Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1509. There are some people who can be solved with words (4)
Editor: Hoamz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
Kwaaang!
Jo-Gol instinctively kicked off the ground and sprinted.
But it was far. Too late.
Even with his swift sword known as One Sword Splits Light, it was impossible to close the distance in a single move.
In the slowed time, the sight of a short staff with its strong internal strength falling on the back of Baek Cheon's head was clearly visible.
'N- No….'
The moment when Jo-Gol unconsciously closes her eyes tightly.
Kaang!
A sword flew in from somewhere like a flash of lightning and struck the short staff that had nearly reached Baek Cheon’s head, knocking it away in an instant.
“Heok, Sago!”
Jo-Gol exclaimed in a voice mixed with trembling and relief. Yoo Iseol, who had appeared next to Baek Cheon at some point, was cutting down the chest of the one who had attacked Baek Cheon with an indifferent face.
She reached out and grabbed the staggering Baek Cheon’s shoulder to help him stand.
Baek Cheon, his consciousness briefly fading, lifted his head and frowned slightly at Yoo Iseol.
"...Thanks."
"Unnecessary."
Baek Cheon clutched his chest with his left hand as he righted himself and got back into stance.
“Seems I let my guard down for a moment. Don’t worry.”
"Yes."
Yoo Iseol nodded without saying much. But Jo-Gol, watching from a distance, remained bewildered.
‘Sasuk got hit by an attack like that?’
Of course, a person’s condition varies day by day, and even masters can have times when they can't fully display their skills.
But even taking this into account, the Baek Cheon he knew wouldn’t leave himself so exposed.
What was even stranger, however, was not Baek Cheon but Yoo Iseol.
Jo-Gol was able to notice Baek Cheon’s situation because he had a moment to breathe thanks to Yoon Jong. But that wasn’t the case for Yoo Iseol. So how did she know that Baek Cheon was in danger and fly over to help him faster than Jo-Gol?
Unless she knew in advance that Baek Cheon would be in danger….
"Quit spacing out, this punk!"
“Ah, I know!”
Jo-Gol replied hastily and bit his lip. Now was not the time to be lost in idle thought. After all, this was a battlefield.
Glancing toward Baek Cheon with a worried look, Jo-Gol then ran up to Yoon Jong. Right now, he had no choice but to trust Yoo Iseol who was by Baek Cheon’s side.
“Uwaaaaaaaah!”
A fiercer sword energy than usual erupted from Jo-Gol’s sword like a thunderbolt, as if trying to draw all the surrounding elders to himself.
Baek Cheon bit his lower lip as he glanced at the surging sword energy. At that moment, he heard Yoo Iseol’s short words.
"Fall back."
"No."
Baek Cheon shook his head in refusal.
“I just let my guard down for a moment.”
“Stubborn.”
"Unnecessary."
Baek Cheon grabbed his sword and took a confident step forward.
Yoo ISeol also kept her mouth shut as if decided no longer try to stop him. Instead, she simply positioned herself half a step to his side.
Baek Cheon let out a bitter smile.
‘I’m being a burden.’
He knew well how Yoo Iseol fought. In the first place, she wasn’t the type to hold her ground and defend. Her way was to strike before the opponent noticed, throwing them into chaos and cutting them down with minimal movement.
Yet here she was, standing firm in an uncharacteristic manner and blocking enemies. It was obvious, even without words. She intended to help Baekcheon.
Wooooong.
Baek Cheon forcefully pushed the internal strength swirling inside his body into his sword.
“I’m telling you! I just let my guard down!”
Hwaaaaaa!
Red flower petals erupted in streams from the tip of his sword.
Today, the red plum blossoms bloomed more vividly and brilliantly than ever as if they might scatter at any moment.
“Woooooo!”
And in response, a golden light erupted from behind Baek Cheon’s back like a ray of sunshine.
"D- Danger!"
"Dodge!"
Kwaaaaang!
The golden force shattered the great hall wall into pieces. With an impact of this magnitude, it would be impossible to hide the fact that a battle was taking place here.
“This damn bastard!”
The elders, realizing this, glared at Baek Cheon with killing intent. Baek Cheon gave a short laugh.
"They say the poor have nothing to lose so they fight without shame, but looking at you elders, it seems that’s not entirely true.”
“What did you say?”
