Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 634

Chung Myung breathed heavily, “Hoo… Hoo… Hoo…” His eyes were red and angry.

The people watching Chung Myung became more and more worried. They all looked at just one person.

Someone whispered, “Please, do something!” Another replied, “What can I do?”

“But you’re our only senior uncle!” someone insisted. “If he gets really angry, it will be terrible!”

Dong-ryong sighed, “Ugh.” *They only call me ‘senior uncle’ when they need something,* he thought. *Usually, they just call me Dong-ryong and don’t respect me at all.*

If only the younger students were asking him, he could ignore them. But even the older, more important members were looking at Baek Cheon, putting pressure on him without saying anything.

He couldn’t ignore both the clear requests and the silent pressure. He sighed and slowly walked towards Chung Myung, carefully looking at him.

Chung Myung mumbled, “Lost again… Lost again… Seven times in a row…” …Seven times to those Wudang people… To Wudang…”

*He’s lost his mind,* someone thought. *He was always a little strange, but now he’s completely gone.* You could see it in his eyes, which moved quickly from side to side, and his shaking hands.

Baek Cheon knew this was a terrible situation. Trying to calm Chung Myung, who seemed completely crazy, was going to be very hard, even if Chung Myung was thinking clearly.

*Oh, ancestors of Mount Hua,* Baek Cheon thought. *I’m really going to die here.* He sighed and carefully started to speak, hoping to calm Chung Myung down.

“Um…”

“Grrrr…”

“Well…”

“Huh?”

Chung Myung suddenly looked at Baek Cheon.

*Those eyes…* Baek Cheon thought, scared. *He looks like he could explode.*

“That…” Baek Cheon said, his voice shaking, which was unusual for him.

Baek Cheon said, “You… you said it yourself.”

“Said what?” Chung Myung asked.

“That… sometimes losing can be more important than winning.”

Chung Myung didn’t answer. Baek Cheon smiled nervously and went on, “Even though we lost, the younger students are still learning. So, you don’t need to be so angry…”

Suddenly, Chung Myung turned his head quickly to the side. *I’m in trouble,* Baek Cheon thought in panic. *I’m finished. Should I run away?*

The faces of the other Mount Hua students watching turned pale.

“Senior Uncle,” Baek Cheon said weakly.

“Y-yes?”

“That’s right. I did say that,” Chung Myung replied.

“Y-yes, Chung Myung,” Baek Cheon agreed.

“But…” Chung Myung continued.

“Yes?” Baek Cheon asked, nervously.

“So what if I said it?” Chung Myung asked.

… Chung Myung’s eyes started to roll upwards.

Chung Myung’s eyes rolled back further. “Just because *you* know it, does that mean everything is okay? Huh?” he demanded.

“If I could always do what I know is right, I would be a wise man, not just Chung Myung! Even Buddha spent his whole life trying to live by what he taught. So why is it a problem if *I* can’t always do it? What’s wrong with that?!”

Someone whispered, “Why is Chung Myung so angry?”

Chung Myung shouted, “These useless students lost seven times in a row to Wudang! Seven times! Not five, not six, but seven! Seven defeats in a row?!”

Chung Myung was shaking and yelling, like he was about to explode. Suddenly, he froze and grabbed his neck.

“Ugh… My neck hurts!”

“C-calm down!” Baek Cheon said, quickly trying to calm him.

“You’ve learned a lot! If you cause trouble here, it won’t help.”

“Yes, Chung Myung! Please calm down!” others said.

“Someone get some candy, you idiots!” Chung Myung yelled. The other students helped Baek Cheon, trying hard to calm Chung Myung down.

Chung Myung, glaring ahead with bloodshot eyes, breathed heavily. “I’d rather just smash all those bastards’ heads in and bury them somewhere in the mountains…”

Someone whispered, “What is he saying? Is he out of his mind?”

“Well,” another replied, “he’s always been a bit crazy.”

“…That’s true.” *Even a crazy person knows when to stop,* someone thought. *But the problem is, this crazy person doesn’t know when to stop!*

Chung Myung yelled, “No! How can we lose seven times in a row?!”

“But you said we can’t win!” someone shouted back.

