Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 167

“You! You annoying brat!”

Chung Myung jumped and looked up.

His older martial brother, Chung Mun, stood there, face red with anger. His beard shook as he glared down.

*’Oh, not again,’* Chung Myung thought. *’He’s always on my case.’*

Chung Myung pouted, but Chung Mun’s anger didn’t lessen at all.

“What did I tell you?”

“Well… you’ve nagged so much, I don’t know where to begin.”

“You rascal!”

Chung Myung flinched and turned his head.

His martial siblings were watching from a distance. They looked amused. Then, they quickly turned their heads away.

*’Seriously, those traitors?’*

“Do you have a death wish?”

Thwack!

“Ack!”

Chung Myung clutched his head and turned to Chung Mun with resentful eyes.

“Again! Again!”

“Kkeueueueung!”

Chung Myung trembled.

Who was Chung Myung?

He was the absolute prodigy of Mount Hua, known as the future greatest warrior. Some who were jealous of him tried to insult him, calling him the Ruin of Mount Hua or the Disaster of Mount Hua, but wasn’t that just jealousy from those who weren’t as good?

Not only his martial siblings but even his martial uncles didn’t dare to bother him.

But Chung Mun was different. He never hesitated to scold him.

“Didn’t I tell you not to hit your martial siblings?”

“No, I wasn’t trying to do that…”

Chung Myung pouted.

“Those traitors started it first.”

“Would they be crazy enough to pick a fight with you? If you had any sense, you’d think before you speak!”

“⋯⋯.”

He felt wronged, but he couldn’t argue back.

“You rascal!”

Chung Mun’s face was full of anger.

“It’s not just your martial siblings! Even your martial nephews and nieces avoid you because they’re scared!”

“No, those disloyal people, when they get hurt, they run to me crying about every little thing! But now, suddenly they are ‘scared’ of me!”

“Enough!”

“⋯⋯Kkeueung.”

Chung Myung pouted.

He wasn’t wrong.

How many times had Chung Myung cleaned up the messes his martial siblings made? And yet, they were all grateful then, saying he was the only one for them, but now they’d been beaten a little and ran to their martial brother to tattle.

*’There’s no one to trust in this world. Really.’*

Just as Chung Myung was thinking about getting revenge someday, Chung Mun sighed deeply.

“Follow me.”

“Yes?”

“I said, follow me!”

“⋯⋯.”

Chung Mun led him up Nakan Peak. He didn’t say a single word the entire way.

Finally, reaching Nakan Peak, Chung Mun called Chung Myung to stand beside him. The towering scenery of Mount Hua stretched out beneath their feet.

*’Is he going to push me?’*

Even if he did, I wouldn’t die.

Chung Myung, lost in these thoughts, stared without energy at the scenery he saw every time. Then, Chung Mun finally spoke.

“Chung Myung-ah.”

“Yes, Martial Brother.”

“Have you ever really thought about what Mount Hua *means* to us?”

“⋯⋯Yes? What are you suddenly talking about? It’s not like we’re cultivating the Dao or anything.”

Ah, but we are cultivating the Dao. Aren’t we Daoists?

“Then let me ask it differently. What do you think a sect is?”

“Well…”

Chung Myung tilted his head.

“Taking Mount Hua as an example, it’s where Daoists who couldn’t fit into the normal world decided to cultivate the Dao, left the world, and stumbled all the way here looking for a quiet place. As these outsiders gathered, they built halls and did this and that, and then we decided to give ourselves a name. That’s how Mount Hua came to be, isn’t it?”

“⋯⋯.”

Chung Mun stared at Chung Myung with wide eyes.

“⋯⋯Am I wrong?”

“W-Well, of course, you could think of it that way.”

Looks like I was right.

Did I hit a sore spot?

“But that’s not all there is to it.”

Chung Mun shook his head.

“Chung Myung-ah.”

“Yes, Martial Brother.”

“Humans cannot live forever.”

“⋯⋯.”

It was obvious, but Chung Myung didn’t argue this time. There was something important in Chung Mun’s words.

“You were born with talent. Looking at all of Mount Hua… no, maybe even going back through Mount Hua’s history, there may be no one born with as much talent as you.”

“Hehe. I’m a little embarrassed by your sudden praise.”

Chung Myung wiggled, and Chung Mun frowned.

Get your hand down, Martial Brother.

Even if you push me from here, I won’t die.

“But that’s all it is.”

“⋯⋯Yes?”

“No matter how strong you are, what will change? In the end, there are things you cannot do alone, and places you cannot reach alone.”

“⋯⋯.”

“If the founder hadn’t created Mount Hua and had stayed distant on his own, would the world remember him? Would his will, his martial arts, have been passed down to the world?”

Chung Myung frowned.

“I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t need to aim for something like that. I just want to live well in this life and die. I don’t want to leave anything behind.”

“That’s because you don’t feel any need to yet.”

“⋯⋯Need?”

Chung Mun nodded slowly.

“Someday, you will also wish for it. The day when your martial siblings, your martial nephews and nieces, and your descendants will carry on your will and your legacy. That is what a sect is. It’s not just about living well together. What’s more important is carrying on my will.”

“That’s difficult.”

“Yes. Maybe it’s still difficult for you. But just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want. That’s not good for you either.”

Chung Myung nodded slowly.

He didn’t exactly understand what he meant, but he felt like he should.

“So, take a little more care of your martial siblings. You may think they’re all lacking. And I, too, may seem completely inadequate to you. But someday, those lacking people will become the most precious beings to you.”

“Ah, that’s not true.”

Chung Myung said seriously.

“My martial siblings are fools, but I’ve never thought of you as inadequate, Martial Brother.”

