Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 38

Hwasan hadn’t changed. The wind still blew the same way, and the old buildings remained.

The only difference was the people.

“Hoo!”

Jo Gul quickly took off his sweaty training uniform. Sweat poured from him as he grabbed the uniform he had just taken off. After training hard since dawn, he was soaked, and it was too hot to wear the uniform without changing.

“Ah, today’s training was really tough.”

“Do we really have to do this much training so early?”

Jo Gul smiled sadly as he listened to the others complaining. Around him, his fellow disciples were washing their clothes in the cold stream. Then, they cleaned their sweaty uniforms.

Jo Gul put on the new clothes he had ready and carefully packed away his laundry.

“Let’s go up.”

“Yes, Senior Brother.”

The Azure Dragon disciples picked up their washed uniforms and started climbing Hwasan. Watching them, Jo Gul couldn’t help but think.

‘Things have really changed a lot.’

In the past, this would have been impossible. The Azure Dragon disciples were part of Hwasan, but they didn’t care about learning martial arts. Even Senior Brother Yoon Jong and Jo Gul felt the same way.

But now, everyone chooses to train hard from dawn. They complain, but no one actually rebels.

What should I call this?

‘It really feels like a martial arts school.’

Jo Gul chuckled.

He realized he was only now seeing Hwasan’s Third-Class disciples as a real martial arts school. Did that mean Hwasan wasn’t one until now?

“Why are you laughing like that?”

Hearing the voice, Jo Gul turned his head slightly. Senior Brother Yoon Jong was using his lightness skill, looking back at Jo Gul.

“Ah, Senior Brother… It’s a little embarrassing, but I was just thinking that everyone finally looks like they belong in a martial arts school.”

“Is that so?”

“It’s a bit of a strange thought, though.”

“No. I was thinking the same thing.”

“Haha…”

Jo Gul laughed out loud.

Until recently, Jo Gul couldn’t imagine sweating and training at Hwasan. He did all the training ordered by the White Plum Blossom Hall, but it was just doing what he had to do.

Jo Gul wanted to pass the time and then go down the mountain to return home. Actually, that was probably what everyone else wanted too, not just Jo Gul.

So, how could they be passionate?

But recently, he felt something changing. The other senior and junior brothers also seemed different.

‘It’s all because of that guy.’

Jo Gul’s face changed slightly as he thought of Chung Myung.

Chung Myung was changing Hwasan. It was just a small breeze now, but no one knew if it would stay that way or become a huge storm that would shake Hwasan.

But in the future, it would definitely have an effect.

Jo Gul reached the gates of Hwasan and stretched his shoulders. He felt a sense of pride.

But that pride disappeared in an instant.

“Hey! I told you not to grab it there!”

“Hurry! Hurry! First, bring all the materials inside and then start! Are you deaf?”

“There! If that breaks, you won’t get paid for a month! It was hard enough getting it up here, what are you doing!”

Jo Gul stared at the scene at Hwasan. It was busy and chaotic.

“…”

His eyes darted from left to right.

‘What? Who are these people?’

People he had never seen before were going in and out of the mountain gate, carrying tools and materials he didn’t recognize.

“There. No, not there! Over there!”

He was relieved to see someone he knew. Un Am was standing among the people, giving instructions.

“…Senior Brother?”

Yoon Jong, seeing Jo Gul’s surprise, walked towards Unam, looking confused.

“Martial Uncle.”

“Hmm? Is that Yoon Jong?”

“What is all this?”

“Ah.”

Unam smiled gently.

Normally, he wouldn’t explain everything to Yoon Jong, who was only a Third-Class disciple, but Un Am was in a very good mood. So, he didn’t mind explaining.

“They’re laborers.”

“Laborers?”

“Yes. As you know, the buildings are very old, aren’t they?”

“That’s right.”

They weren’t just old.

They were so old that they were almost falling apart. If the wind blew, something would break and be swept away. The disciples had repaired the places where they lived and trained to keep them standing. But most of the buildings were ignored because there weren’t enough people to take care of them.

“I’m planning to do a major repair this time. And rebuild the mountain gate.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t just stand there, go carry the materials. The laborers seem to have had a hard time bringing them all the way here. Most of the wood can be cut nearby, but some of it doesn’t grow here.”

“Yes?”

“Move it! Hurry!”

Jo Gul watched Un Am shout with a bright smile, his face blank.

The change was coming faster than he thought.

“What’s going on?”

Jo Gul stared at the table, confused.

Carrying the materials had made him very hungry. But when he saw the food on the table, he was more confused than hungry.

“What is this?”

