Chapter 1941 - Return of The Mount Hua Sect

Chapter 1941. Just Like Back Then In The Past. (1)

Bang!

As the door was thrown open with force, the lamplight illuminating the room wavered precariously. Those seated with grave expressions all turned their eyes toward the entrance at once.

Cheong Myeong strode into the room with a hardened expression.

“What’s the situation?”

“Sit down first.”

Cheong Myeong cast a glance at Hong Daegwang. He soon withdrew his gaze and took a seat opposite Hong Daegwang. Five Swords, who had followed him in, also sat down. A heavy atmosphere hung over everyone’s face.

“What do you mean, the Demonic Cult?”

The moment he had barely settled into his seat, Baek Cheon turned toward Hyeon Jong and asked. Hyeon Jong let out a faint groan, his face weighed down with gravity.

“I don’t know the full details either. For now, the Beggar Union Leader...”

“I’ll explain, Alliance Leader.”

“Mm. Then I shall leave it to you.”

Hong Daegwang nodded before opening his mouth without delay.

“An urgent report has arrived from the Beggar Union branch in Hebei. It says they discovered a northerner at a place called Hongjibang.”

[Hongjibang. 홍지방(弘地房). A martial organization located in Chifeng at the northernmost edge of Hebei.]

“Hongjibang?”

“It’s a sect located in Chifeng, the northernmost point of Hebei. Rather than the murim, it’s a place closer to the great steppe.”

[Chifeng. Jeogbong. 적봉(赤峰). Present-day Chifeng, lying along the northern frontier beyond the Central Plains.]

“The north.... And then?”

“It is difficult to interpret the full meaning due to the language barrier, but they say the exhausted northerner repeatedly mentions ‘Demon’ and ‘arrival’.”

Cheong Myeong silently fixed his gaze upon Hong Daegwang. Under that heavy stare, Hong Daegwang bit his lip.

“For now, this is the opinion of the Hebei branch that was urgently dispatched to investigate... The one who fled appears to belong to a foreign tribe living north even of Mobei. Judging from the clothing and appearance, they’re almost certain.”

[Mobei. Makbuk. 막북(漠北). Literally “north of the desert” referring to the vast lands beyond the Gobi Desert.]

[Foreign tribe. Ijok. 이족(異族). Literally “different tribe” or “foreign people” referring to peoples ethnically distinct from those of the Central Plains.]

“Did you say Mobei? Where exactly is that?”

In response to Yoon Jong’s question, Hong Daegwang answered.

“To explain it simply... Even after crossing Hebei, you’d still have to travel far north across the plateau before reaching it. It is a land of bitter cold. Farther north even than the North Sea. A land scarcely touched by the people of the Central Plains.”

[Plateau. Gowon. 고원(高原). Literally “high plateau.”]

The corner of Cheong Myeong’s mouth twisted.

“So it’s the back of beyond among the back of beyonds?”

“Hardly anyone lives there.”

At Hong Daegwang’s addition, Cheong Myeong slowly nodded.

“It must be barren.”

“Barren doesn’t even begin to describe it. You could practically say it’s land where people can’t live.”

“And yet, people do live there.”

“They do. The one we found came from there.”

“Then if you went even farther north than that... There wouldn’t be any people, would there?”

“....Probably not.”

Cheong Myeong let out a deep sneer.

Yes. It had to be a place like that. It could only have been such a place. Otherwise, they could never have remained hidden from everyone’s eyes for nearly a hundred years.

At that moment, as though something had occurred to him, Baek Cheon turned toward Cheong Myeong.

“If it’s a barren land... Cheong Myeong, do you remember what that madman we met in Hangzhou kept rambling about back then?”

“Of course. How could I forget?”

Cheong Myeong bared his teeth.

It would’ve been enough to drive anyone mad. He had endured for a hundred years in a hellish land where even the foreign tribes refused to tread. Couldn’t one imagine where that dreadful hatred had come from?

After falling silent in thought for a moment, Baek Cheon looked at Hong Daegwang.

“So, to summarize... The foreign tribes living in Mobei were attacked by those referred to as ‘Demon’. One of the survivors fled here in desperation, all the way to the Central Plains. Is that correct?”

“That would be the case.”

“But I don’t quite understand. Why would the foreign tribes ask the Central Plains for help? They’ve never had that kind of relationship.”

“I’m not certain.”

