Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1175

Chung Myung stood still, looking up at the moon.

He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, he saw Chung Mun’s face in the moonlight. A face he knew so well, a face he missed. In his memory, Chung Mun was always smiling gently.

“Ridiculous,” Chung Myung muttered to himself, a small frown on his face.

“The leader who can’t answer me anymore.” The words were soft, almost a whisper in the quiet night.

An unavoidable resentment mixed with a deep longing.

Even knowing Chung Mun was no longer here, at times like this, he couldn’t help but recall that face.

Chung Myung, who had been staring intently as if Chung Mun’s face overlapped with the moon, spoke in a slightly raised voice.

“No, that’s not it.”

A chuckle escaped his lips.

“How old do you think I am? Do you think I would be surprised by what that monk was saying? I wouldn’t even listen with half an ear, no matter what he said. It’s not like I haven’t seen guys who are all talk before.”

He waved his hand dismissively. But soon, he muttered in a slightly weakened voice.

“It’s just…” He paused, then looked up. He looked at the endlessly black night sky, devoid of clouds and moon.

“It’s not because of what that monk said… I was just reconsidering my situation. Something I’ve been trying not to think about.”

People might think other things bothered Chung Myung, but what really shook him was Bub Jeong’s words: ‘You must always be in the back.’

Because that statement wasn’t wrong.

Chung Myung wasn’t a fool. The one who leads everything must be in the safest place. He knew that much, of course. That’s why, even in the past war against the Demonic Sect, they tried to prevent Chung Mun from going to the battlefield as much as possible, wasn’t it?

The reason was simple. At the time, Chung Myung didn’t have the capacity to lead the entire Mount Hua Sect. No matter how strong Chung Myung was, if they lost Chung Mun in a situation where they had already lost Chung Jin, Mount Hua would lose its center and fail to exert its full power.

Yes. The one who leads is that important.

Despite knowing that fact, Chung Myung had been standing at the forefront until now. And he had been repeating reckless fights. Because he had unwavering confidence in his experience.

But… Chung Myung also knew that the ‘heavenly luck’ that had continued from his previous life to his current life was by no means eternal.

If he persisted with the same methods, one day, as Bub Jeong had said, the disciples of Mount Hua might witness Chung Myung’s cold, lifeless body with their own eyes.

And what awaited Mount Hua after that would probably be destruction. Complete destruction that no one could escape.

“What am I, so great…” Chung Myung forced a light-hearted, hollow laugh.

It was absurd to even think of the word ‘destruction.’ How much could Chung Myung accomplish, even if he tried his best? Once the youngsters of Mount Hua fully matured, they would be able to do far more than Chung Myung ever could.

“…Yes, that’s right.”

Chung Myung tilted his head back and muttered powerlessly.

He really thought so.

If that Baek Cheon could become a proper sect leader and follow in the footsteps of Chung Mun, if that Yoon Jong could become a proper wise leader and lead the Tao that Mount Hua lacked.

If Jo Gul could become the vanguard of Mount Hua, if Yoo Iseol could become the standard for the sword that Mount Hua pursued, and if Tang Soso could become a strict teacher for the disciples of Mount Hua.

If all the other disciples could also fulfill their roles in their respective positions, Mount Hua would become a much stronger and greater sect than it was under Chung Mun’s leadership.

Chung Myung, who had been watching them for a long time, was certain of it.

Of course, he always ignored and nagged them, calling them youngsters, but they were truly excellent talents. So much so that they couldn’t even be compared to the Chung Myung of the past.

Yes. Surely… surely that would be the case.

That’s why it’s even more regrettable.

“Isn’t it frustrating, Sect Leader Brother?” Chung Myung laughed hollowly.

“If only I had ten more years… I could really make it happen. Even if I didn’t lead them, those guys could get there on their own.”

The world, as it always had, wouldn’t give them enough time.

Chung Myung knew that fact, so since returning to this world, he had been leading Mount Hua without resting for a moment. To a slightly higher place, to even a slightly higher place.

But in the end, he couldn’t reach it in time.

If it were ten years later, Chung Myung would fight on the front lines without the slightest hesitation to save even one more person. Because there would be plenty of people to fulfill the role he had to play in the back.

But he couldn’t do that now. Because Chung Myung’s death now would be an indescribable loss to the entire Mount Hua Sect. To save even one more person, Chung Myung couldn’t stand on the front lines.

Yes. To save more people…

“How ironic.” Chung Myung smiled bitterly.

He had asked the question. What to do with Hainan. That should have been a question that Bub Jeong couldn’t find an answer to.

But whether Bub Jeong intended it or not, that question had instead returned to Chung Myung.

Just as Shaolin had to prove the righteousness they discussed through Hainan, Chung Myung would now have to prove what the chivalry he spoke of was.

Someday, Chung Myung would inevitably face it.

A situation where he might have to sacrifice all the other disciples to save one disciple of Mount Hua.

