Return of Mount Hua Sect - Chapter 753

“Did he go?”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

Hyun Jong sighed deeply.

“Hngg. He gets harder and harder to deal with as the days go by.”

Hyun Young snorted at his whining.

“Chung Myung is no different than he used to be. It seems that Sect Leader are expecting more from him.”

“…Is that so?”

Hyun Jong appeared to think for a moment, but soon admitted and nodded.

That’s right.

The old Hyun Jong did not expect anything from Chung Myung. He was just a pretty child who came to enter Mount Hua on his own.

But now everyone is quietly expecting Chung Myung to do something. The same goes for Hyun Jong.

“Sect Leader. I think Sect Leader went overboard this time.”

Then Hyun Sang implied subtly.

“Sect Leader told him not to go with the kids, and now Sect Leader is telling him to go and help. It is ridiculous from Chung Myung’s perspective.”

“I know.”

Hyun Jong sighed. There was a sign of exhaustion on his face.

“But I’m not that great of a man, am I?”

“…Sect Leader.”

“I tried to find a good direction for everyone in my own way, but it seems it didn’t work.”

“But this time….”

“But isn’t it too much?”

“Huh?”

When Hyun Sang asked back because he couldn’t understand the sudden words that come out of nowhere, Hyun Jong said with a bitter face.

“I have never seen that child rest properly, not even once.”

“….”

At the word, Hyun Sang and Hyun Young’s expressions hardened slightly.

“I realized anew when he started training at dawn. He starts training the earliest in the sect and finishes the latest. Doesn’t he take care of the children’s training during work time, coordinate matters of the sect in his spare time, and even manage the business that Mount Hua is running?”

Hyun Young slowly nodded as he recalled each point.

“That’s true.”

There are separate officials, but all these things can’t be done without Chung Myung.

“If others were to share his work, even ten of them wouldn’t be enough. In the midst of this, if we depend on him to handle even the affairs outside the sect, when can Chung Myung rest?”

“….”

Hyun Young was about to say something and shut up.

‘It just happened so naturally that it didn’t feel real.’

Looking back, what Chung Myung was doing was simply too much for one person to handle.

Nevertheless, the reason why he didn’t take the fact seriously was that his work gradually increased and had come this far, and the relaxed appearance that Chung Myung usually shows.

No one would think he’d live a hectic life watching him lie on the eaves sipping alcohol.

“Whether it’s us or the children, we need to depend less on Chung Myung and do our jobs. This isn’t for the sect. It’s for Chung Myung.”

“……When did Sect Leader start thinking that way?”

“It was when I saw him frequently visiting the Financial Hall, even while he was mastering his martial arts.”

“….”

“Mastering martial arts is such an important task that a martial artist has to put all their energy into it, it’s an unparalleled opportunity. But even though he should have been focusing on his martial arts, he was also taking care of the sect’s affairs. I don’t think that’s right.”

Something is definitely wrong.

Chung Myung’s affection for Mount Hua is so great. Who, among the people here, doesn’t know that fact?
But in Hyun Jong’s view, Chung Myung’s obsession with Mount Hua Sect goes beyond common sense. And he felt that tendency had become stronger recently.

He’s been trying to take care of more affairs ever since the day he retrieved the ancestor’s remains.’

It would be a good thing if others showed the same change, but it’s just Chung Myung. What he’s doing is already excessive.

“Is the reason Sect Leader did not send Chung Myung included in Sect Leader’s reasoning?”

“Isn’t it a known fact that he takes special care of those who have left for the journey this time? I thought Chung Myung would be able to take care of himself if I distance him away. And I thought that if I gradually increased the number of such work and repeated them, Chung Myung would be able to have some time to spare.”

“Sect Leader….”

Hyun Sang looked at Hyun Jong with a slightly darkened face.

Since he took the position of an Elder, he should’ve understood Hyun Jong better than anyone else, but he didn’t consider it that far.

“Then….”

Then Hyun Young tilted his head.

“Why did you send Chung Myung again? No, if that’s the case, send him with the original group.”

“…I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

“Yes?”

Hyun Jong’s face hardens.

“There have been frequent cases of pirates capturing people and selling them as slaves, but how many times has a single ship been captured in its entirety like this?”

“….”

