Return of Mount Hua Sect

“Chaeju!”

“Ugh…”

Turbid Current Blue Snake (탁류청사(濁流靑砦)) Ganam Pyeong (가남평(賈南坪)), Chaeju of newly established pirate fortress called ‘Blue Snake Pirates (청사채(靑蛇砦))’ that dominated the island in the center of the Yangtze River, squinted his eyes at the ships drifting ashore.

The ships he had dispatched were now being chased and getting stuck in the sandbar. It meant they couldn’t even reduce their speed to stop in time.

Behind them, enemy ships were pursuing at an astonishing speed.

A losing battle.

He had to admit they had completely lost this naval battle.

His men hurriedly jumped from the overturned boat and crawled ashore.

“Damn it.”

Anyone can tell it’s an utter defeat.

If the opponents had experienced naval forces or those trained for water combat, he could understand the defeat. His men aren’t properly trained, either.

But aren’t they bandits, no matter who sees them?

Those who clumsily call themselves pirates are being chased by bandits who have never dipped their feet in water…

He had used this nature fortress as a base and considered various situations, but he never imagined such an absurd scenario would unfold.

“Wha- What should we do?”

“What do you mean what?!”

Ganam Pyeong points toward the ship with his chin.

“They are just bandit scum. Catch and kill them all!”

“B- But…….”

When the subordinate looked at him with trembling eyes, Ganam Pyeong’s gaze narrowed.

“Or what? Will you try to run away? From this island?”

“….”

“It is the same whether you die by drowning or die in a fight. If you really want to live, take down at least one more guy!”

“U- Understood!”

The subordinate nodded and ran toward the riverbank with all its might. Ganam Pyeong snorted briefly.

“Foolish lot.”

“It’s only natural, given you’ve gathered such a mediocre bunch.”

Ganam Pyeong turned his eyes slightly at the voice he heard.

There was a man with a cold expression, covering his entire body in a black bloody robe.

“Who was it that suggested gathering such a mediocre bunch?”

“Who would have imagined that Nokrim would intervene?”

“Damn it!”

The person who was talking to Ganam Pyeong was the one who attacked the Special Delivery of Eunha Courier Service the other day. The deep cross scar on his face was proof of that fact.

“What’s your plan now?”

“We fight.”

He replied grimly.

“Or we can abandon everything and run.”

“….”

Ganam Pyeong gritted its teeth.

“Dark-Haired Ghost (흑모귀(黑毛鬼)). If you hadn’t been so impulsive, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“By impulsive, which do you refer to? Creating the Water Fortress? Or you, who attack the Special Delivery?”

The man called the Dark-Haired Ghost stuck out his tongue and licked his lips.

“Either way, you agreed. But now, it would be a little unfair to ask only me to take responsibility.”

“Presumptuous bastard…”

Ganam Pyeong stared at the Dark-Haired Ghost with venomous eyes.

To any observer, this must be a bizarre scene.

Water Fortresses generally had a hierarchical structure. As rough people gathered, the strictness of the top-down relationship was often more than that of Righteous Sect. However, the current attitude of the Dark-Haired Ghost towards Ganam Pyeong was clearly far from that of the Water Fortress’ subordinate toward their Chaeju.

“If things went well, all the wealth and glory would’ve been yours, right?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I mean with power comes responsibilities. If what you want to achieve is great, what you have to bear is also great.”

“Ha!”

Ganam Pyeong’s eyes went ice-cold. Just by his gaze, he looked ready to draw his weapon and attack Dark-Haired Ghost at any moment.

“There’s no need to be so agitated. This could also be an opportunity.”

“Opportunity?”

“Anyway, those guys are just used to fighting in the mountains. They wouldn’t be that familiar with shore battles. If all of them drowned under the river surface, your fame as the Chajeu of this Water Fortress will rise, and there will be more to gain.”
“….”

“All we have to do is overcome this crisis.”

“You talk a lot.”

When a sarcastic answer came back, the eyes of the Dark-Haired Ghost momentarily narrowed.

