Return of Mount Hua Sect

“Abbot!”

Beop Gye, who hurriedly opened the door and barged in, let out another deep sigh.

In some ways, Beop Gye was more serious than the abbot of Shaolin. This was because he knew better than anyone the weight of assisting the abbot of Shaolin.

There was a reason why Beop Gye was acting so different from usual.

“Abbot! News from Shaanxi has arrived!”

The abbot tightly closed his eyes.

His prediction was right, but instead of feeling good, he felt dizzy.

“… was it Mount Hua?”

“Uh? H-how did you know?”

“I had a feeling it would be as such.”

Beop Gye nodded and said.

“This is news from the Beggars Union. The Evil Sect stepped into Xi’an and attacked Eunha. The small to medium clans had joined forces with them in Xi’an to stop them.”

“… the small and medium clans? Is this true?”

“Yes.”

“… are they the sub-clans of Mount Hua and Southern Edge?”

“Even those who didn’t belong to them had fought together.”

The face of the abbot darkened.

“So, what happened?”

“Of course, they couldn’t stop them alone. But Mount Hua came running down in time and crushed them all.”

“… what did Southern Edge do?”

“Southern Edge… didn’t show up.”

The abbot stared at the ceiling in silence. After a long time, he finally spoke with a heavy voice.

“If what you said is indeed true….”

There was a bitter smile on the corner of his lips.

“So a great crisis hit Xi’an, and the Xi’an sects came together to fight back, and right before they were about to step back and retreat, Mount Hua appeared and took down the evil sect people?”

“Right.”

The abbot opened his mouth again with an understanding expression.

“Then the Xi’an sects will feel the greatest gratitude to Mount Hua, and the news of Mount Hua subduing the Evil Sect and saving the common people will spread through the world in an instant.”

“….”

“While the other sects have struggled and sacrificed over the past three years to quell the chaos and suppress the Evil Sect, this sect, which shut its gates and stayed uninvolved, will now be praised the moment they reopen.”

The abbot continued to voice his disapproval of the situation.

“Even if one meticulously plans, things never go this smoothly. Why are such favorable outcomes happening only for Mount Hua?”

At this quiet thought, Beop Gye closed his mouth, hesitating to speak further.

In truth, Shaolin’s own actions were partly to blame.

No matter how distant Shaanxi was, if they had dispatched their disciples and headed to Xi’an with all their might upon hearing the news, they might have reached Xi’an before anyone else.

In fact, considering that they burned and massacred villages while on their way to Xi’an, they could have certainly arrived before the Evil Sect and joined forces with the smaller clans to defeat the enemies.

However, it was the abbot himself who decided against sending Shaolin monks to Xi’an.

So, when looked at objectively, the abbot’s words made little sense. Yet, Beop Gye couldn’t bring himself to point this out to the abbot.

“What about the damage to Mount Hua?”

“That…”

Beop Gye hesitated, struggling to answer, and finally spoke.

“I haven’t fully checked, but… there seems to be no significant damage. They reportedly defeated the enemies with ease.”

“With ease?”

The abbot’s face was filled with shock.

“Those led by the Seven Killers of Jiangxi came in droves, and you’re saying they were subdued without any damage? By Mount Hua?”

“Yes…”

The abbot’s lips trembled.

“Mount Hua’s Sword Saint?”

“Uh?”

“Yes, right. That child would have been there. Three years is enough time for a sleeping dragon to become a full-fledged dragon. If that child had come and stood ahead…”

“That…”

Beop Gye hesitated, as if it was still difficult to speak, then opened his mouth.

“According to the news from the Beggars Union, Mount Hua’s Sword Saint didn’t participate in this battle.”

“… What?”

The abbot’s eyes widened.

“Not only Mount Hua’s Sword Saint, but the Five Swords of Mount Hua, who were famous in the past for their fights, did not participate. So… the ones who subdued them this time were purely other disciples of Mount Hua…”

Thud.

The abbot’s hand fell on the table, and a small echo spread out. To Beop Gye, this was shocking.

He knew very well that the abbot wouldn’t be showing such behavior unless he was shaken.

“… What is this…”

A look of shock crossed the face of the abbot as he mumbled softly.

What kind of news was this? What had happened?

If it was the strength of Mount Hua he knew from the past, they should have fought fiercely against those who had come to Xi’an. Even if they were lucky and won, they should have taken significant losses.

Of course, since they had young and fast-growing warriors and closed their gates for three years, they should have been stronger than before, but even so…

‘I cannot tell for sure because I haven’t seen the battlefield with my own eyes, but it would be possible if they got three times stronger than before.’

Even if they were young, fast-growing warriors, was it possible for them to achieve this much growth in strength in just three years?

If what Beop Gye had said was true, then Mount Hua’s strength was now comparable to that of the Nine Great Sects. No, even within the Nine Great Sects, they could enter the middle-rank positions.

That Mount Hua…

The abbot mumbled blankly.

“When I… first saw them at the Worldly Martial Arts Tournament.”

“Yes, abbot.”

“I thought they would breathe new life into the murim world. The sects that had led the murim world for the past 100 years had grown too complacent. I believed that this young, new sect, led by a warrior like the Sword Saint, would be enough to put them all on alert.”

“….”

“But…”

A hollow laugh escaped the abbot’s mouth.

