Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 994

The most important people in Mount Hua were gathered in the sect leader’s temporary office.

These were the elders (from the ‘Woon’ generation) and the Five Swords. They were the most crucial individuals in Mount Hua right now.

Hyun Young’s voice was sharp. “Why are we here, Hyun Sang?”

Hyun Sang looked surprised. “Why are you asking *me*?”

Hyun Young’s eyebrows drew together. “Because you called this meeting! But where is the Sect Leader? You called us all here, and he’s not even here!”

Hyun Sang shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. “Well, that’s what *I’m* asking. Why are you asking me where he is?”

Hyun Young’s face went red. “Senior Brother! You should know these things! What do you even do all day? You should be with the Sect Leader, not wandering around doing nothing!”

“Ha, saying I do nothing! I’m busy in my own way, you brat!”

“Yes?” Hyun Young glared fiercely. Hyun Sang cleared his throat loudly, looking embarrassed.

“…Is the Treasury Pavilion very busy?”

“Very busy, you ask? Very?”

“…”

“If you suddenly take the top spot and then lie down, do you think food will just fall from the sky? Who do you think feeds, washes, and puts all these guys to bed? Do you think a house fairy does it?”

“Ahem, ahem.” Hyun Sang seemed speechless and looked away. Once Hyun Young’s anger exploded, it didn’t subside easily.

“What did you say when we came to the Yangtze River? You clearly swore to me that you wouldn’t get into any brawls!”

“No, that’s not what I did…”

“But you got into every brawl you could find and tore all your clothes! Then, suddenly, because we have to treat people here, you tell me to find medicinal herbs! And what was that about selling off all the remaining grain and then telling me to prepare food for the kids because we’ll be staying here for a while?” Hyun Young’s eyes slowly began to roll back.

Hyun Sang, horrified, quickly tried to stop him.

“I, I know you’re working hard. It’s just that the situation is unfolding so rapidly…”

“Situation or whatever! If you’re going to do that, go somewhere far away! Why set up shop right in front of those Nine Great Sects, making me worry about every single piece of clothing the kids wear! If it weren’t for them, I’d just let the kids run around with their bare bottoms showing!”

“Ahem!” Hyun Sang kept clearing his throat.

Of course, he hadn’t exactly played a significant role in making all these decisions. But it was too embarrassing to offer such an explanation to Hyun Young, who was running around like a headless chicken.

“If you’re going to start something! You should think about the person who has to clean up after you! You just start things and then say, ‘Oh, I don’t know anymore,’ and wash your hands of it? Who’s going to take care of it? Huh? Who’s going to take care of it!”

“C-calm down a bit. The children are watching.”

Hyun Young glanced at the Five Swords. Those who met his eyes quickly lowered their heads.

‘Hey! Duck, duck!’

‘If you make eye contact, you’re dead.’

If they got caught at a time like this, they really wouldn’t be able to recover.

No matter how well things were going for Chung Myung, how recognized Baek Cheon was, or how much the sect leader was regaining his authority, the most powerful figure within the Mount Hua Sect was, without a doubt, Hyun Young.

“Ugh. It’s good that Mount Hua is doing well… It’s really good… In the old days, we could just throw down a straw mat wherever we went, but now we have to worry about everything from what they wear to what they eat.”

Everyone lowered their heads with embarrassed expressions at Hyun Young’s complaints and grumbling.

In fact, things hadn’t changed much for the others here. But for the Treasury Pavilion, the number of people remained the same while the amount of work had multiplied several times over, so they were, quite literally, dying.

“Maybe… maybe we could supplement the staff a little…”

“Do you think I can just supplement it because I want to? If I tell them to help with the Treasury Pavilion’s work, they’ll roll their eyes and say they don’t have enough time to train!”

“…”

Hyun Young took a deep breath and looked around with sharp eyes.

“But why isn’t the sect leader coming? I’m busy to death, and if you summon someone, you should be here!”

Of course, Hyun Young didn’t know.

That Hyun Jong, who had come all the way to the door, had turned right around after hearing Hyun Young’s heated voice. Even Hyun Jong, the great man of the world, couldn’t handle Hyun Young when he was fuming.

But fortunately, there was one person in this Mount Hua who could handle Hyun Young.

“Hey, why are you worrying about things like that?”

“Huh?”

The faces of the Five Swords turned ashen for a moment.

‘Wow, listen to the elder’s voice change.’

‘Can you openly discriminate like that?’

‘Did you hear his voice get all gentle just now? I got goosebumps.’

Hyun Young’s face softened at Chung Myung’s words.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean there’s no need to worry so much. We don’t need to try to look good to those Nine Great Sects.”

“That’s right, that’s right. That’s a good point.” Hyun Young nodded with a pleased expression, as if to say that Chung Myung understood him well.

“But Chung Myung, we may not need to look good to the Nine Great Sects, but we must be mindful of how the world sees us. Those who are looking at us now all know about our exploits in Plum Blossom Island, so what would they think if we looked so shabby?”

“Cough. I didn’t think of that! You’re right, Elder! If it weren’t for you, we’d all be wandering around like beggars. Isn’t it all thanks to your hard work that Mount Hua is getting good press everywhere?”

“Tsk, tsk. What are you saying? How is that my doing! It’s all thanks to you!”

“Hey, what did I do?”

Baek Cheon’s face soured as he watched the two old codgers exchanging compliments.

This is… nothing they’re saying is wrong. No, when you think about it, everything they’re saying is actually right…

“Baek Cheon.”

