Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1491

“Someone is controlling the Sect Leader?” Baek Cheon said quietly. Everyone looking at the Heavenly Inn Sect Leader now looked suspicious.

“Is someone controlling him?” Yoon Jong asked, his voice worried. “Could it be Jang Il-So?”

Jo Gul scoffed. “Does he think the Beggars’ Sect is so weak? To be taken over by someone like Jang Il-So?”

Yoon Jong mumbled, “Sorry, Jang Il-So is just always the first person I think of when something bad happens.”

Baek Cheon said firmly, “If it’s a mastermind, it would be simpler. We just need to find them.”

“Then what is it?”

“No, it’s not a mastermind,” Chung Myung said, leaning forward slightly. “This Sect Leader looks real, but he’s not truly in charge. He’s not a fake, but he’s not the real leader either. He’s just… present.”

Baek Cheon, who had been listening to Chung Myung seriously, turned to look at his fellow disciples. He saw the same confused looks on their faces.

Just then, Chung Myung spoke again, breaking the silence.

“Want to know the best way to hide a secret?”

“Isn’t this about finding the truth?” Baek Cheon replied, remembering their earlier conversation.

“Hide it in plain sight,” Chung Myung said.

“Huh?” Yoon Jong looked confused.

“People who deal with secrets know this trick. Don’t hide the real secret with lies. Hide the real secret among other truths. People will focus on checking the obvious truths and miss the real one.”

“I think I understand. If someone meets the Beggars’ Sect Leader in a place like this and hears what he has to say, they wouldn’t even think that something else is hidden behind it, right?”

“Exactly. At best, they would only try to check if that person is the real Beggars’ Sect Leader.”

Baek Cheon quietly closed his mouth. Glancing around, the expressions of the others were similar to his.

Chung Myung chuckled as if he knew their thoughts.

“If you try to check if he is the real Sect Leader, you will fall into a trap. If you try to understand the Beggars’ Sect’s problems, you will be tricked. None of that matters.”

“…The important thing is behind that.”

“Exactly.”

Chung Myung stared straight at the Heavenly Inn Sect Leader.

“What do you think? Am I right?”

Chung Myung smiled, but the Heavenly Inn Sect Leader did not. Having composed himself, he was calm and collected as if nothing had happened.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Hmm?”

“I am the Sect Leader of the Beggars’ Sect, and I decide the affairs of the Beggars’ Sect. Enough with the delusions. Stories without any reason…”

“I have plenty of reasons to think so. Reasons you yourself gave me.”

The Heavenly Inn Sect Leader closed his mouth. The way he looked at Chung Myung was fierce, as if he was probing him. After a moment, he asked as if he couldn’t understand.

“I gave you the reasons?”

“Yes.”

“…What reasons did I give you?”

“Your words are all believable. But one thing is missing. All that logic needs one conviction.”

“What is it?”

“The conviction that the world will surely turn into hell. The conviction that a war will surely break out that will kill all the beggars.”

The Heavenly Inn Sect Leader’s eyes wavered for a moment.

“If the beggars had suddenly become incompetent after the Jang River Catastrophe, your words would make sense. But that’s not the case. This isn’t something that happened in the last few years. Rather, it started even earlier. It progressed so slowly that the beggars of the Beggars’ Sect couldn’t feel anything strange.”

“That’s…”

“Do you understand?”

Chung Myung said sharply.

“According to your words, you’re just a fool who is afraid of something that won’t happen and makes himself incompetent.”

The Heavenly Inn Sect Leader stared silently at Chung Myung without answering. Chung Myung shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, fine. I’ll agree a hundred times and say that could be the case. It’s not like the Sect Leader of the Beggars’ Sect always has to be competent.”

“You should be careful with your words…”

“But what’s suspicious isn’t that. The real thing is the words you said.”

“…What?”

“It was very interesting to see you talk about me. It’s like a typical reaction of someone who has only encountered a person through information.”

“What’s wrong with that? It’s the truth.”

“That’s right. There was nothing strange about it because it was the truth. Until you spoke so easily about Lee Song-Baek.”

The Heavenly Inn Sect Leader’s face hardened. Chung Myung began to chuckle.

“You probably know Chung Myung better than the person Lee Song-Baek. But you didn’t hesitate to use the words ‘I know’ for Lee Song-Baek, but you used the words ‘as I’ve heard’ for me. That means only one thing. The one who evaluated me isn’t you. You just accepted someone else’s evaluation.”

“…”

“Isn’t that right?”

The Heavenly Inn Sect Leader didn’t waver much. But Baek Cheon saw it. His hand on the desk was trembling faintly. He must have been inwardly shaken enough that he didn’t even think to hide his hand under the desk.

“That’s hard to believe…”

“Wait. The most important thing is still left.”

Chung Myung glared at the Heavenly Inn Sect Leader.

“The reason why I said that there is someone behind you but not a mastermind is one thing. Your anger was real. But when I saw it, it was really ridiculous.”

“Why?”

“Why are you angry? You’re someone who hasn’t experienced it directly, and you’re someone who has never been forced to sacrifice.”

“…”

“Resisting what is wrong is different from holding a grudge. But you spoke as if you were a victim who had directly experienced everything. You, who lived through a time of peace.”

The Heavenly Inn Sect Leader tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand.

“Is my anger wrong?”

“No. It’s justified. Of course, it’s justified. But… what’s justified isn’t always natural.”

“…I don’t understand.”

“You won’t know. You can’t know, never. People who accept anger by understanding it with their heads can’t know.”

But even if everyone in the world can’t know, Chung Myung can know.

The anger that the Heavenly Inn Sect Leader shows is the same as the hatred he has for this world.

That’s why it’s strange. The Heavenly Inn Sect Leader didn’t experience what he experienced. So how can he feel that way?

