Return of the Mount Hua Sect

Hyun Sang looked back at the disciples surrounding him.

Their eyes were bright, their lips firm. He noticed their clenched fists.

‘There wasn’t a single one I could trust.’

Why were they so expectant?

“Ugh. I’m sure everyone here heard the talks.”

“Yes, elder.”

“It seemed like we might have a possible…”

Hyun Sang sighed deeply.

“This was happening in a place where the sect leader wasn’t present, so I couldn’t help but feel anxious. What do you think we should have done?”

“Why bother asking?”

Hyun Young spoke with disdain.

“Given the situation, if I said I couldn’t do it, I would just be flustered and have to retreat. Then wouldn’t all the hard work we put in to get this far in Hubei be in vain? Did it make sense to return home only to face disgrace when we should have made a name for ourselves?”

“What if we lost?”

“What’s more humiliating than losing is running away from a fight. Since when were we such an amazing sect? It was more embarrassing to lose to a Wudang one.”

“Hmm.”

When he heard about it, it seemed to be true.

He asked for opinions because of the situation. Still, even considering the circumstances, there didn’t seem to be a way out. Whether it was a fight or flight, if one side decided to rush in, he couldn’t simply avoid it.

“But Elder.”

Un Am, who had been silent until then, spoke.

“If you look at the faces over there, most of them are first-class disciples. The fact that he brought them here, even though he knew the situation, was a ploy to avoid doing what was right.”

“… right.”

Un Am, who was speaking, couldn’t finish his words and lowered his head.

“I apologize. If only we were a little stronger…”

It was a situation where the first-class disciples had come with the other disciples to spar against Mount Hua.

So, he couldn’t take it. The first-class disciples of Mount Hua were also present. If someone from the other side suggested it was alright for a first-class disciple of Mount Hua to come, he wouldn’t know what to do.

“Un Am….”

Hyun Sang tried to comfort him as he bowed his head, but a voice that brought heartache emerged at that moment.

“No, it’s not as if you’re opposing some great people!”

“…. Uh?”

Chung Myung, who had shaken everyone off, walked ahead with long strides and looked at Hyun Sang.

“We’re not dealing with an elder but a first-class disciple. So, do we really have to send out the senior sasuks?”

“…”

“Their bones are probably starting to hurt now, so why not just watch from behind? They’re young and lively, so nice. Why would we use a cow-butchering knife to kill normal chickens? If we can’t handle them, we’ll have to bite our tongues and die! How much training have we done up to now?”

Then, the other disciples chimed in.

“That’s true.”

“Well, dealing with the Wudang shouldn’t be done by the sasuks alone.”

“We can handle this much.”

“Yes, they’re just Wudang.”

Un Am gently bit down on his lips.

‘Such damned bastards.’

It was worth feeling resentment at least once, but no one could blame them.

These kids had been like this from the start.

On the outside, they appeared constantly grumpy and indifferent. Still, even though they knew that their skills surpassed the Un disciples, they never disrespected them. They never tried to question them.

They appeared strong on the outside but had such soft hearts.

“Sasuk.”

Baek Cheon stepped in and looked at Un Am with a firm gaze.

“We learned our lessons from you. So, believe that we will never lose.”

“… right.”

When Un Am responded softly with a trembling voice, Baek Cheon looked at Hyun Sang.

“We’re ready.”

“Can you do it?”

“I thought there were things in the world that could be done and things that had to be done. And I believed this was clearly the latter.”

“…”

“I wasn’t going to tell you I would win that. But at least you wouldn’t have to be ashamed of us for being the disciples of Mount Hua.”

All the disciples nodded in unison.

Looking at their faces, which had become stronger through the fierce battle with the bandits, was heartbreaking.

‘The sect leader should have seen this.’

“The sect leader would have been so proud of…”

“Ah, why make them cry before the fight? Nonsense!”

“…”

Anyway, this bastard was truly…

Chung Myung twitched the corner of his mouth a bit and spoke loudly.

“Right, it was a fight. If they attacked, we just threw them away.”

“You said not to look down on them earlier?”

“Are that and this the same?”

Chung Myung spoke bluntly and lowered his voice a bit.

“These were people who we should have fought at some time. And that was what happened in the world. Nothing happened until we were fully ready.”

As if those words touched them, the faces of Mount Hua’s disciples turned serious. Chung Myung cracked his neck once and smiled.

“Let’s make them regret trying to challenge Mount Hua!”

There was no need for anything more.

There was no need to talk about this situation. There was only one thing left. It was just a matter of deciding who was stronger.

“Tsk.”

Chung Myung jumped up from his place.

“Yes, they are Wudang. Since when did those bastards start doing well?”

Still, because they were a fellow Taoist Sect, he only beat them up, and these bastards… the Taiji Sword Emperor, that idiot’s face should have been made into a steamed bun.

He snorted as he glared at Wudang.

“Well, nice. If it couldn’t be done before, it could be done now.”

“Uh?”

“Everyone, listen now!”

Chung Myung looked around at everyone, and his eyes were shining bright.

“Whoever loses today will be crawling back to Shaanxi!”

“…Chung Myung, I think you meant to say ‘jump.’”

“No. Crawl! Crawl!”

“…”

This devil!

No, why were they fighting Wudang, but the hatred was much larger for this bastard? Why?

Unfortunately, Chung Myung was already in his mad stage, which meant he couldn’t be stopped. Mount Hua’s disciples, seeing those shining eyes, unconsciously shrugged their shoulders.

