had lost six Sahyung. Including those lost back in Hainan Island, the casualties had already reached ten by the time they got here.
If that's the case, simple arithmetic suggested that they would lose more than a hundred lives before they reached the Yangtze River.
No. Even that calculation wasn't right. The further they advanced, the stronger, more persistent, and more ruthless the enemies would become. Taking that into account…
Having the strength to think wasn’t always a good thing. Those who had been focusing all their effort just on moving their exhausted legs somehow began contemplating their situation once they had the breath to spare.
Just how reckless their actions were, just how vicious this death trap they had walked into.
Amidst the heavy silence, someone spoke in a trembling voice.
“Not yet… The enemy's real main force hasn't even come yet, right?"
It was, without a doubt, the worst possible thing to say in this situation.
"With Myriad Man Manor chasing from behind... if similar forces come from the front, won't we just be surrounded and die?"
"Why suddenly say such things now! We set out knowing that!"
“N- No, I knew, but…”
There was too great a difference between vaguely thinking about something and experiencing it directly. But he couldn’t bring himself to say that aloud—it would just sound like an admission of his own complacency.
They didn’t know. They didn’t know that people could die so easily.
And that human death could be treated so trivially.
They had often imagined dying heroically in battle since childhood, but who could have imagined dying while fleeing until the sky turned dark and their breath reeked of iron, only to be stabbed in the side? Let alone their corpses being left behind and abandoned carelessly on the roadside.
"If it was going to be like this, in Hainan..."
"Stop."
Gwak Hwanso interrupted their conversation at the appropriate moment.
“Pointless chatter can wait until we’ve escaped the enemy’s grasp. For now, save even the strength to speak."
“Sahyung…. But….”
"Did you not hear Sahyung's words?"
Lee Jayang shot them a fierce glare. The disciples hung their heads low. Gwak Hwanso let out a heavy sigh.
'I'm not one to talk.'
After all, he had been thinking the same thing moments ago. No, he still wasn’t free from them.
At that moment, the last disciple who had been meditating finally rose to his feet.
“Yang Po, are you alright?”
“…Yes, Sahyung.”
Yang Po rubbed his blood-soaked thigh. The wound pierced through his leg was still far from healed.
“The wound looks serious….”
“Can you walk?”
The other disciples gathered around him with worried faces. Even at a glance, Yang Po's wound was far from ordinary.
"I- I'm fine."
“What fine!”
“No, that wound doesn’t look…”
"Damn it! I said I’m fine!”
Yang Po suddenly shouted, startling everyone around him. All eyes focused on him.
"I said I'm fine, why are you like this!"
“No, I just….”
“I said I can run! I told you I’m fine!”
The ones speaking fell silent. They knew what Yang Po was thinking right now.
If he couldn’t run properly, if his injury prevented him from keeping up with the group, what would happen? Would someone carry them and run in their place?
Everyone else was utterly exhausted. Even carrying their own bodies forward was a struggle. In such circumstances, how could they have the capacity to care for the wounded?
In an orderly and strategic retreat, injured individuals might still have a chance to be brought along. But when fleeing from pursuing enemies, the wounded are typically the first to be abandoned. No matter how strong one's sense of loyalty is, how many would give their own lives to save another?
“What are you thinking, you crazy bastard!”
One look at those bloodshot eyes was enough to tell. Right now, Yang Po was terrified of being abandoned. He was terrified that the sahyung who had been with him all his life would see him as baggage and leave him behind.
“Surely we….”
Those who were about to rage at his suspicion and fear suddenly closed their mouths, unable to continue.
Because they were scared.
We’ll never abandon you, and we’ll die with you even if we must.
In normal times, they could have made such bold declarations without a second thought, but now they knew. That 'normal times' held no meaning here. Everything they had preserved until now held not even a speck of value in this place.
That’s why they were afraid. Afraid of confronting the moment when they might have to break the very promise they would make now.
“Surely what? What do you mean to say!”
Yang Po shouted, spraying spittle in his hysterical state. At that moment, a calm yet firm voice cut through the tension.
“Please step aside.”
