Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 141

Day had broken.

“Heave-ho!”

Feeling refreshed, Chung Myung jumped up and threw the window open wide.

“Perfect day!”

Sunlight flooded the room, warm and golden. Chung Myung grinned, letting the tickling warmth chase away the last of sleep.

He felt wonderful.

The thought of the bright future awaiting Mount Hua filled him with energy. He twisted his back to loosen up, then energetically opened the door and stepped outside.

“You’re up early.”

“Huh?”

Chung Myung’s eyes widened slightly.

Wi Lip-san, looking different from yesterday, was sweeping the courtyard.

“The Sect Leader is sweeping the yard himself?”

“Haha.”

At Chung Myung’s words, Wi Lip-san offered a gentle smile.

“I feel reborn since yesterday. I’m trying to remember this new feeling by taking care of the most basic things first.”

“Hmm. Good for you.”

Chung Myung smiled pleasantly.

Sweeping the yard might seem like a small thing for the Sect Leader to do. But Chung Myung saw it as a sign. Wi Lip-san was serious about changing things at Hwayeong Mun.

“Did you sleep well, Little Taoist?”

“I slept soundly for the first time in a while. I feel very refreshed.”

Wi Lip-san sighed quietly.

‘Could that be?’

Chung Myung had been treating Wi Lip-san until dawn last night. He had only returned to his room a mere one and a half hours ago, so even if he had slept, it would have been for barely an hour.

How could anyone feel refreshed after sleeping for only one hour out of twelve?

‘How shameful.’

Wi Lip-san had judged Chung Myung based on his appearance alone, thinking he might be a troublemaker disrupting Mount Hua. But looking back, Chung Myung had led his martial uncle and brothers to save Hwayeong Mun, and even healed Wi Lip-san’s internal injuries.

Moreover…

‘Someone with such a pure aura… how could I have thought he was just a troublemaker!’

Chung Myung’s aura was a Taoist energy unlike anything Wi Lip-san had ever felt. Coming into direct contact with that clear and pure energy changed his perception of the man. He felt utterly ashamed for having thought ill of someone with such an aura.

‘I had no eye for people.’

Wi Lip-san gazed at Chung Myung with a very pleased look.

The Divine Dragon of Mount Hua, indeed a dragon-like figure! He didn’t easily reveal himself and concealed a power that made the title of Divine Dragon far from shameful.

Now that Wi Lip-san saw Chung Myung in a good way, everything about him seemed good. Even his bright personality and… well, he was actually quite handsome, Wi Lip-san thought with a smile.

Chung Myung looked around and asked.

“Have my martial uncles and brothers not come out yet?”

“No one has emerged except for you, Little Taoist.”

“The sun is already high in the sky!”

“……”

High?

Wi Lip-san rubbed his eyes.

No matter how he looked, the sun had only just risen…

‘He must be the kind of person who works hard every day,’ Wi Lip-san thought, impressed.

Wi Lip-san was now inclined to think positively of anything that came out of Chung Myung’s mouth, but he was making one significant mistake.

That aura and personality were entirely unrelated.

To assume that someone with a pure Taoist aura would also possess a personality that followed the profound meanings of Taoism was a delusion of those who had not truly experienced Taoism.

And this was especially true in Chung Myung’s case.

“Tsk. I told them to finish by morning!”

Chung Myung marched towards the main building.

“Where are you going?”

“Ah, I have something I asked my martial uncles and brothers to do.”

Huh?

Who asked whom to do what?

Wi Lip-san tilted his head.

‘Did I mishear?’

Perhaps he had misheard.

While Wi Lip-san was sorting out his thoughts, Chung Myung swaggered towards the main building. Without hesitation, he threw open the doors.

“Did you solve… what is this?”

Chung Myung’s eyes widened.

A bizarre scene unfolded before him.

Scritch scritch! Scritch scritch!

Baek Cheon, his eyes bloodshot, was furiously scribbling something on a long scroll with a fine brush. The paper that had spilled onto the floor was already filling the space.

“No, this isn’t it. This… this shouldn’t be like this.”

Snap! Snap!

One hand was writing something down at a terrifying speed, while the other was in his mouth. He was nervously biting his thumbnail and trembling.

“This shouldn’t be like this… what should come out of this?”

Chung Myung stared blankly at Baek Cheon before turning his head.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Jo Gul was sitting at the table, repeatedly banging his head against it.

“I’m trash… I’m trash… I’m trash… I’m trash…”

“……”

Yoon Jong was clutching the Jangbo map and tearing at his hair. The hair he had pulled out was piled up on the floor.

And Yoo Iseol was huddled in a corner, muttering something with a gloomy expression. The area around her seemed particularly dark.

“……No, what in the world are you all doing?”

Chung Myung shouted in bewilderment, and the four of them simultaneously raised their heads to look at him. Then, they let out a deep, deep sigh.

“Still stuck?”

“Impossible! Just… impossible.”

Baek Cheon said, his voice trembling slightly as he chewed on his thumbnail.

“I’ve been praised as a prodigy countless times, but this has no answer.”

“Really?”

Baek Cheon nodded heavily.

“This cannot be solved by anyone short of a genius. There are probably no more than three people in the world who can solve this. I guarantee it!”

“The Wudang solved it, though?”

“Really?”

“……”

Baek Cheon cleared his throat quietly.

“……It seems Wudang has a remarkable genius.”

Chung Myung’s face turned sour.

“The Wudang bastards solved it, but Mount Hua can’t?”

“Who said that! There might be someone among the martial uncles who can solve it. But there isn’t enough time or manpower to solve it here!”

“Hmph.”

