Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1723

The Wudang Medical Hall.

Deep inside the Wudang Medical Hall, a building huge like a mountain, two people sat in a quiet room. The room was dimly lit, smelling of herbs and old paper.

This room was deep inside, a place not open to just anyone. Two people sat inside, dressed differently from the Wudang people.

Tang Gunak’s face was calm, but worry lines showed around his eyes. Baek Cheon’s face was pale and still, like a statue carved from stone.

“In conclusion…”

Tang Gunak spoke softly and raised his teacup, then stopped. He saw the bandages on Baek Cheon’s arm. He put the cup down, pretending to be casual, and continued.

“Luckily, his life is not in danger,” Tang Gunak said. It was very obvious. Baek Cheon hadn’t come to hear such empty words.

Tang Gunak knew this, but he still offered the simple, empty words. Saying what Baek Cheon really wanted to hear was hard, even for the Poison King.

“The arm… it will be inconvenient for now, but if you keep working at it, it will get much better. I promise.”

The situation was very heavy.

Baek Cheon looked at him without blinking. Tang Gunak felt a heavy weight. It was heavier than when he felt lost and crushed by his role as Clan Lord.

Tang Gunak couldn’t stand that gaze, so he sighed and spoke.

“However… he won’t be able to do martial arts anymore.”

Baek Cheon didn’t react.

So, Tang Gunak had to say things he hadn’t even been asked.

“Miracles do happen, so I can’t say for sure. But it will be very hard to walk the path of a martial artist.”

Tang Gunak looked at Baek Cheon’s face and kept talking.

“But even if you’re not a martial artist, as a Taoist…”

“Clan Lord.”

Baek Cheon’s lips moved.

“Clan Lord, can I just ask for your doctor’s opinion?”

He was very polite. Even in this situation, his calm made Tang Gunak sigh even more.

“The body is like a container for qi, and your container is broken.”

“…”

“It’s not just the danjeon. If only the danjeon was broken, you could keep the strength you’ve built up. But your body is also badly damaged from this. In other words…”

“My weak body can’t go back to how it was.”

Tang Gunak closed his eyes. But he couldn’t close his ears, and Baek Cheon’s soft voice went right through him.

“Even if a broken container is put back together, it’s never the same.”

Finally, Tang Gunak nodded a little.

“As a doctor… that’s right.”

It was very sad, but Baek Cheon was now like a normal person who had a bad accident. It would take months, maybe years, for him to walk well and use his arm right. And that’s if he worked very hard.

“Especially the arm…”

Tang Gunak bit his lip. He tried to stay calm, but his heart wouldn’t calm down.

How could it?

Baek Cheon was one of the most talented people in the Jianghu. Everyone knew he would be the one to lead the Jianghu in the future, not the strange Cheong Myeong.

He might not be the strongest, but he would be one of the most important people in the world.

Tang Gunak now had to say that his life as a martial artist was over. It was like a death sentence.

“No matter what we do… he can never go back to how he was.”

“…”

“Of course, if he works hard, he might get a little better… but not like before…”

He tried to say the words calmly. Had it ever been so hard to talk?

But Baek Cheon helped Tang Gunak. Baek Cheon looked right at Tang Gunak and asked.

“Even if I can’t use my inner energy, even if I can’t swing hard… I won’t even be able to hold a sword again?”

Tang Gunak couldn’t answer.

All he could do was look Baek Cheon in the eye.

“I see.”

Baek Cheon spoke calmly, saying something he already knew.

“I thought that would happen.”

“Acting Sect Leader.”

Baek Cheon looked at his arm.

“I guess I overdid it.”

Tang Gunak sighed.

Maybe Baek Cheon had accepted that he would lose his martial arts. Maybe he had even accepted death. The Baek Cheon he knew, the Acting Sect Leader of Mount Hua, was that kind of person.

But had he prepared for this? Had he imagined it?

A life where he couldn’t even die, where he just lived on, having lost everything he wanted?

Had this young man really imagined even this?

Tang Gunak didn’t regret anything. Even if he could go back, he would save Baek Cheon. He was the Clan Lord of the Dang Family, and also a doctor.

But what about Baek Cheon? Was this what he wanted?

Had Tang Gunak pushed Baek Cheon into the deepest darkness?

Maybe a heroic death would have been better for this young man than living like this?

He couldn’t understand it. He couldn’t say.

“You…”

Tang Gunak spoke. It might not be right to do. But he had to ask.

“Are you… alright?”

Baek Cheon looked surprised. He didn’t expect Tang Gunak to say that.

But it was only for a moment. Then, Baek Cheon was calm again.

“‘Alright,’ you say…”

Baek Cheon stopped talking. But he wasn’t sad.

“It would be a lie to say I am fine.”

“…I guess so.”

“But…”

Baek Cheon looked out the window. He saw the old Wudang buildings.

“Many people have already died.”

“…”

“They wanted things too. They wanted to live. The people left behind will be sad.”

Tang Gunak nodded.

“So, how can I complain when I’m still alive?”

“That’s true.”

But Tang Gunak shook his head.

“But that’s not the real problem, is it.”

Tang Gunak looked directly at Baek Cheon, his eyes searching. He asked again, his voice gentle, “I need to know, Baek Cheon. Are you truly alright?”

A heavy silence fell between them, thick and uncomfortable.

Baek Cheon closed his eyes, his face pale. Tang Gunak nervously turned his teacup in his hands, the porcelain cool against his skin. The silence stretched, becoming so long that Tang Gunak began to regret breaking it. Just as he was about to speak again, Baek Cheon’s lips parted, breaking the quiet.

