Tales Of The Nine Dragons [EN]: Chapter 193

Nine Dragons Chronicle (193)

As Hwa-rin traveled the Yangtze River towards Luzhou in Sichuan Province, he considered whether to teach Danri Hyeok-jin martial arts or simply self-defense for his own safety.

“People often say strength comes from the lower body, but that’s complete nonsense. Strength originates from your core, whether it’s your lower or upper body. Just maintaining a firm stance and keeping your center will be a great help, so hang in there.”

Danri Hyeok-jin was practicing a horse stance, and maintaining his posture while keeping his balance on the swaying boat was proving to be a difficult task.

Thud, thud, thud… Thud, thud, thud… Thud, thud, thud…….

Watching Danri Hyeok-jin repeatedly fall and get up to resume the stance for half an hour reminded him of Danri Hyeok-gwang.

“He seems to have some talent, but not the kind of talent that can survive in the Murim [martial arts world],” Hwa-rin muttered to himself, observing Danri Hyeok-jin from the bow of the boat.

“If Soso had Hyeok-jin’s talent, he might be able to make a life for himself in the Murim, but not Hyeok-jin. I should just teach him enough to protect himself while living as a merchant and staying healthy. Just in case, I’ll teach Soso martial arts.”

Danri Soso was a wise person, and Hwa-rin believed that even if he learned martial arts, he wouldn’t show off, harass others for his own benefit, or become greedy.

“What are you muttering about to yourself?” Baek Gun-seong asked, approaching him.

“It’s just that seeing Hyeok-jin reminds me of when I was learning martial arts.”

“You also had a time when you were learning martial arts?”

“Of course. Did you think I was a master from birth?”

“Yeah. I thought monsters like you learned martial arts in your mother’s womb and were masters from the moment you were born.”

Hwa-rin chuckled.

“Why are you laughing?”

“I’m just amazed at how close you are to the truth.”

Although it was a slightly different situation, Hwa-rin had essentially been raised by arrangement from his mother’s womb. As soon as he was born, he was sealed by his mother’s sorcery, and on the day the seal was broken, the effects of the Illusionary Command Sorcery appeared. As the Heavenly, Central, and Lower Gates opened simultaneously, a vast amount of the Heretical Cult’s secret sorcery flooded his mind, and he instinctively learned it. So, Baek Gun-seong’s words weren’t far off.

“That’s right. Unless you can train martial arts while sleeping, there’s no other explanation.”
Hwa-rin was taken aback by Baek Gun-seong’s words.

“I guess so.”

‘Did he somehow find out about me?’ Hwa-rin wondered, giving an awkward smile.

At that moment, sensing that the boat’s speed was decreasing, Hwa-rin turned his head and looked towards the bow. He saw another boat approaching head-on from the opposite direction.

“Are those guys pirates?” he asked, thinking that only pirates would approach another vessel with such reckless momentum.

“Looking at the flag on the mast, it seems so.”

Hwa-rin looked at the flag on the largest mast, and the corners of his lips turned up as if he had a mischievous idea.

“But are pirates considered Murim people or not?”

At the sudden question, Baek Gun-seong looked at Hwa-rin, his eyes questioning the relevance of the query.

“No, we don’t generally consider common thugs as Murim people. So, I’m asking if we consider pirates and bandits as Murim people.”

“The Green Forest [bandits] and the Waterway Gang belong to the Black Faction [underworld martial artists], so we have to consider them Murim people. Even among the thugs, those who belong to the Hao Gate are seen as Murim people.”

“I see,” Hwa-rin said, making a disappointed expression.

“Are you itching for a fight?”

“No, no matter how much I’m itching for a fight, would I really pick a fight with pirates? I’m a person who has gained some fame in the Murim. What would people think?”

Baek Gun-seong chuckled at Hwa-rin’s appearance, which clearly betrayed his boredom, despite his words.

“No matter how bored you are, playing around with pirates is a bit much.”

Hwa-rin pouted.

The captain of the boat Hwa-rin was on came out on the deck to speak with the pirates.

