Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 209

“He’s totally crazy, no matter how you look at it,” Baek Cheon said, shaking his head.

Everyone around him agreed.

“Knowing him, this is definitely madness,” Yoon Jong added, his brow furrowed with worry.

“Maybe the spicy food made him lose his mind?” Jo Gul wondered, scratching his head, making others think for a moment.

“He’s a madman,” Yoo Iseol stated firmly, her usual calm voice edged with exasperation.

Baek Cheon stared at Chung Myung, who was standing a short distance away, his eyes wide and confused.

A duel with a Dang Clan elder?

He blinked, trying to process it.

‘Wait a minute,’ he thought, ‘Actually, maybe it’s not *that* crazy for Chung Myung.’

He remembered Chung Myung facing the Shaolin elder in the Sword Tomb.

‘Thinking about it, why is he even still alive?’

“He must have a plan, right?”

“Probably?”

Baek Cheon glanced sideways at Tang Gunak, who was standing next to him.

“Clan Lord Dang.”

“Speak.”

“Was this matter discussed with Chung Myung beforehand?”

Tang Gunak smiled gently.

Baek Cheon nodded at the smile.

“Ah, so you knew…”

“I’m hearing this for the first time.”

“……”

“……”

Tang Gunak elaborated, seeing Baek Cheon looking dazed as if he had been hit.

“What I discussed with the Mount Hua Divine Dragon beforehand is a different matter. I haven’t heard anything about him directly challenging the Council Elder to a duel.”

Baek Cheon smiled contentedly.

That’s our Chung Myung.

Damn it!

“You’ve dueled with Chung Myung directly, so you should have a rough idea of his martial prowess. If Chung Myung and that Council Elder fight, who do you think will win?”

“He’ll be completely beaten.”

“Chung Myung will?”

“No. The Council Elder will.”

“……”

Everyone’s eyes widened.

“Ch, Chung Myung even fought with Clan Lord Dang…”

“Don’t misunderstand. The Mount Hua Divine Dragon is indeed strong. His martial prowess is unbelievable for his age.”

“That’s right.”

“But the Outer Elder is also strong.”

Tang Gunak shook his head.

“The Dang Clan’s real power is the combination of poison and hidden weapons. As you know, I didn’t use poison when fighting the Mount Hua Divine Dragon.”

“Ah…”

“If I only used hidden weapon techniques, it might have been a good match. The Mount Hua Divine Dragon is extraordinarily strong in moving his body and wielding his sword. But the Council Elder specializes in poison techniques. Without a way to stop it, he’ll become a corpse with his entire body blackened before ten seconds pass.”

No, don’t say such terrifying things with such a blank face!

Who is he fighting for right now?

“But Chung Myung even fought with a Shaolin elder…”

“The Council Elder is the Dang Clan’s Supreme Elder.”

“……”

“I’ve heard that the Mount Hua Divine Dragon fought and survived against Shaolin’s Heo Sanja. But Heo Sanja, though a Shaolin elder, is not comparable to the Council Elder. There’s a hierarchy even among elders. To face the Council Elder, even retired Supreme Elders from Shaolin would have to come out.”

Baek Cheon’s face hardened.

Yoon Jong, who had been observing the atmosphere while listening to the conversation, spoke with a slightly urgent voice.

“Then shouldn’t we stop him?”

Baek Cheon bit his lip tightly.

“A martial artist has started a fight with his honor at stake. If we stop it, what will happen to that guy Chung Myung’s honor?”

“Does that guy even care about honor?”

“……”

Huh?

Come to think of it?

Jo Gul grabbed Baek Cheon, who was wavering.

“Hey, Senior Brother. Do you think that guy will listen if we stop him?”

“…That’s true.”

“Damn it.”

In the end, they could only look at Chung Myung with worried faces.

Tang Gunak, who glanced at the Mount Hua disciples, slightly clenched and unclenched his fist inside his sleeve.

‘Friends.’

– Just say it’s my whim.

The Mount Hua Divine Dragon had said that.

He wanted to become friends with the Dang Clan because of a whim.

But…

Tang Gunak chuckled.

‘Can you risk your life on a whim?’

His fist clenched even tighter.

Friends. Friends…

It seemed his thoughts were a bit off.

‘Giving without expecting anything in return is what friends are.’

Tang Gunak’s hand gripped the hidden blade inside his sleeve.

‘I won’t let him die.’

Even if it meant starting a war with the Council.

Dang Wae’s lips twitched.

“Get rid of the Council?”

“Yes.”

“And disappear into the back room?”

“It would be nice if you left the Dang Clan altogether.”

Dang Wae chuckled.

