Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1355

Jo Gul was angry. Baek Cheon, Im So-byeong, and Yoon Jong looked down, avoiding his eyes.

“Are you even thinking?” Jo Gul shouted.

“Well…” Baek Cheon mumbled.

“Uh…” Im So-byeong added.

“Even if you are confused, there are important things to remember! How could you forget to meet up with everyone and leave them behind?” Jo Gul’s voice was loud.

They knew they were wrong. Even they wondered why they had made such a silly mistake.

But…

“This is why I can’t relax!” Jo Gul continued. “The second I stop watching, you make trouble. How can I ever rest?”

It stung to hear these words from Jo Gul. They never thought Jo Gul would be the one scolding them.

“I thought I could trust you, as my senior,” Jo Gul said, sighing loudly. “You need to trust the right people.”

Baek Cheon’s head drooped powerlessly.

Jo Gul seemed to have become tougher after Gangbuk. Even seeing Baek Cheon’s sad shoulders, he didn’t comfort him. Instead, he spoke even more harshly.

“Is bowing your head all you’re going to do? You need to come up with a plan, a plan!”

Baek Cheon knew Jo Gul was right. He looked at Im So-byeong, hoping for an idea. But Im So-byeong was lost in his own thoughts.

“I… how could I forget something so simple?” Im So-byeong mumbled. “Am I really as good as Baek Cheon?”

Baek Cheon stared at him. Im So-byeong looked completely sad and didn’t even notice Baek Cheon. He looked like he had given up. Baek Cheon couldn’t ask him for a plan when he looked like that.

Baek Cheon looked at Jo Gul, feeling unsure.

“Should… should we stop here for a while?”

“Senior,” Jo Gul said quietly.

“What?”

“Now I understand why Chung Myung gets angry and yells at you.”

…You don’t need to understand that.

“Seriously… Aargh!”

Jo Gul was about to yell again, but he suddenly screamed and grabbed his mouth. Something hit him hard on the mouth – it was Yoo Iseol’s sword holder.

“Quiet,” Yoo Iseol said. “My head hurts.”

She lowered the sword holder and rested her head on Tang Soso’s shoulder, looking tired.

“N-No, an accident! But… your head hurting is important now?” Jo Gul stammered.

“Quiet,” Yoo Iseol repeated firmly.

“……”

Jo Gul stopped complaining and just looked annoyed, knowing he couldn’t argue with Yoo Iseol like he could with Baek Cheon.

“Lord Namgoong!” someone called out.

Just then, they met up with Namgoong Dowi and his group. The Hainan fighters looked relieved to see them. They had worried about getting lost, but thankfully, they had found the others.

But the Mount Hua disciples looked even more worried.

“Senior,” Jo Gul said.

“Brother,” Yoon Jong added.

“Dong-ryong,” Im So-byeong mumbled.

“Who hit me?” Jo Gul asked angrily.

Baek Cheon looked around, trying to see who it was. But when he saw everyone staring at him, he quickly looked away.

Namgoong Dowi came closer and asked right away, “Has Chung Myung arrived yet?”

“……”

Baek Cheon suddenly understood why Chung Myung often looked at him like he was hopeless. *This* must be what it meant to be clueless.

“He’s not here yet? But you have a plan, right?” Namgoong Dowi asked.

“……”

“You don’t?”

“……”

“You don’t have a plan?” Namgoong Dowi repeated, his voice rising.

“W-Well, first…”

Baek Cheon started to say something, anything to avoid the question, when Dang Pae spoke.

“Don’t worry. He’ll find us.”

“Really?”

Everyone looked at Dang Pae. He smiled calmly.

“Do you know how?” Namgoong Dowi asked.

“It’s hard to explain,” Dang Pae said, “but I think he does.”

“Hard to explain?” Namgoong Dowi repeated, confused.

Dang Pae rubbed his nose, looking unsure. He could smell it clearly. It was the Tang family’s secret tracking scent, coming from Baek Cheon.

Tang Soso had left the Tang family, so she couldn’t use this scent. Dang Pae had never used it either.

So, it was obvious who had put the scent on Baek Cheon.

But Dang Pae couldn’t explain it clearly because he didn’t understand how Chung Myung could smell the Tang family’s scent.

If Chung Myung knew the Tang family’s secret mind training and could smell this scent, it meant someone from the Tang family had taught Chung Myung secret fighting skills that should never be taught to people outside the family.

‘My father wouldn’t have done that….’

Dang Pae frowned slightly, lost in thought.

The Tang family had a strict rule: “Never teach family secrets to outsiders.” Even the family leader had to follow this rule. If Tang Gunak had taught Chung Myung their fighting skills, he would be kicked out as family leader and couldn’t argue.

Because he was the family leader, it might be handled lightly. But what if someone else had done it?

‘They would lose all their fighting skills and be badly hurt. There would be no excuse.’

Who would be crazy enough to do that?

It was impossible, unless it was someone completely insane or someone so powerful that even the family leader couldn’t stop them. But there was no one like that in the Tang family right now.

‘I don’t understand it at all.’

Whatever he said could cause trouble later. If he spoke without thinking, it could damage Tang Gunak’s power.

So, he decided to avoid explaining and just smiled awkwardly.

“Hey, Lord…” Dang Pae started to say.

“Ah, Hyung! Stop smiling like a fool and answer me!” Namgoong Dowi interrupted.

