Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 34

“Grand Senior Brother! Yoon Jong, have you heard?!” Jo Gul burst into the room, breathless.

Yoon Jong looked up calmly from his sword practice. “Heard what? What’s all the commotion?”

“The rumor! It’s everywhere! Haven’t you heard anything?” Jo Gul’s voice was high with excitement.

Yoon Jong wiped sweat from his brow. “Rumors travel like wind. I’ve heard whispers.”

He spoke casually, but Jo Gul just bounced on the balls of his feet, even more worked up.

“The merchants of Hwaeum, who owed Mount Hua money, were actually working for us. Their businesses are all secretly Mount Hua’s,” Jo Gul said.

“So I’ve heard,” Yoon Jong replied.

“Hwaeum is in chaos! Soldiers have taken over and are seizing everything.”

“I heard that too.”

“Oh, Grand Senior Brother! Why are you so calm? Honestly! Talking to someone becoming a Taoist is pointless!” Jo Gul thumped his chest in frustration.

“Is it really such a big deal?” Yoon Jong asked.

“A big deal? It’s huge! Imagine how much money we’d get if we took everything! We wouldn’t have to worry about money for generations!”

“That much…?” Yoon Jong looked surprised.

Yoon Jong was going to be a Taoist, and he wasn’t used to thinking about money. He realized that Jo Gul, who came from a merchant family, saw things very differently.

“Wow, this *is* a bigger deal than I realized,” Yoon Jong admitted.

“Oh, Senior Brother! You’ll lead Mount Hua someday, but you’re terrible with money. It’ll be a disaster!”

“Hmm, I’ll remember that.”

Yoon Jong had heard the rumors, but he didn’t think it was a big deal. He thought they would just avoid paying debt. Now, it seemed much bigger.

He started to wonder. “But how did this happen so suddenly? Why did the Sect Leader put up with this for so long?”

“That’s…” Jo Gul hesitated.

“Hm?”

“They said they found the ledger this time.”

“Ledger?”

“Yes, the one about Mount Hua’s businesses. They found it a few days ago and used it to crack down on those guys…” Jo Gul trailed off, looking awkward.

Yoon Jong understood why. “A few days ago, you say?”

“Yes.”

“The ledger was found a few days ago. And it was a book, right?”

“Probably.”

Yoon Jong laughed in disbelief. “We saw a book being discovered a few days ago, didn’t we?”

“…That’s right.”

Jo Gul and Yoon Jong exchanged glances, unable to say more.

‘That chest.’ ‘There was definitely a book inside.’

It was too much of a coincidence. And the Sect Leader’s reaction after seeing the chest was hard to forget.

“I want to say it’s a coincidence, but…”

“I feel the same way.” Jo Gul and Yoon Jong looked worried.

“Besides, that guy’s acting was…”

“It was *painfully* obvious.”

– Ouch! What’s this? A rock here?

– Oh, my goodness! It’s not a rock! Who buried something like this here? How strange? Hehehe. How very strange.

– Should I dig it up? Would it be alright if I dug it up? Hahaha. Haha. To think something like this is buried here. What a strange thing. It can’t be treasure.

Yoon Jong squeezed his eyes shut. ‘Even if I wanted to pretend to believe him, he has to make it believable. Blast it!’

He couldn’t forget that awkward voice. Even a child would think, ‘This guy is up to something.’

And the chest that appeared after that pathetic acting…

“Could it be?”

“Probably?” Jo Gul and Yoon Jong looked serious.

“Where did he find something like that?”

“…The more I know him, the less I understand him.”

“Keuh.” Yoon Jong shook his head.

There were too many suspicious things. It felt like they were stumbling over them at every turn.

But Yoon Jong didn’t distrust Chung Myung completely because he knew Chung Myung cared about Mount Hua.

This was the same. Thanks to Chung Myung finding those ledgers, Mount Hua was making a lot of money.

“Anyway…” Just then…

“Grand Senior Brother!” A loud voice came from outside.

“What is it?” Yoon Jong asked.

“Have you seen Chung Myung?”

“Why Chung Myung?”

“The Sect Leader is looking for him, but he’s gone. He’s not in his room.”

“…Hmm?” Yoon Jong stopped. His face darkened.

“He’s not there?”

“No, nowhere.”

“No, surely not!” Yoon Jong jumped up and ran to Chung Myung’s room. He threw open the wardrobe.

“Senior Brother! What’s wrong?” Jo Gul shouted, running after him.

“…It’s not here,” Yoon Jong said.

“Yes?”

“It’s not here.” Yoon Jong pointed to the empty wardrobe. Only Chung Myung’s training uniform was inside.

