Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1481

The Open Sky Clan’s main base was right in the middle of Kaifeng city.

People who saw it were surprised by three things.

First, it was huge and tall, which seemed strange for a group of beggars. Second, it looked very old and broken, like it might fall down any minute.

It was a big, impressive building, but with broken roof tiles, rotten wood, and lots of dust, its size almost didn’t matter.

Finally, when you saw the dirty beggars moving around inside, you knew right away that this was the Open Sky Clan’s base. It was both surprising and exactly what you would expect.

People would look, be confused at first, then understand, and finally be amazed.

In a small, tidy office at the top of the base, where many birds flew in and out with messages, an old man sat down heavily. His face was twisted in worry.

“Who has moved?” he asked, his voice rough.

The office was surprisingly clean for a beggar’s place. The old man felt important, not like a normal beggar at all.

Even though he wore ragged clothes like the others, the way he carried himself, his strong voice, and the power he seemed to have made it clear he was someone important. No one would think he was just a beggar.

“It’s Chung Myung, the Sword Saint from Mount Hua,” someone reported. “The Five Swords of Mount Hua are moving with him, it seems.”

“…Now?” the old man said, surprised.

“The message just came from Luoyang.”

“Luoyang…” the old man groaned softly. Lines around his eyes deepened as he thought, but his eyes were sharp and bright, like blue flames in the dim room.

‘Why are they coming now, when things are so dangerous?’ the old man wondered.

He spoke quickly, thinking aloud. “Could they be here to get supplies to build the Heavenly Union’s main base?”

It was a crazy idea for most fighters, but Mount Hua was known for being strange and unpredictable. He couldn’t completely ignore it.

“No, that’s not it,” the messenger said. “They were seen in Luoyang and went straight west.”

“West… west… That must mean Henan province,” the old man muttered.

His mind raced. ‘Henan… where would they go in Henan?’ “Shaolin Temple? No, it can’t be Shaolin. The abbot is gone, there’s nothing for them there. Wudang Mountain then? No, Wudang is closed off, they are in hiding. Even if Mount Hua went there… No, wait. This is Chung Myung, the Sword Saint! He’s exactly the kind of person who would break down the gates of a closed sect and just walk in like he owns the place!”

The old man talked to himself, then gave a quick order.

“Send more people to watch Wudang Mountain. We need to know if Mount Hua goes there!”

“Yes!” the messenger answered quickly.

But the old man’s face became even more serious.

“What are they planning to do at Wudang? No, wait. It’s not just Wudang. They could go past Henan and head to Beijing. The Emperor’s court? Maybe they’ll go to the Emperor. The problem with the Four Evil Sects is not just for fighters, it’s for everyone…”

If the Emperor suddenly got involved and helped the Heavenly Union, it would be a disaster for the whole fighting world. It was not likely, but he couldn’t ignore even a small chance of it happening.

“Send people to Beijing too! Watch for them going to the Emperor’s Palace. No, not just the Palace. If they planned this, they would talk to important people in Beijing first, before going to the Palace. Tell everyone in Beijing to be on alert!”

“Yes!”

The old man rubbed his forehead and cheeks quickly, a habit he had when he was thinking hard.

‘That’s not all,’ he thought. ‘If they go past Henan to Zhejiang, they might talk to the Bota Hermitage. Or maybe they’re going north to the Murong Family. And the Peng Family? What about the Peng Family…’

“Wait!” he called out.

“Yes!”

“Tell them to watch the Peng Family closely!”

“The Peng Family? But why?” the messenger asked, surprised.

“The Peng Family just got a new leader. We don’t know if the old leader is still causing trouble behind the scenes.”

“Understood.”

The old man nodded shortly.

Even though he had given orders for every possible thing that could happen, he still felt very worried. His face showed deep worry.

‘He’s like a wild card,’ the old man thought. ‘You can’t guess what he’ll do next.’

Information is useless if you can’t guess what will happen next. To guess right, you need to know someone’s habits, what they want, what they’ve done before, who they know… even what they really want deep down.

But Mount Hua was impossible to guess. Especially Chung Myung, the Sword Saint. You never knew what he would do.

He could do anything, or he could do nothing at all.

‘But it’s not just that I can’t guess what he’ll do,’ the old man worried.

‘The real problem is I can’t guess what will happen *because* of what he does.’

Everyone knows Wudang will never side with the Heavenly Union. It’s as sure as water flowing downhill.

But if Chung Myung, the Sword Saint, goes to Wudang, maybe the water will flow uphill!

It’s not likely, of course. But ‘not likely’ is not the same as ‘impossible’. They are very different words.

That’s why the Open Sky Clan had to use everything they had to watch Chung Myung, the Sword Saint of Mount Hua. They had no choice.

“…He’s probably still dealing with the trouble he already caused,” the old man grumbled. “What is he planning to do *now*?”

He bit his lip and pointed with his chin.

“We can’t guess anything right now. Just find out where they are going next. First, we need to know exactly where they are *now*.”

“Yes!”

“Go.”

“Yes!”

Just as the messenger bowed and turned to leave quickly…

“Wait!”

“Yes!”

The messenger turned back. The old man asked suddenly, as if he just thought of something.

“What about here?”

“Here? What do you mean?”

“Kaifeng. How likely is it they will come to Kaifeng? No, maybe they are already *in* Kaifeng? Right now?”

“I thought of that. I already told everyone to be alert. We gave descriptions of them to everyone guarding the base. They will report right away if they see anything.”

“Good, you were fast. But they are not stupid. If they are coming to Kaifeng, they will try to hide from us.”

“We are getting reports about anything even a little bit strange.”