“If such a thing happened, we couldn’t possibly not know. It’s beyond a tolerable level. It should’ve been rumored everywhere, and the government must have been racking its brains to get rid of the pirates.”

“…So, Sect Leader sees this incident as not simply a matter of money?”

“I can’t see everything that happens on the Yangtze River from sitting here. But this time, I have a feeling that something is unusual. The children who went to the Yangtze River might be in great danger.”

“Then….”

The faces of the two elders darkened a bit more. Hyun Jong continued in a soft voice.

“It’s just a concern for now, but since I have a bad feeling about this, prepare for the journey quickly. We need to depart as soon as possible.”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

Leaving the sect and leading the disciples is not as easy as one might think. There are many things to prepare, and above all, the work in Mount Hua must be coordinated so that there are no problems even when many disciples are absent.

But now, time was pressing. So, they had no choice but to send Chung Myung ahead of time.

‘Is it still difficult?’

Hyun Jong closed his eyes slowly.

If it were Chung Myung, he would have guessed Hyun Jong’s true intention. Nevertheless, his clear protest was his own way of saying that it was not yet time.

‘However, Chung Myung…….’

The sect cannot be a person’s life.

It’s a good thing for Mount Hua to gain fame and become wonderful because of Chung Myung. But the most ideal direction Hyun Jong thought of was not for Mount Hua to become wonderful because of Chung Myung, but for Chung Myung to find peace because of Mount Hua.

Hyun Jong finally couldn’t hold back and let out a sigh.

‘It’s difficult.’

It is still a very difficult path. Still.

“But it will have to be done one day. For the sake of him.”

With his head down, Hyun Jong looked in the southern direction. His gaze was full of worry.

‘I hope everything’s fine.’

A long sigh came out from the increasingly heavy heart.
* * *

Paaaaaat!

Chung Myung’s speed of running nonstop was simply enormous.
The speed at which Chung Myung was running was incomparable to when he usually led the Five Swords. Literally, he was crossing mountains in one step and jumping over rivers in two.

“Heok, heok, heok! Mo- Mount Hua Divine Dragon! Let’s go together!”

The face of Du Yuncan, Munju of the Yuryong Sect who followed him, had somehow turned blue.

‘Does this make sense?’

Yuryong Sect may be weak, but their Lightness Art is known to be unparalleled in the world, and Du Yuncan is the very Sect Leader of them.

So, of course, he was confident that he would be second to none in terms of Lightness Art. techniques. In terms of Lightness Art techniques, perhaps only the Thousand Miles Divine Beggar of Beggar Union, known to be the best in the world, could be faster than him.

But now it was just too much for Du Yuncan to keep up with Chung Myung. It felt like his breath was coming up to the tip of his chin and his Dantian was upside down.

‘How could this happen…….’

He’s unbelievably fast.

But what was even more surprising was that he had maintained that tremendous speed without faltering from the start to now.

‘Just how great his internal energy is……?’

Currently, Mount Hua Divine Dragon’s reputation is indeed shaking Kangho.

Mount Hua Divine Dragon is not classified as a rising star anymore. The fact that Mount Hua Divine Dragon defeated Wudang’s elder in a sparring match is a famous fact that anyone who is a person of Kangho now knows.

Therefore, he has never doubted his martial art skills, but even taking that into account, this far exceeded his expectations.

“Mo- Mount Hua Divine….Mount Hua Divine Dragon!”

After several consecutive calls, Chung Myung, who was running like lightning ahead, turned his head.

“What?”

“Ple- Please slow down a little…. You, you’re too fast!”

“You know what?”

Then Chung Myung tilted his head as if he didn’t understand.

“I thought I was running at a moderate pace for you, Munju-nim.”

“…Is, is that so?”

Chung Myung shrugged his shoulders as he looked at the now-pale Du Yuncan

“That, I’m sorry, but I’m busy right now?”

“….”

“The destination is the same anyway, so let’s meet there instead.”

“…Yes?”

“Okay then.”

Chung Myung smiled brightly and waved his hand and ran forward at a much faster speed than he had.

“Mo- Mount Hua! Divine…….”

He tried to shout something, but Chung Myung’s figure quickly became a dot and disappeared.

“…Is he even human?”

Du Yuncan, whose shock had caused him to stop in his tracks, mumbled with a blank face as he looked in the direction Chung Myung had disappeared.

* * *

“What’s the result?”

