Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 543

“Ah… I can breathe again,” someone sighed.

“Strength is coming back,” another voice agreed.

The Mount Hua disciples and Hye-yeon sat together on the dusty ground. They stretched, shoulders rolling and necks cracking like dry twigs. Each movement brought a little more relief. They felt lighter, the heavy weight of battle slowly lifting.

“Kheu! Gongcheong Oil is amazing!” one disciple exclaimed.

“Just a tiny drop, and such power! It’s truly the best medicine!”

Hye-yeon nodded quietly, “Amitabha. Good food and good medicine…”

But Cheong-myeong was different. His face was as white as paper, and even though his eyes were squeezed shut, tears squeezed out and shone on his cheeks.

*Those gluttons.*

*Is there nothing else in the world to steal but Gongcheong Oil?*

Gongcheong Oil is very famous. People say it is one of the best healing medicines, almost as good as the Honwon Pill.

*That precious thing…*

“Feeling refreshed now, are we?”

“Whatever.”

Baek Cheon’s face turned sour as he looked at Cheong-myeong.

“Hey, who was it that tried every trick in the book to avoid giving even one drop?”

“That’s what I’m saying, Sasuk. In all my life, I’ve never seen such a tiny drop. It’s a skill to drop it that precisely.”

“Miser.”

Cheong-myeong, bombarded with complaints, burst out.

“Do you even know what this is worth!”

“Yes, yes. We ignorant ones wouldn’t know.”

“Ah, I feel the strength! I feel it!”

Cheong-myeong wiped his moist eyes.

*I’ll live to see the day. The day I get swindled out of my own stuff.*

Cheong-myeong thought to himself, ‘Serves you right, you rascal.’

“Kaaah!”

Ah, geez!

I told you not to pop out of nowhere!

Cheong-myeong suddenly lashed out at empty air, but everyone was used to it by now.

“By the way, Cheong-myeong.”

“Huh?”

“Are you alright?”

At Baek Cheon’s question, Cheong-myeong stared at him silently for a moment. Then, with clouded eyes, he shook his head.

“…There’s a limit to being mean and then nice all of a sudden. Where did you sell your conscience?”

“No, I just thought you weren’t eating any.”

“Weaklings like Sasuk might be groaning and moaning from injuries like that, but I’m not fazed by this much!”

“Really? Then perhaps you’d consider bestowing another drop upon a weakling…”

“Don’t touch it! Your wrist will fly off!”

Seeing Cheong-myeong hissing like a venomous wildcat, Baek Cheon smacked his lips and withdrew his hand.

“Even after eating that precious Gongcheong Oil, my body still isn’t fully recovered.”

“That’s how badly you were hurt.”

Yoon Jong shuddered, a shiver running down his spine. It was truly a horrific battle that he would remember forever.

“Anyway, we defeated the Demonic Sect, didn’t we?”

“We even captured the bishop!”

The Mount Hua disciples’ shoulders puffed up with pride.

But, alas, there was Cheong-myeong before them, unable to stand by and watch their shoulders rise so triumphantly.

“Captured the bishop?”

Cheong-myeong’s head began to tilt crookedly. Jo Gul, flinching, shouted.

“Why, why! What are you going to ruin this time!”

“No, nothing.”

Cheong-myeong shrugged and said.

“You’re free to delude yourselves, but I think it’s best to know the reality. The bishop we caught wasn’t a proper bishop.”

“…”

“In the first place, if he were a proper bishop or had a proper diocese, he wouldn’t be out here in such a remote place, doing such ridiculous things.”

“Isn’t doing ridiculous things the hallmark of the Demonic Sect?”

“It’s different from that.”

Cheong-myeong shook his head with a resolute expression.

“I know from what that self-proclaimed bishop said, but those guys were outcasts even within the Demonic Sect. They were separated from the Central Sect and had to survive on their own, so they couldn’t have trained in peace.”

“Then…”

Yoon Jong opened his mouth with a slightly hardened expression. He swallowed hard.

“Does that mean… a real bishop or a real Demonic Sect disciple is even stronger?”

“Why ask the obvious?”

Cheong-myeong scoffed.

“Even so…”

But Yoon Jong looked as if he still didn’t understand.

The power of the Demonic Sect that he had witnessed with his own eyes was truly terrifying. Because of those few, the disciples of Mount Hua, as well as the Ice Palace, were nearly annihilated.

And yet, that wasn’t a proper Demonic Sect?

“Just look at the results.”

