Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 931

Beopjeong, who had been descending the mountain in silence, turned back.

Beopgye flinched without realizing it at that terrifying gaze.

“…Hwasan.”

When he had ascended this path, he certainly hadn’t felt this way. A strange unease had been present, but he had no doubt that he would ultimately obtain what he desired.

Beopgye thought he understood Hwasan. He believed he could control them, like a wild wolf tamed into a pet dog.

However, the dog he thought he had tamed was now baring its teeth at him, as if it hadn’t lost its wildness from its days of running through the fields.

“The Buddha bestowed mercy upon all.”

“⋯⋯.”

“But he did not show mercy to only one tribe. Do you know what tribe that is?”

“I do not know well.”

“Mara.”

Mara, in Buddhist teachings, represents evil and temptation.

Beopgye tried to say something but closed his mouth. Beopjeong continued.

“That ultimately means that even the Buddha distinguished between beings who could be saved and those who could not. He was stricter than anyone else with those who could not be saved and only caused harm.”

Beopjeong stared with a stern face at the Hwasan buildings visible in the distance. The buildings stood peacefully on the mountainside, unaware of the storm coming their way.

“At least I didn’t think Hwasan was a demon, but it seems I was wrong.”

“…Abbot.”

Beopjeong bit his lip.

Beopgye looked at him with slightly questioning eyes, because it seemed like Beopjeong was thinking of something.

“…In the end…”

“Yes?”

“No.”

Beopjeong shook his head.

“First is the Yangtze River. I will resolve that matter. Hwasan is next. But…”

And he coldly declared.

“Someday, Hwasan will also have to pay the price for this. Leaving aside my personal feelings, I will definitely make them pay the price for turning a blind eye to the matter that will plunge the world into misery and for dragging the name of Shaolin to the bottom.”

“That is how it should be, Abbot.”

Crack!

The prayer beads in Beopjeong’s hand shattered, and the beads poured down.

The prayer beads, falling from the severed string, seemed to explain the relationship between Shaolin and Hwasan. Those things that had been connected by a thin thread were now severed at this moment.

“Hwasan Sword Saint…”

Beopjeong gritted his teeth and took a step.

“This is your choice.”

Back at Hwasan, the atmosphere was very different.

After Beopjeong left, the key figures of Hwasan gathered again in the sect leader’s room, and Hye-yeon was sitting proudly among those key figures. Looking at those clear and sparkling eyes, everyone’s hearts were filled with pride.

“Everyone… thank you so much.”

“Don’t mention it, Monk.”

“We’re not strangers, so why bother with such things.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

A bright smile spread across Hye-yeon’s face, as if he was slightly embarrassed.

He had abandoned Shaolin, which was like a home to him. Nevertheless, the reason why sadness did not overwhelm him was because of these people. These people who were becoming another family, different from Shaolin.

‘Yes. This is where I need to be….”

He smiled, but a small part of him still felt unsure. *Could he truly find a new home here?*

“Are you smiling?”

“⋯⋯.”

However.

Unfortunately, there was one person in that warm atmosphere who never smiled.

A demon glared at Hye-yeon with eyes like sharp blades. They seemed to cut right through him. A terrifying madness flickered. Hye-yeon flinched slightly.

“You’re smiling?”

“S-Sir, I’m…”

“What is with this rascal?”

As Chung Myung’s face turned increasingly red, Hye-yeon slowly backed away.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“Are you trying to cause trouble for me?”

“What do you mean…”

“Erah!”

In the end, Chung Myung kicked Hye-yeon in the chest with both feet.

Thud!

“Aaaargh!”

Hye-yeon, who had been unexpectedly struck head-on, rolled into a corner. Not satisfied with that, Chung Myung rushed towards Hye-yeon. Everyone was horrified and began to pull Chung Myung away.

“Why, why are you doing this! Chung Myung!”

“Calm down first! What’s gotten into you?”

“Quickly, someone get him some candy! This is getting serious!”

