Episode 254

Baek Cheon looked up at the sky with a sad expression as he saw the shining moonlight.

‘He isn’t dead.’

‘Die a little!’

Yu Yiseol, Jo Gul, and Yoon Jong also looked at the gate of Mount Hua in distaste.

“Humans should act like humans!”

“Ah! He! He is really pushing his luck!”

“Where else can you find such a madman who robs his own house?”

“I have no answer. This is a mess.”

It felt like their bodies had been turned inside out.

‘We cannot say this outside. This cannot come out.’

If they rushed to tell this to the Sect Leader, they felt like the situation would only get worse. So, they were holding onto the information, but they still felt guilty.

They realized that they had no choice but to endure this truth within them.

In the midst of that, a person walked in with a dignified face.

“Chung Myung!”

When the other disciples found Chung Myung, clearly unaware of the circumstances, they rushed toward him.

“Something bad happened! There was a thief in Mount Hua yesterday! Our cold iron pot was stolen!”

“What?”

Chung Myung went wide-eyed as he heard that.

“Did…

Such…

A…

Thing…

Happen…

…?“

‘Do not act, you idiot! It is embarrassing for me to see!’

But fortunately, the other disciples didn’t notice it.

“He was so strong. Yoon Jong sahyung got knocked down in one hit.”

“Tch tch. This is what happens when you neglect your training.”

‘You dog…’

Yoon Jong’s face turned red.

‘A person needs to have a conscience. And where else in the world is there someone who turns every situation to his advantage?’

“The elders are still looking for him…. but it might be hard to catch him.”

“Uh. We cannot help it. He would’ve already been caught if it was that easy.”

‘We did catch him.’

‘Right. We caught him. You idiot.’

Chung Myung shrugged.

“There is nothing we can do about someone we lost.”

It was then.

“Chung Myung! The Sect Leader said he wanted to meet you once you are back.”

“Okay.”

Chung Myung smiled and headed to the Sect Leader’s residence. Baek Cheon, with the others, followed him close behind.

“…conscience?”

“What?”

At Yoon Jong’s words, Chung Myung responded as if he had no idea.

‘Ah, that look!!’

‘If I have one wish, it is to hit this guy in the face!’

‘I wouldn’t mind killing him and going to Hell!’

“Kuak.”

Yoon Jong let out a groan and took a deep breath.

Beside him, Baek Cheon grunted.

“I will inform the Sect Leader.”

“I have no idea what you are trying to say. Why are you so anxious? Why are you like this to a person who was healing from his internal wounds?”

“Internal wounds? Internal woundssss?”

‘Does someone suffering from internal wounds come out at night like that? At least don’t tell obvious lies!’

“Anyway, it has nothing to do with me, so don’t harass me. If you continue to do this, I will speak to the elders. Then sahyung and sasuk will be punished.”

“…”

‘Who is harassing whom?’

‘Who?’

“Uh!”

“Sasuk.”

“Sasuk calm down.”

Baek Cheon pounced on Chung Myung, unable to hold back his anger, but Jo Gul and Yoon Jong rushed to him and stopped that from happening.

Chung Myung chuckled and headed into the Sect Leader’s residence.

“…where is Mount Hua heading to?”

Baek Cheon’s voice was low as he looked away, mumbling.

“Right! Is your body alright?”

“Yes!”

“Oh, oh! Thank God! I was worried since I heard some bad news last night. I was going to ask about you, and I was wondering if they had come after you. But seeing you well puts my heart at ease.”

“Hehe, that thief would fall after one hit from me.”

“Right, that is true.”

Hyun Jong looked at Chung Myung with the most trusted eyes.

“But… um… I have no face to show you. It is all because of our ignorance that the thief managed to do this. It is all our fault.”

“Eh. What are you talking about? I am just glad no one is hurt. And besides, it is just cold iron. We can get it again. Can mere things be more important than people?”

“Oh.”

“Chung Myung.”

“A Taoist… A true Taoist.”

“Hehehe. It is nothing. This is natural if one is a disciple of Mount Hua.”

“Right. Right. Chung Myung.”

Hyun Jong looked at Chung Myung with a happy face. But there were others who hated this sight.

Tremble.

As Baek Cheon’s body shook, Yoon Jong grabbed his thigh.

‘Sahyung. I know you hate this, but not here.’

“Ugh.”

Baek Cheon took a deep breath.

