Return of the Mount Hua Sect - Ch. 836
“ACKKKK!”
“P-please spare me!”
A village located right at the mouth of the Yangtze River was quickly engulfed in thick red flames. Amidst the chaos, people wielding menacing weapons were shouting.
“SET IT ALL ON FIRE! HAHAHAH!”
A man with a rough-looking beard surveyed the scene with his gleaming eyes.
People were screaming, running for their lives, and seeking refuge as houses burned brightly.
“Huhu.”
The man licked his lips once. How long had it been since he last saw this sight?
“Captain! I cleaned everything out of the warehouse. But I didn’t see anything of value.”
“Tsk. Everything is the same. It doesn’t matter, though, because this isn’t the only village we touch.”
The man had a triumphant smile.
“But is it alright?”
“What? Are you feeling scared now?”
“I am not scared, just that…”
“Don’t worry.”
Gwa Maeng, the leader of the Galho sect, chuckled and said,
“If it were normal times, the Justice Faction would have come rushing in, but now they cannot even get close, so what’s the problem?”
Implicitly, the area north of the Yangtze River was solidified as the lands of the Justice Faction. As a result, even the Evil Faction never dared step into the mouth of the Yangtze River because they never knew when the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families would come running.
But now, they could no longer approach the Yangtze River.
The other Justice Factions would not have the courage to approach the Yangtze River, where the pirates were located, without the protection of the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families.
Because of this situation, the area around the Yangtze River was now a lawless place. The situation north of the Yangtze River was especially serious.
“Just don’t touch the merchants! Since our job is to rob merchant ships, they will not consider their area as being invaded if we mess with their farming lands. So, get rid of it all!”
“Yes, captain!”
Gwa Maeng laughed excitedly as he watched the village burn.
‘This is why difficult times are good times.’
In the days when the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families were quietly keeping each other in check, even the Evil Faction couldn’t go on a rampage. Even small ripples appeared large in a calm lake. This was because if one carelessly stood out, there was a high chance they would be shattered into pieces like a sharp stone being crushed.
But in today’s world, there is no need to worry about that.
“What better world is there than this! Ehhahahaha! Take it down! Don’t leave a single grain of rice behind!”
Just as Gwa Maeng was shouting excitedly.
“L-leader.”
“What?”
“Something is coming from over there. It looks like there are a lot of them.”
“What? Officials?”
Gwa Maeng turned his head with a surprised face, then looked in the direction where the subordinate pointed and narrowed his eyes.
“… doesn’t seem like the officials to me.”
There were too few of them to be called officials. Besides, the officials wouldn’t be there at all. If those guys had moved so quickly in the first place, Gwa Maeng wouldn’t have even been able to rob the damn village.
“They are either insane Justice faction bastards who don’t know their situation, or they are bastards from another Evil Faction. Nothing to worry about, first, let us finish it here…”
But things didn’t go as smoothly as expected.
He couldn’t even finish his sentence and quietly went silent. This was because the speed of those approaching was completely beyond common sense.
The people who looked like dots in the distance suddenly grew larger, and soon the shape of the person became visible.
‘W-what?’
The figure of the person running in front was clearly visible to the eyes. A young man in a black murim robe pulled out a sword in one hand and roared like a tiger.
“You, you bastard!”
The person who rushed ahead in a flash closed the distance and charged at Hwa Maeng. Gwa Maeng raised the axe in his hand.
“How dare you?”
Gwa Maeng shouted loudly and ran toward the young man who was charging at him. The intense qi rose before the axe even met the sword.
Gwa Maeng smiled as if he had already won.
His axe was one of his most formidable weapons. It wasn’t something a sword could block. If one didn’t consider that and let the blood rush to their head, then this was just a kid who didn’t know his place.
Perhaps the Justice Faction members, who heard the rumors, rushed to the Yangtze River without knowing their place. Making the kid pay would be enough.
‘Such a moron. Die!’
But it was right then.
Swish!
The sword rushing towards his axe split into dozens of forms.
‘What?’
Numerous sword forms scattered like an illusion, and soon hundreds of sword qi emerged.
Gwa Maeng’s eyes widened at this unbelievable sight. The sword qi scattered around grazed his heavy axe, and was now flying toward his body.
