Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1445

Tang Gunak looked up at the sky for a long time, saying nothing.

“Happiness… you talk about happiness.”

Maybe Chung Myung was right.

Tang Gunak thought about the founder of his family. This founder started the family in Sichuan and brought everyone together. Did he really want his family to become famous?

Probably not.

Probably, the founder just wanted his family to live peacefully in this new, faraway land. He wanted peace for them and for all the generations to come. That’s probably why he built fences and taught them to protect themselves.

“…So, what you’re saying is….”

Tang Gunak looked at Chung Myung. Chung Myung cleared his throat and wiped his face with his sleeve like he didn’t care. He shrugged and said,

“Of course, poison is important. Hidden weapons are important too. And the Dang Family’s good name is also important.”

“…Indeed.”

“But aren’t these things just ways for the Dang Family to live in peace? The more they have, the safer the family will be, right?”

Tang Gunak nodded. It was certainly true.

“But people are funny. When they focus too much on *how* to reach a goal, they forget what the goal was in the first place. The *how* becomes the most important thing. Like…”

“Like I am now?”

Chung Myung shook his head.

“I’m not just talking about you, Clan Lord. The whole Sichuan Dang Family became like that a long time ago. It’s been like that for a while.”

Tang Gunak imagined the stars were the eyes of his family members watching him. He thought he could see Dang Bo’s eyes among them.

‘He was frustrated.’

Dang Bo realized that early on. He found it strange that people were obsessed with poison even after seeing its limitations, and he constantly tried to break that mold.

But what he faced was a strong fortress, heavily armed in the name of family law. No matter how loud he shouted, he couldn’t change anything alone, not being the Clan Lord.

Dang Bo’s inability to find attachment to the family and his wandering around the world, even coming to Chung Myung to challenge him to a duel to raise his reputation, must have been his own efforts to change what couldn’t be changed.

‘A walking contradiction.’

He hated the Dang Family, but he couldn’t leave it, even as he died.

Dang Bo wasn’t the only one with these impossible problems inside him.

“I heard that those who make poison in the Dang Family can’t leave the Dang Family’s fence for their entire lives.”

“…That’s right.”

It was to prevent leaks. If they left the Dang Family and were kidnapped by hostile forces, countless secrets about the Dang Family would be revealed.

“The workshops are the same. Those who have learned the Dang Family’s secrets are bound to the Dang Family for life.”

“…”

“And the daughters are not even worth mentioning.”

Tang Gunak nodded heavily.

He knew it too. That those who supported the Dang Family lived difficult lives. That the name of the Sichuan Dang Family was built on the sacrifices of so many.

“And it’s not like the martial artists in the Dang Family have great lives either, even though they learn martial arts because of these sacrifices. You know that just by looking at yourself, Clan Lord, right?”

“…What do you know by looking at me?”

“Your brow is always furrowed like this.”

Chung Myung made his own brow very furrowed with his fingers, copying Tang Gunak. It looked a little funny, and Tang Gunak laughed weakly.

“…Can I help it? I am the Clan Lord.”

“Who decided that?”

“Hmm?”

“Who said the Clan Lord has to carry all the problems? Who said you have to make the Dang Family the best martial arts family in the world? Was that even your dream?”

Tang Gunak closed his mouth. If it were his usual self, he would have answered ‘yes’ without hesitation. But now, those words didn’t come out easily.

He had merely believed it to be so.

From a childhood he couldn’t even remember, he had simply known that he had to do it.

“You’re not that kind of person, Clan Lord.”

“…Why do you think so?”

“I can tell just by how you treat Soso. You’re just someone who wants Soso to be happy. It wouldn’t be any different even if the others were different members of the family.”

Tang Gunak couldn’t find any words to refute, so he remained silent. In the meantime, Chung Myung opened his mouth again.

“It’s sad. The system was made to make everyone happy, but now it makes everyone suffer. But somehow, everyone just accepts it as normal.”

Tang Gunak opened his mouth with a slightly stiff voice.

“Sword Saint of Mount Hua, you can’t really know what the first Dang Family members wanted, can you?”

“I can know.”

“…You can know?”

“Yes. I can know too easily. Especially with the Dang Family.”

At Chung Myung’s words, Tang Gunak frowned. Wasn’t this too much of an assertion?

“How can you know? They are people from hundreds of years ago.”

“It’s always the same. Even after hundreds or thousands of years, a parent’s love for their child doesn’t change.”

At that moment, Tang Gunak stared at Chung Myung with a blank look.

“Parent… did you say?”

“Yes. You call them ancestors grandly, but aren’t they just parents who worried about their children after their death?”

Chung Myung chuckled softly.

“Do you think they were really thinking about Clan Lords hundreds of years in the future when they made those family rules?”

“…That wouldn’t be the case.”

“Yes. Then it’s easy. The reason why those people created such laws. What those people really wanted.”

Chung Myung’s laughter subsided slightly. He fixed his gaze on the sky and spoke quietly.

“I don’t really know what it’s like to be a parent. But I know how a teacher feels about his students, or how you feel about your friends.”

Chung Myung’s gaze slowly shifted from the sky to the side. Beyond the dense reeds, in that unseen place, the people of Mount Hua were sleeping.

“I hope they become stronger.”

“…”

“But I also hope they don’t overdo it too much. It’s hard then. It’s enough if they’re satisfied with themselves, but those guys are too greedy.”

