Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 145

A cold mountain breeze, smelling of pine and damp earth, felt sharp against their robes. Hyun Jong looked far away, past Mount Hua and Hwayeom, towards the distant lands of Nanyang. He stood silently, gazing at the horizon. Behind him, Hyun Young spoke, his voice a little worried.

“Shouldn’t we have heard something by now?”

“Hmm…”

“Those people are so slow. It would be good if they sent news quickly about what is happening.”

Hyun Sang smiled in a way that showed he understood Hyun Young’s frustration.

“They haven’t gone on a pleasure trip, but are carrying out a mission. Would they have time for that?”

“Isn’t it frustrating? So frustrating!”

Hyun Young made a gesture of striking his chest, causing Hyun Jong to narrow his brow slightly.

“How can you be so impatient when you’re supposed to be an elder?”

“Coming from the Sect Leader? You’re up here ten times a day doing the same thing.”

Hyun Jong fell silent and subtly turned his head. Unable to contain his frustrated heart, he had climbed the mountain three times today alone. Now, even Hyun Sang and Hyun Young were following him up the mountain.

“They will do well.”

Hyun Sang cautiously took Hyun Jong’s side, but Hyun Young didn’t seem to like that either.

“It’s easy for you to say. Even though we didn’t want them to, they are facing the Bloody Hand alone. Aren’t you worried? How can you speak so comfortably?”

“Aren’t they children who are second to none? They are different from us, so they will do well.”

Hyun Young’s face twisted slightly.

“They must be different. They must not become like us.”

His words carried the pain of the Hyun generation. They had witnessed the downfall of Mount Hua with their own eyes and experienced it firsthand. They had seen those they trusted turn away and those they considered brothers abandon the sect countless times. Amidst that chaos, they hadn’t even properly equipped themselves with martial arts. How much sorrow had they endured because of that?

“They must be different. They must live well. They must not live like we have, in sadness.”

“The honor of Mount Hua…”

Hyun Sang tried to say something, but Hyun Young cut him off.

“What is so important about honor and fame? I will be happy if they just have enough to eat and no one treats them badly.”

Hyun Sang couldn’t say anything and closed his mouth. How could honor and reputation not be important to a sect, but those words contained the sincerity of Hyun Young, who had been in charge of the Treasury for decades. So, he couldn’t speak carelessly.

“Those children must become the new name of Mount Hua.”

Hyun Jong murmured quietly.

“We are happy to be like fertilizer for them, helping them grow strong. If we can even be useful in that way, that is enough.”

It was then. Hyun Jong’s head slowly turned. Un Am was running up the mountain from below.

Unam, who had hurriedly climbed the mountain, paid his respects to them.

“What is it?”

“The Young Master of the Hwayeom Merchant Guild has sent news from Nanyang.”

Hyun Jong’s eyes widened slightly.

“Oh, the Young Master of the Hwayeom Merchant Guild!”

Hyun Jong looked at Un Am with a face mixed with anticipation and anxiety. He wanted to tell him to tell him the news right away, but he was also afraid that it might be bad news. Therefore, he couldn’t bring himself to urge him. But Hyun Young didn’t seem to be the same.

“Speak quickly!”

“Yes. According to the message, the disciples of Mount Hua and the disciples of the Bloody Hand competed in a martial arts contest on behalf of Hwayeom and Jongdo Hall. And Mount Hua won, so Jongdo Hall decided to leave Nanyang!”

Hyun Jong’s eyes widened.

“Is that the truth?”

“The Young Master checked many times. So, it must be true.”

“A martial arts contest with the Bloody Hand. You mean they won a martial arts contest against the Bloody Hand?”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

“Heh heh. Heh heh heh heh.”

Hyun Jong couldn’t continue speaking and burst into a hearty laugh.

Hyun Sang smiled and said.

“See? Didn’t I say those children are different?”

Hyun Sang, who knew the skills of all the children who went to Nanyang, couldn’t imagine those children losing to their peers. The only thing that bothered him was that he couldn’t accurately know the skills of the Bloody Hand’s disciples, but now even that had been resolved.

“What about Hwayeom?”

“Hwayeom seems to be staying in Nanyang and has started accepting disciples again.”

“That’s very good.”

Hyun Young also smiled brightly.

“I knew they would do well! Of course, what kind of children are they!”

“Heh, they beat the Bloody Hand.”

“This is wonderful! These children will truly make Mount Hua famous again. And someday…”

Hyun Sang tried to say something but closed his mouth. This was too sensitive an issue to put into words. If the second-generation and third-generation disciples continue to grow like this, someday Mount Hua will be able to rejoin the Nine Great Sects. It was too dreamlike to put into words.

“Yes. Are the children returning immediately?”

“I didn’t receive direct contact, so I don’t know that far. But since there’s nothing left to do in Nanyang, won’t they be returning now?”

“Hmm, that’s right.”

Hyun Jong smiled and looked back at Hyun Young.

“Head of the Treasury.”

As the title changed, Hyun Young straightened his posture.

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

“Shouldn’t we prepare to welcome the children who are coming back after their hard work?”

“Don’t worry. I will prepare well.”

“Yes. It will take about three days for them to return.”

