Return of Mount Hua Sect

Hyun Jong closed his eyes.

‘Pirates.’

This wasn’t something they could take on so easily. As Hyun Snag said, fighting on water was more difficult than dealing with bandits.

There was a reason why no sect in the world would condemn the pirates despite knowing of their evil nature.

Fighting on land and fighting in water were entirely different things. Other sects knew this, which was why they didn’t try to do reckless things.

‘If possible, any chance of war should be avoided.’

If there was a problem with the pirates, it was the innocent disciples of Mount Hua who suffered. The honor and pride of a sect were important, but was it worth risking the injuries that would come to their bodies?

‘Not a single scratch is worth it.’

It was better to resolve this with words.

“Sect leader!”

Hyun Jong closed his eyes tightly as he heard this.

‘This guy doesn’t even sleep!’

This loud voice was coming from the closed door and even from the roof.

“I will go and solve this really well!”

Hyun Jong contorted his face.

“Sect leeaderrrrr!”

“You bastard! Go and get some sleep! Get some sleep already!”

It was past 1 in the night, and this damn disciple wasn’t looking the least bit tired, let alone stepping down.

“Think about it! Something which doesn’t make sense has happened, so how can you rest comfortably! You should feel comfortable only when you feel comfortable, and only then…”

Hyun Jong covered his ears.

This damned guy has been talking about this thing the entire day. No matter how much a person can talk, it is easy to get tired after talking as much as one does, but he wasn’t looking like it.

“Sect leader! Sect leaderrrr!”

“No!”

Hyun Jong covered himself up with a blanket.

‘Never!’

If it were something else, he wouldn’t leave Chung Myung out. To be honest, it was burdensome for him to send the disciples out without Chung Myung.

But not now.

Surely, Chung Myung was a person who solved problems. When he stepped in, he cleared everything up.

But, in the process, the sect would end up enduring a lot more.

Chung Myung’s way of handling things involved picking up on all problems, even those that weren’t out in the open, and then blowing them up all at once.

This matter could not be resolved that way. It needed to be handled most amicably, considering the circumstances.

“No, sect leader! I need to go! If I go and create trouble, the people who made a mess will tell the truth.”

“That’s why it doesn’t work, that is why! Ugh, you bastard!”

In the end, Hyun Jong threw a tantrum and kicked his blanket open.

“Sect leader!”

“Shut up! Before the dirt enters my eyes, I will not… no, no! Even if dirt enters my eyes, I will never let you go!”

He quickly changed his words because he was afraid of Chung Myung throwing dirt in his eyes.

“Ah, I need to go, sect leader! I will go and throw those little shits in the water! No, I think we need to check how good they are at scheming and how well they can smooch off us!”

“….”

Chung Myung’s talent was that the more he persuaded, the more the opposite effect it had.

“Eh! Eh!”

“Sect leader!”

Hyun Jong closed his eyes tightly and covered his ears in silence.

“NOOOOO!”

Chung Myung climbed onto Hyun Jong’s roof and howled like a wolf.

Not far away, the Five Swords were watching this with a confused look.

“He isn’t even tired.”

“If you think about it, isn’t this amazing? He started in the morning and continued till dawn.”

“… that obsession scares me at times.”

Baek Cheon sighed.

“Sect leader is amazing, too. That leech is struggling so hard, but he didn’t even open the door once till now.”

“… If he opens it, he will suffer chaos now.”

“Right.”

Everyone shook their heads.

But then Yoon Jong seemed to have noticed another problem.

“But, sasuk.”

“Uh?”

“Are we really leaving Chung Myung behind?”

“…”

Baek Cheon couldn’t confidently answer. At that moment, Jo Gul looked at Yoon Jong and smiled.

“What, sahyung? Are you scared… no. I was just asking. Sahyung, sahyung, just put down the fist and speak!”

Yoon Jong, who was glaring at Jo Gul with angry eyes, lowered his fist again without another word. Then he spoke to Baek Cheon again.

“Of course, if you think about what would happen if Chung Myung didn’t come… come… uh….”

Yoon Jong couldn’t finish his sentence and closed his mouth tightly.

-Hahahah! These bastards!

-Die! Die! I am telling you, die!

-What? Have a good time in the water? Then go suck it in, bastard! Stick your head out once and see what happens!

What would happen before their eyes was as clear as if he had already seen it. No matter how positively he tried to think, he could only envision the Yangtze River soaked in blood.

“Right… yes. Of course… it will be a bit cruel.”

“A bit?”

“… it will be tragic.”

Everyone shook their heads.

The best thing about Chung Myung was that he was fair to everyone, and the most terrible thing was also that he was fair to everyone. Wasn’t the greatest thing about him that he would strike down the opponent regardless of whether they were from Wudang, the Ten Thousand People Clan, or the Green Forest?

It was obvious what would happen if they took a guy like that to the Yangtze River in the name of investigation. That would be an assault in the name of investigation and perhaps an unprecedented situation where the Yangtze River flowed backward.

“Well, I understand that it is annoying that Chung Myung causes accidents. But isn’t this an investigation into the pirates, one of Shenzhou’s 5 Sects?”

“… Yes.”

