Return of Mount Hua Sect

“Bow your head!”

“I will cut down anyone who does stupid things!”

The pirates, tied with strong iron ropes, knelt down and bowed their heads. The Wudang warriors surrounded them, watching with cold eyes.

“Hmm.”

Venerable Heo Do looked around, softly groaning.

‘This is terrible.’

The smell of blood made his nose hurt.

Of course, he had lived as a disciple of Wudang, gone on several journeys, and fought numerous battles. But the experience of fighting so many people and witnessing such loss of life was rare for him.

‘The disciples aren’t performing to their full potential as expected.’

It would have been right to clean up such small pirates so that not a single one was missed. It wasn’t due to overconfidence in the strength of Wudang. Objectively, the difference in strength between the two was evident.

But in reality, it took more than an hour, not just 30 minutes, to take them down.

‘They haven’t experienced real fights for too long.’

He did not think that Wudang had become weaker than in the past. But demonstrating skills fully in real life was a different matter.

“It was a good idea to attack small pirate groups first.”

If a battle with the big groups had been fought without understanding the problem, there would have been casualties on Wudang’s side.

It was natural that sacrifices were unavoidable once one decided to shed blood. Still, it was a sect leader’s natural wish to reduce such numbers to a minimum.

“The suppression is done, sect leader.”

Venerable Heo Do nodded at Heo Sanja’s words.

“Transfer all those taken prisoner to the officials, and distribute the wealth accumulated in the warehouse to the common people. If you can find the owner of an item, return it to them too.”

Even as he said that Venerable Heo Do couldn’t help but laugh.

‘It is like we are imitating Mount Hua.’

Even if that wasn’t the case, people’s thoughts would be very similar to what he just thought.

But it was inevitable.

Hearing people speak that they were merely imitating was better than being criticized for doing nothing.

“Sect leader… Well, that is a bit of a problem.”

“Problem?”

Venerable Heo Do frowned at Heo Sanja’s words.

“There is a problem?”

“I checked the storage room… and they don’t seem to have much wealth.”

“… there isn’t much?”

“Yes.”

Heo Sanja gulped and continued.

“According to the words of the people of Wudang, a large number of goods and money were plundered by those who went out to the Yangtze River on the ships due to the recent rampage of pirates… in reality, these people didn’t even have much wealth in their treasuries.”

“….”

“So we interrogated the pirates, but they said there was no such thing.”

“There is nothing?”

“I guess so. And they say they don’t know who the pirates that were recently attacking the ships are.”

“…”

Venerable Heo Do quietly kept his mouth shut. He spoke after thinking for a while.

“If you simply think about it, it is just another pirate acting like a pirate.”

“Yes.”

“If not…”

Venerable Heo Do didn’t say the next words out loud.

‘Someone intentionally caused this situation.’

It wasn’t an idea that could be openly expressed in words. Depending on what they thought, it could mean that the Wudang Sect was fooled by someone’s tricks.

“What should I do, sect leader?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Uh?”

In response to Heo Sanja’s question, Venerable Heo Do briefly shook his head.

“Whether there was a misunderstanding, whether we had the wrong pirate, or someone plotting, it doesn’t matter. What is important is that we did not turn a blind eye to the suffering of our people and came to the Yangtze River to subdue the pirates.”

“….”

“Gather all their wealth and distribute it to the common people.”

“There is a lot of wealth that has been taken, but I am worried that if a little wealth is given, unnecessary misunderstandings will arise.”

“You just have to tell them that we will be subduing the other pirates soon.”

“Yes.”

Heo Sanja inhaled deeply and retreated. Venerable Heo Do’s heart sank as he stood alone.

‘A conspiracy under the guise of the Yangtze River pirates?’

No matter how wide the Yangtze River was, how many places in the world were capable of carrying out their work under the guise of being pirates, avoiding the eyes of the people?

Venerable Heo Do, who thought of several names, soon shook his head.

‘It doesn’t matter though.’

Whatever they were after, they just had to get what they wanted. Now, even if the place in front of them was a fire pit, they would have to walk into it.

But…

“Anyone who played a trick on us will have to pay the price.”

Gritting his teeth, he turned around to let the cold wind blow and walked nervously.

---

“Amitabha!”

A loud roar rang out.

Woong!

The sound of something vibrating echoed like thousands of bees humming.

“E-everyone run!”

The pirates’ eyes were filled with fear.

The monk wearing yellow monk’s robes symbolized absolute power on the river. To those on the same side, he seemed extremely reassuring, but from the perspective of those who had to face him, he was terrifying.

It was natural. This was because the only people in Kangho who wore yellow monk robes were from Shaolin.

A thousand years of Shaolin.

Who could ignore that name?

Even if all the power of the 18 River Families, known as part of the Evil Five Sects, were gathered together, there was no guarantee they would be able to fight against Shaolin. It was literally absurd to think that one of those pirate groups could fight against Shaolin.

The pirates knew this too well, so they didn’t even think about fighting in the first place.

The moment they saw the monks in yellow robes, they lost their will to fight and began to run, screaming.

Some people turned and ran at full speed without even looking back, while others, using their heads, threw themselves into the river without hesitation.

“Hmmm.”

Watching the scene unfold, the monk frowned.

‘I understand the intention of the abbot, but…’

Actually, it would be a waste for Shaolin to personally take on the task of subjugating such a thing. Of course, keeping an agreement was a good thing, but it must come at the cost of time.