What would he do in such a case?

To put it extremely, if there was no other way to save Baek Cheon, who was trapped, other than to have the entire Mount Hua charge into the evil Demonic Sect’s main base… what choice should he make?

Would he ignore Baek Cheon’s words, who was screaming in a bloodied voice not to come, and throw away everyone’s lives?

Or would he turn back with the feeling of tearing his eardrums, stabbing his eyes, and cutting off an arm?

“…Brother.” Chung Myung muttered bitterly.

“You’re really something, aren’t you? Just when I think I’ve gotten close, you’re far away again…”

He hadn’t even thought of surpassing Chung Mun from the start. But even so, he thought that he now understood, at least a little, what he had felt and worried about in the past.

But every time, he realized anew what kinds of things Chung Mun had overcome in the past.

“The sword of Mount Hua…” Chung Myung chuckled.

It would have been nice if that were really possible. Because a sword is something you just swing without thinking.

The position Chung Myung wanted was exactly that. A position where he didn’t have to think for himself. A position where he could just fight as he pleased and not be responsible.

But he knew he couldn’t become the sword of Mount Hua. He might be able to return to his position someday, but he couldn’t become a complete sword now. Because no one in Mount Hua could wield him as they pleased. Because they couldn’t properly lift the sword called Chung Myung.

Then he had no choice but to move on his own. He had to think and choose with his own will and ego.

“Sect Leader Brother.” Chung Myung, who had called out slowly, laughed quietly.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know my place back then…”

When he was about to go save Chung Jin, Chung Mun had stopped him. At that time, Chung Myung didn’t hide his emotions and poured out his anger at Chung Mun as it was.

But he knew now how presumptuous that was.

The one who didn’t have to take responsibility for the choice shouldn’t have dared to say such things to the one who had to fully accept the consequences of that choice.

“But… I still don’t know, Brother.” Chung Myung’s blank gaze turned to the moon.

“I know I have to choose, but I don’t know what to choose. So I kept putting it off, but in the end, I’ve come this far.”

He thought that if he raised the disciples of Mount Hua to be stronger, if he made them strong enough before the enemies revealed themselves, he might not be forced to make that absurd choice. No, he believed so.

He had been angry that he couldn’t face the deaths that had come to his brothers, but it was none other than Chung Myung who had been turning a blind eye to the deaths they faced more than anyone else.

He had seen too many deaths, so he knew painfully well how painful the sudden absence of those who had been with him was.

That’s why he didn’t have the confidence to choose.

He couldn’t say, like Bub Jeong, that saving more people was right, so he should put aside his personal feelings and boldly discard what should be discarded, and he couldn’t take everyone into the midst of death and then smile, saying he had saved one person.

If he really faced such a situation, Chung Myung wouldn’t be able to do anything. He would just let go and sit down, not knowing what to do.

And that would someday lead Mount Hua to destruction. Chung Myung’s hesitation, Chung Myung’s indecisiveness would push Mount Hua into an abyss from which there was no way to recover.

“I thought I would become an adult if I lived longer.”

He had already lived enough. No, he had lived more than enough. He had been prolonging a life that should have already been cut off.

“But… it seems that only certain people are destined to become adults. I was a human who couldn’t do that.”

How nice would it be if Chung Mun were by his side at times like this?

If the person who could make the choices he couldn’t make and carry the burden in front of him was here. If not even Chung Mun, but even Chung Jin was here…

“It’s greed.” Chung Myung shook his head.

There was nothing to be gained by longing for those who were already gone. The fact that he missed them was proof that Chung Myung was that much weaker now, nothing more and nothing less.

Chung Myung glanced down at the bottle of alcohol in his hand. He stared intently at the alcohol, which was full and hadn’t decreased by a single drop, sighed, and opened his mouth.

“Did you bring a cup?”

There was no answer.

But Chung Myung said without turning his head, as if he expected it.

“I didn’t bring a cup.”

Baek Cheon, who had approached with familiar footsteps, sat down next to him. Then, he snatched the bottle of alcohol from Chung Myung’s hand as if grabbing it.

“You don’t even pour it into a cup, why are you being so fussy all of a sudden?” Baek Cheon tilted the bottle and gulped down the alcohol in one go. Chung Myung silently stared at his profile.

“Kuh.” Baek Cheon frowned and put down the bottle.

“It’s strong.”

“It has to be to be called alcohol.”

Chung Myung took the bottle that Baek Cheon handed back. But unlike usual, he didn’t put it to his lips and just put it down below.

Baek Cheon, who had been quietly watching the scene, turned his gaze forward and opened his mouth.

“What are you doing here?”

“Just because.”

“Is that so?”

Baek Cheon, who had been staring blankly at the moon in the sky, slowly opened his mouth.

“I’m relieved.”

“About what?”

“You too…” Baek Cheon’s voice was just calm. But somehow, it contained an unknown resonance.