Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1536

Despite the late hour, Chung Myung’s room was empty.

“Well, I don’t know.”

“I haven’t seen him since dinner.”

Asking in other rooms yielded the same answer: no one knew.

Yoon Jong even checked the rooms of the Mount Hua Sect elders, but Chung Myung was nowhere to be found.

He frowned and sighed.

Of course, a day’s delay in conversation wouldn’t change much. But right now, he wanted to find Chung Myung and somehow resolve this frustration.

“Where on earth is this rascal…?”

Yoon Jong bit his lip. He was about to give up when he saw a flash of white in the corner of the Mount Hua student dorms. It was Baek Ah, a small, fluffy white weasel, peeking out. It tilted its head, its bright black eyes looking at Yoon Jong as if asking for a snack.

Yoon Jong’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Hey, you,” he whispered, “Can you find Chung Myung for me?”

Baek Ah blinked slowly, then looked away, losing interest.

“I have a treat for you,” Yoon Jong added quickly.

Baek Ah’s ears perked up. It took a hesitant step forward, sniffing the air with its twitching black nose. Then, as if deciding it was worth it, it darted off, a white blur leading the way. Yoon Jong hurried after it.

A white shape moved quickly. It was Baek Ah, like a flash of white lightning. It ran across the new open field. Then it went into the tall mountains.

‘Where on earth is he going?’

Yoon Jong, gritting his teeth and chasing after Baek Ah, began to feel slightly breathless. Baek Ah reached a deep forest where even the moonlight struggled to penetrate and stopped.

Thud!

Yoon Jong stopped as well, hardening his face. He could hear fierce sounds of air being torn apart from ahead.

“Thank you.”

Yoon Jong whispered his thanks and winked at Baek Ah. He took a deep breath, then pushed through the forest and strode forward.

Soon, a remarkable sight entered his eyes.

Blades of red sword energy, as bright and hot as molten iron, crashed down from above, digging deep into the ground and crushing the rocks.

The sword energy should give life, but only wanted to destroy. The eerie bloodlust carried in the sword made the hairs on Yoon Jong’s head stand on end.

Kwakwang!

The sword energy exploded right in front of him. Soon, the thick bloodlust and rough sword energy that had been covering the surroundings disappeared as if washed away.

“Hoo…”

Chung Myung was breathing heavily. His back was rising and falling. It was covered in sweat, showing how intense his training had been.

Yoon Jong forgot why he came and started thinking about something else.

If it hadn’t been for the conversation with Jo Gul, Yoon Jong would probably be tidying up and going to sleep by now, because he had to prepare for tomorrow’s training.

But both Baek Cheon and Chung Myung were pushing themselves as if they were being chased by something, even at a time when they should be resting.

What was chasing Baek Cheon must be his own condition.

Then what was chasing Chung Myung?

Chung Myung slightly turned his head and looked back at Yoon Jong. Unlike his body, which was steaming with heat, his eyes were chillingly cold. Yoon Jong felt an unknown pressure washing over him.

“What is it?”

Chung Myung lightly clicked his tongue and walked towards a nearby rock. He wiped the sweat flowing down his face with a piece of plain cloth that was hanging there, then looked at Yoon Jong with a frown.

“How did you find out about this place?”

It was his usual light tone. Yoon Jong finally breathed out. He didn’t know he was holding his breath.

What should he start with?

“Why are you training so far away?”

“It’s noisy otherwise.”

“That’s true, but still.”

“Besides, if I train near Mount Hua, everyone will come to watch, so how can I swing my sword in peace?”

“That’s also true.”

Yoon Jong smiled bitterly.

There would probably be a line of people outside Mount Hua wanting to cross swords with Chung Myung. And Yoon Jong was sure that Namgung Dowi would be at the front of that line.

“No, but stop changing the subject. How did you find out about this place…?”

At that moment, Chung Myung’s eyes narrowed sharply. He had spotted Baek Ah peeking out from behind a tree behind Yoon Jong.

