Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1385. Of course, that won't happen (5)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
“Do- Dojang?”
Hainan Sect's disciples, who were running away, were startled when they saw Chung Myung running toward them from the opposite direction.
“Keep going!”
"Yes!"
But they soon regained their composure at Chung Myung's shout. Besides, this wasn't the first time Chung Myung had done something unexpected.
What actually startled them was not Chung Myung, but the figure of Im Sobyeong standing behind him, staring at Chung Myung like a statue waiting for a lost husband. (H: Folklore about faithful wife turned to stone waiting for her husband)
Nokrim King, Im Sobyeong.
He wasn’t someone Hainan Sect disciples would feel close to. Had they not come together under the name of Heavenly Comrade Alliance, they wouldn’t have even had the chance to exchange greetings.
That made it all the more unsettling. To see Im Sobyeong, who always looked at everyone with a cynical attitude, standing there with such an expression.
“…No, Nokrim….”
Eudeuk.
Im Sobyeong suddenly bit his lower lip at someone’s voice. The fan that was always casually held in his hand bent as if about to break in his veined grip.
Im Sobyeong's gaze, which had been glaring at Chung Myung's back as if he was going to devour him, turned to Hainan Sect's disciples who had paused in front of him. He spoke coldly.
“What are you doing?”
"…Yes?"
“Don’t hesitate and follow him! Now!”
"Ah, yes! Yes!"
Hainan Sect disciples rushed forward without understanding why. Im Sobyeong glanced at them, bit his lips, glared at Chung Myung's back before sharply turning around.
'Shit.'
He couldn’t understand no matter how much he thought about it.
Why not just abandon them? What meaning could this Hainan Sect have? Comrades who’ve shared life and death? People who might become a force in the future?
What a joke!
Comrades and futures only matter if you're alive first, don't they? You can always make new comrades, and you can always nurture new forces. Nothing is more important than your life right now. No, nothing can be.
So why should one invite danger for the sake of such people? What on earth was inside that lunatic's head?
At that moment, Yon Jong, noticing Im Sobyeong, approached with a puzzled expression.
“Nokrim King. Chung Myung…?”
Im Sobyeong barely managed to control his expression which was about to distort for a moment and answered firmly.
“He’s holding the rear. Don’t worry about it and keep moving forward!”
"The rear? But two people have already..."
“There’s no time for this! Break through the front! Unless you want to see those left behind die!"
"Ah, understood!"
Yoon Jong nodded quickly and stomped the ground.
Nokrim King bit his lip tightly. He wasn't lying. It was true that they needed to urgently break through the front.
If these people realized Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword’s intentions and acted contrary to his will, everything would fall apart. Im Sobyeong knew better than anyone that a plan without a clear direction leads to ruin.
He looked at Chung Myung one last time. He had already run far towards the rear.
Udeudeuk.
Im Sobyeong, clenched his fan so tightly that it snapped in half, turned his head away calmly while not knowing that blood was seeping out of his bitten lip.
“Monk!”
“I know!”
Kuung!
The sound of Hye Yeon’s shock step echoed loudly as dozens of streams of power erupted from his fists. It was a display too flamboyant for the typically solemn and heavy martial arts of Shaolin, but that made it all the more threatening.
Those who had been charging with unstoppable momentum hesitated before that fist technique. Hye Yeon’s fists were desperately suppressing the flames of fear that threatened to ignite at any moment.
'But not for long!'
Hye Yeon also knew. There was a limit to how long he and Namgung Dowi could hold them off. Right now, they were merely buying time so those who had gone ahead could get as far away as possible.
"Woooooah!"
Namgung Dowi's sword spewed countless flashes of white light.
His sword wasn’t much different from Hye Yeon’s fists. A flashy and grand, but lacking in substance. A sword solely meant to threaten enemies and push them back.
"Keuk!"
Myriad Man Manor members hesitated under the onslaught of sword energy. They were well aware of how much internal strength was behind the attacks of the two. But the price was fatal.
Kwadeuk!
“Kuhak!”
A crimson blade pierced through the neck of one who had hesitated and retreated, its tip protruding sharply. The eyes of the one who had stabbed his own subordinate were bloodshot as if they would burst at any moment. He let out a roar.
"Anyone who retreats dies by my hand! Choose! Will you die by their hands, or by mine!"
Not a single martial artist hesitated now after hearing that. Everyone gritted their teeth.
“Charge, now!”
Instead of an answer, beast-like roars erupted.
Hye Yeon once again released his fist force in an attempt to somehow kill the enemy's momentum.
“Ah—mi—ta—bha—!”
A majestic burst of light erupted alongside a thunderous roar, striking and crushing the enemies charging like demons. Yet even as their skin burst from the pressure, the charging martial artists did not stop advancing.
"Dieeeeee!"
Before Hye Yeon knew it, a martial artist of Myriad Man Manor had arrived in front of him, all bloody and bruised. As Hye Yeon gritted his teeth.
Paaaaaaaat!
A red sword energy flew in and mercilessly sliced through the Myriad Man Manor martial artist's neck mercilessly.
Surprised, Hye Yeon turned his gaze. He saw Chung Myung charging forward like a hawk.
"What are you doing, idiots!"
"Dojang!"
Chung Myung passed them without hesitation and plunged into the heart of the enemy.
Parararararak!
Even as he charged forward, blades of crimson energy poured from the tip of his sword like cascading plum blossom petals. It was as if a path of flower petals was opening behind the charging Chung Myung.
