Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1123

Chung Myung greeted Maeng So with a wide grin as he arrived in a sunny courtyard in Yunnan. The air was warm, carrying the scent of blooming flowers. “Maeng So! You made it! Did you bring the Spirit Herb?”

Maeng So forced a smile, worry etched on his face. Several Beast Palace warriors stood nearby, their tanned skin exposed in the warm Yunnan air, many adorned with tattoos marking their arms. “Spirit Herb… also known as Violet Wood Herb, right? Yes, I have news about it. But… there’s a problem.” He hesitated, glancing at Chung Myung, fearing his reaction to the bad news.

Chung Myung’s grin vanished. “Problem? What kind of problem?”

Maeng So sighed deeply. “Bad news, I’m afraid. We can’t supply you with any Spirit Herb right now. We’ve searched all over Yunnan, but it’s gone. The plants in the Divine Pool are still too small to harvest, and…” He scratched his head, looking even more troubled. “It might be a long wait.”

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it,” Chung Myung said with a shrug, surprising Maeng So.

“Hmm?” Maeng So was taken aback.

“It’s not like it’s a weed that grows anywhere. It’ll grow when it needs to, right? It’s something we have to accept.”

“Hmph… is that so?” Maeng So replied.

“Don’t worry about it. If you leave the grass alone, it’ll grow again.”

“It might take more than ten years until the next harvest, you know?” Maeng So said.

“Ten years, a hundred years, we’ll be fortunate if we can get it then. If we can’t get it then, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Chung Myung spoke calmly, then glanced at Maeng So’s face and chuckled. “What’s so great about it that you’re making such a fierce face?”

“Me? Haha!” Maeng So, feeling relieved, burst into hearty laughter.

Maeng So had wondered if Chung Myung only cared about Yunnan for the herb and the tea money. He had expected Chung Myung to be angry or demanding. This reaction was… unexpected.

“You saying that makes me feel petty,” Maeng So admitted.

“Petty? You? Nah, you’re just… lion-sized in everything, including your worries!” Chung Myung teased.

“Haha. This is the first time I’ve heard that,” Maeng So chuckled.

“Then the people you’ve met so far don’t know you well, Lord of the Palace,” Chung Myung said.

Maeng So laughed heartily. It seemed Chung Myung’s words weren’t far from the truth.

“Anyway, you’re a truly amazing person,” Maeng So said.

“Oh? Are you trying to get back at me already?” Chung Myung asked.

“I can’t just keep getting hit,” Maeng So replied with a smile. He passed it off as a joke, but the words ‘amazing person’ were his honest feelings.

Whether Chung Myung had guessed Maeng So’s thoughts and said those words to ease his mind, or whether they came from his unadulterated heart, it was impossible to know. But whichever it was, that simple word made Maeng So feel at ease.

He knew that the Mount Heaven Alliance wasn’t just a relationship bound by profit. Like the Plum Blossom Sword Saint who had saved Yunnan without considering any gains, Mount Hua was also a place that could extend a hand to them without any reason.

But even knowing that fact, he couldn’t help but worry, because the sense of discrimination between the people of the Central Plains and the foreigners was so deeply rooted.

“Ah, now that I think about it, you haven’t seen him before, have you?” Chung Myung asked.

“Hmm?”

“Hey, Namgoong.” Chung Myung beckoned Namgoong Dowi.

“Yes?”

Then, Namgoong Dowi approached them with a slightly awkward and hesitant gait. Chung Myung introduced him casually. “He’s the young lord of the Namgoong Clan. Well… his position is still young lord, but he’s the one who will soon become the head of the Namgoong Clan.”

“Ah, is that so?” Maeng So looked at Namgoong Dowi with slightly narrowed eyes.

‘Indeed.’

Was there anyone in the world who didn’t know the reputation of the Namgoong Clan?

A prestigious family among prestigious families. Among the numerous clans of the Central Plains, the Namgoong Clan was always at the top when it came to prestige. Perhaps because he was the young lord of such a place, his aura was extraordinary at first glance.

