Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1466

Huang Jong-ui looked south. His face showed he was very worried.

‘I wonder if they’re alright.’

News from Mount Hua had been scarce for some time. He felt like he couldn’t breathe easily. He was very troubled.

He had tried many times to get news from Mount Hua through the Beggars’ Sect’s Hwaeum branch, but they said they were having trouble too. They said that news from the Beggars’ Sect headquarters had been cut off for several days.

“They are the most outrageous lot.”

Huang Jong-ui muttered, looking angry.

How could the Beggars’ Sect not know about something so big? It seemed like they were ignoring Hwaeum on purpose.

“Hoo.”

Huang Jong-ui sighed and shook his head. His head throbbed.

A merchant, who had been watching him, asked carefully.

“Guild Leader.”

“Hmm?”

“What about the supplies we were planning to send? They’ve been waiting for two days now.”

“…Let’s wait a little longer.”

“We can’t just leave them like that forever, can we?”

Huang Jong-ui looked at the carts in front of the Eunha Merchant Guild’s Hwaeum branch. Then, he sighed and said.

“Let’s wait one more day. After that, we can decide if we should put them back in the warehouse or send them to the Yangtze River.”

“Yes, sir. I will do what you say.”

He sighed again. He thought about it. Hwaeum did not feel busy or happy these days.

Wasn’t it strange?

Hwaeum had clearly become a larger village than before. More people lived there, and the Eunha Merchant Guild branch had increased trade.

Even though it was just a branch, almost all of the Eunha Merchant Guild’s goods passed through Hwaeum. So, a lot of money and goods were moving around.

But Huang Jong-ui felt that Hwaeum was sad these days.

The Mount Hua people were not many, and they rarely came to Hwaeum. Just because they were gone, the whole village of Hwaeum was losing its energy.

Huang Jong-ui realized that money and workers were not the only things that made a place good.

“Excuse me, Guild Leader.”

“Hmm?”

“Could it be that the Cheonwu Alliance members went to Sichuan and had some bad luck…?”

Huang Jong-ui’s eyes flashed with anger.

“How dare you say such nonsense!”

He shouted angrily. The merchant’s face turned pale, and he bowed down.

“I, I’m sorry! I was just too worried and I said the wrong thing…”

“Even if you are worried, there are things you can say and things you cannot! If you say such words again, I will be very angry!”

“Yes! Yes, Guild Leader! I will remember that.”

Huang Jong-ui bit his lip.

He knew the man was worried. But still, he shouldn’t speak carelessly.

‘They must be safe. Yes, they must be.’

That was…

“Guild Leaaaaaader!”

Just then, someone ran through the main gate of the guild, looking panicked. Huang Jong-ui frowned because it was not dignified.

“Have I not always told you to stay calm? A merchant should always…”

“The Mount Hua people!”

“Huh?”

“T-The Mount Hua people are at the village entrance! Right now! Right now!”

“Get out of my way!”

“Ugh!”

Huang Jong-ui pushed the merchant aside and ran out of the guild. The man who had fallen stared blankly for a moment, then jumped up.

“W-Wait for me! Guild Leader! Guild Leader!”

He ran after Huang Jong-ui. The other guild members did the same, leaving their work and running towards the village entrance.

“Where are they!”

“There! Over there! Can’t you see them?”

“Ah!”

Huang Jong-ui’s eyes widened.

A group of people was coming from far away. They were too far to see clearly. But he could see their black uniforms and swords, and he knew who they were.

“T-They’ve returned!”

Tears filled Huang Jong-ui’s eyes.

He had been very worried. He hadn’t had a moment of peace since they left. But finally, they had returned to Hwaeum.

“H-How many? Are they all safe?”

“It seems so. Just by looking, there must be about a hundred… No, two hundred… Th-Three hundred? Uh…?”

“Uh?”

“…Uh?”

The number of people coming back was more than the number who had left.

“Uh-oh? Why are more coming? Why do they keep…”

“…Th-There seem to be about a thousand?”

“More are coming?”

“J-Just who are all those people, Guild Leader?”

Huang Jong-ui stopped feeling happy and thought hard. He quickly figured something out.

“It seems…”

“Yes?”

“Like we’re about to have a lot of work, don’t you think?”

The Eunha Merchant Guild members’ faces turned pale. They had been so happy just a moment ago.

“Guild Leader! We don’t have enough places to stay!”

“Blast it! Didn’t I tell you we would be short! What happened to the tents we prepared?”

“W-Well, they’re probably at the headquarters…”

“Then what are you doing! Go and get them right now!”

“We don’t have enough people! Just helping these people and getting them what they need is keeping us busy. How can we send someone to the headquarters?”

“Is that what a merchant should say? Can’t you move right now?”