Squeak!

Baek Ah quickly hid its head behind the tree.

“That weasel dares to sell out its master?”

“……”

“Yeah. Keep doing that. Keep doing it. It’s almost winter.”

Then, a faint squeaking sound echoed from behind the tree, as if something was whining.

Chung Myung clicked his tongue and turned his gaze back to Yoon Jong, asking.

“What’s going on? You wouldn’t have come all the way here in the middle of the night for no reason.”

Chung Myung grabbed the gourd he had placed on the rock. It was surprising the gourd hadn’t broken during his hard training.

“Sahyung?”

When Yoon Jong didn’t speak, Chung Myung called out. Yoon Jong quietly looked at him and said.

“Do you know?”

“Know what?”

“About Senior Brother Baek Cheon.”

He said the words and watched Chung Myung’s face. He thought he would show some kind of reaction, but Chung Myung’s expression showed surprisingly little change.

“What about Senior Brother Baek Cheon?”

“……About Senior Brother Baek Cheon’s condition.”

Yoon Jong’s voice gained a little strength.

He didn’t know if it was because he was getting annoyed with the slyness or because he didn’t like the casual tone.

“Ah.”

Chung Myung was just indifferent, even though he must have clearly noticed the sharpness in his voice.

“So, that’s what you’re talking about.”

“Yes… Do you know?”

“I know.”

Chung Myung casually tilted the bottle. Yoon Jong’s brow furrowed slightly. Chung Myung’s every move was unusually irritating to him today.

“So? You came all the way here in the middle of the night to talk about that? All the way here?”

“What are you going to do?”

“……What do you mean?”

“What are you thinking? Are you going to keep leaving Senior Brother Baek Cheon like that?”

Chung Myung frowned silently. Yoon Jong said with a sigh.

“Senior Brother Baek Cheon intends to go to war.”

“……”

“He’ll probably try to lead us from the front as usual. Since this is war, he won’t hesitate to do even more dangerous things than usual.”

Chung Myung faced Yoon Jong with an expressionless face.

“You know what will happen then, don’t you?”

“Sahyung.”

“Senior Brother Baek Cheon will die.”

A cold light flowed between Yoon Jong’s narrow eyes.

“We’ll do our best to help Senior Brother Baek Cheon, but this is war. It’s hard enough to protect my own life, let alone perfectly protect Senior Brother Baek Cheon. And Senior Brother Baek Cheon wouldn’t allow that anyway.”

“……”

“Do you understand? Senior Brother Baek Cheon cannot go to war like this.”

Chung Myung listened to Yoon Jong without answering.

“So, if you have any ideas, don’t waste any more time and do something now. Of course, as always, you’ll have your own reasons. But you know it too. The situation has become such that war could break out tomorrow. It’s too dangerous now.”

Yoon Jong’s voice was much more serious than usual.

It couldn’t be helped. There was no one who could stop Baek Cheon now. Even if it was Hyun Jong, there was a high possibility that he wouldn’t be able to stop him completely. Because Baek Cheon was the kind of person who would crawl to the battlefield even if his limbs were severed and he was imprisoned.

If there was anyone who could stop Baek Cheon, it was only Chung Myung.

And there was also another hope in his heart.

Perhaps, this guy might not only stop Baek Cheon, but also have a way to fix his condition.

No… He definitely would. Otherwise, there was no way this guy would have left Baek Cheon like this for so long.

But Chung Myung’s reaction was somewhat different from Yoon Jong’s expectations.

“Tsk.”

Chung Myung clicked his tongue briefly, picked up the clothes he had carelessly thrown on the rock.

“I thought you came all the way here because you had something important to say.”

“……What?”

Yoon Jong’s face hardened. What could be more important than Baek Cheon’s condition right now?

Chung Myung put on the clothes he had taken off and sent a casual look after tying the knot.

Yoon Jong did not take Chung Myung’s words at face value.

