Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1130

Another day in Huashan began with a familiar sound – a loud yell that could shake the trees. Those passing by sighed and rolled their eyes.

“It’s starting again,” someone muttered, shaking their head. “Honestly, Chung Myung never lets a day go by quietly. It’s a real talent, that is.”

A mix of amusement and worry showed on the faces of those nearby, but no one stopped. This kind of noise was just normal in Huashan, wherever Huashan happened to be.

“Is this even reasonable? Huh?”

One person, who was walking faster to get away from the noise, stopped and tilted his head, frowning.

“Wait a minute,” he said. “Is that really Chung Myung?”

“Huh? What are you talking about? If it’s not Chung Myung, then who is it?”

“The voice sounds different, doesn’t it?”

“Voice?”

Hearing that, the others looked back at Hyun Jong’s residence. There was no need to strain their ears; an enormous roar burst forth.

“I’m so fed up! Huh? I am!”

Silence fell. Everyone’s eyes widened. They looked at each other, confused.

“Right?”

“That’s right… this isn’t Chung Myung’s voice, is it?”

“Then who…?”

Someone’s eyes went wide.

“Isn’t that… the Sect Leader?”

“Huh?”

Everyone froze, staring at the residence in shock.

“Say something! Say something, I tell you!”

Tang Gunak cleared his throat loudly.

“Ahem…”

Maeng So shuffled his feet.

“Umm…”

Im So-byeong coughed nervously.

“Ugh…”

Those gathered before Hyun Jong – Clan Leader Tang Gunak, known for his poisons; the large and jovial Palace Lord of the Beast Palace, Maeng So; the sly and quick-witted Im So-byeong; the quiet Nangong Dowi; and even Han Yi-myung from the Ice Palace, who was there instead of the usual Palace Lord Seol So-baek – all avoided looking at Hyun Jong.

“If the children are brawling and causing a ruckus!”

Maeng So rubbed the back of his neck and gave a weak, embarrassed smile.

“Well… Sect Leader,” he mumbled, “that’s what the Huashan Divine Dragon was supposed to do…”

“You speak well!”

“Yes?”

“Can’t you see over there? Over there?”

Hyun Jong, eyes wide with anger, gestured wildly to the side. In the direction he pointed, Chung Myung was slumped against the wall, looking as gaunt as a corpse.

‘What in the world…? Has he not eaten for ten days?’

‘How did the shadows under his eyes reach his chin?’

‘Isn’t he going to die like that?’

“Is that what a person should look like? That’s the guy who swaggered in here, laughing loudly, even after defeating a bishop! But look at the state he’s in now!”

Turning someone else’s precious son into that? These people are taking it too far!’

Hyun Young, his face pale and sweat dripping down his forehead, grabbed Hyun Jong’s arm, trying to pull him back.

“S-Sect Leader, please calm down!”

“Calm down? Do I look like I can calm down right now?”

Baek Cheon stared, mouth open. *I can’t believe my eyes,* he thought. *Hyun Jong defending Chung Myung? Hyun Young trying to stop Hyun Jong? The world really has turned upside down.*

Hyun Jong pushed away Hyun Young, who was clinging to him. Then, eyes gleaming, he glared at Tang Gunak.

“Say something, Clan Leader Dang!”

“A-Ahem.”

“I understand using poison in a sparring match! But! Not in a sparring match, but in a petty squabble, you use poison? Are you trying to start something with Huashan?”

“W-Well… I have nothing to say about that. But that poison wasn’t deadly, and I already gave him the antidote…”

“Ah. So, it’s okay to beat someone up and then heal them?”

“That’s not what I meant…”

Tang Gunak, seemingly at a loss for words, looked away, embarrassed. No, how could he have known that they would start a brawl in the restaurant and use poison?

If this had been any other group, such a fight could have led to serious conflict, even war between sects. But because it was Huashan…

“And, Palace Lord of the Beast Palace!”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

“How did you manage your beasts that they went into a civilian house and caused such a mess?”

