Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 139

“He’s really not back yet?” Yoon Jong asked, worry in his voice.

Baek Cheon didn’t answer right away. He tapped his fingers impatiently on the worn wooden table.

“Maybe we should go look for him?” Yoon Jong suggested again, his anxiety growing.

Baek Cheon’s eyebrows drew together, forming a deep furrow above his nose. His mouth tightened into a thin line. “Yoon Jong-ah.”

“Yes, Sasook?”

“Do you even know *where* that troublemaker went, when you suggest we go looking?” Baek Cheon asked, his voice tight.

“Well, isn’t it obvious? He ran after those Wudang guys. If we just follow the road to Wudang, we should find him, right?”

“And going after him will stop him, you think?” Baek Cheon challenged, raising an eyebrow.

Yoon Jong fell silent.

He couldn’t answer that question.

Stop Cheong Myeong? Stop *that* Cheong Myeong?

Baek Cheon shook his head.

“It might be better to just wait. Seeing him cause trouble far away makes me annoyed, but seeing it happen right here will make me really angry!”

“I understand.”

But waiting without a plan was hard. The more time passed, the more anxious he felt. He knew from experience that the longer Cheong Myeong was gone, the bigger the trouble would be.

Baek Cheon sighed deeply. He knew Mount Hua was stronger because of Cheong Myeong, but sometimes, he wished for just one day of peace.

“What did I do wrong in my past life to deserve a troublemaker like him as my junior disciple?”

Of course, Cheong Myeong’s existence was a huge benefit to Mount Hua.

He not only turned Jongnam upside down and gained a lot of fame, but he also helped the second and third-generation disciples improve a lot.

Baek Cheon would still choose to have Cheong Myeong in Mount Hua, even if it meant dealing with trouble. However, it wasn’t easy to say good things when he was on the receiving end of Cheong Myeong’s antics.

“Still, he won’t cause a huge accident, will he?”

Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong stared blankly at Jo Gul. Startled by their gazes, Jo Gul waved his hand and excused himself.

“Ah, no. It’s not that he won’t cause an accident… but he’ll only cause as much as we can handle, right? He’s never caused an accident that he couldn’t clean up, has he?”

“And the pain we endure while cleaning it up?”

“Uh… um.”

Jo Gul subtly lowered his eyes, avoiding Baek Cheon’s gaze like a child caught stealing sweets.

‘That rascal doesn’t cause accidents without thinking.’

Coming from a family of merchants, Jo Gul was sensitive to profit. He noticed that Cheong Myeong always had a reason for causing trouble.

It might seem strange, but when Cheong Myeong caused an accident, it always brought benefits to Cheong Myeong himself or to Mount Hua. So, they didn’t always need to stop him…

Jo Gul sighed quietly.

Looking at Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong’s worried faces, he couldn’t say such things. What good was profit if they were about to die? Would they even be able to think about it?

Even if they knew it would be profitable, the pain they would have to go through until the accident turned into profit was too much. Even Jo Gul wanted to say no.

Anyway.

Jo Gul subtly turned his gaze towards Yoo Iseol, who was sitting at one side of the table and drinking tea.

‘She really is a unique person.’

Yoo Iseol had changed the most over the past two years, but in some ways, she hadn’t changed at all.

It was a big change that Yoo Iseol, who wasn’t interested in her fellow disciples, was now very interested in Cheong Myeong. But her relationship with the other disciples hadn’t improved.

She only showed a different side of herself when she was with Cheong Myeong.

‘How strange.’

Jo Gul thought this was a good change.

Yoo Iseol had become even more beautiful over the past two years, and if she smiled more often, Mount Hua would be turned upside down.

With Cheong Myeong around, anyone who didn’t train and instead lingered around Yoo Iseol would surely have their head smashed, but they wouldn’t be able to stop their hearts from wandering.

It was the same now.

Since Cheong Myeong had left, Yoo Iseol hadn’t said a word. She didn’t go off somewhere else alone, but she didn’t show any particular reaction either.

Yoo Iseol’s gaze was fixed on the closed door, unblinking, as if she could will Cheong Myeong to appear simply by staring hard enough. She was probably waiting for Cheong Myeong to return.

“Ah…….”

At that moment, Yoo Iseol’s lips slightly parted.