Hong Daegwang spoke with an unusually serious expression.

“Among the words repeatedly spoken by the half-conscious tribesman... Besides ‘Demon’ and ‘arrival’, There is also the word ‘Mount Hua’.”

“Mount Hua?”

“Mount Hua? Why would Mount Hua suddenly come up? Is that really true?”

At the startled reactions of the Mount Hua disciples, Hong Daegwang tapped the table.

“It’s not absolutely certain. The pronunciation is far too unclear. We won’t know for sure until he regains consciousness. But what if that tribesman is really talking about Mount Hua?”

Hong Daegwang’s eyes became unusually solemn.

“Then we may not have the time to wait for that tribesman to wake up.”

“But.....”

“There’s no need to doubt it.”

At Cheong Myeong’s voice, which suddenly cut in, Baek Cheon turned toward him.

“That tribesman has nothing to gain by deceiving us.”

“That’s... huft...Yeah, you’re right.”

Cheong Myeong could already guess how the word “Mount Hua” had come from that tribesman’s mouth. Of course, it wasn’t something he could reasonably explain to everyone gathered here.

“So, in the end....”

Cheong Myeong looked around at everyone seated in the room before speaking.

“The Demonic Cult is marching south.”

A deathly silence settled over the room.

The Demonic Cult’s southward advance. Was there anyone here who didn’t understand what those words meant? Far from it. The weight of those words was so crushing that no one even dared to speak.

“There are still.... things that have to be confirmed.”

Hong Daegwang firmly shook his head.

“There are simply too many parts that don’t make sense. To begin with, if they really were attacked by the Demonic Cult, wouldn’t it be impossible for a survivor who hasn’t even learned martial arts to reach the Central Plains ahead of them? The Demonic Cultists shouldn’t be slower than that.”

“The Demonic Cult has always been like that.”

“...What?”

Cheong Myeong answered calmly.

“What makes the Demonic Cult terrifying isn’t that they’re fast. It’s that they’re unbearably slow, slow enough to defy understanding. And yet, you still can’t stop them. That’s what makes them horrifying.”

[tl note: “이해할 수 없을 정도로 느려 터졌지만” literally means “they’re so unbearably slow that it’s hard to comprehend”. One expects an overwhelming army to move swiftly, but the Demonic Cult’s frightening nature lies in its relentless, almost absurdly slow advance that nevertheless proves impossible to halt.]

“.....”

“We already experienced it in Hangzhou. Didn’t we?”

Hong Daegwang couldn’t bring himself to answer.

It was because the moment he admitted it... It would also mean admitting that the Demonic Cult was, at this very moment, advancing from the far north toward them.

“They hadn’t moved an inch for over a hundred years. So why now...?!”

“Beggar Ajussi.”

Looking directly at Hong Daegwang, Cheong Myeong cut him off.

“There isn’t any reason. There never is.”

He refused to let Hong Daegwang hide behind denial.

“We have to move. Right now. If we don’t, the damage will grow beyond control. Remember this. The reason the Demonic Cult is terrifying is because they aren’t a sect of the jianghu. They don’t distinguish between commoners and martial artists. They don’t even distinguish between officials and ordinary people. They simply kill everything they see. And once there’s no one left to kill... They move on in search of the next thing to kill.”

A chill crept down everyone’s spine. No one could easily find their voice.

“That’s how the Demonic Cult operates.”

Baek Cheon, who had been silently listening, narrowed his eyes.

The others were crushed beneath the weight of Cheong Myeong’s words. The mere name Demonic Cult pressed upon them so heavily that they seemed unable to breathe properly.

Perhaps because of that, none of them seemed to be truly looking at Cheong Myeong properly.

“Cheong Myeong-ah.”

“.....What?”

“Did you already know? That the Demonic Cult would invade around this time?”

“What?”

Hong Daegwang flinched and stared at Baek Cheon.

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“Now that I think about it... It started with this Alliance Gathering.”

“The Alliance Gathering?”

As he mulled over Baek Cheon’s words, Hong Daegwang turned toward Cheong Myeong with a startled expression.

“Come to think of it...”

Wasn’t it strangely coincidental?

In truth, this Alliance Gathering had no particularly significant purpose. It merely had a reasonable pretext and a reasonable justification. It was, quite literally, a gathering convened simply because they could convene one.

