Chapter 1943 - Return of The Mount Hua Sect

Chapter 1943. Just Like Back Then In The Past. (3)

“What?”

Hong Daegwang’s complexion turned pale.

“What kind of bullshit is that! The North has been completely smashed? There weren’t even any martial sects there to begin with!”

Then, as the report continued, Hong Daegwang was left utterly stunned.

“Th-they’re trampling both the army and the civilians...?”

Right, up to that point, he could still understand it somehow. But once he heard that the unidentified force had even crushed the cavalry of the nomadic tribes, it became impossible to maintain his composure any longer.

“No... but why?”

It defied common sense.

If their objective was the Central Plains, then the nomadic cavalry shouldn’t be their enemies. They might have had no dealings with one another, but the saying “the enemy of my enemy is my ally” didn’t exist for no reason.

Simply by breaking through the northern defensive line in their stead, the nomadic cavalry could’ve exploited their unparalleled mobility to ravage the Central Plains. That would’ve made accomplishing their objective twice as easy.

“But they killed them? Every last one of them?”

Why on earth?

If they possessed even the barest shred of reason, they should’ve known it could never benefit them. Then why would they do such a thing?

“So what are they doing now? If the surviving troops retreated to the Great Wall, they’d naturally be pursuing them.”

“Th-that’s...”

The prostrated beggar looked up at Hong Daegwang, cold sweat streaming down his face. Despite the urgency and gravity of the situation, he couldn’t conceal the bewilderment written across his expression. It was a strangely incongruous look.

“Th-they’ve crossed the river again.”

“Right, the Great Wall.... What? What did you just say? Crossed the river? They crossed a river they’d already crossed? After crossing the Yellow Waters, was there another river left to ford?”

“Th-that’s not what I meant.”

“Then what? Hurry up already...!”

Just as Hong Daegwang was about to shout in mounting frustration, the beggar finally spoke.

“The ones who annihilated half of the Northern Army south of the Yellow Waters suddenly turned around and crossed the Yellow Waters again. Then they... went north.”

Hong Daegwang unconsciously let his mouth hang open.

“.....Why?”

“We still haven’t determined the reason.....”

Sweat dripped from the beggar’s face onto the floor. The room had sunk into such absolute silence that every drop could be heard distinctly.

“D-does that even make sense? Why cross back over a river you’d only just crossed?”

“Th-that’s what we don’t...”

“Are you certain this has been confirmed?”

“O-of course, Union Leader. How could I dare report uncertain information before you?”

Hyeon Jong, who had listened in silence until now, let out a faint, thoughtful murmur.

Though they had endured countless crises over the years, he swore this was the first time he had seen everyone gathered here consumed by such an eerie atmosphere. It was the fear of those confronting something utterly unknown, something that lay beyond all comprehension.

Breaking that silence, someone spoke.

“Because there are still people alive north of the river.”

Everyone’s gaze converged on the one who had spoken, Cheong Myeong. Baek Cheon’s eyes wavered.

“If you mean those who are still ‘alive’, are you referring to the nomadic cavalry?”

“Who knows. Maybe. That’s possible.”

“What do you mean, ‘possible’...?”

“Maybe while chasing the cavalry, they happened to notice peaceful nomadic villages.”

“......”

“Or perhaps they saw children bathing in the river.”

“What kind of bullshit are you spouting!”

Baek Cheon raised his voice in fury. Cheong Myeong answered only with an endlessly cold gaze.

“You think I’m joking?”

As Cheong Myeong’s aura stabbed into him in an instant, Baek Cheon unconsciously shut his mouth. Watching him quietly, Cheong Myeong spoke again.

“It seems none of you still understand. Why they’re called what they are.”

“.....”

“If they were merely wicked, they’d be called ‘Sa’. If they were only vicious, they’d be called ‘Ak’. If all they did was inspire terror through horrifying methods, they’d bear the character ‘Hyung’. But they aren’t. Why?”

[Sa. 사(邪). Character meaning “depraved”, “heterodox”, or “wicked”]

[Ak. 악(惡). Character meaning “evil” or “malice.”]

[Hyung. 흉(凶). Character meaning “ominous”, “calamitous”, “inauspicious”, or “ferocious”]

Baek Cheon involuntarily drew in a sharp breath.

“It’s impossible to understand them from the very beginning. They’re human, yet they aren’t human. They don’t think like us, and they don’t feel like us. Rather than calling them human, it’s more accurate to see them as a plague walking on two legs. That’s why they’re called ‘Ma’.”

[Ma. 마(魔). Character meaning “demon” or “devil”.]

“.....”

A silence as complete as a grave descended. Within that silence that squeezed at their hearts, someone’s voice escaped like a faint groan.

“....The Demonic Cult.”

[Magyo. 마교(魔敎). Literally “Demonic Cult.”]

There was no need to verify it. No need to confirm anything further. The only ones who would do something like this... The only ones capable of doing something like this were the Demonic Cult.

“So what will they do now?”

“Once they’ve finished clearing out every living thing they come across, they’ll head south again. Or maybe... they may already be heading south by now.”

