Return of the Mount Hua Sect
chapter-692

“Tsk.”

Chung Myung looked at the palace in front of him with a disapproving expression.

The palace was neither nice nor magnificent. To be clear, even the roof tiles were missing, and the walls had holes in them. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched to call it abandoned.

To normal people, this might be nothing more than an abandoned house. But for beggars, this was no different from a palace.

“Well, I am so full these days!”

Where in the world did a beggar sleep under a roof?

When he was active in the past, he was envious of the beggars who had to always move around!

And this was what they had turned into now?!

“Tsk.”

Chung Myung clicked his tongue in disapproval and walked away, thinking to himself.

Right. If it were the other ones, he would have said something, but now he had a big heart. Wasn’t this different from the old people? Different from the old nature he had?

“Is mister beggar here?”

Instead of the broken door, there was a thick cloth covering the entrance, and he stuck his head in.

“Here?”

But soon, Chung Myung was shocked.

What was this now?

When one thinks about beggars, there is a very familiar image that pops into mind.

Beggars lying here and there, roughly covered with mats to sleep, and empty gourds with no water. Being a beggar was the toughest job despite being useless, and yet it felt so natural, too.

But…

“Did you handle that?”

“Ack! There is nothing I can do about it now! You do it yourself!”

“If I could do it, I would! I am in no position to do anything, though!”

“The carrier pigeon! What happened to that? Just who cooked and ate it? Why can I not see the pigeon?”

“Because we sent it earlier?”

“What jerk? What do you mean by sending it? This is more urgent! You want to run till Luoyang now?”

“… I-I apologize.”

What? This busy?

This palace was full of beggars.

There couldn’t have been this many beggars in Hwa-Um village, so they had to drag them in from Shaanxi. The problem was that all the beggars were running around until their feet began to sweat, which wasn’t what beggars usually did.

Furthermore, some beggars had collapsed in front of the desks. Documents were piled up on them, and the hand holding the brush was moving swiftly, like a swordsman.

“The governor visited? I didn’t see him, though!”

“I saw it! Just write it down!”

“Which direction did the Defeating Blade go?”

“I told you twice already! That man went to Hunan!”

“You sure?”

“What can I say if you ask that! It’s not like it can be checked again!”

“Ughhh.”

Surprisingly, no one paid much attention to Chung Myung.

As he watched it all, he didn’t seem to have the will to turn his head away.

“…even so, pay a little attention to me….”

Chung Myung’s face turned dull. This was because, from the past till now, no one had ever treated him with such disgrace.

In the end, Chung Myung had to shout.

“Excuse me!”

“Ah, who is it?”

“That… mister beggar! Hong Dae-kwang….”

“I am busy, so go ask someone else!”

“….”

Oh my. He could not believe that a day came when he got ignored by a beggar.

And this made it impossible for him to hold back the anger.

“Ah, you came?”

“Eh?”

Chung Myung suddenly turned his head at the kind voice. One of the beggars who was running around put down the paper and ran to him.

“Cho Sam!”

Chung Myung briefly glanced at the beggar who ran to him, calling out the name Cho Sam, but he only said ‘ah’.

“Then Gu Chil?”

“You forget the faces of people?”

“No, it isn’t that, but…”

Chung Myung scratched the back of his head.

“You just grew up so much.”

“Ahh, like that huh? Hehe. When we came here and ate good, I grew up pretty tall.”

“Right. It does seem like it.”

When he first saw the guy, he was small, weak, and not pleasant to look at, but now he looked like a young man. Right, this was a huge thing.

“I guess that mister feeds you well.”

“The people in Hwa-Um are so kind that I can never go hungry. And they must have heard the rumors about me being close to you, so they even gave me meat.”

Chung Myung actually teared up, looking at Gu Chil, who had a kind smile.

“Right. I see. You came down here when what I asked from you was to come to Mount Hua?”

“… I-it is fine.”

“What do you think is fine? It will be fine, beggar.”

Gu Chil began to sweat.

“It feels comfortable as such; I don’t think I can get used to the conditions of a Taoist place.”

“It will be better than being a beggar.”

“Hehe. A beggar position suits me better.”

