Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 361

“Taat!”

“Taaaat!”

“Ack!”

“Hee hee hee hee.”

Chung Myung beamed, watching the children training with a wide, almost greedy smile. The disciples of Mount Hua watched him with equally uneasy faces.

“Why is he like that?” one asked.

Another responded, “What do you mean? I thought he’d make them crawl from the moment they arrived, but he’s surprisingly docile?”

“Now that you mention it…”

Baek Cheon frowned, looking bewildered. “There’s no way that rascal would go easy on them just because they’re kids.”

But Chung Myung was in an unusually gentle mood, contrary to their worries.

‘How adorable,’ he thought.

Watching the children, their baby fat still evident, lined up and throwing punches filled him with satisfaction. ‘Why was I so hard on my martial brothers before?’

‘I don’t have to teach these ones,’ he realized.

Nephews and nieces are always more adorable than your own children because you don’t have to raise them. You just have to adore them.

How precious and delightful are these young disciples whom I don’t need to sweat over teaching?

Besides…

“Now, let’s stretch your hands out a little further,” Chung Myung instructed.

“Oho! That’s right! That’s good.”

“Don’t cry! You can’t become a strong man if you cry!”

He felt like applauding as he watched the disciples of the Hwayeong Gate, including the Gate Lord, guiding the children. The disciples of the Hwayeong Gate were handling the children as if it were their calling.

Well, how many years had the Hwayeong Gate Lord been running a martial arts school in Namyeong?

The more children they grabbed, the more money they could earn. Their desperate efforts to not lose any child who came through their doors were now shining brightly here.

On the other hand…

Chung Myung glared, his eyes narrowed. “You bunch of useless humans,” he said, and the disciples of Mount Hua flinched and turned their heads.

“How on earth do you manage to make all the kids cry and want to go home before even half a day has passed?”

“We were being gentle,” one mumbled.

“We really were being gentle,” another added.

“Shut up!” Chung Myung yelled.

The disciples of Mount Hua pouted as Chung Myung nagged. ‘That’s all thanks to who taught us!’ ‘We really were being gentle! Really!’

But unfortunately, what Mount Hua considered ‘gentle’ was too harsh for young children.

“Forget it. What can I expect from you lot?” Chung Myung glanced at the disciples of Mount Hua with the eyes of someone looking at freeloaders, then turned back to the children, his face softening again as he watched their tiny hands throwing punches.

‘That’s all money, that is,’ Chung Myung thought, his smile growing even more pleased.

Unlike the main disciples who, far from earning money, were draining the sect’s funds, these outer disciples were bringing in money while learning martial arts—the most valuable people!

The money they paid would fatten the outer family, and that outer family would then contribute to the main sect, completing the most beautiful system in the world.

So how could he not adore them?

Watching the children throwing punches like chicks, he felt full even without eating and not tired even without sleeping.

“Hee hee hee hee,” Chung Myung muttered, laughing out loud. “This is just the beginning.”

First, he would firmly establish outer sects in Seoan, centered around the Hwayeong Gate. And then, centered around Seoan, he would gradually increase the number of outer sects throughout the entire Shaanxi province.

“From Seoan to Shaanxi! From Shaanxi to the world!”

When all of that was achieved, Mount Hua could finally confidently assert that it had regained its past influence.

“We’ll make a fortune! Hee hee hee hee!” Chung Myung laughed heartily.

However, as always, things in the world don’t always go as planned.

‘Why does it feel like something’s missing?’ Chung Myung looked at the children training with suspicious eyes. ‘One, two, three, four…’

Empty.

It had only been three days since the children started training, but it felt like more than half of them were already gone.

No, it wasn’t just a feeling…

“Why, why are there fewer kids?”

The Hwayeong Gate Lord, who had been watching the training, gave an awkward smile. “The initial enthusiasm never lasts more than ten days. The children who remain after ten days are the ones who usually go all the way.”

“It’s only been three days?”

“Unfortunately, you must accept it, Elder. We’ll be lucky if half of them remain.”

Chung Myung turned his head to look at the Hwayeong Gate Lord with a blank face. Half?

‘Does that mean the money I earn will also be halved?’ His heart ached.

“Ah, no. Then my money…”

From the beginning, Mount Hua’s money had never been his money, but that was not something that entered Chung Myung’s mind.