Considering the fact that they couldn’t train during the travel time to and from the Yangtze River, it was a journey that took quite a toll. There is no way their skills would just improve by handling a few idiots.

“The pirates’ leader must be having a tough time, too.”

From Shaolin to Wudang and Qingcheng. Among the Nine Sects, three were subjugating the Yangtze River. Even the Namgung family of Anhui raised their swords, so there was no way that they could block this attack. No matter how much strength the Yangtze River pirates had, they couldn’t withstand this.

‘Perhaps because of this, the 18 River families will disappear from history.’

If only one sect had come, they might have had a chance to recover after the subjugation was done. But now, four sects were stepping in to do this.

If it were just the Nine Great Sects, they might have been able to do something. But with the Namgung family of the Five Great Families stepping in for the sake of respect, it became impossible to head back without clearing more pirates than the others.

‘And above all….’

The fact that the Mount Hua sect was the first to begin the subjugation of pirates was quickly spreading throughout the world. It was natural that the name of the person who started first resonated louder than that of those who followed.

If they didn’t want to hear that Shaolin, Wudang, and the Namgung family were simply following Mount Hua, they needed to build a record beyond them.

“Amitabha.”

There was a stuffy feeling in the words that flowed from the monk.

‘But…’

If this happened and caused the 18 River Families of the Yangtze River to disappear or suffer catastrophic damage, the balance of the pirates would inevitably collapse.

If the balance was broken from the Yangtze River, which could be said to be the center of the Central Plains? That meant, in the end, they couldn’t know how far this matter would spread.

‘Abbot.’

There was no way the abbot didn’t know… then why did he order the subjugation so quickly?

It was unjust to turn a blind eye to those who were suffering before their eyes. But wasn’t it also unjust to push more people into suffering to save a few who were there?

‘I don’t know.’

The abbot knew, though.

Although they were all people of the world, not all of them could influence the situation of the world. There were just a few people who moved the world and led its flow.

Those, unlike the abbot, who could not join the subjugation, had no choice but to do their best in their responsibilities.

“To prevent the fleeing pirates from harming civilians, suppress them without missing a single one!”

“Yes!”

The Shaolin monks responded loudly and rushed ahead with a spirit unbefitting their status as the Central Plains’ leaders.

“… Amitabha. This shouldn’t be a big deal.”

A small snowball rolled by Mount Hua was now gradually increasing along the slope called the Yangtze River.

Now, neither Shaolin nor Wudang could stop that snowball. They could only pray and hope it didn’t hit their houses at the bottom of the mountain.

---

The fact that Shaolin and Wudang were subjugating the pirates quickly spread through the Yangtze River.

Those who lived along the Yangtze River as their home were delighted and cheered at the news.

So far, they had endured it because they thought nothing would help them, but who would enjoy having their money stolen by thieves? Moreover, the viciousness of the pirates had become more severe recently.

In the midst of that, how could they not be happy that Shaolin, Wudang, and the Namgung family came forward to help them?

These places were so grand that even Qingcheng looked shabby in comparison. Naturally, the residents of Yangtze had no choice but to hope that the situation would improve.

“After all, it is the Nine Great Sects. Expected of the Five Great Families as well. As things get serious, they finally step forward.”

“Right! They will all come soon.”

“I guess they were just waiting to see if things got serious. Aren’t they the ones who move after the fact?”

People said kind words. If it had been the past, it would have been just compliments for a while.

But now things had changed, and there were people who said different things.

“Don’t talk nonsense. Do you think those people really came out to help us?”

“Then? Of course, they came to help us in suppressing the pirates.”

“Then until now? Have there been no pirates? Aren’t there people who even lost their lives and those who got sold into slavery?”

“That is…”

The man who spoke clicked his tongue.

“You need to know who to thank. This is all thanks to Mount Hua, so be thankful to them.”

“What do you mean? Is this all because of Mount Hua? Of course, it is true that Mount Hua started the subjugation, but we couldn’t say that all of it was thanks to them, right?”

“Don’t speak nonsense! If Mount Hua hadn’t come out, the Nine Sects or Five Families wouldn’t have even come close to the Yangtze River. Wasn’t it Mount Hua, the leader of the Heavenly Friends Alliance, who came to subdue the pirates of the Yangtze River and win our support? The others got scared of the support they would get and rushed to the Yangtze River.”

“… that is a bit of a twisted idea.”

“Then are you saying those people didn’t touch the Yangtze River alone for decades because they didn’t know about the existence of the pirates?”

“…”

“Stop being naïve! That’s exactly what those people aim for. We should thank Mount Hua! Didn’t they come to the Yangtze River without any need and subdue the pirates?”

“Right. I am grateful to Mount Hua.”

“See. In my opinion, it won’t be long until the Heavenly Friends Alliance, to which Mount Hua belongs, can defeat the Nine Great Sects.”

“Now, now, being delusional again.”

“I am being real!?”

Some people were in favor of Mount Hua, while others defended the Nine Great Sects, which had a deep-rooted history.

What was certain was that no matter which side they favored, the scale of fighting on the Yangtze River was growing.

And…

The results of these sporadic battles began to take a course that no one in the world expected.

A violent torrent that could completely change the course of the river, and the stage was spreading across the world along the Yangtze River.