This Is Mount Hua’s Land, Part 2
"Haa. Not a moment's rest," Hong Dae-gwang muttered, letting out a long, weary sigh.
He had honestly thought life might get a little easier once the Mount Hua Divine Dragon, who caused trouble as naturally as he breathed, shut Mount Hua’s gates and went into seclusion. What a colossal mistake that had been.
With the giant storm raging from the center gone, little gusts kept springing up everywhere instead. Each one alone was nothing much, but trying to handle all of them at once made it feel as though even ten bodies would not be enough.
Hong Dae-gwang glanced around cautiously.
Is nobody here?
Of course, there was no one else here now. The building was half-collapsed already, but this was still the branch office of the Beggars' Sect’s local leader.
And yet, looking guilty for no clear reason, he kept checking left and right before finally reaching under a desk that looked ready to collapse at any moment and pulling out a gourd.
Pop.
He uncorked it and buried his nose in the mouth of the gourd, sniffing deeply.
"Ahhh... bliss."
He had been so busy that he had not even had time to enjoy a leisurely drink.
When was the last time I even smelled liquor?
At the very least, it had to have been a month. The little beggars below him were all running around with bloodshot eyes, and even carving out a little time to drink felt like it would earn him a look. He certainly could not go around saying he wanted to drink on the job.
So if it was for a moment like this... then surely it was fine.
Hong Dae-gwang was practically drooling as he brought the flask toward his mouth when—
Bang!
"Aaaagh!"
Startled by the sound of the door being thrown open so violently it seemed about to shatter, Hong Dae-gwang hurled the flask straight up over his head.
"Branch Leader!"
The beggar who had rushed in, panting in a panic, stared blankly at the liquor streaming down Hong Dae-gwang’s head.
"W-what the hell..."
"T-there's, um..."
The beggar looked at him with narrowed eyes, as if he understood exactly what had happened, then flinched and rushed forward.
"This is not what's important right now!"
"You're not mad?"
Hong Dae-gwang had fully expected him to explode, shouting that he had tried to sneak a drink on the job and fool everyone.
"A red dispatch has come from the main branch!"
"What? From the main branch?"
Hong Dae-gwang’s small worry vanished in an instant.
A red dispatch was an emergency message sent from the main branch by attaching it to a special carrier pigeon. Even though countless things had happened in Henan, Hubei, and Shaanxi over the past few years, a red dispatch had never once been sent.
"Now? It just arrived?"
"Yes, Branch Leader! Just now!"
Sensing that something huge had happened, Hong Dae-gwang flung himself across the desk as if he might fly and snatched the red letter from the beggar’s hands.
He tore open the seal at once and read the contents inside.
"...W-what is this?"
He even stammered as his eyes widened.
"Iron Ghost? Mounting Mountain Spear Ghost? Lone Hollow Swordsman? An assassination hall in Merciless Gate? Dark Hollow Gang? W-wait, who? Soul-Splitting Blood-Hand? T-this damn thing! Soul-Splitting Blood-Hand?"
And that was not all.
"The, the, Gangseo-chilsal?!’"
The blood drained from Hong Dae-gwang’s face.
Every single one of those names was famous enough to be frightening. And all of them were moving together in one place?
"Where? Where in the world?"
The dispatch did not say where they were headed.
As Hong Dae-gwang went pale with shock and was just about to shout for someone, another beggar burst into the room.
"Br-branch Leader! Another red dispatch! Another one has arrived!"
"Bring it here. Now!"
Hong Dae-gwang snatched the new dispatch and tore it open as though he might rip it in half.
"Ugh..."
The instant he saw the brief message written inside, he forgot how to breathe.
- Headed toward Shaanxi.
"...S-Shaanxi?"
"They’re coming to Shaanxi?"
"Why?"
The little beggars’ faces began to turn pale as well.
"Th-this is insane..."
Hong Dae-gwang’s fingers trembled as he clutched the dispatch.
He had heard every one of those names before. And anyone who handled intelligence knew that they had fled north to avoid the horrific Four Hegemons Alliance.
But when those names were lined up together like this, Hong Dae-gwang felt, in his bones, just how carelessly he had treated them until now.
If they were scattered across the vast expanse of the north, they were only a limited threat. However strong each of them might be, it would be difficult for them to exert any truly overwhelming power.
But if they gathered in one place?
They could bring down a sect all at once.
Given the reckless nature peculiar to evil sects, the damage might well be even worse than that.
"Why, those insane bastards! Why the hell are they coming to Shaanxi!"
Hong Dae-gwang shouted himself hoarse and sprang to his feet.
Their motives had not yet been revealed, but anyone with half a brain could guess what they were after from the situation alone.
"Reinforcements? What about reinforcements? Request them from the main branch, immediately!"
"B-Branch Leader. The main branch has no spare men..."
"What kind of bullshit is that! Does this look like a normal situation to you? They should drop everything else and come running here! Send the request now! Right now!"
"Yes!"
At Hong Dae-gwang’s thunderous shout, one beggar turned ashen and rushed outside.
Even then, Hong Dae-gwang’s mind was racing furiously.
Where? What are they targeting? It can't be all of Shaanxi!
His blunt fingers moved restlessly across the desk, not knowing where to go.
"Damn it, I can't make sense of—"
Then the beggar who had run out came bursting back in, his face even paler than before.
"B-Branch Leader! Another red dispatch has arrived."
"What?"
Hong Dae-gwang’s eyes twitched violently. He had never even heard of receiving three red dispatches in a single day.
"Br-bring it here!"
He grabbed the dispatch in haste and tore it open.
"..."
