Return of Mount Hua Sect - Chapter 604
”…What are you doing?”
Heo Dojin’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
“That….”
Knowing what that expression meant, Heo Sanja glanced down. Of course, he didn’t do anything wrong, but who wants to face Heo Dojin’s anger head-on?
“In Wuhan… They distributed grain.”
“In Wudahn?”
“…Yes. That… They said since it is wealth recovered from Daebyeolchae, it is right to return it to the people of Hubei…..”
Tok.
Heo Sanja raised his eye at the sudden sound. Heo Dojin’s fingers were tapping the tea table lightly.
“In Wuhan…. In Wuhan, not anywhere else?”
“….”
“They’re doing whatever they want.”
His hand brushing his beard was a little rough.
“How many people in Wuhan have difficulties with grain? If they were going to save a person in need, they’d find somewhere else other than Hubei.”
“Then…”
“Yes, this is a blatant attempt from Mount Hua to expand their influence in Hubei.”
Heo Sanja asked with a slightly puzzled look.
“But Sect Leader. Aren’t they already in a situation where they have a strong foothold in the western part of Jungwon? There is no need to go all the way to Hubei…..”
“Influence doesn’t necessarily mean dominance.” Heo Dojin shook his head. His voice was a little more ruffled than usual.
“Mount Hua does not need to increase its dominance in Hubei. It is enough to weaken the influence we have over Hubei.”
“Weaken?”
“Don’t people always make comparisons? Mount Hua, whose base is Shaanxi, comes to Hubei to fight bandits and even help the common people, but what on earth has Wudang been doing all this time?”
Heo Sanja tilted his head as if he still didn’t understand.
“But isn’t that a temporary problem? In the meantime, there is something that Wudang has done in Hubei.”
“What a silly thing to say.”
Heo Dojin shook his head.
“Common people tend to lose their eyes and be interested in new things rather than the past. What Wudang has done to Hubei so far must have already become a matter of course for them.”
“….”
“It’s not something to blame on. That’s the way the world works. The problem is Mount Hua Sect that comes in by pinpointing that part.”
After he finished speaking, Heo Dojin lightly bit his lip.
‘That Hyun Jong…..’
Hyun Jong, who he had seen, was not this quick at calculating.
This meant two things.
Either his own eyes for seeing people are wrong, or another person is leading this in Mount Hua.
Either way, it was not very welcome news for Wudang. Now, Mount Hua was raising its name all over the world with unbelievable momentum. The existence of someone fast enough in Mount Hua to take advantage of their increased reputation was certainly threatening.
“Th- Then, shouldn’t we come up with a countermeasure? Maybe we should also offer help…..”
Heo Dojin glares at Heo Sanja with a frown. “If we start helping now, what will the people of the world say? We would hear that Wudang is belatedly imitating Mount Hua. This is a different matter from cleaning up the remnants of bandits.”
“….”
“We may be able to grab the public’s attention for a while, but it’s the worst thing in the long run. The name of Wudang should never be behind Mount Hua!”
“My thoughts were too short. Sect Leader.”
Heo Dojin clasped his knee with his hand tapping on the table.
“Mount Hua….”
It felt like there was a long needle in his stomach.
When he first heard Mount Hua’s name, it was nothing but a tingling sensation. No matter how promising Mount Hua is, he has never heard of a sect that’s completely ruined standing up again.
So he thought it was just the last struggle.
However, the sensation, barely tingling and irritating, grew bigger and became a great needle that pierced the stomach and caused bleeding.
The bigger problem was that it was impossible to know when the needle would grow bigger and dig into the stomach and the heart.
“Muryangsubul.”
Heo Dojin chanted low.
He prided himself on having achieved a deep discipline, but the name Mount Hua always shook his discipline mercilessly.
“Sect Leader.”
At that time, Heo Sanja carefully opened his mouth while he was reading Heo Dojin’s face.
“It is difficult for this insensitive self to fathom the feelings of Sect Leader. Of course, even in my view, the momentum of Mount Hua Sect is formidable. But, at least, the current Mount Hua is not the past Mount Hua.”
“….”
“It is a sect that has not been able to regain its position for a hundred years. Sect is not a place where you can simply rack your brain and get back to normal just by being a little strong.”
Heo Dojin could not hold back and let out a sigh. There was another reason why he was upset by Heo Sanja’s words. This is because most of the answers returned from other Ten Great Sect he had asked for help discussing were similar.
“Can you stop the flowing water?”
“…Yes?”
“The way of the world is like running water. It is not that difficult to stop the water from dripping from the top of the mountain. Even if the water flows and flows to form a small stream, it can be stopped with a little effort.”
He thought it was a bit out of the blue, but Heo Dojin’s expression was so serious that Heo Sanja nodded seriously for now.
“However, if the water flows and gathers again to form a stream, and thus form a river, human power will not be able to stop it. No matter how much you build a bank and dig a reservoir, isn’t the water will overflow in the end ?”
“….”
“What’s the point of regretting after it formed a river! Do you have any plans by then?”
A cold sweat broke out on Heo Sanja’s back as he listened in dismay.
‘If it becomes a river, it can’t be stopped.’
In other words, doesn’t that mean that Heo Dojin believes that if Mount Hua is left as it is, one day even Wudang’s power alone will not be able to handle them?
‘How could Mount Hua go that far?’
Heo Sanja recalled Chung Myung’s face, which he had seen in Yakseon Tomb in the past.
