Return of the Mount Hua

What’s the meaning of this? (2)

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When the Blood Palace Lord slightly turned his gaze, he saw a battlefield entangled in chaos far in the distance.

“Heh… heh.”

The corners of his mouth, covered by bandages, twisted slightly.

They were too far away for any voice to be heard, yet it clearly reached the Blood Palace Lord’s ears.

Someone’s harrowing scream.

“So, you are finally seeing this.”

“We will hurry.”

The Blood Palace warrior, having hastily guessed his intentions, answered. But the Blood Palace Lord slowly shook his head. Then he spoke something entirely unexpected.

“No. We’ll slow down.”

A question arose in the blood warrior’s eyes. Yet he did not dare utter, ‘Why?’ or do anything so foolish. He merely raised his hand to give orders to those who followed.

The Blood Palace Lord chuckled quietly, as though in high spirits.

Racing up the mountain and finishing them off quickly wouldn’t be bad. It would no doubt be quite entertaining to give them the greatest despair. However, his task was not to deliver despair, but to stir confusion.

“Now, what do you plan to do?”

A rift always begins from the smallest of things. Just as Ryeonju said.

❀ ❀ ❀

“Jin Hyeon!”

Surprised, Mu Jin rushed over to Jin Hyeon.

“What’s going on?”

“O-Over there!”

Nearly losing his composure, Jin Hyeon pointed with a trembling hand towards Mount Wudang. Mu Jin squinted his one remaining eye as he stared at the spot Jin Hyeon pointed at.

“That’s…”

It was too far away to see clearly, but Mu Jin recognized them almost instantly. They were the same bastards who had previously infiltrated Wudang.

‘Blood Palace!’

Doubt flickered in Mu Jin’s eyes.

“Why are they over there…?”

“Wudang… Those bastards are targeting Wudang!”

“Targeting Wudang? But we’re here.”

“Sasuk!”

In frustration, Jin Hyeon abruptly raised his voice.

“The ones left behind are still there!”

At that moment, Mu Jin’s heart sank. His eye, opened wide, trembled with shock.

‘The wounded…!’

Those who were severely injured in the previous battle and had yet to fully recover were still staying at Wudang’s medical hall.

But if that vicious group attacks Wudang?

“Ah, no… it can’t be…”

The wounded would be completely swept away and lose their lives without being able to put up much resistance. And along with Wudang’s halls, they’d be reduced to ashes.

“We, we have to go, Sasuk! Right now!”

“What?”

“We have to gather the disciples and head there at once to rescue the wounded! There’s no time to waste!”

Mu Jin’s face turned pale in an instant. Behind Jin Hyeon, who looked equally ashen, the disciples of Wudang could still be seen fighting the enemy. Together with the swordsmen of Hwasan, they were barely holding the enemy at bay.

Mu Jin’s fingertips trembled. Jin Hyeon pressed him again, growing more anxious.

“Sasuk! What are you doing? Right now…!”

“No… we can’t.”

“……What?”

With color slowly draining from his face, Mu Jin managed to speak with difficulty.

“If we pull out from here now, the frontline will collapse at once. Then we won’t be able to predict how the war will turn out.”

Jin Hyeon stared blankly at Mu Jin, as though he had just been struck.

“What… what are you saying right now?”

“I’m saying we can’t withdraw at this moment.”

“Sasuk!”

Jin Hyeon lunged forward, grabbing Mu Jin’s shoulders. His eyes were bloodshot.

“They’re over there! Our Sahyeongs! And Sasuks are there!”

“…”

“They were injured fighting those Sapa bastards. They risked their lives to protect Wudang! And you’re telling me we should just let them die at the hands of those fiends?”

“Jin Hyeon-ah!”

“How can you say something so absurd?!”

Mu Jin gripped Jin Hyeon’s wrist tightly and forced him away.

“Calm down.”

“Sasuk!”

“You know what these bastards are after, don’t you!”

