Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 913

“Hee hee hee hee!”

“Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee!”

Jo Gul and Yoon Jong turned to Baek Cheon with anxious faces.

“S-Senior Uncle.”

“What?”

“Th-That thing? Why is it acting like that?”

Baek Cheon glanced at Chung Myung with a face that showed he thought Chung Myung was the most ridiculous thing in the world.

Chung Myung was holding a bottle of alcohol in one hand and a letter in the other, cackling like a demon. He had been doing this for quite a while.

“Geol, Jong.”

“Yes, Senior Uncle.”

“Why are you acting like it’s something new?”

“No. I know that him being out of his mind isn’t new.”

“But isn’t it worse than usual today? Senior Uncle, look at that.”

Baek Cheon flinched when he looked where Yoon Jong was pointing.

Baek Ah, who rarely left Chung Myung’s side, was slinking away in the distance, cautiously trying to escape.

‘It does look quite cute, seeing that white thing trembling.’ Ah, that’s not the point.

That’s a spirit beast that could slap a tiger’s face, so I shouldn’t be fooled by its appearance. It wouldn’t be so bad if it had a good personality.

Baek Cheon turned his gaze to Chung Myung.

Even to him, Chung Myung’s condition seemed worse today. He looked so strange, it was almost like a scary spirit was standing behind him.

Isn’t it amazing that a person can radiate such an eerie aura even while enjoying himself so thoroughly?

“Heu heu heu.”

Chung Myung muttered to himself with the expression of a con artist who had just pulled off a big scam.

“These bastards are trying to screw me over? A hundred years is too far off, you little punks!”

Baek Cheon shook his head. He knew Chung Myung wouldn’t hear him, but he still wanted to say this: ‘Chung Myung, the people you’re dealing with aren’t the kind of people who would be called little punks anymore. How wronged would those little punks feel hearing that?’

Chung Myung threw his head back and roared with laughter. “Hee hee hee hee hee. Ee hee hee! Euhehehehehet! Kkyaaa ha ha ha!” His laughter echoed through the training grounds, bouncing off the silent trees.

Yoon Jong and Jo Gul exchanged worried glances. “He’s completely lost it,” Yoon Jong whispered.

“Mad as a March hare,” Jo Gul agreed, shaking his head. “This isn’t just a little strange, Senior Brother. This is… different.”

Chung Myung, oblivious to their concern, tilted a bottle of alcohol to his lips. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down with each gulp, a strangely cheerful sight in the midst of his wild laughter. Baek Cheon watched him, a knot of unease tightening in his stomach.

“Why is he acting like that?”

Baek Cheon said with a soft and warm smile.

“You still don’t know him well enough.”

“Yes?”

“There are only two cases when that rascal is genuinely happy like that.”

“What are they?”

“When he’s made a huge amount of money, or when he’s properly screwed someone over.”

“Looking closely at his smiling face, it seems like the latter this time.”

Jo Gul and Yoon Jong’s eyes began to tremble.

If Baek Cheon, who understood Chung Myung better than anyone, said so, it must be true.

Then…

“The Nine Sects?”

“The Five Great Families?”

“Jang Il-so? The Four Evil Sects?”

“Ah, no, could it be the Jongnam Sect?”

As they listed the names that came to mind, they realized something new.

There were too many people in the world that Chung Myung wanted to screw over.

‘No, at this point, isn’t everyone in the world except the Heavenly Union an enemy of that bastard?’

Shouldn’t we seriously consider who is the cause of all this?

“Heueueum! The weather is wonderfully nice tooooo!”

Heavy rain began to fall, drops splattering on the dusty ground around them.

It’s raining, you crazy bastard.

Chung Myung shrugged his shoulders and laughed with great pleasure.

“Hee hee hee hee. Die, all of you! All! Euhehehehehet!”

Words that should never come out of a Taoist’s mouth were coming out as naturally as breathing.

If that’s a Taoist, then earthworms are dragons.

“What are you so happy about?”

Baek Cheon cautiously approached and asked, and Chung Myung turned his head sharply.

“Ah, Senior Uncle! Want a drink?”

“Is there anyone else in Mount Hua who drinks alcohol from broad daylight besides you?”

“There isn’t, but Senior Uncle can do it from today.”

“I’ll pass.”

Baek Cheon shook his head and asked again.

