Return of the Mount Hua Sect
Chapter 873: How Do You Want To Die? (2)

‘How strange.’

Gal Cheon-rip thought with eyes slightly open.

Conventionally, a battle was a fight where one side would be exterminated, but in reality, it wasn’t like that. If one side unilaterally died, their camp collapsed, and one-sided massacres and pursuits followed.

That was why a crushing defeat in murim was when one side lost more than 30% of its troops. This was because a side that lost 30% of its troops could no longer maintain its morale.

But…

“Don’t make me laugh, you bastards of the Evil Sect!”

“I am still alive!”

What were these people?

Although countless people had already fallen as corpses, their fighting spirit didn’t fade from their eyes. They really seemed determined to fight to the death until the last person died.

A man with his legs cut off, and his stomach stabbed still swung his sword as he fell to the ground, and a man with his throat half-cut still desperately grabbed the enemies with failing arms, blood splashing around.

‘Are all the Justice Factions like this?’

How could that be?

If all the Justice Faction fought like this, the name of the Evil Faction wouldn’t even exist in the world. No, one wouldn’t even need to go that deep. The situation where the Four Precepts Alliance emerged in the Yangtze River probably wouldn’t have happened.

Even the famed sects negotiated with the Evil Sects because they were afraid of losing their lives, so why on earth would they risk their lives fighting here?

“How odd.”

But that wouldn’t make a difference. They weren’t causing damage here. At best, it was just a waste of time.

“There must be quite a few who could have survived if they ran away while we were wasting time. So stupid.”

Gal Cheon-rip looked at the brutal battlefield with an obvious sneer.

Kaka!

Iron Ghost’s face contorted.

The moment he was about to smash the head of the guy in front of him, five swords flew at him at the same time.

“Kuak!”

Iron Ghost took a step back and swatted the swords flying towards him. Since he had learned physical skills, he could handle swords with his body without being wounded, and indeed, he didn’t get hurt.

‘So persistent.’

The dynamics changed after that beggar jumped in a little while back.

No, to be exact, it was after the name Mount Hua came out of the beggar’s mouth.

From then on, these people didn’t even blink an eye, even when someone was screaming and dying next to them. They kept biting, hanging on, and rushing at him.

The battle was truly odd. If one side rushed in without regard for their own life, it seemed like the outcome would be quick, but it didn’t actually happen that way. No one wanted to give up an arm in exchange for cutting off the head of a lesser-skilled opponent.

“DIEEEEE!”

At that moment, a sword strike from a disciple of that damn Hwayoung Clan flew towards his face. Among these insane people, the ones wearing the robes were the most insane.

“Insane…”

Iron Ghost mumbled in between, swatting away the sword flying towards him with the back of his hand, then stabbed his eagle-like fingers into the chest of the Hwayoung Clan member.

Crack!

“Kuak…”

The moment he clenched his hand and tried to tear off the flesh, something flew towards his neck.

Iron Ghost pulled his hand out like lightning and struck the flying sword.

Crack!

Red blood gushed out like a fountain. But even though his insides were touched, he didn’t back down at all and swung his sword.

Kuak!

Iron Ghost’s sword split slightly, revealing red flesh.

“…”

Iron Ghost’s eyes shook a bit, and he stepped back, looking down at his shoulder.

Hwayoung Clan leader Wei Lishan, who staggered and took a stance, forcibly calmed his trembling legs and aimed his sword.

Iron Ghost let out a hollow laugh. Looking at Wei Lishan’s appearance, with blood spreading from all the cuts on his body, he didn’t even feel angry.

“… a man who is dying.”

“But I am still alive.”

“Clan leader!”

“Clan leader! Step back! We will deal with this man!”

The Hwayoung clan disciples screamed, but Wei Lishan didn’t move as if he couldn’t hear them.

“…if you want to kill my disciples, you will have to go through me first. That is the law of Mount Hua.”

“You are good. If your sword had as much strength as your mouth, that would have been better.”

“I have the strength to bite on and endure.”

“…it seems like Mount Hua teaches you how to work your mouth first.”

At the sarcastic remark, Wei Lishan smiled.

“Well, it isn’t so wrong.”

“What?”

“Come at me, you bastard. If you cannot even handle my sword, you will not be able to handle one of Mount Hua’s third-class disciples.”

“Ah, really?”

