Novel Return of Mount Hua Sect Chapter 1090
It’s not that he doesn’t understand the fear they feel.
No, Chung Myung understood their feelings more keenly than anyone else. Because he had already experienced it once.
When Magyo began to push into Jungwon, the moment he understood the might of its power and its intention, what gripped Mount Hua was a feeling of fear and pressure that made it feel like they couldn’t even breathe.
A feeling of fear that if something is not done, Jungwon may be destroyed. And Mount Hua also feels pressure to share that responsibility. Mount Hua, tormented by that weight, eventually ran forward on its own to sacrifice itself.
That may have definitely been the right choice. As a result, Jungwon defeated Heavenly Demon and repelled Magyo. but....
‘Cheong Mun Sahyung.’
Chung Myung asks Cheong Mun, who is shedding tears of blood.
‘Do Sahyung still believe that this was the right choice?’
There’s no need to hear an answer. The tears Cheong Mun is shedding answers for him.
What if there really was such a thing as heaven, and they watched with their own eyes the downfall of Cheong Mun and the disgrace suffered by its descendants?
Perhaps, for Cheong Mun, that place should be called infinite hell rather than heaven. How could the heaven be a place where one watch scenes burning in hellfire comfortably?
And now, Hyun Jong is walking the same path.
Chung Myung opens his eyes and looks at Hyun Jong. Cheong Mun’s face appeared overlapping with the face of Hyun Jong, who was sitting in front of him.
“Sect Leader.”
“...Speak.”
“I know that it’s absurd for me to say this.”
“...So, you do know, you rascal.”
Chung Myung’s words eased the extremely heavy atmosphere ever so slightly.
Chung Myung was always like that. Even when everyone tried to stop him, he would charge into the enemy camp without a moment’s hesitation, believing it was something he had to do. It makes no sense for him to dissuade Hyun Jong now.
“Disciple, I have thought for a long time. Why did Mount Hua fall, despite upholding righteousness and doing what was right?”
“....”
“Why did we have to shed tears of blood despite doing the right thing?”
Hyun Jong slightly closed his eyes. In truth, this question was an unsolvable riddle for those living in the present Mount Hua.
They were taught to uphold Chivalrousness. But the price of upholding that Chivalrousness was too horrific. The disparity between what they learned and what they experienced. That disparity sometimes made them question the path they were taking.
If it were to protect others with one’s own death, everyone here would be able to do it without a single hesitation.
But Mount Hua’s disciples know. The task they were now attempting would force even those they most wanted to protect into the cycle of sacrifice.
How on earth could they accept that the cost of their efforts to protect their loved ones was the sacrifice of those very people they sought to protect?
Could they really die smiling?
Could it be possible for someone who watched with his own eyes the tragic sight of all his comrades he trained with, laughed and chatted with all dying, to die smiling, feeling the joy of having prevented the destruction of Jungwon?
Now, Chung Myung brought up the fact that Mount Hua’s disciples had been secretly trying not to mention.
“...Have you thought about it?”
“Yes.”
“And... did you find the answer?”
Chung Myung slowly shook his head.
“I couldn’t find it, Sect Leader.”
“....”
“I just hoped. May we become stronger. And may they be weaker than before. So that even if we repeat the same actions, the outcome would not be as horrific as it was last time.”
Hyun Jong closed his eyes.
It was an empty and futile answer. However, Hyun Jong was no different from Chung Myung. In order not to give up the fa?ade of Chivalrousness and Righteousness, they simply hoped. They just hoped that something worse than that wouldn’t happen to aim at their necks one day.
“That’s why when I heard the news of Magyo’s appearance, I had to go. Not to stop them, but to see for myself. To see with my own eyes how strong they were.”
Hyun Jong’s eyelids fluttered slightly.
This is because he could imagine the despair that Chung Myung must have felt upon seeing the power of Magyo with his own eyes. No, it is because he could feel it clearly in those eyes.
“...You must have despaired.”
“Yes.”
Chung Myung answered calmly. It was so calm that it actually painful. A sigh naturally escaped from Hyun Jong’s mouth.
“Mount Hua has many things. But if I had to name the most precious and important thing among them, there would be only one.”
Hyun Jong nodded with a slight smile.
“It is simply people.”
Chung Myung smiled at those words. What the very words he had hoped to hear from Hyun Jong came out exactly.
“It is different from the past. We have people. Not only within Mount Hua but also those who stand with us.”
Hyun Jong nodded.
After Chung Myung came, Mount Hua gained many things. But, no matter what anyone says, the biggest thing is relationships and bonds.
“It was the same for me. When I was overwhelmed by the power of Evil Tyrant Alliance, the first thing I chose was to simply strengthen my own power. I was willing to give up everything for that.”
“Yes, that’s true.”
“Originally, Heavenly Comrade Alliance should have collapsed at that time. Who would want to wait for someone who has abandoned all responsibilities and stepped down in order to increase his power? But... Tang Gaju-nim took on all the work we had to do and waited silently for us.”
Chung Myung turned his head and looked at Tang Gun-ak. Tang Gun-ak, who received that gaze, let out an awkward laugh as if embarrassed.
“Why did you do that, Gaju-nim?”
“Is there any particular reason? Just...”
It was a shy voice rarely heard from Tang Gun-ak. Therefore, it felt all the more genuine, without a trace of doubt.
“Because we are close friends.”
Tang Gun-ak lightly cleared his throat, as if he was embarrassed to say such a thing with his own mouth. Chung Myung smiled softly.
If only back then.
A time in the past when they lost something they shouldn’t have.
If there was a sect like Tang Family for Mount Hua, and if there were people like Tang Bo for Chung Myung within Mount Hua, would they have merely stood by and watched the downfall of Mount Hua? Would they just sit back and watch as a flock of wolves rushed to Mount Hua?
No, that can’t be true. That could never happen.
If it were Tang Bo, he would have risked his life to stop it. If it were the current Tang Family, no matter what, they would not have let anyone set foot inside Mount Hua’s gates.
What Mount Hua now has, and what it lacked back then.
“Sect Leader...”
These are the words spoken by Chung Myung, a disciple of Mount Hua, to Hyun Jong, and the words spoken by Plum Blossom Sword Sovereign Chung Myung to Cheong Mun of the past.
“In the face of a formidable enemy, what a faltering swordsman must trust is their own sword and the time they have spent training.”
“...Yes.”
“Then what should the sect believe?”
“That....”
Hyun Jong once again looks at those sitting in front of him. And then, with a gentle gaze, he answered Chung Myung.
“The value of what we have preserved... and the conviction in the path we have walked.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
Chung Myung smiled gently as well.
“The reason we created Heavenly Comrade Alliance was because we needed people who would trust and fight alongside each other. Because we believed we would be each other’s strength and fortress.”
“Yes, indeed.”
Chung Myung slowly lowers his head.
“So, Sect Leader, when Sect Leader is unsure of what to do, reflect on what Sect Leader and Mount Hua have protected. I believe all the answers lie within that.”
Hyun Jong quietly watched Chung Myung bow his head.
What they have done. What they have protected.
“...I understand what you mean.”
Chung Myung closed his eyes.
‘Cheong Mun Sahyung.’
In the darkness, Cheong Mun was still looking at him. But Cheong Mun’s face no longer held any pain.
‘Do not worry. The children now are better than we were.’
At that moment, a soft smile appeared on Cheong Mun’s lips as he looked at him.
Chung Myung gazed at that smile for a long time with his eyes closed.
For a very long time.