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It's hard to realize the changes that have occurred throughout the world, when he can't even notice at first that he's not in his own body. That he now had two arms where there should have been only one is a clue. That the whole world of his has gone dark, when even taking his last breath he could still see a mountain of corpses, was another inconsistency.
He has to take the word of Gu Chil, a young beggar, about his current condition. That he is now in the body of a beggar boy named Cho Sam, the war against the demon cult had taken place a hundred years ago, and Mount Hua was no longer among the ten great sects. Chung Myung doesn't know what Cho Sam looked like when he first woke up, but now he certainly must have been a mess. The best he can do for himself is to pull the twigs out of his hair, and scare away the birds when they try to dig a nest in it while he meditates.
It takes him two months to reach Mount Hua, considering that he can't shorten the route through the forest and ends up getting lost several times on the way. He needed a lot of outside help, which he got by applying various degrees of violence. In addition, he had to develop his little spiritual core as much as he could in order to begin to sharpen his senses and thus perceive a bit of his surroundings. Chung Myung was in a bind, how could passersby keep saying that they didn't know Mount Hua, or worse, that it no longer existed?
When he reaches the top of Mount Hua, barely holding on for dear life, the interior is silent. He can't even feel a presence behind the old doors that creak as soon as he touches them. He doesn't know if the appearance of the structure remains the same, but the smell of dust is overwhelming, almost as strong as the plum trees that have always been there.
He searches for a long time, but the conclusion is obvious: it's empty, there isn't one in his Sect anymore.
Slowly notice the inconsistencies. The floor is the most obvious, where the tiles had disappeared to leave the flat earth below. The properties are as follows. There is no longer any worthwhile treasure left, hardly any furniture to speak of. And those that still remain are in various states of disrepair. For weeks, he stays training in the huge fields in front of the residence of the Sect Leader, fumbling around cleaning a few rooms while brainstorming in his head to find a way to recruit disciples. Now he would have to play all the important roles as the eldest, somehow managing to feed a group of children while teaching them martial arts and something about morality that he would have learned by osmosis from his Sahyung.
On one of those days when he is training, someone walks through the front door followed by several other men. They aren't strong, but they aren't weak either. Without a doubt, they are martial artists. As it turns out, they are Zhongnan's disciples who had somehow gotten their dirty hands on Mount Hua and come to burn down its buildings after looting them. Chung Myung found out after beating the bastards to interrogation.
He almost murders them instead when he learns that the last disciples were driven from their homes for their 'debts' and were now probably wandering somewhere on the streets, like beggars. No, beggars probably had more dignity, with a union behind them.
Sahyung, oh, Sahyung, is this the future we're fighting for? The children are somewhere begging because their home was robbed. Who have we fought for?
Chung Myung wails for a moment before turning to furious criticism.
And didn't I say that we should leave some experts behind to take care of the younger ones? This is what happens when you don't take responsibility! You don't have to have so much faith in others, if only they had followed the motto of hitting them all as Chung Myung intended to do at the beginning...
At the very least, the problem about recruiting disciples was gone, so Chung Myung jumped up with a dizzying leap ready to run down the cliff towards Hua'Um with his face contorted into the face of an asura.
He's not even sure how to find them without being able to see the distinctive plum embroidery on their chests, even less when no one remembers which sect said symbol belongs to. So Chung Myung raids all the beggars he finds, hunting them down first in Hua'Um, and later spreading to neighboring towns while trying not to get lost in his path, though as it soon proved to be an inescapable truth. Chung Myung had a terrible sense of direction now that he was blind.
Hit a couple of experienced disciples? A piece of cake, he just had to focus on the area near him. But finding his way in a crowded city? That turned out to be next to impossible for him, damn it. The place was too crowded, its surroundings constantly changing. The roads weren't even the same as the ones I knew a hundred years ago. And people didn't seem to distinguish between a Mount Hua disciple and a stranger.
But his efforts were not in vain. Of all places, he finds the disciples by accident, when they were about to be beaten by mere mountain bandits while defending a maiden.
"No, I won't stray out of the way... Young maiden, please run away. we will stop them!"
Damn it, no matter the era, they're still overly noble bastards with self-sacrificing tendencies, aren't they?
With what words should Chung Myung approach them? They, who have been mocked and despised, now roaming the streets while being mocked by the great Sects. What words should he use to convince them that he's not some jerk trying to play games with them, but an ally?
Chung Myung doesn't know what words to use, nor does he have the face to confront them. However, there is more than one language, and one in particular that he has spoken since he was a small child.
Chung Myung approaches them wearing the uniform of his Sect that he found inside the abandoned facilities, along with a wooden sword, because there was no metal. Pulling the sword at his waist cutting through the air with a distinctive hiss, he arced the wooden sword in front of him, then the pint angled down to mark the ground in a semicircle.