“I was complacent, too.”

That was true.

Now, Mount Hua was no longer a sect over which the abbot had any control.

“…send a message to Mount Hua.”

“What should we say?”

“We should congratulate them on opening their Closed Gate.”

“… I will do that.”

The abbot closed his eyes without responding, and Beop Gye quietly got up. The abbot seemed uncomfortable with the news, but there was no need to press the issue now.

As he carefully stepped away, the abbot opened his eyes again. A frustrated grumble escaped his lips.

“Amitabha…”

If the news of Mount Hua spread, it was clear that the murim world, which had just calmed down, would start to stir again. Whether they wanted it or not, Mount Hua had already become a sect that attracted the attention of the entire murim world.

However, that was not what the abbot was worried about.

‘What will happen now?’

The past three years had been a time of chaos, but in some ways, it wouldn’t have been wrong to call it a time of recovery rather than stability.

From the moment Mount Hua went into Closed Gates, no major incidents occurred in the murim world.

That was why it seemed audible to the abbot—the loud noise of a large wheel that had stopped starting to roll once again.

“… Amitabha.”

And now, no one could stop this flow.

Xi’an quickly regained stability.

The civilians who had left returned to Xi’an after hearing that the chaos had been suppressed and the turbulent atmosphere had calmed down.

Of course, it was a major crisis. Still, most of the fighting happened in the Eunha merchant manor, and the civilians were not harmed, so it was manageable.

Nevertheless, there were some who continued to feel anxious, but what reassured them was the news that Mount Hua was in Eunha now.

“So the Mount Hua sect opened their Closed Gate?”

“Yes. Isn’t that why we are here?”

“That is amazing. How could they open their gates at such a precise moment?”

“Don’t be foolish.”

“Uh?”

“It wasn’t a coincidence. Originally, Mount Hua had intended to continue their training. But when they heard that the Evil Sect people were coming, didn’t they boldly step out from their Closed Gate?”

“Right. Right. This makes more sense.”

The eyes of those who were talking turned to the main gate of Eunha merchant.

“Anyway, he is a great person.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“Who else? Of course, the sect leader of Mount Hua, Elder Hyun Jong! It must have been a decision to close the gates, but how easily did he decide to break them open and come out?”

“Ah, that sounds a bit odd. But since they are a Justice faction sect, shouldn’t they put everything aside and come help when the people are in danger?”

“What about Southern Edge then?”

“… uh?”

“Southern Edge. If what you said is right and obvious, what did Southern Edge do?”

“That….”

“I heard that your family has a member belonging to the Southern Edge too. Is it alright for you to say something like that about them?”

“Ugh.”

The person who glanced around whispered in a low voice.

“You aren’t the only one. I am the same. Where in Xi’an is someone not related to the Southern Edge? If you cross a few people, everyone has some kind of connection to Southern Edge.”

“Right. This is Xi’an, after all.”

“But you know… from now on, whenever something goes wrong, people will probably go look for Mount Hua instead of Southern Edge.”

“… do you think people would go to that extent?”

“If a robber broke into your house, who would you turn to?”

The person who heard the question couldn’t answer right away. For him, the two letters “Mount Hua” came before “Southern Edge.”

“I am not saying this just because Mount Hua came earlier than Southern Edge. Think about it. If it was Southern Edge… no, even if it wasn’t Southern Edge, would any sect have done something like this? Wouldn’t they have been troubling us a bit?”

“Right. But isn’t that entirely wrong, right? Didn’t they do something like that?”

“Right. It isn’t wrong. That is why Mount Hua is so great. You see, you cannot even see the members of the Mount Hua sect.”

“Wait, now that you mention it…”

The two people’s eyes turned to the gate of Eunha.

“They say a chivalrous man doesn’t show off his good deeds, but I didn’t know there was a place that kept that promise entirely. I didn’t know they would act like nothing happened after helping us all.”

“… they are so great.”

“Yes, great. Truly amazing.”

Everyone passing by Eunha’s manor said similar things.

Even those who didn’t particularly like Mount Hua couldn’t help but feel goodwill towards those who rushed down to save them and didn’t even bother taking credit.

“In the end, the only one who thinks about Xi’an is Mount Hua.”

“Be it Shaolin or Wudang, not a single one of them came to help Xi’an, right?”

“There is no need to go that far. Isn’t that the same for Southern Edge?”

“Oh my. Didn’t Southern Edge close their gate?”

“What about Mount Hua? Didn’t Mount Hua also do it? Both of them did it, but if only one broke it open, wouldn’t the evaluation be different?”

“That is true, but…”

The ordinary people didn’t understand how strong the Evil Sect people who attacked Xi’an were, so they couldn’t evaluate the power of Mount Hua.

However, they clearly understood that Mount Hua had rushed down barefoot to save Xi’an.

Even if Xi’an had been turned into a wasteland after the attack, the arrows would have been aimed at Southern Edge and not Mount Hua. Yet, how could they not praise those who came to save the common people on behalf of the sect considered their enemy?

As a result,

Mount Hua’s name was now more prominent than Southern Edge in Xi’an, and no one in Xi’an denied it.

At that moment,

The elders of Mount Hua, having completed some of the post-battle administration, sat around in the meeting room of Eunha Manor.