Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1467

The line of carts, dusty from the long journey, rumbled to a stop as they entered Hwaeum. The air was dry and smelled faintly of earth.

Chung Myung’s voice cut through the morning air, sharp and impatient. “Hey! I said arrive by morning! What took you so long?”

Namgung Dowi, usually so obedient he’d probably try to boil water with ice if Chung Myung asked, dared to argue. “But, Head, you told us to go slow! To protect the medicine inside! We couldn’t risk damaging it.”

Chung Myung just clicked his tongue, unimpressed. “Tsk, tsk. See, that’s your problem. You can only think of one thing at a time. You should have been here on time *and* kept the cargo safe! It’s not that hard!”

Namgung Dowi just stared, speechless.

Chung Myung shook his head. “Incompetent! Utterly incompetent!”

Namgung Dowi groaned quietly. “Ugh…”

Jo Gul gently patted Namgung Dowi, who looked utterly dumbfounded. “You need to accept it now.”

“This?” Namgung Dowi asked.

Jo Gul responded, “You’ll get used to it, soon.”

While Jo Gul was comforting Namgung Dowi, Chung Myung jumped off the cargo cart and carefully examined Hwaeum.

“Hmm. Not…”

Hwang Jongi flinched at Chung Myung’s displeased and sulky gaze, cautiously opening his mouth.

“First of all, congratulations on your safe return, Head.”

“Yes, yes. Has Upper Lord been well too?” Chung Myung asked.

“Yes! Thanks to your concern, Head…” Hwang Jongi replied.

“Well, you’ve just been playing around in the rear office, occasionally sending cargo, so there’s no reason you wouldn’t be doing well. Ah, I’m jealous,” Chung Myung said.

Hwang Jongi’s face, which had been overflowing with joy, instantly crumpled. *Was that really something to say to someone who had been so busy handling the tasks ordered from the rear that they hadn’t had a moment to breathe?*

“We’ve been quite busy too…” Hwang Jongi mumbled.

“Your complexion is too good for that, isn’t it? Are you eating something good?” Chung Myung asked, scrutinizing Hwang Jongi.

*I remembered. This guy, he was originally like this. I hadn’t seen him for a while, so I guess I forgot how he really is.*

“Ah, anyway. You must be very busy right now, so what are you doing here?” Chung Myung asked.

“Ah, I was just about to tell you. We were discussing the issue of accommodating these people in Seo-an, a big city nearby, with the Supreme Elder,” Hwang Jongi explained.

“Pardon?” Chung Myung asked, confused.

“Since Hwaeum lacks infrastructure, it’s not sufficient to accommodate them. If it were just martial artists, it might be different, but as you know, there are also Tang family members here…”

“Seo-an?” Chung Myung repeated.

“Yes, Seo-an…”

“Seo-aaaaaan?” Chung Myung drawled, his eyes gleaming.

Hwang Jongi quietly closed his eyes. *Seeing that damned Taoist’s eyes gleaming, it seemed he had made another mistake. It was a familiar sight, but seeing it after a long time felt new again.*

“What nonsense are you spouting! If I was going to make those people comfortable, I would have sent them to Seo-an in the first place, not here!” Chung Myung exclaimed.

“Well, that’s true, but…” Hwang Jongi stammered.

“If that happens, only the people of Seo-an will benefit. Why would I spend my money to do something good for others!”

“But the people of Seo-an aren’t others…” Hwang Jongi protested weakly.

*No, and the money that goes into it isn’t your money, Taoist. It seems like there’s a bit of a misunderstanding, you need to get your facts straight…*

“Lack of infrastructure, you say?” Chung Myung asked, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

“Yes. Realistically…”

“Then we’ll just build it!” Chung Myung declared.

Hwang Jongi’s soul momentarily left his body.

“It’s not as easy as it sounds…” Hwang Jongi mumbled, defeated.

“Ah, it’s all possible. I know from experience, it’s easy to build if you try!” Chung Myung said, waving off his concerns.

Hwang Jongi covered his face with both hands. Hyun Jong, who was watching him with pity, wrapped a warm hand around Hwang Jongi’s shoulder.

“Do you understand?” Hyun Jong asked sympathetically.

*For some reason, this guy was even more annoying.* Hwang Jongi sighed deeply and opened his mouth again.

“I understand what you’re saying. Certainly, if we build facilities here to accommodate these people, and secure the logistics to feed them, Hwaeum will become a place incomparable to what it is now, just as you say,” Hwang Jongi conceded.

