Tales Of The Nine Dragons [EN]: Chapter 10

Nine Dragons Chronicle (10)

In Rimha, the base of the Blood Wolf Bandit Gang, chaos reigned as countless individuals bled and collapsed.

Rival bandit gangs, emboldened to revolt, ambushed the Blood Wolf Bandit Gang, leading to a bloodbath as they clashed and killed each other.

The Blood Wolf Bandit Gang, notorious for dominating the Great Plains at night, possessed superior strength compared to other bandit groups. However, even they suffered significant losses in the escalating conflict.

Adding to their woes, various tribes of the Great Plains, seemingly aware of the Blood Wolf Bandit Gang’s weakened state, united and launched a devastating attack, nearly annihilating them.

“Hah… Hah…!”

A man sat atop a pile of corpses, panting heavily as he struggled to regain his composure and calm his racing heart.

The remaining executives of the Blood Wolf Bandit Gang surrounded him, their breaths ragged as they stared in disbelief at the scene unfolding before them.

The man catching his breath was none other than Hwa-rin, and the man lying dead beneath him was Yulappa, the Dark Great Khan who had once dominated the night of the Great Plains.

The battle between the two had been a cataclysmic event, shaking the very heavens and earth. Words like ‘evenly matched’ or ‘a clash of titans’ failed to capture the sheer intensity of their fight.

Each time their swords collided, the air seemed to tear and the sky split. When their energies clashed, the ground trembled violently, shattering under the force.

It defied human comprehension, yet they had witnessed it with their own eyes.

The fight had raged for over a hundred exchanges, and in the end, with only a hair’s breadth of difference, the young man’s sword pierced Yulappa’s heart.

Hwa-rin’s victory was, in part, due to the protective layers he wore: underwear woven with heavenly silk, spider silk from the Man-Faced Spider, and clothes made from White Jade Silkworm material. Without these defenses, he might have been the one to fall.

Of course, Yulappa was also equipped with protective armor and a precious sword, but Hwa-rin’s gear proved to be marginally superior, granting him the edge he needed to win.

“This is your chance while I’m exhausted, isn’t it? Aren’t you going to attack?” Hwa-rin taunted, but the executives of the Blood Wolf Bandit Gang hesitated, unable to muster the courage to step forward.

Even as he spoke, Hwa-rin circulated the *Gongmu Dowon Gong* [a technique to circulate internal energy], continuously activating the inner energy in his *dantian* [energy center] to gather what little strength he could.

The executives of the Blood Wolf Bandit Gang, oblivious to his efforts, merely exchanged uneasy glances.

Meanwhile, the allied tribes of the Great Plains continued their relentless slaughter of the Blood Wolf Bandit Gang, pressing their advantage.

—Let’s run. If we stay here, we’ll surely be caught by those guys and die like dogs.

—We have to. The problem is that guy… I wonder if he’ll give us a chance to escape…

They feared that any suspicious movement would provoke Hwa-rin to immediately attack and kill them.

“Stop looking at each other. Anyone who wants to live, run away now. I don’t particularly have any grudges against you. But!”

Hwa-rin paused, and the executives swallowed hard.

“Confess who the spies are within the Fierce Tiger Death Squad and leave.”

Upon hearing Hwa-rin’s words, they all revealed the names of the spies without hesitation.

“Yongmun-seong, Ochi-man, Naengyeo-su.”

Hwa-rin narrowed his eyes at these names.

“Leave.”

As soon as Hwa-rin finished speaking, they scattered, encountering and fighting with the warriors from the Great Plains tribes as they fled.

Hwa-rin had no intention of interfering further, now that the Blood Wolf Bandit Gang had effectively collapsed.

Hwa-rin looked down at the lifeless body of Yulappa.

After stripping the armor and weapons from the corpse, he rose to his feet.

Whiririk!

Three men descended from the air, landing in front of Hwa-rin. They appeared to be past middle age, and judging by their attire, they were not bandits.

