Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 490

The people around Yoon Jong kept saying, “Thank you so much.”

“I don’t know how to repay this kindness…”

Yoon Jong blushed because everyone was thanking him.

“Please, don’t do this. I’m embarrassed. We didn’t do anything…”

“No.”

The man at the front held Yoon Jong’s hand, his eyes turning red.

“This small rest and warm food may not be much to some, but to us, it means everything.”

Yoon Jong sighed softly, feeling sorry for the prisoners. The hand he held was rough, like tree bark from working hard for so long.

“Thank you so much… Cough! Cough!” The man covered his mouth and coughed hard.

“…I’m sorry. It seems like it’s because I had something warm for the first time in a while… Cough!”

“Are you alright?” Yoon Jong asked with a worried face.

“Yes… We are fine.”

Yoon Jong frowned slightly, realizing the man was badly affected by the Yin energy. He knew even strong fighters would get sick in this place. These prisoners were even weaker because their inner power was blocked. It was very bad for them.

“Please have some warm wine and rest comfortably today,” Yoon Jong said.

“Thank you… Thank you so much.”

Yoon Jong sighed as he watched the man return to his place, bowing again and again.

Just then, Jo Gul’s voice called out, “Senior Brother.”

“Hmm?” Yoon Jong responded.

“Chung Myung wants you to come with me.”

“Why suddenly?” Yoon Jong asked.

“Who knows what that rascal is thinking?” Jo Gul replied.

Yoon Jong was used to Chung Myung’s sudden ideas, so he just nodded. Even after spending so much time with Chung Myung, it was still hard to guess what he would do. When they arrived, who would have thought Chung Myung would give wine and food to the prisoners?

“Let’s go,” Yoon Jong said.

“Yes.”

The two walked to one of the caves in the valley. The entrance was narrow, but the cave was surprisingly big inside.

The cave was not a good home, but at least it was out of the cold wind. That was better than being in the open valley.

Inside, the Mount Hua disciples were sitting around Chung Myung, with some prisoners in front of them.

“You’re here, sit down,” Chung Myung said.

“What’s going on?” Yoon Jong asked.

“I want to talk a bit.”

Yoon Jong tilted his head but sat down. He knew it wasn’t polite to talk privately when others were present.

“First…” Chung Myung began.

As soon as Yoon Jong sat down, an old man across from Chung Myung bowed deeply.

“Thank you once again for the grace of the benefactors,” the old man said.

Yoon Jong was surprised and tried to stop him, but Chung Myung spoke first.

“If you’re grateful, skip the formalities. We are busy people.”

“I understand,” the old man said quietly.

The old man looked at Chung Myung and asked, “Are you from the Central Plains?”

“Yes. We are from the Mount Hua Sect.”

“Mount Hua. Mount Hua…” The old man frowned, trying to remember. But the name Mount Hua didn’t seem familiar.

Now, Mount Hua’s fame was starting to spread even in the Northern Sea. But it was understandable that the name was unknown to those imprisoned for years, doing hard labor. Back then, Mount Hua had lost its reputation and declined.

Baek Cheon tried to help the old man.

“It’s not a very famous sect, so don’t worry about it…”

“What? Mount Hua isn’t famous?” Chung Myung interrupted sharply. Baek Cheon turned to Chung Myung, looking awkward.

“…Wasn’t Mount Hua famous a long time ago?” Baek Cheon asked.

“I know,” Chung Myung replied.

“Then why?”

“But I get annoyed when I hear things like that,” Chung Myung said.

Baek Cheon’s cheek twitched slightly. *I don’t know this bastard, even though I think I do.* He realized he still didn’t understand Chung Myung.

“Anyway, if you don’t know Mount Hua, remember it from now on. You’ll be hearing about it a lot in the future,” Chung Myung said.

“…I will keep that in mind. But… I don’t know how much news we’ll hear out here,” the old man said with a bitter smile.

The Mount Hua disciples glared at Chung Myung.

“Then why did you commit crimes?” Chung Myung asked.

The old man shook his head at the word ‘crime.’

“We are prisoners, but we have never committed a crime,” he said.

“If trying to protect the Palace Lord against the rebellion is a crime, then there’s nothing we can do. But how can that be a crime?”

Baek Cheon nodded with a heavy face. *As I thought.* He had heard rumors that these people were loyal to the previous Palace Lord. They must have opposed the current Palace Lord, Seol Cheonsang, and been imprisoned here.

“Prisoners but not criminals…” Chung Myung muttered, scratching his cheek, and then asked, “How many people are here now?”

“About a hundred,” the old man replied, adding, “There were more than twice as many at first.”

This meant many people had died. Baek Cheon frowned, realizing the situation was worse than he thought.

“Isn’t that too much…”

Before he could continue, Chung Myung cut him off.

“Why are you telling us this? Are you asking us to help you? To get you out of here?”

The old man shook his head calmly.

“That is impossible,” he said.

“Why?” Chung Myung asked.

A bitter smile appeared on the old man’s wrinkled lips. “To tell that story, I must first introduce myself. My name is Yeo Sahon. In the past, I served the Palace Lord as the Great Elder of the Northern Sea Ice Palace.”

“Excuse me?” Baek Cheon was startled and looked at the old man with new eyes. This shabby old man was the Great Elder of the Ice Palace?

Each sect had different ranks, but the title of Great Elder meant he was among the top five in the sect. In Mount Hua’s case, Hyun Sang would be the Great Elder.

But someone with such a high status was now a prisoner, oppressed by the guards…

“That was a long time ago,” Yeo Sahon said. His voice was calm, but his face showed regret.

These men were once strong warriors of the Ice Palace. Now, they are forbidden from using their power.

Yeo Sahon shook his head.

