Return of the Mount Hua Sect
chapter-796

“I am Namgung Hwang.”

“I am Byeok Hyun.”

Hyun Jong bowed to the two people before him.

“I am Hyun Jong of Mount Hua. I am grateful to see you again.”

They were all familiar with the past Martial Arts Tournament. Still, the attitude of the two had noticeably changed towards Hyun Jong.

First was Byeok Hyun.

He, the sect leader of the Qingcheng sect, smiled brightly as he looked at Hyun Jong.

“Mount Hua’s fame often reaches Sichuan. I had a feeling Mount Hua would become renowned during the tournament, but I cannot help but admire the performance that surpassed my expectations. I congratulate you, sect leader.”

“That is such an exaggeration. I find it hard to handle.”

“So much praise. No one would say that, though. I couldn’t be more reassured with Mount Hua coming in a situation where we had to deal with the Evil faction.”

Hyun Jong’s face turned red.

Nevertheless, for some reason, he felt a strain on his shoulders because he could sense that the sect leader of Qingcheng was being pretentious and not sincere.

But.

“What is Mount Hua doing here?”

It seemed like Namgung Hwang didn’t think so.

He stared at Hyun Jong with cold eyes.

“The strength gathered here is already sufficient to handle the pirates. Increasing the number of people will only lead to confusion. Since you came late, just provide support from the back instead of clumsily interfering and causing new trouble.”

“…”

“There is no room for the Heavenly Friends Alliance here.”

Byeok Hyun frowned.

“Lord Namgung, aren’t you being too harsh?”

“What do you mean by that? I am right. Even if Mount Hua started it, didn’t Mount Hua stay on the island and play around while we fought the other pirates?”

Hyun Jong’s eyes trembled.

‘Play around…’

Could that be called playing around?

To those who didn’t know the situation, it might look as such. Life was inherently a comedy when viewed from afar and a tragedy when viewed up close.

Namgung Hwang glared at Hyun Jong with a disapproving look.

Actually, it might be the Wudang who felt the worst about Mount Hua being there. Still, the Namgung family had their own grievances.

The Wudang lost its reputation after the fight with Mount Hua. Although it was tough to get close to them because of similar tendencies, the actual loss they suffered wasn’t great.

However, the Namgung family lost too much because of Mount Hua.

First, the Tang family broke away from the Five Great Families.

Although it wasn’t officially stated, joining the Heavenly Friends Alliance meant breaking away from them. For the Namgung family, who led that alliance, the departure of the Tang family was like cutting off an arm.

Second, Beijing’s commerce had been taken over.

Among the Five Great Families, the largest financial sources were the Namgung and Peng families. Namgung established a commercial sphere centered on Anhui, but the Hubei Peng family dominated the commercial sphere in Hubei.

However, thanks to the damned Eunha merchants’ special deliveries, the balance of business was in danger of being broken as high-ranking officials sought Eunha Special Delivery. Naturally, the burden on the Namgung family increased.

Money and power.

In the midst of attacking both, no matter how good of a person Namgung Hwang was, he wouldn’t view Mount Hua favorably.

And above all…

‘Damn it. Do-wei was put to shame because of the damn Mount Hua.’

Other sects also suffered great humiliation from Mount Hua.

But the weight of the disgrace of a disciple of a sect and the disgrace of the young lord, who would be the next head of the family, were too different to be compared.

Because of that situation, Namgung Hwang couldn’t even bear to see Mount Hua, at least not where he was present.

“What do you think, elder? Are you thinking of moving with Mount Hua?”

“Hmm.”

Beop Gye was silent and didn’t answer right away. This wasn’t something he could hastily respond to. No matter how he answered, it was clear that there would be problems.

Usually, matters like this were discussed quietly behind the scenes, but thanks to Namgung Hwang’s direct approach, he was even more at a loss for what to say. There were too many eyes watching.

“What do you think, sect leader?”

