Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 810

Chung Myung scratched his ear. “So, um…,” he began.

“We just fight and defeat all the enemies here together?”

“Exactly.”

“Or if you’re squeamish,” Chung Myung continued, “we can watch you do your thing from behind and deal with anyone who is left?”

“Precisely.”

Jang Il-So smiled and nodded. Chung Myung, however, turned around with a puzzled look.

“This offer you are making…”

“Huh?”

Baek Cheon and the other Five Swords exchanged uneasy glances. What was he going to say now?

“That sounds like a good offer, but…,”

“Aaargh! Just shut up!”

“I told you not to!”

“Please! You little rascal, please!”

Seeing Chung Myung’s face, which looked genuinely tempted, the Five Swords all screamed in unison.

“Oh, come on.”

Chung Myung frowned and turned to look at Hyun Jong. Unlike the Five Swords, who were very much against it, Hyun Jong was simply looking at Chung Myung with deep eyes.

His eyes seemed to say, ‘Do whatever your heart desires, and Hwasan will always support your decisions.’

It was the faith that Hyun Jong showed in Chung Myung.

‘Aww.’

But Hyun Jong didn’t know.

That gaze, filled with unwavering faith, was precisely what stopped Chung Myung from acting recklessly.

Chung Myung glanced at the distant sky.

‘Sect Leader Sajong, our respected former leader.’

If Chung Mun was standing here, and Chung Myung was behind him, Chung Myung would have definitely suggested killing all those damned people from the Nine Sects at this opportunity.

If Chung Mun told him to be quiet, he would have answered back with a shout, but deep down, he would have tried to accept Chung Mun’s words.

But now, Chung Myung was not standing behind Chung Mun, but in Chung Mun’s place.

‘Making me think, aren’t you?’

Leading a sect meant putting yourself last.

It meant forgetting your own anger and desires. It meant living only for Hwasan.

Only now did he understand how heavy that task was.

“Hmm.”

Chung Myung, who had been gazing at the sky, sighed briefly and looked back at Jang Il-So.

Jang Il-So was watching Chung Myung with eyes so deep that one couldn’t even dare to look inside.

“Are you deaf or something? Do I have to say things two or three times?” Chung Myung chuckled.

“I told you I’d charge at you if you talked rubbish, didn’t I?”

Jang Il-So’s face twisted slightly.

“Rubbish?”

“This is why you shouldn’t associate with those Demonic Sect men.”

Chung Myung brushed his cheek once and stared intently at Jang Il-So.

“It’s only natural to hate the sight of the Nine Sects bastards. To be honest, I’d love to beat them to death right now if I could.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Still, you little rascal!” Chung Myung gritted his teeth fiercely.

“No father kills a man in front of his child! No brother tells his sibling that all that matters is achieving the goal, even if it means killing someone.”

“My way of life is mine. It’s not Hwasan’s! I have no intention of making Hwasan follow my ways. That’s hell.”

“I agree.”

“You can’t imitate it even if you want to.”

“Ugh, I don’t like it.”

Chung Myung glanced back, and the Five Swords cleared their throats, avoiding his gaze.

Chung Myung, who had been looking at them with an unhappy look, glared even more sharply at Jang Il-So. His eyes flashed with anger and contempt.

“That’s the way a person should live. You Demonic Sect bastard who doesn’t even know what morality is.”

The leader of a sect must be a role model for those who follow him.

‘Chung Mun would have definitely said this.’

And the most perfect Sect Leader he knew was, without a doubt, Chung Mun.

“Morality isn’t something you uphold hoping for a return. It’s not something you can abandon just because everyone else does. A Taoist is someone who cultivates himself. The most important thing isn’t how others see you, but whether you can be honest with yourself!”

“I’d rather shake hands with a passing dog than join hands with the Demonic Sect. At least they’re cute, aren’t they?”

Jang Il-So, who had been staring silently at Chung Myung, slowly opened his mouth.

“Morality?”

“Yes, morality.”

“I thought you’d be somewhat reasonable, but you’re spouting rubbish. Morality? What does it even mean?” Jang Il-So twisted the corner of his mouth.

“Morality is what people who have failed talk about! It’s the comfort of those who have nothing! The excuse of the cowardly. Those who hold the world in their hands don’t talk about morality. Only those who lack the courage to do so conform to the world and discuss morality!”

At those words, Chung Myung didn’t argue but slowly nodded.

“Well… you’re right.”

“Hmm?”

“You’re not exactly wrong.”

Jang Il-So looked at Chung Myung as if he couldn’t understand.

“Then why are you rejecting my offer?”

“You seem to be mistaken, but what I just said is what I had to say.”

“And what I want to say is something else.”

Clang.

Chung Myung slowly drew his sword from its scabbard. And he pointed the tip directly at Jang Il-So.

“Stop acting so chummy, you son of a bitch. Those who stood by are disgusting. The ignorant are hideous. But… the sins of those who stood by and the sins of the ignorant don’t even come close to yours.”

Flames ignited in Chung Myung’s eyes.

“From the moment Sajuk’s arm was cut off by the hands of the Ten Thousand People Clan, Hwasan cannot live under the same sky as them. I’d rather cut off my own wrist than join hands with you lot.”

“Heh…” Jang Il-So twisted his red lips as if he was dumbfounded and let out a burst of laughter.

“You’re petty. You’re going to throw away this opportunity because of personal grudges?”