Chung Myung turned his head slightly. Not only Baek Cheon but the others were staring blankly into space with lifeless eyes. It didn’t seem like they could solve it even if given more time.

‘This won’t do.’

“Anyway, Wudang may solve it, but we can’t. This is beyond our capabilities. We need someone who has studied it professionally.”

“Someone who studied what?”

“Mechanical contraptions or formations.”

“Ah, so someone who studied that can solve it?”

“Probably. So we need to find them quickly!”

“Here?”

“……”

Baek Cheon unconsciously turned his head towards the window.

‘Ah, this is Nanyang.’

It would be difficult to find someone who specialized in that even in the provincial capital. There was no way there would be someone like that in this rural area.

“……Shouldn’t we go to a bigger city now, even if it’s late?”

“Now?”

Chung Myung’s head tilted to the side.

And Yoon Jong flinched back at the angle of his head. He looked even more mischievous than usual. This meant Chung Myung was truly angry.

Chung Myung’s eyes began to gleam.

“The Wudang bastards will be swarming here like a pack of dogs soon. What? Go to a big city to find someone to decipher it?”

“……”

Baek Cheon’s heart sank.

It wasn’t that he was afraid of Chung Myung getting angry. It was true that Chung Myung was reckless, but he wasn’t the type to pick on people for no reason.

The reason Baek Cheon was scared now was very simple.

He could see Chung Myung’s eyes slowly turning. After showing that face, there was no telling what that bastard would do.

“I-Isn’t there no other way?”

“Oh, really? There’s no other way?”

Chung Myung curled up the corner of his lips. The disciples of Mount Hua flinched at that wicked smile.

“Wh-What are you going to do?”

“Let’s sort things out.”

Chung Myung reached out his hand, and Yoon Jong quickly handed over the Jangbo map he was holding.

“Is this the real thing?”

“It seems to be. It’s difficult to understand, but there’s some kind of rule to it. If we had time, we could figure it out somehow… but it’s impossible right now.”

“So it’s the real thing.”

Chung Myung stared intently at the Jangbo map.

“Then it’s probably true that Wudang solved the Jangbo map.”

“……”

“Well, we can’t even solve this one thing, so we’re stuck in Nanyang and don’t know where the Sword Tomb is. The Wudang bastards will have arrived at the Wudang Sect by now, so they’ll be swarming into Nanyang in a few days, right? Isn’t that right?”

“……”

Chung Myung’s face grew increasingly serious.

“So we’ll be left watching Wudang get stronger while we do nothing, watching the Wudang bastards eat the Honwon pills and get stronger, is that what you’re saying?”

Wudang and Honwon pills.

That was the most terrifying combination Chung Myung had ever heard.

Wudang and Shaolin primarily use martial arts centered around powerful internal energy. What if those bastards gained even stronger internal energy?

That would be truly hopeless.

Even Mu-jin, whom he fought yesterday, was like that. If that bastard ate the Honwon pills, his internal energy would increase, and if that happened, the disciples of Mount Hua, except for Chung Myung, wouldn’t even be able to put up a fight against Mu-jin’s overwhelming internal energy.

“Hmph.”

Chung Myung frowned.

‘What should I do?’

As Chung Myung seemed deep in thought, Yoon Jong sighed and opened his mouth.

“Chung Myung.”

“Yeah?”

“This is unavoidable. We can’t fight Wudang on our own, can we?”

“……”

“Let’s give up this time…”

“What did you say just now, martial brother?”

“Huh? Let’s give up…”

“No. Before that.”

“……We can’t fight Wudang on our own.”

“On our own. Yes, on our own.”

Chung Myung’s eyes lit up as if he had realized something.

“We can’t stop them on our own…”

Chung Myung curled up the corner of his lips.

“Then we just need to not be on our own!”

“Huh?”

“Let’s make this bigger!”

Yoon Jong and Baek Cheon looked at Chung Myung with eyes that seemed to ask, ‘What is this bastard trying to do again?’

Chung Myung kindly answered that gaze.

“We can’t stop Wudang on our own anyway. If they know I beat Mu-jin, Wudang will come out with all their might.”

“That’s right.”

“Then it’s better to make the situation bigger!”

“How?”

“We release the information that there’s a Sword Tomb here to the world.”

“……”

Baek Cheon stared blankly at Chung Myung.

‘Is this bastard crazy?’

The existence of the Sword Tomb was invaluable with just that information alone. It was like a treasure that couldn’t be exchanged for billions.

But now, after finally obtaining it, he was saying he would spread the rumour all over the place?

“Th-That…”

“Ah, no, wait a minute!”

Yoon Jong raised his hand to stop Baek Cheon.

“It sounds crazy, but if you think about it, it’s not wrong. We can’t stop Wudang if they come here anyway. But what if several sects come here at the same time?”

“……They’ll keep each other in check.”

“That’s right!”

Yoon Jong narrowed his brows and said.

“Then there’s a slight chance. We can aim for the spoils. If Wudang excavates the Sword Tomb alone, we won’t have a chance to intervene… but if other sects all gather, there will be a chance! And…”

Yoon Jong glanced at Chung Myung.

“There’s also a bastard who will have the most fun rampaging in the chaos, isn’t there?”

Baek Cheon bit his lip.

‘Baek Cheon felt like he was surrounded by madmen.’

But it was already a certain outcome.

Baek Cheon, who had quickly thought things through, looked at Chung Myung.

“Okay, okay, crazy plan. But *how* do we tell everyone? You gonna stand on a street corner and yell, “Sword Tomb here!”?’”

“Who would believe that?”

“Then? We don’t have time!”

Chung Myung shrugged.

“No one will believe us no matter how much we talk. We need someone reliable to spread the word for us.”

“Who is that?”