“Anything strange so far?”

“Well…” The messenger hesitated.

The old man’s eyes narrowed. “What is it?”

“…I don’t know if it’s important, but a little while ago, some Jongnam Sect disciples came into the city.”

“Jongnam? Why is that strange?”

“It’s just… for Jongnam to come now, suddenly…”

The old man frowned deeper.

“They are not in hiding anymore, so maybe they would move around. Are they coming here, to our base?”

“We don’t know yet.”

“Is their leader with them?”

“It doesn’t seem like it.”

“Good, that’s a relief,” the old man sighed.

The messenger’s lips tightened a little. He knew why the old man was relieved.

“Anyway, don’t worry about it. It will all work out,” the old man said, trying to sound confident, but his eyes still showed worry.

“…Understood.”

“Stay very alert.”

“Yes!”

The messenger nodded and left. The old man chuckled sadly to himself.

“A world where we have to think Jongnam people might be Mount Hua in disguise.”

‘How did things get so messed up?’ he wondered.

His eyes fell on a corner of his old desk. There was a small dent there, a mark from something heavy that used to sit there for a long time.

“…Because it’s empty now,” he whispered. ‘Something important is missing.’

‘When what’s missing comes back, the world will be right again.’

‘The Open Sky Clan has to make that happen.’

❀ ❀ ❀

On the main street of Kaifeng, beggars and normal people walked together.

In the middle of it all, a group of people in pure white fighting robes walked proudly. The edges of their robes were sky-blue, and they had cloud patterns on their chests.

Anyone who saw them would immediately think, ‘Jongnam.’

The Great Jongnam Sect was one of the Nine Great Sects, the most important fighting groups in the world *[In this world, there are Nine Great Sects, like powerful schools of fighters, that together make up the Jianghu, the world of martial artists.]* People always talked about Jongnam along with Shaolin and Wudang, the two most famous sects.

To be honest, Jongnam wasn’t as powerful as Shaolin or Wudang, the real leaders of the fighting world. But Jongnam was still very important and respected.

And now, these Jongnam disciples were walking around here like they owned the place.

“Hmm. So impressive,” one beggar whispered.

“Jongnam disciples are really something. They must have trained hard while they were hidden away,” another said.

“They really stand out. Is it because they are all so good-looking?” a third one giggled.

Beggars whispered to each other and quickly moved out of the way. One of the disguised group spoke quietly, watching the beggars’ reactions.

“This is…”

“…”

“Why is this working? Seriously, why?”

Those words were exactly what everyone in the group was thinking.

“Are the Open Sky Clan blind? Do I really look like a Jongnam guy to them?” Jo Gul complained loudly.

“Geol-ah… be quiet. We can hide our voices, but they can still see your mouth moving,” one of his friends warned.

Jo Gul sighed heavily, looking completely confused and annoyed.

‘How is this even possible?’ he thought. ‘Is everyone crazy? Does this make any sense at all?’

“…Just because we put on Jongnam clothes, carry swords with clouds on them, and glued on these fake beards, they can’t tell it’s us? Really? Is that all it takes?” Jo Gul asked, still not believing it.

“Yes, because we are disguised,” one of his friends said simply.

“Is a fake beard a disguise? If we wore masks, wouldn’t even our parents not know who we are?” Jo Gul argued.

“…Actually, maybe your parents *wouldn’t* know you with a mask,” his friend replied, thinking about it.

“Huh?” Jo Gul blinked, realizing that might be true.

He turned to look at another person in their group.

“…Hey, Monk. Your wig is falling off.”

“Ah, Amitabha…” Hye-yeon mumbled.

“Don’t say Amitabha! You’re supposed to be a Taoist priest right now,” Jo Gul reminded him.

“Moo, Immeasurable Life Buddha!” Hye-yeon tried again, sweating under the wig. *[Maybe add a short explanation of “Immeasurable Life Buddha” or change it to something simpler like “Oh dear!” or “Oh no!”]*

“Yes, that’s a little better…” Jo Gul said, still shaking his head. Hye-yeon was clearly very uncomfortable in the disguise. Jo Gul sighed again.

“No, really, look!” Jo Gul insisted. “Doesn’t this look totally fake? Even a little kid would know something is wrong!”

“Geol-ah,” Yoon Jong said calmly.

“What?”

“Honestly… even if we walked around with legs growing out of our heads right now, they still wouldn’t suspect us.”

“…” Jo Gul stared at him, speechless.

“They just *can’t* suspect us, can they? Right?” Yoon Jong asked, looking around at the others for agreement.

Everyone’s eyes turned to the person walking in front.

He was wearing perfect Jongnam clothes, with a Jongnam sword at his waist. He was tall and handsome, with a strong face and a slight smirk on his lips that looked a little arrogant.

Whispers followed them as they walked.

“That’s Jin Geum-ryong, isn’t it?”

“He’s even more impressive in person! I heard he’s a bit arrogant, but he has a right to be.”

“I heard he might be the next leader of the sect?”

“That’s why he’s here, at the headquarters. He’s here to make connections.”

“Wow, he really has an amazing presence.”

Hearing these words, the person in front slowly raised his head. To everyone else, it looked like the proud Jongnam disciple was looking down at them with arrogance.

‘Oh no, Sect Leader,’ Baek Cheon thought miserably.

Baek Cheon, dressed as Jin Geum-ryong… well, really, he had just changed his hair a little and put on the Jongnam clothes. His eyes were filled with tears.

‘I want to disappear,’ he thought, feeling completely humiliated.

Tears from Mount Hua, hidden behind the Jongnam disguise, ran down Jin Geum-ryong’s face.