Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1104

The sun, a bright white disc, was halfway above the horizon. It gave off a strong, warm feeling as it shone gently.

“Can’t you pack it straight?”

Screee…

No, it wasn’t the sun. The snow-white weasel, which had been arching its back, quickly raised it again at Chung Myung’s voice.

Of course, it wasn’t strange for a weasel to arch its back. When feeling threatened or stretching, animals naturally lower their upper body and lift their back as much as possible.

But strangely, it wasn’t putting its paws on the ground. Instead, its small head was touching the ground… its head!

It was very strange, almost unbelievable. A huge sack, maybe ten times bigger than the weasel, was balanced on its back. The weasel’s body was only as big as a human arm.

Squeak… squeak…

Baek Ah shook under the heavy sack of stones. He made a small crying sound and his back sagged a little.

“Hey, what’s this little rascal doing?”

Baek Ah was startled by the voice that seemed to appear out of nowhere and raised his back in alarm. But all his efforts were in vain as Chung Myung, who had rushed over in an instant, kicked Baek Ah.

Screeeeeech!

Baek Ah, who had flown high into the sky, flailed his front paws and plummeted to the ground. Twirling in the air, he landed with a determined look, then quickly gathered the scattered sacks and carried them on his back. And he quickly buried his head again.

“Which bastard said that even beasts know the grace of being fed and raised! Which bastard!”

“……”

“Seriously!”

Chung Myung’s eyes rolled back.

“Okay, fine, you don’t have to know gratitude. But if you eat, you have to pay for it! I gave you food and raised you, and when I ask you to run an errand, you can’t even handle that and slack off?”

Scree…!

Before Baek Ah could even react, Chung Myung kicked him, sending him flying.

Thwack!

Baek Ah, who had twirled into the sky, quickly repeated his previous actions.

Thud!

Baek Ah, burying his head like lightning, desperately tried to clasp his short front paws behind his back. It was like Baek Ah knew if he made Chung Myung angry, he might end up as a scarf! He seemed to understand the danger.

“People and beasts alike…”

Chung Myung clicked his tongue as if he was very displeased and glared at Baek Ah. Baek Ah’s eyes filled with clear tears under that gaze.

But these weren’t tears of pain or sadness. He was crying because it was unfair.

If Baek Ah could speak, wouldn’t he shout, ‘Honestly, when have you ever fed me? You’re worse than a beast, you bastard!’?

To be fair, all Chung Myung had done was roughly carry Baek Ah around. Baek Ah hunted for his own food, went to the kitchen to find food, stole food… well, let’s leave that out. Anyway.

Yet, he was making such a fuss about feeding and raising him, which was enough to drive Baek Ah crazy.

But what could he do? He couldn’t relieve his frustration with words… and even if he could speak human language, would that guy even listen?

In times like these, he could only play dead and lie flat.

“If you’ve made your home in Mount Hua! Huh? We live and die together! Your fellow disciples are training and struggling, and you’re slacking off alone? Can’t you straighten your back?”

Screee…

Baek Ah quickly raised his back high.

Yoon Jong and Jo Gul, who were watching the scene from the side, looked at each other.

“Wait, fellow disciples with *a weasel*? Seriously?”

“…I’m hearing this for the first time too.”

“That’s beside the point… isn’t that animal abuse at this point?”

Baek Cheon shook his head as if that wasn’t right.

“It’s abuse of a spirit beast.”

“Either way, isn’t it still abuse?”

“I don’t agree with that. As far as I know, Chung Myung loves animals more than anyone else in this world.”

“Huh?”

Jo Gul turned to Baek Cheon with a look that said, ‘Where did that come from?’ Baek Cheon said in a calm voice.

“It’s only because it’s an animal that it ended like that. If it were us, we would be buried in the Yangtze River, exchanging greetings with the fish.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

Jo Gul quickly understood. He could immediately see that Baek Ah was receiving very special treatment. He slacked off during training and only had to bury his head and get kicked; if it were them, they would have been beaten to near death and hung upside down for three days without food or water.

“…Chung Myung has an unexpectedly kind side.”

“Right?”

“And when you think about it, it’s very rational, isn’t it? Even animals get punished without exception if they slack off.”

“Thinking about it the other way around, that bastard probably sees us as no different from beasts.”