They clasped their hands together in front of Hwa-rin, raised them to their chests, and bowed slightly.

“We sincerely thank the great hero who greatly helped in wiping out the Blood Wolf Bandit Gang and some of the other bandit gangs.”

“There’s no need to be so formal. We helped each other because we had the same goal.”

They were the tribal chiefs of the major tribes.

“There won’t be any bandit raids for the time being, so if you use this time to build up your strength and continuously suppress the bandit gangs to prevent them from growing, organizations like the Blood Wolf Bandit Gang won’t be able to emerge. So, don’t be complacent with today’s victory and work diligently.”

“We will.”

“Then.”

“Benefactor, we would like to honor you tonight, so please come with us.”

Hwa-rin shook his head.

“I think it would be better to consider that we have each done what we had to do. Let’s go our separate ways from here. Then!”

With a brief greeting, Hwa-rin kicked off the ground and leaped into the air, drawing a long arc as he departed.

“That’s…”

“I never thought he would really kill Yulappa.”

“Me neither.”

“No one would have expected that the great Yulappa would die such a futile death.”

Looking at Yulappa’s corpse, a large hole gaping in his chest, they wore expressions of stunned disbelief.

“We should refrain from provoking the Central Plains for the time being.”

The other two nodded in agreement.

“When I heard that the Fierce Tiger Death Squad had been annihilated by the Dark Great Khan Yulappa, I thought their reputation was overblown, but I guess that wasn’t the case. Seeing him wipe out not only the Blood Wolf Bandit Gang but also other bandit gangs by himself…”

“Indeed. I guess the saying ‘the terror of the frontier and the outer regions’ wasn’t just for show.”

* * *

Hwa-rin completed the mission assigned to the Fierce Tiger Death Squad and returned to the trading city of Gansu Province.

When Hwa-rin appeared in the trading city, some people welcomed him, while others regarded him with fear.

“Fierce Tiger Death Squad Rescue Team Leader Hwa-rin, mission complete, returning to the unit.”

Hwa-rin handed over the armor and sword he had taken from Yulappa’s corpse to the captain of the Fierce Tiger Death Squad.

“You’ve worked hard. I heard about your story from Namgung Suyeon.”

“Yongmun-seong, Ochi-man, Naengyeo-su!”

When Hwa-rin recited the three names, the captain looked at him with a questioning expression.

“These guys gave our information to the Blood Wolf Bandit Gang. They are spies who were planted by the Blood Wolf Bandit Gang a long time ago.”

“Hmm…”

“I want to twist their necks with my own hands, but please handle them according to military law. We lost over two hundred comrades because of these three.”

With those words, Hwa-rin turned and left the unit.

“Damn it…”

Hwa-rin returned to the unit, but he frowned as if he didn’t like it, cursed under his breath, and headed to the inn.

The inn was in sight. Now, there was no one in the inn who outranked him.

“Who will be the owner of the inn now?”

Hwa-rin looked up at the sky and then went inside the inn.

The inn was empty.

As Hwa-rin entered the inn, the subordinates of the Fierce Tiger Death Squad emerged and shouted in unison.

“Congratulations on your safe return…”

Pow!

Hwa-rin gestured dismissively, sending all the subordinates flying with a wave of his hand.

Thud, thud, bang, bang.

“Did these bastards take the wrong medicine? What, safe return?”

Hwa-rin vented his anger on his subordinates, then waved his hand with a deflated expression and said.

“Stop talking nonsense and get to work.”

Hwa-rin said annoyedly, went into the inn’s kitchen, and then went to the warehouse in the back.

He was searching for the money that Danri Hyeokgwang had requested. He found the money that Danri Hyeokgwang had been collecting and hiding.

“So ignorant… It would be easier to just leave it on the battlefield.”

Hwa-rin found all the money and left the warehouse. He went straight to the Continental Battlefield in the trading city, deposited the money, received a receipt, and returned to the inn.

“Hwa-rin, Senior!”

