Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1624

A single drop of cold sweat ran down Yoon Jong’s face.

He had faced many tough fights before, but this felt different. The pressure in the room was so heavy, it felt hard to breathe. He wanted to jump up and run away.

And it wasn’t just him. Jo Gul, sitting next to him, was also very pale. Jo Gul was usually carefree and joking, so seeing him tense meant they were in real trouble.

The silence was heavy with fear. You could feel the tension in the air, so strong it made Yoon Jong’s fingers feel cold.

Then, a voice broke the silence, cold and sharp.

“I’ll say it… again.”

His face, usually smooth and handsome like carved jade, was now twisted in a strange way.

“What the Sect Leader said… it’s just… the Sect Leader’s opinion… it’s not what everyone in Jongnam thinks…”

His voice faded, the words coming out slowly and painfully. He stopped talking, pressing his lips tightly together and grinding his teeth. Even as he spoke, he seemed to know his words meant nothing.

There was one law that never changed, throughout history.

When logic crumbled, all that remained was brute force.

“Anyway! Don’t think anything will be different because of what happened! If you think that way, you’ll learn how wrong you are!”

His words were sharp and angry, almost like a threat to kill. But the man across from him, who looked so much like him, just smirked, acting like he didn’t care.

“What’s this? The scroll thief?”

Jin Geum-ryong gasped, clutching his chest as a sharp pain shot through him. His hand trembled, veins sticking out.

Baek Cheon just shrugged, his face full of confidence.

“No, well… you don’t need to worry so much, Brother.”

“What?”

Jin Geum-ryong repeated the word, as if he couldn’t believe what he heard. How could Baek Cheon call him ‘Brother’ after everything? What was Baek Cheon planning to do now?

This was typical Baek Cheon. He always had a way of surprising people.

“What else can you do when you’re weak and lack skill? I understand your feelings; you had no other way to beat Hwasan fair and square. How desperate….”

“Sect Brother! Don’t draw your sword! It will be a disaster if you draw your sword here!”

Lee Song-baek jumped forward, grabbing Jin Geum-ryong and trying desperately to stop him from drawing his sword. Lee Song-baek’s face was white with fear.

“Ugh….”

Jin Geum-ryong’s eyes were bloodshot, and he looked as though he wanted to devour Baek Cheon whole. But Baek Cheon’s composure only grew more pronounced.

“Oh dear, are you going to stab me? Well… I guess that’s just the kind of sect you are.”

“Sect Brother! You must not draw your sword!”

Yoon Jong, who had been watching this whole scene, finally sighed deeply. It sounded like all the air rushing out of a balloon.

“Is this right, Geol?” Yoon Jong asked quietly.

“……I have a feeling something’s gone terribly wrong,” Jo Gul replied.

Yoon Jong looked at Baek Cheon’s grinning face and thought of Chung Myung. They were so alike in some ways. Jo Gul clicked his tongue, watching Baek Cheon.

“But I can kind of… understand Martial Uncle’s feelings, too?” Jo Gul added.

Yoon Jong agreed. Even he could see it. The proud Jongnam people had been forced to bow their heads. Hwasan couldn’t let this chance pass.

Jin Geum-ryong, who had been breathing hard and holding his sword tightly, finally seemed to calm down a little. He took a long breath. But then he looked at that face again – a face he hated, yet one that looked so much like his own – and anger started to rise in him again.

“Anyway….”

Having barely calmed down, Jin Geum-ryong suddenly straightened his posture. Then, with a serious expression, he bowed deeply to Baek Cheon. Baek Cheon’s smile vanished, and his eyes widened.

“Even though it happened a long time ago, I know that this wrong act is something all Jongnam disciples must take responsibility for. I might not be important enough to speak for all of Jongnam…”

“You don’t need to say that, Jin So-hyeop,” Baek Cheon said firmly, stopping Jin Geum-ryong.

“Just like you, Jin So-hyeop, can’t speak for all of Jongnam, I can’t speak for all of Hwasan either. I’m just acting for the Sect Leader right now. And I don’t think we should bring up a story that your Sect Leader and our Supreme Elder already settled a long time ago.”

His voice remained calm and confident.

“If you really feel sorry, then make up for it to the world, like your Supreme Elder said.”

Jin Geum-ryong and Baek Cheon looked directly at each other. For a moment, many different feelings flashed in Jin Geum-ryong’s eyes.

“……Thank you, Baek Cheon Do-jang,” Jin Geum-ryong said.

“You’re welcome,” Baek Cheon replied.

Jin Geum-ryong sighed to himself. Had he ever thought he would face Baek Cheon like this?

‘I don’t want to admit it, but….’

He started to wonder: if he were in Baek Cheon’s place, could he have agreed so easily?

No. Never.

Even if the older leaders had made a peaceful agreement, he would have kept pushing to blame the other side. He would have made sure he never had to see them again. Or maybe, he wouldn’t have even accepted the leaders’ agreement in the first place.

But Baek Cheon was different.

He was being thoughtful by acting like this wasn’t a big deal. Of course, that made Jin Geum-ryong feel even more responsible, but whether Baek Cheon meant to or not, Jin Geum-ryong knew he couldn’t have acted the same way.

He had to admit it now. The younger man in front of him… no, Hwasan’s Baek Cheon had become someone he couldn’t control.

“But that was just me as Baek Cheon, the Great Disciple of Hwasan.”

“……Huh?” Jin Geum-ryong was confused and made a noise of surprise. Before he realized it, Baek Cheon leaned back in his chair, looking down at him with a very arrogant look.

