Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1085

Her throat was very dry, like rough paper scratching inside. She felt burning hot, and like she was falling into a deep, dark hole.

As she kept sinking into the darkness, she started to feel something strange. It was cool, but also warm, and very gentle, like a soft touch.

“Ah…” Slowly, she opened her eyes. Her eyelids felt very heavy. She could see a ceiling above her, with a soft light, and someone was holding her hand.

“Who…?” She could see a young man. His face was pale, and he looked tired. Even though she was still confused, she felt a little worried. But then she saw his clothes – a black Taoist robe. Right away, she felt calmer.

“Taoist…” A weak memory came back to her – a sound she had heard when she was losing consciousness, maybe like ‘Doho’.

“Ah…” She tried to speak, but then a clear voice spoke to her. It was a young woman, a Taoist, with her hair in braids.

“You’re awake?” It was strange. She was sure she had never seen this Taoist woman before. But seeing the Taoist robe made her feel calm, for some reason. She thought, *Taoists wouldn’t hurt anyone, would they?*

“How are you feeling?” The man who was holding her wrist spoke. The woman Taoist had just asked the same thing.

“She’s much better now.”

“Then you should rest,” said the woman Taoist. “You’re not looking very well yourself, Brother.”

“I’m fine.”

“Honestly, you never listen. Even if I say you don’t have to do it, you still do.”

“I’m still okay. I can manage.”

“Yes, yes, do what you want,” she said, rolling her eyes a little. “But I’m telling the leader and the older teachers everything!” The woman who had been quietly listening to them argue suddenly remembered something and shivered.

“Oh no, Hagi! My Hagi!”

“Oh dear. Look at me forgetting!” The woman with braids rushed to one side. Soon, she returned, cradling something wrapped in a thick blanket.

“The baby is fine.” The woman took the baby in her shaking hands. She looked at the baby’s calm face peeking out from the blanket. Only then did she feel truly peaceful.

“Ah…” Her hand stroked the child’s cheek.

“The child is just tired and sleeping. There’s nothing wrong with its health, so don’t worry. It woke up earlier and had a good cry.”

“Thank you… Thank you so much…”

“You’re welcome.”

The woman, filled with relief and gratitude, was about to say something when suddenly, *thud!*, the door burst open.

“You’re awake?” Then, a throng of dark-clad men rushed inside. The woman, startled, stared at the approaching figures.

They were Taoists, all wearing black robes like the others. Even though they had swords at their waists, they didn’t seem scary. Maybe it was because of their Taoist clothes, or maybe it was the worried looks on their faces.

“Quiet, you lot! There’s a patient here!”

“…Yes, ma’am.”

“Sorry…”

“We were just happy to see her…”

The woman with braids spoke sharply, and the men who had rushed in happily all lowered their heads and looked sad. Seeing them like that made the woman feel a little safer.

“But where is this…?”

“Ah, this is inside a ship.”

“A ship…?”

The woman with braids, Tang Soso, smiled brightly. “Yes,” she said. “Hangzhou didn’t seem safe anymore, so we decided to bring you with us. We are going to Gangbuk now.”

The woman’s face became tight as she looked up at the ceiling. When she heard the name ‘Hangzhou,’ terrible memories flashed in her mind. Fear rushed over her, and she froze and pulled back. Just then, she felt a cool, gentle feeling flow into her from the hand the Taoist next to her was holding.

The energy flowed through her body, pushing back the fear once more.

“Ah… I see…” The woman asked no further questions. She already knew what had happened to Hangzhou and what had become of the others.

“You all are…?”

“We are Taoists from the Mount Hua Sect,” said a man. He was standing behind Tang Soso, and he spoke slowly, trying to sound gentle. His name was Baek Cheon.

“Mount Hua…?”

“Yes. It’s a Taoist temple in a place called Shaanxi,” Baek Cheon said calmly. He looked at the younger Taoists standing next to him.

“They might look a bit rough,” Baek Cheon said, “but they are really Taoists. They are good people, don’t worry.”

“Do you have to say things about how people look?” Tang Soso asked, a little annoyed.

“Geol,” Baek Cheon replied.

“What? Brother, aren’t you angry?” Tang Soso asked Baek Cheon.

“It’s okay if Uncle-Master says it,” Baek Cheon replied calmly. Cho Geol was quiet for a moment, then looked at Baek Cheon with a sad face. He mumbled something quietly, maybe complaining about how unfair things were.

“You don’t need to worry anymore,” Baek Cheon said. “The bad group who attacked Hangzhou have all gone away.”

“…You saved me…”

“It was fortunate.”

Hearing the calm voice, the woman was silent for a moment. Soon, her eyes filled with tears.

“…Thank you.” As she whispered, her voice was shaking. Everyone stopped talking and waited.

“Thank… thank you. Really… thank you so much…” The Taoists from Mount Hua didn’t know what to say. They just watched her quietly.

Then, Un-geom, who had been observing the situation from the back, smiled gently and spoke.

“We just did what any Taoist should do,” Un-geom said gently. “We are sorry we were not here sooner.”

“No… I am just grateful.”

Cho Geol, awkwardly wiping his nose once, looked at the child in the woman’s arms and changed the subject.

