Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1014

Inside the large inner chamber, the swordsmen of the Namgung Clan leaned against the wall, silently gazing at the ceiling. Despite the numerous people in the room, no one spoke. The atmosphere was heavy.

In the middle of this gloom, Namgung Dan sighed quietly.

Usually, Namgung Dan would try to cheer everyone up. It was Namgung Dowi’s job to lead, but Dan often helped, especially when the Young Lord couldn’t easily get involved.

But now, Namgung Dan didn’t have time to think about how others felt.

He was the one who had made the atmosphere so miserable.

He raised his hand and rubbed his face.

It was a terrible defeat. He had lost badly to Tang Soso, who had only been learning swords for five years. He hadn’t even fought back properly. This meant he had no excuses left.

What could he say?

‘How could this happen…’

Tang Soso’s sword, flying towards his head, was still clear in his mind.

What made it worse was that he knew Tang Soso hadn’t just been lucky.

He had been beaten in the basics: the power in the sword, the precise sword path, and even internal energy.

He couldn’t understand how he, who had spent over twenty years on the sword, could be beaten in the basics by Tang Soso.

“How could such a thing happen?”

Everyone looked at Namgung Hyuk, who had spoken without thinking.

Namgung Hyuk muttered, dazed, “How could… we…”

Silence filled the room. No one could answer that question.

“Brother, were we wrong about everything?”

…

“How could we lose… to our sister?”

“Stop.”

Namgung Dan cut off Namgung Hyuk’s words, sounding a little annoyed.

“Stop it. It’s pathetic.”

“Brother…”

“Look, it doesn’t matter how many excuses we make. The truth is, we lost. And we lost badly.”

…

“What other reason could there be? It’s just that we were weaker than Soso.”

“That doesn’t make sense! That’s why we’re like this!”

Namgung Dan chuckled.

‘It doesn’t make sense, huh…’

What could he do?

Of course, according to what he thought was common sense, it was impossible. But it had happened. So, the answer was clear.

“Then our common sense must be wrong.”

“Brother!”

Namgung Dan glared at Namgung Hyuk, his eyes dark.

“Why? Are you going to say you can’t accept it?”

“That’s…”

“If not, are you going to pick up your sword and fight again yourself?”

Namgung Hyuk lowered his head. He knew it too.

No matter how much he complained, their skills were still far apart. As they were, they couldn’t beat Tang Soso.

“But… but I just don’t get it, Brother! How could this happen to us?”

Namgung Dan rubbed his face. He didn’t understand it either.

But…

“There’s no need to understand.”

“Yes?”

“Just accept it. We are weaker than the newer students of Hwasan.”

…

The swordsmen of the Namgung Clan looked down.

Namgung Dan spoke in a voice that sounded like he was making fun of himself, “We already saw them in action at the Plum Blossom Dock. Didn’t we?”

“…Yes.”

“Even then, we didn’t fully believe it. We saw them easily defeat the pirates we couldn’t even touch, but we just thought they were able to do it because of something other than skill.”

As he spoke, Namgung Dan looked like he felt everything was pointless.

“We thought that because we had weakened the pirates, they were able to beat them so easily. We thought if things were reversed, we could have easily defeated the pirates too… Things like that.”

“Brother…”

“But.”

Namgung Dan slowly shook his head.

“Now that I’ve seen it, I understand. It’s just… Yes, it’s just that they are stronger than us.”

He didn’t want to admit it, but now he had to accept the truth.

Tang Soso alone was so strong.

Then how strong were the students who joined Hwasan before Tang Soso? And how skilled were the Hwasan Five Swords, who were said to be the best of Hwasan’s students?

‘Could the Young Lord face them?’

Just a day ago, Namgung Dan would have said ‘Yes’ without thinking. Namgung Dowi was Namgung Dowi. His skill was much better than the other young swordsmen of Namgung.

But now, he wasn’t so sure.

“But, Brother,” Namgung Hyuk said, still confused.

“We… haven’t we been working hard too?”

Namgung Dan understood Namgung Hyuk’s frustration.

Had they been lazy? No, definitely not.

Namgung, who had been embarrassed in the Janggang Disaster, had tried their best for the past three years to get revenge on the Demonic Sect. How could they explain the difference that had grown so much, even though they had worked hard?

“Hyuk.”

“Yes, Brother.”

“Did you see Soso’s hands?”

