Return of the Mount Hua Sect

The blood drained from Song Tae-Ak’s face.

‘Wudang?’

Why was Wudang suddenly coming here?

“W-Wudang? Who said that someone was coming from Wudang?”

“I don’t know. Well, I haven’t quite figured it out yet. But it’s not just one or two. Around a number close to a hundred…”

“H-Hundred? A hundred?”

Song Tae-Ak’s eyes widened in shock, looking as if they were going to pop out and fall to the ground any moment.

‘This isn’t normal at all.’

Of course, the Wudang Sect was located in Hubei, so it wasn’t too difficult for them to come to Wuhan. But it was rare for such a large number of people to move at once.

If there was trouble with another sect, then it could happen, or if something had to be resolved in Wuhan too, it could work.

But, the bandits had already been subdued, and if it weren’t for them, wouldn’t Wuhan have been a peaceful place?

“Are you sure they are coming this way?”

“I-it seems like it.”

Right. Damn it, of course they were.

There was only one reason for Wudang to come to Wuhan which was peaceful now. The eyes of Song Tae-Ak fell on Mount Hua’s disciples, who seemed shocked.

“Why is Wudang coming here?”

“I don’t know. It looks like they are coming to greet you.”

“No, why… why here?”

But it felt like they were embarrassed by Wudang coming here. They should have been looking toward the front gate, but they were all glancing at the one person sitting behind them. There were signs of disappointment on everyone’s face.

‘So done’

‘No, why does this bastard always bring this bad luck!’

‘Even the sect leader isn’t here right now…’

‘E-elders will be able to do something, right?’

Everyone was unable to hide their anxiety about the fact that Chung Myung was facing Wudang in the absence of Hyun Jong.

Seeing this odd atmosphere, Song Tae-Ak only continued to feel more anxious.

“L-Lord.”

“Uh…”

Only when he heard a voice calling next to him did he nod as if he had belatedly come to his senses.

Regardless of whether there was a vacation or not, once they reached this place, the justification was to visit their merchant union.

So, as the lord of the merchants, he had to welcome them.

‘Why out of all times….’

Song Tae-Ak ran out the front door without even thinking and wiped his sweat. No, he was going to leave.

But after taking a couple of quick steps, he stopped. And with an odd face, he glanced at the elders of Mount Hua and Chung Myung.

“That….”

Song Tae-Ak gulped and opened his mouth with difficulty.

He also couldn’t understand why he had to explain all this in words. But this unknown anxiety stopped him.

“This is a message to everyone, perhaps if the Wudang are….”

“Do not worry about that.”

Hyun Young said as if it didn’t matter.

“As fellow Taoists, we do not want to cause any trouble with the Wudang Sect.”

“Thank you. Ah, and that….”

And he slowly turned his eyes to Chung Myung.

He didn’t achieve the position of Lord by just selling things. Looking at this man, he could tell who he needed permission from, and that wasn’t Hyun Young.

“Why?”

“… No, that… Taoist…”

“Are you afraid that I will cause trouble with Wudang?”

The first to react to those words wasn’t Song Tae-Ak.

The disciples of Mount Hua, who were guarding the surroundings, flinched as if they were hit right in the spot.

Chung Myung slightly turned his head and looked at everyone. As soon as their eyes met, all the disciples of Mount Hua looked away.

“Tsk.”

“…”

Chung Myung looked at Song Tae-Ak and smiled.

“Ah, the lord is truly amazing. Why would I go around arguing with anyone when I’m doing well now?”

Right.

A normal Taoist wouldn’t be like this.

But wasn’t he doing all this because he wasn’t a normal Taoist?

“Um… elder?”

He desperately looked at the elders next to Chung Myung, asking them to do something, but they just turned their gazes away.

“Haha.”

“No, don’t stop…”

“Huhuhu. Such a nice day.”

“…”

Song Tae-Ak was at a loss for words and stared into despair, wondering what to do now. At that time, laughter came.

“Do you have time for this? Someone important is coming, so you should head out and meet them.”

Seeing Chung Myung smile, Song Tae-Ak felt his stomach churn.

“Ughhh!”

But every word was true.

‘Heavenly god, please!’

Song Tae-Ak stepped forward, leaving them all behind. As he stood in front of the wide-open gate, he could clearly see many people coming from afar.

They were clearly Wudang.

The familiar Wudang people he knew. But somehow, they felt so unfamiliar despite being familiar.

‘Right, it feels different.’

Song Tae-Ak gulped and gently touched his cold fingers.

As he watched people with black robes come, with symbols that defined Taoists, walking confidently, he felt scared.

Anyone who lives in Hubei would be familiar with this. Song Tae-Ak also often stopped by Wudang for business or visited for formality.

But the present Wudang felt so different from before.

So, it wasn’t similar to Mount Hua at all. The atmosphere itself felt so different.

If Mount Hua was full of freedom and a bit rough, they had strictness and solemnity.

Perhaps this was the true appearance of Wudang, which Song Tae-Ak didn’t know.

‘T-the feeling of intimidation….’

The best sword sect in the world.

There was no need for any other grand words. This short sentence alone was enough to explain the position of Wudang in Kangho.

And the greatest sword sect in the world was now approaching Song Tae-Ak with a stern face.

After a while, the Wudang’s disciples walked up in line and stood in front of the gate.

Song Tae-Ak, who couldn’t even open his mouth and was waiting for the Wudang, immediately spoke as Wudang stopped moving.

“W-welcome!”

His legs trembled.

Although he was the lord of a union that no one could ignore, that held no meaning before the name of Wudang.

