Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1524. Thinking back, I was wrong (4)
Editor: Hoamz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
Chung Myung was truly beaten until dust flew on a rainy day.
Jo-Gol realized anew just how long a person could keep their head bowed, and Yoon Jong earnestly repented for his faults.
Tang Soso learned that there existed places even scarier than Tang Family’s Repentance Cave, and Yoo Iseol confirmed there were exactly one hundred and thirty-two stains on the ceiling of Hyun Jong’s office.
But surprisingly, the one who suffered the most terrible fate in this incident was unexpectedly not that Chung Myung bastard.
"You are supposed to be the acting sect leader!"
Jo-Gol, who was cautiously eyeing the demons (?) standing in front, whispered into Yoon Jong’s ear.
“Sasuk, you’re bleeding from your ear.”
“…It’d be a relief if it was just his ear.”
Wouldn't an ordinary human go insane?
They say people become more nagging as they age. The three old men in front of Baek Cheon now seemed to be personally confirming that the age-old adages were never wrong.
Of course, what they said wasn’t wrong.
“You didn’t stop them, but went along with it?”
"We appointed you as acting sect leader to prevent him from doing foolish things!"
"Pack your bags and get out!"
Baek Cheon's body, which had always been dignified and imposing, had somehow shrunk infinitely small.
Honestly, he had no excuse. If Chung Myung was planning something insane, it was Baek Cheon's job to stop him, but this time, hadn't he openly agreed and cooperated?
“And, what? Jin Geum…”
Baek Cheon flinched. At that moment, Hyun Jong swiftly reached out and covered Hyun Sang’s mouth. When Hyun Sang looked back in bewilderment, Hyun Jong shook his head firmly.
“...Even scolding has its limit. Let's not bring that up."
Even Hyun Young solemnly nodded.
They likely didn’t realize. That action only made Baek Cheon sink further into depression…
“Hmm.”
Hyun Jong let out a small sigh and set down the letters.
Two letters lay before them. One from the current Beggar Union sect leader, and the other from the one who would become the next sect leader.
“...Huayin Branch Leader becoming the sect leader."
“It’s a bit much, isn’t it?”
"Hm?"
“Honestly, Uncle Hong isn’t all that reliable, is he?”
“You guys?”
“Huh?”
Chung Myung and Hyun Jong looked at each other with eyes that said they didn't understand.
“That’s good enough.”
"Wow, Grand Sect Leader. You really have a wide vessel for accepting people?"
"At least the Huayin Branch Leader won't secretly sneak out to pick fights with other sects and then return after completely demolishing their headquarters, will he?"
“....”
“If we had even one person like that in Mount Hua, I’d have no more wishes left.”
At those words, Five Swords all turned their gazes away.
“Keueung.”
Hyun Jong let out a deep sigh and looked at Baek Cheon.
“So... Beggar Union wants to join Heavenly Comrade Alliance?”
"Yes!"
"Why?"
"...Yes?"
“Based on what?”
Hyun Jong's eyes held a perfectly reasonable and obvious question: ‘After seeing you lunatics run wild, what kind of idiots would willingly join Heavenly Comrade Alliance?’
Baek Cheon lowered his gaze without a word.
“There… Shaolin and Southern Edge Sect. Southern Edge Sect….”
A hollow laugh escaped Hyun Jong's mouth.
Excluding Evil Sect, there were two sects in Kangho that had the worst relationship with them. One was their long-standing historical enemy, Southern Edge Sect, and the other was the newly emerging (?) enemy, Shaolin.
But these absurd bastards had apparently joined forces with those two enemy sects and fought. Looking solely at the circumstances, it was an event worthy of a standing ovation from Tianshi Yuanzun, Buddha, and Confucius combined.
Kangho was originally a land of grudges and favors. Once enmity was formed, it only deepens, seldom reconciled. Hyun Jong, who had lived his entire life in the martial world, knew this best. And yet...
“...Why are you looking at me like that?”
Another deep sigh escaped Hyun Jong's mouth.
That bastard does it, that bastard. The number one in terms of the scale of trouble he causes in Kangho, and the first to be named for being merciless to those who hold a grudge against him!
How was he supposed to interpret this?
“For now... I understand.”
