Return of the Mount Hua Sect

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

“Aigo… Aigo, thanks to Taoist-nim, we survived!”

“How can I ever repay this favor…”

Yoon Jong shook his head quickly.

“What favor? Nonsense. I just did what I had to do.”

“Thank you very much. I hope I can repay you somehow!”

“It’s really fine….”

“Keuu! Repay? Repaying sounds good! Who mentioned that, repayment?”

Chung Myung pushed Yoon Jong aside and grabbed the old man’s hand in front of him firmly.

“You said repayment?”

“Huh? Oh… Yes…”

Yoon Jong distorted his face.

“Just getting rid of the pirates should be enough, why to those who have suffered……!”

“Then get out of here and please make a lot of rumors that Mount Hua Sect has defeated the pirates and saved you all.”

“…Yes?”

“Rumors, rumors! We saved you! We even crushed two water fortresses, just spread the word exactly like that! Then it will be a great repayment.”

“Wo- Would that be enough?”

“Aigoo, that is a big enough repayment. But you have to do it actively. You understand, right?”

“If it truly helps, I will do my utmost to spread the word.”

“Keuu! You’re a very understanding person.”

Yoon Jong, who was about to rebuke Chung Myung, shut his mouth like a mute who tasted honey.

That’s not even worth mentioning as a repayment.

“What about us?”

“First, let’s check if anyone’s condition has seriously deteriorated, and if you’re alright, we’ll send you straight to the mainland.”

“By, by mainland you mean…….”

“Oh, don’t worry. We’ll drop you off at the nearest port. Or would you like to be taken to your original destination?”

“I- I can’t possibly impose you that much.”

“Ei, what about it? It’s not like I’m the one rowing the ship.”

“Yes?”

“Hehe. I’m just saying.”

Chung Myung giggled.

The old man, still holding his hand, looked at him dumbfounded.

“All the commoners were sent by ship.”

Jo-Gol asked Yoon Jong with an uneasy look.

“Will it be alright? The pirates own those ships, don’t they?”

“We sent some Nokrim members with them, so it should be fine.”

“…So you’re saying it’s fine because you sent them off with both the pirates and the mountain bandits.”

Something is wrong.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what’s wrong, but there’s definitely something wrong.

“Among the captured, we found two from Yuryong Sect. If we add the one found before, we seem to have found all but one.”

“Then who is that one?”

“Perhaps….”

Baek Cheon sighed as Yoon Jong blurted the end of his speech with a heavy face.

It’s difficult to find and save everyone since something like this has happened, but it’s hard not to feel a weight in their heart.

“Baek Sang.”

“Yes, Sahyung.”

“What was the result of the interrogation?”

“…I haven’t found out anything specific. Most of them were runaways from other water fortresses, clueless persons, or thugs hired for money.”

“Hired thugs?”

“Yes. Apparently there are quite a few around the Yangtze River. Since they have no affiliations and are hired randomly, it’s hard to anticipate them.”

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“Hmm.”

Baek Cheon fell into thought with a serious expression.

‘Hired thugs.’

Using hired thugs to create a water fortress…

He turned his gaze to Jo Seung.

“Is it common to hire thugs when first creating a water fortress?”

“…I’ve never heard of it before. If they had money to hire thugs, why would they resort to piracy?”

“True, that does make sense.”

Something seems off.

‘No, it’s not that important.’

Anyway, they’ve wiped them all, so whatever they were planning doesn’t matter now. What’s important is that they have punished those who have touched Mount Hua’s friend properly, which will serve as a clear warning to other water fortresses in Yangtze River.

“Now we just have to wrap things up and go back.”

Baek Cheon looked at the vast Yangtze River with a slightly refreshed face.

There was a lot of work and many hardships, but it was a journey that taught him a lot.

“Now I don’t even want to see water, Sahyung.”

“I won’t wash my face for a while when I get back to Mount Hua.”

“Jo-Gol Sahyung usually doesn’t wash much to begin with.”

“What are you talking about! I wash often!”

“For that, you smell like sweat all the time though.”

“That’s because I train right after I wash! Oh, this is so unfair!”

Mount Hua’s disciples have also regained their vitality.

Each of them had something to reflect on, but that doesn’t mean they should just stay down.

