Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 8

Chung Myung turned his head quickly.

“Ah…”

Someone was here!

It was the best thing he’d heard in a month. People lived in Mount Hua! He thought it was totally gone.

*Creak!*

The old wooden door slowly opened with a loud screech. A Taoist peeked out. He wore a black hat and looked around carefully from the half-open door.

“…”

“Well, what’s this? A child?”

A Taoist.

Chung Myung knew this man was a real Taoist from that one word. In the last month, people rarely called him a child.

– What is it, a beggar?

– Looks like a young beggar?

– Does a beggar travel alone?

‘That blasted beggar.’

Beggars had no age. Young or old, they just saw beggars. This man called him a ‘child’ instead of a ‘beggar,’ even though he looked dirty. That made him a Taoist.

The Taoist looked about forty years old. He kept looking around, checking everything. Then, he looked at Chung Myung, surprised.

“Did you come here alone? How did you climb up here by yourself?”

“Uh… well…”

Chung Myung hesitated.

‘I just climbed up?’

He wanted to say that anything was possible if you tried hard enough, but this wasn’t the time.

He was so thin and weak. No one would believe him. But he didn’t need excuses. He needed to take charge of the conversation.

“Actually, I want to ask you something.”

“Huh?”

The Taoist’s eyes widened.

And he should be surprised.

Finding a child alone here was strange enough. But the child asking questions? He was very surprised.

“Are you a Taoist from Mount Hua?”

“…How do you know the name of the Mount Hua Sect?”

“Is it true?”

“Yes, for now.”

Chung Myung sighed in relief.

‘It hasn’t completely fallen!’

Of course, it was probably close to falling apart. He could see the mountain gate was in bad shape. But the important thing was that it was still standing.

‘At least the family line is still here.’

Chung Myung made up his mind.

First, he had to do something about Mount Hua…

“Come inside for now.”

“Yes?”

Chung Myung looked up quickly. The Taoist smiled kindly.

“The sun is setting, isn’t it?”

“…Oh?”

Now that he thought about it, it was getting dark.

“The nights in Mount Hua are cold. It’s not warm yet. If you try to sleep outside, you might freeze. You can’t go down the mountain now, and I can’t leave you here. Let’s go inside. We don’t usually let people in, but we can’t leave someone who knows the name of Mount Hua out in the cold.”

Chung Myung looked around.

Why were they letting him in so easily?

…Now that he thought about it, they had no reason to worry about Chung Myung. Why would they worry about a young beggar who looked like he was about to die of hunger?

“If you don’t have anyone with you and no other plans, come inside for now. We can talk later.”

Chung Myung was a little stunned.

He felt a rush of emotion.

Mount Hua Sword Sect was once famous. Now, almost nothing was left. But the Taoist sect was still here. It felt like a small flame still burning.

‘Yes. That’s enough.’

Did it matter if they were famous in the world with swords? Mount Hua was a Taoist sect before it was a Sword Sect. If they were continuing the Taoist family line, then Mount Hua was still alive.

“Then, I’ll be in your care.”

Chung Myung bowed slightly. The man smiled and opened the door.

“This way.”

“Yes. Wait, before we go in…”

Chung Myung stopped.

How should he introduce himself?

‘I don’t know. Hopefully, they won’t be suspicious.’

“My name is Chung Myung. If you don’t mind me asking, what is your Taoist name?”

“Chung Myung, you say. That’s a good name. My Taoist name is Unam.”

‘The Un character generation.’

Chung Myung’s eyes sparkled.

‘A full cycle of generations has already passed. If he is from the Un character generation, is that guy my great-great-grand disciple?’

Mount Hua followed the generation names of Chung, Myung, Hyun, Un, Baek (淸明玄雲白). After going through a cycle from Chung to Baek, it would return to Chung.

This Taoist, Unam, was four generations younger than Chung Myung.

‘Then he wouldn’t have seen me.’

The last disciples of Mount Hua he had seen were from the Hyun character generation. At that time, the Hyun character generation were the third-generation disciples. So, this Taoist named Un Am had never seen him before.

He was shocked by how much time had passed.

