Who did you just say it was? (10)
Chung Myung’s gaze grew cold.
Despite that gaze, Cheon Myeon Susa no longer felt the same fear as before.
He’s strong. There is no denying it.
But not as much as the rumors suggested. And Cheon Myeon Susa was certain of one thing: he won’t be able to sustain this level of strength for long.
Cheon Myeon Susa slyly licked his lips. The familiar sensation of his lips and the awkward touch of his dangling mask simultaneously brushed his tongue.
‘The reinforcements… should arrive before long.’
This place is quite literally the dragon’s lair. If the reinforcements arrive, even for Cheon Myeon Susa Dam Yeohae, escaping from here alive would be impossible. It would be wise to withdraw immediately.
Knowing this, Cheon Myeon Susa hesitated.
Which would come first: the arrival of Cheonumaeng’s reinforcements, or the moment when Geomgwi’s true limits are revealed?
No one could be certain. However.
“Sometimes in life…”
A pure white aura began to form around Cheon Myeon Susa’s hands.
“There are times when you have to gamble!”
Bang!
Cheon Myeon Susa forcefully stomped the ground.
Whoooosh!
The energy bursting from his hands whirled around like a fierce snowstorm. As if the frigid winds of the Northern Sea were blowing, the surroundings turned white in an instant.
Yet. In that utterly white world, there stood alone a man in black.
Chung Myung raised the sword he had been holding loosely, facing the storm of energy pouring towards him without the slightest tremor.
Black eyes contrasted with his pale face. His eyes eventually narrowed, distorting fiercely.
Whirrr.
The tip of his sword seemed to tremble, and soon countless blossoms began to bloom.
The sight of plum blossoms seeming to bloom amidst the snow was both strange and magnificent.
It was a grand spectacle that only two people in the world could witness – too splendid for just the two of them to behold.
Whoosh!
Plum blossom petals spreading in all directions collided with the swirling energy that raged like a blizzard.
Boom! Clang!
Explosive sounds and metallic clashes burst forth simultaneously, overlapping each other. It was a noise that could never come from the collision of petals and snowflakes.
It sounded akin to a massive chunk of metal being crushed, or perhaps like a roar of a mystical beast from a fantasy.
Cheon Myeon Susa’s eyes were bloodshot.
‘Like a monster…!’
Even Cheon Myeon Susa himself could not control the transformations he induced.
However, that plum blossom sword energy was countering every single palm strike Cheon Myeon Susa had recklessly unleashed, leaving none untouched.
He was confused whether to call this surging emotion in his chest astonishment or awe.
Even bringing up his pride seemed ridiculous.
Him as a martial artist and Maehwa Geomgwi as a swordsman – just by this spectacle alone, there was no need to debate who stood superior.
Even to Cheon Myeon Susa, who had observed countless strong warriors and experienced many levels of martial arts prowess, the level of swordsmanship of that swordsman was so unbelievably high that it defied any explanation.
But precisely because of that.
“Haahhhh!”
Cheon Myeon Susa unleashed all his internal energy, summoning every last bit of it.
That sword energy is clearly close to the miraculous [신기(神奇)]. Therefore, it must consume an enormous amount of mental and internal strength to maintain.
Whoooosh!
The raging snowstorm piled up layer upon layer, ultimately pouring down on Chung Myung like a full-blown avalanche – a realm where transformations [변화(變)] are stacked upon each other, sublimating into overwhelming weight [무거움(重)].
Cheon Myeon Susa Dam Yeohae. This was a technique that not only did justice to his fame as the number one master of the Evil Sects [사파제일수(邪派第一手)] but even surpassed it.
Boom!
As expected, the endlessly blooming red flowers faltered. They started to collapse, just like plum blossoms that bloom resiliently even in the bitter cold of midwinter snowy mountains, but ultimately cannot withstand the weight of snow that falls and falls again.
The blossoming flowers were being crushed, unable to withstand the pressure of the accumulated force.
“Aaaaargh!”
A metallic scream burst from Cheon Myeon Susa’s mouth.
