Return of the Mount Hua

That’s why it’s no fun. (3)

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“No, Sahyeong! Wait a moment!”

Baek Sang repeatedly called out to the figure running ahead in a voice tinged with bewilderment. However, the person in front did not even spare him a glance and simply kept running.

“Sahyeong!”

When Baek Sang called out again, more urgently this time, the other finally shot him a brief glance. His face was haggard beyond measure, but his eyes still shone with the same light Baek Sang remembered.

“Why?”

“Why, you ask! Where on earth are we going right now?”

Baek Sang could not understand at all. Baek Cheon had appeared before him out of nowhere and started dragging him along without even giving them time to exchange any greetings.

Fine, that much he could accept. He could understand it.

Even if Baek Cheon was excommunicated, he was still Baek Sang’s Sahyeong. Even if the Sect Leader threatened to beat him to death, that fact would not change. So if Baek Cheon asked for help, Baek Sang would naturally help him.

But in order to help, at the very least he needed to know what Baek Cheon was trying to do.

“Are you trying to chase after Jang Ilso?”

Baek Cheon shook his head firmly.

“No. Right now, even if I were to chase him, there’s nothing I could do.”

“That’s…….”

Baek Sang forcibly swallowed the words ‘That’s true’. Even if it was true, it wasn’t something he should say to Baek Cheon’s face.

“Then what on earth……?”

“I have to do what I can do.”

“And that would be what, exactly?”

“Either atonement or rescue. It depends on the outcome.”

“…..What? Rescue? Is someone being held captive?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“The disciples of Diancang. They’re being held hostage by Sapaeryeon.”

Momentarily struck speechless, Baek Sang then shouted in disbelief.

“Ah, no, just a moment. What are you talking about? Why is Sahyeong the one rescuing them?”

“If anyone can rescue them, they should! Why are you stating the obvious!”

When Baek Cheon glared at him with anger evident in his expression, Baek Sang instinctively shrank back.

“W-Where are they?”

“I heard they’re in Yunnan.”

“…You’re joking, right? You mean to rescue those in Yunnan right now? Does that even make sense?”

“Of course it doesn’t.”

Baek Sang let out a sigh of relief. He had been worried Baek Cheon might have lost his mind in that short time, but thankfully that didn’t seem to be the case.

“Then?”

“If they’re really in Yunnan, then there’s no way to save them.”

“….What do you mean by that?”

“Is Jang Ilso the type to keep hostages so far away?”

Baek Sang frowned.

“He’s not that kind of person. He always plans his next move. If the disciples of Diancang pretend not to care about the hostages and draw their swords against Sapaeryeon, he’ll drag the hostages out and threaten them – blades at their throats.”

Whether it was Diancang or hostages, everything was confusing, but even Baek Sang couldn’t deny this. If it was Jang Ilso, he would definitely do such a thing. He’s the kind of a man who’s always one step ahead of his opponents.

“But we can’t be sure, can we?”

“Yes. That’s how it was – until just a moment ago.”

“..So you’re saying it’s different now?”

“Yes. I did see it.”

“Who did you see? The hostages?”

“Of course not.”

“Then who?”

“Stop asking questions and follow me. I need to confirm with my own eyes what I’ve seen!”

“No…”

Baek Sang let out a groan, but Baek Cheon ignored him coldly. Right now, just chasing after the person he was looking for was exhausting enough.

‘It was definitely there.’

If Baek Cheon’s hunch was correct, then there was still hope – hope for them to finally atone for their mistakes.

❀ ❀ ❀

“Damn it!”

Im Sobyeong ran with all his might. The same thought echoed over and over in his head: since when? Since when had he been played?

‘Wudang…!’

Fresh blood seeped from the lip he had been biting. Even so, Im Sobyeong felt no pain.

Since when had it started? Right – ever since Wudang was burning behind him. From that moment on, everything began to twist.

‘Me of all people!’

Only a few pavilions and a handful of the wounded had been caught in the flames.

Perhaps those Just Sects’ folks of Cheonumaeng, always going on about honor and righteousness, could be forgiven for not noticing. But Im Sobyeong, who came from the Evil side, should have realized it. There was no way Jang Ilso would have deployed separate troops just for something so trivial.

