Return of the Mount Hua Sect

“Euaaaaa! We arrived!”

“It’s Mount Hua!”

“Aigoo, mother!”

Mount Hua’s disciples, who opened the gate of the sect as if kicked it and entered, looked at the halls with eyes filled with emotion.

Despite having climbed the steep and challenging Mount Hua in one go, they felt more energized than exhausted.

“Aah.”

“Mount Hua….”

It seemed like everyone was so moved that they were ready to burst into tears of emotion at any moment.

Hyun Jong smiled brightly.

‘Is it really that good?’

But then, it’s not really surprising when you think about it.

Most of Mount Hua’s disciples have never been away from Mount Hua for long. They were naturally thrilled to return after being away from such a place for over two years.

Hyun Jong’s heart warmed at the thought.

Doesn’t this mean that Mount Hua’s disciples consider this place their home? He can’t help but be happy as the sect leader…….

“Eugh! Roof! It’s a roof!”

“I’m going to cry.”

“Now we don’t have to get bitten by bugs while sleeping anymore.”

“No more sleeping on the grass and waking up with a damp back!”

“Rice! You can eat human-like rice! Rice!”

“…….”

Hyun Jong covered his mouth with a fist and coughed lightly.

‘It’s a bit embarrassing.’

Although Mount Hua can now be considered a wealthy sect, just the fact that they can sleep in a roofed hall moved them to tears. Even the Beggar Union isn’t like this…

Of course, this is a matter of course if you know what they’ve been through.

To avoid the eyes of outsiders, they went into a deserted mountain and trained. To phrase it in a good way, they trained like a hermit in deep mountain valleys, and in a bad way, they ate grass like a beggar in the wilderness.

After spending such a long time swinging a sword like a madman from morning till night, scraping up and eating anything edible, and falling asleep on the ground, it is not unreasonable to be thrilled to see a place where one can live like a human being.

Although they stayed at Eunha Merchant Guild for a while, it would not have been a comfortable place for the disciples either.

“Bed! I’m going to lie down on a bed!”

“Get out of the way! I’m first!”

“I wonder if there’s anything in the Dining Hall?”

“What could there be? It’s been empty for years.”

“Still, maybe…”

Just as the disciples were losing their senses, the head of Mount Hua’s discipline stamped his foot.

Kung!

The disciples’ heads turned to one side in unison.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

Hyun Young, who looked around the disciples with his tongue clicked, said.

“No matter how urgent you are, there are things to do.”

And he pointed to the halls with a gesture of his chin.

“Can’t you see?”

“Huh?”

Hyun Young kindly explained it to the disciples as they showed no sign of understanding.

“Do you see the white dust accumulated on the hall over there?”

“…….”

“I’m not hoping for anything great. I wish the repair work could be completed today, but I’m also human, so I won’t ask for that. But!”

Hyun Young grinned as he saw everyone’s faces begin to turn pale.

“At least you should clean the dust that’s accumulated while it’s been empty, right?”

‘Devil!’

‘So rigid!’

‘No flexibility at all!’

As if hearing the disciples’ inner protests, Hyun Young just shrugged and asked.

“Any complaints?”

“The- There’s none!”

“No way!”

“Absolutely agree!”

No matter how grown their martial arts, no one had yet grown so big as to dare to criticize Hyun Young’s words.

Hyun Young happily nodded his head and shouted loudly.

“All right, move! Let’s get this over with!”

“Yes!”

Mount Hua’s disciples dashed off like arrows.

“Wow….”

Hong Dae-gwang, who climbed a little later, looked blankly at what was going on inside Mount Hua.

What would the higher-ups of the Beggar Union think if they saw what was happening here? There’s probably a need to reconsider the martial artists’ business field that’s been thought of as common sense in Kangho, isn’t there?

“Fly quickly!”

“Coming through! Move!”

“There! Sweep there, there!”

The disciples were cleaning up Mount Hua at a formidable pace. This was not just simple sweeping and wiping. Disciples carrying human-sized water barrels were rushing down to the creek, fetching water, and literally ‘washing’ the halls.

Dozens of water buckets were flown one after another and poured out, making it look like rain pouring from the sky.

“…Impressive.”

He also felt this when he saw the Tang Family back then, but isn’t it a waste of manpower to use martial artists for escorting or transporting? If they were put into construction work, they’d easily do the job of ten skilled workers…

The halls, which were covered in white dust, quickly regained their original color.

‘But where is Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword?’

It’s one thing for the others, but that man doesn’t seem like he’d be eagerly participating in cleaning…

“The dust isn’t fully wiped off!”

“Ouuch!”

Just then, Chung Myung was seen kicking his Sahyung’s rear end mercilessly.

“Ancestral tablet! There’s dust on our ancestors’ tablets! How can you just casually wipe it and move on?”

“N- No, I wiped it clean.….”

“Here! Don’t you see the dust here? Here?”

“…Chung Myung-ah. I can’t even see that.”

“If even a single speck of dust remains here today, Sahyung will all die! Wipe it off quickly!”

“U- Understood.”

Chung Myung, who had taken over Ancestor Hall, was flipping his eyes and roaring like a lion.

He too grabbed a clean cloth and started vigorously wiping the ancestral tablet.

“Huu! Huu!”

Wipe. Wipe.

“Huu! Huu!”

Wipe! Wipe!

Baek Cheon shook his head as he saw him wiping the memorial tablet engraved with ‘The 13th generation Sect Leader of Mount Hua Sect, Cheong Mun.”

He even felt madness in the hand movements of cleaning the memorial tablet.

‘Is that guy undisciplined? Or is he overly disciplined?’

How can he kick away his Sahyung and treat ancestors whose faces he has never seen so respectfully? Where did things go so wrong that such a dreadful person came to be?

