Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1174

The Noble Who Can't Even Answer (4)

A heavy silence hung in the air. Each face in the room showed a different kind of worry.

Jo Gul’s face was twisted in a grimace. Hye-yeon quietly whispered his disapproval, his face turning pale. Tang Soso looked like she might cry if someone spoke to her, and Yoo Iseol stood silently beside her, her eyes darker than usual. Even Yoon Jong, whose thoughts were always a mystery, sighed softly.

‘I always struggle with this feeling.’

Every time, he realized that the world doesn’t always work as he expected.

He had been taught to value the agreement. Everyone in the Orthodox Sect was taught that. They learned that protecting the agreement, even if it meant giving up your life, was the natural path for anyone who used a sword.

And he also learned that he should care for his fellow disciples more than his own life.

None of those teachings were wrong.

But if the agreement they were so eager to protect pushed their fellow disciples down a path from which they couldn’t return, then what was the point of protecting the agreement?

“That’s a very strong statement,” Jo Gul replied directly, and Baek Cheon shook his head.

“Didn’t you feel it too?”

“…”

“Honestly, everyone here has thought about this. Isn’t that right?” Baek Cheon asked, raising his head. No one dared to look him in the eye. They hadn’t done anything wrong, but they avoided his gaze as if they felt uneasy.

“I’ve thought about it too from time to time. Maybe the reason we’ve been able to discuss the agreement without hesitation until now is because we haven’t lost anything.”

“No… Martial Uncle. Where else has lost as much as Mount Hua?”

“Did you lose it?”

“Yes?”

“Are the things that Mount Hua lost things you actually had?” Baek Cheon asked.

Jo Gul closed his mouth. Baek Cheon stared at him and sighed.

“We are disciples of Mount Hua. So, we think of the things that Mount Hua has experienced as if we have experienced them ourselves. But to be honest, Mount Hua lost, not us. Think about it. Have we lost anything since we joined Mount Hua?”

Jo Gul lowered his head.

Lost something? Not really. Since they joined, Mount Hua was already in ruins, and since Chung Myung arrived, it had been growing at an unbelievable rate.

Strangely, they had gained the most because they had entered the sect that had lost the most before.

“Those who haven’t been hit don’t know the pain of being hit. Those who haven’t been cut by a sword don’t know how scary a sword is. So, we who have never lost anything can’t fully understand the pain of those who have lost.”

Baek Cheon chuckled.

“Isn’t it funny? If someone who has never been cut by a sword says they aren’t afraid of swords and can be cut ten or a hundred times, what would you think?”

Jo Gul bit his lip. What could he say? He would have laughed at someone who didn’t know the pain of being cut by a sword and was just showing false bravery.

“I’m starting to think that maybe the things we’ve been saying so confidently until now might just be empty words from those who haven’t been cut by a sword. Maybe we were able to say that we would endure losing because we hadn’t lost anything.”

Baek Cheon quietly closed his eyes. They had always risked their lives. They had always fought for what they believed in. But…

“Looking back, I seem to have been quite cowardly.”

“Martial Uncle… What are you suddenly saying?”

“When I went to Hangzhou, I didn’t hesitate. I was full of certainty. I thought that was what a disciple of Mount Hua should do.”

“Isn’t that normal? How does that become cowardice?”

“But I’m starting to wonder. If Chung Myung hadn’t been there at that time…”

“…”

“If we had to go to Hangzhou without him, would I really have been able to take a step without hesitating? Do you think you could have?”

Yoon Jong shook his head.

“Martial Uncle. That’s a pointless question. Isn’t the agreement about challenging the impossible and throwing ourselves into it?”

“Is that so?”

The corner of Baek Cheon’s mouth twisted slightly.

“They say that when you can win, fighting without thinking about what you might gain or lose is the agreement. But when you can’t win, not fighting a reckless battle becomes the agreement.”

“…”

“I’ll ask again. Could you really have gone to Hangzhou without him? Believing it was the right thing to do, could you have gone to follow the agreement without caring about your own life or the lives of your fellow disciples?”

No one could answer. A long silence followed.

Baek Cheon, who had been waiting silently for an answer, spoke heavily.

“If that’s not the case, then the agreement we’ve been talking about is just the false courage of someone who has never lost anything… No, it’s just the fear of someone who can’t bear to lose. It’s no different from a three-year-old child with his father behind him, shouting that he is brave and can’t stand the injustice of a ten-year-old brother.”

“Amitabha…” Hye-yeon chanted the Buddha’s name and looked at Baek Cheon with heavy eyes.

“Baek Cheon, what do you want to say?”

“Let’s admit it. And let’s think about it.”

“…”

“Looking back, we have never been out of Chung Myung’s shadow. We don’t even have the experience of fighting where he isn’t.”

Hye-yeon’s expression hardened.

After hearing those words, he realized how strange the battles they had been fighting until now were.

“Over the past few years, Mount Hua has fought many fierce battles and has risen from a small sect in Shanxi to become a powerful group of martial artists.”