“I thought you were smart, but you’re talking nonsense. I already promised that if Dang Hak loses the duel, I won’t interfere with the Clan Lord. And do you think I can shamelessly raise my head and speak after losing to a brat like you?”

“Yes.”

“…What?”

“I think you would?”

“……”

Chung Myung shrugged.

“Someone who knows shame wouldn’t do that. But…”

And then his head tilted to the side.

“Do you know?”

“…What are you talking about?”

“Do you know what shame is?”

“Y, you bastard!”

Chung Myung laughed mockingly.

“Someone who knows that wouldn’t have brought the situation this far. This time is the same. You’ll probably make all sorts of excuses to interfere again. Why? Because that’s all you have left.”

Flames of anger flared in Dang Wae’s eyes. At the same time, his teeth ground together.

Chung Myung slowly drew his sword.

“If you can’t let go of that handful…”

And pointed it at Dang Wae.

“I’ll cut it off for you. That wrist.”

A chill settled in his eyes as he glared at Dang Wae.

‘Just because you’re old doesn’t mean you’re an adult.’

In fact, Chung Myung didn’t have animosity towards the older members of the sect. In the first place, Chung Myung himself was an old man, and he had already experienced being the greatest elder of the sect.

But these people weren’t adults.

The elders of the sect should take care of their juniors. The moment they suppress their juniors to establish their own authority and engage in petty squabbles, they lose the right to be called elders.

If Dang Bo had seen those guys, he wouldn’t have been as gentle as Chung Myung. He probably would have shed tears of blood and killed them all with his own hands.

Real adults aren’t like that.

The current sect leader of Mount Hua, Hyun Jong. And Hyun Sang, who silently supports him. And Hyun… Ah, let’s think about Hyun Young Elder. Let’s think about it.

And…

‘Sect Leader Brother.’

Now he knew.

How much they thought about, cherished, and loved Mount Hua. Chung Myung was just a nuisance to them. He was old, but what had he done for Mount Hua?

‘Now I know what you meant.’

Dang Bo also regretted that fact.

Dang-oe had always thought he was very important. But now, he had lost everything. His good name was all that was left, and it was worth nothing.

Dang-oe thought, ‘What about Chung Myung?’

Dang-oe sighed, a short puff of air. ‘It’s okay,’ he thought. ‘I have a chance to fix things. This time, things will be different.’

“Okay, then fight me.”

“…I haven’t said I agree to what you want.”

“Then say it now.”

Chung Myung looked around at the crowd. “Tell everyone you are scared to lose to me in front of them. Say you can’t promise anything because you’re afraid. Then I’ll just leave. We don’t need to fight.”

“Ha…”

Dang-oe stepped back.

“Fine. I’ll do what you want. But listen to me…”

Dang-oe’s eyes became cold.

“You will die a very painful death.”

“Oh, scary!”

Chung Myung pretended to shake with fear, then smiled.

“Don’t worry. I’ll finish it quickly for you, so it won’t hurt much.”

No more words were needed. Dang-oe’s smile disappeared instantly. ‘That kid tricked me with his words,’ he thought angrily. Everyone had heard them talking. He could feel the Dang family watching him, their eyes showing they were unhappy and disappointed.

Even if he beat Chung Myung in one move, he couldn’t get back the respect he had lost. ‘This is it,’ he thought. Winning or losing didn’t matter now. Chung Myung would win just by walking away alive. If a young kid didn’t beat an old Dang family member, no one would blame the kid. Dang-oe knew he had already lost.

‘One thing,’ he thought. ‘I have to keep some respect. I am still an elder.’ Then, anger took over. ‘You will die!’

Dang-oe reached into his sleeve and grabbed the poison bottles he had hidden. Using poison in a fight like this might seem too much. But Chung Myung, that Divine Dragon of Mount Hua, had pushed him too far. He had to pay the price.

Dang-oe took out a red bottle. Slowly, he opened it and poured the poison on his hand. Now, every weapon he touched would be covered in deadly poison.

Chung Myung’s face changed slightly. Usually, the best poison experts in the Dang family wore special gloves made of deerskin when they used poison. But Dang-oe was using this deadly poison with his bare hands. This meant he was incredibly skilled with poisons. Chung Myung licked his lips a little.

“Are you ready?”

“I don’t need to get ready to fight you.”

“…You are very arrogant. You will learn that your weak reputation can’t save you.”

“Yeah, yeah, just start already.”

Chung Myung lowered his sword like he didn’t care. It was like he was telling Dang-oe to attack first.

Energy started to flow from Dang-oe’s body. At first, it felt calm, but then it became cold and poisonous. Soon, a wave of poisonous energy was swirling around him.

