Return of the Mount Hua Sect

“…seriously what are you?”

Looking at Chung Myung, the guard was stunned.

“You said it was your first-time seeing people like us?”

“No. It is just my first time seeing someone like you.”

“…”

‘No. This is the first time you’re meeting me and how dare you talk to me like this?’

“…anyway. So, has there been a person from the central plains whom you’ve taken to the Palace before us?”

“You are asking such obvious things.”

“What happened to them?”

The guard smiled.

“Have you ever heard of someone getting released after getting caught by us?”

“No.”

“You seem to know well. Then why are you asking?”

Chung Myung shook his head and then looked back.

“See that?”

“…”

“It looks like everyone was probably killed.”

‘Please.’

‘Please shut that mouth, Chung Myung.’

The disciples of Mount Hua just wanted to enter the palace immediately at this point. Being locked up in such a small place with Chung Myung was horrible punishment.

And fortunately, their wish came true.

“Open the gate!”

The front gate opened wide and the cart carrying them entered the Palace through the gate.

“Wow…”

The disciples of Mount Hua shed a sigh of relief. Numerous warriors were lined up in the wide place. And around them, there were wild beasts prowling all around.

The sight of humans and beasts living in harmony gave them a strange feeling. It was something that they hadn’t experienced before.

“Isn’t that a tiger?”

“What kind of sane man will sit on a tiger?”

“And that… isn’t that a snake?”

“…why would someone have a snake around their neck?”

Baek Cheon rolled his eyes. He had heard that the Nanman Beast palace used wild beasts, but to live so comfortably with real beasts like these…

Besides, the wild beasts here were twice as large as the ones they were familiar with.

“Don’t be so surprised.”

One of the guards spoke coldly.

“Because soon, we will feed you to one of those children.”

‘Why hadn’t those words sounded strange?’

‘We will be fed…. Ah, fed! So they don’t get hungry, right.’

Chung Myung smiled.

‘This is such a fun sight. If I had known this was the case, I would have visited the palace in advance!’

He wondered if he had wandered around the central plains too much in his previous life. Even while they were looking around, the guards gathered one after another. From the few dozen in the beginning, now there were hundreds of them. And the guards who had brought them here handed them over to the soldiers.

There was no way that all the people of the palace who were responsible for looking after Yunnan had gathered here.

That meant that the people here didn’t represent the full power of the palace. Considering that, they could imagine how huge the power of the Nanman Beast Palace was.

‘As expected.’

Baek Cheon’s face went stiff.

Regardless of how strong each soldier here was, it was remarkable that there were so many people who had learned martial arts here. Even the Shaolin Sect probably wouldn’t have these many warrior monks.

The cow, that became frightened at the sight of all the wild beasts, halted. And the guard opened the locked door of the cart and pulled out the disciples of Mount Hua. He then proceeded to drag them into the middle of the ground.

“Ah, hold me gently! You’ll break my wrist!”

When Chung Myung yelled that, the guard who was dragging him thought he was dealing with a crazy man.

“It is the first time I have seen a guy who isn’t afraid of death. Do you have anything called emotions?”

“Emotions? What about them? Do you know what my character is like?”

‘Wouldn’t it be better to not know?’

“Hik!”

As the guard continued to pull, the person behind him spoke coldly.

“Stop it. The palace lord will arrive soon!”

The guard shuddered at the word of his comrade. This reaction alone made it clear exactly how fearful their palace lord was.

They dragged Chung Myung and his party to the centre. Then they went back to their own groups and stood in perfect formations. They didn’t take away their weapons nor did they tie them up.

“What will they do if we run?”

“They’re inviting us to do it. Through their actions, they’re are asking us whether we’re confident enough to cross the vast land of Yunnan and re-enter Sichuan avoiding all their eyes.”

“…right.”

It would take them at least ten days to go back the way they had come from and escaping from the guards of the Nanman Beast Palace was no easy feat.

“And it doesn’t seem like it’ll be easy for us at all. Everyone here… they’re all stronger than you think.”

The disciples of Mount Hua looked around with tense eyes.

They observed the copper-colored armor on the bodies of the guards and their tightly covered muscles. They noticed their intense eyes. Contrary to the freedom one would feel from the name of the Nanman Beast Palace, everyone here seemed like a dignified soldier.

That alone was daunting enough, but the wild beasts that roamed freely among them would occasionally show them their teeth and scare them.

The sharp teeth of a tiger showed how wild it was.

“… if we put that tiger in the central plains, you could easily imagine people calling it ‘Mountain God’, right?”

“I am sure that it isn’t a tiger.”

“A bird the size of a man has been flying above us for a while now.”

“…I had no idea about that. But why is there a snake around his neck?”

Something felt odd.

It wasn’t like the enemy was strong enough to corner them completely. But the anxiety of facing something unknown took over them. The intensity of this weird feeling they felt here was incomparable to when they were in Yunnan and Kunming.

Being here felt like they were in an another world.

And in that moment.

“Kaaaah!”

With a sharp sound, a white object flew past them at the speed of lightning.

“W-what!”

Kawwww!

The rushing object stopped just a step ahead of them. It was a marten that had pure white fur. And it seemed to be threatening them looking at its hair standing up…

“I-is that a spirit animal?”

“It looks like a cat?”

‘What?’

Everyone looked at Chung Myung.

‘Does this bastard not use his eyes?’

“Tch tch. Come here. Tch tch!”