In a battle of transformations and illusions, there is no chance of victory. That has already been confirmed. However, if it’s a clash of internal energy against internal energy, he might be able to seize the initiative. He was now grasping that possibility.
His dantian screamed. But even as blood flowed from his mouth, Dam Yeohae steadfastly unleashed his energy.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – perhaps a chance that will never come again.
Maehwa Geomgwi Chung Myung. If only he could kill Hwasan Geomhyeop, the scales of the war would tilt more than 80% in favor of Sapaeryeon. Then he would have made an incomparably great contribution.
At that moment, his hand flinched.
‘It’ happened simultaneously as Dam Yeohae hesitated. No, perhaps it occurred even before that.
Whirrr.
The plum blossom petals that had been barely holding back the avalanche vanished in an instant, as if what Dam Yeohae had seen until now was a mere illusion.
Dam Yeohae’s eyes shook violently.
Is he not going to block it?
What on earth could he possibly have been thinking to do such a thing, unless he intended to end his own life? Had he finally lost his mind…?
“If you really want to die, I’ll grant your wish!”
Just as Dam Yeohae was about to squeeze out every last bit of his remaining strength.
He flinched.
Goosebumps ran all over his body. It was an instinctive warning that Dam Yeohae had never felt before – a warning from within his soul, resonating as he squeezed out his life force.
At first, it was just a tiny red dot in the entirely white world, like a drop of blood that had fallen onto white rice paper. It was an extremely subtle change.
But that red dot soon transformed into a form Cheon Myeon Susa had never seen before, overwhelming the white energy.
Boom!
A sudden torrent surged as if overflowing a dam. The deep red aura surged over and devoured Cheon Myeon Susa’s energy, along with a roaring sound that seemed like it would burst his eardrums.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The red torrent rushed in violently. It was another form of death.
“Ugh, aaah!”
Sensing instinctively that there was no way to stop that torrent, Cheon Myeon Susa threw himself sideways with all his might.
And at that moment.
Cheon Myeon Susa saw it – the swordsman who was already waiting for him in the direction he had leaped, with eyes so cold they seemed to freeze his soul.
Whoosh!
Cheon Myeon Susa leaped back over ten jang [measure of distance ~3m] in a single step.
His entire body was drenched in cold sweat. Unable to control the tremor in his eyes, he stared ahead. And the moment he saw the figure standing alone in the distance, his mouth opened involuntarily, and he began to gasp heavily.
“Huff, huff…”
His jaw dropped, and his chest heaved violently.
Cheon Myeon Susa’s gaze shifted slightly downward.
Something small was lying on the ground, a little ahead of where Chung Myung was standing. It was something truly familiar yet terribly strange.
“…”
Cheon Myeon Susa silently raised his left hand.
Nothing.
His left hand’s little finger and ring finger, which always firmly supported his techniques, were gone. The stumps where his fingers should have been were cut off from the base, gushing hot blood.
Instead of stopping the bleeding from his hand, Cheon Myeon Susa grasped his lower abdomen with his blood-soaked hand.
Squelch.
Blood was gushing out through the torn clothes. If he let go of his hand, his abdomen would split open and his intestines would spill out.
In that fleeting moment, during that brief exchange, his opponent had cut off two of his fingers with a sword and even sliced open his lower abdomen in one stroke.
If the sword had gone just two chi – no, even one chi deeper [chi is a measure of around 3cm], he would already be visiting the afterlife.
“…You.”
Cheon Myeon Susa looked at Chung Myung again with an expression of astonishment.
Chung Myung, his face ghastly pale, was spitting dark, clotted blood.
Cheon Myeon Susa bit his lip tightly.
No matter how severe his own injuries appeared, they were ultimately just external wounds where the flesh was split. But Maehwa Geomgwi had suffered internal injuries and was coughing up clotted blood.
Perhaps, even at this moment, Cheon Myeon Susa was the one who had the advantage.
Not because his injuries were light, but because his opponent’s internal injuries were severe.
But…
At that moment, Chung Myung opened his mouth.
“I’ve grown weaker… Certainly, that’s not entirely wrong.”