…

Namgung Hyuk closed his mouth. Namgung Dan looked around at everyone watching him.

To convince someone, you have to find a reason that you yourself can accept. He hadn’t fully accepted it himself yet, but as he tried to convince Namgung Hyuk, he saw things he hadn’t seen before.

“Let me see your hand.”

…

“Hold it out.”

Namgung Hyuk reluctantly held out his hand. His hand also had some scars. But he didn’t have nearly as many scars as Tang Soso.

Namgung Dan looked at his hand silently, then slowly spoke.

“I… remember Soso from before.”

“Yes?”

“She was so beautiful.”

The eyes of the Namgung Clan swordsmen narrowed for a moment. Namgung Dan was surprised and quickly waved his hand.

“Ah, no! Not like that…”

He cleared his throat, his face red. “Soso’s hands before were so white and clean. Her snow-white hands, which you could see under her fancy palace dress, were perfect for the word ‘slender and fair’.”

Some who remembered Tang Soso from the past nodded.

“But what about Soso’s hands now?”

Many became serious. Tang Soso’s hands now were just the hands of a swordsman: hands full of calluses and scars.

You could tell how hard she had trained just by looking at her hands. She had gone through such a difficult time that she had completely lost her original hands.

Namgung Dan spread his hands wide and looked at the scars on them.

“You worked hard?”

…

“I guess so. Yes, you must have tried. But… it seems that our ‘hard work’ and their ‘hard work’ are different. My hands are so clean, even though I’ve trained for longer.”

“Brother…”

Namgung Dan suddenly felt ashamed.

He thought he had worked hard. He thought he had lived harder than anyone else. But his hands didn’t show it.

While the Hwasan swordsmen were practicing until their hands were covered in scars, they were happy with the easy training they had been doing.

“Did we really work hard?”

…

“Can we really say that to them? Can we say we worked as hard as they did? We complained about training that only lasted a few days, saying our bodies hurt.”

No one could answer that question.

Because they knew that the training they had criticized as abusing their bodies was being done regularly by the students of Hwasan, even at a much higher level than what the Namgung swordsmen had done for a few days.

Namgung Dan sighed deeply. At first, he was just trying to calm them down, but now his words were sincere.

“Talking about talent, environment, or better sword skills only matters when people have tried equally hard. We are not good enough to talk about swords with them.”

The swordsmen of the Namgung Clan, their faces red, couldn’t look up.

“What makes me even more ashamed is…” Namgung Dan bit his lip. “Even though we saw the people who died to save us at Plum Blossom Dock, we still couldn’t let go of our pointless pride.”

“…That’s…”

“Is it really shameful to learn from Hwasan?” He asked and laughed sadly. “Now, knowing that there are people who work harder than me, I am much more ashamed of being so proud for no reason.”

No one answered. They just looked down.

“I will join the training tomorrow.”

“Brother…”

“I’m not going to force anyone. It’s up to you. But if I can become stronger, if there’s a way to get back the Namgung Clan’s good name, I won’t hesitate. I’m going to find out what my limits really are, instead of just talking about it.”

Namgung Dan stood up and looked at Namgung Dowi, who was sitting in the corner, silently watching him.

Namgung Dan bit his lip. ‘The Young Lord must have known already.’

He must have been frustrated to see them being so proud, when there was such a big difference between Hwasan and Namgung.

Namgung Dan bowed deeply to Namgung Dowi and left without looking back.

A deep silence filled the room. The swordsmen of the Namgung Clan, leaning against the wall, were lost in thought.

Namgung Dowi, sitting in the corner, smiled slightly as he watched them. He knew this defeat was painful, but it was also necessary. It was the first step on a new path for the Namgung Clan.

‘It’s just the beginning.’ They had finally reached the starting line after going around in circles. To move forward, you have to know where you are.

Tonight would be very long for them, because they would have to find the answer to the question that no one else could answer for them.

But Namgung Dowi believed in them. If they knew how important the name Namgung was, they should be respected no matter what they chose.

Namgung Dowi was just watching their choice.

“Young Lord.”

“Hmm?”

Namgung Hyuk walked up to him, looking unsure. Namgung Dowi looked puzzled.

“What’s wrong?”

Namgung Hyuk hesitated, looking at Namgung Dowi’s face, and then carefully asked, “Um… Young Lord, if it’s okay… I wanted to ask you something.”