Return of Mount Hua Sect

Swish.

A pure white cloth passed over the sword.

Swish.

Baek Cheon’s eyes were deeply focused.

It was something he did habitually once a day, yet his form was as serious as the first time he cleaned the sword.

Swish.

The sword’s reflection illuminated his face. Baek Cheon looked at his own face in the reflection and began to clean the sword again in silence.

How long was it?

“Phew.”

Tak.

He carefully set down the sword he had finished cleaning and looked toward the door.

“If you want to come in, come in. Why are you doing that?”

“… When did you realize?”

“It would be weirder if you made those weird looks and I didn’t notice.”

“Then tell me to come in right away!”

Baek Cheon chuckled when he saw Chung Myung opening the door and entering with a grunt.

“Since when did you need permission to enter? Even if it’s locked, you’d break through the door.”

Chung Myung grinned and sauntered into the room, casually sitting down in the middle. A faint smile appeared on Baek Cheon’s lips.

“…”

“…”

A moment of silence passed. Chung Myung narrowed his eyes and looked at Baek Cheon.

“You won’t ask?”

“What?”

“Why did I come in?”

“I guess you came here for a reason.”

“No…”

“I’m waiting for it. What you’ll say.”

Chung Myung pouted and spoke bluntly as if he didn’t like it at all.

“You speak like you knew I was coming.”

“Right.”

“Uh?”

Chung Myung raised his head. Baek Cheon responded calmly to the reaction.

“I didn’t expect you to come to my room, but I thought you were going to say something soon. Something quite important.”

“… Why?”

“Why?”

Baek Cheon’s reaction was rather absurd.

“Because you weren’t the same as usual.”

“What does that mean?”

“You really don’t know?”

“Uh? I think I’m the same as usual.”

Baek Cheon sighed and placed one hand on his forehead.

Chung Myung flinched and resisted Baek Cheon’s extremely pitiful gaze.

“W-what! What!”

“Chung Myung.”

“What?”

“What did you do after you came back from the fight with Jang Ilso?”

“What did I do? Of course….”

Chung Myung, unable to finish his words, slowly closed his mouth.

‘Right. What did I do?’

He tilted his head slightly and looked back on the past few days.

He was constantly doing something, but when he thought about it, he didn’t do anything in particular. As Baek Cheon asked this question, he was at a loss for an answer.

Baek Cheon, who was looking at Chung Myung who was thinking, smiled and said.

“The Tang family was the main force in renovating Plum Blossom Island. And the Green Forest was responsible for building the wharf and setting up the merchant ship systems. Mount Hua’s disciples stabilized the surrounding area and provided relief.”

“… Right?”

“If it were your normal sense, you would have been talking back and forth, giving the instructions while building the palace, and then you would have run to the dock to kick the bandits. And you would have lost your mind more than anyone else, threatening to kill all the Evil Faction bastards.”

“….”

“A guy who was so strong was stuck on the stuffy island and was just playing around with bottles. Would you have thought it was normal?”

A laugh which came out of Chung Myung;s mouth.

“Maybe sasuk is the one thinking like that?”

“Just me? Everyone must be feeling like they are holding a bomb in their hands. If we don’t know that your condition is not normal, then you are not a disciple of Mount Hua.”

“…”

Chung Myung’s face changed numerous times in a short period. Chung Myung, who was moving his lips like he wanted to say something, finally sighed deeply.

“… then why didn’t you say anything?”

Baek Cheon shrugged his shoulders.

“Because I didn’t have to.”

“…”

“Anyway, you are not the type of person who listens to others, and you aren’t the kind to complain and let things fester alone. I thought that when the right moment came, you would end the worries and say something.”

Baek Cheon’s eyes turned to Chung Myung.

“Right, like now.”

“…”

“So, tell me. What is the problem?”

The look in his eyes was so serious that Chung Myung rolled his eyes awkwardly and eventually made eye contact. A sigh escaped from his mouth.

“No…”

“Uh.”

“No, that…”

“Go on.”

“Wait, that… before…”

“… Wh-what is it, you bastard? What!”

“Ah, why are you screaming now!”

Chung Myung screamed and scratched his head.

“It isn’t like there is any trouble…”

“Uh?”

“If I have to put it bluntly, I am not sure if there is a problem. All that while I was in the room, I only came to know of it from sasuk.”

“…”

“Ah, right, so, don’t look at me like, ‘Ah, this moron is back at it again.’”

“… Have you learned some mind-reading techniques during that time?”

“Ugh.”

Chung Myung opened his mouth with a confused look that was difficult to decipher.

“After hearing what sasuk said, I know that I was somehow screwed up in the process after the war, but I also have no idea why I did…”

“You don’t know?”

“Yes.”

“I get it.”

“Uh? Really?”

Chung Myung looked at Baek Cheon in surprise. How could Baek Cheon know something that he doesn’t know?

“Well, it is obvious. You are always so thoughtless, simple, obvious, and stupid, more than you can…”

“Enough.”

This bastard.

Baek Cheon laughed as Chung Myung was turning pale.

“You are just that kind of person. If there is something that needs to be done right away, you are someone who cannot look at anything else.”

“…”

“Maintaining Plum Blossom Island, breaking through trade routes, making money, increasing influence, kicking the ass of the Nine Great Sects, and taking over the space they held…”

Baek Cheon stopped reciting one thing after another and looked at Chung Myung.

“Right, but that is important stuff. But…”

He smiled and said,

“Maybe that isn’t the most important thing. At least for Chung Myung.”

“…”

“Chung Myung.”

“Uh?”