Even so, everyone had accepted holding it because they felt that, by now, it was time to properly establish Mount Hua’s place. That simple reason alone had been enough.

And yet...

‘What if Mount Hua had faced the Demonic Cult’s invasion without first putting everything in order through the Alliance Gathering?’

How much greater would the damage have been?

Gathering the sects of the world now to discuss the matter? Impossible. To say that the situation had become urgent and ask all the sects under Heaven to follow Mount Hua’s orders? If such a thing had been possible, there would’ve been no need for the Alliance Gathering in the first place.

In other words... Didn’t that mean that without this Alliance Gathering, it would’ve been nearly impossible to respond to the sudden news of the Demonic Cult’s southward advance?

“Is it true, Mount Hua Divine Dragon?”

Still only half-convinced, Hong Daegwang asked. Cheong Myeong answered without a trace of emotion.

“I’m not some fortune-teller. How would I know something like that?”

“...Right? Yes, that’s true. But don’t you think the timing is just too coincidental?”

“I simply thought it was better to prepare sooner rather than later.”

“.....”

“We already confirmed in Hangzhou that the Demonic Cult still had its sights set on the Central Plains. If they’ve got any sense, they wouldn’t let the moment pass when we’d been weakened by a great war.”

Hong Daegwang nodded with a thoughtful hum. It was certainly an explanation that made sense.

“But to act on nothing more than a suspicion... No. That’s not it. Right. That’s not what’s important right now.”

Running both hands across his face in frustration, Hong Daegwang forced his thoughts into order. At that moment, Cheong Myeong cut him off. His voice was strangely cold.

“There’s only one thing we need to do now. Inform the sect leaders gathered here of the situation and gather those who’ll fight the Demonic Cult.”

“.....You’re saying we should start a war?”

“Yes.”

Hong Daegwang stared in disbelief and waved both hands.

“Mount Hua Divine Dragon. I understand what you’re saying. I understand that it has to be done. But everything you’ve said rests on one assumption. That the Demonic Cult is invading the Central Plains right now.”

“Yes. And that’s the truth.”

“Yes, maybe it is! Damn it, maybe it is! But believing it to be true and it actually being true are two completely different things!”

Hong Daegwang’s voice rose of its own accord.

“If we say something like that now, the sect leaders here will think we’re trying to manipulate them into our grasp. The timing is just too perfectly convenient. I wouldn’t believe it either. The war has only just... Only just ended... And now we’re asking them to do something so horrific all over again...”

“Whether they believe it or not doesn’t matter.”

Cheong Myeong cut him off with an icy rebuke.

“If we don’t do it, everyone will die. That’s all.”

Hong Daegwang bit down hard on his lip.

No one understood better than he did that there wasn’t a single flaw in Cheong Myeong’s reasoning. But realistically, was there any way to persuade them?

‘I never imagined I’d end up feeling the absence of Shaolin and Wudang at a time like this.’

No matter how much Mount Hua proved itself, there was still an authority it could never, at least not yet, fully establish. At this moment, that authority was more desperately needed than ever.

“Mount Hua Divine Dragon. I believe you. But this isn’t enough. The most I can do is keep them here for a few more days. Even that will require Mount Hua’s cooperation. During that time, somehow we’ll find a way...”

“That’ll be enough.”

“...What?”

Hong Daegwang looked at Cheong Myeong with puzzled eyes. But there wasn’t the slightest hint of what he was thinking on Cheong Myeong’s face.

“Because within a few days, everyone will know anyway.”

“Wait a moment, Mount Hua Divine Dragon. Are you mistaken about where Mobei is? If, as you said, their advance really is that slow, then there should still be...”

Hong Daegwang suddenly trailed off. As though something had just struck him.

“You understand now?”

“.....”

“I told you. The reason they’re terrifying is because they don’t distinguish between people.”

“No...”

“It was the same a hundred years ago. Everyone will probably find out soon enough.”

Cheong Myeong quietly stared at the unsteadily flickering lamplight. The faint flame reflected in his eyes, wavering within them.

“Just like back then in the past.”

Everything repeats itself. Sometimes in an even more horrifying way.

[tl note: IMO Cheong Myeong’s point is not about the speed of the Demonic Cult’s march. It is that they massacre every settlement they encounter without discrimination. News of such slaughter spreads faster than the army itself, because refugees flee ahead of the advancing force. The world will soon learn of the invasion through them.]

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