Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 24

Jo Gul anxiously looked outside.

A faint grey light was starting to appear far away, like a crack in the dark sky. It was almost dawn, but Chung Myung still wasn’t back. If he didn’t return by morning, the elders would realize he was missing.

Then there would be big trouble.

Leaving Mount Hua without permission was a serious offense for a disciple. What if Chung Myung was caught in his black night suit, coming back late?

‘It’s hell.’

He really didn’t want that to happen.

“Calm down.”

“But, Senior Brother.”

Yoon Jong shook his head.

“He’s not that stupid. He’ll be back before it’s too late. Unless something happened.”

And no matter how he thought about it, it didn’t seem likely that anything could happen to that monster. At most, he’d just be a little late.

“Still, you never know, do you?”

“True.”

If he were a normal person.

The moment Jo Gul stretched his head out the window, the door burst open.

“Tsk.”

Jo Gul and Yoon Jong’s heads snapped around.

“Chung Myung!”

The door burst open, and Chung Myung rushed in, a gust of cold night air following him. Holding his mask in one hand, Chung Myung closed the door and immediately stripped off his night suit. Then, he began to change into his training robes.

“Nothing happen, right?”

“We should be asking that. Did anything happen?”

“What could happen?”

Chung Myung smirked.

“I was well-treated and even got some travel money.”

“Fr, from whom?”

“What was his name again? Yoo… Anyway, there was someone. The owner of the cloth shop.”

“Huh?”

Jo Gul and Yoon Jong’s eyes widened. Seeing their reaction, Chung Myung, recalling the situation from earlier, chuckled.

‘Unbelievable, really.’

Yoo Jong-san quickly decided Chung Myung was from Jongnam and here to help Mount Hua. So, he easily told Chung Myung everything, even things Chung Myung didn’t ask for.

He even tried hard to etch his name into Chung Myung’s mind.

‘Seriously.’

It was nice that things were working out so easily, but on the other hand, he couldn’t help but feel bitter.

In Yoo Jong-san’s mind, Mount Hua was clearly missing from the list of prestigious sects. Even after seeing the sword techniques Chung Myung displayed, he didn’t think of Mount Hua.

Even though the Plum Blossom Sword Formation was no longer practiced and wasn’t the symbol of Mount Hua, Yoo Jong-san, who had lived in Hwaeum his whole life, should at least know that Mount Hua used to specialize in the Plum Blossom Sword Formation, shouldn’t he?

Considering Mount Hua’s current strength, he might have thought it impossible for someone of that age to possess such skill, but that didn’t make the bitterness go away.

‘Well, bitterness is bitterness, but thanks to it, things have become easier.’

He had started this with the intention of revealing his identity to some extent, but if it was completely hidden instead, wasn’t that a good thing?

“How did it go?”

“Tsk.”

At Jo Gul’s question, Chung Myung waved his hand.

“It’s not like you kids can do anything about it. Forget it.”

“You’re a kid yourself.”

“Whatever. Gather everyone. We need to train.”

“Today too?”

Chung Myung glared.

“Listen up, Senior Brother.”

“Huh?”

“Rain or shine, snow or wind, from today onwards, we will not miss a single day of training! Even if there’s a blizzard or a cold wave! Even if Mount Hua collapses, there will be no days off!”

Jo Gul nodded with a determined face.

‘This is what I’ve prepared for!’

Wasn’t this the reason he had decided to help and follow Chung Myung? If he could get stronger through training, he would do anything. Training without rest was exactly what he wanted.

“I’ll get them lined up right away. Then what about you…?”

“Ah. I’m not going.”

“Huh?”

Chung Myung turned to Yoon Jong with a nonchalant expression.

“You know how to train them, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“Make them do the same.”

“Then what about you?”

“I have something else to do.”

Chung Myung waved his hand dismissively, and Yoon Jong sighed.

“Alright. We’ll train by ourselves today. But this is only for this once, okay?”

Yoon Jong’s face turned slightly serious.

“Don’t forget that this training is possible because you’re here. If you’re not planning to do it properly, you need to be there.”

“I know.”

The reason why the third-generation disciples of the White Blossom Hall were doing such hard training without complaint was because Chung Myung was glaring at them. No matter how much Yoon Jong was the senior disciple, there was a limit to what he could do in Chung Myung’s place.

“Then.”

As Jo Gul and Yoon Jong left the room, Chung Myung flopped onto the bed.

“Now, what do I do?”

His head ached.

That damn justification.

If he could just sweep them away without worrying about what others thought, it wouldn’t be difficult, but as long as he was under the banner of Mount Hua, he couldn’t help but be conscious of other people’s opinions.

If what Chung Myung was doing only added to Chung Myung’s bad reputation, there would be no reason to hesitate. But that was impossible now. No one would think that Chung Myung was doing this alone.

It was common sense that someone of Chung Myung’s age couldn’t do such a thing alone.

Everyone would point fingers, saying that Mount Hua was using Chung Myung to do their dirty work and hiding behind a child.

That was not what Chung Myung wanted. He had to find a justification somehow.

“Justification. Justification, huh… Ugh.”

Chung Myung rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

“Does this even make sense! Damn it!”

In the first place, all those businesses were Mount Hua’s. And now he had to pay back the money to the guys who swallowed Mount Hua’s businesses! It was infuriating!

