Return of the Mount Hua Sect

Novel Return of Mount Hua Sect Chapter 1101

“Keuung.”

Hyun Young pushed off the blanket and sat up. He habitually turned his head to look at the window and frowned slightly.

‘Has the sun risen?’

Today, he had overslept a bit.

Normally, there would be no such thing as oversleeping, but while the disciples went to Gangnam, they stayed up all night without a wink of sleep for several days and nights, and the accumulated fatigue seemed to hit them all at once.

“Aigoo, my joints.”

He patted his shoulder. Although he has mastered martial arts and has a well-groomed body, age was something he couldn’t defeat.

He completely removed the blanket and sat cross-legged on the spot. After finishing his habitual breathing exercises, he got up and changed his clothes.

“Hmm.”

Before stepping outside, he closed his eyes briefly.

Mount Hua is experiencing one success after another. But precisely because of that, they had to be even more vigilant.

Blessing (?(福)) always comes with misfortune (?(禍)). If they become arrogant or intoxicated with success, they will inevitably pay the price.

‘We must be careful.’

This was something the younger disciples would easily overlook. As the elder, it was his responsibility to be cautious and guide them.

Hyun Young smiled slightly mischievously.

“Then, shall we try picking some fault today?”

Hyun Young, who had determined to become a ghost today for the sake of the disciples, resolutely opened the door and stepped outside. However, his resolve crumbled completely within less than fifteen minutes.

“…What is all this….”

Hyun Young mumbled with a dazed expression as he stood at the entrance of the manor.

A mountain of luggage was blocking his view. There was something unidentifiable piled up in a mess, not only inside the manor, but also at the entrance to the manor, and beyond.

“…Did Magyo invade here or something? Are we evacuating?”

“N- No. That’s not it…”

Baek Sang answered, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.

“From early this morning, people have been flocking here to express their gratitude for defeating Magyo…”

“Th- This?”

“Yes.”

“All of this?”

Hyun Young’s pupils trembled violently as if an earthquake had hit them.

As he looked up at the piled packages, he grabbed the back of his neck before he could even see the end of it.

“Aigo, my neck…!”

“Are you alright?”

“…Is this all?”

“There’s no more space to store things inside, so the disciples are currently stacking items outside the manor.”

“What?”

A spark lit up in Hyun Young’s eyes.

“Are you out of your mind! You accepted all that happily? You’re raking in money and yet you thoughtlessly accepted what these poor commoners, who are having a hard time making a living, brought?”

Baek Sang, horrified, shook his head vigorously.

“Aigo, Elder-nim. Is that possible? Of course, I declined, saying it was okay. But they insisted, saying it was the least they could do for saving their lives. What was I supposed to do?”

“…Insisted?”

“They said it wasn’t much, and asked why we wouldn’t accept it. They even asked if their lives were worth so little. What could I say to that? No matter how much I tried to refuse, they just threw it down and ran away….”

“…Ho, hoho.”

Hyun Young let out a laugh, finding the situation absurd.

Receiving gifts from various places wasn’t a new occurrence for Mount Hua. Hyun Young has also seen this many times. But that and this are different.

The gifts that have come to Mount Hua so far were sent by influential figures in Shaanxi to gain the favor of Mount Hua. Even at best, they were hard to see as purely heartfelt gifts. To put it bluntly, they were bribes.

But aren’t the meanings of the things piled up here completely different?

Mount Hua will soon leave the Yangtze River and go to distant Shaanxi. What could the local possibly gain by currying favor with them?

That means that all of these were truly items given by the local as a sign of pure gratitude.

“Hohoho….”

Hyun Young let out a laugh which meaning was hard to guess, and as if possessed, he approached the pile of luggage and unpacked one of the items at the bottom.

The neatly bundled bag was filled with grain that was not particularly valuable. Hyun Young looked at it silently and gently touched it with his fingertips.

“…This precious thing….”

The rare gifts sent by influential figures may be expensive, but they could not be ‘precious’ to Hyun Young. How could it be meaningful for those who have extra money to send a gift out as a small gesture?

But this grain was different.

Those living in the Yangtze River region have finally escaped the clutches of the water fortress. These are people who have it hard to make ends meet every day. These people, out of gratitude, had brought the grain they would need to survive the winter.

How could this grain be considered less valuable than those riches?

“There are a lot of little things, but most of them are edible.”

“….”

“But there’s so much that it’s hard to store. We should find a suitable merchant to sell….”

“What, this punk?”

Hyun Young whipped his head around. There was anger in his eyes as he glared at Baek Sang.

“Sell what?”

“The, the grain….”

“Is this guy out of his mind?”

Hyun Young’s eyes were bloodshot.

“Do you know what this is! Do you know what this is and yet come to that decision! Do you think you can trade this for money? There are so many parasites here who eat so much that they look like the brother of a cow, so just let them eat it all! Why would you sell this!”

“E- Elder-nim. We can store the grain, but what about the fresh meat and vegetables? They will spoil soon….”

“Eat it all!”

As Hyun Young spewed fire from his mouth, Baek Sang quietly shut his mouth.

“Eat every last bit of it! If there’s anything left, you’ll all be dead!”

Baek Sang’s face turned ashen.