“Haha!”

Maeng So laughed heartily, as if it were nothing.

“Well, they are beasts, aren’t they? If they knew how to behave, they’d be people.”

Hyun Jong’s eyes were bloodshot with rage as he fixed a furious stare on Maeng So.

“Do you think this is funny?”

Maeng So subtly lowered his gaze.

“You speak well! If you know beasts are like that, shouldn’t you manage them? Manage them! What were the palace disciples doing, just watching the beasts run wild?”

“I have nothing to say about that…”

“Those beasts went into civilian houses and ate all the grain people had stored, and devoured the livestock the commoners were raising. Chung Myung’s eardrums burst from all the complaints! His eardrums!”

“He looks fine though…”

“What?”

“Ah, nothing.”

Maeng So, despite his large size, seemed to shrink under Hyun Jong’s intense gaze. They say a gentle person is scarier when angry, and that was exactly the case now.

“And!”

Hyun Jong’s gaze, spitting fire, now landed on Im So-byeong. But at that moment, Im So-byeong made the first move.

“Just a moment!”

“Um?”

He unfurled his fan with a confident expression.

“You seem to be blaming us, but if you think about it, aren’t we the ones who have been wronged here?”

“Did you just say wronged?”

“Yes! This time, those Dang Clan bastards started it. Even though we’re just lowly Demonic Sect bastards, isn’t it wrong for those who start fights and spit first? Are we supposed to just stand there and get hit?”

“That’s…”

Hyun Jong paused, seemingly at a loss for words, and Im So-byeong seized the opportunity to press on.

“Sect Leader, you shouldn’t be like this. Aren’t we the ones who washed our hands and decided to live cleanly? You should embrace us with warmth, but if you keep discriminating against us like this compared to the Dang Clan…”

“That’s not it!”

“Yes?”

“Officials from the government came by!”

“Officials?”

Im So-byeong tilted his head as if wondering what this irrelevant statement was about. His fan, which had been confidently unfurled, drooped slightly.

Hyun Jong openly showed his displeasure and continued.

“Yes. Recently, a brawl broke out in a gambling den in the back alleys of Gugaeng, and those gambling there beat up all the people in the gambling den and ran off with the vault.”

“Ah, no!”

Im So-byeong shouted with a face full of injustice.

“What does that have to do with us?”

“They were said to be wearing green clothes with a tree pattern embroidered on their right chest.”

“Wow, they wore that? Those crazy bastards…”

Clang!

Hyun Jong slammed his fist down on the tea table with all his might.

“You came here to help the common people and you’re gambling? Gambling? And! It’s fine to gamble! Why are you robbing a perfectly good gambling den! Why!”

Im So-byeong gave an awkward smile.

“W-Well… it’s not like we robbed innocent commoners. The guys running the gambling den are like leeches sucking the blood of the commoners, so it’s okay to rob those guys…”

“Then you should have distributed the money! That money all came from the commoners! What happened to that money?”

“I’ll look for it.”

“Ugh!”

Hyun Jong raised his hand, and Im So-byeong ducked, thinking something was flying at him. Then, he awkwardly raised his head.

Hyun Jong had struck his own chest. His touch, pounding as if his heart was burning, was filled with resentment.

“Ice Palace!”

Han Yi-myung jumped back as if burned when Hyun Jong shouted ‘Ice Palace!’

“S-Sorry!” he stammered, his face pale. He seemed terrified just hearing the name of his own palace mentioned.

“No, why isn’t the Palace Lord here?”

“There are some circumstances…”

“Ugh.”

Hyun Jong sighed deeply and glared at Han Yi-myung again.

“Let’s say everything else is like that. I asked you so nicely not to fight unless it’s during a sparring match, but how could you even fight in the Ice Palace? You acted like you would listen to me in front of me, and I even heard that the Ice Palace attacked the Beast Palace first! What’s going on?”

“T-There’s a story behind that.”

“What story?”

Han Yi-myung answered, sweating profusely.