‘If you fall, just get up and run.’

Baek Cheon gathered his thoughts and opened his mouth.

“Then let’s wrap this up… Where did this punk Chung Myung go?”

“Huh? Wasn’t he here?”

“…Where’s this bastard? I’m nervous if he doesn’t show up.”

Mount Hua’s disciples stuck out their necks and hurriedly looked around in a hurry. It was a wide plain here, so there was nowhere to hide. Soon after, they found Chung Myung standing by the water’s edge, and they rushed over to him.

“What are you doing here?”

“Sasuk.”

Chung Myung, who was standing at the end of the elongated island and looking at the land across from it, opened his mouth without turning his head.

“How far do you think it is from here to there?”

“Yes?”

Despite being bewildered by the sudden question, Baek Cheon answered first.

“About… one hundred zhang? No, it seems to be around three hundred zhang?”

He got a sense of how wide the Yangtze River was.

A river is usually called so if it’s three zhang wide, but this one was as much as three hundred zhang.

Moreover, this was the distance he saw from the island in the middle, so it would be roughly that. Wouldn’t the actual width of the river be at least twice as much?

“It’s close, right?”

“Huh?”

Is it close?

“Now I understand why the pirates left this place alone. This place is too close to the land. It’s only three hundred zhang to get there, right?”

“I think your concept of distance is a little off?”

Three hundred zhang is not a short distance at all, especially from the river?

“It’s so noticeable, and you only need to sail 300 zhang if you were to attack from the mainland. At least there is a rough current around it, so it’s a little bearable, but if you look at it coldly, it’s too easy to be attacked from the mainland.”

“Now that I hear it….”

Baek Cheon, who was looking around while listening to Chung Myung, distorted his face.

“No, that means that if we went by land along the river, we could have attacked by sailing just three hundred zhang. Then why did we come here by ship! Because of motion sickness, everyone…!”

“Ah, that’s not the point.”

Chung Myung rolls up his mouth.

“What do you think?”

“Huh?”

“Isn’t it nice? It’s close to the mainland, but it’s awkward to attack by ship.”

“What’s good about it?”

“If we occupy here, won’t it be hard for the pirates to approach?”

“…Huh?”

Wait, what did this guy just say?

Occupy?

“…Chung Myung-ah?”

“The more I look at it, the better. Those pirates are stupid enough to occupy this, but it’s not bad for us.”

“……What, what are you trying to do?”

“Let’s take this place!”

“….”

Baek Cheon stares blankly at Chung Myung. He looked back. Indeed, his Saje had the same stunned expression.

‘Right? I’m not the only one who finds this strange, am I?’

Baek Cheon, convinced, and then shouted.

“Hey, you crazy bastard! Why should we take over this place? This isn’t Shaanxi, it’s Yangtze River!”

“Is there a law that says you can’t take over a place in the Yangtze River? The water fortress occupies it and sets up their bases, don’t they?”

“…That’s not how it works.”

“Don’t be easily convinced, Sasuk!”

“Stop him!”

“R- Right!”

Baek Cheon, who nodded his head in confusion, quickly regained his senses and asked again.

“What are we going to do when we occupy this place? Are you going to do some pirate work?”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. It’s because you’re so slow-witted.”

“Huh?”

Chung Myung frowned disapprovingly.

“Why did we come here in the first place?”

“That… we came because the Special Delivery of the Eunha Courier Service was attacked.”

“Is there any guarantee that it won’t happen again?”

“….”

Chung Myung pointed to Jo Seung.

“The first is hard, but the second is easy. Look, look. As soon as the rumor spread that the Special Delivery were attacked, all sorts of small fries got stuck. Thanks to them, Sasuk had to work hard.”

“…Great Whale Water Fortress was on a bigger side than this. Small fries are a bit….”

“But they are still pirates.”

“….”

Jo Seung, who protested with a slight resentment, sank with a single blow and closed his mouth.

“And if this happens again, will Sasuk gonna run all the way to the Yangtze River and fight the pirates again? Then Sasuk will have to run all the way over until we exterminate Eighteen Water Fortress of Yangtze River.”

“…That’s true.”

As long as pirates exist, and there are reasons to cross the Yangtze River, the risk is unavoidable. Moreover, since Special Delivery, by nature, carries high-value goods, they can be juicy prey at any time.

