Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 202

“If we think of the Central Plains like a giant game board, the way to get out of trouble isn’t to look inside, but to look outside. Making allies within won’t change the big picture.”

“Do you think Mount Hua is that valuable? Mount Hua, which isn’t even one of the Nine Sects anymore?”

“It’s valuable precisely because it isn’t one of the Nine Sects. If Mount Hua was still a powerful sect, would we risk allying with the Tang Family? We would be seen as challenging the other powerful sects.”

Tang Gun-ak’s eyebrows rose slightly, a flicker of confusion in his usually sharp eyes as he looked at Chung Myung. The flickering candlelight in the room danced across his face, making his bewilderment seem even more pronounced.

Even if it were true, people usually didn’t say such things out loud, especially in front of the Tang Family Head.

“Let’s drop the act. I don’t like talking indirectly. The Tang Family Head is trying to keep the Nine Sects in check, who are putting pressure on the Tang Family, by using Mount Hua, right? That’s your real goal.”

“…”

“If people hear that the Tang Family and Mount Hua are allies, the other sects will have to pay attention to Mount Hua. This will put less pressure on the Tang Family, but more pressure on Mount Hua.”

A sigh escaped Tang Gun-ak’s lips. This boy is sharper than I expected, he thought, a hint of respect now mixing with his initial amusement.

Tang Gun-ak straightened in his seat, the silk of his robes rustling softly. His playful smile vanished, replaced by a serious expression that hardened his features. He leaned forward, his gaze now fixed intently on Chung Myung.

“I seem to have misjudged you.”

“How did you see me?”

“Just a young pup strong in martial arts.”

“…”

“I’ll change that to a young pup who is also clever.”

Tang Bo.

Tang Bo, you little rascal, Chung Myung thought with a silent grin. He’s probably hiding somewhere, enjoying this whole thing. A mischievous glint entered Chung Myung’s eyes as he imagined Tang Bo watching from the shadows, pleased with his descendant’s cleverness.

Whether he knew Chung Myung’s thoughts or not, Tang Gun-ak simply stared at him silently.

Just what is this fellow? Tang Gun-ak wondered, a knot of unease tightening in his stomach. He was used to controlling conversations, to reading people, but this young man was like reading a closed book, yet somehow, he knew the contents.

Such martial prowess and such deep scheming.

Tang Gun-ak’s assessment of Mount Hua and Chung Myung was revised in his mind. And that revision led to a change in attitude.

“I admit it. That’s what I want.”

Tang Gun-ak readily acknowledged Chung Myung’s words.

Trying to deceive an opponent who could see right through him wasn’t the best strategy. If they couldn’t trust each other, negotiations would only become more difficult. It was better to admit it cleanly and move on.

“So, Mount Hua’s thoughts are different?”

“No. There’s nothing different. However…”

“However?”

“The Tang Family gains more freedom as a result of the alliance, while Mount Hua has to endure a close watch, so it’s unfair.”

“Hmm…”

“We want a fair price. Not a price given as a favor, but a just price.”

Chung Myung looked at Tang Gun-ak with a composed gaze.

“That’s what a proper negotiation is.”

“Hmm. I see. Then I…”

Before Tang Gun-ak could finish speaking, Chung Myung cut him off.

“Ah, before that.”

“Hmm?”

The smile vanished from Chung Myung’s face.

“Let’s make one thing clear. This isn’t the Tang Family doing Mount Hua a favor, but Mount Hua granting a request from the Tang Family.”

“…”

“So, put away that acting like you are better. I’m representing Mount Hua right now.”

Tang Gun-ak’s face hardened in an instant at Chung Myung’s strong words.

In that brief moment, Tang Gun-ak’s expression changed several times. But the words that came out at the end of that change weren’t forceful.

“It seems I’ve made a mistake.”

Tang Gun-ak rose from his seat and clasped his hands in respect to Chung Myung.

“Tang Gun-ak, the head of the Sichuan Tang Family, apologizes to Chung Myung, the Taoist of Mount Hua.”

“I accept that apology.”

Chung Myung clasped his hands in return and smiled faintly.

The two, now seated again, stared at each other in silence.

Their outward appearances hadn’t changed from the beginning, but their inner thoughts were completely different.

“What must the Tang Family do for Mount Hua to take our hand?”

“Three things.”

“Three things?”

“The first is weapons.”

Tang Gun-ak’s face stiffened.

“The Tang Family’s poisons and hidden weapons cannot leave the family under any circumstances. If you want the Tang Family’s hidden weapons, this negotiation is off.”

“Not hidden weapons. Mount Hua has no use for hidden weapons.”

“Then?”

Chung Myung silently drew the sword at his waist.

Chung Myung drew his sword. The metal was dull, scratched and worn, a stark contrast to the polished weapons one might expect in the Tang Family estate. The plum blossom engravings were barely visible, faded with time and use.

Drawing a sword in front of the Tang Family Head without permission was an extremely rude act, but Tang Gun-ak guessed there was a reason behind it and watched quietly.