“W-Well, instead of that… how about sending the remaining people up to Mount Hua Sect? I think there are many empty buildings there…”

Huang Jong-ui’s eyes flashed with fire.

“What? Have I ever seen such a fool!”

“Wh-Why are you like this, Guild Leader?”

“If we put people in the Mount Hua Sect at the top of Mount Hua, who will carry the supplies up there every day? Will you do it?”

“…Why did the Mount Hua Sect ancestors build their buildings on top of such a mountain…”

“So stop your nonsense and quickly send someone to bring the tents. We need to do something, even if it’s just for a short time! Hurry!”

“…Yes.”

At that moment, another merchant ran in, looking terrified.

“Guild Leader! B-Big trouble! We don’t have enough rice!”

“What? What are you talking about! Not enough grain! How can that be?”

“W-We sent all the rice we bought to the Yangtze River the other day…”

“You fool! Then instead of standing around, you should be trying to get some right now! Send people to Xi’an and get all the rice from each merchant guild! Immediately!”

“Oh, Guild Leader. You know this, but are you really asking us to do this? If people hear that we need grain urgently, they will raise the price.”

“Even if they raise the price a lot, we have to get what we need! Stop your nonsense and do as I say.”

“Ugh. I understand.”

The person ran outside. Huang Jong-ui groaned.

“What on earth is going on…”

Grain and shelter can be managed. But people’s lives are not so simple. Once they are in Hwaeum, they will need many things.

“Guild Leader… Are those people going to stay here forever?”

Huang Jong-ui frowned at the chief manager’s question.

“We can solve the immediate problems… but them staying here is a different issue, isn’t it? Hwaeum only has a few hundred people, but there are already over two thousand who have come here. Isn’t this too much?”

“Since the entire Tang Clan has moved, it can’t be helped…”

“If we prepare places for those people to live, Hwaeum will be three times bigger. Who will do all that work?”

“…We will, I guess?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to work…”

“I know what you mean.”

Huang Jong-ui scratched his head.

After thinking for a while, he jumped up and ran outside.

Hyun Jong was at the village entrance, watching the people who had arrived.

“Sect Leader. No, Grand Elder!”

“Ah, Guild Leader.”

Hyun Jong greeted Huang Jong-ui warmly, holding his hands tightly. Then, looking worried, he said.

“You must be going through a lot. I am sorry for causing you trouble.”

“T-Trouble? What trouble could there be?”

Huang Jong-ui flinched and lowered his head at Hyun Jong’s words.

“Well… it’s not that we’re having a hard time, but it doesn’t seem easy to find places for this many people in Hwaeum.”

“Hmm? Is that so?”

“Yes, Grand Elder. This place is just a small village. If so many people stay here, there will be some problems. It’s not something easy to solve.”

Hyun Jong thought about it. Huang Jong-ui knew more about these things than he did.

“Then what do you think we should do? I’ll tell you now, we cannot send them away.”

“How about putting them in Xi’an instead?”

“…Xi’an?”

“Yes. Xi’an is nearby. It’s not much different in distance. Also, Xi’an has many empty buildings, and many sects are friendly to Mount Hua, so we can use their buildings. And Xi’an is a large city, so it has more goods than this small place. We don’t need to have so much trouble getting supplies.”

Hyun Jong nodded, thinking it was a good idea.

Bringing so many people into Hwaeum, which has less than a thousand people, and bringing them into Xi’an, which has a hundred thousand people, would be very different.

“Hmm, that seems reasonable.”

Huang Jong-ui’s face brightened at Hyun Jong’s words.

If they moved to Xi’an, the work would be much less.

But Hyun Jong wasn’t finished.

“However… as I’ve lived, I’ve learned that being reasonable is not always helpful.”

“…Yes?”

“Even if you say the right thing, it’s only helpful if the person listening understands?”

“W-What are you talking about?”

“Ah, they’re coming just in time.”

“…Yes?”

“Over there.”

Huang Jong-ui looked where Hyun Jong was pointing. It was towards the village entrance, where so many people were coming in that the ground seemed flatter.

‘Huh?’

After watching for a moment, something was coming quickly, stirring up dust.

“…That?”

Huang Jong-ui and the others thought.

“It looks familiar…”

“Hey, it’s a little different. The dust cloud isn’t usually that small.”

“And this time, there seem to be several of them?”

Huang Jong-ui’s shoulders shook.

Soon, they could see clearly. Several carts were racing towards Hwaeum, and a man was riding on top of the piles of goods.

“Aren’t you done yet! What took you so long! You bunch of slowpokes!”

No one could speak.

Hyun Jong put his hand on Huang Jong-ui’s shoulder and patted him lightly.