Return of the Mount Hua Sect

“…”

Chung Myung looked at the hall with empty eyes, and behind him, the disciples of Mount Hua muttered in despair.

“… it is definitely over.”

“Right. This is a clear end.”

All of them were speaking with low voices.

“It is a problem that we are done, but.”

“…”

The wind blew in from somewhere.

Sand was swept up by the wind, which had been hardened with high-quality blue stone.

The training hall which was filled with trainees until three days ago was now too clean for anything to be found.

Seeing this unsavory sight, Chung Myung’s eyes twitched.

Uh…

This place looked ruined?

“… well I don’t see flies anymore.”

Chung Myung flinched at the emotionless words from Hyun Young.

“Huhuhu. Well, that is true. Just three days in here.”

Even Wei Lishan was trying his best not to sound anxious.

“Really, is this the downfall?”

“… seriously.”

Baek Cheon glanced at Chung Myung and said,

“That too without even having to break any heads.”

When Chung Myung flinched and turned back to Baek Cheon, who immediately turned away and whistled.

“… ugh.”

But he didn’t have the energy to be angry. Chung Myung only groaned in pain.

The response from Southern Edge’s sub-sects was swift and drastic.

If they had justified reasons or focused on keeping an eye on Mount Hua, they wouldn’t have come here, but instead of looking for a reason, they sought after the facts.

“It is scary when a person loses their honor.”

“Right. They did something even unorthodox sects wouldn’t…”

“This is too much…”

“Amitabha.”

Even Hae Yeon was dissatisfied.

‘The world is such a scary place.’

Over the past few days, he had witnessed what the sub-sects of Southern Edge were doing in Xi’an.

‘When people say taking up their last resort, they must mean this.’

Even if this is the land which the Southern Edge had control over, where in this wide Xi’an are people who are all related to them?

Among those who entered the Huayoung Gate, there were clearly people who had nothing to do with Southern Edge, and yet those men with swords in their hands were creating a horrific atmosphere. And what civilian would ignore that sight and come?

When there was a deep relationship, threats worked through the relationship, and where there was a shallow connection, threats were made through their interests. And when there was no connection, threats were made by force.

Given the circumstances, there was no other choice but to avoid that particular situation.

Chung Myung said,

“N-No matter what, how can a sect known to be orthodox act like this?”

He could understand them threatening people, but pulling out their swords as an answer, all in broad daylight, was too much!

At least, if those idiots knew they were the orthodox sects, they should never do that!

At that moment, Wei Lishan took a deep breath,

“Elder. I think we should…”

“That will not happen.”

Hyun Young shook his head resolutely. And Wei Lishan, who was trying to speak, nodded with a sad face,

“The works of Murim don’t bring other people…”

“It isn’t like that, that guy is no idiot either, there is no way he hasn’t consulted the officials before doing such a thing. He must have paid them a good amount of money.”

“Ah…”

Hyun Young frowned.

“Besides we heard it, the right officials here are close to the Southern Edge Sect. There is no way that they would take our side.”

“Ugh.”

Wei Lishan sighed deeply…

“What to do…”

“That…”

Hyun Young also didn’t have any idea in his mind when it came to this matter… so he took a deep breath…

‘Things have gotten so messed up.’

In normal cases, Southern Edge would have come out to punish their own sub-sect for acting like this, but wasn’t Southern Edge not in a state to do any of that?

“They are moving with swords. How about we fight the same way?”

“… it isn’t that simple.”

Hyun Young frowned,

“If Mount Hua attacks the sub-sects of Southern Edge like this, we will be accused of trying to profit by our neighbor sects, and they will take advantage of this to hurt our reputation.”

“But isn’t Kangho always like that?”

“… but our reasoning is important.”

Even if the result of the work was the same, the evaluation would be different depending on what cause one championed through their actions.

As long as Mount Hua avoids politics and discusses negotiations, they cannot help but care about how the world sees them.

