Chapter 1828 – Return of The Mount Hua Sect

 

Chapter 1828. No Matter How Insignificant the Fertilizer (4) ❀ ❀ ❀

“Sahyung!”

At Gwak Hoe’s urgent cry, Yoon Jong couldn’t respond immediately. His frozen face revealed his bewilderment without disguise.

‘What is he thinking?’

The way the Evil Tyrant Alliance retreated resembled the ebb of the tide.

No, even that comparison wasn’t quite right. The tide at least had a predictable rhythm as it receded. But right now, the Evil Tyrant Alliance was in pure chaos. It was more accurate to compare it to a sandcastle collapsing under the waves.

“Sahyung! Give us an order!”

Only after the repeated urging did Yoon Jong snap back to his senses.

‘An order... how?’

The conclusion wasn’t difficult. They had to chase down and slaughter the enemy. If they let the Evil Tyrant Alliance retreat without taking damage, they would regroup and continue the war.

Although the Evil Tyrant Alliance had suffered significant losses in this battle, they hadn’t been completely destroyed. Yoon Jong knew that all too well.

So for the sake of the future, there was only one order he could give.

Chase them down and drive swords into their backs. Relentlessly pursue them and swing their blades like Asuras.

But Yoon Jong hesitated to give the command.

It wasn’t because he was suddenly swayed by sentiment. If someone had to bear the weight of sin and go to hell, he wouldn’t refuse that path.

For the victory of the Heavenly Comrade Alliance. For stability of the Kangho. Above all, for the salvation of the suffering people of Gangnam, he could set aside his compassion and mercy as a Taoist. Even if it went against his own values.

Yet, the reason he couldn’t bring himself to give the order was because of a persistent doubt that kept gripping his mind.

‘There’s no way Ho Gamyeong doesn’t know about this.’

No, that was impossible. Ho Gamyeong must know that if the Heavenly Comrade Alliance pursued them now, the Evil Tyrant Alliance would suffer near-annihilation.

So why had he given such an order?

“Sahyung, what are you doing? You must give the order!”

“Wait a moment.”

“Sahyung!”

“It could be a trap!”

Yoon Jong suddenly raised his voice.

Although he said it ‘could be’ a trap, in truth, he was almost certain it was. Such an absurd retreat had to have a hidden purpose.

Knowing this, he couldn’t move recklessly.

But Gwak Hoe seemed to have a completely different perspective.

“So what?”

“...What?”

“So what if it’s a trap? Are we just going to let them go?”

“....”

“Sahyung! We need to think rationally. If it’s a trap, we might take damage, but will letting them go reduce our losses? No, the war will drag on, and we’ll suffer even more! We’ll have to go through all of this again!”

Yoon Jong bit his lower lip hard.

He was right. Even so, Yoon Jong couldn’t bring himself to speak. The cost of stepping into the enemy’s trap might not be just mere ‘damage’.

His mind was a mess, torn between urgency—wanting to seize this opportunity—and caution—fearing the trap.

Meanwhile, the enemy’s disordered rear continued to fall apart like a scattering swarm of ants.

“Sahyung!”

“Damn it.”

At Gwak Hoe’s desperate shout, Yoon Jong let out a low curse and finally made his decision.

“Chase them!”

There was only one choice. He couldn’t just stand by and watch the enemy retreat out of fear of an unknown trap. Anyone else in his place would make the same decision.

However, Yoon Jong decided to add a safeguard to this double-edged sword.

“Do not break formation! Do not advance too deep into enemy lines! No one is allowed to chase alone!”

It was the best decision he could make at the moment. Even if there was a trap, keeping formation would minimize the damage.

“Yes!”

The disciples of Mount Hua quickly responded to Yoon Jong’s command.

Yoon Jong clenched his fist tightly.

He couldn’t control the other sects. In this situation, no one could. But at least the movements of Mount Hua at the forefront would serve as an example for the others following behind.

‘I just have to hope this works.’

Shoving aside his lingering anxieties, Yoon Jong shouted resolutely.

“Chase them! Don’t let them escape!”

The Mount Hua disciples gritted their teeth and charged forward.

Though the enemies ahead had not completely collapsed, the difference between standing firm to fight and standing firm to flee was stark.

The moment swords and blades clashed, that difference became clear.

Kwaang!

It was as if the enemies they faced were entirely different from before—they crumbled in an instant. It made Yoon Jong question whether these were really the elite warriors of Evil Tyrant Alliance.

Naturally, the Mount Hua disciples’ morale soared.

“Overwhelm them!”

Yoon Jong watched their fierce attacks, his expression grim. Then, he sharply turned his gaze—to where Ho Gamyeong was.

‘What will you do now?’

Ho Gamyeong remained still, showing no signs of movement. He continued watching the battlefield with a detached expression.

Even as the frontline collapsed, as the retreating forces tangled together, as the Heavenly Comrade Alliance pursued, creating nothing short of a disaster—Ho Gamyeong remained unmoved.

‘What are you thinking, Ho Gamyeong!’

In that moment, Yoon Jong desperately wished Im Sobyeong were by his side. If he were here, Yoon Jong wouldn’t feel so confused.

‘When will he move...?’

Then, suddenly, Yoon Jong flinched.

It might have been a trick of his mind, but for a brief moment, it felt as though Ho Gamyeong turned his head and looked straight at him.

Their eyes met.

But that couldn’t be possible, could it?

