Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1600. I can't even laugh (5)
Editor: Hoamz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
The Blood Palace Master's red eyes gleamed brightly.
But unlike the initial momentum that seemed ready to charge at any moment, his gaze had become more cautious than before.
The Blood Palace followers, perhaps because there was no order from their palace master, had also suppressed their raised momentum and returned to their corpse-like state.
"H- How did you get here...?"
Thanks to that, Hye Bang briefly regained the composure to ask them the reason.
“Don’t worry about it.”
Baek Cheon answered, his gaze still fixed on the Blood Palace Master.
“It is natural to help one another in a crisis. Besides, did Shaolin not help us once before?”
At Baek Cheon's words, Jo-Gol and Yoon Jong behind him exchanged whispers.
“It would have been different if Bangjang were here, right?”
"How could that be? Sasuk would have come to help."
“Do you really think so?”
"Just, he would have been very tired and exhausted, so he wouldn't have arrived now. At least about half a day later..."
“Good grief, everything’s over by then.”
Hearing Jo-Gol mutter 'The temple would have burned down too. Just like old Mount Hua,' Baek Cheon cleared his throat with an embarrassed face.
Those guys, every time I try to do something at the front…
Hye Bang also seemed flustered, unable to grasp what to say or how, then opened his mouth again with an, ‘Ah’.
"Then... did Heavenly Comrade Alliance predict that they would target Shaolin?"
“....”
“...Dojang?”
Instead of answering, Baek Cheon glanced slightly to the rear. Not at Hye Bang, but a bit further back. Precisely at the area around Yoon Jong's neck.
"Sahyung, he's falling off."
"Hmm. He’s sliding down more than I thought. Is there a string somewhere?”
Yoon Jong grabbed Baek-ah, who was dangling and on the verge of falling, and put him back on his neck. Baek-ah, with his mouth wide open and slumped, was so exhausted he didn't move at all even when held and jostled, sleeping like a corpse.
Baek-ah usually never wrapped himself around anyone’s neck but Chung Myung’s. Seeing him like this meant he was exhausted beyond ordinary.
Even when he was poked by Jo-Gol he despised the most, he was still no response, as if really died...
“…I should say that’s about half-right.”
"Huh?"
Hye Bang asked again, perplexed, but Baek Cheon just chuckled.
When Baek-a came running with tears streaming while they were herding the remnants of the Suro Branch to prevent them from heading toward commoners, even Baek Cheon was immensely surprised.
"He told us to go, to Shaolin."
An even deeper question crossed Hye Bang's face.
“That’s all.”
The situation was serious, yet it was absurd at the same time. That was exactly how Hye Bang felt right now.
In any case, if you were to piece together this disjointed and strange conversation, didn't it mean that they had led this many people and rushed here like the wind after receiving just one note from that mystical beast telling them to go to Shaolin?
Without even knowing the proper circumstances.
'Is that even possible?'
It was something unimaginable in Shaolin, which had split in half because even Bop Jeong's orders weren't properly followed.
“D- Did Maengju-nim command it?”
Baek Cheon sighed deeply enough to sink the ground.
"Then at least I wouldn't be angry."
In response to that, Hye Bang naturally recalled a person's face.
'Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword.'
In the end, it meant that he had predicted this situation.
'How on earth?'
No one in the world knew. Not even Beggar Union, which supposedly swallowed all information in the world, and even the attacked Shaolin hadn't anticipated it until the very end.
But how could Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword know this? It was not like his eyes were hung in the sky.
“That....”
Just as the confused Hye Bang was about to add something, Baek Cheon slightly raised a hand to stop him.
Of course, Baek Cheon fully understood Hye Bang’s dumbfounded heart. Even Mount Hua people who had grown accustomed to that guy Chung Myung were often dumbfounded, so it would be difficult for Hye Bang, who was essentially experiencing him for the first time, to understand.
However.
"You must have many questions, but this isn't the right time for conversation."
Hye Bang too regained his senses and hardened his face at Baek Cheon's sudden change of atmosphere. He then glared sharply at the intruder Blood Palace Master.
Baek Cheon said.
“Let’s talk about the details… after we’ve dealt with these bastards.”
Hye Bang nodded.
Even during the two men's brief conversation, the Blood Palace Master had been quietly watching Baek Cheon and his group without any particular reaction.
He finally opened his mouth again.
"It seems... not as many came as expected."
From what he could assess, the forces of Mount Hua and Namgung weren't just this much. All that had arrived here were just these few. It was nothing more than a very small part.
"Aah."
Baek Cheon chuckled at the word.
“We prioritize efficiency. I only brought as many as needed.”
Truthfully, it was closer to not being able to gather everyone scattered around dealing with the water fortress remnants, but there was no need to tell the enemy that.
The Blood Palace Master glared at Baek Cheon silently.
Baek Cheon's insides began to get soaked with tension.
As the Blood Palace Master had said, the number Baek Cheon had brought wasn’t that large. Moreover, they were utterly exhausted from fighting and rushing here in one breath.
If they clashed as they were, even fighting alongside Shaolin, it would be difficult to guarantee the outcome.
Even if they were to win… they would have to be prepared for enormous damage.
'If only my condition were a bit better...'
Baek Cheon forcefully suppressed his weakening heart. Just as he was trying to steel his resolve, the Blood Palace Master muttered quietly.
"Shaolin, Mount Hua... and Namgung."
A crimson blood-light overflowed.
"If I sweep them all away like this... Perhaps our palace alone would achieve results surpassing Hubei."
The mouth swathed in bandages twitched. Baek Cheon clenched his sword hand tight.
But then.
"But this is different from what I was told."