“If you want to lose, then lose. I will ensure that you never forget that defeat for the rest of your life and regret it until your bones ache.”

‘Even if I die here, I need to win.’

‘It’s better to die than to lose.’

‘I think it would be better to just leave the Mount Hua sect….’

As said before, the worst thing about Chung Myung was that he always kept his word.

“There are sides in the world from which we can lose and sides from which we cannot lose. What? Lose to Wudang? To Wudang? The ancestors who were buried in Mount Hua would rip their coffin lids off and jump out just to beat the hell out of you all with the Plum Blossom Sword!”

That would hurt… truly hurt…

“Elders!”

“Uh, huh?”

Hyun Sang and Hyun Young, who had been suppressed by Chung Myung’s force, flinched and looked.

“The challenge seems to be good, so let’s stick with it for now.”

“…Chung Myung. It isn’t that I doubt you, but are you sure about this?”

“If we are going to fight, it’s better to do it like this.”

Chung Myung smiled.

“Think positively. We came here to make a name for ourselves, and there’s nothing better than taking a win over Wudang and returning home. Shouldn’t we catch a tiger if we are already here for a boar?”

Right.

No matter how high the reputation of the bandits was, no matter how high the reputation of Green Forest was, it was impossible to dare compare it with Wudang.

The situation had extended to this point, and if they could overcome this one, they would go back home with a huge catch.

“But isn’t that the case when you win?”

“Then we win.”

“No, still…”

“Elder.”

Chung Myung calmed his madness and spoke firmly.

“Hm?”

“We are the Mount Hua sect, right?”

“…”

“There was no way we wouldn’t face those who came to challenge Mount Hua, right?”

Hyun Sang just looked into Chung Myung’s eyes and nodded slowly. He was an elder of Mount Hua, and after hearing those words, he had no choice but to be sure.

“Right, I understand.”

Hyun Sang, who made a decision, turned around but stopped when he heard Chung Myung calling back.

“Ah, instead.”

“Uh?”

When Chung Myung looked back, he was smiling with a slightly evil smile.

“Just one thing.”

“…”

“Hmm.”

After a while, Hyun Sang and Hyun Young finished their discussion and walked out. The face of Heo Sanja was stern as he headed to the center to greet them.

Three people stood facing each other in the center, exchanging smiles.

“Have you made your decision?”

“It wasn’t easy.”

Hyun Sang slightly closed his eyes and then looked straight.

“Well, I didn’t think it would be polite to reject a difficult proposal like this from your sect. It was something that would help us both, too, so how could we turn it down?”

‘As expected.’

Heo Sanja smiled.

If it was a sect with honor, and if one had pride, it wouldn’t be easy to step down from here. Deep inside, there was this thought that Mount Hua might abandon the honor and pride, but luckily, things happened his way.

“A wise decision.”

Heo Sanja slightly praised the other person and asked with a smile.

“Then, how will we do it?”

“How about a win streak match?”

“Hmm.”

Heo Sanja shook his head.

“I don’t think that will be a good idea. Since this is about learning from one another, shouldn’t we send more people? I don’t think what you proposed helped with our intentions.”

Of course. That wasn’t the intention.

From the past rumors he heard about Mount Hua and the Southern Edge tournament, he knew what had happened, and he wasn’t unaware of Chung Myung’s skills. His intention was to block as many variables as possible that might arise due to Chung Myung’s intervention.

“Hmm. Right.”

But Hyun Sang also stepped back as if he didn’t expect much.

“Wudang can decide it. Instead, let us decide one thing.”

“…What do you mean?”

“The place where the spar happens.”

“…Uh?”

Hyun Sang seemed to hesitate for a moment and then spoke with an expression that communicated his doubt.

“Why don’t we spar in the biggest square in Wuhan instead of here? This kind of thing can’t be easily seen, so if everyone in Wuhan sees it, they will enjoy it and be of great comfort to those who suffered from the bandits.”

“W-where now?”

“City square.”

He spoke as if Hyun Sang was no problem to handle anymore.

“Isn’t this place too small for all of us to be? It will also cause trouble for the merchant union.”

“…”

“So we better do it right.”

Chung Myung’s last words continued to echo in the ears of Hyun Sang.

-If you want to make something happen, then you need to do it properly on a big scale so there is an end to it.

‘Right, true.’

As long as you win, it is the best! Just win!

‘I don’t know anything anymore!’

Hyun Sang’s eyes were red and bloodshot as he looked at Heo Sanja. And Heo Sanja had an awkward smile.

“Haha… nice thought, but if too many people see….”

“What?”

“…Uh?”

“Not confident?”

This made Heo Sanja’s eyes go dark.

“Fine. Let us try it, then! We will prepare for the challenge to happen in the center of Wuhan.”

Things started to grow endlessly. Mount Hua’s disciples opened their mouths without realizing it.

“…is it alright?”

“Is it really alright?”

This wasn’t a spar. What was this spar…? With an audience…?

At that time, Chung Myung, who had been looking at him indifferently, grinned.

“Sahyungs. Do you know why Mount Hua and Wudang are on bad terms?”

“…why?”

“It just got worse with time.”

“…”

“History always repeats itself.”

And you are going to get hit over and over again, you hypocrites!

In this way, the spar between Mount Hua and Wudang took place on a scale several times larger than expected, and it was a little different from what Elder Heo Do had imagined.