“But what’s going on?”

“Ah, it’s nothing much. Just that…”

“Yes.”

“It looks like the Nine Sects, the most respected groups in the martial world, and the Four Evil Sects are about to have a showdown.”

“Ah, is that so? Then that’s… What, what, you bastard?”

Baek Cheon, his eyes wide, grabbed Chung Myung by the collar.

“Wh-Who is fighting who?”

“The Nine Sects and the Four Evil Sects.”

“War?”

“Yeah, war.”

Baek Cheon’s face turned pale in an instant.

“Hey, you bastard! If that’s not a big deal, then Mount Hua collapsing wouldn’t be a big deal either!”

“Hey. I’m telling you it’s really not a big deal. It’s nothing to do with us.”

“How is it nothing to do with us, you crazy bastard!”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

Chung Myung reached out and patted Baek Cheon’s back.

“Our Dong-ryong is so timid. We just need to watch the show and eat the rice cakes. Hee hee hee hee hee!”

Baek Cheon let go of Chung Myung’s collar and covered his face with his hands.

‘Oh, Primordial Celestial Lord. I really don’t understand. Why did you give such talent to this kind of bastard… Why…’

Baek Cheon, who seemed to be contemplating something, slapped his palm with his fist.

“Ah, first, I need to send letters to the Northern Sea and Yunnan.”

“Hey, to the Beast Palace and the Ice Palace?”

“Yeah.”

Baek Cheon, who had been worried, now looked up, delighted.

‘Right, even if this bastard speaks harshly, there’s no way he’d just accept this situation easily. He’s definitely requesting reinforcements in advance…’

“I can’t keep this good news to myself! Joy is doubled when shared, they say. We have to laugh together! Euhehehehehet! Because we’re friends!”

The steadily gathering dark clouds were growing thicker. Yoon Jong, who had approached unnoticed, patted Baek Cheon, who was looking up at the sky with a mournful face, on the shoulder.

“Don’t cry, Senior Uncle.”

“I’m not crying…”

Baek Cheon sniffled and pushed Yoon Jong’s hand away. And then asked.

“Then shouldn’t we rush to the Yangtze River right away?”

“Why?”

“If it’s a war, we should lend a hand. After all, it’s about dealing with the Four Evil Sects.”

Chung Myung nodded with a resolute face.

“Of course, that’s obvious! Of course, we have to fight too!”

“Right?”

“That’s right, but…”

“Yes?”

Chung Myung’s resolute face relaxed languidly. With a face like a satisfied cat, Chung Myung leaned back against the tree again and stretched out.

“Let’s go slowly, slowly… Very slowly, since it’s a bit of a hassle right now.”

“After they’ve fought enough, after they’ve bled enough.”

“It would be great if they both collapsed in a mutually destructive way.”

Baek Cheon stared at Chung Myung with an astonished face.

But unlike Baek Cheon, who still had a glimmer of hope for Chung Myung, Jo Gul had already given up all expectations. That’s why he didn’t care what Chung Myung said and assessed the situation.

“But Chung Myung.”

“Yes?”

“If this goes wrong, won’t we have a problem?”

“What?”

“Think about it. We can fight the Four Evil Sects, but we can’t fight the Nine Sects or the Five Great Families, right?”

“Why can’t we? We can just beat them up.”

“N-No, no. We really can’t have a war. It’s hard to have each other killing and bleeding like that.”

“Yes?”

Hearing those words, Chung Myung tilted his head with round eyes.

And everyone who saw that scene instinctively knew what was going through his head.

‘He’s planning to do it.’

‘He doesn’t understand.’

‘Mom. I’m scared of him.’

What’s the difference between the orthodox and unorthodox factions in that bastard’s head?

“Anyway, so what?”

“That’s right. Uh… But if a war breaks out like this and the Nine Sects or the Five Great Families wipe out the Four Evil Sects, won’t we end up just handing over the initiative to the Nine Sects and the Five Great Families without doing anything? Won’t we be like a dog chasing a chicken, only to end up staring at the roof?”

“Huh?”

When Jo Gul finished speaking, everyone looked at him in surprise.

Chung Myung clapped as if he was impressed. Jo Gul’s shoulders subtly gained strength.

“Right? I’m right, aren’t I?”

“No? You’re not right at all?”

Is this bastard serious?