Wipe! crack!

“Hiiik! The- There’s a crack on the tablet! Aigoo! Sect Leader Sahyuuuuung! G- Glue! Bring glueeee!!!”

“…Crazy.”

Baek Cheon, giving up on his thoughts, shook his head repeatedly. Hong Dae-gwang felt the same.

Sparkle. Sparkle.

In just one hour, Mount Hua regained its complete form. The tiled tiles, which had been stained with dirt, were sparkling again, and the murky pillars and walls, once faded, looked as if they had been freshly varnished.

Bedding hung on a long clothesline and swayed gently in the wind.

It was truly a peaceful sight.

“Now, let’s see….”

Hyun Young scanned from place to place with sharp eyes.

The disciples couldn’t take their eyes off Hyun Young with a nervous face. What comes out of that mouth determines their fate.

“Well, if it’s this much…”

Hyun Young nodded as if, though not completely satisfied, it was acceptable. Everyone let out a silent cheer.

“Sect Leader.”

“Yes.”

“Since the children have been through a lot, I think it would be good to let them eat and rest comfortably today.”

“That’s a good idea, but do we have any food in Mount Hua right now? With all the cooks sent away, there’s no one to prepare the food.”

“On the way up, I stopped by Huayin’s cooks and ordered food. All we have to do is go down and fetch it.”

“You’ve thought of everything. Haha.”

Just as Hyun Jong was about to nod pleasantly, he caught Chung Myung sneaking behind Hyun Yeong, whispering.

“Elder-nim. Liquor, liquor…”

“This….! You punk! After drinking and getting scolded like that, the word ‘liquor’ still comes out of that mouth?”

Hyun Young frowned when Hyun Jong shouted out.

“That’s one thing, and this is another! A kid can crave some liquor!”

“Hnggggg.”

Just as Hyun Jong was about to scold further.

“Here’s the liquor.”

Someone’s voice came from behind their back. Everyone turned their heads reflexively.

The closed gates of Mount Hua slowly opened, revealing a man holding a white liquor bottle. The middle-aged man, holding a pure white liquor bottle in one hand, had his entire body covered in green clothing.

“Oh!”

Hyun Jong’s eyes were filled with joy.

“Gaju-nim!”

“Father-nim!”

Likewise, those who discovered Tang Gun-ak could not contain their joy and shouted loudly. Tang Gun-ak smiled at the hospitality.

He walked into the sect, then bowed deeply to Hyun Jong.

“Greetings, Maengju-nim.”

“Don’t be like this, Gaju-nim.”

Hyun Jong quickly grabbed his arms and lifted him.

“I’m the sinner who failed to fulfill my role as Maengju and burdened Gaju-nim. I cannot accept such a gesture.”

Tang Gun-ak smiled brightly.

“It doesn’t seem like Maengju-nim failed to do your job.”

“But… How did Gaju-nim arrive so quickly?”

When Hyun Jong asked with an amazed face, Tang Gun-ak replied with an embarrassed look.

“I rushed here immediately after receiving the letter. Hearing that Mount Hua had ended its Bongmun, I was too excited to wait any longer.”

“Welcome. You’ve really come to the right time.”

Hyun Jong’s eyes were filled with joy and regret at the same time.

He knew well the hardships Tang Gun-ak endured during Mount Hua’s seclusion. In the meantime, he came all the way here from the distant Yangtze River, so how can he not be thankful?

“Hmm. Some are welcomed warmly, while others are just baggage carrier.”

Then Im Sobyong came into the gate while jesting.

“Nokrim King?”

“You’ve arrived?”

Hyun Young smiled brightly as he greeted Im Sobyong.

“It’s been a while, Elder-nim.”

“How have you been?”

“How have I been… I think I can answer that question only after Elder-nim looks at the ledger I brought. Only if it passes your inspection can I say that there were no issues.”

“Hahaha. Then surely, there were no issues.”

Hyun Young held the hand of Im Sobyong who was jesting around. There was clear faith in that handheld.

“That.”

Then Chung Myung crept up on Tang Gun-ak. His eyes were on the bottle that Tang Gun-ak was holding.

“That looks like a really fine liquor…”

The unique color and the landscape painting on the bottle were extraordinary. Surely the liquor inside such a bottle couldn’t be ordinary.

“Of course, it’s a fine liquor.”

Tang Gun-ak smiled lightly and nodded.

“I brought this specially selected liquor to share a drink with a friend I haven’t seen in a long time.”

“Keuuu, that’s good to hear.”

Just as Chung Myung was about to respond, Tang Gun-ak’s gaze darkened slightly.

“But before that…”

“What?”

“There’s something we need to confirm.”

Tang Gun-ak, who stepped back slightly from Hyun Jong, stood upright looking at Chung Myung. A great deal of momentum flowed out of his body.

“Heup.”

“…….”

The faces of Mount Hua’s disciples were quickly hardened.

A tremendous sense of intimidation, befitting the position of Gaju of the Sichuan Tang Family, weighs down on the disciples.

“A friend who secluded himself for years without contact…”

“…….”

“I think the taste of the drink will come out better if we confirm what you’ve gained during that time. What do you think?”

Tang Gun-ak’s sharp eyes fell on Chung Myung. Tang Gun-ak’s momentum, which was released without suppressing his energy, was truly unexpected.

However, Chung Myung, who received that gaze, only grinned even though he received the force directly.

“To confirm….”

Chung Myung, slightly curling the corners of his mouth, answered while looking straight at his close friend whom he had not seen in a long time.

“I guess one bottle of liquor wouldn’t be enough to confirm that?”

It was the moment when Tang Gun-ak smiled the same way as Chung Myung did.