“I hope you won’t be so perverse. Who helped you obtain the Hundred Thunder Cannon, gather the ship, and create the Water Fortress? Who was the person who handed over the position of the Chaeju of the said Water Fortress without any regrets?”

“….”

“Don’t forget. That I am the one who did you a favor.”

Kagak!

A sharp trident protruded from the sleeve of Dark-Haired Ghost. Holding the trident, he stared at Ganam Pyeong and then turned his body.

“If you procrastinate, you will miss the timing. We must let them know that shore battles is the most dangerous operation.”

Without waiting for an answer, he looked at the Dark-Haired Ghost heading to the water’s edge, and Ganam Pyeong stared at it without blinking. A sound of grinding teeth leaked from his lips.

‘So full of himself.’

If it wasn’t for his fame, he wouldn’t have had the ability to create the Water Fortress!

“Hmph!”

Ganam Pyeong drew the sword from his waist.

It was almost like a sword rather than a dao. A horizontal sword (횡도(橫刀)) with an edge on one side of the straight steel.

“I’ll kill them all!”

Ganam Pyeong rushed to the water’s edge with fire in his eyes.

“Disembark!”

“Push them out!”

“Kill them all!”

The boat on which Chung Myung was riding could not slow down and crashed into the ship in front, but there weren’t many idiots who would repeat the same thing after seeing what happened.

Of course, not much is not much, but… In any case, most of the ships slowed down and came to a safe stop at the water’s edge.

Splash! Splash!

The Nokrim men who had jumped off the ship rushed onto the island in a flash.

“Hey, guys? Set up a formation…..”

“Uuuoooohhhh!”

“Fight!”

“I’ll turn them all into water ghosts!”

Im Sobyong sighed deeply, at a loss for words.

‘Such is my fate.’

The art of war primarily starts with training soldiers to follow commands. Unfortunately, however, the bandits here were more like the worst in the world to follow such commands.

It means that there was a reason behind the fact that all the Nokrim Kings so far have been constantly physically-oriented and simple-mindedly breaking everything with force.

In the first place, there was no reason for people who have the patience to follow instructions accurately to be stuck on a manless mountain and doing bandits.

And this was the limitation of Nokrim itself, where even Nokchae collected only by the elite of the Nokrim could not escape much.

And….

“Let’s goooooooooo!”

“Uuuooooohhhh!”

Chung Myung, who took the lead, boosted the morale of the Nokrim men by swinging his sword in the air.

“….”

Was it an illusion that the sight of the Nokrim bandits following behind, shouting along, looked much more energetic than when Im Sobyong took the lead?

“Eurachaaaa!”

As Chung Myung stormed the pirate at the front, Mount Hua’s disciples followed, and the Nokrim bandits began to sweep vulnerable (?) pirates like starved tigers.

Breaking through the bamboo. (파죽지세(破竹之勢).)

There was no other way to describe it except that.

Pirates waiting on the island were first frightened by the sight of the ship rushing and being thrown into the sandbank, and they were frightened again when the enemies pouring out from the ship started to scatter in fear.

In the midst of that, can they come to their senses when the people chasing them with the momentum as if about to tear down even a mountain?

Even if they fought properly, there was such a difference in strength that they could hardly expect to win, and they couldn’t fight because they were pushed back by the momentum from the start.

“Hahahahaha! You little bastards! How dare you touch Mount Hua?”
“We will make sure you pay the price!”

Jo-Gol looked back at Yoon Jong in bewilderment at the voices coming from the left and right.

“….Aren’t those men from Nokrim?”

“What do I care! Damn it! Die! You pirates!”

Jo-Gol opened his mouth wide as he saw Yoon Jong running with his eyes open.

“UH… isn’t that my role? Sa- Sahyung! Let’s go together!”

Yoon Jong, who had clenched his teeth, wielded his sword.

Paaaaat!

His sword cut through the enemies more violently than usual. The moment when he, having defeated several pirates in an instant, was about to run in search of his next prey.

“You little punk!”

A loud roar burst from behind. And a man, distinctively dressed compared to the previous pirates, ran straight toward Yoon Jong.

