Return of Mount Hua Sect

The faces of those sitting around the room strangely hardened as if they were shocked.

Hong Dae-Kwang, who saw that expression, was slightly taken aback but soon realized one thing and opened his mouth in shock.

Actually, a Closed Gate didn’t mean that one entirely shut down their ears to outside news. No, to be more precise, they could not do it.

How could one completely turn their back and block their ears when they had to open the same Gate at some point? So, it was common to secretly gather the outside news while training.

But, the disciples of Mount Hua were all reacting as if they had never heard this concept before.

‘These people have no future at all.’

It seemed like they were stuck in the mountain valley, practicing with the intention of dying regardless of whether the outside world was going on or not.

Thinking about it, he could finally realize how great that marten was. If that marten wasn’t there, wouldn’t they have been swinging their sword without a care in the world even if Xi’an was destroyed?

And along with that, he realized how helpless Mount Hua was.

Hong Dae-Kwang scratched his head.

“Forget the southern land; now the Evils Sect has crossed into the northern lands over the Yangtze river, and are gathering under the Four Precepts Alliance.”

Hyun Jong’s expression turned serious.

The weight of the words gathering made him feel gloomy.

“That is how it happened.”

It was expected. However, it didn’t feel good to confirm that the expectation was right.

“Then should we consider the Four Sects Alliance to have been stabilized?”

Hong Dae-Kwang scratched the back of his head at Jo Gul’s question.

“Well. I don’t know how to respond to that.”

“Uh? What are you even saying?”

Hong Dae-Kwang groaned for a moment, choosing his words, and then said.

“This is a bit more complicated than we imagined. Externally, the Evils Sect has completely unified. There are no longer any forces in the southern lands resisting the Four Precepts Alliance. Even the Evil Sect here recognizes the Four Precepts Alliance as the force representing them in the central Plains and is joining under their common banner.”

“Right.”

“That is the problem.”

“What?”

When Jo Gul tilted his head as if he didn’t understand, Chung Myung asked indifferently.

“What will they do after the hunt is over?”

“Make a stew? Eat the dog by boiling it?”

Chung Myung opened his eyes wide and looked at Jo Gul.

“No… after the hunt is done, you distribute what you have hunted. Why would you go after a healthy dog? Are you mad? Do you not feel bad?”

“….”

Jo Gul blankly looked at Chung Myung and glanced around at his sahyungs. Then, a heartwarming stream of good words came out.

“Disgusting guy.”

“Dirty.”

“A person with a tainted personality.”

“…”

In an instant, Jo Gul, who had become a piece of trash beyond redemption, leaned his head against the wall with a gloomy face. Chung Myung continued speaking, ignoring Jo Gul, who kept mumbling to himself.

“Now that they have grown big enough, they probably want to split up. I don’t know about others, but the leaders of the Shenzhou Five Clans aren’t the type of people who would bow their heads obediently to Jang Ilso.”

“The Beggars Union thinks so too.”

Hong Dae-Kwang nodded as if Chung Myung’s words were right.

“He was too quiet to the point where it was strange. They are not the most docile of people. Even if the Alliance Lord is Jang Ilso, this is too much.”

At that moment, Baek Cheon asked with a face that seemed not to understand.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“If you think that way, isn’t it strange that the problem is happening now?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

Baek Cheon said in a clear voice, looking at Hong Dae-Kwang.

“Since the Four Precepts Alliance has unified the southern land, war with the Nine Great Sects in the south will be inevitable.”

“Right.”

“But wouldn’t it be difficult for them if internal strife happened before the war? Even if they have an ulterior motive, wouldn’t it be reasonable to cause trouble after unifying the South? If they cause internal strife for no reason and lose, everything will be lost.”

Hong Dae-Kwang nodded his head as if he agreed.

“You are quite knowledgeable.”

“…it is nothing.”

“Right. That is reasonable. If you don’t consider one thing.”

“One thing?”

“Hegemony Lord.”

“….”

