Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1102

Hyun Young groaned, “Ugh.”

He threw back the blanket and sat up, turning to look out the window. He frowned a little as he looked out the window. “Is the sun up already?” he wondered.

He had overslept a little today.

He usually never overslept, but after spending several sleepless nights while the disciples were away, the accumulated fatigue seemed to hit him all at once.

“Aish, my old bones,” he sighed, rubbing his shoulder.

Although he had mastered martial arts and refined his body, he couldn’t overcome his age.

He threw the blanket off completely and sat cross-legged. Only after finishing his usual meditative breathing exercises did he get up and change his clothes.

“Hmm.”

Before leaving his room, he closed his eyes slightly.

Hwasan was achieving success after success. But that was precisely why they needed to be more vigilant.

Good luck can bring bad luck too. If they became arrogant or intoxicated with success, they would surely pay the price.

‘I must be careful.’

These were the kinds of things that young disciples easily overlooked. He, being older, had to be the first to be wary and to encourage them.

Hyun Young smiled slightly.

“Shall I find fault with them a little today, perhaps?”

Hyun Young, determined to play the strict teacher for his disciples for the day, resolutely opened the door and went outside. But his determination vanished fast before even an hour had passed.

“…What is all this…?”

Hyun Young muttered with a blank face as he stood at the entrance to the manor.

Mountains of luggage rose up, blocking the view like a strange, colorful wall. Sacks of grain, bundles of vegetables, and even baskets overflowing with fruit were piled high.

“…Are enemies attacking? Or are we running away?”

“Ah, no. It’s not that…”

Baek Sang wiped the sweat from his brow as he replied.

“From early morning, people have been flocking here to thank us for defeating the Demonic Sect…”

“This?”

“Yes.”

“All of this?”

Hyun Young’s eyes widened in shock.

He raised his head along the piled-up luggage, and before he could even see the end, he clutched the back of his neck.

“Aigo. My neck…!”

“Are you alright?”

“…Is this all of it?”

“There’s no more room to pile things inside, so the disciples are currently receiving and stacking things outside the manor.”

“What?”

Flames flared in Hyun Young’s eyes.

“Is this guy sane or not! You just accepted all this without a second thought? Those greedy fools are thoughtlessly accepting things from commoners who struggle to make ends meet?”

Baek Sang waved his hands in horror.

“Aigo, Elder! How could that be? Of course, I refused, saying it was alright. But what can I do when they insist on giving it?”

“…Insist?”

“They say it’s nothing much, and why won’t I accept even this much? They say their lives are worth more than this, so what can I say? No matter how much I try to stop them, they just throw it down and run away…”

Hyun Young chuckled, a sound of disbelief.

It wasn’t new for things sent from various places to pile up in Hwasan. Hyun Young had already seen it many times. But this was different.

The gifts that had come to Hwasan until now were sent by influential figures to gain favor with Hwasan. Even at best, it was hard to say they were sent with pure intentions; to put it bluntly, they were bribes.

But didn’t the things piled up here have a completely different meaning?

Hwasan would soon leave this area and go to a distant place. What would the people of this region gain by trying to please them?

That meant all of this was truly items given by the common people here as a token of pure gratitude.

Hyun Young, letting out a laugh that was hard to decipher, approached the piled-up luggage as if possessed and untied one of the bundles at the bottom.

Inside the roughly tied bundle was grain, not particularly valuable, packed tightly. Hyun Young quietly stared at it, then gently stroked it with his fingertips.

“…This precious thing…”

The precious gifts sent by influential figures might be expensive, but they could never be ‘precious’ to Hyun Young. How could something sent by those with too much money, trying to show off, have any great meaning?

But this grain was different.

The people living in this area had only just escaped from the bad people. It was difficult for them to even find enough to eat each day. Yet, with hearts full of gratitude, they had taken away the grain they needed to eat during the winter and brought it here.

How could this grain be said to be less valuable than such treasures?

“There are many small things, but most of them are food.”

“…”

“But there’s so much that it’s not easy to store. We should find a suitable merchant to sell it…”

“What, you rascal?”

Hyun Young turned his head sharply, his eyes blazing. The anger in his eyes as he glared at Baek Sang was palpable.

“Sell what?”

“The grain…”

“Has this guy gone mad?”

Hyun Young’s eyes were bloodshot.

“What is this! What kind of stuff is this that you’re talking about selling! Can you exchange this for money? There are gluttons here who eat so much they treat So Ga-hyung like their older brother, so just feed it all to them! Why are you talking about selling it!”

“Elder. We can store the grain, but the meat and vegetables that came in will spoil soon…”

“Eat it all!”

Hyun Young spoke angrily, and Baek Sang quietly shut his mouth.

“Don’t leave a single grain! Eat it all up! If you don’t, you’ll all be dead!”

Baek Sang’s face turned black.

