Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1129

‘This is hell,’ Ho Gamyeong thought, rubbing his tired eyes. Outside, the sky was still a deep, dark blue – the color of deep dawn.

Most buildings were still dark in the deep dawn. But light still shone from the rooms of Ho Gamyeong, the military strategist – the person who planned battles and strategies – for the Four Seas Alliance.

Ho Gamyeong sat at a large desk, looking through documents. He rubbed his eyes, which felt gritty and sore. He leaned back in his chair with a groan, stretching his stiff back.

‘This isn’t easy.’

He was a martial artist, so normal tasks didn’t usually exhaust him. But almost ten days of working night and day was enough to tire even him.

Yet, the road ahead was long, and he couldn’t even think of resting.

“…You ask for too much sometimes.”

He muttered under his breath, a low growl of frustration.

He fully understood Jang Ilso’s intentions. And he now perfectly understood that those intentions were more than justified.

The problem was that Jang Ilso would easily state a big goal, like ‘This is how it should be done.’ Then, it was Ho Gamyeong’s job to actually make that goal happen.

Easy to say.

Recently, almost a thousand people were executed. This caused a big problem for the Four Seas Alliance. Many important positions were suddenly empty.

It didn’t matter if the unimportant people died, Ho Gamyeong thought dismissively. But it was a big problem that several people who were very important in each group were among those executed.

He had to quickly fill the empty positions and find the right people for each job. At the same time, he had to find and efficiently reorganize all the things that were not working well or were wasting resources in each sect.

And that wasn’t everything! He also had to bring together and organize the different groups: the Black Ghost Faction, the Myriad Man Manor, and the Waterway Group.

This was a terrible task, one that could not even be compared to creating a new sect.

In the past, those who saw Ho Gamyeong’s workload at the Myriad Man Manor would shake their heads. But now, he had to make the Four Seas Alliance work smoothly. It was now much bigger than the Myriad Man Manor used to be, while also cleaning up the mess caused by Jang Ilso’s unexpected actions.

Was this something a person could do? Even if you brought in talented officials from the imperial palace, they wouldn’t last a few days before running away.

However, Ho Gamyeong silently endured all those tasks without complaint.

If Chung Myung knew this, he might forget their past problems and grab onto Ho Gamyeong, crying and asking him to work together.

Simply put, Ho Gamyeong was doing all the jobs that Chung Myung, Hyun Young, Hyun Sang, Unam, and even the Eunha Merchant Guild did back in Mount Hua.

So, Ho Gamyeong had to stay alone and work until the early morning. Meanwhile, Jang Ilso, who had just given orders easily, was sound asleep.

The Four Seas Alliance was a place that could not exist without Jang Ilso, and at the same time, it was a place that could not move without Ho Gamyeong.

‘Let’s see.’

Ho Gamyeong reached out and pulled the report that had just come in from the Hao Moon Sect in front of him.

Even while fixing the organization, he couldn’t miss any information. Information was the most precious thing. And the information that went to Jang Ilso was even more important among them.

One of Ho Gamyeong’s jobs was to get all the new information, decide what was important, and then send only the most important parts to Jang Ilso. He couldn’t trust anyone else to do this.

“…Beast Palace and Ice Palace, huh…”

The report he was looking at now was about the Heavenly Union. Lately, information about what the Heavenly Union was doing was considered very important by the Four Seas Alliance.

“…What is he trying to do by calling all these guys together?”

Ho Gamyeong frowned and muttered.

This didn’t seem like a smart thing to do. It’s not like a war is going to break out right away, is it? But if you call that many people to the Yangtze River, it will cost a huge amount of money just to feed and house them.

Also, if you put people who are very different together, they will probably fight and cause problems. The Four Seas Alliance was having the same problem right now, with so much conflict and violence.

But to deliberately cause trouble by doing something that doesn’t need to be done? This is a foolish act to anyone who sees it.

“…Damn it…”

A hollow sigh escaped from Ho Gamyeong’s mouth.

But he couldn’t just ignore this information and think it was stupid. There was one reason why. It was because the person doing this was Chung Myung.

‘The Sword Saint of Mount Hua.’

Although he didn’t want to admit it, the Sword Saint of Mount Hua was someone Ho Gamyeong’s mind couldn’t handle.

Ho Gamyeong knew he wasn’t a brilliant strategist. To most people, Ho Gamyeong seemed like a great strategist. But in the world they lived in now, a world changed by powerful, almost monstrous figures, even Ho Gamyeong felt ordinary and not very smart.

That’s how difficult and dangerous the situation was – it was beyond what normal people could handle.

Ho Gamyeong habitually pressed his temples.

‘It’s not like I’ve ever felt bad about that.’

His strengths were in other areas.

He was good at other things, not just strategy. He was good at organizing, managing, and making Jang Ilso’s ideas actually happen. There are many people in the world, but Ho Gamyeong is the only one who can do the kind of work that would satisfy Jang Ilso.

Ho Gamyeong was proud of that fact.

But sometimes, like now, he felt frustrated. He wished he could understand the complicated plans and fights happening between people like Chung Myung and Jang Ilso. Yes. Only at times like this.

“…Annoying.”

Ho Gamyeong muttered and moved the report to his left. Reports on the left were for Jang Ilso – things Ho Gamyeong couldn’t deal with himself.

Recently, especially after the terrible events in Hangzhou (called the ‘Demonization’), reports about the Heavenly Union were often put on the ‘for Jang Ilso’ pile. (Later, you can explain what the Hangzhou Demonization was.)

‘That’s how… impressive it must have been.’

Ho Gamyeong’s eyes darkened.

