Chapter 1883 – Return of The Mount Hua Sect

Chapter 1883. You Can Do It. (3) ❀ ❀ ❀

“Uh…….”

Jo Geol blinked. Even from a distance, he could see it clearly.

Jang Ilso had collapsed, no longer able to support himself on his feet, and Baek Cheon was supporting the limp body of Cheong Myeong.

“Uh… uh……?”

There was only one thing this scene could mean on the battlefield.

“We… won…!”

Jo Geol covered his mouth in disbelief, unable to trust the words that escaped him. His eyes trembled violently.

“We won……! We really won! That damned bastard finally did it! EUAAAAAAAH!”

Jo Geol shouted until his voice cracked.

But it wasn’t just joy at Cheong Myeong’s victory.

The fight between Cheong Myeong and Jang Ilso wasn’t merely about which one would win, it carried a much deeper meaning. Everyone here understood that clearly.

Paat.

Jo Geol’s sword slashed fiercely through the air.

He could feel that cliché phrase like ‘morale is rising’, in every cell of his body as he growled fiercely.

“Now it’s your turn, you damned bastards!”

A triumphant light filled his eyes.

❀ ❀ ❀

“He really did it.”

Namgung Dowi let out a dry laugh.

“I mean…… he really is something else.”

He looked at the fallen form of Jang Ilso.

The death of the Paegun.

So many had desperately wished for it, but at the same time, no one had truly imagined it would ever happen. Not even Namgung Dowi.

And yet, Cheong Myeong had made it happen.

‘My head’s getting hot.’

He was glad it had been Cheong Myeong who accomplished it, but because it was Cheong Myeong, he couldn’t simply rejoice. Once again, he was struck by the realization that he might spend his whole life chasing after that man’s back.

But now wasn’t the time to be swayed by such rivalry. Namgung Dowi suppressed the emotions surging within him. One of the things his father had taught him was that those who always look too far ahead often end up going nowhere at all.

“Dojang.”

Instead, Namgung Dowi turned to look at the person right in front of him. Her shoulders trembled slightly, ever so faintly. It was Tang Soso.

She stood just a few steps ahead of him, staring at Cheong Myeong, and perhaps also at the now possibly lifeless Jang Ilso.

What must it feel like to finally witness the fall of the one who killed your father?

He couldn’t even guess. Namgung Dowi had experienced the death of the Black Dragon King, but that was a different matter entirely. So, all he could do was try to understand her feelings from the way her shoulders trembled.

“Are you all right?”

Namgung Dowi cautiously spoke to her. Before he could add anything else, Tang Soso’s trembling voice escaped her lips.

“Honestly…….”

“Sorry?”

“Does he think his body is some kind of rag doll or something…… Seriously, every single one of them.”

There was so much emotion in her voice, far too much to fully grasp.

In that moment, Tang Soso suddenly turned toward Namgung Dowi.

“What are you doing?”

“……Yes?”

“Move! Before those bastards go after the exhausted Sahyung!”

“Ah? Y-Yes, of course!”

Flustered, Namgung Dowi quickly nodded and kicked off the ground. As she watched him sprint ahead, eyes fixed on Cheong Myeong beyond him, Tang Soso looked up at the sky for just a moment.

Should she say something?

No. Now wasn’t the time to mourn the dead. Her job was to save those who were still alive. Tang Gunak... her father would have wanted that too.

“So, crying comes later.”

Tang Soso muttered and gripped the acupuncture case in her arms. It was time for her to start saving lives.

❀ ❀ ❀

Baek Cheon pulled Cheong Myeong in close.

Though barely, Cheong Myeong was still conscious. It should’ve been impossible by now, only his absurd willpower was keeping him barely tethered to life.

And Baek Cheon knew exactly what was behind the lingering anxiety that Cheong Myeong couldn’t let go of.

Crack.

Supporting Cheong Myeong with one arm, Baek Cheon raised his sword forward. A group of Red Dogs, staring blankly in this direction, were in his sights.

“Those……”

They were wounded and battered, bearing the full brunt of war’s brutality. But on their fierce faces raged emotions the Red Dogs hadn’t shown before:

Strong denial. Despair. And… emptiness.

They were lost.

They had lived their lives following only one light, and that was Jang Ilso. Now that he was gone, it was no different from losing the very meaning of life.

