Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 989

Namgung Dowi mumbled, his voice barely a whisper, “Agree to the seal.”

Chung Myung snapped, “Go on then. Say yes.”

Namgung Dowi hesitated, looking down at the ground. “But… the seal…”

Chung Myung spun around, his patience gone. “Aish, are you serious?!” He kicked Namgung Dowi hard.

*WHAM!*

Namgung Dowi cried out, flying through the air and landing in a heap of dust. “Ugh!”

Chung Myung glared at Namgung Dowi, his eyes blazing with fury. “What is with this guy! I let it go once, but you keep doing this?”

“Hey! Do you think we’re pushovers? Do we have to accept just because you tell us to? Are you saying because the Namgung Clan is strong, we, the Mount Heaven Alliance, must say yes?”

Startled, Namgung Dowi scrambled to his feet.

“S-Seal! That’s not what I meant…!”

Chung Myung continued, “Then what? Then what! Did the Sect Leader permit it? Did the Tang Clan Head permit it? Aha! Neither of those? So, now that you’re the head of the Namgung Clan, the Mount Hua Sect Leader and the Tang Clan Head are nothing to you, is that it?”

Namgung Dowi’s face turned pale. “M-Me?”

Me, dare I?

Chung Myung didn’t bother considering the other person’s feelings. “Yes, you! You, you little brat! Is there another Namgung here besides you?”

Namgung Dowi looked at Chung Myung with a face as if he’d seen a ghost.

When in his life had he ever experienced such browbeating? As the young master of the Namgung Clan, he had always lived amidst expectations and being fawned over. The existence of a human like Chung Myung was simply too cruel for him.

Chung Myung didn’t care about the other person’s feelings. “Does this brat think I’m an idiot! When things were going well, you were running around mouthing off about being the head of the Five Great Families, the overlord of Anhui! Now that your influence has waned, what? One family? One faaaamily? I haven’t even eaten a meal with you, what frozen-to-death family are you talking about, you little brat!”

“T-That’s not it. Seal! First, please listen to what I have to say…” Namgung Dowi pleaded.

“Don’t need it!” Chung Myung snapped.

The Five Swords watched this spectacle from a short distance away with strange expressions. Jo Gul, staring intently at Namgung Dowi, who had thrown away all pretense as the future head of the Namgung Clan and was clinging to Chung Myung, turned to Baek Cheon with a peculiar look.

“That… Martial Uncle,” Jo Gul said.

“Hm?” Baek Cheon responded.

“Was that man always like that?”

Baek Cheon trailed off, about to say, ‘How would I know?’

What to say… He seemed so neat and impressive at that martial arts competition…

Yoon Jong scratched his head, as if he couldn’t understand.

“Why is that man acting like that?”

Baek Cheon shrugged and replied. “Namgung Dowi has to join us, right? He doesn’t really have a choice.”

“Is it necessary?” Yoon Jong asked.

“Yes. There’s no other way,” Baek Cheon said, staring silently at Namgung Dowi.

‘Now, Anhui is too dangerous.’

Baek Cheon thought, ‘Anhui in Zhejiang Province is next to the Yangtze River. It’s near the area where the Water Faction is active, so they can attack there anytime.’

And…

Baek Cheon continued to think, ‘The Water Faction must be furious now.’

Of course, the Water Faction members are very sad and weak now, but the Black Dragon King might be crazy.

Why wouldn’t he be?

Even if all of that was Jang Ilso’s plan, the Water Faction was badly beaten by the Mount Heaven Alliance. The Black Dragon King also lost an arm after Chung Myung beat him.

The Black Dragon King would want to take his anger out on someone. And the Namgung Clan is the perfect target right now.

It all started when the Namgung Clan attacked the Water Faction. And now, the Namgung Clan is much weaker than before.

Yoo Iseol spoke, guessing, “The Water Faction is attacking Namgung?” Baek Cheon nodded.

“Normally, the Namgung Clan wouldn’t be afraid even if the Water Faction attacked… but they are in a very bad situation right now,” Baek Cheon explained.

Losing too much power in Plum Blossom Island was a problem. But the biggest problem was that they had completely turned away from the Nine Great Sects.

Now, even if the Water Faction attacked the Namgung Clan, would the Nine Great Sects really help them?

Baek Cheon thought for a moment and sneered.