“I, Song Mo, am a little embarrassed that the heroes of the Yangtze River are blocking the path of an ordinary passenger ship, not a merchant vessel.”

“It is said that all within the four seas are brothers, so wouldn’t it be good to help each other out a little?”

As the pirate boat gently bumped against the passenger ship, the pirates crossed over.

“How many people are on board?”

“About fifty people.”

“Then, if you calculate ten *nyang* [currency] per person and make it five silver *nyang*, nothing bad will happen.”

When the fierce-looking man said this to the captain, the captain looked embarrassed.

“I’ll try to negotiate with them first…….”

As the captain was about to speak, Hwa-rin said loudly to Baek Gun-seong, “This isn’t right. Are we just supposed to stand by and watch as Murim people extort ordinary people?”

The pirates’ heads turned towards Hwa-rin and Baek Gun-seong.

“If it’s a matter of right and wrong between Murim people, I can’t stand idly by, but am I supposed to just watch innocent ordinary people being extorted? And why should I give my money to those guys? Am I so weak that I’ll let them take my money?”

“Hey!” the fierce-looking man called out to Hwa-rin after hearing his outburst.

“Why?”

“Why?”

“Then I should answer ‘Why?’ Should I answer, ‘Hello?’?”

Baek Gun-seong chuckled at Hwa-rin’s response.

“Why is a young punk’s tongue so short? Should this brother pull out your short tongue and wrap it around your neck to make you lose consciousness?”

“Haa,” Hwa-rin sighed, then turned his body, looked at the pirates’ boat, turned back, and pretended to pull something out and swing it with his left hand.

A sword materialized in Hwa-rin’s left hand, and the moment the sword moved from left to right, it vanished into thin air.

Whoosh!

At the same time, a crescent-shaped arc of sword energy flew from the air towards the pirates’ boat, pierced through both masts, and disappeared.

“I’m speechless,” Hwa-rin said.

No sooner had he finished speaking than the pirates’ masts tilted to one side and completely collapsed onto the cabin.

Crash! Crackle! Rumble…….

The pirates, witnessing the destruction of their ship’s cabin by the collapsing masts, widened their eyes in disbelief, their mouths agape.

“Hey, why are you breaking the boat?”

“You threatened to pull out my tongue and wrap it around my neck to kill me, so should I have said, ‘Ah, yes, please do so,’ and stuck out my tongue?”

“Oh my, you could have just reasoned with them. You said you weren’t bored?”

“I’m not bored.”

“You look bored.”

“Gun-seong, you don’t understand how serious this situation is right now.”

“What serious situation? It just looks like you’re bored and trying to play around.”
Hwa-rin shook his head, looking at Baek Gun-seong. Then he glared at the pirates, who still couldn’t close their mouths.

“Hey.”

“Hic,” the fierce-looking pirate hiccuped, startled by Hwa-rin’s voice.

“My tongue only comes out this much, so how are you going to lengthen it?”

“I didn’t recognize a great man.”

“A great man? Are you saying I’m a dead man?”

“No, that’s not it…….”

“What do you mean it’s not? You’re telling me to die early.”

“No, you’re misunderstanding. I misspoke. Not a great man… I mean, a strange man! I was going to call you a strange man, but I just…….”

“Stop it. I’m going to lose my mind if I tease you any more,” Baek Gun-seong said to Hwa-rin, who chuckled.

“What do you mean stop it? Are we just going to leave them alone when they’re trying to intimidate people who have no power and covet their wealth? If someone tries to take something from you, do you just give it to them?”

“That’s….”

“You have to know that the moment you try to covet someone else’s things, you risk having your own things taken away. Why don’t you understand that? If you try to take something and it doesn’t work, do you just say, ‘Ah, it doesn’t work. I’m sorry,’ and it’s over?”

Baek Gun-seong couldn’t refute Hwa-rin’s words.

“You’re stronger than those guys, so you think this situation is easy because you don’t believe you’ll be stabbed to death by them. But what do you think will happen if the people on this boat can’t afford to give five silver *nyang*?”

