Return of Mount Hua Sect - Chapter 459
Tok, tok, tok, tok.
The cart jerked along the road.
The carts were dragged along by Mount Hua’s disciples like tireless horses. Even though the cart was loaded with so much luggage that it couldn’t be compared to the one loaded on the cart during the previous Sichuan trip, it seemed to be moving faster.
“Euracha!”
“Euacha!”
Jo-Gol and Yoon Jong, who are pulling carts in front, shouted as if they were competing.
“Are you going to be able to cultivate at this rate?”
“However, it appears that Sahyung’s legs are already trembling?”
Yoon Jong and Jo-Gol locked their teeth together once more.
Baek Chun frowned slightly as he saw the two charging ahead like angry bulls.
“Guys.”
“Yes, Sasuk!”
“Yes!”
“It’s good to be energetic, but if you start out from the beginning like that, you’ll be exhausted before you even reach the North Sea.”
Yoon Jong tilted his head slightly as if he didn’t understand.
This is Baek Chun, who has been telling them in Sichuan to work hard and rest quickly. In fact, if they must go through it, it is better for them to finish quickly rather than avoid it. So, why has he changed his mind this time?
“Is the North Sea so far away?”
“It’s far away.”
“How far is it?”
“Well, I mean…….”
Baek Chun thought hard and opened his mouth.
“According to Hwang Sodanju, it is about 6,000 Li.” (Li measurements vary from time to time but for the current standard, one Li is 500 meters. So it is 3k kilometers.)
“…Yes?”
Yoon Jong gently patted his ear and rubbed it.
“How many Li? I think I misheard.”
“Six thousand Li.
“…….”
Yoon Jong’s eyes widened greatly.
“Wa- Wasn’t it a little over a thousand Li to Sichuan?”
“That’s right.”
“But how many Li now? Six thousand Li?”
“I told you so.”
At that moment, Chung Myung, who was riding on the cart, sprang up his upper body.
“How many Li?”
“…Are they all deaf? It’s six thousand Li.”
Chung Myung’s eyes trembled.
“That crazy guy! One lap around Jungwon won’t be enough! No wonder that fake monk guy gave us a lot of money!”
“…….”
Then Hye Yeon, who was riding next to him, freaked out and shouted.
“Si- Siju! No matter how much you are, making trouble with Bangjang…..”
“What did you say!”
Chung Myung kicks Hye Yeon out of the blue.
“Argh!”
Hye Yeon, who fell out of the pile of luggage, was thrown to the ground.
“This bastard hasn’t been pulling the cart at all, and only sits comfortably, but now he is making a fuss! I’ll pull out all your hair.”
“……How can he pull out the hair that wasn’t there in the first place…”
The drooping Hye Yeon’s eyes became teary.
‘Where is the Buddha?’
At this rate, he was about to die of stress (화병으로) even before he could find any Dharma.
Baek Chun asked Chung Myung as if he was a little surprised.
“You didn’t know where the North Sea was?”
“I’m not even born there, and what’s the point of going there?”
Chung Myung gritted his teeth.
In the past, during the war with Magyo, Chung Myung had traveled around Jungwon like he’s at home, but he had never been outside of it.
“I thought the North Sea Ice Clan would be as far as Yunnan’s Namman Beast Clan at most. Why would a number I’ve never even seen or heard in my whole life like ‘six thousand Li’ be associated with Jungwon!!”
“…That’s why it’s called Outside Clans.” (새외(塞外))
“Yes.”
Chung Myung scratched his head.
“How long do we have to go if it’s 6,000 Li?”
“If we run like a horse all day, it’ll be about two hundred miles…. that’s a full month.”
“…a month?”
Chung Myung’s expression went blank for a moment.
“I’m busy every day, but do I have to go for a month like this?”
“Chung Myung, calm down…..”
“No, what are these crazy demon bastards doing to get all the way there! Why won’t they just huddle around Hundred Thousand Mountains and die!”
At the sight of Chung Myung starting to lose his temper, Baek Chun asked quickly.
“Anyone here knows a place that sells sweets?”
“……Would there be?”
There was no way.
Baek Chun sighed deeply.
They’ve just started, and seeing Chung Myung already throwing his tantrum, he thought the journey would be a difficult one.
“Anyway, we have to kill all those demon bastards!”
Chung Myung shot fire from his eyes.
Baek Chun, who was slowly pulling the cart, beckoned to Jo-Gol.
“Let’s put monk Hye Yeon back on the luggage.”
“Yes.”
The cart moved again with Hye Yeon on board, but the speed of the cart was slightly lower than before. Yoon Jong peeked at Baek Chun and opened his mouth.
“By the way, Sasuk.”
“Yes?”
“Now that you mention it, what kind of place is Magyo?”
“……Magyo?”
“Yes.”