‘No, I don’t know. Even if they hadn’t turned their backs on them, would they really have helped Namgung…?’

Baek Cheon had seen things, so he could no longer trust the Nine Great Sects.

“The Water Faction being defeated isn’t a big problem itself. The problem is that the Black Dragon King probably lost control over the Water Faction because of this. When there are problems inside a group, attacking someone outside is a basic strategy to make the group stronger,” Baek Cheon explained.

“Yes, Martial Uncle,” Yoon Jong nodded, understanding.

“From the Water Faction’s point of view, the Namgung Clan is the easiest target right now,” Baek Cheon concluded.

“That’s right,” Yoon Jong agreed.

Then Jo Gul spoke up. “It’s not just that.”

“Hm?” Baek Cheon turned to Jo Gul.

Jo Gul looked at Namgung Dowi with slightly bitter eyes, as if he knew something. “A clan is based on power. No matter how honest you try to be, there will be problems.”

“It means that old grudges may come back,” Baek Cheon realized.

“Yes. The martial world isn’t a place where the weak are left alone,” Jo Gul confirmed.

Tang Soso also nodded with a bitter face.

“What you’re saying is right, Martial Uncle,” Tang Soso said.

“Hmm,” Baek Cheon sighed quietly.

‘Right. Mount Hua knows that better than anyone.’

Baek Cheon thought about what happened after Mount Hua lost its power because of the Demonic Sect’s attack. Did those who tried to take everything from Mount Hua do it because of a grudge?

‘No. Probably not.’

Baek Cheon realized, the moment powerful people lose their power, those who used to smile at them turn into robbers. If things keep going this way, even if the Water Faction stays quiet, the Namgung Clan might end up like Mount Hua in the past.

“Since we can’t be with the Nine Great Sects anymore, no one will help the Namgung Clan. The other Five Great Families are too far away… And not all of them are friendly with each other,” Baek Cheon explained.

“That’s right,” Yoon Jong agreed.

“So… Namgung Dowi needs someone to protect him right now. Not just for himself, but for the surviving members of the Namgung Clan to have a safe place,” Baek Cheon concluded.

“Umm,” Yoon Jong hummed in agreement.

Yoon Jong nodded, looking like he understood.

“But, Martial Uncle,” he said.

“Why? Still have questions?” Namgung Dowi asked.

“…That’s not what I was wondering about,” Yoon Jong replied.

“Then what is it?”

Yoon Jong looked at Namgung Dowi, confused, and said, “If you want to join the Cheonwoo Alliance, you just need to talk to the Sect Leader or the Lord of the Tang Family. So why is he acting like that with Chung Myung? He should have already seen that Chung Myung doesn’t listen to the Sect Leader at all.”

“⋯⋯.”

Namgung Dowi kept trying to talk to Chung Myung, but Chung Myung just kicked him away. Baek Cheon watched this with a strange look.

“…His injuries are bad. He must not be thinking clearly,” Baek Cheon said.

“⋯⋯.”

They couldn’t understand it at all.

Later, inside the main hall, which was once noisy with bandits, quite a few people were sitting around.

Namgung Dowi had been allowed to join thanks to Hyun Jong’s kindness. He swallowed hard as he looked at the faces of the people there.

They were very impressive.

If it were the old Namgung Dowi, he might not have felt so much pressure. But now, he had to try hard not to shrink back.

Was it because the Namgung Clan had lost Namgung Hwang and was at a turning point, which made him feel weak?

That wasn’t it.

‘It must be because they are much more important than before,’ he thought.

Some might call him someone who cares about status. And that was true.

People who hadn’t been in his place probably wouldn’t understand. But anyone sitting here with the same position as Namgung Dowi would feel the same way, he was sure.

Namgung Dowi looked at Hyun Jong.

‘Just look at him,’ he thought.

When Namgung Dowi first saw him, Hyun Jong was just the Sect Leader of an unknown group. He had sat at the head table with the leaders of the martial arts tournament, but he could have been kicked out of that seat at any time.

But when he met him again on the Jang River, Hyun Jong had become the Sect Leader of the Great Hwasan Sect. Hwasan had even defeated Mount Wudang and become a strong group. Now, Hyun Jong was leading the Cheonwoo Alliance. He stood against powerful figures like the Buddhist Abbot of Shaolin and Jang Il-so of the Four Evil Sects.