“Actually, our Palace Lord did her best to prevent any private fights, as requested by Head Taoist Chung Myung. Yesterday, as soon as she heard that there was a quarrel between the Beast Palace and the Ice Palace, she rushed over to mediate the situation.”

“The Palace Lord tried to stop them?”

“Yes! You know, our Palace Lord wouldn’t disobey Head Taoist Chung Myung’s request, would she? Of course, she tried to stop them!”

“Then what happened? I clearly heard that the Ice Palace attacked the Beast Palace first.”

“W-Well… Our Palace Lord said, ‘Head Taoist Chung Myung told you not to fight,’ and tried to stop both sides. But one of the thoughtless Beast Palace disciples said in front of the Palace Lord, ‘What do I care what that Taoist bastard said?’…”

“Said?”

Han Yi-myung squeezed his eyes shut.

“Well… isn’t it obvious? Our Palace Lord, who went berserk at the words ‘Taoist bastard,’ beat up the Beast Palace disciple who said that without asking any questions…”

Hearing that, the Five Swords clapped.

“Ohh. Our So-baek has grown up.”

“She even beat up a Beast Palace disciple. Wow, her skills must have improved a lot…”

“Shut up, you bastards!”

At Hyun Jong’s roar, the Five Swords flinched. Hyun Jong, taking a long breath and barely suppressing his anger, asked.

“So, that’s why she’s not here?”

“A-Ah, no. Well, she was too reckless and got hit a lot, so she’s bedridden.”

“B-Beat up the Palace Lord?”

Hyun Jong blinked and looked at Maeng So, who awkwardly rolled his eyes and scratched the bridge of his nose.

“She’s so young that they didn’t recognize her as the Palace Lord…”

“You saw her before, didn’t you?”

“W-Well… it was just a brief glance…”

They probably couldn’t recognize her. Those crazy Beast Palace bastards.

“So? In any case, every single sect has been fighting?”

“Sorry.”

“We have no excuse.”

“In the meantime, the beasts are robbing civilian houses, and the back alleys that the beasts didn’t enter are being robbed by bandits?”

“Ahem.”

“Ahem…”

“Even if the main base of the Sahyup Alliance was here, this chaos wouldn’t happen! You…”

“Hey! Sect Leader! Sect Leader!”

“You must maintain your dignity!”

Hyun Sang and Hyun Young hurriedly covered Hyun Jong’s mouth from both sides. It was an extremely rude act, but they couldn’t allow those words to come out of the mouth of the Heavenly Union Leader.

While stopping Hyun Jong, Hyun Young opened his mouth sharply instead.

“How much of a mess did you make that Chung Myung is out of his mind? I’ve never seen that guy collapse like that in my life! Do you have any sense at all?”

Everyone subtly turned their heads to look at Chung Myung.

Seeing his appearance, as if he had let go of everything, a subtle sense of guilt arose, and everyone bitterly smacked their lips.

“Can’t you apologize quickly?”

“Ahem. I’m sorry, Huashan Divine Dragon.”

“Sorry, Head Disciple.”

“We’re sorry.”

Hearing the apology, Chung Myung grinned. His face, though near death, was smiling brightly, giving off a somewhat eerie feeling, but still, a smile was a smile…

“Just die, you bastards!”

“Aargh! Chung Myung!”

“Hold on, Chung Myung!”

“They’re the sect leaders! You crazy bastard!”

As Chung Myung suddenly rolled his eyes and started to thrash wildly, the Five Swords, who had been waiting, immediately rushed in and pinned him down.

“Let go! Sect Leader? Sect Leader my foot! What sect leaders are they!”

“C-Calm down, I tell you!”

Chung Myung began to struggle violently.

“I’m not doing it! I’m not doing it, you bastards! Heavenly Union or whatever, I’ll just do it all myself! I won’t do ittttttt!”

The desperate scream of someone crushed by a self-inflicted disaster echoed sadly… truly sadly… throughout the manor.