Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 915

The meeting room was quiet, sunlight streamed through the paper windows onto the polished wooden floor. Dust motes danced in the light as Hyun Jong sat heavily at the head of the table. He looked up, his face worried. “What is it?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

One of his disciples, Hyun Young, nodded slowly. “They are here.”

Chung Myung tilted his head to the side, a familiar, unsettling grin spreading across his face. Hyun Jong closed his eyes tightly. *That look*, he thought, *always meant trouble*. He knew exactly what kind of mischief was brewing in that boy’s mind.

“Ahem,” Hyun Jong cleared his throat loudly, trying to regain control of the conversation. “So, um…”

“Yes?” Hyun Young prompted gently.

“A message has arrived,” Hyun Jong announced, “from Shaolin.”

“Ah, Shaolin,” Chung Myung repeated, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Yes, yes. Shaolin,” Hyun Jong confirmed, a bead of sweat trickling down his temple.

Chung Myung leaned back in his chair, a playful glint in his eyes. “Shaolin, you say? Are those the monks with all the shaved heads, always hanging around that Mount Song place?” He paused, then added with mock surprise, “Sending *us* a message? Good heavens! I thought we only talked to those monks with fists and swords! A message! Imagine that – trying to solve things by talking, like civilized people, with those… monks.”

Hyun Jong’s gaze darted anxiously around the room.

He quickly looked around the room, a silly thought flashing through his mind – *what if a Shaolin monk was secretly listening?* He chuckled nervously, relieved to see only the familiar heads of his own disciples, all with plenty of hair.

“What is it?” Hyun Young tilted his head, noticing Hyun Jong’s gaze lingering on him.

“Well…”

“Yes?”

“Ah, nothing.”

Hyun Jong glanced at Hyun Young, noticing his pale face. *He’s still not well*, he thought with a pang of sympathy.

“Ahem.”

Clearing his throat loudly, Hyun Jong turned his attention back to Chung Myung.

“Yes. That Shaolin is correct.”

“Reeeally?” Chung Myung spoke with feigned surprise.

“That Shaolin is sending us a message? Good heavens! I thought all we had to share were warm punches and cool sword strokes! A message, you say! The civilized approach of resolving issues through dialogue between us and those…”

“Ah, no. Chung Myung-ah. Surely, we’re not beyond sending a simple letter…”

“Eeeeeh?” Chung Myung’s eyes widened as he asked.

“No, Sect Leader! A letter, you say?”

“That letter…”

“A letter is something written, isn’t it?”

“Huh? Uh, yes. That’s right. But why…”

“Sending something written means they understand words. There’s no way those shaved-head simpletons understand words, so how could those bastards send a letter?”

“…”

“If they understood words, they wouldn’t have been acting like that all this time! There’s no way those hairless fools can read! It’s all just black marks to them!” Chung Myung spewed out a stream of angry words.

Hyun Jong was glad no one else was listening.

“…Yes. Surprisingly, they sent a letter. So, I was hoping we could discuss the contents.”

“Why bother?”

“…Please?” Hyun Jong pleaded with a desperate look, and Chung Myung crossed his arms and nodded.

“Fine. I’ll listen.”

“Yes. Good, good thinking…”

“I’ll listen to a monk’s babble as easily as I listen to a dog’s bark, I suppose?”

“…”

Hyun Jong, once again reminded that the best way to talk to Chung Myung was to get straight to the point, quickly opened his mouth.

“The message comes in the name of Beop Jeong, the abbot of Shaolin. It’s addressed to the Heavenly Union, not Mount Hua.”

“The content?”

“Hmm.” Hyun Jong spoke with a slightly troubled expression.

“The movements of the Jiangnan Four Great Evils are unsettling, so they wish to discuss this matter and request the presence of the Heavenly Union Lord. And… your name is also mentioned separately. They want you to take the time to come to Shaolin.”

Having finished speaking, Hyun Jong quickly scanned Chung Myung’s reaction. He fully expected him to foam at the mouth and throw a fit.

But strangely, Chung Myung didn’t show any particular reaction, simply nodding leisurely with his arms crossed.

Slightly puzzled, Hyun Jong cautiously asked.

“…Are you alright?”

“Yes? About what?”

“No. Well…” It was a little difficult to say it myself…

“Well, it sounds like a good idea.”

“A g-good idea?”

“Yes. To put it simply, they’re telling the Sect Leader and me to come to Shaolin, right?”

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

“So, of course, it’s a good idea.” Chung Myung smiled brightly.

