Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 48

Mount Hua had finally found peace after a long struggle.

Chung Myung’s hard work had solved their money problems. They even had new martial arts to learn! Spring came to Mount Hua. New plants grew, and the air *should* have been full of happy laughter. But it wasn’t.

“Peace?” Chung Myung spat the word out. “Peace, my foot!”

His face twisted in anger. He gripped the broom so hard it creaked.

Peace? He looked around. Chaos exploded everywhere.

“Excuse me? The bill? Th-this is… Just a moment. Jo Gul, Senior Brother! Jo Gul, Senior Brother! How much is this here?”

“Hey! I told you to fill that up!”

“Isn’t everything up to the Dao? The lack of ingredients is also a natural occurrence. Yes? A refund? Uh… Yes.”

The Third-Class disciples of Mount Hua, wearing clean white robes, were sweating as they dealt with the many customers.

‘Trying hard, trying hard.’

Where was this, you ask? This was Hwaeum.

It was good that they had found the account books and taken back all of Hwaeum’s businesses. They had gotten over ten businesses that were doing okay, so all they had to do was make money, right?

…That’s what he had thought, and that was the start of all the problems.

Chung Myung hadn’t even thought about it, but these guys had almost a hundred years of training without ever running a business properly. They were complete beginners who had never earned a single penny on their own. Now, they had to run more than ten businesses.

The result?

As you can see.

“Hey! How long ago did I say we were out of ingredients? Why haven’t they arrived yet!”

“What on earth is the Jae Kyung Hall doing?”

“What’s that crazy guy doing grabbing the customers! Hey! Hey, you!”

Chung Myung smiled, but inside he was starting to think. ‘Maybe running a business is harder than it looks,’ he thought.

‘They’re having fun. They’re having fun.’

The Mount Hua disciples, who had never done anything but practice martial arts, were now in Hwaeum, sweating as they dealt with customers.

If the old masters of Mount Hua had seen this, they would have scolded them… No, they would have held their stomachs and laughed on the ground.

Because Chung Myung was one of those disciples.

And of course, the customers weren’t happy either.

“Hey! Why is this tea so bitter!”

“I asked for green tea, green tea! Don’t you know what green tea is? Is this green tea?”

“Where else do they just throw tea leaves into the teapot and serve it! Where’s the owner here?”

‘I’m seeing hell while I’m still alive,’ Chung Myung thought as he happily watched the chaos.

“Alas, it is a tragedy.”

This place was still better.

The Third-Class disciples who had been sent to other businesses were experiencing Avici hell (a very bad place). No, the people who had to do business with those guys were probably experiencing hell.

One guy tore the silk while selling it.

Another guy brought a pickaxe when someone asked for a hoe.

Still, you could understand the guy who ate the meat that was supposed to be served to the customers while cooking. Of course, he deserved to be beaten to death.

At least the Third-Class disciples who were only dealing with customers could just run around, but the First-Class disciples were about to have mental breakdowns.

The Mount Hua disciples had spent their lives training in martial arts. Now, they were lost in the busy world of business. They were confused and ready to give up.

“Hey, you! What are you doing! Sweep faster!”

“Ugh. Yes! I’m sweeping! I’m sweeping!”

Chung Myung’s broom moved quickly, sweeping the front of the teahouse.

‘What’s the point of sweeping this? All the customers are leaving.’

Chung Myung saw the customers kicking the door open and leaving. Seeing their unhappy faces, he wanted to run up to them and shout,

‘Beat those bastards!’

Of course, as the youngest member of Mount Hua, he couldn’t say such a thing.

Chung Myung, who had roughly swept the dust in front of him, slipped away to the back. Jo Gul, who was carrying snacks, caught his eye.

“Senior Brother.”

No response.

“Senior Brotheeer.”

No response.

“Hey. Hey, you. Hey!”

His ears were blocked.

“Jo Gul, you son of a…!”

“Yes! Third-Class Disciple Jo Geo… What, you punk?”

Jo Gul rolled his eyes and glared at Chung Myung. No matter how unlike a junior brother he was, wasn’t he still a junior brother? A senior brother who could tolerate his junior brother’s harsh language…

“Why?”

He was here.

Jo Gul glanced around and then slipped out of the teahouse and approached Chung Myung.

“Senior Brother.”

“So, why?”

“Let’s talk like human beings. I heard that Senior Brother is the youngest son of a somewhat famous merchant family? The youngest son of the Daeryuk Merchant Guild, something like that?”

“Daeryuk Merchant Guild, my foot. It’s just a small merchant family.”

“Still, you must have an eye for how things work, at least. That’s usually the case. The youngest son of a successful family is basically a reckless brat, but if you look closely, he’s hiding great talent, or something like that.”

“…What are you talking about?”

Jo Gul sighed deeply.

Anyway, whenever he talked to this guy, he couldn’t understand what he was saying.

“So…”

Chung Myung pointed to the chaotic scene.

“Why is this happening?”

“Well…”

Jo Gul sighed.

“The people who used to run this place…”

“Yeah.”

“It seems like those guys had some charisma. When they quit, a lot of the employees quit with them.”

“Huh? Charisma?”

Charisma for swindlers? Was this like a corrupt official donating to a beggar’s den?

“Charisma? What kind of nonsense is that, Senior Brother?”

“Actually, it wasn’t charisma. It was all about family and friends. Since almost all the employees were relatives or family members, they all quit after watching each other for a while.”