Venerable Heo Do, who was slowly walking in their direction, smiled when asked the question.

“If they thought about it, wasn’t this attack on the Yangtze River possible because there was Mount Hua?”

“…Hmm.”

Namgung Hwang’s eyes frowned slightly. Venerable Heo Do continued,

“No one can deny that Mount Hua played a pivotal role.”

“Sect leader….”

“So.”

Venerable Heo Do interrupted Namgung Hwang.

“Give us the credit in this plan, sect leader. We came to the Yangtze to seek some kind of agreement, but if Mount Hua takes all the credit, we won’t stand a chance.”

“…”

A flustered look flashed across Hyun Jong’s face as he looked at Venerable Heo Do. He had already guessed what that meant, but he didn’t expect him to say it so directly.

“Please.”

When Venerable Heo Do slightly lowered his head, Hyun Jong quickly waved his hand.

“D-don’t do so. This isn’t a big deal for me to show disrespect. I will do as everyone expects.”

“Thank you.”

Venerable Heo Do smiled and continued.

“It isn’t about the merit. As you can see, the place is as such.”

“Hmm.”

What Venerable Heo Do pointed to was across the river. Hyun Jong’s face grew complex.

‘The place is….’

The river wasn’t wide. Considering the width of the Yangtze River they had seen so far, it was rather narrow. If they put their minds to it, he didn’t think it would be much trouble.

But the problem is next.

“In there….”

Across the river was a high, steep cliff. In the middle of it, there was a narrow valley that seemed to have been formed by the heavens being split with an axe.

“You are saying the Black Dragon base is in there?”

“Yes. It is barely wide enough for a large ship to pass.”

“…”

Beop Gye continued to explain.

“I tried to enter by turning around, but it wasn’t so easy. First of all, the cliff was too high to jump off. We would have to go down by rope, and it’s a big deal to get a rope that long… considering the skills of those hidden inside, we will have to take damage when climbing down.”

“… Um, that is right.”

A while back, when Mount Hua attacked the great Whale Pirates, the Green Forest bandits descended down the cliffs.

However, this was possible because Mount Hua managed to block the archers and drew attention to those coming down to prevent the pirates from killing them.

If it was a reasonable height, they could take advantage of being on top, but this height would only endanger those who enter.

“But the only way to attack from above is to go down the cliff, right? Falling rocks or something….”

“You expect us to pour boiling water onto them?”

Even before Hyung Jong finished speaking, Namgung Hwang spoke in a sarcastic tone.

“Mount Hua has a reputation for causing apt damage, but I guess it was just an exaggeration.”

He scoffed and said,

“Are you saying you expect people to be down there and make such blind attacks? In the Black Dragon Pirates, there could be captive civilians or laborers. And throw rocks at them?”

“…”

“Those don’t even sound like apt words.”

Hyun Jong sighed. A new frustrated one escaped his lips.

It was extreme, but he wasn’t wrong. Those who came to the pirates to negotiate could not attack blindly without considering the damage to the civilians.

“I think it would be right for you, the Namgung family head, to take a bit of a breather.”

“Ahem.”

Namgung Hwang cleared his throat loudly at Beop Gye’s cautionary words. Beop Gye summarized the situation.

“So, it looks like we will have to enter through the path ahead. The civilians are harmed, but the elite pirates will not be affected by attacks from above.”

“Then…”

“Too many people will only narrow the path. It is difficult to even distinguish between the sects that will attack and those that won’t, so I think Mount Hua, which arrived last, will have to step back.”

“… I understand.”

Now that even Beop Gye had said so, Hyun Jong had no other choice.

Above all, the four sects linked by the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families were moving. One couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable with Hyun Jong, a member of the Heavenly Friends Alliance.

“Thank you for understanding.”

“It was nothing…”

Although the conversation took place a little distance away, it was clearly audible to Baek Cheon. His face twitched in anger.

‘Damn them.’

Some people expressed hostility coldly, others politely and more gently.