"Yes."
“I will let you know about your punishment after a separate meeting, so for now, go to your dorms and be on your best behavior.”
"Yes!"
One person did not answer.
“…Should I send you to the Plum Blossom Cave instead of your dorms?”
Then Chung Myung's mouth, which had been jutting out like a duck's bill, instantly snapped shut.
“Hnn.”
The reason for that reaction was obvious without even needing to ask. He was probably sulking about why he was being punished when, looking at the results, he had returned with an achievement.
Hyun Jong no longer had the strength to argue.
“…Leave.”
"But...."
"Hm?"
Chung Myung giggled.
"Leaving is fine, but since the punishment hasn't been finalized yet, it's okay if we stop by the inn on the way back to our lodgings, right?"
“....”
"No, we came in such a hurry that we couldn't eat properly. Just one drink... No, just one meal..."
"Get ouuuuuut!"
Everyone who hurriedly escaped let out sighs as they relaxed their stiff bodies. Chung Myung grumbled.
"Those old men's tempers have really gotten bad. It didn't seem to be this bad before."
Chung Myung-ah. It’s all because of you… A person has to have a conscience.
“Ugh, Sahyung. What kind of punishment do you think we’ll get?"
“...In my opinion, this is at least a fortnight in Plum Blossom Cave."
"Tha- That much? What great sin did we commit?"
Baek Cheon chuckled while listening to Jo-Gol and Yoon Jong's conversation.
“It’s nothing much.”
“Right?”
“Running away on our own while others were working themselves to death. We left Shaanxi without permission. And then impersonating another sect. Picking a fight with the elders of one of Ten Great Sects. Completely destroying another sect’s great hall..."
"Now that I think about it, we did wrong."
"Even seeing that they don't beat us to death, it's certain that Grand Sect Leader has attained Tao."
“If it were me, I would have severed their meridians and tendons.”
"We should be grateful they're letting us live. I’ll bow towards Mount Hua for the rest of my life."
"We live in Mount Hua, you stupid!"
And yet, only fortnight of confinement in Plum Blossom Cave? How merciful a punishment is this!
Then suddenly Jo-Gol gritted his teeth and glared sharply at one person.
“I think there’s one person who managed to slip out of this whole process?”
At those words, everyone’s eyes turned towards the ‘one who slipped through.’
“A- Amitabha. Tha- That’s…!"
"Traitor."
"Despicable human."
“Fake monk.”
"Baldy!"
Sweat beads formed on Hye Yeon's bald head.
“Thi- This is not my fault. Since I am not a disciple of Mount Hua…!”
"Lo- Look at that, look at him."
“He used to have a certain innocence before, but now he’s a full-fledged bat. Sticking to Mount Hua one moment, clinging to Shaolin the next.”
"He picks and chooses sects. That human needs to get beaten by both Buddha and Taoist Immortal simultaneously."
“So in the end, he’s just an outsider. I thought he wasn't."
“Soso. Don’t cry.”
Hye Yeon hesitated and stepped back. t was unfair. Maengju-nim had told him not to enter, so what on earth was he supposed to do!
But Hye Yeon didn't bother to make excuses or resist. For hungry jackals, the story of their prey was of no importance.
Only after biting Hye Yeon just enough not to kill him did Five Swords turn away, looking somewhat refreshed.
And only then did they look around with strangely bewildered expressions.
“But… is this really Huayin?”
“Looks like it?”
They say that if a scholar parts for three days, you must wash your eyes and look at him anew (괄목상대(士別三日則更刮目相對), and in ten years even mountains and rivers change, but....
“How long have we been gone again?”
“About ten days?”
The disciples of Mount Hua looked around with dumbfounded faces.
"What changed this much?"
Huayin now had the appearance of half a city.
Tang Gaju, Eunha Trading Guild Leader, and... Nokrim King. What on earth did you do for ten days?
Good heavens....
* * *
“Chung Myung Dojang and Five Swords have returned?”
The news that they had returned to Huayin spread throughout the entire town in an instant.
Huayin was Mount Hua’s land to begin with. It was natural that news about Mount Hua disciples spread. And since it was news about the Mount Hua Five Swords, who received the most attention, it would have been stranger if it hadn't spread quickly.
