Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1551. Well, which one? (1)
Editor: Hoamz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
"Aaaahhh!"
A desperate scream erupted.
A merciless blade violently split the back of a man shielding his wife, and then plunged into the shoulder of the woman clutching her child.
“Kill them!”
This horrific scene might have even exceeded the calculations of the one who orchestrated it all. It was so full of uncontrollable madness.
Evil Sects. Those who do not hesitate to covet what belongs to others, feel no shame in unjust acts, and naturally regard what belongs to the weak as their own.
There was no other special reason for choosing the path of Evil (사(邪)). Doesn't a path of Righteousness exist anywhere, at any time?
The reason these people surrendered themselves to the name of ‘Evil’ was because they refused to govern the desires that all humans possess.
That was why incidents like this were commonplace. They're people who become sectarians in order to avoid being suppressed.
Ironically, in the past few years they had been forced to restrain themselves because they were Evil Sects.
Because of Jang Ilso and his oppression.
The one who literally tore apart the Black Dragon King who had completely ruled a region, and trampled on the fearsome Ten Great Sects.
The terror he instilled reached even Righteous Sects, but it was nothing compared to what those in the Evil Sect endured.
“Heuhahahahahat! They run well!”
To survive under Jang Ilso, they had to endure and hold their breath. They couldn't even lift a finger against these insignificant flies they could crush at will.
For those who had easily plundered and trampled others while enjoying debauchery, the past few years had been like hell.
But now, that violent nature repressed and suppressed again and again, finally exploded here in Gangbuk where no one’s gaze restrained them.
"Aaaahhh!"
Another man screamed as a blade was rammed into his back while fleeing. The attacker, eyes bloodshot, looked around and shouted.
"Here! Here’s grain."
Some bastards were ransacking the village granary, while others swung their swords while gripping the hair of wailing women.
Watching it all, a crooked smile curled on Jong Hyo’s lips.
The fires spreading everywhere were ecstatic. Like the glory of the past. No, perhaps even more spectacular.
"...Hyung-nim. Isn't this going too far?"
A subordinate cautiously approached and asked. Jong Hyo's head tilted slightly in displeasure.
It was something they used to do as often as eating; had a few years of restraint made his subordinate soft?
"We've come quite far up from the Yangtze River, but this is still Hubei, so if Ten Great Sects bastards come..."
“You idiot!”
Jong Hyo erupted in fierce anger.
"If Ten Great Sects bastards were going to come, they would have come already! Does it make any sense for them to let us come all the way here and then show up late?”
“Th- That’s true, but still.”
“The high and mighty don’t give a damn about the likes of us! Stop wasting time and finish what you were doing."
"Still...."
“This bastard, still!”
Jong Hyo kicked the chest of the subordinate who kept talking back.
Groaning faintly, the subordinate looked up at Jong Hyo in fear.
"All you have is cowardice! If those Righteous Sects hypocrites truly cared about others as much as they claim, would the world be divided like this? They would have gathered all their strength and had it out with Evil Tyrant Alliance long ago!"
“....”
“So stop your whining and just do as you’re told!”
“Yes! Yes, Hyung-nim!”
The subordinate ran off in a hurry. Jong Hyo clicked his tongue as he watched his back.
“Tsk.”
Of course, he lived like this on purpose because he knew that the higher the position, the more tedious the responsibilities, but those guys were different. They're so stupid that they'll end up being nothing more than petty thugs their entire lives.
He cut off his attention from his subordinate and looked at the burning village and those fallen bleeding everywhere.
Chivalrousness? If something like that really existed in this world, would he still be alive? The very fact that he was alive was proof that there was no such thing as Chivalrousness.
Of course, the King of Hell in the afterlife might not forgive him, but at least in this world, there would be no one who would come seeking to punish him.
Just then, the back of a child, running away as if they would fall over at any moment, caught his eye in the distance. A maniacal laugh escaped him.
“Haha.”
Squeeze.
Strength entered Jong Hyo’s hand as he gripped his broadsword.