“Do you see it?”

“Hmm.”

The plum blossom sword that Chung Myung drew was completely shattered.

“The quality isn’t good.”

“I was being reckless, but it wasn’t a very good sword to begin with. It can’t be helped. Mount Hua didn’t have any money. Now we have money, but it’s difficult to find a blacksmith who can make good swords in large quantities.”

“Those places would already be occupied by other sects.”

“Yes. But here, you have the best blacksmiths in the Central Plains. Making swords is as easy as pie for them.”

“Hmm. Doesn’t the saying go that a skilled calligrapher doesn’t blame his brush?”

“Nonsense. If you go to the homes of skilled calligraphers, they’ll have over a hundred brushes.”

“Haha. That’s true.”

Tang Gun-ak nodded.

The Tang Family possessed the best artisans in the world and spared no investment in creating good weapons. Therefore, he didn’t dislike Chung Myung’s words, which acknowledged the importance of weapons.

“Saying that you can show your skills even with a bad sword doesn’t mean there’s no difference between a good sword and a bad sword. I’ve heard that the Tang Family’s forging techniques are the best in the world. It would be great if the Tang Family could make plum blossom swords and supply them to Mount Hua.”

“I accept. It’s not a difficult task.”

Considering the Tang Family’s capabilities, making swords for the reduced Mount Hua was as easy as pie.

So, something bigger would come next.

“The second is?”

“Pass on one of your techniques.”

Tang Gun-ak frowned again.

“You seem to know a lot, yet you keep making unreasonable requests. The Tang Family’s secrets can only be passed down to blood relatives.”

“You keep making me repeat myself. Not a secret technique.”

“Hmm? Then?”

A technique that wasn’t a Tang Family secret? Did the Tang Family have such a thing?

Receiving Tang Gun-ak’s questioning gaze, Chung Myung silently took off his upper garment.

“…”

And he began to unwrap the bandages wrapped around his stomach.

“Hmm.”

Only a slight redness remained where the wound had been. The wound from the throwing knife had completely healed in just three days.

“That’s an incredible recovery rate.”

“The medical skills are good.”

“…Could it be you?”

“Yes. What I want is the Tang Family’s medical skills.”

“…”

Tang Gun-ak’s expression became strange.

The Tang Family’s medical skills?

Of course, it couldn’t be said to be a Tang Family secret. The Tang Family’s true secrets were poison and hidden weapon techniques.

But it wasn’t something that could be easily passed on either. There was no example before.

“Why are you interested in that? No one has ever tried to learn the Tang Family’s medical skills before.”

“Because I need them.”

Chung Myung shrugged.

As Tang Gun-ak said, the Tang Family’s medical skills weren’t particularly valuable. It was impossible to open a clinic with only the Tang Family’s medical skills.

The reason?

Simple. Because it couldn’t cure diseases. The Tang Family’s medical skills only focused on external and internal injuries.

Think about it.

What reason would someone who wasn’t a martial artist have to suffer external injuries, be poisoned, or suffer severe internal injuries? If you opened a clinic just for that, you’d end up waiting for someone to get hurt before you had to take down your sign.

However.

‘Mount Hua needs it.’

Tang Bo had told him in a dream.

How important medical skills were.

He hadn’t listened to Tang Bo properly either. He thought it was better to get stronger in that time, rather than preparing for injuries with medical skills. Because if he got stronger, he wouldn’t get injured.

But what was the reality that Chung Myung faced then?

Everyone died.

If Chung Myung had known the Tang Family’s medical skills back then, he might have been able to save at least a few people. But all Chung Myung knew at the time was how to inject internal energy, at best.

‘Can you reattach body parts cut off with internal energy?’

Tang Gun-ak listened to Chung Myung’s request, his face becoming stiff. “That’s absurd.”

If Chung Myung had known more about medicine back then, Tang Bo might not have died. I can’t forget Tang Bo’s face as he held my hand, a sword stuck in his chest, entrusting the Tang family to me.

I didn’t want the disciples of Mount Hua to experience such a painful thing.

That feeling of being helpless and sad was too hard to live with.

“Please pass on the Tang family’s medical skills to Mount Hua. Then, people will naturally come and go, and our friendship will grow stronger.”

“Hmm. That won’t be easy. I have to persuade the Council of Elders as well.”

“That’s why I included it as a condition.”

Tang Gun-ak narrowed his brow. It certainly wouldn’t be easy. But…

“I will push it through somehow.”

If that was the price for gaining Mount Hua’s support, he could give it. No, he had to give it to gain Mount Hua.

“I can handle this much. But after hearing this far, I’m afraid to hear the last, third condition. It must be the biggest one?”

“Yes. It is the biggest.”

“What is it?”

Chung Myung took a slight deep breath and, looking straight at Tang Gun-ak, he spoke. This wasn’t Mount Hua’s request. This alone was Chung Myung’s request.

“Please think of Mount Hua as a friend.”

