Chapter 1871 – Return of The Mount Hua Sect

Chapter 1871. Simple, isn’t it? (1) ❀ ❀ ❀

“Huff!”

Baek Cheon exhaled a ragged breath.

Was it from being out of breath? Was it fear of the enemies in front of him?

Not at all.

‘It’s burning.’

It felt like a great blaze was roaring within his body. This must be what one calls vitality.

Clench.

As he gripped his sword, it responded first, ringing with a clear chime.

It felt like he could do anything, go anywhere. If he didn’t release this energy overflowing from within him right now, it felt like his body would explode with a bang.

‘Calm down.’

Baek Cheon gritted his teeth and tightened his grip.

He knew. This wasn’t something new. It was merely the power he had always possessed. Though it had grown stronger after breaking through a wall, it wasn’t vastly different from the inner strength he once held.

But it was different. It had to be.

How could the time when one took something for granted be the same as the moment they truly realized how precious it was?

‘Was it always this incredible?’

Kwang!

His body kicked off the ground like a lightning bolt. The speed he once took for granted. However, to Baek Cheon, who had been repeatedly risking his life by swinging his sword with a body that could barely use its internal energy, this speed now struck him as something entirely new.

The Red Dogs, startled by Baek Cheon’s sudden charge, instinctively swung their blades.

Too slow. It should’ve been a swift strike, but to Baek Cheon’s eyes now, it all looked laughably slow.

‘Is this.... the world that Cheong Myeong sees?’

Baek Cheon’s eyes gleamed as he thrust his sword forward.

He could feel it. The sensation of inner strength flowing along his sword. The surging force within the enemy’s blade strikes aimed at him.

And even the other energies filling the world, swirling in response to their strength.

Swish.

The tip of Baek Cheon’s sword, which had extended like a ray of light, traced a small circle.

His rapidly surging energy gently shifted, creating a dignified flow in the air. The descending enemy blade, drawn in by this current, was pulled off course.

He had only slightly redirected its path, but with their energy pushed to the limit, the enemy had no strength left to correct the distortion.

‘The soft can overcome the strong.’

What he had learned from the Wudang sect, from Elder Heo Do.

The principle of the soft sword, something that had never existed in Baek Cheon’s style, now unfolded as naturally as if it had always been a part of him.

As the Red Dogs’s bewildered eyes locked with the suddenly empty space, Baek Cheon’s sword slashed through faster than conscious intent.

Crunch!

The sword pierced the neck of the Red Dogs, who stumbled back, spewing blood. Before he even stopped breathing, Baek Cheon had retrieved his sword, pivoted his body, and stomped the ground.

As the sword swept in an arc, the red sword energy wrapped around it ignited like wildfire, forming bright red plum blossoms.

Now he understood.

— Filling a dead sword with energy is meaningless, you idiot.

Those incomprehensible words spat out by that damned man, he finally understood them.

Baek Cheon’s senses stirred. He vividly felt the surging energy of the Red Dogs. And before they could move, he unleashed his sword energy first.

In an instant, the sword energy that had surged like a rising dragon swirled and came crashing down on the Red Dogs.

“Guh!”

In that brief moment, the panicked gasps of the Red Dogs rang clearly in Baek Cheon’s ears. The space they were about to strike was already claimed by countless plum blossom petals.

Realizing that swinging their blades now would cut their power in half, the Red Dogs tried to retreat. But the plum blossom sword energy, as if with a will of its own, changed course and swallowed them whole.

Their eyes, now filled with panic, were soon overtaken by a vision of petals filling their entire field of view.

‘I’m still aliv—’

Fwoooosh!

The sword energy swept through them in an instant. Their bodies, riddled with countless holes, trembled in agony before collapsing.

Kwang.

Baek Cheon stomped and bit his lip.

He tried to hold it back, but he couldn’t. Something unbearably hot was boiling up from his throat.

“This is it!”

He had finally reclaimed it. No, he had finally seized it with his own hands.

The thing he had longed for so desperately. The plum blossoms he dreamed of, even in his sleep.

Baek Cheon threw back his head and roared.

“This is my sword!”

Yoo Iseol, her entire body drenched in blood, stood with her sword lowered, silently watching Baek Cheon carve a path toward her.

“....”

He’s there. The Baek Cheon she knew. Her Daesahyung, whom she thought she might never see again.

“Amitabha.”

A calm Buddhist chant echoed in Yoo Iseol’s ears, breaking the silence as if time had stopped.

“Isn’t he an incredible man?”

“....”

Yoo Iseol raised her hand and wiped the blood from her face. Then she gently closed her eyes and tilted her head back.

‘Making me worry....’

Such a hopeless sahyung. Truly.

But still....

Clench.

With force in her grip, Yoo Iseol raised her head and faced the Red Dogs before her. Suddenly, the Red Dogs’ faces began to show impatience as they were surrounded from the front and back.

“Damn....”

Their eyes twisted into vicious scowls. Rather than wait for the encirclement to tighten, they intended to break through one side in a single burst. And there was no need to even think about which ‘side’ that would be.

“Be careful, siju.”

Yoo Iseol gave a slight nod.

Now that Baek Cheon had finally returned, dying before even a moment could pass would be disgraceful.