Chung Myung, along with his martial brother, led Mount Hua… No, when he was making his martial brother’s life difficult and stopping him from leading Mount Hua, the child who wasn’t even allowed to climb Mount Hua was now a Taoist of Mount Hua, welcoming him.

Only he could feel this strange feeling.

Chung Myung followed Un Am and passed through the mountain gate, stepping inside.

“Hoo.”

He took a deep breath. Seeing the current state of Mount Hua with his own eyes was a little scary.

Chung Myung told himself to stay calm.

‘Let’s stay calm.’

Mount Hua was a mess. He knew why. They had left it in ruins when they died and came back. That was normal.

But it wasn’t their fault.

It was their fault for being completely destroyed, leaving behind only children who couldn’t even hold a sword properly.

In other words, Chung Myung had no right to be angry with these children. He should be sorry instead.

If Chung Myung had been in their place, would he have tried to protect Mount Hua? He would have left and joined the Wudang Sect. Wasn’t that the logical thing to do?

‘Yes, what right do I have to blame these children?’

It was wrong to fail to guide the children and then get angry because they didn’t succeed. That was shameful.

No matter what, he had to remember that he was responsible and accept the situation.

“Hoo.”

Taking a deep breath, Chung Myung walked inside.

He followed Un Am inside, and then he saw it. A wide space opened up before him – the training ground.

“Ah…” Chung Myung felt a rush of feeling. He had trained here, dreamed here, long ago. He remembered the smooth, white stones of the floor. 청강석.

“Huh?” He blinked and rubbed his eyes.

청강석? Where was it? His eyes widened.

Dirt. It was just dirt. Rough, brown dirt covered the training ground. His hands clenched into fists. This place, once so beautiful, was now just bare earth. Where had the 청강석 gone?

His martial brother, the leader, didn’t like that the Taoist sect had such expensive stones on the floor. But he felt bad for the children training in the dust, so he didn’t remove them.

Why had all the 청강석 disappeared?

Was the current Mount Hua sect leader even more simple and frugal than his martial brother? Did he remove all the 청강석?

“Hooo.”

A vein popped out on Chung Myung’s forehead.

‘Let’s stay calm.’

Calm. Stay calm. What’s so important about that 청강석?

‘It’s just a rock.’

청강석 was expensive! Very expensive. His martial brother, the leader, was angry about it. Training on stones that cost more than food for people? It was too much.

Dust swirled around Chung Myung’s feet as he finally reached Mount Hua. It wasn’t how he remembered it.

‘We can sell them if we need money.’

‘Easy, easy,’ Chung Myung said, taking deep breaths. “Hoo… Hoo…”

Chung Myung’s eyes widened as he noticed something else amiss.

‘Where did the Golden Celestial Palace go?’

The Golden Celestial Palace was gone.

It wasn’t alive, so it couldn’t have run off, could it?

But no matter how he looked, the Golden Celestial Palace was gone, leaving only an empty space.

“…That,” Chung Myung said.

“Hmm?” Un Am asked.

“Th-there,” Chung Myung said, pointing a trembling finger at the empty space. “Th-the layout seems strange… Was there nothing there before?”

“Hmm, you can see it too,” Un Am said. “There were buildings there.”

“Haha,” Un Am chuckled, “You’re too young to know this story.”

*Just tell me!* Chung Myung thought, his fists clenching. *I know Mount Hua better than anyone here!*

“Let’s just say it’s a… reminder of past battles,” Un Am said, his voice softer now. “It’s not really something Taoists like to talk about, this kind of… glory.”

“Glory?” Chung Myung muttered under his breath. “More like ruin.”

“Hmm?” Un Am tilted his head.

“Nothing,” Chung Myung said quickly.

He looked around at Mount Hua. It was worse than he imagined. The Blue River Stone was gone, like a missing tooth. The Golden Celestial Palace – vanished. Everywhere he looked was empty and bare. The training grounds were cracked and dry. A gust of wind blew across the dirt, sending a cloud of yellow dust swirling into his face. It tasted like grit and despair.

*This is Mount Hua?* He couldn’t believe it. *This looks more like the Demonic Sect’s wasteland! You useless idiots!*

“Keeeugh.”

