Chapter 1961 - Return of The Mount Hua Sect

Chapter 1961. Let’s Die. Mount Hua. (1)

Jo Geol’s heart began pounding.

Of course it did. Fighting against the Demonic Cult with only these people was no different from carrying a bundle of firewood on one’s back and jumping straight into the flames.

There was nothing strange about being frightened or having his body tremble.

But Jo Geol knew.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

The reason his heart was pounding now wasn’t fear of the enemy.

The moment he saw the Demonic Cultists surging toward them like a pitch-black tide, his grip around his sword tightened of its own accord.

“Sahyung.”

“.....What?”

“To be honest….. perhaps I’ve been waiting for this moment.”

Yoon Jong, who had been staring straight ahead with a serious expression, abruptly turned his head toward Jo Geol.

His eyes looked as though they were saying, ‘This bastard was acting strange before, but has he finally gone completely insane?’ Jo Geol hurriedly shouted.

“That’s not what I mean.....!”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You cursed me with your eyes!”

“You’re freakishly good at noticing that. Then what is it?”

Jo Geol bit down hard on his lip before speaking.

“Honestly….. I didn’t really do anything in Hangzhou, did I?”

“Hmm.....”

“I didn’t say anything back then, but my pride took quite a hit.”

Yoon Jong shrugged.

As for Hangzhou, he didn’t have much to say either.

The world thought Mount Hua had solved most of what happened in Hangzhou….. but what about the reality?

“Cheong Myeong and Jang Ilso did everything.”

“Exactly.”

All they had done was guard their backs while Cheong Myeong and Jang Ilso dealt with the Bishop. And it wasn’t as though they’d properly dealt with those Demonic Cultists themselves either……

‘What a joke.’

Of course, someone might think that much was enough. Perhaps someone might even tell them that what they’d done was remarkable.

But that wasn’t how Jo Geol saw it.

Those who were satisfied with that level of a role would only ever end at that level. Jo Geol had no intention whatsoever of limiting his role to that extent.

So, to him, the battle in Hangzhou could only be remembered as a failure.

“But Cheong Myeong happens to be absent.”

“The Bishop is absent too.”

“Ah, that part is a little disappointing, though.”

Jo Geol grinned.

“If I run wild here, nobody can say anything to me anymore, right?”

“……No one said anything to you in the first place.”

“That’s not the important part.”

Yoon Jong shook his head helplessly.

‘Well, I guess that’s good.’

It was a hundred times better than getting scared and backing away. And somehow…..

‘It doesn’t seem like Jo Geol is the only one thinking this way.’

Yoon Jong subtly turned his gaze. Baek Cheon, Hye Yeon, and Tang Soso were also shrugging their shoulders as though they agreed with Jo Geol. He could even see Yoo Iseol twitching ever so slightly.

“…..Just in case, I’ll say it one more time. We’re not standing here to die while fighting.”

“Of course.”

“Doesn’t seem like you’re listening…..”

“I’m listening, I’m listening.”

At Baek Cheon’s reply, his eyes slightly bloodshot, Yoon Jong sighed. Then, before long, he let out a hollow laugh.

‘There’s no way I fit in.’

He simply couldn’t understand them.

The people of Mount Hua are the ones who know the fearfulness of the Demonic Cult best. There probably aren’t any others in jianghu today who have gone through as much with the Demonic Cult as they have.

Which means that the people standing here are also the ones who know best just how terrifying the nearly thousand Demonic Cultists now filling the horizon and approaching them truly are.

Then how could they not be afraid? His own legs were practically giving out beneath him.

“Hoo.”

Yoon Jong took a long breath and slightly raised his sword, admonishing himself as he repeatedly felt like stopping where he stood.

At that moment, Baek Cheon asked,

“Ready?”

Of all the people here, why Baek Cheon had specifically asked him….. Yoon Jong didn’t want to think about it right now.

He only sought the best answer he could give at this moment.

“When have we ever…..”

Yoon Jong spoke calmly at first, but in the end finished in a voice that sounded almost scraped raw.

