Return of the Mount Hua Sect

“UHHHH!”

“AHHHHHHH!”

The cart began to be pulled forward like it was attached to a horse that had its tail on fire.

Careening at high speed through the rough path, the cart was bouncing up and down like a bouncy ball, and thanks to the repairs from the Tang Family, the cart was able to withstand this impact.

But even if the cart could withstand this, how could a person?

“Ahoh?”

Chung Myung suddenly stuck his head out from behind the cart and shouted,

“Go slow! I am going to break my back here!”

At that, Jo Gul gritted his teeth as he shouted,

“Why are you nagging when you aren’t even pulling the cart!”

“What is the rush here!”

“What is so good about moving slowly?”

“No, you said you were dying all the way to the Tang Family, though?”

When Chung Myung said that, Jo Gul shrugged it off.

“Now, talking won’t work.”

“… Uh?”

Chung Myung was taken aback by his cool attitude; Yoon Jong, who was just in front of them, nodded,

“Uh, it seems like everything has gotten a little lighter.”

The two lifted up the cart before setting it back down.

“…insane, right? There were other things added, and we even have sheaths now, so how can it be this light?”

“Right? But it sure feels that way.”

At that, Hae Yeon elegantly said,

“Amitabha.”

He was the one who was pulling the cart one-handed.

“My benefactors are discussing the true meaning of thought. Everything in the world is up to us. The cart is heavy if we think of it as heavy and light if we think of it as light. This is…”

“What is that? Acting like a scammer.”

“…”

Hae Yeon looked at Chung Myung like his words hurt him.

“I-I am a monk. How can you call me a scammer?”

“You didn’t listen to your Abbot and ran away. Do we call that a monk?”

“…”

“That is why you are a scammer. Half of that and half of this.”

Hae Yeon’s face looked like it would collapse from the insult, but he couldn’t deny its validity.

“Why… why did… Abbot… just send… me. Abbot…”

Looking at Hae Yeon become sullen, Chung Myung shook his head.

How was a monk this weak-hearted?!

Just as he was about to say something more, Baek Cheon, who had been pulling the cart without a word, turned and smiled.

“Chung Myung.”

“Uh?”

“If you have nothing to do, don’t speak and just sleep. We will carry you to the destination.”

“… Uh?”

“You made it clear that you would not say anything on the way back.”

“…”

“Do you say two different things with the same mouth?”

In the end, Chung Myung lay flat, looking sullen.

Eh, I don’t know.

If you take me back quickly, that is good enough.

With his gaze on the sky, he brought the bottle in his hand to his lips. Then Baek Ah, who was in the corner, jumped onto him and clung to him.

Chung Myung frowned,

“What are you doing? Ek!”

Kiiik!

“What?”

But even though Baek Ah was shaken, she still refused to fall from his side; she was desperately clinging to him.

“Ugh.”

Chung Myung sighed and looked up at the sky.

Others wouldn’t understand why this marten was sticking to him, but Chung Myung knew why.

Spirit beasts were basically animals that had taken qi from nature and made it their own. In other words, the purer and stronger the qi around them, the strong and longer they survive.

And…

Rub. Rub.

“…”

It was clear that this marten had fallen in love with the qi from Chung Myung’s body.

The energy flowing through Chung Myung’s body right now was in its purest form, something that even the Plum Blossom Sword Saint couldn’t have.

He had just made his qi clear without thinking about it much. It took several years to collect such a small amount of qi for these beasts, and wasn’t his qi the purest of them all?

From Baek Ah’s point of view, while filtering through the muddy water in the palace, she came across the cleanest water in the world, so not taking her eyes off Chung Myung wasn’t so odd.

It was rather natural…

“Oddly nasty too.”

He grabbed Baek Ah by the scruff and threw her to the corner. Meanwhile, Baek Ah made a squeaking sound as she clung to Chung Myung again.

“Ehh.”

Comparatively, people cling less, and animals cling more. Having let go of everything, Chung Myung lifted Baek Ah and put her behind his neck. Lying on her like a pillow, he relaxed, looking toward the sky.

The endless blue skies calmed his heart.

‘Anyway, it has been sorted out.’

His plans had been completed after they had visited the Tang Family and begun to lay the foundations for the alliance. Getting to this place in his plans hadn’t been as difficult as usual.