He scratched the back of his head with an uncomfortable face.
“In fact, all I’ve heard about Magyo are just words that seem to catch a cloud… …. It’s like being ignorantly strong, a place where demons who casually kill people gather, sucking the blood of living people, and things like that.”
“Um, yes.”
“But now that I might really encounter them, I think I need to know more about them.”
Baek Chun mumbled and frowned.
“Come to think of it, I don’t know much about Magyo either.”
“Yes?”
“It’s definitely a little weird. There are so many stories about Magyo that everyone has ever heard of, but we never heard of exactly what kind of people they are.”
Baek Chun looked up at Hye Yeon, who was put back on top of the pile of luggage.
“Monk Hye Yeon, do you know anything about Magyo? Since you’re somewhat from Shaolin.”
“……Why is there a “some” attached to it, Siju?”
“…Excuse me.”
Hye Yeon looked up at the sky and sighed sadly. Then he spoke slowly.
“I’m sorry, but even this little monk doesn’t know much about Magyo.”
“The monk, too?”
“When I was training in Shaolin, I didn’t pay much attention to anything outside…..”
He blushed, seemingly embarrassed by the fact.
He realized again how much he was a frog in a well when he lived in Shaolin. He can see and feel many things just by taking a step away from Shaolin.
But…….
‘Why do I even think that I was happy in that well?’
“It’s strange. Why do so few people know about Magyo?”
Chung Myung, who was listening to their conversation, answered with a smirk.
“Because you don’t need to know.”
“Huh?”
Mount Hua’s disciples looked back at Chung Myung.
“Why don’t we need to know? If we know them, we’ll never be defeated.”
“…… Know oneself and enemy.” (지피지기/ If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.)
Chung Myung grinned.
“Magyo is a religious group of seventeen branches.”
“Huh?”
Suddenly, information about Magyo came out and the disciples looked at him in surprise. They didn’t know that Chung Myung would be so interested in them.
“No, seventeen? That much?”
“Well, that used to be the case. I don’t know how it is now.”
Since Chung Myung destroyed most of the branch himself.
“But how do you know that? Others don’t know.”
“…If others don’t know, should I not know?”
“I don’t think you would know.”
“You bastard!”
Chung Myung lit up his eyes.
“What are you doing with your ears and eyes? What do you mean you don’t know? You don’t know because you don’t want to know!”
“…… I- I know a little.”
“Kaaaghh!”
When Chung Myung was about to shake and have a seizure again, Hye Yeon quietly pressed his shoulder.
Chung Myung, who was vigorous for a moment, took a deep breath and continued explaining.
“Magyo are basically religious groups. In terms of its fundamentals, it is no different from Shaolin, which is based on Buddhism.”
Then, strength came into Hye Yeon’s hand, which was holding Chung Myung’s shoulder. Chung Myung quickly reached out and closed Hye Yeon’s mouth while he was trying to scream, ‘How can you speak such a thing.’.
“Listen before speaking! How come this guy’s character gets impatient day by day.”
“…I understand when other Siju say that, but how can you accuse me of being short-tempered? Where did you sell your conscience?”
“I tossed it into Shaolin’s charity box, why?”
“……Ugh!”
Chung Myung clicked his tongue.
“Anyway, in that sense, there is not much difference between the Shaolin and Mount Hua. First of all, Mount Hua is also a sect that worships Taoism.”
“That’s right.”
Baek Chun, who had already set up the cart, quietly nodded his head.
However, the rest of the disciples still couldn’t admit the words.
“Is it possible to compare Magyo and Mount Hua Sect?”
“Just the root, the root.”
Chung Myung clicked his tongue.
“Look at them. They asked, but when being told, they can’t just listen and keep asking this and that. It makes no sense!”
“……No, i- it’s not like that…….”
“Noisy!”
Having nothing to say, Jo-Gol shut his mouth like a clam.
When Chung Myung showed signs of displeasure, Baek Chun smirked and rushed him.
“Go on.”
“Heum.”
Chung Myung scratched his head and opened his mouth.
“Just because the foundation is the same doesn’t mean the results are the same. Magyo has a crucial difference from other religions.”
“What is it?”
“They follow people.”
Jo-Gol tilted his head at Chung Myung’s words.
“Following people? Like a king?”
“No, like God.”
As Chung Myung spoke, he frowned as if he was slightly annoyed.
“Magyo is the religion that worships Heavenly Demon as a god.”
“… … You say they worship people as Gods? A living person?”
“Yes, that’s the point.”
Chung Myung continued, patting Hye Yeon’s shiny head with his hands.
“Whether it’s Taoism or Buddhism, people are not worshiped as gods. Even if we serve those who have attained enlightenment close to God as human beings, that is a different case. Well, of course, sometimes there are things like Buddha’s incarnation or the embodiment of Taesangnogun, but people don’t take it seriously.”
