Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1684. That's None of My Business! (4)
Editor: Hoamz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
Kuuung!
A straight punch struck squarely into the opponent's chest. The body of one struck by the repeatedly trained fist was flung away like a swept fallen leaf.
Tuung!
Movements that seemed to embody the word discipline with the body itself. The essence of Shaolin's Arhat Fist, a fist technique that splits the world together with Wudang's Taiji Fist said to be the extreme of softness, was displayed without reserve from Hye Yeon's fingertips.
'Amazing.'
Namgung Dowi unconsciously followed Hye Yeon’s figure with his eyes.
Though sometimes forgotten due to his overwhelming fist force (권력(拳力)), Hye Yeon was actually a master who had embodied everything of Shaolin.
The moment he leaped into the storm of flying weapons, the enemies swinging their weapons with malice were flung back twice as fast as their charging speed.
Namgung Dowi took a deep breath. For a brief moment, he had lost track of Hye Yeon’s movements.
‘I cannot lose.’
Namgung Dowi gritted his teeth and let out a battle cry.
“Haaaaaaap!”
He kicked forward and swung his sword.
No matter how great a swordsman may be, he always begins by simply swinging an iron sword.
The Iron Sword Twelve Forms (철검십이식(鐵劍十二式)), no different from the very origin of the Azure Sky Namgung Family, were unleashed at full strength from Namgung Dowi's sword tip.
Sogeok! Sogeok! Sogeok!
A practical sword technique that minimized the consumption of internal strength. The rushing enemies were cut down in an instant. There were enemies he missed here and there, but it didn't matter. Because he wasn’t alone.
“Don’t let a single one through to the rear!”
“Kill them all!”
"Retreat slowly while advancing! Very slowly!"
The hall members whose courage doubled from Hye Yeon and Namgung Dowi's exploits were blocking enemies at the rear like an iron wall with their backs to the mountain.
Encouraged by that momentum, Namgung Dowi swung his sword wide.
“What’s the distance to the vanguard now?”
"It's widened a bit, Vice Hall Leader!"
"We mustn't fall behind! Increase speed!"
"Yes!"
Namgung Dowi looked back without letting his guard down.
“With the mountain burning like that, if the formation breaks, we could be picked off one by one… Wh- What is that?"
Namgung Dowi widened his eyes before he could finish speaking.
A black path was opening through the center of the burning Mount Wudang. A single path that was all too clearly visible.
"...L- Logging? In this situation?"
No, that's...
“It’s good that the path forward is so clear.”
“H- Huh?”
Namgung Dowi flinched at Hye Yeon's calm response.
Thinking about it, it made sense. Certainly, that would eliminate any confusion for those following behind. They could follow the path, not the people. In fact, it could be considered a clever method.
But given the urgency, why bother with those trees? No... was it actually faster?
'Damn, I don't know.'
Namgung Dowi soon let out a dry chuckle. They must have their reasons. It was them, after all.
“The increased speed is good, but… If we’re not careful, the formation’s waist could be cut.”
“Then we just have to catch up faster.”
“Mmm. That is truly a correct statement, Siju.”
When Hye Yeon smiled lightly, Namgung Dowi burst into chuckles.
'Honestly, they always torment people like this.'
It couldn't possibly be easy to catch up to those running while looking only forward, all while repelling the enemies chasing from behind. And once inside the mountain, they had to watch not only the rear but also the enemies rushing in from the sides.
But Namgung Dowi didn't voice any complaints.
Because it felt like he could clearly hear the words that would come back if he voiced such things.
- Can't do it? Why? What's so hard about it? Anyway, this is why people raised in warm greenhouses, eating warm rice...!
“That’s not so wrong.”
"Yes?"
“No, nothing.”
Namgung Dowi smiled bitterly.
Difficulty was a given. There was no such thing as an easy task in this world. If something feels easy, it means one hasn't poured out all the strength they possess.
Now he knows too. That if he doesn't push himself to the end, he can never obtain the desired result.