Everyone had their own methods, but everyone rejected Mount Hua. Mount Hua was the first to fight against the pirates and risked war with them.

‘Is this their way then?’

Just as Baek Cheon bit his lip, holding back his anger.

Step.

‘Um?’

A person could be seen walking forward.

With just one step, Baek Cheon could tell that the approach wasn’t being done out of kindness.

Baek Cheon, who quietly examined the face, was shocked.

‘Namgung Do-wei?’

In the past, Namgung Do-wei was a warrior defeated by Chung Myung in the tournament. As he approached Mount Hua, his face was cold and expressionless, like he wore armor on his face.

Step.

Namgung Do-wei stood right in front of Baek Cheon and quietly opened his mouth.

“Where is Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon?”

“… Uh?”

“Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon.”

Baek Cheon turned his head a bit instead of answering.

At the same time, everyone’s eyes focused on Baek Cheon.

“Eup! Epepp!”

“…”

“…”

Namgung Do-wei’s eyes trembled.

‘I am sorry.’

Baek Cheon sincerely apologized to Namgung Do-wei from the deepest part of his heart. Considering how far Namgung Do-wei had traveled, he shouldn’t have witnessed that. The minimum courtesy to people…

“R-release him!”

“Is that alright, though?”

“Just release him!”

“Yes!”

Jo Gul and Yoon Jong untied the cloth around Chung Myung’s mouth and loosened the iron rope around his body.

“Puaaah! Yah! Shouldn’t you tie it loosely enough for me to breathe? I thought I was going to die!”

“That isn’t important. You have a guest, Chung Myung.”

“Uh? Guest?”

Only then did Chung Myung turn his head and look at Namgung Do-wei.

“Ah….”

Namgung Do-wei’s face went stiff, and he opened his mouth with a heavy voice.

“It’s been so long…”

“… Who?”

Namgung Do-wei was speechless at that and turned his head to the distant sky.

And Baek Cheon, unable to see that, turned his head away.

‘I am really sorry.’

Maybe tying him would have been better.

At that time, clueless Jo Gul whispered to Chung Myung.

“It is Namgung Do-wei! Namgung Do-wei! That Namgung Do-wei! The single blade!”

“Ah? Namgung Do-wei?”

“Yes!”

Chung Myung looked and said ‘ah’ and looked at Namgung Do-wei for a moment.

“… who is he?”

“He sparred with you in the martial arts tournament!”

“It wasn’t like we fought many people at the tournament; I remember them all.”

“He was one of them!”

“Hae Yeon?”

“No, next!”

“Lee Song-Baek?”

“…”

Baek Cheon watched.

Jo Gul glanced at Namgung Do-wei with a look of genuine regret.

… this was such a rare sight.

“Well, next?”

“From then, it was all a blur. How can I remember everything, especially the minor ones?”

Chung Myung stood in place as he dusted off his clothes. And Namgung Do-wei glared at him.

“You forgot me…”

“Ah!”

At that moment, Chung Myung suddenly clapped his hands and exclaimed. Namgung Do-wei had a crooked smile, knowing this would happen.

“Now that I see…”

“That handsome but pathetic guy! Was his name Jin Eun-Ryong? Right?”

“I said Namgung Do-wei!”

“Eh… so weird. If he wasn’t good-looking and pathetic, then he has to be a real loser.”

Namgung Do-wei and Jin Dong-ryong… no, Baek Cheon, shook their heads simultaneously.

At that moment, Chung Myung, who was more concerned, said,

“Ah! Right! Nice to meet you! I remember seeing your face! Then… uh…”

Chung Myung glanced down with a bright smile.

At the same time, the gaze of everyone around turned to Chung Myung and then returned to their original positions.

“… Sorry. I was so angry at that time. It wasn’t something I had to go that far with. Well… you fine? Any problem over there…”

“Kuak…”

The handsome face of Namgung Do-wei contorted like a demon.