Return of Mount Hua Sect

“Let’s see…”

Chung Myung’s gaze turned to the Evil Faction across from him.

“I don’t like those bastards either.”

This time, he looked down the cliff with a look of disapproval.

“I don’t like them either.”

He clicked his tongue with a sour expression on his face.

“Are there no people whom I like in this world? I’m so worried, so concerned.”

At that moment, Yoon Jong, who stood close behind, whispered.

“Yah, Chung Myung.”

“Are you just saying that? Actually, are you trying to help the Nine Great Sects below?”

Chung Myung looked back at Yoon Jong with an expression of pity.

“No, does this guy have some disease within him? Do you think I’ll help those bastards after such talk? I’d rather feel like pouring oil on them and setting them on fire.”

“…”

“Why? Am I wrong?”

“T-that isn’t it, brat!”

“What?”

Yoon Jong desperately glanced down.

“There, over there!”

“What?”

Since Chung Myung couldn’t understand, Yu Yiseol, who had her eyes closed, and Yoon Jong helped.

“Monk Hae Yeon. There!”

“Eh?”

“Right! Monk Hae Yeon is there! It’s basic for us to save Monk Hae Yeon!”

“Right, sahyung!”

Only then did a look of regret flash over Chung Myung’s face.

“…now that I think about it, he is down there, right?”

He saw Hae Yeon standing in the middle of Shaolin, looking up. The eyes, as big as a cow’s, shining in sadness, seemed impossible to ignore. Chung Myung looked at him and said,

“But…”

“Uh?”

“When a monk dies, they build a pagoda and cremate them, right?”

“…what is this now?”

“No, well…”

Chung Myung scratched the back of his head and smiled.

“It’s going to end like that anyway, so wouldn’t it be unfair to think of setting fire as cremation in advance?”

“What are you talking about, you insane idiot!”

“Shouldn’t you at least speak like a human?”

“Are you even human! Huh?”

In the end, the Five Swords rushed in at once, grabbed Chung Myung by the collar, and shook him. After everyone arrived, it seemed like they didn’t care if anyone saw it, be it Jang Ilso or someone else.

Chung Myung protested that it was unfair to him.

“No! Isn’t Buddhism all about letting go of attachments in life? Saving a life is the biggest obsession anyone could have! In some ways, we could be helping them out, you know?”

“Disgusting bastard! You damned ruined man!”

“You need to be scolded!”

Yoon Jong hit Chung Myung’s mouth with his palm, and Yu Yiseol hit him on the head with her sheath.

“Eh! Don’t be a bother and just let me go! We can do it, as I said! Yah!”

Chung Myung pushed Yu Yiseol and Yoon Jong away as he shouted loudly. Hae Yeon stared at him with wide eyes, not knowing what was even happening.

“You come up!”

“…Uh?”

“You come up now. I don’t think they will die just because you come up, right?”

“…”

“If you just come up, things will be resolved cleanly. Come up fast!”

Hae Yeon smiled.

He knew right away that he was crazy, but…

‘He is crazier than I thought. This is beyond my imagination.’

Chung Myung was now proving with his entire body that an insane person doesn’t care about time or place.

“…How can I go up before the sahyungs?”

“Uh? You won’t come?”

“I cannot come…”

“Ahh, as expected of our bald head, so loyal. Then why don’t you all die together?”

“…”

Clear tears formed around the eyes of Hae Yeon.

‘I couldn’t believe I wanted to see that bastard even for a moment.’

Even after all this…

Meanwhile, Byeok Hyun was speechless and looked at Chung Myung in confusion.

Unruly warrior. Odd language.

“…How can one be so frivolous?”

“There is no such thing other than insane.”

An expression of discomfort formed on the face of Namgung Hwang.

Clearly, the actions of Chung Myung had gone too far. However, two people looked at Chung Myung with different eyes from the rest.

One was Venerable Heo Do, with his somberly sunken eyes.

