Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1009

The next day.

Namgung Dowi groaned, his hands flying to his head. He hadn’t even opened his eyes, but his head was already screaming. “Ugh, my head…”

It felt as though bells were ringing inside his skull.

‘How much did I drink, exactly?’

Slowly, he started to remember bits and pieces of last night.

The alcohol they had brought was quickly finished, but then Chung Myung had suddenly jumped up and gone somewhere, returning with his arms full of bottles.

– We’ll drink till we drop dead. Hey, drink up! Drink!

– All of this?

– What? Can’t handle it? That’s always the way with you scholars! Tsk, tsk.

– I-I can drink it! Why wouldn’t I be able to!

“…That’s right.”

The alcohol had gone to his head. One mouthful for you, one for me; one bottle for you, one for me…

‘I was insane.’

He’d drunk it all, every last drop. Good heavens, it was an amount he couldn’t have finished even if it had been water, yet he’d consumed it all.

“Ughhh… my head…”

He had experienced hangovers before, but this headache was worse than any he had ever felt. It was beyond anything he had ever known.

Clutching his head and groaning, Namgung Dowi suddenly had a very obvious question.

‘What on earth was that liquor made from?’

What sort of ingredients could create a drink that induced such a vicious hangover, as if someone were hammering his skull?

And what sort of person was Chung Myung, that he would choose such a drink of all things? Just picturing Chung Myung, Namgung Dowi could almost see his mischievous grin and sparkling eyes, a stark contrast to the pain throbbing in his head.

“Ugh…”

Clutching his head and groaning, he forced his eyes open with difficulty.

‘Ah, it’s bright.’

Instinctively shielding his eyes, he frowned. The sunlight was so intense that he couldn’t properly open his eyes….

‘Wait a minute. Bright?’

He snapped his eyes open again. Bright sunlight streamed in through the window. Staring blankly at the scene, Namgung Dowi was startled and shot to his feet.

“I’m doomed!”

The intensity of the sun meant that it was long past morning. He had been so stern with his retainers yesterday, and now he would be late for training on the very next morning. What would they all think?

Panicked, Namgung Dowi tried to use his inner energy to get rid of the hangover feeling.

“My clothes! Where are my clothes!”

He searched here and there, but he couldn’t find his outer garments anywhere. He couldn’t even remember how he had gotten back to his room in the first place, so there was no chance of recalling where he had left his clothes.

“This is driving me crazy!”

After a quick search, he finally found his clothes under the blanket. He quickly threw them on, hastily tidied his appearance, and rushed out of the room.

Or rather, he tried to rush out.

He stopped before opening the door, almost without thinking.

“…”

Why hadn’t they woken him?

They were supposed to start training early in the morning, so if they had gone to train, wouldn’t they have come to fetch Namgung Dowi?

Then could it be that…

Namgung Dowi hesitated, his hand on the doorknob.

What if none of the Namgung swordsmen had come out to train? They had had that conversation yesterday, but would they really try to proceed with training on their own, without Namgung Dowi’s participation?

A deep sigh escaped him.

He knew. He knew that he shouldn’t be disappointed, no matter what he saw.

Expecting people to act as he wished was nothing more than greed. If it were that easy, there would be no such thing as failed leaders, would there?

‘Don’t be impatient.’

As Chung Myung had said, it was a difficult task for anyone. It would be stranger if it weren’t difficult. So he just had to take it one step at a time. There were people who told him he was doing well, after all. Someday, his retainers would understand his sincerity.

Having steeled his resolve, Namgung Dowi flung the door open.

And then, seeing the scene before him, his eyes widened in astonishment.

“E-Everyone…”

The swordsmen of the Namgung Clan were lined up in front of his room. Not a single one was missing.

“Ah, no. Why…?”

His face was a picture of confusion, unable to form a coherent sentence. As he stared blankly at the assembled men, Namgung Dan stepped forward.

“Good morning, Young Lord?”

“…Dan.”

