Return of Mount Hua Sect - Chapter 471

Jo Gol was perplexed as he gazed over the ice lake.

“…What is he doing?”

“How could I know?”

“I’m asking him to catch some fish, why is he doing that?”

“He seems fishing.”

“…….”

Chung Myung sat on a chair, holding a fishing rod. A twisted rope was tied around the end of a fishing rod that was several times larger and thicker than ordinary rods and dangling into the water.

“…Which fish bites that?”

“If the lake is this wide, there may be a crazy fish in it. Just like Chung Myung.”

“……You’re kidding me.”

Baek Chun let out a long sigh.

“But knowing him, it seems like a pretty plausible way, doesn’t it?”

After all, don’t you have things like fishing rods and lines?

However, Jo Gol appeared to have a completely different plan.

“Plausible? Sasuk. Haven’t you become too generous to Chung Myung these days? If that’s plausible, then saying I look like Sasuk is also plausible.”

Yoon Jong, who was quietly listening to their conversation, then looks at Jo Gol with a grim expression.

“Gol-ah.”

“Yes?”

“Your metaphor is too nonsensical. I can’t empathize with it.”

“…….”

“Say what’s appropriate. What’s appropriate.”

Jo Gol gave a slightly sad and pathetic look, but Yoon Jong didn’t comfort him.

“But really, what is he doing?”

“Well, let’s go for now.”

Baek Chun sighed and walked quickly toward Chung Myung. Normally, it would have been beneficial to not pay as much attention to what Chung Myung was doing, so he would have deliberately ignored it. But now things are too urgent for that.

He approached the humming Chung Myung.

“Chung Myung-ah.”

“What?”

“What are you doing?”

“Can’t you see it? I’m fishing.”

“Fishing?”

“You told me to get fish.”

Baek Chun’s forehead was distorted by his nonchalant response.

“Hey, you punk! What are you going to fish at one o’clock at night. How can you catch a fish like this!”

“Of course, I’ll catch some. I’m fishing.”

“No matter how much the fish is, would they bite it? That one?”

“Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk.”

When Baek Chun hit his chest as if he was frustrated, Chung Myung just clicked his tongue. Then, he shook his head and said in a voice like a relaxed grandfather.

“Dongryong, Dongryong. You are so short-minded that you can’t live without food?”

“…….”

“Fishing is something you shouldn’t rush into. You have to wait leisurely as if you’re catching the time. Things to be caught are naturally caught.”

“That doesn’t make any sense….!”

But at that moment, Chung Myung’s fishing rod began to pull tightly.

Baek Chun opened his eyes wide when he saw the thick rod bending.

“Keueuh, that’s a big fish! Sasuk, it’s just as I told you, right?”

Baek Chun’s face trembled as he saw Chung Myung holding his fishing rod tightly in joy and excitement.

“……you’re gonna catch this? This?”

‘No, this is way over the top!’

‘Even if it’s a fish, isn’t this too much?’

“Eurachaa!”

Chung Myung, who stood with his legs slightly wide apart, pulled up the fishing rod with full force.

Seeing that strong, thick-looking fishing rod bend that much, it seemed like a big fish.

‘Did he catch Ten Thousand Year Fire Carp 만년화리(萬年火鯉) or something like that?’

When a carp lives for ten thousand years and becomes a Mythical Creature the size of a house, it is called Ten Thousand Year Fire Carp. In the past, it was Baek Chun who would’ve said, “There’s no such thing in the world.” But if he had seen a live Imoogi with his own eye, what is there not to believe? (Namman Yasugung Arc.)

And if it was this guy, he could really catch the Ten Thousand Year Fire Carp… … .

It was that moment.

“Euracha!”

When Chung Myung held onto the fishing rod and gave it strength, the water surface shook and bubbles rose.

Baek Chun, Yoon Jong and Jo Gol swallowed dry saliva while looking at the water with tense eyes.

In a while.

Splash.

“……Huh?”

Something round rose up as if the sun were rising in the sea.

“What?”

“Huh?”

All three opened their eyes wide in the shape of something round that was wet and shiny.

“Octopus?!”

“I- It’s not even the sea. What’s with the octopuses?”

“……or is it My- Mythical Creature?”

Even before confirming the identity of the rising creature, Chung Myung pulled the fishing rod he was holding with all his might.

“Eurachaa!”

And at that moment, the three of them opened their mouths so wide that they couldn’t open it anymore.

“Puuaaatt!”

A familiar figure hung from the end of the tightly pulled rope.

Round head and familiar yellow robe…….

“Hye- Hye Yeon monk!”

“Why is monk Hye Yeon coming out of there……?”

“No. Is that crazy guy really?”

Big fish…. No, Hye Yeon was dragged up with one hand holding the fishing rod and the other with a large net. The net was literally full of fluttering fish.

Thump!

Falling on the ice and holding onto the net, he trembled.

“Co- Cold…….”

