Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 783

“Hwasan…” Heo Do-jin, the leader of the Mount Hua Sect, went very still. His face became as cold as thin ice. Heo San-ja, who had just finished giving his report, swallowed hard. He could feel the anger coming from his leader. Heo Do-jin’s hand tightened on the tea table. He was trying to control his anger. Even after losing the last fight, he had seemed calm. He just shook his head and said they could fix their mistakes. But now, it was different. There was one word that made him lose his calm.

“Can’t they ever stop?” Heo Do-jin said, spitting out the words “Hwasan… Hwasan!” He glared at Heo San-ja. “Did they beat the bandits?”

“Yes, Sect Leader. Because of that, people near the Yangtze River are praising Hwasan…”

“And saying bad things about us, I guess?”

“…Well, it’s also Hwasan’s fault. Maybe because of what they did, there are more bandits around lately.”

“I don’t care why. What matters is what happened. Hwasan is getting all the praise, and we look bad. Is that right?”

“…Yes, Sect Leader.”

After a moment of silence, Heo Do-jin spoke. “Get the disciples ready.”

“Yes, Sect Leader?”

“I’m going myself. I will beat at least one group of bandits. Maybe two.”

Heo San-ja was shocked. “Sect Leader! Are you saying you’ll go to the Yangtze River?”

“Yes.”

“But… Sect Leader, people will forget about this soon. Is it really worth using our energy?”

“People might forget,” Heo Do-jin said, his voice cold. “But Hwasan is there. Have you forgotten? They know how to take the fame they get and make it even bigger.”

“…”

“If we do nothing this time, they will do something else crazy and try to control the whole Yangtze River.”

“But, but…” *Clang!* Heo Do-jin slammed his hand on the tea table. “If we ignore Hwasan after they made us look so foolish, wouldn’t that be even worse!”

“If it was the old Hwasan, I wouldn’t bother. But this is not the old Hwasan. It’s not just that they are stronger now. The real problem is they created something called the Mount Hua Alliance.”

“…”

“No one would pick Hwasan over the Nine Sects. But if it’s the Mount Hua Alliance instead of just the Nine Sects, things change! If we let them get a little stronger each time, they will become more powerful than us one day.”

“How can they compare to the Nine Sects?”

“Not yet. Not yet.”

“…”

“I said the same thing when I first heard about Hwasan again.” Heo San-ja became quiet. “But look at them now. Hwasan, who we used to laugh at, is now a threat to us. Do you want to just pretend everything is fine?”

“…”

“Stop talking and get ready. We are going to the Yangtze River. We might have lost our advantage, but it’s not too late to act.”

Heo San-ja knew Heo Do-jin was right. Heo Do-jin always thought more deeply about things. He could see things others missed. But still, Heo San-ja hesitated. He wasn’t sure if Heo Do-jin was making this decision because he was smart, or just because he hated Hwasan.

“Sect Leader, I…” Just then, a loud voice came from outside the door. “Sect Leader!”

“I’m busy with something important, come back later.”

“Sect Leader… A letter has arrived.”

“I’ll look at it later.”

“It’s a letter from the Abbot of Shaolin.”

“…Bring it in.”

“Yes.” The door opened, someone came in with a letter, and then left. Heo Do-jin opened the letter. The corner of his mouth twisted in a strange way. Heo San-ja watched him and asked carefully, “May I ask what it says?”

“Shaolin is sending their disciples to the Yangtze River.”

“…Yes?”

“They say they will beat the bandits. It seems they couldn’t ignore this anymore, even though they acted like they didn’t care.”

Heo San-ja’s eyes went wide. ‘Shaolin too?’ If Shaolin was doing this, it meant they thought the same thing as Heo Do-jin. This meant two things: Heo Do-jin was right. And… ‘Has Hwasan become so important that they can make both Wudang and Shaolin, the leaders of the Nine Sects, move?’ This was a huge change.

“If we wait any longer, Shaolin will get ahead of us. Get ready. I will lead the disciples to the Yangtze River myself.”

“Yes, Sect Leader.” Now that Shaolin was involved, Heo San-ja couldn’t argue anymore.

“I will get ready right away.” Heo San-ja rushed out of the room. Heo Do-jin was left alone. He looked down at the tea table, his eyes dark. ‘Hwasan…’ I will stop you from getting out of control. I will not let it happen.

❀ ❀ ❀ Everyone was starting to see that Hwasan had changed. People living by the Yangtze River, people who heard the news from far away, and even those who were rushing around because of the news – no one could ignore Hwasan anymore. When a group becomes powerful, even small things they do seem important. Everything Hwasan did in the Yangtze River was talked about and spread like wildfire. But… The disciples of the Mount Hua Sect, the people actually doing these things, had no idea how much things had changed. In fact, they were far from realizing it…

“Ugh…” “This is awful…” “What are we even doing?” Gwak-Hwi, pulling a heavy cart, finally fell to his knees. The cart he dropped was overflowing with rocks and dirt, like a small mountain. Sweat poured down his face. “G-get up! Chung Myung might see us!”

“This will be a disaster! Will he make us run around the Yangtze River because we’re too weak?”

“That doesn’t even make sense. How can we run around the Yangtze River?”

“Does that guy ever do anything that makes sense?” Well… that was definitely true. Gwak-Hwi groaned and pushed himself up. He looked at the long line of disciples stretching towards the river. “…That crazy guy.”

