Return of the Mount Hua Sect

It was often said that the eyes were the doors to the heart.

This was because the eyes were where a person’s emotions were most clearly revealed.

Therefore, whenever Heo Sanja dealt with someone, he made it a point to look directly into their eyes.

However, at this moment, he didn’t dare to meet the gaze of the person in front of him.

Tak.

The other person’s fingernails lightly tapped the table.

Tak. Tak.

The sound, steady at first, began to accelerate slightly. And Heo Sanja’s heart started to beat a bit faster.

“Ugh.”

“…”

“So you lost.”

The voice, finally reaching his ears like daggers, made him hold his breath as if he had been stabbed. The cold voice continued.

“Heo Sanja.”

“Yes… Sect leader.”

Heo Sanja took a deep breath, raised his head, and then held his breath again.

Venerable Heo Do.

This was because an expression he had never seen on this man—the sect leader of Wudang and his sahyung—was being shown on his face.

Although it had been many years since they had worked together in Wudang, Heo Sanja couldn’t recall the last time he had seen such a cold expression on this man’s face.

With that cold look, Venerable Heo Do spoke slowly.

“So you lost.”

“…”

The sharp eyes did not leave Heo Sanja, who lowered his head once again.

“I apologize, sect leader. I am truly embarrassed…”

“This isn’t something you apologize for, Heo Sanja.”

“…”

His cold voice filled the room.

“Speak now.”

“…”

“Why did you lose?”

Heo Sanja could only gulp.

On the way back, he had pondered what he would report to the sect leader about what had happened. But in the end, he could only come to one conclusion.

“Mount Hua…”

After mulling it over a couple more times, not wanting to admit it, he finally said it.

“… Mount Hua was much stronger than we expected.”

Venerable Heo Do didn’t show any particular reaction. He just looked at Heo Sanja quietly as if that wasn’t a good enough answer.

“The skills of the Five Swords of Mount Hua are already surpassing those of any normal first-class disciples of sects. Although the second and third-class disciples, excluding them, weren’t as good… they were a match for the second-class disciples of ours. It would be impossible to guarantee that a good sect could win against them. And…”

“And?”

“The skills of Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon… made the other Five Swords seem like children.”

“You are saying Heo Gong was defeated just by a difference in skills?”

“Yes.”

Heo Sanja bowed his head as if he truly felt sorry.

“Even if we compete again, the odds of Heo Gong winning aren’t high. Even when the spar was over, Chung Myung didn’t gasp for air.”

“…”

Venerable Heo Do closed his eyes at this.

Heo Sanja tried to hold his breath so as not to disturb his ray of thoughts.

And after being lost in thought for quite some time, Venerable Heo Do opened his eyes. The sharpness he held, which was visible until a second ago, had vanished. But it felt like something heavier took its place.

“They were stronger?”

“…Yes.”

Heo Sanja nodded slowly. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Reasons?

If he had to give reasons, he could bring up 10 more. If he had excuses to say, he would say them too. But he knew well that they couldn’t be the real reasons or real excuses.

If one blamed themselves and confessed that it was their mistake, it might look like a responsible thing. But, this was an answer that would push the position of Wudang into a further mess, and that wasn’t something Venerable Heo Do wanted.

But he had to be honest.

“Heo Sanja.”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

“Think about this.”

Elder Heo Do spoke in a low voice.

“Were our preparations insufficient?”

“That isn’t true, Sect Leader.”

Actually, their preparation felt excessive.

The individuals they were up against were second and third class disciples of Mount Hua. Since the first class disciples and an elder of Wudang were involved, it seemed a bit overkill.

Even when it was suggested that they had lost their dignity there, they couldn’t add anything more.

“Then, was our timing that bad?”

“It wasn’t that either.”

“So, that means there was no problem with the timing or our preparation. Then all that is left is luck…”

Venerable Heo Do gently interrupted Heo Sanja’s words.

“Did luck from the heavens side with Mount Hua?”

“… it wasn’t that either.”

Venerable Heo Do looked at Heo Sanja in silence. Unable to withstand the intensity of those eyes, Heo Sanja slightly bit his lip and opened his mouth.

“If we face another with equal strength as ours, we will fight ten times to win five and lose five times. It might be possible to get a win, but a ‘true win’ is difficult to hope for.”

“Then….”

Elder Heo Do spoke softly.

“It was I who was wrong.”

“… Sect leader.”

“You are saying that it was quite natural that we lost because we sent a single general to a battlefield when going against an army that couldn’t be defeated.”

This time, Heo Sanja shut his eyes, not wanting to see Venerable Heo Do mocking himself.

If the preparation, timing, and luck were flawless, there couldn’t be just one outcome. Not understanding the enemy correctly and underestimating them.

Right. That was it.

But…

“Heo Sanja.”

“… Yes.”

With a dejected expression, Venerable Heo Do said.

“Does it seem like it makes sense?”

Heo Sanja couldn’t answer. Actually, no one other than him would have been able to answer the question right away.

“If what is said is true, then Mount Hua raised their second class disciples to rival our first class disciples in a short duration.”

