Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 217

“Do you see it?”

“Yes, Brother!”

“Look! This huge land! It will all belong to us, brothers!” Jang Ho-chae’s loud voice carried everywhere.

“Here, no annoying government people will bother us, and no silly heroes will cause trouble just for fun. Now, we can finally do what we want!”

“Of course, Brother!”

“Hahaha! By the end of this year, everyone here will know the name Jang Ho-chae! Let’s go, brothers! This place will be famous as where we started!”

“Yes, Brother!”

“Yes, Chief!”

*Sound of a hit!* “Ugh!” Bang Yao grabbed his head and ducked down.

“Thinking about giving up? Thinking this is easy?”

“No! Never! Oh, great Taoist master! Would I ever think of giving up when I’m already half crazy?”

“You’re not thinking of giving up because you’re crazy. You’re thinking of giving up because you want to die.”

“No! Never!” Tears filled Bang Yao’s eyes.

*‘I should have just gone home and farmed the land.’* Ruler of the frontier? *Ruler, my backside! I’ll be beaten to death soon.*”

“Pull like a cow! I said pull like a cow!”

“Yes, Taoist master! I’ll pull like a cow! Moo!” Tears ran down Bang Yao’s face.

“Ugh…” Bang Yao groaned, rubbing his sore arms and legs. Since Chung Myung and his group caught them, their days were now very simple, but very hard.

From morning until night, they pulled heavy carts like animals. When it got too dark to walk anymore, they had to help set up camp for the others. Only then did they get a very short rest.”

“C-Chief, it’s too hard.”

“Waaah… I think I’m really going to die.”

“Dying would be better than this.” His thin and tired men started to cry, tears running down their faces. Bang Yao’s eyes also started to water.”

*‘How did I get caught by these people?’* They were bandits.

And not just any bandits, but Jang Ho-chae’s gang, known everywhere outside Sichuan. People said they were like death itself.

But Bang Yao, Jang Ho-chae’s second-in-command, now knew something very clearly: the world was huge, and there were people even scarier than them, people who really deserved to be called ‘death’.

“…Is the youngest still… gone?”

“…I don’t think he’ll ever be normal again.” Bang Yao looked at the youngest man. He was staring into nothing in the corner, mouth open. Bang Yao closed his eyes sadly. Spit ran down the young man’s chin. He used to be quite good-looking.

“…He’ll be like this… stupid… forever?”

“Looks like it.”

“Ugh…”

Young people are usually brave. Gongso, the youngest, had shown his bravery by arguing with that Taoist, Chung Myung.

But he paid a terrible price.

Chung Myung smiled gently as he watched Gongso shout angrily.

Then, he said, “Heh heh. Listen to the little puppy bark.”

Bang Yao would never forget that voice.

Right after those words, Chung Myung, still sitting on the cart, kicked Gongso hard in the head with his heel.

And Gongso had been like this ever since.

Bang Yao wasn’t sure if Gongso would ever be able to eat a bowl of rice by himself again.”

After Gongso became like that, no one complained anymore, even if their feet were covered in blisters and their arms and legs felt like they would break.

But actually… what *they* were going through wasn’t even the worst part.”

*Sound of bodies falling.* *Thud. Thud!* “Ugh…”

“…” Bang Yao stared in shock as the Mount Hua disciples fell to the ground in front of him.

They looked completely worn out after only one hour of training. Seeing them like this, Bang Yao suddenly felt like he couldn’t complain about his own hard work anymore.”

Just then, Bang Yao saw one person still standing.

“If you’re training, you should be able to last longer each time! Why are you all still collapsing so quickly? Try harder! Try harder!” Bang Yao stared blankly at Jo Gul, who was shaking on the ground.”

“…” He couldn’t quite remember, but he thought Jo Gul was the one who had beaten them badly at the start.

And now, Jo Gul was being yelled at and kicked around by that young Chung Myung, dust flying everywhere.”

*‘What was that? Get strong here and then go to the Central Plains?’* Remembering his Chief’s words, Bang Yao felt his face get hot.

Central Plains? Central Plaaaaains?

*‘That crazy fool!’* How could they even think about the Central Plains when it was full of madmen like these! Before they even got close to the Central Plains, they would probably be killed!”

