Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1087

“Are they back already?”

“I’m telling you, they are!”

“T-They’ve already defeated the Demonic Sect? They left less than four days ago!” Dang Sumyeong asked, his face completely shocked.

The name ‘Demonic Sect’ struck fear into everyone. Who didn’t know about the terrible war from a hundred years ago? Every martial artist felt the same way.

Talking about it was almost forbidden. Everyone knew the Demonic Sect was terrifying.

And now, they were saying they defeated them and returned in just four days? How could anyone not be shocked?

“Is that even possible?”

“Come on, the entire Demonic Sect probably didn’t come, right? It must have been just a small advance party.”

“No, listen. Do you think I don’t know that? Even if it’s just a small advance party, it’s still the Demonic Sect. Do you know what kind of group they are?”

“⋯⋯Well, yes.” Dang Munhyeok agreed. Even a small advance party from the Demonic Sect was dangerous. And they had caused a lot of damage in Hangzhou. They couldn’t be ignored.

“Why else would that evil Lord of the Four Evil Sects have asked for help? People say the Man Geum Merchant Guild suffered a lot at the hands of those Demonic Sect members.”

“Surely it wasn’t that bad⋯⋯.”

“Good heavens, man! Would I lie about that? The news came straight from the Beggars’ Sect.”

“Is that really true?”

“Of course!” Dang Sumyeong said firmly, then shook his head slowly.

“But⋯⋯ even if they got help from those unusual people, to defeat the Demonic Sect and return in just four days⋯⋯ Just what is that Mount Hua Sword Saint⋯⋯?”

“It couldn’t have been just the Mount Hua Sword Saint’s power alone, right? The Five Swords and the other Mount Hua disciples must have helped too.”

“That’s right, that’s right. You’re right.” The Dang Clan members looked proud as they talked.

Normally, martial artists don’t like other sects getting stronger. If another sect gains power, their own sect becomes less important.

But the Dang Clan members seemed happy about Mount Hua’s success.

“The Clan Lord’s foresight is amazing.”

“I know, right? Who could have imagined Mount Hua would get this strong?”

“The elders and most of the important people were against it. Who would have thought of allying with Mount Hua back then? We were the powerful Sichuan Dang Clan, and they were a weak sect.” Everyone admired this.

Mount Hua was much weaker back then. But Tang Gunak made an equal alliance with them. The Clan Lord was very powerful in the Sichuan Dang Clan, and the Council of Elders, who had disagreed, had been removed, so no one could argue. But they must have been unhappy inside.

And now that choice was paying off.

“Back then, our Clan Lord was the only one who saw Mount Hua’s true value.”

“Of course! He’s our Clan Lord!” The Dang Clan members felt proud.

The Dang Clan didn’t see Mount Hua as just another sect or outsiders. They had supported Mount Hua when no one else did. They were their close allies.

The more Mount Hua rose in power, the more the Dang Clan’s greatness was shown. So they were happy.

“Mount Hua will become even stronger because of this.”

“That’s obvious! Not just Mount Hua! The Heavenly Union and the Dang Clan will also become stronger.” Dang Munhyeok chuckled.

“Just thinking about how angry those Nine Great Sects members, especially those Shaolin monks, will be makes me feel great.”

“That’s right, that’s right!” The people laughed.

They had never liked the Nine Great Sects, including Shaolin. The Dang Clan had often fought with the Qingcheng Sect, who were supported by the Nine Great Sects. The Plum Blossom Island incident made those feelings even worse. So this reaction was expected.

“By the way⋯⋯ where are our heroes who came back after doing such great things? I heard that young lady Soso went too?”

“Of course, they’re probably being praised by the leaders right now.”

“Probably, right?”

“This is a big deal. It’s the Demonic Sect. They went into enemy territory, Jiangnan, and came back without anyone getting hurt. They deserve to be praised all day and night!”

“Heh heh. I’m jealous. I wish I could be praised by the Clan Lord just once.”

“That’ll never happen, so don’t get your hopes up. Just be careful not to get yelled at.”

“What?” The atmosphere became lively. They were proud to be members of the Heavenly Union. As soon as they heard the news, everyone was talking about how great Chung Myung, the Mount Hua Sword Saint, was.

They were sure that the heroes were being praised for their great achievement.

❀ ❀ ❀

But at that moment…

“Listen carefully.”

“⋯⋯.”

“I said, listen carefully!”

The heroes of Mount Hua, who had bravely gone to Jiangnan, defeated the Demonic Sect, and returned without anyone getting hurt, were kneeling with their arms raised.

