Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1732

Jo Gul’s voice exploded, “What did you just say?!” His face flushed red.

“Jo Gul!” Yoon Jong grabbed his arm quickly, pulling him back.

“Wait, just wait a minute!” Yoon Jong pleaded. “Don’t get angry so suddenly…”

But Dang So-so’s voice cut through the air, sharp and clear. “Am I wrong?” Her eyes were fixed on Jo Gul, unwavering.

“What?” Jo Gul’s face twisted even more. Even Yoon Jong, who was trying to calm him down, was surprised and turned to look at her.

“So-so, you don’t seem to know what you’re saying…” Yoon Jong said, his voice laced with concern.

“I know what I’m saying,” Dang So-so replied firmly.

“I know exactly what I’m saying. Why can’t Uncle-Master join Jongnam?”

“So-so!” Yoon Jong was stunned. Jo Gul gritted his teeth. Even Yoo Iseol’s face remained unreadable.

Only Baek Sang and Hae Yeon bit their lips, too afraid to speak.

“Send Senior Brother to Jongnam?”

“Yes.”

“Is that even reasonable?” Yoon Jong asked, his voice rising slightly.

“Why not?” Dang So-so retorted, her eyes flashing.

“Dang So-so!”

“I don’t understand at all,” Dang So-so said, shaking her head.

Yoon Jong rarely raised his voice, but Dang So-so didn’t back down. “Isn’t saving a person the most important thing? The sect register isn’t more important than a person. Even if Uncle-Master joins Jongnam, he’s still the same person, right?”

“At least he wouldn’t be Uncle-Master anymore,” Yoon Jong said firmly.

“The name Baek Cheon will disappear because that’s the Dao name given to a Hwasan disciple. It’s his special Hwasan name,” Yoon Jong explained, his voice tight.

“So what if it does? A name is just a name! A position is just a position! It’s not like the person we know is disappearing,” Dang So-so insisted.

“Is it such a simple matter?” Yoon Jong asked, his voice laced with disbelief.

“Then is it such a difficult problem?” Dang So-so countered.

Yoon Jong remained cold, and Dang So-so shouted in frustration. “Has everyone gone mad? It’s just a matter of changing groups!”

“Are we just going to stand by and watch someone live the rest of their life like that to protect a meaningless name and position? Keep someone who can be treated locked up here, and just look at them with pity and help them along for the rest of their lives?” Dang So-so’s voice trembled with emotion.

“Who said we would do that!” Yoon Jong exclaimed, his face reddening.

“Then what is it!” Dang So-so challenged, her eyes blazing.

Yoon Jong couldn’t speak for a moment. He realized that it wasn’t much different from what Dang So-so had said.

Dang So-so looked at Jo Gul. “So, Senior Brother, do you think the same way as Senior Brother Yoon Jong? That it’s better for Uncle-Master to live in Hwasan like that for the rest of his life than to become a member of Jongnam? Really?”

Jo Gul clenched his fists. For them, ‘Hwasan’ was something they couldn’t trade. It was everything to them.

But Baek Cheon was just as important to Jo Gul as the name Hwasan.

“I don’t understand,” Dang So-so said, her voice chillingly cold.

“What’s so great about Hwasan?”

“I don’t care whether Uncle-Master is a member of Hwasan or Jongnam. Because Uncle-Master will still be Uncle-Master. Because he’s the Baek Cheon I know. So, it’s a hundred times more important that Uncle-Master gets better, that the person I cherish isn’t in pain.”

She paused, taking a breath. “Those meaningless words, Hwasan…”

“Watch your mouth,” Yoo Iseol said, her voice toneless. She was staring straight at Dang So-so with sunken eyes.

“It’s not a light name. It’s not right to call it meaningless,” Yoo Iseol said firmly. It was rare for her to speak so firmly.

Dang So-so lowered her head. “I’m sorry.” She was so emotional that she couldn’t think straight. She knew how much that name meant. She had helped make that name meaningful.

Yoo Iseol looked at Dang So-so. “Senior Brother will refuse.”

It was a statement without context, but everyone understood.

“Yes, I know. So… we have to persuade him. Somehow,” Dang So-so said, her voice uncertain. She wasn’t confident.

Her worry for Baek Cheon was clear.

Jo Gul sighed and scratched his head. “So, we’re going to persuade Uncle-Master, who said he would stay in Hwasan, to kick him out to Jongnam?”

“The one who said he would stay in Hwasan even in that state? Someone who has already made a decision?”

“Yes.”

“Damn it,” Jo Gul cursed. He wasn’t angry at Dang So-so. He was frustrated.

He looked for Yoon Jong. “What do you think, Senior Brother?”

Yoon Jong answered, “I think it’s nonsense.”

“You think so, too?” Jo Gul asked, surprised.

“Just thinking about Uncle-Master wearing Jongnam clothes makes my blood run cold,” Yoon Jong said with a shudder.

“Well, even just seeing it briefly before was a sight I couldn’t bear to watch,” Jo Gul agreed.

“I really can’t watch that,” Yoon Jong said bitterly. He had disguised himself to infiltrate the Beggars’ Sect in the past, but that was different.

“My stomach is churning, but the fact that Uncle-Master pretends to be okay every time we see him is even more upsetting,” Yoon Jong admitted with a sigh.

“I don’t know what is right,” Yoon Jong said, his voice heavy with emotion.

“So-so.”

“Yes, Sago.”

“Will Senior Brother get better?”

“No. It will be difficult.”

“Will he get worse?”

Dang So-so didn’t answer.

