Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 734

A valley deep inside the Hwasan Sect.

A small waterfall rushed down the rocks with a loud, splashing sound. It sounded so clean and fresh that just listening made you feel better.

The mist floated gently around the waterfall.

Sunlight broke into pieces as it shone on the water. The waterfall was wild and full of power, just like the strong fighters of the Hwasan Sect. It was the perfect place for them.

“Puaaaah!”

“Haa… haa… haa… I’m going to die at this rate…!”

Thwack!

…Glug.

With a sharp *thwack* sound, the head went back under the water with a *glug*.

Hyun Young shook the stick in his hand and shook his head.

“Tsk, tsk. Why do you keep coming up? It’s not even that hard.”

“Pwahahaha!”

Thwack!

Glug glug.

The head that rose above the water was hit by Hyun Young and sank again.

“Tsk, tsk. You can’t even handle this angle!”

Hyun Young clicked his tongue. Then he turned to Chung Myung.

“How can you do great things if you are like this? What do you think, Chung Myung?”

“Of course, Sect Leader! Hehe.”

Chung Myung sat on a rock and chuckled. He looked at the water, where bubbles came up from time to time. If you just watched, it looked like the Sect Leader and Chung Myung were having a relaxing swim. It was very peaceful to look at.

But everything looked calm only if you stayed above the water. Underneath, it was a mess of splashing, bubbles, and panic.

‘I’m going to die! I’m really going to die!’

Air bubbles came out of Baek Cheon’s nose and mouth.

“Keuh!”

His eyes were red. He bit his teeth and looked around. The other disciples were also swinging their swords like crazy.

‘This is madness.’

Training?

Of course, they could train. They *were* training. What was so strange about swordsmen practicing their swordsmanship?

Baek Cheon strongly believed in training. Chung Myung had taught him that ‘if you push people hard enough, they can do anything.’ So Baek Cheon believed that ‘if there’s a mountain in front of you, it’s faster to go through it than around it.’

Normally, Baek Cheon would not avoid training. If he could reach his goal faster, even if it was hard, he would do it.

But.

‘That’s when we’re out of the water!’

Why were they training in the water? They weren’t like heroes from old stories who fight in water!

Okay. Fine!

They could train in the water. You never knew what might happen. Maybe they would have to fight with swords underwater someday.

But no matter how hard he tried to see it in a good way, this was not training.

What kind of training was it to swing a sword underwater with heavy stones tied to your feet! It was just torture!

At least the other disciples could go up to get hit while gasping for air. But Baek Cheon was the chief disciple. He didn’t want to go to the surface before the others.

So, he had been suffering without being able to breathe since the training started.

‘I can’t… I can’t take it anymore…’

Just as he was about to pass out, someone else had the same thought.

“Eueueueub!”

Jo Gul was swinging his sword next to him. His cheeks were puffed out. Air bubbles came from his mouth, and he began to float up.

‘Gul!’

Baek Cheon felt sorry for him.

Jo Gul swam to the surface very fast and burst out of the water like a dragon.

And…

Thwack!

His body fell back down with a loud thwack that could be heard even underwater.

Splash.

His body sank for a moment, then floated back up.

He was floating on his back with his eyes open. It would have been funny to see from above. But from underwater, it was scary. Jo Gul was unconscious and drifted along with the water, looking like a water ghost.

‘No. I have to handle it.’

If I go up, that’s what will happen. I have to stay here…

Glug.

‘Huh?’

He turned his head at the strange sound. Jong-Hoi was next to him, rolling his eyes back and spitting out air bubbles.

Baek Cheon was surprised and cut the stone tied to his ankle. Then Jong-Hoi began to move to the surface. He wasn’t swimming, but floating.

Jong-Hoi had passed out from being too tired. He reached the surface and floated next to Jo Gul.

If you stay, you die. If you go up, you die.

Baek Cheon couldn’t do anything in this crazy situation. He quickly covered his mouth.

“Keup….”

Glug glug glug!

Water went into his mouth. He had no more air to breathe out. He covered his mouth with both hands and began to choke.

‘This is my limit…’

I can’t take it anymore…

Thud!

Then he heard footsteps. Hyun Sang pointed up with his finger.

‘Aaaah!’

Baek Cheon thought he was saved. He began to swim up like crazy. But the stone tied to his ankle kept him from going fast.

“Keueup! Keueup! Keup!”

Water filled his nose and mouth. His heart beat fast. He could not see clearly.

‘Aaaaaaaah!’

Baek Cheon reached the surface. He was about to burst out of the water. But someone grabbed his waist from below.

‘Huh?’

Then, someone stepped on his shoulders and head and shot up.

Glug…

Baek Cheon had been attacked. He sank slowly down, drinking water. All his efforts were useless.

‘Yoon…’

He could see the back of the person who had done it. It was Yoon Jong, rising to the surface.

‘Yoon Jong…’

Glug.

“Puaaaaaaaaaaaah! Haa! Haa! Haa! Haa!”

“Pwahahaha! Uwaaaaaaaah! Uwek!”

Those who came out of the water gasped for air and threw up the water they had swallowed.

“Heee… hek! Hek! Hek!”

“Gul! Gul, open your eyes! Are you alright! Gul?”

“Jong-Hoi! Jong-Hoi! You can’t die!”

Those who had woken up grabbed their fellow disciples who were floating away. They struggled to reach the shore. They came out like seaweed and fell onto the ground.

“Glug glug glug.”

“Ugh… uwaaaah. Uwek…”

His head was turned a little. He was coughing up water. He looked very weak and sad.

‘I think I’m going to die.’ Clear water dribbled from Yoon Jong’s mouth as he looked up at the sky with empty eyes. ‘I really think I’m going to die.’

