Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 553

“Thank you so much!”

The lamas worked hard and finished getting ready. They smiled kindly at the Mount Hua disciples, who were already prepared.

“It seems you are ready to depart.”

Baek Cheon smiled, a little embarrassed. “We didn’t have much to do,” he said. “We used your tents, so we didn’t unpack. We just packed our bags.”

“Thank you so much for warmly welcoming weary travelers.”

“Think nothing of it.”

The lama, Chain, representing the others, clasped his hands together.

“Then, travel safely…”

Suddenly, Chung Myung started pulling luggage from the cart.

“Oof!”

“Huh?”

Baek Cheon turned around, surprised. Chung Myung grabbed a big bag of grain and walked quickly to the lama.

“Take this.”

“…What is this?”

“Just mixed grains. Eat them on your way.”

Baek Cheon’s eyes widened, and so did the other Mount Hua disciples. They were astonished.

‘Good heavens.’

‘Chung Myung is giving something to someone else.’

‘Has the sun risen in the west?’

Chung Myung did give things away sometimes, but only when he could get something back, or when someone was truly helpless.

What would Chung Myung gain from giving to the Potala Palace lamas, whom he might never see again?

“It’s alright. There’s no need…”

“Take it.”

Chung Myung glanced at the Great Living Buddha, who was tidying up the tent.

“Judging by the size of your luggage, you don’t seem to have packed much food. You need something to eat on the way back. You can’t exactly receive alms in this prairie. And…”

“…”

“Even if the adults can manage, the child needs to eat well.”

Chain smiled, looking a little worried.

“Then, we will gratefully accept it.”

“Yes.”

Chung Myung turned back to see the disciples staring at him with their mouths open. He tilted his head.

“What are you all staring at?”

“…Are you not feeling well?”

“…”

“Let’s go back to Mount Hua quickly. Something terrible might really happen to you at this rate.”

“Senior Brother! Let me take your pulse!”

‘Seriously, these guys?’

Chung Myung glared, but Baek Cheon reached out and widened his eyes, pulling the eyelids up and down.

“…Your eyes seem fine…”

“Why the eyes all of a sudden?”

“They say your eyes change when you go crazy.”

“Ah…”

Chung Myung sighed.

“…Fine. Play with it, but put it back where you found it.”

‘Damn brats.’

Just then, Banseon Lama, who was tidying up the tent, led the Great Living Buddha and the other lamas out to see them off.

“Om Mani Padme Hum.”

Banseon Lama, chanting the Six Syllable Mantra, smiled gently.

“It will be a long journey to the Central Plains. Please travel carefully.”

“Wouldn’t it be more so for you in Seozang? I pray that your journey will be safe.”

Baek Cheon bowed deeply.

“Then.”

The Mount Hua disciples got ready to leave. Hae Yeon bowed to Banseon Lama.

“I’m sad I didn’t have more time. I wanted to learn from you.”

Banseon Lama smiled gently.

“The Dharma is on that path. What help would my shallow words be? Though the paths may be different, the destination is the same, so isn’t that enough?”

“I will deeply engrave those words in my heart.”

Hae Yeon bowed again and turned around. The cart slowly began to move.

“Thank you!”

“See you again next time!”

Everyone pushed the cart, saying goodbye cheerfully. Chung Myung, on top of the luggage, crossed his arms and looked down at the Great Living Buddha.

The Great Living Buddha quietly looked back.

– Why…

“Tch.”

Chung Myung turned his head away, feeling sulky. The cart moved across the prairie.

The cart started moving, leaving the small camp behind. Around them, the wide prairie stretched out, like a sea of grass under the big sky.

Banseon Lama recited a verse. The other lamas joined in.

Banseon Lama closed his eyes and blessed them. Then, he looked at the Great Living Buddha.

The child’s deep eyes hid his thoughts.

“What are you looking at, Master?”

The Great Living Buddha closed his eyes.

“A thorny path.”

“…”

“A thorny path that will continue for three asamkhya kalpas. I saw a darkness where no light can reach.”

“Master…”

He muttered with an inscrutable expression.

“A person like a candle, burning himself to illuminate the darkness. But a candle is destined to be extinguished when its wick is exhausted.”

“…”

“I hope there will be those who can illuminate him.”

Banseon Lama sighed, remembering the previous Great Living Buddha’s words before he died.

– The demon will return. A demon carrying the karma of ten thousand ages, wailing in the river of affliction… If he is not stopped, the world will be stained with a darkness without a single point of light.

Banseon Lama looked at the cart, now far away.

‘One who will illuminate the darkness.’

But can he alone illuminate the darkness that will stain the world?

“Affliction. More affliction.”

He bowed to the Great Living Buddha.

“Let us go. It is a long journey.”

“Yes.”

The Great Living Buddha turned and walked away.

“I feel like I’m becoming incredibly devout.”

