Tales Of The Nine Dragons [EN]: Chapter 126

Nine Dragons Chronicle (126)

The Great Extermination Squad

Hwa-Rin picked at her ear with her pinky finger, a look of annoyance on her face.

“I must have a lot of people talking about me behind my back these days. My ears are so itchy.”

“That’s because you’re always causing trouble, so everyone badmouths you.”

Namgung Suyeon retorted sharply.

“What trouble do I cause? If you lived as prudently as I do, you’d already be married with kids.”

Namgung Suyeon’s fist flew towards Hwa-Rin. Hwa-Rin, as if expecting it, easily dodged her punch and moved her foot to kick at her exposed side.

“I knew you’d do that.”

Namgung Suyeon cheered, grabbing Hwa-Rin’s foot with her remaining arm.

“I knew you’d do that too.”

Whoosh.

Hwa-Rin twisted her waist, lifting her grounded foot into the air and kicking it towards Namgung Suyeon’s face.

“Damn it……!”

Namgung Suyeon hurriedly tried to block Hwa-Rin’s foot with her arm, but it was already too late. Hwa-Rin’s foot struck Namgung Suyeon’s head.

“Agh!”

Namgung Suyeon screamed and tumbled to the ground, then immediately charged at Hwa-Rin, seemingly aggrieved by the hit.

Dongchun shook his head from side to side, sighing as he watched this.

“They’ve started again. We might get caught in the crossfire if we stay here, so let’s move over there and wait for a while.”

Dongchun led the Nine Dragons Squad members away and sat down at a safe distance.

“It would be perfect to munch on some jerky while watching this.”

“Dongchun, Chief of the Escort Bureau.”

Hyuk Jiseok’s smile deepened as he called Dongchun by his title.

“Speak, Commander!”

You could feel his good mood in his voice.

‘Just like the Lord and Namgung Suyeon, Dongchun, Chief of the Escort Bureau, is a simple man.’

Hyuk Jiseok saw Dongchun’s smiling face and immediately understood him.

“Do those two fight often like that?”

“Suyeon usually starts the fights, but the Captain is usually the first to actually throw a punch. Neither of them holds back, so sometimes innocent people get hurt.”

“Ah, but why didn’t I ever see them fighting at the estate?”

“Considering the location, and the fact that fighting in the estate would mean demolishing one or two buildings, the Captain must have restrained herself a lot.”

Hyuk Jiseok nodded, turning his gaze back to the two women.

Fwoooosh… Clang…

They started with their bare hands, but soon they were fighting with swords, and before long, they were using their inner energy [qi or vital energy] as if their lives were on the line, neither of them giving an inch.

“Aren’t they going to kill each other?”

“Don’t worry. They won’t die. It looks like the fight will be long, but Suyeon will probably end up taking her anger out on someone else.”

“Take her anger out?”

“Ah… this isn’t the military, so maybe not. But her nasty personality won’t change, so she’ll probably vent somehow.”

Hyuk Jiseok and the Nine Dragons Squad members watched their fight, listening to Dongchun’s explanation.

As the surrounding environment gradually changed due to the collision of their inner energy, Hyuk Jiseok became a little uneasy.

“Is it safe to be here?”

Even though they were far away, the shockwaves of their inner energy were still reaching them.

“Prepare for the impact with your inner energy. That way, you’ll learn something, improve your skills, and all that.”

Dongchun was already protecting his body with his inner energy.

At Dongchun’s words, Hyuk Jiseok and the Nine Dragons Squad members also used their inner energy to protect themselves.

“You have to endure, even if it’s hard. Even if you can’t endure it and suffer internal injuries, watching their fight to the end will be a great help.”

‘What does that mean?’

Hyuk Jiseok didn’t understand Dongchun’s words, but he soon realized what he meant.

Kwaaaang!

The small hill they were on gradually lost its shape as the two women’s fight intensified.

Anyone who saw it would mistake them for mortal enemies; their fight was so fierce, and its aftermath began to affect the members who were far away.

“Ugh!”

A faint groan escaped from one of the members. Starting with him, the members clenched their lips tightly while protecting themselves with their inner energy.

Seeing the members struggling, Dongchun opened his mouth.

“The Captain once taught me that the depth or shallowness of inner energy doesn’t matter much.”

Hyuk Jiseok and the members knew that Dongchun was about to teach them something, so they focused.

“At the time, I told him not to say such nonsense, but in fact, I think that teaching has kept me alive until now.”

Dongchun said, recalling the memory.

“Inner energy is an invisible, intangible force. That’s why belief is important.”

“Belief?”

“There’s a martial art that uses the principle of ‘four ounces deflects a thousand pounds’ [a principle of leverage and technique over brute strength]. It’s something you can see and actually use, so you can believe it’s possible.”

“Are you saying that inner energy is the same way?”

Dongchun nodded and chuckled.

“You probably don’t believe it. That’s why I told the Captain not to say such nonsense back then and got beaten to a pulp.”

“So you’re saying it’s possible?”

“If you can suppress physical strength with physical strength, then you can also suppress the force of inner energy with the force of inner energy.”

Hyuk Jiseok had never thought of this before. No, he hadn’t even considered the possibility because it seemed impossible.

Physical strength and the force of inner energy are different. If physical strength is material, then the force of inner energy is supernatural, and the greater the difference in energy, the more clearly the difference in power is revealed.

“That’s why the Captain told me to call it the realm of belief.”

“The realm of belief?”

“We surprisingly rely on this realm of belief in many of our actions in life.”

Dongchun explained this.

“Believing in Buddha, practicing Taoism, exorcising ghosts or monsters, unconsciously looking up at the sky when we face a great difficulty—these actions also fall under the realm of belief.”

