Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 57

“Got you!” Chung Myung grinned as he stood up. The man whose wrist he held tried to pull away, looking flustered, but Chung Myung didn’t let go.

“You monster!” Chung Myung exclaimed.

The door burst open, flooding the room with light. Hwang Jong-ui entered, his face stern.

Thud. Thud.

He spoke in a heavy voice, “What are you doing, Chief Manager?”

Beon Ja-bok, the Chief Manager of the Eunha Merchant Guild, turned around, looking embarrassed.

“L, Little Head Taoist!”

“I am asking what you are doing right now,” Hwang Jong-ui repeated.

Beon Ja-bok’s face twisted in anger.

“I was just checking on the Little Head Taoist’s condition…”

Chung Myung replied, not Hwang Jong-ui, “Ah, checking and trying to kill me at the same time?” He shook the Chief Manager’s hand he was holding.

“There must be a misunderstanding… Little Head Taoist, I was just checking on you!” Beon Ja-bok said quickly.

“Misunderstanding? I love misunderstandings too. Oof!” Chung Myung jumped to his feet.

Beon Ja-bok stared at Chung Myung, astonished.

“Y, you were clearly seriously injured…”

“Seems like it was a misunderstanding. I’m perfectly fine like this.”

“You were unconscious.”

“Ah. I haven’t been sleeping well lately. I had a good sleep for the first time in a while.”

Beon Ja-bok’s teeth were clenched.

“You deceived me.”

“Hey. You shouldn’t say things like that. You should be insisting it’s a misunderstanding as much as possible. If you say things like that, it’ll reveal that you were plotting something, mister.”

“You!” Beon Ja-bok tried to strike Chung Myung with his free left hand. But Chung Myung neatly dodged, released Beon Ja-bok’s hand, and jumped off the bed.

Then, without looking back, he walked towards Hwang Jong-ui.

“See? I told you he’d come out, right?”

“Hmm.” Hwang Jong-ui nodded, his eyes heavy.

“I doubted your words a little, but now I believe you. To think that the Chief Manager, whom I trusted most, was the culprit.” Hwang Jong-ui’s eyes, glaring at Beon Ja-bok, were icy cold.

Seeing that gaze, Beon Ja-bok knew no excuse would work. He glared at Chung Myung, his face stiff.

“How did you suspect me?”

“I didn’t suspect you,” Chung Myung shrugged.

“What?”

“I never guessed who the culprit would be. I haven’t been here long enough to know that. I just pretended to know how to treat Great Lord Hwang and lay down injured, thinking you’d come to kill me.”

“If I hadn’t come?”

Chung Myung smirked.

“Killing one person for the first time is hard, but after that, it’s easy. And if you kill me now, you can blame everything on Jongnam. You couldn’t miss that opportunity, right?”

“So you’ve already worked with Jongnam?”

Chung Myung looked at Beon Ja-bok with a sulky face.

“No, I haven’t?”

Beon Ja-bok’s face went blank.

“You haven’t?”

“Nope. They just picked a fight. I was wondering how to fix this, and they made it easy. How nice of them.”

Beon Ja-bok bit his lip tightly.

“But you were badly hurt! The doctor said you had serious internal injuries, almost dying!”

“If it was hard to trick a simple doctor, I wouldn’t have started. You keep asking obvious things.” Chung Myung shrugged.

“You have many questions, but I don’t care about them. What matters is you’re trapped. I know you killed Great Lord Hwang.”

“Hahahahaha.” Suddenly, Beon Ja-bok laughed loudly and turned to Hwang Jong-ui.

“Little Head Taoist, you don’t believe this kid, do you?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“You’re not acting like the wise Little Head Taoist I know. Doesn’t this child’s story miss something important?”

“Something important?”

Beon Ja-bok nodded.

“Yes. The fact that I tried to hurt this child doesn’t prove I killed the head of the family. Why would I do that? What hasn the head of the family done for me? That’s why you didn’t suspect me, right?”

“Hmm.” Hwang Jong-ui hummed.

It was a predictable excuse, but not entirely wrong.

“Then why did you try to kill the Little Head Taoist? Why did you hide that you knew martial arts?”

“This child is tricking the Little Head Taoist! The best doctors couldn’t cure the Head of the family. How could this young brat do it?”

“Then you should have tried to persuade him!”

“Would you have listened? You were out of your mind! Crazy people never listen! Killing this child was the only way to bring the Little Head Taoist back to his senses! Only then could the treatment for the Head of the family continue!”

A murmuring sound was heard.

Hwang Jong-ui turned his head slightly. The servants, drawn by the noise, were whispering. They seemed to think Chief Manager Beon Ja-bok’s words weren’t entirely wrong. Though the voices were quiet, their faces showed it.

Beon Ja-bok’s words were persuasive.

“Are you done talking?” Chung Myung stepped forward, breaking the mood.

