Return of Mount Hua Sect - Chapter 742
Sojeongbok instinctively grabbed the box with marks on his back.
For a courier, it was as precious as life itself, and something that absolutely could not be stolen.
‘Damn it.’
But in this situation, what can he do? Unless he could sprout wings, there was no way he could escape, was there?
“That must be the consignment the special courier of the Eunha Courier Service is carrying. I heard the dignitaries in Beijing entrust their expensive items to you?”
“Heh, heh. I heard that they usually carry precious goods that one can play and eat for the rest of their life.”
“It would be nice to see it even once.”
Sojeongbok bit his lips as the pirates chuckled insidiously. In this situation, there was no other way but to charge forward.
He held out his hands and clasped it politely.
“Excuse me. I’m a special delivery personel from Eunha Courier Service. The name is Sojeongbok.”
“Right.”
The man nodded as if he approved.
“I understand our Eunha Courier Service has a not-so-bad relationship with the heroes of the Yangtze. If compensation is required, I’m more than willing to provide it to avoid any unnecessary trouble.”
“Trouble….”
The man, who had been brooding at the word, laughed out loud.
“It sounds like you’re going to do something about us if there’s a problem.”
“That’s not what I meant, but…….”
Sojeongbok, who thought he had made a slight slip of the tongue, wiped the sweat pooling in his palm and continued his sentence.
“I meant it would be better if we could maintain a good relationship. I understand that the Eunha Merchant Guild, and also Mount Hua Sect, have a not-so-bad relationship with the pirates…”
“Mount Hua Sect?”
The corner of the man’s mouth curled up into a smirk.
“So you’re saying that, since you have the Eunha Merchant Guild and Mount Hua Sect backing you, if we don’t want to get into trouble, we should step back now?”
“….That’s not what I meant. The compensation, I…”
“Compensation sounds good. I’m not feeling particularly malicious either. If you’re willing to pay, I don’t want to make trouble either.”
“Thank you.”
Sojeongbok hastily took out a pouch from his pocket.
Protecting the consignment was more important than money. And if he explained the situation to the Eunha Merchant Guild, they would certainly reimburse him for this much money.
However, things did not seem to go as smoothly as Sojeongbok had thought.
“Ah, no, that’s not it.”
“…Pardon?”
“That amount of money is only worth an ordinary person’s life. The life of a special courier of the Eunha Courier Service should be more valuable, shouldn’t they?”
“…Then…?”
“Nothing difficult. The box you’re carrying on your back seems like a modest compensation.”
Sojeongbok’s face hardened.
“…That’s impossible.”
“You don’t seem to understand. It’s not for you to decide. It’s up to me.”
The man approached Sojeongbok with a creepy smile.
“Now, what are you going to do? Will you hand it over? Or…”
Sojeongbok grabbed onto the box with the consignment in it and quickly rolled his head.
‘What was I taught to do in a situation like this?’
In the training he had received, there was definitely a way to deal with this kind of situation.
After a moment, he sighed and put down the box he had been carrying on his back and held it out in front of him.
“Hm?”
“Take it.”
The iron rule of the Eunha Courier Service.
Nothing is more important than life.
The consignment is valuable, but the courier is even more so. If it seems like trouble will arise because of the consignment, give it up without regret.
“Haha. I heard special couriers regard their consignments more precious than their lives, but it seems it was all just a false rumor?”
“Is there anything more precious than life?”
“That’s right, that’s right. Good point. I like it.”
The man slowly approached, took the box Sojeongbok was holding out, and handed it over to someone behind him. One of the pirates who had been waiting immediately rushed up and took it.
“I’m glad I met someone I can talk to.”
Tuk, tuk.
The man who came right in front tapped Sojeongbok on the shoulder.
It was a gesture that seemed to be both a compliment and a mockery.
“I think you and I have a lot in common. We’re similar, especially in the fact that we both value our lives.”
“….”
“So I believe you’ll understand.”
“Yes?”
Paaat!
Suddenly, a hefty three-pronged claw, akin to an eagle’s talons, sprung from the man’s sleeve. He plunged the claw into Sojeongbok’s side like a beam of light.
Kwadeudeuk!
“Eeeuuaaakk!”
With a dreadful sound, Sojeongbok’s unbearable scream broke out.
It made sense, as the lengthy talons had impaled his side.
“Kkeuk… Keueuk….”
Trembling in pain, Sojeongbok looked at the man with disbelief. The man was looking at the distressed Sojeongbok with a smile on his face.
“W… Why…?”
“Think about it.”
The man spoke in a soothing friendly way.
“If you get out of here alive, wouldn’t you rush to report this to your superiors? Then naturally, Mount Hua Sect would get wind of this too.”
“….”
“Then will Mount Hua Sect stay still? Of course, I don’t fear them, but they’re a nuisance.”
“Tha- That….”
Udeudeuk!
The man twisted the trident, which was embedded in Sojeongbok’s side. The three sharp prongs ripped through his flesh and organs.
“Ahh… Ugh…”
With the unbearable pain that made his eyes turned upside down, Sojeongbok couldn’t even scream and trembled. His body swayed heavily as his knees gave way.
“Think of this as feeding the fish in the Yangtze. You’ve made plenty of money in your time, so you won’t have any regrets.”
“Mo- Mount Hua will definitely…”
“Aah, yes.”
Tong!
The man answered half-heartedly and pushed Sojeongbok lightly. His body twisted feebly, about to fall over the railings any second.
“Die with that belief.”
