"Finally!"
Cheongmyeong gripped his staff tighter. In front of his eyes, the magnificent sight of Mount Hua unfolded.
"Finallyyyyyyy!"
Tears welled up in his eyes.
How much hardship had he endured to get here? With a body as weak as an ordinary person's—no, weaker than that—he had fought through countless life-threatening moments just to reach this point.
Of course, the dangers he faced were a bit different from the usual threats encountered on a journey. Mostly, they involved starvation and exhaustion. But dangerous, nonetheless.
In any case, after braving through that horrendous ordeal, Cheongmyeong had finally arrived at Mount Hua.
"⋯⋯That was long."
If he were to recount all the struggles he had to endure just to get here, it could turn into an epic tale of a hero. No, more like a beggar's tale.
Naturally, Cheongmyeong's appearance wasn't exactly human.
Though he had gained some strength from learning the martial arts, all the energy that should have gone into restoring his body had been spent walking and running. So instead of becoming stronger, his body had only weakened further.
He looked so emaciated that anyone who saw him would instinctively frown.
His clothes, which had once resembled tattered rags, now looked more like a patchwork of cloth, or perhaps, a blanket draped over him. And the dust that clung to him didn't help.
But none of that mattered.
What mattered was that Cheongmyeong had finally reached Mount Hua.
He couldn't help but wipe his eyes.
'I'll smash the heads of those who said I'd live the best life if I were to be reincarnated!'
Reincarnation isn't just about being reborn, it's about who you're reborn as.
If you're born again as a beggar with no parents or home, it's better that you hadn't been reincarnated at all.
But, all those hardships are over now! He had finally made it to Mount Hua! So now, it was time to confirm with his own eyes what had happened to this mountain.
"I'm going up!"
Cheongmyeong began to climb the mountain with force, his staff digging into the ground.
And moments later...
"Ughhh! Hahh! Ughhh!"
Clinging to the steep cliff, Cheongmyeong gasped for air as if his lungs would burst.
"What the hell is this mountain!"
Who in their right mind would build a Taoist temple on a mountain like this! On this mountain! It made no sense to build a temple here without losing your mind!
He had heard that the Shaolin and Wudang sects were overflowing with incense worshippers, but Mount Hua seemed to have no one visiting. It felt like there wasn't a single soul coming here.
Cheongmyeong lowered his head and glanced down. A bottomless abyss stretched beneath him.
"Don't exaggerate?"
This wasn't exaggeration. It was the truth. It wasn't just an abyss—it was a cloud floating below him! This insane mountain was so high that even the clouds couldn't escape it, and the only way up was a tiny, narrow path cut into the sheer cliff.
No, this wasn't even a path.
To call this a path would be an insult to paths everywhere.
He couldn't even place both feet down at once. The only way to advance was to cling to the cliff, crawling on all fours like a beast.
"Damn it! What kind of crazy idea was it to build a Taoist temple on a mountain like this?"
Immediately upon arriving at Mount Hua, Cheongmyeong wanted to rush into the temple and start pointing fingers, but honestly, when he thought about it, he wasn't the right person to be doing that.
— Execution. Doesn't Mount Hua seem to be the perfect place for inspection? That towering peak is truly shaped like a sword, isn't it? The inspector must have found a great spot for the temple.
"⋯⋯What nonsense."
What? The peak looks like a sword?
Sure, it does look like a sword. It looks so much like a sword that the path up the mountain feels like climbing a blade.
They say that Mount Hua's terrain is the most dangerous of the Five Sacred Mountains. Only now, after losing his martial abilities, did Cheongmyeong truly understand what that meant.
"Really, I'm going to die."
This wasn't a joke. He truly felt that he was risking his life. His limbs were already shaking, and there was still so much mountain left to climb.
As he sighed, realizing how few people could actually make it through this, he began to feel the weight of how messed up Mount Hua's situation was.
"Ugh."
Cheongmyeong groaned and pressed himself against the wall.
But he couldn't give up here! He had made it this far—giving up now would mean everything had been in vain! If the mountain was there, it was up to him to climb it! He would climb and climb, with perseverance and courage!
...Although, honestly, going down might be even more dangerous now.
...Truly.
❀ ❀ ❀
Thud!
A hand emerged from the cliff's edge.
The trembling hand grasped onto the cliff above.
"Ughhhhhh!"
The pale fingertips were a pitiful sight. With all his strength, Cheongmyeong hauled himself up with a struggle.
"My goodness, I'm going to die!"
Finally managing to pull himself up, Cheongmyeong collapsed onto the ground, exhausted.
"Hahhh! Hahhh! Hahhh! I almost died!"
Turning his head, he saw the clouds far below him.
With the body of this young child, he had climbed all the way up here. He couldn't help but feel proud of himself.
He hadn't fallen. He had not fallen.
After panting heavily while staring at the sky for a while, Cheongmyeong finally gathered the strength to get up. The only silver lining now was that he wouldn't have to descend this mountain in this condition.
