Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 647

Tap. The sound echoed in the quiet room, making Heo Sanja even more nervous.

So, when Heo Sanja met someone, he always tried to look into their eyes.

But now, he didn’t dare to look at the person in front of him.

Tap.

A finger tapped lightly on the wooden tea table.

Tap tap.

The tapping got faster, and Heo Sanja’s heart beat faster too.

“So.”

“…”

“You lost.”

The voice cut through the silence like a sharp knife, making Heo Sanja gasp as if he’d been truly stabbed. The cold voice continued.

“Heo San.”

“Yes… Sect Leader.”

He breathed in quickly and looked up, then forgot to breathe again.

Heo Dojin.

Heo Dojin, the Sect Leader of Wudang and Heo Sanja’s martial brother, had an expression Heo Sanja had never seen before.

He had been in Wudang with Heo Dojin for many years, but he had never seen such a cold look on his face.

Heo Dojin’s face was like stone, cold as if frost had settled on it. His voice was just as icy when he slowly repeated.

“You lost, you say.”

“…”

Heo Dojin’s sharp eyes stared at Heo Sanja, who looked down and bowed his head.

“I am sorry, Sect Leader. I was foolish…”

“This is not something to apologize for, Heo San.”

“…”

The icy voice filled the room.

“Tell me.”

“…”

“Why did you lose?”

Heo Sanja swallowed hard.

On the way back, Heo Sanja thought hard about what to tell the Sect Leader. But really, there was only one thing he could say.

“Hwasan…”

He barely spoke the words he didn’t want to say, after thinking about them many times.

“…Hwasan was much stronger than I expected.”

Heo Dojin didn’t react. He just looked at Heo Sanja as if the answer wasn’t good enough.

“Sect Leader, their young fighters, they call them the Five Swords… they are already better than our best students. The other students aren’t as good… If it was a fight between the second-best students, we couldn’t be sure Wudang would win. And…”

“And?”

“The Hwasan Divine Dragon’s skill… made even the Five Swords look weak.”

“Are you saying that Heo Gong was beaten by skill?”

“Yes.”

Heo Sanja bowed his head, looking sorry.

“Even if we fought again, Heo Gong probably wouldn’t win. Even at the end of the fight, Chung Myung was breathing normally.”

“…”

Heo Dojin slowly closed his eyes.

Heo Sanja tried not to breathe too loudly, so he wouldn’t bother Heo Dojin.

After thinking for a long time with his eyes closed, Heo Dojin opened them again. The sharp look was gone, but Heo Sanja felt something heavier in its place.

“They were just stronger?”

“…Yes.”

Heo Sanja nodded slowly. He couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Reasons?

He could find many reasons if he looked for them. He could make even more excuses. But he knew that those weren’t the real reasons or excuses.

If he said it was his fault, he might seem more responsible. But that would make things even harder for Wudang, and Heo Dojin didn’t want that.

So, he had to be completely honest.

“Heo San.”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

“Let’s think about it.”

Heo Dojin said quietly, as if talking to himself.

“Did we not prepare enough?”

“No, Sect Leader.”

They had prepared too much.

They were fighting Hwasan’s second and third-best students. And they brought Wudang’s best student and an elder. They had prepared so much that it was almost embarrassing.

Even if people said they were too proud, they couldn’t argue.

“Then, was the timing bad?”

“That’s not it either.”

“So, you’re saying there was no problem with how we prepared or when we did it. Then the only thing left is luck…”

Heo Dojin stared at Heo Sanja.

“Was Hwasan just lucky?”

“…That’s not it either.”

Heo Dojin looked at Heo Sanja silently. Heo Sanja bit his lip and spoke.

“If we fought with the same strength, we would lose five out of ten times. Even if we won sometimes, it wouldn’t really feel like a win.”

“If that’s the case…”

Heo Dojin said quietly.

“Then it’s my fault.”

“…Sect Leader.”

“Sending a general to fight with an army that can’t win, it’s natural to lose.”

Heo Sanja closed his eyes tightly when he saw Heo Dojin’s sad smile.

If there was no problem with preparation, timing, or luck, there was only one answer. He didn’t know the enemy well enough and underestimated them.

