Return of the Mount Hua

Just like back then. (3)

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“What?”

Hong Daekwang’s face went deathly pale.

“What kind of bullshit is that! The North has been torn to shreds? There weren’t even any martial sects there to begin with!”

As the report continued, Hong Daekwang was left speechless.

“Th-They’re trampling over the army and innocent civilians…?”

Yes, he could at least understand that much. But when he heard that the unidentified group had even crushed the foreign tribes’ cavalry, he could no longer maintain his composure.

“No, but why?”

It defied common sense.

If their objective was the Central Plains, then the foreign tribes’ cavalry could not be their enemy. No matter how little contact they had with one another, there was a reason people said, ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’.

Simply by breaking through the northern defensive line for them, the foreign tribes’ cavalry could have used their renowned mobility to ravage the Central Plains. That would have made accomplishing their objective twice as easy.

“But they killed them? Every last one of them, no less?”

Why in the world?

If they possessed even the slightest shred of reason, they should have known that doing so could never benefit them. Why would they possibly have done such a thing?

“So, what are they doing now? If the surviving troops have retreated to the Great Wall [장성(長城)], they must be pursuing them.”

“Well…”

The prostrate beggar looked up at Hong Daekwang, cold sweat pouring down his face. Despite the urgency and gravity of the situation, he could not conceal his bewilderment. It was an expression that carried an oddly unsettling sense of incongruity.

“Th-They reportedly crossed back over the river.”

“Right, the Great Wall… What? What did you just say? They crossed the river? Why would they cross a river they’d already crossed once? Is there another river to ford after crossing the Yellow Waters?”

“N-No, that’s not what I mean.”

“Then what do you mean? Hurry up and…!”

Just as Hong Daekwang, overcome with frustration, was about to shout, the beggar opened his mouth.

“The ones who wiped out half of the Northern Army south of the Yellow Waters suddenly turned around, crossed back over the Yellow Waters, and headed… north.”

Hong Daekwang’s mouth fell open without him even realizing it.

“…Why?”

“Th-That much we still haven’t been able to determine…”

Sweat dripped from the beggar’s face onto the floor. The room was so silent that each drop could be heard with perfect clarity.

“Th-This doesn’t make any sense! Why would they cross back over a river they’d gone to all that trouble to cross?”

“Th-That’s exactly what we don’t…”

“Are you absolutely certain this has been confirmed?”

“O-Of course. How could I dare bring you unverified information?”

Hyun Jong, who had been listening in silence, let out a faint murmur.

They had faced countless crises over the years, yet he swore he had never before seen everyone gathered here enveloped in such an eerie atmosphere. Fear was rising among those who had come face-to-face with something utterly incomprehensible and unknown.

Then someone broke the silence.

“Because there are still people alive north of the river.”

Everyone’s gaze turned towards the speaker – Chung Myung. Baek Cheon’s eyes wavered.

“By ‘people,’ do you mean the foreign tribes’ cavalry?”

“Who knows. That’s possible.”

“What do you mean, ‘possible’…?”

“They might have spotted peaceful villages belonging to the foreign tribes while they were chasing the cavalry.”

“…”

“If not that, perhaps they saw children bathing in the river.”

“What kind of nonsense are you talking about?!”

Baek Cheon raised his voice in anger, but Chung Myung returned only a cold stare.

“Do you think I’m joking?”

Caught off guard by the sudden pressure radiating from Chung Myung, Baek Cheon instinctively fell silent. Chung Myung watched him quietly for a moment before speaking again.

“It seems none of you still understand why they’re called what they are.”

“…”

“If they were merely wicked, they’d be called Sa [사(邪) – Sa, as in Sapa – evil/unorthodox sect]. If they were simply ruthless, they’d be called Ak [악(惡) – Ak, evil/ferocious/domineering]. And if all they did was inspire terror through their horrific methods, they’d be described with the character Hyung [흉(凶) – ominous/disastrous/inauspicious]*. But they aren’t. Why do you think that is?”

Baek Cheon involuntarily drew in a sharp breath.

“Trying to understand them is impossible from the very beginning. They’re human, yet they aren’t. They don’t think like we do, and they don’t feel as we do. Calling them human is a mistake. They’re closer to a plague that walks on two legs. That’s why they’re called Ma – Demons [마(魔)].”

“…”

A deathly silence settled over the room. Amid that suffocating silence, which seemed to squeeze at their hearts, someone’s faint, almost involuntary whisper escaped.

“The Demonic Cult [마교(魔敎)]…”

There was no need to confirm it. No need to investigate any further. The only ones who would do something like this… the only ones capable of doing something like this… were the Demonic Cult.