You may be able to avoid danger with quick feet on the flat ground, but wasn’t it the Special Delivery who could not exert any strength on a ship?

“So, you want to claim this place?”

“If it’s the same case anyway, it’s better for us to send our people off directly. Look here. It’s close to both sides. Then it’ll work if we bring two ships back and forth from the land to the mainland.”

Baek Cheon looked at his Saje as if asking them to do something.

Then Jo-Gol, who read the gaze, opened his mouth with a determined face.

“If it’s Kugang, the location isn’t bad!”

“Hey, you crazy bastard! What if we agree!”

“N- No. It’s not so wrong, is it?”

“Are we doing this just for the Special Delivery?”

“Then we just have to let the other merchants on board too. We can collect fares and tolls.”

It seems like this bastard is the youngest son of a merchant family. Why is he so quick-witted only at times like this?

“Absolutely not, absolutely! You said it yourself. It’s too easy to attack here, what will we do when the pirates come?”

“What are they going to do from a ship? They have to land.”

“Huh?”

“When the pirates are on land, they’re just a third-rate bunch. It’s fine if we don’t fight on the water.”

“….”

It was Baek Cheon who started to be persuaded.

“And there are good things, too.”

“Good thing?”

“Hundred Thunder Cannon.”

“….”

“They’re on a ship because they’re pirates, but we don’t have to go out on a ship. We can just place the Hundred Thunder Cannon on the edge of the island and shoot them every time those outnumbered bastards come. They won’t be able to approach, right?”

“N- No….”

Baek Cheon closed his eyes tightly.

‘I’m doomed.’

That nonsense is beginning to sound plausible.

“No, in the first place! We can’t just stick around here to do that.”

“Is Sasuk an idiot?”

“Huh?”

“Why are we the ones doing it? There aren’t just one or two people here. Take this opportunity to let the Nokrim also advance to the Yangtze River. We can split the ship fare in half.”

“….”

‘Wow…. At this point, It seems like he has come all the way here after planning all this in advance.’

By the time Baek Cheon gets impatient and bites his nails when he can’t find a way to attack that damned logic.

“I’m a bit uneasy.”

“Yes?”

Yoo Iseol, the most normal one here, expressed an opposing opinion.

“The range of the Hundred Thunder Cannon. The width of the river. If a ship occupies the middle of the river, we’d be isolated. It’s too far.”

“That, that’s right! That’s still 300 zhang! It’s too much!”

“Then let’s reduce it to 200 zhang.”

“Huh? By what means?”

“Lay a bridge.”

“……On the river?”

“Yes.”

“This distance?”

“Yes.”

Chung Myung nodded with a bright smile.

“Hey, you crazy bastard. That’s not possible even for the Empire! You have to say something that makes sense! I’ve never heard of a bridge being laid across the Yangtze River in my life.”

“Ei. No need to lay the entire bridge. And no need to fix it either. We have plenty of spare ships. We don’t need to sail.”

“Yes?”

“Anchor the ship on the water, and lay the bridge over it. Connect the ships to each other to form a bridge, place the Hundred Thunder Cannon on top, and make it like a dock where the ship can anchor.”

“….”

“Then we can shoot arrows from the bridge, and cannons, and if there are any bastards that come to the land, we can fight them! Keuu. Even I think it’s a great idea! As far as I know, this was a strategy thought up by a famous strategist in the past. So it must be correct.”

…The people on that linked ship were all burnt to death by flaming arrows! You crazy bastard! Even worse, the place isn’t too far from here! It was right on top of this river!

“Kikikikik. The more I think about it, the more awesome it is. These bastards have brought us everything we need! Then I’ll thank you for writing it!”

“Chu- Chung Myung?”

“Let’s start by linking the ships! Euhihi! It sounds fun! Right?”

“Chung Myung….”

“Hey, broken lungs! Where are you?”

Chung Myung left them and ran away as if he had no intention of hearing more.

Then someone put his hand on Baek Cheon’s shoulder, who was extending his hand in a daze towards him.

“…Monk?”

Hye Yeon smiled brightly.

“Amitabha. Baek Cheon Siju. Do you know?”

“…What?”

“Life is originally painful.”

“….”

How…… helpful.

Yes.