“Right, Martial Uncle?” Jo Gul said.

“It definitely feels a bit different. It seems that those who have accumulated high virtue purify people regardless of the path they follow.”

Jo Gul seemed impressed by Banseon Lama.

“The other Five Great Demon Slayers I’ve seen so far all had unique vibes, so I thought Potala Palace would be the same.”

“…Isn’t that just a problem with the other Five Great Demon Slayers?”

“Anyway.”

Beast Palace and the Northern Ice Palace were strange places.

However, Potala Palace felt like a place where those who truly sought the Dharma gathered.

“How can they be so different…”

“I know, right? They’re both Buddhists…”

Everyone looked at Hae Yeon.

Hae Yeon’s face flushed.

“D-Do not disgrace the Abbot! It is merely that the paths are different and the directions are different. Cultivating oneself is a merit of one lifetime, but guiding and leading countless people is a merit of ten thousand lifetimes!”

Baek Cheon watched Hae Yeon, his face red.

“…I didn’t mention the Abbot.”

“I guess… Hae Yeon seems to think differently inside.”

“We were talking about Hae Yeon…”

“Cough…”

Hae Yeon looked bewildered, then clutched his chest and coughed.

“Wh-What am I saying…”

Jo Gul patted his shoulder.

“It’s alright, Monk.”

“That’s right. Different is just different.”

“I’ll have to tell the Shaolin Abbot.”

Hae Yeon’s eyes became moist.

‘These fiends.’

He couldn’t cultivate because of these fiends! When the Buddha was cultivating, the fiends interfered with his cultivation, and wasn’t this exactly the same!

“Amitabha! Amitabha! Be gone, fiends!”

“Instead of chanting uselessly, pull the cart straight.”

“Ugh…”

Meanwhile, Chung Myung lay on his back, listening to the Mount Hua disciples’ conversation. He would usually have teased them, but the words he had heard last night and the conversations he had with the lamas kept swirling in his head.

Chung Myung smiled.

‘Even after thinking about it again, I don’t understand a thing they’re saying.’

Whatever. Damn it.

A virtuous sage might understand Banseon Lama’s deep intentions, but Chung Myung was never very close to such things as Taoism.

And what’s important to him right now isn’t this.

He needs to strengthen Mount Hua and make the Heavenly Union even more solid in order to stop that Heavenly Demon bastard, who might be doing something somewhere right now.

‘I can worry about things like that later.’

Chung Myung jumped up and shouted.

“Even a snail would be faster than this! Can’t you pull any faster? There’s no snow on the ground anymore, why are you so slow!”

“…There really is a fiend.”

“Don’t say such things, Martial Uncle. Even a fiend would run away if they saw that bastard. Why would you bring a fiend to that guy?”

“Agreed.”

Chung Myung smiled brightly.

“Shall I show you what a real fiend is?”

“Huh?”

“Oof!”

Chung Myung jumped down from the pile of luggage and sat on the front of the cart.

“You’re chattering away, so it seems like it’s gotten a bit easier.”

“H-Huh?”

“This is all training, so it shouldn’t be easy. If it’s easy, how can it be training? The harder the training, the better!”

“Wh-What are you trying to… Ack! You bastard!”

The cart became twice as heavy. Baek Cheon slammed into the handle and screamed. Groans erupted from everywhere.

“My, my back!”

“Aaaah! My ankle’s going to break, my ankle!”

“That crazy bastard again!”

Madness dwelled in Chung Myung’s eyes.

“Training! More training! How can you survive in this world with the Demon Sect bastards running rampant if you’re this weak?! I’ll make your bodies twice as strong by the time we get to Mount Hua! Run!”

“You rotten bastard!”

“Where are the ghosts, seriously! Why aren’t they taking that bastard away!”

Groans poured out, but Chung Myung put more strength into the gravity skill he was using.

The Mount Hua disciples and Hae Yeon pulled the cart with all their might.

‘What’s important is that Mount Hua becomes stronger.’

A chaotic era is coming.

The only thing that can protect you is your own strength. No matter what method he uses, Mount Hua must become much stronger.

And!

‘And me too.’

He had to risk his life to face a half-baked bishop of the Demonic Sect, who he could have handled alone in the past. And he even received help from his other martial siblings.

There’s no way he can face the real bishops of the Demonic Sect, and even the Heavenly Demon, in this state.

“I need to get stronger. More than now.”

Chung Myung muttered quietly. The martial siblings glanced back at him, but Chung Myung didn’t notice.

“…”

Everyone gripped the handle of the cart tightly.

“Let’s go!”

“Let’s go to Mount Hua in one go!”

“Damn it, it’s training! Training!”

“Run.”

Everyone began to pull the cart with all their might. The cart sped across the prairie.

They left behind the white earth and the yellow earth.

They were heading towards Mount Hua.