Chapter 1860 – Return of The Mount Hua Sect

Chapter 1860. From here on, I’ll be the one to face you. (5) ❀ ❀ ❀

Fwaaaaaaaaaash!

Brilliant plum blossoms bloomed and swept through the enemies.

“Ah………”

It was so overwhelming that the thought of resisting didn’t even arise. Before a scene that ought to be called a ‘calamity’, the Evil Tyrant Alliance warriors froze on the spot.

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

Dozens, hundreds of petals brushed past the Evil Tyrant Alliance warriors. While still standing, their bodies were sliced by the sword energy, riddled with dozens of holes.

“Guh……”

Thud. Thud.

Unable to endure the pain, the Evil Tyrant Alliance warriors trembled and began collapsing one by one, dead.

All that remained in the place where the illusion-like plum blossom sword energy had bloomed were a few corpses—and silence.

“Ah……”

Baek Sang let out a faint groan. Chills ran down his spine.

It was Baek Cheon’s sword energy. No—perhaps even more than that.

“Sahyung!”

Overwhelmed with surprise, Baek Sang quickly turned to Baek Cheon and shouted. In his eyes was a glimmer of hope.

“How did you………?”

But Baek Sang couldn’t finish his sentence.

Baek Cheon’s face, as he slowly lowered his sword, bore an expression too complex to describe—emotions so deep and heavy that Baek Sang couldn’t even begin to fathom them. For a moment, Baek Sang was at a loss for words.

“Hah… Hah……………”

Then, Baek Cheon, catching his breath heavily, closed his eyes. He remained silent, as if lost in deep thought, then slowly opened them again.

“The children first.”

“……Excuse me? Ah, yes!”

Baek Sang nodded hastily with a bewildered look.

“Hurry.”

“Yes!”

Baek Cheon was right. Now wasn’t the time to talk about Baek Cheon’s martial prowess.

Still, Baek Sang couldn’t shake the feeling. That sword energy Baek Cheon had shown just now—and the unfamiliar expression that crossed his face—kept replaying in his mind. It was like something was clinging to his feet, making it hard to move.

Even so, Baek Sang ran. He began tearing apart the crude wooden framework that blocked the cave entrance.

“Damn it! They're not animals—how could they treat people like this?!”

He barely touched the frame a few times before more than half of it came off.

“There! Come out, kids!”

Baek Sang, having cleared a path large enough for people to pass through, urgently stuck his head inside. But there was no response from where the children had definitely been just moments before. Only silence returned.

“What are you doing? We’re in a hurry!”

Baek Sang shouted impatiently. Just then, Baek Cheon gently pulled him back by the shoulder.

“I’ll do it.”

Baek Sang looked back at him and stepped aside. Baek Cheon pushed himself into the opened space.

The darkness was so dense it felt like his eyes had shut. It was too dark and damp for humans to dwell in. After a few moments, as his eyes adjusted, he saw several pairs of eyes staring intently at him.

They seemed filled with anxiety.

“We are……………”

Baek Cheon tried to speak, but his throat tightened. He hesitated for a moment, then continued.

“We’re from Mount Hua.”

“Please believe us. We know you’re the children who were taken from Diancang. To save the elders of your sect, we need your help.”

“…You came to rescue us?”

Finally, a young voice came from the back. Baek Cheon calmly replied.

“Yes. I know it’s hard to trust anything right now, but……”

“I believe you.”

The response cut off Baek Cheon’s words.

“I saw it. Just now…… the plum blossoms.”

“Ah……”

Baek Cheon let out a slightly flustered sigh.

“There’s only one sect in the world that makes plum blossoms bloom with a sword—Mount Hua. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

From the darkness, a child stepped forward.

“I heard Mount Hua is a sect that values chivalry. Of course you would come to help us.”

She was still just a young girl. The moment he saw her face, Baek Cheon was overcome with indescribable guilt. They had failed to help Diancang. Mount Hua couldn’t claim to be entirely blameless for the children ending up like this.

To hear such words from children they couldn’t save—it was, in a way, like punishment. Some might call it excessive guilt, but for Baek Cheon, it was real.

“Let’s go.”

“Sajeo. Will you be alright? It’s too dangerous……………”

[Tl note: Sajeo [사저 (師姐)] refers to a female disciple who shares the same master and joined earlier than the speaker. It is nearly equivalent in use to ‘Sahyung’]

“Haven’t you heard our sasuks are in danger? You guys are from Diancang. Don’t show such shameful behavior.”

She spoke in a firm, clear voice, and at last, the children surged forward.

“Huh?”

Baek Cheon was momentarily taken aback. A far greater number of children appeared than he had expected.

‘Were there this many?’

It seemed the space inside was much larger than anticipated. The number of children rushing out looked to be at least over a hundred.

‘Yu Gong was right.’

It wouldn’t have been easy to find a place capable of secretly housing more than a hundred children. Just discovering a location like this was an impressive feat.

Baek Cheon closely examined the children.

Each and every one of them was in tattered clothing, their faces gaunt and haggard. One glance made it clear how much suffering they had endured since the day Diancang was trampled under Jang Ilso’s heel.

Even so, their eyes still shone with clarity.

“What should we do?”

Baek Cheon gave a bitter smile.

‘What on earth was I thinking?’

Had he imagined trembling children he would rescue and console? That saving them might somehow serve to redeem Diancang, even belatedly?