“Then what will they do now?”

“Once they’ve wiped out every living thing they come across, they’ll head south again. Or rather… they may already be on their way south.”

“Isn’t that far too irresponsible a guess?”

“I told you. Trying to predict what they do is meaningless.”

Hong Daekwang bit down hard on his lip.

Everyone present was overwhelmed by an indescribable despair, but Chung Myung alone found a faint glimmer of hope in their reaction.

‘It’s not like before.’

That’s right. At the very least, Chung Myung was here now. And there were people prepared to listen to what he had to say.

Regrettably, that had not been the case in the past.

It was an age when the name ‘Demon’ had not disappeared, yet it had undeniably faded into half-forgotten legend. And when the followers of the Demonic Cult appeared in the world once more, they were, in every sense of the word, beings beyond human understanding.

A response? As if that had ever been possible.

By the time people came to their senses, half of the Central Plains had already been swept away. Only then did those who finally sensed the coming destruction gather together, friend and foe alike, and begin resisting them.

Of course, the current situation could hardly be called favorable either. Considering everything that had already been lost in the war against Sapaeryeon, the strength of the Central Plains now was likely inferior even to what it had been back then.

But that didn’t matter.

They hadn’t fought back then because they were certain they could win, either.

“We have to face reality.”

“…”

“Even as we stand here trying to interpret what they do, they’re still moving. Crushing one more person. Killing one more person.”

Hong Daekwang rubbed his face so violently it looked as though he might tear the skin off.

“I know. I know, but… damn it! I don’t even know where we’re supposed to begin.”

“Why make it so complicated?”

“Huh?”

“We start with the basics. First, we need to know our enemy. So then – how many members were in the Demonic Cult force that attacked the Northern Army?”

Im Sobyeong – who, apart from Chung Myung, or perhaps even more than Chung Myung – had remained remarkably composed, directed the question at the deathly pale beggar.

“W-Well… determining the exact number is…”

“An estimate will do.”

“We believe there were roughly several hundred of them. At the very most, fewer than a thousand. Probably…”

“Several hundred…”

Im Sobyeong frowned.

“That’s far fewer than I expected.”

Chung Myung answered in a detached tone, as though the observation was only obvious.

“They’re only the vanguard.”

“I thought as much.”

“W-Wait. That could be their main force, couldn’t it? Like you said, if they barely managed to survive in the barren North, then even if their forces were greatly diminished…”

“That’s impossible.”

When Chung Myung flatly dismissed the possibility without a moment’s hesitation, Hong Daekwang, startled, asked again.

“No, why?”

“Because he wasn’t there.”

“He?”

Chung Myung’s gaze darkened.

“You know who. The Heavenly Demon. He wasn’t there.”

At that moment, a suffocating silence swept through the room.

It was a name everyone had desperately wanted to avoid, even after learning that the Demonic Cult had returned. But now it was a name they could no longer evade.

“That still hasn’t been……”

Just then, Im Sobyeong snapped his fan open and spoke.

“The Demonic Cult has risen several times throughout history, but whenever they attacked the Central Plains, there was never a single instance in which the Heavenly Demon was absent.”

“Probably.”

Aside from the most recent Great War [대전(大戰)], virtually no reliable records remained of the Demonic Cult’s previous invasions of the Central Plains.

Many records had been lost during the Great War, but even before that, it had not been customary to deliberately record and preserve the history of Gangho. Nearly all of it had been passed down by word of mouth, from one generation to the next.

And in all those stories, whenever the Demonic Cult was spoken of, one name was never omitted: the Heavenly Demon.

From that, Gangho had reached one simple conclusion.

There are times when the Heavenly Demon exists within the Demonic Cult and times when he does not.

A Demonic Cult without a Heavenly Demon never set its sights on the Central Plains. It hid itself beyond the reach of human eyes and quietly gathered its strength. In other words, whenever they invaded the Central Plains, an existence known as the Heavenly Demon was always among them.

“The governing principle of the Cult is to kill every living human being.”

“……Well, yes.”

“But that is merely the principle that governs their actions, not the Cult’s purpose. The followers of the Demonic Cult exist for one purpose alone: to serve as the Heavenly Demon’s hands and feet.”

Hong Daekwang immediately understood what that meant.

“You’re saying the Demonic Cult’s main force would never leave the Heavenly Demon’s side?”

“Yes. Never.”

There was no refuting it. Everything he had learned about the Demonic Cult proved Chung Myung’s words true.

Looking almost amused, Im Sobyeong spoke.

“So a force they casually sent ahead as nothing more than a vanguard annihilated the foreign tribes’ cavalry and wiped out half of the Northern Army, forcing the rest to flee.”