In the end, Mu Jin raised his voice as well. Grinding his teeth, he clenched his fist.

There’s no real need for them to climb the mountain over there. It’s not as if there’s only one path to Wudang, and there are plenty of ways to reach it unseen.

Yet they chose the ridge that’s plainly visible from here. Their purpose was obvious.

“Those bastards want us to abandon the battlefield and come running. They want us to withdraw from the front.”

“…”

“You already know that’s exactly what Jang Ilso is aiming for, don’t you?”

Jin Hyeon bit his lower lip so hard it began to bleed.

“So are you saying we should just leave the injured disciples to face a horrific end, all so we don’t give in to Jang Ilso’s plan?”

“Jin Hyeon!”

“Have you forgotten what should come first and what should come after? What on earth have you been talking about all this time?!”

Jin Hyeon shoved Mu Jin hard.

“Enough!”

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“If Sasuk won’t go, then I will. I’ll take whoever’s willing to come with me.”

“I said you can’t!”

By now, sparks were flying from Jin Hyeon’s eyes. He could no longer tolerate it. He refused to let Wudang collapse any further. This wasn’t some petty stubbornness or greed.

A victory gained by abandoning the wounded? What meaning would Wudang and Gangho hold if that were how they survived?

Just as Jin Hyeon was about to dash off, leaving Mu Jin behind, Mu Jin blocked his path.

“Stop. I’m telling you again, I can’t let you go.”

Jin Hyeon’s face twisted in despair.

“There’s no time for this. Move aside!”

“…”

“I said move!”

Jin Hyeon stepped forward as though he would shove Mu Jin away once more.

Clang!

At that moment, Mu Jin’s sword was pointed straight at Jin Hyeon. Faced with this unbelievable situation, Jin Hyeon stood there with a blank expression, barely opening his mouth.

“…Sasuk?”

He looked back and forth between the sword pointed at him and Mu Jin, who was holding it. Gritting his teeth, Mu Jin spoke.

“Regain your composure, Jin Hyeon.”

After a long moment of silence, anger slowly began to swell in Jin Hyeon’s eyes, as if it were about to explode.

They were not the only two to come into such confrontation.

A battlefield can sometimes be like a capricious and savage creature that ignores all common sense and charges forward on a whim. Extremely important matters might be disregarded as if they were nothing, but at times even the smallest trivial thing can become the spark that sets the whole battlefield ablaze.

This standoff between the two might initially have been no more than a small ripple in the vast battlefield. Yet its influence spread to those around them with frightening speed.

“H-Hey, what’s going on over there? Why are they suddenly acting like that?”

“B-Behind us! The enemy is behind us!”

“Behind us?”

“Mount Wudang!”

An enemy appeared in the distance. This fact carried two different meanings for Cheonumaeng’s warriors who stood on the battlefield.

“An enemy at Wudang…!”

For the disciples of Wudang, who had been fighting frantically, it carried the fear that their main sect* might be invaded.

“Behind us? When did they get behind us?”

For those who were not Wudang’s disciples, it was the shock that a formidable force had appeared behind them.

And these two reactions merged into a single overwhelming emotion: fear.

Faintly creeping fear gradually spread. Even those who had no idea what was happening began to glance around nervously at the sudden shift in atmosphere. The change was that obvious.

Naturally, it was Wudang’s disciples who reacted more urgently.

“Shouldn’t we go save them?”

“Calm down, Saje.”

“Calm down? If we don’t run to them right this instant, we might be too late! No – maybe we’re already too late. So why are we just standing here?”

“We can’t leave this place now!”

“We are just as needed at the main sect! At least those of us here can still put up a fight!”

“Hasn’t Wudang had a role to fulfill ever since we charged in here?”

“Rescuing them is also part of our role!”

Though still small, the clamor was undoubtedly causing cracks in the battlefield.

“Sahyeong!”

“…”

Both Jo Geol and Yoon Jong sensed that shift in atmosphere more clearly than anyone else.

“Jang Ilso…….”