Finally, the trident was pulled out from his side. Sojeongbok’s body lost all its strength and plunged into the water below.
Splash!
A white foam rose and soon red blood spread to the surface.
Even a healthy person would find it challenging to survive falling into the vast river, let alone someone gravely wounded like him. His fate was sealed.
“Hmm.”
The man brushed the blood off the trident and turned away.
“Those without real power always rely on their backers. They don’t realize that only their own skills can protect them on this river.”
“You are absolutely correct.”
The pirates chuckled in agreement.
“Taju (타주(舵主)/ship captain). What do they do?”
“Hm?”
“Didn’t they witness it all?”
“Hmm.”
The man, referred to as Taju, looked at everyone with a strange gaze.
“Right, we can’t just silence them. We need to decide what to do with them…”
“Should we kill them all?”
The pirates threateningly brandished their weapons.
The passengers and sailors backed away in fear. They had just seen a man fall into the river and drown – their fear was unspeakable.
“Even if we kill them all and throw them into the river, bodies will resurface. Someone will know something’s amiss…”
After a brief contemplation, the man chuckled.
“Let’s take the whole ship. If we sell them as slaves in a foreign country (이국(夷國)), we could make some money. Kill anyone who resists.”
“Yes!”
No sooner had the order been given than the pirates lunged forward.
“Aaaaah!”
“Please spare us! I have a family at home!”
“Le- Let me go, please!”
Amid the echoes of shrieking, the man turned away with a sly chuckle.
Gesturing to a pirate, he retrieved the consignment box, turning it this way and that, he muttered,
“If you’re transporting something valuable, you should have been prepared for this. You didn’t really think you were going to make easy money, did you? Huh?”
Amidst the screams, the man burst out laughing.
And.
Kureuruk.
In the middle of the river, when two ships that had sailed a good distance away, a man poked his head out to the surface.
“Kkeuk….”
Sojeongbok, with his face bluish-white, repeatedly vomited water, only his head emerging from the surface.
‘I must… let them know…’
While trying to lead his unresponsive body and swim toward the river bank, Sojeongbok’s energy drained, and he sank back into the water.
“Puaatt!”
He desperately flailed his hands, but his consciousness kept fading and drifting away.
‘Mount Hua… had to…inform…’
Soon after, Sojeongbok’s body, completely unconscious, drifted slowly along the cold waves of Yangtze River.
* * *
In front of the gate of Mount Hua.
“Ooh, it’s terribly cold.”
“Ughh. I never get used to the dawn cold in the mountains.”
The third-class disciples that had been on duty shivered.
Even though their bodies were trained, the winter in the mountains was enough to bite into their flesh.
When it snowed last night, they thought it would be less cold, but after the snow stopped, the wind pierced and scratched their armpits. Mount Hua, which had strong winds and steep mountain conditions as it is, felt colder than it actually was.
“It’s this cold here, how cold would it be in the North Sea?”
“Don’t even mention it. Sahyung who have been to the North Sea still wear summer uniforms.”
“Really?”
“Not long ago, Jo-Gol Sahyung swam in the valley water, saying it was warm?”
“…Isn’t that just crazy?”
“….”
“If it were someone else, we would’ve thought that they’re like that because they’ve been to the North Sea. But if it’s Jo-Gol, we’d think he’d act like that even if he hadn’t been to the North Sea, right?”
“…Now that you mention it.”
In the past, there was no need to endure the cold and stand guard this early in the morning, but now there are so many people coming and going to Mount Hua that it has become necessary.
So even though it was cold, they didn’t really have any major complaints about standing guard. They only wished for this boring time to pass quickly.
“Ugh, when will the shift change?”
“Soon.”
“It would be nice if we could at least practice at this time. It’s such a waste of time to stand guard. At this time, I could practice the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique five times.”
“What? Only five times? Can you even catch a fly at that speed? I can do it ten times in this time.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. You don’t know what you’re saying. Novices focus on doing it fast, martial masters focus on doing it precisely. If I were to swing my sword roughly like you, I could do it ten times as well.”
“Oh, martial master? So, is that why you were beaten by me last time?”
“I wasn’t feeling well back then! Hey, let’s do a rematch.”
“As much as you want.”
While they were arguing and growling at each other, one of them suddenly stopped talking and tilted his head.
“Huh?”
“What?”
“Doesn’t it look like someone’s coming over there?”
“Who would come at this hour? The sun hasn’t even risen yet.”
“No, look over there.”
The direction he was pointing at wasn’t the cliff-side path that the disciples of Mount Hua used, but a gentler path next to it. It had been recently renovated and widened.
When he looked closely, he could see the dark figures moving over there.
“Huh?”
He reflexively reached for the sword at his waist.
He doesn’t think anyone climbing Mount Hua at this time would have come with any good intentions. Just as they were considering whether to ring the bell, the face of the leading person came into view.
“Oh, Sodanju-nim?”
Hwang Jong, Sodanju of Eunha Merchant Guild, was hurriedly approaching, leading a small group of people.
“What brings you here at this early hour?”
“Let’s talk inside.”
“Yes?”
Hwang Jong bit his sweat-soaked lip, seemingly without any time to explain. His expression was so serious that the third-class disciple guards sensed that something had happened.
“There’s a problem. I know it’s not polite to come at this early hour, but we don’t have the time to worry about that. We need to see Sect Leader right away.”
One of the third-class disciple guards who nodded in response immediately opened the door and ran inside.
An extraordinary energy began to pervade in the early dawn of Mount Hua.