Tales Of The Nine Dragons [EN]: Chapter 80

Nine Dragons Chronicle (80)

Returning It Sevenfold

Under the cloak of a dark night, with the moon hidden behind thick clouds, figures stealthily scaled the walls of a manor.

As if following a prearranged plan, they dispersed in different directions to carry out their individual tasks.

*Swoosh!*

The flying daggers sliced through the darkness, their sharp edges whistling as they found their marks, piercing the chests of the manor’s unsuspecting guards.

The guards, caught completely off guard, had no chance to react to the deadly projectiles that emerged from the shadows.

*Thud.*

The attackers retrieved the fallen torches, revealing that they were disguised in the same uniforms as the manor’s guards.

They hoisted the bodies of their victims onto their shoulders, carried them to a nearby building, and laid them down. Then, they sprinkled a prepared flammable substance all over the structure, ensuring rapid ignition.

They circled the building, spreading the accelerant, and without hesitation, set the building ablaze with their torches, the flames instantly engulfing it.

The masked figures, their mission accomplished, vanished into the night without a backward glance.

Soon, flames erupted from other buildings within the manor, the fire spreading rapidly.

“Fire! Fire!”

It wasn’t until fifteen minutes after the initial blaze that panicked cries of “Fire!” pierced the night as people stumbled out of the burning buildings.

In that short span, the flames had grown uncontrollable, and some structures were already collapsing, scattering burning debris across the grounds.

The buildings appeared ready to crumble at any moment.

“Oh dear, what are we going to do?”

Outside, women wrung their hands in despair, while men frantically rushed towards the well to draw water.

“What are you all standing around for? Hurry and get water to put out the fire!”

At the sound of the stern voice, even the distraught women joined the effort, running towards the well.

Seok Dae-yeong, the Sect Leader of the Seokcheon Clan, was a sorry sight. His hair was singed, and his face was red, bearing the marks of minor burns.

He had fled the building in such haste that he was clad only in his undergarments.

Yet, instead of being ashamed, he glared at the inferno consuming his manor, his face contorted with rage, and he barked orders at the servants and clan martial artists, urging them to fight the flames.

*Crackling, crackling.*

The building, unable to withstand the intense heat, collapsed in a shower of sparks and debris, adding fuel to the raging fire.

“Just who in the world……”

As fury welled up inside him, he remembered the mission he had ordered just three days prior: to assassinate the Nine Dragons Hall Leader in Sanyang County and his entire family, and to burn their hall to the ground.

‘I instructed them to make it look like the work of bandits and to lie low for a few days before returning. Could they have been defeated?’

He wondered if the Nine Dragons Hall’s martial artists had retaliated by burning down his manor.

‘Those fools dared to retaliate so recklessly. I’ll kill them all right now… Wait. But why did they only set fire to the buildings and leave me and my family unharmed?’

Narrowing his eyes as he watched the flames dance, Seok Dae-yeong suspected a deeper plot.

“To say they only set fire because they couldn’t handle me is unconvincing. If they feared me, they wouldn’t have attacked in the first place.”

While Seok Dae-yeong pondered the situation, the fire raged out of control. The flammable substance used to ignite the blaze filled the air with a noxious odor and thick black smoke, and the servants struggled in vain to extinguish the flames.

“Stop!”

At Seok Dae-yeong’s sudden command, the people attempting to put out the fire froze in their tracks.

“Water won’t stop this fire. Let it burn to the ground. Go and find clothes for me and the martial artists to wear.”

Realizing the futility of their efforts, Seok Dae-yeong abandoned the attempt to extinguish the fire, choosing instead to find a target for his rage.

About an hour passed, and all the buildings in the manor had been reduced to ashes.

Tragically, many people had been unable to escape the inferno, including both servants and martial artists.

As dawn approached, the manor’s surviving servants brought clothes, which they had somehow managed to salvage.

Seok Dae-yeong and the Seokcheon Clan martial artists changed into the salvaged garments and retrieved their weapons from the debris.

“Let’s go!”

Seok Dae-yeong led his martial artists out of the smoldering ruins of the Seokcheon Clan manor.

* * *

*Crackling… Boom!*

The front gate of the Nine Dragons Hall was mercilessly shattered, sending splinters and debris flying into the courtyard.

“Kill them all, leave no one alive!”

Seok Dae-yeong led his martial artists in a furious assault on the Nine Dragons Hall.

A fierce aura emanated from them as they stormed into the hall and scattered in all directions.

“What is the meaning of this!”

Chief Manager Seo Dae-yeong shouted in response to the sudden invasion, but the Seokcheon Clan martial artists immediately attacked him with their swords.