Yes. That was all.

But…

“Heo San.”

“…Yes.”

Heo Dojin looked empty.

“Does this make sense to you?”

Heo Sanja couldn’t answer. No one else could have answered that question so quickly.

“If you’re right, then Hwasan has made their second-best students as good as our best students in a short time.”

“…Sect Leader.”

“It means that the group that was about to fall apart is doing something that no one in Wudang has ever done, and no one in Hwasan has ever done either.”

Heo Dojin’s voice got quieter.

“It’s not logical.”

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Heo Dojin started tapping the tea table again.

It was an unsteady sound. Heo Sanja knew what Heo Dojin was thinking and took a deep breath.

“Hwasan… Hwasan.”

He heard a faint sound of teeth grinding. The tapping on the tea table didn’t stop, like a strange skill that bothered Heo Sanja. He started breathing fast, and his heart pounded.

Crack!

The finger that had been tapping suddenly broke through the tea table. The thick wood broke, and the tea table fell apart.

“Sect Leader.”

The teapot rolled on the floor, and tea spilled everywhere. Heo Sanja couldn’t clean it up, so he just watched.

Heo Dojin’s face showed many emotions.

Heo Sanja hunched his shoulders, feeling the pressure.

“It’s embarrassing.”

But Heo Dojin’s voice was calm.

“Not only did the best students go, but even the elders couldn’t beat the second and third-best students. The elder was beaten by a third-best student. I know everyone will be talking about this.”

Heo Sanja clenched his teeth and bowed his head.

It wasn’t his fault, but he couldn’t look up. He knew that Wudang’s reputation had been ruined.

“Soon, Hwasan will be better than Wudang and be called the best Taoist group and the best sword group in the world. Everyone will know it.”

“I have nothing to say, Sect Leader.”

“Do you know what hurts me the most?”

“…I don’t know.”

Heo Dojin looked out the window.

The sky was clear, but he didn’t see it.

“It’s because I think that might be true.”

“Sect Leader.”

“This doesn’t make sense.”

Heo Dojin’s face was calm again.

If this was a mistake, he would be angry. If it was Heo Sanja’s fault, he would punish him.

But it wasn’t anyone’s fault.

Heo Do and Heo San did their best for Wudang. But Hwasan easily beat them.

“Even when everyone said I was too worried, I always watched Hwasan. I was probably more worried about Hwasan than anyone else.”

“…”

“But even I didn’t know Hwasan well enough.”

“Sect Leader… This is not your fault.”

“That’s not important.”

A calm voice.

“To beat the enemy, you have to know them. I have to know them. Hwasan is better than I thought. I thought they were still far away, but they had already cut my neck.”

Heo Sanja shivered. He felt a chill on his neck.

“I didn’t take Hwasan seriously enough.”

Heo Dojin closed his eyes for a moment, then spoke calmly.

“The students must be shocked. Focus on helping them.”

“Yes.”

Heo Dojin wanted to say that losing can be good, but he shook his head. The loss was too big to say that.

“…Heo Gong.”

“Yes?”

“Has Heo Gong woken up?”

“…Yes. Just before we arrived…”

“What did he say?”

Heo Sanja bit his lip.

“He said something about how it was wrong from the start and locked himself in his room.”

“…”

Heo Dojin looked at the ceiling. Then he nodded, looking calmer.

“I understand. Go and rest.”

“…Please punish me, Sect Leader.”

“You?”

Heo Dojin smiled gently.

“Heo San.”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

“If you should be punished, how much more should I be punished?”

“…”

“Go now.”

“…Yes.”

“I will tell you what to do soon. Make sure the injured students are okay.”

“I will. Then.”

Heo Sanja got up and left.

Heo Dojin looked at the messy room with tea and a broken tea table.

This mess was like his heart and like Wudang’s situation.

He got up and opened the door.

“Heo…”

The scenery was peaceful as always.

But Heo Dojin knew that the hard work of the past leaders was in this scenery.

How much work had Wudang done to become the best Taoist group in the world?

But now, that was about to change.

‘Wrong from the beginning?’

What.

What was wrong?

“Hwasan…”

Heo Dojin was sad as he said the name he didn’t understand.