Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1135

Chung Myung stretched, his face refreshed and almost radiant.

“I feel alive now.”

Chung Myung glanced down at Baek Cheon, whose eyes were filled with tears.

‘You told me to do it, you little rascal,’ he thought.

He had been told to show no mercy, and now he was being told he had gone too far. Which way was he supposed to go?

Of course, Baek Cheon couldn’t deny he felt a twinge of guilt. He had been a bit excessive. A bit… no, actually, he had been very excessive.

“Those who wield swords never know when to stop. Give them an inch, and they’ll take a mile.”

Crack. Crack. Chung Myung twisted his neck from side to side, surveying the sprawled figures.

Seeing them so utterly defeated filled him with a sense of accomplishment.

If they were not so tired, even with help from the Sect Leaders and Elders, Chung Myung could not have defeated them so easily.

But these lunatics had been fighting each other for nearly ten days without sleep, so they were ready to collapse at the slightest touch. There was no way they could stand against opponents who had conserved their strength while leisurely watching.

“Especially you! You little bastard!”

Chung Myung’s foot shot out, connecting sharply with Lim Sobyung’s side. Lim Sobyung, half out of his mind, groaned and curled up, rolling helplessly with each kick like a discarded doll.

“There’s a limit to everything! Setting fire to someone’s sleeping quarters?”

“Fire attack… has been a strategy… used since ancient times…”

“Still got some fight left in you, huh? You’re persistent. Just die already!”

Chung Myung kicked Lim Sobyung away and turned around with a satisfied look. Tang Gunak approached with a peculiar expression. Chung Myung greeted him.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Hmm.”

Tang Gunak scratched his cheek. He looked like he was unsure about something, which was unusual for him.

“You look like you enjoyed that coin-throwing a bit too much, considering you’re now acting all worried.”

Tang Gunak blushed slightly and cleared his throat. Of course, he was having these thoughts now, but when he was throwing coins at the Dang Clan members earlier, he had felt a great sense of relief.

“Well, you know… kids need to be taught discipline to get stronger, right?”

“Children…”

Tang Gunak looked at the sprawled figures with a strange expression. They were old enough to be married and have children. Could he really call these guys children…?

“We didn’t do this out of emotion, it’s just a form of training.”

“…I suppose so.”

Tang Gunak nodded at Maeng So’s words. Of course… he felt a little guilty about saying they hadn’t acted out of emotion.

“Everyone, listen up.”

It was doubtful that the unconscious could hear, but Chung Myung didn’t care and shouted.

“We’ll be training the same way tomorrow, so don’t whine and come out.”

“You seem to have too much energy to spare, so I’ll help you burn it all out. That’s all!”

“Let’s go.”

“Y-yes.”

“Ah, that was refreshing. Hee hee hee!”

Chung Myung led the leaders of each sect away from the training ground.

Jo Gul, covered in dust and lying on the ground, muttered as he watched them go.

“…Bastard.”

Everyone wholeheartedly agreed with him, at least in their minds.

“Are you sure this is alright?”

“What do you mean?”

“They all seem to have reached their limits. Repeating the same training in this state…”

Tang Gunak’s concern was not for nothing.

The ‘same training’ Chung Myung mentioned wasn’t just the sparring they had been doing. It meant that from tomorrow, Chung Myung, the other Sect Leaders, and the Elders would be pushing them even harder.

“Is there a problem?”

“…Shouldn’t we give them some rest?”

“Hey. Even the Clan Leader is overestimating himself.”

“Hmm?”

“Do you think we could win if they weren’t in this state?”

Tang Gunak seemed lost in thought for a moment before his expression hardened.

“It wouldn’t be easy.”

“We need to shake them up thoroughly so we can use them effectively later.”

“…Your intentions seem a bit impure.”

Chung Myung replied nonchalantly.

“That’s the key.”

Tang Gunak tilted his head.

“What do you mean by that?”

Chung Myung smirked.

“Everyone has probably figured out how skilled their comrades are by now. They’ve seen each other at their worst, throwing punches and reaching their limits.”

“That’s true.”

The problem was that they had seen a bit too much.

“Well, I expected that much. It’s just a bit more than I thought… a bit, um. Yes, a lot more.”

“A whole lot more.”

“…Honestly, I didn’t know they were such lunatics. I can understand Hwasan, but why is the Dang Clan like that?”

“You know the saying, ‘If you are around good people, you become good. If you are around bad people, you become bad’?”

“Well, the Dang Clan is a bit dark, I suppose.”

Tang Gunak, speechless, turned back with an awkward expression, and Chung Myung shrugged.

“Anyway, we need to go that far. People can’t truly understand each other through superficial politeness.”

“But haven’t we just created animosity?”

“That’s why we need the training that will follow.”

“Huh?”

Chung Myung grinned.

“You know when people really need someone to rely on?”

“…I wonder.”

“When they don’t have the strength to lift a finger, but they’re facing an enemy they can’t handle alone.”

Chung Myung said calmly.

“At that moment, they’ll be desperate for anyone. Whether it’s the guy they were punching yesterday, or someone they usually see as an enemy, they’ll be incredibly grateful and relieved.”

Tang Gunak nodded quietly. He hadn’t been through it personally, but he understood the feeling. He didn’t need to look far; he only needed to think about how the Namgung Clan, once stuck on Plum Blossom Island, reacted to Mount Hua.

Since then, the Namgung Clan had seen Mount Hua as the people who helped them the most.

“If that happens, they’ll naturally work together,” Chung Myung said.

“…That means…” Tang Gunak narrowed his eyes, understanding Chung Myung’s words.

“You’re saying that people need a common enemy to unite,” Tang Gunak said.

