Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 49

Unam found Chung Myung near the training grounds, his face showing a hint of worry. “There you are,” Un Am said, his voice a little rushed.

“Greetings, Grand Uncle Master,” Jo Gul and Chung Myung said quickly, bowing their heads.

“Yes, yes,” Un Am replied, nodding briefly. He looked directly at Chung Myung. “Chung Myung-ah,” he began.

“Yes, Grand Uncle Master?” Chung Myung answered.

“It seems you need to go to the main Mount Hua sect.”

“Pardon?” Chung Myung’s eyebrows shot up.

*Mount Hua? Is he serious?* Chung Myung thought, his face twitching slightly. *Asking me to go to that dangerous mountain, where even birds avoid the steep cliffs, like it’s just a quick trip to the market? Does he have any idea what he’s asking?*

“To Mount Hua?” Chung Myung asked again, just to be sure.

“Indeed,” Un Am confirmed.

Chung Myung frowned and looked away, a sulky expression on his face. Jo Gul quickly avoided meeting his eyes.

“No, there are plenty of strong and energetic senior brothers, so why me of all people…?”

“Are you not the youngest?”

“The youngest with thin legs and weak agility.”

“And the least amount of work.”

Ah.

He never imagined that cleaning the front yard, which he took on to avoid other work, would return as such a dagger. Truly, life was full of unexpected twists.

“Ugh.”

Chung Myung sighed deeply.

Now he had to run errands for the youngsters. How had the Plum Blossom Sword Saint, Chung Myung, fallen so low?

“So, what is this task about?”

“It’s just delivering a letter to the Sect Leader or the Treasury Pavilion.”

“A letter?”

What letter could it be?

He wanted to ask more, but it wasn’t proper to question his Grand Uncle Master in detail. It pained him to have to show respect to a greenhorn, but what could he do? Such was the situation.

“Yes, Grand Uncle Master, I will go.”

“Good. Normally, we could wait and send it with someone returning, but this matter is quite urgent, making that difficult. I hope you understand.”

Ugh.

Such a good nature.

If it were Chung Myung, he would have shut the mouths of any third-generation disciples who grumbled.

Unam took a letter from his robes and handed it to Chung Myung.

“This is it.”

“Yes.”

And, as if worried Chung Myung might be curious, Un Am kindly explained what the letter was about.

“It’s a letter from the Eunha Merchant Guild, so handle it with care.”

“Pardon? The Eunha Merchant Guild?”

Jo Gul said quietly.

“That Merchant Association of Governor Hwang is the Eunha Merchant Guild.”

“Huh?”

Chung Myung stared intently at the letter. Unam, not noticing anything particularly strange in Chung Myung’s gaze, continued his explanation.

“It’s an urgent message to the Sect Leader. I happened to be in Hwaeum, so I was able to receive it midway. If those delivering goods to Mount Hua were to take it, it would take two days, so you should quickly go up and deliver it to the Sect Leader.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“It’s urgent, so depart immediately without delay.”

“Yes!”

As Chung Myung put the letter in his robes and dashed off towards Mount Hua, Jo Gul, who had been watching him, unconsciously reached out his hand.

“That… That!”

Then, he muttered with an uneasy look.

“We shouldn’t have sent that with him, should we?”

“Hmm? What did you say?”

“Ah, it’s nothing, Grand Uncle Master.”

Jo Gul quickly mumbled. But his eyes did not leave Chung Myung’s disappearing back.

*I have a bad feeling about this.*

A sad premonition never fails.

“Hmm.”

Chung Myung, who had climbed halfway up Mount Hua, took out the letter from his robes.

“Heeeuuummm.”

So, this is a letter from Governor Hwang of the Eunha Merchant Guild, is it?

No. Since Governor Hwang was said to be delirious in his sickbed, it must be a letter sent by his subordinates.

“Ha… Good grief.”

Chung Myung sighed as if he were complaining.

“Opening someone else’s letter might not be the right thing to do, but isn’t it also fate that this letter happened to fall into my hands? Everything depends on fate. It’s only natural that I feel like opening the letter that has come into my possession. Isn’t that right, Senior Brother?”

– Speak sense, you rascal!

“⋯⋯Anyway, Senior Brother and I don’t get along.”

It’s always been like that.

But that doesn’t mean there’s no way to avoid seeing this.

Hearing it, if the business is left as it is, it will be a mess, and it seems that if the person called Governor Hwang comes forward, things will be a little easier. But in this situation, an urgent message comes from Eunha Merchant Guild?

That means something has happened to Governor Hwang.

If you don’t know at all, you don’t know, but can you not check even if you know? This is not Chung Myung, but anyone would make the same choice… well, anyway, it will be tempting.

Chung Myung carefully examined the letter. The words ‘To the Great Mount Hua Sect Leader’ written on the outside caught his eye.

So, that means no one but the Sect Leader of Mount Hua should open it.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. Honestly, if you guys had me and the Sect Leader, you would have sent the news to me. You wouldn’t have sent it to the Sect Leader.”

It was a sound that would have made others foam at the mouth, but fortunately or unfortunately, there was no one around Chung Myung now.

“Let’s see.”

The letter was tightly sealed with wax. No matter how you open it, there will be traces.

If it’s a normal method.

But for Chung Myung, it’s not that difficult.

“You’ve sealed it well.”

Scritch.