“Huh?”

“Even if it’s just one diocese, if the Demonic Sect’s disciples could be taken down by one Ice Palace brat, would the Central Plains have been so helplessly pushed back by the Demonic Sect a hundred years ago?”

“…”

The faces of the Mount Hua disciples turned strange, their eyes wide with worry.

Now that they heard it, it wasn’t wrong. Of course, the Mount Hua disciples played a part in the Ice Palace driving out the Demonic Sect, but if that were the case, wouldn’t there have been warriors in the Central Plains a hundred years ago who were even stronger than them?

“What we dealt with were just the dregs of the Demonic Sect.”

“…I see.”

It was a fact they didn’t want to believe, but the more they heard, the more they understood.

“…The real Demonic Sect…”

The faces of the Mount Hua disciples became even more serious.

*To think such beings are still alive and breathing in this world.*

Realizing how complacent they had been all this time, a chill ran down their spines.

“And if the Heavenly Demon is added to that…”

Cheong-myeong shook his head at Yoon Jong’s muttering.

“Yes. That’s the Demonic Sect that nearly destroyed the Central Plains.”

“…Heavenly Demon…”

Then, Jo Gul asked as if he had just remembered something.

“But Cheong-myeong, what happened inside? Was the Heavenly Demon really about to be resurrected?”

“Resurrected, my foot.”

Cheong-myeong scoffed.

“They were scheming and plotting, but I chopped off his head and sent it flying.”

“…That’s a real relief.”

Even the half-baked bishop was so terrible; what would have happened if the Heavenly Demon had really been resurrected?

But the fact that they had avoided a great disaster didn’t exactly reassure them. They had learned that dioceses with power beyond what they had faced still existed in the world.

Seeing everyone’s faces, which had become quite serious as if they had never been proud, Cheong-myeong chuckled.

“Well, that’s no reason to be so gloomy.”

“Huh?”

“Even if he was half-baked, a bishop is a bishop, and even if they were clumsy, the Demonic Sect is the Demonic Sect. The fact that we fought and won against such guys is a big deal.”

“…Aren’t you being too harsh and then too kind?”

“What poison did I give? Me!”

Cheong-myeong shouted with an aggrieved expression, and Baek Cheon sighed and shook his head.

“Anyway, I’ve realized one thing.”

“What?”

“We can’t go on like this.”

A resolute will settled in his eyes.

“The Demonic Sect is stronger than we think. If the Demonic Sect attacks the Central Plains with its full force, as it did in the past, there’s no guarantee that Mount Hua will be safe.”

At those words, everyone nodded in unison.

They had felt the power of the Demonic Sect enough. And they also knew that the current Mount Hua was not strong enough to stop them.

“We need to become stronger.”

“When you say ‘we’?”

“Not just us here, but the entire Mount Hua needs to become stronger. I don’t want to see anyone from Mount Hua die under their swords.”

“I agree.”

“I think so too, Master!” Chung Myung’s student said.

They looked at each other and nodded. Chung Myung smiled slightly.

‘Yes. Enemies make people stronger.’

It sounded bad to say it, but it was true. Jongnam made Mount Hua strong. Then came the Nine Sects, like Shaolin.

It’s hard to keep training if you only want to get stronger.

People try harder when they have someone they want to beat, someone they want to overcome. That’s how they get stronger.

Now that they were setting goals and becoming more determined, he could see them as true martial artists.

“When we go back to Mount Hua, we must train our students very, very hard, almost too hard.”

“We must show them hell.”

“I will make them feel what I felt towards those evil group!”

“I’ll kill them.”

Uh…

Wait, that’s not what I meant at all! They’re taking it too far!

Huh?

“Amitabha.”

Then, Hye-yeon, who was quiet, put his hands together and spoke.

“I also felt many things. I didn’t understand why the Abbot made so many sacrifices to send people here. But now I know how dangerous the Demonic Sect is, I see the Abbot’s wisdom…”

“That’s right! That damn monk!”

“Tha, dam…”

Hye-yeon stopped talking. Chung Myung’s eyes, usually calm, were now full of anger.

“He said only a few Demonic Sect guys were hiding, but a whole branch is here? Damn it, he always lies! I hope that bad guy goes to hell!”

“Li, lies… Hell…”

“When I go back to the Central Plains, I’m going to pull all the hair from that Abbot monk’s head… Ah, he doesn’t have any! Then I’ll tear off his beard! I will!”