That there was nothing more wasteful than time spent putting on airs one step behind.
If only he had known this simple fact just a bit earlier...
"They're coming, Siju!"
"Yes!"
Namgung Dowi emptied his head and firmly gripped his sword.
“Not a single one passes!”
His sword was adorned with dazzling white sword energy.
* * *
‘The battle situation?’
Baek Cheon's gaze turned busily to the rear. Enemies were tagging along the rear like a swarm of ants, but Namgung Dowi and Hye Yeon were blocking them perfectly.
He felt a solid assurance as if having two shields at his back. Moreover, those shields wouldn't be easily shaken.
Baek Cheon scanned the front again.
"Try and stop me if you want to die, you bastards!"
His frivolous mouth aside, Jo-Gol was literally piercing through the enemy like a spear. And Yoon Jong, holding the front line, was fully prepared to support Jo-Gol at any moment.
Baek Cheon, scanning the surroundings sharply, issued an order.
“Yoon Jong! Front left! Enemies are aiming for the front!”
“Yes, Sasuk!”
Yun Jong led his hall members and rushed out. He cut in front of the enemies who were trying to target the exposed Jo-Gol, as if to say that he would not allow anyone to interfere with him.
"Samae! Right flank! Lead hall members and support that side!"
"Yes."
No sooner had Baek Cheon’s words fallen than Yoo Iseol threw herself into motion. Soaring like a single bird, she occupied a space the enemy hadn't even reached yet and stood firm like a mountain. It was a truly formidable presence.
Enemies swarmed a beat late toward where Yoon Jong and Yoo Iseol had taken position.
Half a move? No, it was a response at least one move faster.
"...You?"
Jin Geumryong looked at Baek Cheon with a slightly surprised look.
Baek Cheon slightly clenched his fist.
'I can see it.'
It might sound strange, but the enemy's movements were within his grasp, as if he were looking down on this mountain from above.
A sensation that clearly didn't exist in him until recently.
'Ridiculous!'
Baek Cheon could tell. What these senses stemmed from.
In the past, Baek Cheon didn't need to observe the entire battle situation. Because if someone targeted the vanguard, he could step forward and block it himself, and if they targeted the rear, he just had to throw himself and swing his sword.
Doing what he could with his own hands.
Standing at the very front and shouldering more than anyone else. That was Baek Cheon’s way, and Mount Hua’s way.
Yet ironically, the moment Baek Cheon became unable to cling to that way any longer, things he had never seen before began to come into view. For example….
“The distance from the rear is widening! Support the rear and maintain the formation!”
“…Are you talking to me right now?”
“Move, right now!”
“Damn.”
Jin Geumryong flew toward the rear while grinding his teeth with a displeased face. Baek Cheon, who glanced at that sight, immediately fixed his gaze forward.
'Is this the battlefield that rascal usually saw?'
A chuckle flowed out.
So that crazy bastard, while swinging his sword even further ahead than Baek Cheon, was looking at the battlefield with such eyes? Even wider, and in more detail?
"Anyway, the more I know..."
Baek Cheon gritted his teeth.
The ones who best knew how high a mountain was weren't those looking at it from below. It was those who climbed it directly.
Baek Cheon, who was climbing up toward where Chung Myung stood, was the one realizing most clearly just what kind of monster Chung Myung was.
But now wasn't the time to be lost in admiration or frustration.
A black path was being carved through the land of flames.
And the current Baek Cheon could catch small movements beyond the flickering flames without missing them.
'They're coming.'
Closing in.
Not just the front. Left and right, and even the rear. Enemies are approaching from three sides. For now, Heavenly Comrade Alliance was pushing forward fast enough to escape the encirclement, but this situation would not last forever.
'How?'
If it were him of the past, he would have chosen the simplest method. Charging forward and opening the path even faster than Jo-Gol. Because that was the surest way to break through the enemy's encirclement.
But not now.
"Hyah!"
