Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 862

“Leader! Terrible news! Another fight has broken out!”

“What? Again?”

Hong Dae-kwang’s face showed he was very annoyed.

“Those troublemakers! You’d think they were taken over by angry ghosts! What are they even fighting to get?”

His loud, angry words made the beggars jump. They looked around, worried.

“Where is the fight this time?”

“It’s…”

“Is it Hubei again? Or Anhui? No, wait – Henan? No, it can’t be Henan. The Shaolin monks are there, watching everything like hawks. No one would cause trouble there.”

“W-Well, it’s…”

“Tell me quickly! I’m busy!”

“It’s… Shaanxi.”

“…Where?”

“Shaanxi…”

Hong Dae-kwang’s eyes widened, as if witnessing an earthquake.

“Shaanxi?”

“…Yes.”

“Did you say Shaanxi? Just now? Shaanxi?”

“Y-Yes, I did.”

The color drained from Hong Dae-kwang’s face.

“Oh, no! Not Shaanxi!”

His eyes darting wildly from side to side, Hong Dae-kwang cried out, his face a mask of terror.

“Beggars! Fighters! Is anyone free to go?”

“…Are there any beggars who can fight left? Most of the strong ones have been taken away to Hubei and Anhui.”

“None?”

“Not really…”

“Does this mean it’s too late?”

Hong Dae-kwang grabbed a wooden bowl from the dirty table and threw it at the beggar.

“Eek!”

“If there aren’t any fighters, you go and find some! You are all lazy! There’s a fight in Shaanxi, you fools! Do you want people to die?”

One beggar, watching Hong Dae-kwang’s anger, spoke up, a little annoyed.

“Leader, things are bad everywhere. Why is this fight so important…?”

“What?”

Hong Dae-kwang glared at the beggar.

The beggar looked down, but like a true beggar who speaks his mind, he continued.

“Isn’t it true? Just ignore it…”

“You little…!”

Hong Dae-kwang jumped over the table and kicked the beggar hard in the chest.

“Aaaargh!”

The beggar cried out and fell. Hong Dae-kwang roared like a lion, louder than even the Shaolin monks.

“You don’t understand! Do you?! Should I break your arm so begging is easier for you?!”

“Ow! Please, Leader, calm down!”

“He’s new here!”

“He’s from the countryside, from Henan. He doesn’t know about Shaanxi!”

“Yes, that’s right!”

Hong Dae-kwang gnashed his teeth, unable to contain his anger.

“You fool! If something goes wrong in Shaanxi, we are all dead. What? The Evil Group? The Evil Fighters? People who are scared of them don’t know real hardship! Have you been hit on the head, eh?!”

The beggar who was kicked, Bong-oh, looked around, completely confused.

Even though Hong Dae-kwang seemed to be saying crazy things, the other beggars weren’t arguing. They were just trying to stop him from hitting Bong-oh more.

‘What is happening?’

Why are they called the Beggars’ Sect?

Isn’t it because they are a group of poor beggars who must speak their minds, even if they get hurt for it?

Beggars are supposed to say when something is wrong, even if their leader says otherwise. But no one was disagreeing with Hong Dae-kwang. This meant the other beggars agreed with him.

‘No, what is so special about Shaanxi?’

What could be so important about Shaanxi?

“Get every beggar ready to go!”

“Because of the order to get ready in Hubei before, all the beggars who can fight have been taken away! There are no fighters left.”

“Then what are you lot, you beggars!”

Hong Dae-kwang glared.

“W-Well, we…”

“Who will find out news if we leave? It’s not that we don’t want to go, but…”

Hong Dae-kwang sighed.

“Beggars.”

“Yes?”

“Think hard. How long has that guy kept his gates locked?”

“About… a thousand days, maybe?”

“So, will those gates open soon? Or not?”

“…They will probably open.”

“Exactly.”

Hong Dae-kwang’s eyes shone.

“When that guy opens his gates and sees Shaanxi in chaos, where will he go first?”

“…Mount Zhongnan? Ack!”

Hong Dae-kwang kicked the beggar who answered quickly and shouted.

“Mount Zhongnan? Nonsense! What will he do there, visit those people who have been living alone for five years?! Here! That guy will run here, you idiot!”

“Eek!”

“Oh, no…!”

“Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!”

In an instant, the beggars’ faces turned ashen.

