Chapter 1844 – Return of The Mount Hua Sect

Chapter 1844. In the end, you will witness it. (4) ❀ ❀ ❀

“Uaaaagh! Damn it all!”

Jo Geol slammed his fists against the ground.

Of course, it was a meaningless act, doing nothing more than releasing his explosive emotions. It only drained his strength.

But no one could stop or blame him. Everyone who witnessed the scene before them felt the same way.

The sight pierced the hearts of all who looked upon it.

No matter where you turned your eyes, all you could see were corpses.

Facing such a scene again, the determination they had barely managed to muster began to crumble with a creaking sound.

“...Lord Moyong.”

Yoon Jong, spotting Moyong Wigyeong lying among the bodies, closed his eyes tightly.

They didn’t share any particularly deep bond. But this wasn’t how he had wanted to meet him again.

The wounds engraved on Moyong Wigyeong’s body spoke volumes. They told how fiercely he had resisted until the very end—how desperately he had fought.

And yet, they had been too late. Again.

Im Sobyeong, unusually for him, was nervously chewing his lips, visibly anxious.

Nearly a hundred had been slaughtered. But the fact that they had been killed wasn’t what mattered most. The real question was ‘how’ they had been killed.

‘They couldn’t even put up a proper fight.’

They must have tried their best. Tried to stand their ground until the very end.

Even so, not a single enemy corpse could be found. And considering their enemies didn’t seem the type to respectfully retrieve their dead, it was safe to say they had suffered zero losses while annihilating a hundred of the Alliance warriors.

Then, Maeng So crouched beside a corpse and touched the gaping wound with his finger.

“...The blood has already congealed. At least a quarter-hour has passed.” [one gak.]

“Did you say a quarter-hour?”

Maeng So gave a heavy nod.

The archers of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace were warriors, yes—but half of them were no different from hunters. Their ability to measure time from traces left behind was unparalleled.

But still... A quarter-hour? Even after running at full speed, they were still that far behind?

“Let’s keep going for now.”

Everyone nodded with a serious expression at Im Sobyeong’s words.

There was nothing to gain by weeping over the dead here. If they had the strength to grieve, they had to take one more step forward.

Fwoosh!

The disciples of Mount Hua stomped the ground, following the traces left by their enemies. But unlike before, their legs now felt heavy.

‘It’s dangerous.’

A tingling sensation spread through their toes.

Jang Ilso was efficiently organizing the scattered Alliance warrior, making the most of his time. There was no waste in his movements. He was eliminating them quickly, relying on the overwhelming difference in strength.

But what about them?

Only the Mount Hua Sect had the strength to oppose Jang Ilso and his group. And yet, they were losing time here and there while chasing his tracks.

If this waste continued to accumulate, what would happen?

‘The gap of a quarter-hour might never close.’

Not until all the Alliance warrior were trampled and the great name of the Heavenly Comrade Alliance completely crumbled.

Im Sobyeong wiped his mouth furiously in frustration, then covered it and continued his anxious thoughts. He could feel his uncontrollably trembling hands against his lips.

‘I have to do something. Right now.’

But what and how? What could they do, other than follow the traces left behind?

Get ahead of the enemy by predicting their path? Easier said than done. One wrong guess, and they’d lose Jang Ilso forever. Not only that—they might not even be able to track him like they were now.

If that happened, everything would be over.

They needed another method. Not a gamble—but something they could bet everything on with certainty.

And it seemed Im Sobyeong wasn’t the only one thinking that.

“Shouldn’t we inform them, Nokrim King?”

Yoon Jong, walking ahead, turned back and raised his voice to Im Sobyeong.

“If we tell them Jang Ilso is targeting them, at least they can prepare.”

But Im Sobyeong replied coldly.

“Prepare how?”

“What do you mean, how...?”

“Should we tell them to fight their best because Jang Ilso is coming for them? Or to run without looking back? What good will knowing do?”

“Still, if we could gather them in one place to prepare—”

“You think he’ll just let that happen?”

“…”

“And how, exactly, do you plan to inform them? We don’t even know where our allies are.”

“Then we split up and search.”

“If he notices and targets us first, then the Alliance warrior are truly finished. No—Mount Hua will be annihilated before that. For real, this time.”

Yoon Jong fell silent with a devastated expression. He understood the harsh reality. But still—could they just stand by and watch the sacrifices pile up?

“What about Baek Ah?”

At that moment, Yoo Iseol’s cold voice turned toward Cheong Myeong.

“Can’t Baek Ah find him?”

“I don’t think so.”

The answer came from Maeng So.

“...Why not?”

“The stench of corpses is too strong.”

Maeng So shook his head and elaborated.

“It’s overwhelming even for regular people. For an animal with a sensitive nose, it must be unbearable. No matter how experienced Baek Ah is, it’d be impossible to pick out one person’s scent in a place like this.”

“But still…”

Yoo Iseol couldn’t let go of the last thread of hope. She was about to say something but closed her mouth tightly.

Im Sobyeong sighed deeply and interjected.

“Just as the Palace Lord said.”

Yoo Iseol shot him a reproachful look.

Im Sobyeong understood Yoo Iseol’s desperation—he could see it in her clenched fists, so tight they almost cut off circulation. But reality was reality.

“Even if that spirit beast could track Jang Ilso’s scent, the result would be the same. There’s no way he wouldn’t have taken precautions.”

“...Precautions?”

“Something as simple as handing off his outer robe or changing clothes would be enough. Especially in this situation.”

Jang Ilso had even smeared himself with someone else’s blood.

