Chapter 1885 – Return of The Mount Hua Sect

Chapter 1885. You Can Do It. (5) ❀ ❀ ❀

“Don’t let up!”

Watching the disciples still fighting with all their might, Un Am shouted until his voice was hoarse.

His martial ability wasn’t particularly high, but he could easily judge which way the tide of battle was turning.

With Jang Ilso’s death, their side had undeniably seized the momentum. The problem was, the moment they gained that breathing room, people on their side also began collapsing from exhaustion.

‘It can’t be helped.’

Mental endurance isn’t limitless. No matter how much grit and determination one has, the moment there’s the slightest trigger, the thread will snap and they’ll sink to the ground.

‘Which means… if the good news had come just a little later, the balance might have collapsed entirely.’

Cold sweat ran down Un Am’s back. If that had happened, half of them might already be dead, and the rest would be far from unscathed. Once the balance tips, it’s nearly impossible to right it again.

‘It’s still a razor’s edge.’

The battle had dragged on too long. The strain was immense. Both Mount Hua, which had been fighting at full strength to take down Jang Ilso, and the Heavenly Comrade Alliance warriors who had been holding him back before that, must now be struggling to even hold their swords.

The only thing barely keeping them together was the one bit of good news, Jang Ilso’s demise.

‘At times like this…’

Someone has to hold the line and keep them standing. Cheong Myeong had done so, and so had the Five Swords.

And Un Am knew exactly who in this place could do the same right now.

“Push harder! You have to hold on!”

It was unclear exactly who he was shouting to, but those who heard his voice naturally knew he was speaking to them. Even without eye contact, just a small nod confirmed it.

‘That is not an easy task.’

It was Un Geom. He exhaled deeply.

His whole body was covered in wounds. To be frank, Un Geom wasn’t used to battles that pushed him to the limit. He had rarely fought with his life truly on the line, spending most of his life training in the quiet of Mount Hua.

‘Training…’

Un Geom glanced at his empty right sleeve.

‘Has that time I devoted myself to training left anything in me?’

Perhaps it had. But it could also be said he had lost something. He still wasn’t fully accustomed to holding a sword in his left hand.

It would be a lie to say there was no regret or emptiness. The lingering thought that things might be better if he still had his right arm never let him go.

Even so, Un Geom kept his gaze steady on the enemies. Interestingly, the reason he could remain so steady was not because of the disciples behind him.

Casting a quick glance to the side, Un Geom spoke with a slightly strange expression.

“Are you holding up?”

“…Yes.”

The one who answered, Lee Songbaek, nodded with an endlessly serious expression.

Un Geom’s lips twitched in an odd way, unsure whether to laugh or sigh.

‘They say life is unpredictable.’

No matter how much the Baek and Cheong generations of Mount Hua disliked Zhongnan, could it ever match the Un generation’s hatred? The Un generation had lived their entire lives under Zhongnan’s oppression, a resentment so deep it was hard to put into words.

For nearly a lifetime, Un Geom had harbored a thorny grudge toward Zhongnan. Yet here he was, standing side by side with a young Zhongnan disciple.

“Don’t overdo it. Your breathing seems ragged.”

“I’m still… still fine.”

“…Is that so.”

He couldn’t deny it. His body was clearly battered, but Lee Songbaek’s eyes still burned with life.

Mount Hua had many excellent youths, but this one was different from them. If Mount Hua’s children would burn their will to the very end even as they died, this man looked like he’d say “I’m still fine” even after being laid in his coffin. That was the kind of impression he gave.

Yes, strong to the core, apart from physical prowess.

‘With someone like this next to me, how could I say something weak?’

He couldn’t show any sign of faltering before his disciples. All the more so in front of a Zhongnan disciple, even if he were about to die, he couldn’t appear weak.

Some might mock it as petty pride, but to Un Geom, soon to be Mount Hua’s head of the martial hall, it was a pride he could never set down.

Even if his sword hand was trembling uncontrollably.

At the same time, another thought occurred to him.

“Wouldn’t you be better off somewhere else?”

“Pardon? What do you mean…?”

“There must be plenty of places to fight.”

Un Geom glanced off into the distance. There, Hye Yeon, Baek Cheon, and Yoon Jong were fighting desperately to protect Cheong Myeong.

Wasn’t that where Lee Songbaek should be? The place where he could shine most brightly, and where his presence would mean the most.

There was no need for him to come all the way to this fringe of the battlefield to fight alongside Mount Hua.

Only then did Lee Songbaek seem to understand Un Geom’s point, scratching his cheek with an awkward look.

“Well, I’m not sure. When I came to my senses, I was just… here.”

“….”

“As you say, there’s no particular reason it has to be here… but there’s also no reason it shouldn’t be here either.”

Hearing his calm words, Un Geom let out a soft chuckle. Strangely, his old grudge toward Zhongnan didn’t seem to reach this young man.

“Still, remember what I said, don’t overdo it. You have a future. Wouldn’t it be too regrettable to die here? Leave the dangerous parts to me. Protecting the next generation is the duty of the previous one.”

“…Pardon?”

Lee Songbaek looked at Un Geom with a somewhat dazed expression.

“What? Is it strange for a Mount Hua elder to talk about the future to a Zhongnan disciple?”

