Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 831

Chung Myung blinked. He stared, not really seeing anything, at what was happening. It was unbelievable.

‘I need to get up again…’

He wanted to look at his body. But he couldn’t move his head. It was stuck to the bed, like it was glued down.

It was because of the tightly bound rope around his head.

Paeng.

The rope was very tight. It felt like it was stopping the blood from flowing in his head.

“…”

Chung Myung’s head moved slightly to the side. Yoon Jong stood by the bed. He saw Chung Myung’s desperate eyes. Yoon Jong jumped a little and nodded, so small you could barely see it.

“Khmm.”

Yoon Jong cleared his throat softly and cautiously began, “Um… Soso-ya.”

“Yes?”

“…I don’t think it’s necessary to go this far.”

“What?”

“…No, I just…”

A vein on Tang Soso’s forehead stood out, pulsing. She looked like she could kill someone with just a look.

“Do these people think a human body is some kind of cart? That you can just roll it around roughly and replace the wheels when they wear out? Why? Should I really replace them for you?”

“…No, no, that’s not what I meant! I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

Yoon Jong quickly retreated, shrinking back from the murderous aura coming from Tang Soso.

Normally, Tang Soso was always smiling and had a pleasant demeanor, but when a patient was involved, she emitted a murderous aura that could kill a person with a mere glance.

He thought, ‘Wait… shouldn’t she be nice to patients?’

At that moment, Tang Soso whipped her head around and glared at Chung Myung. Seeing Chung Myung helplessly bound to the bed with thick ropes, she gritted her teeth.

“Are you made of rags? Just lie still and get better! Couldn’t you wait even a minute before running off? Are you even human?!” Soso snapped, her voice rising.

“But… I’m a grand disciple…” Chung Myung mumbled, trying to defend himself.

“I KNOW you are!” Soso yelled, cutting him off. “That’s even worse! You should be setting an example!”

Yes.

It’s a relief that you know.

“No! How on earth is this human being put together that he can suffer injuries that would kill others ten times over, and yet he goes out to find alcohol as soon as he opens his eyes!”

“I didn’t go to find alcohol…”

“Shut up!”

“…Yes.”

Chung Myung stared blankly at the ceiling.

He felt a strange sense of nostalgia.

– No, if you’re hurt, get treatment, you old geezer! Come over here!

– Get lost. You quack.

– Quack? What do you think I am, a Great Sicheon Tang Clan Elder! If I had become a doctor, I would have made a fortune! Stop talking back and come here. No, stop drinking that alcohol! I brought it to disinfect the wound!

‘Dangbo-ya…’

I’m still living like this.

Why does your family always torment me like this…

Usually, fighters just put mud on a cut, even if it’s bleeding a lot, and say it will heal. But the Dang Clan was different. They acted like even a tiny scratch was deadly. They made a big deal out of everything.

They were a pain in the neck back then, and now their descendants are doing the same thing…

Just then, the door burst open, and a figure walked in like a savior.

“Hmm?”

It was Tang Gunak. He frowned deeply when he saw Chung Myung tied to the bed.

“Aigo, Clan Lord Dang!”

Chung Myung shouted as if requesting rescue, and Tang Gunak’s eyes turned cold.

“Who did this?”

Tang Soso flinched at the cold voice and looked at Tang Gunak. She knew very well how much her father cherished Chung Myung.

Tang Gunak had never shown his own flesh-and-blood sons as much favor as he had shown Chung Myung. There was no way he would look kindly upon Tang Soso, his most beloved daughter, playfully tying up Chung Myung. No matter how much he cherished her.

“I, I did…”

“You did?”

“…Yes.”

Tang Soso shrank back.

Tang Gunak, who had been staring at her with cold eyes, sharply rebuked, “Is that how I taught you?”

“I’m sorry. Grand Disciple doesn’t listen to me.”

“Tying up the Divine Dragon of Mount Hua with ropes! What will people say when they see this?”

Tang Gunak clicked his tongue and held out something he had been carrying behind his back.

“There’s no way that would work.”

“…”

In his hand was an iron chain. Tang Soso’s face went blank in an instant.

“This is a specially made iron chain, so it should be able to subdue even an injured person. Tie him up properly again.”

“…”

“Hurry.”

“Yes.”

Tang Soso quickly took the iron chain that Tang Gunak handed her. Chung Myung watched the unbelievable scene with blank eyes.

Tang Gunak clicked his tongue and said quietly.

“Anyway, martial artists are like that… They think their bodies can just be patched up and reused!”

Tears slowly flowed from Chung Myung’s eyes.

‘Damn Dang Clan bastards.’

It’s a mess generation after generation. Generation after generation…

No, is that their family motto or something? Why do they say the same thing even after a hundred years?

“Hmm.”

Tang Gunak approached Chung Myung and examined him here and there.

“It’s difficult to stop internal bleeding with acupuncture alone. Use medicine together.”

“That old man doesn’t like it because it’s bitter.”

“…Force it down him.”

“Yes!”

Chung Myung forcibly turned his head and looked at Baek Cheon.

“Dong-ryong-ah.”

“What, you rascal.”

“Go and bring the Sect Leader. Tell him the Dang Clan is oppressing a Mount Hua disciple…”

“I think he’d applaud?”

The tears that had stopped flowed again down Chung Myung’s temples.

‘I have no one on my side. I have no one.’ He felt a pang of real sadness, deeper than the usual playful loneliness he often felt.

Sect Leader.

I miss those old days…

– It was the same back then, you bastard. You’re the same.

“…”

Ah, I’m lonely. Terribly lonely.

At that moment, Tang Gunak sighed lightly and asked.

“How’s your body?”

“Can’t you tell by looking?”

“You look good.”

“…But this old man?”

Chung Myung’s body twitched.

