Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 441

“Oof!”

“Haaah!”

The cart raced down the main road, very fast.

It bounced over the bumpy road like a ball. Dust flew up from the road. The sun was hot on their backs. The Tang family made this cart very well. It was strong and didn’t break easily, even on the bumpy road.

But the cart was strong, but the ride was still very bumpy for the people inside. The cart jolted them with every bump, making their teeth rattle.

“Ouch!”

Chung Myung poked his head out from behind the cart and shouted.

“Go easy! My back’s gonna break!”

Jogyeol, gritting his teeth as he pulled the cart, turned sharply.

“Why are you complaining? You’re not even helping pull!”

“What’s the rush to run like this!”

“What good is it to arrive late?”

“Didn’t you keep moaning like you were dying all the way to the Tang family?”

Chung Myung slumped back against the cart, his brow furrowed in a frown. Jogyeol shrugged, looking like he didn’t care.

“I feel stronger now.”

“…Huh?”

Chung Myung was surprised by this answer. Yoon Jong, pulling beside Jogyeol, nodded.

“Yeah. It’s easier now. Feels like something got lighter.”

They even playfully lifted the cart a little and put it down.

“…Are you crazy?” Chung Myung asked. “We added iron and a scabbard. It can’t be lighter, right?”

“Right? But that’s how it feels, you know?”

Suddenly, Hae Yeon, who was pulling the cart in front, started to chant softly.

“Amitabha.”

He put his palms together and said quietly.

“Friends, you are talking about important things. It’s like the Buddhist teachings say: if you think something is heavy, it feels heavy. If you think it’s light, it feels light. It’s all in your mind.”

“Whatever. You sound like a cultist.”

“…”

Hae Yeon turned to Chung Myung, looking sad.

“Hey, friend. I’m a Shaolin monk. Why call me a cultist?”

“You ran away without listening to the Abbot. Aren’t you a renegade monk then?”

“…”

“If you’re a renegade monk, you’re a cultist.”

Hae Yeon’s face fell. He looked very sad and didn’t know what to say. He nervously touched the beads around his wrist.

“Re, renegade… Renegade… Abbot… Why did you send me? Abbot…”

Chung Myung watched Hae Yeon looking sad and limp, and shook his head.

*A monk shouldn’t be so weak-willed!*

Just as he was about to say something more, Baek Cheon, who had been quietly pulling the cart, slowly turned his head and smiled at Chung Myung.

“Chung Myung-ah.”

“Huh?”

“If you’re bored, don’t start fights. Just lie down and sleep. We’ll get there.”

“…Huh?”

“You promised not to say anything on the way back.”

“…”

“Try to break your promise.”

Chung Myung lay down with a sulky face.

*Whatever, I don’t care.*

*If we arrive sooner, it’s good for me, I guess.*

He looked up at the vast blue sky. It was a clear, bright blue, and the sun warmed his face even as the wind cooled his skin. He brought the bottle of alcohol to his lips. Then, Baega jumped up and clung to him, wanting to be close.

Chung Myung frowned.

“Aren’t you going away? Huh!”

Squeak!

“Oh, you dare?”

But Baega trembled and clung to him even more.

“Kkeueung.”

Chung Myung sighed and looked at the sky again.

Others might not understand why the marten liked him so much, but Chung Myung knew. Baega was a spirit animal. That means it gets special energy from nature.

So, the more good energy it got, the stronger and longer it would live.

And…

Snuggle. Snuggle.

“…”

*This guy really likes the pure energy from my body.*

Chung Myung’s energy was very pure and strong. Even the Plum Blossom Sword Saint, who trained his whole life, couldn’t make energy this pure. He made this pure energy without even trying. It was very powerful and rare.

For Baega, it was like finding the cleanest water after only drinking dirty water. Of course, it would want to stay close!

So it was natural, but…

“It’s strangely annoying.”

Chung Myung grabbed Baega and threw it into the corner. Baega squealed and clung to Chung Myung again.

“Sigh.”

*Now that people don’t bother me, an animal does.*

Chung Myung, giving up, picked up Baega and put it behind his neck. Then he lay down, using Baega as a pillow, and stared blankly at the sky.

Looking at the sky, his mind calmed down a little.

*Okay, things are going well.* We visited the Tang family and started to make an alliance. It wasn’t easy to get this far.

However.

