Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1615

“Anyway…” Jo Gul muttered, kicking a loose stone on the dusty floor. Why was everything always so difficult? He sighed. He knew growing up was supposed to be complicated, but lately, it felt like everyone around him was changing in ways he didn’t like. The people he admired were starting to act like the boring adults he used to avoid.

“Just me who’s still a kid,” he mumbled to himself.

He glanced around the hallway. It was quiet and dimly lit. “Is this the right room?” he whispered, checking the number on the door. It looked right.

“Chung Myung!” he shouted, banging on the wooden door before he could stop himself. “Chung Myung, are you in there?”

He didn’t wait for an answer. He had to see Chung Myung now. He had questions burning in his chest, and he needed answers. He pushed the door open and stepped inside.

But when Jo Gul burst through the door, he didn’t see Chung Myung. Instead, he saw faces he knew very well.

“You’ve come?”

“Huh?” Jo Gul blinked.

“I’m sorry. I think I’ve come to the wrong room…”

“This is the right place.”

“No, I mean, I wasn’t looking for you, Martial Uncle.”

“This is Chung Myung’s room.”

“Oh?” Jo Gul, with half his body still outside, cautiously stepped back inside, a puzzled look on his face.

“Then why are you here, Martial Uncle?”

“For the same reason as you, I imagine?”

“Ah… To see Chung Myung?” Now that he looked around, it wasn’t just Baek Cheon who was there. The thin figure lying weakly on the cot next to Baek Cheon was clearly Im So-byeong, and the one fiddling around in front of him was definitely Seol So-baek.

He’d come to see Chung Myung, but Chung Myung wasn’t in the room. It was just the others.

“Come on in, then.”

“But Chung Myung isn’t here.”

“Looking for him won’t help. He’ll come if we wait. That’s why we’re all here.”

Jo Gul couldn’t argue with that. He sighed heavily, closed the door, and sat down roughly next to Im So-byeong, who snapped irritably.

“Ah, it’s cramped enough as it is!”

Jo Gul was speechless.

Did Im So-byeong even remember he was the advisor for the Mount Heaven Alliance? At this important time, instead of being with the Alliance Lord, he was here, just hanging around?

But whatever the reason, it proved they all felt the same way. Knowing they all felt the same made him feel a little better. Jo Gul smiled slightly. But then…

The atmosphere in the room was terribly awkward. Only then did Jo Gul realize.

‘This is a strange group to be with.’

He would have preferred to be alone with Baek Cheon to talk openly, but the others made him careful. But when he tried to talk to the others, he couldn’t think of anything to say.

So everyone kept quiet, pretending not to notice while stealing glances at each other.

The silence went on and on. Jo Gul, who hated awkward silences, started to sweat.

Just then, a small sound came from outside the door. Feeling a huge wave of relief, Jo Gul quickly ran to the door and threw it open.

“Hey! Why are you only…”

“Coming now, Senior Brother.”

An even heavier silence settled.

Yoon Jong stood in the open doorway, looking even more awkward than anyone inside the room.

Jo Gul and Yoon Jong avoided each other’s eyes. They hadn’t said goodbye nicely the last time they met, making things very uncomfortable.

“You, uh, came to see Chung Myung, right?”

“Well… yes.”

“Then, uh, why don’t you come in? We’re all in the same situation, I guess.”

“Alright…” Yoon Jong reluctantly dragged his feet inside. With the sound of the door closing, the air in the room grew even more awkward.

Yoon Jong sat on the edge of the cot opposite Jo Gul. It felt like a silent fight was about to start between Jo Gul and Yoon Jong, with Im So-byeong caught in the middle.

“So… where’s Chung Myung?”

“He’ll come… eventually?”

“Right.” Yoon Jong stared blankly at the wall. The sound of someone breathing was the only thing that drifted aimlessly through the small room.

Finally, Jo Gul couldn’t take the silence anymore. He exploded.

“Aargh! Seriously! Why isn’t that bastard coming! We’re all waiting here!”

“He probably doesn’t even know we’re waiting.”

“Why are you so calm, Martial Uncle? You weren’t this patient before! You would have been the first to complain about him then.”

“Geol.”

“Yes?”

“I wasn’t the first to complain about you, even back then.”

“That’s not true!” Jo Gul started to argue, “You were always the first to complain, Senior Brother!” But he stopped when he saw Yoon Jong’s face. His head slowly returned to its original position.

Just then, Im So-byeong, who had been lying down the whole time, sat up. He moved his stiff neck from side to side.

“He must have things to do. He has things he needs to take care of. But he’ll come eventually. They need time too.”

“If it’s something he needs to clean up, he shouldn’t cause trouble in the first place!”

“That’s true too.” Im So-byeong nodded in agreement.

“We could argue and fight, but that would just make things worse.”

“Is that troublemaker Chung Myung causing problems again?”

“Please, just calm down, Jo Gul,” Im So-byeong sighed deeply. Baek Cheon, who had been silent, spoke up.

“What do you think will happen, Green Forest King?”

Im So-byeong smiled and replied.

“What Chung Myung said is right. Like always.”

“Hmm.”

“Really, everyone in the Mount Heaven Alliance wants their group to be the most important. No one wants to be second best, right?”

“That’s true. But so far, that hasn’t caused any problems…”

“That’s because Jang Il-so hasn’t taken advantage of that yet.” Im So-byeong lightly tapped his palm with his fan.

“People’s feelings change easily. So, we can’t know what will happen, even if we make plans and talk about what to do.”

Baek Cheon sighed in agreement. So he understood why Chung Myung had brought up this issue. In that terrible situation, Chung Myung must have seen and felt more.

“But.” Just then, Jo Gul interjected.

