Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1232

Right away, Chung Myung felt a sharp pain in his heart, like something was ripped away. He had expected this moment, but seeing the broken plum blossom design with his own eyes still made his heart drop.

He knew it was silly. All lives lost here were equally important. It didn’t matter if they fought for Mount Hua or someone else; everyone deserved respect.

So, the name of Mount Hua and the plum blossom swords shouldn’t be special. But he couldn’t stop looking at the plum blossom design. Maybe, Chung Myung thought, he wasn’t as strong or unfeeling as he wanted to be.

Chung Myung looked up, his face pale. His friends watched him, their faces showing a mix of sadness and worry.

Chung Myung spoke quietly, “Bury them.”

Yoon Jong started to say, “Chung Myung…” but stopped.

Chung Myung clicked his tongue, annoyed. “We don’t have time to waste, but do it anyway.”

Yoon Jong sighed deeply. He started to gather the old weapons and bones in the pit, making a pile for a grave.

Im So-byeong looked like he didn’t know what to do, standing alone. Then, he quietly walked over to Yoon Jong and started to smooth the pile of dirt, trying to help.

Chung Myung watched them for a moment, then looked away towards the tall, sharp mountains in the distance – the Ten Thousand Great Mountains. *Sasuk…* he thought. Not just other Mount Hua people, but his *Sasuk*, Chung Mun, was buried here.

Chung Myung could almost see the place where they died, becoming lost spirits. For everyone else, it was history, a hundred years ago. But for Chung Myung, it felt like yesterday.

He could climb those mountains, find Chung Mun’s bones, if he wanted. Just one day, that’s all it would take. But… Chung Myung slowly shook his head, stopping himself.

*It’s pointless,* he thought. *The dead are gone.* Trying to comfort them is only for the people still alive.

And Chung Mun, his *Sasuk*, would hate it. He would yell at Chung Myung for wasting time, for not focusing on saving people who were still living. Chung Myung pictured Chung Mun scolding him and gave a small, sad laugh.

No one was left to scold him anymore. Chung Jin, who used to talk and talk until Chung Myung wanted to scream. Chung Mun, who always looked serious and tried to make him do the right thing. Even Dang Bo, who was always complaining in a silly way. They were all gone.

But… their memories, what they taught him, held Chung Myung tighter than chains. *It’s so unfair,* he thought sadly.

Chung Myung sighed softly and looked at his friends building the grave. They were working with real care. “Quite a fancy grave,” he muttered to himself.

The leader of Mount Hua (for now), the young leader of the Namgung family, the young leader of the Dang family, the Ice Palace leader from the North, the Green Forest King… Not one of them was unimportant. For people like them to build a grave with their own hands – it was a huge honor, wasn’t it?

*You should feel honored, you dead guys,* Chung Myung thought, a little sarcastically. *My body is probably rotting somewhere around here too.* Chung Myung clicked his tongue sadly.

Yoon Jong finished the grave by placing a piece of grass on top. He stood up, closed his eyes, and put his hands together. He began to quietly chant Buddhist prayers. Hae Yeon joined in, and the peaceful sound of their prayers filled the quiet mountains.

Chung Myung kept staring at the tall mountains hidden in the clouds until the prayers were finished.

“…I see it.”

“…Really?”

“…Finally!” The Beggars’ Union group, looking tired and messy, shouted with excitement. They couldn’t hide their feelings. In front of them, the sea was huge and blue.

“The sea!”

“Aaaah! We made it!”

“The sea is real!” Everyone was so happy, they could only say a few words.

“…It’s bigger than the Yangtze River.”

“Is that all? I can’t even see the other side!”

“Heh, that’s how the sea is.”

“Oh? Have you seen the sea before, Sasuk?”

“No, first time for me too!” They were so moved by the sea breeze, they couldn’t even describe it.

“…How many days did it take?”

“About seven days.”

“We got here faster than I expected.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” Now that they were at the sea, ready to go to Hainan, everyone thought the same thing.

“Maybe we should have taken the long way around…”

“Exactly!”

“…What good is any treasure or fame going to be?” Everyone sighed together, looking sad. Maybe going through Gangnam wasn’t such a good idea after all.

If you just looked at the time, it was fast. Seven days to the coast without anyone getting seriously hurt – that was amazing. But people who had actually been on that journey knew it wasn’t so simple.

“…I still can’t believe I didn’t have a heart attack in those Ten Thousand Great Mountains.”

“Were you really scared, Sasuk?”

“Seriously, halfway through, I almost grabbed Chung Myung and begged him to turn back.”

“I even prayed a little.”

“…What did Chung Myung say?”

“He said, ‘Do you want me to kill you, or do you want the Demonic Sect to kill you?'”

“Then maybe the Demonic Sect is better.”

At least they might be a little nicer.

“…You went through a lot.” Baek Cheon, who had been listening to Yoon Jong and Jo Gul, patted their shoulders gently, trying to comfort them. He thought to himself, *I really thought my heart would explode and I would die.*

The Ten Thousand Great Mountains were quiet, nothing happened. Maybe it was the safest way after all. But the problem was, they all knew how scary the Demonic Sect could be.

