Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 419

Normally, riding in a cart should be comfortable. It’s not as fancy as a carriage, but much better than walking. It *should* be comfortable.

But Do Woon-chan, sitting on the cart, felt anything but comfortable. His heart was full of worry.

“Ugh….”

“Agh! Damn it!”

“I’m going to kill him! I swear, one day I will kill that man!”

“….Why me….”

The angry shouts from the front made Do Woon-chan sweat. He looked at the backs of the people pulling the cart and felt terrible.

“….”

Bang! Bang! Bang! The heavy, iron cart bumped with every move.

*This is not a cart for comfort,* Do Woon-chan thought.

He thought about carts. A good cart should be light and strong, easy for animals to pull. But *this* cart? It was just heavy. So heavy it was like it was saying, ‘Who cares if the animals die?’ And people were pulling it.

“Um… Chung Myung?”

“Yes?”

“Are we… really going all the way to Guizhou like this?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Ha… hahaha… It’s just… is this a bit slow? Maybe…”

Before he finished, Chung Myung jumped up.

“Slow?! You think this is slow? Run faster, you useless lot!”

“Aaaaargh!”

“I’m going to kill him! I swear!”

The sounds of Chung Myung hitting people and their screams mixed together. Do Woon-chan sweated even more. The people pulling the cart glared at him like they wanted to stab him.

Do Woon-chan glared resentfully at Chung Myung.

‘That’s not what I meant, you madman!’

What madman would ride in a cart pulled by people across the land?

Of course, there are rickshaws pulled by people, and palanquins carried by people. But no one tries to travel a thousand miles in one.

Because it’s obviously insane!

Do Woon-chan glanced at Gye-hyung, who was sitting uncomfortably next to him, and parted his parched lips.

“Gye-hyung.”

“Yes, Lord.”

“….I’m sorry. I should have believed you.”

“….It’s okay. I understand. I wouldn’t have believed it either.”

Chung Myung was… impossible to describe. Who knew someone like him existed?

That crazy man was now at the front, talking nonsense.

“Do you know how hard I worked to make this cart? You should all be grateful!”

“What is that crazy man saying?!”

“I want to bite him to show how grateful I am!”

“What is he even doing?!”

“Oh, you can still talk?”

Chung Myung made the cart even heavier.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Stop it, you crazy jerk!”

“My back! My back!”

Sweat dripped from Hye-yeon’s head as he pulled the cart. *Master,* he thought. The sun shone on his bald head, making it gleam. *You should have stopped me! Why didn’t you stop me from going to Mount Hua? Why? I must have been crazy!*

“Monk, are you okay?”

“Baek Cheon…”

Hye-yeon tried to say something, but just closed his eyes.

“….Just a little more. He’ll let us rest when the sun goes down, right?”

“Rest? We train then, don’t we?”

“Of course.”

“….”

*These guys are all crazy!*

Hye-yeon and the Mount Hua disciples were suffering, but Hong Daegwang was having the worst time.

“Ugh….”

Hong Daegwang, pulling the cart with heavy iron balls on his arms and legs, looked like he was losing his mind.

“Why me… why me?”

The others were training with Chung Myung, so they could handle it better. But Hong Daegwang wasn’t training.

“Chung Myung! Chung Myung!”

Finally, Hong Daegwang shouted, unable to take it anymore.

“Why me?! Why am I doing this? I’m just an informant!”

“What’s he saying?”

Chung Myung clicked his tongue, watching him pant.

“You think enemies won’t kill informants? If you’re with Mount Hua, you need to be strong! Mount Hua has no weaklings!”

“Hey! Even so! How old do you think I am? Will this even make me stronger?”

“You’re young to be talking about age.”

“Huh?”

“When *I* was your age…”

“Ha! I shouldn’t even talk to you! Young people these days! My head hurts.”

“Pull as hard as you complain! At this speed, we’ll never reach Guizhou!”

Chung Myung grumbled, and Baek Cheon turned around, surprised.

“C-Chung Myung?”

“What?”

“Guizhou? You mean we’re going to Guizhou? Not Sichuan?”

“Of course. The Illusory Spirit Sect is in Guizhou. We go there first.”

*That’s why the road is different,* Baek Cheon thought. He frowned and asked quickly, “Wait. Guizhou is south of Sichuan, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then… we should go to Sichuan first! Why go to Guizhou first? That’s going in a circle!”

“Because I want to.”

“….”

Baek Cheon’s hand tightened on the sword at his waist. It was his real sword from Mount Hua. Chung Myung just laughed.

“What? Want to fight again?”

“Ugh….”

