Return of the Mount Hua Sect

Clench.

Namgung Dowi tightened the sheath at his waist and looked down at his sword.

Srng!

The sword drawn glowed in the sunlight, and as he put it back in its sheath, he checked himself.

The sky-blue robes and the cloud pattern on his chest, the characters for ‘Blue Heaven’, stood out.

“Phew.”

He took a short breath and smiled. A handsome man with an arrogant expression could be seen.

“Didn’t I tell you to be careful of your expressions?”

At that moment, Namgung Dowi shook his head at the voice which came from behind.

“Father.”

His father, Namgung Hwang, was the current head of the Namgung family.

“People don’t care whether you are arrogant or not. But as soon as you show it to the world, your followers will turn to your enemies.”

Namgung Dowi bowed his head at his father’s words, who continued,

“To stand on top, you need to know that.”

Every word, and every expression, had a weight attached to it.

“People close their eyes to the large flaws that they see, but they cannot stand the small flaws of those above them. That is why those who stand above others need to behave properly to dominate those below. And that is the attitude that those born in the Namgung family must have.”

“I will keep that in mind, Father.”

Namgung Hwang nodded his head, but then his expression changed right away as if he was annoyed.

“But those Nine Great Sects are using the same tricks. They are doing the same fixing, and soon they will make you drop down.”

Namgung Dowi nodded his head.

“How about it? If you want, even now I…”

“Father.”

Namgung Dowi shook his head and smiled,

“Be it Shaolin’s Hae Yeon or Chung Myung from Mount Hua. They are just people I need to defeat to win. What is the difference if they bring out a strong person right away?”

“Right. That is how a child of our family needs to act.”

Namgung Hwang smiled.

‘Anyway, this must mean that Shaolin has nothing to lose if either my son falls or Chung Myung from Mount Hua falls.’

Those wicked old bastards.

“And…”

Namgung Dowi opened his mouth,

“Even if there is dissatisfaction about this decision, Mount Hua hasn’t raised any questions over it, so we of the Namgung family cannot be the ones to do that.”

“True.”

Namgung Hwang nodded his head at his son’s words and asked,

“So? Are you confident in winning?”

At this, his son smiled,

“Chung Myung from Mount Hua is strong.”

“Yes.”

“But with such light-moving sword techniques, he cannot handle this sword of ours. Today, I will prove that the best sword sect is us, not Wudang or Mount Hua.”

“Right.”

Namgung Hwang smiled,

“Then it is all good.”

And as he left the room, the other members of the family were all lined up in their sky-blue robes.

“How is your body today?”

“The best.”

“Hyung! I believe in you, hyung!”

“Of course.”

“The honor of our family lies on your shoulders. Do not look down on your opponent.”

“Of course, uncle.”

Namgung Dowi responded to all of their encouragement and advice and headed to the place where the spar would happen.

A little walk from their place, a wide square platform appeared, and the people who were there looked at him.

“It is the Namgung family!”

“The Blue Heaven Namgung Family!”

“Ohhhhh!”

Admiration and exclamations poured in; this was the fame they had.

The Namgung family was known to be the head of the Five Great Families and had maintained their power and influence for hundreds of years. Anyone who had even the slightest interest in Murim would know about this family.

So everyone looked at them.

However, Namgung Dowi wasn’t too happy with this cheering.

‘I don’t like this.’

He frowned slightly.

He couldn’t distort his expression because of his father’s teaching, which said he shouldn’t be expressing his emotions to the people, but he didn’t like this.

The reason?

It was quite simple.

“Mount Hua!”

“Woahhhhhh! Mount Hua is coming!”

“Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon! Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon is here!”

“Chung Myung and Mount Hua have arrived!”

An immense shout which couldn’t be compared to his arrival began to shake the place, and Namgung Dowi bit his lip.

Jin Geum-Ryong and Baek Cheon fought yesterday. And after that was Chung Myung and Lee Song-Baek’s fight, which skyrocketed the fame of Mount Hua.

From the start of the competition, Mount Hua had been snatching all the attention. Mount Hua, which had once been in the Nine Great Sects, was also known to be collapsing, but then it had made a rather vocal return now. This was enough to make the people feel moved.

Everyone believed that Mount Hua would be the winner of this competition.

And the anticipation exploded with the recent spars with the Southern Edge Sect.

