Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1450

Chung Myung leaned forward, eyes gleaming. “So, about the money… how much each month?”

Tang Gunak sighed, rubbing his forehead. “…Please, just be quiet for a moment.”

Oh Geom, completely exhausted, grabbed Chung Myung’s arm. “Stop it, you little pest! Just for a second!”

Oh Geom’s face was pale, and sweat dripped from his forehead. He looked completely tired, like a squeezed lemon, as he grabbed Chung Myung. He was finding it harder to control Chung Myung than fighting through the Death Zone from Hainan.

“I am sorry, Clan Leader….”

“No… It’s not your fault.”

Baek Cheon apologized, but Tang Gunak just gave a small, sad smile. It didn’t reach his eyes. He then turned to Chung Myung and said,

“Yes, it’s true the Dang Clan has money. Maybe even more than you think.”

“Keee. He looks very rich, like he was shining with gold. He looks like a different person.”

Tang Gunak cleared his throat, a sound that echoed in the sudden silence, and his eyes became serious.

“However, the Sichuan Dang Clan will not be giving that money to Mount Hua.”

Chung Myung’s eyes moved quickly, like a trapped animal, looking for a way out.

“What? Are you trying to play games with me…! Mmph! Mmmph!”

Baek Cheon watched Chung Myung being dragged away again. He sighed deeply and turned back to Tang Gunak.

“Please don’t mind him. Mount Hua isn’t so bad as to ask for money from the Sichuan Dang Clan, which is facing difficult times. Instead, we….”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Yes?”

“Money should be used meaningfully. However… not in that way. Not just giving money away. We need a plan.”

Tang Gunak turned his head, looking at Hyun Jong with serious eyes, as if there was something he absolutely had to say.

“It’s time we moved beyond this messy way of doing things. We can’t keep doing things in this unorganized way.”

His eyes sank deeply.

At Tang Gunak’s respectful words, Hyun Jong’s eyes widened.

“…What did you just say?”

“I said exactly what you heard.”

“No… But, Clan Leader. That’s a bit….”

“It is something that must be done, Alliance Leader.”

Tang Gunak was determined.

“Of course, I understand your concerns, Alliance Leader. The Heavenly Union is just an alliance built on friendship; nothing else should get in the way. But the situation now is very different from when the Heavenly Union started.”

“…That is true, but….”

“We need a clearer and more certain method now. With a loose system like the one we have now, we cannot deal with the coming chaos.”

Hyun Jong’s face grew serious. Of course, Tang Gunak’s words weren’t wrong. But that method….

Just then, Chung Myung suddenly poked his head out from the wall that Oh Geom had built, just in case.

“Oh, so, in other words…!”

“Get back in there!”

Baek Cheon grabbed that face and tried to push it back in, but Chung Myung stubbornly resisted and finally opened his mouth.

“Since the Dang Clan is moving to Shaanxi anyway, are you saying we should create the Heavenly Union’s main headquarters around Mount Hua?”

“That’s right.”

“And gather all the members scattered everywhere there?”

“Precisely,” Chung Myung said, his eyes lighting up.

Up to this point, it wasn’t a tempting idea. At least, not for Chung Myung.

In fact, if the Heavenly Union’s headquarters were in Shaanxi, it might be good for Mount Hua… but, it would also mean that anyone targeting the Heavenly Union would only need to attack Shaanxi.

But Chung Myung couldn’t resist the bait that Tang Gunak had offered. The reason was….

“And in return, we receive what did you call them before? Tributes?”

“…We should say we’re receiving membership fees. Not tributes. We shouldn’t call it ‘tributes’ like we are forcing people. ‘Membership fees’ sounds more like everyone is joining together.”

“Ah, that’s right! Membership fees, membership fees! Hee hee. I misspoke.”

Chung Myung smiled as if he were embarrassed, but everyone who saw it twisted their faces as if they found it disgusting.

‘That bastard’s eyes have turned into coins?’

‘He definitely knew what he was saying.’

Pushing past Oh Geom and stepping forward, Chung Myung cleared his throat loudly and continued.

“Hmm… It’s not like money is important, but….”

“It probably is important.”

“Probably more important than anything in the world?”

“That bastard would sell Mount Hua for money.”

“Ah, shut up over there.”

Chung Myung gave Oh Geom a quick punch and turned back to Tang Gunak, opening his mouth again.

“Is it really necessary to go that far?”

Tang Gunak chuckled at those words, which cut straight to the point without any extra talk.

“It is.”

“That’s….”

“From what happened, I have realized that the Heavenly Union’s biggest weakness, compared to the Four Evils, is that there are too many places to protect.”

“…Hmm.”

Chung Myung nodded as if he understood.

“I wouldn’t have even thought about this if the Dang Clan hadn’t been attacked. But now that I’ve seen it, I understand.”

“Others shouldn’t suffer the same fate as the Dang Clan?”

“Think about it. What if the Dang Clan hadn’t been attacked this time? What if we had been lucky enough to arrive at the Dang Clan in time and push back the Myriad Man House?”

“…”

“Even after that, when I move to help you all, would I really be able to bring the same number of elite troops as before?”

It would be impossible. Knowing that their own base could be attacked, they would naturally keep that in mind.

“To leave enough troops to defend against any attack from the Four Evils for a few days, at least half of them would have to stay at the clan. Do you understand what that means?”

“I understand, of course.”

Tang Gunak nodded. There was no way Chung Myung wouldn’t know this.

“So, what we need to do first is protect fewer places. Before things get really bad, we gather all the sects of the Heavenly Union in Shaanxi.”

