Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 10

Unam asked, “Where have you been?”

“Just taking a look around,” Chung Myung replied.

“…Looking around?” Un Am eyed Chung Myung with suspicion.

Chung Myung, not caring about Unam’s thoughts, leaned on one leg and gazed at the sky.

‘Was this child always like this?’ Un Am wondered. He had seemed polite when he arrived, but now his attitude was different. What should Un Am think? Was Chung Myung full of mischief?

Unam sighed. Looking at Chung Myung’s old and dirty clothes, he thought, ‘He probably lived on the streets. You can’t expect a street child to be perfect.’

“Have you eaten?” Un Am asked.

“I’m not hungry,” Chung Myung said. This was the truth. Seeing the state of Mount Hua, he felt empty. ‘I didn’t overcome this even when I was a Taoist,’ he thought, ‘yet here I am, overcoming it now.’

“Then follow me,” Un Am said. “The Sect Leader wants to see you.”

“Ah, yes,” Chung Myung nodded. If he had to do it, he wanted to do it quickly.

When the door opened, Chung Myung saw an old man meditating. He felt uneasy. ‘He looks like a Sect Leader,’ Chung Myung thought.

The Sect Leader had a calm and peaceful feeling around him, like someone who lived a simple and spiritual life. This ‘Taoist energy’ was clear. But, his inner strength was almost non-existent. He was not lacking for an ordinary temple, but he wasn’t right for Mount Hua. He was too gentle.

“Pay your respects,” Un Am said.

Chung Myung sighed. ‘Is there anything more unfair?’ When Chung Myung was sneaking around Mount Hua, drinking to avoid his Senior Brother Sect Leader, this Sect Leader was a toddler. He probably barely knew how to hold a sword when Chung Myung died. And now, Chung Myung had to respect him.

‘If you feel wronged, you shouldn’t have been reborn,’ Chung Myung thought. ‘What can I do? Better to die than to suffer.’

Chung Myung bowed. Hyun Jong smiled gently.

“I am called Chung Myung,” he said.

“This humble Taoist is Hyun Jong,” the Sect Leader replied. It was a simple greeting.

As Chung Myung sat up, Hyun Jong said, “We have a guest, but we have nothing to offer. I hope you understand our situation.”

“Ah, yes,” Chung Myung replied.

Hyun Jong’s eyebrows twitched. Usually, people would say, ‘Please don’t worry about it,’ or ‘How could a guest expect such things?’ But Chung Myung’s eyes seemed to say, ‘I didn’t expect anything, so don’t worry.’

“I heard you said something interesting at Okcheon Hermitage,” Hyun Jong said.

“Yes?” Chung Myung asked.

“Sold it off?”

Chung Myung tilted his head. He seemed to have no idea what Hyun Jong was talking about. Hyun Jong narrowed his eyes, looking for any sign of a lie.

‘Does he really not know?’ Hyun Jong wondered. ‘A child couldn’t be that good at lying.’

While Hyun Jong thought, Chung Myung smiled secretly. ‘There’s no use looking at me like that, old man.’ Who was Chung Myung? He could trick Chung Moon, who was said to have the Heavenly Eye. Even when his Senior Brother Sect Leader suspected him, he never found Chung Myung’s hidden liquor.

Even Chung Moon couldn’t see through Chung Myung’s lies, so there was no way Hyun Jong could know the truth.

“Didn’t you say something like that?” Hyun Jong asked.

“I don’t remember very well. I was so tired that I lost consciousness…” Chung Myung said.

“Hmm,” Hyun Jong said. It made sense. Chung Myung had climbed the mountain with his young body and must have been exhausted. It wasn’t strange for him to collapse.

“If you were so tired, you should have said something,” Hyun Jong pointed out.

“I was told that paying respects to the heavens was the priority upon entering the Taoist gate…” Chung Myung replied.

Hyun Jong looked at Un Am strangely. His eyes seemed to say, ‘The kid came all the way up here alone, and you made him bow even though he was exhausted? You rascal?’

Unam was shocked. ‘No, he was fine!’ he thought. ‘That rascal was lively when he arrived. How infuriating!’

Unam looked at Chung Myung, bewildered. But Chung Myung innocently looked away.

“Ahem,” Hyun Jong cleared his throat and nodded. “That could happen. I’m sorry I didn’t pay more attention.”

“It’s nothing,” Chung Myung said.

“Good. Then, why did you climb this mountain and come all the way here?” Hyun Jong asked.

“…”

“Don’t tell me you just came to see it. Mount Hua is not a mountain for sightseeing. It wouldn’t have been easy for you to climb it,” Hyun Jong added.

Chung Myung looked at Hyun Jong. It was a sharp question, but he had an answer ready.

“Sect Leader,” Chung Myung said.

“I’m listening.”

“I wish to enter Mount Hua.”

