Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 655

“Ugh…” Silence. Silence. The Mount Hua disciples were all ready. They stood together, looking at Chung Myung. They didn’t look happy. They swallowed hard.

‘What trouble will that guy make us do this time?’ ‘Look at his eyes! Scary!’ ‘Chung Myung, please just let us relax.’

But then Chung Myung said something surprising. Something no one expected. “I don’t really like saying this… but you have worked hard. I’ll give you ten days of rest. Do whatever you want. I won’t bother you for ten days.”

Silence. The disciples just stared, eyes wide. Chung Myung nodded slowly. No one understood what he meant.

“What’s he saying?” “Is he just talking crazy like always?” “He’s not really telling us to rest, is he?” “Maybe he means rest forever? Like, in a grave?” This showed how little the Mount Hua disciples trusted Chung Myung.

The disciples whispered and looked at him strangely. Chung Myung’s eyebrows went up and down. He gritted his teeth. “I said REST! I won’t bother you!”

“Won’t bother us?” They tilted their heads again and whispered together. “Is he going to attack us with his power without even moving?” “Or maybe he’ll just yell at us.” “That’s even worse…” “I’d rather believe in ghosts than trust him.”

A vein popped out on Chung Myung’s forehead. Okay, fine. He knew they might react like this. But how could they say all these things right in front of him?!

“I’m serious! Rest! Just rest!” “Hey! Just hit us! That’s better than feeling so worried!” “Yeah! Hurt us! Hurt us!” “What is wrong with these people?!”

Chung Myung got even angrier and tried to run at them, but Yoon Jong and Jo Gul calmly grabbed his arms. “This is what you deserve.” “You really are hard to trust.”

“Ugh!” Chung Myung gritted his teeth and yelled back. “Fine! It’s a break from now on! Do what you want! Rest or not!” He turned around quickly and walked away angrily.

Baek Cheon watched him and smiled a little sadly. He stepped forward. “He’s just being awkward. He’s trying to say something he’s never said before.”

“He must be awkward.” It would be less strange if a demon suddenly said, ‘I believe in peace.’

Baek Cheon looked at everyone and said, “Words are like running. If you keep running without stopping, you get tired. To go fast, you need to rest sometimes and know when to really focus.”

“Why didn’t you say that before?” “Huh?” “You never said that on the way to Mount Hua!”

Baek Cheon looked up at the sky, pretending not to hear. ‘These kids are getting cheeky.’ It wasn’t like this when I was young! “Ahem!” He cleared his throat and continued. “You must be very tired. So rest well. Because after this, you’ll be busy again.”

Silence. “Then.” Baek Cheon turned and walked away with the Five Swords. The other disciples just stared at them, confused.

“So…” Small whispers started. “He’s telling us to rest?” “I think so?” Some people looked towards the west without thinking. “Did the sun rise in the wrong place today?” Of course not.

Gwak-Hwi looked around, confused. His friends were lying all over the place. Their eyes were blank, and they looked sleepy. Just a little while ago, they were full of energy to fight the Wudang. Now, they looked like they had no energy at all.

“Um…” Gwak-Hwi waited a long time, then spoke slowly, looking unsure. “I don’t think ‘rest’ means we should just lie here like this, right?”

The others who were lying around like they were almost dead looked at him. “Then what?” “Well, you know… doing things we couldn’t do before, or having fun because we’ve been training so much…” “Oh, yeah. That’s right.” Baek-Sang nodded quickly. Even if Chung Myung didn’t know, Baek Cheon must have meant that kind of rest.

“I know, I know, but… there’s a problem.” “What is it?” Baek-Sang pointed with his chin at the other disciples lying behind him. Weak voices came from the Baek disciples.

“How do you even rest?” “Huh?” “No, what is rest anyway?” “Huh?” Gwak-Hwi’s eyes blinked fast. Even the Cheong disciples started talking. “Usually, after training, we wash, go to our rooms, and sleep. Isn’t that rest?” “How can we rest if we can’t sleep? I don’t get it.”

Gwak-Hwi stared at them, not knowing what to say. He covered his face with his hands. ‘I’m finished.’ These people were completely changed by Chung Myung. How could people not know how to rest when they were told to rest? Was that even normal?

“Thinking about it… I don’t think we’ve had a day off training in years?” “Um, Senior Brother,” A voice came quietly from behind. “I’ve been feeling really worried. Can I just go train a little?”

Baek-Sang frowned. “Didn’t you hear Baek Cheon? He said no training, just rest!” “Yeah, I know, but… I feel worried if I just do nothing…” “My muscles will get smaller if I don’t train.” “Today is leg day…”

Like a dam breaking, everyone who was lying down in the Hundred Plum Blossom Hall started to get up. Some people still thought they should rest like Chung Myung and Baek Cheon said.