“Are you ill?” Un Am asked.

“Ah, no. It’s nothing. Nothing at all,” Chung Myung said, taking a deep breath. Each time he inhaled, the sandstorm entered his mouth, making it gritty and unpleasant.

“It looks… a bit empty,” Chung Myung said slowly.

“Hmm?” Un Am looked around.

“Yes,” Chung Myung continued, “It feels very… desolate, don’t you think?”

Unam’s smile became sad. “Is that so? Maybe you are right.”

Thinking about Unam’s sad smile, Chung Myung felt a little less angry. *They* had stayed here, in this ruined place. *They* had seen it fall apart, day by day. His shock was new, but their pain was old and deep. He could see it in Unam’s eyes.

“Come this way,” Un Am said.

“…Yes,” Chung Myung replied.

“When a guest arrives, we should offer them a place to rest. But Mount Hua is a Taoist sect, so there are customs we must follow. I know you want to rest, but first, enter the Jade Spring Hall and pay respects to the founder.”

Chung Myung nodded.

The Jade Spring Hall held the portrait of Mount Hua’s founder, Great Master Hak Dae-tong.

Mount Hua had many halls, each important, but none was more important than the Jade Spring Hall.

If Chung Myung hadn’t forgotten he was a disciple of Mount Hua, he would have entered the Jade Spring Hall and paid respects to the founder as soon as he arrived. Un Am was helping him in a difficult situation, so he should be grateful… but.

A bad feeling grew in Chung Myung’s stomach. After seeing the empty training grounds and the missing palace, what would the Jade Spring Hall be like? He didn’t want to see more things gone. He was starting to feel like everything he remembered was lost.

‘Don’t be surprised,’ he told himself.

He took a deep breath, vowing not to be surprised, no matter what he saw.

“You can go in,” Un Am said.

“Yes.”

Chung Myung, having calmed himself, entered the Jade Spring Hall.

And then he stopped.

The Jade Spring Hall was very plain. Inside, there was only a picture of Great Master Hak Dae-tong, a bowl for burning incense, and some simple dishes. It felt empty and cold, not grand or special at all.

Plain…

Yes, it was extremely plain.

A groan escaped Chung Myung’s lips, and his body began to tremble.

“Wh-where…”

The golden candlesticks that the Emperor of the Jin Dynasty had given to Great Master Hak Dae-tong were gone, and the scrolls with calligraphy by the founder were also missing.

The golden ornaments and paintings had disappeared.

But that wasn’t what really surprised Chung Myung.

“H-here…”

No way.

It couldn’t be. They must have moved it.

Chung Myung pointed to the front of the sacrificial table with a trembling hand.

“Hmm?” Un Am asked.

“W-wasn’t there a fl-flower here?”

“A flower?”

“…Yes! A flower!”

“How do you know about that?” Un Am asked.

“I-it was here, wasn’t it? What did you do with that flower?”

Unam tilted his head, wanting to ask the child many things. But seeing Chung Myung’s face twisting in confusion, he decided to answer first.

“There was. A plum blossom made of strange white metal.”

“Yes! That flower! Where did it go?”

“We sold it.”

“…Pardon?”

“It wasn’t very useful, and it didn’t fit in a Taoist temple, so we sold it to a merchant who wanted it for a good price.”

“S-sold…”

“That’s right. But you…”

Chung Myung rolled his eyes back and fainted.

“H-hey! Hey, wake up!” Un Am shouted.

“Kkeuek…”

The Hidden Fragrance White Plum Blossom.

Along with the Violet Cloud Divine Sword, one of Mount Hua’s two great treasures.

It wasn’t flashy, but it held the essence of Mount Hua.

And they had sold it.

“There are things you just don’t sell,” Chung Myung mumbled.

“They sold this, these crazy bastards…”

The fatigue from climbing Mount Hua and the shock combined, and Chung Myung lost consciousness.

In his fading vision, he saw the horrified face of his Senior Brother, the Sect Leader.

Senior Brother.

Mount Hua has fallen.

It’s completely ruined.

Senioooor Brotheeeer!

Chung Myung completely lost his mind and passed out cold.