“To be honest, I don’t really understand. If we do what Chung Myung wants, will things really improve?”

Im So-byeong smiled and nodded.

“Oh, sorry. I should have explained that earlier. I didn’t see you there, Jo Gul.”

“No, it’s not that I don’t know… Yes, So-baek! So-baek doesn’t understand…”

“Show some respect to the Palace Lord, you big idiot!”

“That’s not the kind of thing a Taoist should say, Senior Brother.”

Jo Gul looked dejected. He always felt like he was the problem.

Im So-byeong shrugged and began to explain.

“Think of it as fixing the way we are organized, not just who is in charge.”

“What do you mean? Fixing our organization?”

“The ‘Dang’ and the ‘Gak.’ Sound familiar?”

Everyone nodded.

“If the sect leaders agree, the Cheonwu Alliance will create ‘Dang’ and ‘Gak.’ We’ll mix disciples from different groups together. That means people from Hwasan, the Tang Family, the Green Forest, the Ice Palace, and even Jongnam could be in the same ‘Dang.'”

“Let’s leave out Jongnam.”

“Seriously.”

If Jo Gul had said that, Im So-byeong would have laughed. But because Baek Cheon said it, Im So-byeong took it seriously.

“Okay, I’ll try.”

“Thank you.”

Im So-byeong sighed and continued, “Basically, Chung Myung wants to turn the Cheonwu Alliance into one big group for a while. He wants to divide everyone into new teams and pick leaders for each ‘Dang’ and ‘Gak.'”

“What about the current sect leaders?”

“They’ll get roles based on the situation. They could lead a ‘Dang’ or a ‘Gak,’ or maybe even become a deputy leader.”

“The important thing is that even a ‘Dang’ leader can’t order members of another ‘Dang’ around. That’s the main idea.”

Jo Gul scratched his head. “Will doing something like that actually make things better?”

“Explaining the details to you would take forever, so let’s keep it simple.”

“Don’t treat me like an idiot.”

“I’m not treating you like an idiot. I’m thinking about what you can understand.”

“That’s the same thing!”

“Oh? You get that? I’m impressed.”

Was this guy making fun of him? Jo Gul reached for his sword, but Baek Cheon smacked him on the head.

“Just stay still! You’re distracting.”

“Yes… I guess it’s my fault again.”

“You know it well.”

Jo Gul felt wronged. Yoon Jong, who had been listening quietly, spoke up. “So, the main question is whether the sect leaders will agree to this.”

“That’s right.”

“This has never happened before.”

“Actually, something like this has happened before.”

Everyone looked surprised. Im So-byeong shrugged. “This is actually a system we’ve used before. When the Demonic Sect gets too strong, or the Murim Alliance gets crazy, the Righteous Sects have done something similar. They called it the Murim Alliance.”

“Murim Alliance…” Baek Cheon seemed thoughtful.

“Of course, it wasn’t as big as what Chung Myung is suggesting, but it was similar.”

“So, should we do it then?”

“The problem is that it’s not easy.”

Im So-byeong shrugged. “It took a lot of time, hard work, and giving up things to create even that smaller system. And we don’t have much time now.”

Baek Cheon stared at Im So-byeong. “You don’t think it will work, do you, King of the Green Forest?”

“No, I don’t,” Im So-byeong said slowly.

“I’m just someone who’s lived freely in the Green Forest, so it doesn’t really matter to me.”

His eyes sharpened. “But, Baek Cheon, if Jo Gul died because of an order from Jongnam, would you not hate them and have regrets?”

Baek Cheon didn’t answer right away.

“Giving someone command means giving them the power of life and death. People who shouldn’t die might die. This is impossible without trust, where everyone is good at their job and cares about each other. But…” Im So-byeong shrugged. “Does the Cheonwu Alliance really have that much trust right now?”

“Yes, we do!” Jo Gul started to say angrily, but Im So-byeong cut him off.

“Saying you trust them really means ‘I trust the people I trust,’ right? If you’re picky about who’s in charge, this whole system is pointless.”

“Keueung.”

Jo Gul, who had already talked about this with Yoon Jong, couldn’t argue. Yoon Jong said calmly, “Then it will be difficult. The sect leaders will be thinking about all of this too.”

“That’s right. However…”

“However?”

“It’s nothing.”

Im So-byeong shrugged and shook his head.

A variable? There is no such thing. But if there is someone who holds the key to solving this impossible problem…

‘But it’s impossible.’

Both sides will find it difficult to choose that path. Isn’t the river too wide to cross? Everything they have built up will make it impossible. All the paths they have walked correctly until now.

‘How unfortunate.’

Im So-byeong’s eyes, looking out the window, were slightly stinging. Chung Myung’s face, which had quietly visited a little while ago, came to mind anew.

Chung Myung took a deep breath. This was not an easy step, but he had to do it.

Now Chung Myung also knows. Anyone can point to the right path, scream that they are right, and lie down.

The important thing is how much you can carry out the path you believe is right. It’s not about shouting and threatening people to follow you, but about sufficiently explaining the reasons why they should follow you and persuading the other party.

Chung Myung looked at the closed door, troubled, and finally knocked. A voice quickly answered, “It’s open.”

The door opened, revealing a person who looked at Chung Myung with a faint smile that seemed to mock him.

“Unexpected. I didn’t think you’d actually come to me.”

“Did I come to the wrong place?”

“Not really. But this must have been a difficult decision for you, don’t you think?”

“Well, it was, but seeing your face, I think I came to the right place.”

“Why is that?”

“I realized I’m not the only one who’s uncomfortable.”

“Do you think so?”

“Isn’t that right?”

The two men stared at each other. The man inside chuckled. He had no reason to be hostile.

“Come in. I wanted to talk to you anyway.”