Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1348. He says he’ll take that bastard's life (3)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
Namgung Dowi slowly lowered his raised hand.
Seeing his signal, the disciples of Hainan Sect held their breath and did their best to suppress any sound or movement.
Tadadadadak!
With rapid footsteps, a group rushed past the bushes where they were hiding.
“This way!”
The loud shout made the disciples lower their heads further and shrink into their hiding spots. The tension in their throats tightened and burned with dry anxiety.
Fortunately, the group that passed by didn’t notice their presence. Of course, this was somewhat expected.
"Aaaaaaaaargh!"
With such an agonized scream echoing from afar clearly indicating the enemy's presence, how many would bother looking for traces of other enemies who might be nearby?
'Dojang.'
Namgung Dowi resisted the urge to turn toward the direction of the scream. Right now, the best way he could help Chung Myung was to lead his group out of here as quickly as possible.
"Let’s move."
"Yes!"
Paat.
Namgung Dowi kicked off the ground and took the lead. His gaze was fixed on the towering peak ahead.
'Fifth peak from the left of the highest peak.'
However, his steps led toward the left side of the peak. If everyone took the same route, splitting the group would have been meaningless. They needed to take as many different paths as possible to evade the enemy’s attention before regrouping.
“Who’s there...?”
Namgung Dowi swung his sword without hesitation. The throat of Myriad Man Manor martial artist who was turning his head in surprise was instantly pierced.
“Gurgh....”
With his vocal cords severed, the man couldn’t even scream before collapsing in convulsions. Namgung Dowi quickly grabbed the corpse before he could hit the ground with a thud. This was to push him into an inconspicuous corner where it wouldn't catch anyone's eye.
“Heu....”
Thick beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. Though he had somewhat replenished his strength, constantly watching for enemies while advancing wasn't as easy as he had thought.
Spreading qi-sense ultimately consumes internal strength. Spreading his senses while simultaneously using lightness techniques made Namgung Dowi feel as though his stamina was being drained several times faster than normal.
'Stop whining.'
It had only been a short while, no more than 15 minutes. He couldn't admit to being tired after just 15 minutes even if it killed him. Baekcheon has led them for more than 30 minutes, and Chung Myung has led them for days on end.
To admit weakness at this level was something the pride of Namgung Family could not allow.
“Let’s hurry!”
“Yes, Sogaju!”
Namgung Dowi kicked off the ground once more and spoke in his mind.
'Please follow and don't be late, Dojang!'
❀ ❀ ❀
Paaaat!
Chung Myung’s twisting sword ruthlessly tore through an enemy’s chest.
“Gaaaaaah!”
A terrible scream erupted, horrific enough to make one's face contort just from hearing it. The sound would serve as a beacon to draw more enemies.
"There he is!"
“This...!”
The ones who rushed toward the sound spotted Chung Myung and shouted.
But they stopped in their tracks, flinching as they halted. Even in the darkness, they could clearly see the gruesome sight of corpses scattered all around.
At a glance, the number of corpses was greater than the group now rushing in. An ominous feeling crept in that perhaps they had come seeking their own place of death.
But a brief hesitation wasn’t enough to change their fate.
Taat!
Chung Myung instantly kicked off the ground and flew through the air.
“Do- Dodge....”
Paaaaang!
Before the urgent warning could even fully escape their lips, a vivid crimson streak cleaved through the darkness.
Teolsseok. Teolsseok.
The bodies of those who couldn't even properly resist were torn apart diagonally.
Chwak!
Chung Myung flicked the blood off the edge of his sword. His gaze darkened slightly.
For some reason, it felt like the number of enemies attacking him had decreased. Perhaps it was simply because he had already cleared out all the nearby enemies…
Pooong! Poooooong!
Suddenly, brilliant fireworks exploded in the southern sky. The massive blooms of light were bright enough to be seen from anywhere in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains. Chung Myung narrowed his eyes.
'Really... troublesome bastard.'
It was likely a signal to recall their scattered forces back to a central location.
Ho Gamyeong had made two major mistakes.
One was not knowing that Chung Myung was incredibly familiar with this terrain. This, however, wasn’t something Ho Gamyeong could have foreseen or prevented. How could he have known that Chung Myung was intimately familiar with the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains and had fought countless guerrilla battles against overwhelming odds here?
And the second mistake, and an inexcusable mistake at that too, was overlooking what their own strengths were.
The overwhelming numerical superiority of Myriad Man Manor armies compared to Heavenly Comrade Alliance was their most significant asset. A large number is always a threat, regardless of the situation.
Ho Gamyeong failed to properly utilize this advantage. No matter how many men he deployed, scattering them across such a vast area inevitably reduced the engagements to small skirmishes between small groups.
In such skirmishes, Chung Myung would never lose. From the moment he chose to fight under unfavorable conditions in an unfavorable manner, Ho Gamyeong’s defeat was all but guaranteed.