When he returned to the inn, a messenger was waiting for him. Upon seeing Hwa-rin, he delivered the order from the higher-ups.

“From today, Senior Hwa-rin has been ordered to become a training instructor in charge of training, teaching the members how to survive.”

“I refuse.”

“It’s an order, so there’s nothing we can do.”

“Do you want to die?”

“I only deliver the contents from the higher-ups. In addition, you are also responsible for managing the members as the rescue team leader and running the inn.”

“No way.”

He said this, but he knew he would become the team leader.

“Then I’ll be on my way, now that I’ve delivered the message.”

“Taksu-ya.”

“Yes, Senior!”

“How many have returned?”

“Thirty-three out of a total of two hundred and fifty members have returned.”

“Hmm, thirty-three people.”

“There must be some deserters too…”

“I’m not interested in the deserters. Then, how many seniors are left besides me?”

He narrowed his eyes at the word ‘one’. It also meant that he was in the highest position except for the captain of the Fierce Tiger Death Squad.

“It’s ridiculous. The most senior in three years…”

Hwa-rin waved his hand to dismiss him as if he was annoyed, and when he left, he walked to his room, staggering like a person without any motivation in life.

“I think I need to sleep, so don’t wake me up for three days.”

The subordinates quietly carried out their duties at the inn, carefully observing Hwa-rin’s mood.

After Hwa-rin returned to the unit, Yongmun-seong, Ochi-man, and Naengyeo-su, whom he had exposed, were arrested on the spot, their inner energy was abolished, all their meridians were severed, and they were transferred to the military prison.

One month after Hwa-rin returned, the ranks of the Fierce Tiger Death Squad were replenished, bringing the total back to three hundred. Training them was Hwa-rin’s responsibility, and he put them through such grueling exercises that they tasted blood.

Not only did he train them, but Hwa-rin also trained alongside them, so the members couldn’t complain or voice their dissatisfaction.

“Too slow. Move faster.”

Among the members who were training, there was no one who particularly stood out, but there was one who trained with unwavering tenacity.

“Namgung Suyeon! Run ten more laps.”

She did whatever Hwa-rin told her to do. Namgung Suyeon started running again.

“If anyone among you can pass this line before Suyeon, I’ll let you rest.”

The eyes of the members sparkled at Hwa-rin’s words, and they started running with all their might. But none of them could overtake Namgung Suyeon.

When Namgung Suyeon finished ten laps and was breathing heavily, the other members were either walking with their legs giving out or crawling.

“Training is over for today.”

As soon as Hwa-rin finished speaking, the other members collapsed on the spot.

“You go back, circulate your energy, and relax your body. And take a good rest tomorrow.”

“I can receive more training.”

“Resting is also training. A smart guy is good at fighting and lives longer. On your days off, read books and study military strategy or tactics.”

“I understand.”

“Go in.”

After Namgung Suyeon left, he scanned the members lying on the floor with a displeased look and left the spot.

Hwa-rin and the members of the Fierce Tiger Death Squad were spending relatively peaceful times, ensuring that no organizations that posed a major threat to the Central Plains emerged.

They were exhausted from the brutal training they received from Hwa-rin, but they knew very well that it increased their chances of survival, so the members endured it.

The soldiers of the Fierce Tiger Death Squad received more salary than other soldiers.

This salary included the value of their lives. If they could survive for five years without dying and save their salary, they could accumulate a considerable amount of money and leave.

But if they died, the money they had saved would be useless, so some members sent part of their salary home, but most members received their salary and squandered most of their money, spending it extravagantly.

When Hwa-rin received his salary, he deposited all the money he needed to live on in the battlefield.

The money that Danri Hyeokgwang had collected, the money that Hwa-rin had collected, and the money that he had collected by destroying the bandit gangs and taking their wealth was quite a lot.

“With this much money, we could even start a decent trading company.”

But this money was to be used for the Danri family, so it had to be saved carefully.

“Now there are one year and six months left. If I hold on a little longer, I’ll be discharged.”