The Blood Palace Master turned around. Without a single trace of hesitation.
"We're withdrawing."
As soon as those low words mixed with metallic sounds fell, all the Blood Palace members who had entered Shaolin immediately turned around.
“...Huh?”
The one flustered by that absurd scene was actually Baek Cheon.
“What....”
“Are you going to stop us?”
The Blood Palace Master turned his gaze to Baek Cheon and asked.
“....”
Baek Cheon's answer was naturally ‘no’. It was best not to fight them now. As time passes, more of Evil Tyrant Alliance will join, and the enemy will become far more advantageous.
“…How clean-cut.”
The Blood Palace Master let out a cynical sneer.
"It's basic to renegotiate a contract when conditions change. Let's just say we fled. We're used to infamy anyway."
The Blood Palace Master was just about to turn his body.
Baek Cheon stopped him with a cold voice.
"However."
“...Hm?”
"If you're going to withdraw, it would be best to withdraw cleanly. If you touch the commoners, I will chase you to the ends of hell and take your head.”
The Blood Palace Master stared at Baek Cheon with indifferent eyes devoid of any emotion. A deep silence fell between them.
"I'll keep that in mind."
The Blood Palace Master spoke sharply and turned around.
"Was it Baek Cheon? Let's meet again, young swordsman of Mount Hua. If you're still alive by then."
The Blood Palace Master exited through Shaolin's north gate, and following him, the Blood Palace members followed like living corpses.
Cold sweat belatedly ran down Baek Cheon's forehead.
'Blood Palace....'
Though young, Baek Cheon's experience was by no means small.
But those called the Blood Palace, especially the Blood Palace Master, felt distinctly different from any Evil Secs he had faced so far.
‘They’re different from Magyo too… I don’t know what to call this feeling.’
If Magyo cultist disgusts people with blind fanaticism, they were cold and eerie in a different way.
“Are we just letting them go like this, Sasu?”
"Yes."
Baek Cheon nodded heavily and added a word.
"For now."
"Even after coming all this way?"
Jo-Gol tilted his head with a slightly odd expression. Then Yoon Jong jabbed instead of Baek Cheon.
“We are people who protect, Gol-ah. If we can protect without fighting, it’s a good thing.”
“Of course, I know that, but…”
Jo-Gol stared at the Blood Palace leaving Shaolin with a thoroughly displeased expression.
"...It's because I don't want to face them in a different situation. I think it would be even worse then."
This time, even Yoon-Jong didn't retort. Because he agreed with those words.
Just facing them briefly made him feel an indescribable discomfort. It probably wasn't simply because of their appearance but because of the aura they gave off.
'Heretical cult...'
Yoon Jong's heart sank heavily.
---
Step. Step.
The Blood Palace Master, who was slowly descending Mount Song, turned his head and looked up at Shaolin.
“...Gyoju-nim. Alliance Leader won't just let this pass."
“I suppose not…”
Jang Ilso. He was a man whose inner thoughts were impossible to know, but it was not difficult to guess what he wanted. For him, the best outcome would be the Blood Palace and Shaolin mutually inflicting annihilation on each other here.
"But that's all. Even he can't antagonize us right now."
"Do you trust him?"
The Blood Palace Master's eyes grew even colder.
“The word ‘trust’ does not suit the faithless people of Jungwon.”
With those words, he resumed his steps down the mountain.
It had become a wasted trip from Zhangjiajie to here, but... in any case, there was nothing particularly bad for them or for Evil Tyrant Alliance.
Because from the beginning, they...
❀ ❀ ❀
“No?”
At the question tinged with bewilderment, Chung Myung bit his lip.
“Wha- What do you mean, Chung Myung? You're saying what they're targeting isn't Shaolin?"
Chung Myung's gaze turned toward the desolate battlefield.
Yoo Iseol's words are accurate. The enemy's casualties were greater than expected.
Bait? Defeat?
From the bodies strewn about alone, one could infer the strategies Jang Ilso used here, but that alone doesn’t explain everything.
Jang Ilso might be one thing, but would the martial artists of Myriad Man Manor or Black Ghost Fortress so readily offer their necks just to complete a strategy?
That means.
"What gathered here wasn't all of Myriad Man Manor's forces to begin with."
“...What?”
It wasn't difficult.
They had been encamped for a long time in Zhangjiajie, where the eyes of Beggar Union did not reach. Yes. Longer than necessary.
Moving a large force all at once naturally draws attention. But secretly diverting them bit by bit over time isn't that hard.
Especially considering the mobility of martial artists.
“Why on earth would you take such a risk?”
“…That’s not it. Sect Lea… Grand Sect Leader.”
“Hm?”
"What's important isn't why they diverted their forces, but where the diverted forces went."
Tang Gun-ak immediately understood what Chung Myung's words meant and clenched his fists.
'In any case, the troops that could be withdrawn couldn't have exceeded thirty percent.'
Then they would have selected only the elites. A small, elite group that had been stealthily pulled out. What on earth could they do?
Let’s think.
What if Jang Ilso predicted everything that would happen here from start to finish? If he had forces to spare even after fulfilling that plan, where would he send them?
“Mo....”
Kwang!
Chung Myung stamped the ground.
“Chu- Chung Myung! Chung Myung!”
Hyun Jong called out desperately, but without a single word, he began sprinting northward.
'No!'
Chung Myung's lips were crushed until they bled.
From far behind him, he could hear the sound of Tang Gun-ak shouting that they had to go to Huayin.
‘Please!’
Chung Myung's body, having become a single streak of light, tore through the world as he advanced.
Toward the land he had left, toward Mount Hua.
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