“…It’s the same.”

Baek Cheon frowned slightly.

They had already been investigating for several days, but nothing significant had come up..

“And the merchants?”

Yoon Jong sighed slightly, then shook his head and answered.

“It’s the same. There seems to be a slight increase in the number of pirates recently, but it doesn’t seem that they have caused any harm. A ship disappeared in its entirety a while ago, and an investigation related to that is underway, but there doesn’t seem to be any other suspicious circumstances.”

“Disappeared?”

“It’s not uncommon for ships to sink. If a ship sinks in the middle of the river, even sailors skilled in swimming can’t make it back to the shore.”
“Hmm.”

If that’s the case, it’s unfortunate, but it’s not something to pay attention to at this point.

Baek Cheon made a faint groan and glanced at Tang Soso.

“And the civilians?”

“Yes, robbery doesn’t seem to be happening. Although they live along the Yangtze River, most of them are farmers along the riverbank or those who go fishing. As such, they don’t have much money, so the river pirates don’t seem particularly interested in them.”

“That makes sense.”

If you think about it, it is only natural.

Bandits do not target commoners. Those who cross mountains with money to travel a long distance aren’t ordinary commoners. Normal commoners hardly ever leave the place where they were born.
Considering this, it makes sense why the pirate does not bother the commoners living along the riverbank. After all, there’s nothing to gain from robbing them.

When people laden with money are sailing on ships, why would they bother robbing the poor people outside of the river?

“What about rumors regarding the pirates?”

“They also seem to be unknown. Although it’s the Yangtze River, the surrounding areas are so harsh that there aren’t many places where people gather.”

“That’s true.”

The Yangtze River is famous for its outstanding landscape. In other words, it’s no different than being filled with treacherous terrains that are hard for people to live in.

“The pirates choose these harsh terrains to set up their bases, and they regularly load their belongings onto ships and move around.”
“So, they don’t really have a fixed base.”

“Yes, It seems so.”

It was more troublesome than he thought. They don’t know exactly where the pirates are right now, let alone which pirate band attacked the Special Delivery.

‘I thought they would be similar to the mountain bandits, but I was completely mistaken.’

If you think about it the other way around, it was because Im Sobyong was on their side that they were able to find and attack the bandit stronghold so easily.

“What about the Beggar Union?”

“Beggar Union information doesn’t seem to reach the river either. What happened on the waterway is beyond their knowledge.”

“…Huh?”

Baek Sang scratched the back of his head as if he was sorry.

“That… If you think about it, it’s all too obvious, but the information power of Beggar Union comes from beggars all over the Jungwon, but when would beggars have the chance to ride a ship?”

Baek Cheon, who became a honeyed mute, sighed as he looked at Baek Sang.

“……Yes, hearing it like that, it makes sense.”

His head was aching.
“I wondered why the pirates weren’t eradicated when they occasionally attack not only merchant ships but also government ships.”

It was just as hard to find a base that changes locations on this vast Yangtze River as finding a needle in a desert.

‘What should we do?’

They also failed to trace the missing person.

If they can’t find it even after searching like this, the possibilities are one of two. They really drowned, or they were taken prisoner to the base.

In order to find out, they had to specify the pirates that attacked the Special Delivery and confirm its home base.

“Sahyung.”

“Yes?”

Then Yoon Jong said with a serious face.

“In my opinion, it’s hard this way.”

“….”

“Is it even possible to find the pirates that go back and forth between the water and the land?”

Jo-Gol, who had been listening quietly, crossed his arms behind his head and grumbled.

“Ahhh, if I was rich, the pirates would come to find me themselves. I have no money, so I have to go find the pirates.”

Suddenly, Baek Cheon stared at Jo-Gol and asked quickly.

“What did you just say?”

“I said it’s a pity that I don’t have money.”

“No, before that.”

“Huh? Ah… If I was rich, the pirates would come to find me themselves…”

Baek Cheon, who had been murmuring for a while, suddenly smiled brightly.

“I heard dog poop is sometimes used for medicine.”

His face, which had been in agony, suddenly brightened up.

“Let’s change the plan.”

“How?”

“Like Jo-Gol said. If we can’t find them, we’ll have them come to us.”

At that moment, the disciples shivered with an unknown fear. Baek Cheon’s mouth smile was similar to Chung Myung’s.