Return of Mount Hua Sect - Chapter 284
“If he is like me, what aspect are you talking about? Personality?”
“It’s very similar that there is no talent to be found.”
“This punk…….”
Chung Myung shrugged and smiled.
“He was timid and had no talent for swords.”
“…….”
“Sect is a place like that. It’s a place where everyone is preoccupied with displaying their strength. As a result, he was frequently hit by his energetic Sahyung. Not to the point of bullying, mind you.”
“It’s not the sect’s fault, it’s just that the Sahyung is a jerk.”
“You punk…”
“Huh?”
“……No.”
Chung Myung appeared to be trembling, but Baek Sang tilted his head as if he didn’t understand.
“Anyway.”
Chung Myung coughed once more and continued.
“That’s what talent is all about. Even if one trains with the same amount of time, others are ahead and only they would lag behind. He must have felt that way.”
Baek Sang quietly nodded.
That’s exactly how he felt right now.
Not to the point of being deprived. He can’t help but feel regret and emptiness.
“He was born with a weak body, and he had to understand what other people embodied in their bodies with his head. If you were a normal person, you would have given up several times. So, what do you believe he did?”
“He attempted? He worked so hard to beat it?”
“No.”
Chung Myung made a shaky motion with his head.
“He just held on.”
“…….”
“One hundred days. a thousand days Ten thousand days. During those countless hours, doing what he had to do, he just persevered. And decades later, no one could ignore him. He was one of the most important people in the sect by then.”
Baek Sang smirked.
“Even though he was not strong?”
“Why do he have to be strong?”
Chung Myung leans back in his chair.
“Of course, I’m not saying you should give up on being strong. But strength doesn’t prove his usefulness. Is Elder Hyun Young unnecessary for Mount Hua?”
“No way.”
“Yes, that’s right. But why does Sasuk think that way?”
“……I…….”
Baek Sang slightly bit his lower lip.
Chung Myung gave him a subtle look when he saw him like that.
“Do you want me to say something nice to hear? People’s talents are all different, so if you keep trying, you may one day overtake others who seem full of talent. Sasuk is a late bloomer.” (대기만성. Great talent mature late)
“Really?”
“No.”
“This punk?”
Baek Sang began to tremble, but Chung Myung simply shrugged.
“It’s just a nice thing to hear, as I said. This could be true or false. But does it really matter?”
“…….”
“Everyone in Kangho wants to be the strongest in the world. Then did the lives of those who didn’t become the world’s strongest worthless?”
Chung Myung made a shaky motion with his head.
“It’s not like that.”
Chung Myung raised his gaze to the night sky.
‘Right?’
It reminds me of something his Saje, Chung Jin, said once.
– Sahyung I can’t be as strong as Sahyung. Not only am I weak compared to other Sahyung (Chung Myung), but I am also weak compared to other Sahyung. But just because I’m not physically strong doesn’t make me unimportant in Mount Hua. I’m going to be the person Mount Hua most desperately needs.
– What? I can’t hear you because you’re weak.
– You’re a jerk…
‘Oh, I recalled it wrong.’
Chung Myung laughed.
Chung Jin’s words were proven true.
He has surpassed Chung Myung in his understanding of Mount Hua’s martial art.
Of course, he failed to embody that understanding with his body, but Mount Hua would have had no more Martial Hall Elders like Chung Jin throughout its history.
If Chung Myung could go back in time and save only one of Mount Hua’s Sahyung, he would unquestionably choose Chung Jin.
‘Huh?’
‘Sahyung Cheon Mun?’
‘Uh…’
‘That, uh… that…’
‘He’s not worth it, Ei….’
– Hey…! You…!
‘Oh, please don’t come out!’
Chung Myung made a shaky motion with his head.
Chung Jin went missing in battle before the final battle at Hundred Thousand Mountain and never returned to Mount Hua.
If Chung Jin had lived, Mount Hua would have looked nothing like it does today.
“A person’s goals are bound to change over the course of life.”
“…….”
“What’s Sasuk’s goal? Are you going to be the world’s strongest? Or are you going to be the best on Mount Hua?”
Baek Sang sighed lowly, as if he understood what Chung Myung meant.
“But Chung Myung.”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t that something you can’t say? You have now completely accomplished your goal. Can you comprehend my feelings when you’ve never failed?”
“No, Sasuk.”
“……Huh?”
“I’m…….”
Chung Myung raises his head to gaze at the sky.
“I’ve never achieved my goal before.”
Chung Myung, who was looking at the moon quietly, closed his eyes.
Even now, he has nightmares about it.
The desire to hit Heavenly Demon on the neck in Hundred Thousand Mountains before returning to Mount Hua with his Sahyung.
Cheon Mun Sahyung occasionally beats him up while playing. Sometimes the Saje rise up in groups to rebel, and he beats them up.
Then there was a drinking party.
Laughing.
Talking.
That’s all. That sort of thing.
That’s all he requires.
That’s all there is to it.
The most powerful under Heaven?
The most powerful epoch?
That is absurd.
He desperately desired to return to Mount Hua and live and die as a cretin who had no idea what Tao was. He has spent his entire life with Sahyung.
He only threw himself into the hellish war because of them.
However, that objective was not met.
What remains is a ghost that has not accomplished what it should have.
“So what about it?”
“……Huh?”
“I couldn’t do what I wanted to do, I couldn’t do what I should have done. And then? Should I just give up and lie down?”
Baek Sang remained silent.
Chung Myung does not say this to him. He is speaking to himself.
