Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1479

*Whoosh!*

A tiny, golden bird streaked across the bright blue sky. The sun was hot, and the sky seemed to go on forever.

“Wow! How can a bird fly so fast?” Jo Gul shouted, his eyes wide.

“Birds *are* fast, idiot!” someone replied.

“Monk Hye-yeon! Can’t you do something?”

Hye-yeon sighed. “Why me? What can I do?”

“Well,” Jo Gul said, pointing between Hye-yeon’s golden robe and the bird, “aren’t you both… golden?”

“Jo Gul, are you crazy?”

Jo Gul was talking nonsense. The others were not, but their faces looked just as strange. Was it possible at all for a person to keep up with a bird? Especially not just any bird, but a spirit animal?

“Senior! Senior! I’ll just stick a needle in its wings, then we can snatch the message! Just say the word! I’ll make a bird skewer out of it!”

“It’s not the message that’s important right now, it’s where that bird is going! If you stick a needle in it, it can’t fly! Just follow it!”

“That’s what we’re trying to do, but we can’t keep up!”

“Exactly.”

“How are we supposed to follow that thing?”

“Hmm… If we do it right, maybe we can?”

“Sago! This man is insane!”

“I know.”

The Fifth Swords looked like they were about to die. Chung Myung frowned.

Even Hye-yeon was sweating, so it couldn’t just be dismissed as acting.

He was starting to get winded himself. He had to come up with something…

“Aargh! Get off me, you little beast! I’m already exhausted!

Keee!

“Get down! Oh, I’m going mad! You act just like your master! At least stick to my shoulder or something!”

“Oh?”

Chung Myung’s eyes twinkled as he desperately looked at Baek Ah clinging to Jo Gul’s head.

“Senior! Give me that!”

“Huh?”

Chung Myung dashed to Jo Gul’s side and snatched Baek Ah, who was clinging to his head.

“Aargh! My hair! Let go! You maniac! Let go! I’ll become Hye-yeon! I’ll lose all my hair!”

“…You will surely fall into hell, Junior Jo Gul.”

Hye-yeon said angrily, which was not like a monk.

“Kiee?”

Baek Ah, grabbed by the scruff of his neck by Chung Myung, looked up at Chung Myung, screeching. His eyes practically screamed, ‘What are you trying to do?’

Seeing those bright eyes, Chung Myung grinned.

“Off you go!”

“Kiee?”

“Eura-chaaaaa!”

Chung Myung stomped on the ground and threw Baek Ah into the sky with all his might.

“Keeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

With a scream too terrible to bear, Chung Myung threw Baek Ah. The little white ferret shot up into the air, a white blur against the blue.

“Wow, is it raining? What’s falling?”

“Tears, tears…”

“Ah…”

Everyone else was serious. Then, Baek Ah’s white body flew in front of the golden bird. Baek Ah, even in the midst of all this, flapped his short forepaws, trying to grab the golden bird.

“Cheep?”

The golden bird lowered its small head to check on Baek Ah, easily dodging Baek Ah’s forepaws with a slight twist. It seemed pointless.

Then, it casually turned its head, gave Baek Ah a quick ‘cheep,’ and flew away.

“Kaaaak!”

Baek Ah cried out. To be mocked by a bird the size of his head hurt his pride. But that temper, like Chung Myung’s, didn’t last long.

…Kiee?”

Baek Ah’s body slowly stopped. At the same time, Baek Ah’s eyes widened.

And soon…

“Keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.”

No matter how much of a spirit animal he was, he couldn’t defy nature. Baek Ah, falling downwards, waved his short limbs, spewing tears.

“Oh no, Baek Ah!”

“Catch him! Catch him! He’ll really die if he falls like that!”

Spirit animal or not, no one thought he would be safe falling from that height. The terrified Fifth Swords threw themselves towards where Baek Ah was falling.

“Too far!”

“You madman! How can you catch something you throw?”

“Just catch him somehow!”

But how could a person run and catch something thrown by a person’s hand? Everyone’s faces turned pale as they watched Baek Ah falling.

“Amitabha.”

“Huh?”

Jo Gul turned around. Hye-yeon was smiling in a way that didn’t fit the situation.

“Hey Monk?”

No, surely not?

“Go, Junior! Oooooooo!”

“You crazy monk!”

Paaah!

Hye-yeon threw Jo Gul forward with all his might. Jo Gul’s body shot forward like a streak of black light.

Jo Gul, who flew like a cannonball, spun and caught Baek Ah falling with his belly.

“Oh!”

“Monk! The best!”

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Jo Gul’s body bounced off the ground like a skipping stone, but that didn’t matter to the Fifth Swords. The little white ferret would be safe.

“Amitabha. I will not forget Junior’s sacrifice. Rest in peace.”

“I’m not dead! Don’t jinx it!”

“Let’s go!”

Jo Gul collapsed and was foaming at the mouth. Everyone’s faces hardened.

“Oh no! Baek Ah!”

“Are you hurt?”

“That bastard’s belly must be a bit hard.”

“Let’s see. Are you alright?”

Everyone fussed over Baek Ah, who was half out of his mind on Jo Gul’s belly. Then, they lifted Baek Ah up and patted him.

The dust covered Jo Gul’s face.

“Keee!”

Baek Ah, regaining his senses, raised his head. Then, dangling from Tang Soso’s arm, he pointed at someone with his short forepaws, filled with rage.

“Give him here.”