“Don’t do it! It’ll bite your finger off!”

When Chung Myung squatted down and reached for the ferocious marten, Yoon Jong and Jo Gul tried to stop him. But Chung Myung was calm.

“Why? It is such a good listener. So kind.”

“Uh?”

Jo Gul and Yoon Jong rubbed their eyes. The white marten which had its hair up until a second ago was now licking Chung Myung’s finger and was being embraced by him.

It was like it was playing with him…

“It is docile?”

“…what do you feel?”

With the way the animal was wagging its tail, it was now looking cute.

“…seems like a real spirit animal”

“It definitely must be precious. Even if it isn’t presently, it is definitely a spirit animal.”

It is said that animals innately knew whether a person was good or bad.

And if a spirit animal was wagging its tail like this, how bad of a personality did Chung Myung have to suppress that innate sense?

But thanks to that, they relaxed a bit. Chung Myung pushed it to Baek Cheon.

“Bite! Bite!”

“Don’t!’

“Grrr bite!”

Baek Cheon grunted.

‘Why is this idiot making jokes even at this moment? I don’t know if you are great or a complete idiot!’

And at that moment.

Bang!

The large door in front of them opened and a man proudly walked out.

“Wow…”

“Wah…”

In an instant, all the disciples of Mount Hua were overwhelmed by the sight they saw. They saw the thick arms and legs that seemed as though they had stones in them. They could see the pulsing muscles of the figure. He adorned an animal fur pelt that barely covered his huge body that seemed to be harder than any metal.

He had long hair that was rough like hay and reached his shoulder. In summary, he looked exactly like a wild beast.

‘T-this person…’

Walking slowly like a tiger, the man stood on top of the stairs menacingly. He looked at the disciples of Mount Hua and shouted.

“People of the central plains!”

Baek Cheon shut his eyes as he heard the roar. Sometimes the emotion of the speaker could be felt by the tone of their words. And in this single sentence, the hostility this man had towards them had been revealed.

‘We took this place too lightly.’

If this was the amount of hostility they had, then their problem could never be solved.

The Palace Lord grunted and shouted.

“Who are you all! How dare you disguise your identity and come into our sacred land! Speak! If your answer doesn’t satisfy me, I will tear you to shreds and feed you to the animals.”

The voice seemed to have the power to shake the world. Baek Cheon tried to cover his ears, but his hands wouldn’t even move.

‘What amazing strength.’

The Lord of the Tang family had amazing energy. But this man’s energy wasn’t the least bit inferior to it. If anything, it was only better than that of the Tang Family Lord.

“Speak! You damned intruders! If you don’t, I will tear you to pieces right away!”

The man’s eyes gleamed. This wasn’t an attitude that condoned excuses. This man was just looking for a justification to kill them all.

‘What do we do?’

Cold sweat dripped down Baek Cheon’s forehead. One wrong word could kill them all…

It was then.

“We are from Mount Hua.”

All the disciples turned their heads towards the voice.

Chung Mung took a couple steps forward and scratched his nose calmly.

“We came here to find something. Can you help us?”

“Uh…”

“Yah, idiot!”

“…gulp.”

Even Yu Yiseol failed to hold her composure and gulped in nervousness.

Well, if they revealed it like this…

“Mount Hua? Did you just say Mount Hua?”

“Yes, we are from Mount Hua.”

And surprisingly, a light shone in the palace lord’s eyes.

“The Mount Hua that is known to be cursed by the Nine Great Sects? The Mount Hua from Shaanxi? You are the disciples of that place?”

The palace lord’s face was distorted. His voice was twice as loud compared to before and it was double the force. Mount Hua’s disciple’s legs faltered at the intense pressure they were facing. But Chung Myung didn’t seem to be even the least bit worried about it and said.

“Yes. That Mount Hua!”

“You…”

The man almost sprinted down the stairs and ran straight for Chung Myung. And then he stopped right in front of Chung Myung.

“…”

The disciples of Mount Hua froze.

The moment the palace lord stood in front of Chung Myung, they realized exactly how huge this man was. Chung Myung wasn’t short, but his head only reached the chest of the Palace Lord!

And the force emanating from his body was truly incredible. Just looking at him made their legs go weak. And the man spoke in a low voice.

“Mount Hua?”

It was a low voice, but it felt more threatening than before.

“…”

The man who was looking at Chung Myung like he wanted to tear the skin off his body, raised his arm. It was a movement that seemed like he wanted to smash the guy to the ground.

Baek Cheon drew his sword, but before he could move, the arm descended and Baek Cheon screamed.

“No!”

Tak!

But the hand which should have smashed Chung Myung into the ground, was now suddenly grabbing him by the shoulder. And with a strong voice, the man asked.

“Then you are the descendants of the Plum Blossom Sword Saint?”

“…Uh?”

‘Uh?’

‘Why is my name being brought up here?’

“For the day to come when I meet the descendants of the Plum Blossom Sword Saint! The Nanman Beast Palace Lord welcomes the descendants of the Plum Blossom Sword Saint! His descendants deserve to be our guests!”

“…”

‘Because of me?’

‘But why?’

“Hahaha! Prepare a feast! We have guests! Our guests have arrived!”

The Nanman Beast Palace Lord chuckled. And the others began to move in unison.

Yoon Jong, who was watching it, looked at Baek Cheon.

“Just what kind of situation is this?”

“…”

‘How can I know?’

‘Just how?’