Return of Mount Hua Sect

Hyun Jong, sitting at the head of the table, stared blankly at the entrance.

All kinds of boxes and bundles were piled up to the ceiling.

Hyun Jong, blinking slowly, turned his gaze to Hwang Jongi, sitting next to him.

“All of that…”

“They are gifts.”

“Gifts?”

Hyun Jong frowned.

After Mount Hua became famous, gifts from the locals would come flying in from time to time. Hyun Jong had always been reluctant to accept gifts because of one old man and one young man who would yell at him for refusing gifts when they were struggling financially.

But when he heard that gifts were flying in even to the Eunha merchants, not just Mount Hua, he felt a bit uncomfortable.

Hwang Jongi smiled pleasantly as he watched Hyun Jong forcefully swallow the words, telling him to send them back.

“It isn’t what you are guessing. Those gifts are from the people of Xi’an, expressing their gratitude to Mount Hua.”

“… the people of Xi’an.”

“Yes. They are things like crops harvested from farming and items sold at stores. They are not valuable in terms of expensiveness, but we brought them inside since the sect leader would feel good.”

“Ahem. I see.”

Hwang Jongi’s eyes clearly reflected Hyun Jong’s slightly raised lips. When he guessed that the rich and powerful sent gifts, he couldn’t hide the displeasure, but when he heard that it was the commoners who expressed their gratitude, he couldn’t hide the joy.

‘Normally, it would be the other way.’

This was why the Mount Hua sect was so interesting.

“I am grateful.”

“Fortunately, it seems we weren’t too late.”

Hyun Jong nodded his head at Hyun Sang’s words.

At that moment, Hong Dae-Kwang, who had been watching from a corner, raised his hand slightly. Then a thunderous rebuke poured out.

“No.”

With just the word ‘no,’ everyone there immediately knew who had opened their mouth.

“This isn’t a market, and there are even some neighborhood beggars!”

“Ah, a beggar from the neighborhood? I am a member of the Beggars Union!”

“So why is that man, who is a member of the Beggars Union, here? Are you a member of the Heavenly Friends Alliance? Did the Beggars Union withdraw from the Nine Great Sects and join the Heavenly Friends Alliance without me realizing it?”

Hong Dae-Kwang smiled happily.

‘Even the neighborhood idiot will become serious after three years, you brat.’

How could three years have passed, and this man had not changed at all? It’s much too embarrassing to even call him consistent at this point.

“T-that isn’t important…”

“Woah, now you are deciding important things on your own. You should just gather all the beggars around and break down into something big.”

Hong Dae-Kwang desperately turned away from Chung Myung and asked Hyun Jong.

“Where have you been? I went up to Mount Hua, but there was no one there….”

“Ah.”

Hyun Jong answered calmly as if it was nothing.

“We sealed the place, but it was becoming hard to practice and train there, so we moved.”

“No, why…”

Hyun Young answered with a contorted expression instead of Hyun Jong.

“Every day, something breaks and shatters there, so what kind of practice could they even be doing there?”

“….”

Ah… right.

When Hong Dae-Kwang looked inside, it was so broken that he thought someone had destroyed it.

“It would have been better if we had moved then. If we stayed the same, we would have had to rebuild the entire Xi’an, forget just Mount Hua’s buildings. Even if there were only walls left, it would have been a closed gate still. But what kind of extreme training is this! Yah!”

Hyun Young clicked her tongue as if she was still upset at the thought of it, and Hyun Jong smiled bitterly.

“There were those problems, but even after the Closed Gate, people still came, making it hard to focus on training. So we had no choice but to vacate the sect land and go to a remote mountain where no one could visit us.”

As soon as he finished saying that, the Mount Hua disciples began to groan.

“While picking up grass roots.”

“Catching wild boars.”

“What? Would it be better to cut down the trees and build a shrine?”

When Hyun Young glared, the Mount Hua disciples turned their heads slightly.

Hong Dae-Kwang still had some questions left to ask.

“Then how did you know about this and arrive on time? Did you see the civilians of Xi’an fleeing after the Closed Gate was opened?”

“Hmm?”

Hyun Jong looked at Hong Dae-Kwang as if he couldn’t understand the question.

“What do you mean?”

“Uh?”

“Didn’t you come up to Mount Hua and look for us?”

“H-how can you know that? There was no one on Mount Hua.”

The moment Hong Dae-Kwang’s eyes widened, Chung Myung’s chest bulged, and something white quickly popped out from inside. It stood on both feet on the table and thrust its stomach forward.

“…t-that thing.”

Hong Dae-Kwang’s face went blank.

Baek Ah, who had climbed onto the table, looked proud. It was surprising how a beast could make such an expression like she looked proud. If she could speak, she would have definitely said, ‘Ahem!’

“That, that ugh. Look at it acting all high and mighty just because it paid off for one meal. I should have shaved off its fur a long time ago.”

When Chung Myung clicked his tongue, Baek Ah, who had been sticking out her belly, became sullen and lowered her gaze to look at Chung Myung with her large dark eyes.

Baek Cheon burst into laughter.

“It has earned enough to pay for its own food. If I could save even one more civilian, I could feed that guy for the rest of her life.”

“This guy eats as much as an ox! Did you even earn that much?”

“… if you say so.”

Chung Myung shook his head and glanced away.