“… Sect leader.”

“It meant that a sect, which was on the verge of collapse, is doing something that no Taoist in Wudang could do, and no one in Mount Hua could do before.”

Venerable Heo Do’s voice turned low.

“This makes no sense.”

Tap. Tap. Tap.

His fingers began to tap the desk once again.

Unlike before, it sounded a bit unstable not aligning. Heo Sanja, who could guess the thoughts of the sect leader, let out a rough breath.

“Mount Hua… Mount Hua.”

That faint grumbling and gritting of teeth could be felt. In the meantime, the sound of tapping the desk didn’t die down, and it only continued to disturb the mind of Heo Sanja. The breathing turned difficult, and the heart pounded.

Crack!

Eventually, the finger that had been tapping for too long dug into the desk. The thick log, which was pierced through at once, split the desk in half, making it fall down awkwardly.

“S-sect leader.”

The teapot had rolled down and spilled all over the floor. But since it was difficult to do anything, Heo Sanja could only watch all this happen.

Venerable Heo Do was experiencing complex emotions.

Heo Sanja unconsciously shrugged his shoulders at the force that wasn’t letting him breathe.

“Such a shame.”

But compared to all this, the voice of Heo Do felt calm.

“Not only did the first-class disciples go, but an elder accompanied them, yet neither could handle the second-class and third-class disciples. Even an elder was taken down by a third-class disciple. I don’t even need to take a look to know just how much amusement the rest of Kangho would make of this.”

Heo Sanja could only bow his head at this.

Even though it wasn’t his fault, he couldn’t look the man in the eye. There was no way he didn’t know just how much their name had shattered due to this incident.

“The word will spread through the world that it will not be long before Mount Hua takes over the title of being the best sword sect in the world from Wudang.”

“I have nothing to respond to that, sect leader.”

“Do you even know why I am in such pain?”

“… I do not.”

Heo Do could just turn his head and look out the window.

The sky outside was so clean, without a single cloud, and yet such things didn’t please him now.

“Because I thought that maybe it wasn’t just all words.”

“Sect leader.”

“This is all beyond common sense.”

The complex emotions in the eyes vanished, and Heo Do regained his calmness.

If this was a mistake, he would have gotten angry for sure. If it happened because of Heo Sanja, the man would have been punished.

But this wasn’t the mistake of anyone.

Regardless of what was right or wrong, Venerable Heo Do and Heo Sanja did their best for Wudang, and yet, they were trampled by Mount Hua.

“I have always kept Mount Hua in check, even when everyone said I was being too much. There aren’t many people in the world who are as wary of Mount Hua as me.”

“…”

“And yet, even I couldn’t have a clear idea about Mount Hua.”

“Sect leader… this isn’t your fault.”

“All that doesn’t matter now.”

A calm voice.

“In order to handle the enemy properly, one has to acknowledge them. I will admit it. The potential of Mount Hua has exceeded both my prediction and my assessment. I thought the dagger they were aiming for was still far, but our throat has been cut, and blood is flowing.”

Heo Sanja could only tremble as he listened to the soft words. Somehow, an eerie feeling seemed to grab his neck.

“I looked down on Mount Hua.”

After closing his eyes for a moment and calming his mind, Venerable Heo Do slowly opened his mouth.

“The shock to the disciples will not be small, so focus your efforts to calm them down.”

“Yes.”

Venerable Heo Do shook his head as he thought of something to say, ‘Sometimes defeat can be good medicine’. The loss was too great here to be comforted.

“… Heo Gong.”

“Uh?”

“Did he regain consciousness?”

“… yes. Just before arriving…”

“What did he say?”

Heo Sanja clenched his teeth tightly before answering.

“He locked himself in his residence and is constantly saying incomprehensible things about being wrong from the start.”

“…”

Heo Do looked up at the ceiling in silence. Then, as if he had gathered his thoughts, he nodded with a calmer look.

“I get it. You, too, go and rest.”

“… please punish me for this, sect leader.”

“You?”

Heo Do smiled.

“Yes, sect leader.”

“If you need to be punished now, how much more should I be punished?”

“…”

“Just go out and have a look.”

“… Yes.”

“I will tell you separately how to resolve this matter. Pay attention to ensuring that injured disciples can head back to their daily lives safely.”

“I will make sure to keep that in mind.”

Heo Sanja got up and walked out.

Venerable Heo Do, now alone, looked at the room which was all cold and the broken table.

The miserable situation was on his mind, as well as the situation Wudang currently found itself in.

He slowly got up from his place, walked with long strides, and opened the door.

“Huh…”

A peaceful scenery beloved by the elderly.

But Heo Do knew. This scene reflected the sweat and effort of their ancestors.

Just how much effort has Wudang had to exert to gain the status of being the best in the world?

However, now that he was here, that status was being shaken.

‘Was it wrong from the start?’

Well.

What on earth went wrong here?

“Mount Hua…”

Venerable Heo Do’s face showed deep agony as he spoke a name he couldn’t understand.