It was then that two of the children who had been diligently training ran to where the Hwayeong Gate Lord and Chung Myung were.

“Um, excuse me, Gate Lord.”

“Hmm?” The children, their eyes slightly glazed over, spoke as he looked at them with a ‘what’s wrong?’ expression.

“When… when can we learn that sword technique that draws flowers?”

The Hwayeong Gate Lord smiled warmly at their cute voices. “Haha. So you want to draw plum blossoms. But that’s still too early for you. You need to wield a sword for at least ten more years to be able to draw plum blossoms.”

“Ah! Ten years?”

“Of course. You just need to work hard for ten years!”

“Yes! I’ll quit.”

“…Huh?”

“Ah, that was hard. Let’s go home.”

“Huh…?”

“Goodbye!”

“Huuuh?”

The children greeted cheerfully and left the Hwayeong Gate without looking back.

“…Huh?” The Hwayeong Gate Lord and Chung Myung could only watch their retreating figures with blank faces, unable to stop them.

Another day passed.

“…Why has the number of kids halved again?”

“…”

“This isn’t some battlefield; people are disappearing every time I wake up.”

“Gate Lord. What on earth is going on?”

“…Why are you telling me that…”

Watching the two men staring blankly at the training grounds, Jo Gul wore a bitter smile. “It seems they don’t know why they should be training so hard.”

“Huh?”

“If you think about it, it’s obvious. The kids who came here to join weren’t really interested in martial arts in the first place.”

“Why?”

“The kids who are interested have already joined Jongnam and Jongnam’s outer sects.”

“…”

Huh?

Chung Myung’s smile faded, his eyes widening in disbelief. ‘Huh?’

“So, we didn’t think about *this* part,” Jo Gul said, nodding slowly and scratching his head nervously. He looked around the mostly empty training yard. Only a few children were listlessly punching the air, their faces bored.

“What part?” Chung Myung asked, his brow furrowed. He watched a young boy pick his nose instead of practicing.

“Exactly,” Jo Gul sighed. “These kids… they don’t really *want* to train hard. Some are forced to come by their parents, you know? Others… others probably just liked the pretty plum blossoms when they signed up.” He gestured vaguely towards the blooming trees outside the yard.

“So… swords? What if we taught them swords?” Jo Gul suggested, a little unsure.

“Swords?” Baek Cheon sighed. “It’d be the same problem, Jo Gul.”

It was Baek Cheon who answered. His expression was slightly grave.

“We all know that Mount Hua is doing well, but there’s no reason to quit the dojang they’re already attending and come here. They can learn swordsmanship at the Jongnam’s affiliated clan they’re already attending.”

“B-but the swordsmanship is different.”

“True, but….” Yoon Jong joined in.

“Kids that age care more about their friends than flashy swordsmanship. They don’t want to be separated from their friends just to learn a different style of swordsmanship.”

“Friends?”

“Yeah.”

“What are friends?” Chung Myung asked, his brow furrowed in genuine confusion.

Silence fell over the group. Yoon Jong stared at Chung Myung, speechless. Baek Cheon closed his eyes briefly, a sigh escaping his lips.

‘This guy is hopeless.’

From the start, this fellow couldn’t understand those living ordinary lives.

“Okay, let’s be clear,” Baek Cheon said.

“Showing off our sword skills or making classes cheaper might help a little, but it won’t get us many new students. Not enough to take them from other schools.”

“After all, the opponent is Jongnam of the Nine Great Sects, and we haven’t returned to the Nine Great Sects yet.”

“Besides, half the people in Seo-an have ties to Jongnam.”

Chung Myung bared his teeth and growled.

“Stop stating the obvious! So, what’s the plan!”

“……There isn’t really a plan….”

“Aish!”

Unable to contain his anger, Chung Myung kicked Jo Gul in front of him.

“You lot have no plan, yet you keep saying things that make my blood boil!”

“Calm down, Chung Myung-ah.” Baek Cheon quickly restrained him.

“The number of students has decreased a bit, but it’s still not a small number. If we gradually increase it….”

