Return of the Mount Hua

That’s enough for me. (3)

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“Stooooooooooop them!”

At Im Sobyeong’s desperate shout, Cheonumaeng’s warriors hurriedly looked up.

“What is that?”

Jongnam’s Sect Leader, Jongli Gok, widened his eyes.

A group was running along the blood-red cliff.

They weren’t climbing the steep front but moving sideways, yet it was still a cliff. Just the sight of them running across the steep slope as if it were flat ground suggested they were not ordinary elites.

“But how…”

Jongli Gok’s gaze turned to the towering flames burning on both sides of the cliff. No matter how skilled they were, they were still human. How could people made of flesh and blood break through such flames?

“Southern Sea… Sun Palace?”

“Sun Palace?”

At the muttering of Pung Yeong Shin Gae, Jongli Gok recognized who they were and furrowed his brow.

‘Is that why? Because they are masters of hot yang techniques?’

But what mattered now wasn’t how they managed to get through the flames.

“What on earth are they trying to do there?”

Pung Yeong Shin Gae voiced Jongli Gok’s doubts.

The ‘what’ was important. If their only intent was to support those on the cliff, there was no need to force their way through the flames to reach the cliff.

“Stop theeeeeeeem! Immediately!”

At that moment, Im Sobyeong’s desperate scream was heard again.

Im Sobyeong’s face was as pale as if he had seen a ghost.

“Get up there! Climb immediately! We need to knock those bastards off the cliff right now!”

“Advisor, what on earth…?”

“Move! Now!”

“Calm down for a moment…”

At that moment. 

“Aaaaah!”

At the sudden scream, Cheonumaeng’s warriors, who didn’t know what to do, instinctively looked up.

“What is that?”

One of the people trying to break through the fire to reach the cliff was engulfed in flames. It seemed their mastery of hot yang techniques wasn’t sufficient to completely fend off the invading flames.

Pung Yeong Shin Gae frowned slightly.

The scream was too desperate.

It was strange. Of course, the pain of a living body burning is horrifying, but weren’t they accustomed to the heat of hot yang energy?

It didn’t make sense that a warrior of the Sun Palace would scream in terror simply because they couldn’t withstand the searing pain. It was also strange that they weren’t taking any action.

The person whose body was covered in flames clung to the cliff with one hand, fumbling inside their clothing.

It was hard to see what they intended to do because of the distance. Pung Yeong Shin Gae quickly channeled his inner strength to enhance his vision.

But it was already too late.

Boom!

A deafening roar, as if the sky itself had exploded, resounded. It was an explosion from where the person engulfed in flames had been. The blast swept up those nearby, causing a chain reaction of explosions.

Boom!

The successive explosions overlapped as if they were one.

Rumble!

The cliff, unable to withstand the shock, cracked open.

Soon, like a massive sword slicing through it, a giant rock detached from the cliff and slowly slid down.

Then, in an instant, it picked up speed and began to plummet.

Rumble!

Everyone shouted in terror.

“Get down! No, get out of the way! Get out of here!”

“We’ll all die if we get caught!”

The warriors of Cheonumaeng, who had charged forward to Wudang with fearless momentum, quickly pushed off the ground.

Even Sapaeryeon, who had been fiercely attacking Cheonumaeng just moments ago, were startled and backed away.

Thud!

Soon, the massive rock crashed to the ground.

An immense cloud of dust exploded in all directions, and the shattered rock fragments became blades, sweeping through the surroundings.

“Uh, ugh…”

One of Cheonumaeng’s warriors, his legs giving out beneath him, sat down and stared blankly ahead, cold sweat streaming down his face. The dust gradually settled, revealing the massive rock that had fallen from the cliff, displaying its majesty right in front of him.

If he had been just one step slower, not even his body would have been found.

“Th-This is…”

But that wasn’t the end.

“Aaaaah!”

“Huh?”

At the desperate screams from above, the one sitting down instinctively looked up.

Thud! Thud!

Members of Sapaeryeon fell from the cliff, hitting the ground and becoming bloody corpses.

“Uh, uh…”

Thud!

There were dozens of them.

The wind pressure created by their fall pushed the remaining dust in the air in all directions.

“Ugh…”

The one who had sat down crawled away from the rock.

“Are you okay?”

Those who narrowly escaped like him nodded absentmindedly, dazed. Quite a few were injured by the flying debris, but fortunately, no one lost their lives thanks to their quick reactions.

Jongli Gok looked up at the collapsed cliff with a bewildered expression.

“What was that just now…?”

“Explosives!”

Im Sobyeong, covered in dust, appeared and gritted his teeth. He was still glaring up at the cliff.

“Explosives! Explosives!”

“What do you mean… explosives?”

How could someone from Gangho get their hands on explosives?

Ever since Jang Ilso tricked everyone with non-existent explosives at the Yangtze River, it had been proven that even Maninbang or Sapaeryeon would find it difficult to use large quantities of explosives.

“That’s nonsense! With this level of explosive power, it must be high-grade explosives. How could they possibly obtain such a thing…?”

“Sun Palace!”