Chung Myung grabbed Baek Ah and pulled him away. Baek Ah waved his hands, screaming that he would scratch Chung Myung’s face.

“Remembered it?”

“Kaaak!”

“Did you remember it!”

…Kiee?”

“The scent, I mean. The scent! You can follow a scent you’ve smelled once for ten thousand miles, right?”

“…”

The white ferret thought, then stretched out his neck and twitched his black nose.

Sniff sniff. Sniff sniff.

After sniffing, Baek Ah’s eyes widened.

“Kiee!”

Baek Ah nodded. Chung Myung grinned and put Baek Ah down on the floor.

“Good. Lead the way!”

“Kiee!”

Baek Ah turned and dashed forward like lightning.

“Follow him!”

“Got it!”

“Oh! That’s right. We didn’t need to follow the bird.”

“This bastard’s head really works sometimes, doesn’t it?”

“Let’s go, Baek Ah! Run a bit slower.”

They all ran forward together.

Hye-yeon watched them and looked confused for a moment.

‘Wasn’t that ferret complaining about running?’

Even if he was a spirit animal, a beast was still a beast. It seemed he had forgotten that.

“Hehe.”

But…

Why did he feel like he had forgotten something too? The dust rose and moved away slowly.

“Those bastards…”

Jo Gul, collapsed and foaming at the mouth in that dust, revealed himself.

“…jerks.”

A teardrop trickled down from Jo Gul’s eyes.

“Leaving a person behind?”

“Gul-ah… You’ve said that at least ten times already.”

“No, how can you leave a person behind!”

“…Now it’s eleven.”

Yoon Jong covered his ears. Jo Gul was pouring out his anger.

“No matter what, I’m a person! How can I be worse than a beast?”

“No, Gul-ah. You have to think the other way around.”

“Yes?”

“People take care of their own business, and beasts need to be taken care of. We can’t treat you as less than a beast, can we?”

“…”

Yoon Jong smiled, wrapping his arm around Jo Gul’s shoulder.

“Do you understand now?”

“Just drop dead.”

“Aww. It doesn’t work.”

Baek Cheon, smiled as he looked at the two, then turned to look around.

“But how far have we come?”

“I don’t know?”

“I don’t know this land well. Does anyone know Henan well?”

Everyone turned to look at Hye-yeon. Hye-yeon nodded.

“Haven’t we been running east?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“If we keep going like this… We’ll probably end up there.”

“There?”

“Kaifeng.”

Everyone’s faces hardened.

“If it’s Kaifeng…”

“Yes.”

Hye-yeon nodded.

“It’s where the Beggars’ Sect’s main headquarters is.”

“Hmm.”

Baek Cheon groaned.

He hadn’t checked, but it was obvious. The people who would see them and send the message would be the Beggars’ Sect, so the message would head to the Beggars’ Sect’s headquarters.

Then…

“Chung Myung-ah!”

“Yeah?”

“You’re trying to go to the Beggars’ Sect’s headquarters, right?”

Chung Myung chuckled.

“I’m not an idiot. I wouldn’t have come all the way here without knowing that the Beggars’ Sect’s headquarters is in Kaifeng.”

“Right?”

He couldn’t understand it. If the goal was Kaifeng, there wouldn’t have been a need for such a complicated plan. Then where were they going now?

“Then why did you come here?”

“I already told you. I didn’t come here on purpose. It just turned out to be here.”

…Huh?”

Baek Cheon’s face went blank. What was he talking about?

“Ah, so!”

Chung Myung scratched his head.

“It’s not that I was trying to look under the lamp, but when I groped around, it turned out to be under the lamp. That’s it.”

“Ah.”

Baek Cheon understood right away.

“The place you’re trying to find isn’t the headquarters, but it’s in Kaifeng?”

“Yeah. That’s right!”

“Ah, I understand.”

Baek Cheon nodded. It made sense. It was simpler than he thought.

The place Chung Myung was trying to find wasn’t the headquarters. But it was in Kaifeng. It was just that those two things happened to overlap.

“Then we can ignore the headquarters and keep chasing after it.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Simple, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Simp…”

Baek Cheon’s face twisted.

“Wait a minute.”

“Yeah?”

“…Seeing as you chased after that messenger pigeon, the location it’s going to is a place the Beggars’ Sect is trying to hide, right?”

“That’s right!”

“Usually, they would try to prevent anyone from coming near that place, right?”

“Hiya! Our Dong-ryong has become smart again. Is it because you’ve been sweating a bit?”

Chung Myung joked, but Baek Cheon didn’t respond.

“Oh, right. That’s right. That means…”

At that moment, the sight of a large city far away came into view.

“That… We have to enter the place the Beggars’ Sect is trying to hide, avoiding the eyes of the Beggars’ Sect?”

“Yeah! That’s exactly it.”

“In Kaifeng, where the Beggars’ Sect’s headquarters is located?”

“…”

“…In Kaifeng, where there are more beggars than commoners, avoiding the eyes of the Beggars’ Sect, we’re going to sneak into the hidden place that the Beggars’ Sect is hiding?”

“Uh…”

Everyone stopped. Even Baek Ah straightened his back and looked at Chung Myung.

Chung Myung also stopped and thought.

He looked embarrassed and said awkwardly.

“Uh…”

“Do you have something to say?”

“Actually, this is, uh…”

Chung Myung smiled.

“The plan seemed like it would work.”

Baek Cheon smiled back at Chung Myung.

“Just die, you madman.”

I knew it would be like this.

I knew it.