It was difficult to grasp, but he knew.
“People still live.”
“…….”
Rebuild anything that is broken.
If you failed the first time, try again.
If one is still unable to achieve it, one is forced to live with a stab in the chest.
That’s just life.
Chung Myung looked up at the sky, his eyes were sunken. Baek Sang was overcome by the atmosphere to the point where he couldn’t open his mouth.
‘Why is it heavy?’
No part of Chung Myung’s life is burdensome. But now Baek Sang is experiencing an odd tingling sensation.
He has no idea what Chung Myung was talking about. Baek Sang understands that a few words from Sajil will not alleviate his current feelings.
‘However, I feel a little more at ease.’
Is it because of the drunkenness that began a short time ago?
Or…….
“Chung Myung-ah.”
“What?”
Baek Sang looked at Chung Myung and said.
“Let me ask you one thing.”
“What?”
“Am I necessary for Mount Hua you’re trying to make?”
Chung Myung looked at Baek Sang with wide open eyes and tilted his head.
“You don’t have to, that much?”
“…this punk?”
‘No, does this guy have to flip a person’s mind upside down even in this situation?’
‘I wish you’d just say yes!’
“Sasuk.”
“Huh?”
“It’s not family, it’s not senior disciples, it’s not a thing to do together because it’s necessary.”
“…….”
“I don’t care if Sasuk is useless for anything. As long as Sasuk bears Mount Hua’s name, Sasuk is forever my Sasuk.”
“…….”
“Isn’t that enough?”
Baek Sang smiled despondently.
‘I didn’t expect this answer.’
He wanted to be told that he was necessary.
However… … What he could get from that shallow answer would be only a brief moment of solace.
“Yes, that’s enough.”
Baek Sang takes his drink.
His stomach feels burned.
But he feels comfortable inside.
In the midst of these strange and contradictory emotions, Baek Sang glanced sideways at Chung Myung.
‘Strange guy.’
Sometimes he seems like a fool who will never appear in the world again, and sometimes he shows such a depth that he dares not to measure.
It is unpredictable, and he cannot tell.
So Baek Sang didn’t like Chung Myung.
People can’t like someone who is too different from themselves.
Strangely, however, he doesn’t hate Chung Myung who is right in front of him.
“Chung Myung-ah.”
“Yes?”
“Will Mount Hua be strong?”
“Of course.”
“Then is there a seat for me in Mount Hua that you build?”
“You’re saying stupid things again.”
Chung Myung grinned and said.
“What makes Mount Hua strong is Sasuk. Sasuk just needs to make room for yourself.”
“…I see.”
His own place.
Baek Sang nodded quietly.
“Yes, I get it.”
Chung Myung glanced at Baek Sang.
Determination was shown on his face as if he had made up his mind. The hesitation that was seen until now was nowhere to be found.
A smile permeated Chung Myung’s mouth.
“One more bottle?”
“No.”
Baek Sang shook his head.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I won’t be caught drinking two bottles of alcohol. The sun is about to rise, so I should get going.”
“That’s too bad.”
“I’m not asking you to come with me. Finish drinking and get back before you get caught.”
“Aren’t you going to snitch me?”
“I’m not that unfaithful, man.”
Baek Sang got up from his seat. Then, trudging towards Shaolin.
It was when Chung Myung took out a new bottle from the luggage and opened the cap.
“Chung Myung-ah.”
“Yes?”
Baek Sang, who has walked far away, is looking back.
“Thank you.”
“…….”
“You damn Sajil.”
He smiled and waved his hand, then turned around and started running.
Chung Myung, who was looking at the back, lay down looking at the sky.
“……Aigoo. Cheon Mun Sahyung.”
There’s too much work to do.
“How did Sahyung do all these things in the past?”
– It wouldn’t have been difficult without you, you punk!
“Even if you say that.”
‘I’m still a little bit regretful. I would’ve listened to you better.’
Chung Myung smiled quietly.
“It was good though.”
It was fun.
Back then.
Chung Myung closes his eyes still.
The current Mount Hua makes him feel so proud.
The most kind Sect Leader. And Elders who always care for the disciples.
Strict but good-hearted first-class disciples and a little lacking but kind second and third-class disciples.
It’s nice.
He is very fond of the present Mount Hua.
It’s just…
“Sahyung. I’m.”
‘I miss you so much time to time.’
That time.
The time which he can’t go back to now.
“Don’t make fun of me because I’m weak. Don’t be mean to me when I get older. Still, Sahyung is with the Saje.”
There.
He should’ve been there.
“I know. Cheon Mun Sahyung. I have to do it. I’ll have to get Mount Hua back up. That way, Sahyung, and Saje won’t be sad. It’s always my responsibility. Sahyung, doing what Saje can’t do. Because it’s my job.”
Chung Myung reached out and grabbed the bottle.
“But once in a while, I just…….”
He took a sip of alcohol and closed his eyes. A strong scent spread through the mouth.
“There are times when I just want to be childish. So, please understand. I am a person, am I?”
Even now, he thinks of it when he closes his eyes.
Cheon Mun Sahyung ends up screaming in front of him.
Chung Jin, couldn’t hold back his laughter even when he stopped such Sahyung.
Chung Gong muttered something in the corner.
And…….
The appearance of the Saje who were talking about something that was unbecoming of a Taoist.
Even if he drinks alone under the moon, the drunkenness does not rise and only the longing grows stronger.
Until the moon disappeared and the sun came up in the distance, Chung Myung drank there looking up at the sky without saying a word.