‘That isn’t a look humans can have just because they want to.’

Humans were animals, so they also felt a sense of crisis. Even the rude man there could not run wild as usual if a sword was at his throat.

But now Chung Myung was acting more violently than he usually does.

‘It probably means that neither Shaolin, Wudang nor even the Ten Thousand People Clan are making that guy nervous.’

He knew. Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon was no idiot who could not understand the situation. Rather, he was excessively fast in calculation and accurately captured the flow of time too.

The self-indulgence of someone who didn’t know the situation was foolish, but wasn’t the behavior of someone who knew the situation in confidence?

‘Are you confident that you can handle the situation?’

Venerable Heo Do bit his lip.

He had a high evaluation of Chung Myung. Few people in the world valued Chung Myung more highly than him. But at this moment, Venerable Heo Do couldn’t shake off the suspicion that his evaluation of Chung Myung had been entirely off.

And, aside from Venerable Heo Do, another person saw Chung Myung with different eyes.

Jang Ilso slowly opened his mouth.

“You don’t want to keep playing this boring drama, right?”

Chung Myung cast a sharp gaze towards Jang Ilso.

“I thought I told you to keep that mouth of yours shut?”

“I would like to, but you see, if I don’t speak now, this standoff drama will continue forever.”

Chung Myung scratched his head without a word. Even though Jang Ilso said it, it wasn’t entirely wrong.

“Fine. Then go ahead. Instead, be careful of what you say. If you speak nonsense, I will attack without another thought.”

Everyone who heard that was shocked.

Earlier, it was a simple “shut up,” but this time, he said not to speak nonsense. Even the abbot, the leader of Shaolin, wouldn’t treat Jang Ilso that way.

What was more perplexing was that Jang Ilso didn’t seem particularly upset after hearing such harsh words from a young man.

The Desolate Gold Elder, who was silently observing, twisted his mouth and laughed.

“Scammer.”

“Even those words won’t work.”

Jang Ilso nodded and looked at Chung Myung carefully. The Desolate Gold Elder thought his expression seemed a bit cheerful.

‘Is it true that insane people have something in common?’

It was so odd.

If he considered the rank of things in the world, the Desolate Gold Elder would be higher than Jang Ilso. And he couldn’t even dare compare himself to a kid who is supposed to be Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon.

The Desolate Gold Elder couldn’t even dare intervene in the talks between the two, though.

These two people had a different kind of power, something unrelated to fame and status, as discussed in Kangho. It couldn’t just be called Kangho; it was something else they didn’t know.

The lips of Jang Ilso turned into a thin smile.

“What about it, Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon? The gift I prepared?”

“… What bullshit is this?”

“There is nothing to hide from each other now, right? Surely you want to skin me alive, right?”

“You know me well.”

“But at the same time, you are someone who can cooperate even with the Evil Faction to get what you want.”

“…”

Jang Ilso smiled brightly.

“We create ties by linking clans and sects and bring together those who seem to never come under one roof. This is something that cannot be done unless one has given in to their desires entirely.”

“You seem to be misunderstanding something, but the Heavenly Friends Alliance isn’t like that.”

“No, no, Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon.”

Jang Ilso shook his head.

“That isn’t important. The important thing is that you have no intention of being satisfied with that level. What you want is for your alliance to grow even bigger! Increasingly! Shocking to devour everything! And more!”

Chung Myung’s eyes narrowed.

“You know me? You speak as if you know me so well?”

“I do know you. I cannot help but know you. Because we are similar.”

Chung Myung’s face contorted.

“Don’t you know that not everything that comes out of a mouth can be taken as a word? I surely said to get lost if you are going to speak such nonsense, right?”

“No, no. For one thing, we are alike.”

Jang Ilso scanned Chung Myung with his eyes.

“Not being satisfied.”

“…”

It wasn’t Chung Myung who flinched at those words but the disciples of Mount Hua who were by his side.

‘He cannot deny it.’