Iron Ghost rushed in and struck Wei Lishan. At that moment, Wei Lishan swung his sword sharply and struck the shoulder, but the sword didn’t even penetrate an inch.

Instead.

Woong!

The moment Iron Ghost’s shoulder, like an angry bull, struck Wei Lishan’s chest, his chest sank. Wei Lishan fell down, coughing blood.

Thud!

“CLAN LEADER!!”

“T-this fucking bastard to our clan leader!”

“Get back!”

A harsh rebuke was poured out towards Hwayoung, who was unable to contain their anger and was about to rush in. The disciples looked at the fallen Wei Lishan with trembling eyes.

Wei Lishan pushed himself off the ground with a trembling arm and struggled to get up. Black blood flowed from his mouth.

“…I am still alive…”

He raised his sword and aimed it at Iron Ghost again.

“I will have to… get over this. You bastard.”

“Hahahah! Nice! Very nice!”

Iron Ghost burst into laughter and charged at Wei Lishan.

Wheeing!

The sound of the spear tip cutting through the air was like a ghost’s howl.

With this creepy sound of wind, the sharp spear struck the end of the club and dug into the chest of Hong Dae-Kwang.

Puak!

The blade pierced more than half an inch deep. Then, the spear was quickly drawn back and, this time, plunged into the other side of Hong Dae-Kwang.

Crack!

His side was split so deeply that the bone was visible.

“Kuaak!”

Despite being so severely wounded, Hong Dae-Kwang showed no sign of retreating.

He cut his side, grabbed the spear being pulled back, and swung his club at the man.

“Uh?”

Spear Ghost, with a shocked expression, pulled the spear hard. The spear blade cut Hong Dae-Kwang’s hand and was pulled back, causing the club to bounce off.

Tat!

Although he had inflicted a one-sided wound, it was Spear Ghost who had to retreat. He glared at Hong Dae-Kwang with a very displeased look.

‘Did I say I wanted to see if he could still talk with holes in his body?’

The results were clear. Hong Dae-Kwang was proving he could still talk despite the holes in his body.

Shoulders, chest, stomach, and legs.

Even with nearly ten holes the size of a child’s fist in his body, Hong Dae-Kwang didn’t fall. Instead, he laughed.

Even though his rags were turning red, not to mention the blackness around.

“Running away… are you too scared?”

“… insane bastard.”

“Huh… you don’t seem to know a beggar well… a person who has nothing has nothing to fear from death.”

Hong Dae-Kwang’s eyes shone.

And Spear Ghost clicked his tongue watching that.

It was hard to finish this man properly when a weakling rushed to die. As the beggar was the one who took the lead to tie him down by the ankles, the others began to gain motivation to fight.

Surely that motivation didn’t turn the tide. But something was noticeably awkward compared to before.

“In other words…”

Spear Ghost smiled oddly.

“If I kill you brutally, their morale will all drop. Right, try to endure it till then. Ten holes you can handle, but twenty? What about thirty?”

“…”

“Let us see if their expressions will be the same when you die so miserably without a single drop of blood left in your body.”

His spear, moving toward Hong Dae-Kwang, shone brightly.

Kaang!

The spear he swung had hit a heavy club and bounced off. The sword that deflected his spear flew in without losing momentum, scraping his neck.

He felt a sharp pain in his neck, but he didn’t have time to check how deep the cut was. The moment he lost consciousness, there would be no need to check how much his neck was cut.

‘I am helpless now.’

A line of blood flowed down from his clenched lips.

‘If only I were a bit stronger…’

Even as he retreated from the spears and swords of those whose names he didn’t even know, another life was being lost.

If only he had been stronger, couldn’t he have stopped them? Couldn’t he have saved people? Why didn’t he devote himself to training more? Why wasn’t he as strong as they were?

Even if it meant stepping into Mount Hua, he had to be as strong as them. Wei So-Heng understood at that moment those without strength could not protect anything.

“ACKKK!”

‘Helpless…’

Another life, as clean as silver, was lost. The ground they stepped on was already bright red.

Who could be the owner of all that blood?

It belonged to those who risked their lives to protect this place. Their dazzling determination and bravery were all powerless against these evil people.

If he had formally stepped into Mount Hua and learned their techniques, would things have been any different?

Clank!

His sword, which had blocked the flying sword, bounced up. Then, he was kicked in the chest by a foot.

Kuung!

With a shock that felt like the world turned upside down, Wei So-Heng was thrown back, coughing blood.