Im Sobyeong cut off Jongli Gok’s words sharply, as if he didn’t need to hear more.

“Don’t you know? The Sun Palace isn’t just an ordinary martial arts sect! They are royalty of Linyi! The amount of explosives we consider ‘how could they’ is just ‘mere explosives’ for a country’s standards!”

For a moment, the blood drained from Jongli Gok’s face.

“Then…”

His gaze turned fiercely towards the top of the cliff.

A large crack ran through the middle of the blood-red cliff. His heart sank. It felt as if a crack was running through Jongli Gok’s own heart.

“Are there more explosives…?”

Does that mean the group heading to the cliff could cause an explosion of the same magnitude?

“No…”

Just with this explosion, part of the cliff had fallen away, and such a large crack had formed.

If a more significant explosion occurred, what would happen to the cliff…?

“What do you mean?”

Namgung Dowi, who had rushed over, shouted with a face pale with fear.

“If the cliff collapses, what happens to those on top of it? Huh?”

Covered in dust and appearing as if in a daze, almost like defeated soldiers, everyone looked up at the cliff with blank expressions.

It was dizzyingly high. The cliff was so daunting that it was almost impossible to consider climbing it. If that high cliff collapsed in an instant, could those on top survive?

‘…Absolutely impossible.’

Humans are not birds, and neither are martial artists.

A martial artist can climb any high cliff as long as they have strength left, but that’s only when there’s a foothold. In a free fall, there’s no way to protect themselves.

“That doesn’t make any sense! It’s not just Hwasan and Wudang up on that cliff!”

Moyong Wigyeong shouted, his face pale.

“The ones densely packed up there are mostly Sapa bastards! If the cliff collapses, it will kill many more of them than Hwasan…”

But his voice suddenly cut off. His already pale face turned almost blue.

“…Jang Ilso.”

He realized.

If it’s Jang Ilso, and his right-hand man Ho Gamyeong, such a thing would mean nothing to them. Throwing hundreds of their followers into the pits of hell is nothing to them.

“How can a person… How can a person wearing human skin…”

Moyong Wigyeong muttered repeatedly, as if he had lost his mind. No one replied, but the others felt similarly.

“Then can’t they climb the mountain? If they escape from the cliff…”

“Be reasonable! By now, they must have already plunged into the middle of the enemies. How would they have the luxury to do that?”

“That…”

The eyes of those who knew Hwasan momentarily spun with dizziness.

Certainly, that’s how it would be. Hwasan they knew wouldn’t beat around the bush with enemies in front of them.

“Then all of this was done to lure Hwasan there?”

“Ho Gamyeong! That damn bastard…!”

Im Sobyeong shouted in frustration, unable to contain his anger. Everyone was stomping their feet anxiously.

“We need to let them know!”

“How?”

“We have to climb up and stop them! If we don’t, Hwasan will…!”

Exactly.

They need to warn them. No, they must stop them immediately. If they fail, the entire cliff will collapse, and Hwasan, standing on top of it, will not escape death.

But…

“Climb? Here?”

Moyong Wigyeong stared blankly at the massive rock embedded in front of him. His gaze then shifted to Sapaeryeon’s members, whose bodies were scattered around in a gruesome mess.

…The ones who had just fallen from that cliff and died.

“I will take the lead! Follow me!”

Namgung Dowi shouted, raising his sword. He seemed ready to dash toward the cliff at any moment. But then, he hesitated and looked back.

No one was moving.

“What are you doing? We have to go right now!”

“…Young Lord.”

“I’m asking what you’re doing! We don’t have time for this…”

“What if the explosives go off while we’re climbing?”

“…What?”

Moyong Wigyeong asked again, his face pale with dread.

“What about those below? The ones climbing the cliff?”

“…”

“Wouldn’t they end up just like those on top of the cliff… no, in an even more miserable state?”

“What are you…!”

Namgung Dowi, about to burst out in frustration, closed his mouth.

It was because he saw the look of despair in the eyes of those watching him.

“So you’re saying we should just leave them there?”

“It’s not that, but we need to find a way…”

“What other way is there?”

Namgung Dowi shouted, his face contorted.

Pung Yeong Shin Gae bit his lip tightly. He understood Namgung Dowi’s feelings. But giving the order to climb the cliff and stop them was something he simply couldn’t do. It would be like telling them all to be buried together in Hwasan’s grave.

Namgung Dowi gritted his teeth and glared at everyone with furious eyes.

But soon, his gaze began to cool down. When Namgung Myeong saw that look, he became so anxious that his heart sank, and he instinctively reached out his hand.

“Young Lord? No, Dowi, calm down for a moment, okay?”

“…”

“There must be another way. So, we can let them know…”

And at that very moment, Namgung Dowi, who had been watching everyone with a cold gaze, turned and shot toward the cliff without a word.

“Dowi, no! Dowi!”

Leaving Namgung Myeong’s desperate cries behind, a white streak traced the path he rushed along the blood-red cliff.

It was dangerous and painful to watch.

Next chapter >>>

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Dowi, the man you are.

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