‘T-this is?’
Red sword qi fluttered, just like… flower petals.
At that moment, Gwa Maeng realized just where the person who attacked him belonged.
“M-Mount Hua…”
Slash.
The flying flower petals sliced through his throat.
Slash. Slash. Slash!
One after another, various parts of his body were cut, and blood splashed around.
“Grrg…”
Gwa Maeng’s body, unable to bear the weight of the heavy qi, fell down on the spot. The man who passed Gwa Maeng before anyone realized, gritted his teeth and looked back.
“L-leader!”
“Leader, in just one slash…”
The faces of those who watched turned pale.
Of course, their leader couldn’t be called the greatest warrior compared to the wide world. But still, he was famous around this area. He definitely wasn’t weak enough to lose his life to a young warrior.
Swish!
The one who shook off the sword to shake off the blood, Jo Gul, bared his teeth at the flustered Evil Faction ruffians.
“You damn bastard! How dare you trouble the civilians!”
The disciples of the Mount Hua Sect, who arrived later, rushed in without question and began to wipe out the pirates.
“You damn bastard!”
“Who are you calling an Evil Sect!”
The eyes of Mount Hua’s disciples were filled with anger.
“Do not give them too much credit!”
“Oh!”
The panicked Evil Faction members fought back with their weapons, but there was no way some small backstreet thugs at the Yangtze River could be opponents of Mount Hua.
Unlike when the village was only theirs to occupy, they lost their force and will to fight, leading to an instant collapse.
“Fire! Fire! No, it isn’t like we are going to beat them right now! Put out the flames now! We can do that later!”
“… No, I think it is already all burned.”
“Why are those bastards setting fire to a normal house? Just take the damn grains and go, damn it!”
Jo Gul cursed as much as he could, rushed ahead, and kicked the groaning Evils Faction guy in front of him.
“Ahhh!”
“Does it hurt? You bastard! Does it hurt even for the disgusting people of the Evils Faction?”
Swish!
The guy who got kicked in the face couldn’t even scream and passed out, drooling from his mouth. Even after seeing that, Jo Gul couldn’t stop his anger and yelled out.
“Put out the flames!”
“I got you, you moron!”
“Ah, damn it!”
The disciples of Mount Hua, who quickly cleared out the Galho Clan, moved to the burning houses. Some people were running to the well, but it seemed like only a couple of houses could be saved even if they started using buckets.
“There is no end, no fucking end.”
What Chung Myung said was indeed right.
-What? When are we going back to Mount Hua? What kind of carefree talk are you telling me? This is where it all begins.
“Don’t underestimate the bastards of the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families. It’s true that those bastards were coasting on their names without doing much, but reputation is what matters. Now that they are officially out of the Yangtze River, there will be more chaos.”
“I will probably have to run around with a broken leg for a while.”
“Okay.”
Jo Gul sighed deeply.
Not only Jo Gul but also the others dealing with the rampant Evil Faction warriors felt the same way.
Baek Cheon, Yu Yiseol, and Yoon Jong were each leading Mount Hua disciples to patrol the Yangtze River, and members of the Tang family were also assisting Mount Hua in stabilizing the Yangtze River.
Still, there weren’t enough people to help.
This was because the Yangtze River was too vast for them to manage alone. With this number of people, there was a limit to how much they could stabilize the river.
It was said that the Four Precepts Alliance would not be able to move for a while, but they weren’t the only Evil Faction around. The idiots of this sect, who were usually unable to act boldly because of the Justice Faction, were now emerging like rats fleeing a burning house.
“Damned bastards…”
“Um… Sir warrior.”
“Ah? Yes!”
Jo Gul quickly turned at the sudden voice. A village man was looking their way, hesitant. Jo Gul promptly walked over and took his hand.
“Do not be scared. We are disciples of Mount Hua. No harm will come to you.”
“Ah… Yes. Mount Hua Sect’s…”
“Yes, right.”
Jo Gul nodded with a bright look and continued to speak.
“We will return the grain that was stolen. We will crack down on those bastards so that they will never cross into the village again.”
“Thank you. Thank you, really…”
Tears of relief flowed from the man’s eyes. If everything had been stolen from them, he wouldn’t have had a life to live anyway. If there wasn’t anything to eat, most people wouldn’t survive the year.
