Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 87

A groan escaped Baek Cheon’s lips. A terrible pain washed over him as consciousness returned. His head felt like it would shatter. He barely managed to open his eyes.

‘How long was I out?’

He had no sense of time. It felt like a very long time, but also like he had just blinked. The dark sky suggested he hadn’t been unconscious for more than half a day, thankfully.

“Ughhh….”

Turning his head slightly, he saw Yoo Iseol a short distance away, slowly swinging her sword.

‘It doesn’t seem like much time has passed.’

People in a martial trance could be lost for days. Sometimes even three or four days passed before they woke up. So, Baek Cheon couldn’t just look at Yoo Iseol to know how much time had passed.

Baek Cheon put his hand on the ground and pushed himself up. He heard a voice. It sounded familiar, but also a little strange.

“You’re awake?”

“⋯⋯.”

He turned his head slowly.

Chung Myung. There he was, wooden sword casually slung over his shoulder, squatting as if they were just sharing a friendly chat.

A jolt went through Baek Cheon. His body reacted before his brain could catch up, flinching back as if burned.

“Scared? You should be,” Chung Myung grinned, a flash of white teeth in the dim light.

Baek Cheon stared at him, eyes wide, before exhaling a sigh of resignation.

‘I lost.’

No, it wasn’t just losing.

The fight from moments ago was hardly worthy of discussing victory or defeat; it was too embarrassing. He still couldn’t understand how such a thing could happen, but the conclusion was undeniable.

He had been utterly defeated.

Baek Cheon raised a hand and pressed hard against his head. The spot where Chung Myung had struck him still hurt.

But this was no time for theatrics. The junior brother who had just knocked him senseless was watching him with wide, alert eyes.

“Can I ask something?”

“As much as you like.”

“…How can you be so strong?”

“Oho?”

Chung Myung looked at Baek Cheon with fresh interest.

‘How curious.’

Usually, those who experienced such unbelievable events refused to accept reality. Even when faced with undeniable evidence, they would rant and rave, claiming they couldn’t believe it or wouldn’t accept it.

Especially those with strong pride in themselves would never admit it until someone shoved a fist down their babbling throats.

But Baek Cheon, who seemed to live and breathe on his pride, was quickly accepting the situation.

That alone was worthy of praise, but….

“It’s not that I’m strong, but that your martial uncle is weak.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

Baek Cheon’s eyes twitched slightly.

“You’re saying I’m weak?”

“Yes.”

Baek Cheon staggered to his feet. He glared at Chung Myung with murderous intent.

“Do not underestimate me. I am Baek Cheon. The Great Senior Brother of the Hundred Characters Generation, the most skilled, and the one who will one day become the Mount Hua Sect Leader and lead Mount Hua.”

“Oh, right.”

Chung Myung readily nodded. There was nothing factually incorrect in Baek Cheon’s words.

Except for one thing.

“But that’s not proof that you’re not weak, is it?”

“⋯⋯.”

Just as Baek Cheon was about to retort, Chung Myung pointed a finger at him.

“A frog in a well.”

“⋯⋯.”

“That’s the perfect description for you right now. A well, a cramped one at that, so much so that other frogs passing by wouldn’t even consider entering. A frog inside, just bloating itself up.”

Baek Cheon’s face twisted hideously.

“You’re calling me a frog?”

“Yes.”

“Me?”

Chung Myung chuckled at Baek Cheon, who couldn’t accept it and kept questioning him.

“Hey, Martial Uncle.”

“⋯⋯.”

“You already know that Mount Hua is ruined, don’t you?”

“⋯⋯Of course.”

Ruined was a harsh word, but he couldn’t deny the fact that they had fallen.

Reviving that fallen Mount Hua was precisely Baek Cheon’s role. Baek Cheon had lived believing that until now.

“But that’s why I’ve been working hard. To somehow revive Mount Hua….”

“You?”

Chung Myung looked at Baek Cheon with incredulous eyes.

“When?”

“⋯⋯.”

Baek Cheon was momentarily speechless at Chung Myung’s reaction.

“From what I see, it doesn’t seem like it at all? Secluding yourself with the kids and playing house, enjoying a refreshing drink on the way back, and bullying your junior brothers when the Hwajong Competition is just around the corner. You call that effort? Effort? Is that what you call this?”

Baek Cheon closed his mouth.

He didn’t think he lacked effort himself. But he had nothing to say about the points Chung Myung raised.

“It seems like you don’t know what effort is, Martial Uncle. It’s not about investing the time you have left after doing everything you want. It’s about reducing the things I want to do. That’s effort.”

“⋯⋯.”

“You haven’t made an effort. You just wanted to reign like a king in the small kingdom of Mount Hua. There’s no real competition, no superiors nagging you. It was comfortable, wasn’t it?”

Baek Cheon bit his lip.

“No, no. Don’t make that face. I’m not saying anything bad about you. But if you refuse to be compared to others and want to live like a king inside, then you shouldn’t at least say you’ve made an effort. And you should also abandon the illusion that you’re strong.”

Chung Myung spoke indifferently.

“Have you ever fought anyone properly?”

“⋯⋯.”

“At best, it would have been Jongnam. Martial Uncle. Jongnam is treated like grim reapers here, but in the grand scheme of the Jianghu, Jongnam is barely in the top ten. The second-generation disciples of the other Nine Great Sects are flying through the sky right now, and you think you’re strong just because you can jump a little? Strong? You?”