“I know we can’t win! Of course, I know! But we still have to win!”

“Please,” Baek Cheon begged, “please say something that makes sense…” But Chung Myung was too angry to listen.

Chung Myung knew all of this. He knew the other Mount Hua students, except for the best five, were not as good as the Wudang students. Wudang was not just a small school; how could they beat people who were so much better?

If they could, Mount Hua would already be the best sect in the world. He knew all of this. Of course, he knew. He knew, but… *I know, but it makes me so angry!* *Oh, my fate!* To live long enough to see Mount Hua lose so badly to Wudang!

*In my time,* he thought, *I never even saw their faces! Only their hats! How dare those Wudang people be so proud in front of Mount Hua!* Chung Myung’s anger was burning inside him. He shook as he grabbed his sword handle tightly.

Baek Cheon said, “C-calm down!”

“Where’s the candy?!” Chung Myung yelled.

Just then, *Thud!* Gwak-Hoi, who was fighting for Mount Hua, was hit by the Wudang sword attack and fell hard to the ground.

“Th-th-that…” Gwak-Hoi stammered, shocked. Chung Myung, finally losing control of his anger, started to fall backwards.

*Why did he have to lose now?!* Chung Myung thought angrily. *That stupid idiot!* *He’ll be sorry when he gets back here!* Gwak-Hoi, who had tried his best but was about to be yelled at, would feel unfair, but that’s how it is.

Even if you do the same thing, if you do it at the wrong time, you will be punished.

“Hooo!” Chung Myung roared, almost falling over. He swayed for a moment, then with a huge effort, straightened up. He took a deep, shuddering breath. Slowly, the red rage in his face began to fade, leaving him looking pale and tight-lipped.

“…Right. It’s strange for me to say anything to my martial uncles.”

“Y-Yeah, Chung Myung. Just calm down! Okay?”

“We can just win next time! Next time!”

“No. That’s not it…”

“Huh?”

“I can’t wait any longer! I’m going out there!”

“Grab him!”

“Stop him!”

The disciples of Mount Hua, who were nearby, quickly pounced, tackling Chung Myung and pinning him down.

“Let go! Won’t you let go? I’m going to shave all those bastards’ heads and make them part of Shaolin!”

“A-Amitabha. We should hear the temple’s side of things too…”

“Shut up! You’re not helping!”

“…”

“You’re like a useless glutton! You eat so much of Mount Hua’s rice and can’t even go out for a martial arts contest? Huh? You’re useless! Spit out everything you’ve eaten, you bastard!”

Hye-yeon’s face was filled with injustice.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go; honestly, how could he, a member of the Shaolin sect, participate in a martial arts contest between Mount Hua and Wudang?

“Why are you taking it out on the monk!”

“He’s useless! Useless! That bald head, that thing!”

Haaah!

Chung Myung rolled his eyes back, and Baek Ah poked its head out from inside his clothes, hissing at Hye-yeon.

Hye-yeon, thoroughly dejected, hung his head low. Yoon Jong approached and patted him on the shoulder.

“We don’t think that way, so don’t worry about it, Monk.”

“…Thank you.”

Even as Yoon Jong comforted Hye-yeon, Chung Myung’s outburst continued.

“Let go! Won’t you let go? I’m telling you, if I go out there and snap those bastards’ necks, it’ll be solved!”

“You said you’d go out last, you bastard!”

“It’s not like the situation will change if you clumsily grab one and come back!”

“Here, eat some candy, candy! Quickly!”

Jo Gul shoved a sticky, sweet candy into Chung Myung’s mouth. The sugary taste exploded on his tongue, a momentary distraction from his anger.

“Kkeueueueu.”

The disciples slowly released Chung Myung, who was still grumbling. Baek Cheon watched him, then turned his gaze to the Wudang camp.

Baek Cheon sighed deeply at Chung Myung’s inability to calm down, even with candy in his mouth.

‘Seven consecutive losses… No, eight consecutive losses is a bit much.’

Everyone had been doing their best since Un Geom’s good fight, but defeat was still defeat. It was true that his stomach twisted a little more with each loss.

He had confirmed that the distance to Wudang was not far.