One step. Two steps. He walked towards the bandits and raised the sword behind him slowly, a trail of red imbued spirit energy trailing faintly on the blade. Then started.
Plum flowers blossomed from small ragged buds, holding back all the conflicting emotions that were fighting to tear him apart inside. The flowers, in various stages of growth, sprouted from the wood as if it were a real plum tree. In one fluid motion, ten men were struck down by the flowers, without his sword connecting with them.
Even without needing to see, he could feel the gazes piercing him. Chung Myung stood in front of them with his shoulders squared, sliding the sword back to his hip.
Chung Myung said: "You don't need to wait any longer, let's go home. To Mount Hua."
"Who the hell are you!?"
"Gul-ah! Ah, my apologies, young master, but who are you?"
The man in front of the children, the one who had been protecting them, stepped forward. "How do you know the secret technique of Mount Hua?'
"Because they taught it to me," Chung Myung replied calmly. He had made up his mind the moment he saw the empty Mount Hua, and later realized that he must protect them somehow without being able to see them properly. "Because I am the Plum Blossom Sword Saint."
"..."
"... Sorry I'm late, kids."
Chung Myung needed them to trust him and his knowledge fully. He couldn't beat around the bush with the situation as precarious as it was. First of all, they should go back to Mount Hua and fend off those Southern edge bastards, then get money to feed them, teach them how to fight, and also...
If there was a fight, Chung Myung wasn't sure he could stop all the attacks on the children. Could he sense them before they arrived? He didn't know, he wasn't sure.
So they would have to do it together.
The children didn't seem to believe him. They questioned it a lot more, but Chung Myung responded patiently, guiltily.
"Where are your elders?"
The eldest of the young disciples with whom he met, Baek Cheon, as he found out later, led him to a ramshackle house that could hardly be categorized as such. It couldn't cover the wind, let alone the rain, and in here three frail old men huddled together trying to keep warm as they shivered sickly.
... Everything was a mess, he didn't even know where to start.
"Baek Cheon-ah, did you bring someone new?" The one wearing the Sect Leader's dirty uniform asked.
Beside him, one of the elders narrowed his eyes in surprise. "Other!?"
Chung Myung bowed to him respectfully, biting his lower lip. Soon, the disciples eagerly rushed to explain what had happened.
What a pitiful sight.
He also needed to get medicines. If only he had the pills that were rolling freely around Mount Hua before…
But there were some, right?
However, Chung Myung could withstand the tests of getting the pills with his current body? He himself already felt weakened from having used his sect's techniques for a mere downward. If he fell off the cliff, forget about health, the ones he left behind wouldn't even have a home.
“So that happened. You've had a rough time, my boys,” the Sect Leader murmured, stroking Yoon Jong's head. "Perhaps this is the will of heaven, allowing our ancestors to help us in times of need. But what a shameful sight I have made you witness, I regret the current state of the Sect deeply…”
“It's not your fault, Sect Leader,” Chung Myung replied bitterly. "The elders are the ones who should pave the way for their descendants."
Hyun Jong didn't seem convinced but was moved by her words, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.
"However, I have a plan to help them heal. In the past I left some plum pills in the cave where I used to meditate in seclusion, but I will need your help to get there", The words burned in his throat, but Chung Myung couldn't worry about his pride anymore. "It's on the highest and steepest peak, I'm afraid if I climb up with my meager cultivation I won't be able to reach the top."
Hyun Young seemed to contemplate the plan while Hyun Jong shifted uncomfortably in his spot, concerned.
"Elder, I understand that you want to come for the pills, but Mount Hua must currently be occupied by Zhongnan's disciples", Hyun Young said, frustrated. "To think that we had a treasure that could be sold for a high price in our own backyard..."
Chung Myung tilted his head. "If you care about those weaklings, I already kicked their ass", snorted. "Didn't my Sect Leader Sahyung leave a safe with big savings? In the past, Mount Hua got so much money, Sahyung kept counting the money and making copies of accounting books. If we had some of those..."
“There is one, but I was never able to open it," the Sect Leader revealed. "Baek Cheon-ah, could you guide our elder? I'll tell you where it is..."
Baek Cheon nodded with a serious expression, straightening his kneeling posture where he was on the ground. Hyun Jong began to describe the layout of his quarters and the secret entrance from the inside, not caring that the younger ones would overhear. For the Sect Leader, there were no people he could trust more than those who had stuck with him through all the hardships Ian had experienced thus far.
"I'll make sure to guide the elder and bring back our Sect's treasures, Sect Leader."
"Then it's settled. Come on, the sooner the better!"
Chung Myung stood up, his plum eyes, though unable to see even what was in front of him, seemed to look into a future that the young disciples of Mount Hua Sect could barely imagine until this morning.