Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 180

Heo Do-jin slowly put his teacup down on the wooden table. *Clink.* The sound was soft in the quiet room.

“So,” Heo Do-jin said, looking at Heo San-ja. “You came back after those Mount Hua kids embarrassed you?”

Heo San-ja closed his eyes. He didn’t say anything.

“Heo San,” Heo Do-jin said again, his voice a little sharper.

“Yes, Sect Leader,” Heo San-ja answered, still calm.

Heo Do-jin frowned. “This is strange. You should be ashamed. But you don’t look ashamed at all. I don’t understand this.”

Heo San-ja sighed quietly. He knew the Sect Leader was gently scolding him.

“Sect Leader.”

“Speak freely.”

“The reason I am not ashamed is that I did my best.”

“……”

“If I had been careless or foolish and suffered these events, I would have naturally requested punishment from you, Sect Leader. But…”

“You did your best, and it was simply that your strength was not enough, so there is nothing to be ashamed of?”

“That is correct.”

Heo Do-jin’s brow furrowed slightly.

Heo San-ja was careful and a good leader. Sect Leader Heo Do-jin trusted him a lot. So, when Heo San-ja said this, it meant the Mount Hua group was very strong.

“You went to the Sword Tomb and were embarrassed, returning with nothing gained, and yet you are not ashamed, you say…”

Heo Do-jin picked up his teacup again and took a sip of the tea. Then, he sighed.

Clink. The sound of the teacup being placed down echoed.

“If you say so, then it must be so.”

“…Sect Leader.”

“If there was nothing in the Sword Tomb to begin with, there would have been nothing to gain. It is not your fault.”

“I am sorry.”

“There is no need to be sorry.”

Heo Do-jin shook his head, a bitter smile on his lips.

“Originally, too much greed invites disaster. Even though our Wudang sect is strong, we tried to gain even more. We are lucky that we did not suffer great harm. Forgive me for sending the disciples to suffer needlessly.”

“How could that be your fault, Sect Leader?”

“I lost my reason because of greed. I was too tempted by the names of the Primordial Pill and the Medicine Immortal. Who would have thought the Medicine Immortal would create such a place?”

Heo Do-jin chuckled at the thought of being tricked by someone from two hundred years ago.

“Is martial arts useless in the end? It’s strange to hear about ‘futile martial arts’ from someone who didn’t achieve anything great in martial arts.”

Heo San-ja tilted his head, as if he didn’t understand.

But Heo Do-jin did not explain what he meant to Heo San-ja. Sometimes, it is better not to know.

He closed his eyes slightly to think. Then, opening them again, he asked Heo San-ja,

“Only one thing.”

“Yes.”

“There is something I simply cannot understand. Did you say you were evenly matched with a child from Mount Hua?”

“That is correct.”

Heo Do-jin’s brow furrowed.

Heo San-ja’s martial arts were not the best among the Wudang elders. In fact, if you only looked at martial arts, he was a bit weak.

But Heo San-ja was still a Wudang elder. He should not be evenly matched with a child who was barely an adult. Absolutely not.

But wasn’t Heo San-ja admitting to that?

“Is he a genius?”

“A prodigy.”

Heo Do-jin sighed softly.

Heo San-ja calmly continued.

“I am sure that if we had continued the fight, I would have won. But that doesn’t matter.”

“Indeed. Because winning is obvious.”

“The problem is that I don’t know how long it would have taken to defeat that child. Which means…”

“You were evenly matched.”

“That is correct.”

If Heo San-ja was right, then the result could have changed based on his condition that day and a little luck. So, they were almost evenly matched.

“Heh heh. Are you saying that Mount Hua’s third-generation disciple is evenly matched with a Wudang elder? I laughed when I heard that child defeated Mu-jin.”

This was no longer funny.

“A prodigy has appeared in Mount Hua… A prodigy.”

Heo Do-jin was thinking hard. His hands started to move a little. His fingertips, which had been holding the teacup, repeatedly pressed and released the surface of the cup.

Heo San-ja knew the Sect Leader was worried, so he stayed quiet and waited for him to think.

Only after the tea had cooled did Heo Do-jin speak.

“We should just leave him alone.”

“Is that alright?”

“I know what you want to say. In the past, Mount Hua was a great Taoist sect, and it almost became more famous than Wudang. The fact that a prodigy has appeared there is something we cannot ignore. However,”

Heo Do-jin continued in a low voice.

“Even a genius cannot do everything alone. Mount Hua is weak now. That child will try to carry the whole sect and get tired.”

“He was no ordinary child. Besides his talent for martial arts, he also had good judgment and was brave.”

“You seem to think very highly of that child.”

Heo San-ja nodded firmly.

“If he wanted, I even tried to convince him to become a disciple of Wudang.”

“…To that extent?”

“I even said that he could become the Sect Leader in the future.”

Heo Do-jin’s brow furrowed.

This was beyond what an elder could do. But the fact that he spoke so confidently meant that if Heo Do-jin had seen that child himself, he would have said the same thing.

‘Could there be a higher compliment than this?’

It was hard to imagine.

This was more than admiration; it was praise.

However.

“Even so, it will not be different.”

“……”

“With one’s own strength, one can only become famous. Leading a sect is impossible for one person. The strength of many people must be combined, and they must all be strong themselves. That child cannot handle all of that.”

Heo Do-jin shook his head.

“Let’s just watch Mount Hua more closely.”

“Sect Leader, I am still worried about that child.”

“There is no need to worry so much. Maybe when you see that child again, you will understand what I mean.”