Of course, these people here are the main culprits who hurt Hyun Young’s stomach by eating five or six times as much as an average man. But even so, how is it possible to eat all the food that could fill ten huge barns in a matter of days?

“N- No….”

“Silence! Start feeding them from today’s lunch! Make them eat it all!”

“….”

“Do you understand?”

“Yes, yes…”

“Tsk.”

Hyun Young clicked his tongue with a disapproving expression and looked at the piled-up gifts with new eyes.

Well… the young disciples may find it difficult to understand.

For some, Chivalrousness is a matter of choice, but for others, it’s a desperate dream too dazzling to even look at.

When Mount Hua was on the brink of collapse in the past, Hyun Young couldn’t even dream of performing chivalrous deeds. For some, with the ability, it would be just something they could do if it’s not too much of trouble, but for Hyun Young and other elders, the idea of living as a wandering Chivalrous martial artist was something that was simply too dazzling.

What allowed them to endure in that difficult life was the vain hope that one day they, too, would fight for the suffering commoners and spread the name of Mount Hua as a person of Kangho.

This is the hope that they gave up little by little every time the hair reflected in their longing gradually faded to white and every time they realized that youth does not last forever.

Hyun Young carefully put down the grain he had been caressing.

“…I wasn’t wrong.”

“Yes?”

“Nothing.”

Hyun Young answered bluntly and turned his head. He didn’t want his disciples to see his face right now.

“So, are there still people outside who have come to visit?”

“So, are there still people out there?”

“Yes. The disciples are currently receiving their goods.”

“Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

Baek Sang quickly stepped forward. Following him, Hyun Young soon saw people lined up, carrying various bundles.

After waiting in line, a large man finally reached the disciples and, with a snort, shoved the items he was carrying forward.

“I don’t know if the Taoists eat meat, but I couldn’t think of anything else, so I brought this.”

“Thank you. We do eat meat.”

“That’s a relief.”

The burly man roughly handed over the bundle to the disciples, almost throwing it at them.

“…It seems like a lot.”

“It’s nothing much!”

“Tha- Thank you.”

In response to his blunt attitude, the disciples wiped the sweat from their foreheads and accepted the bundle.

“Where do you live…”

“No need to know that. What good will it do you to know?”

“…Ah, yes.”

The man turned around as if he had no regrets, but instead glanced at Mount Hua’s disciple.

“Thank you.”

Chong Sang, who had received the bundle, looked at the man with puzzled eyes.

“I have an old mother. If she had to take refuge, she wouldn’t have been able to withstand the harsh wind outside, so she would have been stuck here and died.”

“….”

“Thanks to you, we survived. Thank you.”

Chong Sang, who had been staring blankly at him for a moment, then smiled brightly.

“We only did what we had to do.”

“Hmm.”

The man nodded and turned sharply, walking away with long strides.

Hyun Young stared at the man’s back and then turned his gaze to the side. The bottom of the bundle was wet, likely from fresh meat.

“…Baek Sang.”

“Yes, Elder-nim.”

“Go and call more disciples. The weather is cold and the line is too long. If we can’t refuse, we should at least reduce the time they spend standing there.”

“Yes? But Chung Myung is beating up the kids…. No, he won’t send anymore because he’s training the disciples, right?”

“Just say I called them. No, bring Chung Myung and all the ones training too, and have them start receiving the goods.”

“The training…”

“Hurry.”

“Yes! Elder-nim.”

Baek Sang rushed inside. No matter how much of a bastard Chung Myung is, he wouldn’t argue the order of Sect Leader and Elder Hyun Young, so there won’t be any problem.

Hyun Young silently watched the people standing in line.

A man with messy hair, an old woman bent with age, and mothers holding the hands of their children with roughened hands, all standing with something in their hands, looking at the disciples of Mount Hua with eyes full of admiration.

“This….”

Hyun Young was about to say something but then closed his mouth again. As he was about to turn his head, someone’s voice brushed past his ears.

“Doesn’t it look nice?”

Hyun Young glanced behind him and spoke gruffly.

“When did you arrive?”

“Just a moment ago.”

Hyun Jong was smiling warmly as he looked at him.

“The sect leader sure has a lot of free time. What did you come all the way here to see?”

“No matter how busy you are, there are things you need to see.”

“Then why don’t you lend a hand?”

Hyun Jong laughed quietly at Hyun Young’s words.

“It’s not us they need to see. Isn’t that right?”

Hyun Young also nodded silently at those words.

“Chivalrousness is something that should not be carried out with the expectation of reciprocation. The moment you expect something in return, it becomes a transaction rather than a Chivalrousness.”

“….”

“But….”

Hyun Jong continued.

“If it’s a reward like this… Yes, it’s worth receiving.”

Hyun Young only pursed his lips. He couldn’t open his mouth for fear of saying something foolish.

At that moment, they saw disciples running over from a distance, panting.

“It’s work!”

“Damn it! We get to work!”

“Let me do it! Please, let me do it!”

Hyun Young burst out laughing when he saw the disciples running excitedly as if working was better than training and Chung Myung trudging from behind with his mouth pouting.

“Move quickly! You lazy bunch!”

Hyun Young’s bright voice was filled with vitality that had been hard to find for a while.