Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1694. That’s Enough (3)
Editor: Hoamz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
Ttak.
The fingers hidden inside the sleeves rubbed together and made a high-pitched sound.
Ho Gamyeong's gaze settled coldly.
“Strategist! Just now….”
"No need for fuss."
It was a calm voice without agitation.
It seemed that an accident had occurred in the process of crossing the flames. As a result, things had deviated slightly from the original plan, but…
“Both the remaining troops and the prepared explosives are sufficient. A loss of that magnitude can be made up for at any time.”
"Yes!"
Ho Gamyeong watched the situation with a hardened face.
The cliff's tremor subsided, and soon Sun Palace's elites began moving again. Ho Gamyeong nodded faintly.
'The explosives' power is higher than expected.'
He had considered them to be merely Linyi at best. He had wondered how much impressive explosives those outer region brutes could prepare... but unexpectedly, the quality of the explosives they supplied seemed quite good.
If so, with the remaining explosives alone, collapsing that cliff would be easy enough.
‘And the loyalty of the Sun Palace warriors is also beyond expectations.’
Even in a situation where their comrades had been reduced to dust, they still sought to carry out their mission.
‘Is it because they are royalty after all?’
Ho Gamyeong slightly revised his assessment of the Sun Palace Master in his mind. Whatever kind of person he was, it seemed clear he commanded absolute loyalty from his subordinates.
"Strategist. Couldn't they realize the situation?"
"They might."
"Th- Then?"
"Still, nothing will change."
"Couldn't they instead climb the mountain?"
Ho Gamyeong spoke coldly.
"I've already stationed troops behind the mountain. Those who didn’t enter the cliff will block their escape.”
The adjutant looked at Ho Gamyeong with a pale face.
Then, did that mean the strategy of circling troops behind the mountain to surround the cliff top wasn't originally to encircle Wudang, but ultimately to block any escape route for Mount Hua once they reached the summit?
'Descending the cliff is even more impossible.'
The cliff's collapse was already a given. Heading downward would be nothing but digging their own graves.
In other words, no escape route exists for them.
The adjutant marveled without realizing it.
“But to think they would fall for it so easily…. Indeed, no one can follow Strategist."
"Is that so?"
"...What?"
The aide sent a questioning gaze. However, Ho Gamyeong didn't feel the need to resolve that question.
'An excellent strategy...'
Ho Gamyeong snorted.
‘It’s simply that Plum Blossom Sword Demon isn’t there.’
If Plum Blossom Sword Demon were there, he would have instantly realized the strategy Ho Gamyeong had devised the moment he saw that cliff. And would have plenty more.
Strategy?
That wasn’t it. If one were to speak purely in terms of strategy, Nokrim King Im Sobyeong would be far superior to Plum Blossom Sword Demon.
But even so, Plum Blossom Sword Demon has the ability to read what neither Im Sobyeong nor Ho Gamyeong can decipher. This was certain.
'But not Mount Hua.'
Ho Gamyeong doesn’t deny that Mount Hua was outstanding.
But they're merely followers at best. Followers take pride in the difficult things they manage to achieve and merely seek to recreate that glory.
Luring such people was all too easy. Just show them a path they succeeded in the past, something not easy but achievable, and that's enough.
Then they can’t help but charge in. Just make them recall an appropriate sense of crisis, an appropriate sense of duty, and overconfidence in what they achieved themselves.
Therefore.
“Mount Hua without Plum Blossom Sword Demon is nothing.”
Of course, to handle this cleanly, this side would also have to pay a significant price, but...
‘To cut out the symbol of Mount Hua from Heavenly Comrade Alliance and sever the limbs of Plum Blossom Sword Demon, this level of sacrifice is acceptable.’
Ho Gamyeong's eyes flashed like a sheet of ice.
It wasn’t difficult.
Just admit it. Admit that he falls short of that Plum Blossom Sword Demon.
For someone who has spent his entire life honing military strategy, admitting he was outmatched by a sword-wielding martial artist wasn’t easy. But once admit that, there were countless ways.
"However... Strategist. Our strategy has been revealed sooner than expected. Will Heavenly Comrade Alliance remain silent?"
“Are they going to climb a cliff about to collapse to fight? To be buried alive in Mount Hua’s grave?”
“Of course, that’s...”
"That would be rather preferable. Unfortunately, I doubt they’re that foolish.”
Ho Gamyeong’s gaze shifted downward along the cliff.
"I too don't consider the Chivalrousness they babbled about completely false. Even if something absurd, if believed and followed, it should have substance."
“I think so as well.”
“But we must examine whether now is truly a situation to discuss Chivalrousness. Is even a dog's death called chivalry?"
"Ah..."
At those words, the adjutant let out a small exclamation and looked back at the cliff.
Indeed, as Ho Gamyeong said, climbing that cliff right now would be nothing more than throwing away one’s life on a hopeless endeavor. That wasn’t the realm of Chivalrousness or loyalty but 'madness.'
If they were such reckless individuals, they could never have become leaders of prominent sects in the martial world.
"You believed too much in your sahyungs, Plum Blossom Sword Demon."
The corners of Ho Gamyeong's mouth twitched slightly.
Heavenly Comrade Alliance without Plum Blossom Sword Demon was merely a gathering of fools, and Evil Tyrant Alliance without Jang Ilso was nothing more than a ragtag rabble. It was just that Evil Tyrant Alliance was slightly better. That small difference decided the fate of this place.
"Now..."
Ho Gamyeong was just about to issue another command.
“Strategist! Over there!”
Slightly surprised by the sudden shout, Ho Gamyeong broke his train of thought and looked toward the cliff.
It started from the lower part of the cliff. On the cliff dyed red, a white line clear enough to be seen even in darkness was being drawn. Very thin, yet it shone brightly.