Yoo Iseol asked, “Then, how much longer can he live?”

A long silence followed. That was enough of an answer.

Yoo Iseol looked around at everyone, her face unchanged.

“You don’t have to think alike. You’re not children. You don’t need someone to tell you what to do.”

Yoo Iseol spoke for longer than usual, then finished with these short words:

“So, act. Do what you think is right.”

“…….”

“But if you do it, do it well.”

After these words, everyone felt a little more determined.

People who meet the Mount Hua Sect for the first time are often surprised.

The Mount Hua disciples are not as grand as people expect. If you are being nice, you would say they are humble. If you are being honest, you might call them too innocent.

It’s not that they are stupid. They have been through a lot of hard times and have more experience than many other groups.

It’s because they are like their leaders. The kind and gentle nature of their leader, Hyun Jong, and the older teachers has passed on to them.

The Mount Hua disciples know how to solve problems, but they don’t like to be cruel. They always worry about hurting people.

Now, Baek Cheon was about to see this kindness for himself.

“Go back.”

“Sasuk.”

“I said, go back!”

Baek Cheon glared at Yoon Jong, who had burst into his room, his teeth clenched.

“Are you going to be like this too?”

Baek Cheon looked annoyed, not really angry, but clearly bothered.

“I expect this from them, but not from you!”

The person in front of him was Yoon Jong, who was supposed to take over from Baek Cheon and become the next leader of Mount Hua.

Yoon Jong sighed deeply, looking sorry.

“……I’m sorry.”

“Did you all plan this together?”

“We decided everyone should choose for themselves.”

Baek Cheon was still annoyed. He stared at Yoon Jong for a long time, then sighed back. He understood what was happening, so he couldn’t really get angry.

He just looked at Yoon Jong, confused.

“Okay, I get it. But if you’re going to do it, at least do it right.”

Yoon Jong didn’t say anything.

Yoon Jong knew how to make Baek Cheon go to Namjong. The fastest way would be to hurt his feelings on purpose.

People are emotional. If Yoon Jong just made fun of Baek Cheon for being unable to use his arms, Baek Cheon might start to dislike Mount Hua.

Or, he could try to push him physically. Baek Cheon was weaker than a normal person now.

There were many ways to do it. Anyone could think of them, even someone not very smart.

But the Mount Hua disciples were too kind to do those cruel things. So, they were trying to convince Baek Cheon in a way that wouldn’t hurt his pride too much.

“Were they too obvious?”

“Yes, very.”

“Still, Soso at least…….”

“He kept taking off and putting back on your bandage, talking and talking about how joining Mount Hua from the Tang Family was the best thing ever. He said it was worth changing your whole life for!”

…What a silly but kind guy.

“What about Baek Sang? Did he come too?”

“Namjong has lots of money, good for making a living! He even said because I’m a real Jin, I could get 30% of their money?”

“That crazy guy!”

“Huh?”

“No, it’s nothing…….”

Can we really trust Jae Kyung-gak to him? Is Mount Hua going to be okay?

“What about Hae Yeon?”

“He said getting kicked out of the sect might be fun too.”

He was even crazier!

“S-Sago, what about him?”

“He just rushed in, stared really hard at everyone, then sat in the corner. He kept doing it, so I got someone to pull him out.”

“……Did he get pulled out?”

“After about three times, he stopped coming.”

Yoon Jong felt worried. Listening to all this, he thought it was kind of sweet, but also wondered if Mount Hua was doomed.

Baek Cheon asked, sounding like he didn’t care.

“Aren’t you even going to ask about Geol?”

“To be honest, I’m a bit afraid to ask.”

“Then I just won’t tell you.”

“……Thank you.”

Yoon Jong sighed deeply.

I knew it. The Mount Hua guys are all like that. What’s the point of being so eager? They want to help, but they can’t bring themselves to be tough.

“Sasuk.”

“Go.”

“Yes?”

Baek Cheon frowned. If his arms worked, he would have rubbed his head.

“I don’t even want to hear your silly talk, just go!”

“No. At least listen for a bit…”

“I said, get out!”

Finally, Baek Cheon couldn’t take it anymore. He stood up and kicked Yoon Jong.

“Ah, no, Sasuk! Using force like this!”

“Then hit me!”

“How could I do that!”

“Then get lost!”

Baek Cheon kicked Yoon Jong’s bottom again, harder this time. He pushed Yoon Jong out the door and yelled at him as he ran away.

“If you come back, I’ll really be angry!”

“I, I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Don’t come!”

Baek Cheon clenched his teeth. After Yoon Jong was gone, he sighed, looking tired.

“Stupid guys.”

He knew it. All their silly actions were because they cared about Baek Cheon. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be hanging around his room so late.

But Baek Cheon felt a little sad.

Because he knew they cared, he felt even more like he didn’t belong at Mount Hua anymore.

He felt ashamed for feeling happy about their kindness.

Baek Cheon stared into space for a moment, then suddenly looked up and spoke.

“Hey.”

He looked up at the roof of the main building and spoke again, looking at nothing.

“Do you have any alcohol left?”

It was like talking to no one, but then someone answered. The voice came from above, from the roof of his building.

“There’s always alcohol.”

“Where did you get it?”

“There was a warehouse near the sect leader’s house?”

That meant Chung Myung had stolen it from the Wudang warehouse. Baek Cheon smiled a little.

“Give me a bottle too. I want to drink a little.”

Chung Myung was lying on the roof, using his arms as a pillow. He just nodded a little.

“……Alright.”

Next to Chung Myung were some bottles of alcohol and two glasses, ready to be used.