“Isn’t that far too irresponsible a guess?”

“I already told you. Trying to predict them is meaningless.”

Hong Daegwang bit down hard on his lip.

Everyone present was overwhelmed by a despair beyond words. Yet Cheong Myeong alone found a faint glimmer of hope in their reactions.

‘It is not like before.’

Right. At the very least, Cheong Myeong was here. And there were people prepared to listen to what he had to say.

Unfortunately, that hadn’t been the case in the past.

There had been an era when the name ‘Ma’ had not disappeared, yet had unmistakably been half forgotten. When the demonic practitioners appeared in the world once more, they were, in every sense, beings beyond human comprehension.

Respond to them? How could such a thing ever have been possible?

By the time people came to their senses, half of the Central Plains had already been swept away. Only then did those who finally sensed the coming ruin gather together without distinguishing friend from foe and begin resisting them.

Of course, it couldn’t be said that the present situation was any better. Even setting aside everything they had lost in the war against the Evil Tyrant Alliance, the Central Plains’ current strength likely didn’t even measure up to what it had been in the past.

But it didn’t matter. Back then, they hadn’t fought because they were certain they could win, either.

“We have to face reality.”

“.....”

“The moment we try to interpret them, they’re already moving. To crush one more. To kill one more.”

Hong Daegwang scrubbed his face so hard with both hands that it looked as though he were about to tear the skin off.

“I understand. I do, but... damn it! I can’t even begin to figure out where we’re supposed to start.”

“Why make it so complicated?”

“Hm?”

“We simply start from the basics. First, we need to know our enemy. So, how many of the Demonic Cult group that attacked the Northern Army were there?”

The one asking the question was Im Sobyeong, who, aside from Cheong Myeong, was the only one, or perhaps even calmer than Cheong Myeong himself. He looked toward the deathly pale beggar.

“Th-that’s... determining the exact number...”

“A rough estimate will do.”

“We estimate... around several hundred. Even at most, fewer than a thousand. Probably...”

“Several hundred...”

Im Sobyeong frowned.

“That’s much fewer than I expected.”

Cheong Myeong answered indifferently, as though agreeing.

“They’re only the vanguard.”

“I thought so.”

“W-wait. Isn’t it possible that’s their main force? If, as you said, they barely managed to survive in that barren north, then even if their military strength has been greatly reduced....”

“That won’t happen.”

Cheong Myeong rejected the idea in a single sentence. Hong Daegwang stared at him in confusion.

“No? Why?”

“Because he wasn’t there.”

“He?”

Cheong Myeong’s eyes darkened.

“You should know who I mean. The Heavenly Demon. He wasn’t there.”

At that instant, a suffocating silence swept through the room.

It was the name they had wanted to keep turning away from until the very end, even knowing that the Demonic Cult had invaded. But now, it was the silence wrought by a name they could no longer turn away from.

“That’s still not yet...”

Just then, Im Sobyeong snapped open his fan in a single motion.

“The Demonic Cult has risen many times throughout history, but whenever they invaded the Central Plains, there has never been a single occasion when the Heavenly Demon wasn’t present.”

“Probably.”

With the exception of the most recent Great War, records of the Demonic Cult’s invasions of the Central Plains had not survived with any certainty.

[Daejeon. 대전(大戰). Literally “Great War”. Refers to the massive war in which the Heavenly Demon and the orthodox martial world destroyed one another.]

Many records had been lost during that war. But even before then, it hadn’t been customary to record the history of Jianghu in writing. Almost everything had been passed down by word of mouth.

And whenever those oral histories spoke of the Demonic Cult, one name was never absent.

The Heavenly Demon.

From that, Jianghu had arrived at a simple conclusion.

There were times when the Demonic Cult possessed a Heavenly Demon. And there were times when it did not.

When the Demonic Cult existed without the Heavenly Demon, it never set its sights upon the Central Plains. Instead, it hid itself where people’s eyes could not reach and quietly accumulated strength. In other words, whenever they invaded the Central Plains, there was always a being known as the Heavenly Demon among them.

“The Cult’s operating principle is to slaughter every living human being.”

“....That’s true.”

“But that’s only its operating principle, not its objective. Those of the Demonic Cult exist solely to become the hands and feet of the Heavenly Demon.”

[Hands and feet. Sujok. 수족(手足). A Korean idiom meaning someone’s utterly loyal subordinate or instrument who carries out the superior’s will.]

Hong Daegwang immediately understood what that meant.

“So you’re saying the Demonic Cult’s main force would never leave the Heavenly Demon’s side?”

“That’s right. Never.”

It was impossible to refute. Everything he had ever learned about the Demonic Cult proved Cheong Myeong’s words to be true.

Im Sobyeong spoke with a hint of amusement.

“So this means that what they casually sent ahead wasn’t even their main force, only the vanguard, yet it annihilated the nomadic cavalry and shattered half of the Northern Army, forcing it into retreat.”

Hearing it summarized so plainly made it sound utterly absurd. Yet it was difficult to deny. After all, everyone here had already experienced it in Hangzhou. They knew just how powerful and how horrifying the Demonic Cult truly was.