Was it strange to be nervous in front of such a person? Someone who wasn’t nervous would be crazy.

‘It’s not just Sect Leader Hyun Jong,’ he thought.

Tang Gun-ak, the Lord of the Tang Family, was sitting next to him. He was the same.

Tang Gun-ak had always been important.

But could the Tang Gun-ak of a few years ago really be compared to the current Tang Gun-ak, the second-in-command of the Cheonwoo Alliance?

Absolutely not.

Namgung Dowi knew the power of the Five Great Families best. The Five Great Families were listed together, but they could never be compared to the Nine Great Sects. That meant that even Namgung Hwang couldn’t be equal to the Buddhist Abbot of Shaolin.

But the Cheonwoo Alliance was different. Hadn’t they already shown that they could be as strong as the Nine Great Sects?

The disciples of Hwasan and the Tang Family guarding his sides were also strong.

‘The problem is that this isn’t everything,’ he thought.

The Cheonwoo Alliance could still call upon the Southern Savage Beast Palace and the Northern Ice Palace at any time.

He was sure to realize how great the Cheonwoo Alliance was.

And quickly!

Namgung Dowi looked at Chung Myung, who looked annoyed.

‘A young swordsman who defeated the Black Dragon King,’ he thought.

He didn’t know for sure, but when this became known throughout the martial world, it would cause a big change. Maybe the change had already happened and turned everything upside down.

Chung Myung had been famous until now. There had been many people called the best of the younger generation, but Chung Myung was famous for one reason.

‘That person will become the greatest,’ he thought.

Chung Myung was sure to become the greatest person under the heavens.

Right now, there was no greatest person under the heavens in the martial world. In fact, there had been no greatest person under the heavens in most times.

Who was stronger could only be known after fighting. But the best masters of a sect had too much to lose to fight with someone easily.

Because they had too much to lose if they lost.

So, there were people who could be called the greatest person under the heavens, but it was hard for there to be one true greatest person under the heavens. That was why there were titles like the Three Great Swordsmen of the World and the Five Great Sabre Masters of the World.

But Chung Myung was different.

Chung Myung had shown everyone at the martial arts tournament that he would become the greatest person under the heavens one day. And his actions since then had made them believe that day was not far off.

‘And even the Black Dragon King,’ he thought.

Now everyone would realize it. The Cheonwoo Alliance would soon have the absolute greatest person under the heavens.

Everyone in the martial world knew what that meant.

‘The martial world might really change,’ he thought.

By the hand of Chung Myung!

Namgung Dowi clenched his fist. Chung Myung was too overwhelming to follow, but he had to follow him. Because Chung Myung was on the path to the top.

‘So I must join the Cheonwoo Alliance⋯⋯,’ he thought.

Just then, Namgung Dowi was about to make up his mind again.

“Heh heh heh. I’m glad to see everyone again like this. It’s all thanks to me getting the ship ready on time, but I don’t need any thanks. Helping each other in the Cheonwoo Alliance is too obvious⋯⋯. Cough!”

Chung Myung punched Lim Sobyeong in the jaw as he was talking.

“Are you trying to get away with this again? Hey, you! If you had come just a moment earlier, I would have taken Jang Il-so’s head! I told you to get the ship quickly, but you were late?”

Thinking about it made him angry again. Chung Myung climbed onto Lim Sobyeong’s stomach and punched him. Lim Sobyeong tried to block the punches and protested.

“No, no! Why is that my fault? I did my best⋯⋯!”

“Oh, so you’re a Demonic Sect guy too, and you can’t stand seeing the head of the Demonic Sect run away? Stop making excuses and die, you bastard! Die!”

“No, I’m enemies with that bastard! Aaargh! I’m going crazy!”

Cold sweat ran down Namgung Dowi’s face.

‘W, what is this⋯⋯?’ he thought.

How could this happen in a place where so many great people were gathered?

“Ahem.”

Just then, Hyun Jong coughed softly.

Namgung Dowi looked at Hyun Jong, as if to say, ‘That’s right. He should be punished⋯⋯.’

“Let’s start the meeting,” Hyun Jong said.

“Yes,” the others replied.

“Die! Die, you bastard!” Chung Myung shouted.

“First, the first thing we need to discuss⋯⋯,” Hyun Jong began.

Chung Myung was beating up Lim Sobyeong, and the others were starting the meeting as if nothing was happening.