Of course, it wouldn’t be able to match Seo-an, the largest city in Shaanxi, but it could develop into one of the leading cities in Shaanxi.

“But Head, realistically, we absolutely lack the manpower to do all that. Laborers aren’t something you can just get by giving money…”

“Ah, you’ve been saying frustrating things since a while ago?” Chung Myung interrupted.

“Yes?”

“Why are we short on manpower? There’s plenty of it to spare over there,” Chung Myung said, gesturing vaguely.

“Huh?”

“Tang Family Head!” Chung Myung called out.

“Understood,” Tang Gun-ak replied, stepping forward from the back where he had been silently listening.

“Map,” Chung Myung demanded.

“Yes? Ah! Map! Yes! Bring the map right now! Quickly!” Hwang Jongi shouted, flustered.

A few merchants hurriedly ran to bring back a rolled-up map in their arms.

They spread out the map. It contained a detailed topographical map of Hwaeum, centered around Mount Hua.

“Hmm,” Tang Gun-ak hummed, carefully examining the topography of Hwaeum and slowly nodding.

“How much do you want, Strategist?” Tang Gun-ak asked.

“Well, first of all…” Chung Myung scratched the tip of his nose slightly.

“We should naturally accommodate those who are already here,” Chung Myung stated.

“Hmm,” Tang Gun-ak acknowledged.

“And there should be a place to accommodate the additional people who will come and the small and medium-sized sects that want to join us.”

“Hmm, certainly that much…”

“There should also be a training ground for the children to practice, an armory to store weapons, and warehouses to store grains and necessities…”

Hwang Jongi’s face grew paler with each item on the list.

“Ah! There should also be houses for the Tang family members to live in, a place for the Mount Hua guys on the mountain to come down and stay, and accommodations for the new merchants and those who come and go for logistics, so…”

The more Chung Myung talked, the paler Hwang Jongi’s face became. *At this point, wasn’t he basically talking about building a new city?*

“Is that all?” Tang Gun-ak asked calmly.

“Hey, what are you talking about? We’re just getting started,” Chung Myung retorted.

“Hmm?”

“If there are that many people, we’ll naturally need water, right? So, we’ll naturally have to dig a dozen or so new wells. Ah, we should also build one in a suitable place and package it. Well, there will be many other small things to do,” Chung Myung continued, unfazed.

Tang Gun-ak slowly nodded.

“I roughly understand. But there are a few problems with that,” Tang Gun-ak pointed out.

“What is it?” Chung Myung asked.

“As you can see, Hwaeum has Mount Hua behind it, so the city can only stretch forward,” Tang Gun-ak explained.

“That’s right,” Chung Myung agreed.

“But because of the terrain of Mount Hua, there are many small hills in the front as well. If we build the buildings as they are, the city itself will become winding. It might be advantageous for defense, but it will limit the city’s expansion.”

Hwang Jongi nodded vigorously. This was the decisive reason why Hwaeum had not become a large city until now.

A city doesn’t just grow because it’s in a good location. Above all, the people who live there must be able to build their homes and live comfortably.

Hwaeum, located under the rugged Mount Hua, could never become a large city because of its terrain.

“If we don’t solve this problem, it will only be a half-finished city. It won’t matter if you can accept that,” Tang Gun-ak concluded.

Chung Myung smiled contentedly at those words.

“Hey. I explained it so simply, but you still don’t understand,” Chung Myung said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

“Huh?”

“What is flat land in the first place? It refers to land without curves, right?”

“That’s right. There’s no such flat land here…”

“Then we’ll just make it,” Chung Myung declared, a wide grin spreading across his face.

Tang Gun-ak, who had been calm and composed, twitched his eyebrows for the first time.

“This…?”

“Yes.”

“All of this…?”

“Yes!” Chung Myung confirmed.

Chung Myung smiled even more contentedly when Tang Gun-ak was at a loss for words.

“Family Head. If you do a perfect job according to the situation, it becomes an achievement, right?”

“That’s right,” Tang Gun-ak agreed slowly.

“But if you go beyond the situation and do a job that’s more than perfect, it becomes history.”

Tang Gun-ak was silent, processing the magnitude of the task.

“Where…” Chung Myung turned his head and looked into the distance. He saw numerous small mountains protruding in Hwaeum.