Of course, the people here were the main culprits who ate six times as much as ordinary men, hurting Hyun Young’s stomach. But even so, how could they eat everything that would fill ten huge granaries in a few days?

“No…”

“Quiet! Start feeding them from lunch today! Feed them all!”

“…”

“Do you understand?”

“Yes, yes…”

Hyun Young clicked his tongue with a displeased face and looked at the piled-up gifts with new eyes.

Indeed… it would be hard for the young disciples to understand.

That cooperation was a matter of choice for some, but for others, it was a desperate hope that they couldn’t even bear to look at.

In the past, when Hwasan was on the verge of collapse, Hyun Young couldn’t even dream of brave acts. For some, it might be something they could choose not to do if they were capable but didn’t feel like it, but for Hyun Young and his generation, brave acts were just something dazzling.

What kept them going through that difficult life was the fading hope that one day they too would be able to fight for the suffering common people as proud martial artists, and spread the name of Hwasan far and wide.

That hope that he had gradually let go of as he got older and his hair turned white, and as he realized that youth would not last forever.

Hyun Young carefully put down the grain he had been gently stroking.

“…I wasn’t wrong.”

“Yes?”

“It’s nothing.”

Hyun Young answered curtly and turned his head. He didn’t want to show his face to the disciples right now.

After taking some time to manage his expression, Hyun Young asked again, looking at them.

“So, are there still people coming from outside?”

“Yes. The disciples are receiving the luggage now.”

“Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

Baek Sang quickly stepped forward. Following him, they soon saw people lined up, carrying various things.

After waiting, a large man arrived in front of the disciples, puffing out his breath and thrusting what he was holding forward.

“Hope you folks eat meat. Didn’t know what else to bring, so here’s this.”

“Thank you. We eat meat too.”

“That’s a relief.”

The man said curtly and almost threw the bundle into the disciples’ arms.

“…It looks like a lot.”

“It’s not much!”

“Thank you.”

The disciples wiped the sweat from their brows at his curt attitude and accepted the luggage.

“Where do you live…”

“That’s all you need to know. Just take it.”

“…Ah, yes.”

The man was about to turn around without regret, but he glanced at the Hwasan disciple.

“Thank you.”

Cheong Sang, who had accepted the luggage, looked at the man with questioning eyes.

“I have an old mother. If we had to evacuate, she wouldn’t have been able to withstand the harsh winds outside, so she would have had to die here.”

“…”

“Thanks to you, she lived. Thank you.”

Cheong Sang, who had been staring blankly at him for a moment, smiled brightly.

“We just did what we had to do.”

“Ahem.”

The man nodded and turned around, walking away.

Hyun Young stared intently at the man’s back and then turned his gaze to the side. The bottom of the bundle was wet, as if the meat had been butchered not long ago.

“Baek Sang.”

“Yes, Elder.”

“Go and call more disciples. It’s cold, and the line is too long. If we can’t refuse, we should at least reduce the time they have to stand.”

“Yes? Cheong Myung is beating the children… No, he’s training them, so he won’t send any more?”

“Tell him I called them and bring them. No, drag all the guys who are training, including Cheong Myung, and tell them to receive the luggage first.”

“That training is…”

“Hurry.”

“Yes! Elder!”

Baek Sang ran inside. Even if it was Cheong Myung, he wouldn’t argue with the orders of the Sect Leader and Elder Hyun Young, so there wouldn’t be any problems.

Hyun Young silently looked at the people in line.

The disheveled man, the old woman with a bent back, and the woman holding a child’s hand with rough hands were all holding something in their hands, looking at the Hwasan disciples with longing eyes.

“That…”

Hyun Young, who had opened his mouth as if to say something, closed it again. As he was about to turn his head, he suddenly heard someone’s voice.

“Doesn’t it look good?”

Hyun Young, who glanced back, said curtly.

“When did you come?”

“A little while ago.”

Hyun Jong smiled and looked at him.

“The Sect Leader is quite free. What’s there to see that you came all the way here?”

“Even if I’m busy, there are things I need to see.”

“Then lend a hand?”

Hyun Jong smiled quietly at Hyun Young’s words.

“Those who should welcome them are not us. Isn’t that so?”

Hyun Young nodded silently at those words.

“Chivalry should not be practiced in the hope of reward. The moment you hope for a reward, it becomes a transaction, not a chivalrous act.”

“…”

“But…”

Hyun Jong said.

“If it’s such a reward… Yes, it’s worth receiving.”

Hyun Young just pursed his lips. He couldn’t open his mouth because he thought strange sounds would come out.

At that moment, disciples were seen running breathlessly from afar.

“It’s work!”

“Damn it! I can work!”

“I’ll do it! Please let me do it!”

Hyun Young chuckled as he saw the disciples running excitedly, as if work was better than training, and Cheong Myung walking behind them with his lips sticking out.

“Move quickly! You lazy things!”

Hyun Young’s clear voice was filled with a vitality that had been hard to find for a while.