“But shouldn’t we rest?” “What’s that?!” “I said rest!” “But how?!”

Gwak-Hwi smiled a little as he watched the hall get louder. The Mount Hua disciples were now so used to training that their bodies couldn’t rest if their minds were still, and their minds couldn’t rest if their bodies were still.

“Ah, forget it! I’m going to do some training!” “I’m going to climb the cliff two times!” “I’m going to practice swords!”

Baek-Sang was surprised and yelled to stop them. “No! I said rest, you guys!” “We need to train to rest!” “Huh?” Baek-Sang didn’t know what to say for a moment. He blinked.

“Resting isn’t just lying down! Rest is about feeling good in your mind!” “Y-yes, that’s right.” “My mind feels bad if I just sit here! I’d rather sweat and then rest!”

“Let’s go!” “Me too!” “Ah! I feel better now!” “We can rest when we die!”

The Baek and Cheong disciples ran out of the Hundred Plum Blossom Hall like they couldn’t wait to leave. They didn’t look back. Baek-Sang and Gwak-Hwi were left alone. They blinked in silence. Soon, loud shouts came from outside. Baek-Sang laughed out loud.

“Seriously, I don’t know what to say.” “Me neither.” “What are you going to do?” “Me? Well…” Gwak-Hwi looked around carefully and smiled nervously. “I’m a little worried about something, so I think I’ll practice my sword…” Baek-Sang looked up at the ceiling of the Hundred Plum Blossom Hall, looking sad. ‘Everyone is crazy.’ It would be easier to find someone who *wasn’t* crazy.

Chung Myung looked at the training grounds, his eyes empty. “Euraaaaaaaah!” “Kheu! I feel alive with weights on me! You need to sweat!” “Hey, move! Are you living here?!” “I have ten more! Count!”

Chung Myung blinked his big eyes. He got more and more confused. His head tilted to the side. “Dieeeeeeeeee!” “Hey! Respect your Senior Brother!” “Your waist! Weak waist! Are you even trying?” “Yeah! Let’s go all out today! Watch your head!” Swords flashed in the training grounds.

It was still normal for those doing weights or sword practice. But Chung Myung had no idea what the people doing bunny hops in the corner were thinking.

“Lower body strength!” “Strong sword from strong legs!” “Ten more laps!”

Chung Myung looked around. The Five Swords and Hye-yeon next to him were also staring, confused. “Didn’t I tell them to rest?” “Yes, you did.” “Did rest change meaning when I wasn’t looking?” “I don’t think so.”

Chung Myung watched them train for a long time and mumbled, “Are they all crazy? When I say train, they want to rest. When I say rest, they want to train. What am I supposed to do with them?”

The Five Swords all thought the same thing when they heard him complain. Chung Myung. Maybe your ‘training’ and ‘rest’ are too much? But no one dared to say it.

“No, wait, now I’m getting angry again! Are they going against me?” “They are your students and older brothers, you know!” “Anyone in Mount Hua can go against you!” “Except Soso!” “Soso is different!”

No one asked why Soso was different. It was just known, like the sky is blue and the sea is big. Soso was special.

Just then, Baek Cheon, who was watching the disciples, laughed softly. “I think I understand now.” “Huh?” Chung Myung turned to him, looking confused. But Yoon Jong answered instead.

“When you see how big the world is and realize you knew so little, even resting feels wrong.” Jo Gul made a face. “Ugh. That’s a bad feeling.” “They must have learned a lot on this trip. They probably all feel they need to train more and get stronger. So they can’t just sit still.” Baek Cheon nodded, agreeing with Yoon Jong.

But Tang Soso looked unhappy. “But rest is important too. People get hurt if they don’t rest.” “Let’s leave them alone for a little while.” “Grand Uncle!”

Baek Cheon smiled at Tang Soso. “You’re a fighter, so you know, people get much stronger when they really want to. They probably want to use what they learned in the fight and the competition.” “Hmm…” Tang Soso nodded, like she knew it was true.

“Just for a little while.” “Yes.” Baek Cheon smiled happily and looked at the disciples again, impressed. “Mount Hua will get stronger because everyone is training so hard.” “We shouldn’t be left behind.” “That’s right. We should start soon.”

“Hey, Senior Brother, let’s fight! I felt something new this time, but I can’t understand it yet.” “I’ll beat you easily.” “Oh? Let’s go!” “Yeah!” The Five Swords also got excited and ready to train.

This was what every teacher wanted: all their students training hard by themselves. But Chung Myung, watching from nearby, was twitching like something was wrong. ‘Are they all crazy?’ He finally understood, very clearly, what kind of crazy people he had made.