Return of the Mount Hua Sect

“Uh! Stack them over there!”

“Yes, Elder!”

“Have all the other dishes arrived?”

“I just checked. I think they have arrived at the right place!”

“Have the first-class disciples place them in order. There will be many people talking about this, so we need to be careful.”

“Yes!”

Hyun Young’s eyes were moving all over.

‘Ughh. I am losing it.’

In the past, he had received guests during the Mount Hua-Southern Edge Conference. Still, there were just a few of them, and their guests never chose to stay within Mount Hua, so they had nothing to worry about.

But this time, an incomparable number of guests were visiting Mount Hua. Since they were all people who could never be ignored, no place in Mount Hua didn’t concern him now.

“Elder! I sent the kids!”

“Right, you did good.”

Hyun Young nodded right away, slightly frowned, and then organized his thoughts.

‘If this is the case, it is time for the tableware to be…’

But there were times when rushing to get things done led to a bigger problem.

“Yah! Catch that! Catch it!”

“Hold on tight! If it falls, you will get hurt!”

“…hurt? You think this makes sense?”

“…Uh?”

Hyun Young laughed as he watched people carry wood piles onto the pavilion.

Now, they were in the process of redecorating the rooms for the guests. It would be a dangerous task and a tough one for ordinary people. Still, since each of them was like a human lifter, they could easily carry the wood no matter how heavy it looked.

It seemed that the training so far wasn’t in vain, as each of the disciples successfully completed the work which would have needed 20 strong men.

The problem was…

Kwang! Tang!

“Ah, fuck! You cannot carry it there, you bastards!”

“Uh? Sasuk told us to bring it here?”

“You bastard! I told you a hundred times that the wall isn’t there! There is a line drawn there, why ignore that and build a wall elsewhere! Why!!”

“T-this is wrong?”

“ACKK! Damn it!”

Hyun Young quietly turned his head to the side.

Baek Cheon’s desperate screams were truly sad to watch, but unfortunately, he couldn’t help him. If he had paid attention to that point, he would have been missing many more things.

“And you, you bastard! It would be better if you just stayed out of sight! Why are you drinking here? You aren’t even helping!”

“Haaa… If I stay out, you curse me for staying out; when I am next to you, you shout at me for being next to you. Just what beat should I be dancing to….”

“Dieeeee!!!”

Hyun Young glanced at the top of the pavilion, looking sad.

‘You are doing so much.’

What could he do? When one became a great disciple, they had to endure it.

“Are the preparations all heading in the right direction?”

At that time, Hyun Young quickly turned around at the sound of a voice coming from behind him and slightly lowered his head.

“You came.”

“Everything seems so busy.”

Hyun Jong, who had already come close, grinned.

He glanced at the movement and said, with a subtle look on his face.

“But Hyun Young.”

“Yes, sect leader.”

“… do we have to go this far?”

“Uh?”

That was when Hyun Young turned his head and looked at Hyun Jong, who flinched at that glare.

“No, what I meant is, this is going to be a couple of days of stay, so why go this….”

“It is a matter of a couple of days! A couple of days!”

Hyun Young was losing it and raised his voice.

“If only one or two people were coming, we could have placed a minimum variety, but this is a bunch of sects gathering, and we don’t even have spoons and chopsticks to serve them!”

“Why would we not have any?”

“What do you mean why? I sold everything for the money, and now we have nothing left!”

“….”

Mount Hua belonged to the Nine Great Sects in the past, so they surely had previous things in their sect.

The problem was that they sold everything at a time when the sect’s strength was waning. They were starving, having nothing to eat. Then, did they really have a reason to protect things when they were starving?

“Since we are all warriors, we need to handle those things with utmost care, but we have to at least prepare the minimum needs. There is more than one thing to do now. To feed so many people means to expand our kitchen, build more tables. In addition, we need to repair the walls, which have been turning old and cracking due to the accumulation of dust.”

“Everything?”

“If I could, I would tear this entire thing down and build it back up…”

“C-calm down.”

“Tsk.”

Hyun Young looked at the people who were renovating the pavilion with a sad look.

“Time is running out; you will have to get it done now. At least moderately.”

Hyun Jong rubbed his chest with an awkward smile.

‘I don’t think we have to go to that extent…’

Even looking at the hall, where one wall had been brought down, the word ‘moderately’ didn’t seem right.

As if reading the mind of Hyun Jong, Hyun Young spoke softly.

“I thought we could roughly handle this, but as the work is happening, people aren’t able to work. If we think about the reputation of Mount Hua at stake now in everything, it is quite scary, sect leader.”

“Haha. What is so important about looking good? It is the heart and intentions that matter.”

“I know.”

Hyun Young scratched his head.

“Still, sect leader, as the leader of the Heavenly Friends Alliance, we cannot be showing you as someone inferior to the Sichuan Tang family or the palaces. I heard from the kids who went there that they had amazing things.”

“Aren’t they all things only they can do? Can a Taoist be that boastful of what they have? We will be criticized for that.”

“But it is also human nature to point out someone if things feel lacking. Even if you prepare too much, it is fine, but falling short is something I cannot take.”

Hyun Young, who was looking at the pavilion, said,

“If only like-minded clans like the Tang family and Ice Palace had come together, I wouldn’t have done it like this. But it isn’t just them; all the other sects are also joining us for the event, right?”

“Right.”

“I don’t want to give them any chance to laugh at Mount Hua. You might think that I am being too much and I am obsessed with how we look, but please understand my feelings, sect leader.”

“Right. Right. How can I not know your heart?”

Hyun Jong nodded. He knew that Hyun Young wasn’t doing all this for the sake of it.

“But it is just that…”

Hyun Jong trailed off and glanced at the pavilion.

“Where did you go when this wasn’t done?”

