Return of the Mount Hua Sect

Warm steam billowed from the teacup sitting on the table.

As the disciples of Mount Hua gathered around to drink the tea offered to them, the village chief locked eyes with Chung Myung.

Being a seasoned man, he wasted no time in discerning who he was dealing with.

“So… What is it that you wish to know?”

Chung Myung responded calmly.

“Well, that’s obvious. The North Sea Ice Palace.”

As soon as the words ‘Ice Palace’ escaped Chung Myung’s lips, the chief’s eyes twitched. It was evident that he was apprehensive about this.

“That…”

The village chief forced an awkward smile and shook his head.

“I am but a simple villager. My knowledge of the Ice Palace is minimal.”

“Now, now. This old man is clearly avoiding the topic.”

However, Chung Myung was not one to be easily deterred. It would be out of character for him to overlook such things.

“It is said that people have different perspectives when going to sleep and when waking up. Now that you are healed, you’re behaving like this?”

“Oh dear, would we ever do such a thing? Even animals understand gratitude; how can humans not?”

“Then spit it out.”

With Chung Myung pressing him, the chief let out a sigh.

After hearing about gratitude, he couldn’t refuse, but discussing the Ice Palace seemed to be a problem for him.

Baek Cheon, who couldn’t contribute much, reached out to offer his support.

“It doesn’t have to be about the Palace. You can start by telling us about the state of this village.”

Tang Soso chimed in to assist Baek Cheon.

“Why has everyone refrained from going outside?”

“That…”

Glancing at Baek Cheon, the village chief began to speak.

“It wasn’t like this at the beginning.”

He let out a frustrated sigh while speaking.

“Actually, the Ice Palace used to be a trusted authority for the people of the North Sea. Whenever there was a problem, we would rush there and seek help. It was a place where they willingly took the lead in resolving matters. That’s why the people of the North Sea believed in the Ice Palace and followed its guidance.”

The voice carried sincerity, tinged with sorrow and sadness. But Chung Myung awkwardly waved his hand.

“No, that’s enough.”

He had heard more than he needed to.

“What were you saying? How could someone just disappear?”

In response to his question, the chief looked around. Even though they were disciples of Mount Hua, he seemed anxious as he scanned the surroundings before finally responding.

“…about six months ago, people started going missing.”

Everyone squinted their eyes at this statement.

“People? How…?”

“No distinction, regardless of age or gender.”

The chief sighed.

“At first, I thought it was just an accident. As you may have seen, our land is desolate, and the beasts are always vicious. There have been cases where people ventured out and never returned, so I thought it was the same this time too….”

He spoke while stealing glances at the door, his gaze filled with unease. It was as if someone could enter at any moment.

Observing this, Chung Myung walked towards the door. It felt as though he would confront anyone who entered while the old man continued.

“But the number of people disappearing kept increasing. And the bigger problem… there were no traces. When a beast attacks, it leaves traces. But this time, we didn’t see any….”

Chung Myung’s face twisted.

“No signs of people being dragged away?”

“…”

He scratched his cheek.

“And the Ice Palace?”

“….”

“Since this was a situation where people were going missing, wouldn’t the palace have something to say?”

But the chief shook his head.

“Ice Palace… Said it was the work of animals and asked us to not spread rumors. Those who did that would surely be….”

The faces of the disciples twisted further.

These people were those who hunted and had experience with the animals. No matter how much authority the Ice Palace had, how would they know more about hunting than the hunters?

Still, saying that and sending the villagers away seemed too obviously suspicious. It was Tang Soso who went stiff first and asked.

“Did the Ice Palace really say that?”

“… why would I lie, physician?”

Tang Soso bit her lip in disbelief.

“I cannot believe that.”

Those in the position to rule shouldn’t go against the public thoughts. Of course, the Sichuan Tang family was a martial sect that could be vicious in the search of justice, but it would never intimidate its people.

Moreover, it was because they understood well that the power of family weakened when they ignored public sentiment.

And instead of helping people in the barren land, they threatened to kill and suppress…

“Such shit.”

Chung Myung clicked his tongue.

If the North Sea Ice Palace was such a place, it wouldn’t have been able to dominate the North Sea for so many years.

Certainly, the problem of rebellion should have reared its head. Then Baek Cheon asked.

“Have many people disappeared?”

“… there are around 30 people in this village alone.”

“30….”

A voice that was almost a groan of pain.

“There are other villages around here, right?”

“Yes. From what I know, their conditions aren’t that different from ours.”

The chief crinkled his lips and bowed his head. It seemed that he was holding back his emotions.

“The words about demons roaming around….”

“The demons.”

The old man’s voice trembled.

“Suddenly, after those demons appeared, people began to disappear. Without a doubt they….”

“Hmm.”

Chung Myung frowned.

“Maybe?”

“Doesn’t it seem like it?”

The disciples of Mount Hua nodded. The demons had to be members of the Demonic sect.

The Ice Palace people wore snow-white clothes as symbols. So, in this land completely dominated by the North Sea, they wouldn’t bother wearing black to ensure that their identity was hidden.

“Then….”

Chung Myung lightly tapped the table.

“You mean, from a few months ago, people dressed in black suddenly began to stand out, and people disappeared?”

“… yes.”

“So we shut ourselves in the homes to avoid the people in black, then the diseases came in… normally we would have traded with the Central Plains for fresh foods, but that wasn’t the situation.”

Chung Myung smiled as he summarized the situation.