Strangely, he kept finding himself laughing.
The situation was still dire.
They were all barely holding on, only waiting for Chung Myung to quickly take care of Lone Tiger Divine Beggar.
But strangely enough, Baek Cheon felt calm and even light. Unlike those who, despite their overwhelming advantage, seemed utterly lost on what to do.
'I don't know.'
Was this feeling due to his conviction in the path he walked? Or was it…?
He turned his gaze slightly and saw Chung Myung rampaging like a ghost.
"...Let’s just say it’s the former."
Muttering quietly, Baek Cheon smiled and once again infused internal strength into his sword.
“Push them harder!”
"Yes!"
Baek Cheon bit down hard on his lip, firming his resolve as he thrust his sword forward.
Kaang!
The sword, deflecting the incoming staff in a single motion, cut through the air like a snake and sliced into the arm that held the staff. In an instant, the red snake (적사(赤蛇)) bit the wrist and elbow, and as if unsatisfied, it moved forward and bit the shoulder.
“Guh!”
The face of Beggar Union elder, whose arm had been mangled in a split second, twisted in agony. But he had no time to dwell on the pain. Now the snake is bearing its venomous fangs toward his face.
"Heok!"
The elder, letting out a gasp, hastily lowered his body and rolled on the floor.
Lazy Donkey Roll (나려타곤(懶驢打滾)). It was a movement technique that martial artists felt the most shame in using, but he felt no shame.
Kwang!
Unfortunately, Chung Myung didn’t care about situation either. As the elder rolled on the floor, Chung Myung followed like a streak of lightning and delivered a kick straight into the elder’s chest.
The elder coughed up blood as he was sent crashing through the hall’s wall. A cloud of dust billowed from the shattered wall.
Having cleanly disposed of one elder, Chung Myung vanished from the spot as abruptly as he had appeared.
Kwaang! Kwaang!
The moment he disappeared, three heavy staffs smashed into the ground where he had stood. The attacks were so fiercethat they nearly shattered the great hall floor. Had he failed to dodge in time, his body would have been crushed to pieces.
"Damn it!"
The attackers who had only struck empty ground scrambled to their feet in panic. What greeted them in that moment wasn't Chung Myung. It was dozens of sword energies flying precisely toward them.
They instinctively twisted their bodies to dodge. The long, stretching red sword energy grazed past their contorted faces by a hair's breadth.
That was close. The hairs on their necks stood up realizing their throats would have been pierced had they been slightly slower. Just as relief mixed with dread washed over them, the elders' eyes bulged.
'What…!'
The sword energy that had barely grazed their faces suddenly seemed to swell, and then it burst in all directions, creating countless flower petals. It was as if a bomb had detonated right in front of them, scattering shrapnel everywhere.
If they had the skill to properly react to such a terrifying situation, they wouldn’t still be stuck with the mere title of elder of Beggar Union.
"Uwaaaaaaaaargh!"
The scattered petals tore through the elders’ bodies. Their whole bodies were instantly covered in wounds, and they collapsed to the floor with a short spasm.
Kagak.
The tip of Chung Myung's lowered sword scraped the floor. Catching his labored breath, Chung Myung turned toward Lone Tiger Divine Beggar with eyes sharp as a blade.
'They're more endless than I thought.'
The world overflowed with beggars, and Beggar Union disciples were equally numerous. But even he hadn’t expected that there would be this many elders.
The martial skill of each individual elder was only a level higher than a first-class disciple of a prestigious sect, but the problem was that there were enough of them to fill this large hall, even with just half their number.
Yet Chung Myung's burden was nothing compared to Lone Tiger Divine Beggar's shock. Lone Tiger Divine Beggar looked back and forth between Chung Myung and the unconscious elders of the Beggar Union scattered about as if he had lost his soul.
Chung Myung was still perfectly fine, yet the elders of Beggar Union were, if one exaggerated slightly, practically piled up on the great hall's floor.
"What in the..."
His hands trembled unconsciously.
There existed an indescribable gap between ‘knowing’ and ‘experiencing’ Chung Myung's martial prowess.
Chung Myung was strong. But Lone Tiger Divine Beggar was strong too.
So he had believed that no matter how powerful Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword was, he could at least put up a fight. He had even thought it might not be impossible for him, Lone Tiger Divine Beggar, to be victorious.