Speaking on behalf of the group, he bowed respectfully to Namgung Dowi. It was not excessive, but certainly polite.

“Wh-What are you all doing here?”

“We were waiting for you, of course, Young Lord.”

“For me?”

Namgung Dowi’s face stiffened slightly. Namgung Dan smiled faintly as he saw this.

“Actually, we did consider starting the training without you…”

“…”

“But it seemed pointless.”

“…What do you mean, pointless?”

“Training is pointless without you, Young Lord.”

Namgung Dowi clenched his fist without realizing it.

“Young Lord, we are the Namgung Clan.”

“…”

“We are the Namgung Clan, and we follow the Clan Lord. If you order it, we will jump into fire, Young Lord.”

“Namgung Dan…”

“We were wrong yesterday. No excuses. We are sorry, Young Lord.”

“We are sorry, Young Lord!”

“We are sorry!”

Everyone bowed their heads to Namgung Dowi.

“When you talked about the Plum Blossom Sword Formation, we understood. You are always thinking about what’s best for the Clan.”

“…”

“We should have thought of that first.”

“No, it’s not that.”

Namgung Dowi shook his head.

“It’s my fault. The best way I think of might not be the best way you think of. So I should have talked to you more. Explained things better. Listened to your worries. I just thought if I told you what to do, you would follow. That was arrogant of me.”

“No, you are not, Young Lord.”

“So I will ask you again here.”

Namgung Dowi bowed deeply to everyone.

“I am not perfect, but I still think this is the best way for the Namgung Clan. So, please trust me and follow me.”

He raised his head and looked at everyone. His eyes were clearer and more determined than ever.

“I will work hard to be a Clan Lord you can be proud of.”

Everyone nodded vigorously.

“Of course, Young Lord!”

“We believe so!”

Namgung Dowi closed his eyes tightly, unable to control his strong feelings.

“…Thank you.”

Someone realizes again that even if people think and act differently, they want the same things. Isn’t that what family means?

“Let’s go,” Namgung Dowook said, with a firm nod.

“Yes, let’s go,” the other replied, sounding determined.

*Maybe just saying this isn’t enough to convince them,* Namgung Dowook thought. *Maybe I need to tell them more stories later.* But he knew he would persuade them. He would not give up. *There are different ways to guide people,* he reminded himself. *I don’t have to be exactly like Namgung Hwang. I just need to follow the important lessons he taught me.*

“Let’s go, then,” Namgung Dowook said again, more firmly.

“Yes!” the others echoed.

Namgung Dowook stepped forward, leading the Namgung swordsmen. He walked with very confident steps.

“Ugh….”

“I… I think I’m dying….”

“Just kill me… Please, kill me!”

“Hmm, should I really do that?” Chung Myung asked, sounding like he was thinking about it.

“Ah, no, please don’t!”

Chung Myung’s eyes opened wide as he looked at the people lying face down with rocks on their backs.

“You guys are unbelievable! The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it is! Are you kidding me right now? Skipping training together?”

“⋯⋯.”

“And even the young lord is here with you? I was going to be a little nicer to him because I owe him something, but, huh?”

“⋯⋯.”

Namgung Dowook’s face, twisted in pain, now also looked unfair.

*It’s your fault!* he thought angrily. *Who made me drink so much alcohol? If someone can drink that much and still wake up early, are they even human?*

“What? ‘We’ll die together, live together’?”

“⋯⋯.”

“Hey, you lot! People who say that always die first! You’re the kind of people who would stick together even if a strong attack came, saying ‘let’s die together!’”

“Ah, no….”

“Great job. Really great job. A person who is supposed to be the young lord of the Namgung Family can’t even handle a little alcohol and just sleeps anywhere. And the people who should wake him up are just standing around doing nothing.”

“⋯⋯.”

“If Namgung Hwang saw this, he would have used the Imperial Sword Formation to punish you all severely!”

“⋯⋯.”

