Chapter 1601

Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1601. I can't even laugh (6)

Editor: Hoamz

Co-Translator: Xoxo

“Ryeonju-nim.”

Ho Gamyeong cautiously offered a liquor bottle to Jang Ilso.

Jang Ilso chuckled softly and accepted the bottle. He was mounted on the horse that Ho Gamyeong had somehow procured.

"This is why I can't do anything about you."

"Then for my own safety, I should procure even precious liquor."

“Enough. There’s nothing you won’t say.”

Jang Ilso glanced back.

They were already a good distance from the battlefield. He could afford to enjoy this much luxury. He slowly brought the liquor bottle to his mouth.

Ho Gamyeong, who had been watching with subdued eyes, opened his mouth.

"My congratulations."

“Congratulations?”

"This victory will be remembered for ages."

It wasn't mere flattery. This great battle would surely be recorded in the history of Kangho. As the first victory where Evil Sects dealt a devastating blow to Righteous Sects.

The name Jang Ilso would be recorded as the one who ended the reign of Ten Great Sects and established the era of Evil Sects. Whether that became a history of glory or of disgrace.

“No need to make a fuss.”

But the man himself, Jang Ilso, spoke indifferently.

"It's always been what I do. This time the scale was just a bit larger. I didn't do anything particularly great. It's not that I'm outstanding, but that those bastards were morons."

Jang Ilso was always like this.

“But this victory was not simply about making a fool of morons, was it? Even he was helpless, wasn't he?"

“Who? Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword?”

"Yes."

After a moment of silence, Jang Ilso chuckled.

“Gamyeong-ah.”

"Yes."

"Do you think I'm superior to him?"

“Of course.”

“I appreciate the sentiment.”

Ho Gamyeong glanced at Jang Ilso, who was drinking the liquor.

“Do you not think so, Ryeonju-nim?”

“Well, there may be ways in which I’m better.”

His wounded finger wiped away the liquor trickling down his chin.

"And shades where I'm not. But what decided this war wasn't some trivial matter like 'who is the superior.'"

"...Then what..."

"Too many."

Jang Ilso laughed as if amused.

"Anhui, Hubei, even Hainan. No, no. Perhaps he might even think he should do something about Gangnam."

Ho Gamyeong nodded. Jang Ilso slowly turned the liquor bottle.

"I have nothing to protect, but he must protect the entire world. Unless he has ten bodies, he can't be active everywhere. So this was an unfair bet from the start."

Ho Gamyeong's face hardened. As he listened to the story, something came to mind.

"Do you know, Gamyeong-ah?"

“....”

“That man has never lost where he himself is present. He's always won. The Yangtze? If not for him, we would always have achieved much more."

"Certainly..."

Though he didn't want to, he had to admit it. Because Ho Gamyeong himself was a victim of that ‘active’ role.

“So conversely, the way to deal with him is simple. Just make him protect. This vast world, all of it."

The corners of Jang Ilso's mouth curled up.

“If you try to grasp so many things with just one pair of hands.”

Kwang.

The liquor bottle held in Jang Ilso's hand shattered and flew away. The transparent liquor streamed down from his tightly clenched fist.

"Sooner or later, things are bound to slip through those grasps."

“....”

"I merely gave him a choice. Whether to protect Anhui, or to protect Ten Great Sects. Whether to protect Shaolin, or..."

The corner of Jang Ilso’s mouth twisted into a strange curl.

"Whether to protect Mount Hua he holds so dear?”

“....”

“Of course, it’s not as if he knows all those choices when he makes one. Hahahahat!”

It was terribly complex. An ordinary person could watch what’s happening and still find it hard to understand.

But Jang Ilso reduced it all to the simplest terms.

The key was how to draw out Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword.

And how to fight in a place where his influence did not reach.

‘Perhaps…’

A chill ran down Ho Gamyeong's spine for a moment.

"May I... dare to ask one thing?"

“I’ve told you there’s no need for such formalities, yet you keep adding them. Ask as much as you like.”

“Ryeonju-nim....”

Ho Gamyeong hesitated for a moment. Perhaps even asking the question was disrespectful.

Still, after much hesitation, he finally opened his mouth. He couldn't help but ask.

"...Did you anticipate that the Murong and Jaegal Family, and Heavenly Comrade Alliance would arrive there soon?"

“Hm?”

Jang Ilso's eyes curved gently. Pleasantness resided in his bright pupils.

“What do you think?”

Ho Gamyeong was silent. He couldn't dare answer.

“To be honest....”

Jang Ilso let out a strange smile.

“I had no idea.”

Ho Gamyeong’s mouth fell open.

As if he hadn't said anything particularly remarkable, Jang Ilso continued nonchalantly.

“Of course, I thought they would come, but it’s difficult to know the timing exactly, isn't it? Even for me.”

“Th- Then how come?”

"Why did I withdraw?"

Ho Gamyeong committed the disrespect of nodding his head in silence.

“Well… why indeed?”

Jang Ilso did not give a clear-cut answer. But he felt he understood.

There was no need to predict. No need to think about it. Because it was already decided. He wouldn't fight where that person was.

Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword will do the thinking. He will make the judgment. That there was a possibility to win, that he could reverse this situation.

Conversely, if they simply didn't respond to battles he initiated, Evil Tyrant Alliance at least wouldn't lose.

'Is this even possible?'