But the existence of Chung Myung he saw before him today turned everything he thought he 'knew' into an illusion.
Just as Chung Myung had said.
He had been nothing but a dog strutting about, thinking himself king among mutts. Before the tigers fighting for territory across vast plains with their lives at stake, he was neither more nor less than mere amusement.
"Planning to keep hiding like that?"
Lone Tiger Divine Beggar flinched at Chung Myung's cold question.
There was no sense of superiority in Chung Myung’s eyes. It wasn't because he was wary of Lone Tiger Divine Beggar. From the beginning, that man didn't even see him as an enemy.
Realizing this, Lone Tiger Divine Beggar bit his lip hard.
He couldn’t fight. He didn’t have the courage to fight someone like that. No, from the start, that wouldn’t have been courage but recklessness.
‘Yes. I am a dog.’
A dog who has no courage to fight alone. But that doesn’t mean he has lost.
“You look anxious?”
A dog has a dog's way of fighting. Even a great tiger can be cornered and bitten to death by a pack of dogs.
Lone Tiger Divine Beggar calmly assessed the state of the battle.
Mount Hua bastards were fighting as hard as they could, but that was all. They could never win.
“Your goal must be to kill me before they fall?"
“....”
“I have no intention of getting caught up in your scheme because of some worthless pride. I will not cross swords with you before all the other elders are dead.”
Chung Myung chuckled at those words.
"So you're saying as long as you survive as the sect leader, it doesn't matter if all the elders die? You’re an even more disgusting human than I thought.”
“No, that won’t happen.”
"...What?"
“I certainly did not expect Mount Hua to appear here. However… I did keep in mind that the leader might resist with his followers.”
Chung Myung’s eyes narrowed for a moment.
“Did you think this was all the cards I had to play? Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword?”
A triumphant smile spread across Lone Tiger Divine Beggar's lips.
“You have underestimated me too much. That’s your downfall.”
* * *
Kwaaaaang!
The wall of Beggar Union’s great hall exploded, and a tremendous blast shook the whole of Beggar Union.
“…Are you just going to keep watching like this?”
Someone asked. The elders, who had come out from the great hall and were blankly watching, all turned to look at one person.
Ugly-Faced Beggar. The man who had briefly stood against Lone Tiger Divine Beggar.
"...Then what do you suggest we do?"
"We have to do something..."
"Should we help outsiders kill our own sect’s elder? Or assist the elders in killing outsiders and make Beggar Union commit unforgivable sins?"
"That's..."
Ugly-Faced Beggar shook his head.
"I can't make that choice. I..."
“But Elder. If this continues, the result is clear as day. No matter how great those five of Mount Hua are, they cannot defeat that many elders. Then we will lose the only one who can deal with Paegun, Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword Chung Myung.”
“....”
"Wouldn't that be the greater sin? That!"
Ugly-Faced Beggar closed his eyes tightly.
He knew. Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword Chung Myung must never die here. If he were to die, Beggar Union would be committing an unforgivable sin against Kangho.
But even so, how can he fight against fellow elders of the same sect?
Cornered with no options, a different person came to mind.
‘If it were Ciwu Beggar…’
No, that's a meaningless thought. Ciwu Beggar wasn't here. No amount of thinking would provide an answer.
“Let us watch.”
"Yes?"
"If heaven is watching, the outcome will give us our answer. Haven’t Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword Chung Myung and Mount Hua’s Five Swords accomplished what everyone thought was impossible again and again?”
"That may be true, but..."
“If the situation gets truly dangerous, they should at least be able to get themselves out. No, we must hope they can.”
It was just then that Ugly-Faced Beggar was about to let out a helpless sigh.
“E- Elder! Elder!”
Hearing the urgent voice, Ugly-Faced Beggar frowned and turned his gaze. A beggar with a pale face was stomping his feet, glancing back and forth between him and the entrance of the great hall.
“To the great hall! We must report to the great hall at once!”
"...We can't enter the great hall now. What's happened?"
"The city gates, right now at the city gates...!”
“The gate? What happened at the gate? Speak calmly!”
At Ugly-Faced Beggar's shout, the beggar swallowed hard, composed himself, and cried out.
“Shaolin! Shaolin has come!"
In that moment, Ugly-Faced Beggar's eyes flashed with shock.
|Note
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