He stomped so hard the ground sank in, then thrust forward the hand he had drawn tight behind him in one explosive motion.
Whiiiiiiiiiiii!
The broadsword spun with terrifying speed as it shot toward the child's back, threatening to tear the small emaciated body to shreds.
Just as the sword was about to reach the child, Jong Hyo’s adam’s apple convulsed greatly.
n that instant, the child, sensing the ominous foreboding, looks back. A momentary despair fills their small two eyes. It is a sight that cannot be seen except in this fleeting moment.
A chilling thrill ran down Jong Hyo's back.
Kaaaaaaang!
But the sight he had been waiting for was suddenly shattered.
The broadsword he had thrown. While a hundred geun might be an exaggeration, the iron broad sword that was surely over thirty geun literally exploded into pieces and scattered.
(100 geun = ~60 kg.)
Jong Hyo's eyes bulged.
He couldn't believe his eyes. What on earth had to happen for that heavy blade to shatter into pieces like a fragile piece of pottery?
“What…”
Soon after, someone’s beast-like roar seized Jong Hyo and slammed him back into reality.
“You dog-like bastard!”
Where the fleeing child had been, a man was suddenly there.
It was a sturdy young man with curly hair dressed in black martial robes. His eyes churned with vicious killing intent and rage. In one of the man’s arms was the exhausted child.
'When...?'
He definitely hadn't felt a presence, so how did he suddenly appear and block his sword?
But he wasn't given time to think.
"Aaaaaaahhh!"
"Keuaaaaaaahhh!"
Screams erupted from all sides at the same time.
He knew without turning his head. These weren’t the sound of the commoners.
Sure enough, when he looked around, his subordinates were being slaughtered without resistance by figures who had appeared out of nowhere.
“Damn fucking bastards!”
“Is this something you do wearing human skin!”
The martial artists swinging their swords without any mercy had plum blossom emblems engraved on their chests.
The moment that pattern caught his eye, Jong Hyo’s feet moved before his head did.
'Run....'
But there was something faster than his feet.
Puuuk!
Jong Hyo gasped in a breath. The hand he had instinctively raised was already skewered by a sword.
Excruciating pain surged, but at least his reflexes had kept his skull from being pierced.
But soon he realized that this wasn't the better outcome.
"Ghk...."
Because the sword that had pierced his right hand immediately pushed toward his face.
“Heuk!”
Jong Hyo hastily used his unharmed left hand to grab the sword’s blade.
Puuk!
The sword wrapped in chilling sword energy mercilessly cut through his left hand and pushed toward his face.
“Eu- Eugh!”
Jong Hyo, staggering backward step by step, collapsed with the sword still skewering him.
The sword tip now hovered right before his eyes. Now fear plastered his face.
If someone had seen this scene from afar, they might have thought it was a criminal with both hands bound by rope receiving execution.
“Spa- Spar....”
"...I."
Then, a voice younger and calmer than expected brushed past Jong Hyo's ears. Only then did he properly see the face of the one pointing the sword at him.
It was not the curly-haired swordsman from before.
It was a man with slender eyes, wearing a small crown atop his neatly arranged hair.
The typical appearance of a young Taoist, but his gaze was so cold that one couldn't think of him as a Taoist at all.
“I never liked the way of someone who kills people cruelly.”
‘What, what is he saying….’
"Those who commit crimes must be punished, of course, but I thought that if the punishment is too cruel, it is nothing more than the venting of those with power.”
Doubt crossed Jong Hyo's face, distorted by fear and pain. He couldn't understand what was being said at all.
“But… once I stood in the position of giving punishment, I began to wonder. Could a mere death alone really pay for all the sins you committed? A human life amounts to only one, and yet the number of lives you’ve taken surely far surpasses that many times over.”
The sword that had stopped for a moment began to move again slowly.
“Hi- Hiik!”
Jong Hyo desperately clutched the sword that pierced his hands. Terrible sounds and pain like his hands were being branded with a hot iron rushed in, but he couldn't let go of these hands.