So it was hard to predict. What would hunting dogs, loyal only to their master, do once they lost that master…?

“Ugh… Urrgh……. EUAAAAAHHHHH!”

“Well… Yeah, I figured.”

Baek Cheon let out a bitter laugh.

Having witnessed Jang Ilso’s death with their own eyes, the Red Dogs let out a unified, mad scream, as if they’d all gone insane.

“Paegun! Paeguuuuuuun!”

It would’ve been nice if they’d simply despaired and given up all will to fight, but those cursed bastards would never do that. And where their rage would be directed was all too obvious.

Whether triggered by the sudden wave of murderous intent or instinct, Cheong Myeong’s shoulder twitched. Baek Cheon firmly pressed that shoulder down.

“Go to sleep, wounded one.”

Hummm.

Baek Cheon’s sword rang with a clear hum.

“From here on out, it’s our fight.”

Whether he heard those words or simply reached his limit, Cheong Myeong’s body finally went limp. Baek Cheon glanced at him briefly, and his face hardened.

‘I’ll get him out alive no matter what.’

It’s no easy task to protect someone unconscious in the midst of the rampaging Red Dogs. But Cheong Myeong had done the impossible too. As someone who’s called a Sasuk, he couldn’t allow himself to show weakness in front of a Sajil who had accomplished something even greater.

“AAAAAH! YOU BASTAAAAARD! I’LL KILL YOUUUUUU!”

The Red Dogs charged madly at Baek Cheon.

“Hm…”

Their movements were so frenzied and disordered, the word ‘all at once’ didn’t even apply. Yet precisely because of that, they were terrifying in a bone-chilling way.

Baek Cheon let out a faint smile.

“No matter how you look at it… this is just way too many.”

The overwhelming momentum of the Red Dogs charging from all directions was so ridiculous, it made him laugh. Who would’ve thought all those bastards would target Cheong Myeong?

That just showed how deeply their hatred for him ran, for taking Jang Ilso’s life. Not exactly good news for Baek Cheon.

“Hoo…”

Baek Cheon grit his teeth.

‘I’ll hold them off… for as long as I can.’

The others would come next. His comrades. Because Baek Cheon was not the only one who wanted to protect Cheong Myeong.

“So come, then!”

Baek Cheon roared, and his sword unleashed a crimson blade aura. As if that red glow only provoked the Red Dogs further, their eyes burned with bloodthirsty madness as they charged.

“Hiiiyaaaaah!”

The Red Dogs poured in from all directions, screaming in such twisted voices they could hardly be called human anymore. Just as Baek Cheon was about to swing his sword without hesitation...

Woooooooong!

Someone landed right in front of him.

“Huh?”

The one who was wrapped in a black kasaya. [note: the traditional robe worn by Buddhist monks]

“Monk!”

“Amitabha!”

Hye Yeon’s fist exploded in the middle of the Red Dogs, blasting through them without restraint.

Kwaang!

“KRAAAAGH!”

The frenzied Red Dogs, charging mindlessly, were flung away helplessly by Hye Yeon’s sudden appearance and assault before they could even react.

“Sasuk!”

“Yoon Jong-ah!”

Following him, Yoon Jong rushed in like the wind and stood beside Baek Cheon.

“What about Cheong Myeong?”

“…He’s still breathing.”

Yoon Jong glanced over and confirmed that Cheong Myeong was indeed still alive. Once he saw that, he nodded and raised his sword with resolve.

“Taaah!”

No more words. He immediately began cutting down the Red Dogs charging at them.

They had to protect him.

Jang Ilso’s death may have determined the outcome of this war, but if they lost Cheong Myeong now, even victory would be meaningless. Everyone here knew that.

They had to protect him. Even if it cost them their lives.

Hye Yeon stood like a wall against the Red Dogs. Though his injuries were becoming more severe, he paid no mind to his own body, focusing entirely on fighting the enemy.

Yoon Jong and Baek Cheon also swung their swords with full force at the foes pouring in from all sides.

“PAEGUUUUN! EUAAAAAAH!”

But the rage of the Red Dogs was even greater than expected, and there were far too many of them for just the three of them to handle. Baek Cheon, Hye Yeon, and Yoon Jong were soon forced back, standing shoulder-to-shoulder.

“DIIIEEEEEE!”