“Is there anything uncomfortable?”

“Ah, doesn’t it look like there is!”

“It doesn’t seem like there is.”

“…Can’t you hear me?”

Chung Myung, who was glaring at Tang Gunak with a face that looked like he was about to burst into flames, sighed in resignation.

“…It’s too uncomfortable to eat like this, so please ask them to at least untie me when I eat.”

“Hmm, I suppose so.”

Tang Gunak looked at Tang Soso and said.

“Meals?”

“I’m feeding him on time.”

“He’s eating rice. From now on, switch to rice porridge. Cooked food is not good for patients. Give him only rice porridge three times a day.”

“…”

Chung Myung looked up at the ceiling with a sorrowful heart.

Sect Leader.

…I’m lonely.

– Hee hee hee hee.

Hey, you damned human!

Don’t laugh!

❀ ❀ ❀

Some rumors are faster than storms.

“Waiter! Another bottle of Hwaju here.”

“Yes! Coming right away!”

People in the inn were finishing their drinks.

The door suddenly burst open, and a man drenched in sweat rushed in breathlessly.

“Here he is. Here! Why are you coming so urgently?”

“Are you afraid we’ll drink all the liquor you ordered before you get here?”

Laughter erupted. The man, looking around at the sound of his name, rushed over and shouted without preamble.

“H, have you heard the story?”

“What story?”

“The Nine Big Groups and Five Big Families have signed a non-aggression pact with the Demonic Factions!”

Those who heard the words snorted and laughed.

“Don’t talk nonsense and sit down. I’ve ordered a new bottle.”

“I’m not joking, it’s real!”

“Alright. Alright.”

“It’s chaos outside right now! The Nine Big Groups and Five Big Families said they will stay away from the Jang River for three years!”

The people listening started to look worried. The man shouting was very pale. But soon someone clicked their tongue.

“Tsk tsk. Don’t joke so much. What is the Nine Big Groups and the Five Big Families lacking that they would make a treaty with those Demonic Factions?”

“It’s not just any Demonic Factions. The Shinju Opae have united to create a new force called the Demonic Alliance!”

“The Demonic Alliance?”

“That’s right! Shaolin and Wudang, who went to the Jang River, couldn’t withstand the Demonic Alliance’s attack and made a truce!”

“…The Demonic Factions have united?”

“That’s right!”

“Hey, that doesn’t make sense. No matter how much the Demonic Factions have gathered in one place, Shaolin and Wudang making a truce with the Demonic Factions! This man is saying something that will cause a great uproar!”

The man thumped his chest as if frustrated.

“If you don’t believe me, go outside! It’s a complete mess out there right now! The whole world is in an uproar because of that incident!”

“…What nonsense…”

Everyone gradually lost their words.

Looking at his desperate face, it didn’t seem like a lie, but they couldn’t believe it at all.

The Righteous and Demonic Factions making a truce?

They had never heard of such a story. Wasn’t the division between Righteousness and Evil because they couldn’t mix like water and oil in the first place? But how could the two…?

“Wait a minute. Did you say non-aggression?”

“That’s right!”

“The Nine Big Groups and Five Big Families said they would no longer set foot in the Jang River? Then what about the sects that are currently in the Jang River?”

“They’re all withdrawing from the Jang River.”

“The Nine Big Groups and the Five Big Families have turned the Jang River into a stirred-up beehive, but they’re retreating, leaving the river pirates there? Then what happens to the common people there?”

“Who knows.”

“Huh… Hehe… Huh. What kind of dog-like situation is this?”

A roar finally burst from the mouths of those who had been holding back.

“If that’s the case, they shouldn’t have stirred it up in the first place. They acted brave at first, but now they are running away like cowards? And to make matters worse, they even made a humiliating treaty not to set foot in the Jang River for the next three years?”

The faces of everyone inside the inn were filled with dismay. They couldn’t help but hear as they spoke in loud voices.

“Do they not know how those river pirates will come out? So many waterways have collapsed, so they’ll be enraged and run wild, but who will take responsibility for the aftermath? How can those who call themselves the Righteous Faction do such an absurd thing!”

“I can’t believe it! The Shaolin I know, the Wudang I know, wouldn’t do that!”

Fierce reactions erupted from here and there, but that didn’t mean they could stop the already burst dam.

“It’s not important whether you believe it or not. People around the Jang River are already packing their bags. Now that there are no Nine Big Groups and Five Big Families, there’s no one to stop the river pirates’ tyranny. Rather than sitting and dying, there are more than a few who are abandoning their hometowns.”

“Huh… Hehe… Geez.”

It was an unbelievable news.

But they had no choice but to believe it. Even as they were talking, several people rushed into the inn with pale faces and talked about the same news.

“In the world… Shaolin and Wudang, the Namgung Family, abandoning the common people and seeking their own survival… Then what was all the righteousness they’ve been shouting about until now? And they still call themselves the Righteous Faction?”

“Why have we supported them until now! If they do this, they’re no different from the bandits!”

“They’re swindlers, swindlers! From the beginning, those bastards were only obsessed with money and profit! We’ve been deceived. Completely deceived!”

Anger began to spread.

People tend to feel much greater anger when betrayed by those they trust than when harmed by evildoers. The greater the trust they had given to the Nine Big Groups and the Five Big Families, the greater the disappointment and anger at their choices.

The rumor spread fast, from the Jang River to everywhere in the Central Plains, like a fire.

More than a hundred years after the war with the Demonic Sect, the most shocking news was shaking the quiet Central Plains like an earthquake.

The news spread like spilled water, quickly flowing everywhere. The common folk, abandoned by those they had revered, felt the sting of betrayal sharper than any blade.

The world held its breath, waiting to see what would rise from the ashes of broken trust.