Chapter 1872 – Return of The Mount Hua Sect

Chapter 1872. Simple, isn’t it? (2) ❀ ❀ ❀

“You… you... you damn bastards!”

The enraged Red Dogs clenched their teeth. Even as their anger flared, a hint of bewilderment began creeping into their expressions.

They had lost track of Jang Ilso once. While that was partly because Jang Ilso hadn’t even shared the details of his plan with the Red Dogs, to them, that wasn’t an excuse.

Their very reason for existence was loyalty to Jang Ilso and obedience to his will. Not only had they lost his trail, but they had endangered his life. There could be no greater disgrace. There was no need to dwell on it—just the thought was enough to ignite their fury.

They were certain that no one on this earth could be more enraged than they were right now.

.....or so they thought.

Until they met those madmen, burning with rage even more violently than they.

No time was given to dwell on their confusion. Another masked warrior came charging in. A relentless barrage of strikes followed.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

A sword, saturated with inner energy, rained down on the Red Dog’s dao without pause. It wasn’t so much a flurry as it was a desperate frenzy.

‘This lunatic!’

The Red Dog’s eyes trembled in shock.

No matter how much energy was imbued in it, a sword was never meant to clash head-on with a dao. Each impact chipped and gouged the blade. But the masked figure showed no sign of stopping, continuing their maniacal assault.

This was nothing more than a suicidal rampage.

But what if that same madness erupted simultaneously in every direction? This became terrifying in another sense.

“Enough of this!”

Unable to hold back any longer, the Red Dogs gritted their teeth and swung their blade with all their might. The shoddy steel sword, clashing directly with the dao, bent dangerously and was flung away as if it would snap at any moment.

“Die!”

The Red Dogs seized the opening and swung their dao in a powerful horizontal arc.

But at that moment, the masked warrior’s eyes gleamed through a hole in their mask. As the blade approached, they suddenly thrust out their forearm without hesitation. It was an unstoppable movement.

‘Is he insane?’

Crunch!

The dao sliced into flesh and embedded deep into bone. It was safe to say that it had dug through almost half of the bone.

Crack!

But then, the arm with the blade still stuck in it flinched. It clenched down on the embedded dao.

Crack! Screech!

The grotesque sound of steel grinding against bone rang out. Just imagining the pain was enough to make one shudder.

“Oooooh!”

But the masked warrior didn’t show the slightest sign of pain… or rather, it was as if pain had never mattered to them.

Thwack!

With the dao now immobilized, the masked warrior drove their sword into the Red Dog’s torso. Gripping the sword in a reverse grip, they yanked it out and plunged it in again.

“Gaaaah!”

Screaming in agony, the Red Dog finally let go of their dao and staggered back. The intense pain in their chest made even their eyelids twitch.

“You… this maniac, your arm…”

“My arm?”

At the Red Dog’s trembling voice, the masked warrior finally looked down at their left arm. The act of swinging their sword had nearly severed the remaining flesh, the arm dangled by little more than a flap of skin.

“This thing?”

But their expression was indifferent, as though looking at someone else’s arm. Instead, without hesitation, they raised their sword.

Slash!

They chopped off the limp, dangling arm in one clean stroke.

Thud.

The severed arm fell to the ground. Without even a glance, the masked warrior strode toward the Red Dogs.

“Why? What’s wrong with my arm?”

“……Y-You, bastard…”

Sweat poured down the Red Dog’s face. Their eyes, once quivering with confusion, began to fill with fear.

It wasn’t because the opponent’s martial arts were strong. If not for the madness clouding the battlefield, this man wouldn’t have been a worthy opponent for the Red Dogs.

And yet now the Red Dogs was trembling.

Because they sensed it—this lunatic had no attachment to life. He was breathing only to kill the person in front of him.

In a voice not loud, but unnervingly calm, the masked man said,

“Things like the body only matter to those still alive. Do you understand? We can't even die anymore.”

No, it wasn’t just calm—it was barren. A voice stripped of all emotion.

“Why are you looking at me like that? You didn’t look at me like that before.”

“You… insect…”

“Yeah. An insect. That’s what you saw us as. I remember clearly. The way you all looked at our sect leader, groveling at Jang Ilso’s feet.”

The masked warrior’s sword trembled faintly.

“We were already dead back then. What’s here now are just ghosts, denied even the right to die. After clinging to these filthy lives, we’ve finally—just once—gotten the chance to plunge a sword into your necks. And now you talk about an arm? That’s nothing.”

The masked man snickered.

“You made us this way. So let’s go together. If we must die anyway, then dragging at least one of you down with us will make it a little less bitter.”

The masked man charged and drove his sword toward the Red Dog’s heart.

Thud!

The Red Dog grabbed the blade with both hands, struggling desperately to keep it from piercing deeper. But the sword, heavy with resentment, slowly carved its way into their chest.

“Gggghhhhh…”

With a ghastly sound, blood frothed from the Red Dog’s mouth. The masked warrior didn’t even blink as he burned the sight into his memory.

“Dian… Cang…”

“Don’t you dare speak that name. Even I no longer have the right to mention it.”

Crunch!

The blade fully impaled the Red Dog’s chest.

“Go first. If we meet in hell… I’ll kill you again.”

The final words never reached the ears of the already-dead Red Dogs.

But it didn’t matter. The vengeful ghost, whose eyes were dyed with ghost fire, had already turned his head in search of a new prey. [gwihwa, 귀화(鬼火)]

A scene no different from hell spread out before his eyes.

Righteous sect traitors swung swords at the madmen of the Evil Sect, and the villains who had lost their masters stabbed the traitors of the righteous sect with their swords.

