Chapter 1955 - Return of The Mount Hua Sect

Chapter 1955. It’s Damn Fucking Good to See You Again. (5)

Heavenly Executioner, who had been staring blankly at the fallen Cheong Myeong, looked down at his own hand. After staring at it silently for some time, he suddenly lifted his gaze toward the lofty sky.

“I don’t expect any understanding.”

It was closer to a soliloquy than something he was saying to Cheong Myeong.

“At some point, I came to realize it. That power had accumulated within this body, enough to tear the Central Plains apart in a single stroke.”

The emotion contained in his voice was difficult to define clearly as any one thing.

“But I couldn’t do anything. The binding that He placed upon me kept me from reaching this place. So I could only watch. For a suffocatingly long time.”

Heavenly Executioner looked at Cheong Myeong again.

“You couldn’t possibly even begin to imagine what that agony of having one’s guts torn apart was like. So I don’t expect you to understand. Just lament it. That my feet can finally reach this place.”

[Agony of having one’s guts torn apart. Danjang. 단장(斷腸). Literally “broken intestines.” A classical expression for unbearable grief or anguish, originating from the image of one’s intestines being torn apart by sorrow. Here, it conveys the torment Heavenly Executioner endured while being unable to reach the Central Plains.]

At that moment, Cheong Myeong staggeringly rose to his feet.

His upper body was dyed entirely red with blood flowing from the wound that had been pierced through him, yet his hand still gripped his sword tightly, just as it had at the beginning.

His gaze was the same. Despite having suffered a massive wound, there wasn’t a single thing that had changed in Cheong Myeong’s eyes. They shone fiercely, as though they would pierce straight through Heavenly Executioner.

“......What a load of bullshit.”

Watching this scene, Heavenly Executioner suddenly felt a strange emotion. Perhaps it should be called admiration.

Just as he was wondering whether he should say something acknowledging his opponent, Cheong Myeong spoke again without changing his expression in the slightest.

“Ah, fucking hell. It really fucking hurts.”

“.....Heh.”

A dry laugh escaped Heavenly Executioner’s lips. Perhaps this was the first ‘real laugh’ he’d had since setting foot in the Central Plains……… No, perhaps it was the first in a hundred years. Not a mocking laugh, but a genuine one.

“It hurts like hell, and you’re spouting nonsense. You’re old enough to have eaten your fill of years, yet you’re acting like a fucking child.”

“As I said…….”

“Shut up, you stupid bastard. Anyone listening would think the Central Plains lot had invaded you first. You’re the bastard who invaded first, got your ass kicked, and got driven out, and now you’re holding a grudge? Does that even make sense? Even if those Demonic Cult bastards aren’t human and just think and live however the hell they please, there’s still a limit.”

“.....”

Caught off guard by the sudden torrent of verbal abuse, Heavenly Executioner couldn’t hide his bewilderment.

Of course, he’d heard curses filled with hatred until he was sick of them. There was nothing particularly new about that. But this man….

“......He’s definitely a different person. He wasn’t as flippant as you.”

Cheong Myeong’s brow twitched.

This bastard? Did this guy even understand how severe an insult that was? It felt as though his entire second life had just been denied.

“Cough.”

Cheong Myeong roughly wiped away the blood running from the corner of his mouth.

“Don’t act like you’ve won just because I got a scratch. What’s so great about a wound like this?”

Heavenly Executioner’s gaze sank darkly once more. Looking straight into those eyes, Cheong Myeong felt an unbearable chill.

‘Could I have faced him back then?’

Who knows. He didn’t know.

The Plum Blossom Sword Saint of the past had certainly been a strong enough expert to face Heavenly Executioner. They hadn’t been able to decide the outcome, but if the two of them had been in a situation where they could fight to the very end, Cheong Myeong believed the one left standing at the end would have been the Sword Saint.

But this bastard wasn’t the Heavenly Executioner of the past. That meant he was a powerful being whom Cheong Myeong had no way of facing, even if he fully stepped into the realm he himself had reached in the past.

“......What a fucking feeling.”

“You have nothing to worry about. Death will be the fairest thing for all of you.”

“That’s not what I mean. You stupid bastard.”

Cheong Myeong gave a derisive snort.

“At this rate, I’d just make a fool of myself for having mocked that bastard Jang Ilso. Though there’s no way you’d understand.”

It wouldn’t be only Heavenly Executioner who had grown stronger.