He had gone through many tough training times before. Chung Myung always pushed him very hard, making him use all his strength and energy.

But this time was not the same. Chung Myung’s training, even when it was very hard, could be stopped if it got too much. Yes, it was painful to keep going until the end, but at least he could rest sometimes.

But this time was different. Doing the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword moves underwater was just wrong. He couldn’t breathe well, and his arms and legs felt very heavy. The worst thing was he couldn’t get out of the water, with Hyun Jong and Hyun Young watching him from above.

“H-How can I do this…?”

“Yoon Jooong.”

“Huh?”

Hearing the voice, Yoon Jong lifted his heavy head a little and looked. He saw Chung Myung with a scary face… No, it was Baek Cheon… Wait?

Martial Uncle?

Kraaah!

Suddenly, Baek Cheon rushed forward like lightning. He grabbed Yoon Jong by the neck and shook him hard.

“Kehk! M-Martial Uncle! W-Why are you doing this!”

“Oh yes! We will die together today!”

“Kehk! Kehk! Kehk! M-Martial Uncle! My neck! My neck!”

Yoon Jong’s face quickly turned blue as Baek Cheon choked him. Bubbles came from his mouth as he coughed up water. Yoon Jong tried hard to pull Baek Cheon’s hands off his neck and shouted.

“N-No! Why are you doing this?!”

“Why? You ask me why? Are you really asking me why now? You little brat! You stepped on my face to get out of the water, and now you ask why? Whyyyy?”

“M-Me?”

Yoon Jong asked, looking very confused.

“I didn’t do that…”

“Do you remember getting out of the water?”

“Uh… Now that you mention it, I don’t really remember how I got out…”

Baek Cheon smiled in a mean way.

“You don’t remember?”

“No. My memory is very blurry…”

“Good. That’s it then. Since you don’t remember anyway, I’ll make you forget everything!”

Baek Cheon punched Yoon Jong hard in the jaw.

“Kkehk!”

Yoon Jong fell down like a frog. Baek Cheon jumped on top of him and started punching him.

“You think you are so quiet and good, but you do bad things! Die! Die, you little brat!”

“Aaargh! Martial Uncle! Aargh! Help me! Ack!”

The loud scream woke up Jo Gul with a gasp! He blinked, still sleepy, and looked at Baek Cheon hitting Yoon Jong. He slowly raised his hand. Thumbs up. He gave a clear thumbs up. He was happy to see his friend in trouble, without feeling sorry at all.

“Stop! Hey! Can you stop!”

Hearing the voice, Baek Cheon jumped and stopped hitting. His fist was still in the air, shaking a little because he was still angry. Yoon Jong quickly used this chance and shouted loudly.

“Elder! Martial Uncle is…!”

“Erah!”

Paaah!

Baek Cheon kicked Yoon Jong one last time, sending him flying. He was still angry and stood up, breathing hard.

He wouldn’t have been angry if Jo Gul or Chung Myung had stepped on him. He expected them to do things like that. But he really trusted Yoon Jong!

‘What kind of group is this where I can’t trust anyone!’

You see what people are really like when things get difficult!

Just then, Hyun Young clicked his tongue again, looking unhappy. “Tsk tsk tsk. You are all weak. Breathing so hard after doing so little.” The Mount Hua disciples looked at Hyun Young, not believing him.

“When I was young and strong, I could use a sword in the water for a whole hour.”

(The disciples thought: Elder… you would die if you did that…)

“It doesn’t matter how good you are with a sword. It’s just a trick if you don’t have strong inner power! Just a trick! When you can’t breathe and have to use only your inner power to keep going, that shows how well you have trained your inner power!” Hyun Young looked hard at one person.

“You are a fool if you only focus on sword skills and forget to train your basic inner power!” Clear water shot out of Jo Gul’s mouth.

“And you! You are so desperate to live that you grabbed your martial uncle and pulled yourself up!”

“…Cough.”

Yoon Jong woke up a bit more and rubbed his sore eyes, looking ashamed.

“And you! You usually act so proud, but you punch someone just because your junior grabbed your leg a little!”

“……”

Hyun Young looked at all the other disciples and scolded them.

“The rest of you are even worse! Much worse!” All the Mount Hua disciples jumped and moved back.

“You have been walking around acting proud, but you have such weak spirits. I trusted you too much!” Hyun Sang watched Hyun Young and smiled, feeling happy. (Hyun Sang thought: ‘Good job, junior.’ Do more. More, more!)

“What? Do you want me to test if you are good enough to learn the Ja Ha Divine Art?” Hyun Young laughed in a cold way.

“Fine. I will test you completely. Why are you all just standing there? If you have rested enough, go back in.”

“Yes?”

“Again?”

“Why? Do you want me to push you in myself?” Hyun Young hit the ground hard with his stick.

“Let me tell you now, it’s okay if you faint from being too tired. It’s okay if you faint from being hit. But!” Fire seemed to burn in Hyun Young’s eyes.

“Anyone who says ‘I give up’ will be in big trouble! If you want to see what happens, just try it!”

“……”

“You fools! Can’t you go in now?” Hyun Young ran at the disciples with his stick. They all quickly stood up and ran to the water.

“Hiiiik!”

“W-We’re going in! We’re going in!”

“Mommy!”

Splash. Splash!

Hyun Young watched the last one go back into the water and rubbed his beard. He smiled. “I wanted to try this training myself at least once. Hee hee hee hee.” Behind him, Chung Myung’s hair was wet with cold sweat as he watched. He felt like he had opened something bad that should have stayed closed… Heo heo. Heo heo heo heo. (Chung Myung laughed nervously.)