Return of the Mount Hua

How can people be like this? (1)

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The Black Dragon King ground his teeth.

The pirates were retreating from Maehwado.

“Those…!”

Crunch!

Biting down hard on his lip, he trembled with rage.

‘Those useless bastards.’

He had never given Surochae any further orders. His instructions had stopped at annihilating Namgung clan.

Yet those fools were retreating according to Ho Gamyeong’s orders.

“This…!”

Of course, Ho Gamyeong was the right-hand man of Jang Ilso, the leader of Sapaeryeon.

In terms of the chain of command, it wasn’t exactly wrong to obey his orders. After all, Surochae was also a part of Sapaeryeon.

However, seeing the pirates follow Ho Gamyeong’s command without even checking with him when he was right there twisted his insides with anger.

“Hooo.”

The Black Dragon King took a deep breath.

His fury surged, but if he shouted now, he would be admitting – even for a moment – that he had lost command over Surochae.

Instead, he ground his teeth and leapt down from the Black Dragon Ship.

He approached Jang Ilso, who was heading towards the ship.

“Jang Ilso!”

He called out in a voice like that of a furious beast.

“What are you doing? Why are you letting them go like this? We could end this by simply snapping their necks!”

Jang Ilso came to a halt. Without even turning his body, he merely tilted his head slightly to glance at the Black Dragon King.

“At least try to explain yourself…”

The words of urging trailed off into nothing.

The Black Dragon King unknowingly bit the inside of his mouth hard.

In Jang Ilso’s gaze, there was not a trace of emotion.

The moment those colorless, emotionless eyes pierced through him, the Black Dragon King felt a chill as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

“Ugh…”

Jang Ilso silently looked at the Black Dragon King.

Facing that unbearably transparent gaze, the Black Dragon King forced himself to meet it with bloodshot eyes, as if he had to prove who he was right here and now.

But that confrontation did not last long.

In the end, it was the Black Dragon King who first averted his eyes.

“My apologies, Ryeonju… I was overly agitated.”

His head was slightly lowered.

It was not a gesture of complete submission, but it clearly conveyed enough respect towards the other.

“Hmm.”

Jang Ilso glanced at him with a slight hint of dissatisfaction and then slowly nodded.

“I understand why the Black Dragon King was so angry. You must be upset that I pulled back Surochae without your consent.”

“Ah, no, it’s not necessarily that…”

“But there’s no need to be so angry.”

Jang Ilso continued with a gentle smile.

“After all, it’s not that great an achievement to kill them, is it?”

For a moment, the Black Dragon King doubted his own ears.

‘Not a great achievement?’

Those were Namgung clan.

The head of the Five Great Families, a prestigious family that had stood proud in Gangho for hundreds of years.

Wiping them out would be an accomplishment that Surochae and Sapaeryeon could boast of for generations to come.

And yet… he was saying it was no great achievement?

“At best, they’re just small fish.”

Jang Ilso said.

“If you’ve caught such a small fish, you should at least use it as bait to catch something bigger. What’s going to change by merely catching a single small fry?”

“…Something bigger, you say?”

“A fairly large fish.”

Jang Ilso slowly turned his head. His gaze stopped at the Black Dragon Ship, the very symbol of Surochae.

A faint, peculiar smile appeared on his lips.

“I’ll give you the full explanation once we’re aboard the ship.”

The Black Dragon King’s expression stiffened slightly.

But when Jang Ilso looked back at him as if asking if there was any problem, the Black Dragon King had no choice but to nod.

“…Very well.”

“Gamyeong-ah, let’s go.”

“Yes!”

Jang Ilso and Ho Gamyeong leisurely headed towards the Black Dragon Ship.

The Black Dragon King followed them in silence.

“…”

Quietly, he bit his lip as he glared at Jang Ilso’s back.

The Black Dragon Ship symbolized the authority of the Black Dragon King.

No one could board the ship without his permission.

There was no way Jang Ilso would be unaware of that, and yet now he was not asking but rather informing the Black Dragon King that he would be boarding.

Yes.

It was not a request – it was a notification.

It spoke volumes about the difference in position between the Black Dragon King and Jang Ilso.

‘Jang Ilso…’

The Black Dragon King clenched his fists tightly.

But now, he could no longer stop him.

If he had wanted to stop him, he should not have lost the initiative at the very first confrontation.

The moment he failed to withstand that gaze and looked away, the Black Dragon King had lost the right to control him.

‘How did it come to this…’

Three years ago.

When they first founded Sapaeryon, Jang Ilso had not been like this. Shinjuopae had supported Jang Ilso as their leader because they were confident they could control him.

But now, a deeply rooted doubt kept raising its head.

Was he truly controllable? That snake?

Watching Jang Ilso board the ship, his crimson robe fluttering in the wind, cold sweat began to trickle down the Black Dragon King’s back.

Beop Jong, who had been keeping an eye on Maehwado, wore a blank expression.

The pirates who had densely filled the island began withdrawing one by one, boarding the ships.

“This is…”

Beop Jong muttered something under his breath but quickly closed his mouth.

He had wanted to say, ‘What on earth is going on?’ But he couldn’t bring himself to say it aloud.

He knew too well how foolish that would sound to the ears of those standing behind him.

However, his worry was nothing more than an old man’s needless anxiety. Even if he had voiced it, no one would have called him a fool.

Because they, too, could not understand what was happening.

No – no one in the world could have easily grasped the scene unfolding before their eyes now.

“…It seems they are retreating.”

The words came from Beop Gye.

But it wasn’t directed at Beop Jong. Beop Gye, too, was merely mumbling what he saw in confusion.

“Has Namgung already fallen?”

“…That’s impossible.”

Even if they had been surrounded, Namgung clan was still Namgung clan.