Baek Cheon kicked the blackened ground and dashed towards Yoon Jong. The hall members following him gritted their teeth and followed Baek Cheon.
“Sasuk?”
“Regroup to us, Yoon Jong!”
Baek Cheon jumped beside Yoon Jong and swung his sword at once.
Sogeok!
The sensation of the sword edge slicing through human flesh was incredibly vivid.
“Keuhak!”
Evil Tyrant Alliance martial artist who couldn't properly resist Baek Cheon's unexpected intrusion crumbled spewing blood.
"Sasuk, I'll handle here!"
"No. We push through!"
"What?"
Instead of giving another command, Baek Cheon surged further forward and swung his sword.
Those who give orders cannot be perfect. Neither side can.
Even Heavenly Comrade Alliance with the simplest command system, the orders they can give in this situation were limited. Then no matter how great Evil Tyrant Alliance might be, it would be impossible for them to issue detailed commands to everyone spread across this mountain.
That means if they can just break the enemy's intent once, it will inevitably take time for them to reorganize.
"Smash them all!"
"Damn it! Understood!"
Yoon Jong couldn't have fully understood the intent behind Baek Cheon's order. But instead of asking back, he carried it out without doubt.
For now, that was enough.
“Haaaaaaap!”
Sword energy emitted from Yoon Jong's sword scattered into pieces and created countless plum blossom leaf shapes in the air. Mount Hua's plum blossoms blooming on famous Mount Wudang instantly covered the charging enemies.
“U- Ugh!”
"Fall baaaack!"
It had become even stronger. And because of that, the plum blossom sword energy sweeping away the enemies looked incomparably brilliant to Baek Cheon’s eyes. Baek Cheon's gaze couldn't let go and lingered on that sword energy for just a moment.
The petals that bloomed so splendidly slowly fade away. The blinding brilliance was but a moment. But therefore, incomparably beautiful.
“Sasuk?”
Thump.
Baek Cheon stomped with a shock step. At Yoon Jong's voice... no, before that voice could even reach his mind.
“Take the lead, Yoon Jong-ah! I'll support you!"
"Yes!"
As Yoon Jong lunged forward, Baek Cheon suddenly felt a strange sensation. Then, out of place with the situation, he straightened his body and looked around.
Jo-Gol still opening the way ahead with all his might, Yoon Jong and Yoo Iseol attacking the flanks according to orders, and even Hye Yeon and Namgung Dowi perfectly blocking the rear.
This entire scene was like a roughly drawn picture on a large canvas. No, perhaps it was just like a dream.
Just then, a rough voice interrupted.
“Jin Dongryong!”
Baek Cheon turned around and saw Jin Geumryong running towards him at full speed.
"What are you doing, you idiot! Give orders!"
Baek Cheon snapped back to his senses and turned his gaze. Jo-Gol at the vanguard had already almost reached the pristine White Face Rock.
Squeeze!
Baek Cheon gripped his sword with all his might.
"Fall back! Join the vanguard!"
"Yes!"
Baek Cheon gritted his teeth.
'Not yet!'
Even if it becomes unavoidable someday, not now.
He wasn't finished yet.
Baek Cheon dashed forward. Chasing not Chung Myung’s back, but Jo-Gol’s.
"Open it, Gol-ah!"
"Uwaaaaaaah!"
Jo-Gol's sword ruthlessly cleaved through the bodies of those desperately blocking the front. At some point, crimson blood dripped and splattered from a long gash on Jo-Gol's cheek.
Kwadeuk! Kwadeuk! Kwadeuk! Kagak!
Jo-Gol's gaze turned forward. Beyond the enemy bodies his sword pierced, what it reached was a cliff.
The white cliff stained dark red was blocking his way like an iron fortress.
"Damn it! We broke through, Sasuk!"
A spasmodic shout filled with ecstasy spread in all directions.
White Face Rock. Heavenly Comrade Alliance had finally reached that cliff now dyed red.
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