If he could just prove that those businesses originally belonged to Mount Hua, and that those bastards manipulated the books and swallowed the businesses while Mount Hua’s elders were gone, that would be enough. If that were the case, that measly ten thousand *nyang*, which was a lot of money? He would just pay it back.

No, he wouldn’t even need to pay it back. Because that money originally belonged to Mount Hua. What kind of unfair interest was he supposed to pay when the owner was taking back his own money?

So, if he could somehow prove that those businesses originally belonged to Mount Hua, everything would be solved…

“If that were possible, I wouldn’t be doing this.”

If there were ledgers, Mount Hua wouldn’t have been helplessly taken advantage of. Even when he was around, the kids who entered Mount Hua were exceptionally bright.

If there was evidence, there would be no reason not to reclaim them.

Judging from the situation, when the Demonic Sect attacked, the ledgers and everything else must have been destroyed…

“Is this also because of me?”

His stomach hurt. His stomach.

Chung Myung rolled around on the bed.

“No! Sect Leader, you should have kept such important things safe! Safe!”

How much money was involved! Just leaving it carelessly in your quarters…

“Huh?”

Chung Myung jumped up from his spot.

Carelessly?

‘Could it be?’

What kind of person was Sect Leader that he would keep such ledgers carelessly?

‘Let’s remember.’

Chung Myung wasn’t really interested in such things. He knew that money was needed to run the sect, but he thought that a true martial artist, a true Taoist, shouldn’t be attached to worldly possessions.

Looking at the kids in Mount Hua eating only porridge these days, he wanted to go back and smash his past self in the face, but anyway, that was how Chung Myung was back then.

That was why the Sect Leader didn’t show Chung Myung the ledgers. Whenever he was organizing the ledgers, he would quickly put them away when Chung Myung came.

“…Put them away?”

He always hid them quickly when I came in. *Hidden*. That’s the key word.

He tried to revive his hazy memories.

There were never more than three ledgers in the Sect Leader’s room. The ledgers needed to run Mount Hua would be at least dozens. So where did he keep all those ledgers?

‘There’s another place!’

The Sect Leader’s room was not a place to keep such things.

Although he was the Sect Leader of the great Mount Hua Sect, he was still a Taoist. The Sect Leader’s room was simple, with just a bed and a wooden table. Dust motes danced in the faint light coming through the paper window. If he tried to fill the chest in the Sect Leader’s room with ledgers, he wouldn’t be able to put anything else in it.

Besides, he had seen him open that chest a few times, but there were no ledgers inside. So where could the ledgers be?

“Then was that true?”

He had once heard that there was a secret storage that only the Sect Leader could enter in Mount Hua. It was little more than a rumor, but it was a fairly well-known story.

Chung Myung at the time could have found out the truth, but he didn’t really care, so he didn’t bother to check.

‘Wait. Come to think of it….’

A few things came to mind.

Since Mount Hua was a famous school representing Seoseo, strange things would sometimes come in. For example, demonic scriptures that people shouldn’t learn, or secret manuals from past masters. Sometimes, legendary swords or treasures would be acquired.

So where did all those things go?

Not the Scripture Repository. If they were in the Scripture Repository, Chung Myung couldn’t have missed them.

He didn’t sell them off either. There were a few things that would cause chaos in the Jianghu if they were released. If Sect Leader had sold those things off, Chung Myung couldn’t have missed it.

Then?

‘There is one!’

A storage where ledgers and treasures are kept.

And it’s not far from here.

He couldn’t leave Mount Hua to go in and out of the storage, so there must be such a place inside Mount Hua. A storage that no one knows about.

But is that possible?

To build a storage in a place where martial arts masters are as common as mosquitoes in summer and not get caught?

Chung Myung kicked open the door and came out.

There is only one place where that is possible.

First of all, the entrance must be inside the Sect Leader’s quarters. If the entrance is outside the quarters, it is impossible not to get caught.

A place where no one can enter without the Sect Leader’s permission. The only place like that in Mount Hua is the Sect Leader’s quarters.

‘The Sect Leader’s quarters haven’t changed from the past.’

Does that mean?

Chung Myung, who ran outside, widened his eyes.

Behind the building where the Sect Leader’s quarters are located, there is a gentle mountain ridge.

‘If he built a storage, it would be impossible not to be noticed.’

But there is one way to avoid the eyes of others even after building a storage.

That is to build the storage underground.

If he dug underground under the quarters and built a storage, it would have been detected by sensitive masters. But what if he made a passage and built a storage under that mountain?

“No one but a ghost would know.”

Chung Myung smiled grimly.

‘It’s there.’

Thinking about it, it’s strange.

Usually, in other schools, the building where the Sect Leader lives is located in the center of the school. That way, they can oversee everything.

Wouldn’t it be strange for the emperor to live in a corner of the imperial palace?

But the Mount Hua Sect Leader’s quarters are located in the deepest part of Mount Hua. And there is nothing behind it.

Only that!

Chung Myung grinned as he looked at the small hill behind the Sect Leader’s quarters.

“Looks like I’m going to be doing some treasure hunting that’s not in my destiny.”

He felt like he could feel Sect Leader foaming at the mouth from above.

“Please understand, Sect Leader. We have to save Mount Hua first, right? I’ll hand it over to the Sect Leader without touching it if I can.”

If I can. If I can.

After I take what I need.

If you feel wronged, come back to life.

“Hee hee hee hee.”

Chung Myung laughed triumphantly.