Heo San-ja reluctantly nodded.

“I understand.”

“Take care of yourself. You have much to do.”

“Yes, Sect Leader. Then…”

Heo San-ja bowed and stood up.

He stood in front of the door as if to leave, but stopped again. Then, he spoke.

“By the way…”

“Hmm?”

Heo San-ja turned his head slightly and looked at Heo Do-jin, asking,

“What if that child knows what you said, Sect Leader?”

“…That one cannot lead a sect alone?”

“Yes.”

Heo Do-jin thought for a moment. But soon, he said firmly,

“That will not happen. And even if it does, nothing will change. Talent cannot be learned just because you want it.”

“…I understand.”

Tap.

As Heo San-ja closed the door and left, Heo Do-jin quietly picked up the teacup and brought it to his lips.

‘What if he knows?’

The answer is the same.

That will not happen.

Because this has nothing to do with how talented or clever that child is.

All of this can only be learned through experience. So, you can never realize it while young and full of energy.

By the time he finally experiences and learns that, that child will no longer be as young as he is now.

But just in case…

What if that really happens?

‘In the end, the day may come when Mount Hua’s name is greater than Wudang’s.’

Heo Do-jin chuckled slightly.

‘Too much to think about.’

Too much.

Baaah!

“Aaaaargh!”

Plop!

Jo Gul, who had fallen sideways, twitched and trembled. He reached for his neck with shaking hands.

It’s still attached.

It wasn’t broken.

He had been worried that his neck bone might have broken because his neck had turned so violently, but luckily, nothing seemed to be wrong.

Then, pain washed over him.

“Aaaaargh!”

It hurts.

It hurts too much to be human.

As Jo Gul clutched his jaw and began rolling around on the floor, Cheong-myeong clicked his tongue.

“Tsk tsk. Look at the dramatics.”

Jo Gul rolled his eyes back.

Dramatics? This is dramatics?

For a moment, he thought his jaw had disappeared!

“Stop being dramatic and get up quickly. My love for you, my dear martial brother, is still overflowing.”

If he felt that damned affection two more times, he would turn a person to dust, that crazy bastard!

Jo Gul’s eyes widened as he jumped up.

At some point, all the disciples of Mount Hua began to think the same thing.

‘There is no way to escape from that bastard!’

That bastard is more stubborn than a hunting dog and more persistent than words. He will do whatever he wants.

Besides, running away and complaining here won’t make that fist any weaker!

Then?

“Aaaaargh! Just one hit! Let me hit him just once!”

Jo Gul rolled his eyes and charged at Cheong-myeong. The pursuit of blood points had somehow turned into a sparring match, but Cheong-myeong was grinning as if he was happy.

Of course, smiling like that doesn’t make him look good.

How could anyone see a guy who smiles brightly and smashes his martial brother’s head as a human being?

“That’s right, that’s right! You have to charge!”

Baaah!

“Your waist is open!”

Baaah!

“Martial brother! Martial brother!”

“Huh?”

“Your foot is open!”

Crack!

Tears finally welled up in Jo Gul’s eyes.

The instep of his foot, crushed by Cheong-myeong’s foot, was screaming in pain.

“Waist! Waist! Waist! Waist! Waaaist!”

Jo Gul realized that there were so many parts of the human body that could be called the waist.

The words are all the same, but how can he hit every nook and cranny like this?

“Kkeureuk!”

Jo Gul bent over and half lost his mind. Then, Cheong-myeong immediately kicked him away with a clean spinning kick.

Jo Gul’s scream echoed faintly.

“Next!”

Cheong-myeong’s eyes flashed as he searched for his next prey. Yoo Iseol, flinching at that gaze, clenched her sword tightly and said confidently.

“Don’t go easy on me just because I’m a woman…”

Whack!

“Huh? What did you say?”

“…Nothing.”

Yoo Iseol charged at Cheong-myeong with anger in her eyes. Her sword aimed for Cheong-myeong’s neck with sharpness.

She was ready to cut his neck off whether he was a junior or not!

Cheong-myeong smiled happily at the sharp sword.

“Look at that murderous intent.”

Whack!

Dodging Yoo Iseol’s sword, Cheong-myeong began to beat Yoo Iseol’s entire body.

“You seem to misunderstand what it means to be light!”

Whack!

“Taking out the strength isn’t being light. That strength has to move lightly to be light. Even a three-year-old can just swing lightly!”

“Eeeeek!”

Yoo Iseol screamed and thrust her sword. Cheong-myeong’s body seemed to tremble slightly, then he appeared behind her.

“Ura-cha, back!”

Cheong-myeong, who had unleashed twelve consecutive strikes to beat Yoo Iseol’s back, turned his body.

“End!”

Plop!

Yoo Iseol, who had fallen to the floor, twitched and trembled.

“Well, I think we’ve done enough…”

Cheong-myeong smiled as he looked at his martial uncle and martial brothers sprawled on the floor.

“Let’s rest a bit and do it again.”

“Hey, you bastard!”

“Are you even human?”

“Aigoo! Ancestors! What kind of disciple beats his martial brothers like this!”

Those who had fallen suddenly raised their heads and cursed Cheong-myeong with all sorts of words.

“Huh? What? I can’t hear you very well because you’re too weak?”

As Cheong-myeong pretended to put his hand to his ear, the cursing got louder.

And Lee Bo, the manager of the Eunha Merchant Guild, who had been watching the scene, smiled with satisfaction.

‘What a mess.’

Now I know why the young master told me to be careful of Cheong-myeong.