“Ugh.”

Chung Myung groaned upon hearing this.

If it had been something he could resolve with force, he wouldn’t have thought so much. But this was a problem to be solved with their mind and not their fists.

What really mattered now wasn’t the actions of Southern Edge’s sub-sect who persecuted the people. The bigger problems were the many sub-sects of Southern Edge in Xi’an.

‘I looked down on this.’

If Southern Edge had changed the positions and had shown better skills than Mount Hua, would they have come into Hua-Um village?

No. They wouldn’t have attempted it so confidently…

“Anyway, officials and the powerful sects are as one here.”

“… Uh? What is that supposed to mean?”

When Yoon Jong tilted his head, Chung Myung spoke in an annoyed tone.

“Usually when something like this happens, wouldn’t the people of Xi’an ask for help?”

“… right.”

“But the fact that not a single person has come to talk to a disciple from Mount Hua or the sub-sect means that we are still considered outsiders within Xi’an.”

“Is it that bad?”

“It is. They all think like that.”

Chung Myung’s face darkened.

‘This perception isn’t something which can be broken so easily.’

The people of Hua-Um never abandoned Mount Hua, even when it didn’t function properly for over a hundred years.

This was a subtle sign that a place related to a sect wouldn’t easily be swayed away.

‘We need to turn this situation.’

This wasn’t something the power of Chung Myung could…

“No! Are they crazy?! How dare they release killing intent! Do they want to get beaten like dogs!”

“Uh?”

Chung Myung’s thoughts were cut off by some loud remarks, making him turn his head.

Hong Dae-Kwang, who appeared out of the blue, was screaming and pointing at the warriors who blocked his way.

“… what is with him?”

When the warriors ran away, Hong Dae-Kwang walked into Huayoung Gate with pride, and Chung Myung asked him,

“What is happening, mister?”

Hong Dae-Kwang beat his chest.

“No, they suddenly passed by me and released killing intent! Huh! The world is so harsh. A world which wants to kill beggars.”

Chung Myung clicked his tongue,

“It is bugging me.”

Perhaps there were people who were moving around, warning people not to approach Huayoung Gate. And they didn’t know about Hong Dae-Kwang being a warrior and tried to scare him away.

Even so, he was thinking about why he couldn’t even see people crossing by, so this was happening.

“Who were they?”

“People from a Southern Edge sub-sect.”

“Tch Tch. I did hear that bizarre things were happening, but they sure use all their possible means. I heard that Nam Ja-Myung isn’t that bad.”

Hong Dae-Kwang glanced around,

“But what did you come here for?”

“Ah!”

Hong Dae-Kwang turned his head and looked at Chung Myung.

“Southern Edge had closed its gates.”

“… wow. That is strange and surprising… for us too.”

“No, It isn’t about hearing about it, but they have officially declared it.”

“Uh?”

Chung Myung tilted his head, having been surprised.

“Really?”

“Yes. It is said that as of yesterday, a message was sent out declaring to all that they had closed their doors. Now Southern Edge will not do any outside activities for a year. This is a statement made by their sect leader himself, so it cannot be broken down. Hehehe. Now, even if lightning strikes down Xi’an, they cannot come out of their gates.”

“Oh?”

Chung Myung tilted his head, a bit surprised, and Hong Dae-Kwang’s eyes shone at this information.

“You! Is there a reason why you are liking this so much?”

“Eh?”

Hong Dae-Kwang narrowed his eyes,

“I haven’t heard of a single person who reacted as calmly as you! You! You cannot tell me that you did something right!”

“… w-who knows everyone who liked this?”

“Well, you are the first!”

“Do not act so sure.”

When Chung Myung raised one hand to dissuade him, Hong Dae-Kwang backed away.

“I am against violence!”

“… enough. This is why you came all the way here?”

“I was going around here and there. But you don’t seem very happy though? I thought you would be jumping with happiness.”