Not only his lips but his whole body is also turned blue. The three moved in a panic.

“Blanket! Quickly get a blanket!”

“Euuaaaa! Is the monk all right?”

They took several blankets from the cart and ran to Hye Yeon. But Chung Myung screamed.

“There’s no blanket for him! Bring the cart here!”

“What- What are you going to do?”

“I told you to not let the fish freeze and bring the cart here!”

“Hey, you crazy bastard! What’s wrong with fish when people freeze to death?”

“It’s okay. He won’t die. He won’t.”

Chung Myung took away the blanket they brought and wrapped the whole net. Even then, he was not relieved, so he put a whole net over the fur on the cart and wrapped it tightly.

“Good!”

Chung Myung looked at the fish on the cart with a pleased face.

“M- Monk! Wake up!”

“Bae- Baek Chun Siju…….”

“Yes, Monk!”

“I saw… … . I saw… … .”

“Yes?”

Hye Yeon smiled with a supremely benevolent smile on his pale blue face. And he murmured in a dying voice.

“The Guanyin beckoned me…….”

“Euaaahhh! Monk! Wake up!”

“If you follow her, you’ll die! Monk!”

The three hurriedly shook Hye Yeon, who was losing consciousness, to wake him up.

“Why on earth was the monk in there?”

Hye Yeon quivered and replied to Baek Chun’s question.

“I- It’s a job to save people…….”

“That demon!”

“Devil!”

The three, who roughly figured out how things have gone with Hye Yeon’s answer, looked back at Chung Myung with their eyes full of venom[You can use venom to refer to someone’s feelings of great bitterness and anger toward someone]. But Chung Myung only looked at them with a nonchalant face.

“What a great thing you did. This is not bad.”

“Hey, you punk! Are you still a human being?”

“Oho!”

Chung Myung flatly cut off his complaint. And he spoke at length in a stern voice.

“Not sparing oneself to save others! None could be better than risking your life to save the sick and dying! This is the true Buddhist path!”

“If you cannot speak, you’d better give a full sentence! Full sentence”

“Never mind.”

Chung Myung pointed at the cart with his chin.

“Don’t freeze all the fish we’ve caught hard on, and take them to the village quickly.”.

“Keung.”

The three, who had distorted their faces, nodded and ran to the cart. For now, saving the villagers is more important.

When they grabbed the cart, Hye Yeon, who was lying on the ground, stood up and tried to approach the cart. Then Chung Myung asked with a face as if he didn’t understand what Hye Yeon doing.

“Where are you going?”

“… … Yes. I need to help too… … .”

“Not you.”

“Yes?”

Chung Myung chin at the large hole in the ice.

“Is that enough? We have to go one more time.”

“…….”

“Don’t worry. Don’t I pull the fishing rod well? As long as you hold onto the rope well, you won’t die. It’s up to you.”

“…….”

“Come on, into the water.”

“…….”

Maybe…….

It was Hye Yeon who thought that calling Chung Myung a devil might really be a humiliation to the devil.

* * *

Crackle.

Heat circulates through the wet body and steam rises through the clothes. The steam coming up from the top of his head was like the halo of Buddha.

“In the end…….”

“Pray for your enlightenment, monk. I won’t forget you.” [성불(成佛). In this novel, 성불하십시오. It is a term used in Buddhism, and it refers to becoming a Buddha after gain enlightenment and escaping from defilements. It is also called Jakbul (작불(作佛)), Seongdo (성도(成道)), and Deukdo (득도(得道)). In the Korean Buddhist community, after finishing Buddhist ceremonies, they often greet each other by saying, “Pray for Buddhahood.” (From mtl, though with a slight edit.)]

“Amitabha, amitabha…….”

“…I’m not dead, Siju.”

Hye Yeon looked at Mount Hua’s disciples with trembling eyes.

Sometimes, he couldn’t tell whether these humans were on the same side or the enemy.

“… It won’t be this easy to die.”

“Why the hell did you do that? No matter how much you were trying to save people, you were too reckless.”

Baek Chun, who was listening, nodded loudly in sympathy.

“You shouldn’t keep doing what Chung Myung told you like that. It’s not something you go through once or twice, is it?”

Hye Yeon spoke softly with slightly sad eyes.

“… … I didn’t want to go in… … .”

“Did you?”

“……Chung Myung Dojang said he would use Baek-ah as bait to dip him in the water and catch a big fish…….”

Baek Chun and the group shuddered at the unbelievable words.

“…Is he a human being?”

“How did we manage to have such a scoundrel at the Taoist Sect…….”

“Oh, dear ancestor.”

“Amitabha……, but I’m glad it helped. How can I refuse to throw myself into saving people?”

Mount Hua’s disciples wiped the corner of their eyes.

There is a living Buddha right here, not anywhere else.

But it was the beginning of all misfortunes that the living Buddha was next to the devil.

Hye Yeon asked, wiping the moisture from his head.

“Then, did there’s some improvement?”