“Young leader!”

“Damn it! Young leader!”

He fell headfirst to the ground and clenched the dirt. The terrible pain in his chest and head was more agonizing than the smell of dirt soaked with blood.

Wei So-Heng, who was squirming, flipped over again and struggled to raise his upper body.

“ACK!”

He was dying.

“Ahh! ACKK! ACKKK! You fucking bastards!”

Those who had been struggling to hold on were also dying, leaking blood. The wide-open eyes of the fallen ones, the sadness in their eyes that he couldn’t even feel in death, seemed to tear down the heart of Wei So-Heng.

“AHH….”

Hot tears began to drip from Wei So-Heng’s eyes.

“Young leader.”

Hwang Jongi, who had come running to him, grabbed Wei So-Heng by the shoulder and supported him.

“Are you alright, young leader?”

But Wei So-Heng didn’t hear a single word from Hwang Jongi’s mouth.

’AHH…“

Everyone would die. Everyone.

Those who laughed together, those who fought and got angry together, those who competed with each other. Those who were like family and sometimes like enemies will all die here.

Suppressing the anger and sadness welling up in his chest, Wei So-Heng clenched his teeth and got up.

He knew.

That he would die here.

But…

‘If it was Taoist Chung Myung, he wouldn’t have cried until the moment he actually died.’

Wei So-Heng, covered in tears, gripped the sword tightly. Now, he seemed to understand it—how much he had carried. How much fear he had fought in.

Wei So-Heng’s eyes, holding the sword, saw someone’s blood spilling into the sky. The red blood seen through his blurred vision looked like plum blossoms.

He staggered as if he would collapse at any moment, then struggled to straighten himself up. He grabbed the sword with trembling hands and bit down on his lip until it bled.

‘I…’

He saw Wei Lishan being stabbed by the enemy. Wei Lishan’s contorted face and blood dripping down his chest filled his eyes.

Crack.

With an eerie sound, a spear blade pierced the shoulder of Hong Dae-Kwang. The sight of Hong Dae-Kwang holding onto the spear and staggering pierced Wei So-Heng’s eyes.

‘I…’

“ACKKK!”

The scream of another came.

Even if he couldn’t stop it, he shouldn’t at least watch them die from behind.

“I am the young leader of the Hwayoung clan! You morons!”

Wei So-Heng once again raised his sword and charged ahead.

“Young leader!”

“YOUNG LEADER!”

Someone noticed and tried to stop him, but Wei So-Heng’s gaze was fixed on the opponent who was stabbing a disciple of their clan in the stomach right in front of him.

“AHHHHH!”

He rushed forward, feeling a burning sensation in his chest, and swung his sword with all his might.

A swift and splendid sword movement.

The most powerful move Wei So-Heng had ever executed in his entire life collided with the opponent’s careless swing and was distorted.

Clang!

The sword tore through his hand, spun around, and soared into the sky.

‘Ah…’

The world slowed down for a moment.

The sword, which had been moving quickly, appeared too slow to his eyes.

And then.

He could clearly see the rough sword flying towards his chest, which was exposed due to his arms being spread wide.

And someone’s scream.

Sweat ran down his face.

Trembles he felt from his scarred hands.

And even more clearly, the smell of death.

‘I… I was no coward.’

Wei So-Heng closed his eyes, accepting the pain in his chest and the death that would soon follow.

‘Taoist…’

Was it because he wanted revenge that the Taoist’s smiling face came to his mind at the last moment? Or was it because he missed seeing him?

When he met that man in the afterlife, would he be able to say he wasn’t a coward till the end?

The road to death was a long one.

He still couldn’t tell if the sword had cut through his chest or if his thoughts were lingering despite death approaching him.

It was then.

Tak.

The feeling of something lightly touching his head instantly pulled Wei So-Heng back to reality.

A slightly large, warm hand.

“You did good, kid.”

Wei So-Heng opened his eyes.

What was in front of him wasn’t the sword that pierced his chest or the person holding it.

It was the huge shoulders of someone in black robes.

“Uh…”

Wei So-Heong’s eyes grew wide, and soon he spoke.

“C… Chung…”

How could he not know?

Those shoulders. That person.

Wei So-Heong bit his lips tightly. He felt like he would burst into tears if he said one more word.

Even so, the words he couldn’t hold back finally escaped his lips.

“… Taoist.”

The back of the person he had wanted to see so badly.