Return of the Mount Hua Sect
chapter-666

“Is that true?”

“What?”

“What I heard earlier. It was said that Mount Hua defeated the Demonic Sect in the North Sea…”

“Then, did they really have to involve the Palace Lord in a lie?”

“Still, the lord did look young, so maybe…”

The person who was speaking quickly fell silent because an archer from the North Sea Ice Palace, who was passing by, looked at him with angry eyes.

When he lowered his head to avoid the gaze, the North Sea Ice Palace archer turned his head again and walked away.

The person next to him was holding his breath, quietly hugging himself.

“Watch your mouth, damn it!”

“I-I am sorry!”

“From what I heard, the Lords of the North Sea Ice Palace are related by blood, like the head of the most prestigious family. In that case, it wouldn’t be so shocking for a young person to come as the Palace Lord.”

“R-right.”

The man glanced to the side and said.

“Well, if that is the case, this should be a huge thing, right? It was the Demonic Sect.”

“… maybe they found a couple of the Demonic Sect people and handled them?”

“Ugh, you bastard! Even those in the North Sea have common sense. Do you think they would bow their heads and say thank you for a little favor like that?”

“Now that you say it…”

“This is frustrating because there is no means to check.”

“Why is there no means to check! There are so many people?”

“Uh?”

One person gently signaled to the archer of the North Sea Ice Palace.

“Since this happened in the North Sea, shouldn’t asking a person from the North Sea be enough?”

“… something feels strange about this.”

The North Sea Ice Palace was a region that had no contact with the Central Plains. Moreover, since they were from different regions, talking to them wasn’t easy.

“What is so odd about that? They also came to join in the ceremony of the Heavenly Friends Alliance, so do you think they would be in a bad mood? I will ask them.”

And then he spoke excitedly, looked around, and then quietly called out to the North Sea Ice Palace man who happened to pass by him.

“Excuse me…”

“Yes?”

The Ice Palace warrior turned his head and looked.

“Is… is it alright if I ask something?”

“Of course.”

The man gulped and then quickly asked.

“A while back… about what the Palace Lord said.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you should know. It is said that Mount Hua went to the North Sea and defeated the Demonic Sect…”

Then the warriors nodded.

“That one.”

“Yes, yes! Is that true?”

As the man asked with a happy smile, the warrior frowned.

“Are you suspecting the Lord of the Palace of lying?”

“No! No, of course not! How could I? That is totally taken out of context!”

Feeling the cold force, the man was taken aback, forcing him to bow and say.

“It isn’t that; it’s just the Demonic Sect. I was just curious about their strength.”

An odd moment of silence fell, and the warrior frowned as if he couldn’t believe this man.

“You seriously know nothing?”

“Well, what we heard…”

The warrior, Song Won, sighed.

‘They really are people who have no outlook.’

Did this mean that even after performing such an incredible feat, those people didn’t bother even speaking about it, let alone bragging?

No matter how much credit was given, this felt a bit too much. Most people could not even stand the itch they had when they did something that brought even just a bit of merit.

“The force of the remnants?”

As the man quietly urged, Song Won smiled.

‘Let me give some credit then.’

Was it said to hide the merits of oneself and then praise the merits of others? If Mount Hua had followed that, then there was no reason for him not to follow that.

“How can that be…”

Song Won began to mix things up and talk about what happened in the North Sea.

“And so it happened.”

“…”

“…”

The people who had already gathered around Song Won couldn’t even think about closing their mouths.

“…Priest?”

“Yes.”

“P-priest and two hundred demons. Fuck….”

This was an overwhelming display of strength.

Those who had heard that Mount Hua had blocked the Demonic Sect and thought that at most they had taken down a couple of remnants were now shocked by the words coming from Song Won’s mouth.

“Is that the truth?”

“The North Sea people never lie.”

“W-well. Surely that’s a huge thing…”

“And I saw it all with my own eyes. I participated in the final battle.”

“…”

Song Won noticed the doubt in their eyes and frowned.

“I cannot show you what I saw, but there is a way to show you what I experienced.”

“Uh?”

Song Won began to open his shirt.

‘Uh?’

The people surrounding him were all a bit flustered by his actions, but instead of answering their looks, he simply took the shirt off.

“Euk!”

“That…!”

His fully exposed upper body revealed a thick, snake-like black scar that resembled a tattoo. The wound, which had already healed, was now indented, perfectly proving that he had stood in line for the battle.