To be honest, it wasn’t Jang Ilso or the Four Seas Alliance who stopped the Hangzhou Demonization. It was the Sword Saint of Mount Hua, especially when he defeated the leader of the Demonic Sect there. (Again, context for “Demonic Sect” will be needed elsewhere.)

What Chung Myung did that day, and how he planned it, stayed strongly in Ho Gamyeong’s mind.

Ho Gamyeong was a cold person, and that was the same for himself. He never overestimated himself. He admitted that he could not outsmart Chung Myung.

‘Still, I don’t understand.’

Ho Gamyeong always followed Jang Ilso’s orders, even when they seemed unfair, like the order to kill anyone who might cause trouble. There was one reason for this.

He knew there wasn’t time to try and change everyone who might cause problems. War was coming soon. So, he decided it was better to get rid of the troublemakers quickly, instead of letting them cause bigger problems later.

But then he looked at what Chung Myung was doing with the Heavenly Union. It seemed like Chung Myung was making things even harder for himself. What on earth is he thinking when he does this?

‘Maybe he’s planning to attack first, before things get worse?’

Ho Gamyeong chuckled. It was something that didn’t make sense even as a passing thought.

“There is a reason. There must be a reason. But that reason is something I can’t guess…”

Ho Gamyeong sighed softly.

He was just a normal person. He couldn’t understand the way powerful, almost monstrous figures like Jang Ilso and Chung Myung thought and fought.

All he could do was guess, without really knowing what was going on.

The fight between Jang Ilso and Chung Myung was that kind of thing for Ho Gamyeong. He just hoped that he would not be a nuisance to Jang Ilso. And he just hoped that Jang Ilso would achieve his great ambition.

“I’ve been having too many stray thoughts.”

Ho Gamyeong threw the report he was holding to the side without hesitation and grabbed a new report. He couldn’t even afford to think about other things if he wanted to finish his work before morning.

But even though he tried to focus on the new report, his mind kept going back to Chung Myung.

‘The Sword Saint of Mount Hua…’

Recently, his chest had been feeling stuffy whenever he thought of him.

That Sword Saint of Mount Hua… although he didn’t want to admit it, he was surprisingly similar to Jang Ilso. They were very different, but also similar in some ways. This made Ho Gamyeong realize how powerful and important the Sword Saint of Mount Hua really was.

‘I need to be confident that we can deal with this.’

A sigh escaped from Ho Gamyeong’s mouth.

Chung Myung must have a reason for what he was doing. And that reason must come from his confidence.

‘But we will be the ones who are right in the end, Sword Saint of Mount Hua.’

Ho Gamyeong looked towards Gangbuk, his jaw tightening. And soon, he began to concentrate on the documents again.

In order to make Jang Ilso’s and his own will a reality, there was no time to rest.

Unbeknownst to Ho Gamyeong, in Chung Myung’s quarters, things were indeed chaotic, just as he suspected, but in a way he could never have imagined.

Chung Myung, also at a large desk, rubbed his tired, swollen face and ran a hand through his messy hair.

At that time, the door burst open in a hurry.

“Chung Myung!”

Chung Myung looked at the person who had rushed in with a half-soulless face. Seeing it was Baek Cheon, Chung Myung muttered in a weary voice.

“Why… again…”

“Another fight broke out!”

“…”

“The Tang family and the Namgung family are fighting!”

“…”

“Why?”

No, what kind of combination is that?

“I don’t know! They were eating and suddenly started bickering and then fighting?”

“…Just stop them. Try not to let them destroy everything.”

“They drew their swords?”

“…”

“Do something! The building is about to be destroyed.”

“That…”

Just as Chung Myung was about to say something, Jo Gul pushed past Baek Cheon and suddenly appeared in the doorway.

“Chung Myung! A fight broke out between the Green Forest and our kids?”

“…Then stop them.”

“No, even the older members are fighting, they won’t listen to me! …Wait, Baek Cheon! Why are you here? You should be stopping the older members!”

“You do it! I have to stop the Namgung and Tang families now!”

“No, those are other people! Our people are really beating up the Green Forest people!”

“It doesn’t matter if our kids are beating them. It’s not like they’re getting beaten.”

“Huh?”

Jo Gul muttered blankly, realizing something.

“Come to think of it, that’s right? Why did I run here?”

“…”

Chung Myung felt even more energy drain out of him.

Why is that okay? You crazy bastards.

But his suffering was not over yet.

“Sahyung!”

Tang Soso said, appearing next to Jo Gul. Chung Myung just stared at her.

“…Why? Are the Ice Palace and the Beast Palace fighting?”

“No! Sahyung, that’s not it!”

“Then what is it?”

“The beasts brought from the Beast Palace escaped from the warehouse and are running wild in the houses!”

“…Why are you just watching? You have to catch them!”

“There aren’t enough hands! The other sahyungs are having a brawl with the Green Forest right now.”

“What about the Beast Palace?”

“They’re fighting with the Ice Palace right now.”

“Huh?”

Chung Myung stared at Tang Soso with a blank look.

“I thought you said they weren’t fighting…?”

“That’s because it wasn’t my business. Why would I care if they fight each other?”

“…”

“It seems they escaped because they didn’t get food on time because they were too busy fighting? It seems difficult to subdue them with the remaining people, can I beat a couple of them to death as an example?”

Completely defeated, Chung Myung slumped back in his chair.

“Hey, what do we do about this?”

“Fights keep breaking out now?”

“Hey. I think it was a mistake to let them rest? They’re fighting because they have too much energy and we haven’t been having practice fights?”

Chung Myung, staring blankly at the ceiling as the voices buzzed around him, muttered…

“You know.”

“Yeah. What should we do?”

“Everyone…”

“Everyone?”

“I wish they were all dead.”

“…”

“You sons of bitches…”