Chung Myung frowned, unable to believe it. Well, Gu Chil was one with a big heart. He had no desire to gain more by heading to Mount Hua.

‘It is like he will die if he steps into Mount Hua.’

The place where the most information went through was the Beggars Union. As a result, the disciples of the Beggars Union had an idea of how hard the training of each sect was.

Among the numerous sects spread around, Mount Hua held rumors that could make people lose their minds.

‘I won’t go even if I have to die!’

There was a common story among the beggars in Hwa-Um that no matter how harsh life was for a beggar, it was better than being a Taoist in Mount Hua. So would Gu Chil be insane enough to go in there?

“A caterpillar has a habit of eating pine needles.”

“Right.”

Chung Myung just sneered and nodded.

“Fine. Then tell me if anything happens. I mean it.”

“Of course! We are still friends. I don’t know if I can risk it and call you a friend….”

“Brat, you are cute.”

Chung Myung looked at Gu Chil, who wasn’t sure.

And then.

“No! You need to be busy, so why are you hanging out here! Go ahead and help them out!”

A sharp voice startled Gu Chil.

“Ah, i-it isn’t that….”

“Gu Chil, you have been missing work these days! Do you want to be scolded like before?”

“No! It is that…”

“Will you not come here right away?”

When Chung Myung saw the beggars yelling angrily, his eyes lit up.

“What is this bastard up to!”

“Who even are you… eik!”

The bamboo baton fell out of the shocked beggar’s hand.

“M-M… Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon!”

Jong Pal’s face turned pale immediately.

From his perspective, Chung Myung was scarier than a ghost.

“What? Scold? Did this guy continue to hit?”

“Oh my god!”

Jong Pal bowed down to the ground.

“S-spare me, please! It wasn’t my intention to do that!”

“I wanted to hang you upside down, skin you, and then throw you, but I showed pity because I felt sorry, and what? Are you scolding him? Yah, you fucking bastard!”

Pak!

The shoe that Chung Myung took off hit Jong Pal right on the back of his head.

“ACKKK!”

Jong Pal clutched the back of his head, screaming in pain, then resumed bowing.

“I will correct myself!”

“Enough now!”

The beggars, busy with their work, were drawn to the commotion. After a moment of silence, everyone started speaking.

“M-Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon!”

“Eikk! Why is he acting like this…!”

“Wang Cho! Find Wang Cho right now!”

The beggars, all pale, stepped back. It was like they had come across a tiger in a storeroom.

“…what is with them?”

“Haa… hahaha…. Haha…”

When Chung Myung asked, Cho Sam let out an awkward laugh.

‘Friend.’

If you called him like that, would he be able to answer you?

The beggars of Hwa-Um had heard about him so often that they knew his nature, so they couldn’t honestly answer his question.

“No…”

“I did wrong!”

“We apologize for not recognizing you!”

“Please spare us!”

Chung Myung’s face trembled as the voices begged for their lives.

“No, who is angry here? Why is everyone acting like…”

“Eikk!”

“J-just kill us!”

“W-we have the Beggars Union behind us.”

Chung Myung looked at the beggars who were making a mess.

“Gu Chil.”

“Uh?”

“… I need to leave for a moment.”

“…”

“Get out if you don’t want to get kicked.”

“… Thank you.”

After Gu Chil left, the sound of a sad pig being slaughtered echoed out.

“Tsk.”

After a while, Chung Myung clicked his tongue as he looked at the beggars sitting quietly together. Although they were all kneeling, Chung Myung seemed quite calm, considering the fuss happening.

“If a Taoist warrior comes and everyone pretends like he doesn’t exist, would he get mad or not?”

“O-of course. We were wrong to do that!”

“Uh? One will be angry, right?”

“Yes! Yes! Does it make sense?”

“Right, I am angry….”

“Yes, yes!”

“Ugh, shit!”

When Chung Myung took his shoe off, the beggars all scattered around.

“Tsk.”

When a beggar brought his shoes back, Chung Myung put them on and took a deep breath. It was to control his anger.

Sigh, what can he do by chasing after the beggars? Nothing would change.