Baek Cheon’s face naturally hardened at the thought of Jang Ilso.

“Over the past three years, the Hegemony Lord has completely established himself as the leader of the Evil Sect. It is no exaggeration to say that the forces currently flocking to him are actually subservient to Jang Ilso.”

“Are you saying that he has become strong enough to subdue the other Shenzhou Five Clans?”

“Then there cannot be any internal strife for them. But think about it. What if a great war that will determine the fate of the North and South breaks out, and Jang Ilso leads the war to victory as the leader of the Four Precepts Alliance?”

“Ah…”

Baek Cheon nodded as if he understood what was being said.

If that happened, it would be really hard to approach Jang Ilso’s dignity again.

“I understand. So if there is a problem, it would be rather….”

“Yes. I am talking about it now.”

Hong Dae-Kwang mumbled with a stern face.

“The calm before the storm is used in situations like this. It wouldn’t be strange if war broke out tomorrow, and it wouldn’t be strange if war broke out anywhere.”

Hyun Jong, who had been listening, groaned softly and asked.

“What’s going on with the Nine Great Sects? The Nine Sects need to know this.”

“Of course, the Nine Great Sects must be aware of this. But they’re currently too preoccupied to manage the chaos. Particularly, Hunan is just filling the gap between Wudang and Namgung…”

“Hunan?”

“…”

Hong Dae-Kwang paused and slowly turned his head.

His voice, familiar yet foreboding, was Chung Myung’s, who was now staring at him with wide eyes.

“Where?”

“… Did I say something wrong?”

“No. I just asked where it was.”

“I said Hunan.”

“Ah, Hunan?”

Chung Myung smiled brightly.

“Shaolin is in Hunan?”

“S-Shaolin is in Hunan, of course. Mount Song is in Hunan…”

“Isn’t it near the Yangtze River?”

“…”

Hong Dae-Kwang fell silent.

In truth, defending the mouth of the Yangtze River, where the Four Precepts Alliance might invade at any time, was the responsibility of the Nine Great Sects. The Yangtze River massacre and the non-violence treaty were initially due to Wudang’s foolish actions.

However, the Nine Great Sects had now withdrawn from the Yangtze River, citing a lack of resources, leaving the Tang family struggling to manage it.

But, as Chung Myung probed further, Hong Dae-Kwang, who was also part of the Nine Great Sects, couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.

“R… right. They’re currently in Hunan…”

Hong Dae-Kwang, trying to evade the situation, clearly saw Chung Myung’s neck twist to the side.

“Hunan.”

“… Uh. R-right. In Hunan…”

“But you were just sitting back and watching as the Evil Sect people rushed in?”

“…”

Hong Dae-Kwang shut his mouth.

It felt like a runaway cart had suddenly veered to the side and hit him on the head.

“So, he wasn’t in the Yangtze River that far away, but in the neighboring places, and people didn’t care whether the Evil Sect was burning Shaanxi or turning it into farmland, and just continued to chant?”

“That… Shaolin is short on people…”

“And the beggars who were playing around and rolling in Hubei, begging and falling down, were what?”

“….”

“Sigh…”

“Hahahah.”

Chung Myung laughed brightly. But it wasn’t a genuine laugh. One could clearly see the bright blue veins on Chung Myung’s forehead.

“The bald bastard looked away?”

Chung Myung suddenly got up from his place.

Then the Five Swords, sensing something ominous, rushed at him like lightning and grabbed him.

“W-where are you going?”

“Where else! Where will I go? I am going to Shaolin!”

“What will you do by going to Shaolin?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know? You crazy bastard! No matter what happens, they are still acting like that! Are they messing around with the lives of other people? If even Avalokitesvara saw this, he would come smashing their heads with lotus stems! Since he cannot do it, I should smash their heads!”

“N-no, no matter what, you are speaking about Shaolin’s abbot, and you are talking too much…”

“What of the abbot? A Shaolin abbot is born with armor around the head or what? If we hit him, it is bound to break!”

