Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1656

Heo Sanja paced back and forth, his hands twisting together. As soon as he saw Heo Do Jin-in, he rushed forward, almost screaming, “H-How did it go, Sect Leader?”

Heo Do stared at him for a moment before silently moving into his quarters.

“Sect Leader!” Heo Sanja, startled, called out again. Then, he hurriedly followed Heo Do Jin-in into the quarters.

“What did they say? They didn’t stubbornly insist until the end, did they?”

“……”

“Brother! Please, say something. Are they really going to do that? Even after you spoke to them directly?” Fear and anticipation swirled in Heo Sanja’s eyes simultaneously. Heo Do Jin-in, staring intently at Heo Sanja, let out a short sigh.

“They said they would.”

“Th-That’s… What are they thinking…?” Heo Sanja stuttered, his eyes wide as if he were being strangled. Then, he jumped to his feet and shouted.

“I-I will go and talk to them! No! I’ll knock them down right now, even if I have to….”

“It’s no use.”

Heo Sanja stopped in his awkward posture and stared blankly at Heo Do Jin-in. Heo Do Jin-in shook his head with an expression that seemed beyond indifferent, almost despondent.

“It’s no use. No words… Yes, no words will be heard.”

“No……”

“It’s not a situation where we can persuade them by listing just words. No, perhaps…” Perhaps even those words of persuasion are falling behind in what is right.

What words can persuade those who intend to practice what they have learned themselves?

A faint sneer appeared on Heo Do Jin-in’s lips, who was lost in thought. It wasn’t directed at the young disciples who didn’t know the ways of the world and were raising their voices to protect their honor and pride.

It was directed at himself, who, while shouting that honor and pride must be protected, insisted on running away at the first sign of danger, prioritizing avoiding harm… It was a sneer directed at the Wudang of the past.

“So, are we just going to let go like this?”

“……”

“Brother! Are you really going to kill all those children? Are you going to let those guys die screaming under the blades of the Demonic Sect!” Now, Heo Sanja was almost screaming. Heo Do Jin-in took a long breath and asked instead.

“Then what should we do?”

“We must persuade them!”

“Didn’t I say it won’t work?”

“Then we should grab them by the collar, kick their butts, and stop them!”

“While treating them like ignorant children?”

“Are you really being so calm about this….”

“So, are we going to deprive the Wudang disciples, who still have to grow, of the opportunity to spread their wings, and further, brand them with the shame of surviving because the elders of the sect sacrificed themselves?”

Heo Sanja’s eyes, which had been agitated, wavered. At the same time, a question flashed in his eyes. It was baffling.

The Heo Do Jin-in he knew was a person who had no hesitation in turning the stories he uttered into actions. He was also someone who could give up his own life or the lives of his disciples for the sake of Wudang at any time.

But……

“If that was all it took to solve the problem, I would have done so. Then I ask again. What about after we survive like this? What should we do after that?”

“……What are you talking about again?”

“If this ends the war, I would tell them to swallow the humiliation. But if it doesn’t end? What should we do after that?”

“Well……”

Heo Sanja, who had opened his mouth to speak, looked at Heo Do Jin-in as if he had suddenly realized something.

Even if they endure this time, the war will not end. The bitter battle with the Four Evil Sects will continue for a long time after that.

Then what should Wudang do at that time?

Should they fight at the forefront for revenge? Or should they push the dangerous tasks to others and subtly step back to survive, even then?

“That……” Heo Sanja couldn’t answer readily, as if his tongue had stiffened.

In his heart, he wanted to say that they should choose the former. But if they chose the former, only the time of death would be different, and the result would not be much different. Perhaps Wudang would have to endure damage close to annihilation.

The latter? If they chose the latter, they might be able to survive. But could Wudang, who had cowardly stepped back throughout the war, really be called ‘Wudang’ even after the war?

Heo Sanja’s eyes darkened. Then, he asked with an anxious face.

“That… Isn’t it possible that it might not necessarily turn out that way?” But even the face of the one asking the question lacked confidence.

“Isn’t there a precedent? In the past……”

“In a country of people with three eyes, a person with two eyes is treated as disabled.”

“……Yes?”

“At that time… everyone had three eyes.”

A sneer flowed from Heo Do Jin-in’s lips.

It’s different from the past Demonic Sect Rebellion. At that time, all the sects except Mount Hua were busy trying to secure their own safety. So only Mount Hua became a strange sect and it ended.

But it’s different now.

Now that the Heavenly Union has gathered many sects and declared that they will walk the righteous path, what kind of treatment will Wudang, who fled from the enemy to protect the safety of the sect, receive?

The situation is similar, but also completely different.

The extraordinary figure of Mount Hua Sword Master Chung Myung has completely changed the position of those caught up in the war.

“Then those guys……”

“No.”

Heo Do Jin-in shook his head.

“They didn’t make that decision after thinking about such things. It’s just… they don’t want to run away a second time. As swordsmen, as disciples of Wudang, and as people who must uphold what is right.”

“……”

“What words can break that will? It was none other than I who argued and taught that Wudang disciples should live that way. I am merely facing my own cowardice, unable to practice what I have directly said and taught.”

“How can you call that cowardice? Who dares to call cowardly the one who has shouldered all those burdens and offered his own life! Brother is definitely not such a person!” Heo Sanja shouted, distorting his face, but Heo Do Jin-in’s eyes merely followed the empty air.

