Return of Mount Hua Sect

“Uh?”

“What?”

“Eh?”

“UH?”

“What did you say?”

The reactions varied, but the emotions behind them were identical.

The disciples of Mount Hua gathered around Hyun Jong repeatedly blinked as if struggling to comprehend what they had just heard.

Those who had been staring at Hyun Jong with blank, almost dumbfounded expressions turned to one another. Judging by their uniformly blank faces, it seemed they hadn’t misheard Hyun Jong.

“S… sect leader?”

“Did… I hear… it wrong or…?”

He spoke with difficulty, his eyes scanning the surroundings. He wanted to confirm whether he had understood the situation correctly.

He hoped he had misheard, but the sahyungs who met his eyes all nodded slightly. This meant his thoughts were correct.

“Did… you just… say… closed their gates…?”

Baek Sang laughed at the absurdity of the situation.

Closed their gates?

What nonsense was this…

“… yes.”

“Ehk?”

“Uh?”

“What?”

“Us?”

Upon confirmation, the disciples of Mount Hua began to tremble. Naturally, the most affected was Jo Gul.

“No, sect leader! What crime did we commit to deserve Closed Gates? Did we do something wrong without knowing… euhhhh!”

“Wrong? This bastard! You moron!”

Yoon Jong grabbed Jo Gul by the collar with lightning speed and repeatedly knocked his chin, rendering him unconscious.

“Ahem.”

Holding Jo Gul with one hand, who hung limp, Yoon Jong covered his mouth with the other and coughed politely. The left and right sides were in perfect harmony, but no one cared to ask about it.

“… I am flustered, sect leader. Of course, you meant what you said, but why are we suddenly opting for this?”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

As the eyes demanding explanation poured in, Hyun Jong slowly turned his head. After a movement that showed no strength, his gaze fell on Chung Myung.

In the midst of all that, Chung Myung smiled brightly.

At that moment, Jo Gul, who had been half-shocked, let out a terrible scream, shook off Yoon Jong, ran to Baek Cheon, and grabbed him by the collar.

“What did you do! Yah, this moron! What happened?”

Even though the outrageous situation of a sajil grabbing a sasuk by the collar occurred, Baek Cheon didn’t get angry. No, it would be more accurate to say that he couldn’t respond. He just awkwardly looked away from Jo Gul’s fiercely burning gaze.

“No… that bastard did it; why are you doing this to me?”

“If there is a fire, is it the fire’s fault? Or the one who set it? What is wrong with this bastard! It was sasuk who turned him like this!”

It might sound like nonsense, but all the disciples of Mount Hua agreed with Jo Gul, fiercely.

Even Baek Cheon felt sorry for his own actions.

“How could I have known that this…”

How could an ordinary person judge the thoughts of a madman?

A Closed Gate wasn’t a common thing; it was like a bolt out of the blue.

“… sect leader. No, just what did you hear to suddenly go for…”

Yoon Jong blankly looked back and forth between Chung Myung and Hyun Jong, clearing his throat as he spoke.

“Of course… that… whatever the reason, if the sect leader orders it, we should follow it as disciples, but I want to at least know the reason.”

“That is…”

“Yes, sect leader.”

“That…”

Hyun Jong’s eyes turned increasingly wet.

Seeing that, Yoon Jong couldn’t bring himself to ask.

Yoon Jong turned his head fiercely.

“You explain, you moron! Why did you suddenly decide to go for a Closed Gate? We did nothing wrong!”

“Those words are weird.”

Chung Myung poked his ears with his finger and blew on it.

“A Closed Gate isn’t something I decide. I am just a powerless third-class disciple.”

“Powerless third-class disciple? Powerless?”

This detestable moron.

“And what does Closed Gates have to do with bringing in trouble? Those Nine Great Sects bastards just lock their gates to hide when they do something wrong and don’t want to be cursed to their faces. Normally, it is something we do when we want to.”

“So why are we doing it now?”

Baek Sang quickly asked instead of Yoon Jong.

“Right, brat! What time are we in now! The entire world is praising Mount Hua! And the businesses have wings on them now! It is a time when Mount Hua is being talked about more than the Nine Great Sects! When the water is coming, we need to row to move! You don’t want to capsize the ship now, right? You… fucking insane bastard!”

Baek Sang pounded his chest as if he were angry.

“Don’t just stand there and say something, finance hall leader!”

And then he urged Hyun Young for support, but Hyun Young only said,

“Chung Myung must have a reason.”

“Ugh!”

This man doesn’t care about the time or place!

At that moment, Jo Gul let go of Baek Cheon’s collar and rolled his eyes, this time rushing for Chung Myung.

“Yah, you moron…! Kuak!”

And he bounced back at the same speed, rolling back. The sad thing was that no one stopped Jo Gul.

“Tsk.”

Chung Myung slowly folded his stretched-out legs, clicked his tongue, and looked at everyone.

“It seems like everyone is misunderstanding.”

“Uh?”

“This isn’t my decision.”

“Uh? Then who?”

Chung Myung nodded with a solemn look, closing his eyes.

“I am just doing what Baek Cheon sasuk orders me to do. Isn’t it the duty of a sajil to simply follow what a sasuk says?”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Baek Cheon.