“Of course, I’m petty. The most spiteful bloke in the world. So…” Chung Myung’s eyes emitted a murderous aura.

“I’ll make you feel that petty grudge properly.”

A sneer hung on Jang Il-So’s lips.

‘Foolish…’

Even if others didn’t know, Jang Il-So knew.

The intense grudge in Chung Myung’s eyes. And that grudge was by no means directed only at the Ten Thousand People Clan.

No, if it was a grudge, it might be even deeper towards those below.

He joked and spoke as if he was reciting something already decided, but even during this short time, a hellish torment must have been going on in Chung Myung’s heart.

Even so, the only reason Chung Myung came to this conclusion was this.

“Sect… Is that kind of thing so important?”

To Jang Il-So, the Ten Thousand People Clan was merely a tool to achieve his own goals. But to Chung Myung, even Chung Myung himself was merely a tool to revive Hwasan.

If he had intended to use Hwasan to satisfy his own grudges, he might have joined hands with Jang Il-So. But Chung Myung put aside his own grudges for the sake of the sect.

Even if he himself had to walk through hellfire, he showed the will to make Hwasan a sect that would definitely walk the righteous path.

It was understandable, yet he couldn’t accept it. It was almost an obsession close to being trapped.

“You poor bloke.”

To have the courage and position to shake the world if he only put his mind to it, and yet he couldn’t even wield that power to his heart’s content.

Pitiful and pathetic.

“But you’re just as foolish.”

Jang Il-So looked at Chung Myung with eyes full of contempt and sneered.

“The sect exists because I exist. The most important thing in the world is only me.”

“Ah, right. I used to think that way too.”

Chung Myung twisted the corner of his mouth.

“But now I know. There are things more important than me in this world. You, you moronic bastard, will never understand, though.”

Something he wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t lost it.

Something he realized because he had lost it.

No one, no one in the world, would ever take Hwasan away from Chung Myung again. No matter who it was!

“You’re impossible to talk to.”

Jang Il-So clicked his tongue with a slightly exaggerated face.

He and Chung Myung were clearly alike. But they were terribly different.

Jang Il-So couldn’t figure out where this difference came from.

“Disgusting.”

“Yeah. I find you disgusting too.”

Chung Myung also glared at Jang Il-So, his eyes burning with rage.

If he had entered Hwasan and not met Chung Mun, if he had not known the affection of his Sajong brothers and the preciousness of those who walked together, he might have grown up as an orphan with nowhere to belong, becoming a man like Jang Il-So.

That’s why he couldn’t bear to watch that sight. This was hatred for Jang Il-So and hatred for himself.

‘Hwasan was the most frustrating thing in the world to me.’

To him, Hwasan was everything and a shackle at the same time. It wasn’t just once or twice that he felt like the chains of Hwasan were tightly binding him.

If it weren’t for Chung Mun, he would have kicked Hwasan away long ago.

But…….

‘Only now.’

The fact that his Hwasan, which was so frustrating, no longer existed, caused unceasing sadness in his heart.

This was hatred for Jang Il-So and hatred for his past self.

‘I wondered why my stomach kept twisting every time I saw that bastard.’

It seemed it wasn’t just a grudge against Unam.

“So stop yapping and come at me. I’ll cut off that neck of yours.”

“Hahaha!” Jang Il-So laughed loudly as if he was amused.

Then, Man Geum-dae Boo chuckled beside him.

“Looks like it didn’t go well?”

“It’s not a big deal anyway.”

Jang Il-So waved his hand.

“I wouldn’t mind the Heavenly Union, but Hwasan isn’t even worth calling a force. I just wanted to make it a little easier……” Jang Il-So’s eyes, looking at Chung Myung and Hwasan, were now filled with indifference.

“If you refuse good wine and choose to drink poison, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll just have to twist your neck and force the wine down your throat.”

Jang Il-So lightly gestured towards Hwasan.

“Kill them all. Along with those below. Don’t let them interfere.”

“Understood!” The warriors of the Ten Thousand People Clan, who had been waiting behind the cliff, shouted and began running along the cliff.

Their destination was Hwasan.

“They’re coming!” At Chung Myung’s shout, the disciples of the Hwasan Sect simultaneously drew their Cold Steel Swords.

“Sect Leader!”

“Hmm.” Hyun Jong nodded and raised his voice.

“Defeat the villains! Hwasan does not compromise with injustice!”

“Yes, sir!” Un Am quickly followed and shouted.

“Cut the gunpowder fuses! We must prevent them from blowing up the cliff!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Chung Myung shouted.

“Sasook! Sago! Sahyung!”

“Right!”

“Prepare.”

“Is it now?”

“I’m already itching for it!”

Chung Myung smiled, revealing his pearly white teeth.

It didn’t matter.

It was enough for now that he had them behind him.

“We’re going in one go! Stick with me, ready to die!” Chung Myung began to dash towards the edge of the cliff. Behind him, Baek Cheon, Yu Yiseol, Yoon Jong, and Jo Gul followed as one.

‘Sect Leader Sajong.’

Now he knew.

Chung Mun wasn’t just a righteous person either.

He was also a person, so he couldn’t have been immune to his own desires, and he couldn’t have been free from impulses.

Even so, Chung Mun had to be endlessly righteous.

Because there was Chung Myung and other disciples watching his back.

And… now Chung Myung was walking that path.

“Let’s goooooo!”

From the tip of Chung Myung’s sword, which soared off the cliff, crimson plum blossoms bloomed like a dream.