“…”
“But, so what?”
A faint sneer appeared at the corner of Chung Myung’s mouth. The sight of his lips, darkly stained and curling into a grin, sent chills even down the spine of the great Cheon Myeon Susa.
“So what can someone like you possibly do?”
Cheon Myeon Susa couldn’t bring himself to charge at Chung Myung.
Perhaps Chung Myung’s words were nothing more than empty bravado. It was entirely possible that even a light attack from Cheon Myeon Susa could end Maehwa Geomgwi’s life, considering the internal injuries he had sustained.
Just once, merely releasing palm force one more time could be enough.
But even knowing all this, he couldn’t dare to reach out his hand. Let alone attack, he couldn’t even muster the courage to take a step forward. It was as if a pitch-black river from the netherworld flowed before his eyes.
Beads of thick sweat trickled down Cheon Myeon Susa’s chin.
The only reason he didn’t immediately turn and flee was the last desperate stand of his deeply wounded pride.
“Indeed… perhaps so.”
Cheon Myeon Susa said, his face grotesquely contorted.
“But what about this? While that may be the case for you, is it the same for the others? Can you, now weakened, protect the others as you have until now?”
Chung Myung stared silently at Cheon Myeon Susa. Cheon Myeon Susa also met Chung Myung’s gaze with eyes full of stubbornness.
“I will watch carefully with these two eyes. And I will return to laugh at you when you’ve lost everything.”
After a brief moment of silence.
Whoosh.
Cheon Myeon Susa’s figure vanished abruptly like smoke in the wind.
Chung Myung silently gazed at the spot where Cheon Myeon Susa had been. After staring at that place for a long while, he suddenly bent over like a shrimp.
“Ugh.”
Chung Myung hastily covered his mouth with his hand.
“Uweeeeeek!”
Between his spread fingers, black blood poured out in streams.
After vomiting blood several times, he clenched his blood-soaked fist.
No one but Chung Myung could understand the emotions contained within that trembling fist.
Chung Myung, who had been bending over for a long time, slowly lifted his head to look up at the night sky. The dark night sky where dawn had yet to arrive. As always, the stars offered no response.
How long had he been standing there like that?
“…What?”
Chung Myung turned his head. Towards someone who was slowly approaching, piercing through this darkness and loneliness.
In Chung Myung’s once indifferent eyes, suspicion gradually bloomed.
“You… are?”
The stranger’s tranquil eyes shone faintly, contrasting with Chung Myung’s gaze drowning in abyss.
“Om Mani Padme Hum.”
“…”
“I have wanted to meet you, Siju.”
The Dalai Lama, who had reverently joined his hands together, bowed slightly towards Chung Myung.
❀ ❀ ❀
Baek Cheon’s eyes trembled, unsure where to focus.
“Just now… what did you say…”
His breath quickened, and his vision went dark. It felt as if he were plummeting alone into an abyss.
“Who did you just say it was?”
The Sect Leader of Diancang that they abandoned. Is that what he said?
“Heheh.”
The one who introduced himself as Jin Songwon let out a suppressed laugh.
“Why? Feeling guilty now, are we?”
“I…”
Jin Songwon glared at Baek Cheon with murderous intent in his eyes.
“Or are you flustered because those who should be dead have appeared alive? Vice Sect Leader of Hwasan, Baek Cheon?”
Baek Cheon tightly closed his eyes.
If what they revealed about their identities was true, he could understand – the hatred and resentment they directed at him.
But before that, he needed to hear it.
“Please, tell me.”
“…What did you say?”
“I need to hear it.”
Baek Cheon faced Jin Songwon with a resolute expression.
“Tell me everything – what happened at Mount Diancang, why you are here, everything.”
It was time to confront the reality.
_______
I hope Dalai Lama helps Chung Myung before Jang Ilso takes action after receiving the news from Cheon Myeon Susa… but something tells me nothing will be easy (as always). Everything needs to come into one place at the end: Chung Myung, Jang Ilso, Baek Cheon, probably Diancang(?) and all other sects.
_______
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Return of the Mount Hua 
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