This time, it was not the same sort of letter as before.
A map.
A small, simplified map of the Central Plains, with a bright red line drawn across it.
The ominous line started in Luoyang and spread westward. As his eyes followed it, the line seemed to break off in the middle, but Hong Dae-gwang’s gaze moved farther left, and farther left still, toward where it had been heading.
And when he finally saw the name of the city at the end of that line, an involuntary groan escaped his lips.
"...Xi'an."
Cold sweat poured down his forehead like rain.
Maybe this news was only natural.
It was obvious what they were after. There was no way that many people had gathered just for a stroll into Shaanxi. Whether their goal was wealth or chaos, the first place they would strike had to be Xi'an, the largest city in Shaanxi.
"N-no."
If Mount Zhongnan and Mount Hua were both still intact, no evil sect would dare invade Xi'an. The city sat with Zhongnan and Mount Hua to its south and east.
But now both of those sects were shut behind their gates in seclusion. In other words, Shaanxi was now an unclaimed territory without a proper major sect to defend it.
If those bastards invaded Xi'an and began slaughtering people...
"Why! Why, you insane bastards! Why!"
All manner of curses spilled from Hong Dae-gwang’s mouth.
"B-Branch Leader! What do we do?"
"..."
Hong Dae-gwang clenched his fist and glared into the empty air before grinding his teeth and speaking.
"Request reinforcements from the main branch! And send a request to Shaolin right now as well! Immediately!"
"Without going through the main branch?"
"We don't have time for that! Send word to Shaolin at the same time you request the main branch!"
"Yes!"
"Aso!"
"Yes!"
"Run to Mount Zhongnan immediately! Tell those Mount Zhongnan bastards to open their gates and come out of seclusion! Hurry!"
"B-but they’re in seclusion..."
"This is not the time to worry about that! Go knock on their door!"
"Yes!"
"Ohmyeong!"
"Yes!"
"Head to Hwayeong Gate in Xi'an right now! Inform them of the situation and tell them to gather the sects in Xi'an! These are not the same bastards as the Maninbang who invaded Xi'an before! Not a single one of them can be allowed to set foot in the city!"
"Understood!"
"You, send a transmission letter to every sect around Xi'an right now! Tell them all to head there! They must support the sects in Xi'an!"
"Yes!"
"Move! Right now!"
"Yes!"
Hong Dae-gwang bit his lip so hard it drew blood.
If it were up to him, he would have dashed outside and started running on foot himself, but he had to stay here and contact the main branch. Without Mount Hua and Mount Zhongnan, the sects around Xi'an would never be able to stop them alone, which meant the support of Shaolin or the Beggars' Sect was desperately needed.
Please. Please!
But the truth was, it was already too late.
The distance from Luoyang to here was only five hundred li, a distance a master at the Peak Realm could cover in half a day and still have time to spare. Even if Shaolin set out right this instant, they still would not be able to arrive in Xi'an before those people did.
That meant the forces already there would have to hold them back and buy time until Shaolin arrived.
Please, hurry. Even a little faster.
Hong Dae-gwang rose and ran outside.
He threw the door open and looked up so hard his neck almost snapped, and there Mount Hua came into view. Its peaks were hidden behind clouds.
He stared at that sight until it hurt, then bit down hard on his lip and turned briskly back to work.
* * *
The blood-red blaze was swallowing everything around it.
A whole village burning to the ground was not a common sight, even for people like those here who were not known for showing restraint.
The black smoke spewed out by the red inferno rose higher and higher into the sky, spreading out as though the hellish underworld itself had been dragged into the mortal realm.
Black smoke, red flames.
And...
Blood even darker and redder than the fire soaked the ground completely.
"Ghh...'
The man sprawled over a pool of blood, twitching, slowly forced his trembling head up.
"Th... you’ll be punished... Heaven will punish you..."
"Tsk, tsk."
Looking at the old man who was glaring at him with eyes full of hatred, Gal Cheon-lip smirked.
"Heaven already punished me, old man. That’s why I'm here."
"...Mo, Mount Hua will..."
Thuk.
Gal Cheon-lip’s saber pierced the old man’s body and drove hard into the ground.
The old man convulsed violently once, then went limp and died on the spot. Pulling the blade free, Gal Cheon-lip muttered in annoyance.
"These local bastards sure are obsessed with Mount Hua. Every last one of them keeps saying Mount Hua, Mount Hua."
What was strange was that the name spilling from their mouths was Mount Hua, not Mount Zhongnan.
How very odd.
No matter how high Mount Hua’s reputation had risen, Shaanxi should have been, in all but name, the territory ruled by Mount Zhongnan. So why was it Mount Hua's name that kept coming out of their mouths?
"Well, it doesn't matter."
Gal Cheon-lip raised his head and looked at the village engulfed in flames.
And he also took in, with clear eyes, the evil sect bastards standing before it and exuding a thick, murderous aura.
The moment he saw the blood staining their hands, an uncontrollable smile spread across Gal Cheon-lip’s lips.
It's starting to get dangerous.
He slowly licked his lips with his tongue. The thick killing intent everyone was shedding made even him tremble.
Their long-suppressed vicious nature was beginning to burst free.
Like a heavy drinker who had held back for ages only to finally touch liquor again and end up dead drunk, those who had long restrained their slaughter had now tasted blood. No one would be able to stop them today.
"Senior Brother."
"I know. We move."
Gal Cheon-lip’s gaze drifted westward.
"Before we reach Xi'an, we’ll clear out another two villages."
By then, a truly frenzy-ridden army would have been forged.
An army that would soak that great city in blood.