“But the houses…”
“Don’t worry too much about that. Having the lives saved is enough. We can always rebuild the house.”
“… I apologize.”
Jo Gul sighed.
He regretted that if he had come a little sooner, those houses wouldn’t have burned down to this extent.
“Gul.”
“Yes, sasuk.”
“Among those who fell, several were seriously injured. I guess we have to take them to the island.”
“Is it that serious?”
“Treatment will be difficult. We need a physician.”
Jo Gul nodded.
“Yes, I understand.”
Then, he turned his head and looked at the village path again. Without letting go of the old man’s hand, which he was still holding with both hands, he spoke carefully, making sure not to let the anger seep into his voice.
“As you heard, I think we need to take a few people with us. There are physicians at the dock in the river, where Mount Hua is located, so we can treat them there.”
“Physician? That… thank you, and I apologize, but lowly people like us do not have money to give to the physicians…”
“Don’t worry. We don’t need to get paid.”
“Uh? R-really?”
“Yes. And, sir, please comfort those who are too shocked by the incident. If you need anything to rebuild the home, send someone to us. We will help as much as we can.”
“… How do we repay the favor…”
It was then.
“Damn it, the grains are burned!”
“What?”
Jo Gul turned his head.
“What should I do with sahyung? These bastards put the cart next to the house, and half the grain is burned.”
“No, what… oh, for real!”
In the end, Jo Gul got angry again and rushed to kick the jaws of the Evils Faction guys who were kneeling.
“Why can’t they even plunder people properly, these morons!”
Jo Gul, who had kicked the Evil Faction people until his anger subsided, huffed and secretly looked back at the village chief. Seeing the clear despair on his face, he let out a deep sigh.
“Sasuk.”
“Uh?”
“Do you have any money? It’s a disaster, and you usually carry an emergency fund.”
“Yeah, I know how you feel, but we shouldn’t be doing this…”
“For now, let’s think about all this later.”
“Chung Myung told me not to use it.”
“Should we let them die?”
“…”
“Give it to me.”
“…”
“Quickly now.”
Baek Sang looked up at the sky once and then finally took out the pouch from his arms. He handed it with a tight fist to the old man.
“The price of grain in the Yangtze River area will probably rise soon, so use this money to buy grain again. Then there will be no problem surviving the winter.”
A look of despair formed on the old man’s face, who wasn’t sure what to say.
“Why go this far for…”
“It is nothing like that.”
Jo Gul pouted his lips.
“If we just go back, it’s obvious those devils will come back to run amok with revenge in their eyes, so don’t be so thankful.”
“Uh?”
“The regret I have is that Mount Hua came too late. It’s the sorrow of life. Ah, I should have been the sasuk. Then I could just move as I wished!”
“I can say the same thing back to you.”
“AH, SASUK! Don’t be like this!”
Baek Sang smiled a little but then looked back with a straight face.
“The injured must be moved quickly. We don’t have time for all this.”
“Ah, right.”
Jo Gul nodded and greeted the old man.
“Then we should go back now.”
“Already?”
“Because there could be problems elsewhere too. If you have any problems in the village, you can come to the new dock in the Gugang region.”
“Nowadays, it is also called Plum Blossom Island, so it won’t be so difficult to find it by asking around.”
“Uh?”
“Then.”
As Jo Gul turned around, Baek Sang gave the instructions loudly.
“Tie up all the Evil Faction bastards and hand them over to the officials! And those of you who are quick-footed, carry the injured people over there and move them to our island, quickly!”
“Yes!”
“Move!”
The disciples of Mount Hua, who were organizing things and moving like the wind, quickly departed from the village.
The villagers, who were staring blankly at the scene, mumbled without realizing it.
“…where did you say they were from?”
“The Mount Hua Sect.”
“Mount… Mount Hua Sect?”
A groan-like voice came from the old man’s mouth.
“The agreement was there; I thought all the help was an old story….”
He spoke softly, stroking the head of the child next to him.
“Remember the name of the benefactor. There is only so much we can do.”
“Uh.”
He followed the backs of the Mount Hua disciples with his wrinkled eyes as they walked away after the hard times.
Until they were no longer visible for a long time.