“…Not just the martial artists?”

“That’s right.”

Tang Gunak nodded.

“If we leave them behind, Jang Il-so will target those places. Then we’ll be controlled by Jang Il-so again. Maybe… even if the people don’t want it, that’s what will happen.”

That wasn’t about Tang Gunak, but about Chung Myung.

If the Ice Palace were attacked and the families of the Ice Palace disciples were killed by Jang Il-so, Chung Myung would go there, even if the Ice Palace tried to stop him.

Chung Myung couldn’t argue.

“But if they, the main people of each sect, are all in Shaanxi, near Mount Hua, then we only need to protect Shaanxi. Jang Il-so has fewer places to attack, and he can’t trick us as easily.”

“Hmm.”

Chung Myung couldn’t argue and nodded a little.

He had thought about this himself. Jang Il-so had many ways to hurt them. Even for Chung Myung, it was hard to deal with each one.

Wasn’t the fight between someone with nothing to lose and someone who had everything to protect already unfair? It seemed like the result was already decided.

The important thing was to reduce the number of ways Jang Il-so could hurt them. This plan would help.

But Chung Myung hadn’t said anything, even though he knew all this, because of one thing.

Money.

Gathering people meant taking responsibility. But if they started without a plan and didn’t know how long the war would last, it could cause problems with supplies.

Just giving those people a place to stay and enough food would require the Eunha Merchant Guild to help. That was the basic problem.

Mount Hua could never pay for that.

“I know what you’re worried about. But you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Big promises are good, but it’s not easy. I know the Dang Clan and the Namgung Clan are different, but Mount Hua, the Ice Palace, and the Beast Palace aren’t rich.”

“Mount Hua?”

“…”

Chung Myung looked away from Tang Gunak’s stare, which seemed to be asking why Mount Hua, which was taking all the gold in the Central Plains, was pretending to be poor.

“Well, um… yeah. It’s like pouring water into a bottomless pit.”

“…Let’s just say that.”

“Ahem. Anyway!”

Tang Gunak nodded.

“You don’t need to worry about that part. I don’t think we can solve everything with the tribute money… no, the membership fees that each sect pays. That would just be a formality. The Dang Clan and the Namgung Clan will pay for everything.”

“…”

“It’s not just about building the Heavenly Union’s headquarters and feeding those who come there. We’ll also pay for the upcoming war with the Four Evils.”

“A-Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

War was like a monster that ate money. Of course, the war of martial artists cost less than a war with soldiers, but war was still war.

And now, the Dang Clan, which had lost seventy percent of its wealth, was saying that it would put all the remaining money into preparing for that war.

“Hasn’t it already been proven that having a lot of money is meaningless?”

“…That’s true, but.”

Mount Hua used to have a lot of money too. It all burned down, though. It was all….

“If we don’t learn from this mistake, we’ll make the same mistakes again. Now is not the time to protect what we have in a half-hearted way. Instead, we need to create a place for me to be.”

“…Wow.”

Tang Gunak smiled as Chung Myung looked at him with admiration. Then he looked at Hyun Jong.

“That’s what we must do, Alliance Leader.”

“But, Clan Leader. Your words are correct, but… the persuasion….”

Hyun Jong’s face was troubled.

At that moment, Jo Gul, who had been watching, quietly asked Yoon Jong.

“Hey, Senior Brother.”

“Yeah?”

“…Isn’t that… well… isn’t that a nice way of saying he’s going to threaten us?”

“Threaten? What do you mean?”

“No, isn’t that right? He’s saying he’ll give up thirty percent of his wealth, but when you think about it… isn’t most of that going to be used to pay for the Dang Clan’s expenses anyway?”

“…Huh?”

Yoon Jong tilted his head. Now that he heard it… Huh….

“But now he’s doing that in the name of the Heavenly Union, and in return, he’s going to take money from the other sects, right? He’s saying, ‘We’re in this situation and we’re still helping, so why aren’t you?'”

“…Ehh, surely not….”

“No, think about it. Which sects in the Heavenly Union have money right now?”

“The Namgung Clan and….”

Yoon Jong turned his head sharply to look at Tang Gunak, as if he had realized something.

“The Green… Forest….”

“Right?”

The Green Forest had made a lot of money. They weren’t poor, but they had made a lot of money handling the Plum Blossom Island’s trade.

“We couldn’t get money from those bastards because we didn’t have a good reason, but now the Clan Leader is giving us that reason, isn’t he?”

“No, no matter what, I think you’re thinking too much because you’re from a merchant family….”

“Really? Can you say that after seeing that?”

“…Huh?”

Yoon Jong turned to where Jo Gul was pointing.

“Let’s do it, Supreme Elder.”

“Huh?”

“The Dang Clan Leader is making such a good offer, it wouldn’t be polite to refuse, would it?”

“…Ah, no, that’s….”

“Let’s do it.”

“That….”

“Do it.”

Chung Myung, who understood the situation, was wearing the gentlest expression in the world.

“It’s for the sake of the Central Plains. Yes? For the sake of the Central Plains. It’s not about what I want, but for the sake of the Central Plains, we need to get help from the Namgung Clan and the Green Forest. It’s all for the sake of the common people!”

“Those are wise words, Alliance Leader.”

“…”

“I can finally breathe a little. Eheheheh!”

Yoon Jong, who had been watching, turned to Jo Gul with tired eyes.

“…But, hey, maybe.”

“Yes?”

“Do people become strange after their house burns down?”

“…I’m not sure about that either….”

Yoon Jong shook his head, watching Tang Gunak and Chung Myung pressuring Hyun Jong from both sides.