Hye-yeon should have said, ‘Even so, aren’t you being too harsh on the Abbot of Shaolin?’

But with Chung Myung’s eyes full of anger, breathing heavily like a dragon, he couldn’t say those words.

“Ci, Citizen. Please calm down…”

“We need to charge extra.”

Baek Cheon interrupted Hye-yeon. Then, the other students spoke together.

“Of course. This isn’t enough. Not nearly enough.”

“Let’s take all of Shaolin’s pillars this time!”

“We should melt down the Buddhas and sell them.”

Abbot.

There are devils everywhere here.

Hye-yeon couldn’t speak as he watched them show how angry they were at Shaolin so strongly.

The angry disciples were not the real problem. The problem was Hye-yeon himself. He was starting to think they were right about getting money from Shaolin!

“Amitabha! Amitabha!”

When did so many devils fill his head!

‘No… But, now that I think about it, the benefactors’ words don’t seem wrong.’

“Ughhh. Amitabha.”

Hye-yeon was tormented, feeling very confused about who he was. But luckily, someone came to save him.

Knock knock.

“Come in.”

At Baek Cheon’s words, the door opened. Soon, Seol So-baek and Han I-myeong, wearing white martial robes, hurried inside.

“Elder! We heard you were awake and came right away! Are you feeling better now!” Seol So-baek ran to Chung Myung, his eyes shining.

“Yes.”

“You say ‘yes’ to the Palace Lord!”

“You rude boy!”

“He needs to be hit!”

Everyone tried to stop him, but Chung Myung didn’t listen. He looked at Seol So-baek and asked.

“You must be busy, why did you come?”

“There is an order to things, Elder! No matter how many important things there are, nothing is more important than seeing the Elder who saved the Northern Sea and thanking you!”

“Hehehe. This one is smart.”

Well raised. Very well raised.

Chung Myung was very happy and grinned. Now that the Mount Hua guys were trying to beat him and steal his things, Seol So-baek, like a good puppy, looked even more adorable.

Seol So-baek’s eyes shone even brighter.

“I don’t know how to thank you, Elder! You saved the Ice Palace from destruction, and the Northern Sea from a great disaster. I am very, very grateful.”

“Really?” Chung Myung smiled even more.

“Of course, Elder!”

“You know it, don’t you?”

“Of course. People who don’t know how to be grateful are like beasts. I am not a beast! I will never forget this.”

Seol So-baek was very honest. Chung Myung smiled brightly.

Han I-myeong, watching from behind, started to cry.

‘What a wonderful sight.’

A hero from the Central Plains who saved the Northern Sea, and a young Palace Lord who will continue the hero’s work and lead the Northern Sea.

How could this not be a great sight?

Then, Chung Myung opened his mouth with a very bright smile.

“Just with words?”

“Yes?” Seol So-baek looked at Chung Myung, thinking he had heard wrong. But Chung Myung said it again.

“Are you only saying ‘thank you’? Just words?”

Then, he patted Seol So-baek’s shoulder.

“There’s no thanks in the world that’s just words. You can’t repay kindness with your mouth. You repay kindness with things! Things! Do you understand?”

“Why? You were going to say thanks and leave? No way, right?”

“Ah, no, that’s…”

“People who don’t know grace are like beasts?”

“Yes.”

“Beasts give their hides. They repay kindness with that. Surely a person is not worse than a beast and will just leave, right? The Northern Sea Ice Palace has its reputation, surely.”

Sweat started to form on Seol So-baek’s forehead.

Now that he had said ‘reputation of the Ice Palace,’ he couldn’t go back.

“O, of course, Elder. The Northern Sea Ice Palace always pays its debts.”

“Really?” Chung Myung smiled like he had won the world.

“Hahaha! That’s right. I didn’t think the Ice Palace was so rude!”

“Ye, yes. Of course.”

“Yes, yes. So…” Chung Myung held Seol So-baek’s shoulder tightly. His eyes were shining as he looked at the nervous Seol So-baek.

“Bring it over first.”

“Wh, what?”

“What else.”

Chung Myung’s smile was very bright.

“The Northern Sea Ice Palace’s list of assets.”

“Quickly.”

The disciples of Mount Hua quietly looked away from Seol So-baek, who looked like a lamb caught by a wolf.

‘He’s been caught.’

‘How sad.’

‘I’m sorry, Palace Lord.’

There are some people you should never owe a favor to.

Seol So-baek and the Ice Palace didn’t know that, which was their bad luck.