Only Bong-oh, unable to understand the situation, asked with a puzzled expression.

“I… I don’t understand what you’re talking about… Who exactly is coming?”

“A devil.”

“A fiend.”

“A beast.”

“…Yes?”

The beggar standing next to Bong-oh put his arm around Bong-oh’s shoulder and whispered eerily.

“Hey, beggar.”

“Yes?”

“You haven’t been in Shaanxi long enough to understand, but if you want to beg for food and survive in Shaanxi, make sure you remember one thing. Got it?”

“Wait, what are you talking about?”

“There are devils in Mount Hua,” the beggar replied.

Hong Daekwang frowned, not understanding.

The beggar leaned in, his breath smelling of stale wine and fear. “If they catch you doing wrong there, they’ll beat you badly, then beat you again. They’ll take all your money, even hidden money. And if you still don’t have enough, you’ll be begging for scraps just to pay them back.”

Another beggar, older and with a missing tooth, chimed in, his voice raspy. “That’s if they’re feeling nice! If they’re angry… you’re really…” He stopped suddenly, staring. “Gasp! Jong-pal! Wake up, you fool!”

“Someone get that bloke some cold water. Who mentioned the Plum Blossom Sword Saint in front of Jong-pal!” another beggar exclaimed.

The beggar’s face went as white as bone, his eyes wide with terror. He gasped, choked, and then crumpled to the ground like a puppet with cut strings, a white foam bubbling at the corner of his mouth. The other beggars quickly pulled him away.

“Forget it,” the first beggar mumbled, waving a hand dismissively. “No use talking about it. You’ll see the trouble for yourself soon enough.”

Hong Daekwang ran a hand through his hair, pulling at it in frustration. His brow furrowed deeper with each word, and a vein pulsed visibly in his temple.

‘Damn it all, even in Shaanxi,’ he thought.

Such things were commonplace in Hubei, Anhui, and Henan. But for trouble to start brewing even in Shaanxi? This meant trouble was coming to the whole Gangbuk area, like everything was going to be mixed up and become chaotic. (Gangbuk is a region.)

“Those blasted Nine Sects (powerful groups of fighters)!” Hong Daekwang exclaimed.

“Branch Leader, at this rate, all the beggars will die. Shouldn’t we say something to the Nine Sects?” a beggar asked.

“And if we do, what then?” Hong Daekwang retorted.

“Sir?”

Hong Daekwang sighed. “You fool, do you think the Nine Great Sects are all the same? How many sects from the Nine Sects are even in Gangbuk? The Hainan Sect is stuck on an island way over in Gangnam (another region)! The Mount Hua Sect (a famous mountain known for its martial arts sect) is in Yunnan! Kunlun is in Qinghai! Qingcheng and Emei are in Sichuan!”

“…”

Hong Daekwang continued, “And the Mount Hua Sect is holed up on the path to the Northern Sea! Should we ask those folks to come deal with it since the trouble started in Hubei?”

“That would be difficult.”

“Shaolin, Wudang, and Jongnam have taken all the best land in Gangbuk! And the Namgung Clan is taking everything else. But aren’t three of those places sealed off right now! So what good would it do to say anything? Should we invite the Hebei Peng Clan blokes from Beijing to come and watch?”

“Calm down, Branch Leader,” a beggar said nervously.

“This is why I said we should ditch the Nine Sects and join the Cheonwoo Alliance ages ago!” Hong Daekwang exclaimed.

“It’s not like the Cheonwoo Alliance is in a much better state, though,” another beggar pointed out.

“Agh!” Hong Daekwang groaned.

Hong Daekwang scratched his head vigorously.

If it were like the old days, they could have somehow requested aid from the Nine Great Sects on the outskirts of the Central Plains. In fact, they had actually made such requests.

But the answer that came back was very simple.

“Tell the sect that caused the problem to solve it themselves.”

Of course, the reply came back in fancy words, but the simple meaning was that the blokes who had charged into the Yangtze River and returned in disgrace had to sort things out themselves.

‘Actually, they’re not wrong,’ Hong Daekwang thought.

From the perspective of the other Nine Sects, they were sitting quietly and then got struck by lightning out of the blue. Were they supposed to be mad enough to rush all the way to Hubei and Anhui to help Wudang or the Namgung Clan and fight in their place? Who would benefit from that?