Jo Gul’s gaze instinctively turned towards the door. And without fail!

The silence in the room grew heavier, broken only by the quiet sipping of Yoo Iseol’s tea. Everyone held their breath, waiting.

Wham!

The door burst open as if it had been smashed.

At the same time, Yoon Jong’s eyes twitched.

‘I’ve told him at least three hundred times that doors are for opening, not kicking!’

Well, he wouldn’t be Cheong Myeong if he listened.

“Cheong Myeong-ah!”

“You, you rascal! What kind of trouble have you caused this time! Tell me the truth!”

A fierce reaction erupted.

However, the disciples of Mount Hua in the room soon realized that Cheong Myeong was different from usual. Cheong Myeong, who would normally start rambling as soon as he came inside, ran to where they were gathered without saying a single word.

“Hmm?”

Just as everyone’s faces were about to harden, Cheong Myeong shouted urgently.

“Gather! Gather around! Quickly!”

Yoon Jong sighed dramatically. ‘He bursts in like a whirlwind and then tells us to gather? We’ve been here for ages, waiting for *you*, you crazy guy!’

While everyone stared blankly, Cheong Myeong almost lunged at the table and slammed a piece of aged parchment onto the table. It was covered in strange symbols and lines, like a puzzle drawn in faded ink.

“Hmm?”

Baek Cheon narrowed his eyes as he looked at the drawing Cheong Myeong had placed on the table.

“What is this?”

“A treasure map.”

“A treasure map? It looks like it’s made with some kind of code?”

“Yeah.”

Baek Cheon tilted his head and asked.

“So, what about it?”

“We need to decipher this.”

“This?”

“Yeah.”

“Who?”

“Who else? Of course, Sasook and Sahyung!”

Baek Cheon’s eyebrows twitched.

He went out to beat up the Wudang guys and came back with a strange drawing with a code. And now he’s telling them to decipher it?

Baek Cheon looked at Cheong Myeong with a dubious expression and said.

“First, explain what the hell is going on.”

“Tsk. I’m busy. I’ll only say it once, so listen carefully!”

Cheong Myeong began to explain everything that had happened since he left this place at a rapid pace.

“……The tomb of the Medicine God?”

“That’s right.”

“That Medicine God from two hundred years ago?”

“I’m telling you, that’s right.”

“So, this treasure map points to the location of the Medicine God’s tomb, and you… uh, you….”

He beat up Cheongryu Sword and took it away?

Cheongryu Sword, one of the Three Swords of Wudang?

Baek Cheon’s jaw tightened, a muscle in his cheek jumping nervously. He stared at Chung Myung, his eyes narrowed. ‘What in the world is that person thinking?’ he muttered under his breath.

Chung Myung breaking the Cheongryu Sword? That wasn’t even a surprise anymore. It was almost normal for Chung Myung to do something unbelievable.

He knew it should still be astonishing. A younger Hwasan disciple defeating a senior Wudang disciple – and not just any disciple, but one of the famous ‘Wudang Three Swords,’ someone known for his incredible skill. Chung Myung had won without a single scratch. Anyone else would be talking about this for weeks.

But Baek Cheon had learned to expect the unexpected from Chung Myung. Surprise was a wasted emotion when it came to that crazy disciple.

No, the broken sword wasn’t the real problem. The real problem was what Chung Myung would do next.

“So… you stole this from Cheongryu Sword?”

“Yeah.”

“From Wudang’s Cheongryu Sword?”

“Ugh, why do you keep making me repeat myself! I said yes!”

Chung Myung shouted, and Baek Cheon finally lost his temper and exploded.

“You crazy fool! What in the world were you thinking, robbing Wudang! How are you going to handle the aftermath! It’s obvious they’ll come running with blood in their eyes!”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. They don’t know it was me. I wore a mask.”

“You think they wouldn’t recognize you just because you wore a mask! Are their eyes so bad? Are they all blind?”

The faces around Chung Myung became long and pale. Yoon Jong’s shoulders slumped, and even Jo Gul’s usual grin vanished.

Wudang. One of the two great sects leading the world, along with Shaolin. Their influence extended beyond Hubei and throughout the world, and their strength reached the heavens.