“Okay. Does that mean you already have a plan since it’s not a big deal? Like using a spiritual medicine or something?”

“No.”

“……Huh?”

“Sahyung, you know it too. Senior Brother Baek Cheon was damaged because he excessively used his energy. So, the vessel itself that holds the energy is broken.”

“……”

“Using a spiritual medicine would be like pouring water into a bottomless pit. To keep filling it, you’d probably have to gather all the spiritual medicines in the Central Plains and feed them to him. Even then, it will all eventually drain away. Because a bottomless pit is like that.”

His dantian was broken. And Yoon Jong already knew that situation. It wasn’t like they had been doing nothing all this time.

His suspicion turned into certainty in Gaebong. He just didn’t bring it up to Baek Cheon, but they had already questioned Tang Soso several times among themselves.

– I can’t fix it. And… even the Dang family can’t fix it.

It was an answer that was like a death sentence for a martial artist.

– It’s not completely broken, but cracked, so he won’t lose all his martial arts at once. But… he’ll gradually lose them. Faster and faster. No matter how hard he tries, it’s irreversible.

He couldn’t even imagine.

What it would feel like to have the things you’ve built up over a lifetime gradually slip through your fingers. What it would feel like to have to watch the things that are your everything slowly but constantly crumble.

Nevertheless, the reason they had been able to endure until now was one thing.

“I know. But you, you must have some way, right?”

Because Chung Myung was silent.

There was no way this guy wouldn’t know what they had noticed. But Chung Myung hadn’t changed much even after the battle of Gaebong.

So everyone believed. That this goblin-like guy would have some miraculous method that they couldn’t even imagine. Until now… yes, until now, it had always been like that.

But the blunt words that came out of Chung Myung’s mouth completely shattered Yoon Jong’s expectations.

“There isn’t.”

“……What?”

“There’s no such thing as a method.”

Yoon Jong just stared at Chung Myung without a word, as if trying to confirm the truth of his answer.

“I’m not a doctor, and I’m not an alchemist. I want to ask you the other way around. Why do you think I would have a method? Even the Dang family can’t fix it.”

……This was genuine. Yoon Jong could tell. There was no lie in the words Chung Myung was spitting out now.

At that moment, what came to Yoon Jong was not despair, but deep doubt.

“There’s no method?”

“Yeah.”

“There’s really no method?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

Yoon Jong’s eyes pierced through Chung Myung.

“Then… why have you been silent until now? You, who knew exactly how Senior Brother Baek Cheon was living each day. You, who couldn’t have not known what kind of resolve that person has.”

“……”

“Why were you just watching?”

Chung Myung stared at Yoon Jong and said in a casual tone.

“Then should I comfort him?”

There was no seething anger, no frosty dignity. It was just a calm, monotonous tone.

“You… what are you saying right now…?”

“Should I advise him to just accept it since it’s a shame but there’s nothing he can do?”

Yoon Jong’s fingertips trembled.

“That’s why Sahyungs have been silent until now, isn’t it?”

“You…”

“In the first place, all of this is Senior Brother Baek Cheon’s choice. There’s no way he didn’t know this would be the result.”

“……Chung Myung-ah?”

Yoon Jong couldn’t believe his ears. What was this guy babbling about?

Why did this happen in the first place? Why was Baek Cheon’s dantian broken?

Why did Baek Cheon have no choice but to overexert himself like that?

But…

“He said he’ll take responsibility for his own decision, so why should I…?”

Yoon Jong’s hand grabbed Chung Myung’s collar.

Snap.

It was such a strong grip that the sturdy martial uniform was torn.

Yoon Jong, who grabbed Chung Myung’s collar, trembled, unable to overcome the strength and resentment in his hand.

“……You.”

Yoon Jong bit his lower lip to suppress his anger.

“What are you babbling about right now?”

The anger and sorrow that he couldn’t suppress leaked out as a tremor in his voice.