“T-that wound….”

“Right. A wound from the battle against the Demonic Sect.”

At first glance, the wound wasn’t an old one.

Gulp.

The sound of nervous gulps echoed around.

“Oh my… then it was true.”

“Mount Hua did…”

Seeing the changing atmosphere, Song Won adjusted his clothes and then covered them.

“If the Five Swords of Mount Hua hadn’t come, the North Sea would have turned into a grave by now. No one there would have survived, and then the Central Plains wouldn’t have been safe either.”

“…”

At first glance, it seemed like an absurd claim. What difference could just five people joining them make?

But no one could refute those words. What sect in the world would lower their strength to praise another sect?

The fact that those words came out of the mouth of none other than an Ice Palace warrior meant that Mount Hua played a huge role.

“So not just the Ice Palace troops but the entire Central Plains should be thankful to Mount Hua. And if you don’t know grace, you are no better than animals.”

After saying that, Song Won turned around and walked away.

“…so everything is the truth then.”

The words that someone groaned pierced through their head.

“So you don’t even know what it means to ‘tread with caution’?”

“…”

The eyes of the Beast Palace warrior, which looked at them, made them all shrink.

It was their first time being looked at in such a way, which was saying, ‘How did I come across such idiots?’.

“Ahh…”

As the Nanman Beast Palace warrior laughed, the strong, fine muscles on his arms clenched and relaxed.

“No, it is fine. Let us say you don’t know it. But you should know about the Plum Blossom Sword Saint, right? Do all the people in the Central Plains live with their eyes and ears closed or something? How can you not know about the Plum Blossom Sword Saint? It is thanks to him that those who are born are healthy, happy, and alive!”

“…”

“I always heard that the people in the Central Plains value their manners and morality, but I guess it was all a lie! How can someone say confidently that they know nothing about the Plum Blossom Sword Saint who defeated the Demonic Sect and the Heavenly Demon? Pathetic bastards!”

“…”

Gong Man-Ri was receiving such dumbfounded looks for the first time in his life after asking, ‘Who is this Plum Blossom Sword Saint that your palace lord mentioned?’ to the Beast Palace warrior, who now grumbled.

“It is my first time hearing…”

“What?”

The eyes of the Beast Palace warrior shone. Gong Man-Ri took a step back without even noticing his force, which was slowly changing into a starving wolf.

“How can a person from the Central Plains not know who the Plum Blossom Sword Saint is! How many demons did that man defeat with his sword, and how many high priests he took down! And how many sects he saved! Fucking shit!”

With that loud noise, even the disciples of Mount Hua came running.

“W-what is it?”

“See this now! These idiots don’t even know who the Plum Blossom Sword Saint is!”

“What?”

“They don’t know the Plum Blossom Sword Saint?”

“Isn’t he insane?”

After hearing that someone didn’t know about the Plum Blossom Sword Saint, the other warriors of the Beast Palace rushed there, too. The force they held felt like animals coming in to tear someone to their death.

“This guy is the one?”

“You don’t know who that is?”

“Should I let you know?”

Being surrounded by the Beast Palace warriors who rushed in, Gong Man-Ri looked at the disciples of Mount Hua in fear.

“S-save me, please!”

“Yes, saving you, that’s what the Plum Blossom Sword Saint did! And you don’t know who that man is?”

“C-calm down!”

Yoon Jong broke into a cold sweat and tried to stop the Beast Palace archers. He felt it the other day when he went to their palace, and their respect for the Plum Blossom Sword Saint was a lot greater than what Mount Hua had.

Even Mount Hua itself built no shrine for the Plum Blossom Sword Saint, but wasn’t the Beast Palace guarding a shrine in his name?

‘Now that I think about it, I don’t think the former Lord’s shrine was even present in the Beast Palace.’

That was when his nervousness was picking up, but looking back, just how incredible did this person have to be for a different sect to build a shrine and honor him and respect him for the generations to come?

“I will make sure you know! In the past, the Plum Blossom Sword Saint is the one who defeated the Demonic Sect and saved the Central Plains! And this is the Plum Blossom Sword Saint of Mount Hua!”

“Yes! Yes! I understand! I will make sure to remember it!”

“You sure?”

“I don’t think he knows it yet!”

“Should I carve it onto his body?”