Frustrated, Baek Cheon gripped the cart’s pull bar. *Why does he do this? What does he even get out of it?* “Just ignore him,” Jo Gul said quietly. Jo Gul, who had been talking to Yoon Jong, looked up and smiled.

“Senior Brother.”

“Yeah?”

“Get ready for a hard climb.”

“Why?”

“Mountain path. We’re going uphill.”

“….”

Yoon Jong looked up and saw a steep mountain path ahead. He laughed quietly and thought, *Maybe I should just run away.*

“Boss! Boss!”

“What?”

“Customers!”

“What? Customers?”

A man who looked bored and annoyed sat up quickly.

“Customers? Really?”

“Yes, really!”

“Don’t tell me they’re just robbers pretending to be customers again?”

“I’m telling you, yes!”

The Boss frowned.

“Damn it! This world is tough! Why doesn’t anyone travel with swords anymore?”

“Isn’t it because of the tea trade? It’ll get better.”

“Anyway! Customers, you said? Swords?”

“They have swords. Not many, less than ten. And a very big cart.”

“That’s good enough!”

The Boss stood up and grabbed his axe.

“It’s been too long since I had a good drink. Get the boys! Let’s go!”

“Yes!”

The bandits of the Red Tiger Fortress grabbed their weapons happily.

“….Are they coming yet?”

“They should be here soon.”

“Are you sure you saw them right?”

“Yes, I told you!”

“Hey, why are you shouting at me?”

*Thwack!*

The man who was hit groaned and held his head. He looked up, angry.

“Really! Bang-ho said he saw them clearly! They can’t take the cart any other way, they have to come here!”

“But Bang-ho’s eyes are not good anymore.”

The ‘Boss’ frowned, not believing it. “We need someone who can see better. He can’t see anything from the watchtower these days!”

“…It should be okay this time… Oh! Look! They are coming!”

“Oh?”

The bandit grinned, showing his yellow teeth. “Heh heh heh. These fools don’t even know where they are. They are coming right to us…”

The grinning bandit tilted his head, looking closer.

“Hey,” he said.

“Yes, Boss?”

“Is that… are those *people* pulling the cart?”

“…It looks like it,” the other bandit replied, confused.

The Boss blinked, staring. No matter how hard he looked, it was people, not animals like oxen or horses, pulling the heavy cart. “Are they crazy? Who pulls a cart by hand around here?”

“This hill would kill an ox,” another bandit muttered.

“Look at them… They are stumbling all over the place!”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” The bandits watched, shaking their heads. They had seen strange things, but this was a new level of madness.

“Well, no matter. Crazy or not, if they have money, they are customers! Let’s go, lads!” the Boss said, getting ready.

“Yes!” the bandits shouted, excited for a robbery.

As the cart got closer, the bandits jumped out from the bushes, yelling loudly. They ran to block the road.

“STOP!” the Boss roared. “HALT!”

The cart, which was moving slowly, stopped as if it was about to break down anyway. And then, the people pulling it just fell to the ground, like puppets with cut strings.

“Haaah! Haaah! Haaah!” They gasped for air.

“Water… Water, please! I’m going to die…” one groaned.

The Boss paused, confused. He expected them to be scared, eyes wide with fear when they saw the bandits. That was his cue to give his big speech!

*’This isn’t right…’*, he thought.

He was supposed to scare them first! He looked at the bandit next to him, who nudged him.

*’What are you doing?’* the nudge seemed to say.

*’Ah, right!’* the Boss thought, remembering his lines. He cleared his throat loudly.

“KHA HA HA HA HA!” he boomed. “You fools! You’ve come to the wrong place! If you want to live, give us everything you have and go back the way you came! Then, maybe, I will let you live!”

The Boss spoke with a very loud, strong voice. He thought he looked scary, dressed in rough animal skins, with a wild beard and a huge axe. He expected them to tremble!

But then…

“…What are *these* guys?” one of the travelers asked, weakly.

“Looks like bandits,” another sighed, as if it was just another problem.

“Bandits? Ha, last week it was horse bandits, now mountain bandits?” someone else mumbled.

“You always meet bandits on the road,” a fourth voice said, sounding bored.

“…They smell bad,” someone else added, wrinkling their nose.

The Boss was shocked. This was not the reaction he wanted! *’Are these people crazy?’* he wondered.

Before he could shout again, Im-saeng, another bandit, yelled in a high, loud voice. “You idiots! Do you even know who this is?! This is Chief Jeokho! The Great Mountain Axe, Gwak Gyeong!”

Then, a handsome man, still half-lying on the ground, slowly lifted his head and asked in a tired voice, “What’s he saying?”