“Y-You bastard! Calm down!”

It was at the moment when Baek Cheon was cursing and grabbing Chung Myung.

“This… is an outrage!”

All of the Five Swords slowly turned their heads back at the sudden angry voice. One person was seen there, shaking in rage.

Of course, it was a situation where they would be angry enough. If Hong Dae-Kwang’s explanation was indeed right, it was clear that Shaolin pretended not to know about Shaanxi.

Even if they had no power, if Shaolin had moved, Gal Cheon-rip would have never touched Shaanxi.

This situation would normally be infuriating, and there would be nothing to say even if they cursed Shaolin.

That is if the person cursing didn’t have such a brightly shining head.

“Does this mean Shaolin didn’t send troops to Shaanxi? What kind of madness is that!”

“…that, monk…? That is indeed crazy. But he is the abbot.”

And he belonged to Shaolin.

He seemed a bit confused and misunderstood because he had been wearing the Mount Hua robe for too long now….

But Hae Yeon’s face was filled with rage. His face, which was rarely contorted, now looked a terrible sight.

“How can a temple that is supposed to save people turn its back on suffering civilians! This is absolutely wrong! I will let the abbot know my intentions…”

“Yah, you bastard!”

At that moment, Chung Myung quickly shook off the Five Swords and ran to Hae Yeon, kicking him.

Chung Myung kicked Hae Yeon like a ball, sending him rolling into the wall, his eyes wide as he kicked him.

“This brat is pretending not to be responsible for it? Yah, you moron! Aren’t you from Shaolin!”

“Ah! Ack! Taoist! I haven’t set foot in Shaolin for years… ack!”

Hae Yeon was desperately protesting, but if he sought someone to commiserate with, it wouldn’t be Chung Myung.

“Once Shaolin, always Shaolin, you moron! And you were speaking nonsense at the tournament and called us traitors, right? Traitors! You moron! Try again! Say it again! Traitors?”

“Ack! When did that even happen! Ack!”

Everyone trembled as they watched Chung Myung attack Hae Yeon.

‘This damned brat!’

‘I still remember that.’

‘So persistent.’

“Anyway, these damned kids!”

After venting his anger on Hae Yeon, Chung Myung started to approach Hong Dae-Kwang with his arms rolled up.

Hong Dae-Kwang’s face turned pale.

‘Won’t I get hit too?’

Even though this kid was a member of Shaolin, he had been away for years, and he was being beaten red and blue. So why wouldn’t Chung Myung hit someone who is from the Beggars Union, right?

Fortunately, Chung Myung didn’t seem to have any intention of beating up Hong Dae-Kwang, and he sat down in front of him.

“They are doing all sorts of insane things.”

The voice rang loudly.

The Four Precepts Alliance was running wild, and the Nine Sects were just thinking without acting.

“I didn’t expect them to do this in the first place. Those morons.”

Hong Dae-Kwang flinched as Chung Myung’s gaze turned to him.

“So, where is the Tang family now?”

“T-Tang family is now guarding the Yangtze River…”

“…Yangtze River?”

“….”

Hong Dae-Kwang licked his lips as if he had nothing else to say, and Chung Myung snickered.

“This is a mess, a total mess.”

The moment Chung Myung’s face seemed to go red, Hyun Jong opened his mouth.

“First of all.”

“….”

When Hyun Jong opened his mouth, Chung Myung gulped down the curses and took a deep breath to calm down.

“Let’s meet the Tang family lord. And we should let the Heavenly Friends Alliance know that Mount Hua has stepped out of the Closed Gate.”

“Yes, sect leader.”

Hyun Jong said with a small sigh.

“The situation isn’t easy, but on the other hand, we knew this would happen, so we have been struggling for a long time.”

“Right.”

“Let us fix them one by one. Mount Hua has the strength to do that.”

“Tsk.”

Chung Myung nodded with a slightly anxious look. Hyun Jong smiled brightly.

Now, it was time to fix everything that had gone wrong.