“I’ll rip you apart by your collar!”

Then Yoon Jong’s eyes exuded a fierce killing intent.

Tang!

Yoon Jong, who kicked the ground, dashed straight towards the rushing pirate.

“Hm?”

Perhaps the bandit didn’t expect a direct confrontation, surprise briefly appeared on his face.

At that moment, Yoon Jong’s sword flew toward the pirate’s face like a beam of light.

“Keuk!”

Kagagang!

The pirate barely managed to deflect Yoon Jong’s sword. However, the bounced Yoon Jong’s sword moved faster than the first, hitting the pirate once again.

Kaang!

Under the intense blow, the pirate’s sword was pushed backward.

Then Yoon Jong’s sword, which was swung, cut across the chest of the enemy.

“Kkeuk….”

Kuung!

Yoon Jong, who kicked the groaning pirate’s stomach, shouted triumphantly.

“Crush them!”

“Wow….”

“You too, pull yourself together and fight properly!”

“Y- Yes, Sahyung!”

Jo-Gol comes to his senses and swings his sword.

Perhaps the fact that these guys had kidnapped the commoners seemed to have made Yoon Jong infuriated. In this case, he will be nagged for a whole month if he is caught doing things incorrectly.

It was then.

“Sasuk, lead the way! Sago, cover the left!”
“Got it!”

“Um.”

“Soso! Stick behind Sasuk!”

“Okay!”

Chung Myung waved his hands here and there and then shouted at the Nokrim bandits.

“Push them back!”

“Ooooohhh!”

The Nokrim bandits charged with renewed vigor.

“Hmm.”

Chung Myung, who looked at the battlefield situation briefly, subtly lowered his sword.

The battle is already over.

In a large-scale battle, the side that gains momentum usually emerges victorious. Especially in a terrain that can not be taken advantage of like this, the outcome mostly mirrors the extent of power.

There was no need for him to unnecessarily step in and snatch the prey from his Sahyung.

‘I should let them gain more experience.’

What he said at Mount Hua wasn’t all talk. Up until now, it was enough to just drag them along, but now, that’s not enough. They need to experience more and face more challenges.
‘That being said….’

Chung Myung, who was lost in thought for a moment, looked around with a strange look.

‘It’s simpler than I thought?’

The scale of the Water Fortress seems quite large, but he didn’t feel threatened at all when they had a hand-to-hand fight a while ago and now. The Hundred Thunder Cannon was definitely a threat, but these pirates he faced were almost like scarecrows.

These guys formed a Water Fortress and touched Mount Hua?

“…Is it perhaps because they’re new?”

In other words, if a Water Fortress was powerful, they would have already joined a bigger Water Fortress. It’s even stranger if the Water Fortress that just formed have power.

One could say that they were ignorant people, so they thoughtlessly touched commoners and messed with Mount Hua, but…

‘Something feels oddly unsettling?’

It was at that moment when he was contemplating finding the source of his unease.
“Aaakh!”

Chung Myung’s head jerked up at the sudden, loud scream from the front. It was something different from the screams he have heard so far.

“What’s that?”

In the direction of the scream, a man who was half a head taller than the rest was standing with a long horizontal sword. And the bandits who had tried to confront him were falling, spraying blood with their bodies slashed all over.

The man shouted in a ferocious spirit.

“What are you doing! Turn your backs! There’s no place to run! If you don’t want to die, stand and fight to the end!”

“Huh?”

At first glance, this guy seemed to be a bit more skilled than the rest.

“Is he the Chaeju?”

However, even if he seems like a run-of-the-mill person, to gather this many men, he should have some power.

Now, let’s see who to send…

Tat.

However, before Chung Myung could even begin to ponder, someone lightly through the air and landed in front of Ganam Pyeong.

“…What is it?”

“Mount Hua Yoo Iseol.”

She pointed her sword tip at Ganam Pyeong’s neck and spoke quietly.

“That neck, I’ll take it.”

Ganam Pyeong’s face contorted horribly.