“Well… there are people who cannot even pay for their own food.”

Flinch.

“No, no matter what it’s like. How can this man, who is as good as a Beggars Union member, not feel the presence of a single animal… what? There was no one? No one around?”

“….”

Hong Dae-Kwang, who had nothing to say even if he had ten mouths, stared blankly at Baek Ah. Looking at the snow-white fur that stood out clearly, he couldn’t think of an excuse to say.

Fortunately, Hong Jong saved Hong Dae-Kwang.

“We couldn’t leave Mount Hua so empty. So I made that one stand guard. We had to take the dogs with us because we had to feed them, but this guy could come and eat when the time comes.”

“So… that is why I didn’t see it, but it saw me, realized something was wrong, and reported to Mount Hua?”

“Right.”

Hong Dae-Kwang slumped in his chair in despair.

“No… why am I being compared with an animal…”

He couldn’t bring himself to say that.

Well, thanks to the little one, he was able to avoid the bloody storm, so he should be thankful…

“Kiik!”

Why was the way it pounded the floor with its front paws so annoying? Just why?

“Anyway… I am glad.”

The fate of Xi’an was saved by a spirit beast. Even though he knew it, he couldn’t say anything.

“So, did you lift the Closed Gate seal now?”

“Yes.”

Hyun Jong nodded.

“Even if Baek Ah hadn’t brought us the news, I thought the preparations were almost done. The Closed Gate was taking longer than I thought, so I couldn’t delay it any longer.”

“But why did it take so long?”

Hyun Jong’s face turned pale at those words.

“… there was a guy who said that rice had to be cooked thoroughly to be cooked, but that damned rice was made of some kind of sand, and it wouldn’t cook even after boiling for 3 years. What can I do then?”

“Ah, is that my fault? It’s sahyung’s fault! You should say that your skills have improved already!”

Had a lot changed, though?

No, excessively improved skills?

Hong Dae-Kwang shivered as he recalled the sight of the Mount Hua swordsmen overpowering the Evil Sect members.

“But Sect leader.”

Hwang Jongi slowly asked Hyun Jong.

“Have you achieved the goal of the Closed Gate?”

Hyun Jong smiled faintly as if he understood.

“I don’t know what to say…”

A firm voice emerged from Hyun Jong’s mouth.

“At least now I have returned with the confidence that no one in the world would dare ignore the skills of Mount Hua.”

It was a remark filled with clear pride.

Hyun Jong wasn’t someone who got cocky easily. Wasn’t he always humble, even in situations where others would feel pressured? Just hearing him speak like that, you could guess the hardships and effort Mount Hua had to endure in the past.

‘No. I have already seen and confirmed it with my own eyes, so there is no need to even guess the hardships.’

Furthermore, the fact that even the Evil Sect, who would have attacked them immediately, kept their mouths shut was proof of it.

Of course, his expression constantly conveyed, ‘If you put pressure on yourself just because your skills have improved a little, you will get hit somewhere, and your shoulders will drop’. But wasn’t it amazing that he wasn’t saying it out loud but expressing it with his expression?

“Congratulations, sect leader!”

“Congratulations!”

Wei Lishan, who attended the meeting last with Hwang Jongi before leaving for Nanyang, congratulated them with a deep bow.

Hyun Jong accepted the congratulations with a smile, without any hesitation.

“This is all the result of the desperate efforts of the disciples.”

It was a heartwarming sight.

Even if the disciples of Mount Hua couldn’t hear him mumbling.

“If I didn’t do it, I would have died; what more can I do?”

“I am glad I came back alive. That is enough.”

“If I am going to do it again, I will just return to secular life and go home.”

“I dreamed of practicing while I was sleeping last night. When I woke up this morning, I wanted to jump into a well.”

“I almost went in and came out once.”

Hong Dae-Kwang desperately closed his ears and ignored their terrifying words.

‘Right, they have always been like this, right?’

Three years shouldn’t have been so long, so why was it so new and hard to adapt to this?

When the mood eased a bit, Hyun Young brought up the main topic.

“For now, we need to stabilize Xi’an a little more, but Mount Hua won’t have much to do.”

Hong Dae-Kwang, who had naturally joined the meeting, casually asked Hyun Jong.

“Then what are you going to do after that?”

“Hmm.”

Hyun Jong smiled and looked at someone.

“Wouldn’t that brat know best about it?”

Hong Dae-Kwang’s gaze slowly followed Hyun Jong’s to the side. Seeing Chung Myung clinging with a grumpy face, he somehow felt uneasy.

“But why do you keep looking so grumpy since a while back?”

“What about it?”

Baek Cheon snickered and patted Chung Myung’s head.

“Don’t worry about it, branch leader. He just came out of the Closed Gate, and he is pissed because he couldn’t swing his sword even once when facing the enemies.”

“I should have just peeled off those bastards’ skin!”

“…”

This bastard certainly hasn’t changed.

“More than that.”

Chung Myung slightly lifted his chin and spoke to Hong Dae-Kwang.

“I just came down from the mountain, so I think I should find out what is happening. Since the merchant lord and the beggar man are here, I guess I can ask them. Tell me.”

“From where?”

“First one.”

Chung Myung’s lips curled into a smile.

“That bastard, Jang Ilso, what is he doing now?”

His eyes were filled with blade-like light as he asked it.