Ho Gamyeong's face hardened slightly.
“Strategist. That is….”
“Ha. Human madness is truly unfathomable.”
Ho Gamyeong scoffed.
"Leave it be. There's nothing one person can do alone."
But even as he said that, his gaze remained fixed on the precarious white line.
---
Kwagak!
Namgung Dowi's feet repeatedly kicked against the cliff.
“Dowi-yaaaaaaa!”
The screams of Namgung Myeong and Namgung Family retainers echoed from behind, but Namgung Dowi didn’t even turn his gaze. His bloodshot eyes were only pursuing Sun Palace warriors running sideways across the cliff.
Though they seemed momentarily shaken as if the earlier explosion was an unexpected disaster even for them, they soon finished reorganizing and began moving toward the cliff's center again.
'These...!'
Gritting his teeth until his jaw muscles bulged, Namgung Dowi drew out all of his internal strength.
His body became a ray of light climbing the cliff.
While kicking off the cliff and advancing like that, a protruding stone loosened by the shock of the explosion crumbled, and his foot slipped. His body, which had been at full speed, momentarily lurched downward.
“Sogaju-niiiiim!”
It was a steep cliff that went beyond the vertical. Even a slip could require giving up one's life.
Kwagak!
Namgung Dowi reached out and struck into the cliff face with all his might. In his haste, he failed to properly channel his internal strength, and a pain as if his fingers had broken washed over him.
However, Namgung Dowi pulled his body up without a moment of hesitation and rushed upward.
Kwang!
He kicked the cliff again. With a face distorted like an evil spirit, Namgung Dowi climbed the cliff.
Namgung Family's sword was renowned throughout the world. But their lightness art doesn't live up to that lofty reputation. This was something Namgung Dowi himself knew well.
Scaling a steep cliff at full speed with insufficient lightness art was literally a life-risking act. Considering that the cliff could collapse anytime and anywhere, it wasn’t an exaggeration to call it a suicide act.
But such things didn't exist in Namgung Dowi's mind.
The things he had to protect as the future patriarch of Namgung Family, his own safety, and even the consequences that would result from throwing himself into danger—he emptied them all out.
'Did they ever think?'
Paat!
Namgung Dowi's feet kicked off the cliff swiftly like a fierce tiger.
Whenever his body shook, he stabbed his sword into the cliff and kicked off his face again. His body gaining speed shot fiercely like an arrow unable to return.
"Hyaaaaaaah!"
A vicious scream burst out from Namgung Dowi's mouth as he raised his internal strength as if there were no tomorrow.
Kurung. Kururung.
The shaking that had seemed capable of collapsing the earth and overturning the world gradually subsided.
A hellish silence followed.
Shortly after, someone barely broke that silence muttering in a flustered voice.
“W- What was that?”
"An earthquake?"
Bewilderment spread instantly regardless of ally or foe.
Those who had been charging at each other like enraged beasts had already stopped attacking and were examining their surroundings.
Amid the strange atmosphere, Tang Gun-ak bit his lip and rose to his feet.
'No way...'
His eyes turned to the edge of the cliff.
Just from the shaking and the roaring noise, it's not hard to guess what's happening below. I don't know how this is possible, but now is not the time to consider such things.
“What was that just now…!”
"Wh- What's happening!"
Even they didn't know.
They looked greatly flustered, not knowing what to do.
Even those bearing the name of Evil Tyrant Alliance, at least those who were risking their lives fighting for Evil Tyrant Alliance here, didn’t know what was happening.
But Tang Gun-ak was able to grasp this situation perfectly.
"To think you'd make everyone here sacrificial lambs just to kill us?"
That question wasn't directed at him but at the one standing before him.
Thousand-Faced Gentleman Dam Yeohae.
He was the sect leader of Hao Sect and one who contested for the position of second-in-command in Evil Tyrant Alliance. Considering his fame and skill possessed, it wouldn't be wrong to say he stands above that Ho Gamyeong.
Yet here he was, in the very center of hell.
"Though they say you're at a level difficult to find an opponent under heaven in lightness arts, you can't be certain you'll definitely survive here, right? To think you'd accept such reckless acts."
As he spoke, Tang Gun-ak focused all his nerves on every movement of Thousand-Faced Gentleman. He was pinning a sliver of hope on Thousand-Faced Gentleman's reaction.
If the explosions were to end with this single one, and if they had prepared a way to escape, he would at least be able to find some composure in Dam Yeohae.
If so, it would mean there was a ray of light in this space that could turn into a hellish path at any moment.
"Your loyalty to Jang Ilso is beyond my thought..."
But Tang Gun-ak's words couldn't continue to the end.
Because Dam Yeohae, who had been staring fixedly at the edge of the cliff, turned his head and faced him. Dam Yeohae was wearing the worst expression Tang Gun-ak could imagine.
"Ho... Gamyeong."
Fear, fury, and despair swept together on his face distorted like an evil spirit.
"That... that rat bastard!"
Terrible killing intent burst from Dam Yeohae.
‘Even Thousand-Faced Gentleman didn't know?’
It wasn't a sacrifice, it was bait. It meant that even the sect leader of Hao Sect had been used as bait. Someone who was all but the second-in-command of Evil Tyrant Alliance.
"...There was no way not to fall for this."
A trap that can't even be called a trap. How could one avoid an act of cutting one's arm to sever the opponent's finger?
“Ho Gamyeong! Jang Ilsoooooooooo!”
Just then, a scream filled with malice burst from Thousand-Faced Gentleman's mouth.
"You dog-like bastards! How dare to me! Uwaaaaaaah!"
That scream became a light of despair and poured toward the summit of the cliff.
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