“We don’t know that yet.”

Baek Chun shook his head with a slight frown.

Tang Soso fed the patients raw fish they had brought.

Raw fish was ground and fed to the unconscious like rice, and well-done fish were fed to the conscious. The meat was sliced very thinly to make digestion as easy as possible.

Although raw fish are fed at every meal, it would have to take time to see the effect since they had only just begun to eat.

“Yes, I’d feel better if we could help feed them.”

Although they were eager to help, the native was so wary of outsiders that they could not approach them recklessly.

It was inevitable to listen to Tang Soso that staying still is helping, compared to scratching around for no reason.

“Soso is having such a hard time…….”

“I know.”

Everyone sighed in unison.

However, just then, the door opened and Tang Soso whose shadow under her eyes had descended to the tip of her chin, trudged out.

“Soso!”

“Are you all right?”

Tang Soso nodded slowly.

“Yes, I’m fine, Sasuk.”

“How are the patients?”

“For now, we’ve distributed everything. If they really get a closed disease, they’ll get up soon. The closed disease is usually treated quickly.”

“Really?”

Baek Chun’s face becomes slightly complicated.

This meant that if the diagnosis was wrong, the result would be known quickly.

‘It’s slowly getting to the limit…….’

No matter how good Tang Soso was, it was too much to cure a disease that she didn’t even know the cause is. And even more so if she’s in a situation where she has to treat a lot of them alone.

But Baek Chun opened his mouth, hiding his innermost thoughts.

“Right, take a break for now.”

“I’m here to take something with me. A little more…….”

Then, Chung Myung, who was curled up as if he had died in front of the furnace, jumped up and quickly approached her.

“Sahyung?”

Then he grabbed Tang Soso’s hand and pulled it in front of his eyes. She stared at such him like that with a bewildered look.

“Tsk.”

Chung Myung, who checked Tang Soso’s fingertips, clicked his tongue briefly and frowned.

As expected, her fingertips were dyed red. No, if one looks closer, there was a dark blue hovering in the red color.

It’s an early symptom of frostbite.

“Didn’t you know?”

“…….”

“You’ve been roaming around without gloves.”

“…….”

Chung Myung grabbed Tang Soso’s wrist and began to infuse his energy.

“Ah…….”

Tang Soso flinched slightly at the warm yet cool sensation coming through her wrist. Chung Myung’s bright energy completely covered her hands and rotated several times before returning to the owner.

“Get some rest.”

“…….”

“If the patients don’t get better, then we have to start all over again. You’re not going to say you can’t do it because you’re tired at that time, right?”

“How can that be?”

Tang Soso looked straight at Chung Myung with determined eyes. Chung Myung nodded.

“Right, then take a rest. That’s right.”

“…….”

At this point, Tang Soso no longer insisted and calmly went to the front of the fire.

“Then just a little bit…….”

And as soon as she put her head on the ground with the blanket that Chung Myung brought, she fell asleep in an instant. It was correct to say that she fainted.

“…… move her to the bed…….”

“Leave her alone.”

Chung Myung dissuaded Baek Chun.

“She’d rather have slept another breath.”

Chung Myung, who yielded the front of the brazier, went to a suitable place and sat down leaning on his back. Then he took out Baek-ah who was quietly in his arms and put him on the ground.

“Go cover her up.”

Baek-ah quickly nodded a couple of times with his black eyes shining, then ran and sat on Tang Soso’s hand.

“……then what should we do now?”

“What do you mean?”

Chung Myung shrugged.

“We’ll have to wait. We might see a rough improvement tomorrow morning.”

“Hmm.”

“So go to bed now. If there’s no improvement, it’s a hell starting tomorrow.”

Everyone nodded at the word and lay down. And after a while, regular breathing sounds came from all over the place. They all seem to have been tired.

Chung Myung stared at the scene, then smiled softly.

It was a really difficult problem.

If they think of Mount Hua’s safety, they can’t waste time here.

But given Mount Hua’s duty, they can’t leave the villagers alone.

‘It’s not easy, Sahyung.’

Cheon Mun would’ve faced things like this every time.

He must have thought and pondered over even small things that were insignificant to Chung Myung. Because one of his choices might change the future of Mount Hua.

Chung Myung closed his eyes quietly, thinking what a great Sect Leader Cheon Mun was.

“Um….”

Mount Hua’s disciples, who were almost asleep as if they were dead, opened their eyes one by one and looked up.

“…is it morning already?”

“What about Soso?”

“She’s still sleeping.”

As soon as they opened their eyes, Mount Hua’s disciples turned their heads and looked out the window. The blizzard, which had been on the rise last night, seemed to have stopped, and the bright sunlight was coming through the window.

“How do the patients…….”

It was then.

Creak!

The door opened violently and people with bluish faces rushed inside.

“Wow, you’ll have to come!”

It was an urgent voice. Tension flashed in the eyes of Mount Hua’s disciples for a moment.