Once the word ‘candy’ came out of the Five Swords’ mouths, it meant the situation was quite serious. The horrified disciples of Hwasan joined forces with the Five Swords to hold Chung Myung down.

But even in the midst of that, Chung Myung scratched the floor like a mad dog and growled at Hye-yeon.

“Let go! Won’t you let go? I’m going to see hair grow on that bald rascal’s head today!”

“What nonsense are you talking about!”

“No!”

Chung Myung shouted, his eyes blazing with fire.

“If you had kicked out that Abbot, you should have stayed quietly in the corner! Why did you have to follow him out and make things worse! Huh?”

Hye-yeon lowered his head.

“This is making things worse for me! Hey! Do you have any ill feelings towards Hwasan? Are you trying to make Shaolin and Hwasan fight each other and die together? This rascal has been fed and sheltered for years, and he repays kindness with enmity? Alright! Let me repay some kindness today! Ah, let go of me!”

“C-Calm down!”

Baek Cheon, sensing that Chung Myung would really beat Hye-yeon to a pulp the moment he let go of his arm, clung on even more desperately.

How ridiculous would it be to say that he was protecting Hye-yeon? But the man he was holding onto right now was one of the few people who could make that ridiculous statement not ridiculous.

“What? A Buddhist? A Buddhist?! Hey, you rascal!”

“Ack!”

Unable to kick because he was being held back, Chung Myung stretched out his legs as much as he could and slapped Hye-yeon’s bald head with the soles of his feet.

“Even the Buddha would say there’s no hope for you and break your head with a Bodhi tree branch! You have so many ways to cause trouble! You followed him? You? If I gave you a piece of candy, you’d get lost on the way home!”

“No! Please calm down!”

“Sect Leader, please stop him! Sect…”

Yoon Jong, who turned his head to look for Hyun Jong, flinched for a moment. Hyun Jong was muttering something with an almost half-gone expression.

“Shaolin… Why Shaolin… I was crazy, why did I have to with Shaolin…”

“⋯⋯.”

Yoon Jong whispered to Baek Cheon in a small voice.

“Uncle-Master. I think his condition is worse over there?”

“Close your eyes quickly.”

“⋯⋯Yes.”

After struggling and thrashing for a while, Chung Myung seemed to have calmed down a bit, and the strength gradually drained from his muscles.

“Anyway, nothing good has happened since I took in that damn rascal! What are you going to do about this, you rascal?”

Tears welled up in Hye-yeon’s eyes. He felt lost and misunderstood. *Why was he always the one to blame?*

Frankly, wouldn’t he feel wronged? He said he would just be expelled and told them not to interfere, but he was the only one who ran wild and kicked out Beopjeong, and now he was blaming Hye-yeon?

Hye-yeon felt it was unfair. Chung Myung was acting like he was being robbed, even though Hye-yeon was the one who was hurt.

“Chung Myung. Shaolin isn’t a big deal, right?”

Chung Myung’s head snapped around. Baek Cheon, seeing that terrifying gaze, yelped and quickly turned his gaze away.

“What can’t you say when you’re fighting! Is Shaolin some kind of children’s school? Not a big deal? Of course, it’s a big deal!”

“⋯⋯I just thought you said so.”

“Ugh. I must be really unlucky.”

Chung Myung gritted his teeth.

‘That damn temper.’

‘Poor Hye-yeon Monk.’

‘He always blames others. Ugh.’

In fact, even if Hye-yeon’s incident had not happened, the relationship between Hwasan and Shaolin had already deteriorated to the point where it was impossible to repair from the moment Beopjeong stormed out of this place.

Hye-yeon’s incident merely drove a wedge into that situation.

“Tsk.”

Chung Myung stopped at this point, perhaps knowing that fact as well. It was Chung Myung’s greatness that he stopped only after knowing this much.

“Shaolin… Shaolin. What do we do now? Now? Shaolin…”

But Chung Myung’s anger may have subsided, but Hyun Jong’s spirit, which had gone out, did not return.