The Cultists were stronger than they had been in the past as well. And…… if there were still surviving Bishops, they too would have grown considerably stronger, just like Heavenly Executioner. Of course, there couldn’t possibly be several people among the Bishops who were as extraordinarily powerful as Heavenly Executioner, who had stood peerless even among the Bishops.

In any case, after taking all of that into consideration, there was only one conclusion.

The enemy was far too powerful. Powerful enough that he had to burn away every plan he’d made under the assumption that the Demonic Cult would be no stronger than it had been in his previous life.

‘Did that bastard Jang Ilso think this far ahead? Is that why......?’

No. There was no need to think about it.

Whatever reason he might have had, it wasn’t enough to make Cheong Myeong affirm that bastard.

‘If he’d thought this far, then he should’ve struggled all the harder.’

“Whew......”

Cheong Myeong slightly loosened the grip of the hand holding his sword. He released the excessive tension throughout his body and properly recognized the enemy before his eyes.

The enemy before him wasn’t the being he knew. He was a powerful opponent against whom the odds of victory were slim even if he threw away his life.

But that wasn’t the problem.

“......The problem is that I’m terribly familiar with a situation like this. Damn it.”

Mount Hua hadn’t been able to teach him.

Mount Hua had been his refuge, and more than that, it had been everything to him...... yet paradoxically, he hadn’t learned martial arts from Mount Hua. Even if he’d entered Wudang or Shaolin instead of Mount Hua, the difference in his skill probably wouldn’t have been all that great.

So in the end…… what had created the Plum Blossom Sword Saint was the Demonic Cult.

How to fight, how to survive, how to drive himself to the limit. Everything that had made the Plum Blossom Sword Saint special had been learned from the Demonic Cult. Fighting against those people had meant precisely that.

Thinking of it this way, nothing had changed this time either.

“Hey.”

“……What?”

“It’s a funny thing to say, but I think I need to start learning to walk from now on, you know?”

Doubt filled Heavenly Executioner’s two eyes.

“Learning to walk?”

“You don’t exactly look like a trustworthy nanny, but I don’t have any other choice right now, so I’ll be counting on you.”

Cheong Myeong placed his outstretched left hand against the flat of his sword and aimed it at Heavenly Executioner.

“But make it a crash course. I don’t have time.”

………Naturally, Heavenly Executioner couldn’t understand what Cheong Myeong was saying. It would’ve been the same for anyone else.

But there was one thing Heavenly Executioner understood with certainty.

That the swordsman before his eyes hadn’t given up.

He’d felt Heavenly Executioner’s martial arts and realm with his own body and survived. Furthermore, he still hadn’t lost hope that he could drive his sword into Heavenly Executioner’s throat.

‘Astonishing.’

Even admiration welled up at that steadfastness. If he could, he felt he’d even like to persuade this man to convert.

[tl note: “귀의(歸依)” literally means “to return to and rely upon.” In religious contexts, it refers to conversion or taking refuge in a faith or religious teaching. Here, Heavenly Executioner means persuading Cheong Myeong to abandon his current allegiance and join the Demonic Cult, lmao.]

Of course, there was no way that could happen. Someone with eyes like that would never waver. Even if it meant his own body being reduced to powder, he’d fight to the very end.

Yes…… just like that ‘Plum Blossom Sword Saint’ of the past.

Then there was no need to waste time, just as he’d said.

“Turn to dust and regret that you couldn’t become a Cultist.”

“What's he talking about? I’d rather fall into a manure pit and die than live as the Heavenly Demon’s foot-wiper.”

“This....”

Heavenly Executioner’s two eyes turned crimson.

The next moment, his body suddenly appeared before Cheong Myeong.

It was a terrifying speed, enough to make even Cheong Myeong, who’d never lowered his guard, stop breathing for an instant.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

Cheong Myeong was once again blasted away at an immense speed.

Even though he’d drawn up his energy with all his strength and blocked the attack, this was the result. The tremendous force contained in each strike was enough to pierce through the sword wrapped in sword force and break Cheong Myeong’s bones.

Pweup.

Blood that had surged back up his throat spurted out.

‘What the……’

But it wasn’t over yet. Heavenly Executioner caught up to the Cheong Myeong who had been flung far away at an even greater speed, then kicked his body while his feet hadn’t even touched the ground yet.

Kwaaaaaang!

He redirected it.

He unleashed the Soft Sword, the very essence of Wudang. There was no other way to receive that force.

[Yugeom. 유검(柔劍). Literally “soft sword.” A swordsmanship emphasizing softness, flexibility, and redirecting an opponent’s force rather than meeting it directly. It is a foundational characteristic of Wudang swordsmanship.]