“…That’s just like Chung Myung.”

Yoon Jong, who was listening to their conversation, unknowingly moved away from them.

‘These guys aren’t normal either. They’re completely crazy.’

But unlike the Mount Hua disciples, who had discovered an unexpected kindness in Chung Myung, the Green Forest Alliance and the Tang family members could only gape.

“…What is that weasel…”

“I know, right…”

Their pupils trembled.

But even as they were amazed, it was difficult to explain exactly what they were amazed by. Were they amazed because the weasel was being punished like a person? Or were they amazed by the person who was scolding and mistreating even the weasel?

“Hehehe.”

“We’re something else, but really…”

“But we need to think about which of those two is the beast first…”

At that moment, Chung Myung, who had been giving a long lecture to Baek Ah, turned his head.

‘Eek!’

‘Don’t make eye contact.’

‘Hold your breath, hold your breath!’

The Green Forest Alliance and the Tang family members, whose eyes met his, quickly lowered their gaze. Hadn’t it been proven over the past few days that just making eye contact with that man made life difficult?

“Are you laughing?”

“……”

“So you find this funny, huh?”

Chung Myung’s eyes rolled back.

‘Wow, look at those eyes.’

‘I’d rather deal with a demonic sect bastard.’

‘It would be more comfortable under Jang Il-so, damn it.’

This was the Mount Hua style. It was a unique feeling, like something special from the high mountains of Mount Hua. Now, people in other famous places, even far away in Sichuan, were starting to understand this style.

“Anyway, people and beasts alike!”

“……”

“The beasts don’t even know the grace of being fed and sheltered and are just slacking off! And the people, the ones who carry swords, haven’t been training properly, so they’re collapsing and panting after barely rolling around a bit.”

“……”

“Oh, fate! What bad things did I do before? Yes, I must have done bad things!”

Yoon Jong turned to Baek Cheon and asked.

“What is that bastard saying now?”

Baek Cheon smiled contentedly.

“He’s just talking nonsense as usual.”

“Ah.”

“Just ignore it.”

“Yes.”

Chung Myung looked very unhappy. He rested his chin on his hand and looked around. The Green Forest Bandits, known for living in the mountains, and Tang Clan members were lying on the ground everywhere.

‘This is more serious than I thought.’

After training them a few times, it was very clear what Mount Hua had lacked before.

Basically, their fighting skills were not weak. The Sichuan Tang Clan was very famous. And the Green Forest bandits ruled the Central Plains mountain ranges. It would be strange if the carefully chosen fighters of the Green Forest were weak.

The problem was that strength is made up of more than just one thing.

Someone might say their ‘fighting skills’ were a little weak, but the real problem was their stamina.

“A fighter being weak… This is like a fish that can’t swim!”

Internal energy and stamina are alike, but not exactly the same. Even if someone has a lot of internal energy, if they keep fighting for days without rest, their stamina will run out first.

When someone loses stamina, their mental strength also gets weaker. These people might be strong at the start of a fight. But as the fight goes on, they can’t even use half of their real skill.

So, wouldn’t that lead to training?

Of course. Fighting again and again, even when you are weak and risking your life, will surely improve both stamina and mental strength.

‘For those who survive, that is.’

The problem was that most would die before that point.

The Demonic Sect was scary because they were extreme believers. And extreme believers are scary not just because they don’t fear death.

Hadn’t they already experienced it?

The Demonic Sect didn’t get tired. Their bodies might get tired, but their minds were like strong armor. Normal people can’t even imagine how strong their minds are.

War never ended quickly. Depending on the situation, terrible battles could go on for over seven days and nights.

Even if the fighting stopped, one had to live each day worrying about when the enemy might attack. Even those who thought they were strong might have their heads cut off, unable to handle the horrors of war.

“Tsk.”

Chung Myung scratched his cheek, annoyed.

“I’ve been criticizing these famous sects a lot… but I was also from a famous traditional sect, wasn’t I?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Nothing.”

Chung Myung sighed deeply.

‘It’s not like I’m perfect either.’

A conversation he had with Cheong Mun long ago came back to him.

– Chung Myung, why do you think Wudang lacks skill?

– They have no talent.

– …Then what about Jongnam?

