Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 960

Plop! Plop! The carts finally stopped, and the Mount Hua disciples fell to the ground like puppets with cut strings. It was a scene that deserved cheers, if anyone had the energy left to cheer.

“Keeeugh…” one groaned, face down in the dirt.

“I-It’s… over…” another gasped.

“Finally… finally, this blasted…” a third trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

They had traveled between Hugang and Wuhan many times each day. Finally, they had moved all the refugees who wanted to come to Sichuan to this manor. The manor stood before them, a large, grey building, smelling faintly of dust and river mud after their long journey.

“I can’t do that again. Never again.”

“Tell me about it.”

The Mount Hua disciples shuddered.

Of course, some might wonder, how could it be so difficult for martial artists, so well-trained in stamina, to simply travel back and forth between Wuhan and Hugang?

Traveling back and forth wouldn’t have been so bad *if* it was just traveling. But there was a voice like thunder cracking behind them, urging them on.

“Tsk!”

The demon, Chung Myung, jumped off the luggage piled on the cart and looked around with a very displeased expression.

“What’s so hard about it, tsk.”

“…”

“I think we could go one more time,” Chung Myung said.

“It’s over, you little punk!” one disciple yelled.

“We checked *every single* village!” another cried.

“We even carried the dog from the doghouse! What more do you want us to move!”

“Kill me! Just kill me!”

The Mount Hua disciples shuddered, foaming at the mouth, as Chung Myung clicked his tongue as if disappointed.

If there was even a little room for it, he would have made these useless fellows run one more time, but alas, even Chung Myung could see that there was nothing left to move.

Just then, Hyun Jong, who had gotten off the cart, looked down at his disciples with a pitiful expression.

“You’ve all worked so hard,” Hyun Jong said gently.

“Not at all, Sect Leader!”

“It’s our duty, of course!”

The Mount Hua disciples, who had been collapsed, jumped up from their spots and answered. Seeing this, Chung Myung’s cheeks puffed up.

“Wow, look at you all discriminating against people.”

“How can we not discriminate!”

“Of course, we should discriminate!”

“That crazy bastard now wants to be treated the same as the Sect Leader!”

“That disrespectful bastard!”

Listening to the outburst of complaints, Chung Myung tilted his head.

‘I should do some exorcism soon.’

When they were kept inside and trained hard, they listened well. But now that they’ve been outside and seen the world, they are starting to become less obedient again. In times like these, he needed to stick a large needle into their puffed-up livers and burst them.

“Hyun Young.”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

“Is it really all finished?” Hyun Jong asked.

At Hyun Jong’s question, Hyun Young took out a ledger and checked it, flipping through the pages.

“Yes, Sect Leader. Everyone has completed their relocation preparations without exception. Even the commoners who additionally wanted to go with us have all crossed over to Wuhan, and we have checked with those who remain one more time, so there is nothing more to do.”

“Hmm. I see.”

Hyun Jong’s expression was not very bright.

Mount Hua had done its best and done everything it could, but even so, there were still many who wanted to remain on the Yangtze River. Therefore, he couldn’t simply be happy that he had finished his work.

But he couldn’t show such feelings in front of his disciples who had worked so hard. Hyun Jong nodded with a gentle smile.

“Everyone has worked hard, so let’s rest well for a while.”

“Yes! Sect Leader!”

“T-Thank you!”

The disciples’ eyes welled up at the warm words.

However, Chung Myung seemed displeased that Hyun Jong had given them a break, and he kept grumbling.

“No, what did they do to rest… They haven’t even been able to train, so if they’re done with the chores, they should train now. The sword will rust. You have to train when you’re exhausted like this so that the sword doesn’t falter when it’s really tough later on…”

“Hahaha!”

Hyun Jong skillfully buried the grumbling with a loud laugh.

Chung Myung couldn’t keep arguing with the Sect Leader. So, he began to glare at the disciples who were constantly watching him.

The Mount Hua disciples trembled at his wild eyes.

‘Look at him, look at him.’

‘Look at those eyes.’

‘That wicked bastard. Oh, ancestors. That bastard is back to his old tricks.’

Hyun Jong pulled Chung Myung, who was glancing at the Mount Hua disciples with the eyes of a snake hunting its prey.

“You go in and rest a bit too.”

“Keeugh.”

Chung Myung made a groaning sound, unable to let go of his lingering regrets. At that moment, Tang Gunak, who came out of the manor, smiled faintly as he looked at the now familiar sight of Mount Hua.

“You’ve worked hard, Alliance Leader.”

“Not at all. It wasn’t hard work…”

Hyun Jong glanced at his disciples, who had become rags, and then covered his mouth and cleared his throat. Looking at their state, he couldn’t say that it wasn’t hard work, even as a platitude.

Tang Gunak looked at the Mount Hua disciples and asked. To be exact, he glanced at Chung Myung and the Five Swords.

“Then, are you thinking of returning to Shaanxi now?”

“Hmm, I don’t know.”

Hyun Jong sighed softly with a slightly troubled face. Weren’t they originally here at the request of the Dang family for support? It could be said that their work here was now finished.

But there were many things holding him back from returning to Shaanxi as it was.

“I’m still worried about those who remain on the Yangtze River.”

“Sect Leader.”

Tang Gunak shook his head.

“How could I not know the Sect Leader’s heart? But… as the Sect Leader also knows, if we fight to save them, we will inevitably become involved in the affairs of the Yangtze River.”

“Hmm.”

“Isn’t that different from what we intended?”

“I know. I know, but…”

Hyun Jong glanced somewhere. At the end of his gaze was Chung Myung, standing and looking south towards the Yangtze River. Recently, Chung Myung had been staring blankly at the Yangtze River like that more often.