It was the kind of face that Chung Myung would have seen and immediately yelled, ‘There he goes again, that annoying jerk.’

“But as Jin Geum-ryong, just as a person, I think I deserve an apology, right?”

“……”

“What? Hwasan? What even is Hwasan? Hwasan, that old, ruined sect?”

“……”

“Aigoo. Jongnam must be a really amazing sect then. Is that why you tried so hard to steal the secret scrolls of that ruined sect? Wow, it seems ‘amazing’ means something different to you than it does to me. I guess you’re so amazing you can just change the meaning of words, huh? You must be so proud to be the head disciple of that amazing sect….”

Bang!

Jin Geum-ryong stormed out, slamming the door behind him and gasping for breath. If he had stayed there any longer, he would have ended up drawing his sword after all.

“That damned…!” Jin Geum-ryong muttered angrily.

Where did Baek Cheon learn to make such annoying faces and speak so rudely? At least Jin Geum-ryong always behaved properly at home.

As he struggled to suppress the boiling rage within him, the door opened slightly, and Lee Song-baek followed him out. Jin Geum-ryong glanced at him, then began walking towards his quarters without a second thought.

“L, let’s go together, Sect Brother.”

Lee Song-baek quickly caught up, matching his pace. An awkward silence hung between them as they walked to their quarters.

“Sect Brother. About what just happened…”

“I know,” Jin Geum-ryong interrupted. “I know I lost my temper.”

“……”

“I know, so don’t say anything else,” Jin Geum-ryong said, cutting him off again.

Lee Song-baek sighed deeply.

“Still, it’s a relief.”

“What is?”

“About Baek Cheon Do-jang.”

Jin Geum-ryong looked at Lee Song-baek. Lee Song-baek spoke softly.

“If Baek Cheon Do-jang had made a big deal out of it, Hwasan and Jongnam would have become enemies. But because he pretended it was just a joke, at least we can still talk to them, right?”

Didn’t Lee Song-baek understand how serious this was?

Trying to steal another sect’s secret scrolls was something that could start a war that would only end when everyone on one side was dead.

To just ignore such a serious thing… it was unbelievable.

“The other disciples are saying they don’t know how to look at the Hwasan disciples anymore. And in the middle of all this, Baek Cheon Do-jang….”

“Yes. He probably knows what he’s doing,” Jin Geum-ryong admitted.

“……Probably?” Lee Song-baek repeated, sounding unsure.

Baek Cheon had more power than Jin Geum-ryong realized. His influence in Hwasan was much greater than Jin Geum-ryong’s in Jongnam.

Because someone so important had calmed things down, it was likely that there wouldn’t be any big problems between the sects for now. Baek Cheon must have planned this, sitting with Jin Geum-ryong and showing everyone they were talking peacefully.

“So, I feel a little better now,” Lee Song-baek said.

“Do you really think so?”

“Yes?”

Jin Geum-ryong stopped walking abruptly and stared intently at Lee Song-baek. It was a gaze close to a glare.

“I’m asking if you really believe that,” Jin Geum-ryong repeated, his voice sharper.

“……Sect Brother?” Lee Song-baek asked, confused.

“What did we do to make ourselves feel better? What did we actually do? Just lower our heads in front of him?”

Lee Song-baek’s face hardened, realizing his mistake.

“Think about it from their side. If you wanted Jongnam to fail and used Jongnam’s problems to steal Jongnam’s secret scrolls, would you forgive everything just because they bowed their heads for a second?”

“That’s….”

Jin Geum-ryong bit his lip.

“You can only hope for forgiveness when you’ve paid a fair price and made up for what you did. Forgiveness without doing anything is just begging for pity. You’re saying you’re thankful that Hwasan felt sorry for Jongnam.”

Lee Song-baek lowered his head without saying anything. Jin Geum-ryong, who had been speaking firmly to him, sighed softly and looked up at the sky. His heart felt heavy.

Lee Song-baek asked cautiously.

“Then… what should we do?”

“We have to make it up to them,” Jin Geum-ryong said firmly, looking Lee Song-baek in the eyes.

“We shouldn’t think we’re finished with this just because they’ve forgiven us. We have to make it up to them until both we and they feel it’s enough. That’s how we earn respect. Not by trying to get others to like us.”

“……Can we ever really make up for doing something so wrong?” Lee Song-baek asked quietly.

“If we can’t make up for it in our lifetime, our children will have to. And if they can’t, then their children will. It will be hard, but it’s much better than Jongnam becoming a sect that is not honorable.”

Lee Song-baek agreed and nodded seriously.

“Tell the other disciples, and the younger disciples, clearly. I will never forgive anyone who acts without thinking.”

“I will, Sect Brother,” Lee Song-baek replied.

Jin Geum-ryong looked at Lee Song-baek for a moment, then turned and started walking again.

‘A relief, is it….’ Jin Geum-ryong thought to himself.

He wondered why he had gotten angry at Lee Song-baek. Maybe it was because Jin Geum-ryong had been thinking the same thing himself.

What would have happened if this secret had stayed hidden?

If he had become the Sect Leader and then found out about this, would he have been brave enough to tell everyone and face the results?

He wouldn’t have been. Not just Jin Geum-ryong, but no one would have easily dared to deal with this dangerous situation.

So, Jin Geum-ryong would have just hidden this terrible secret inside and let it get worse over time. Anyone… yes, anyone would have done the same.

Then, Jin Geum-ryong smiled sadly as he thought of one person.

‘That guy would have just brought it up right away and apologized,’ he thought.