Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 15

The sun was just rising. *Whirr*. Chung Myung felt the energy inside him. He focused on his *dantian* – a place deep inside his belly where energy was stored. Before, it was weak, but now it felt stronger. *Whirr*. As he breathed in, he could feel the energy moving, cleaning his body.

It was a clear, pure energy. Chung Myung had used energy for many years, but he had never felt energy this clean and strong inside him. It wasn’t very powerful *yet*, but he knew if it grew, it would be stronger than anything else.

“…But when will that be?” Chung Myung frowned, annoyed. ‘Strong power? Mount Hua is going to run out of money! I don’t have time to wait for power!'” He took a deep breath, trying to calm down and think about the problems.

“Okay, think clearly,” Chung Myung told himself. Mount Hua had so many problems. If he tried to write them all down, he would need all the paper in Mount Hua! But the biggest problems were three: “No money, no good fighting skills, and no talented students.”

He said it out loud. ‘That’s it, then.’ Thinking about it made him feel bad, but listing them made it even worse. ‘Which problem is the biggest?’ For Chung Myung, the answer was clear: ‘Talent.’

Money? He could find ways to make money. Fighting skills? He knew plenty, even if people might ask, ‘Where did you learn *that*?’ He’d have to avoid that question somehow, but he could figure it out.

But talent… talent was different. Chung Myung couldn’t just make kids talented. He couldn’t go to town and grab kids who looked promising and say he was saving Mount Hua! And you couldn’t even tell if someone was talented just by looking at them.

If you could, all the famous fighting groups would be searching everywhere for talented kids. ‘I have to work with the students we already have.’ Chung Myung made a fist. Complaining wouldn’t help. He had to use what he had.

He knew the students weren’t very talented, but he could train them. If they were weak, he’d make them stronger. If they were broken, he’d fix them.

“Of course,” Chung Myung thought, “I’ve never even taught anyone before.”

He remembered a time long ago. When he was old enough to have students, his Head Disciple had asked him,

“-Chung Myung.”

“-Yes, Head Disciple?”

“-It’s time for you to take a student. How will you teach them?”

“-What’s so hard about it?” Chung Myung had replied.

“-How?”

“-You just hit them! Even a dog learns tricks if you hit it enough. Humans are smarter than dogs, right? So they should learn even faster!”

“-…Let’s talk about this later,” the Head Disciple had said, looking worried. And he never mentioned students to Chung Myung again.

“I never thought I’d suddenly have so many students now,” Chung Myung thought, a grin spreading across his face. It wasn’t a nice grin. It was the kind of grin that would make people think he was planning something bad.

“…I’m so sleepy,” someone mumbled.

“Why so early?” another complained.

“Senior Brother, is this too much?”

Yoon Jong just closed his eyes tighter. *’Be quiet, you kids,’* he thought. Mount Hua was supposed to be strict, but these students were still used to easy lives. Even if they weren’t from rich families in big houses, they were from families who had comfortable lives.

They didn’t like being uncomfortable and weren’t used to working hard. That’s why they were already complaining, even after only half a day since they were hit with sticks.

Yoon Jong looked up at Jo Gul. At least Jo Gul seemed to understand and was quiet. Well, it wasn’t like the others didn’t understand at all. They knew something was wrong, that’s why they were here so early, even while complaining.

Yoon Jong stared at the Baekma Hall, feeling gloomy. *’Where did that monster come from?’* He could still see it clearly: Chung Myung, with a crazy look in his eyes, swinging a chair leg and sending thirty students flying like toys.

*Shiver.* Just thinking about it made him cold.

“…Seriously, who *is* that guy?” Everyone was thinking the same thing.

“He was so strong,” one whispered.

“I couldn’t even touch him!” another said.

“Thirty of us… could even the teachers do that?” Yoon Jong didn’t know. But he knew none of the older students could do anything like that.

“How can someone who just arrived be so strong?” someone asked.

“It’s not fair! We’ve been training hard!” They were all confused and didn’t understand.

Yoon Jong, who had been at Mount Hua longer than anyone, was just as lost as the younger students.

“Maybe… maybe we should try to attack him again?” Silence fell. No one knew who said it, but the idea made everyone tense.

“Could it work?” someone whispered.

“Maybe we were just surprised yesterday…”

“But what if we fail *again*?” The thought was scary.

Everyone looked around nervously. Jo Gul, who had been quiet, finally spoke.

“If you don’t want to die, just be quiet and do what he says.”

“…Senior Brother Jo Gul?”

Jo Gul, who everyone thought was the best fighter among them, was actually shaking slightly. *’Are they crazy?’* Jo Gul thought. Attack him again? They wouldn’t say that if they had felt that punch.