‘He must have a lot on his mind,’ Hyun Jong thought. He felt a slight worry about Chung Myung’s true feelings.

There are times when the direction one’s heart moves and the direction one’s head moves conflict. Perhaps Chung Myung is in such a situation now.

The more it is like this, the more he, as the Sect Leader, must steady his heart. There is no deviation from Chung Myung’s words that they should not interfere in the affairs of the Yangtze River.

“I think we should return.”

“Yes, Alliance Leader. The Dang family also intends to lead those here to Sichuan.”

“That would be the right thing to do.”

Hyun Jong nodded quietly.

In the end, that would be the natural order. Now that they had once crossed swords with Shaolin, they would not be able to face them and do anything.

“We will rest and reorganize a bit before going to Shaanxi.”

“Yes, please do so.”

Tang Gunak smiled faintly. Originally, it was the Dang family that had lingering attachments, but as they were now relocating a large number of those who were friendly to the Dang family to Sichuan, those attachments seemed to have faded a lot.

He, too, would feel the regret, but it couldn’t compare to simply letting go and leaving.

“Yes. Then…”

It was just then, as Hyun Jong was about to call his disciples and head inside the manor.

“Hmm?”

Tang Gunak’s head turned to one side. He had sensed the presence of people rapidly approaching this way.

‘Martial artists?’

Judging by their speed and momentum, they were by no means ordinary people.

Hyun Jong and the Mount Hua disciples also sensed the presence and stood up from their spots, watching that way.

And.

Whoosh!

A person appeared, breaking through the dense thicket as if to shatter it. Tang Gunak couldn’t hide his surprise for a moment as he confirmed the face.

“Elder Jao, is that you?”

The one who appeared at the head of the group was clearly Jao Gae, an elder of the Beggars’ Sect. They weren’t exactly on friendly terms, but there was no way he, the head of the Dang family, wouldn’t recognize an elder of the Beggars’ Sect.

“What brings you here…”

Moreover, his appearance was strange.

Rags were synonymous with the Beggars’ Sect. But Jao Gae wasn’t wearing a top. What was even stranger was that the other Beggars’ Sect members who appeared behind him were also only wearing pants.

“Hoo! Hoo!”

Jao Gae wiped the sweat that flowed down his face with one hand.

“Family Head.”

And he also turned his gaze to Hyun Jong, who stood beside Tang Gunak.

“Sect Leader.”

He opened his mouth with a rather stern face.

“I have brought someone who wishes to see the two of you.”

“Yes?”

As soon as those words ended, a man struggled to get off the back of a sweat-soaked Beggars’ Sect member. He used the sword he was holding as a cane, as if he didn’t have the strength to support his body.

Everyone who saw him gasped. It was not enough to say that his appearance was miserable.

His clothes were soaked and stuck to his body with dark red blood. The flesh visible through the torn clothes was covered with terrible wounds.

His hair was disheveled and flowing down, and his blue lips were dry and twisted, cracked in places.

At first, everyone here couldn’t recognize him. It was difficult to connect that disheveled appearance with his usual splendid and handsome self.

But someone who had been staring at his somewhat familiar figure for a long time gasped and muttered like a groan.

“Namgoong…”

Those who heard the words widened their eyes.

“Namgoong… Dowi.”

Everyone who belatedly realized his identity sent a look of astonishment.

No one was wondering why Namgoong Dowi, who should be on Plum Blossom Island, was here. They were just staring intently at Namgoong Dowi’s eyes, visible through his flowing hair.

Thud.

At that moment, Namgoong Dowi took a difficult step.

Thud.

Before he could even take two steps, he staggered, and a Beggars’ Sect member flinched as if to support him without realizing it. But he soon bit his lip and withdrew his hand. Because he knew that he shouldn’t help Namgoong Dowi now.

Thud. Thud.

The sword, which was like life to the swordsman, repeatedly struck the dirt floor, but no one could point fingers.

Because everyone could know how much pain Namgoong Dowi was overcoming to take that one step.

Thud. Thud.

Each step was slow and painful, like it might stop at any moment, but it kept going. Finally, the steps stopped in front of someone.

In the silence, Namgoong Dowi and Chung Myung’s eyes met.

Namgoong Dowi’s eyes, which were constantly flickering as if begging for something, and Chung Myung’s eyes, which were looking at him without the slightest tremor.

“Dojang.”

Thud.

Namgoong Dowi knelt down on the spot as if collapsing.

The Mount Hua disciples, who had initially tried to run to him, thinking he had fainted, soon stopped in their tracks.

Namgoong Dowi, who was kneeling and looking up at Chung Myung, slowly bowed his head to the ground.

From his mouth, which was precariously kneeling as if about to collapse, came a cracked voice.

“Help…”

“…”

“Please help me.”

Everyone closed their eyes.

Baek Cheon, Yu Yiseol, Yoon Jong, Jo Gul, Tang Soso. Even Hyun Jong and the elders, and the Yunjae generation and other Mount Hua disciples.

It was too painful to calmly watch that sight.

“Namgoong…”

A voice like scraping metal continued softly.

He doesn’t vent his anger. He doesn’t scream. It may seem excessively calm in a way, but the desperation in that voice was clearly conveyed to everyone.

“Please… help Namgoong.”

Namgoong Dowi, who had bowed his head, gripped the dirt on the floor as if scratching it.

“Please.”

Chung Myung, who had been silently watching Namgoong Dowi’s hunched back, finally turned his head.

The darkest night sky, where dawn had not yet broken, poured into his vision.

‘Damn it…’

A deep sigh escaped from Chung Myung’s mouth.