Hyun Jong’s eyes narrowed.

“Enter?”

“Yes.”

Hyun Jong looked into Chung Myung’s clear eyes. He couldn’t see any other intentions.

“So, you admit you deliberately climbed Mount Hua?” Hyun Jong asked.

“That is correct,” Chung Myung said.

“Hmm,” Hyun Jong nodded. If Chung Myung had kept saying he just stopped by, Hyun Jong wouldn’t have believed him. Mount Hua was not a place to simply stop by.

“Entering Mount Hua… Do you know what kind of place it is?”

“Yes,” Chung Myung replied.

Hyun Jong’s eyes narrowed again.

“Entering…”

Chung Myung moistened his lips. ‘The logic is perfect,’ he thought. He could use the story of his junior brother, Chung Jin. Chung Jin had disappeared while being chased by the Demonic Sect before their final battle. ‘Chung Jin fell off a cliff, but a woodcutter found him and treated him. But the injuries were too deep, and he couldn’t recover. Out of gratitude, he taught the woodcutter Mount Hua’s martial arts and took him as his disciple.’ And Chung Myung was that woodcutter’s descendant!

‘It’s a brilliant story,’ Chung Myung thought. He could even adjust his seniority. If the woodcutter was his father, Chung Myung would be in the Myung generation. But it would be strange to say that someone from a hundred years ago was his father. So, even if he lowered it one generation and made the woodcutter his grandfather, he would be in the Hyun generation, the same as the Sect Leader.

This way, he would get better treatment than a newbie. ‘I can’t have the same seniority as those greenhorn kids.’ He couldn’t stand the thought of bowing to them.

‘Now, ask me the reason,’ Chung Myung thought. Then he would tell his story. If he showed a little of Chung Jin’s martial arts, it would be easy…

“I will allow it,” Hyun Jong said.

“Yes. Of course, I allow… Yes?” Chung Myung stared at Hyun Jong, surprised.

Hyun Jong nodded calmly. “If you wish to enter, then we must allow it.”

“…Yes?” Chung Myung was confused. Was this a martial arts school? Why was it so easy to enter? Shouldn’t they be suspicious?

“Sect Leader!” Un Am said, equally surprised. “You said you wouldn’t accept any new disciples!”

“I have changed my mind,” Hyun Jong said with a smile. “We can’t be picky. And we can’t turn away a child who knows Mount Hua and has come to us.”

“But…” Un Am stammered.

“Unam,” Hyun Jong said.

“Yes, Sect Leader?”

“Fate turns and connects. Whatever this child’s intentions, he knows the name of Mount Hua. We don’t chase away a bird that seeks shelter from the rain, or an animal that comes to us in winter. We have enough to share. Why would we chase away someone who has come to us?”

It was a Taoist statement. Anyone else would have been moved, but Chung Myung was far from Taoism. He felt goosebumps. ‘What fate are you talking about! Be suspicious of strangers!’ How did this person become a Sect Leader?

“No, no, I…” Chung Myung tried to stop it.

“Before that, the life I have lived…”

“It’s alright,” Hyun Jong said, shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter what you did before. Sinner or saint, it’s all the secular world. When you climb Mount Hua, your past disappears.”

“No, no…”

“You keep saying that it’s alright,” Hyun Jong said.

‘Hey! I’m saying it’s not alright! Listen to me!’ Chung Myung thought.

Hyun Jong smiled gently. “Unam.”

“Yes, Sect Leader?”

“Give this child a place to stay and prepare for the initiation ceremony.”

“Yes, I will prepare,” Un Am said.

“You said your name was Chung Myung?” Hyun Jong asked.

Chung Myung nodded. “A good name. A very good name. The name of a child in the Chung generation is Chung Myung. Haha. This must be fate. We don’t need a Taoist name. Your name is meaningful in Mount Hua.”

Hyun Jong’s eyes became distant. “May you become worthy of that name.”

Chung Myung had nothing to say. “…Yes,” he replied.

“You may leave,” Hyun Jong said.

Chung Myung rose, dazed. Un Am reluctantly led him outside.

“This way,” Un Am said.

Chung Myung trudged along, seeing the vast Mount Hua. ‘I’ve entered,’ he thought. ‘Entered.’

Unam spoke solemnly, “You haven’t had the ceremony yet, but you are now a disciple of Mount Hua. You will be in the Chung generation, the youngest of Mount Hua’s third-generation disciples.”

“…Youngest,” Chung Myung repeated.

Chung Myung’s face trembled. Youngest? Me? The Plum Blossom Sword Saint Chung Myung is the youngest of Mount Hua?

“Hehehehehehe.”

Unam smiled, watching Chung Myung chuckle. “You seem happy.”

“Yes. I am very happy. Hehehehehehe.” But why were tears coming out? ‘…Damn it,’ he thought.