“Over there?”

“That… Why did you put it there, you bastard! Why! No, this crazy shit! Why are you nailing the door? Ahhhh! Do you not have eyes? Are they there for decoration? Do you want me to drill a hole there for you?”

“I-I am sorry…”

“…”

Hyun Jong asked, looking at Hyun Young with shocked eyes.

“… is this all right?”

“… It will work out well like this.”

Things in the world didn’t always work out because we wanted them to.

“So you will continue like this?”

“I told you it had to be straight, you bastard! Make sure the long side comes up! How many times do I have to spell it out for you? What should I do with this?”

“Uhh… then like this?”

“Turn it half, just half!”

Unable to hold the anger, Yoon Jong grabbed Jo Gul by the collar and shook him. But Jo Gul didn’t even understand what he did wrong,

“Well, it’s the same either way, a tree, so wouldn’t it be okay to roughly hammer it down in place?”

“Euk, eukk.”

As Yoon Jong stumbled and clutched his chest, someone else was suffering next to him.

“S, Sagooooo! You cannot do it there!”

“Why?”

“That isn’t a place to nail it! It’s a door! It’s an open space! The door has to be open for people to go in and out.”

“Here?”

“Please, please, I will do it! I will!”

“Then here?”

“Not there either!”

Everyone was in full spirit.

He didn’t know why, but all of Mount Hua’s disciples were either focused on repairing or destroying the pavilion with their spirit.

But unfortunately, the spirited actions didn’t always yield the best results.

“Sasuk! Do we put up more wood?”

“Stop rushing it! Stop! Stop! I said stop!”

“What do we do now?”

“Do not do it! Don’t do anything! I already told you not to do it!”

Baek Cheon’s face had contorted.

There were people around, and Baek Cheon was aware of the need for such changes in the place. Trying to work with dozens of strong yet ignorant people who were motivated felt like he would lose control of himself trying to manage them.

“Things which are useless for doing anything other than cutting…”

“Truly, all the warriors need to be good at is cutting.”

“Still stuck? Go in, please!”

His stomach was already churning at this, but looking at Chung Myung sitting down next to him and sipping alcohol it felt like pouring oil on a raging flame.

“Just do it somewhere around. Why do people who eat roots have to sleep in such a nice place?”

“… I will handle it.”

Chung Myung chuckled at how weakly Baek Cheon answered.

‘Even though you say that, everyone looks excited.’

It would be worth it.

Actually, it felt common for Chung Myung to have high-ranking people come visit Mount Hua. In the days when Mount Hua was at the center of power, it was easier to see the faces of strangers than to see the faces of his sahyung around, so why would he be excited?

But that was for Chung Myung alone.

Now, the disciples were all just playing house among themselves in this collapsing temple. So, how amazing would it be to see the top people from the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families come to Mount Hua?

‘They do that without knowing anything.’

They will have to guess what those people are thinking when they step in.

“Can this end today?”

“Anything is possible as long as we don’t have you whining.”

“Yu Sago is putting the door upside down?”

“Ackkk! NO!”

Chung Myung shook his head as he watched Baek Cheon running away.

‘Is this what happens?’

So what if they could not build a pavilion? It was good enough as long as they were happy!

Chung Myung stared at the scenery of Mount Hua through the broken pavilion. Compared to the day he arrived, it was almost laughable to say so many things had changed.

Soon, the world’s greatest names would be gathering here.

Most of them will visit with the bad thought of ‘I need to see just how amazing these people are…’ And yet, it was important for them to come.

‘Then let me help you out a bit…’

It was a time when Chung Myung developed kindness within.

“Elderrr!”

One of the third-class disciples, who had gone to wash the dishes, came rushing through with a pale face.

“W-what!”

“An attack?”

“T-that isn’t it!”

The third-class disciple, out of breath, shouted to Hyun Young.

“Coming!”

“Uh? Who?”

“Tang! People from the Sichuan Tang family are climbing the mountain!”

“A-already?”

Hyun Young turned his head, looking all puzzled.

No, it hadn’t been long since the letter arrived, but they were already here? Just how impatient were they!

“W-we aren’t ready yet!”

Hyun Young’s face turned pale. He clutched his head in shame as he looked at the half-destroyed pavilion.

“First, organize everything around…!”

But it was a meaningless cry.

“People of the Sichuan Tang have come!”

“Eikk! S-sect leader!”

“R-right. Here I am coming!”

Hyun Jong was also scared and ran to the gate.

When the gate was opened, he saw the people lined up in front of it. Hyun Jong, who spotted Tang Gunak in the lead, approached and bowed.

“Tang family lord. How did you manage to come so quickly?”

Tang Gunak smiled.

“How have you been, sect leader?”

“Thanks to the care the Tang family head showed, there were no major concerns for us.”

“Haha. I did nothing.”

While the two were engaging in pleasant talks, Chung Myung moved over and stood next to Hyun Jong.

“You came?”

“It has been quite a while, Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon?”

“You came early?”

“If I were a guest, I would have come slowly.”

Tang Gunak slowly turned his gaze to the back of Hyun Jong and Chung Myung. As expected, seeing them all busy and exhausted, they nodded slowly and said,

“I am here to lend a hand.”

“… Uh?”

“Tang Pae.”

“Yes, lord!”

“Introduce the craftsmen here. Make sure this ends before the guests arrive.”

“Yes, lord! Let us all head in!”

“Yes.”

The Tang family members lined up in the back, took out their tools, and rushed in.

“… eh?”

“Uh?”

The disciples of Mount Hua were all shocked at this.

“There is nothing to worry about. I thought it would be like this, so I brought skilled people.”

Hyun Jong realized this while looking at the smiling Tang Gunak. This was the feeling of gaining a thousand soldiers and ten thousand horses.