What is right and what is wrong?

If it were as simple as dividing numbers, what would be difficult? The world is so complex and chaotic because each person’s righteousness is different, and each person’s method of realizing it is different.

There are no wrong people.

It’s just that their ‘righteousness’ has grown so much that it no longer falls behind Heo Do Jin-in’s ‘righteousness.’ Heo Do Jin-in was immensely proud of that, yet immeasurably sorrowful.

“So… really……”

“Heo San.”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

“Persuade the disciples.”

“Yes? What do you mean?”

“Among them, there may be those who have been swept up in the atmosphere and are risking their lives against their will. Prevent such people from existing, persuade even one more to escape the mountain.”

“S-Sect Leader!”

“The lineage must continue.”

Heo Do Jin-in smiled faintly.

Heo Sanja couldn’t accept it at all. How many would there be even if he gathered all such people? Could the remainder scraped together be called ‘Wudang’?

“Is there really no way? How can you give up so easily?”

“……”

“If we use the authority of the Sect Leader to forcibly break their will! Then they would have no choice!”

“Yes. Then they might be able to live.”

“Then even right now……”

“But at that moment, Wudang will end. Even if everyone survives without a scratch, the Wudang from that point on will no longer be Wudang.”

Heo Sanja’s hand trembled finely.

He wanted to refute it a hundred times, but he already knew that those words were correct. How could Wudang, branded as cowards, be Wudang?

How could those who cowardly begged for their lives offer sacrifices to their ancestors?

“Go.”

“Sect Leader……”

“If you still see them as children, you could do as you say. But……” Heo Do Jin-in shook his head.

“My duty as a teacher is to properly watch and acknowledge their growth. I cannot break the will of those who have become true disciples of Wudang as good as I am… No, those who have already become better disciples than I am, with the oppression of authority.”

“……”

“I intend to stay by their side.”

“Sect Leader!” Heo Sanja screamed a desperate cry, as if he had scraped out his entire insides. But Heo Do Jin-in’s eyes remained heavy and calm.

“Now there is only one way for Wudang to continue.”

Now, instead of boiling murderous intent, a refined sense of duty was filling his eyes.

“It is to show. What kind of sect Wudang is. To those who dare to covet this place, to the watching world, and to the other sects who will try to confirm our choice.”

“……”

“With swords, with lives, with that will. I will clearly show them. Then that death will become fertilizer and make Wudang bloom again.”

It was a more composed voice than ever before.

However, only the hand placed on Heo Do Jin-in’s knee could not hide his inner feelings and was trembling faintly.

He had taken all the insults to save his disciples. But now, he was going to see those disciples, whom he had saved in that way, die for the sake of the sect’s honor.

What could possibly express that inner turmoil?

“Move.”

“Sect Leader……”

“Quickly!” A moment of silence flowed. Heo Sanja, who had been staring intently at Heo Do Jin-in, bowed respectfully.

“Please take care of yourself.”

With that, he left the room without looking back.

Heo Do Jin-in, who was staring blankly at the spot where Heo Sanja had disappeared, let out a hollow laugh.

“Two days?” No, perhaps it’s only one day. He was counting the time left for Wudang. Then, he suddenly pondered a late realization.

“So… So that’s why, Mount Hua Sword Master.”

Why was the one who cherished people so much and despised sacrifice so much so furious at him for trying to save his disciples?

The Mount Hua Sword Master knew. The fact that those who fear sacrifice and step back will inevitably pay an even greater price someday. If he truly wanted to protect his disciples, he should not ignore the duty given to him.

Now… Yes, now I think I know.

“I should have known a little earlier.”

Heo Do Jin-in, who had murmured quietly, closed his eyes deeply.

Now, he is not just sad.

Because he has come to know that those Wudang disciples are walking a better path than he did. Because he has confirmed that they are true disciples of Wudang who have not failed like him.

Even if the end of that path is despair and death……

They will eventually bloom again. Splendidly, at the end of that path, so that the whole world can see.

“Sect Leader.”

Heo Do’s voice echoed hollowly.

The one he is chasing is someone he has never even seen. A person who died and disappeared a hundred years ago, and even the Sect Leader of another sect, not even Wudang.

“Will our Wudang also bloom again?” Like Mount Hua, which eventually bloomed again, will it?

No matter how much Heo Do Jin-in closed his eyes and kept silent, the answer did not come.

“You’re not going to back down?”

“No.”

“No, why! Why do such a stupid thing!”

“Because they are people.”

Im So-byeong stared intently at Chung Myung as if he couldn’t understand at all. Chung Myung shrugged.

“People are stupid, that’s why they are people. They can’t always make the right choices, that’s why they are people.”

“……But they are Wudang. But what does that……”

“And I don’t like such stupid guys.”

As if he had finished everything he had to say, Chung Myung got up from his seat. His dark eyes were now shining silently.

“I’m going.”

“Yes? You can’t! Didn’t you say it could be a trap!”

“So?” Chung Myung asked back, and everyone lost their words. Chung Myung said firmly to Im So-byeong and everyone who was looking at him.

“If it’s a trap, then we’ll just break the trap itself. I can’t just let those stupid guys die like that.”

Grasping his sword tightly, Chung Myung smiled.

‘Right, Senior Brother?’ That answer seemed to be heard clearly in his ear.