“You know what? Thinking about it, I’m getting angry!” Yoon Jong suddenly kicked Jo Gul.

“Ouch! Why did you hit me?!”

“If you hadn’t said that name, we would have had an easy trip!”

“…What can I do if I just remembered it?” It all started because of Jo Gul’s big mouth. When they were in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, Jo Gul suddenly said, “Hey, remember those Demonic Sect guys we saw before? That guy called Cheonsal or something? What if he’s here?”

Everyone said it was impossible, but the idea was stuck in their heads. From then on, the Ten Thousand Great Mountains changed in their minds. It wasn’t just an old Demonic Sect base anymore. It became a dangerous place where Demonic Sect people and Cheonsal might be hiding.

Because of that, they were super nervous and rushed out of the mountains like they were being chased. They were completely exhausted.

Yoon Jong wouldn’t be so mad if it stopped there. But the next place they had to go through was Guangdong. That was the home base of the Myriad Man Chamber group. Most of the Myriad Man Chamber people were now near the Yangtze River, so Guangdong was mostly empty. But still, it was Guangdong.

“…We even made it here alive,” someone said in disbelief.

“Who was the idiot who said to go through Gangnam?”

“Some crazy person!”

“…Thanks for telling us, Namgung Young Lord,” someone else said sarcastically. Everyone sighed together. They felt both sad and relieved.

“Okay, well…” Baek Cheon started to say, trying to finish the conversation. “It felt like we almost died five or six times in Guangdong… But if we got here okay, then it’s all good, right?”

“…Is it really okay if only the result matters? Maybe we should think about this again, Sasuk.”

“Isn’t it better than failing?”

“Yeah, that’s true, but…” Baek Cheon shook his head.

“We were lucky. Even the Four Evil Sects can’t watch every single road in Gangnam. But I still thought we’d run into enemies at least once in Guangdong.”

“Yeah, we were really lucky…”

“Ahem!”

“Lucky…”

“Ahem!” Yoon Jong, Baek Cheon, and Namgung Dowi gave annoyed looks to someone clearing his throat. Im So-byeong, looking tired but proud, lifted his head with a big smile.

Finally, Yoon Jong sighed and said, “Well… Maybe it wasn’t luck. Maybe the Green Forest King just picked a good path.”

“Haha! No need to praise me so much! I’m just always trying my best for all of you. Haha!” Everyone rolled their eyes as they watched Im So-byeong wave his fan happily.

“…Yoon Jong, you know, sometimes I remember you’re really a Taoist monk.”

“Huh?”

“To be able to say that with a straight face, looking at him like that. I wouldn’t say it even if someone paid me.”

“I agree, Acting Sect Leader.”

“Ugh.” Honestly, no one could deny that Im So-byeong was good at what he did. Just like on the mountain path, even in Guangdong, they would have been in big trouble many times if Im So-byeong hadn’t been so clever.

“…I wonder if it’s lucky or unlucky that he was born into a bandit group.”

“What? Isn’t it obviously unlucky?” Namgung Dowi asked, confused. Baek Cheon frowned a little.

“Imagine if he was born into the Demonic Sect, or even a powerful family.”

“…It’s really lucky for everyone that he’s just a bandit.”

“Right?” It was good for the whole world. Baek Cheon looked up at the huge sea, his mind blank. *We made it here safe, anyway.*

The real trouble was about to start, but for now, he just felt relieved to be here without any major problems.

“But, Sasuk.”

“Yeah?”

“How do we get to the island?”

“Well, duh…”

“We have to swim!” Everyone turned to look at Chung Myung. He was sitting with his legs crossed, looking at them like they were stupid.

“Is there any other way to cross water?”

“…Chung Myung, it’s an *island*, an island.”

“So what if it’s an island? Is it going to float away? It’s right there. Just keep swimming, you’ll get there eventually.”

Namgung Dowi looked helplessly at Im So-byeong.

“Please, explain to him logically, Green Forest King.”

“…Even for me, this is hard. I don’t even know where to start arguing.”

“But still…”

“I can’t win if he doesn’t understand words…” Namgung Dowi sighed again and again, looking at the confused Im So-byeong.

Just then, someone stepped in to help.

“Stop talking nonsense and let’s find a boat.”

“No, why bother…”

“Enough, Chung Myung.” Baek Cheon stopped Chung Myung firmly. “Even if we end up swimming later, we should save our energy now. We don’t need a big ship, just a small fishing boat. It won’t take long to find one. Let’s get a boat first.”

Chung Myung pouted. But he knew it was the Acting Sect Leader’s decision, so he didn’t argue anymore.

“Okay. Let’s split up and find a boat. But we need to hide who we are.”

“Yes!” They nodded and ran off in different directions.

Baek Cheon stayed behind, looking at the small island in the distance, like a tiny dot. *Hainan…* First, we need to get there.