“Huh? He took off his robe and went somewhere…” Jo Gul’s eyes widened.

Taking off his uniform meant he had changed clothes. But his casual clothes were still there. That meant the missing clothes were…

“No, surely not.”

The night clothes and mask that Jo Gul had recently bought for him.

Yoon Jong’s face twisted. “What kind of trouble is he causing now?”

Was Chung Myung a blessing or a disaster for Mount Hua? They couldn’t tell.

Jo Geum-myung stared blankly at the cart. It was piled high with the wealth he had collected.

It was a surprising amount, but Jo Geum-myung felt miserable.

“All in one morning…” It was a complete shock.

When they rushed down from Mount Hua, they found their business taken over by soldiers. They were surrounded and ordered to leave.

When they protested, they were warned that they would be arrested if the Mount Hua Sect Leader hadn’t intervened.

‘What’s going on?’

The ledger must have been real.

Jo Geum-myung felt wronged. How could he know that the Plum Blossom Workshop, run by his family for generations, belonged to Mount Hua? He had simply inherited it.

To have his workshop taken away and be kicked out of Hwaeum in one morning… It was incredibly unfair.

The others looked just as upset.

Seeing the carts gathering, Jo Geum-myung felt his heart break.

“What’s going on?”

“I know, right?” Sighs came from everywhere.

They were being kicked out of Hwaeum, but their families could stay a little longer. They had to leave the aftermath to their families and leave Hwaeum.

“Do we have to leave like this?”

“What else can we do?”

“We should at least protest…”

“Protest?” Jin Yi-san of the Hwayeong Inn glared at Jo Geum-myung with anger.

“Did you see the manager of Chopyeong being dragged away for protesting? We’re swindlers! If the Sect Leader hadn’t been merciful, we’d be in jail! What are you going to argue about?”

Jo Geum-myung’s shoulders drooped. “Damn it!”

Jin Yi-san turned away. “Let’s go!”

“Al, already?”

“Didn’t you hear them say we have an hour before they arrest us? Forget fighting back, we need to leave Hwaeum!”

Jo Geum-myung nodded weakly. The others followed him with dark faces.

They left Hwaeum and stopped the cart in the shade of a tree. They got off and gathered together.

“…This should be far enough.”

“The soldiers seem to be gone. Can we relax now?”

“I wish I could relax.”

“What do we do now?”

Jo Geum-myung looked at Gong Mun-yeon. Gong Mun-yeon hadn’t said a word. Jo Geum-myung felt angry and frustrated.

“Lord Gong!” he said sharply.

“What do we do now?”

The others started to complain too. “Say something!”

“You said we could trust you! What’s going on?!”

“We’re becoming swindlers because we trusted you. How will you fix this?!”

Gong Mun-yeon looked up. His eyes, usually gentle, were now filled with anger.

“Are you blaming me?”

They stepped back, intimidated by his gaze.

“No, it’s not that, but…”

“We need a plan,” someone said.

Gong Mun-yeon raised his voice. “You’re all pathetic.”

Gong Mun-yeon scolded them. “We knew we’d be fighting Mount Hua! Are any of you innocent? You all knew what we were doing!”

No one answered. Some lowered their heads in shame, but most didn’t.

Gong Mun-yeon softened his voice. “There’s no need to panic. We’re just waiting out the storm. This isn’t over.”

“…What are you planning?”

“How could that ledger be real?”

“It must be fake.”

“But, the government office…”

“We paid off the magistrate, right? So, we can change the ledger! We must have agreed to share the money with him!”

“Ah!” The merchants looked up.

“Then?”

“Let’s go to Luoyang. We can pull some strings there. If they’re using power, we’ll use even more power! We’ll punish that magistrate and the Sect Leader of Mount Hua!”

“Ooh!”

“That’s right! How can a ledger from a hundred years ago suddenly appear?!”

“We have to expose those swindlers!” The merchants shouted.

They were all thinking the same thing. It didn’t matter if the ledger was real or fake. If they had enough power, they could make a real ledger look fake.

Then they could get their money back.

Gong Mun-yeon sneered at their reactions.

“So, don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything. Just trust me.”

“We trust you, Lord Gong!”

“We’ve always trusted you! Of course.”

‘Pathetic things,’ Gong Mun-yeon thought.

They were like vermin, but he needed them. It was better to have people who would support him. If he could get them to Luoyang, he could turn things around. He had a powerful backer who could help him…

“What a load of crap.”

An unfamiliar voice spoke. Gong Mun-yeon turned his head sharply.