But…

“It is not enough,” mumbled Chung Myung.

The past Mount Hua was infinitely times stronger than the current Mount Hua. But even such a Mount Hua was so helpless in the battle that burned the entire central plains. The war against the Demonic Sect wasn’t something a single sect could handle.

Even if the current Mount Hua became several times stronger than in the past, it alone could not solve everything.

‘We need one to two more things.’

First of all, power, money and the other….

Chung Myung lifted his head and looked at Hong Dae-Kwang, who was sitting on one side of the cart. The guy wasn’t helpful when it came to pulling the cart, so he decided to just sit in the back.

“Uh? What is it?” innocently asked Hong Dae-Kwang.

“….”

Phew.

Chung Myung shook his head.

The beggars he knew in the past and the ones he was looking at now were different, but he still wanted to ask.

‘Haha, because the beggars I knew back then were elders.’

It would be unreasonable to ask this guy, who was only a branch leader, to have high-level information.

“… but you see, this thing is carnivorous.”

“Uh? Are you talking about the marten?”

“…yes, well.”

Chung Myung was lazy to give a proper answer, so he just nodded.

“Mister Beggar.”

“Yes, Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon.”

Hong Dae-Kwang tapped his chest, looking proud.

“Ask any questions you have. Aren’t I Mount Hua’s source of information?”

“… it should be a mess.”

“Uh?”

“What?”

Chung Myung looked at the guy and said,

“Which is why, Mister Beggar.”

“Right, speak.”

“Mister, you are of the seventh line, right?”

“Correct, and at this age, there aren’t many who are in the seventh line. Doesn’t that mean I am capable?”

“Ah, enough. How long will it take for you to be counted among the eighth line?”

“Eighth line?”

“Yes, that is a lot better.”

Hong Dae-Kwang let out a laugh like this was absurd, as if he was listening to nothing but nonsense.

“Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon, you don’t know much about it because you are young. I am also aiming to be a branch leader of that level… but not once in the history of the Beggars Union have I heard anything about a branch leader becoming one. Not once, even since I was one!”

“Then what about the ninth line?”

“Those are former elders and leaders!”

Ah. Then the former elders were in the ninth line. Right, I never paid attention to such things.

“Hmm. So, are you saying that the highest place that Mister Beggar can rationally climb to is the eighth line?”

“Right, as long as Leader doesn’t decide on someone else or someone else steps down.”

“Hmm.”

Chung Myung scratched his chin.

The leader oversees the Beggars Union, which has its own designated successors.

“Come to think of it, didn’t you say you are one of the candidates to be the successor?”

“Ahem! It is a bit embarrassing to say so with my mouth, but it is true.”

“How did the Beggars Union become like…”

“Did you say something?”

“No, nothing.”

Chung Myung sighed.

‘Well… actually, this isn’t the mistake of Mister.’

Hong Dae-Kwang was a branch leader. Considering the little influence that one branch held over the world, there was no choice but to be limited by what the brancher leader of a small province could do.

Since Mount Hua was right in front of him, he might have more information than a normal branch leader, but a branch leader would always be a branch leader.

In the end, it meant that in order for Hong Dae-Kwang to possess more useful information, he would need to be promoted to a higher position.

It would be a good promotion if he became the branch handler who oversaw branch leaders. Even more so if he could become a strong candidate for the position of successor.

The problem…

‘Is that a good option?’

Wouldn’t this be like pulling the roots out of someone else’s functioning family tree only to throw it down a cliff? Would it be okay if this man became the leader of the Beggars Union?

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“…No, nothing.”

Chung Myung only looked to the sky instead of answering.

‘I should think about this a little more.’

Of course, the Beggars Union was a member of the Nine Great Sects One Union, and it deserved to be in there too. But for the first time, Chung Myung felt a bit remorseful. Probably because he thought this man was better suited to be a normal branch leader.

-Oh my? Did you grow a conscience?

“Kuak! I didn’t even call you, why did you come!”

Hong Dae-Kwang looked at Chung Myung, who had suddenly shouted out.

“What is with you so suddenly?”

“No… it is nothing.”

“You are acting so strangely today.”

Right, seriously.

Chung Myung let out a deep sigh.

‘For now, let’s just head back to Mount Hua and think.’