As the warriors of Beast Palace were attacking Gong Man-ri with their eyes, Yoon Jong, feeling more scared, shouted.

“Y-You shouldn’t do that to a guest!”

That was when the Beast Palace warriors shook their heads and stepped back as if they had never been violent.

“Stay back!”

“Those are the words of Mount Hua. Let him go!”

“Yes!”

It was as if the discussion had never happened. Gong Ma-Ri, who managed to escape by a hair’s breadth, slumped right there in fear.

“Tsk. If this was Yunnan, we would have taken him somewhere dark.”

“Or throw him into a snake pit.”

“Ah, unfortunately, we are here.”

“…”

At their dissatisfied mumblings, the people of the Central Plains all went pale. Yoon Jong looked up at the sky and smiled.

‘There is a reason they are called Beast Palace.’

Actually, no matter how swift their regret was, it was too late now.

The Ice Palace warriors were praising how amazing Mount Hua was in the North Sea, and the Beast Palace would go insane at the name Plum Blossom Sword Saint, increasing the incredulity.

It was absurd.

If someone else had said it, or if Mount Hua themselves had claimed it, they would have walked away. But it was not them, but the Ice Palace and Beast Palace, who were saying this.

The Beast Palace lived with a wall built between it and the Central Plains, and the Ice Palace resided by constructing a home on their own barren land. What would such people have to gain by raising Mount Hua’s fame?

That meant that the words said were a bit close to the truth…

“Was Mount Hua really a great sect in its past?”

“But why was so little known?”

“Ah, no actually I heard of it too. It is said that Mount Hua in the past was a lot stronger than Wudang.”

“I thought it was just something said by people who liked to make things up…”

“Will there be smoke without fire?”

“Then why did such a sect fall out of the Nine Great Sects?”

“Fall out! Does that sound like something one can say after hearing what Mount Hua did in the North Sea? How can a fallen sect even do something like that! Besides, they even won the spar against Wudang not long back!”

“R-right. True.”

“Now I understand. I thought Wudang dealt with Mount Hua in the right way, but it seems that wasn’t the case. The story that a Wudang elder was defeated by the Third class disciple of Mount Hua was so absurd that I never believed it. Still, if what Mount Hua did in the North Sea is true, it wouldn’t be nonsense then!”

“Right! Right!”

Baek Cheon, who was watching the rapidly changing atmosphere, smiled.

‘They said it would be recognized someday even if they didn’t show it.’

If Mount Hua had gone around speaking of its merits, this couldn’t have been the impact. It was frustrating and unfair at times, but thanks to them enduring it and walking silently on their chosen path, such reactions came back.

‘The ceremony will surely be successful.’

If they could maintain and lead this favorable response, there would be no major problems in the future.

But… as always, accidents are bound to happen where people gather.

“What are you saying! You barbarian?”

For a moment, at the sound, which was close to a shout, Baek Cheon turned his head.

‘What is it?’

He saw that there were people gathered over there, but he thought that it was the Ice Palace and Beast Palace people talking. But that didn’t seem to be the case.

“You dirty outsiders, why are you so stuck up? You don’t even know your place!”

Baek Cheon was taken aback by those words. He was unaware of what was happening, but everyone had to be in their line.

‘What is happening…!’

And he felt enraged. I felt angry. But the anger turned to concern, and he glanced around.

He was under the obligation to end the ceremony peacefully. It was said that accidents or mishaps could never happen.

But wasn’t there something in Mount Hua about turning even the smallest fight into the biggest war?

‘Nooo!’

He couldn’t be there, right?

A moment of relief appeared on Baek Cheon’s face.

‘Right. Q-quickly. We need to deal with this right now before that idiot comes over!’

Baek Cheon quickly approached the direction from which the shout came. Whether it was to stop him or kick him out, he didn’t care by what means he had to do it.

But sadly, the ominous feelings were never wrong.

“What now, you bastard?”

Baek Cheon stopped in shock at the familiar voice that came.

“Who is what? Did your liver explode from swelling too much!? Ugh! Come here! Fuck! Come here, I say!”

Even without seeing the person, he could imagine what had happened and what was going to happen.

Now, he was so worried and sad that everything was heading the wrong way.

‘Oh, Heavenly being!’

Why was that guy always there where trouble arose?

Why!

NOOO! Just why!!

Even if he asked, there was no answer to be had.