Because there is a lot of information? Because the Beggars’ Sect knows all the history? That doesn’t make sense. You can tell just by looking at how the leaders of other sects who knew the history acted.

“So the conclusion is obvious. I don’t care whether you’re the Sect Leader or not. The important thing is that there is someone else who made the Beggars’ Sect like this.”

The Heavenly Inn Sect Leader shook his head.

“Ridiculous delusions.”

“…”

“I know another answer. I’m not as smart as you, so I couldn’t handle it well. Also, I’m emotional enough to be angry about the past.”

“…”

“I can’t listen to that nonsense anymore. Get out of here. I’m sick of it now.”

“I was going to do that anyway. I don’t waste my time talking to empty figures.”

Chung Myung turned around without any regrets, as if to prove that his words were not a lie.

“Just make sure to tell your master properly.”

“What do you want me to tell him? This nonsense?”

“No.”

Chung Myung turned quickly and said coldly, “Running away won’t fix anything.”

“Just this one sentence is enough. He’ll understand.”

Chung Myung pointed his chin towards the group.

“Let’s go. What a waste of time.”

“Are you really leaving?”

“He’s like a messenger bird. I told him what he needs to know, so he’ll deliver it.”

“What if it doesn’t get delivered?”

“Who cares?”

Chung Myung said indifferently and started to walk towards the door when—

“Wait!” The Heavenly Inn owner’s voice stopped Chung Myung. It was a voice filled with anger, completely different from his usual calm tone.

“What will you say to those who will die for that insignificant thing?”

“I can’t say anything.”

Chung Myung stopped walking. “I couldn’t say anything then,” he said. “That’s why I’m doing this now.”

“Doing what?”

“To find the right words. To fight and try to show that their deaths meant something. I have to, desperately.”

Chung Myung looked past the door for a moment, lost in thought. Then he chuckled softly.

“Never mind. It’s nonsense. I’m getting old, you see.”

He waved his hand dismissively and took a step.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

The last words were confusing, but it seemed like they were finished here. The group nodded and followed Chung Myung out.

“Wait.”

But the Heavenly Inn owner stopped Chung Myung again.

Chung Myung glanced back at the Heavenly Inn owner. He bit his lip tightly, glaring at Chung Myung as he muttered,

“Why.”

“Hm?”

Chung Myung looked away from the Inn owner, his eyes going to the ceiling.

Thud. Thud.

Faint, but distinct.

The sound of tapping came from the ceiling above.

“They say the best hiding place is right in front of you,” Chung Myung said, looking up. “Looks like there’s another hidden place right above us.”

“Hoo.”

The Heavenly Inn owner sighed deeply and shook his head.

He wondered how much of their conversation had been heard upstairs.

“Since you want to know, I have no choice. I’ll let you meet him.”

“Hoo?”

“But you should be careful.”

“Is that a threat?”

“You’ll understand what I mean when you meet him.”

The Heavenly Inn owner, still seated, touched something under the desk.

“Oh?”

“Wow.”

“There was a mechanism here?”

A crack appeared in the ceiling. Then, slowly, a staircase began to lower.

“Wasn’t this entire seventh floor it?”

“It certainly looked that way from the outside.”

“It looks like they made a hidden room under the roof. I didn’t even see it.”

Tang Soso bit her lip, frustrated that she hadn’t noticed.

“Just go up.”

When the stairs were fully lowered, the Heavenly Inn owner gestured towards them with his chin. The Five Swords stared at the stairs and the dark opening above, a knot of unease tightening in their stomachs.

“It’s not a trap, is it?”

“What if it is? Let’s just go.”

“Ugh. I feel uneasy.”

Everyone looked at Chung Myung, but he was already stepping onto the stairs, his face showing no sign of fear.

“Is that guy’s heart made of steel?” one of them muttered.

A shiver ran down the spines of the Five Swords. They exchanged nervous glances before hurrying after Chung Myung.

As they climbed into the hidden room, they understood why it was so secret. The ceiling was so low that even Chung Myung, who wasn’t tall, had to duck his head.

Unlike the fancy rooms downstairs, this secret chamber was bare and empty. It was hard to imagine anyone living in such a place.

“This is.”

Chung Myung’s eyes went to something in the corner.

In one corner, a simple cot stood alone. On it lay an old man with white hair, so frail he looked like he was about to die.

“Who is this?”

The old man was so old and weak that even Chung Myung was speechless for a moment.

The old man slowly lifted a thin hand. It trembled weakly, as if asking them to come closer.

Chung Myung looked down at the old man. His face was a web of wrinkles, dotted with age spots. His skin was dry and cracked, like desert earth. His body was so thin, like a dried twig, it was hard to believe he had ever been young. He was clearly close to death.

Is this the previous Clan Lord? Or the one before that?

How on earth should one converse with someone like this?

As Chung Myung thought about what to say, the old man’s eyes slowly opened. His pupils were cloudy and unclear, but they fixed on Chung Myung.

Chung Myung opened his mouth to speak.

“I am.”

But he stopped. Would the old man even understand? Looking into those cloudy eyes, Chung Myung wasn’t even sure if he was truly alive. He seemed to be just holding onto life by a thread.

This was the leader of the Beggars’ Clan he had been searching for, and he was like this. Chung Myung felt helpless. He was about to sigh, when—

“Sword.”

A voice, broken and weak, whispered from the old man’s lips. Chung Myung frowned, confused.

Sword? What does he want to say.

“Venerable.”

Chung Myung’s eyes snapped wide open.

Crack!

The hand that was lightly resting on the old man’s cot gripped it tightly, and the sound of cracking echoed.

Confusion, doubt, and a growing fear flooded Chung Myung.