No matter how much he had been working his head for the past few days, this information problem was cramping it. He thought that even his sahyungs wouldn’t be able to remove the cramp from his mind and that it would be better to rest without any thought until he arrived back at Mount Hua.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

But the cart wasn’t even letting him do that.

“Why is it rattling again!”

He shouted, feeling irritated by this, but the answer he got back…

“We are entering a mountain path. We will be moving without break, so hold on tight, even if you are annoyed.”

Ah, yes. Right.

Chung Myung groaned and put a bottle in his mouth.

‘But it turned out really well.’

They were running up a slope like it was flat ground, no, like it was downhill. Now they seemed to be at a level where they could be called human horses beyond normal human horses.

‘I think it will be alright to take the next step.’

Since there was time left, Chung Myung began to think about a more effective training method for his sahyungs.

But then…

“Hm?”

Chung Myung raised his head.

‘A presence?’

Paat!

Just as he was about to get up, something spun and flew from the slope in front of them with a loud bang.

“Uh?”

“What!”

The running cart came to a halt. Unable to overcome the force at which it stopped, the cart bounced up… and then it was like it had been thrown to the ground.

Thud!

“Tch.”

Chung Myung also bounced along with the cart and jumped forward. A huge sword was stuck in the ground just in front of them.

“What is this now?”

No matter how positively one thought of the sword in front of the cart, it was difficult to think it could hold any good intentions.

And…

Puung!

Paat!

They could hear the sound of the air being slashed in succession, and then large weapons began to pierce the sides of the cart. In an instant, heavy-looking weapons had blocked the cart from all sides.

“Haa…”

Chung Myung sighed,

“No, do they really have a death wish? Why are they throwing their weapons away? Will they come back to their senses when these are stuck into their heads?”

Just as Chung Myung was about to go insane, Baek Cheon interjected,

“Chung Myung ah.”

“Uh?”

“This isn’t normal. The power these weapons had when falling is no joke.”

“I saw that.”

Chung Myung relaxed his neck. Before long, a group of people began to appear from the trees to their left and right. Seeing this, Chung Myung said,

“There seem to be a dozen bandits. Even with my toes…”

But while he was talking, he went silent and turned his head,

“Why?”

“… Uh.”

He scratched the back of his head with a slightly embarrassed face.

“How many did I say?”

“A dozen.”

“Uh… I will correct that. A hundred people… no a hundred and fifty… no wait… two hundred….”

Hearing this, Baek Cheon’s mouth frowned,

“Why does the number keep growing, you bastard!”

“Ah, no! They keep coming from behind that mountain!”

Why would people keep coming out?!

Uh, wait…

Oh…

The bandits began to swarm through the trees like ants, and it was to the point where they wondered where such a large number had been hiding.

“…”

Those who came out surrounded the cart, not letting the Mount Hua disciples make any moves. Including those who didn’t come out of the bush, the number seemed to be above a thousand.

“Haha.”

Chung Myung let out a chuckle.

‘Clearly, there were no people within a hundred feet until a second ago.’

Seeing that large of a distance had been covered meant that they had rushed in at once. It meant this was a trap that had been laid out.

Of course, it could also have been because they weren’t particularly vigilant.

“…what do we do?”

Mount Hua’s disciples looked back at Chung Myung, eyes full of shock, as the number of opponents was tiring.

However, Chung Myung’s face crumbled as he said,

“What do you mean by ‘what should we do’? The disciples of Mount Hua never back down!”

As Chung Myung shouted confidently, all the disciples of Mount Hua bit their lips.

“Come on, fight!”

“They have to be bandits.”

Everyone was filled with great fighting spirit, and Chung Myung stared at the bandits and shouted,

“Now!”

Standing there confidently with his chest puffed out, he looked majestic.

Using his voice as a signal, the disciples of Mount Hua drew their swords in unison. With the momentum of running forwards, a loud roar echoed in their ears,

“Now! Let’s talk!”

“…”

The moment of silence passed, making the disciples turn back in disbelief.

Chung Myung, who was standing there calmly, said,

“Like educated people!”

“…”

Then, looking at his sahyungs, like he had managed to stop a problem, he confidently asked them,

“What? Why are you looking at me?”

“….”

One needs to be alive (to talk).

Alive!