Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1635

It was late at night. The only light came from a small lamp as the four friends sat in a circle.

Baek Cheon, Yoon Jong, Jo Gul, and Hae Yeon were together.

They knew each other so well, they could understand each other just by looking. But tonight, they all looked worried.

“How was it?”

“…It was terrible. Do you even need to ask?”

Jo Gul sighed deeply when Baek Cheon asked.

“I’m so confused. My legs were shaking so much, I could hardly stand up.”

“What are you talking about? You don’t usually act like this.”

“Am I not human? Does Fourth Uncle think I’m not afraid of anything?”

“Yes.”

“……”

Jo Gul looked even more upset. He didn’t argue anymore and just slumped back in his chair.

Just a little while ago, they had seen all the people they would be in charge of. There were hundreds of them, so many people! Who else had ever had so many people look at them with doubt and suspicion?

“So…” Even Yoon Jong, usually so composed, sounded slightly anxious, his voice trembling.

“We’re responsible for the lives of all those people.”

Silence again. The words felt heavy to all of them. Hundreds of lives. Were they really ready for this?

“Ugh, that crazy guy! Seriously!” Jo Gul grabbed his head, feeling like he wanted to pull his hair out.

“Why me? Why do they make me do this kind of thing!”

“…It’s not because we’re great, but because we work best together, isn’t it?”

“That’s the problem! What’s so great about working well with that bloke! And why does he get to decide that on his own? Have you ever felt like you worked well with that rascal, Fourth Uncle?”

“Well, of course… Huh?” Baek Cheon tilted his head, confused. *Work well? With Chung Myung? Really?*

“See! We can’t even agree among ourselves and end up fighting all the time, so what’s with this talk about teamwork! Teamwork!”

“…That’s true.”

“Yes… It’s hard to argue with that.” They all sighed together.

“I felt like my stomach was twisting just leading ten people.”

“Me too?”

“Of course! I’d rather fight ten swords. If I look away for a second, someone could get hurt. If I tell them the wrong thing, someone could die. I can still see their worried eyes.”

“Isn’t that just because you’re not sleeping?”

“Huh?” Yoon Jong shook his head at Jo Gul, who looked confused and mumbled, “Really?”

Usually, Yoon Jong would tell Jo Gul to stop complaining. But now, he was glad Jo Gul was there. Because of Jo Gul, they could talk about how they really felt.

Jo Gul cautiously glanced at Yoon Jong and Baek Cheon before opening his mouth.

“This is just my opinion, but… shouldn’t we ask to adjust our roles, even now?”

“Adjust?”

“I mean… the job we have to do, or the responsibility, it’s just too much. Can we make the Vice Leader’s job smaller and the Leader’s job bigger?”

After saying that, Jo Gul quickly stopped talking, waiting for someone to yell at him. But no one did. “Huh?” Instead, Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong looked even more serious than he felt.

“…Aren’t you mad?”

“Why would I be mad?”

“Well… because I’m complaining about something already decided, or being stupid, or not brave enough…”

“So, you understand.”

Silence. Yoon Jong looked at Jo Gul, a little annoyed, then turned to Baek Cheon.

“But what he’s saying is not completely wrong, Fourth Uncle.”

“Hmm.”

“Things have moved so fast, and now we’re here. But no one asked us what we thought about any of this, right?”

Baek Cheon nodded slowly. He looked at Yoon Jong, his eyes a little sad. “If you could have said something, would you have done things differently?”

“I don’t know for sure. But I would have at least thought about it.”

“Why?”

“Because we don’t have enough experience. We’re too young.” Silence.

Just as Baek Cheon started to think deeply, Jo Gul complained again. “From the beginning, that guy expects too much from us. He keeps giving us more and more things to do before we even understand the last thing.”

Jo Gul kept complaining. “Is it even right for young people like us to be in charge of so many people? I don’t understand why the older leaders aren’t stopping this.”

“Maybe… it’s because there’s no point in arguing.”

“Why not?”

“Haven’t we seen this happen again and again?” Silence. They knew it was true.

To be honest, they always complained about what Chung Myung did, but they never said anything. Because it was pointless to stop him, and he would just nag them more. They just gave up and thought, “Fine, do whatever you want, you annoying person.”

Looking back, most of the things Hwasan had done so far had started that way. But this time, frankly, things were far too big.

“You should give us tasks that are possible! All we’ve ever done is lead about ten people who are younger or of similar age to us. How are we supposed to suddenly give orders to the elders of other sects?”

Hae Yeon nodded strongly, like he couldn’t believe it either. It was lucky that the Shaolin were part of this. If he had to give orders to the Shaolin’s senior monks, he would have run away and locked himself in a cave!

“And will they even listen to us? They don’t look very happy to take orders from us.” Silence. Baek Cheon remembered the way those people had looked at them. He saw jealousy and anger in their worried eyes.

Of course they would feel like that. The leaders decided all of this. Just like they had to do what they were told, these older people suddenly had to take orders from young people like them. Who would be happy about that?

“Fourth Uncle.”

Yoon Jong frowned, his eyes fixed on Baek Cheon. The air in the small room felt heavy with unspoken worries.