– They’re not fully human.

– …Then what about the Namgung Clan?

– They’re rude.

– …Can we fix them?

– Oh, brother. Can you turn stone into gold by carving it? Carving it just makes it a nice stone. How can you change kids who are born like that? Just leave them alone.

– ….

Ah… Thinking about it, they really were hopeless.

Chung Myung covered his face with both hands.

‘No, what am I supposed to do when that’s how they really were back then?’

If they were learning the same martial arts but their skills weren’t improving, then they had no talent. Chung Myung didn’t know what other reason there could be. He didn’t want to know.

But after pushing these students hard, kicking them, grabbing their necks, and trying to make them better people, he finally understood.

That even a stone could become gold if it was carved well.

But the Chung Myung of the past, the Plum Blossom Sword Saint, didn’t know, and didn’t need to know. It was easier to just beat them all to death himself than to waste his energy on such things.

‘I can’t do it that way anymore.’ Chung Myung’s resolve hardened.

Chung Myung raised his head and glared at the Tang Clan members.

“…Like flowers in a greenhouse.”

“…Yes?”

Chung Myung frowned deeply.

He had said it many times before, calling the young disciples of Jongnam or Wudang greenhouse flowers. That they were just good-looking fools who couldn’t even use their skills against violent enemies, let alone the Demonic Sect.

Chung Myung was wrong about that.

‘It wasn’t just the young ones who were the problem.’

What happens if a greenhouse flower grows well?

It just becomes a bigger greenhouse flower. It looks beautiful and healthy, but it dies in the first cold wind. It becomes just a decoration that is only useful in a warm room.

It was a mistake to think that those who grew up like that would become strong and do their jobs well just because they got older and their skills improved.

If even the Tang Clan and the Green Forest were like this, what was the point of looking at the others?

“So that’s why the back lines failed even when we fought so hard at the front…”

Chung Myung sighed as he remembered things he didn’t want to remember.

No wonder the other side failed when they were fighting to the death here, and the front lines failed again when they were fighting to the death over there.

Looking back, Chung Myung wasted almost as much time running around the battlefields of the Central Plains after getting urgent orders from Cheong Mun as he spent actually fighting.

It didn’t matter if the enemy was a heretical sect, the Demonic Sect, or one of the Nine Great Sects. It was all the same.

If he wanted to attack well, the people in the back had to at least hold on. If that didn’t happen, no matter how much Chung Myung fought, the hell of the past would just happen again.

So, what was the answer?

“…Well, is there really any other way?”

Chung Myung’s eyes blazed like hot coals.

“Stamina gets better when you keep moving, and mental strength comes from being pushed hard, both physically and verbally.”

As he said this, everyone who felt something bad was coming widened their eyes. Chung Myung clapped his hands.

“Alright, everyone. Let’s start again.”

“U-um, Chung Myung Dojang-nim.”

“Yes?”

Dangpae pointed awkwardly at the sky.

“Um… it’s already sunset, you know?” Dangpae said hesitantly.

“So?” Chung Myung replied sharply.

“Ah… Chung Myung Dojang-nim might not know, but we also have sect duties to do. The sect can only work if we do our work at night, like sorting documents…”

“So?”

“T-this is something we absolutely have to do…”

“So?”

Dangpae, not knowing what to say, stared blankly at Chung Myung.

Chung Myung tilted his head as if he didn’t understand at all.

“So, you’re saying you don’t have enough time to do other work right now?”

“T-that’s right! You understand.” Dangpae said, his face brightening.

But Chung Myung soon tilted his head again and said.

“That’s a strange thing to say.”

“…Yes?”

“If you don’t have enough time, you just don’t sleep.”

“…”

“War usually goes on for ten days without sleep. This is perfect timing. Let’s experience it now. I was only going to do it until midnight today. Since it’s like this, let’s add another hour.”

Right then, Dangpae understood that something had gone very wrong. All the Green Forest Bandits and Tang Clan members around him glared at him with eyes that looked like they wanted to beat him to death. He had no choice but to lower his head and avoid their murderous gazes. A quiet groan rippled through the group.

“Alright, let’s start! I live only when you guys get stronger! So, grit your teeth!”

Mount Hua’s way of doing things was slowly spreading across the Central Plains.