“But isn’t it clearly different from the force of inner energy? Even though the force of inner energy is an intangible force, we can clearly see the difference in power with our own eyes, can’t we?”

“That’s right. The difference in the force of inner energy is so clear that it’s impossible to overcome. I didn’t say that someone with weak inner energy can defeat someone with a lot of inner energy.”

“Then?”

“I said you can block it. Just like you can control a thousand pounds of force with four ounces of force, but you can’t win. Isn’t it contradictory to say that you can defeat a thousand pounds of force with four ounces of force?”

“Hmm…….”

“The ‘four ounces deflects a thousand pounds’ technique only works when people with similar strength fight, right? Would it work if a third-rate master fought a supreme master?”

Hyuk Jiseok nodded.

“But since we’re far away, we can block the shockwaves caused by the collision of those two’s energy with our meager inner energy.”

Kwaaaang. Crackle… Rumble…

“Ugh!”

“Concentrate and feel it through your inner energy. The place where the shockwave of energy from the two people is rushing in the strongest.”

They concentrated on Dongchun’s words and tried to match their energy to the shockwaves flowing from Hwa-Rin and Namgung Suyeon’s fight, as he said.

“The belief that you can do it, the desire to move on to the next stage, the trust of your comrades who will rely on you as you become stronger, and finally, if you endure and persevere as a reward for those who have believed in you, you will be surprised at how much you have grown.”

When Dongchun finished speaking, Hyuk Jiseok and the Nine Dragons Squad members closed their eyes and prepared for the shockwaves caused by the two women’s fight.

‘I taught them as the Captain told me, but I don’t know how long they’ll last. They wouldn’t fight as recklessly as they did in the military, would they?’

Dongchun looked at Hwa-Rin and Namgung Suyeon with uneasy eyes. Hwa-Rin’s expression was slightly distorted, and Namgung Suyeon’s face was blooming like a flower, with smiles all over her face.

“Did Senior finally find a clue to catch up with the Captain? Suyeon is such an amazing person. Becoming a monster to chase a monster.”

* * *

“Hohoho!”

Even though the small hill had been devastated beyond recognition, Namgung Suyeon laughed loudly as if she was in a good mood, and Hwa-Rin frowned and grumbled as if she didn’t like it.

After their sparring in the military, Namgung Suyeon would always vent her anger, but today the situation was reversed, and Dongchun watched Hwa-Rin carefully, as if she was about to vent her anger.

“See? I’ve almost caught up with Senior.”

Namgung Suyeon said loudly, and Hwa-Rin said she had held back.

“Shall we do it again then?”

“Do what?”

“What we did earlier.”

“I don’t want to. After doing it once, my legs give out and I don’t even have the strength to stand.”

“How can you be a man……. I can’t believe it. I’ll have to contact home and tell them to prepare a tonic to replenish your yang energy [vital energy in traditional Chinese medicine]. I don’t know if you can properly fulfill your duties as a man if you’re so weak.”

If someone who didn’t know the full story heard them, they would mistake them for having shared a passionate night together; their conversation was so intimate.

“What’s wrong with me?”

“How can you run out of energy after just one time? You have to be able to do it two or three times.”

“Do it with Dongchun.”

“That guy is too weak to even come near me.”

“Hehehe!”

The Nine Dragons members chuckled at those words, and Dongchun’s expression twisted.

“Why are you dragging me into this when I’m just standing here?”

“He keeps getting on my nerves.”

“What does me getting on the Captain’s nerves have to do with me? You two should handle your own business. Just leave me alone.”

“You dare.”

Hwa-Rin was about to vent her anger on Dongchun when she suddenly turned her gaze to look into the distance.

“Are they finally coming?”

“What?”

At Namgung Suyeon’s question, Hwa-Rin’s lips curled upwards.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, how can you be so slow to notice when an enemy is coming?”

“Enemy?”

Namgung Suyeon shifted her gaze in the direction Hwa-Rin was looking, but she couldn’t see anyone coming. Then, she felt a very slight vibration in the spot where she was standing.

“You felt this vibration?”

“See? This animalistic sense? That’s why you’re still not as good as me.”

Hwa-Rin said triumphantly, as if she had won, and the smile on Namgung Suyeon’s face faded.

“Damn it!”

Dongchun subtly moved away, hearing Namgung Suyeon’s unique, irritated voice when she lost to Hwa-Rin.

Hyuk Jiseok, finding the situation strange, also moved away following Dongchun, and the Nine Dragons Squad members, who didn’t know anything, were about to become the victims.

“You’re still far off.”

“No, I definitely narrowed the gap.”

“Narrowed the gap my ass, go and do your job.”

“Damn it…….”

Namgung Suyeon grumbled and moved forward to take her position.

“Dongchun on the right, Commander Hyuk on the left.”

Dongchun quickly took his position to Namgung Suyeon’s right, and Hyuk Jiseok took his position on the left.

“We need to hold back the rest, except for the twenty-four members who will deal with the enemies, so you’ll have to grit your teeth and endure.”

Namgung Suyeon said the same words to the Nine Dragons Squad members standing behind her.

“Our lives depend on how quickly you deal with the enemies. So, take them down as quickly as possible.”

“Yes!”

“But don’t be impatient. As always, think slowly, judge quickly, act swiftly and accurately. If you do as you have learned and practiced, you will be able to avenge your former comrades with your own hands.”

No sooner had Namgung Suyeon finished speaking than dust clouds rose in the distance, and after a while, a group of warriors quickly approaching through the dust clouds came into view.

It was the Blood Oath Alliance’s Great Extermination Squad.

“They’re coming. Deploy the Six Harmonies Illusionary Soul Slaughter Formation.”

As the order was given, the Nine Dragons Squad warriors deployed a sword formation.