Yoon Jong being aware of Ho Gamyeong was natural, but from Ho Gamyeong’s perspective, there was no particular reason to be conscious of Yoon Jong. Yoon Jong was merely the second-generation disciple of Mount Hua. He was not someone significant enough to catch the attention of someone like Ho Gamyeong.

However, at that moment, the corner of Ho Gamyeong’s lips twisted faintly. Almost as if he were smiling...

A chilling sensation ran down Yoon Jong’s spine. Something was happening. He instinctively realized it in that instant.

“There!”

A loud shout pierced Yoon Jong’s ears.

“There! Over there!”

At first, he pretended not to hear it. If he had truly locked eyes with Ho Gamyeong, it would be too dangerous to be the first to look away.

“Damn it! He’s escaping! Over there! Over theeeeere!”

But the shouting did not stop. Moreover, it was too desperate and urgent to be ignored. It was a cry filled with the intensity of someone about to cough up blood.

The frenzied cry rang out once again.

“Jang Ilso! Jang Ilso is running awaaaaaaaay!”

Only then did Yoon Jong’s head snap around. And it wasn’t just him. Everyone’s eyes turned in that direction.

“There! Thereeee!”

From the fingertip of a man who had pointed, far away in the distance, Yoon Jong’s eyes gradually widened.

….He saw it.

Amidst the turbulent, entangled mass of bodies like a churning current, a red robe fluttered, like a single drop of blood fallen onto a sandy beach.

“Jang… Ilso.”

A crimson robe, as red as blood. The dragon emblem embroidered upon it stood out vividly.

The moment he saw the robe, now unmistakably Jang Ilso’s signature, Yoon Jong’s mind went completely blank. 

”Escaping? Jang Ilso?”

The red robe was fluttering far away, nowhere near where Ho Gamyeong stood. If left alone, that crimson robe would soon disappear into the distance, forever beyond their grasp.

The moment he realized this, Yoon Jong was overwhelmed by an unprecedented sense of unease, urgency, thirst, and desperation all at once.

Even in this moment, Yoon Jong had never considered that Jang Ilso would flee. No, the very concept of ‘Jang Ilso escaping’ had never even crossed his mind. ‘Jang Ilso’ and ‘retreat’ were words that simply could not exist in the same sentence.

But now, he had seen the possibility. No, this was not just a possibility—it was an undeniable reality. And once he accepted it, only one thought seized Yoon Jong’s mind.

What if Jang Ilso escapes?

A horrifying scenario engulfed Yoon Jong’s thoughts. The only reason he didn’t scream at the top of his lungs was because of the discipline he had cultivated as a Taoist.

But not everyone was Yoon Jong.

“Jang Ilso is escaping!”

“Jang Ilso is over there, over there!”

Everyone was shouting in desperation. None could even suggest what to do, merely repeating like parrots that Jang Ilso was fleeing. To an outsider, the scene might have seemed almost comical.

But it was only because the very notion of Jang Ilso running away had shaken everyone to their core. Chaos had completely overtaken them.

Those who needed to make decisions couldn’t, while those who couldn’t make decisions desperately searched for someone who could. Pride, unity, fury—even fear itself—had all been paralyzed. Only near-panic reigned.

And then, a single ray of clarity broke through.

“CHASE HIM DOWWWWWWN!”

Someone let out a deafening roar.

It was Zhuge Zain. Having been swept up in the battlefield’s chaos, he now strained his throat as he screamed.

“Chase him! Jang Ilso must be caught! If Jang Ilso escapes, even victory won’t be victory!”

For a moment, everyone blankly stared at him.

“He has plunged the entire Central Plains to hell in just a few years from the Myriad Man House of Guizhou! If we let him go now, this kind of war will happen again and again!”

At his words, groans and murmurs rippled through the crowd. Zhuge Zain shouted once more.

“KILL HIM! Whatever it takes, kill him! Even if we let all the others escape, Jang Ilso must die! Don’t think about your lives—just chase him down and kill him! Hurry!”

Jang Ilso was the one fleeing, yet Zhuge Zain’s voice was so desperate that it was as if he was the one being pursued. He seemed like a man terrified of something massive looming behind him. His shout was filled with bloody resentment.

It laid bare the fears lurking within everyone’s hearts.

The Evil Tyrant Alliance without Jang Ilso was no longer Evil Tyrant Alliance.

But the opposite was not true. Even without Evil Tyrant Alliance, Jang Ilso was still Jang Ilso.

This was an absolute truth known to everyone in the Central Plains.

Jang Ilso’s worth was not necessarily equal to Evil Tyrant Alliance as a whole, but he had the power to rebuild it at any time. As long as he remained alive, he undoubtedly would. No matter how many sacrifices were made here, it wouldn’t change that fact.

“Kill… him.”

Was it fear of a future that had yet to come? Or perhaps a burning thirst for vengeance over what had already been lost? Maybe it was the desperate realization that this was their one and only chance—or even an eruption of long-suppressed ambition.

The reason for acting did not matter in the slightest.

What mattered was that, in that instant, someone took the first step forward to chase after Jang Ilso.

Step.

A slow but resolute step.

That simple motion sent a shockwave rippling through the entire Heavenly Comrade Alliance, uniting them under a single purpose.

“KILL HIIIIIM!”

The warriors of Heavenly Comrade Alliance, now stripped of all reason, charged like demons toward a single point—the distant fluttering crimson robe. The one who would be both the beginning and the end of this entire war. The Paegun, Jang Ilso.

Next Chapter

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