“Nice to meet you. I am Maeng So, the Lord of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace,” Maeng So said.

“Ah, I am…”

At that moment, Chung Myung chuckled and stopped Maeng So. “You don’t have to be so formal. He’s still a kid, so please take it easy on him and help him out.”

“What does that mean? The young lord of the Namgoong Clan…” Just as Maeng So was about to retort with a bewildered expression, Namgoong Dowi hurriedly spoke.

“No, Palace Lord.”

“Hmm?”

Namgoong Dowi respectfully clasped his hands towards Maeng So, who looked a little dazed. “What Chung Myung Sect Leader says is correct. I am still lacking in many ways, so I humbly ask for your guidance and encouragement.”

Maeng So blinked his large eyes.

Normally, Maeng So was as imposing as a giant lion, but with a bewildered face and only blinking his eyes, he looked more like an innocent cow than a ferocious beast.

“Do you… know me well?” Maeng So asked.

“I don’t know you well,” Namgoong Dowi replied.

“Then what guidance and encouragement are you talking about?”

At those words, Namgoong Dowi smiled gently, a genuine smile that showed how much he had changed since meeting Chung Myung. “I don’t know much about you, Palace Lord, but I think I know Chung Myung Sect Leader to some extent now.”

“…”

“That person always speaks as if he’s joking. But there’s always a hidden truth in his words that you shouldn’t miss. I think Chung Myung Sect Leader is telling me that I need to learn many things from you, Palace Lord.”

Maeng So stared intently at Namgoong Dowi, then slightly turned his head to look at Chung Myung. Chung Myung shrugged as if he didn’t know anything about it.

“So, shouldn’t I naturally ask for your teachings?” Namgoong Dowi asked.

“Look here… I am a foreigner. I have nothing to give to the Namgoong Clan, a prestigious family that symbolizes the Central Plains,” Maeng So said.

“What does that matter?” Namgoong Dowi asked.

“What does it matter, you say?”

“Yes.”

Namgoong Dowi slightly shifted his gaze to look at someone, then frowned. Figures in thick, white fur coats appeared in the distance, in contrast to the lightly dressed Beast Palace members.

“We’re even eating out of the same pot as those Demonic Sect bastards,” Namgoong Dowi said.

“Hey, it seems like you’re not managing your eyes very well? Want to try that again?” Lim Sobyeong quipped. Namgoong Dowi’s face contorted even more.

“Did you see that?” Namgoong Dowi asked.

“…”

“Now we even eat with Demonic Sect bastards. In this situation, it’s ridiculous to make distinctions between foreigners and whatnot,” Namgoong Dowi let out a hollow laugh. He never thought he would say such a thing.

“At least within the Mount Heaven Alliance, such distinctions have no meaning,” Namgoong Dowi stated.

“But aren’t you the one who will lead the Namgoong Clan, the most prestigious family in the world?” Maeng So asked.

“I’ve stopped caring about titles and family names,” Namgoong Dowi replied.

“You’ve thrown them away?”

“Yes. There’s nothing great or different about the Namgoong Clan. We are not as grand as people think, and please, I beg you,” Namgoong Dowi said.

Maeng So could only chuckle.

Of course, it wasn’t that he didn’t have pride in the Beast Palace. But the pride he had himself and the recognition the world gave him were completely different matters, weren’t they?

There was a huge gap between the prestigious family symbolizing the Central Plains and the Beast Palace, which was treated as foreign barbarians, that couldn’t be narrowed. But it seemed that this young man couldn’t see that gap at all.

“I beg you,” Namgoong Dowi bowed deeply once more.

Maeng So looked at Namgoong Dowi, who was bowing his head, or rather, at the people standing behind him. The people who didn’t particularly think it was anything special that the young lord was bowing to a foreigner.

‘Don’t these people feel that this is strange?’

Only ten years ago, they would have thought that it was impossible for a direct descendant of the Namgoong Clan to bow to a foreign barbarian, even if the sky were to split. But now, these people were just watching this scene indifferently.

