Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 794

Baek Cheon’s face grew serious as he watched the people gathering by the river.

“Kids,” he muttered.

“Yes, Sasuk?” Yoon Jong replied, adding to Jo Gul’s response.

“Did you hear the Leader of Mount Hua Sect is leaving?” Baek Cheon asked.

“It seems so,” Yoon Jong said. “Actually, it feels wrong to miss this.”

“Elder Hyun Young looked like he was about to explode with anger when he heard,” Jo Gul said.

“Why?” Baek Cheon asked.

Jo Gul explained, “He practically flipped out as soon as he heard that only Wudang was becoming famous. He looked ready to grab the Sect Leader by the collar.”

“Well, I understand how he feels,” Yoon Jong admitted.

Baek Cheon listened, then nodded. He understood. Recently, he had been feeling more negative about Wudang. If asked which sect he disliked most, he would have instantly said Jongnam. Now, he would pause to consider Wudang.

“Wait, is that not the same as before?” Baek Cheon thought. “No, it’s different. Before, I wouldn’t even consider Wudang close to Jongnam. Now, I have to actually think about it.”

Before, there was no comparison. How could Wudang compare to Jongnam? To compare with Jongnam, you needed at least the Demonic Cult.

“Alright, I get that, but…,” Baek Cheon began.

“Yes, Sasuk?” Yoon Jong responded.

“Then why are those folks acting like that?” Baek Cheon asked, gesturing towards the bandits and pirates. “Don’t tell me they’re planning to come along?”

The bandits and pirates looked like they were wondering why they were standing there.

They must be confused. Baek Cheon was confused himself, so they must be even more so.

Yoon Jong sighed and said, “I tried to talk them out of it, but it’s no use. They’re taking them all.”

“Why?” Baek Cheon asked.

“They say it’s one thing for the Green Forest bandits, but if they leave the pirates here, they’ll all run away. They can’t stand that thought.”

It was true that the pirates couldn’t be let loose. They were paying for their crimes through labor.

If you commit a crime, you have to make amends. If they weren’t going to kill all the pirates, Mount Hua had to ensure that those captured weren’t released to harm the innocent.

The problem was….

“Are you saying we’re taking pirates and bandits to a gathering of all the famous groups?” Baek Cheon asked.

“Looks like it?” Yoon Jong replied.

Baek Cheon slowly shifted his gaze. He saw Chung Myung happily kicking the pirates.

“Hey, you pirate bastards, can’t you even stand in a straight line!” Chung Myung yelled. “How dare you stand there with your legs crossed in front of the Leader of Mount Hua Sect? Why? Uncomfortable? Should I show you what’s really uncomfortable?”

“Ah, no! I’m sorry!” a pirate cried.

“If you’re sorry, you should be hit, you bastard!” Chung Myung said, twisting the pirate’s jaw and glaring fiercely.

The pirates and bandits flinched and cautiously watched Chung Myung.

Baek Cheon felt a strange kinship with their cowering posture. He couldn’t watch any longer and squeezed his eyes shut. In front of that bastard, everyone becomes equal, whether they’re from the Orthodox or Unorthodox sects.

“Good. Now that’s more like it. Ready when you are, Leader of Mount Hua Sect!” Chung Myung said.

Hyun Jong sighed deeply. He seemed about to say something, but in the end, he simply shook his head.

“I know, Leader of Mount Hua Sect,” Baek Cheon thought. “We all know.”

Everyone felt as if they had heard what Hyun Jong was about to say and why he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Hyun Jong felt a wave of sadness. He thought about the important gathering they were going to. Bringing bandits and pirates felt wrong, like showing something precious to people who wouldn’t understand its value.

“Well…,” Hyun Jong said, his shoulders slumping as he looked at the bizarre combination of Taoists, bandits, and pirates lined up before him. “Let’s depart.”

“Yes!” the group responded.