Yoon Jong ground his teeth.

The biggest reason Cheonumaneg could prevail right now was because the thoughts of everyone gathered here were the same.

There was no need for grand talk of justice or righteous cause. Facing the enemy right before their eyes and fighting with all they had – this benefited everyone, leaving no room for any differing thoughts.

But what if these shared thoughts changed, and in the end collapsed?

If someone started thinking that staying here to fight might not be the best course of action, and that notion gradually spread, would the flow of this battlefield remain the same?

Yoon Jong already knew the answer to that question.

“What should we do, Sahyeong?”

“Right now…”

Just as Yoon Jong carefully began to speak.

“They say the wounded are under attack. Should I at least go ahead on my own?”

“…”

“Huh? Sahyeong?”

Yoon Jong fell silent for a moment, his face suddenly burning.

‘I…’

He thought.

He thought that the course of this battlefield might change if different thoughts crept into their minds. However, he also believed that they couldn’t interfere in the matter of rescuing their injured fellow disciples.

Yes. He had been thinking precisely that.

But right now, Jo Geol’s head was filled with only one thought: the wounded who might end up sacrificed. The pros and cons for this battlefield could come later. In fact, he might have already wiped them from his mind.

It was simplistic and foolish. Hardly fitting for someone shouldering a heavy responsibility in a war that would decide the fate of the Central Plains.

And yet…

“Sahyeong, why are you silent?”

When Jo Geol shifted from foot to foot impatiently, Yoon Jong bit his lip.

“Do you think you can get there in time?”

“It’s already too late, obviously.”

Jo Geol replied, his eyes gleaming brightly.

“But I’ll still arrive faster than anyone else!”

Yoon Jong gave a firm nod. Of course, if Jo Geol pulled out of here, the front line might collapse. Many more people might have to fight harder, beyond what they’re already enduring.

‘But so what?’

Mu Jin was not wrong in blocking Jin Hyeon earlier.

From Wudang’s perspective, there was no room for such a choice. Especially since those in danger were their own fellow disciples. If the sect were denounced for being swayed by personal attachment and thus causing greater sacrifice, Wudang really might have to take down its name plaque in shame.

But Hwasan could do it.

“Geol-ah!”

“Yes!”

Yoon Jong looked straight at Jo Geol.

Jo Geol knew. He knew better than anyone how many people would be put at a disadvantage if he withdrew from here.

Even so, he did not waver.

Because he believed. He believed without the slightest doubt that Yoon Jong, Yu Iseol, Tang Soso, Chung Myung, and Baek Cheon would hold out no matter what.

Such a gaze from a Saje could only prompt one response from his Sahyeong.

“I’ll handle things here.”

“…”

“Go! Faster than anyone!”

“Yes!”

Jo Geol slammed his fist decisively against his palm. Then, with a powerful kick of the ground, he shouted.

“Some of you, come with me!”

“Yes, Sahyeong!”

“I’m coming too!”

A few of Baek and Chung disciples around Jo Geol instantly followed him.

It might all be for nothing. By the time Jo Geol arrives, everything could already be over. But Yoon Jong knew from countless experiences that sometimes what appears meaningless can carry its own significance.

“I’ll fill in for his absence…!”

Yoon Jong was about to shout this loudly when someone’s voice, tinged with dismay, suddenly cut in.

“S-Sahyeong! Look!”

Yoon Jong turned around abruptly towards the voice, then froze in place. His pupils shook violently.

“That’s…”

Between the ancient, weather-worn pavilions at the entrance to the summit of Mount Wudang, black smoke was billowing.

“That…”

Before long, flames like the tongues of demons wrapped around the pavilions, surging towards the sky.

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*본산(本山) – hanja wasn’t provided. A large temple that serves as the main temple of a sect (iljong, 일종(一宗)) or a school (ilpa, 일파(一派)). It oversees each of its branch temples (malsa, 말사(末寺). Basically a main temple, a main location of a sect.

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