“I wonder if we can leave out someone like Chung Myung…”

Yoon Jong trailed off with concern on his face.

Of course, it was true that Chung Myung caused unexpected accidents. However, when an unexpected crisis arose, the person they could rely on the most was Chung Myung.

The Five Swords, who had overcome numerous crises with Chung Myung, knew this better than anyone. So they could fully understand why Yoon Jong said so.

“I understand what you mean, but wasn’t this something the sect leader decided?”

“Sasuk….”

Baek Cheon sighed.

“I am anxious too, but Yoon Jong, think of it like this.”

“Uh?”

“If you think about it, we cannot do anything without Chung Myung.”

This made Yoon Jong’s face go stiff because what Baek Cheon said was true.

Baek Cheon frowned and sighed.

“It is a fact I didn’t want to admit, but… it is a truth I don’t want to admit, but… right, I never want to admit it.”

“…”

“It is true that I feel reassured with Chung Myung. But we cannot always rely on him, right?”

“No, sasuk.”

“I know what you mean. You might want to say that we cannot treat this like other cases because we are going against the Yangtze River pirates.”

“Yes.”

“Yoon Jong, in the future, the enemies of Mount Hua will be much stronger. Is Chung Myung always going to look after us?”

Baek Cheon, who asked the question, let out a long breath with a heavy face.

Although he said it in a boastful manner, he was anxious.

‘Once again, I see how much we depend on him.’

But this was something they couldn’t help.

Wasn’t Chung Myung’s skill and judgment at such a level that they couldn’t be compared with a normal warrior of his age? Even the old warriors who have been in Kangho for a long would be outplayed by Chung Myung.

Even if they weren’t the strongest either, it was becoming obvious for people to rely more on him.

‘But we cannot do it forever. Conversely, we need to ease the burden he has.’

Baek Cheon slowly turned his gaze and looked at Yu Yiseol.

“What do you think, samae?”

She turned to Chung Myung with an expressionless look and said,

“Sect leader’s decision.”

“…”

“Has to be followed.”

She was good because she was simple in her judgment.

Just as Yu Yiseol said, regardless of what they thought, this was Hyun Jong’s decision as the sect leader. All the disciples of Mount Hua must follow his orders.

“Sasuk, aren’t you going to ask for my opinion?”

“Hmm. Samae said it just now. It is the sect leader’s decision.”

“Sasuk, I also have an opinion.”

“So, it isn’t something to argue about. It isn’t something we can question; we just follow as disciples.”

“Sasukkk!”

As a result of the chattering next to him, Baek Cheon turned frustrated. Unable to overcome the annoyance, Baek Cheon’s eyes turned to Jo Gul.

“…Do you really need to yell?”

“Are you going to discriminate against people now?”

“Uh.”

“…”

Jo Gul’s shoulders drooped like a puppy drenched in rain. Baek Cheon said, clearly expressing his feelings of ‘I hate this’.

“Tell me, tell me! I will listen!”

“Forget it. You only accepted because you had to… huh!”

At that moment, Jo Gul rolled his body to the side; thanks to Yoon Jong’s hand, which tried to grab Jo Gul’s collar, he had no choice but to move.

“What?”

“How long did you think I would suffer under you! I am Jo Gul! The beast of Mount Hua!”

“The beast of Mount Hua is Baek Ah.”

“…Uh?”

Now that he said it…

Jo Gul awkwardly smiled, stood up, and roughly brushed the dust off his clothes.

“Anyway, I think everyone is worrying unnecessarily right now.”

“Uh? What?”

“Is that guy someone who wouldn’t do things just because the sect leader asked him not to?”

At those words, everyone’s eyes turned towards the roof of the pavilion. To be exact, Chung Myung was still crying.

“Sect leader! Ahhhhh!!”

Jo Gul chuckled.

“The Chung Myung I know is a guy who will break through if there is a mountain in front of him. If a river flows in front, he would divert the water and move ahead. Do you think a guy like that would listen to what the sect leader says? Isn’t everyone underestimating him?”

“As expected…”

“That makes sense.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Well, my thoughts are a bit different now.”

“Uh?”

Tang Soso, who had been listening in silence, spoke with a sullen look.

“Everyone is focusing too much on sahyung, but the sect leader is definitely not an easy person. Do you think the sect leader doesn’t know that? I am sure the sect leader will take all possible measures to stop sahyung from following us.”

After hearing this, that also felt right. There was no way Hyun Jong didn’t know that.

“This is a battle between the best spear and shield of Mount Hua. And we are yet to see who wins.”

Tang Soso’s voice was very meaningful.

However, an unknown sadness flowed in Baek Cheon’s heart.

‘That is a really cool thing to hear.’

A battle between the best spear and shield in Mount Hua—it was like something out of a story. It seemed like Mount Hua’s best were risking everything against each other!

“But why is such a meaningful phrase being used in this situation?”

“Sect leader! Are you listening?!”

“Shut up!”

“Ah, you are so loud, you bastard!”

The shouts of Hyun Jong and Baek Cheon came at the same time.

Ahead of the dispatch of the team to the Yangtze River, the night of Mount Hua, which wouldn’t last a day, was getting deeper.