“Ugh. Things are a bit twisted for us…”

…Chung Myung lost his appetite.

Rather, it would have been better if Southern Edge opened its closed gates and came to Xi’an.

But with them officially locked inside, the affairs of Xi’an needed to be resolved between Huayoung and the Southern Edge sub-sects.

‘Should I laugh or cry?’

He wasn’t sure what to do and continued to sigh when Hong Dae-Kwang asked,

“Is there any problem?”

“That…”

Chung Myung, who spoke only one word, went back to sighing, which frustrated Hong Dae-Kwang.

“Haa. You are looking worried in front of me! Do not worry and speak. I will give a special gift to my friend, for I am the Zhuge of the Beggars Union!”

“… I heard you are the food waster of the Beggars Union.”

“All the beggars are the same.”

“Ah, true.”

Seeing Hong Dae-Kwang act all proud, Chung Myung simply started thinking.

‘Still, one can never be too sure.’

Hong Dae-Kwang was one of the people who might one day become the next leader of the Beggars Union, and he dealt with a lot of information about the outside world, so he might have a different perspective from Chung Myung.

“So, what happened is…”

Chung Myung began to explain it all. And when Hong Dae-Kwang heard it, he smiled.

“Huhu, what! So that happened!”

“Oh?”

Chung Myung’s eyes shone.

“Do you have a way out?”

“Who do you think I am? Of course, I do!”

“What is that? If you solve the problem well, I will make sure that you don’t have to worry about food for a while.”

“Huhu. What difficult task is this? The solution is simple. Look here, Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon.”

“Uh?”

Hong Dae-Kwang smiled,

“Don’t do anything useless. Pack your bags and go to Luoyang. Just give up on Xi’an and open a larger sub-sect there, that is all!”

“… that is the solution?”

“How is it? It surely…”

“Eh!”

Chung Myung kicked Hong Dae-kwang on the ass. And at the same time, he screamed as he fell to the ground.

Chung Myung groaned, looking at him on the ground.

“I was sure I would die of frustration!”

“If you are so sure, then you should have handled things correctly from the start! From the very start, if you had greeted them normally and then tried to make a position, wouldn’t you have had people here? Right now, you are alive but dead inside.”

“Ugh.”

Hong Dae-Kwang got up, rubbing his butt.

“As long as the Southern Edge has closed its gates, Mount Hua will be resisted. Unless they are cornered with force or receive a hit to their pride, they will never back down. You get nothing.”

“Who even cares about pride now?”

“If there is, it is all useless now. This is a shame. Moreover, it’s even more so if it’s a place that claims to be a prestigious sect.”

“Ugh.”

Hong Dae-Kwang shook his head.

“Ugh? There is no way to get out of this. Unless all of the Southern Edge sub-sects are ruined, they won’t fall apart.”

“You know so much.”

“Eh?”

At the sudden voice of someone else, everyone turned their heads toward the entrance.

“Haa…”

A breath of fresh air.

At the entrance of Huayoung Gate, with Nam Ja-Myung at the forefront, the masters of the sub-sects were walking in proudly.

“No. Do these bastards think this is their bedroom…”

Chung Myung, who was about to scream, went silent as the man who came in holding a bag threw it toward Chung Myung.

Clack!

Chung Myung’s eyes widened at the sound.

‘Money?’

Wasn’t this clearly the sound of hundreds of coins clacking against oneanother? There was no way Chung Myung could have misunderstood this.

But why money?

When Chung Myung looked puzzled, Nam Ja-Myung smiled as he said,

“You held on for as long as you can, now take this money and get out of Xi’an. We will buy this manor from you. How is that? It isn’t a bad offer for Mount Hua, right?”

“Ughhh.”

Chung Myung grabbed his neck as he moved back…

“Ch-Chung Myung!”

“Chung Myung, calm down!”

“B-break his back… ugh.”

It was Hae Yeon who realized that words spoken so casually also have their appropriate retribution…

Amitabha.