‘I’d rather not come here at all! Why should I be present here to see this horrible thing?’

“But Sect Leader. This isn’t something we can simply leave as is.”

“Um?”

Hyun Sang spoke with a stiff face.

“First of all, someone came to Mount Hua with knowledge about the cold iron.”

“Ugh.”

Hyun Young frowned.

“From sahyungs words, you mean to say that there is information going out of Mount Hua?”

“I didn’t put it like that. Maybe he just came to look around and then found it. But that doesn’t change the fact that someone really did come up our rugged Mount Hua.”

“Um.”

Hyun Young nodded.

“In other words, it means that there are people starting to get wary of Mount Hua.”

“In the end, that is the truth.”

“Actually, things have been going too well for us. Mount Hua has now made an alliance with the Sichuan Tang family and has also started trading with the Best Palace. Places that have quick information gathering divisions probably already know that Mount Hua is changing.”

“And since the incident with the Southern Edge Sect …”

“Right.”

Hyun Jong nodded his head.

It was definitely good for Mount Hua to develop, but along with their rise in position, people’s wariness of them would increase as well.

“First of all, although the kids are a bit uncomfortable, they will hold onto this shame for now, and we can have a better start.”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

Listening to that, Chung Myung smiled.

‘What?’

‘You people are not at the level to say that!’

‘What can you do with those droopy shoulders?’

‘Ah, you cute, disgusting things.’

He had initially thought about telling them the truth, but they looked so cute that he decided to leave them alone.

Being alert and careful wasn’t a bad thing after all. Even if it wasn’t the case now, it was clear that Mount Hua would soon become the target of other sects.

“That is why this is even more important.”

Hyun Sang turned his head and looked at Chung Myung.

“Chung Myung. Is your body fully healed?”

“Yes.”

“Then can you really cut through it?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Um.”

A sense of pride that couldn’t be hidden was oozing out of Hyun Sang’s face.

‘I knew that Chung Myung was strong.’

In the first place, the elders of Mount Hua already regarded Chung Myung as the most talented person they knew.

Chung Myung had defeated Southern Edge Sect’s Jin Geum-Ryong, who was a candidate for the ‘Best in the World.’

Hyun Sang remembered what Un Geom had told him just within a year of Chung Myung entering the sect, ‘I cannot teach him. If you leave him alone, he will get stronger on his own, so either leave him alone, or you teach him personally.’

At this point in time, 2 years had already passed, and he had fought with the elder of the Wudang sect. Now, he had even fought with the elder of the Tang family and had defeated him too!

Was there anyone among the elders in Mount Hua who could confidently go against the Tang Family and win?

In other words, Chung Myung was the best in Mount Hua.

“Your skills are terrifying.”

“It is all thanks to the teachings of Mount Hua.”

“Hehe. So humble.”

Chung Myung smiled.

‘I didn’t lie! I didn’t!’

In fact, the reason Chung Myung was strong was really because of what he had learned from Mount Hua. Of course, the only difference was that it wasn’t the current Mount Hua.

The smiles on the elders’ faces didn’t leave as they heard his calm words. he asked.

“Sect Leader. Shouldn’t we go check it now?”

“I guess so.”

Hyun Jong hesitated a little.

This place was something he couldn’t open till now.

How many days had he teared up in front of the underground warehouse when Mount Hua had been in a mess?

However, never had he even dreamed that there would come a day when he would be cutting it down. If someone got greedy seeing the things inside, Mount Hua had no power to stop.

Treasures that could only be seen in dreams….

But he felt more scared rather than happy when it actually came to the moment of opening it. It was because he was afraid that its contents wouldn’t be what he wanted.

But Hyun Sang didn’t understand that.

“Right. Can we go get it done then?”

“Sure.”

“Right. Sect Leader!”

“Um! I get it!”

This was the sign.

Hyun Jong got up. He then went to one side of the room and pulled a scroll hanging on the wall, and then proceeded to push the wall.

Grrr

With the sound of rubbing, the part he touched was pushed inside.

“C-can you show it to all of us?”

“Whatever is inside will be brought out eventually, so what is the point of hiding the way? I don’t want to keep any more secrets from you either.”

“Sect Leader…”

Hyun Jong pulled the handle inside without delay.

And then, with a creaking sound, the floor moved to the side, showing them an entrance for one person to fit in at once.

“Now, let’s go.”

“Yes.”