“Do what you want to do.”

Chung Myung was quiet for a moment as if he had lost his voice. Baek Cheon continued,

“Do what you think you should do. Don’t do it because you have to.”

“No, sasuk…”

“You don’t think we can deal with both the Four Precepts Alliance and the Ten Thousand People Clan, right?”

“… what are you talking about?”

Chung Myung looked at Baek Cheon a little awkwardly and said,

“The influence grows, and the bond in the Heavenly Friends Alliance grows stronger….”

“I know you.”

But Baek Cheon cut off his words.

“You don’t know how to use other people to solve problems. If there is a problem, you attack it straight ahead and destroy it to relieve your anger.”

“…”

“To you, all of this is just incidental. Isn’t it right? What is important to you is…”

Baek Cheon looked straight at Chung Myung and said,

“Can Mount Hua defeat the Four Precepts Alliance?”

“…”

“Can Mount Hua go against them?”

Chung Myung closed his mouth and looked at Baek Cheon.

“Is that all?”

“…”

Baek Cheon grinned at Chung Myung’s blank look.

“Sometimes the people watching from the side can understand the situation more clearly than you. It seems to me like this is the case.”

“…”

“The point has been made. What needs to be done is clear. But this cannot be done. Then… if it were me, I would have acted like you.”

Baek Cheon looked at Chung Myung with a serious expression and nodded.

“So I have just one thing to say.”

“… what is it?”

“You are a greedy, stupid, and horrible person with the worst nature.”

“No, this is…”

“But what’s worse than that is that you cannot trust others.”

“…”

“You have done enough already. Even if you don’t do anything, what you have created will go with the flow. So, give up the desire to have everything under your control. When there are a lot of enemies, what is the easiest way to solve the problem?”

Chung Myung licked his lips.

This was what he had said to Baek Cheon countless times.

“The head…”

After a while, a groan-like voice came out of his mouth.

“… I will break it.”

Baek Cheon smiled.

“Right, I know that.”

This doesn’t just mean handling the strongest. It meant that the most important things should be done first.

Both Chung Myung and Baek Cheon knew its meaning.

“It isn’t like Chung Myung, the one that I know, to be swayed around. You like simple things the best. Leave everything else to others to figure out, and you do the best you can think of.”

“….”

“Taking responsibility doesn’t mean taking on everything. It is rather impossible.”

Chung Myung stared at Baek Cheon without a word. Then Baek Cheon smiled slightly and shrugged his shoulders.

“Why? Finally, feel like acting like a sasuk?”

“No, it isn’t that…”

“Then what?”

Chung Myung, who had this confused look, laughed.

“I thought there were times when Dong-Ryong was like a human. It seems like just yesterday that you were so pathetic and couldn’t even pay for your good-looking face, always relying on others.”

“… this bastard!”

Chung Myung giggled.

“I know one thing.”

“What?”

“If a young bird follows a stork, it will have its balls torn.”

“You are talking about me?”

“No. I am talking about me.”

Chung Myung laughed at himself.

He wanted to be like his sahyung.

In his opinion, the ideal sect leader was his sahyung. But deep down, he already knew.

He could never become a person like him, and he wasn’t worthy of becoming a sect leader. Neither of these two goals could be achieved by Chung Myung.

‘I knew it, and yet I forgot.’

He was definitely doing something unbecoming.

He hadn’t heard anything particularly great, but he felt something clearly before his eyes. It was as if the hazy fog covering the world had lifted at once.

“Sasuk.”

“Uh.”

“Thank you.”

At his calm words, Baek Cheon’s eyes grew wide.

“… did something upset your stomach?”

“….”

“Maybe you got hit by Jang Ilso so much that your head is all messed up… should I call for Soso?”

“….”

Chung Myung felt sad. It wasn’t because of what Baek Cheon said, but because of Baek Cheon’s sincere eyes, which showed he was seriously concerned.

Normally, Chung Myung would have stabbed him in the eyes, but he decided to endure it for today.

“Anyway….”

Seeing Yu Yiseol and Baek Cheon, it felt like they were such morons.

Chung Myung’s eyes turned clearer and clearer.

“So, do what I have to do?”

“Yes.”

“The most important thing?”

“Yes.”

“… you mean it?”

“…”

There was a moment of silence, and anxiety began to appear on Baek Cheon’s face.

This was because an evil smile began to form on Chung Myung’s lips. It was so clear that he felt reassured, but on the other hand, it felt so uneasy too.

“Sasuk is right. I was being such a moron.”

“….”

“It makes me angry to think about it. Such obvious things! Since when did I care about other things!”

“Ah, no, wait. Chung Myung, brat!”

Baek Cheon’s face began to contort now.

Something… something weird was happening, not what he expected. No, this wasn’t just a feeling; he was sure of it.

“Thanks to you, I feel refreshed! Woah, there are times when even Dong-Ryong can be of use! Then, let us talk later!”

Chung Myung stood up with a relieved face and turned around.

“No, this bastard! What are you talking about…?”

Baek Cheon extended his hand, but Chung Myung had already kicked down the door.

The hand, which was awkwardly wandering in the air, grasped at nothing a couple of times.

“….”

Did he make a mistake?

At that moment, Yoon Jong and Jo Gul poked their heads through the wide-open door. He wasn’t sure when they arrived, but it seemed they had been listening to the conversation from outside.

The two looked back and forth between Chung Myung, who was running away, and Baek Cheon, who appeared dumbfounded and said:

“Sasuk.”

“… Uh?”

“What have you done?”

“….”

Guys…

He was also worried because he didn’t know what he did.