If this was just a normal ban, we could try to break it. But the people who did this to us are…

“The Demonic Sect?”

Yeo Sahon stopped talking and his eyes got wide.

“You know?”

“It’s not really a secret.” Chung Myung shrugged. Yeo Sahon nodded.

“Yes, it’s them. Their fighting style is different from ours. We’ve tried for years to remove this ban, but we can’t.”

“Hmm.”

Baek Cheon sighed heavily, feeling trapped.

“Without our power, we are useless. We can’t even try to fight back.”

“What do you want to do then?” Yeo Sahon asked, his face serious.

“…Tell the Central Plains what is happening to us here.”

“Sorry?”

“Tell them that people from the Northern Sea are suffering here. Maybe they can help.”

Chung Myung looked at him for a moment, then sighed.

“…What good will that do?”

“The current Palace Lord is like a demon.”

Yeo Sahon’s hand, rough and swollen, shook. “He built a wall around the Ice Palace. The old Ice Palace never had walls. It welcomed everyone in the Northern Sea and took care of them. But this Palace Lord only lets in people who obey him. He keeps everyone else out.”

Baek Cheon remembered what he saw on the way here. His face became serious.

‘That high wall…’ He didn’t know why it was there before.

“He makes life easy for his followers, but he treats everyone else terribly. He even leaves them to the Demonic Sect. If you fight back, they drag you here and make you work until you die. How can someone like that be the leader of the Ice Palace?”

Chung Myung nodded slowly.

“That is very bad.”

“Yes. So please, tell the Central Plains what’s happening in the Northern Sea! Maybe Shaolin or Wudang can help us.” Chung Myung laughed a little.

“I understand something now.”

“…Yes?”

“Why you lost.”

Yeo Sahon’s wrinkled eyes opened wider.

“What do you think will happen if the Central Plains knows?”

“I’ve heard the Central Plains is full of good people! Even if they don’t care about being good, they fought a big war against the Demonic Sect. They won’t just ignore it if they know the Demonic Sect is here.”

“Do you really think so?”

“…”

“Do you really think the Central Plains doesn’t act because they don’t know the situation here? Really?” A sneer formed on Chung Myung’s lips. Yeo Sahon fell silent.

And Chung Myung didn’t say more. Like a drowning man grabbing anything to stay afloat, Yeo Sahon was desperate. Chung Myung knew that feeling well – wanting to do anything when things seem impossible.

But a straw is just a straw; it can’t really save you.

“The Central Plains won’t help the Northern Sea.”

“…”

“They aren’t kind enough to help if it doesn’t help them too.”

Yeo Sahon bit his lip and looked down.

“Do you know why those people just walked up that cliff without arguing? Even after hearing you say all this?”

“…”

“It’s because they know we can’t do anything, even if we hear it.” Yeo Sahon knew this already.

But even knowing, he still held onto that last bit of hope. Hearing someone else say it was just a false hope broke his heart completely.

“The Central Plains has no reason to help the Ice Palace. They won’t risk their lives to save them. Even if everyone knew the Demonic Sect was here, no one would help.”

They had seen it before. What happened to the group that tried to protect everyone in the Central Plains first? What did they lose for being so foolish?

People who saw that would never risk their lives for anyone else, not even for themselves.

Chung Myung showed his teeth and spoke softly but firmly.

“Remember this.”

“…”

Yeo Sahon jumped back and shut his mouth, feeling a sudden, strange power. Even the Mount Hua disciples felt it and held onto their legs tightly.

“No one will protect you. No one will fight for you. If you want to protect something, you must take it yourself. If you must fight, you must bleed yourself.”

“…Young Hero.”

“If you can’t do that, nothing will change.”

Yeo Sahon looked down, defeated.

“…But… what can we do?” His voice was full of sadness. “We are like people with broken bodies. We can’t use our power. And the Ice Palace disciples won’t help us anymore. The Palace Lord has taken control of everything.”

Chung Myung clicked his tongue.

“Even if your bodies are weak, you can still see and hear, right?”

“…Yes?”

“Those Demonic Sect guys are not patient. They wouldn’t wait for the Ice Essence to be moved to the Ice Palace. They must have taken it from here, yes?”

“…That’s right.”

‘I knew it.’ Chung Myung frowned a little and asked quickly. “Have you heard anything? Where are those guys going to use the Ice Essence? What is it for?”

Yeo Sahon thought hard, trying to remember. “Ice Essence… Hmm. I don’t remember hearing anything like that.”

Chung Myung’s shoulders dropped. He sighed. ‘Is this all for nothing?’ He thought he could find some information…

“Th-there.”

Just then, one of the men behind Yeo Sahon, who had been watching, raised his hand slowly.

“I don’t know if it’s important, but I heard something like that…”

“Something like that?”

“Yes. But it sounded so crazy, I don’t know if it’s connected…”

Chung Myung nodded quickly.

“Tell me anything. Anything helps.”

“Okay. Um… I was carrying the Ice Essence, and I heard the Demonic Sect guys talking. They said this for sure.”

“What did they say?”

The man swallowed hard and opened his mouth slowly.

“With this, the Heavenly Demon will come back to life soon. If things keep going like this, the Heavenly Demon will return to the world in less than a month.”

Chung Myung was silent. He just stared at the man, not moving at all. It was like he was frozen in time.

“…Chung Myung?” Baek Cheon called to him carefully.

Then, Chung Myung spoke, his voice low and dangerous.

“…What did they say?”

“Yes?”

“The Heavenly Demon is coming back?” Chung Myung’s face changed. His mouth twisted in a strange way, almost like a smile, but it was terrifying.

His face looked so evil, it was worse than any demon. A terrible anger, stronger than anything anyone had ever felt from him, started to come out of Chung Myung.