From now on, he was going to bury his bones in Mount Hua.
'Let me see...'
Cheongmyeong stood up and looked around. He was sure it was somewhere around here.
Ahead, he could see a path leading up to the peak. If he followed that road just a little further, he would reach the temple. Cheongmyeong's legs began to move slowly.
His heart tightened at the thought that he had made it this far. After a century, he had finally reached Mount Hua.
"⋯⋯Although in reality, it's only been about a month."
But still, he had arrived after a century, and that sounded more impressive.
Climbing the hill wasn't difficult at all—if he were to exaggerate a little, it wasn't difficult in the slightest. His body was completely drained, but just the thought of reaching Mount Hua gave him a surge of energy.
"Aahhh..."
As the roof tiles of Mount Hua's main gate came into view in the distance, Cheongmyeong's eyes began to cloud with nostalgia.
Even though a hundred years had passed and the world had changed five times over, the tiles before his eyes remained unchanged. The gentle curves still held the soft, unyielding spirit of Mount Hua.
Yes, the old roof with missing tiles...
Wait.
Old?
Missing tiles?
Cheongmyeong rubbed his eyes with his sleeve.
Did I see that right?
But no matter how much he rubbed his eyes, the scene before him didn't change. With each step he took, the crumbling appearance of the gate became clearer.
"⋯⋯"
Cheongmyeong stood still, speechless.
The main gate of any sect is the first place visitors see. Because of this, most sects put effort into making their gates grand and immaculate.
Mount Hua had been like that once.
Though it couldn't be grand due to its simple and modest nature, at least it had been sturdy and majestic enough to show off Mount Hua's presence. It had been well-kept and tidy.
But now...
'What exactly am I looking at?'
The missing tiles and cracked edges made sense—they were eventually going to wear out and need replacing.
But the columns cracked down the middle, the paint chipped off, and the door rotting away—and the webs!
Webs?
The other damages could be understood. But webs covering every eave and no one bothering to clear them? That was something Cheongmyeong could never understand.
And the final blow...
"Where's the sign? The sign!"
The sign should have been the most important feature of the sect! Where had it gone?
The sign, with its beautiful calligraphy reading "Great Hua Mountain Sect", was nowhere to be found.
That sign had been polished by Senior Sect Leader every morning! Where had it gone?
Cheongmyeong's legs began to weaken. Stumbling, he finally reached the front of the gate, where he stood staring at it, speechless.
— As far as I know, that place's finished.
— Mount Hua? I think I've heard of it. It was once a famous sword sect, right? I heard it was completely destroyed by the Heavenly Demon. Is it still around?
"⋯⋯Destroyed?"
Mount Hua?
Cheongmyeong's eyes began to tremble.
"No, what the hell is this nonsense!"
Where others might fall into despair, Cheongmyeong couldn't hold back his anger and immediately exploded.
Mount Hua is destroyed?!
Destroyed? Mount Hua?! No way!
"My God, Mount Hua has been destroyed. Mount Hua... Nooo..."
No matter how much he tried to deny reality, the evidence in front of him wouldn't change. His body trembled, and eventually, he couldn't hold back any longer and shouted in rage.
"Senior Sect Leader! Why did you do this! Why! I told you to stop doing this! You stubborn fool! I'm going to...!"
In truth, Cheongmyeong had already been thinking it.
That Mount Hua really might have been destroyed.
During the journey here, no matter how wide open his ears were, he hadn't heard a single word about Mount Hua. He heard talk about Shaolin, Wudang, and even Zhongnan, but not a single mention of Mount Hua.
If Mount Hua were still thriving like it once had... Or at least still holding onto the name of a sect... this wouldn't have been possible.
"That's why I told you to stop, Senior."
— You fool. Mount Hua is a sect. What's the point of monks who shut themselves in the mountains and become hermits? Those who ignore the suffering of others don't deserve to speak of the Tao.
"...Still, you should've stopped."
The elders and top disciples of Mount Hua had all perished. Though many sects had sent their elite warriors, no sect had sent everything like Mount Hua.
The sect leader and elders had all died, and the first-generation and second-generation disciples were almost entirely wiped out. All that was left were young third-generation disciples and children who hadn't even mastered martial arts.
With all that, how could Mount Hua's legacy possibly continue?
"...But still."
Looking at the broken main gate, Cheongmyeong felt a hopelessness settling in. This was the proof—Mount Hua had fallen.
"Senior! Senior! This is what I was talking about. You gave everything away, and in the end, there's nothing left! Look at this! Look at it! Mount Hua is finished! Finished!"
Cheongmyeong collapsed in frustration. His resentment echoed back to him like a haunting echo.
"This is maddening. Really."
He had returned after a hundred years... only to see the sect destroyed.
He had fought to protect this sect, to safeguard the martial world... and for what? If this was the result, then what had all their sacrifices been for?
He felt a profound emptiness settle in his chest.
Then...
"Who's there?"
A strange voice pierced Cheongmyeong's ears.