“Well then, doesn’t that settle the matter?”

“Settle what?”

“If things continue like this, and the Heavenly Demon leads the Demonic Cult’s main force into the Central Plains... do you believe there’s any way to stop them?”

At Im Sobyeong’s question, Hong Daegwang fell silent.

Could they stop them?

Of course, perhaps they can. The Central Plains had always managed to draw out hidden reserves of strength at moments like these.

‘But can that truly be called stopping them?’

Nearly a hundred years had passed since the last war, yet Jianghu had still not recovered from its aftermath. Then what if they suffered losses on that same scale once again? What if the damage proved even greater?

Would Jianghu still remain in this world afterward? No, would the name Central Plains itself still remain?

“Do you understand?”

At Im Sobyeong’s question, Hong Daegwang blankly nodded. Im Sobyeong folded his fan shut again and lightly tapped it against his own head.

“One year... no, had we been given even three months, perhaps we could’ve found some way to resist. But now, it’s difficult. The scars Paegun left upon the Central Plains are far greater than anyone imagines.”

It wasn’t merely because so many had died.

Voids had appeared throughout every corner of the Central Plains. And they had yet to find any way to fill them completely. There was no way a dike riddled with holes could hold back a surging flood.

[tl note: The comparison of a dike full of holes against a rushing torrent is a Korean metaphor for an organization whose structural weaknesses have become impossible to compensate for, no matter how desperately individuals struggle.]

“Then there’s only one option left.”

“What is it?”

“Seonbaljein.”

[Seonbaljein. 선발제인(先發制人). Literally “To strike first and thereby gain control over the opponent.” A classical Chinese military maxim meaning to seize the initiative through preemptive action.]

Im Sobyeong smiled faintly.

“No... In this case, since they’ve already made the first move, perhaps it should be called Hubaljeeoin instead...”

[Hubaljeeoin. 후발제어인(後發制於人). Literally “Acting after the opponent and therefore being controlled by them.” Im Sobyeong deliberately twists the classical idiom 先發制人 (strike first to gain control) into its opposite to emphasize that they have already surrendered the initiative.]

“You mean... we strike first?”

“Exactly.”

Im Sobyeong shrugged.

“Everyone seems to have overlooked it because of how urgent everything is. But viewed calmly, the enemy’s vanguard is currently separated from its main force.”

“....That’s true.”

“If we leave them alone, they’ll eventually reunite with the main force, or they’ll accomplish whatever separate objective they’ve been sent to carry out. Neither outcome benefits us.”

Fwaak.

Im Sobyeong’s fan snapped open.

“Which means we strike before they withdraw. So that not a single one of them escapes alive.”

Hong Daegwang swallowed dryly. Launching the first attack... against the Demonic Cult...

“Realistically...”

“If we’re going to discuss reality, then let’s discuss a different reality first, Mr. Beggar.”

“What?”

Im Sobyeong’s eyes turned cold.

“If the Heavenly Demon of the present possesses power equal to the Heavenly Demon who trampled the Central Plains in the past, then there’s no point fighting at all. The power he displayed in the last great war belongs not to the realm of reality, but to the realm of myth. It would be quicker to discuss it as legend than as reality. Certain defeat. No other conclusion exists.”

[Certain defeat. Pilpae. 필패(必敗). A classical expression denoting an outcome from which victory is impossible.]

Someone’s fingertips were trembling. Yet no one could mock that trembling. Looking around at the terror-stricken faces, Im Sobyeong smiled lightly.

“But there’s no reason to discuss that possibility right now. Which leaves us with only one thing to do. Trusting that the Heavenly Demon of this era hasn’t reached that level. ”

He paused for a moment, then let out a long breath before speaking in a chilling voice.

“We sever his hands and feet completely. Even if it means offering up my own neck to cut off one of his fingers, we isolate the Heavenly Demon completely. That is the only way we can defeat them.”

[tl note: “offer up my own neck to cut off one of his fingers” is an idiomatic expression of disproportionate sacrifice. Im Sobyeong is expressing a strategy of accepting catastrophic sacrifices if they permanently reduce the Heavenly Demon’s strength or influence. It is not meant literally but as an extreme statement of strategic resolve.]

The shocking declaration made everyone in the room swallow dryly. But their reactions had never been what interested Im Sobyeong in the first place.

“What do you think, dojang?”

Im Sobyeong’s gaze had, before anyone realized it, settled on Cheong Myeong. There was something openly provocative in his eyes, as though he were testing him. The corner of Cheong Myeong’s mouth slowly rose.

“It’s been a while since I’ve heard someone say something worth hearing.”

Between his twisted lips, gleaming white teeth showed with an unsettling brilliance.

“I think the same. There’s only one way. We attack.”

Cheong Myeong slowly looked every person in the room in the eye.

“We strike the Demonic Cult first. Not in order to win...”

Madness flickered within his eyes. The very same madness that had once belonged to the Plum Blossom Sword Saint.

“But to survive.”

At last, his gaze turned toward somewhere far away.

As though glaring at the existence, no different from fate itself, that was drawing ever closer to this place.

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