‘If he had that kind of force, he would have struck from behind.’

Yet at that moment, Im Sobyeong believed otherwise. He mistook the burning pavilions of Wudang for a ploy to lure away the disciples of Wudang who were on the front lines. And he’d foolishly believed that the disciples, driven by a tearful sense of unfolding justice, had thwarted Jang Ilso’s plans.

But what came of it?

Led by Jo Geol, all those who should have been defending the rear were sucked back into Mount Wudang. By now, the devils of the Blood Palace, having circled around Wudang and descended, were likely pouring into their unguarded rear.

No, they might already have clashed in battle.

“Damn it!”

The loud curse erupted uncontrollably from Im Sobyeong’s mouth. He’d been stupid. Foolish. Pathetic.

“This is no time for self-reproach.”

At that moment, Maeng So’s heavy voice reached his ears.

“No one saw this coming. It’s not your fault.”

“Yes, that’s true. But I should have known. That’s precisely why I’m here.”

Im Sobyeong bit his lip again.

There was only one reason for all these misjudgments: he’d been blinded by the chance to end the war.

Or perhaps he’d been seized by the fear that the war might never end.

Either way, he had failed to maintain composure. He was drawn to the bait Jang Ilso had thrown. And for Jang Ilso, that single moment was more than enough.

‘Please.’

In the end, all Im Sobyeong had left was a desperate prayer.

“He’s not someone who would be taken down so easily. You know that as well.”

Maeng So tried once again to reassure him, but Im Sobyeong clenched his fist.

“That’s not the issue.”

Maeng So and Jongli Gok both turned to look at him.

Tang Gunak? It would be a lie to say he wasn’t worried. At some point, Im Sobyeong, too, had started to feel some affection towards Tang Gunak.

Calling it friendship might be a bit awkward, but at the very least, he couldn’t stand by and watch him die at Jang Ilso’s hands without feeling anything.

Yet right now, there was something more important to Im Sobyeong than Tang Gunak’s life.

“Don’t you understand?”

“What do you mean?”

“Blood Palace is strong.”

At that abrupt statement, Jongli Gok frowned.

“Well, everyone knows that. But we’re not so afraid of them that we-”

“And that Blood Palace is under Jang Ilso’s command.”

Jongli Gok fell silent.

The moment the name Jang Ilso was added to Blood Palace, the gravity of the situation changed. The Blood Palace led by Jang Ilso was clearly a different entity altogether.

“To make matters worse, we’re currently split into ten or more groups, and we don’t even precisely know where our allies are. Can’t you imagine what will happen if Jang Ilso strikes at our rear?”

Jongli Gok’s eyes wavered slightly.

“If we notify everyone right now……”

“How would we even do that?”

Jongli Gok, lacking any response, closed his mouth again.

“Saparyeon has already spiraled out of control beyond recovery. But damn it, the same goes for us as well!”

Im Sobyeong ground his teeth. Cheonumaeng’s control had already collapsed long ago. Right now, the Alliance was like a pack of wolves that had lost all sense of reason at the sight of sheep fleeing in every direction. They left their pack and frantically ran, chasing the flocks of sheep scattering in all directions.

Behind those wolves, a tiger was now approaching quietly.

At last, four concise characters surfaced in Jongli Gok’s mind as he grasped the entire situation.

‘Divide and conquer [各個擊破]*.’

Jang Ilso would know how to move to shatter Cheonumaneg most efficiently. After all, it was Jang Ilso who had guided Cheonumaneg’s movements from the start.

Just thinking that every single move of these fake ‘Jang Ilso’ had been calculated to tear the Alliance into bite-sized pieces sent chills through Jongli Gok’s entire body.

The situation was several times more dire than he had initially thought. In desperation, he asked,

“Then what should we do?”

“For now… we have to stop him before he makes a move. By any means necessary.”

They were throwing everything aside and running for that purpose.

They didn’t need to block him perfectly. Simply clinging to his heels and preventing him from moving according to plan would guarantee help would arrive. After all, they couldn’t be the only ones who’d noticed something was amiss.

‘Please!’

So Im Sobyeong had no choice but to pray. That Tang Gunak and Zhuge Jain would realize what was happening. Or, even if they didn’t, that they would at least manage to tie up Jang Ilso’s feet for a moment.

