Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1471

“Keeuuuuh.”

“Be careful! Watch out!”

“I told you, you’ll have an accident if you’re not careful!”

Men carried huge rocks. They were so big, some men joked they were the size of houses. Every step was a groan. Dust puffed up from the ground with each heavy step. The boulder was rough and cold against their sweaty hands.

“Ugh… is this thing… too big, or is it just me?” one man gasped.

“They said they can’t cut it smaller,” another replied, straining.

“Then they should come carry it themselves! Keeuuuuh.”

“Oooh! It’s tipping!”

The boulder, held by a dozen struggling men, suddenly tilted. Faces went white. They scattered, squeezing their eyes shut, waiting for the crash.

“⋯⋯.”

“⋯⋯Huh?”

But no crash came. They waited. Nothing. Confused, they slowly opened their eyes. A hand, as big as a cooking pot lid, held the boulder steady.

“L, Lady Palace Lord?”

“Tsk, tsk.”

The Beast Palace Lord, Maeng So, who had caught the falling boulder with one hand, barked, “Are Beast Palace disciples so weak they can’t even carry a rock? Have you no shame!”

The men lowered their heads, stung by her sharp words. Some looked annoyed.

“This rock is too big! Can’t we get more people to help?” one mumbled.

“What!”

Maeng So’s roar exploded like thunder. “More people? Get stronger! You want to use numbers instead of strength? Is that what you’re saying?”

“N, no, that’s not what I meant…”

“You’re useless! Move!”

Maeng So reached out and grabbed the boulder with both hands. Her muscles stood out on her arms as she roared. “Uraaaah!” The sound echoed.

She lifted the huge rock like it was nothing and hoisted it onto her shoulder.

“H, heek.”

“Good heavens…”

Everyone stared. Not just people from other groups, but even Beast Palace disciples who knew Maeng So’s strength were shocked. Their eyes nearly popped out. It was an amazing sight.

Maeng So, however, carried the boulder as if it was the easiest thing in the world, striding forward.

“Where does this go?”

“T, this way, Lady Palace Lord!”

“Lead the way.”

“Yes!”

People shook their heads as they watched Maeng So walk away. This wasn’t just about inner power. Only someone born with incredible strength could do that.

“What are you doing! Hurry up and bring the rest!” Maeng So yelled back.

“Yes! Yes, Lady Palace Lord!”

The Beast Palace disciples snapped out of their daze and rushed off. Someone watching chuckled.

“This is crazy.”

“I thought it was impossible, but they’re actually doing it.”

“Unbelievable.”

People shook their heads, still in disbelief.

Even with strong fighters helping, this speed was amazing and hard to believe. One secret to this speed was the sect leaders and elders.

“Isn’t it a wondrous sight? To see the leader of a sect carrying boulders.”

“It’s not just the Beast Palace Lord. The Tang family head was hammering nails into the pavilion.”

“Hammering?”

“What nonsense? He was magically launching wooden pegs and driving dozens in at once. He finished in a single breath what an average carpenter would take half a day to do.”

“Heh heh… well, now.”

Everyone knew that sect leaders who had reached the peak of martial arts could do the work of a thousand men.

But no one would dare to ask a sect leader to do such a thing. The leader of a sect, especially one of the Five Great Families or Five Outer Palaces, wouldn’t do such menial tasks.

The head of the Tang family doing carpentry, the Palace Lord of the Beast Palace carrying luggage? Most people would laugh and say it was nonsense.

But here, that impossible thing was happening.

“Timberrrrrrrrr!”

The young lord of the Namgung family, Namgung Dowi, raced along the newly built Hwaeum Street.

“Timber! We’re short on timber! Why are you all so slow?”

“W, well, the Mount Hua people said they were short on stone, so they told us to move the rocks first…”

“Timber is needed now to build the houses! There’s an order to these things! Don’t talk nonsense, tell them to move the timber first.”

“Y, young lord. That’s…”

“Give it here!”

Namgung Dowi, as if he didn’t have time to waste, half-forcibly seized the cart that the Beast Palace disciple was pulling.

“Ah, no, this is ours…”

“Damn it. If I don’t finish this before sunset, the vice leader will try to kill me! Are you going to take the beating for me?”

The Beast Palace disciples drooped their shoulders at the sight of Namgung Dowi, his eyes bloodshot and fiercely pressing them.

“I’m so busy! Hurry up and bring the next cart!”

Namgung Dowi sped off, kicking up a cloud of dust as he had when he arrived.

“Aack!”

“Drive carefully! You’ll cause an accident!”

People scattered to avoid the cart.

Those who stared blankly broke into dazed laughter.

“Am I dreaming?”

“I must be.”

“Well, now… Ah, but looking at it, I can see the Namgung family member, the Beast Palace Lord, and the Tang family head, but I don’t see the other sect leaders.”

The man who spoke wore a strange smile. He looked slightly smug.

“If you think about it, shouldn’t the Mount Hua sect leader be the strongest among them? At least he’s not carrying luggage.”

Of course, the people of Hwaeum were very fond of the Cheonwoo Alliance. But even so, it couldn’t compare to their feelings for Mount Hua. While the sect leaders of other sects were suffering, the Mount Hua sect leader was nowhere to be seen, which made them feel secretly pleased.

But…

“⋯⋯Have you not heard?”

“Heard what?”

“⋯⋯Never mind. It’s better if you don’t know.”

“Huh? What do you mean? What is the sect leader doing?”

“Not the sect leader, the Supreme Elder.”

“Huh?”

The man cast a sad gaze towards a distant pavilion.

Thud!

As soon as Hyun Jong faced the ledgers, he felt lifeless.

“D, do I have to do more of these?”