Beon Ja-bok glared at Chung Myung.

“It’s true I tried to kill you, but I never murdered the Head of the family. You also…”

“Ah, ah.” Chung Myung waved his hand, stopping Beon Ja-bok.

“Okay, okay. I don’t want to know the reasons, and I don’t want to hear the excuses. Why bother with such annoying things?”

“What?”

“I’ll just beat you up!” Before anyone could stop him, Chung Myung rushed towards Beon Ja-bok.

He reached out his right hand, aiming for his head. Chung Myung’s hand glowed brightly. Beon Ja-bok, knowing the power in that hand, panicked and tried to block it.

Wham!

The two hands met, and Chung Myung stepped back.

“Now, pay attention!” He raised his right hand high.

“Th, that!” Those who saw his hand couldn’t believe their eyes.

The black mark near Chung Myung’s wrist was clear. It seemed to fade, but then it turned Chung Myung’s entire wrist bright red.

Everyone held their breath as Chung Myung spoke slowly.

“It’s called the Crimson Demon Hand.” Chung Myung shook his hand slightly, as if showing it off.

“Those struck by the Crimson Demon Hand at a high level die within half a day, their bodies turning dark red. This isn’t that strong, but it can still kill someone. Especially an ordinary old man who doesn’t know martial arts. It would be easier than eating porridge.”

As Beon Ja-bok started to say something, Chung Myung attacked first.

“If anyone else could use the Crimson Demon Hand without being suspected by Great Lord Hwang, I’ll believe you didn’t do it.”

That was the final blow.

The eyes of those watching were filled with anger. Seeing is believing. No one trusted Beon Ja-bok more than what they saw.

The change in Chung Myung’s hand was the same as Great Lord Hwang’s symptoms.

“Th, that! You ungrateful dog!”

“To kill the Head of the family and act as Chief Manager!”

“He doesn’t deserve to live!”

Hwang Jong-ui no longer hesitated.

“Chiiiiief Maaanaaager!” His angry voice echoed.

“Seize the Chief Manager! Kill him if he fights back!”

At Hwang Jong-ui’s command, the servants rushed in. Beon Ja-bok bit his lip and shot energy at them.

“Aaaah!”

“Ugh! Ack!”

Those entering the room were hit by Beon Ja-bok’s energy and fell back.

“Damn it, it was almost over!” Beon Ja-bok glared at Chung Myung.

“If it weren’t for this brat!”

“Hey, that’s rude to the listening brat.” Chung Myung pouted.

He wasn’t a brat, but it felt bad to be called one.

“If I had waited, my revenge would be complete! If I knew this would happen, I would have killed him sooner! I was only trying to trick that foolish Little Head Taoist…”

“Ah, ah.” Chung Myung waved his hand.

“Well, you have your reasons, but talk about that later at the police station. Let’s finish this. I woke up from a nap and I’m still sleepy. I need to beat you down and go back to sleep.”

“Beat me down?” Beon Ja-bok laughed wildly.

“Hahahaha! This young brat is too confident. Even after saying I know the Crimson Demon Hand, you think you can beat me? You?”

“No.”

“Huh?”

“Eh. I can’t do that. Someone else will. Over there.” Chung Myung pointed behind him.

Everyone looked.

“Me?” Lee Song-baek, watching from behind, pointed at himself, confused.

“Me?”

“Oh. The hero of Jongnam will defeat the evil villain. Please be careful.”

“Ah, no, me?”

“Who else is here?” Chung Myung widened his eyes. Lee Song-baek realized that since Gi Mok-seung and his disciples had left, he was the strongest one there.

“Wh, why me…” Lee Song-baek asked, feeling wronged. Chung Myung nodded to the side. Lee Song-baek saw Hwang Jong-ui staring at him.

‘Ah, right!’ This was his chance to fix his mistake! Looking back, he wasn’t sure it was a mistake, but still!

“The Jongnam sword will deal with the evil villain!” Lee Song-baek drew his sword and rushed forward. Chung Myung quickly stepped aside and clapped.

“Oh. The hero!”

He wanted to tell him to shut up, but Lee Song-baek was too busy fighting.

Chung Myung walked to Hwang Jong-ui, leaving the two to fight.

“I’ve solved one problem.”

“Isn’t it over yet?”

“He’ll be caught soon. He’s from a famous sect, so he can’t lose to someone who hasn’t learned martial arts.”

“Hasn’t learned? You said earlier…”

Chung Myung held out his hand to Hwang Jong-ui, hiding it from others.

His hand turned black, then white, then red.

“I didn’t lie. He knows the Crimson Demon Hand. I just showed you the future level.”

“Huh…” Hwang Jong-ui laughed weakly and asked, “Are you really a Taoist?”

“Of course. I’m the most experienced Taoist in the world, you know.”

Huh?

I’m serious, you know?

Eh.