If Jang Ilso was the embodiment of desire, Chung Myung was the embodiment of greed. Didn’t Mount Hua grow quickly thanks to Chung Myung’s greed?

Chung Myung wasn’t satisfied with growth in the short period, and other sects couldn’t even go against him, so he came to the Yangtze River and started another mess.

“So see Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon. Is there a better chance than this?”

“…”

“As long as the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families exist, both the Heavenly Friends Alliance and the Four Sects Alliance will face limitations. But… if we can take those guys down, the vast land called Gangbuk can be shared between us two alone!”

Everyone saw Chung Myung as just Chung Myung.

But Jang Ilso was seeing Chung Myung’s ‘position’ clearly. The person he was currently dealing with was Chung Myung, Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon, who was the disciple of Mount Hua, but also Chung Myung, the creator of the Heavenly Friends Alliance.

“Morality, justice, consultation… surely you realize such worthless words. I am sure you understand how disgusting it is to talk about such things!”

Chung Myung just glared at him without responding. Jang Ilso calmed his voice and smiled.

“Help me, Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon.”

“…”

“Not a single ant will survive. We won’t let a single person leave here alive. In that case, no one in the world will know what happened. The Four Sects Alliance will take the blame for their deaths. You can just stand and watch from there.”

Jang Ilso lightly spread his arms. His red long sleeves fluttered in the wind, and his accessories jingled.

“Then you can take half control of the world.”

“…”

“It isn’t them who are destroying it. What is collapsing here is the power of the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families, which have endured for the past 100 years! The world is turning upside down right here! You and I will be changing the world together!”

Jang Ilso’s every word was filled with confidence.

Baek Cheon hesitated and took a step back without realizing it.

It felt like a force, which shouldn’t have reached this point, was pushing him.

‘Jang Ilso…’

The black madness around him covered the cliff.

Elder Heo Do’s eyes shook.

‘Who… who is this man, and what is he saying?’

The Heavenly Friends Alliance joining hands with the Evil Faction to destroy the Nine Great Sects?

‘What nonsense…’

That could never happen. No, it shouldn’t happen. How can a Justice Faction group and an Evil Faction join forces to attack their own allies?

But, contrary to Venerable Heo Do’s fierce opposition, his reason was constantly whispering that this wasn’t an impossible story.

His trembling eyes looked at Chung Myung.

The core of the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families were gathered. If they were to be wiped out here, only the shell of the Nine Great Sects would remain.

Could the Nine Great Sects without Shaolin and Wudang survive? And can the Five Great Families, having lost the Namgung Family and the Sichuan Tang Family, withstand anything?

‘They wouldn’t work.’

No. Even if one could endure it, it was still the same.

Even if the Nine Great sect wins the war, there will be no place for Shaolin, Wudang, Namgung, and Qingcheng.

Regardless of the outcome, depending on the decision of Chung Myung, these 4 sects might eventually vanish from the history of the Central Plains.

‘That cannot happen!’

No matter how many grudges Mount Hua held against them….

At that moment, Venerable Heo Do took a deep breath.

‘Even if he holds a grudge?’

What could he say?

Even if he did have a grudge, did it mean he needed to follow morality? Even though the one who broke the duty that must be maintained first was the one who broke down the law?

“…”

At that moment, Venerable Heo Do finally realized how harsh a standard they had been imposing on Mount Hua by calling themselves the Justice faction.

Even though he thought he knew of it, he didn’t know. It was an extremely harsh standard.

So he had no choice but to think.

If he was in the same position, would he protect those who watched their sect burn? To protect their morals?

Was it alright to just take a step back and watch?

An eye for an eye. And all that implied.

Mount Hua would simply be returning what the Nine Great Sects did to them in the past. Then, could they criticize him for making such a choice?

Venerable Heo Do distorted his face and opened his mouth.

“Mount Hua’s Divine…”

But before that, Chung Myung who had been silently listening to Jang Ilso, opened his mouth.