Hyun Jong let out a heavy sigh that seemed to carry the weight of the world. He turned his back on the strange group, his shoulders slumping slightly, and began to run along the riverbank. He didn’t look back, as if afraid of what he might see.

Mount Hua, the Green Forest, and the pirates of the Great River raced along the riverbank. It was by no means a small group.

Mount Hua was known for their running speed, and the Green Forest bandits were skilled in traversing mountainous terrain, so their speed was impressive.

The pirates were struggling to keep up.

“Keeeugh…,” one pirate groaned.

“D, dying…,” another gasped.

But they somehow managed to run without anyone falling behind. The reason was simple: fall behind and you die. Chung Myung was following behind them with his hands clasped behind his back.

“How can he walk with his hands behind his back and still keep up with our running speed!” a pirate thought.

“Is he a person or a ghost!” another wondered.

Whether he was a person or a ghost, anyone who fell behind would surely be beaten to death by that monster.

“Run faster, you pirate bastards!” Chung Myung shouted. “Did you think your sins would disappear just because you dug around in the riverbed a bit? Try falling behind. I’ll reduce your food rations while I’m at it!”

“Hiiiik!” the pirates cried.

Baek Cheon slowly caught up to Chung Myung, who was chasing after the pirates.

“Chung Myung,” Baek Cheon said.

“What?” Chung Myung asked.

“Why are we in such a hurry?” Baek Cheon asked.

“Wow, Dong-ryong has grown up so much,” Chung Myung said. “Now he’s even worrying about the pirates?”

“It’s not that, you idiot!” Baek Cheon retorted. “If we’re just going to show our faces and be done with it, as you said, then there’s no need to arrive early and risk getting into a fight.”

“Oh?” Chung Myung said, his eyes widening as he stared at Baek Cheon. Baek Cheon, feeling vaguely annoyed, asked, “What?”

“No, I just realized that Sasuk is finally using his brain,” Chung Myung said. “Until now, I thought that thing on top of your neck was just a fancy helmet.”

“You little…!” Baek Cheon said, about to lunge at him when Chung Myung quickly spoke.

“That’s true, but…,” Chung Myung said.

“But?” Baek Cheon asked.

“Something feels off,” Chung Myung said.

“About what?” Baek Cheon asked.

“Just,” Chung Myung replied, his lips twisting slightly.

“This is what I had to do,” Chung Myung thought.

Mount Hua and the Heavenly Union were still weak.

The Heavenly Union had established itself as the only force capable of standing against the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families, but ‘capable of standing against’ did not mean ‘equal to.’

The Heavenly Union was still weak, vulnerable to even a cough from the Nine Great Sects.

“We need the Unorthodox sects,” Chung Myung thought.

The Heavenly Union was spreading its influence. The Nine Great Sects had tolerated it so far because of face, or reputation.

Those who prided themselves on being noble and righteous couldn’t openly obstruct a fellow Orthodox faction that was performing acts of chivalry.

Chung Myung had been able to beat down the Nine Great Sects so far because he knew that their reputation was more important to them than they let on.

“Sasuk,” Chung Myung said.

“Huh?” Baek Cheon responded.

“Do you know when people abandon their reputation?” Chung Myung asked.

“I don’t know?” Baek Cheon replied.

“When their rice bowl is about to be taken away,” Chung Myung said.

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?” Baek Cheon asked.

Chung Myung sneered. “We’re almost at the limit.”

Talk of justification and reputation was only for when their rice bowl was still intact. If the Heavenly Union continued to grow like this, they would throw away such pretenses.

The Nine Great Sects weren’t motivated by chivalry. The moment they felt that their rice was being taken away, they would try to repeat what they had done to Mount Hua in the past.

They would undermine the value of the Heavenly Union and try to benefit themselves by tearing apart the sects within it, just like when they didn’t help the attacked Mount Hua, but instead cheered and took their own gains.

“I may have been fooled once, but I won’t be fooled twice, you bastards!” Chung Myung thought.