'That's...!'
Hye Yeon widened his eyes. He recognized it. How much of the supreme martial arts realm was incorporated into that spectacle that would seem merely wondrous to others.
"Plu- Plum Blossom Sword Demon!"
“Kill him! Don’t retreat, kill him!”
The Myriad Man Manor martial artists, who had momentarily hesitated, charged forward with even more explosive momentum. It was a natural reaction, as their greatest enemy that they could never forgive had appeared before their eyes.
"Kill him! Whoever beheads Plum Blossom Sword Demon will enjoy unimaginable wealth and glory for a lifetime! Kill him no matter what!”
There was no way out anyway. The moment they retreat, they die by their own allies’ hands. If so, the only option was to stake everything and drive their blade into that demon’s body.
The way Myriad Man Manor martial artists accelerated and charged in an instant resembled a rapid current transforming into a waterfall.
Amid that vicious onslaught, Chung Myung's sword moved calmly. Small, then smaller. Plum blossom petals swirled around the tip of his sword as it drew modest circles.
The petals that trailed the tip of his sword suddenly began to scatter in all directions. At first, they spread so slowly that it was barely perceptible, but gradually they gained speed and soon completely enveloped the surroundings. The sight of the area covered in petals was breathtaking.
The Myriad Man Manor martial artists opened their eyes wide at the sight that was so unbelievable that they could not believe their eyes.
“Wh- What…?”
The once verdant forest and the people in front were all covered with plum blossoms. Everything around them turned crimson.
“Tha- That!”
At that moment, a ragged breath escaped Namgung Dowi’s lips.
“The plum blossom… scent….”
It shouldn’t have been possible, but it felt as if he could smell the plum blossoms. The scene before his eyes, each petal, was so vivid that it created such an illusion.
Plum Blossom Sword Form (매화검결(梅花劍結)), Plum Blossom Fragrance Across Ten Thousand Miles (매화만리향(梅花萬里香)).
(Plum Blossom Sword Form. The highest sword technique of Mount Hua and the superior form of the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique)
In this moment, a fragment of the Plum Blossom Sword Form, the pinnacle of the Great Mount Hua Sect's sword techniques, bloomed as if recreating the past from a hundred years ago.
A scene truly like a dream.
Even those who had been charging with all their might momentarily forgot what they were doing. The fluttering plum blossom petals gently settled upon their bodies.
Sogok!
A sharp pain jolted their hazy consciousness awake. Those who belatedly came to their senses saw the petals surrounding them like a subtly permeating fragrance.
“Ah, no…!”
Hwaaaaaaak!
The drifting petals spread out like wildfire, consuming everything. The hostility, the people harboring that hostility, and even the screams they let out.
Shattered, and shattered again, the plum blossom petals scattered into pieces and then vanished like an illusion. Like a flower's fragrance that leaves nothing behind despite its clear existence.
"Uh..."
As the plum blossom petals disappeared before their eyes, the pale-faced enemy raised their head and looked ahead.
The world had stopped.
Those who had been charging at Plum Blossom Sword Demon with all their might, and even Plum Blossom Sword Demon who faced against them, stood frozen in place as if time had stopped.
It was a sight that invited doubt. Had they already died? Was this why they were now doomed to gaze upon this scene for eternity?
And then it happened.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The Myriad Man Manor martial artists, who had been standing rigid like statues waiting for lost husbands, collectively crumbled where they stood. As if the halted time had begun to flow again.
"Uh..."
Overwhelmed, they forgot their own situation and looked at Chung Myung with bewitched eyes.
Seureuk.
They felt it distinctly.
The faint flutter of his sleeve swaying in the wind, the lingering tremors at the tip of the sword that had yet to fully compose itself, and even the motion of his foot beginning to step forward.
Had anyone ever been so entranced by someone in their lifetime? Even with all mental faculties focused?
This wasn’t their own will. That sword was bewitching them. That sword was forcibly pulling everyone in. As if being drawn to the tip of that sword was the most natural thing in the world.
At that moment, Chung Myung charged at them, who were floating somewhere between reality and illusion.
Paaaaaaaat!
The sword that swept forth in an instant severed the necks of Myriad Man Manor martial artists who still hadn't come to their senses.
Three heads soared into the air simultaneously, and crimson blood spurted like a fountain.
“You…”
Before the smell of blood could spread, Chung Myung's sneering voice was heard first.
“Who was it...... that mere bastards like you dared to say you'd kill?”
Ho Gamyeong clenched his fist tightly. He knew clearly that Chung Myung's cold glare was directed at him. Standing before that gaze made his insides boil. Rage and malice felt as if they would burst through his mouth.
Chung Myung shook his head lightly.
"You still don't know your place, I see. Neither you nor that imbecile Jang Ilso."
Then he glanced around.
Even the Myriad Man Manor martial artists surrounding Chung Myung had stopped. Seizing the moment, Hainan Sect's main force steadily increased the distance between them.
Chung Myung, who glanced at the situation, smiled, baring his teeth in stark contrast to Ho Gamyeong.
“Kill him!”
Ho Gamyeong shouted loudly. His voice sounded almost like a scream.
"You must kill him! No matter what it takes, that bastard must die! Kill him! Kill hiiiiim!”
As if infected by his rage, the Myriad Man Manor martial artists who had survived the plum blossom petals charged forward again with their eyes rolling back.
The Myriad Man Manor martial artists’ rush toward a single person. At its end, Chung Myung gripped his sword so tightly it seemed it might break.
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