The energy flowing from Chung Myung’s fingertips precisely separated the boundary between the paper and the wax. As a result, only a perfect envelope remained, as if no wax had been applied from the beginning.

Chung Myung opened the envelope, took out the letter inside, and began to read it without hesitation.

“Now, let’s see⋯⋯.”

Chung Myung crossed his legs and began to read the letter.

Chung Myung’s face twisted.

Chung Myung, who almost crumpled the letter, carefully folded it with a slightly trembling hand and put it back into the envelope.

And then he took a deep breath.

“Hooo!”

After taking several deep breaths, he barely calmed down, but Chung Myung still trembled as if he was not completely calm.

“This, is it the damned Demonic Bloom?”

Demonic Bloom.

The Devil’s Flower.

Chung Myung gritted his teeth.

“There’s no way ordinary doctors can cure the Demonic Bloom!”

Because this is a symptom caused by martial arts.

On the outside, it appears to be symptoms of severe poisoning. Therefore, the search for a cure would inevitably focus in that direction.

But the Demonic Bloom is a symptom that appears when struck by a specific martial art of the Demonic Sect.

The reason why Chung Myung can’t calm down like this right now is very simple.

*The Demonic Sect bastards!*

The Demonic Sect bastards, who he thought he had almost wiped out, are causing trouble in the middle of the region.

*No, no!*

Chung Myung slapped his cheeks with both hands so that it made a sound.

“What I killed was the Heavenly Demon. I didn’t kill all the Demonic Sect bastards.”

It is only natural that remnants of the Demonic Sect remain in this era.

In the first place, didn’t the guys who weren’t wiped out even after killing the Heavenly Demon rush to Mount Hua?

There must be guys who survived there, and there were guys left in the mountains, so it’s natural that their lineage continues.

The problem is that the bastards are not only alive but also plotting something in the region.

Chung Myung’s eyes flashed.

“No, but why do these bastards have a grudge against Mount Hua?”

Why does everything they do harm Mount Hua?

There are so many people in the region, so why do they have to mess with Governor Hwang and create this mess?

“Agh, my head is throbbing!”

Chung Myung sighed deeply.

*This won’t do, will it?*

I think I’ll have to go see it myself.

I can’t say for sure that it’s a symptom of Demonic Bloom just from the contents of the letter. Seeing it with my own eyes comes first.

Besides⋯⋯.

“Reward! A huge reward!”

The content written at the end of the letter neatly turned Chung Myung’s eyes away.

According to Jo Gul, this Eunha Merchant Guild is a merchant guild that handles a lot of money. If they used the words ‘huge reward’ in a place like this, how much are they going to give?

“I can’t miss this!”

Chung Myung’s heart was racing.

Nearly a hundred years have already passed, so there won’t be many people who know about the Demonic Bloom.

If the Demonic Sect and the region have not been at war with each other for a hundred years, there is no way anyone can recognize the symptoms of being struck by a specific magic of the Demonic Sect.

And those who could recognize the symptoms all died at the hands of the Heavenly Demon and the Demonic Sect on the summit of the mountains that day.

But you never know what will happen in the world.

*There may be someone among those who survived a hundred years ago who knows about the Demonic Bloom.*

And if they are still alive, they would have become the leading figures of each sect. They may be too old to still be in charge, but what if one of the sect leaders who received this letter showed it to get information?

“It’s all for nothing! No! I can’t see that happen!”

Flames flashed in Chung Myung’s eyes.

What arrogant bastard dares to aim for Chung Myung’s prey⋯⋯. No! The patient! This is something that this Chung Myung must solve for the sake of money⋯⋯. No, for the sake of what’s right!

Yes! That’s right!

“I’m busy!”

Chung Myung grabbed the letter, put his hand on the seal, melted the wax by causing a slight inner energy, and immediately began to run towards the summit of Mount Hua at a terrifying speed.

“First, I’ll take it and give it to them!”

That way, even if things are resolved, those bastards will be able to grasp the situation.

“I’m definitely eating it!”

Just wait there.

To the Great Mount Hua Sect Leader, Hyun Jong.

Sect Leader. The long winter is gone, and spring is coming with new buds growing. By the time this letter arrives, the spring plum blossoms will be in full bloom in Mount Hua, where the Sect Leader is.

I can see the scenery of Mount Hua, which I visited with my father in the past. I have a strong desire to visit again someday, but it is a pity that the situation does not allow it.

I am very ashamed to be writing to you like this after being so distant, but I am still contacting you because my father’s condition is getting worse day by day.

As you know, my father has been ill and bedridden since last year. Considering my father’s age, it is something to be understood, but recently, strangely, other symptoms have begun to appear instead of the symptoms that should naturally appear with old age.

My father is currently almost unconscious and unable to move. His body is dyed red, his forehead is dark, and his energy pathways are running wild.

Our Eunha Merchant Guild has invited famous doctors from the region to examine my father’s condition, but no one has been able to make a proper diagnosis.

Therefore, with a very worried heart, I am sending letters to those who have a relationship with us in an attempt to get a clue about the disease. If the Sect Leader knows anything about my father’s symptoms, I would be grateful if you could contact us in any way.

We promise to provide a huge reward in the name of the Eunha Merchant Guild to those who provide information that can improve my father’s condition.

Then I will wait for a good answer.

Eunha Merchant Guild, Deputy Head Hwang Jong-ui, respectfully.