Return of the Mount Hua Sect

“Then let’s meet again.”

The Abbot bowed his head.

Even though they had come all this way, they chose to leave after just staying one day. It was now dawn on the day of their departure.

Hyun Jong tried to make him extend the stay, but the Abbot was stubborn about it as his position in Shaolin was a burdensome one.

Even in the midst of all this, the fact that he dared to visit Mount Hua meant that the Abbot and Shaolin were taking the North Sea seriously.

“I do not feel nice with you rushing out.”

“…”

At Hyun Jong’s words, the Abbot looked at him.

It was very little.

… a bit too little…

‘To say that even to his face…’

It looked like Hyun Jong was trying to make a sad face, but he couldn’t. Seeing the cause of Hyun Jong’s twitching smile, the Abbot groaned.

A familiar sword dangled at Hyun Jong’s waist.

The Great Virtuous Sword.

The sacred treasure sword of Mount Hua was now returned to its home after their talks.

‘They didn’t leave anything out! These things will fall into hell!’

The Abbot gritted his teeth. Even knowing that Mount Hua was being stubborn about it, he had no choice but to give the sword up. Just like a monk in Shaolin, who never let go of a chance in life, he didn’t have the experience of being leashed around like this.

‘How much trouble I went through to get that thing.’

How much money did he spend, and what effort he made to preserve it? To think it got taken away like…

But to think that it was also taken away like this in vain…

Seeing the gaze of the Abbot on the sword, Hyun Jong stroked it.

“I am thankful for the gift.”

“… gift?”

Things he had brought in for negotiations had all been robbed, and now they called them gifts?

‘The disciple and his sect leader…’

All of them were scammers!

The Abbot’s face reddened with anger, and he calmed down by reciting chants over and over. He could not afford to show anger in a place with so many observers. No matter what happened inside that room, to the outside, he had persuaded Mount Hua.

“…I am glad you like it.”

“I will never forget the fact you found and returned to us the most treasured object in our sect.”

It was Hyun Jong and not Mount Hua who wouldn’t forget it.

While he expressed his gratitude, Hyun Jong made sure to say that Mount Hua was in no way indebted to Shaolin.

This made the Abbot even angrier.

‘Even if he is the sect leader of Mount Hua, his experience in Kangho is nothing. How could he be doing this!’

Unfortunately, the Abbot didn’t know what kind of person Hyun Jong was.

Having suffered from debts all his life, he was someone good at not getting caught.

“Amitabha.”

The Abbot, unable to hold it in, mumbled and said,

“You just need to know that this is how Shaolin thinks of Mount Hua.”

“I will remember it, Abbot.”

After somehow finishing the conversation, the Abbot sighed and turned his head to the side. He could not escape from someone’s stare that had been burning the side of his face.

“…”

“…”

Sure enough, among the disciples of Mount Hua who had come to see him off, Hae Yeon was there looking at him with a blank face.

‘I am sorry.’

The Abbot tried to relay his apology through a look.

“A-abbot…”

Hae Yeon called out to him as if he wanted to say something, but the Abbot simply turned his head and moved.

‘This is all for the sake of the world.’

Moreover, Hae Yeon was talented and was meant to lead the Shaolin one day. He had to be willing to make sacrifices.

Of course, seeing Hae Yeon like this pained him. How could he abandon him and his puppy dog eyes?

But he had to endure this.

“Phew.”

After a brief sigh, he turned to Hyun Jong.

“I am leaving.”

“Have a safe journey!”

However, the answer wasn’t from Hyun Jong but came from Chung Myung, who was standing next to him. The smile on his face was as if he had eaten the sun.

“Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon.”

“Yes.”

“… I will say it again, this is an important task.”

“I know. It is important so you gave it to me, right? I am a person who has a conscience, and if I take something, I will do the job properly.”

“…”

Chung Myung answered, smiling and sticking out his chest.

‘I can not do much.’

He had been working hard to hold back his emotions, but the Abbot never thought these few words would shake him.

“… I wish you well.”

“Yes, do not worry. Instead.”

Chung Myung looked at him with serious eyes.

“Take good care of the alliance.”

“… do not worry.”

The Abbot nodded.

“Then.”

He looked at Hyun Jong,

“Have a safe trip back, Abbot.”

“Have a safe stay, Sect Leader.”

The Abbot glanced at Hae Yeon and turned away at that moment. The elders also followed shortly behind him.

Baek Cheon sighed softly.

‘Even the Abbot of Shaolin.’

The Abbot hadn’t done anything in particular, but it felt so odd. It wasn’t until the man disappeared that he could breathe nicely. He wasn’t sure if this came from the Abbot or if the title had this effect on him.

‘There is no meaning in trying to identify it.’

At that moment, Yoon Jong, who had been standing beside him, whispered softly.

“It feels a bit odd.”

“Hm? What?”

“Isn’t it that? The Abbot of Shaolin came and visited Mount Hua, and the sect leader is naturally sending him off.”

“…”

“It is quite a change.”

Baek Cheon nodded his agreement.

In fact, while these things didn’t feel particularly special now, it was still shocking. It meant Mount Hua had become a sect that could face Shaolin as equals.

No matter the reason, that the Shaolin’s Abbot had dared to visit Mount Hua also carried a lot of meaning.

“… we need to work harder.”

“Right.”

“But… what is that guy doing?”

Hearing Jo Gul’s words, Baek Cheon looked over.

He saw Hae Yeon staring at the gate in shock, with a face that seemed as if he lost his nation in some war.

“… it seems like he committed a lot of sins in his past life.”

Amitabha.

Amitabha.

A Buddhist monk who had followed the Abbot was abandoned and thrown into Mount Hua.

“Abbot.”