“Isn’t that obvious? We are an alliance…”

“Not an alliance, but a friend.”

“⋯⋯.”

Chung Myung’s voice was utterly resolute.

“Not an alliance that can be discarded at any time depending on conditions and circumstances, but a friend who can offer a hand when things are difficult. That’s the kind of relationship I want.”

It was a meaningless statement. It wasn’t something you could promise and expect to keep. Of course, Chung Myung was well aware of that fact. Even so, he couldn’t help but say it.

“I don’t really understand,” Tang Gun-ak said honestly, his brow furrowed. “Everything you’ve asked for until now made sense. But this… wanting to be friends? It doesn’t seem to have a reason. Am I missing something important?”

“No,” Chung Myung replied simply.

“Then why ask for it?” Tang Gun-ak leaned forward slightly, curious.

“Well…” Chung Myung paused, closing his eyes for a moment. *Master, don’t make that face!* a voice echoed in his memory. *You rotten bastard.* He opened his eyes again, a small smile playing on his lips, and shrugged. “Let’s just say it’s just something I felt like asking for.”

“A whim, you say…” Tang Gun-ak opened his mouth with a stiff face.

“Do you know?”

“Know what?”

“There have been countless people who have wanted to be with the Tang family.”

That would be the case. The Tang family was the overlord of Sichuan.

“But no one has ever said they wanted to be friends with the Tang family. It’s a very interesting thing to say.”

“So, what’s your answer?”

“Answer, you say…” The corner of Tang Gun-ak’s lips curled up.

“We don’t know how to treat friends.”

“⋯⋯.”

“So, I hope Mount Hua will teach us. What a friend is, that is.”

Chung Myung grinned.

“It’s not a difficult thing.”

“That would be good.”

Tang Gun-ak nodded with a smile.

*How embarrassing.*

Friend. A friend, he thought. It was an unimaginable thing. But that childish word tickled Tang Gun-ak’s heart. Even more so because it came from the mouth of the most inscrutable person Tang Gun-ak had ever seen.

“I accept the three conditions.”

“Yes. Then.”

“I’ll consider the alliance between the Tang family and Mount Hua to be concluded with this. Now, the problem is whether Mount Hua will accept this negotiation.”

“I’ll write a letter for you, so send it to Mount Hua with your seal. That should do it.”

“Does your influence in Mount Hua reach that level?”

“No. It’s more like…”

“Hmm?”

Chung Myung said with a strange expression.

“The sect leader and the elders are so resentful of being alienated and ignored… If they know the Tang family’s situation, they’ll welcome you with tears in their eyes.”

“⋯⋯.”

Tang Gun-ak’s cheeks twitched. To think that the Tang family of all people was being treated like a punching bag…

“Anyway, I understand. Then with this…”

“Where are you going?”

Tang Gun-ak, who was about to get up from his seat, flinched and looked at Chung Myung.

“Is there anything else to say? If we want to handle things quickly, we need to move right now.”

“We need to negotiate.”

“Wait, didn’t we just finish negotiating?”

“Oh, come on. That was the negotiation with Mount Hua.”

Chung Myung’s finger poked somewhere.

“What about this?”

The wound. Chung Myung’s finger touched the wound, which now only had a red tinge left.

Tang Gun-ak’s eyes trembled.

“Di-Didn’t I give you the Cheondokdan!”

“Hey! This is a big problem! You’re trying to gloss over a near-death experience with just one elixir! People come first, then elixirs! Did elixirs come before people?”

“⋯⋯.”

“I survived because it was me! I did! Anyone else would have died! But you’re just going to throw me that Cheondokdan or whatever and wipe your mouth clean?”

“N-No…”

“Tsk. The Tang family’s way of treating friends is so heartless. You acted like you’d give me everything, but tsk tsk tsk. No wonder you don’t have any friends, no wonder! A person has to have integrity!”

Tang Gun-ak’s face turned bright red.

“What do you want?”

“Can I say it?”

“I can’t stand the thought of the Tang family being called untrustworthy! Go on, say it! What do you want?”

“Oh, really?” Chung Myung’s eyes sparkled.

“It’s not that big of a deal…”

“Say it.”

“No. It’s not something to be said with words.”

“⋯⋯Huh?”

Chung Myung rummaged through the top he had taken off.

“Let’s see. It was here… Ah! Here it is.”

Huh? What is that? A book?

Chung Myung smiled brightly as he handed the book he took out of his clothes to Tang Gun-ak.

“It would take too long to explain with words, so I’ve organized it in advance.”

“⋯⋯.”

“Hehe. You don’t have to praise me for being well-prepared. This is basic. It’s easier for both of us.”

“⋯⋯.”

Tang Gun-ak realized anew. Words can make people angry. And that anger grew when he was with this tricky person.

A short while later, the Tang family members who saw Tang Gun-ak coming out of his residence whispered, ‘The head of the family was wandering around with a blank look on his face that we’ve never seen before.’