The people involved might not feel it, but to Maeng So, who had joined from the outside, this huge change felt all too vivid.

“Hey, his neck’s gonna break,” Chung Myung said.

“Oh…”

Chung Myung gave him a subtle look, and Maeng So nodded as if he couldn’t help it.

“If I can be of help, I’ll do my best,” Maeng So said.

“Thank you!” Namgoong Dowi smiled brightly. It was a smile that didn’t feel artificial at all.

Looking at that face, Maeng So couldn’t help but realize that all of this wasn’t just a casual cover-up.

Feeling strangely awkward, Maeng So turned his head to look at Chung Myung.

“You…”

“Yes?”

“What on earth are you creating?” Maeng So asked.

“What do you mean by that?” Chung Myung asked.

“No…”

Maeng So laughed as if he was dumbfounded.

It wasn’t that difficult for one or two people to have something similar to goodwill towards foreigners. Even when the relationship between the Central Plains and the outside world reached its extreme, there were people who showed goodwill towards foreigners.

But for so many people to gather in one place and not show any particular hostility towards foreigners was definitely rare, if not unheard of. Even those who were seeing the Beast Palace members for the first time today.

Their unfamiliar clothes and the act of bringing beasts with them would be enough to make them frown, but…

“But why are those guys walking around with their shirts off?” Someone asked.

“They came from a hot place,” Another person replied.

“Ah. I didn’t think of that.”

“What’s wrong with taking off your shirt? We’re living with guys who peel people’s skin off,” A third person said.

“Careful what you wish for,” Someone replied.

“Then will your neck be safe?”

Maeng So shook his head as he watched them start bickering as if they had quickly lost interest in the Beast Palace. He swore that this was the first time in his life he had been pushed so far out of the spotlight.

‘…The Mount Heaven Alliance.’

He thought it was a dreamlike story. Maeng So had joined Chung Myung’s cause simply because he thought it would benefit the Beast Palace, not because he had any particular expectations of changing something big.

The reality that foreigners felt and the reality that people from the Central Plains felt were too different. There would be no reason for the people of the Central Plains to take the initiative to change that reality.

But now, here, Maeng So was clearly feeling the change firsthand. Perhaps… someday, those within the Mount Heaven Alliance would look at each other without prejudice.

Maeng So smiled bitterly. He knew that his heart was already overflowing with expectations. Great expectations only lead to great disappointments. Maeng So decided to be satisfied with this much.

But even if he gave up his expectations, his heart towards the Mount Heaven Alliance could never be the same as before. Because he had become curious. If the day came when these people led the world, how would the world change?

“What on earth did you do?” Maeng So asked.

“What are you talking about?” Chung Myung asked.

“Everyone is so unreserved with each other. Regardless of status,” Maeng So said.

“Ah, well, that’s only natural,” Chung Myung answered nonchalantly.

“Hmm?”

“Whether it’s Namgoong or Green Forest, they’re all useless brats anyway. What’s the difference between the better and the worse ones? We have to beat them all equally,” Chung Myung said.

“…”

That… it’s a bit strange, but…

Understanding and confusion washed over him at the same time. Maeng So was thinking that perhaps this was better than an empty and unrealizable ideal.

“Oh? They’re coming over there too,” Chung Myung said.

“Hmm?”

At Chung Myung’s words, Maeng So turned his head. As soon as he saw where Chung Myung was pointing, a smile escaped his lips.

“They’re arriving as if they planned it. By the way, aren’t they hot? Coming all the way here wearing those thick fur coats,” Maeng So said.

“The Beast Palace is the same, walking around here with their shirts off, you know?” Chung Myung replied.

“…I have nothing to say,” Maeng So said.

The two men laughed side by side. Even in the midst of this, those wearing snow-white clothes were approaching quickly.

The arrival of the Northern Ice Palace, which had started from a place even further than Yunnan and crossed the world, had finally arrived.