Just considering the number of disciples and masters, it was not a place Hwasan could handle. If Wudang decided to bite down and cause trouble, Hwasan would be utterly destroyed in an instant.

Maybe after some time had passed, but right now, we absolutely shouldn’t make Wudang angry.

Just protecting Hwayeong Gate was a huge burden to bear. What? Steal Wudang’s belongings?

It would be easier to steal from the Emperor himself!

This was truly a major incident.

As Baek Cheon struggled to figure out how to resolve this, he heard Chung Myung’s calm voice.

“That’s not the important thing!”

“If that’s not important…”

“Sasuk!”

“Huh?”

Chung Myung cut off Baek Cheon’s words in a firm voice.

“Then, shall we return it?”

Baek Cheon closed his mouth.

“Can we really not eat this? Huh?”

Baek Cheon’s eyes turned to the Jangbo sword placed on the table.

The Tomb of the Medicine Immortal. What if the method for making the Honwon Pill existed inside that tomb? Could they give that up and hand it over to someone else?

Wow. This is poison.

Baek Cheon’s mind raced. Poison, yes, but maybe the cure too. He could feel the weight of responsibility for Hwasan pressing down on him. Could he really risk everything like this?

“Think about it. If you only do safe things in life, you’ll never escape that rut! Sometimes, you need to take a leap without thinking! Gambling is necessary, that’s what I’m saying! If you don’t get swayed by this and that, and gamble everything properly!”

“You’ll ruin yourself.”

“… Uh. Usually, that’s the case?”

Chung Myung flinched, then strongly insisted again.

“But the lucky chance only comes from gambling. We have to eat this, even if we die! Right?”

“Ughhhh.”

Baek Cheon scratched his head wildly.

Bloody hell.

He wasn’t wrong.

This was a gamble worth taking, even if it risked the fate of the sect. If Hwasan could obtain the Honwon Pill’s manufacturing method, they might be able to solve their long-term problem with our inner power.

What was Hwasan’s problem?

The martial arts of the upper generation were weak, and it took time for the lower generation to grow. Although the second and third-generation disciples of Hwasan were very strong compared to others of their age, that was only when compared among themselves.

No matter how strong Baek Cheon was, could he face a Wudang elder?

It would take at least thirty years to reach that level. More than anything else, their internal energy couldn’t keep up. Even if their internal energy wasn’t severely lacking, the difference was stark compared to the disciples of famous groups who grew up eating good special medicines.

And the difference might widen in the future.

But the Honwon Pill could solve those problems that might happen in the future all at once.

“Ughhhh!”

Baek Cheon rubbed his face roughly.

He would have cursed to his heart’s content if they had brought something completely silly.

This was temptation they couldn’t refuse. The aftermath would be huge, and Hwasan could be turned upside down if things went wrong, but…

Baek Cheon’s eyes were bloodshot.

“Bloody hell, how can we not bite on this! Damn it!”

Jo Gul quickly snapped at the temptation.

“Let’s do it, Sasuk!”

“You just stay still…”

“There’s no time to hesitate! Even at this moment, the Wudang bastards are running back to their sect. It’s all over if they bring reinforcements. We have to eat it and run before that happens, even if we die!”

Yoon Jong closed his mouth at those words.

Yoon Jong, in confusion, looked at Baek Cheon. The only person who could make a decision here was Baek Cheon.

Baek Cheon’s eyes began to gleam.

“Chung Myung-ah.”

“Yeah, Sasuk.”

“… All we have to do is remove the poison? Even if we manage to remove the poison, there won’t be any problems because of hidden tricks or traps, right?”

“That’s right! All we have to do is remove the poison! Then I’ll break through it somehow.”

“Are you sure?”

“Sasuk! I’m Chung Myung! What’s wrong with you!”

“… I see?”

A very big light burst from Baek Cheon’s eyes.

“Bloody hell, I’m a man too! There’s no way I can just hand this back to Wudang! Even if the Sect Leader blows my head off, I have to do this!”

Baek Cheon turned his head sharply.

“Yoon Jong! Jo Gul! Yu Saje!”

“Yes, Sasuk!”

“Get to it! We’ll remove the poison by tonight, no matter what it takes! This is it!”

“Yes!”

The eyes of Hwasan’s disciples began to burn.