“Yes. An enemy so strong that they wouldn’t even think about fighting it…” Chung Myung slowly looked up at the sky.

When the Demonic Sect first appeared, the Central Plains were in complete chaos. Even in the early stages of the war against the Demonic Sect, it was still a chaotic mess.

There was no need to look for a specific reason. To the martial artists of that time, their rivals next door were more annoying than the invaders who had suddenly appeared.

Wasn’t that why Mount Hua couldn’t even stand with Jongnam on the battlefield?

But as the war went on, things changed. They saw how strong the Demonic Sect was. Most importantly, they learned how terrifying the Heavenly Demon was. Because of this, their relationships got a little better.

Even if it wasn’t on the battlefield, at least the people at the front trusted their sworn enemies to watch their backs.

That was how friendship was born.

‘Well… those guys all died at the top of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, though.’

Maybe the reason the martial world later became a mess and Mount Hua was destroyed was because of this. If even one survivor had remained, they would have become heroes and led the future martial artists.

The main reason for everything was that only the cowards and fools who couldn’t join the suicide squad survived and ended up leading the martial world.

In any case, the Heavenly Demon was the reason the divided martial world united, at least on the surface.

“Eventually, it will probably happen again this time too. Because Jang Il-so is there, and that Heavenly Demon might come back,” Chung Myung said.

“Hmm,” Tang Gunak responded.

“But it’ll be too late to unite then. At that time, they’ll be paying with their lives, not just getting beaten up like now,” Chung Myung said.

How much sacrifice and bloodshed did it take for the martial world to work together?

“They need to experience it beforehand. Seeing their allies’ weaknesses, fighting a strong enemy, and even feeling stronger just by having someone who used to argue by their side,” Chung Myung explained.

“…”

“It’s not the same as experiencing it directly, but wouldn’t it be better than doing nothing?” Chung Myung asked, turning to Tang Gunak and Maeng So. Maeng So spoke before Chung Myung could say anything.

“You’re saying we should do it right, so we don’t regret losing our disciples later,” Maeng So said.

“Yes,” Chung Myung replied.

Chung Myung grinned.

“Well… I might get some anger, but isn’t it better to hear anger than to watch the kids die?”

Whether he meant it or not, these words hit Tang Gunak and Maeng So hard.

As Chung Myung said, the most important thing for a clan leader is to protect their disciples. It’s not about being afraid of anger or stepping back to protect their authority. Even if they get cursed at and have to watch their disciples rebel, they must lead them to survive.

Yes. That’s how it should be.

But until now, Tang Gunak and Maeng So had failed. They had simply stepped back, saying they couldn’t do it and that only Mount Hua could.

“…It was our fault,” Tang Gunak admitted.

“What do you mean?” Chung Myung asked.

Tang Gunak smiled sadly, watching Chung Myung pretend not to know and look away.

‘I thought he was angry at those kids.’

It seemed Chung Myung was really angry at the heads of each sect. Beating up those kids was partly a punishment for their bad behavior, but also a warning to the heads who had allowed it to happen.

“…I understand what you mean,” Tang Gunak said with a sigh.

He knew the Dang Clan also needed to change. Considering what they would face, it would be hard to survive as they were. But he realized he hadn’t included himself in the change he wanted.

He thought if Chung Myung led the Dang Clan’s children well, the Dang Clan would also change.

‘That’s impossible.’

How could things be good if the leaders weren’t? It was obvious when he thought about it.

“I’m ashamed,” Tang Gunak said.

“You’re saying confusing things,” Chung Myung replied.

Tang Gunak smiled sadly as he watched Chung Myung shrug like he didn’t know anything. Maeng So seemed to agree, nodding seriously.

‘Treating the Green Forest King and the young lord of the Namgung Clan the same as those guys wasn’t a punishment.’

There was no need to punish them differently. They were already trying to change by spending time with others.

Understanding this, he felt ashamed for laughing at them. His face turned red.

How shameful it was for someone who couldn’t change to laugh at someone who was trying to change and being treated the same way.

The children were beaten, but Tang Gunak and Maeng So were the ones who were really punished.

“Ahem,” Tang Gunak cleared his throat loudly, became determined, and looked at Chung Myung.

“…If what you say is true, then we must become a very strong enemy. Even if it means making people resent us a little,” he said.

“That would be better than them fighting each other,” Chung Myung said.

Chung Myung grinned as Tang Gunak and Maeng So seemed to understand.

“If you’re going to do it, please do it right,” Chung Myung added.

“Understood,” Tang Gunak replied.

“Leave it to us,” Maeng So said.

Tang Gunak nodded, feeling a new sense of purpose.

‘In the end, this training wasn’t about everyone agreeing on everything.’

They would argue and fight over small things. But when facing a strong enemy, they would work together with those they had been fighting with.

This was something they would have to experience against the Demonic Sect someday. Chung Myung was creating the pain of the future Heavenly Union in a milder way in the training hall.

The reason he made them go through that difficult and annoying process was clear.

Chung Myung’s main goal was to save even one more disciple of Mount Hua. Now, he needed to save more than just Mount Hua.

Not just in words, but truly.

“…I misunderstood you a little,” Tang Gunak admitted.

“Yes?” Chung Myung asked.

“I’m ashamed to say I thought you were just beating up the kids because you were angry. I didn’t know you had a plan,” Tang Gunak said.

“…”

“Now that I see it, even scolding those kids was part of your plan…” Tang Gunak stopped suddenly.

Chung Myung was rolling his eyes and looking away.

“…You?” Tang Gunak questioned.

“Haa… Haha! Of course! It was all planned!” Chung Myung exclaimed.

“…”