Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 285

Baek Sang frowned, looking at Chung Myung in the moonlight. “What do you mean, ‘someone like me’? Are you talking about my personality?”

Chung Myung shrugged, a small smile playing on his lips. “It’s funny, isn’t it? We both feel like we don’t have much talent.”

Baek Sang’s eyes narrowed. “You little…”

Chung Myung just grinned, taking another sip of his drink.

“He was shy and not good with a sword,” Chung Myung said.

Baek Sang didn’t say anything.

“That’s Mu-Pae. The others always showed off their strength, so he was often ignored by the older students. It wasn’t exactly bullying, but the senior always made him feel small.”

“So, the senior was just a jerk, right? It’s not about Mu-Pae?” Baek Sang asked.

“You little…” Chung Myung started.

“Huh?”

“Never mind,” Chung Myung said.

Baek Sang thought Chung Myung was trembling, but he seemed confused.

“Anyway,” Chung Myung cleared his throat and continued, “If you don’t have much talent, others will get ahead of you even if you try just as hard. I think he felt that way too.”

Baek Sang nodded quietly. That was exactly how he felt. It wasn’t quite envy, but he couldn’t shake off the regret and emptiness.

“He was weak and had to learn everything by thinking, not by natural skill. If he were normal, he would have given up many times. So, what do you think he did?”

“Are you saying he tried hard? That he overcame it by working as hard as he could?” Baek Sang asked.

“No,” Chung Myung said, shaking his head. “He just kept going.”

Baek Sang was silent.

“For a hundred days, a thousand days, ten thousand days, he just kept going, doing what he had to do. After many years, no one could ignore him. He became one of the most important people in the sect.”

Baek Sang frowned. “Even though he wasn’t strong?”

“Why does he have to be strong?” Chung Myung asked, tilting his head. “I’m not saying you should give up on getting stronger, Martial Uncle. But strength doesn’t make you worthy. Is Elder Hyun Young useless in Hwasan?”

“Of course not.”

“Exactly. So why do you think that way?”

Baek Sang bit his lip.

Chung Myung gave him a quick look. “Want me to say something nice? Everyone has different talents, so if you keep working hard, you might pass those who seem more talented. You’re a late bloomer, Martial Uncle.”

“Really?”

“No,” Chung Myung replied.

“You little…?” Baek Sang started to tremble, but Chung Myung just shrugged.

“I told you, it’s just something nice to hear. It might be true, or it might not be. Does it matter?”

Baek Sang didn’t answer.

“Everyone in Kangho wants to be the best. Does that mean those who don’t become the best are worthless?” Chung Myung shook his head. “That’s not it.”

Chung Myung looked up at the night sky. ‘Right?’

He remembered something Cheongjin had said: ‘Senior, I can’t be as strong as you. I’m weaker than you and the other seniors. But that doesn’t mean I’m not important to Hwasan. I’ll become someone Hwasan needs more than anyone else.’

“‘What? I can’t hear you with your weak voice.'”

“‘You son of a…'”

Ah, wrong memory. Chung Myung chuckled. Cheongjin proved his words. He studied Hwasan’s martial arts and understood them better than Chung Myung. He couldn’t use that understanding, but Hwasan never had a better strategist than Cheongjin.

If Chung Myung could go back and save one Hwasan brother, he would choose Cheongjin.

“Huh? Senior Master? Uh… Th, uh… Th… Eh. That guy isn’t very usef… Hey, you…!”

Ah, don’t come out!

Chung Myung shook his head. Before the final battle, Cheongjin disappeared and never returned. If Cheongjin had lived, Hwasan would be different now.

“People’s goals change,” Chung Myung said.

Baek Sang was silent.

“What’s your goal, Martial Uncle? To be the best in the world? Or the best in Hwasan?” Chung Myung asked. Baek Sang sighed, understanding.

“But, Chung Myung,” Baek Sang said.

“Yeah?”

“Isn’t that something you can’t say? You’re achieving your goals. Can you, who has never failed, understand me?”

“No, Martial Uncle,” Chung Myung said.

“Huh?”

“I…” Chung Myung looked up at the sky. “I have never achieved a single goal.”

Chung Myung closed his eyes, looking at the moon. He still dreams sometimes. He dreams of cutting off the Heavenly Demon’s head and returning to Hwasan with his brothers. Sometimes his Senior Master hits him for teasing. Sometimes he beats up his juniors for rebelling. Then they have a drinking party, laughing and chatting. That’s all he needed.

The best in the world? The greatest of all time? What a joke. He wanted to return to Hwasan and live and die with his brothers. He fought in that war for that reason alone, but he never achieved it. Now, he’s just a ghost, barely alive, having failed.

“So what if that’s the case?” Chung Myung asked.

“Huh?”