Instead of answering that, the Abbot said

“The words you said before…”

“Umm.”

Hearing this question, the Abbot shook his head and said.

“It isn’t something you need to care about.”

“But, Abbot…”

The Abbot hurriedly stepped away and then stopped to take one last look at Mount Hua.

‘The Mount Hua sect….’

It was like a bad bone inside the body.

At least for Shaolin, Mount Hua was exactly that. An existence that was an oddity from every other bone in the body and made the rest of them feel frustrated.

‘Blindly suppressing it wouldn’t do any good.’

He, too, was someone who took pride in seeing people for who they were. With the existence of Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon, the Mount Hua Sect would never succumb to Shaolin. That was also something the Abbot did not want.

Wouldn’t the result of trying to force something down be obvious?

A bone not in its place would itch and send pain up and down the body.

“Abbot.”

One monk didn’t seem to understand his decision.

“I still don’t understand your decision. Do we really need to leave this task to Mount Hua? We have been asking for… aren’t there better martial arts?”

The Abbot looked at the monk seriously, making the man flinch.

“Did you ask what is great about Mount Hua?”

“…”

“If you don’t even know that, I will not bother answering.”

“… I apologize.”

The Abbot threw a rare gaze at him and said,

“Everything in the world has to be done by the right person. No matter how hard the Shaolin tries, things will be difficult to solve.”

And he shook his head.

“If you continue focusing on the small things, you will miss out on the big ones. Although it looks bad now, in the end, this is for the sake of the world and Shaolin.”

But it made no sense.

“However, can they really solve the problem of the North Sea by themselves? It isn’t that I doubt the Abbot’s heart, but I have no faith in them.”

“It is fine even if they don’t solve it.”

“… Uh”

The Abbot spoke with a subtle expression.

“If it is solved, it will be good for the world; if it isn’t, that too is good for the world.”

“…”

The monk slightly tilted his head, clearly not understanding this, but the Abbot did not elaborate further.

“That is all.”

He mumbled.

However, at that moment, the monk picked up on something the Abbot didn’t think of.

“But Abbot, what happens to the money we paid if they fail?”

“…”

“Did you decide to get the money back in case of failure? Or are we wasting money?”

“…”

The Abbot stood tall and looked back at Mount Hua with angry eyes as his face turned pale.

“… they will succeed, right?”

“Yes?”

“There is Hae Yeon too… and with Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon, it should.”

“…”

For the first time since entering Shaolin, the monk lost his faith in the Abbot.

Shhh. Shhh.

An extremely gentle light flowed to Hyun Jong’s face.

“T-this is your sword?”

“Ah… this is the treasured sword of Mount Hua!”

Hyun Sang and Hyun Young looked at the Great Virtuous Sword on Hyun Jong’s lap with passionate faces.

The sword would hold great meaning to anyone in Mount Hua, but it was especially special for the sect leader and the elders. Didn’t this seem like Mount Hua’s spirit, which had been cut down in the past, had finally come home?

Hyun Sang looked at the sword with thrilled eyes and said to Hyun Jong.

“Sect leader, pull it out.”

“Hmm.”

Hyun Jong smiled and unsheathed the sword, causing a brilliant light to shine from its blade.

“Oh! Oh… Uhm….”

Hyun Sang’s face was excited as he spoke such words and then regained his calm.

Hyun Sang had a confused expression on his face, prompting Hyun Jong to ask.

“… what is with your face?”

“… I thought I would be very emotional.”

“Right.”

Hyun Sang looked at the sword with sullen eyes and then turned to the Dark Fragrant Plum Blossom Sword that belonged to Chung Myung.

“It is because I saw something else…”

“It isn’t that expensive either.”

Hyun Jong’s face turned red.

“Y-You people! This sword is a sword with the spirit and history of Mount Hua! It’s the treasured weapon of Mount Hua! Mount Hua…!”

“Ah, fine.”

“Yes, yes. I get it, Sect leader. Calm down.”

“…”

Hyun Jong suppressed his anger.

You will receive punishment from the heavens for this!

“But the North Sea….”

“… This ends the story of the sword? Are we moving over already?”

“No, why are you making such a fuss about a sword? It doesn’t even look that good.”

“… ugh.”

Ignoring the groaning Hyun Jong, Hyun Young brushed his beard.

“Since the story about the North Sea came out the other day, I knew he would go…”

At those words, the people in the room nodded.

Everyone thought they would go to the North Sea one day, and somehow things had turned out like this.

But…

“Why at this time of the year?”

“What about this time?”

“Wouldn’t it be getting cold? It must be the middle of the winter by the time they get there, and even the summer makes the body freeze in the North Sea…”

Hyun Young clicked his tongue at the words of Hyun Sang.

“The things to prepare wouldn’t be just one or two.”

Hyun Jong, who was thinking, then said,

“Chung Myung”

“Yes”

“What do you think? It is true that the Abbot asked for this to be resolved, but he didn’t set a date, right? Wouldn’t it be better to leave after the winter?”

“I wish, but….”

Chung Myung shrugged.

“The situation is one where it will become more dangerous when the situation in the North Sea worsens if we wait to go when the weather is warmer.”

“Hmm. Right.”

“I think it would be better to leave right away and pluck out the buds before they grow.”

Baek Cheon, who heard Chung Myung’s words, then mumbled.

“… the cows around Mount Hua don’t have horns either.”

Yoon Jong nodded

“Chung Myung picked them up. But why?”

At that moment, Hyun Jong nodded.

“If that is what you mean, it cannot be helped.”

And he said to Hyun Young.

“Prepare carefully so that there are no problems with the disciples as they head down there.”

“Yes, sect leader!”

In this way, Mount Hua’s journey to the North Sea was determined.