Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 109

Hyun Jong sighed softly, but his eyes stayed glued to the arena. He didn’t look away for even a second.

He looked at Lee Song-baek, who was now on the ground, and then slowly turned his eyes to Chung Myung.

Nine wins in a row. Chung Myung had done it. Now, he waited for the last fight.

The place where the older and first disciples sat was completely silent. It was a heavy silence, like the air was too thick to breathe. No one wanted to speak first and break the spell.

Were there questions about Chung Myung? Were people unsure about what was happening?

It didn’t matter right now. They could ask questions and figure things out later, when they had time. The important thing now was that Chung Myung was about to win against Jongnam perfectly, without losing once.

‘Has Hwasan ever done something like this before?’ Hyun Jong wondered.

Hwasan and Jongnam had always been careful around each other, like rivals. Even if he wasn’t the leader and looked at history fairly, Hwasan was usually better than Jongnam in the past.

Of course, things were different now, Jongnam was stronger. But history was history.

But Hwasan beating Jongnam so badly and openly, like today, had never happened before, as far as Hyun Jong knew.

Of course, when the Plum Blossom Sword Saint was alive, Jongnam was scared of Hwasan. But that was just about reputation. There was never a big, public event like this that everyone would talk about.

And this was happening now, when Hwasan was going through such a hard time, like a dark age for the sect. This amazing thing was happening right now. He couldn’t look away.

Hyun Jong kept watching Chung Myung silently. Chung Myung was looking towards the Jongnam side.

He looked so sure of himself. Hyun Jong was even more amazed by Chung Myung’s confidence than by all the wins he had just seen.

When was the last time? When could Hwasan disciples feel this sure of themselves when facing Jongnam?

When could they stand as equals, not feeling weaker?

‘Oh, ancestors,’ Hyun Jong thought.

His eyes started to water. He knew a sect leader shouldn’t cry, but he couldn’t stop the strong feelings rising inside him.

“Sect Leader…” someone started to say.

“Quiet,” Hyun Jong said, shaking his head. “Just watch. Let’s see what else that boy will show us.”

Everyone held their breath, watching every move Chung Myung made.

‘Maybe today…’ Hyun Jong thought.

A new hope sparkled in his eyes, a hope he hadn’t felt in a long time. ‘Maybe today, things will start to get better for Hwasan.’

Something felt wrong. The way people were looking at him was different. Even the ground under his feet, the wooden sword in his hand, felt strange. Everything was different.

Jin Geum-ryong felt a weight on his shoulders, a worry he had never known before, as he walked to the arena.

‘This is weird,’ Jin Geum-ryong thought. He felt unsure for the first time.

The way people looked at him was not normal. Usually, everyone watched him with excitement and hope.

Yes. He was the one who fixed things, not the one who made people worry. Normally, people looked at him with pride and belief. But now, they looked worried and uneasy. He had never felt this before.

Why? Why were they looking at him like that now?

Jin Geum-ryong looked up. He saw Chung Myung staring at him. Chung Myung’s face showed almost no feeling, like Jin Geum-ryong was nothing special.

‘Yes. It’s because of that kid,’ Jin Geum-ryong realized.

He couldn’t understand it. And it made him angry, very angry.

Jin Geum-ryong had worked his whole life to get where he was. He had trained and trained to show everyone how talented he was, to prove himself.

Because of this, everyone told him he was amazing. They said he would be the next leader of Jongnam, and he would bring a new, amazing time for the sect, better than ever before.

He had earned that praise and hope over years and years. But now, in just a few hours, everything had changed to worry and doubt.

‘Do they think I’m not good enough?’ he wondered.

Were they worried because they thought he couldn’t beat a kid from a weak sect, a kid who was even younger than him?

Cold, heavy anger filled Jin Geum-ryong. He stared at Chung Myung, wanting to hurt him badly.

‘I never liked him,’ Jin Geum-ryong thought.

That proud face, that calm way he stood, and sometimes, that sharp look in his eyes. Most of all, he hated how Chung Myung acted like he didn’t care, like Jin Geum-ryong was just another person from Jongnam, even when they were facing each other.

Jin Geum-ryong took a deep breath to calm himself. Then, he spoke in a cold, flat voice.

“Should I say well done?”

“There’s really no need,” Chung Myung said, shrugging his shoulders.

“It’s not like I did anything great.”

Jin Geum-ryong stared at the impudent child before him with cold eyes.

“Are you trying to disrespect Jongnam?”

“Disregard?” Chung Myung chuckled.

“It’s not a matter of disregard. There’s no reason to be proud of defeating those weaker than me.”

Irritating.

Every single one of his attitudes.

“You should be humb—…” Jin Geum-ryong started to say, then stopped, sighed, and shook his head.

“No. You don’t need to be humble. Being too polite can be rude sometimes. If you pretended to be humble, it would just annoy people.”

“Hmm?”

“I admit it,” Jin Geum-ryong said. “You have the right to be proud. Just beating nine of Jongnam’s second disciples is enough to show you are an amazing talent.”

Chung Myung’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Sreuk.

Jin Geum-ryong drew his wooden sword from his waist and slowly aimed it at Chung Myung.

“Do you know what your misfortune is?”

“I wonder?”

“It is that you were born in the same era as me.”

Chung Myung wore a subtle smile. Jin Geum-ryong stared at Chung Myung intently and continued.