“Let’s make some history with this opportunity,” Chung Myung announced, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

Tang Gun-ak’s soul nearly left his body at the sheer audacity of the plan.

“Come on, come on! We’re busy. Let’s move! Quickly!” Chung Myung urged, clapping his hands together.

“From here, to here!” Chung Myung pointed at the map.

“Flatten it,” Chung Myung commanded.

The warriors of the Namgung family, holding farming tools in their hands, stared blankly at the map Chung Myung pointed to. *‘From where to where, exactly?’*

*‘Is the way to read a map different in Shaanxi than in Anhui?’*

*‘That can’t be possible, can it?’*

Surely, that couldn’t be possible. No matter how vast the Central Plains were and how different the ways of living were in each region, wouldn’t the way to read a map be roughly the same everywhere?

Nevertheless, there was one reason why they had doubts.

“Umm, excuse me, Sword Saint of Mount Hua?” one of the warriors ventured.

“What?” Chung Myung asked, turning his attention to the speaker.

“That… If it’s as you say, does that mean we have to flatten the mountains in front of us to make them flat?” the warrior asked hesitantly.

“Yeah. You understood well,” Chung Myung confirmed, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Well, I understand from here, but I’m not sure where ‘to here’ is exactly…” the warrior trailed off, pointing at the map.

Chung Myung frowned and clicked his tongue in displeasure. “No, it’s clearly drawn here. What is this, what is this?”

“That’s… a river?”

“No. With that thickness, it’s a stream,” Chung Myung corrected.

“Anyway, it’s flowing water.”

“Right! A stream. It’s over there! Over there!” Chung Myung exclaimed, pointing into the distance.

The heads of the Namgung family warriors, who had been murmuring among themselves, turned all at once.

“Where…?” they asked in unison, squinting.

“Aoh! Are you all blind? It’s over there. Between those mountains!” Chung Myung said, exasperated. Countless hills, too big to be called hills and somewhat embarrassing to be called mountains, were overlapping. And between them, a very faint stream could be seen, so far away.

Everyone quietly laughed nervously as they looked at the stream that only appeared as a white line.

*‘It can’t be.’*

*‘It’s not.’*

*‘It shouldn’t be. It absolutely shouldn’t be!’*

Nevertheless, no one dared to open their mouths. It felt like their fate would be decided the moment they spoke.

But as always, when many people gather to form a group, there is bound to be one clueless person among them.

“Perhaps, is the stream you’re talking about, that one over there?” the clueless warrior asked, pointing.

“That son of a…” The Namgung family warriors were horrified and tried to cover the mouth of the person who spoke. But it was too late. Chung Myung, who had already heard the words, nodded repeatedly as if he was impressed.

“Kuh, as expected of the Namgung family, they understand immediately. You guys are much better than your frustrating Young Lord,” Chung Myung praised, oblivious to their despair.

The Namgung family warriors exchanged horrified glances.

“That’s right. Just flatten it up to there. Easy, right? Take a break when you’re done,” Chung Myung said, patting the speaker on the back.

“Take a break?” one of the warriors repeated in disbelief.

*Flatten all that and then take a break?*

“Umm, excuse me, Sword Saint of Mount Hua…” another warrior began tentatively.

“Ah, by the way, I’ve allocated land appropriately for each sect, okay?” Chung Myung interrupted, changing the subject abruptly.

“Yes?”

“But after doing that, there was one big chunk left over? Ugh. I should just die when I get old,” Chung Myung continued, shaking his head.

The Namgung family warriors braced themselves for what was coming.

“So, what I’m saying is,” Chung Myung began, a smile suddenly spreading across his face. It was a smile that only a devil from hell would make.

“The sect that finishes their work the latest will have to do that too. So, take your time,” Chung Myung finished, his voice dripping with false sweetness.

At that moment, the gazes of the Namgung family warriors turned fiercely in another direction.

Wham!

And they saw it. The Mount Hua disciples and the Bukhae warriors were furiously destroying the mountain, their eyes bloodshot with determination.

The Namgung family warriors were instantly on fire.

“Start!”

“Move, you bastards!”

“No, but the number of people is different for each sect! This is unfair…”

“Unfair or whatever, just grab a shovel, you bastard!”

“Aaaargh! We can’t be last!”

There was no way to reason with that human anyway.

The Namgung family swordsmen screamed and sprinted towards the small mountain in front of them with all their might.

Chung Myung smiled contentedly.