With every Red Dogs that fell, two or three disciples of the sect died. Yet the masked man felt no sorrow.

They were already as good as dead. In fact, living was more painful than dying. Everyone knew that continuing to live would only bring greater suffering.

That’s why this was both revenge… and a final, cathartic rampage.

“Hahaha.”

Crack.

Clutching the stump of his severed arm to stem the bleeding, the masked man chuckled.

‘How suffocating.’

Suddenly, the mask felt unbearably cumbersome. But he couldn’t remove it. Just because he had killed one of the Evil Sect’s dogs didn’t mean he deserved to face the sky.

They would never be forgiven.

Even if the whole world forgave them, they themselves could never forgive what they had become.

All that remained now was vengeance—sharp, searing vengeance. And…

The masked man glanced behind him.

Though nothing was there now, his gaze was fixed on a far-off place—somewhere beyond the reach of sight.

Raising his remaining hand, he pulled the mask tighter over his face.

He had to die a complete nobody. Even if it was just a painfully obvious play that everyone could see through.

“Huuhh... Aaaaarrrghhh!”

Letting out every last drop of rage boiling inside him, the masked man wrenched his sword free from the Red Dog’s heart. Then, without delay, he moved on in search of another enemy.

Today, all of them would die here.

❀ ❀ ❀

“Aaah!”

Baek Sang rolled away in terror as a dao came flying toward him from the side.

Just as the Red Dogs charged toward him with eyes blazing, masked warriors pounced from behind Baek Sang like a pack of wolves, biting into the Red Dogs all at once.

Chaeng!

“DIEEEE!”

Baek Sang sat there panting, gasping for breath.

He stared blankly at the fierce clash of swords and daos unfolding before his eyes.

“Ah... ugh... seriously... I’m really about to die here.”

As a disciple of Mount Hua, Baek Sang knew the honor he was supposed to uphold. He wasn’t shameless enough to just sit and watch someone else fight in his place with a smile.

But seriously, look at the situation. Everything he’d gone through today had been way beyond what anyone could endure. Even just making it to this battlefield, he’d nearly died more times than he could count.

He had joined the battle in a rush, without even properly circulating his qi. He didn’t even have the strength to lift a finger anymore.

“At least protect me if you're gonna go berserk like that! Damn bastard!”

Baek Sang glared at Baek Cheon, who was rampaging in the distance. Baek Cheon was blasting out waves of crimson plum-blossom sword energy, driving the Red Dogs back. Just watching it made Baek Sang feel... oddly proud…

“...Ah, no! What the hell am I saying?! Proud, my ass!”

Shaking his head vigorously, Baek Sang slowly shifted his body. If he stayed here any longer, he’d end up being a burden rather than help. So he figured he’d get up and slip away—

Paaeeng!

Something shot through the air and landed with a thud right in front of him.

“What the… UAAAAH!”

Realizing that it was the severed head of Diancang—the masked man—Baek Sang recoiled in horror and shot to his feet.

“Mount Hua!”

In that instant, Baek Sang saw something—a Red Dogs, covered head-to-toe in blood, eyes flashing as they charged toward him.

“...I’m going crazy, really.”

Baek Sang weakly lifted his sword.

Honestly, facing a Red Dogs in his current state was no different from asking to die. But he couldn’t run away either.

“Fine, bring it on! You son of a—!”

“Rraaaargh!”

The Red Dogs let out a beast-like roar and lunged at him in a flash. Baek Sang clenched his teeth and braced for impact.

Paaaaaaat!

A piercing sound ripped through the air, and a lightning-fast sword energy tore through the side of the Red Dog’s neck.

“Gkhh!”

With a gaping black hole in his throat, the Red Dog struggled to turn his head in disbelief—then collapsed.

“Haa…”

Baek Sang’s knees gave out and he stumbled, but someone rushed in to catch him.

“Are you alright, Sasuk?”

“Y-Yoon Jong!”

Tears welled in Baek Sang’s eyes as he saw Yoon Jong standing before him. Yoon Jong clicked his tongue in disbelief as he looked at Baek Sang’s pitiful state.

“No, what the heck..... Please tell me. What on earth happened?”

“I-I really thought I was gonna die…”

“No, not you, Sasuk.”

“Huh?”

“I mean Baek Cheon Sasuk.”

“.....”

A flicker of betrayal and disbelief crossed Baek Sang’s face. But Yoon Jong looked like he was about to go mad with curiosity.

“How the hell did that guy show up perfectly fine like that? Don’t tell me he really went through full body transformation or something?”

“Looks like it.”

“...Excuse me?”

“I said it seems like it. I don’t know exactly either.”

Yoon Jong’s eyes twitched faintly.

Full body transformation? That was something he’d only ever heard about in legends. Was it really possible? And not Cheong Myeong, but Baek Cheon was the one who achieved it?

[hwangoltaltae, 환골탈태 (換骨奪胎)]

“What on earth happened?”

“Wait, aren’t you curious about me at all? I went through hell too, you know...”

“Yes, yes. I’m sure it was terrible. But tell me later.”

“You heartless brat.…”

Baek Sang sniffled, grumbling through a different kind of tear.

“If I explain it, it’s going to take forever. This isn’t the time for that, is it?”

“Then give me the short version.”

“Huh?”

“I need to know. It’s the only way I can accurately assess the situation.”

Yoon Jong’s face held the firmest resolve Baek Sang had ever seen. He clearly wasn’t going to back down without some kind of explanation.

Knowing how stubborn he was, Baek Sang finally let out a deep sigh.

“Alright, so what happened was…”

❀ ❀ ❀

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