To prevent that, he had to make it impossible for them to move. If this fight turned into a two-way battle between the Heavenly Union and the Nine Great Sects, they couldn’t win.

He needed time to make the sects within the Heavenly Union stronger and to strengthen their bonds!

For now, he needed to divert the attention of the Nine Great Sects while they were still clinging to justification and reputation.

“This is all correct, but…,” Chung Myung said.

“What are you talking about? Speak so I can understand,” Baek Cheon said.

Chung Myung’s eyes narrowed. “But the way things are going is a bit strange.”

“Huh?” Baek Cheon asked.

“The fact that those guys are gathering at the Black Dragon Stronghold means that the Black Dragon Stronghold hasn’t abandoned the Yangtze River, right?” Chung Myung asked.

“Well, I guess so,” Baek Cheon said. “They wouldn’t gather in a place where no one is, would they?”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Chung Myung said.

“Huh?” Baek Cheon asked again.

“What kind of tough pirates are able to withstand simultaneous attacks from Shaolin, Wudang, and the Namgung Family?” Chung Myung asked.

“Cheongseong also came,” Baek Cheon added.

“Forget about the others,” Chung Myung said.

Baek Cheon was dumbfounded. If the Leader of Cheongseong heard this, he would be shocked. Where else would you find someone calling a sect belonging to the famous Nine Great Sects ‘less important’ besides this guy?

“Looking at the nature of pirates, they should be running away first,” Chung Myung continued. “Those guys are different from the Nine Great Sects. They don’t care about reputation or anything. Well, maybe they care about face among themselves.”

“Even so, he’s the leader of a sect. Would he run away while his subordinates are still fighting?” Baek Cheon asked.

“The Unorthodox sects don’t have that kind of thing,” Chung Myung said. “First, I have to survive, then there’s a force and subordinates. The Orthodox sects prioritize the sect, but the Unorthodox sects prioritize themselves. That’s why they’re Unorthodox.”

“But the Black Dragon Stronghold is still holding out,” Chung Myung said, scratching his chin and pondering. “They must have something to rely on.”

He had to go and see it with his own eyes. If what he was thinking was happening, he might have to completely revise his plan.

According to his plan, it was a checkmate for them to retreat from the Yangtze River. But the fact that they weren’t taking that checkmate meant one of two things: they were going to lose as they were, or someone saw something he didn’t see.

A smile crossed Chung Myung’s lips as he was lost in thought. “Interesting.”

Who could it be? He couldn’t know. No, he shouldn’t know. But Chung Myung somehow felt like he knew who was the mastermind behind this unsettling feeling.

One pair of eyes kept flashing in Chung Myung’s mind: the dark, swirling eyes that could be seen above blood-red lips.

“Jang Il-so,” Chung Myung thought.

Over two lifetimes, he had met countless people and fought countless battles. In terms of experience, no one in this Jianghu could even come close to Chung Myung. But even for Chung Myung, facing such strange eyes was a first.

“It’s different,” he thought. “It was different from the madness in the eyes of the Demonic Cult. It was different from the endless emptiness that filled the eyes of the Heavenly Demon.”

That was….

“Chung Myung! In front of you!” Baek Cheon shouted.

“Huh?” Chung Myung asked, suddenly coming to his senses and raising his head. He saw a group of martial artists approaching them.

“Enemies?” he wondered. No, no.

Chung Myung narrowed his eyes and stared at them. His eyes gleamed meaningfully. They wore neatly dressed martial attire and carried a long sword. A clear Taegeuk symbol was engraved on their chests.

“Ha…,” Chung Myung chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, muttering, “These important people have come out to greet us. I’m so grateful.”

Wudang. Perhaps the people he least wanted to encounter right now were approaching at a rapid pace. The cold light emanating from the eyes of the Wudang Sect Leader, Heo Do-jin, was aimed directly at the Mount Hua Sect.