And if they couldn’t hold the line, the chance Baek Cheon had created would go to waste. They all knew exactly what kind of face he would make if that happened.

“Honestly....”

Yoo Iseol sighed.

“You’re such a handful.”

Behind her, Hye Yeon gave a soft chuckle.

She said that, but he could clearly see her shoulders trembling. For someone like Yoo Iseol, who rarely showed her emotions, this meant everything.

‘Siju.’

Hye Yeon clutched his aching side and looked at Baek Cheon.

Dressed in white, Baek Cheon was releasing streams of red petals from his sword.

It was Baek Cheon’s sword that he was familiar with. But at the same time, it was a sword that was clearly different from the one he knew.

That man stood once again in that place.

No matter how many times that man collapsed, whenever he looked back, that man was always there again. And every time, the flower he bloomed shone with a deeper color than before.

Hye Yeon smiled gently.

“Truly like a plum blossom, Dojang.”

Perhaps that man was the very proof of Mount Hua’s path.

❀ ❀ ❀

“.....”

The frozen Cheong Myeong stared at the plum blossom that bloomed after enduring the winter.

It was red. Just like the color of that day.

But soon, he realized. Though it may be the same color, it could still be different.

Like painting fresh ink over dried, withered ink, it was possible to dye what had faded with something new.

Cheong Myeong’s limp hand slowly curled into a fist.

“What a shitty joke.”

At that moment, a slow voice was heard from behind Cheong Myeong.

“......”

Jang Ilso raised a hand and covered his face. Through the gaps of his fingers, his bloodshot eyes twitched.

He had always prepared for the possibility of Diancang’s betrayal. No matter how tightly one holds a hostage or severs the path to treachery, people are unpredictable.

So he wasn’t angry at the betrayal. What enraged Jang Ilso was the fact that all of this had to happen at this moment.

He could see it. One pillar of the plan he built by risking everything now crumbling.

The sight filled Jang Ilso with a fury and despair he had never known before.

Yet it wasn’t surprising. Because he already knew.

That the heavens were never on his side.

Crack.

The pressure from the hand gripping his face intensified. Through the sting of that pain, Jang Ilso regained his composure, and his cold eyes settled.

‘It’s not over yet.’

This ridiculous twist of fate was undoubtedly infuriating, but if he looked at it rationally, the situation had only barely returned to equilibrium. Victory still had not left his hands.

“You look rather proud.”

A voice sharp as a blade slipped from his lips toward Cheong Myeong.

“What does it feel like? To have the heavens on your side?”

“The heavens?”

Cheong Myeong slowly turned his head and looked at Jang Ilso. There was such chilling cold in his eyes that Jang Ilso flinched slightly.

“The heavens don’t help people.”

“.....”

“They always turn their back when you need them most.”

He had felt it—painfully so.

“I just believed in people.”

“Hahahahaha!”

Jang Ilso burst into laughter.

“Let’s stop with the sappy nonsense, shall we?”

“.....”

“You know. This is just a stroke of luck.”

“Maybe it is.”

Cheong Myeong nodded calmly. Jang Ilso wasn’t entirely wrong. Even if this exact moment replayed a thousand times, the chance of Baek Cheon standing there right now would still be barely one in a hundred.

“Can that kind of belief be called faith?”

“You’ve got it backwards, idiot.”

“....What?”

Cheong Myeong twisted the corners of his mouth into a smile.

“Believing in someone who’s trustworthy is just natural. It’s not even worth calling faith.”

“.....”

“Believing even when you’re scared and uncertain, that’s what makes it faith.”

He was there.

That young sprout he had discovered in Mount Hua.

That tiny and frail seed had now grown into a great tree that stood behind him, supporting his back.

“All I did was watch over it. That faith has simply returned to me now.”

Just like Cheong Mun once did.

Just as everyone in Mount Hua had once shown unwavering faith in him, even when they all turned their heads away in doubt. Cheong Myeong had merely watched and waited.

“....And that was worth staking everything on?”

“It was.”

Cheong Myeong’s smile deepened.

“More than enough.”

“.....”

What he saw was not just the man named Baek Cheon.

It was there. The vision those who volunteered to become fertilizer for Mount Hua had longed to see, but never could with their own eyes. Everything they left behind.

“I was a fool who believed. But you wisely threw it away.”

“....”

“That difference will be what destroys everything you’ve built.”

Cheong Myeong gripped his sword tightly.

Baek Cheon had done all he could. So had Mount Hua. Now, it was Cheong Myeong’s turn to respond.

Hummmm.

Cheong Myeong’s Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Sword let out a great hum.

“You don’t belong in this era. Yes, both of us are just people clinging to things that should’ve already disappeared. So now....”

Cheong Myeong’s eyes emitted a brilliant blue light.

“It’s time to disappear.”

“........”

Jang Ilso slowly wiped his face. Finally, his red lips twisted.

“In the end.... it all comes down to which of us survives.”

“........”

“Simple, isn’t it?”

The two smiled at each other.

There was nothing left. It was just a matter of who would stab each other in the heart first.

With a short breath, they both stepped forward toward one another.

The falling rain. The army that shook the world. Everything faded away.

In a world where only the two of them remained, they looked at no one else—only each other—as they slowly closed the distance.

Next Chapter

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