Ugh.

Was this the problem with family management? That’s why professional managers… No, that’s not it.

“So, the problem is with the employees?”

“That’s the first thing.”

“Huh? There’s more?”

Jo Gul frowned and looked around. Only after confirming that no one was listening did he lower his voice and speak.

“As you can see, the biggest problem is that the Mount Hua disciples don’t have the ability to run these businesses.”

“Do you need ability for that?”

“People who train in martial arts tend to think making a living is easy, but it’s not. If it were easy, everyone would be rich.”

“Well, that’s true.”

Chung Myung sighed deeply.

“So, Mount Hua doesn’t have the ability to handle these businesses right now?”

“It’s like putting a pearl necklace on a pig. I didn’t know it would be this bad…”

That’s when it happened.

A loud voice came from inside.

“Hey! If we’re short on Pu-erh tea, what are we supposed to do with Tieguanyin!”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

“I said Pu-erh tea! Senior Brother! I’m already having a headache, how can we change the items!”

“Why are you raising your voice! How would I know anything if I’ve never handled such expensive tea in my life?”

“Who has ever drunk such a thing!”

Chung Myung shook his head.

‘Those who train in martial arts.’

They were arguing over a single tea leaf.

“Look at that.”

Jo Gul clicked his tongue.

“Running a business isn’t that simple. You have to choose and buy every ingredient and item. If you choose good ingredients carelessly, you won’t make a profit, and if you use cheap ones, you’ll lose customers. If you hire someone because you can’t do it properly, they’ll all stab you in the back, and the people who work won’t have anything left.”

“…Are you going to learn from now on?”

“If you were told to teach martial arts to middle-aged men in their forties, would you do it?”

“I wouldn’t.”

Jo Gul shook his head sadly. ‘I really don’t see any way out of this.’

“Honestly, I think this place will go bankrupt in less than half a year if things continue like this. I don’t know what Mount Hua was like in the past, but Mount Hua doesn’t have the ability to run this place right now. There’s no hope.”

“Wouldn’t it be good to learn well?”

Jo Gul looked at Chung Myung with a blank expression.

“Chung Myung, look closely. Do you know what the businesses we’re in charge of do?”

“I don’t know?”

“These businesses are all about buying and selling things.”

“…Huh?”

“Teahouse. Tavern. Silk shop. Blacksmith, etc. They all involve getting materials and making something or just bringing them in and selling them. Do you know what this kind of work needs?”

“If I knew that, I’d be rich.”

“The most important thing is choosing the right things to buy. But you see. If an innocent Taoist who doesn’t know anything about the world comes with money to buy things, what do you think they’ll do?”

“They’ll take advantage of him.”

“It wouldn’t be a big deal if they just took advantage of him. They’ll probably try to suck him dry.”

“…”

“This is hopeless. It wasn’t going to work from the start.”

Chung Myung turned his head and looked at the distant sky.

And smiled faintly.

‘Sect Leader.’

This disciple now realizes how great the Sect Leader is. The businesses ran perfectly when you were around.

‘Damn it. I’d rather die than suffer!’

Chung Myung snorted.

“Then what’s the solution?”

Jo Gul stared at Chung Myung with a blank expression.

“Why are you looking for a solution from me!”

“Hey! I heard that Senior Brother is the son of a business family. Then there must be a solution?”

“You crazy bastard! If you asked the first person who dug up a medicinal herb to cure a terminal illness, what would you say! If I had that ability, would I be swinging a sword in Mount Hua? I would have already inherited the family business and be making a fortune. Even my father can’t save this.”

“…Is the situation that serious?”

“There’s no hope.”

Jo Gul smiled bitterly.

“If it wasn’t so bad, I wouldn’t have tried to contact my family. But it’s too far away, and my family doesn’t have the resources to do that. To run these businesses without any problems, you need to be a wealthy merchant who knows a lot about most of the items. But there’s no one like that in Mount Hua.”

There used to be.

Cheong Mun.

But well, he’s not here now.

Jo Gul said with a bitter smile.

“If only Hwang Dae-in was well, we wouldn’t have to worry about this.”

“Hwang Dae-in?”

“Yeah. Hwang Dae-in.”

Chung Myung tilted his head.

“Come to think of it, that Hwang Dae-in person has been mentioned often since before, but what does that person do?”

“He’s a wealthy merchant.”

“A wealthy merchant?”

Jo Gul nodded.

“He’s one of the wealthy merchants who operate in Seoseo. He handles goods from Cheonghae, as well as Yunnan and the Western Regions.”

“But what does that person have to do with Mount Hua?”

“He’s been sponsoring Mount Hua since before. It’s a pretty famous story. Mount Hua was able to avoid collapsing because of him.”

“…What did he see in Mount Hua?”

“Well, I don’t know about that…”

Jo Gul shrugged.

“I heard that he sponsored not only Mount Hua but also many other places. Anyway, there wouldn’t have been any problems if he was around. We could have received advice or help.”

“Then we can ask that person for help.”

“No. Hwang Dae-in has been in bed for a year now. There are rumors that he’s unconscious.”

“Hmm.”

“So…”

That’s when it happened.

“Chung Myung! Is Chung Myung there!”

Chung Myung raised his voice at the sound of someone calling for him.

“I’m here!”

A familiar face came into Chung Myung’s view.