The disaster at the Yangtze River had created a significant rift in the solidarity of the Nine Great Sects. It was hard to fathom how many years it would take to mend this rift.

‘How could the situation have become so dire?’

Watching it unfold, it was enough to feel not just bewilderment but also terror.

The relationships among the Nine Great Sects had fractured, and the Five Great Families were not the same as before either.

They were forcibly suppressing the unrest and turmoil occurring throughout the Central Plains, but if the situation became even slightly more serious, chaos would spread in an instant, like a dam bursting.

“Branch Leader,” a beggar said.

“What?” Hong Daekwang snapped.

“Do you really think it’ll be alright?” the beggar asked.

“What will?”

“The Central Plains, I mean.”

Hong Daekwang narrowed his eyes at the sudden question.

“What nonsense are you spouting all of a sudden after eating such expensive rice?” he asked.

“Ah, no. Isn’t it the truth? Actually, I never thought much of that Evil Sect Alliance. It’s true that those blokes are formidable, but no matter how you slice it, if the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families joined forces, how could the Evil Sect Alliance stand a chance?”

“…”

“But that’s not how things are. The Evil Sect Alliance blokes are holed up in Gangnam, building their strength day by day, while the Nine Great Sects are…”

The rest was obvious even without hearing it. They were fracturing and falling apart when they should have been united.

Angry feelings and sadness were stronger than people realised. Even in Hong Daekwang’s mind, he could no longer picture the Nine Great Sects moving in perfect unison under someone’s command.

“If the Evil Sect Alliance suddenly pushes up into Gangbuk, then…”

“…”

A terrible thing would happen.

“I really don’t understand. That Evil Sect Alliance hasn’t moved an inch from Gangnam, so how could the situation have become so strange?”

“It’s not just that they stayed still and this problem started. It’s because they stayed still that this problem got so bad,” Hong Daekwang explained.

“Sir?”

Hong Daekwang gave a bitter smile.

If the Evil Sect Alliance had quickly pushed into Gangbuk and started a war after the agreement to not fight in Gangnam, the Nine Sects would have had no choice but to unite. They would have had to put out the immediate fire.

But thanks to Jang Il-so not moving and holing up in Gangnam, time was created. And that time only deepened the emotional rifts that had formed between the Nine Sects.

“Surely he didn’t plan all of this, did he?” Hong Daekwang wondered.

“Sir?”

“No, never mind.” Hong Daekwang shook his head as if he didn’t even want to think about it.

If Jang Il-so had predicted all of this and acted accordingly, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the entire Central Plains was being played in the palm of his hand.

And if this unlikely assumption were true…

‘It means that Jang Il-so must have a secret plan to make the most of this situation.’

Hong Daekwang shook his head rapidly and dug at his ears as if trying to shake the thought out of his head.

This was too hard to believe.

“So, what do we do, Branch Leader?” a beggar asked.

“Ugh.” Hong Daekwang, who had been rubbing his face vigorously, spoke.

“If something has happened once, it means it will happen again. There’s a limit to temporary fixes.”

“I think so too,” the beggar agreed.

“Someone who can help… Ah! The Hwayoung Gate! Yes, contact the Hwayoung Gate! Even if it’s Hebei, they’ll definitely help protect the commoners of Shaanxi!”

“Yes! I’ll send a message quickly!”

“Hurry! You beggar bastards!”

“Yes!”

As the beggars ran off very fast, Hong Daekwang staggered over, opened the badly damaged door, and looked up at the sky.

“Damn it,” he muttered.

Far above, the peak of Mount Hua pierced the swirling clouds, its sharp outline barely visible through the misty grey. It looked distant and unreachable, like a forgotten promise.

“They say you might not notice when someone arrives, but you always notice when someone leaves. That damned Mount Hua Divine Dragon.”

Cleaning up after that bloke’s messes was a hundred times easier than this. At least back then, I knew exactly what to do and how to do it.

Even if I didn’t, that damned bloke would grab me by the back of my neck and drag me along.

If that bloke were here now, I wouldn’t feel so frustrated…

“It’s taking too long. That blasted bloke!”

The two years he had predicted had already passed by far. Yet, the closed gates of Mount Hua showed no sign of opening.

“Hoo.” Hong Daekwang let out a deep sigh and turned his gaze to the distant south.

‘Please…’

He prayed and prayed that nothing major would happen before the firmly closed mountain gates opened.