“Because you were unlucky enough to be born when I was, you will never be able to beat me. You’ll spend your life just looking at my back, always behind me.”

Chung Myung laughed a little. “You are very confident,” he said, with a hint of mockery.

“I’m not done talking,” Jin Geum-ryong said coldly.

“If you had not chosen Hwasan, you might have been able to overcome that misfortune. If you had chosen Jongnam instead of Hwasan, you might have had the potential to surpass me someday.”

“Really? Why do you think so?”

“It’s obvious.”

Jin Geum-ryong took another breath and went on. “Hwasan is stuck in the old days. You only try to bring back old skills and the old glory. But Jongnam is different. We look forward, not back. We will make new, better skills, build better ways of doing things, and take hold of a better future.”

Jin Geum-ryong declared.

“This is why you Hwasan will never be able to catch up to Jongnam again.”

“Wow,” Chung Myung said, sounding impressed. He almost wanted to clap.

If another sect had said those words, not Jongnam, he might have hit his fellow disciples and yelled, ‘Look and learn, you idiots!’

If the future that Jin Geum-ryong was talking about wasn’t made by stealing Hwasan’s martial arts.

‘What’s the point of saying anything?’

To make something true, you need two things. First, the truth itself. Second, the power to make others believe it.

When Chung Myung found out Jongnam had stolen the Plum Blossom Sword Technique, he got so angry he almost lost control.

But what would getting angry do?

In reality, Hwasan couldn’t punish Jongnam. If they told everyone about it, people would just ask them to show the Plum Blossom Sword Technique to prove it.

Even if they got the technique back and showed it, Jongnam would just say Hwasan copied their Snow Flower Twelve Swords and attack them.

And Hwasan would have to take that attack. Why? Because Hwasan was weak.

Martial arts were serious. If you gave away your special skills, you could die. If you stole someone else’s skills, you had to be ready for a big fight.

But Hwasan couldn’t fight Jongnam. If they talked about the Snow Flower Twelve Swords, Jongnam would use it as an excuse to attack Hwasan. And no one in the world would help Hwasan.

No one in the martial world would risk fighting with one of the big nine sects just to help a weak sect. Chung Myung knew better than anyone how cold and cruel the martial world could be.

That was why he had endured until now.

Until this moment!

He suppressed his boiling anger, gritted his teeth, and endured the urge to rush to Jongnam and kill them all.

All for the sake of this one moment.

Chung Myung wore a chilling smile on his face.

“The future of Jongnam. Those are good words.”

Chung Myung looked at Jin Geum-ryong and smiled quietly.

Yes. The future of Jongnam. I’ve thought about it a lot too.

About what to do with that future.

Just now, Chung Myung had planted a seed of trouble in Jongnam. He didn’t know if it would grow, but he had done what he could for now.

From now on, Chung Myung wasn’t just a young disciple of Hwasan anymore. From now on, he would act as the Plum Blossom Sword Saint, not just a student.

For those bad people who were cruel after being helped.

“In that future…” Chung Myung raised his sword and pointed it at Jin Geum-ryong.

“I’m going to give you a gift.”

“…A gift?”

“Yes. It will be a gift you’ll never forget for the rest of your life, so you’d better keep a close eye on it.”

Jin Geum-ryong looked at him as if he didn’t understand. But Chung Myung simply smiled.

‘It will be a real gift,’ Chung Myung thought. Even though it was more like a curse.

Just making Hwasan strong again and beating Jongnam now wasn’t enough to calm his anger. Chung Myung wanted to ruin Jongnam’s future completely.

‘You coveted Hwasan’s sword?’

Chung Myung bared his teeth and smiled, like a wolf in front of its prey.

“Then try to take it properly.”

“I’ll show you properly so you can never forget it.”

Chung Myung gripped the hand holding the sword tightly.

“Get out of the way!”

“Master?” “Senior Brother Baek Cheon!” The Hwasan disciples, who had been watching Chung Myung and Jin Geum-ryong without a sound, jumped when they heard a voice behind them. They quickly moved to the sides.

Baek Cheon staggered along the opened path.

“S-Senior Brother! Are you alright?”

Baek Cheon simply waved his hand dismissively at the flood of questions and stepped forward. Baek Sang, seeing his staggering gait, urgently shouted,

“A chair! Bring a chair quickly!”

“Yes, Sasuk!”

One of the third-generation disciples hurriedly brought a chair and made a place for Baek Cheon. But Baek Cheon didn’t even glance at the chair and looked at Chung Myung and Jin Geum-ryong in the arena.

‘I have to see this,’ Baek Cheon thought. As soon as he woke up, he heard that Chung Myung had won nine times in a row.

A disciple like him couldn’t just stay in bed after hearing that. Even though his body was hurting, he had to be here to support Chung Myung.

Jin Geum-ryong.

And Chung Myung.

Those who had a special meaning to him were now facing each other.

‘Win. Chung Myung.’

The moment Baek Cheon’s eyes filled with earnestness.

Seusut.

Seueut.

With low sounds cutting through the air, Chung Myung and Jin Geum-ryong’s swords began to move simultaneously.

No matter who won, this fight would be remembered everywhere, in Seomseo and beyond. The Hwasan disciples stared, eyes wide, not wanting to miss a single second of this important moment.