But he had also clearly confirmed that the distance certainly existed.

‘Wudang, huh…’

As the senior disciple, Baek Cheon felt the pressure of Mount Hua’s future resting on his shoulders. He looked at the Wudang camp with a heavy expression.

“They are still high.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong stared intently at the Wudang camp.

Wudang was certainly a place worthy of being called the greatest martial arts sect in the world.

‘Even if our children catch up to those first-generation disciples, there’s still a difference in numbers.’

Not all of Wudang’s first-generation disciples were here. Wudang had nearly a hundred first-generation disciples alone. That was an overwhelmingly larger number than Mount Hua.

Furthermore, considering that Wudang’s second and third-generation disciples would also grow while they were growing, the difference in power would not be easy to overcome under normal circumstances.

Besides…

“Even if we overcome them, there are still the Wudang elders behind them, right?”

“…I don’t want to think about it if I can help it, but it’s a bit terrifying.”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

This must be the power of a prestigious clan. Surpassing one individual is not that difficult. But a prestigious clan blocks the way again in the form of another high mountain, even after that one is overtaken.

“But…”

A firm determination settled on Baek Cheon’s face.

“It has to be that much to make it worth chasing.”

It was still incredibly high.

But he didn’t think it was an insurmountable mountain. The disciples of Mount Hua must have come to the same conclusion through this martial arts contest.

In the past, Wudang was so high that they couldn’t even fathom the end, but through this martial arts contest, they had confirmed its approximate height. If so, wouldn’t that mean they could climb it someday?

‘The biggest gain from this martial arts contest will be returning with confidence.’

Baek Cheon smiled quietly.

There was only one thing he regretted.

“It would be nice to be able to confirm the skill level of the Wudang elders, though.”

“That will be difficult. Elders are not people who easily step forward.”

“That’s true.”

Heo Sanja was there, but Heo Sanja could not be called a true elder of Wudang. What they wanted to know was not the power of someone like Heo Sanja, who was in charge of external activities, but the power of the true elders who were dedicated solely to training in the deep valleys of Wudang.

‘It’s a shame to have missed that one thing, but.’

Anyway, they had gained other things, so that was enough.

“Kkeueueueung. Those Wudang bastards…”

“…”

So, first, let’s calm that dog down a bit…

Meanwhile, on the Wudang side of the camp…

…I’m going to die. Really.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Yes, Elder.”

Heo Sanja nodded strongly as he looked at the disciple who had returned victorious.

Eight times.

Starting with the defeat in the martial arts contest against Yoo Iseol, they had won all eight times since then. They had almost completely succeeded in their plan. But even as he watched the winning streak, Heo Sanja’s face did not brighten.

‘We’re clearly winning, but.’

He frowned. Why did the losing side look so much more confident than his own winning disciples? Heo Sanja bit his lip and glanced at the Mount Hua side.

The disciples of Mount Hua, who were chattering noisily, did not look like losers to anyone. They looked more like victors who had won a great victory.

Despite their victories, a quiet tension hung over the Wudang camp. Disciples spoke in hushed tones, and their smiles seemed forced. The atmosphere was gradually becoming more depressed.

‘We must break them…’

Considering the reason why they started this martial arts contest, this atmosphere should not continue. It was important to show the difference to the outside world, but they also had to make Mount Hua realize that Wudang was a high wall that they could never overcome.

To do so…

Heo Sanja shouted.

“Hasn’t Heo Gong arrived yet! The sect leader gave a direct order, how can he be so disrespectful!”

“There’s no need to be so angry, he has already arrived.”

Heo Sanja, who had expected Mu Jin to say something, widened his eyes at the voice he heard from behind. He turned around and saw his junior brother’s face with a slightly strange expression.

“Senior Brother. It seems you are having quite a hard time.”

“Why, why are you so late!”

Heo Gong smiled at Heo Sanja’s prodding.

“It’s a disaster… or it will be, if things continue like this.”

“…What?”

“Since when has Wudang become so weak? To think that we can’t even handle Mount Hua without an elder stepping forward.”

“Y-You…”

“Isn’t that right, Senior Brother?”

Everyone began to hold their breath at Heo Gong’s low and imposing voice.