“Honestly…” Baek Cheon began, his voice low and rough. “I still don’t know.”

“……”

“Not yet… Yes, I still don’t know. My mind isn’t settled, so it’s difficult to say exactly what state I’m in right now.”

Tang Gunak took his hand off the teacup. He realized he was acting like a child. The pain, regret, and sorrow all belonged to Baek Cheon, so why was he pressing him so hard?

“Yes, I suppose so. I asked a silly question. Forget I asked.”

“But….”

Baek Cheon quietly gazed at Tang Gunak and said,

“Whether I regret it or not… if I could go back to that moment, I would choose the same path without a moment’s hesitation.”

Watching Baek Cheon smile faintly with a rough face, Tang Gunak sighed deeply.

“That’s what… people call ‘not regretting.’ You….”

His voice was full of deep pity.

“S-Senior Uncle.”

Yoon Jong’s face paled as he saw Baek Cheon walking through the door of the large building temporarily assigned for the Mount Hua Sect and the Cheonwoo Alliance.

He wasn’t doing anything else, just walking. Yet, Yoon Jong’s face was as white as a sheet because he knew how painful walking must be for Baek Cheon right now.

Icy cold sweat streamed down Baek Cheon’s face as he took each step. In the short moment it took for Baek Cheon to approach, Yoon Jong’s palms were also soaked with sweat.

“Senior Uncle,” Yoon Jong stammered, his voice tight with worry. “Please, you *must* rest. We can handle things here.”

“Yoon Jong-ah.”

“Yes? Yes! Yes, Senior Uncle!”

“Don’t just stand there staring blankly, come and support me.”

“……Yes?”

“Well? Are you going to help me or just stand there?”

Yoon Jong, who had momentarily doubted his ears and stared blankly at Baek Cheon, was startled and rushed towards him. He carefully supported Baek Cheon by the waist, unable to even touch the shoulder where he should have put his arm.

“Senior Uncle, you should be resting now, why did you come out?”

“Over there.”

Baek Cheon pointed to a desk for official duties placed on one side of the main hall. It was empty because it wasn’t the one he usually used.

Yoon Jong was shocked when he understood what Senior Uncle wanted.

“Quickly.”

But at Baek Cheon’s urging, he couldn’t say anything and headed to the desk.

“Hoo.”

Baek Cheon, who slowly sat down on the chair, took a long breath.

“It’s a little better now that I’m sitting.”

…Could that really be the case?

The current Baek Cheon would find it difficult to even lie down on the bed. There was no way he could feel comfortable just from sitting in a chair.

“What… are you thinking of doing, Senior Uncle?”

“Bring me the work I need to do. Ah, and what you’ve been handling in the meantime too.”

“S-Senior Uncle, I can do that.”

“Yoon Jong-ah.”

Yoon Jong shut his mouth tightly. Seeing Baek Cheon’s calm but firm face, he couldn’t say anything.

“I know you can do it.”

“Senior Uncle….”

“But there are things I need to do as well. Just do as I say.”

Yoon Jong reluctantly nodded his head.

“What do you need?”

“The Sapae Union’s movements report, a grasp of the list of victims and their current status, progress on securing supplies. Ah, and all the reports sent to the main headquarters so far as well.”

“Yes, Senior Uncle.”

Yoon Jong turned around and quickly ran off.

Soon, the documents Yoon Jong had and all the letters that had flown here were moved to Baek Cheon’s desk.

Baek Cheon, who quickly scanned the letters placed in front of him, stared intently at the brush Yoon Jong had brought.

The moment Yoon Jong realized what was happening, he bit his lip and tried to remove the brush.

But before he could, Baek Cheon reached out a hand that trembled like an aspen tree.

The hall became increasingly quiet.

Baek Cheon’s sword had once struck the Black Dragon King’s heart. It had pierced the Sun Palace Lord’s chest. This same hand, once strong enough to reach the peak of Jianghu, now weakly reached for a brush.

It was a pitifully thin arm.

The sturdy arm that everyone had no doubt would grasp the future of Mount Hua and lead it forward was now broken down to a miserable state.

The disciples of Mount Hua watched, their knuckles white as they clenched their fists. Some bit their lips, tears welling in their eyes, unable to bear the sight of their Senior Brother’s suffering.

“……Senior Brother.”

“Shut up.”

When someone couldn’t bear it and spoke as if sobbing, another person rebuked them quietly with an angry voice.

“Just… shut up.”

But even that anger was tearful and wet.

Baek Cheon, even while feeling all these gazes and atmosphere, did not stop reaching out his hand towards the brush with all his might.

– It seems like you have nothing left now?

‘Not yet… Not yet. Not yet.’

His trembling fingertips finally touched the brush that Yoon Jong held out. But in the end, he couldn’t grip it properly.

“Yoon Jong-ah.”

“Yes… Yes, Senior Uncle.”

He tried to appear calm, but Yoon Jong’s voice was trembling endlessly.

“Tie the brush to my hand.”

“……Senior Uncle.”

“Help me.”

Yoon Jong tightly closed his eyes. And soon, he unwrapped the bandage covering Baek Cheon’s hand and began to secure the brush.

Baek Cheon closed his eyes, exhaustion washing over him in waves. Behind his closed eyelids, images of the battle flashed – the clash of swords, the screams, the faces of his fallen comrades. A tear threatened to escape, but he held it back, biting his lip.

‘Not yet. Not yet….’

His long eyelashes trembled finely. His face was terribly calm, but he couldn’t hide this much.

Oh