Chung Myung’s instructions had been very simple: – Just do one thing. See that river over there?

– Yeah, we see it.

– Fill it in.

– Huh?

– I said, fill it in.

– Huh? Fill in the river. Who would even think of something like that? Of course, the Hwasan disciples had learned that they could do anything if they worked hard enough. They believed they could even move mountains if they tried. So, filling in a normal river should be easy for them. But this wasn’t just any river. This was the Yangtze River, the widest and longest river in the world. Even though they were on an island in the middle, the river was unbelievably wide.

“W-why are we doing this crazy thing?”

“…He said if we make the land a little wider on the other side of the island, boats will have to go a shorter way. That makes it easier to protect. And it’s good for using the cannons. And he said… if the river gets narrower in the middle, the water will flow faster, so it’ll be harder for enemies to attack by boat?”

“Everyone knows that! I’m asking, who is crazy enough to solve the problem like this!”

“…That guy doesn’t think things through.”

“But why are we doing *this*?”

“Yoo Iseol said the river was wide, and Chung Myung said we should fill it in.”

“Iseol… Iseoooool!” Why… Why are you doing this to us! Why! Has that guy ever solved a problem in a normal way?

“But the really sad thing is…”

“Huh?”

“…It’s actually working?”

“…” That was even sadder. They had dug up all the hills they could find near the island. They poured dirt and rocks into the river, and slowly, the wide river was getting narrower. ‘Don’t actually do it, you crazy people…’ The one who gives the crazy orders, and the ones who just do it because they’re told to. If this is how we’re going to live, wouldn’t it be better to just become normal Taoists and do easy jobs for the government and live a comfortable life?

“…At this rate, will it be done in seven days and nights?”

“No way. The river gets deeper further out. It’ll take ten days.”

“Hey, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Chung Myung would never let it end that easily. He’ll probably make us do something else to stop the dirt from washing away. I bet it’ll take fifteen days.” The disciples were now experts at guessing how long these crazy tasks would take. Because Chung Myung always made them do hard physical work, they were better at estimating than most experts.

“Five days.”

“What? No way it’s five days. How can anyone do that?”

“It’s okay. We can do it.”

“Hey, still, that’s… Huh?” The disciples, who were arguing and looking at the other side of the river, slowly turned their heads back. A monster… No, Chung Myung was standing right behind them. His eyes were narrowed, and he looked angry. “C-Chung Myung…”

“It can be done. Why not? You have time to stand around and chat, so if you can’t finish in five days, you’re not even human, right?”

“…”

“Get back to work.”

“…Are you going to hit us?”

“Do I hit people every time I’m bored?” Gwak-Hwi almost said ‘yes’ but stopped himself just in time. He was surprisingly quick-thinking sometimes.

“If you don’t finish in five days, you’ll get hit twice as hard.”

“…”

“Keep messing around. Mess around as much as you want. I’ll show you how cold the river water is.”

“I-I’ll work! Right now!”

“Go!” Gwak-Hwi and the others were terrified. They quickly pulled their carts towards the river. “Tsk.” The bandits watching them had mixed feelings. Part of them was happy that this terrible man was making the disciples suffer, not just them. But they were also sad because they knew he would treat anyone like this. ‘A heartless monster.’ ‘A demon!’ ‘He’s not even human…’

Just as Chung Myung was brushing the dirt off his hands and about to walk away, a loud shout echoed across the river. “Hwa-San-Shin-Ryooooooong!”

“Agh! My ears!” Chung Myung spun around, annoyed by the yelling. He saw a familiar figure running towards him as fast as his legs could carry him. “Huh? When did that old man get here again?” Hong Daekwang ran right up to Chung Myung, completely out of breath. He bent over, gasping for air. “Agh, pant pant! Ugh, I can’t breathe!”

“…Why are you here again?”

“Don’t you know I have to follow you around?”

“Who said you’re following me? You’re just a beggar who can’t even afford decent clothes.”

“No, that’s… No, never mind that! Hwasan Shinryong! Something terrible has happened!”

“What? Why are you making such a fuss?”

“S-Shaolin and Wudang are coming to the Yangtze River! They’re going to fight the bandits!”

“Oh?”

“And that’s not all! The Namgung Family from Anhui is also coming! And Qingcheng from Sichuan is on their way to the Yangtze River too!”

“Shaolin, Wudang, Qingcheng… and the Namgung Family.” Chung Myung smirked. “Looks like they’re finally getting worried. Well… they can’t just sit back and watch anymore.” He had expected them to react, but they were moving faster than he thought. The fact that even the Namgung Family was coming showed that the Mount Hua Alliance was making them very nervous, more than Chung Myung had realized.

“W-what are you going to do now?”

“About what?”

“The Nine Sects and the Namgung Family are coming to the Yangtze River!”

“So? What’s it to me?”

“W-we need to make a plan!”

“Why would I?”

“Huh?” Chung Myung laughed like it was the silliest thing he’d ever heard. “They’re not coming to fight *me*. They’re coming to fight the bandits. So why would *I* make a plan? The bandits should make a plan.”

“…Huh?” That’s… true. “I can just sit back and watch the fun. I’ll watch them fight each other. Hee hee hee.” Chung Myung smiled, looking happy for the first time all day, and walked away. “…Why did I even come?” Hong Daekwang’s shoulders slumped. He had run so hard to bring this news, and for what?