“When have we ever properly prepared before fighting?”

“Heh.....”

Baek Cheon let out a laugh like a groan.

“Can’t argue with that.”

“Yes. It’s nothing new.”

Baek Cheon gripped his sword tightly.

“Right, then I suppose that means we don’t need preparation either.”

“.....I don’t think that’s what it means.”

“Either way, what does it matter?”

At the voices popping up casually around him as usual, Baek Cheon grinned. At the same time, a violent wave of qi burst from his body.

He couldn’t charge in.

Even if he understood with his head that holding this place was important, no sane person could charge alone against those people. That was the sort of thing only a lunatic like Cheong Myeong could do.

Yes, he absolutely couldn’t charge in. Alone.

At that moment, fierce waves of qi erupted around Baek Cheon as though answering him. It was a ferocious killing intent impossible to imagine coming from taoist martial arts masters.

Baek Cheon bared his teeth and smiled without realizing it.

‘That’s why we can go.’

Even if that place was hell.

Kwaang!

Baek Cheon kicked off the ground and shot forward. Soon after, as though they had agreed beforehand, the disciples of Mount Hua kicked off almost simultaneously and filled the space beside him.

The world distorted.

Beyond the seemingly endless plain, a mass of people came into view, emitting pitch-black demonic qi that was ominous beyond words. The black demonic qi swept over Baek Cheon like flames. His knees went weak, and it felt as though his entire body was contracting.

“Kaaaaaaaah!”

Dozens of Demonic Cultists charged toward Baek Cheon.

It was not some kind of orderly charge. But neither was it the chaotic terror displayed by the Evil Tyrant Alliance.

Ahead, to the sides, and above, they shoved and pulled at one another, screaming curses as they charged.

Beasts? Not even close. No beast in this world rampaged that wildly. It was a madness displayed only by the Demonic Cultists.

Just as Baek Cheon was about to swing his sword so he wouldn’t be swallowed by that madness, someone’s sword shot past him.

“Euaaaaaaaah!”

The familiar back of a curly-haired man filled his vision. At the same time, dozens of sword shadows bloomed like flowers.

Kwadeuk! Kwadeuk! Kwadeuk!

Sword qi like lightning pierced sharply into the Demonic Cultists’ entire bodies.

“Kaaaaah!”

Horrible screams burst forth, but the Demonic Cultists didn’t retreat from something as little as this. They took the attacks with their sturdy bodies, and even while blood poured from them, they unleashed attacks toward Jo Geol’s head without the slightest hesitation.

Taaaang!

But the black hand coming down toward Jo Geol’s head was stopped by another sword thrust out from behind.

It wasn’t flashy. Nor was it especially swift. But it was solid. A sword utterly faithful to the fundamentals struck away every demonic hand [魔手] reaching toward Jo Geol’s body.

“Stop running wild, you damn bastard!”

Someone launched themself into the air, lightly stepping on Yoon Jong’s back as he shouted loudly.

For one very brief moment. Truly, only an instant, yet even Baek Cheon couldn’t help having his gaze stolen by the sight.

Yoo Iseol lightly rose into the air and caused red sword qi to bloom at the tip of her sword. The red sword qi, drawn long and horizontally as though embroidering the empty air, shattered and gave birth to countless petals, which soon scattered and rained down over the heads of the Demonic Cultists.

Seogeok! Seogeok! Seogeok!

The bodies of the Demonic Cultists were sliced apart here and there by the red petals. No matter how much they had lost their reason, it seemed they still couldn’t help reacting to the agony of their flesh being cut apart, thrashing and howling.

“Kaaaaaaah!”

As though the pain had further fanned their hatred, the Demonic Cultists reached toward Yoo Iseol floating in the air, waving their arms about.

They looked as though they were desperately craving something.

And Tang Soso didn’t miss the opening created when the Demonic Cultists’ attention was drawn to one side.

Paat.