“It’s still not enough.” Chung Myung muttered quietly.

He remembered the old Hwasan, strong and proud. He wouldn’t let it stay weak. Hwasan used to be much stronger than it is now. But even then, Hwasan couldn’t stop the war that destroyed the Central Plains. One sect alone can’t win against the Demonic Sect. Even if Hwasan gets much stronger, we can’t do everything alone.

*There are so many things I need.* First, power. And money. And another thing…

Chung Myung looked at Hong Daegwang, sitting on the side of the cart. Since he wasn’t helping much, he wasn’t pulling the cart back.

Hong Daegwang asked innocently.

“Huh? Why?”

“…”

Sigh.

Chung Myung just shook his head.

*The beggars I knew before weren’t perfect, but they were good at getting information.*

*But those beggars were high-ranking. I can’t expect Hong Daegwang to be as good. He’s only a Seven Bag Beggar.*

“…You’re not helping enough right now.”

“Huh? Are you talking about that marten?”

“…Yes, well.” Chung Myung nodded, too tired to answer properly.

“Beggar Mister.”

“Yes, Hwasan Divine Dragon.”

Hong Daegwang puffed out his chest and thumped it with his fist, a wide grin on his face.

“If you want to know anything, ask me! I know everything about Hwasan!”

“…More like a trouble maker.”

“Huh?”

“No, nothing.”

Chung Myung looked at him with tired eyes and said, “So, Beggar Mister.”

“Yes, tell me.”

“You’re a Seven Bag Beggar now, right?”

“That’s right. There aren’t many who become a Seven Bag Beggar at this age. Doesn’t that mean I’m that much more capable?”

“Ah, never mind that. How long will it take you to become an Eight Bag Beggar?”

“Eight Bags?”

“Yes. Nine Bags would be even better.”

Hong Daegwang laughed, looking confused, as if Chung Myung was saying nonsense.

“Hwasan Divine Dragon, you’re young and don’t know. An Eight Bag Beggar is a high rank in the Beggars’ Union, like an elder or a leader of a province. I want to be the leader of the Shanxi branch, not just Mount Hua. But no one becomes a leader this young.”

“Then what is a Nine Bag Beggar?”

“Nine Bag Beggars are the Supreme Elders!”

*Ah. So they were Supreme Elders back then. I didn’t pay much attention because they were just beggars.*

“Hmm. So the highest you can realistically go right now is Eight Bags?”

“That’s right. Unless the current Chief decides to appoint a new Little Chief and step down.”

“Hmm.”

Chung Myung scratched his chin, thinking.

“Wait, Uncle,” he said, “didn’t you say you might become a Worthy Beggar?”

Uncle shifted his feet a little. “Uh, yeah,” he mumbled, “it’s a bit embarrassing to say, but it’s true.”

Chung Myung frowned. “How did the Beggars’ Sect get so… weak?”

“Huh?” Uncle blinked. “What did you say?”

“Nothing,” Chung Myung said quickly, sighing. He felt annoyed.

‘Well… it’s not really Uncle’s fault, is it?’

Hong Daegwang, the leader of this small Hwaeum branch, couldn’t do much.

Hwaeum is important, but this branch is small. Uncle can’t do much here.

Because they are near Mount Hua, they might know more than other branches. But still, they are just a branch, not the main group.

To get better information from the Beggars’ Sect, Uncle needs to be higher up.

It would be great if he became the leader for the whole Seoseo area. Even better if he became the Worthy Beggar, the leader of everyone!

The problem is…

‘Is this right?’

Am I ruining their sect? Will Uncle be okay as leader?

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“…No. It’s nothing.”

Chung Myung looked up at the sky instead of answering.

‘Let’s think about this a bit more.’

The Beggars’ Sect is one of the Nine Great Sects, so they deserve trouble too. But maybe because they are not so bad, Chung Myung felt a little bad for the first time in a long time.

A voice in his head said, “Oh? You have a conscience now?”

“Shut up! I told you not to come out when I didn’t call you!”

Chung Myung, who had been silent, suddenly shouted, startling Hong Daegwang.

“Why are you suddenly like this?”

“No… it’s nothing.”

“You’re acting strange today.”

Indeed, I am.

Chung Myung sighed deeply.

‘Let’s go back to Mount Hua and think about it.’