With the name of Baek Cheon, who had given a splendid performance and had even made Mount Hua’s plum blossoms bloom, everyone’s expectations for the sect went up. After Chung Myung had taken the attention after his fight with Lee Song-Baek, he became the most anticipated person in this competition.

So, no matter how great the Namgung family was, there was no way it could withstand the popularity of Mount Hua. Namgung Dowi frowned and looked at the Mount Hua disciples shuffling in.

“Hehehe. What a great person he has been. Hehehe.”

When he saw Chung Myung smiling brightly in front of him, he felt his insides twist.

His opponent should have felt a weight considering who he was.

But Chung Myung looked more relaxed than anyone he had ever seen. It could not be thought of as the attitude of someone aiming to be the best in the world.

‘That is until today.’

A title that didn’t suit him. For the sake of that, Namgung Dowi had to defeat Chung Myung today.

Namgung Dowi, who thought that, looked at Chung Myung.

Namgung Hwang looked at his son and said,

“Do not look down on him.”

“…”

“Do not underestimate your opponent.”

“But there is nothing to be afraid of. That is all I wanted to say.”

Namgung Hwang nodded his head, liking his answer,

“Go and show them what the sword of our family is like.”

“Of course.”

Namgung Dowi grabbed his sword with one hand and climbed up the stage. As he climbed onto the stage, cheers poured in, and as he waited for his opponent to arrive, he thought,

‘So rude.’

No one made a member of the Namgung family wait like this. And Chung Myung, who knew who his opponent was and still was not coming, was even more absurd.

Watching him, Chung Myung talked to a sahyung before approaching the stage, and as he did so, his sahyungs all looked at his back with clear anger.

‘Such a loser.’

Namgung Dowi frowned. How could this man be a martial arts warrior?

Martial arts start with the right attitude. But Mount Hua only looked like a group of bandits joining together.

Was that the difference between the sects of evil and righteousness?

“Wait?”

‘Wait?’

Namgung Dowi frowned and looked at Chung Myung standing on the other side.

He was stretching his legs.

His body was strong, but his form looked crooked. Besides, despite the decent-looking face, he had a weird grumpiness of an old man on him.

Then, he understood why his father talked about handling his expressions when out in public.

What would all subordinates think if they saw their leader like this?

“Phew.”

Namgung Dowi took a deep breath and swung down toward Chung Myung.

“Namgung family’s Namgung Dowi.”

“Mount Hua’s Chung Myung.”

Contrary to his expression, Chung Myung politely bowed and responded.

And Namgung Dowi looked at him, a bit impressed.

‘Still, he isn’t too odd.’

He was someone who could distinguish between the people who showed real politeness and those who only did it for show.

He was certain that this guy was doing it for real.

Namgung Dowi, a bit relieved, drew his sword,

“Mount Hua’s sword seems to be quite sharp.”

“Isn’t that normal?”

“But don’t think that those swords will work on me.”

And he smiled,

“I will make you be swayed from the splendor of the Namgung family. You will know that there is a sky above the sky today.”

“Ah, yes, yes.”

Chung Myung replied, not really caring.

“Now that I know, let’s start. I am in a bit of a hurry.”

“You better regain your composure. I am different from the opponents you have faced.”

“Yes, so different. A lot even.”

Chung Myung took a deep breath.

If thrown into a den filled with the Demonic Sect, this kid was the kind who would sit to the side and tremble.

‘Should I start with the head?’

Thinking, he shook his head.

‘No, because Sect Leader told me to pretend like I was seriously fighting him.’

Chung Myung took a deep breath. Since morning, Hyun Jong had been with him.

These days, the eyes of the sect leaders from the other sects were nothing like Mount Hua’s Sect Leader, so he had asked Chung Myung to act like he was fighting for real.

He would have already kicked the guy out if it hadn’t been for those words.

I’d rather freeze to death…

“I don’t understand.”

At that time, Namgung Dowi spoke to him in a calm voice,

“Uh?”

“I told you that I am different from those you have dealt with until now.”

A subtle smile formed on his lips,

“If you think that swords are the same and came to deal with me, then you will be greatly disappointed. I have what the others don’t.”

“Oh?”

Chung Myung looked at the guy,

“Ah, you are different from them?”

“I have no intention of demeaning them. But if you calmly observe them, the world is overflowing with similar people. And only a few are qualified to be the best in the world.”

Namgung Dowi pointed to Chung Myung,

“You are probably like me.”

“Oh?”