“Yes? Yes!” Baek Cheon was startled and looked at Hyun Young.

“Is there a problem? Why do you look like that?”

“A, a problem? No problem at all, Elder! Really!”

“Hmm.” Hyun Young glared suspiciously before reluctantly nodding. Cold sweat soaked the back of Baek Cheon’s head.

“Anyway, as I said, make sure you keep yourselves neat and tidy. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Yes, Elder!” The Five Swords answered with faces full of determination.

Outside, the Five Swords were beginning to be praised as the high-level masters representing Mount Hua… But, sadly, their position within Mount Hua hadn’t changed at all from the past.

No, even if it had changed, it was all the same.

Who would dare to oppose the most powerful figure in Mount Hua, the one even the sect leader had to be mindful of?

“Ahem!” At that moment, the door opened with a loud clearing of the throat.

“I’m late.”

Hyun Young narrowed his eyes as he looked at Hyun Jong, who was speaking politely.

“Somehow, it feels like you’ve been standing in front of the door for a while…”

“N-no way. I just arrived.”

“…Let’s just go with that.”

“…”

Hyun Jong slightly hunched his shoulders and sat in the seat of honor. A fleeting look of sorrow crossed his eyes, but fortunately or unfortunately, his disciples didn’t give him a pathetic look.

They just gave him a look that said they understood everything.

‘Don’t give me that look. It makes me want to cry?’

What could he do?

The reason was simple. Because he had entrusted all financial authority to Hyun Young during the days when they were living in poverty, he hadn’t been able to take back that authority even after Mount Hua began raking in money.

Frankly speaking, no matter how shameless Hyun Jong was, he couldn’t very well ask for the authority back after telling Hyun Young to handle it when they were drowning in debt, now that they had money, could he?

Thanks to this, Hyun Jong, now the leader of the Heavenly Union and the sect leader of Mount Hua, who chastised the entire Jianghu, couldn’t escape the fate of receiving an allowance from Hyun Young.

Hyun Jong subtly wiped his eyes with his sleeve and composed himself. He couldn’t keep going on like this.

“I have called you here to discuss future matters.” As he began to speak seriously, the disciples’ eyes changed. Hyun Jong was newly aware that his authority had risen to a level much higher than in the past.

Of course, even when he and Mount Hua were hitting rock bottom, these kind fellows had respected his authority, but there was definitely something different from then.

“As you know, we have greatly angered the Nine Great Sects with this incident.”

“Hmm.”

He had thought this would happen, but it was impossible not to feel burdened by it.

The Nine Great Sects of the world, no less!

No sect in the world would want to make enemies of such groups. Perhaps not even those evil sects would want that.

“Therefore, it is necessary to firmly establish our position from now on.”

Woon-am asked, puzzled by Hyun Jong’s words.

“Sect Leader. It may be too forward of me to say this…”

“Speak.”

“Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to discuss such matters with the Tang Clan Leader rather than with us? This seems to be more of an issue for the Heavenly Union than for Mount Hua.”

At those words, Hyun Jong quietly shook his head.

“If we were to follow reason, that might be the case. But I am not pleased with that.”

“…Why is that?”

“Because I am the sect leader of Mount Hua before I am the leader of the Heavenly Union.” Hyun Jong smiled gently and looked at everyone.

“This is especially true because the path I must take is not clearly visible. If I must have a discussion, I want to do it with you first.”

Everyone smiled at those words.

It was as if he was saying that no matter how much his position changed, Hyun Jong was still just Hyun Jong. The same sect leader who had stroked their heads with a warm hand even in the old days when they were starving together.

“So, Chung Myung.”

“Yes?”

Hyun Jong looked at Chung Myung quietly and said.

“What do you think we should do from now on?”

“Hmm.” Chung Myung scratched his cheek.

The disciples of Mount Hua all thought that something special would come from Chung Myung.

Because whenever there was a question like this, that Chung Myung always presented a new path with ideas that others couldn’t even imagine. They thought that this would naturally be a repeat of such an event.

But that thought was shattered the moment Chung Myung opened his mouth.

“I think the question is a bit wrong, Sect Leader.”

“Hmm? The question is wrong?”

“Yes.” Chung Myung quietly nodded.

“I can only answer that question like this.” He paused for a moment and looked intently at Hyun Jong.

The moment he saw those deep eyes, Hyun Jong’s body tensed up involuntarily.

“What does Sect Leader want to do?”

“…Me, you mean?”

“Yes, Sect Leader.” Chung Myung turned his head and looked around at the others as Hyun Jong hesitated to answer.

“And I think we need to ask what the people gathered here want to do. The path that Mount Hua wants to take must be decided together by Mount Hua. Before we decide what we can do, we must decide what we want to do.”

“…”

Those weren’t particularly grand words. Because they were so obvious.

But those obvious words held great meaning here.

‘That unexpected person…’

‘…Good heavens.’

Most people looked at Chung Myung in surprise. But Jo Gul didn’t stop there and reached out to wave his hand in front of Chung Myung’s face.

Chung Myung frowned slightly.

“…What?”

“No, I was wondering if you ate something wrong. You don’t have a fever, do you?”

“…”

Fortunately, Yoon Jong kicked Jo Gul in the side before Chung Myung could lash out. Leaving Jo Gul, who was whimpering without making a sound, Chung Myung spoke again.

“Let’s talk together.”

Everyone waited for the next words to come out of Chung Myung’s mouth.

“About the path that Mount Hua must take in the future.” With eyes full of firm determination.