The Red Dogs swung their sabers without caring for their own lives. Though their strikes had lost finesse due to their fury, the sheer murderous will and obsession more than made up for it.

To say they ignored death wasn’t enough. Perhaps they had chosen it willingly. That’s how fierce and horrifying their attacks were.

Crash!

Wounds were quickly carved into the three men’s bodies.

Even Hye Yeon, fighting barehanded, could not avoid it, and neither could Yoon Jong with his sword. As for Baek Cheon, bearing the brunt while carrying Cheong Myeong, his white robes were dyed red in an instant.

Yet the three of them remained utterly determined not to let a single enemy hand touch Cheong Myeong.

“You damn bastards! If you’re so heartbroken, you should just take Jang Ilso’s corpse and get lost!”

Yoon Jong shouted furiously as he slashed his sword.

“Damn it! Sasuk, this is getting dangerous. I’ll open a path, get Cheong Myeong out of here first...”

“Don’t be ridiculous! I have to protect you too, you damned Sajil.”

“Now’s not the time for that crap!”

“It’s fine!”

Baek Cheon moved like lightning, instantly cutting down a charging Red Dogs. The blood that had soaked the tip of his sword sprayed violently.

“We’re not the only ones here.”

“What?”

Baek Cheon’s gaze went past the Red Dogs, further beyond. In his eyes, a flicker of sorrow appeared.

“There are others… who lost everything before these ones did. They’re here too.”

It was silent. Wordless rage. And that’s why no one had noticed how terrifying it was, no one had paid attention.

Sraak.

Watching the Red Dogs turn their backs, someone finally grabbed their mask and tore it off.

“You…”

The revealed face was twisted like a demon’s.

Once called Jin Songwon. But now, he was just a nameless demon. His beard, soaked in blood, trembled.

“You dare… show your backs to us?”

Jin Songwon’s mind flashed between white and black with fury.

They had lost everything to the Red Dogs. Jang Ilso had taken it all from them. And now those very Red Dogs dared to turn their backs on them?

What could be more miserable? What sight more humiliating?

The wraiths who had survived only through hatred toward their enemies all erupted in rage. Their eyes filled with blood.

“Kill them.”

Jin Songwon muttered. But even that faint whisper stabbed sharply into the ears of the crazed swordsmen of Diancang.

“And then die.”

Then, from Jin Songwon’s mouth burst a chilling scream.

“Make our faces their last memory! Make them unable to forget us, even in hell! Kill and kill again! Thoroughly, cruelly!”

Chaang!

Jin Songwon thrust his sword forward violently.

“See you again in hell.”

“HEUUAAAAAAAH!”

The moment he finished speaking, Diancang’s swordsmen charged at the Red Dogs like beasts who had smelled blood.

The dogs of Jang Ilso still remained in this world. Diancang charged like wolves out to hunt those dogs.

No matter how deep Red Dogs’s despair ran, it couldn’t surpass Diancang’s. No matter how much rage Red Dogs had, it could not exceed theirs. In truth, all Diancang had left was their rage and hatred.

So they poured it all out, onto those cursed hounds of Jang Ilso who dared show them their backs.

“EUAAAAAAH!”

Diancang’s swordman, now turned into demons, sank their fangs of hatred deep into the Red Dogs’s backs without hesitation.

“KRAAAGH! Y-You damned bastards!”

“Hahahahahahahaha!”

Even as swords pierced their backs, the Red Dogs flailed and swung their blades in desperation.

But the Diancang’s swordsmen didn’t dodge. A saber to the neck? They welcomed it. To them, continuing this cursed life was punishment.

These demons had no reason to fear death. Even as their heads were severed, they laughed madly and plunged their swords deep into the hearts of the Red Dogs.

Their rabid assault instantly shattered the Red Dogs’s rear ranks.

“Don’t let a single one live! Kill them all! Every last one!”

Diancang’s swordsmen, now transformed into demons, mercilessly pierced the Red Dogs. The Red Dogs, unable to release their fury on anything else, tore into Diancang’s swordsmen in return.

Over the land where Jang Ilso’s blood had not yet cooled, the hot blood of Red Dogs and Diancang poured like a torrent.

Next Chapter

❀ ❀ ❀

If anyone wants to donate to motivate me (I'll use the money to buy the RAWs from Naver Series too). Thank you so much!

- Buy Me a Coffee

- Patreon

- Trakteer (this one for Indonesian)