Tang Soso, who had approached without notice, stood there holding several tools in her hands.
“Aren’t you going to move?”
“A- Are you a physician?”
“Yes. I’m from Tang Family.”
"Ah…."
Those surrounding Yang Po hurriedly parted left and right. Tang Soso then approached Yang Po with swift steps and examined his wound.
“Hm. It’s worsened.”
In truth, if Yang Po had been able to rest after being injured, his wound would have shown signs of healing by now. But because he had kept running despite the injury, the wound had opened wider than its initial state. Though fortunately it hadn't festered yet, it needed immediate treatment.
"Someone with clean water."
“H- Here.”
Tang Soso accepted the water jug offered by someone and stared at Yang Po.
“Hold still.”
“Yes…? What do you…. AAAAGH!"
Yang Po let out a blood-curdling scream.
Tang Soso had pried open his wound with her fingers and poured water directly into it. Then she clicked her tongue disapprovingly.
“…This won’t do.”
Those damned Evil Sects bastards don't even properly maintain their own weapons. Righteous Sects are taught to treat their swords as extensions of their own lives, meticulously maintaining them even in the midst of battle. That’s why wounds inflicted by their blades rarely fester.
But Evil Sects bastards' weapons are often rusty or caked with filth. Because of that, wounds caused by them frequently become infected. If not properly cleaned, the blood will rot and become irreversible.
“Sahyung! Chung Myung Sahyung!”
At Tang Soso's shout, Chung Myung, who was far away, frowned.
"Ah, what?"
"Do you have alcohol?"
“Tsk.”
Chung Myung pulled a liquor bottle from his waist and tossed it toward Tang Soso. She caught it deftly and immediately uncorked it, taking a sniff.
"Ugh, it's strong."
The pungent smell of alcohol stung her nose enough to make her brows furrow sharply.
“Seriously, no matter how much you try to stop him, that yangban only drinks the strongest liquor.”
But at times like this, that proves quite helpful. Tang Soso turned back to Yang Po and spoke firmly once again.
“Hold still.”
“Huh?! What, what again…. Euaaaargh!”
This time Yang Po's eyes rolled back completely as he fell backward.
The liquor Chung Myung carried was strong enough to burn your throat even when drunk normally. Having it enter a pierced wound, the pain would be too intense to endure with a sound mind.
“It’s done.”
After setting down the bottle, Tang Soso applied a medicinal ointment to the wound and began stitching it up swiftly with a needle and thread.
“Kuh… Kkeugh…”
Even to an untrained eye, her hands moved with astonishing speed and precision. The gaping wound closed in an instant and disappeared without a trace.
"You endured well."
Tang Soso nodded as she wrapped the stitched area with a clean cloth. This should prevent any complications. After all, the liquor Chung Myung carried was strong enough to disinfect simply by pouring it over a wound.
"But… you shouldn't use your leg for a while."
At her words, everyone looked at each other with pale faces.
How could someone avoid using their leg in this situation? This news was even more despair-inducing than being told the wound couldn’t be treated.
"Someone will have to carry him."
Hainan Sect disciples exchanged uneasy glances.
Of course, the desire to carry their injured comrade was strong. But they hesitated because that choice might end up killing Yang Po too.
“Then I….”
Gwak Hwanso, observing the situation, took a step forward, but Tang Soso sharply turned her head and called out to someone.
“Monk Hye Yeon.”
“Yes, Siju.”
“You’ll need to carry him for about one hour. Can you do it?”
“Amitabha. Of course.”
“Please make sure not to shake him too much. If the wound tears open again, it’ll be a real problem.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
Hye Yeon's face remained perfectly serene. The disciples of Hainan Sect stared at him in confusion.
'How... how can this person take it for granted?'
How could someone who wasn’t even related to Hainan Sect…
“And also.”
Tang Soso's voice captured their attention once again.
"Minor or major, I don't care. If anyone has even a small wound, come to me immediately. If wounds fester later, that'll be truly worst-case."
“….”
“What are you doing, hurry up!”
“T- Then, my arm here…”
"I injured my leg too."
One by one, the wounded began to gather around Tang Soso.
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