When he saw him, he never imagined that Wudang would be in this situation…..
“What would we do then?”
When asked by Heo Sanja, Heo Dojin looked up at the ceiling instead of answering.
‘Those foolish people.’
Shaolin doesn’t know.
Because they’veMount Hua has never crushed them. They wouldn’t think someone would stand on top of them.
Other Ten Great Sect also had different reasons, but they didn’t understand. There were always some sects above them. Only two sects were wary of the advance of that Mount Hua and had an itchy back.
Wudang, and Southern Edge Sect.
Southern Edge Sect has already failed to stop Mount Hua. Of course, who can guarantee that Wudang will not be the same as Southern Edge Sect after some more time has passed?
“If no one comes forward…….”
In time, there was a chill that was unbecoming of a Taoist in Heo Dojin’s eyes which looked forward.
“We should at least dampen that momentum.”
Heo Sanja shuddered at the cool energy.
“Sect Leader….”
“Heo Sanja.”
“Yes.”
“I am a believer of the Tao.”
Heo Dojin shook his head slowly.
“But before I was a Taoist, I was Wudang’s Sect Leader. If I had to choose between sticking to my duty as a Taoist and protecting the glory of Wudang, I would choose Wudang’s glory without a moment’s hesitation.”
“…Sect Leader.”
“Even if it means persecuting the same Taoist sect by force.”
Heo Sanja sighed deeply.
They are Wudang Sect.
It was a Taoist Sect before it was an ordinary Sect. Ever since the Taoist Sambongjin (삼봉진인(三峰眞人))…. No, from the time Samcheong Hall was built and Taoists gathered in Wudang, they have been trying not to violate their duty as Taoists.
So Heo Dojin’s words were not something that a Taoist could put into their mouth.
But how could he understand the feelings of Heo Dojin, who says such things?
‘If this happens, what will become of the world?’
Mount Hua is already in control of the west in alliance with the Tang Family and other sects. In the meantime, if Wudang, who can be said to be the center of the Ten Great Sect, was hostile to Mount Hua, the feud between the western alliance and the Ten Great Sect was already foreseen.
“There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Yes?”
“It’s not that I don’t know what you’re thinking. However, it was something that would eventually come to pass. Mount Hua and Wudang have always been this kind of relationship. There was no such thing as two sects coexisting side by side. When the momentum of Mount Hua overflowed, Wudang had to quietly bow it head, and when Wudang came to the world stage, the name of Wudang was erased from the world.”
“….”
“That natural logic has only come back once again.”
Heo Dojin, who was looking quietly at Heo Sanja, spoke in a heavy voice.
“If you just try to press down on those who do Righteous act and help, of course, the eyes that come back will not be good. So don’t try to press them, just show it. The name Wudang is still on top of the mountain that Mount Hua cannot dare to climb!”
Heo Sanja’s eyes, which had been confused for a while, soon became determined.
What was right and wrong, he still did not know. All he knew was at least, Heo Dojin was not the one to make the wrong choice.
“I will lead the disciples.”
“Take all Three Swords with you.”
“Do you mean Mu Jin?”
Heo Dojin nodded.
“The time has come for the child to make amends for his mistake. If it’s the Three Swords of Wudang, you will not lose to the children of Mount Hua.”
“But the power of Mount Hua Divine Dragon…….”
When the name Mount Hua Divine Dragon came out, Heo Dojin’s face hardened cold. It felt like he had another thorn stuck in him.
‘There’s no way to do this.’
Mount Hua Divine Dragon’s strength, which was confirmed at the Murim Competition, was at a level that none of Wudang’s rising stars dared to handle. There are countless rising stars worldwide, but only Mount Hua Divine Dragon and Shaolin’s Hye Yeon are on another level.
“Take Heo Gong (허공(虛空)) with you.”
“Heo- Heo Gong? Sect Leader! Heo Gong is an elder! No matter how great Mount Hua Divine Dragon is, it’s a disgrace to send an elder to deal with him.”
“There is no need for us to deal with it that way.”
“Yes?”
“If it Mount Hua Divine Dragon I know, he would come forward on his own just by scratching him in moderation. If it’s him, he wouldn’t bother to mix his hands with a first-class disciples.”
“….”
“It’s a shame to challenge a child, but it’s not a shame to accept the challenge that comes. There is nothing to worry about because things will happen naturally as long as Ho Gong is there.”
Heo Sanja nodded slowly.
“Your purpose is one.”
Heo Dojin’s eyes lit up.
“The world now thinks highly of Mount Hua. But it is not entirely due to Mount Hua’s performance. It’s because the public doesn’t know about Mount Hua’s weakness.”
“….”
“Let everyone know that it’s only the young rising stars that support them. Let Mount Hua themselves know that fame is nothing but an illusion without the power to sustain it!”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Sect Leader.”
“If you can’t do that…”
Heo Dojin shook his head heavily as he tried to say something.
“Have a safe trip.”
“Yes, Sect Leader! I’ll be back after completing the orders.”
Heo Sanja got up from his seat.
As he turned around and went outside, he looked back without realizing it. However, in the end, he could not bear to express his doubt and hurried his steps.
Tok.
When he stepped outside and left the door, the clear sky was in his sight.
– If you can’t do that….
‘What was Sect Leader going to say afterward?’
He didn’t dare to guess. Heo Sanja soon hardened his face and hurried.