Hyun Jong, relieved by that pure, bright smile, was just about to nod in agreement.

“I’m glad you think so…”

“If they’re telling me to come get my head smashed, why wouldn’t I go! That old dog of a monk! Alright, I’m going now!”

“Where do you think you’re going, you little rascal!”

As Chung Myung tried to leap forward, the Five Swords, who had been waiting, moved with blurring speed. They were on him in an instant, their hands like iron clamps on his arms and legs.

“Let go? Or not? Huh!”

“Hey, where do you think you’re going, you punk!”

“Where else would I go? I’m going to Shaolin!”

“Why Shaolin!”

“They told me to come! The Great Bald One told me to come! What’s the problem with going when they tell me to!” Chung Myung rolled his eyes back.

“This rascal must have lost his senses after behaving himself for three years! Alright, fine! I’ll show you why I’ve been training for three years! If I engrave a plum blossom tattoo on that shiny head, maybe that bastard will achieve enlightenment too!”

“Sh-Shaolin, I said!”

“That’s what I’m saying! Why do you think I’ve been training for three years!”

Huh? Wasn’t it because of the Demonic Sect?

Hyun Jong sighed, clutching his throbbing head, and Hyun Young cautiously spoke up.

“Sect Leader.”

“…What is it?”

“I think we need to consider this carefully.”

“Consider?”

“Yes, Sect Leader. What are you planning to do?”

“Hmm.” Hyun Jong pondered for a moment before speaking.

“Even though Shaolin and we are not the same as we used to be, they have sent a letter regarding the Four Great Evils. Wouldn’t it be polite to at least pay them a visit?”

“I have a slightly different opinion.”

At Hyun Young’s words, Hyun Jong looked slightly surprised and gestured for him to explain.

“As we saw during the recent rise of the Demonic Sect, Shaolin doesn’t think very highly of us.”

“…”

“Yet, they are deliberately inviting us. Doesn’t that suggest they have other intentions?”

Most people now realize that Shaolin is keeping the Heavenly Union at arm’s length. They simply don’t voice it.

At that moment, a blunt voice was heard as if something had been overturned.

“Other intentions? What other intentions? They’re just feeling the heat.”

“Huh? Feeling the heat?” Hyun Young turned to look at Chung Myung. Chung Myung, shaking off the martial brothers clinging to his limbs, grimaced with displeasure.

“Do you think Shaolin would have even looked our way if the Nine Sects or Five Great Families had answered their call properly? They only sent a letter to us because those other groups wouldn’t listen.”

“…”

“No doubt they’re clinging to Buddha statues and crying right now. Hee hee hee!”

“Chung Myung, being happy when others are unlucky is not good if you want to become wise.”

“Wow, then all those Shaolin monks are going straight to hell! When they get there, won’t Buddha be like, ‘Alright, you guys! I’ve been waiting for you here!’ and hit them with Buddhist scriptures?”

“…”

I should just keep my mouth shut.

Hyun Jong was speechless at how negative Chung Myung always was. Then, Baek Cheon tilted his head.

“But, Chung Myung.”

“Huh?”

“If what you say is true, isn’t this what you wanted?”

“I suppose so.”

“Then why are you so angry?”

“No!”

Chung Myung’s eyes, which had calmed down a bit, began to gleam wildly again.

“That arrogant monk is telling our Sect Leader to come and go as he pleases!”

“…”

“Does he still think he’s a big shot? They should be running over here barefoot and begging on their knees for us to even consider going. Instead, they request our presence? I ought to just—!”

“…”

Baek Cheon did not know what to say, but someone nodded vigorously.

‘Samae?’

No, why are you doing that too…

Even in the midst of all this, Hyun Jong, not forgetting his duty as Sect Leader, tried to calm the chaotic situation.

“Please, everyone, just keep your mouths shut…”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

“It’s unfair to say that, Sect Leader. Only one person is talking, so why are you telling us… Ack!”

Jo Gul spoke when he shouldn’t have and was beaten by Yoon Jong and shoved into a corner. Jo Gul looked sad, like a puppy in the rain, but no one paid him any attention.

“Since it’s a letter sent to the Mount Hua Alliance, we should send a reply. What do you think we should do?”

“Ignore it.”

“Just burn it.”

“Ahem. Why are you all like this? Let’s politely decline.”

“Why can’t they come here?”

In the end, clear tears welled up in Hyun Jong’s eyes.

These people are hopeless. They are so useless, they are good for nothing.