He twisted his body to evade the descending blade and retaliated with a swift hand strike to the attacker’s neck, breaking his neck bone.

Seo Dae-yeong picked up the fallen man’s sword and fought against the Seokcheon Clan martial artists, while others bypassed him and entered the inner courtyard.

“You must have a death wish.”

Sa Do-jun, Nangong Jin, and Nangong Yeon-ah, who were visiting the Nine Dragons Hall Leader, joined the fray, battling the Seokcheon Clan martial artists who had entered the inner courtyard.

“What is the meaning of this!”

Sa Do-jun immediately unleashed his most lethal techniques, while Nangong Jin demanded an explanation for the attack. However, his question went unanswered.

If the attackers had been wearing the Seokcheon Clan’s uniforms, they would have been immediately identified, but they were wearing mismatched borrowed clothes, leaving Nangong Jin in the dark.

Ultimately, Nangong Jin was forced to resort to deadly force as well. He couldn’t afford to hold back, not with Nangong Yeon-ah’s safety at stake.

While Seo Dae-yeong, Sa Do-jun, and Nangong Jin engaged the Seokcheon Clan martial artists, the assassins from Salmak Valley and the Tang Clan [renowned assassin clans] moved with deadly precision, eliminating the scattered Seokcheon Clan members.

The Seokcheon Clan martial artists, caught completely off guard by the hidden assassins, fell victim to their silent blades without even a chance to retaliate.

Seok Dae-yeong, oblivious to the carnage unfolding within the hall, found himself face to face with Hwa-rin at the entrance.

“Are you the Hall Leader here?”

“And you must be Seok Dae-yeong, the Sect Leader of the Seokcheon Clan, a sect of fools?”

Hwa-rin chuckled as Seok Dae-yeong’s face flushed with anger.

“Your greed has blinded you. To come here, unaware that this is where you will meet your end, proves that you’ve been thoroughly manipulated by Hwa Jeong-soo of the Hwamyeong Merchant Group, like a puppet on a string.”

Hwa-rin continued, noting Seok Dae-yeong’s confused expression.

“Surely you don’t believe that the screams echoing from within are those of my family members, do you?”

“Then?”

“Can someone who manages a manor of this size not see a few steps ahead? From the moment you fell for Hwa Jeong-soo’s scheme, you were doomed. After you die by my hand, Hwa Jeong-soo will seize all your assets.”

“What are you saying?”

“You fool. Though the Hwamyeong Merchant Group operates in the commercial world, their martial prowess surpasses that of your Seokcheon Clan. Why else would he ask you to kill me?”

Seok Dae-yeong’s mind raced.

“It’s to frame me for your murder. That way, he can justify attacking me and seek support from the Jongnam Clan or the Hwasan Clan.”

“Does that mean?”

“You and the Seokcheon Clan are merely sacrifices.”

Seok Dae-yeong trembled.

“The reason I’m explaining this in such detail is so that you understand why you’re dying, even as you draw your last breath.”

“How could you possibly……”

In a flash, Hwa-rin vanished from Seok Dae-yeong’s sight and reappeared directly in front of him, his fist slamming into his abdomen.

“Kuh-uh-uh!”

The pain of his internal organs being twisted and crushed made it difficult to breathe.

“You overestimate yourself. You’re the weakest opponent I’ve faced in a long time.”

He tried to speak, but the agony in his abdomen prevented him.

“You won’t be around to see it, but Hwa Jeong-soo will be overjoyed.”

“Huk… Huk…”

Seok Dae-yeong, gasping for air, looked up at Hwa-rin.

“If that’s true, why didn’t you tell me from the beginning……”

“Why would I? I just told you now. I thought you deserved to know why you were dying.”

“Then……”

“Don’t play the victim. You agreed to help Hwa Jeong-soo in exchange for a share of the profits from the Nine Dragons Tower once it was completed.”

Seok Dae-yeong was speechless.

“There are so many fools in this world. They act like they’re doing favors with things that aren’t even theirs, as if they own them. But there’s something you don’t understand.”

“What is it?”

“Do you think the gambling den permit for the Nine Dragons Tower will remain valid if I die? Do you think the governor of Seoseo Province is foolish enough to allow that to happen?”

“Then the Hwamyeong Merchant Group……”

“If they could do it themselves, gambling dens would be everywhere in the Nine Provinces and Eight Domains [a common term for ‘all under heaven’]. They’re trying to take what’s mine because they can’t do it themselves.”

Only then did Seok Dae-yeong realize that he had been chasing an illusion.

“If you’ve survived in the martial world this long, you should know that excessive greed leads to ruin……”

Seok Dae-yeong lowered his head.