“⋯⋯.”

Chung Mun sighed deeply, looking at Chung Myung, who had a ‘Did I do well?’ face.

“Don’t smile. I’ll get attached, you rascal!”

“It’s good to get attached, isn’t it?”

Chung Mun shook his head at Chung Myung, who was smiling slyly.

“Chung Myung-ah.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know what the scariest thing in the world is?”

“A switch?”

“⋯⋯Regret.”

“⋯⋯.”

Chung Mun said softly.

“I’m not so afraid of you being avoided by the others. But I’m afraid that you’ll regret it someday. The regret you feel will be much deeper and heavier than the regret others feel. So, even if you don’t understand it now, take my words to heart. It will lighten the burden you will carry someday.”

“⋯⋯So, you’re saying don’t beat the kids.”

“Yes, you rascal!”

“Okay, okay. You’re nagging for so long!”

“Tsk!”

Chung Mun turned away.

It’s like talking to a wall!

“Hey? Let’s go together! Martial Brother!”

Chung Mun glanced back at Chung Myung, who was running after him, and closed his eyes tightly.

*’This child was born with too much.’*

It was a good thing, but not always. From the moment he held a sword, the other martial siblings couldn’t help but look like fools to a child who could draw plum blossoms with the tip of his sword.

How great would be the pain of someone living alone in a world full of fools?

Guiding Chung Myung in the right direction was the task that he, as his martial brother, had to do.

“But, Martial Brother. I think I understand a little bit of what you’re saying.”

“Huh?”

“So, just like I follow you, the sect similarly follows me, right?”

“Heo…”

Chung Mun smiled.

“It’s different, you rascal. How could they be the same?”

“Ah. It’s difficult.”

It wasn’t easy. But someday, Chung Myung would understand his intentions. It would take a long time, but…

And when that time came…

*’The world will meet the true swordsman of Mount Hua.’*

If this free-spirited child truly understood the meaning of responsibility and could remain free even while bearing that responsibility…

The world would watch as the wind of Mount Hua swept through the world.

“By the way…”

“Yes, Martial Brother.”

“Martial Uncle Baek Gong seems to be avoiding you recently. Did something happen?”

“Uh… N-No. Nothing… Uh, nothing happened.”

“⋯⋯Did you beat him?”

“Ah, no, it’s not like I beat him. I just… uh…”

Oh, ancestors.

What should I do with this rascal!?

“You are forbidden from eating for four days, starting today.”

“What? Are you being too harsh?!”

“Enough, you rascal!”

Chung Mun grabbed Chung Myung’s head tightly and pulled him into his side.

“You annoying brat!”

“Aaaah! It hurts! It hurts! Martial Brother!”

Chung Mun and Chung Myung bickered as they walked down the mountain path of Mount Hua.

The wind rustled the plum blossoms behind them, their delicate pink petals like silent witnesses to the brothers’ bond.

Chung Myung woke up.

“⋯⋯.”

Chung Myung glanced around and was quiet for a moment, feeling uneasy in the unfamiliar space.

Ah.

It had been a dream.

Chung Myung closed his eyes again.

*’I haven’t had dreams of the old days before.’*

Chung Myung shook his head slightly.

Remembering the face of Martial Brother Chung Mun, so clear it felt like he could touch it, a strange feeling rose inside him.

But Chung Myung knew.

The past was just the past.

He was someone living in the present. He didn’t know why this was happening only to Chung Myung, but Chung Myung wasn’t foolish enough to lose the present by being swayed by memories of the past.

“What did you want to say? Martial Brother?”

Why now?

Chung Myung shook his head and got up from his seat.

It was just a thought. A dream was just a dream. Maybe the fact that he hadn’t gotten anything from the Sword Tomb was bothering Chung Myung. So, he was having such a dream.

“Damn it! I should have gotten the Honwon Pill no matter what!”

Chung Myung gritted his teeth.

The Honwon Pill wasn’t just a simple elixir.

The Honwon Pill’s alchemy method was important for Mount Hua, which had lost its alchemy abilities. That was why his regret was so deep.

“Kkeueung. I can’t just create something out of nothing.”

After thinking for a long time, Chung Myung finally gave up and shook off the remaining feelings in his head.

He would somehow get the alchemy method. Now was the time to forget the past and think about the future.

And above all, today was…

Chung Myung opened the door and went outside. In the main hall leading to the courtyard, his martial siblings were already packing their things and sitting around.

“Are you up?”

“Yeah.”

“Why did you sleep so long? Are you not feeling well?”

“It’s nothing like that.”

Chung Myung shook his head.

“That’s good.”

Baek Cheon slung his pack over his shoulder and got up from his seat.

Today was the day they were leaving for Mount Hua.

But Chung Myung, unable to let go of his remaining feelings, sighed and looked at the distant sky.

– The connections that are meant to be will eventually happen. If they don’t happen, it wasn’t meant to be.

*’No. You’re saying that so easily!’*

Why did I struggle so much! That Honwon Pill, which I don’t even need!

I’m doing this to save Mount Hua, and you’re saying that? Really?

– It’s your fate.

“Kkeueueueung.”

Chung Myung scratched his head roughly.

“What bad things did I do in my past life… No, no. I did a lot of bad things.”

That’s why Martial Brother told me not to beat my martial siblings.

The bad things I did then are coming back like this.

“Sigh.”

Baek Cheon chuckled as he looked at Chung Myung sighing.

“Why do you have so many remaining feelings? Forget what you need to forget. It’s time to go back now. To Mount Hua.”

“⋯⋯I should.”

Chung Myung nodded and looked at the sky again.

*’The weather is terribly nice today.’*

It was a perfect day to leave on a long journey.