Hearing it summarized so plainly made the whole thing seem utterly absurd. Yet no one could deny it. They had all witnessed it firsthand in Hangzhou. They knew exactly how terrifyingly powerful the Demonic Cult was.

“Then haven’t we already reached our conclusion?”

“Conclusion?”

“Do you believe there is any way to stop them if the Heavenly Demon enters the Central Plains at the head of the Demonic Cult’s main force?”

Hong Daekwang fell silent at Im Sobyeong’s question.

Could they stop them?

Of course, perhaps they could. The Central Plains had always revealed its hidden strength at moments such as this.

‘But could that truly be called stopping them?’

Nearly a hundred years had passed since the last war, yet Gangho still had not recovered from its aftermath. If they suffered losses on that same scale again… or even worse?

Would Gangho truly still remain afterward? No… would there even be anything left that could still be called the Central Plains?

“Do you understand now?”

Hong Daekwang nodded blankly at Im Sobyeong’s question. Im Sobyeong folded his fan again and lightly tapped it against his temple.

“A year… No, even if we had been given at least three months, we might somehow have found a way to resist them, but as things stand, it will be difficult. The wounds Paegun left upon the Central Plains are far deeper than anyone imagined.”

It was not simply because so many had died.

Gaps had appeared throughout the Central Plains, and they had yet to find a way to fill them completely. There was no way a dam full of holes could withstand the surging current.

“Then there is only one course of action, is there not?”

“What?”

“A preemptive strike [선발제인(先發制人)].”

Im Sobyeong smiled.

“No. In this case, since they moved first, perhaps we should call it striking second after the enemy moves [후발제어인(後發制於人)]….**”

“You’re saying we should attack first?”

“Precisely.”

Im Sobyeong shrugged.

“Everyone seems to have overlooked it because of how suddenly this crisis has descended upon us, but if we look at the situation calmly, their vanguard is currently separated from their main force.”

“……That’s true.”

“If we leave them alone, they will eventually rejoin the main force or carry out whatever separate objective they have. Neither outcome would be favorable to us.”

Snap.

Im Sobyeong’s fan spread wide.

“So we must strike before they withdraw. And make certain that not a single one of them escapes alive.”

Hong Daekwang swallowed dryly. Launching the first attack against the Demonic Cult….

“Realistically…….”

“If you wish to discuss reality, you should begin with another ‘reality,’ you beggar.”

“What?”

Im Sobyeong’s gaze turned cold.

“If the current Heavenly Demon possesses the same power as the one who trampled the Central Plains in the past, then there’s no point in fighting at all. The power he displayed in the last war belongs less to reality than to myth. Certain defeat [필패(必敗)]. There is no other possible conclusion.”

Someone’s fingertips were trembling. Yet, no one could mock that trembling. Looking around at everyone steeped in fear, Im Sobyeong smiled faintly.

“But there is no need to discuss such a possibility right now. Therefore, there is only one thing we must do. We must believe that the Heavenly Demon of this era is not yet at that level.”

He paused for a moment, let out a long breath, and spoke coldly.

“We cut off his hands and feet without mercy. Even if we must offer up our necks to sever his fingers, we isolate the Heavenly Demon completely. That is the one and only way we can defeat them.”

Those seated in the room swallowed dryly at the radical declaration. Their reactions, however, had never been of any concern to Im Sobyeong.

“What do you think, Dojang?”

At some point, Im Sobyeong’s gaze had fixed upon Chung Myung. Faced with the provocative look that seemed to be testing him, Chung Myung raised the corner of his mouth.

“It’s been a long time since I heard someone say something worth hearing.”

Between his twisted lips, his stark white teeth showed with a chilling gleam.

“I think the same. There is only one way – to attack.”

Chung Myung looked clearly at each and every one of them as he spoke.

“We strike the Demonic Cult first. Not in order to win…”

The same madness that had once burned in Maehwa Geomjon’s eyes flickered in his gaze.

“…But in order to survive.”

Before long, his gaze turned towards some distant place.

As though glaring at the fated existence that must even now be drawing closer to them.

Next chapter >>>

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*To better explain what Chung Myung is emphasizing. Sa(邪) – is about morality. Sa – as opposing Jeong (正), unorthodox and orthodox. Ak(惡) – genuinely evil, wicked, like: 악귀(aggwi)惡鬼 – evil spirit/demon. Hyung(凶) – a source of terror/calamity, like: 흉조(hyungjo)凶兆 – evil omen.

**先發制人, 後發制於人 – a proverb that comes from Book of Han. “He who strikes first gains the advantage; he who strikes late is controlled by others.” Im Sobyeong just separated it into two parts.

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