“…Am I dreaming?”

“No matter how I look at it, this seems to be… meat?”

The other senior and junior brothers reacted the same way. They stared at the table.

Something incredible was on the table.

Meat.

“How can something like this happen?”

“Killing living things and tearing apart their bodies is on the holy table!”

“Jackpot!”

“…”

Jo Gul laughed weakly.

Hwasan didn’t really forbid eating meat.

The old religious group that Hwasan came from recommended not eating meat, but things had changed a lot by Hwasan’s time. They suggested it but didn’t forbid it.

But not forbidding it wasn’t the same as serving meat on the table.

He had been at Hwasan for several years, but this was the first time he had seen meat on the table.

“Is it okay to eat this?”

“Looks like they put it there for us to eat?”

Everyone looked at Yoon Jong to see what he would do. Since the martial uncles weren’t there, Yoon Jong had to decide.

Yoon Jong nodded with a sad smile.

“Let’s eat for now. It’ll get cold.”

“Yes.”

At Yoon Jong’s words, Jo Gul sat down and felt everyone staring at him. All the senior and junior brothers were looking at Jo Gul… or rather, at Yoon Jong, who was sitting next to Jo Gul.

Yoon Jong knew what they wanted. He picked up his chopsticks and grabbed a piece of meat. The moment the meat entered Yoon Jong’s mouth…

Tap tap tap tap tap!

Chopsticks flew towards the dishes from every direction!

Some guys were even using a special grabbing technique to get the meat. Jo Gul was so shocked he almost shouted. But his body reacted faster than his mind. Jo Gul’s chopsticks also flew towards the dish like lightning.

‘If I’m late, I won’t get any!’

‘Get out of the way! That’s my meat!’

‘Meat! Meat!’

Yoon Jong closed his eyes as he watched pieces of meat fly everywhere.

Hwasan.

His Hwasan was changing in a strange way.

“Well, this is amazing to see.”

“You can say that again.”

“Suddenly starting construction, meat on the table. And we even got two new uniforms today, right?”

“That’s right.”

Yoon Jong narrowed his eyes, thinking.

Jo Gul watched his face and asked.

“What are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking that money is a good thing.”

“Haha.”

Jo Gul couldn’t help but laugh.

It felt strange to hear Yoon Jong say that, even if it was true.

Well, that was true for other things too.

“Even with money, I didn’t think the leaders would change things so quickly.”

“Did you think they liked seeing their disciples living in poverty? They didn’t have a choice because they didn’t have money.”

That was true.

It wasn’t that meat was against the rules. It was just expensive.

“They’re doing things they couldn’t do before because they have money now. What’s so strange about it?”

Jo Gul nodded.

“…Didn’t you see Martial Uncle Un Am couldn’t stop smiling?”

That was right.

Jo Gul had never seen Un Am smile so brightly before. He had even thought Un Am might not know how to smile.

To see him smiling like that!

It was clear that Hwasan was changing.

“Senior Brother.”

“Hmm?”

“What do you think will happen now?”

It was a random question, but Yoon Jong knew what Jo Gul meant.

“Don’t you know? Hwasan is already changing quickly.”

“Yes.”

“So, we need to be ready.”

“Ready…”

“It’s not just about money. Did you see it? In that chest.”

“Yes. There were martial arts books.”

He could still clearly remember the sect leader saying the name of the martial art and falling backward.

“Hwasan is changing. And it will change. We can’t avoid it. So, we must be strong and work hard. Then we might see something different from what we expected, right?”

Jo Gul nodded.

‘Is this all because of that guy?’

Jo Gul still thought Chung Myung was behind all of this. He frowned, thinking about his obvious acting.

“What did he do?”

“How would I know?”

Yoon Jong knew who he was talking about, even though he didn’t say his name.

“What’s certain is that we can’t guess what he’ll do. It’s best to be careful. If you’re not serious, you might get swept away by the storm he creates.”

“Don’t worry, Senior Brother. I’m Jo Gul.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Yoon Jong laughed and headed towards the White Plum Blossom Hall. Jo Gul quietly followed him, thinking something different.

‘We can’t guess what he’ll do.’

Jo Gul thought that maybe not only they, but also the elders and the sect leader couldn’t handle Chung Myung. Maybe.

“By the way.”

“Yeah?”

“Where is that guy? I haven’t seen him since this morning?”

“Didn’t you hear? The sect leader was looking for him today. He’s probably at the sect leader’s house now.”

“The sect leader? Why is the sect leader looking for that guy again?”

“How would I know?”

Yoon Jong shrugged, and Jo Gul sighed.