Baek Cheon simply smiled gently upon receiving those eyes.

“… just hit me to death. Do not torment me like this. Give me a clean kill.”

“When did I ever torment you? You are being too harsh.”

Baek Cheon covered his face with both hands and shook his shoulders weakly.

“Sect leader! Are you really going to listen to this nonsense?”

“Even if it is Chung Myung, isn’t this too much?”

“I don’t understand. Closed Gates? Why are we doing it? The sins were committed by Shaolin and Wudang, and if we end up doing the same, what will the world think of us?”

As the disciples all stood up and questioned, Hyun Jong looked at everyone with a serious expression.

But at that moment, a soft voice came.

“Closed Gate.”

The disciples all turned to one place. Yu Yiseol, who was seated in the center receiving their gaze, nodded.

“Head back to Mount Hua and close the gates.”

“….”

“I like it.”

The disciples exchanged glances.

‘Why is samae doing this now?’

‘Who knows what is on her mind! She is insane too!’

‘I am going insane to the point of dying!’

If Chung Myung was a typhoon that could be seen from afar, Yu Yiseol was an earthquake that suddenly hit you. You could prepare for a typhoon, but you never know about an earthquake.

“Well, since it is as such, everyone should get ready. We head back to Mount Hua.”

“No, you bastard!”

“What the hell, brat!”

At that moment, Baek Cheon, who was silent, opened his mouth.

“Chung Myung.”

“Uh?”

His face was frozen.

“Explain it so that they can understand. This isn’t something that can be passed off like this.”

“Hmmm.”

Chung Myung nodded as if he understood.

“The reason is simple.”

His finger pointed at Yu Yiseol.

Yu Yiseol nodded.

And then he pointed at Baek Cheon, Jo Gul, and Yoon Jong. Then he turned to all the disciples of Mount Hua who had gathered.

Chung Myung pointed at each disciple, including the last one of them, and said,

“Are weak.”

“….”

There was silence for a moment, and everyone’s face hardened.

The atmosphere changed in an instant as if a sore spot had been hit.

Baek Sang, who had been silent, spoke first.

“… I understand.”

He stared at Chung Myung and opened his mouth as if he didn’t comprehend.

“We are certainly lacking. We weren’t that great in the battle, either. All we could do was hold back the Ten Thousand People Clan and endure.”

“Right.”

“But Chung Myung, there is a time for everything. It is only natural that a warrior devotes himself to training, but isn’t it time to look at something bigger?”

Baek Sang sighed.

“I understand the impatience, but in one year… no, half a year, the position of Mount Hua will be solidified. The Four Precepts Alliance signed a three-year treaty, and there is no reason we cannot wait for half a year, right?”

“Half a year?”

“Yes, half a year!”

Baek Sang looked at Chung Myung with hope.

As a member of the Finance Hall, he had learned about Mount Hua’s finances, became familiar with how the world worked, and observed the flow of merchants’ money with Mount Hua.

Which was why he knew. More clearly than anyone else.

This was how big of a chance Mount Hua had now.

If it were another sect, all of the disciples would rush in and work to seize the opportunity. But instead of kicking it away, he was about to throw the entire thing into a pile of dung and trample it.

He couldn’t understand the situation at all.

“What good will it do if we wait half a year?”

“Are you asking me because you don’t realize? Money first? And fame! And then there are countless sects that want to unite with Mount Hua and Chung Myung. And then the fame and status!”

“…”

“This is a chance to double what Mount Hua has in one go! Triple it! Maybe even five times bigger! Isn’t this what we have been hoping for? And now that we have made such sacrifices and are finally bearing the fruits, you want to enter Closed Gates!”

Chung Myung looked at Baek Sang without a word. Baek Sang, who was feeling anxious for no reason, suddenly raised his voice.

“And this isn’t just about the present! If we wait a little longer for our fame to mature and then start accepting the Myung disciples, talented kids from all directions will come in! That is what we need to secure the future of Mount Hua!”

“…”

“But why are you rejecting such opportunities? Why!”

Everyone agreed with Baek Sang’s words.

Anyone could see that Mount Hua was now riding an unprecedented wave. If they rode this wave well, they would be on par with the Nine Great Sects.

“Tell me, are you saying that a sect doesn’t need anything other than martial arts? That isn’t something you can say, right?”

Everyone looked at Chung Myung’s mouth. Their eyes were filled with firm determination that they wouldn’t back down this time.

Chung Myung stared at everyone with slightly dark eyes and slowly said,

“We have a lot of money. We have a good name. We have a good reputation. As you all know, I like those things, right?”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“Why are you asking me something you already know? I told you. Because the sahyungs are weak and the sasuks are weak.”

“This…”

Baek Sang, who was angry at the unsatisfactory answer, spoke with a grim look.

“Give me a proper answer!”

“This is the answer. Sasuk is weak.”

“Yah, brat!”

“Do you not understand?”

Baek Sang closed his mouth at the cold words from Chung Myung. The weight in the voice was unmistakable.

Chung Myung spoke softly but clearly.

“Until now, it was enduring with luck.”

His cold eyes scanned everyone.

“Next time…”

Those who met his eyes trembled.

“Someone here will definitely die.”

At that moment, everyone’s mouths went shut.