Namgung Dowook didn’t know what to say. Just a moment ago, he had felt really moved… But after hearing Chung Myung, it seemed like Chung Myung was also right. It was true that if the old family head had seen this, they would all have been severely punished. Maybe that was the reason for the change.

“⋯⋯What?”

Chung Myung asked, noticing his silence.

“It’s nothing,” Namgung Dowook mumbled. He felt like the way the family members were looking at him was a little different now. Was he just imagining it?

“It seems like you guys still don’t understand what I’m saying.”

“⋯⋯.”

“If you miss just one day, it’s like losing ten days of training. There are many excuses to skip training every day. The moment you start thinking it’s okay to skip training, you’re no longer a true martial artist!”

“⋯⋯.”

“Rain or sun, snow or wind! Even if the Demonic Sect attacks! You still train! That’s the basic rule! Someone who doesn’t train because they are drunk has no right to hold a sword!”

Just then, Namgung Dan raised his hand, which was shaking.

“What?”

Chung Myung asked sharply.

“U-um, a question… Can I ask just one question?”

“Ask it.”

“Well… Cough… Gack!”

“Thud!” As Namgung Dan started to speak, his arm suddenly shook even more and then gave out. He fell forward onto the ground.

Chung Myung looked like he had seen everything and nothing at once. He walked over and kicked the rock off Namgung Dan, rolling it away.

“Huff! I thought I was going to die….” Namgung Dan gasped.

“What’s your question?” Chung Myung asked, sounding impatient.

“Ah, yes!” Namgung Dan quickly sat up straight, his face very serious.

“Sword Saint of Mount Hua! I promise this is not resistance! And it’s not a complaint either.”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

“Yes!” Namgung Dan swallowed hard and began to speak.

“If we do this training, can we really become stronger?”

“What?”

Chung Myung glared at him.

Namgung Dan quickly waved his hands.

“That’s what I mean! I’m not complaining!”

“⋯⋯Keep talking,” Chung Myung said, his voice still sharp.

“Yes!” Namgung Dan nodded quickly and continued.

“Of course, we know that the Sword Saint of Mount Hua is strong enough to defeat the Black Dragon King. But we are from the Namgung Family.”

“And?” Chung Myung prompted.

“Even though he died in a sad way, we believe that the old family head was just as strong as the Sword Saint of Mount Hua, maybe even stronger.”

Chung Myung’s mouth twitched a little. But the Namgung swordsmen just thought Chung Myung was angry. They didn’t realize he was trying hard not to laugh.

“So…?” Chung Myung repeated, waiting.

“The training we are doing now is very different from what we learned in the Namgung Family. Isn’t the best way to learn our family’s martial arts the way our family teaches best? So, we are not sure if it’s right to do this very hard training that the family head never told us to do.”

“So, let me understand this,” Chung Myung said, and snapped his fingers.

“You don’t think you will get stronger with this training?”

“⋯⋯Well, to be exact, we mean that if we had clearer reasons and proof, we could try harder.”

“You really twist your words,” Chung Myung said, sounding annoyed.

“⋯⋯I’m sorry,” Namgung Dan mumbled. *If you were going to say that, you should have just kept your fist still!* Namgung Dan thought angrily. *It looks like you want to punch me!*

“Instructor, I want to ask you something too,” Namgung Dowook said. He put down the rock he was carrying and put his hands together respectfully towards Chung Myung.

“These people haven’t all seen what I’ve seen. If I just tell them to follow me without explaining anything, it might be bad. Please, I’m asking you.”

Chung Myung looked closely at Namgung Dowook for a moment before asking, “You really want to prove it to them?”

“⋯⋯Yes?” Namgung Dowook replied, unsure.

“It doesn’t seem like a great idea… But it’s fine with me.”

“⋯⋯.”

“Follow me,” Chung Myung said, a smirk on his face. “A beginner needs to know they are a beginner. Let’s go, beginners. I’ll show you some people who are even worse than you right now.”