“He said they are Jeokho?” someone replied.

“Every mountain gang calls themselves a dragon or a tiger or something,” another traveler sighed.

“It’s just to sound important,” a third one said.

“…Bad taste,” the first one mumbled again.

Im-saeng’s eyes burned with anger. How could they be so calm after hearing the name Jeokho? “You fools!” he screamed. “How dare you act like this after seeing the heroes of the Green Forest! I was going to let you live, but no more! Lads!”

“Yes!” the bandits yelled, finally ready to attack. “Show them what the Green Forest is really like!” Im-saeng shouted.

“Yes!” the bandits roared, and started moving towards the cart, weapons raised.

But then, suddenly, a head popped up from inside the cart. “Augh, seriously!” a young voice complained.

“What is it now?” someone asked from below.

“They’re bandits,” the head said, annoyed.

“Are you all crazy?! Taking a break *now*? Hurry up and get ready to go!” the young man snapped.

“Ugh…” the tired travelers groaned, but started to slowly get up.

“Ha, I’ve seen everything now,” one of them muttered.

“Master, should we hurt them?” another asked, sounding almost bored.

“You are a Taoist!” a voice replied. “Only hurt them, don’t hurt *all* of them.”

“Yes, Master!”

Great Mountain Axe Gwak Gyeong was completely confused. Maybe their bandit name wasn’t famous enough? But anyone traveling this road should have heard of the Green Forest bandits. Why weren’t they scared?

*’Are they really crazy?’* he thought again. Looking closer, they *did* look strange.

The man in front was a monk, in bright robes. A monk pulling a cart? It was ridiculous. *’He looks like he escaped from a temple,’* Gwak Gyeong thought.

Behind him was a beggar, in rags. A beggar pulling a cart? Unbelievable.

And then he saw the others. *’Wait… are those women?’* They were covered in dirt, but yes, even women were pulling the cart!

“What are those people wearing long robes doing pulling a cart?” Gwak Gyeong muttered. “And are those… flowers? What kind of robe has flowers?” He squinted. “Wait…”

Flowers. Small, white flowers.

*’Plum blossoms?’*

Gwak Gyeong’s eyes widened. Plum blossoms… on a robe? And then he saw it – a sword at the waist, also with plum blossoms.

His chin started to shake. *’I know this… I’ve heard of this…’*. A Taoist temple known for plum blossoms… The one that had defeated the terrible Maninbang group recently…

*’Oh no… Oh no!’* Gwak Gyeong’s face went pale.

But Im-saeng, still not understanding, puffed out his chest and yelled, “You little worms! I’m going to skin you alive and feed you to the wolves! You’ll regret coming into Jeokho territory—”

“AAAAARGH! Shut up, you idiot!” Gwak Gyeong screamed, cutting him off.

*WHAM!* Gwak Gyeong punched Im-saeng so hard his jaw twisted. Teeth flew out like stones, and Im-saeng fell to the ground, twitching.

Gwak Gyeong didn’t even look at his fallen bandit. “Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!” he gasped, sweat pouring down his face. The other bandits stared, confused. Then, Gwak Gyeong dropped to his knees, almost collapsing.

“Gwak Gyeong… Gwak Gyeong is honored to meet the Masters of the Great Hwasan Sect!” he shouted, his voice shaking with fear. It was a desperate cry for survival. “Aren’t you going to bow down, you fools?!” he yelled at his own bandits.

Hearing their boss’s panic, the other bandits immediately dropped to the ground, bowing their heads. A good bandit knew two things: first, know when you are in danger, and second, know when to run!

The Hwasan disciples were silent, staring at the bowing bandits. Baek Cheon, who had drawn his sword, looked completely lost.

“…Why are they doing this?” he asked, confused.

“I have no idea,” another disciple replied.

Just then, the young man’s head popped out of the cart again. “Hey! Are we leaving or what?!” he demanded.

The bandits flinched. Gwak Gyeong, realizing this must be the leader, shouted even louder, “Master!”

“Huh?” Chung Myung looked at Gwak Gyeong.

“Please, spare us!” Gwak Gyeong begged, slamming his forehead on the ground with a *thud*.

Chung Myung blinked, then turned to Baek Cheon. “They *are* bandits, right?” he asked.

“…I think so,” Baek Cheon said, still bewildered.

“Then why are they acting like *this*?” Chung Myung wondered.

“…I really don’t know,” Baek Cheon admitted.

Chung Myung tilted his head, thinking. Then, he looked at his own disciples, covered in dust, tired, and grumpy. And suddenly, he nodded slowly.