The others, who had seen something strange in Dang Pae’s smile and were watching him closely, looked surprised and turned to Namgoong Dowi.

Namgoong Dowi sounded annoyed. “Are you going to talk?”

“……”

*Dowi, you’ve become very rude… If the old family leader in heaven could see you, he would be sad… No, maybe he would like it…*

When Dang Pae didn’t answer, Namgoong Dowi started to look really angry, which was unusual for him.

“No…!”

But then, suddenly, a voice said, “Why is everyone so serious?”

“Gasp!”

“Chung Myung!”

Everyone jumped back in surprise. Chung Myung was standing right next to them, like he had appeared out of nowhere. He looked at their shocked faces and chuckled.

“What? Do I look like a ghost?” Chung Myung joked.

The Mount Hua disciples’ faces fell.

“He’s alive,” one mumbled.

“He didn’t die,” another said sadly.

“Too bad,” Yoon Jong sighed.

“You’re late,” Jo Gul said, frowning.

“How did you find us?” he asked. “You said you couldn’t read the Hainan signs.”

“Tsk tsk,” Chung Myung clicked his tongue. “You young people. I have my ways. It’s called experience.”

“You’re the youngest here, you idiot!” Jo Gul yelled back.

The group started arguing like they had never been serious at all. The mood became lighter. Gwak Hwan-so, who was behind them, watched with narrowed eyes.

*‘Friends…’*

He could see it. Even while they were teasing each other, everyone was checking on Chung Myung, the Mount Hua Dragon.

They were quietly making sure he wasn’t hurt worse after fighting alone at the back.

And as soon as the Mount Hua Dragon arrived, everyone seemed to have more energy. It wasn’t like he had done anything special just by joining them again.

It seemed just being together gave his friends strength.

*‘Is this what friendship is like?’*

He didn’t want to believe it, but Hainan didn’t have this kind of friendship. People in Hainan who had known each other for years were not as close as these people who had only been together for a short time.

Gwak Hwan-so finally understood why Chung Myung didn’t see Hainan as a strong group, but just as people who needed help.

“Where’s the leader?” Chung Myung asked.

Baek Cheon shook his head. “He’s not here yet.”

“Why not? Was there a problem?”

Geum Yang-baek was supposed to be the best at finding and following the signs. It was strange that he was the last to arrive.

“That’s why,” Baek Cheon said.

“Hm?”

“He said because he’s best at seeing the signs, he would stay at the back to protect us.”

“Hmph?”

Chung Myung turned around and looked back. A small smile appeared on his face as he stared into the distance for a moment.

“Did you make him do that?” Chung Myung asked.

“How could I make the leader do anything? He decided to do it himself. He said if there was any trouble, he could catch up to us quickly.”

Chung Myung nodded.

Before, Hainan always waited for Baek Cheon to tell them what to do, or they just did the opposite. But this time, they had decided for themselves.

They had stayed behind to protect everyone with the older fighters who still had strength, and sent the younger ones ahead.

The people who used to stand back and act like they were too good for fighting were now bravely going into danger, risking their lives to protect others.

Hainan, the canyon, and the battles at Mount Shi Wan had changed them. They were now true fighters, not just old men.

‘Now I can rely on them.’

This meant they were finally good enough in Chung Myung’s eyes.

“How will we talk to each other?” Chung Myung asked.

“We don’t have a special way,” Baek Cheon said.

*Well, they will need to find me,* Chung Myung thought. He nodded and looked around. He checked on the others who were tiredly running behind him and chuckled.

“This is a mess,” he said.

“Yeah… it really is,” Baek Cheon agreed.

The situation was still bad. Many Hainan fighters were hurt and could barely walk. And many people were missing.

They couldn’t go faster because they were carrying the people who had passed out. They looked like soldiers who had lost a big battle and were running away to survive.

But Chung Myung and Baek Cheon were not sad about this.

They had managed to meet up again. They were escaping from the Four Evil Sects and moving quickly through Gangnam. They had been badly hurt, but they had won the big fight in Guangdong – it was clear that the Cheonwoo Alliance and Hainan were the winners.

Chung Myung’s face became serious.

*‘If we can just reach the Yangtze River…’*

He thought they would be okay until then, unless something unexpected happened. Yes. If nothing changed.

Chung Myung looked back. A strange light appeared in his eyes as he stared at the rough, scary mountains behind them.

Flutter.

The red hawk sitting on Ho Gamyeong’s wrist flew high into the sky. Then, in an instant, it shot far into the northern sky.

Ho Gamyeong slowly lowered his gaze and looked at the person running in front of him.

“Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!”

Yoo Gong gasped for air.

He had been running non-stop since he first saw the signs. The others just had to run. But he had to run fast and also look for the signs, always worried about making a mistake.

He was getting very tired.

‘Damn it…’

And he was also worried and confused. It felt like everything was hurting him, inside and out.

It was then.

“There are your markings.”

Yoo Gong was startled by the voice and raised his head. Sure enough, the Hainan markings were engraved on a large tree in front of him.

He was about to open his mouth to quickly interpret the markings when…

“North….”

“The same shape as before. Northeast. Keep going.”

Yoo Gong blankly stared at Ho Gamyeong for a moment. Ho Gamyeong, without changing his expression, looked back at Yoo Gong.

“Is something wrong?” Ho Gamyeong asked.

“…No, sir,” Yoo Gong replied.