“That’s…….”

“Then they’ll use their power to act violently. They’ll beat people and break things.”

Baek Gun-seong was silent.

“If I tried to kill you and the young masters of the Twelve Families in this place, do you think your father and the heads of the Twelve Families would let me go nicely?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Then those guys aren’t pirates; they’re righteous martial artists. They came to harm your subordinates; are you just going to let them go? Is the Murim such a peaceful world?”

Baek Gun-seong was speechless at Hwa-rin’s words.

“Why can’t you see that the superficial goodwill you guys are showing is making things even more difficult for other people? That’s why ordinary people lump all Murim people together and call them hooligans.”

Baek Gun-seong had never even imagined that Hwa-rin would be thinking this way.

Baek Gun-seong’s gaze went to the ordinary people standing at the back of the deck.

The moment he met their eyes, filled with desperation, Baek Gun-seong wondered if he had been living too sheltered a life.

Seeing Baek Gun-seong standing blankly and looking at the people in the back, Hwa-rin seemed to understand why Baek Mu-gi had sent his son as an inspector.

‘The senior was worried for a reason. Such an innocent guy is one of the Four Dragons [esteemed martial artists]…….’

After the destruction of the Heretical Cult, there were no major incidents or disputes in the Murim, so it was inevitable that later generations, born in a more peaceful time, would lack the fierce drive and competitive spirit of the past.

He thought it would be unreasonable to expect those who had learned martial arts while living comfortably in a good environment to have the same mindset as those who had to compete fiercely to survive.

“Gun-seong.”

Baek Gun-seong looked at Hwa-rin.

“We live under the same sky, but the world I’m experiencing and the world you’re experiencing are different, so you probably can’t fully understand me. But if I can give you a piece of advice, living so softly is just asking to be stabbed to death by a stray sword. So, don’t take anything lightly.”

The pirates sensed that the atmosphere had changed and knelt down before Hwa-rin, begging for their lives.

“Please spare us. We will never be pirates again.”

“Please spare us.”

The arrogance from moments ago was completely gone. They were just pathetically begging for their lives to survive.

‘Well, it might be natural from their point of view,’ Hwa-rin thought.

Hwa-rin was able to understand why no great figures emerged from the Black Faction as he looked at the pirates kneeling and begging for their lives.

Hwa-rin moved his feet and said, “Hyeok-jin, your posture is collapsing. Endure the horse stance for another hour.”

“Yes, Brother!” Hyeok-jin replied, looking at him with eyes full of respect.

Hwa-rin went into the cabin, and Hyeok-jin continued his training.

“Please spare us,” the pirates begged Baek Gun-seong, who nodded.

“Go back to your boat before I change my mind.”

No sooner had Baek Gun-seong finished speaking than the pirates scrambled back to their boat.

“Hmm……,” Baek Gun-seong’s expression was not very bright as he watched them.

He would have thought nothing of it normally, but Hwa-rin’s words bothered him.

‘He’s not wrong…….’

Thinking about it, it seemed like he had been thinking too easily, just like Hwa-rin said.

After all the pirates returned to their boat, the pirates’ boat moved away from the passenger ship after a while.

-Living so softly is just asking to be stabbed to death by a stray sword.

Baek Gun-seong nodded. Then he pulled out the sword he was wearing on his waist and took a deep breath.

The energy of the inner strength that had settled in Baek Gun-seong’s *dantian* [energy center] wriggled and flowed out to his limbs.

The energy of the inner strength moved along the blood vessels and meridians according to the principles of the Spirit Command Divine Art that Baek Gun-seong was circulating, giving him powerful strength.

Crackle!

A red aura flickered on the sword that Baek Gun-seong had drawn, and he strongly slashed diagonally towards the pirates’ boat.

The red aura that had formed on the sword moved along the blade and rushed out towards the lower part of the pirates’ boat.

Boom!

The energy of the Spirit Command Divine Art created a large hole in the lower part of the boat, and river water rushed in, causing a commotion on the pirates’ boat.

“Now I know why my father sent me to Hwa-rin.”