Baek Cheon looked up at Hyun Jong, who was sitting in the main seat. He saw the blood vessels on Hyun Jong’s forehead and quickly looked down again.

“I’ve lived a long life⋯⋯.”

“⋯⋯.”

“What? They gave you a pirate ship, so you just rode it back?”

“⋯⋯.”

“You tore apart the pirate ship to make a fire to cook rice?” Hyun Jong’s eyes flashed with anger.

This was not the Hyun Jong who had been worried about his disciples.

When he heard that a burned pirate ship had been found, he rushed to Nanjing. Then, he heard that his disciples were in Gugiang on a pirate ship, having a party. So he rushed to Gugiang.

“Heh heh⋯⋯. Heh. Heh heh heh⋯⋯.” Hyun Jong chuckled in disbelief, then suddenly charged forward.

“Are you even human!”

“Grab him!”

“Stop him!” Tang Gunak and Hyun Sang quickly grabbed Hyun Jong. Hyun Jong kicked at the air.

“I was so worried! What? You rode a pirate ship? You tore apart the ship because you were hungry? You’re worse than evil people!”

“C-Calm down, Alliance Lord!”

“Oh, Sect Leader! Please, calm down! They did a great thing, right?”

“A great thing? What good is doing a great thing if they’re not even good people!” Hyun Jong’s foot almost hit Baek Cheon’s face. Baek Cheon didn’t move his head, but he looked away.

‘I didn’t know⋯⋯.’

Who knew that Hyun Jong wouldn’t be waiting in Gugiang but would be traveling around the Yangtze River? They thought that if they sent word near Gugiang, there wouldn’t be any problems.

They never imagined that Hyun Jong would be so worried that he would go against the river.

“No, well⋯⋯ if you’re hungry, you can eat something⋯⋯.”

“Shut up!”

“Be quiet!”

“Zip it!”

“Don’t you open your mouth! I’ll kill you, I swear!” The Five Swords were scared and yelled at Chung Myung.

“No, did I say something wrong?”

“I said shut up!” Chung Myung pouted.

Unlike Chung Myung, the other Five Swords had nothing to say.

Think about it. You hear that your child fell into the river. You rush over to find them, but then you hear that they were playing safely at home. How would you feel?

‘Even I would beat them.’

‘Sect Leader is being kind. He’s not killing us.’

Hyun Jong glared at Un-geom.

“And you! You!” Un-geom lowered his head even more.

His forehead was almost touching the ground. The Five Swords felt sorry for him.

‘Master Uncle.’

‘We’re sorry, Grandfather Master Uncle.’

‘Aigoo⋯⋯.’

Un-geom couldn’t say anything. If he had sent word earlier, things wouldn’t have happened this way. He had made a mistake, causing the Sect Leader and the other disciples to travel to Nanjing.

Thinking about how worried they must have been while racing to Nanjing⋯⋯.

“I’m sorry⋯⋯.”

“Aigoo, what a fate! How could three generations⋯⋯.”

He had sent the Un generation, the Baek generation, and the Cheong generation to prevent accidents. But they all did the same thing. Was the sect cursed?

Of course, Un-geom also had a reason to feel wronged. But he couldn’t say anything because others were even more wronged than him.

“Young Lord, you shouldn’t be doing this either!”

“Yes?” Namgung Dowi widened his eyes. He had been kneeling in the corner, trying to stay out of trouble.

“If your friends are doing crazy things, you should stop them! You’re the Young Lord of the Namgung Clan. You can’t do the same things as these reckless people!”

Namgung Dowi’s eyes widened even more.

“M-Me?”

“Yes!”

“These people?”

“That⋯⋯.”

“Me?”

“⋯⋯.”

“Me?” Hyun Jong looked lost. He could understand what Namgung Dowi had seen and experienced.

And then, Chung Myung spoke, as if he didn’t understand the situation.

“I told you we’d be back safe and sound, so don’t worry. Sect Leader, are you getting old? You’re worrying too much.”

“⋯⋯.”

“Anyway, everyone came back safe, so that’s all that matters, right? Isn’t that right?”

At that moment, everyone saw it.

Hyun Jong’s face slowly changed, eventually twisting like a demon.

The disciples of Mount Hua had never seen that before. They all wanted to run away.

“Aaaaargh! You demonic people!” Hyun Jong exploded and charged at the Five Swords.

In the future⋯⋯ Hyun Sang would remember seeing a scene of chaos there.