‘If they fail…’

Im Sobyeong closed his eyes tight. Even the mere thought made his hair stand on end and his mind reel.

Their forces were scattered, and the battlefield had expanded to an almost limitless scope. It was hard to tell exactly where either enemy or ally might be. In this hellish situation, they had to find Jang Ilso and the Blood Palace, who were merely one single piece of the puzzle.

The longer it took, the faster their forces would crumble, and the casualties would rise by the hundreds. By the time they finally caught up and managed to stop the enemy, nearly half the members of Cheonumaeng would likely have gone to their graves.

“No matter how strong Jang Ilso is, does that even make sense? Even if he brings every single warrior from Blood Palace, their numbers wouldn’t exceed a few hundred.”

“If it were just Blood Palace, yes.”

“Then is there something else?”

“What do you think those Sapaeryon’s bastards who were running away will do the moment they see Jang Ilso charging forward, leading the Blood Palace?”

Maeng So let out a low groan.

It was a question that didn’t even require much thinking. They would follow Jang Ilso’s lead without a second thought, just to survive.

No need for plans or anything else. Just by cutting across this battlefield, Jang Ilso could rally every single one of them who laid eyes on him.

‘Even if that number isn’t large, it doesn’t matter. As long as it’s enough to defeat the scattered forces of Cheonumaeng one by one.’

At best, they’d be nothing but cannon fodder. But as everyone knew, Jang Ilso was the kind of person who could make even cannon fodder the most useful force in the world.

Im Sobyeong, Maeng So, and Jongli Gok all fell silent for a moment. The more they thought about it, the more they realized how dire the situation was. This was already bad enough with just Blood Palace – if by any chance Jang Ilso had another hidden card besides them…

The outcome would be nothing short of ‘destruction.’ No matter how the war had proceeded until now, they’d have to reset the board and start from scratch.

Maeng So couldn’t make sense of it no matter how hard he tried.

“How… W-We were definitely winning, weren’t we?”

“…”

“In that flow, Jang Ilso seemed almost powerless. So how is it that a single move can change the situation so drastically?”

Im Sobyeong continued to remain silent. He didn’t know how to explain it.

Should he say that even the moments when Cheonumaneg believed they had seized victory had all been set up for this one move? Or should he say that a battlefield is always a devil’s playground, where the slightest shift in tactics can warp fate itself?

But after much agonizing, Im Sobyeong still couldn’t say a word. There was something he could have said, but he couldn’t bring himself to speak it aloud.

Surprisingly, the one who spoke up instead of Im Sobyeong was Jongli Gok.

“…That’s why he is called Paegun.”

“Damn…”

“For now, we first need to rescue Lord Tang.”

Jongli Gok spoke firmly. Maeng So gave a firm nod.

Just then, Im Sobyeong spotted a group approaching from afar. And the moment he recognized the figure in the lead, he unconsciously spat out a curse.

“Damn it.”

Chung Myung. He was leading Hwasan’s forces. Heading in the same direction as Im Sobyeong.

With that, any hope that Chung Myung might have realized the situation sooner than Im Sobyeong and gone to rescue Tang Gunak vanished.

“Nokrim King!”

Yoon Jong, running beside Chung Myung, shouted at the top of his lungs. Without any particular instructions, the two groups naturally merged.

“Dojang. The situation…”

“I know.”

Im Sobyeong turned his head away without a word. Yes, there was no need for more talk. All that remained was to see it with their own eyes.

“Over there!”

They ran until their hearts nearly burst, and at last, they found it. Those they had left behind in the rear.

“Ah… ah, ah….”

“Damn it….”

They were faced with a reality they wished they could deny. On the desolate earth lay heaps of horrific corpses – too many even to count.

Blood still fresh from their bodies soaked the yellowish-brown earth in a dark, crimson hue.

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*각개격파(各個擊破) – 各個 (각개 / gè gè) → “Each one individually;” 擊破 (격파 / jī pò) → “Attack and destroy” or “defeat.” “Defeat them one by one.”It refers to a strategy where, instead of taking on all enemies at once, you isolate and defeat them individually, thereby weakening the overall force.

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