Still, Ho Gamyeong wasn’t someone to take lightly. It was clear he had quickly recognized his mistake and was now reorganizing his forces.
Chung Myung calmly continued his thoughts.
‘Still…’
It was a rather ridiculous mistake for Ho Gamyeong to make. Does this mean that Ho Gamyeong had broken down enough to make such a mistake?
Considering how much harder it was for someone who has fallen to rise again compared to someone who has never fallen, this swift response was somewhat surprising.
Had he underestimated this Ho Gamyeong? Or perhaps...
“...Hmm.”
Chung Myung's gaze turned back to the sky. The faint light of dawn was beginning to break in the distant eastern sky. Whatever the case, now that they've withdrawn, there was no point in dragging this out any longer.
‘This should do.'
From the start, his goal wasn’t to maximize the enemy’s casualties but to buy time for the others to escape, so there was no need to waste any more energy unnecessarily.
As Chung Myung was about to kick off the ground and leave, he glanced back slightly. With an unreadable expression, he looked somewhere toward the south before turning into a ray of light and shot toward the north.
❀ ❀ ❀
Step. Step.
Ho Gamyeong's eyes slowly examined the ground.
Though he had certainly been disheveled moments ago, now he had returned to his usual self as if nothing had happened. While his complexion remained haggard, his attire was neatly arranged, and his eyes had been honed even sharper than before.
"Have you found it?"
“Yes, Advisor! This is it!”
Those examining the ground quickly nodded at Ho Gamyeong's question.
"There are traces of a group moving through here."
"Numbers?"
“About twenty.”
"...How many were in the tracks we found earlier?"
"Also about twenty, sir."
Ho Gamyeong nodded slowly.
“They’re quite meticulous.”
Splitting into groups to avoid pursuit was certainly a sound tactic, as it allowed them to bypass surveillance while creating confusion for their pursuers.
"But a bit too honest."
For those who had never been pursued before, it was natural that they wouldn't think about footprints. Even if they did think about it, erasing tracks while fleeing in haste would hardly be easy. Moreover, with the ground covered in grass, they might not have even considered that tracks would remain.
In the end, it was a mistake born from inexperience.
'I don't need to be perfect either.'
After all, the enemy wasn’t perfect either.
"Then it's that way."
Ho Gamyeong’s gaze shifted to a towering mountain behind them. Considering the pattern and direction of the footprints they had found, the destination was clear.
"Move out."
"Yes!"
Ho Gamyeong moved swiftly with his subordinates.
They had failed to stop those escaping the Hundred Thousand Great Mountain. However, as long as he could determine their destination, the pursuit could still be reignited.
“Advisor! This way!”
Several of those running ahead seemed to have found traces on the ground, placing their palms down and measuring something.
“Two groups... no, more than three groups. It seems individuals from different directions gathered here.”
"So this was their rendezvous point?"
“But....”
The trailing tone of the response made Ho Gamyeong’s gaze twitch.
“What?”
“…The groups arrived at different times.”
"Is that unusual for some reason?"
"Those who arrived didn't join together but moved immediately."
“They moved, you say?”
“Yes, here!”
The man explaining swept aside the bushes to reveal deeply imprinted footprints.
"The force is concentrated on the back of these footprints. If they had simply passed through this area while running, the front of the prints would be more defined than the back."
"Continue."
“But there aren’t many footprints here, meaning they didn’t stay long. This means that upon arriving here and confirming something, they moved on immediately without waiting for those coming behind."
“Hmm.”
Ho Gamyeong nodded slowly.
"Though inexperienced, they're not to be taken lightly, it seems."
If they had attempted a clumsy rendezvous here, it would have given their attackers an opening.
But was there another reason they needed to go through such troublesome methods?
If it were Im Sobyeong, how would he have thought?
"…He wasn’t sure if there might be an ambush beyond this point, that Nokrim King. And he didn’t trust anyone else."
Thus, after confirming the escape route himself, he must have passed on the information to those trailing behind and moved ahead to secure the path.
The scene that must have unfolded here played out in Ho Gamyeong's mind.
The first arrivals assessed the situation and decided on the escape route. The later arrivals followed the path secured by the vanguard.
“But there’s one thing missing.”
A meaningful light flickered in Ho Gamyeong's eyes.
If Im Sobyeong had scouted the route and decided on a direction, he would have needed a means to convey their intended direction to those coming after.
An improvised signal system? Impossible. This plan hadn’t been in the works long enough.
To avoid confusion, they would have needed to use an already established method. And that method would likely be…
Ho Gamyeong’s head whipped around. Someone who caught his gaze flinched instantly. A faint smirk tugged at one corner of Ho Gamyeong’s lips.
“We may not know....”
The face of the one meeting Ho Gamyeong's gaze twisted horribly.
“…but those among them surely have a way to recognize each other’s marks.”
“....”
“Isn’t that right?”
Yoo Gong, Hainan Sect disciple who met Ho Gamyeong's gaze, firmly bit his lip.
|Note
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