Hyun Jong gave his gaze once more to the distant land of Nanyang with the warmest eyes. ‘You’ve suffered a lot, you blighters.’

And then, Hyun Young opened his mouth as if he was puzzled.

“But it’s a bit strange.”

“What do you mean?”

“It seems that Chung Myung hasn’t caused any accidents. If that blighter had caused trouble, that news would have been the first to arrive.”

At that, Hyun Jong burst into a hearty laugh.

“Isn’t that Chung Myung also valuable to us? He shouldn’t be causing trouble both here and there, should he?”

“Well, that’s true.”

“With this incident, the world will surely know that our Mount Hua has not yet fallen. And they will also know that the disciples of Mount Hua are second to none in the world. Now we have to work harder.”

“Of course, Sect Leader.”

“Yes, yes.”

Hyun Jong smiled brightly. His gaze was clearer and more transparent than ever.

But… Those here didn’t know what ‘that’ Chung Myung was doing now. Things in the world never go as you want. Especially when it comes to Chung Myung.

“So…”

The Bloody Hand’s elder, Heo Sanja, quietly stared ahead before turning his head to look at Jin Hyun.

“According to what you said before…”

“Yes.”

“There are no suitable sects in Nanyang other than Hwayeom.”

“Yes.”

“Nanyang itself is like a countryside, so there aren’t many eyes watching.”

“That’s right.”

Heo Sanja looked ahead again. After giving his gaze back and forth several times, he opened his mouth with a sullen expression.

“Then what are all those people?”

“That’s…”

Jin Hyun also stared blankly ahead. Well, what should I call that? Teeming? Or swarming? The entrance to Nanyang was filled with people. The problem was that those people were not occupying the entrance to Nanyang, but were now entering Nanyang. In other words… The countless people visible now are only a part of those heading to Nanyang. Moreover, judging from the fact that everyone was wearing weapons around their waists, they must all be martial artists.

“Uh…”

Jin Hyun could tell instinctively. ‘That blighter must have done something again!’ There was no other explanation. Chung Myung’s grinning face came to Jin Hyun’s mind.

Crunch. Jin Hyun gritted his teeth and said lowly.

“It seems that those Mount Hua blighters have caused something.”

“Something?”

“Didn’t they spread the map?”

Heo Sanja’s pupils shook slightly.

“They, they spread it? What are they thinking?”

The value of the Sword Tomb was so great that it was impossible to accurately measure. That’s why the Bloody Hand was staking their lives on this, wasn’t it? But they’re spreading the map containing that valuable information? ‘Is that something a sane person would do?’

Heo Sanja looked at the entrance to Nanyang with a dumbfounded look. Heo Sanja was known as a very calm person in the Bloody Hand. But even he was shocked now.

He had heard many times that the Mount Hua ‘Divine Dragon’ was crazy. But he never thought he would be so wildly reckless.

“Even if they spread the map, how can people gather like this in just three days?”

“It seems that the information that the Sword Tomb is near Nanyang has also leaked. It seems that all the martial artists around Nanyang have gathered.”

“Ummm.”

Heo Sanja’s eyebrows twitched. This was what they wanted to avoid the most. The Sword Tomb was a place that would call for blood just by its existence. That’s why they were trying to resolve things secretly, weren’t they? ‘This feels like malice.’

Heo Sanja immediately realized the situation. This wasn’t something someone did to target the Sword Tomb. This was something done to prevent the Bloody Hand from entering and excavating the Sword Tomb alone at all costs.

“Did you say that the child who took the map was the Mount Hua Divine Dragon?”

“That’s right.”

‘What kind of blighter is he?’ The more he thought about it, the more absurd it was. ‘Can that young child use such a vicious trick?’ If I can’t have it, you can’t have it either. No, it means you will have trouble even if you get it.

Heo Sanja clenched his lips tightly at the thick malice emanating from Nanyang.

“What should we do, Elder?”

At Jin Hyun’s desperate question, Heo Sanja’s eyes sank heavily. It was true that he was flustered, but he couldn’t just keep being surprised.

“Heading to Nanyang means they haven’t solved the map yet, right?”

“That seems to be the case.”

“Hmm.”

Heo Sanja’s breath flowed out. ‘Malice… Malice.’ I understand they want to stop us, but the Bloody Hand will not be stopped.

“Then there’s nothing to change. The plan to avoid people’s eyes has gone awry, but if we can enter the Sword Tomb first, it doesn’t matter.”

The eyes of the Bloody Hand’s disciples became firm.

“Look.”

He pointed slightly ahead. There were people glancing at this side. Some of them were even glancing openly and talking among themselves.

“We’ve already attracted attention. If we start moving, they will try to interfere with us somehow.”

“Yes.”

“But that’s all. Don’t forget. We are the Bloody Hand. If we make up our minds, no one in the world can stand in our way!”

“Yes, Elder!”

The name Bloody Hand ignited a fire in their hearts.

“We were just trying to avoid troublesome things, not hiding because we were afraid of the world. Now everyone will know that fact.”

Heo Sanja looked back at everyone and declared in a cold voice.

“Prepare. We will go to the Sword Tomb.”