That news reached even the deepest, darkest, and most dismal corners of Huayin without fail.
“…They're back?"
"Yes. It's news that came just a moment ago."
Tang Gun-ak nodded slowly. Deep shadows settled under his eyes.
Though Tang Gun-ak originally possessed an extraordinary presence, but what was felt from him now was close to the aura of an emperor.
His two eyes gradually began to emit a sun-like radiance.
“Back… So they have back.”
“Yes!”
“Finally…”
Ppudeuk, the sound of grinding teeth leaked from between his lips.
“How dare they…”
"Huh?"
At that moment, the figure slumped over a desk in the corner suddenly jerked upright. Then immediately face-planted onto the floor.
“Ugh.”
Their legs had given out completely.
A silence fell. No one laughed. Tang Gun-ak and Hwang Jongwi just looked at the scene with bitterness.
“Kkeueueu…”
Thud.
Im Sobyeong, who had been sprawled on the floor, trembled as his bony hand stretched out to grip the edge of the desk. When he finally raised his head, his face was twisted like that of a vengeful ghost.
"Keuhehehe... Finally back. Finally..."
No, to be precise, he looked like a sinner who had been tortured by that demon of calamity for a very long time. He looked like an old man who had received his death sentence and was living day to day...
Whatever he had become, with a face that clearly had only a few days left to live, Im Sobyeong glared with both eyes wide open. It was overflowing with deep-seated resentment.
"Those bastards who dropped people into this hell and ran away!"
“…We must kill them.”
“For once, I wholeheartedly agree.”
Tang Gun-ak, Hwang Jongwi, and Im Sobyeong.
Grudges overflowed from the eyes of the trio who were the core trio in Huayin's development.
Tang Family, merchants, and Nokrim are like water, oil, and fire, difficult to mix. But their resentment was so great that it mixed them all together.
Perhaps this was an even greater achievement than bringing in Beggar Union.
“Leaving Huayin without a word, I can forgive.”
“Being absent for ten days, I can forgive.”
"But...."
Im Sobyeong took up the words while grinding his teeth with grinding sounds.
"Creating work in every direction until even a passing stray cat's front paw would be precious, then slipping away clean amongst themselves and dumping it all on us, that I can never forgive even in death!"
It would be fair to say they had been royally screwed over. No, if there was no intention to screw them over, that was an even bigger problem.
“For ten days… I haven’t slept a wink.”
“…I’ve eaten only while working.”
“…Couldn’t even wash up.”
Three people ground their teeth at the same time.
"I'll report to Maengju-nim and make sure to make an example of them!"
"As expected of Deputy Maengju!"
"Keugh, I knew I could count on you!"
“I’ll have them locked in Repentance Cave for at least two months! Let them live off nothing but moss!”
"While we're at it, let's add snakes and centipedes too. You have them, don't you?"
"These things?"
While the two warriors were making their radical plans, Hwang Jongwi suddenly raised a realistic question.
“Um, but… If we lock those yangban in Repentance Cave for two months… doesn’t that mean we have to do this for another two months?”
“....”
“....”
“If that happens, it feels like we’re the ones being punished instead…”
The minds of the two martial artists, stiffened from overwork, creaked as they turned. A moment later, they both sighed.
"Keung."
"Ugh!"
"First, we need to survive. Let’s put aside our grudges and resolve this amicably....”
Just then, an urgent voice came from outside the door.
“Sa- Sangdanju-nim!”
"What is it?"
“That’s… Mount Hua people. Five Swords. They're apparently climbing up to Mount Hua right now."
“Huh? Mount Hua? Why Mount Hua?”
"I heard they're going to pay respects to the ancestral shrine saying they've returned safely."
“And?”
“They said it’s a hassle to come back down, so they’ll just stay in Plum Blossom Cave for now. They asked to be informed once their length of stay is decided…”
"What!"
"No!"
"Stop them!"
As if fueled by a strength that came from who-knows-where despite not having slept for days, Tang Gun-ak and Im Sobyeong shot out like lightning.
Unable to keep up with their pace, Hwang Jongwi desperately cried out for their success (?).
"W- We have to stop them! We absolutely muuuuust!!!"
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