“That baby looks very smart,” Cho Geol said. “Reminds me of myself when I was a baby.”

Everyone started shouting at him at once.

“Don’t say that to a baby!”

“Is that how a Taoist should talk? You bad boy!”

“Shut your mouth!”

Cho Geol, who was actually from a rich family and used to getting his way, looked very upset. But the Mount Hua group was not kind to people who complained.

“No, look! This cheek here…”

Just then, Cho Geol poked the baby’s cheek hard with his finger. The baby woke up and started crying loudly.

“Oh, oh? I, I didn’t mean to…”

“This guy is really something!”

Finally, Yoon Jong punched Cho Geol hard in the face. Cho Geol didn’t even scream because he was afraid of scaring the baby. He flew backwards.

“Looks like the baby is hungry.”

“Ah…”

The baby’s mother looked at her crying baby, then looked at the Taoists from Mount Hua.

“Is there anything we can do to help?”

“What should we do?”

“Just tell us what to do!” Everyone panicked and blurted out whatever came to mind. A vein popped out on Tang Soso’s forehead.

“Brothers,” Tang Soso said firmly.

“Yes?”

“…She needs to breastfeed the baby. Get out, now.”

“Yes, yes!” The men of Mount Hua rushed out without looking back. Chung Myung also rose and left with them.

“Honestly…” Tang Soso clicked her tongue and shook her head, then firmly closed the open door. Inside, the woman was feeding her baby. She gently stroked the baby’s cheek and head. Tang Soso spoke to her, her voice now very soft.

“I’ll make you some soft rice soup soon, so please wait a little bit.”

“I don’t want to be too much trouble…”

“Trouble? Not at all. It’s the right thing to do. Don’t worry. My brothers might be a little silly sometimes, but they are good at what they do,” Tang Soso said with a small smile.

“And everyone is so kind. They’re too nice for their own good…”

The woman looked quietly at Tang Soso. Tang Soso was looking at the closed door, her eyes warm. It was clear she really cared about them.

‘This is a good place.’

Just by seeing how they acted together, she could tell they were all kind people.

Then, the woman spoke again, but she sounded unsure and her face looked sad.

“Where will we go now…?”

“Sorry, what?” Tang Soso said, turning back to the woman. Then she understood. “Ah!”

“Hangzhou is not safe to live in anymore, it seems. So we are planning to take you somewhere safe. Do you have any family or friends you can go to?”

The woman shook her head. Her face was empty and sad.

People who farm land usually live together in one place with their families. If she couldn’t go back to Hangzhou, it meant she and her baby had nowhere to go in this big land.

“Hmm. Well… maybe you could go to a village near the Yangtze River…”

Tang Soso rubbed her cheek, thinking. It would be very hard and dangerous for a woman with a baby to live alone in a new place.

“If you have nowhere to go, you could go to Sichuan or Shaanxi. My family, the Dang family, is building a new village in Sichuan. And Hwaum in Shaanxi is a good place to live. The people there are kind.”

The woman’s face became tight again. Sichuan and Shaanxi? She had heard those names, but she didn’t know where they were. The idea of going to these places alone with her baby made her very worried.

But then, someone took her hand and held it tightly.

She looked and saw another woman. She hadn’t even seen her before. This woman was holding her hand, and her face didn’t show any feelings. She spoke in a calm voice.

“It’s alright.”

“…”

“They are all good places.”

Her face showed no feelings. This woman was Lee Seol. Her calm face might have seemed a little scary, but her hand was warm. For some reason, the woman felt calmer.

Yoo Iseol was not used to talking to people, but she was trying hard to make the woman feel better in her own way.

Tang Soso smiled at Yoo Iseol and said happily.

“Yes, that’s right,” Tang Soso said. “Don’t worry too much. Our leader will take care of everything. Just relax and get better.”

“…Yes.”

The woman holding the child tightened her grip. Her tightened grip seemed to say, ‘No matter what happens, I will protect this child.’ Yoo Iseol released one of her hands and stood up.

Tang Soso said.

“Then, please rest for a while. I’ll bring you some soft rice soup soon.”

“…Thank you.”

She quietly led Yoo Iseol out of the room. As soon as the door was closed, Yoo Iseol asked Tang Soso.

“Is it really alright?”

“Yes,” Tang Soso said. “Thanks to Chung Myung’s crazy actions.”

“…”

“Anyway, he’s impossible to deal with. Even though he’s not even completely well himself, I can’t stop telling him what to do.”

“That’s just how he is. Always.”

“Yes, that’s him. I know, but…” Tang Soso sighed. She knew he was worried about others, but she wished he knew that people worried about him too. But she knew it was hard for him to understand.

“The child…”

“The baby is fine too, Yoo Iseol. Don’t worry.”

Yoo Iseol nodded a little and looked at the river moving gently outside. After a long time, she spoke quietly.

“My mother too…”

“…”

“Did my mother look at me with those eyes too?”

Tang Soso quietly reached out and gently took Yoo Iseol’s hand.

“She would have.”

“…”

“Definitely.”

Yoo Iseol slowly nodded. And after a moment, she asked.

“How do you make soft rice soup?”