“Look, Sasuk,” Yoon Jong began, his voice serious. “I’m not saying we should go back and change everything. We don’t have time for that, I know. But… we need a plan, or at least some basic rules. If things go wrong, we need a way to be heard.”

Silence hung in the air.

“Honestly,” Yoon Jong continued, running a hand through his hair, “I feel completely lost. Like we’re on a big ocean with no direction. I don’t know where to even start.”

Hae Yeon and Jo Gul nodded quickly, their faces showing they felt the same. They were used to being told what to do, to simply following orders. Saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ was easy.

But this was different. Now, they were expected to figure things out themselves, and the uncertainty was making their stomachs clench with anxiety.

“Sasuk?”

At Jo Gul’s urging, Baek Cheon lifted his head. A strange smile played on his lips.

“I find it amusing.”

“Yes?”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“Young age, lack of experience, unproven skills.”

“……”

“Surrounded by doubts and irritated gazes from all sides. A situation where you have to lead them and win at all costs.”

“What are you saying…”

“Doesn’t it seem similar?”

Jo Gul and Hae Yeon looked bewildered, not understanding what he meant, but Yoon Jong exclaimed, “Ah!”

“It certainly is similar….”

“Sahyung, what’s similar?”

“Chung Myung.”

“……Yes?”

“Chung Myung’s situation when he first came to Mount Hua is similar to our situation now.”

“Ah….”

Jo Gul nodded. Thinking about it that way, there was a common thread.

Chung Myung was in a more desperate situation than they were. They at least had some reputation, but that guy was just a beggar.

Even in that situation, he gathered the disciples with his ability alone, persuaded the elders, and created the current Mount Hua.

“……It must have been daunting.”

“Indeed.”

Yoon Jong and Jo Gul muttered. Chung Myung, was a madman, but now that they were in a similar position, they understood why he had to struggle so much.

Because if he hadn’t, nothing would have changed.

“Experience and wisdom. Good words. But if that guy back then had waited until he had accumulated experience and wisdom and was ready to handle everything, what would have happened to Mount Hua now?”

“Well….”

It probably would have collapsed long ago.

No matter how great Chung Myung was, he couldn’t have handled the countless events that followed on his own.

“Will experience fill in if we wait?”

“……”

At those words, everyone looked at Baek Cheon.

“Will experience accumulate if time passes?”

“……Sasuk.”

“If ten years pass without anything happening, will I be a much more mature and wiser person than I am now?”

Baek Cheon shook his head.

“I don’t think so.”

“Baek Cheon Dojang. That’s….”

“It’s difficult, that’s true. But it’s not impossible. We’ve already seen someone who has done it with our own eyes, haven’t we?”

“…….”

“Is it too much for him to ask us to do what he did?”

A sigh escaped from Yoon Jong’s lips.

It wasn’t an unreasonable request. But it was also an excessive request. They weren’t Chung Myung. They couldn’t be Chung Myung.

But….

“We might fail.”

Baek Cheon looked at everyone.

“But before we say that, shouldn’t we at least struggle as much as that guy did back then? We can only discuss the lack of ability after showing that much desperation. No matter how desperate our current situation is, it can’t be as desperate as that guy who jumped into the vast ocean called Mount Hua alone. And above all….”

Baek Cheon’s voice lost some strength. But the calmer voice flowed into the listeners’ ears even more deeply than before.

“I want to be his strength.”

“…….”

Baek Cheon smiled faintly.

“If there’s only one ship floating in the vast ocean, it’ll be lonely, but if there are five ships, it’ll be a little more comforting. Isn’t he floating on a rougher sea than we are? So, we should at least have the loyalty to face the waves together. No matter how rough those waves may be.”

A calm, persuasive voice.

It was nothing more than a private intention without logic or justification. But that private heart shook their minds more than any words they had heard so far.

“Keueung….”

Jo Gul scratched his head roughly.

“I understand. Well… let’s try to make an effort for now.”

“It’s not like we have a plan right now anyway.”

“Amitabha. I’m sick of the sea… but if it were Yeorae, he would have jumped in without hesitation.”

Baek Cheon smiled at them.

“Thank you.”

“……The method is just different. Sasuk seems to be resembling Chung Myung more and more.”

“No, the method isn’t that different either. The only difference is that I don’t hit people.”

“Amitabha. I agree.”

Baek Cheon chuckled.

“We should convey this intention to the upcoming Namgung So-gaju. And… we should probably assign Lee Seol to Namgung So-gaju. Then it will be a little smoother….”

Baek Cheon began to discuss the strategy. Those sitting there listened to Baek Cheon’s words.

Leading them.

Even without someone pushing him, Baek Cheon was now taking the hands of others and leading them forward.

Yoon Jong’s eyes found that figure dazzling.

But….

‘Sasuk.’

A brief sadness lingered in Yoon Jong’s eyes.

‘It’s not that I don’t trust you ten years from now, but isn’t it that you can’t even think about those ten years?’

Even so, he couldn’t stop it.

Because no one could do something like rubbing out a candle that burns brighter before it goes out. Not even Yoon Jong.

Unable to bear looking at Baek Cheon any longer, Yoon Jong closed his eyes, hiding his trembling fingertips inside his sleeve.