‘I’ve been tricked by that bastard, Hwa Jeong-soo.’

As Seok Dae-yeong burned with thoughts of revenge against Hwa Jeong-soo, Hwa-rin’s voice pierced his ears.

“Hwa Jeong-soo will soon follow in your footsteps. Don’t worry, just go ahead and wait for him.”

Hwa-rin’s hand struck downwards, and Seok Dae-yeong’s neck snapped.

“Guardian Yi, dispose of this body. It’ll be a problem if Nangong Jin recognizes him.”

“Understood.”

A figure who had appeared silently beside Hwa-rin bowed his head, slung Seok Dae-yeong’s corpse over his shoulder, and left the Nine Dragons Hall.

“It’ll cost a fortune to repair the gate. Should we just replace it with an iron gate this time?”

* * *

Seok Dae-yeong and the martial artists of the Seokcheon Clan sought to avenge the burning of their sect by attacking the Nine Dragons Hall, but none of them survived the assault.

Their deaths were quietly covered up, but the information networks of the Hao Clan and the Beggars’ Sect [two powerful information-gathering organizations] couldn’t be completely evaded.

Although the incident was initially concealed, the Hao Clan and the Beggars’ Sect secretly investigated the reason for the Seokcheon Clan’s destruction. They discovered that Seok Dae-yeong and his martial artists had stormed the Nine Dragons Hall and that none of them had ever left.

The Beggars’ Sect informed the Jeongcheon Alliance’s [a major martial arts alliance] Seoseo Province branch, Jongnam, and the Hwasan Clan of these events. Cheong-myeong, the head of the Seoseo Province branch, harbored a dislike for the Nine Dragons Hall, which had recently become a source of trouble in the province, and sent letters to the Hwasan Clan and the Jongnam Clan to discuss the matter.

The Hwasan Clan and the Jongnam Clan dispatched representatives to the Seoseo Province branch. Hwayoung Jin-in of the Hwasan Clan and Elder Song Cheol of the Jongnam Clan, who had previously descended from their respective mountain gates, arrived at the Jeongcheon Alliance’s Seoseo Province branch, each accompanied by four or five martial artists.

“As you may have heard, the Seokcheon Clan has been destroyed.”

Cheong-myeong, the head of the Jeongcheon Alliance’s branch, was a member of the Wudang Clan, not the Hwasan Clan. According to the rule that the head of the Jeongcheon Alliance’s branch should not be a member of a clan native to that province, a member of the Wudang Clan was chosen to fill the position.

Elder Song Cheol and Hwayoung Jin-in exchanged uneasy glances.

Elder Song Cheol, having served in the same military unit as Hwa-rin, had a general understanding of his character. Hwayoung, on the other hand, had received specific instructions from Sect Leader Mae San to cultivate a positive relationship with Hwa-rin, the Nine Dragons Hall Leader.

While the Seokcheon Clan was a significant force within the orthodox faction of Seoseo Province, jeopardizing their relationship with the Nine Dragons Hall over this incident would be detrimental to both the Hwasan Clan and the Jongnam Clan. Their preference was to avoid involvement altogether.

However, they couldn’t simply do as they pleased. They needed to discuss the situation with the head of the Jeongcheon Alliance’s Seoseo Province branch to determine the best course of action.

“We also received word from our Sect Leader before leaving the mountain. He mentioned that the Nine Dragons Hall was responsible?”

“We cannot confirm that. However, the Beggars’ Sect’s investigation suggests that none of Seok Dae-yeong and his martial artists who entered the Nine Dragons Hall ever left.”

“So, you’re saying they all died within the Nine Dragons Hall? But as far as I know, the Nine Dragons Hall has very few martial artists. I’ve heard that only the Nine Dragons Hall Leader and the Chief Manager are skilled in martial arts.”

“Are you suggesting that those two individuals killed Sect Leader Seok and the Seokcheon Clan martial artists?”

Elder Song Cheol knew that Hwa-rin was capable of such a feat, but he feigned ignorance.

From the perspective of Elder Song Cheol and the Hwasan Clan, antagonizing Hwa-rin was undesirable.

In particular, the Hwasan Clan was aware that Hwa-rin had single-handedly destroyed three martial forces of the Blood Evil Alliance [a notorious evil organization], so they sought to maintain a positive relationship and avoid conflict.

“We cannot be certain.”

“I see. But why did the Seokcheon Clan attack the Nine Dragons Hall? The Seokcheon Clan has no connection to Sanyang County, so there shouldn’t have been any conflict.”

“That is the question. That’s why I’ve summoned the Nine Dragons Hall Leader here.”