Chung Myung cleared his throat slightly and began to appease Hyun Jong.

“Well, calm down a bit.”

“Calm down?”

“⋯⋯.”

“Do I look like I can calm down, you mudfish-like bastard!”

At that moment, Hyun Jong rushed towards Chung Myung at a speed he had never shown before and grabbed his earlobe.

“Aaaargh! Sect Leader! My ear! My ear! It hurts! My ear!”

“This crazy rascal drew a sword and caused trouble with the Shaolin Abbot? You ran out and made things worse while I took my eyes off you for a moment, what? Hye-yeon? You rascal! Is it because of Hye-yeon Monk! It’s all because of you!”

“Ack! My ear, my ear! Ah, my ear is falling off! Aaaargh!”

“Oh, ancestors…! What sin did I commit to have such a guy…”

– Sorry.

“Huh?”

It sounded like something was heard…

“Aaaargh!”

Chung Myung, who had barely escaped, ran to the corner. Then he raised his voice and protested.

“No, then what should I do! Those rascals were trying to cripple the bald guy!”

“⋯⋯They didn’t say they would cut off his head. They just said they would cripple him and destroy his martial arts skills…”

“It’s better to cut off his head. He’s just a fool without martial arts! What can you use that guy for without martial arts? He’s worse than a neighborhood dog!”

“⋯⋯.”

What truly saddened Hye-yeon was not Chung Myung’s words. It was the other Hwasan disciples who nodded reflexively as soon as those words were finished.

Tears welled up in his tightly closed eyes.

‘I’m such an idiot for being moved even for a moment. Me.’

“Becoming enemies with Shaolin… Shaolin… Ancestors. I’ve ruined everything. Now Hwasan is going to be ruined…”

“Hey! Don’t say unlucky things! We were almost fighting with Shaolin a hundred years ago, but we didn’t go bankrupt, did we?”

Hyun Jong looked at Chung Myung with a blank face after hearing those words.

“⋯⋯A hundred years ago?”

“Yes!”

“A hundred years ago?”

“That’s right!”

“⋯⋯Then we did go bankrupt.”

“Huh?”

Huh?

⋯⋯Come to think of it, that’s right?

Hyun Jong slumped down in his seat as Chung Myung’s words were cut off.

“What should I do with this… This…”

“Ahem.”

Hyun Sang saw that and said cautiously.

“If you were so worried, you could have resolved it amicably…”

“How can you resolve it amicably in that atmosphere, you rascal!”

“How can you resolve things amicably with those Shaolin rascals!”

Clearly, their directions are completely different. But what they do is not much different.

Before he knew it, even the sect leader had been influenced by Chung Myung. Very badly.

The faces of the Hwasan disciples darkened in an instant.

“⋯⋯Hwasan is ruined now.”

“No, what do you mean ruined? I’m here!”

“⋯⋯.”

Hyun Jong stared blankly at Chung Myung and then let out a deep sigh.

“It’s really ruined.”

“No, what’s wrong with this guy?”

“He’s the Sect Leader, you rascal!”

The moment Chung Myung glared, Baek Cheon ran up and kicked him.

Chung Myung, who had rolled into a corner, jumped up.

“No, there’s nothing to worry about! Those Shaolin rascals are nothing!”

“You said they were a big deal earlier.”

“They’re nothing if I deal with them!”

“⋯⋯Just say two different things with one mouth, Chung Myung.”

How can one mouth say so many different things? Anyone would think a rainbow was blooming from your mouth.

Chung Myung, who was shouting tirelessly, Hyun Jong, who was muttering something with a blank expression, Hye-yeon, who was depressed in the corner, and the Hwasan disciples, who were each saying something.

Crunch.

Hong Daekwang, who had already taken a seat, could not join in that atmosphere. He just sat in one corner as if he didn’t exist and chewed on senbei.

“⋯⋯What a mess.”

Still, what can I say?

It was a very Hwasan-like scene.