Just then, Chung Myung turned his head a little.

“Oh? Still got energy to watch us?” The bandits quickly looked down.

“Tsk tsk tsk. And they call themselves humans.” Chung Myung clicked his tongue and walked away. As soon as he was gone, the Mount Hua disciples, who had been lying flat on the ground, slowly pushed themselves up.”

“Ugh…” Jo Gul shivered.

“Why doesn’t a ghost just take him away!”

“…Even ghosts must be afraid of him.”

“Ugh!” Jo Gul sighed and helped Yoon Jong stand up.

“Senior Brother, wake up.”

“Wh-where am I?”

“…Forget it. Just rest.” Even while feeling terrible, Jo Gul still looked after his friends.

Baek Cheon sighed and said, “Let’s quickly wash and get ready for the night. Then we can at least sleep a little.”

“I’m going to practice what I learned today a bit more.”

“Are you really okay?”

“I can sleep on the cart tomorrow. I feel bad for the horses, but not for those bandits.”

“Hmm, you’re right.” The Mount Hua disciples looked at the bandits.

Bang Yao quickly closed his eyes when they looked at him.

*‘Worthless things, not even dogs would want them.’* The Mount Hua disciples whispered to each other and walked away. The bandits watched them go and then all sighed together.”

“Brother.”

“What?”

“If we ever get out of this alive, let’s never go anywhere near the Central Plains again.”

“…Yes, let’s promise that.” How could they ever win against anyone from the Central Plains when even these young people, who were stronger than them, trained so hard they coughed up blood?

*‘Is the Central Plains full of monsters like that?’* The Mount Hua disciples had accidentally made the bandits think something very wrong about the Central Plains.”

“Ugh…”

“Ugh…”

“Ugh…” The cart, pulled by tired people, moved slowly down the road.

People who saw this strange sight stopped and stared, heads tilted in confusion.

“What’s happening? Why are people pulling the cart? Why are the horses just walking behind?”

“Heh, I’m old, but I’ve never seen anything so weird.”

“Must be a traveling group from Sichuan, maybe?””

Bangyo squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ignore the stares.

As they went deeper into Yunnan, past the border, they saw more and more people. Everyone they met was curious and gathered around their carts.

“What are you looking at?”

Bangyo glared. He couldn’t help it. He was tired of being stared at.

Before, people would have run away if he glared, scared. But now, they just stood and stared, like they were watching something amazing. It was infuriating.

Of course, Chung Myung wouldn’t let it go.

Thwack!

Bangyo’s eyes went wide as the stick hit his head. “Ugh!”

“Who does a kid like you think you are, glaring at people like that?”

“Ugh…”

“Tsk tsk. I’m getting soft. Long ago, I would have taught you a lesson right away for looking at me like that.”

Chung Myung clicked his tongue and looked around. From the cart behind, Baek Cheon spoke softly.

“We are really in Yunnan now.”

“Mm.”

Chung Myung nodded.

“Are there always this many mountains here?”

The first thing you saw in Yunnan was how empty and dry it was, even more than they thought.

“Just mountains and fields everywhere. I see why the government doesn’t care much about Yunnan.”

Baek Cheon frowned.

“And we still haven’t seen any sign of the Beast Palace.”

“Even if the Beast Palace is as strong as Shaolin Temple, they can’t guard all of Yunnan. It’s too big.”

Baek Cheon nodded.

He had heard so much about the Beast Palace ruling Yunnan, he had expected to be stopped at a checkpoint as soon as they entered.

Thinking about it, it seemed unlikely the Beast Palace, which was far inside Yunnan, would come to guard places so far away.

Gwak Gyung, who was listening, spoke carefully.

“They control the area around Kunming, where they sell tea. Sometimes they go to other places, but not much.”

“But aren’t you being a bit too cautious for that?”

“I must be cautious.”

Gwak Gyung lowered his voice slightly.

“In Yunnan, the Beast Palace is even stronger than the Tang family in Sichuan. That means anyone we meet could be telling the Beast Palace about us. They probably already know we are in Yunnan.”

Baek Cheon looked around, his eyes narrowed.

The idea that everyone could be spies for the Beast Palace made him feel even more watchful.