Jo Gul was confident in his skills. Even though Mount Hua wasn’t famous anymore, Jo Gul was talented. In any other group, he would be called a genius. He believed he could beat most students from good families.

But that confidence had disappeared with one punch to the face. That guy was not normal.

“But why did he tell us to bring all this stuff?”

The students looked at the strange things in front of them, confused.

“I have no idea,” someone said. “What are these for?”

There was a long wooden stick, a big, strong bag that looked big enough to hold a head, and… “Why sand and rocks? And… a needle and thread?”

“Who knows?” Just then, the door suddenly crashed open.

“…” Silence.

Everyone stopped talking and stared at the door. Chung Myung walked out slowly. He looked really annoyed. *’Why is *he* annoyed?’* someone thought. *’If he’s annoyed, why did he make us come here?’*

Chung Myung stopped and looked around at everyone.

“Everyone here?”

“Yes!” they all said quickly.

“Quiet,” Chung Myung said. “The teachers are still sleeping.”

“…” *Crack, crack.* Chung Myung stretched his neck, making it pop. Then he said, in a bored voice, “Okay, so we’re going to be together from now on. I don’t know what will happen, but we might be stuck as brothers for life.”

*’I’m going home as soon as I can,’* someone thought. *’I’m leaving Mount Hua. No matter what,’* another thought. Even students who had planned to stay at Mount Hua forever were now thinking about leaving.

“But,” Chung Myung continued, a wide grin spreading across his face, “in my opinion… you guys are too weak.”

“…”

“…” For anyone learning to fight, “weak” was the worst thing you could say. Even students who just wanted to learn a little and then become merchants hated being called weak.

“Ugh,” someone groaned quietly. But no one could argue. It was coming from the guy who had beaten thirty of them without even trying. Even if they wanted to disagree, they knew he was right.

“Well, I think so too,” Chung Myung said. “Fighting isn’t everything. But you came to Mount Hua to learn to fight, right? So you should try to get stronger. Right?”

“…”

“So, starting today, you’ll train with me every morning.” He smiled. “Sounds good?” *’Sounds terrible! You monster!’* someone thought. A hand went up. Chung Myung looked at the student who raised his hand, his face blank.

“Yes?”

“Do we… do we really *have* to do this?”

Chung Myung turned to Yoon Jong, confused. Yoon Jong, still scared, quickly said, “Um… some of them weren’t there yesterday…”

“Oh, right.” Chung Myung nodded. Some students hadn’t been part of the beating. They had heard about it, but maybe they didn’t really understand.

“Okay,” Chung Myung said. “Anyone who *doesn’t* want to train, go inside.”

“But… you’re new here, why are you talking like that? You should be polite!”

Chung Myung nodded again, like he just realized something. “You’re right. Manners are important. So, with all due respect, I have no interest in getting stronger and no interest in training! Hand up!”

In a big group, there are always a few who don’t understand. One or two hands went up. Then some others, watching them, raised their hands too. About ten or twelve students.

“Good, good,” Chung Myung said. “Fighting isn’t everything. Okay, you guys can go inside now.”

“We can?” one of them asked, surprised.

“Of course,” Chung Myung said, smiling. Yoon Jong and Jo Gul’s faces went white. *’You idiots! He didn’t say

go in,

” he meant “let’s go in”!’* Yoon Jong thought. *’They’re walking right into hell. Please, gods, help them.’*

The students who thought they were getting out of training smiled happily and went into the Baekma Hall. Chung Myung, still smiling that scary smile, followed them.

*Thud.* The door closed hard.

“…” Everyone outside was silent, staring at the Baekma Hall. They waited for screams, but there was no sound. But then… *’Wait…’* Yoon Jong saw it. The big Baekma Hall was shaking a little.

He didn’t need to see inside to know what was happening. It was only a few minutes later when *creak*… the door slowly opened again. The students who had gone inside burst out, running like they had seen ghosts.

They rushed back to their spots and stood straight, as fast as lightning.

“Tsk,” Chung Myung said, stretching his neck again as he came out. “Anyone else who doesn’t want to train?”

“NO ONE!” they shouted.

“Quiet! Teachers are sleeping!” Chung Myung said, but he was smiling.

“No one,” they repeated, quieter this time.

“Good,” Chung Myung clapped, pretending to be impressed. “This teacher is very happy to see you all want to be strong! Mount Hua’s future is bright! I will make you strong, no matter what it takes!”

“…”

“Let’s start!” Yoon Jong closed his eyes, watching the sun rise higher. Mount Hua’s future might be bright, but for them, it felt like the beginning of a very dark time.