“You couldn’t do what you wanted. So what? Are you giving up?”

Baek Sang closed his mouth. Chung Myung wasn’t talking to him, but to himself. It was hard to understand, but he could tell.

“People still live on,” Chung Myung said.

Baek Sang was silent.

If something is destroyed, you rebuild it. If you fail, you try again. If you still can’t do it, you just have to live with it. Because that’s life.

Chung Myung stared at the sky with eyes that looked like they had seen too much darkness. Baek Sang was overwhelmed and couldn’t speak. ‘Why is it so heavy?’ He thought. There’s no weight in Chung Myung’s life, but Baek Sang felt a strange ache.

He didn’t really know what Chung Myung was talking about. Baek Sang knew his feelings wouldn’t be resolved by a few words. However, his stomach felt a little more comfortable. Was it the alcohol? Or…?

“Chung Myung,” Baek Sang said.

“Yeah?”

Baek Sang stared at Chung Myung. “Let me ask you something.”

“What?”

“Am I needed in the Hwasan you’re trying to create?”

Chung Myung blinked and tilted his head. “Do you really have to ask that?”

“You little…?” No, did he have to make people feel this way? Just say yes!

“Martial Uncle,” Chung Myung said.

“Yeah?”

“Doing things together because you need each other isn’t family. It’s nothing.”

Baek Sang didn’t speak.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re useless. As long as you’re from Hwasan, you’ll always be my Martial Uncle.”

Baek Sang was silent.

“Isn’t that enough?”

Baek Sang laughed. ‘That’s not what I wanted to hear,’ he thought. He wanted to hear that he was needed. But all he could get was a moment’s comfort.

“Yeah. That’s enough,” Baek Sang said, drinking his liquor. It burned his stomach, but his stomach was comfortable. In that strange feeling, Baek Sang glanced at Chung Myung. ‘A strange guy,’ he thought.

Sometimes he’s like a thug, but other times he’s very deep. He was unpredictable and hard to understand. That’s why Baek Sang didn’t like Chung Myung. People don’t like those who are too different. But right now, he didn’t dislike Chung Myung.

“Chung Myung,” Baek Sang said.

“Yeah?”

“Will Hwasan become stronger?”

“Of course.”

“Then will there be a place for me in the Hwasan you create?”

“You’re talking nonsense again,” Chung Myung chuckled. “You’re the one who makes Hwasan strong, Martial Uncle. You have to create that place.”

“I see,” Baek Sang said. ‘My place.’

Baek Sang nodded. “Okay, I understand.”

Chung Myung glanced at Baek Sang. He looked determined. The hesitation was gone. Chung Myung smiled. “Another bottle?”

“No,” Baek Sang said, shaking his head. “I can’t drink two bottles and not get caught. The sun will rise soon, so I should go back.”

“That’s too bad.”

“I’m not saying let’s go together. Finish your drink and come in before you get caught.”

“Aren’t you going to tell on me?”

“I’m not that disloyal, you idiot,” Baek Sang said, dusting himself off and getting up. He walked towards Shaolin.

Chung Myung took out another bottle. “Chung Myung,” Baek Sang called.

“Yeah?”

Baek Sang looked back. “Thank you.”

Chung Myung didn’t say anything.

“You damned nephew,” Baek Sang smiled and waved, then ran away. Chung Myung watched him, then looked at the sky and lay down. “Aigo. Senior Master,” he sighed. “There’s too much to do.”

“‘It wouldn’t have been hard without you, you bastard!'”

“You can say that again. I’m regretting it. I should have listened more,” Chung Myung said. He smiled. “But it was good, wasn’t it? It was fun. Back then.”

Chung Myung closed his eyes. The current Hwasan made him proud. The Sect Leader was kind, and the elders cared for their disciples. The Unja generation was strict but kind, the Baekja generation was slightly lacking but kind, and the Cheongja generation was good.

He loved the current Hwasan. However… “Senior. I miss you,” he whispered. He missed the time he couldn’t go back to.

“Don’t make fun of me for being weak. Don’t scold me for being old. Still, you’re with your juniors. I should have been there too.”

“I know, Senior Master. I have to do it. I have to rebuild Hwasan. That’s the only way you and my juniors won’t be sad. This is always my job. Doing what you and my juniors can’t do. That’s my job.”

Chung Myung grabbed the bottle. “But sometimes I just…” He took a sip and closed his eyes. The alcohol filled his mouth. “Sometimes I just want to whine. Please understand. Am I not a person too?”

Even now, he remembered his Senior Master yelling, Cheongjin laughing, and Cheonggong muttering. And he remembered his juniors chattering. Even if he drank alone, he didn’t get drunk, only his longing deepened.

Until the moon disappeared and the sun rose, Chung Myung looked at the sky and drank.