Especially with the Emperor’s Sword, Namgung Hwang, there among them.

No matter how overwhelming Jang Ilso’s or the Black Dragon King’s martial prowess might be, subduing the Emperor’s Sword without so much as a fight would be impossible.

If so…

‘What on earth is happening over there?’

Why isn’t a battle breaking out?

And why, when a battle hasn’t even taken place, are the pirates who had cornered Namgung clan now simply pulling back?

Are they claiming they showed mercy and let their cornered enemies go?

What a ridiculous notion.

If they were capable of such mercy, they wouldn’t have been called the Evil Sects in the first place.

“Amitabha… Amitabha…”

Beop Jong quickly chanted a Buddhist prayer.

He couldn’t make sense of anything.

Ever since Jang Ilso had appeared here, it felt as though everything inside his head had become a jumbled, tangled mess.

“Abbot, could it be…”

Beop Jong turned his head to look at Beop Gye.

“Could it be that Namgung… joined forces with them…?”

“Can’t you keep that mouth shut!”

A shout, sharp with anger, burst from Beop Jong’s lips.

There was no way Beop Jong didn’t know what Beop Gye was trying to suggest.

He must have been about to say that perhaps Namgung clan had allied with the enemy.

But that was something that must never be spoken aloud.

“Do not carelessly discuss what has not been confirmed! You would only be insulting them!”

“I apologize, Abbot. But the situation…”

Though he had lashed out in anger, Beop Jong understood Beop Gye’s feelings.

No – in truth, Beop Jong himself had already considered that possibility.

As unthinkable as it seemed, it was the only way to make sense of what was happening before their eyes.

“Amitabha… Amitabha…”

Beop Jong bit down hard on his lip.

Just then, he caught a clear sight of a man clad in a crimson robe boarding the Black Dragon Ship.

‘What on earth are you thinking!’

There was no need to even consider who was orchestrating all of this.

Jang Ilso.

It was clear that that devilish man was scheming something sinister.

Yet even Beop Jong could not fathom what that man was truly planning.

Grit.

As Beop Jong ground his teeth, glaring at Jang Ilso, it happened.

“M-Moving…”

“…”

The ships that had been docked at the island began slowly backing away.

Even the pirates who had pushed the stranded ships off the sandbar boarded the vessels.

“T-They’re really leaving like that?”

“…Why?”

“What are they thinking?”

Voices buzzed from behind.

The confusion was so deep that even the monks of Shaolin, renowned for their strict discipline above all others, were openly speaking despite the Abbot standing right in front of them.

“They’re really withdrawing from the island?”

“…What is this…?”

They could see it clearly with their own eyes.

The pirates had completely withdrawn, leaving only the scattered survivors of Namgung clan standing at the island’s center.

With a pale face, Beop Gye spoke again.

“A-Abbot. This can only mean they made some kind of deal…”

“I told you to hold your tongue!”

An overwhelming fury poured from Beop Jong’s eyes, and Beop Gye hastily shut his mouth again.

Beop Jong clenched his fists tightly.

‘It can’t be something so obvious.’

That Namgung clan struck a deal with them to survive?

So what if they did?

Beop Jong was not the kind of man to doubt and reject Namgung over something so trivial.

What wouldn’t one do to survive?

A true gentleman, for the sake of achieving greater righteousness, would not hesitate to crawl to the enemy’s legs or even lick their boots.

There was no reason for Beop Jong to be swayed by such an obvious ploy.

‘That’s not it. It’s something else. But then… what on earth could they possibly gain from this situation?’

Yet soon, Beop Jong realized.

It might have been better not to know at all.

“The ships…”

“A-Abbot, the ships are surrounding the island again!”

Shaolin monks cried out in voices full of astonishment.

Sure enough, the ships that had pulled away were not retreating completely but were slowly encircling Maehwado once more.

“Surrounding…?”

Why go through the trouble again?

If they intended to do that, they might as well have just killed them all…

“Ugh…”

At that moment, Beop Jong’s eyes widened as if they would tear apart.

“Uwaagh!”

A sound burst from his mouth, as if his very soul had escaped through it.

It was a violent, guttural groan that even Beop Gye, who had served under Beop Jong his entire life, had never once heard before.

His mouth opened as wide as it could go, and his eyes trembled as if an earthquake had struck them.

“H-How…!”

The prows of the ships, which had surrounded the island in a thick formation, had all turned unmistakably outward – facing north, towards Gangbuk.

“H-How can people be like this? How can a human, wearing the face of a man, commit such an atrocity! How! How on earth!”

A desperate scream burst from Beop Jong’s mouth.

“A-Abbot!”

Beop Gye, who still did not understand the situation, was greatly flustered.

He had never, ever seen Beop Jong scream like that before.

“Paegun! A fiend destined to fall into the pits of hell! How can a human being do this? How can a man!”

“A-Abbot! Please calm yourself!”

It was at that moment.

The imposing, jet-black, colossal Black Dragon Ship, cleaving the river’s current, slowly advanced towards them. At last, the vessel reached the waterway between Shaolin monks and Maehwado and gradually came to a stop.

No one dared to breathe. No one dared to speak.

A man dressed in a crimson robe leisurely appeared atop the sharp prow of the Black Dragon Ship.

No one so much as twitched a finger. They could only stare at Jang Ilso.

Every expression, every gesture, even the fluttering hem of his crimson robe caught in the river wind – everything!

“Hmm.”

Jang Ilso’s eyes turned directly towards Shaolin monks.

“My, my… why are you all so angry?”

A soft, low voice dug into their ears.

“I have come to offer you…”

The brief silence as he paused made everyone’s hearts sink into their stomachs.

At last, the demon smiled and continued.

“…an opportunity.”

His blood-red lips curved like a crescent moon [현월(弦月)].

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