Chung Myung tilted his head and spoke,

“I am just asking…”

“Uh?”

“Is your real name Eun-Ryong¹?”

“… what do you mean?”

“Nothing, it felt similar to something. I thought it had something to do with bloodline.”

“Cheeky bastard.”

Namgung Dowi was upset at his comment, but Chung Myung was shocked in his own way.

‘Being cheeky and handsome is worth it.’

Geum-Ryong was like that, and Dong-Ryong was like that, so Eun-Ryong had to be the same.

Namgung Dowi tried to calm his expression and said,

“I fully understand your arrogance. You probably haven’t met a proper opponent till now. Even the Southern Edge’s Jin Geum-Ryong and Lee Song-Baek haven’t been able to satisfy you.”

Chung Myung’s head, which was only half listening, tilted.

“Ah, so you are different?”

“You will know once you experience it. But I will clearly show you the difference in our class.”

Chung Myung smiled brightly,

“Ah, so Jin Geum-Ryong, my Baek Cheon sasuk, and Lee Song-Baek aren’t your opponents?”

Very naturally, he summarized it.

“Those are obvious words.”

“Are you a genius then?”

“I didn’t mean that. But…”

“There is nothing to take off.”

Chung Myung smiled and cut off the words of Namgung Dowi,

“Because you are a genius. Well, I admit it.”

“It is a bit embarrassing.”

“Disgusting.”

“Um?”

Namgung Dowi’s face, which had been smiling till then, went stiff, and he narrowed his eyes.

Chung Myung tilted his head to both sides,

“Kids these days are so weird. Where did you learn to talk like that? So, you are a genius, and the other kids here are all the same. Is that what you want to say?”

“I just mean to say I am different.”

“Such a funny kid.”

Chung Myung smiled timidly.

“Well, fine. I have one last question.”

“Yes.”

“Do you have any brothers?”

“…I don’t know why you are curious about that, but I do.”

“Okay.”

Chung Myung put the sword into the sheath and lifted it. A startled voice came from the disciples of Mount Hua, but Namgung Dowi didn’t know what it meant.

“Well, if you aren’t going to start, don’t say I went in for a surprise attack.”

“Of course, please attack.”

“Yah. You should concede to the first hit. I am sorry for this, but you will have to prepare properly for the first hit.”

Chung Myung clenched his hand.

The faces of Baek Cheon and others turned pale at this.

“S-sasuk! Shouldn’t we stop him?”

“…how do I stop him? This is a spar.”

“That bastard might die!”

“… he wouldn’t die.”

“He will.”

“… right. I think so too.”

Baek Cheon looked at Chung Myung with an anxious gaze. But he didn’t have time to do anything.

Chung Myung raised his sword and charged ahead like lightning.

Swish!

The sword moved with an enormous sound and fell for the head of Namgung Dowi.

However, not panicking, the guy raised his sword up.

“Obviously strong!”

He had seen Chung Myung attack his opponent with this same form several times. He didn’t know why, but his opponent showed a strange obsession with heads.

He had already calculated this and knew that head would be his opponent’s target.

‘You fell for such shallow provocation? So shallow!’

The sword of Namgung Dowi accurately blocked the sword of Chung Myung.

‘The moment the swords collide, it will deflect, and the side will…’

Kiiiik!

At that moment, a terrible sound spread out.

“Eikkkkk!”

“Uhkkkkkkkkk!”

“Ah. Ahh…. Ahhhh….”

At the same time, anguished screams came from the audience. Some covered their mouths, some lowered their hands, and some crouched.

But whatever they were doing, they were focused on one thing.

Likewise, the gaze of Namgung Dowi too slowly moved down.

Foot.

The leg of Chung Myung stretched out and touched his groin².

“…. Shit.”

Namgung Dowi looked down.

And.

“Kuaaaaackkkk!”

He began to roll on the ground by holding his groin.

At that desperate scream, the men in the place couldn’t watch anymore and turned their eyes away.

The disciples of Mount Hua, too, covered their faces in shame.

“Ugh… killing him might have been better.”

“I thought he would. But there is no way that brat would simply end it with death. Uhhh….”

“That demon. He is evil and vicious.”

However, Chung Myung didn’t hear their words and tapped on Namgung Dowi’s hips with his sword.

“It is fine, it is fine. You have a problem. Your skills can be passed onto him³.”

Uh?

That isn’t the problem (t)here?

Ah, that isn’t my duty?

heheheehe.