“…Aren’t you the one who made them that way?”

“That’s right.”

Chung Myung nodded.

“It would be good if they trained just enough. But I don’t know what ‘enough’ is. Just when I think they’re strong enough, I worry again. What if someone stronger attacks them? What if I’m not there to protect them?”

“…I see.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“That’s because you’re a coward.”

Chung Myung distorted his face and grumbled.

“It seems like we’re not that different.”

“…I can’t deny that.”

Tang Gunak chuckled. Talking didn’t solve anything. But somehow, Tang Gunak felt calmer after talking.

“Parents…”

What kind of lives do you want your children to live?

Not as the Clan Lord of the Dang Family, but as a human, what does Tang Gunak want?

Then Chung Myung said anew.

“It’s really difficult. Even parents and children who spend their whole lives together can hardly know each other’s true intentions. People can’t see into the hearts of others, after all.”

“…”

“But you can guess.”

“Because my heart would be like that.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Tang Gunak nodded. He felt like he knew what Chung Myung was trying to say.

There’s no need to worry about what the ancestors of the Dang Family were thinking. He himself should become the ancestor of the Dang Family.

“Now that we have to change our base and settle in a strange place, what I want for my children is….”

Tang Gunak closed his eyes.

Now he seemed to vaguely understand the hearts of his ancestors. Because he was in that position now.

“You can’t get back what you’ve lost. Regretting it or being angry won’t change anything. If you want to blame yourself, go ahead.”

“…”

“However.”

Chung Myung’s gaze turned to a distant place.

“You only learn some things when you lose them. So, losing things must also mean you can gain something new.”

Tang Gunak quietly clenched his fist.

“I’m sure of it. In some way, people who lose things they shouldn’t have lost will become stronger.”

Tang Gunak nodded silently, expressing his agreement.

If Tang Gunak had heard what Chung Myung was saying just a few days ago, before things had turned out this way, he probably wouldn’t have sympathized. He would have spent his whole life making the already hardened things even harder. Even if it made everyone he cared about struggle.

Tang Gunak stared intently at Chung Myung.

“Sword Saint of Mount Hua, is that why you gathered those people?”

“…Pardon?”

“I’m talking about the Heavenly Union.”

It’s strange, but it’s true.

Most people in the Heavenly Union have lost something important. Now that the Dang Family is like this too, it’s even clearer.

“…No. I didn’t gather them on purpose. It’s just that when I gathered them, only those kinds of guys were there.”

“…”

“It just turned out that way. One by one, and then another. When I came to my senses, there were a lot of them.”

“That’s how it was….”

“Those people probably just needed someone. And we just happened to be there, and those who haven’t been hurt don’t need to find someone. It just happened that those kinds of people met each other.”

Chung Myung chuckled.

“And usually, people who are a bit broken tend to stick together.”

Just like he and Dang Bo had. Those who share similar pains tend to find each other.

“So, there’s no special or grand reason. It’s just… I just couldn’t leave them alone.”

A bitter smile appeared on Chung Myung’s lips. It was just that he knew the feelings of those who had lost something too well, so he couldn’t help but notice them. He just couldn’t refuse.

“So, even if I went back to the past, it would be the same. I would regret it, lament that I only lost, and wonder what it had to do with me that I had to bleed and fight….”

Chung Myung closed his eyes slightly. When he opened them again, his eyes were just clear.

“Still, I’d do it all again. Even if I’d be angry at myself for being stupid.”

Tang Gunak unknowingly let out a deep sigh.

“…That’s not called being stupid.”

“Tsk.”

But Chung Myung didn’t even listen to his last words and suddenly jumped up from his seat. Tang Gunak tilted his head with a puzzled look.

“Hmm?”

“I’m leaving.”

“…Suddenly?”

“You’ll need some time alone, Clan Lord.”

Chung Myung grinned and turned around. No, he was about to turn around, but he suddenly took a step closer to Tang Gunak.

“Huh?”

Thud!

He reached out and lightly tapped Tang Gunak’s shoulder. And he put strength into his shoulder as if pressing down slightly.

“…What?”

“Then.”

Chung Myung, who had done something hard to guess the intention of, turned around and walked away. Tang Gunak, who was staring blankly at his back as he walked away without regret, opened his mouth.

“Hey, Sword Saint of Mount Hua.”

“Yes?”

Chung Myung only turned his head to look back at Tang Gunak.

“…Thank you.”

Then Chung Myung, who was silently looking at Tang Gunak, pointed his finger above.

“Give thanks to the ones up there.”

Tang Gunak didn’t understand what he meant. Chung Myung’s figure completely disappeared, and Tang Gunak looked up at the sky again. In the black sky, countless stars were still shining.

Just a short time ago, the stars felt like they were watching him and judging him. But now, they didn’t feel so cold anymore.

He touched the hidden blade in his sleeve. Suddenly, he chuckled, feeling it was all a bit ridiculous.

“In the end… he didn’t tell me what I should do.”

He shook his head and closed his eyes tightly.

He knew. That it was something that no one else could decide for him. A path that only he had to decide. A fight that was only his own.

But something small went with him in this fight he had to face alone.

He felt the small warmth where Chung Myung had touched his shoulder. It was like this warmth came from somewhere else, and it spread through Tang Gunak’s shoulder.