The Soft Sword was executed at a realm that even Heo Do had been forced to admire. Yet even this couldn’t completely redirect Heavenly Executioner’s strike. The remaining one-tenth of the force that he failed to redirect was enough to make Cheong Myeong’s wrist scream and twist violently.

‘Still, I blocked it at least……’

At that moment, Heavenly Executioner thrust out his hand like a starving venomous snake. Cheong Myeong reflexively raised his sword to block it.

But instead of aiming for Cheong Myeong’s throat, that hand grabbed the blade of the Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Sword.

Beyond the blade raised diagonally, Heavenly Executioner’s lips could be seen curled into a fishy smile.

Heavenly Executioner yanked the Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Sword that he had gripped. Driven by a force and speed utterly impossible to describe, Cheong Myeong was dragged along with his sword because he was unable to let go of it, and then he was launched high into the air.

“Now.”

Heavenly Executioner immediately threw Cheong Myeong straight down to the ground.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

Cheong Myeong’s body pierced through the hard surface of the earth and was driven deep into it. A large circular depression formed around his body, and the surrounding earth shook as though an earthquake had struck.

“Kuhk……”

Black, clotted blood spurted from Cheong Myeong’s mouth.

For an instant, his consciousness was blown away. The world blacked out, and the will he’d tempered was severed strand by strand and scattered.

Even the Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Sword, which he’d desperately refused to let go of until the very end, left Cheong Myeong’s hand and lodged diagonally beside his head.

Heavenly Executioner, still floating in the air, glanced at Cheong Myeong in such a pitiful state and gave a derisive smile.

“Is this all?”

Then, a black vortex arose from the tips of his fingers.

The vortex, which had been extremely small at first, became a terrifying black whirlpool the instant he flicked his hand, pouring toward Cheong Myeong.

It was a palm force carrying the terrifying intent to leave not even a single strand of Cheong Myeong’s hair remaining in this world.

The shockwave created by the vortex shook the world, and the Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Sword embedded in the ground fell over as it was. The green tassel hanging from its tip fell over Cheong Myeong’s face.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!

The vortex pierced through the earth, creating a massive vertical cavern in the ground.

Tak.

At last, Heavenly Executioner descended to the ground. He narrowed his eyes and looked around.

“.....Hoo.”

More than a dozen zhang away from where he stood, Cheong Myeong was leaning against the sword he’d driven vertically into the ground, breathing heavily.

[1 zhang = 3,3 meters.]

“You actually managed to avoid it.”

Cheong Myeong raised his head.

The blood vessels in one eye had all burst, making him look utterly gruesome, yet even in such a state, Cheong Myeong laughed just as he had before.

“There’s a bastard who kicks me in the ass when I look pathetic, you see.”

“.....Hm?”

Cheong Myeong’s gaze briefly fell upon the tassel hanging from the hilt of his sword. The deep green tassel, symbolizing the Tang Family, swayed in the wind.

Cheong Myeong gave a bitter smile for a moment before speaking quietly.

“Stop nagging me. As it is, I think I’m starting to…… understand.”

[tl/n: AARGHHHH TANGBOO ARGHHHHH.]

Kwaaang!

Without another word, Heavenly Executioner flew toward Cheong Myeong once again.

His speed was still so tremendous that Cheong Myeong didn’t dare even try to follow it with his eyes. Heavenly Executioner’s hand came crashing down toward Cheong Myeong with all his strength.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

The earth struck by the demonic qi was crushed like fine mud and scattered in every direction. Heavenly Executioner withdrew the hand he’d thrust downward and slowly turned his body.

A puzzled expression appeared on his face. An expression containing something that had never been seen on him until now.

“......What did you do?”

Slash.

Then, Heavenly Executioner’s shoulder split open, and red blood spurted straight out.

A wound left by a sword’s cut.

Heavenly Executioner silently glanced once at the wound carved into his own body, then bared his teeth at Cheong Myeong, who was standing some distance ahead with his back turned.

“This bastard….”

“I told you.”

Cheong Myeong slowly turned around as though it took effort, then stared at Heavenly Executioner with eyes deep as a lake.

“I think I’m starting to understand now.”

Red sword qi gathered at the tip of Cheong Myeong’s sword.

Red and green. The tip of the Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Sword, carrying both colors, was pointed toward Heavenly Executioner’s throat.

“Show me more. So that I can become stronger.”

The words were utterly incongruous with the dense killing intent pouring from Cheong Myeong.

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