There was something strange in this world. Different things happened, intertwined, and contributed to this terrible situation.

Chung Myung organized his thoughts and looked back at the village chief as if he had missed something.

“Did you mention other villages?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“So, what about them? If the situation is similar, they must have a strange disease going around, too, right?”

“I’m not sure if it’s much different…”

Before the village chief could explain, Tang Soso stood up.

“Then they need to be treated right away…!”

Thud!

But before that, Chung Myung flicked her forehead.

“It can be cured without you getting involved, so don’t get worked up.”

“Still…”

“It’s not something for you to be excited about.”

Tang Soso looked into the serious eyes of Chung Myung.

‘Could this situation be more serious than I thought?’

The other disciples were focused on the Ice Palace, which dominated the people’s attention, but for Chung Myung, his focus was elsewhere.

A martial arts sect could not abandon the people who inhabited the area.

Basically, a martial arts sect was like a leech that fed off the people’s blood. They didn’t care about gender.

In the first place, without working the fields themselves, they were stuck in the mountains and only wielded a sword. Nothing would be accomplished without the people who lived there.

No matter how insane the current Ice Palace Lord was, he must have come from an important position in the North Sea Ice Palace. There was no way that such a person would act without reason.

That meant…

“It must mean that the North Sea Ice Palace has lost control.”

The current lord might already be a puppet in the hands of the Demonic Sect.

“I will confirm it.”

A little while ago, he started to feel something odd settle in his heart.

Like…

“Chung Myung?”

“Uh?”

At that call, Chung Myung, who was lost in thought, looked at Baek Cheon.

“What?”

“N-No… your expression…”

Baek Cheon was about to say something but went silent. He couldn’t figure out what to say.

Was it strange? Or maybe…

“Scary?”

It was an expression none of them had ever seen on Chung Myung before.

Of course, there were times when he showed expressions like anger or seriousness, but it felt different now.

“Hmm.”

Receiving Baek Cheon’s gaze, Chung Myung kept his expression as if he had not done anything. Then he nodded and looked at the village chief.

“So, what did you do?”

“Uh?”

“You gave us the answer of the Ice Palace treating you with ridicule, but you didn’t protest or anything?”

“Oh my… how can we even think about doing that? We would die right there and then.”

Chung Myung frowned and sighed.

“And the other places are the same?”

“They are, yes.”

“… Fine. I understand.”

As Chung Myung nodded, Baek Cheon and the other disciples asked,

“Chung Myung, what is this thing…”

“Hmm.”

But the answer was already decided; Chung Myung’s face was gloomy.

“Well, it’s a problem that can’t be solved unless we go to the Ice Palace. Now that we’ve done everything let’s go there.”

“What about the other villages?”

“It’s a problem that can be fixed by eating raw food. There’s no need to stick around when everyone knows the cure. If it becomes a problem, I’ll just catch more fish.”

“C-catch more fish? Amitabha! Amitabha!”

Hae Yeon, who had been silent until then, spoke out in fear.

“D-disciple! Let me do it this time!”

“Why? Is it too hard for you? The Shaolin monk who’s supposed to save mortal beings doesn’t want to jump into the icy water?”

“It’s not that.”

Hae Yeon shook his head.

It was a small problem. There was no big problem if a warrior like Hae Yeon entered the icy waters. The real problem lay elsewhere.

“No matter how important it is to save people, the fish I catch have life too. Being a Buddhist and killing…”

“You just grab it. I’ll be the one pulling it. You’re not the one killing it.”

“Even so, it’s difficult to deceive my heart.”

Hae Yeon was stubborn.

“I’ll do anything else, so please understand.”

Upon hearing his earnest words, Chung Myung tilted his head as if he didn’t understand.

“You’re saying you don’t want to do it because it’s odd to kill things?”

“That’s right.”

“… But isn’t that already meaningless at this point when you’re wearing bear skin?”

“…”

“Who walks around wearing animal skins and preaches such stuff? Have you heard of it?”

Hae Yeon was wide-mouthed.

“Amita….”

“Ugh, Amitabha or whatever. If he sees you walking around with animal skin, even the Buddha would come to slap you. Where in the world can we find this Amitabha?”

“E-ehek!”

Hae Yeon was flustered and looked between the bear’s skin and Chung Myung’s face.

“Right. It is strange when I think about it, but you didn’t notice it at all.”

“If another monk had done this, we would have noticed it right away.”

Even the disciples of Mount Hua spoke as if they didn’t notice it. A monk with animal skin on felt so natural to them.

“… family.”

“Right. I guess it’s because we are close.”

“The round one is cute too.”

The disciples of Mount Hua suddenly realized that Hae Yeon had been stained by Mount Hua.

“Uh, euhhh! What did I do!”

Hae Yeon urgently tried to remove the bearskin; Yoon Jong shook his head while holding his shoulder.

“… Isn’t that better than freezing? Even Buddha will understand.”

“….”

Chung Myung clicked his tongue as he watched Hae Yeon collapse in despair, not knowing what to do with the sudden spiritual pain.

But then,

Flinch.

Chung Myung, who was about to move, went silent. Then, his shining eyes turned to the door. This made everyone puzzled.

“This bastard!”

Chung Myung hurriedly mumbled while bolting out the door. His speed was so swift that all anyone could see was a faraway dot.

“What the! What’s gotten into him?!”

“Don’t let him escape!”

Without any hesitation, everyone pursued the trail of footsteps. A sense of tension started to appear on their faces as they chased after Chung Myung, who had put some distance between them.