Ho Gamyeong couldn't understand, as if he had run into a wall.

Doesn't this entire operation, its very structure, have to be based on an absolute trust in the opponent…?

Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword who rushed from Anhui to here in one breath, believing that Jang Ilso would surely win against Ten Great Sects.

And Jang Ilso, the moment he saw such a Chivalrous Sword, turned his body without a shred of hesitation despite leading such a large army.

'Both....'

Both are out of their minds.

He dared not put it into words, but that was the only way to describe this situation.

That the two people who hated each other most in the world were, conversely, trusting each other most perfectly. It was a paradox that even the word ‘tragedy’ couldn't express.

Ho Gamyeong firmly pressed down something that was creeping up from inside. Then, to avoid revealing this inexplicable emotion, he changed the subject.

"Then... where do you think he chose this time?"

“Shaolin.”

“...Isn’t Mount Hua more important to him?”

"Of course. But this time, he can't compare both at once. A choice already made once can't be taken back."

“....”

"It's a shame I couldn't see it with my own eyes."

Jang Ilso licked the liquor from his hand.

"The face of that bastard struggling because of a choice he made without even knowing it. That would be amusement never to come again."

The quickly fading aroma of the liquor lingered in his mouth along with the reek of blood. He sneered faintly.

This move can’t be used again. Righteous Sects would now eventually be reorganized under the name of Heavenly Comrade Alliance.

But....

"Do enjoy my final gift pleasantly. I prepared it quite carefully."

A bluish sinister aura surged across Jang Ilso's face.

❀ ❀ ❀

Tadadadadada!

Over a hundred horses gallop across the wilderness. Long robes of a strange blend and mix of red and white fluttered in the wind.

Fierce momentum flowed from the eyes of those urging their horses.

“Hurry!”

The time Jang Ilso had commanded was drawing near.

To avoid Beggar Union’s eyes, they had ridden for a long time across the great plains along the mountain range toward Tibet, and at last they arrived here.

Now it was just a short distance to their target, Huayin. The one at the forefront licked his lips.

'Mount Hua....'

What a truly hateful name. The thought that he, of all people, would be the one to bring that name down made his hair stand on end with excitement.

If everything went according to plan, Huayin where Mount Hua was, would now be a no-man’s-land in the truest sense.

“The moment we arrive, kill them all and set fire. So that those bastards can wail when they see the sight.”

"Yes!"

The leading Red Hounds at the front kicked his horse's flank.

'Faster!'

Even though there was still time, his heart kept burning with impatience.

Because he knew that even being slightly late would mean they couldn't achieve their goal.

Before that accursed Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword arrived, everything living in Huayin had to be erased. Let him lose everything, even himself, and run wild as a vengeful spirit.

'More!'

Just as he was about to urge his horse on again.

“Chief! Ahead!”

"Hm?"

The man of Red Hounds frowned.

The path from the great plains to Shaanxi was literally nothing but wasteland. Vast wasteland with nothing to block one's view.

And yet, on that desolate land where there should be no trace of a person, there was something.

'A person?'

The blood-colored cloak of the one walking across the wasteland was so tattered it flapped raggedly in the wind. In fact, it was something closer to a rag than a blood-colored cloak.

Even the feet revealed beneath the cloak weren't even wearing shoes.

If one were to walk this wilderness in a state worse than a beggar…

‘A madman?’

No one in their right mind would cross this land in such attire.

“What should we do?”

“That’s obvious.”

Clang.

A gleaming blue dao was drawn from its sheath.

There was no need to leave witnesses. Just in case, everyone who saw them had to be killed.

'Think of it as bad luck.'

Taat!

He kicked the horse's flank. The fine steed charged toward the man. In an instant, the man of Red Hounds closed the distance and brought his blade down at the man’s back.

❀ ❀ ❀

“Do- Dojang?”

At the sight of Chung Myung suddenly bursting onto Huayin's main road, Hwang Jongwi was startled.

"Huff! Huff! Huff!"

The sight of Chung Myung gasping for breath as if he were about to collapse was unfamiliar. Chung Myung frantically looked left and right without a moment to catch his breath. His eyes were trembling terribly.

While Hwang Jonwi was flustered, Un Am approached Chung Myung without hesitation.

"What happened? Did you come alone?"

Chung Myung seemed not to even hear the words, busy just blankly looking around his surroundings.

Only after quite some time had passed like that did Chung Myung's mouth open.

“…The enemy?”

"Enemy?"

Un Am frowned.

"What enemy? Isn't Evil Tyrant Alliance in Hubei?"

“....”

“Grand Sect Leader has led the alliance disciples to Hubei. Did you not receive the message?”

A flicker of concern flashed across Un Am's face. Chung Myung stared blankly at that face. The tips of his fingers were trembling.

'What’s... this?'

Chung Myung arrived first? No, that can't be. Those bastards wouldn't be so sloppy.

Then did they not target Shaanxi in the first place? No. That too was impossible.

Just as Jang Ilso knew him, he too knew Jang Ilso. In that situation, the only place worth stealthily sending forces to target was here.

Then what was this scene? Why was Huayin still peaceful?

“Chung Myung-ah?”

Chung Myung's eyes were clouded with confusion.

“What the hell....”

Chung Myung, mouth weakly agape and unable to get his bearings, let his inner thoughts spill out like a groan.

“What… has happened?”

A sound like something cracking echoed through Chung Myung's mind.