“At this rate! By the time I become a hoary old grandfather, we might have a second affiliated clan! So-haeng will die before that!” Chung Myung gnashed his teeth. Then, with a sulky face, he said, “So, we need to show something distinctly different from Jongnam’s affiliated clan, right?”

“……That’s right. That’s what we need to do.”

“Then, shouldn’t we just go and smash the heads of the affiliated clan leaders?”

“……It doesn’t mean anything if you, a disciple of the main sect, do that. If you’re going to smash someone’s head, it should be the head of the Jongnam Sect Leader…. No, you’d have to smash his head, but Jongnam is in seclusion right now.”

“Ah, why does it have to be in seclusion at a time like this!”

“…….”

You were overjoyed that they were in seclusion at a time like this.

You spineless bastard.

Baek Cheon swallowed the words he couldn’t bring himself to say.

“Kkeueueueung.” Chung Myung clutched his head and pondered.

“Difference… a difference, huh? Something distinctly better than Jongnam…. No, what else is there besides being good at swordsmanship?”

Then, suddenly enraged again, he shouted, “I can understand those who don’t come! But what did the ones who came do to quit! Seriously, they have no grit! It wasn’t like that in my day! In my day!”

“I told you to calm down.”

Chung Myung, whose anger had subsided again, sighed. Getting angry didn’t exactly bring any brilliant ideas to mind.

Even the great Chung Myung couldn’t immediately come up with a solution to this problem.

‘I’ve done everything I can with the name of Mount Hua.’

In the end, both Jongnam and Mount Hua were sects that used swords.

No matter how hard they tried to differentiate themselves, it meant it was difficult to show a clear difference in the short term.

If only Jongnam hadn’t gone into seclusion, he could have chased after them and beaten them up to show the difference.

Even if Chung Myung, a disciple of the main sect, smashed the heads of the Jongnam affiliated clan leaders, it would only look like an adult bullying a child while the parents were away.

Wouldn’t that rather hinder them from gathering people?

“Kkeueueung. This has become a headache.”

“And as I said before, it would be better to teach swordsmanship quickly….”

“That won’t do.” Chung Myung said firmly.

“This is a matter of principle. Disciples of the affiliated clan basically have difficulty carrying swords around. It means it’s difficult to use swordsmanship immediately when a problem arises. We must teach hand-to-hand combat.”

“But no one wants to learn Mount Hua’s hand-to-hand combat, do they?”

“Kkeueung. That’s the problem.” Chung Myung sighed again.

If the newly received disciples of Hwayoung Moon showed some results, there would be people who believed and persevered, but right now, they were teaching hand-to-hand combat using swords as bait.

So, it was inevitable that they would have difficulty finding it interesting.

“We have to solve this somehow.”

But solutions didn’t just fall from the sky….

It was then.

“Hello? Anyone in here?” A deep voice was heard from the entrance.

“Huh?” Everyone inside turned their gaze to the entrance at once.

It was a voice they seemed to have heard somewhere, but who….

“Huh?”

“Eh?”

“Wh-what?”

The eyes of the Mount Hua disciples and Hwayoung Moon disciples, who had identified the person standing at the entrance, popped out.

No, that?

Th-that’s definitely… that?

A bluish-shaven head.

Red monastic robes.

A posture that seemed slightly airy but maintained its balance.

“Why is he here?”

The man at the entrance looked around, then met Chung Myung’s eyes and smiled brightly.

“Amitabha. Ah, Benefactor! It’s you! This humble monk is Hae Yeon! Do you remember me?”

“…….”

Chung Myung’s face, as he blankly watched the scene, was uncharacteristically bewildered. And after a moment, Chung Myung opened his mouth with a slightly dazed voice.

“……Sasuk.”

“Huh?”

“Why is that guy here?”

“……I wonder.” He rubbed his eyes a couple of times and laughed in disbelief.

“Heh…. Hee hee. A monk just rolled in.”

A solution hadn’t fallen from the sky.

“But I never expected him to walk in on his own.”

You have to live a good life.

“Sasuk.”

“Huh?”

“First, grab that bastard.”

“Huh?”

Chung Myung chuckled and got up from his seat.

“Found it, the solution!”

Meanwhile, Hae Yeon smiled contentedly and felt an unknown anxiety as he watched Chung Myung approaching him.

‘Did I come to the right place?’

No.

You came to the wrong place.