But the young Taoist slowly moved the sword as if Jong Hyo’s desperate struggles were of no value. Excruciatingly slow, but certain.
“Sp- Spare me....”
"I know. One of Taoist's duties is to soothe the souls of those who died unjustly, not to punish the wicked. What I'm doing now clearly strays from the duties of a Taoist.”
The young Taoist’s eyes were certainly directed at Jong Hyo, but somehow, it felt as if he were looking at something else beyond him.
Even on the verge of taking a person’s life, he was not paying attention to that fact itself.
Jong Hyo was utterly terrified of the man.
"Heu… Urgh! Aaaagh!”
Puuuk!
At last, the sword split skin and bored into his head. Blood flowed profusely, and tears streamed from Jong Hyo's eyes, which had never shown mercy.
"Spa- Spare me! Please! Please spare me..."
But the sword remained tranquil as ever, never stopping for a moment.
“Keureureurk....”
In the end, the indifferent sword that had pierced his head plunged deep into the ground.
Yoon Jong, who was staring blankly at the corpse that had convulsed briefly and then gone limp, pulled out his sword. He shook off the blood away in one swift flick as if it were filth.
“Rot here. You don’t even deserve to be buried.”
Leaving behind words colder than his gaze, Yoon Jong turned his body away from the corpse.
"Sahyung...."
Then Jo-Gol looked at him with worried eyes.
"What about these bastards?"
"We subdued them all just now. Over there..."
When he looked in the direction Jo-Gol had pointed to, he saw his sahyungs approaching, dragging the surrendered bastards.
Yoon Jong's eyes twitched.
“What are you doing?”
“What? We subdue them for now….”
“Are you planning to take them prisoner?”
Jo-Gol was flustered by the sharp reproach.
“N- No, but we can’t just kill those who aren’t resisting, can we?”
Yoon Jong wordlessly glared at the bound captives. His expression clearly showed displeasure.
“While we delay like this, another person dies. While we show mercy to scum like them.”
“Sa- Sahyung.”
Yoon Jong, gripping his sword, strode toward them.
Sensing something ominous, Jo-Gol hurriedly followed him, but….
"Sahyung!"
Paaaaat!
Yoon Jong's sword already cut through the air. And in one stroke, it shattered the dantians of Evil Sects being dragged over and severed their arm and leg tendons.
The four sahyungs who had been holding Evil Sects flinched for a moment. And even Jo-Gol came to a stop.
“Keuaaaaaaaack!”
Unable to endure the pain, the Evil Sects thugs foamed blood from their mouths and fainted. When they opened their eyes, a life where death would be preferable would unfold before them.
Bewilderment crossed Jo-Gol's face. Of course, it was fortunate he hadn't beheaded them as feared, but still, this was…
"Gag them."
“Sa- Sahyung?”
“If we’re not going to kill them, make it so they can’t wag their tongues. It's for the survivors to deal with them."
The second-class disciples quietly nodded their heads.
If they had time, they would finish these men off cleanly and move on, but they didn't have that luxury now. They had only come here because they had happened to discover this place on their way to their destination.
So it could be seen as a rational and clean command.
It was just… that the one who had given the order was none other than Yoon Jong that weighed on their mind.
“Sahyung. But….”
"Stop."
Yoon Jong cut Jo-Gol’s words short. He then stared blankly at the child in Jo-Gol's arms for a moment.
Soon he turned away coldly.
“Wrap this up within a quarter of an hour. We move out immediately.”
“B- But, then the time to care for the injured…”
“Just give first aid. Those who will live will live."
“No! What’s that…?”
"Is it alright for others to die?"
At Yoon Jong's cold words, Jo-Gol was instantly speechless.
“....”
“Clean it up.”
"...Yes."
Yoon Jong walked away. A sigh escaped Jo-Gol’s lips as he stared at his back.
'Sahyung.'
Rational and swift. There was no room for disagreement.
But why? All these methods so strongly resemble the very person Yoon Jong despises most.
Even... that retreating back itself.
Jo-Gol's eyes watching Yoon Jong's back wavered uneasily.
|Note
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