He had been thinking hard for days. Now his head hurt, like little mice were chewing inside. He couldn’t bother his senior brothers right now, so he thought it would be better to relax and not think on the way back to Mount Hua.

Bump!

“Ouch!”

But the bumpy cart wouldn’t let him relax.

“Why is it so bumpy again!”

He shouted in an irritated voice, and a reply came from the front.

“We’re on a mountain path now. I’ll get through it quickly, so just hold on tight and stop complaining.”

“Ah, yes. Sure, you will.”

Chung Myung grumbled and stuck the wine bottle right into his mouth.

‘He’s really strong.’

The cart went up the hill like it was flat, even downhill! He was as strong as a super-fast horse.

‘Okay, time to think about the next step.’

Since they had time, Chung Myung started thinking about even better ways to train his senior and junior brothers.

But then.

“Hmm?”

Chung Myung suddenly raised his head.

‘Someone’s there?’

Whoosh!

Just as he was about to get up, something came flying from the slope ahead, spinning around with a sharp tearing sound.

“Huh?”

“What is it!”

The running cart stopped abruptly. The cart, which had been lifted into the air due to the force, landed on the ground as if it had been thrown down.

Thud!

“Tsk.”

Chung Myung jumped out of the cart and landed on his feet.

A huge sword stuck in the ground came into his view.

“What now?”

A big sword was stuck in the ground a few feet in front of the cart. It didn’t look friendly, no matter how you looked at it.

And then.

Shwing!

Whoosh!

More sounds! More weapons flew in, sticking into the ground all around the cart, front, back, and sides.

Weapons flew in thick and fast, blocking the cart from every side.

“Ha…”

A sigh naturally escaped from Chung Myung’s mouth.

“Seriously, are these guys crazy and want to die? Where are they throwing swords? Do they need a sword stuck in their heads to come to their senses?”

Just as Chung Myung was about to roll his eyes back, Baek Cheon said seriously.

“Chung Myung-ah.”

“Yeah?”

“This is serious. These weapons are strong.”

“It’s nothing even if it is.”

Chung Myung got up from his seat and twisted his neck from side to side.

Soon, a group of people began to appear from among the trees so thick they blocked out the sun on the left and right sides of the mountain path. Chung Myung raised his senses and said.

“It’s just a few dozen bandits anyway. I can handle this with my toes…”

But as he was speaking, he suddenly shut his mouth and turned his head sharply.

“Why?”

“…Uh.”

Then, with a slightly awkward face, he scratched the back of his head.

“How many did I say there were just now?”

“You said a few dozen.”

“Uh… I’ll correct that. About a hundred… no, a hundred and fifty. Ah, no, two hundred…”

Baek Cheon’s face went white, his eyes wide with disbelief.

“Why are you changing the number so much!”

“Ah, no! Something keeps coming out from behind that mountain!”

Bandits kept coming and coming!

Wait…

They were everywhere, like ants coming out of a nest. How did they hide so many people?

They surrounded the cart completely, so close there was no space to move. And more were still coming! It looked like there would be over a thousand!

“Heh heh.”

Chung Myung let out a hollow laugh.

‘There was no one close by just a moment ago.’

They stayed far away so I wouldn’t notice, then rushed in all at once. This was a trap from the start.

Of course, it was also because he hadn’t been particularly wary.

“…What do we do?”

The disciples of Mount Hua seemed to be overwhelmed by the number and looked back at Chung Myung with bewildered eyes.

Chung Myung frowned, looking annoyed. “What do you mean, ‘What do we do?’ We’re from Mount Hua! We never back down!”

Chung Myung shouted confidently, and the disciples of Mount Hua all bit their lips tightly.

“Yeah, that’s right!”

“They’re just bandits!”

Everyone got braver. Chung Myung looked at the bandits and shouted loudly, “Now!” He stood tall and proud, chest out, looking very impressive.

At his voice, the disciples of Mount Hua all drew their swords at once. They were ready to rush forward as soon as Chung Myung gave the signal.

A loud shout from Chung Myung rang in their ears.

“First! Let’s talk it out!”

Silence.

The Mount Hua disciples slowly turned to Chung Myung, faces shocked.

Chung Myung, still standing tall, added proudly, “Like smart people!”

And looking at his senior and junior brothers who were looking at him with the most hopeless expressions in the world, he asked confidently.

“Why? What?”

First, we need to survive.

First!