“That’s right.”
“But they really believe that Heavenly Demon is God themselves.”
Chung Myung’s voice dropped a little.
“You asked why earlier, why didn’t the information about Magyo spread to the world?”
“Yes.”
“Because it literally means nothing. Religious scriptures and doctrines are woven into the words of God so that those who cannot face God do not forget the teachings, right? But what happens if there’s a god in front of you?”
“……there will be no need for doctrine.”
“Right.”
Chung Myung narrowed his eyes.
“What if the person who insisted that people should not be killed until yesterday right now says that it is not a crime to kill people from today?”
“…Wouldn’t there be confusion?”
“That’s normal. But Magyo doesn’t work that way. Because that’s God’s word. It’s just something to follow.”
“…….”
“Magyo worships Heavenly Demon as God. And Heavenly Demon is a living human being. Then every word of the man becomes a divine word. So, no doubt, no hesitation, just follow.”
“…How can a person do that?”
Chung Myung grinned.
“That’s why Magyo is frightening. Because people who can do that are gathered.”
“…….”
“There’s nothing scarier than a man who doesn’t doubt and isn’t afraid of death. Courage is not necessary for those who honor to die in obedience to God.”
Baek Chun’s face hardened.
Hearing those words, he can only vaguely imagine how fanatical Magyo must be.
The fanatics who are not even afraid of death rush at the command of the person who thinks they are God?
Just thinking about it gave him goosebumps.
“……in other words…….”
“Hm?”
“Magyo is an organization that can change from one extreme to the other depending on what the Heavenly Demon is like.”
“Yes, but…… In fact, it would be almost the same.”
“Why?”
“Heavenly Demon has never been sane.”
“…….”
Then Yoon Jong raised his hand. Chung Myung made a chin gesture.
“Yes, yes. Go ahead.”
“As you say, Magyo is the place where Heavenly Demon is served as a living god, but now there is no Heavenly Demon. Then how do they maintain it?”
“Wait.”
“…wait?”
Chung Myung nodded.
“Until the new Heavenly Demon appears. Heavenly Demon is a god and a human being for them. It’s absolute because it’s God, but it can die because it’s human. But even if they die, they’ll…….”
Chung Myung closed his mouth slightly.
Then he turned his head and looked far south.
South.
Where there are Hundred Thousand Mountains.
“I believe it’s coming back. The new Heavenly Demon, the reborn Heavenly Demon.”
“… … I think it makes sense.”
Chung Myung frowned at Yoon Jong’s murmur.
“You don’t understand at all.”
“Huh?”
“There’s only one thing you need to know after hearing this.”
Everyone, noticing that Chung Myung’s voice had subsided more than usual, waited with serious eyes for his words.
“What is it?”
“You asked me earlier, didn’t you? How can humans accept humans as gods and not doubt them?”
“…I was.”
“Heavenly Demon makes it possible.”
“…….”
“What is God, after all? It’s capable of what humans can’t do. In other words, even though he is wearing a human body, if it dares to show abilities that a human cannot match, it means that it can be exalted as a god.”
Yoon Jong shut his mouth.
“Everyone doesn’t believe in Heavenly Demon because they have a reason. But even though they have a reason, they didn’t doubt it at all and were fanatic. An existence that makes martial art seem like a miracle beyond martial art. That’s Heavenly Demon.”
Chung Myung gritted his teeth.
He never thought that he would fall behind anyone in the world.
He was decorated with the words “Mount Hua First Sword” or “The Three Great Swordsman,” but if he had made up his mind, it would not have been a work to be called the first swordsman in the world.
But…….
‘It was on a different level.’
Heavenly Demon was so strong that he couldn’t even touch it.
It is not until the suicide squad, which gathered all the power of Jungwon’s sect, is annihilated that they can cut off its neck.
It was not until he met Heavenly Demon in person that he understood how Magyo could be so fanatical.
Even for those who learned martial arts, it would have seemed like a miracle, not a martial art.
“…So the Heavenly Demon still exists in the world?”
“I don’t know.”
Chung Myung shrugged.
“We’re on our way to find out.”
“…….”
The faces of Mount Hua’s disciples have hardened.
It was only then that they fully understood that this was not just about establishing a connection with the North Sea Ice Clan and finding out the situation.
“But can we recognize it?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I am an expert on that.”
Chung Myung shrugged his shoulders.
“Fanatic or whatnot, as a human, being beaten up to death and awoken again and again would make most of them talk.”
“…….”
With that confident voice, Baek Chun grinned.
‘You’re scarier than Heavenly Demon, you damn bastard.’
“Anyway.”
Chung Myung’s gaze moved toward the north.
“Let’s check it out. Has Heavenly Demon really returned?”
His eyes were so gloomy that they didn’t suit him.