A clear sneer hung on Chung Myung’s face.

“Don’t be mistaken, you frog. It’s not that I’m strong. It’s that you’re weak.”

A loud alarm rang in Baek Cheon’s head.

‘I’m weak?’

He didn’t want to admit it.

But when he thought about it, there was nothing wrong with what Chung Myung said.

The Hwasan sect is already having trouble because of the Jongnam sect. Even if we win against Jongnam in the tournament, there are still much stronger groups out there.

“…So, you’re saying there are plenty of guys stronger than you in other sects?”

“What nonsense. I’m the strongest!”

“…”

Chung Myung thought to himself, ‘Your words don’t make sense, you little rascal!’

“It’s not because I’m strong that you were defeated. You can’t even beat Jongnam. Of course, you can’t even be compared to disciples from places like Shaolin, Wudang, or the Namgung Clan, where talent is everywhere.”

Baek Cheon bit his lip.

But Chung Myung said something very harsh to Baek Cheon.

“So, even if it’s not me, knocking you down isn’t exactly a difficult task. Understand?”

He understood.

But he didn’t want to understand.

Who in the world would want to hear the words, ‘You are merely one grain of sand among the countless others in the world’?

But instead of arguing, Baek Cheon gritted his teeth.

“I know that much.”

“…”

“Do you think a Hwasan disciple wouldn’t know that? I know. I know. But there’s nothing I can do about it. Unless I’m a disciple of Wudang or Namgung, I have no choice but to work hard with what I have!”

“You didn’t even try to work hard, you know,” Chung Myung said with a calm expression.

“You didn’t even try properly, and you were trying in the wrong way. Do you think you’ll become a master just by working hard? Then you might as well go over there and beat up a scarecrow. If you beat it for about five hundred years, you might be able to use Sword Qi or something.”

Chung Myung knew how to make people feel bad even when saying simple things.

Baek Cheon frowned and asked.

“Then you’re saying you know the right way?”

“At least I seem to know better than you do.”

Chung Myung grinned.

At his reaction, Baek Cheon sighed quietly.

‘A goblin-like guy.’

He was hard to understand. How could he be so strong, how could he be so confident, and how could he be so relaxed? It was beyond Baek Cheon’s understanding.

‘So he can’t help but be arrogant.’

In Chung Myung’s eyes, those who were high in seniority but not skilled were just fools.

If Baek Cheon were in his place, he would have been even worse, if not the same.

One thing was certain.

Chung Myung was stronger than Baek Cheon thought. He didn’t know how, but Chung Myung might be stronger than the Unja generation.

Even if Baek Cheon fought with Un Am or Un Geom, he wouldn’t be beaten so easily without being able to do anything.

After thinking for a moment, Baek Cheon looked at Chung Myung with a firm look in his eyes.

“Then are you saying you can make me stronger?”

“Hoo?”

Chung Myung narrowed his eyes at Baek Cheon’s words.

‘This guy is definitely a bit strange.’

His pride is very strong. But he knows the reality. Usually, if one thing is wrong, the other thing also tends to be wrong.

Chung Myung thought, ‘This Sasuk is very proud, even though he knows he’s not that good. That’s not a good thing for a person to be.’

However, it’s not bad as a martial artist. After all, martial artists live by the pride that they are the strongest, or that they will become the strongest.

“Of course, it’s possible.”

Baek Cheon nodded silently.

“If that’s the case……”

Then he stretched out both hands and clasped them in a formal greeting.

“Huh?”

And he opened his mouth with a very serious voice.

“Then… make me stronger. I’ll do anything. Anything you say.”

“…”

Baek Cheon raised his head slightly.

“If I can become stronger, I won’t mind learning from you. If calling you ‘Sajil’ (junior martial brother) is a problem, I won’t. If I need to treat you like an older brother… I will. Just… make me stronger.”

“I don’t want to.”

“As a teacher…… Huh?”

Chung Myung answered casually.

“I said I don’t want to.”

“…Why?”

Baek Cheon’s eyes shook.

No, wasn’t the reason for telling him all this to guide Baek Cheon down the right path?

“Why would I? It’s annoying.”

“…”

“And you seem to be mistaken.”

“Huh?”

“It’s not over yet.”

Chung Myung got up from his seat. Then, he raised his wooden sword and twirled it around.

“People are strange. They don’t even think about what they’ve done and make up their own rules. They think they’ve paid enough for their mistakes.”

“…”

“Yeah. Well, that’s right. You’ve paid for your mistakes. You’ve paid enough for bullying the third-generation disciples. But!”

Chung Myung’s eyes blazed.

“My anger doesn’t end there!”

No, you crazy bastard.

Baek Cheon stepped back in fear.

But Chung Myung approached Baek Cheon slowly, with a wicked smile like the Grim Reaper.

“You still don’t understand, do you?”

“No. I understand! I understand enough already!”

“No, no. You don’t understand enough yet. You’re still confused about how this is happening, right?”

Why are you deciding how I feel?

I said I understand!

“Don’t worry. The night is long. I’ll make sure you understand clearly today. Why you are weak, why your sword is wrong. And……”

Chung Myung’s eyes gleamed.

“Why you shouldn’t mess with me.”

“…”

“Hee hee hee! Here I come!”

“Hiiiik!”

Baek Cheon’s scream echoed across the quiet, dark mountains of Hwasan, but unfortunately, it did not reach the main peak.