“…”

“But while experiencing so much, Mount Hua has never divided its forces. It hasn’t even sent out small groups, and it hasn’t divided its forces on one battlefield. Do you know what this means?”

Yoo Iseol bit her lip. Baek Cheon nodded when he saw her expression.

“That’s right. He has never let us fight where he can’t see us. He tried to keep everyone in Mount Hua within the area he could protect on any battlefield.”

“…”

“But we won’t be able to do that anymore. No, we shouldn’t.”

Everyone nodded. Baek Cheon sighed deeply.

“I’m speaking as if I have all the answers, but I don’t have any brilliant solutions. This is a problem we all need to think about. And doesn’t everything start with figuring out where you stand?”

“…That’s right, Martial Uncle.”

“Is it right to protect the agreement? Is it right to abandon Hainan and save more people? Is it right to let those I care about die in order to save strangers? Am I really not afraid of death in order to protect the agreement?”

Baek Cheon listed the thoughts that came to his mind without order. There was no need to organize them, because it wasn’t a problem that needed to be organized to find an answer.

“Everyone will have different things they consider important, and different things they value most. But… yes. It seems there’s only one way to find this answer.” Baek Cheon’s voice was quiet.

“Someday, when we stand in the middle of the battlefield, someone will surely die. It’s unavoidable.”

“…”

“At that time, what’s important isn’t whether you can face death. Knowing that the person next to you is walking to their death, you have to be able to let them go without holding them back, for the agreement you’ve been believing in to be true.”

Yoon Jong’s shoulders trembled. Those were harsh words.

“If Mount Hua truly values the agreement, then it must be willing to give up not only its own life but even the lives of its disciples for the agreement. Saying that I can go, that I can die before others, is just an escape to avoid making a choice.”

“…Martial Uncle.”

“Can you really do that?”

This time, there was no answer.

“Let’s think about it. What we really want to do. Whether this is really the only way. If not, whether we should choose another path now.”

Jo Gul bit his lip harder. A little blood came out. Even Yoo Iseol’s fingertips were trembling slightly.

Everyone was shaken.

“If we can’t do that, it might be better to follow the Abbot’s words. Then at least Mount Hua can shed as much blood as others and face the same results. We won’t have to accept more terrible results in the name of the agreement. I’ll make sure of it.”

Baek Cheon got up from his seat.

His face was calm, but those who knew him could tell that beneath that calm expression was a coldness they had never seen before.

“Think about it. I will tell our leaders what you decide.”

As Baek Cheon turned to leave, Yoon Jong called out to him.

“Martial Uncle.”

Baek Cheon stopped. Yoon Jong asked, “Have you made a decision, Martial Uncle?”

“Does that matter?”

“…”

“You must decide what is right for yourself. Don’t ask others. There’s nothing to discuss. Think about how you will live your life.”

Yoon Jong lowered his head.

Baek Cheon looked back at Yoon Jong and then walked away without another word. Those who were left standing there like stone statues looked at each other and then turned to go to their rooms.

The moonlight was heavy on their shoulders.

Baek Cheon’s slow footsteps echoed in the darkness.

‘This is difficult.’

He couldn’t help but sigh.

“It’s difficult…”

If it had been a few years ago, he wouldn’t have worried so much. He just had to focus on becoming stronger and on bringing Mount Hua back to its former glory.

He could do that by working hard and joking with the others.

But now, the world was forcing them to choose. It was demanding that they carry the weight that came with their power. He felt the weight of responsibility, even though he was still young. He felt like he would be crushed.

‘So this is what it was.’

Fighting a mighty enemy. He hadn’t understood until now that such a simple phrase could mean so much.

That phrase meant fighting against everything they had protected until now. Their lives, relationships, values, and everything else.

‘What kind of battle was that for them?’

What did the ancestors of a hundred years ago, who fought a more terrible battle than they are now, see and feel? If they were here now, what would they tell him?

Baek Cheon looked at the moon.

Time has passed, and the world has changed. There’s no way to hear the voices of a hundred years ago. But the moon is still in the same place it was a hundred years ago…

Suddenly, Baek Cheon’s face went blank as he looked at the moon. No, he was actually looking at something below the moon.

Above the eaves that held half the moon, he could see the back of a person. Their shoulders were partly covered by the moon, and they looked a little sad.

Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]

Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]

Status: Ongoing Author: Released: 2019 Native Language: Korean
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[English Translation] Chung Myung, the legendary Plum Blossom Swordmaster of Mount Hua, awakens after a hundred years of slumber only to find his once-mighty sect reduced to ruins. With unwavering determination, he disguises himself as a young disciple and embarks on a mission to restore Mount Hua to its former glory. From training new disciples to facing lifelong enemies, Chung Myung must revive the sect while uncovering dark conspiracies that threaten the martial world. "Return of Mount Hua Sect" is an epic tale of resurgence, sacrifice, and fierce battles that will shake the world!

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