In contrast to Yoo Iseol, she moved stealthily. Slipping quietly beneath the Demonic Cultists like a soundless dagger being shot forth, Tang Soso swung her sword in one great stroke.

Swaaaaaaaaaak.

It was the same sword form as the single sword Yoo Iseol had once displayed. But its character was completely different. If Yoo Iseol’s sword was subtle yet splendid, like the moon floating upon a lake, Tang Soso’s sword was secretive and lethal, like a waning moon rising behind the clouds on a pitch-black night.

Seogeok!

The Demonic Cultists, their attention stolen by Yoo Iseol and unable to respond, were cut down by Tang Soso’s sword and collapsed.

Kwadeuk!

But that was all. Even the Demonic Cultist whose abdomen had been split wide open, even the one whose leg had been severed, did not stop from wounds of merely this extent. Clawing at the ground, writhing and howling, they charged toward Tang Soso to tear her apart.

That was enough.

“Euaaaaaaaaaah!”

There had been enough time. Enough time for a single sword to cut through the air, gather its qi, and unleash sword qi containing enlightenment.

Wuuuuuuung!

Baek Cheon’s sword was vibrating violently in midair.

Fast and fierce, yet unmistakably carrying a single thread of softness within it.

Hwaaaaaaak!

Red sword qi burst from the trembling tip of his sword and drew countless plum blossoms across the empty air. Each one was so delicate and insignificant, yet they soon multiplied into thousands, forming a massive river.

Rather than splendid, the great red waves were torrential [滔滔], and before long they gently enveloped Tang Soso. Then, in an instant, they swept away the Demonic Cultists surrounding her.

Everything was reflected in Baek Cheon’s eyes.

Jo Geol, Yoon Jong, Yoo Iseol, and Tang Soso were all guarding his front.

This was a sword he couldn’t have unleashed without them. No, without them, Baek Cheon wouldn’t even have been able to stand here.

It didn’t matter even without that Cheong Myeong bastard. This sword would prove that all the time they had spent until now had not been in vain.

Of course, this wasn’t merely his thought alone.

Baek Cheon withdrew his sword and leaped sideways. From behind him, someone appeared with a calm expression, hands together in a half-palm [半掌] gesture.

The unique half-palm of Shaolin, offered in honor of Hye Ga [慧可], the Second Ancestor [二祖], who was said to have gained enlightenment after cutting off his own arm. Though dressed in black monastic robes, there wasn’t the slightest hesitation in this half-palm.

Wuuuuuuung!

A majestic Buddha-light [佛光] shimmered around Hye Yeon’s fist, which had remained at his waist. It ought to have been splendid, being golden light, yet Hye Yeon’s was merely tranquil.

“Amitabha.”

With his eyes half-open, Hye Yeon softly uttered a Buddhist invocation, then extended his left hand. The fist of one who had even severed the afflictions. A martial art so lofty that, to speak of its greatness, it had to be called the Divine Fist [神拳].

Hye Yeon’s Arhat Divine Fist [阿羅漢神拳], unleashed at its utmost culmination, poured forth together with majestic Buddha-light.

Wuuuuuuuuuuuuung!

The only words befitting the force that descended upon the Demonic Cultists were massive and heavy.

As though everything that had been piled up were swept away by a flooding river, the Demonic Cultists were caught in the golden fist force and swept backward, then farther backward.

And so, when the majestic Buddha-light finally disappeared without a trace, the disciples of Mount Hua and Hye Yeon unconsciously laughed in astonishment.

“.....It never ends.”

They had poured out everything they possibly could, yet the course of the battle hadn’t changed in the slightest.

It was a sight that could be called despair. Faced with something that didn’t change no matter how much one poured out, what in the world was a human supposed to do?

But the disciples of Mount Hua once again raised their swords, none waiting for another to move first. Baek Cheon bared his teeth and smiled.

“We expected this anyway.”

No other words were necessary. Their resolve was already more than sufficient, overflowing.

“Let’s die. Mount Hua.”

Baek Cheon’s sword once again took in red sword qi.

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