“You think I was holding back because I wasn’t strong enough. If I wanted to, I could beat even the family leader.”

“Wow…” Chung Myung said softly. His skin started to tingle. The poison in the energy was so strong it was doing this.

Look! The stone floor under Dang-oe’s feet was melting. ‘Poison that can melt stone…’ Chung Myung thought. ‘This is truly terrifying.’

“Get back!”

“Back! Get back now!”

The Dang family members, who had been watching carefully, ran back in fear. Even the Dang family, who were used to poison, were scared of this powerful poison. If they stayed too close, they could get poisoned too.

Dang-oe’s eyes turned black as he watched his family run away.

“Die!”

*Paaaaaah!* Black energy exploded from his hands.

Poison Palm! This Poison Palm was made by mixing poison and energy. It flew towards Chung Myung very fast.

*Whoosh.* Chung Myung easily dodged the Poison Palm, just twisting his body a little. It was too easy to avoid.

“It wouldn’t be fun if I hit you so easily!”

Dang-oe seemed to expect this. He stepped forward and quickly flicked his sleeves to the left and right.

*Swaeeeeeeek!* Tiny needles flew everywhere. These needles were so small you could barely see them, and each one was poisoned. They flew towards Chung Myung. This attack was much more dangerous than Dang-hak’s attack in the last fight. But Chung Myung was not like the person Dang-hak fought before.

“Eetchyaaaaa!”

Chung Myung swung his sword hard from side to side. The wind from the sword pushed back the needles a little. Quickly, he swung his sword again and again. Chung Myung made a small opening in the rain of needles and bravely ran forward.

“That won’t work!”

Chung Myung charged ahead. But Dang-oe watched him with a sad smile.

“You little rat!”

*Puh-uh-uh-uh-uh-ung!* A huge explosion happened, and red dust flew everywhere. In a second, the whole fighting area was covered in dust.

Tang Gunak, who was watching, yelled.

“G-Ghost King’s Decree! Elder! Are you crazy! You’re insane!”

The Mount Hua disciples quickly looked at Tang Gunak. His face was twisted in fear. Ghost King’s Decree. The Dang family had two kinds of poisons. One was like medicine with a cure. The other was made only to kill, with no cure possible.

The Ghost King’s Decree was the second kind. Using it in a fight was like trying to kill someone. Actually, it was worse. To stay a good and honorable family, the Dang family had a rule: never use poisons with no cure against other honorable people. But now, the Elder had broken this rule.

“Stop him! Damn it, pull that crazy old man out of there!”

Tang Gunak shouted, his neck veins sticking out, but no one went near the fighting area. It made sense. The Ghost King’s Decree had no cure. This meant even Dang family members could die if they got poisoned.

“Tsk tsk. Surprising, isn’t it?”

Dang-oe clicked his tongue, watching Tang Gunak’s reaction. ‘It’s too late to get power by being reasonable,’ he thought. ‘Now, I have to use force.’ ‘I should have done this from the start.’

If he had ruled by making people afraid from the beginning, this wouldn’t have happened. He had worried too much about his reputation and what people thought.

“Kid. You were too arrogant.”

He grabbed a handful of sand from his sleeve.

“The Dang family is not just about poison weapons. We are a family of poison. You made a mistake by only thinking about our hidden weapons.”

*Chwaaaaaaak.* He threw the sand across the fighting area. This wasn’t the Soul-Severing Sand that Dang-hak used. This was the Seven Steps Soul-Chasing Sand, made specially by Dang-oe. Like the name says, it was a terrible poison sand that would make your soul leave your body before you could even take seven steps after being poisoned.

“No matter how good a fighter you are, you can’t dodge every tiny bit of dust that flies up, and you can’t block all the sand that falls. You honorable families always underestimate the Dang family. But that’s only because we have been kind to you. If we used real poison without holding back, the Dang family would rule everything.”

Dang-oe smirked. He smiled a little when he saw Chung Myung’s shadow in the dust. He could see Chung Myung kneeling on the ground. If he was left there, he would die.

“That’s not enough.”

Dang-oe grabbed another poison bottle. As soon as he opened it, he used his energy to blow the bottle open. Blue gas sprayed out, mixed with his energy, and flew towards Chung Myung, hitting him.

“This is my last gift to you. It’s called Joyful Smoke. You will feel the pain of hell until you die.”

It was named that because watching someone twist in pain from it was like watching someone jump for joy.

Dang-oe, feeling like he had punished Chung Myung enough, turned his head to Tang Gunak.

“How is it now? Family Leader?”

Tang Gunak’s eyes were red with anger.