Chung Myung sighed and asked.

“But why are you this busy?”

The beggars quickly turned to Gu Chil.

They didn’t want to talk to this man as much as they could, so maybe their friend could… no, they were asking Gu Chil, who had the least chance of being hit even if he spoke.

“A lot of people visited this time because of the start of the Heavenly Friends Alliance.”

“Yes.”

“We have to make a list of all this.”

“Uh? What about it?”

Gu Chil scratched the back of his head.

“That… where the famous people in Kangho came, and how they moved, how they acted, all of this is information.”

“That information?”

“Yes. That information, there are so many out there who want to buy that information.”

“…you sell every single thing then.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand it, though.

As Gu Chil said, the reality itself was information, but how the forces moved helped confirm the situation was truly impactful.

In the Beggars’ Union, which dealt with information, they would not miss actions like these.

“So, for now, we are busy writing down information about the people moving around here and sending it to the main base.”

“…we did all the work, so why do you make the money?”

“Hehe. Helping each other is…”

“Then you need to pay me.”

“…”

“Well, this isn’t something I want to discuss with you. Where is Mister Beggar?”

“The branch leader is out for work…”

It was then.

Flutter!

The curtain at the entrance moved, and Hong Dae-Kwang entered with a confident face.

“These beggars are all insane! Are they not doing what they are told to do and moping around lazily? I was so excited about getting rid of it all… uh? Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon? When did you come?”

The angry shouts all died down at once, and he even turned polite.

‘That shit… he seems like a sly one.’

‘Give half of that too! Half!’

The beggars knew very well what a terrible nature Hong Dae-Kwang had. When they saw him smiling like an idiot and being polite to people, they all cursed him inwardly.

“I came here to ask something… no, that aside. Mister!”

“Uh?”

“I asked you to take good care of that bastard, but he is putting pressure on others! Is this how you handle a situation?”

“Bastard? Who…”

When Hong Dae-Kwang saw where Chung Myung was pointing with flaming eyes…

“No, this bastard! Even after being kicked, he has no sense! Does he have a habit of being constantly hit or something?”

The gourd that Hong Dae-Kwang held hit Jong Pal directly on the head and shattered. A loud roar rang out.

Shhh.

Hong Dae-Kwang, who stepped on the fallen Jong Pal, shouted.

“Keep this bastard locked up, and don’t give him anything to eat for three days!”

“Yeah, but we don’t have enough workers, though.”

“Then wake him, make him work, and don’t feed him for three days!”

“… Yes!”

“Tsk.”

Hong Dae-Kwang quickly relaxed his face and looked back at Chung Myung.

“Ah, I am sorry, Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon. I took good care of him, but it seems like he forgot since a long time has passed. I will continue to handle him in the future.”

“Handle it well, I mean it. If not, I will have to come down here and stay permanently.”

“… Would you rather beat him to death now?”

“Then it would get easier. So no.”

“…”

Hong Dae-Kwang, who realized once again that the devil didn’t exist in hell alone, quickly cleared his throat and spoke. He had to answer something quickly to get this devil out of there.

“So what is it?”

“Let us head in and talk. My throat feels a little rough.”

“You bastards! What are you all doing? Get us some drinks! Alcohol and duck meat! Go buy that and fish soup, too!”

“Kung Pao Chicken too!”

“Yes, Kung Pao Chicken too! Hurry!”

Chung Myung chuckled and headed in.

“Uh?”

But at the same time, when his sleeve was touched, Gu Chil raised his head and saw Chung Myung. And Chung Myung nodded.

“What is it? Come on. You should eat, too.”

“Ah, no. Everyone is working. I am fine, too.”

“Ah, is that so?”

Chung Myung looked around at the beggars and said,

“Then why don’t we eat here? It has been a while since I saw you.”

“No! If one person is missing, nothing huge will happen.”

“Gu Chil! Hurry inside and eat in peace! Please!”

“…”

Chung Myung smiled.

“Heard that?”

“…”

“Let’s go.”

“Ugh…”

They say that if one had good friends, life would get easier…

‘Is this really a good friend, though?’

Gu Chil thought there was something different about this and followed Chung Myung.