“I am Song Tae-Ak, the lord of the Golden Mountain Merchant Union. I visited Wudang a couple of times before….”

“Ah.”

Then, one of the elders standing in the front stepped forward, looked at Song Tae-Ak, and smiled.

“We apologize, lord. Since we were cultivating Tao in the mountains alone, we didn’t recognize the lord. I didn’t know that such a precious person would personally come out to greet us like this.”

“Ah….”

“I am Heo Sanja, elder of the Wudang sect.”

Heo Sanja smiled kindly at the man.

The people he had encountered so far were those in charge of Wudang’s finances. It is said that there is no one in the world who didn’t know about them, but in any case, the position of elder wasn’t a mess for Wudang’s elders.

In other words, it was Song Tae-Ak’s first time seeing a proper Wudang elder like this.

“I-I see, elder!”

“I am not someone you need to respect so much. Just call me Heo Sanja.”

“Yes, elder.”

Song Tae-Ak gulped.

An elder of Wudang who cannot normally be seen. The power of Wudang Elders in the Central Plains was by no means inferior to that of the top people of the merchant union.

Considering the power of the sect he was from, it was clear that there was more to things than shown.

However, despite this, this elder called Heo Sanja didn’t appear to be intimidating but had a humble side to him.

‘This is the prestigious Wudang.’

It was the moment when he could understand why the name of Wudang spread across the world and why everyone respected them as Taoists.

“B-But what is the visit for…?”

Song Tae-Ak, who spoke quickly, fell silent.

When a guest came to visit, talking while keeping them at the gate wasn’t polite. Normally, he wouldn’t make such a mistake, but he ended up making it because he subconsciously felt that they shouldn’t be allowed inside due to Mount Hua.

“Ahh.”

Elder Heo Sanja smiled softly as if he wouldn’t blame him for the mistake.

“I heard that Taoist disciples of the Mount Hua sect are currently staying here. Is that so?”

“…”

Song Tae-Ak couldn’t answer right away.

It was not only because what he had thought was turning out to be true but also because the eyes of Heo Sanja were saying that he knew the merchant was siding with Mount Hua and not Wudang anymore.

Although the eyes were gentle, he felt an inexplicable coldness. At that time, Heo Sanja asked.

“What is it?”

“Ah… yes, yes! They are. Inside… Mount Hua….”

Heo Sanja chanted something.

“I also heard Mount Hua took down the bandits and rescued people. As people who follow the same Tao, I thought that I should definitely visit them and express my gratitude, so I came running for a moment. If it is not inconvenient, could you let us meet the Taoists of Mount Hua?”

There was no way Song Tae-Ak could refuse when he came out like this.

“O-of course. Elder, please come in.”

“Immortal Buddha. Thank you.”

Song Tae-Ak glanced behind Heo Sanja.

Contrary to the words he said about thanking the Mount Hua sect, the faces of the Wudang sect disciples who were guarding behind him had a strange fighting force.

But what could he do?

He could do nothing since he was caught between Mount Hua and Wudang. All he could do was let them meet as instructed and pray to the gods of heaven and land that nothing would happen.

No, this time, he would pray to the heavenly father.

The Wudang disciples, led by Song Tae-Ak and Heo Sanja, entered the gate. And before they could even take a few steps, he made eye contact with Mount Hua’s disciples, who were seated inside.

At that, Song Tae-Ak felt discomfort.

‘Looking at it this way, it feels even worse.’

Was it because he felt this odd qi emanating from the disciples of Wudang?

Compared to the perfectly aligned Wudang who came in line, Mount Hua’s disciples were roughly slumped and looked more like thugs.

They were the same Taoist sects, so how could they be this different?

But if he had to find just one thing, it would be the eyes.

The eyes of Mount Hua’s disciples didn’t look any less dominant than those of Wudang.

No, rather…

“Uh?”

It was then.

Chung Myung, who was sitting in the middle like a gang leader, jumped up and ran, smiling brightly,

“Ehh! Elder! So long!”

He rushed over, grabbed Heo Sanja’s both hands and shook them up and down.

“Shit…”

“That idiot….”

Mount Hua’s disciples said what Song Tae-Ak wanted to.

“Hu, huhuhu, huhuhuhu.”

Heo Sanja, too, laughed out loud.

“It really has been so long, young Taoist.”

“Right, right! This is our first time seeing each other since we met at Sword Tomb; this is… how long has it been? As people get older, time must pass quickly, so I am not sure.”

That crazy fuck!

Song Tae-Ak’s face turned pale from shock. No matter how one looked at this, it wasn’t something that Chung Myung would dare say to this man, yet Heo Seonja seemed to be used to this nature of Chung Myung, and instead of anger, he was laughing.

“Right. It has been so long. I have longed to see you.”

“Yes. It is so nice to see you again. Huh, what relationship do we have? Still, we had crossed swords….”

Thud!

At that moment, Hyun Young’s fist landed on Chung Myung’s head.

“Do not act up and go behind there.”

“Ah! Elder! You didn’t have to hit….”

“You want to be hit more?”

“Leaving!”

Chung Myung ran back, covering his head and pouting. Heo Sanja laughed as if there was nothing he could do.

‘It really is not easy.’

He didn’t know if this was well thought out or if he was just happy to see the man. But thanks to this, the intimidation Wudang tried to build had cracked.

‘Still, it’s fine.’

Upon seeing Hyun Sang, Heo Sanja opened his mouth and stepped forward.

“Infinite Buddha.”

“Infinite Buddha.”

They exchanged glances and raised their heads to look at each other.

The moment their eyes made contact, gentle smiles formed on their faces. The air around them changed, and tension began to flow.