Im Sobyeong didn’t want to believe that Jang Ilso had thought that far ahead and hidden himself among a pile of corpses. But what could he say, when the result spoke for itself?

Their best means of tracking Jang Ilso had effectively been sealed away.

“Then what?”

Yoo Iseol asked persistently.

“Are we just supposed to give up? Keep chasing his shadow like this?”

“Dojang.”

“You think we’ve done enough? While people are still dying?”

“Sago!”

Jo Geol shouted, surprised, and tried to calm her. How long had it been since she had shown this much emotion?

“We’re helpless. We’ve done all we can. There’s nothing more we can do.”

“……”

“Enough with the excuses. We’ve already said that more than enough times.”

Im Sobyeong clenched his fists tightly. Yoo Iseol’s words were blunt and unrelenting, but at the same time, undeniably true.

This wasn’t the time to list everything that couldn’t be done. They had to find a way to turn this dire situation around, no matter what. If they kept arguing with reason and logic, the only path left would be to accept defeat.

Even just one thing would be enough. Just one reason, one lead worth staking everything on.

‘Damn it, even now...!’

Im Sobyeong was just about to shout something when—

“Don’t make such a fuss.”

Cheong Myeong, who was at the front, spat out the words like venom. His voice wasn’t just indifferent—it sounded downright heartless. Curious eyes turned toward Cheong Myeong’s back.

The one who offered an answer to those puzzled stares wasn’t Cheong Myeong, but Maeng So.

“Preparations are already complete.”

“What?”

Im Sobyeong’s eyes widened as he swiftly turned toward Maeng So. His expression was calm, even composed.

“Preparations to track him, that is.”

“But just earlier, you said—!”

“I only said Baekjeon couldn’t do it. It’s impossible to track by scent.”

Maeng So’s eyes sparkled intensely.

“But scent isn’t the only way to track someone. Isn’t sight even more reliable than a nose?”

Im Sobyeong’s face, which had brightened with hope, quickly dimmed again with disappointment.

“We’re already doing our best. Looking for traces, following his tracks. But no matter how hard we try, there’s a limit to what the human eye can do in such a vast area, isn’t there?”

“For humans, yes.”

“……What?”

Im Sobyeong was stunned for a moment, then his eyes suddenly widened as realization dawned on him. His pupils trembled.

“Ah!”

“They should be arriving soon.”

Maeng So looked up. Almost as soon as he finished speaking, a sharp screech pierced their ears.

Screeeech!

Everyone instinctively looked up. The sky, dark and pouring with rain, was suddenly crossed by several fast-moving shadows.

“Hawks! Yes, that’s it!”

Jo Geol cried out in a voice filled with joy.

They couldn’t follow with human eyes. But birds in the sky? Hawks, with vision far keener than any human’s, chasing the enemy from above?

And not just one, but dozens of birds. That would surely be enough to locate and trap their target.

Im Sobyeong, barely able to contain his excitement, shouted.

“Damn it, when did you prepare something like this?!”

“From the moment we confirmed Jang Ilso's presence.”

Maeng So was calm, as always, but Im Sobyeong felt like his chest would burst.

“Damn it, then you should’ve said something earlier! You damn bastards!”

Cheong Myeong and Maeng So had clearly been in sync from the start. That’s why only the two of them had remained composed. But wouldn’t it have been better if they had told Im Sobyeong too, the one responsible for their strategy?

Maeng So slowly shook his head.

“It wasn’t certain. There was no guarantee the birds scattered across the battlefield would return here in time. We only confirmed it a moment ago.”

“Still… No, wait. If we had used the birds from the beginning, then maybe the real one—”

“Yeopryong, even if they’re divine birds [신조(神鳥)], they’re just birds in the end. They can’t distinguish between real and fake.” [tl note: yeopryong can be tl-ed as ‘hunting dragon’.]

“Hmm, true enough.”

Im Sobyeong nodded in spite of himself. Still, the current situation was different.

‘The size of the battlefield no longer matters now.’

Seen from a bird’s eye view, this battlefield wasn’t vast anymore. With the vision of the divine birds handled by Beast Palace, locating a single group moving restlessly in this wide area should be entirely possible.

‘This is it! It’ll work for sure!’

Jang Ilso couldn’t have accounted for this variable. Or even if he did, he likely couldn’t do anything about it. What method could possibly evade the watchful eyes of birds flying directly overhead?

“They’re here!”

The birds circling above all flew down at once, landing on Maeng So’s massive frame.

And not just hawks. There were crows, jade-colored sparrows, even large cranes… all sorts of birds stared intently at Maeng So’s face, as if awaiting orders.

“There! That one’s here too!”

“That one?”

“The Ten Thousand Li Golden Dog! That guy’s right there!” [Manri Geumgu, 만리금구]

“…Didn’t we agree to call it Listening-Guided Golden Sparrow instead?” [Cheongryong-geumjag, 청령금작(聽領金雀)]

Well, that didn’t really matter now.

Im Sobyeong looked at Maeng So and the birds surrounding him with a mix of awe and worry.

‘Who would’ve thought Beast Palace would end up being such a powerful asset like this.’

If Heavenly Comrade Alliance were made up only of righteous sects, this kind of tactic would have never existed.

But now, Heavenly Comrade Alliance was a mix of diverse people from all over the world. And the variables they brought… not even Jang Ilso could fully account for them.

“Alright.”

Maeng So raised his hand. The hawk perched on the back of it took off powerfully into the sky.

“Find him!”

The moment the command was given, a dozen divine birds soared into the rain-filled air all at once. The golden bird that had perched on Cheong Myeong’s head also flapped its wings and shot into the sky like a golden streak of light.

Next Chapter

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