These children, though young, were unmistakably martial artists. They knew what they had to do, what they needed to protect.

‘These children must not become a means to an end.’

If the venerable predecessors of Mount Hua—those who gave everything to protect its children—saw the current Baek Cheon, they would surely scold him. Children must never be used as a means. They do not exist for the sect; the sect must exist for them.

For now, protecting these children came first.

‘And only now do I truly realize this……!’

Baek Cheon unknowingly clutched his chest tightly. Something inside felt as though it was heaving.

‘…Just my imagination.’

Shaking his head, Baek Cheon turned decisively.

“Everyone, follow me. We’ll lead the way. I won’t say it’s not dangerous—but I promise we’ll protect you.”

“Wait a moment.”

“Huh?”

A few of the Diancang children dashed outside. Then they seized swords from the hands of the dead Evil Tyrant Alliance warriors.

“We’ll protect ourselves.”

“Damn it, if we had swords earlier, we wouldn’t have had to be pushed around by those bastards.”

“You were trembling like a leaf.”

“When did I?!”

Listening to their bickering, Baek Cheon couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

Baek Cheon gave a firm nod and rushed forward. The Diancang children ran to line up behind Baek Sang.

Catching a glimpse of them, Baek Cheon quietly spoke to the girl following beside him.

“Are you the head sajeo of those kids?” [dae-sajeo, 대사저(大師姐)]

“Huh? Oh, no. I’m Ok Danghyang [옥당향(玉堂香)]. A disciple of Emei.”

Baek Cheon, startled, turned sharply to look at her.

“Huh? Wait, Emei Sect?”

“Yes.”

The girl met his eyes and nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“But why would a disciple of Emei be………”

“Because I was captured. Isn’t that obvious?”

“T-that’s right.”

At a loss for words, Baek Cheon nodded blankly. He hadn’t heard that disciples from sects other than Diancang had been captured.

“We were taken before the Diancang kids. So when others were brought in later, we naturally ended up looking after them. That’s probably why my voice got a bit louder.”

“…I see. But earlier, didn’t you say you were a Diancang disciple?”

“I said ‘you guys’ are the Diancang disciples. There are more Diancang kids than anyone else, right?”

“…I can’t handle this one.”

Baek Cheon laughed heartily. Even in such a dire situation, this child had done everything she could.

‘I was arrogant.’

He realized he had placed too much on his own shoulders—on Mount Hua’s shoulders.

But children like this were growing in the world. One day, they would be the ones to carry it.

‘What I should have done… was protect their future. I shouldn’t have tried to stand at the center myself.’

Throb.

“Ugh.”

A searing pain suddenly tore through his chest again. Baek Cheon hunched over in agony.

‘What is this? It’s not my dantian…’

Pain from a shattered dantian was to be expected. But this pain was centered near his heart. And yet, he hadn’t been struck there.

“Are you alright?”

“Huh? Oh… Yeah, I’m fine.”

“But why are we moving so slowly? You haven’t even used light footwork. We can go faster, really.”

“…Right. That’s true.”

Baek Cheon nodded awkwardly. Baek Sang, noticing his expression, quickly stepped in to answer in his place.

“We have to be careful… There might still be an ambush.”

“Ah… I see.”

Ok Danghyang nodded as if she understood. Seeing that, Baek Sang let out a quiet sigh of relief and subtly glanced at Baek Cheon’s face.

Though Baek Cheon’s expression was blank, it only made Baek Sang’s heart feel heavier.

‘Sahyung…’

That unbearably complex and somber look from earlier, and now the fact that he couldn’t even use light footwork—what it meant was obvious. Baek Sang bit down hard on his lip.

This wasn’t the time to grieve. Not the time to mourn. For now...

“There’s the exit, Sahyung.”

“Right.”

Baek Cheon kicked off the ground with force as light poured in from the cave’s mouth.

‘First, get the children out of here.’

He had to get them to safety, had to deliver this news to change Diancang’s heart. If he could just do that…

‘It doesn’t matter. My body, my life—none of it matters.’

He could only hope—hope that the warmth left in this dying body wouldn’t fade before his duty was done. That he still had the strength to carry out this final mission.

With every ounce of strength, Baek Cheon pushed forward toward the cave’s exit.

“Everyone, stay alert—”

“You should take your own advice.”

A sudden voice rang out. Baek Cheon’s eyes widened.

A black shadow had descended upon him.

In the past… no, even just moments ago, he would’ve been able to react, to evade the ambush. But the current him no longer had the strength left to do even that.

The blade swung by the shadowy figure slashed toward him—and an eerie sensation raked violently across Baek Cheon’s chest.

Paaaaat!

A burning pain seared across his torso, and his vision was suddenly drenched in crimson.

“Sahyuuuung!”

The shout echoed behind him, quickly fading. His ears rang, growing numb.

Thud.

His knees struck the ground.

‘No… This can’t be…’

The blood-soaked world before his eyes was now beginning to blur.

‘Not yet… Not yet…’

His body slowly collapsed forward.

“Sahyung! Euaaaa! Sahyuuuuuung!”

Even the cries now felt distant, like echoes from another world.

Thump.

‘Cheong Myeong-ah…’

The blood spilling from Baek Cheon stained the earth the color of plum blossoms.

So red… it was almost mournfully beautiful.

Next Chapter

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