“Then why did you clap?”

“I was impressed that our Senior Brother now naturally thinks of the Nine Sects and the Five Great Families as being on the same level as the Four Evil Sects.”

“You rascal.”

“You evil bastard.”

Jo Gul tried to protest out of frustration, but it didn’t work at all.

Except for one person.

“Isn’t that a valid point?”

“Senior Uncle!”

Tears of emotion welled up in Jo Gul’s eyes. As expected, Baek Cheon is Baek Cheon. Truly worthy of being the next sect leader…

“Usually, the words coming out of that bastard’s mouth are just nonsense, but…”

Never mind. Yoon Jong should be the next sect leader.

“Anyway, isn’t it true that the later we get involved, the stronger the position of the Nine Sects and the Five Great Families becomes? No matter how I think about it, I don’t think the Nine Sects and the Five Great Families will lose to the Four Evil Sects.”

The Four Evil Sects have shown unbelievable growth over the past three years, but the Nine Sects are the Nine Sects, and the Five Great Families are the Five Great Families.

If they give it their all, there’s no way they can’t win, no matter how strong the Four Evil Sects are. That was Baek Cheon’s common sense.

Chung Myung, who had been listening quietly, grinned.

“Some of it is wrong and some of it is right, but you don’t really need to worry about that. The situation that Senior Uncle is thinking of won’t happen in the first place.”

“Yes? Why?”

“The Nine Sects and the Five Great Families won’t be able to mobilize all their forces.”

Baek Cheon’s face hardened slightly.

“What does that mean?”

“It’s exactly what it sounds like. No matter how much Shaolin babbles, everyone won’t gather, you know?”

“Ah, but isn’t this a crisis for the Jianghu?”

“That’s right, it’s a crisis. But you know.”

Chung Myung smiled crookedly.

“People don’t know how urgent things are until their own feet are on fire. And Senior Uncle said it himself. If the Nine Sects give it their all, they can catch the Four Evil Sects, right?”

“That’s right.”

“But why would they step forward? Then my damage will be greater, and as Senior Brother Jo Gul said, if I win the war, my power will be weakened and I’ll be pushed back by the other orthodox factions, right?”

“Won’t there be achievements left?”

“Ah, achievements? That useless and subtle thing that you get after giving out that empty praise?”

“Life is about practicality, practicality! In this world, a draft dodger who makes money through usury lives better than a soldier who returns from the battlefield with merit!”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

“Even when the Demonic Cult invaded, when the entire Jianghu had to unite to have a chance of winning, they were slowly pulling their asses out because of their own interests, so what? The Four Evil Sects?”

“Aigoo. I’m sure they’ll fight hard.”

Cold sweat broke out on Baek Cheon’s forehead.

“Then does that mean the Four Evil Sects will win?”

“Do you think it’ll be any different there? If Jang Il-so beats the drum and plays the janggu, the other leaders of the Five Unholy Evils will clap in the back? Telling them to quickly step forward and die!”

“No.”

Baek Cheon was speechless.

The fight between the Nine Sects and the Four Evil Sects that he had imagined was not like this. He thought it would be a process where the orthodox and unorthodox fiercely clashed with each other…

Isn’t this just a battle of wits and a chaotic mess?

“What kind of war is this…”

“No.”

“Yes?”

Chung Myung scoffed.

“It’s not that war is like this, but war is originally like that. It’s just that a few lines are left in history, so it seems like it went well. If all the things that happened there were recorded, the historians would all die young from high blood pressure?”

Baek Cheon thought that he himself was probably not normal either. To see that bastard’s nonsense sounding plausible.

“Senior Uncle, so we…”

Chung Myung, who took a refreshing drink of alcohol, laughed again.

“I’m telling you, we just need to watch those bastards’ heads explode and drink alcohol. Hee hee hee hee. Just thinking about the Great King’s bald head with veins popping out makes me feel like the indigestion I had three years ago is being digested all at once! Euhehehehehet!”

Chung Myung grabbed Baek Ah, who was cautiously watching from afar and trying to run away. And looking at that tiny face, he burst into a joyful frenzy.

“Crazy bastard.”

Baek Cheon, who was fed up, sighed deeply. He was once again deeply aware that he had returned to Mount Hua.

I’d rather die than be sick.

I’d rather die than be sick…