“Sect Leader.”

In the midst of all this, Baek Cheon spoke seriously. Hyun Jong, who still had a glimmer of hope for Baek Cheon, was delighted.

“Yes, Baek Cheon. Speak.”

“It is true that Shaolin has requested our presence, but there is no reason why we should grant that request.”

“You, you think so?”

“Yes, Sect Leader. If we think about it, Shaolin has always ignored our requests or added conditions to them. So why should we do as they say?”

Hyun Jong nodded at the reasonable words. But even so, he still couldn’t shake the worry from his eyes.

“But I’m worried. Looking at the way things are going, a war might break out soon…”

“War doesn’t break out that easily.”

It was Chung Myung who said this.

“Even if they argue and fight, they can’t easily start a war, especially people who can lose a lot. Shaolin or anyone else, they don’t want to lose anything.”

“…”

“One of the reasons why the Nine Sects and Five Great Families don’t listen to Shaolin is probably that too.”

“You mean they’re afraid that a real war will break out if they gather?”

“Yes.”

Jo Gul raised his hand with a puzzled look and asked.

“But just because we endure doesn’t mean war won’t break out. Jang Il-So won’t be satisfied with just Jiangnan, will he?”

“Jang Il-So hasn’t moved yet. People always want to wait to do things, even when they know it must happen.”

“Hmm.”

It was certainly a reasonable point. Jo Gul nodded.

“Now that I think about it, even when I steal alcohol, I know I’ll get caught eventually, but I still want to hide it for at least one more day… Ack! Why are you hitting me!”

“You said you stole alcohol!”

“It was before! Before! Not this time! I already got hit for that!”

“Then get hit again!”

Baek Cheon, cleanly ignoring Yoon Jong, who had grabbed Jo Gul by the collar and was shaking him, said.

“So, even if we don’t listen to Shaolin this time, nothing much will happen for a while, right?”

“That’s right.”

“But Sect Leader’s concerns are also valid, Chung Myung. Shaolin is being so proactive. The atmosphere is unusual.”

“Sasook,” Chung Myung said, using the term for ‘Senior Brother-Uncle’.

“Yes?”

“If Mount Hua was still one of the Nine Great Sects, would we have gone out to fight just because Shaolin told us to?”

“That’s…”

Baek Cheon trailed off with a slightly subtle expression.

In the past, he might have answered yes. But now, his answer was already decided.

“People are all the same. Shaolin is only called the leader of the Nine Great Sects in times of crisis. Usually, everyone tries to beat Shaolin even once, isn’t that the basic thing?”

“That’s right.”

“Do people who dislike Shaolin usually listen to them when things are unclear like now? Ha! That’s silly. That crazy monk, Beop Jeong, is probably even more annoying now.”

After speaking, Chung Myung smiled bitterly at the past that suddenly came to mind.

‘Those crazy guys.’

Even when the Demonic Sect was right in front of them, they were arguing about who would go out and who would retreat. They were all talk. If those guys had moved together, the sacrifices would have been cut in half.

Chung Myung, who had learned how people can be selfish when it comes to things like staying alive and getting rich, could see what would happen in the future.

“Then what about the Yangtze River?”

“They’ll probably give it up and retreat.”

“Even if the reputation of the Nine Sects and Five Great Families really falls to the ground?”

“Not many people risk their lives for honor like you think. Honor can be restored, but life is over once it’s lost. They’ll probably make excuses that they can recover everything if they just defeat the Four Evil Sects in the end, no matter how much they give up.”

“Ummm.”

“That’s why war can’t be resolved through meetings. Usually, one crazy guy…”

Chung Myung, who had been talking and talking, suddenly stopped.

Then, he opened his eyes wide, like he was confused.

“Why, what’s wrong?”

Baek Cheon asked, confused, and Chung Myung turned to him with a blank face.

“Sasook.”

“Yes? Why?”

“War might break out?”

“What?”

Chung Myung tilted his head to the side and muttered.

“Wait a minute, if this goes on…”

His expression became strange as he remembered something he had forgotten.

“Shaolin might really catch fire?”

“What are you talking about, you kid!”

“I, I need to check! Where’s the beggar ahjussi? Beggar ahjussi!”

Chung Myung kicked open the door and ran out without explaining, leaving the others to stare blankly at where he had gone. The chair scraped loudly on the wooden floor as he jumped up.

“What is he thinking again?”

“How would I know…”

“I’m hungry.”

A sigh escaped from everyone’s lips at the same time.