Everyone in the room got up at once. However, only Baek Cheon’s party hesitated, not being sure about entering.

“Come in.”

“Sect Leader. We are…”

“Didn’t I tell you? I do not want to keep any more secrets in Mount Hua. Come.”

Baek Cheon, who heard that, nodded.

“I understand, Sect Leader.”

As they went down, they saw a fairly spacious hallway, very much unlike the entrance.

‘I did it well.’

Chung Myung looked up at the huge hole he had tried to fix.

“It is dark.”

“…in the beginning, there were night stone lamps planted in the hallway.”

“Where did they go?”

“We needed money, right?”

“…”

Hyun Young went silent.

‘Ahh… they got the money from selling them.’

Had he known, he wouldn’t have asked for more money.

“There.”

After a while, a large door appeared.

“This…?”

“Right. This is what the Sect Leaders of Mount Hua have been handed down generation after generation.”

“Oh…”

Hyun Young looked at the door with a frown. The door with many lines drawn on it gave him a strange feeling.

“How do we open the door in the first place?”

“Well, I think, maybe if a specific martial arts is used, then it can be opened.”

“…then it has to be learned.”

“I don’t know which one it is. But it has to be in there.”

As soon as those words fell, everyone looked at Chung Myung.

They couldn’t open it the normal way, so now they had to hand this over to Chung Myung.

“It is a bit embarrassing if you all look at me like this.”

Chung Myung said words that didn’t suit him at all, and slowly drew his sword.

“Phew.”

Taking a deep breath, Chung Myung raised his sword and faced the door.

‘Should I pretend like it is tough?’

He could cut it off at once, considering how thin it was, but would that be too much? He had to cut it a couple of times to make it look like he put in some effort.

‘Hehe!’

“Stand back.”

“Okay!”

“Please do well!”

As the elders hurried back, Chung Myung looked at the door with sullen eyes.

‘The lines on the door will be useful later, so I will leave them alone. I will cut around it.’

Chung Myung smiled and raised his sword.

“Ohh!”

“The sword!”

“Good job! Good!”

Without delay, Chung Myung swung the sword at the door.

First, lengthwise!

Kang!

“Uh?”

‘Kang?’

‘Not slash but kang?’

Chung Myung looked wide-eyed. His sword was touching the wall.

“Uh?”

‘Why isn’t it cutting?’

He grunted and pulled the sword out. As soon as he approached the crack, his eyes shook.

“…no! this man! Why did you have to make the door this thick!”

“What?”

“Ah, nothing… nothing.”

Chung Myung’s face contorted.

‘Why did you make the walls, the ceiling, and the floor so thin but the door this thick? Human! What is with your brain!’

In fact, the front was thick simply because this was the entrance, but now Chung Myung didn’t have the time to think about that.

‘If we came from the side, it would’ve been easier.’

If he had known that this would happen, he would have opened this alone!

Now he had too many eyes watching him.

“Is it difficult?” Hyun Jong asked with a sad face.

Chung Myung couldn’t do anything and only groaned.

“Ugh… no. it can be done!”

“Right. Chung Myung! Cheer up!”

Once again, he held onto his sword and took a deep breath.

“Ugh! For real!”

‘Not a single thing comes easy for me! Not one thing!’

“Uhhhhhhh!”

Kaaaang!

“Uhhhhhhhh!”

Kaaaang!

“Ah, I feel horrible!”

Kang! Kang! Kang! Kang! Kaaang!

Chung Myung started swinging his sword randomly. If he couldn’t cut it with one slash, he would cut it a hundred or a thousand times. Of course, it wouldn’t be easy to cut this down with such swings.

“Not a single thing helps me! Damned man!”

‘See this? I will come catch you! I will! What? Do you think I can’t enter? I will escape from hell and come make you suffer if that’s what it takes!’

Chung Myung kept spitting out words of anger.

‘Just a little bit.’

“Kuak….”

Thud!

Kiiik!

A short while later, Chung Myung fell to the side, and the door that had been cut on either side, collapsed.

Bang!

“Ooh!”

“It is open.”

“Chung Myung! You did an amazing job! You worked really hard!”

Chung Myung, who was drenched in sweat, was just mumbling something as he looked at the ceiling. His gasps echoed in the hallway.

“Uh… you must be getting your revenge like this.”

‘Sect leader sahyung, you damned thug!’

-Hehehehe

‘Ah, just don’t laugh!’

‘Don’t!’