“That’s right, Supreme Elder.”

“Th, that’s right, isn’t it?”

“Not only that, but there are three times as many tasks to be completed by the end of today.”

Hyun Jong’s beard trembled as he gritted his teeth.

“In addition to this, you need to review the list of items to be purchased from Xi’an, rewrite the lists of names from the sects that are flying in from all directions to identify the personnel. Ah! And this ledger contains the newly built pavilions in Hwaeum up to this point, so you need to check where and how to place each sect. After that, this…”

“S, stop… Stop…”

Hyun Jong’s hands trembled.

“M, my eyes are burning! I can’t see straight anymore! Just five minutes, please!…”

“Oh, Supreme Elder. The Supreme Elder of Mount Hua says his eyes hurt from looking at some ledgers. The whole world will laugh. You’re quite the comedian.”

It’s true! It really feels like my eyeballs are about to fall out! Do you even know how old I am?

Hyun Jong clenched his fists. If there weren’t so many eyes watching, he would have torn his hair out several times already. Even in this agony, Hyun Jong couldn’t bring himself to shout that he couldn’t do this anymore. No, he couldn’t shout it.

It was because of the hellish scene unfolding around him.

“The numbers don’t match! The numbers!”

“I’ve checked it ten times, there’s no way it doesn’t match!”

“Can’t you see it here? Are your eyes just holes in a knot?”

“Wh, why is it wrong again?”

This time, Hyun Jong’s eyes turned to the other side.

“The contents written in this ledger are different from the actual amount in the warehouse! Which bastard stole it?”

“Yes? Let’s see. Ah, we lent this to the Baekryeong Escort Agency in Luoyang last month?”

“Why didn’t you write that in the ledger, you crazy bastard! Do you know how many times I’ve looked at this again!”

Those with shadows under their eyes reaching down to their chins were frantically searching through the ledgers as if in a frenzy. Hyun Jong said in a slightly hoarse voice.

“⋯⋯By the way, Chief Manager.”

“Yes?”

“Is this how much work a merchant guild usually has?”

“Of course not.”

“Then…?”

“Think about it. It’s almost like building a whole city from scratch. The goods needed are more than a normal merchant guild would move in a year.”

“⋯⋯.”

“It’s fortunate that those people from Sichuan, uh… what was their name…?”

“The Saha Merchant Guild.”

“Yes, yes! It was fortunate that the Saha Merchant Guild came to help. If it weren’t for them, our guild leader would have put on a mask and escaped from Hwaeum.”

Suddenly, Hwang Mun-yak’s face flashed through Hyun Jong’s mind.

“⋯⋯I saw him wandering around outside earlier.”

“Ah, didn’t you know?”

“Know what?”

“The guild leader is going to Luoyang with Elder Hyun Young soon to buy goods from merchants there.”

“⋯⋯.”

“The shopping list was huge, almost as big as a cart! One merchant can’t provide everything. Merchants from Luoyang and Xi’an will all need to help.”

“Why is Hyun Young going?”

“The guild leader said he’s never seen anyone so good at haggling prices in his life. Even the late guild leader wasn’t that good.”

Hyun Jong was speechless for a moment. He could easily imagine Hyun Young scolding the guild leaders.

But Hyun Jong quickly erased that image. He needed to save himself first, regardless of appearances. He gestured with his chin at the ledgers in front of him.

“⋯⋯Then when will this be over?”

“I heard that the Saha Merchant Guild members who went on the trade route are also coming to Shanxi. They said they can join us in about three days, so maybe we’ll have a little more breathing room then?”

Hyun Jong’s face flushed red.

Three days? He had to do this for three more days? Without even letting him sleep?

“Th, this is too much…”

It was at that very moment.

Crash!

The door next to Hyun Jong’s inner room burst open, and ledgers poured out from inside.

“Oh, are you alright? You look like you’ve fainted.”

“Why is this guy so weak?”

“Shh, be careful. This guy is from the Green Forest.”

“Huh? I thought a scholar from the Imperial Palace was coming.”

Im So-byeong looked like he hadn’t slept in days. His face was pale, and his eyes were dark circles. He moved like a zombie. He was trembling as he held the ledgers in his hands.

At a glance, it looked like five times more than what Hyun Jong had to look at.

“Isn’t this going to hurt his body? We should move it…”

“Be quiet. These are all things that the Mount Hua Sword Saint specifically ordered. We can’t take anything out.”

“⋯⋯Then we have to do it.”

Hyun Jong’s eyes began to well up. He never thought he would sympathize with a bandit instead of a Mount Hua disciple.

Of course, the Mount Hua disciple on the other side wasn’t an ordinary disciple, but that damned disciple…

Hyun Jong asked carefully.

“I, isn’t that a little too much?”

“It is a bit much.”

The chief manager of the Eunha Merchant Guild, who was carrying more ledgers, frowned.

“But they said that the ledgers that man is looking at are related to personnel and weapons, so others shouldn’t see them… Ah! Supreme Elder, you are the leader of the Cheonwoo Alliance, so of course you can see them. So, what should we do, would you like to help a little?”

Hyun Jong had been sadly watching Im So-byeong. He quickly stood up.

The chief manager nodded. As expected, the Mount Hua of righteousness and compassion…

Thump! Thump!

At that moment, Hyun Jong kicked the spilled ledgers and pushed them into the opposite room. Hyun Jong pushed the convulsing Im So-byeong and his limp hand inside as well, slammed the door shut, and locked it tightly. He moved quickly, almost sneakily.

“⋯⋯.”

“Let’s continue what we were doing. Ah, did you say we only have to do that much more?”

⋯⋯Let’s pretend I didn’t see that. The chief manager quietly erased the scene from his mind.