“No, it’s not that…”

“Then?”

“…You’re not at the age to be talking about ‘the next generation’ yet, Elder.”

“What?”

“If you think about it, you’re still in your prime. In Zhongnan, that’s only natural…”

Un Geom fell silent at the unexpected reply. Then, after a moment, he muttered like a sigh.

“…That’s true.”

He’d forgotten.

Thanks to those monstrous disciples, he’d been pushed into the background before he knew it, but in a normal sect, his age would place him at the very core of leadership.

Lee Songbaek’s words reminded him of an obvious fact he’d either forgotten… or perhaps tried to forget.

And at the same time, Un Geom realized.

There was something very natural in Lee Songbaek’s words, a quiet respect for Un Geom.

“…So Zhongnan didn’t only have hopeless fools.”

“Pardon?”

“That was a compliment.”

Un Geom let out a faint, deflating laugh. Silly as it sounded, a spark of competitiveness bloomed somewhere in his chest.

‘…It wasn’t just so I wouldn’t be a burden.’

He had thought that if he didn’t take up a sword, even with his left hand, the others would be too saddened.

But… was that really all?

Un Geom tightened his grip on his sword. Even if he had lost his right hand, even if it was now too late to become the swordmaster who would command the martial world as he’d once dreamed, even if accepting his current level was the “realistic” thing to do…

“If I were the sort of man who could accept that, I wouldn’t have taken up the sword in the first place.”

The sword held in Un Geom’s left hand moved.

A sword held in the left hand alone is enough to be called eccentric, the Jwasugeom [Left-Handed Sword, (左手劍)]. But so what? Even if the hand holding the sword were his right, it wouldn’t change the fact that the path he intends to walk is still unimaginably long and arduous.

Fwoosh.

From Un Geom’s left hand, a flower bloomed.

Perhaps, here at the place where everything might end, it would be the sword that began everything.

Not quite “new,” not quite “unchanging,” but still, a plum blossom worth looking at.

It bloomed sparsely at the tips of bare branches, leaving gaps here and there, unable to burst into full glory.

But that was fine.

“Taaaah!”

Behind his sword followed a perfect blade, one that could fill every gap in the world.

The splendid blossoms of Mount Hua’s sword intertwined with the sturdy support of Zhongnan’s sword. The Evil Tyrant Alliance warriors, their faces blackened with despair, fell back and back again, but the two swords mercilessly pursued and ended their breaths.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

“Aaaaargh!”

Wretched screams rang out.

“What are you doing? If you retreat, you’ll all die! Attack! Kill them all!”

Driven mad, the Evil Tyrant Alliance warriors clenched their teeth and charged again. Blocking them, Un Geom spoke with a bitter expression.

“Perhaps… from the next generation onward, there may come a world where Zhongnan and Mount Hua stand together.”

“…I don’t know about that.”

At Un Geom’s questioning glance, Lee Songbaek quietly replied.

“I don’t think we have to wait until then.”

“….”

It was at that moment.

“O-over there!”

One of Mount Hua’s disciples shouted loudly.

“Sasuk! Sasuk! Look there! Reinforcements!”

“Hm?”

Un Geom and Un Am turned their gazes at the same time. Beyond the horizon, a group of warriors was charging at incredible speed.

Pure white, like clouds blooming in the sky of the earth itself…

“It’s Zhongnan! Zhongnan bastards!”

“Damn it! Never thought I’d see the day when those bastards look welcome!”

“Hey, you bastards! What took you so long? You should’ve waited until we were all dead!”

Mount Hua’s disciples shouted with rough joy. Their faces, as they looked at the incoming Zhongnan disciples, were filled with nothing but relief and happiness.

“Heh…”

Un Geom let out a helpless laugh.

Given the situation, it was understandable. However, he had never imagined there would come a day when Mount Hua’s disciples would greet Zhongnan so passionately. Even more unsettling was the undeniable sense of relief welling up in his own heart.

Seeing the familiar face leading Zhongnan at the front, Un Geom finally shook his head. That face, which he had always found detestable, now looked so welcome it was absurd.

Then Lee Songbaek’s calm voice reached his ear.

“We can’t erase the wrongs we’ve committed.”

“…..”

“But I think using the past as an excuse to gamble everything on time is even more irresponsible. If there’s something to be done, it should be done now.”

Un Geom kept his mouth tightly shut, mulling over Lee Songbaek’s words. Lee Songbaek continued.

“If we can do that… perhaps the day you spoke of might come a little sooner.”

The corners of Un Geom’s tightly set mouth twitched, just a little.

In truth, this was the naïve remark of a young disciple who didn’t know the past. The humiliation Mount Hua had suffered at the hands of Zhongnan could not be healed by such simple efforts.

Yes, that was certain. And yet…

“…Perhaps you’re right.”

Un Geom muttered with a somewhat complicated expression. In any case, he couldn’t deny that it would be the better path.

People move forward with their wounds. Perhaps the same is true for sects.

“Support the Alliance and Mount Hua! Leave not a single Evil Tyrant Alliance alive!”

Jin Geumryong’s thunderous shout split the air, a grand voice announcing the end of a long war.

Next Chapter

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