“The people don’t seem to be doing very well either, do they?”

Chung Myung added to Baek Cheon’s words.

It was true. Everyone they saw looked like they were starving. Their clothes were ripped and old, and through the holes, you could see they were just skin and bones.

“Yunnan is not good for growing food. There isn’t much land to farm. You saw those fields cut into the mountains on the way here, right?”

“Yes.”

“There isn’t much farmland, so they farm like that in many places. But recently, there’s been a drought, making the situation even worse.”

Gwak Gyung shook his head.

“Before, money from selling tea went around Yunnan, so life was okay. But now they can’t even sell tea… If they don’t get enough food from their farms, everyone will starve.”

Hearing that, Baek Cheon tilted his head.

“Didn’t you say they were trading with the Western Regions?”

“Actually, people in the West don’t like tea that much. No one loves tea like people in the Central Plains. And the tea they like is different from Yunnan tea.”

Baek Cheon nodded, as if finally understanding.

“So, stopping trade with the Central Plains has hurt Yunnan.”

“It’s not just Yunnan. Sichuan is also in big trouble. Merchants in Sichuan used to be as rich as the biggest traders in the Central Plains, but now they are struggling. But at least tea isn’t food, so they are not starving.”

“Mm.”

Baek Cheon looked at the people with a complicated expression.

“We’ll arrive in Kunming soon. If we can get there without any trouble, our mission will be complete.”

Baek Cheon clasped his hands towards Gwak Gyung.

“Thank you again.”

“Save your thanks until we arrive safely.”

Gwak Gyung gave a good-natured smile.

They kept traveling. Like Gwak Gyung said, the Mount Hua disciples stayed watchful and looked around.

All they saw was a rough road and barren land, and nothing significant happened.

“Uraaaah!”

“Aaaaargh!”

The bandits, pulling the cart like oxen, moved faster than anyone thought. They arrived three times faster than expected.

“That’s Kunming.”

Chung Myung frowned, looking at the old, broken walls around the city.

“It feels more like a village than a city.”

“Yunnan cities are not like those in the Central Plains with big walls. They can’t grow enough food to have many people living close together.”

“Ah.”

Chung Myung nodded.

“Anyway, thank you. We arrived safely thanks to you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The Mount Hua disciples said goodbye to Gwak Gyung and the merchants, who were going to buy tea. Gwak Gyung reminded them of a few things and then quickly left.

Chung Myung turned around and muttered.

“Now, the problem is these guys.”

The bandits jumped and looked down when Chung Myung looked at them.

‘Look innocent! Look innocent!’ they thought.

‘Make the saddest face you can!’

Chung Myung glanced at Baek Cheon. Baek Cheon seemed to consider it for a moment before opening his mouth.

“Should we let them go?”

“Huh? Let them go?”

“Yes. They did bad things, but they suffered on the way here… and they look like they are sorry. I think we should let them go free.”

Chung Myung nodded vigorously.

“Kuh. You’re telling me to show mercy. That’s why I like you, Grand Uncle.”

“Don’t say weird things.”

Chung Myung smiled and turned to the bandits.

“He says we should release you.”

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

“We’ll live honestly from now on! Sob sob!”

“We’ll never be bandits again.”

Chung Myung chuckled.

“But you know what I think?”

“Yes?”

“People often do the opposite of what you tell them to do.”

Suddenly, Chung Myung’s hand flashed out, fast as lightning.

Tap tap tap!

He quickly hit the bandits in their stomachs.

“Ugh!”

“Aaaargh!”

The bandits, struck in their lower abdomen, rolled on the ground. Chung Myung grinned at them.

“I will let you go. Have fun here. I’ve put a block on your energy points, so you can’t use your fighting skills anymore unless I come back.”

“Or you can run away and live like normal people. Do whatever you want.”

Chung Myung turned around.

And without a second glance, he walked towards Kunming.

Yoon Jong followed beside him.

“Why did you keep them?”

“Who’s going to pull the cart on the way back?”

“They’re better than horses.”

Chung Myung shrugged.

“And we can also attack the bandits’ hideout on the way back. They must have stolen a lot of stuff.”

Yoon Jong promised himself he would never argue with Chung Myung again.