Tales Of The Nine Dragons [EN]: Chapter 144

Nine Dragons Chronicle (144)

Hwa-rin was severely injured and had been unconscious for a while. However, judging by his steady breathing and lack of fever, his life wasn’t in danger.

“Our Chief can train his martial arts even in his sleep. Maybe he’s using his injury as an excuse to train in his dreams,” Seo Dae-yeong joked.

Seo Dae-yeong knew that Hwa-rin had learned a strange mental technique that allowed him to train martial arts in his dreams. Seeing him lying still for so long without any adverse symptoms, he wondered if he was actually training in his dreams.

“Really? Senior trains martial arts even in his dreams?”

“Yes. He’s a strange one.”

“Now that I think about it, it is strange. Martial arts learned in dreams… I’ve heard that masters who have transcended realms train martial arts in the world of their minds. It must be something similar to that.”

“I’m not sure about that. But what’s clear is that he can train martial arts even while lying down like that. Knowing our Chief’s personality, he can’t stand losing, so he might be training to defeat the Four Emperors.”

“I completely agree with the Chief Manager. Senior absolutely can’t stand losing. And he’s so greedy.”

“Is it just greed? Our Chief was born with all sorts of unpleasant traits.”

Seo Dae-yeong, recalling Hwa-rin lying injured, started to grumble to Namgung Soo-yeon about the grievances he had suffered.

“Such a petty person…”

“He seems to have a very broad mind, but it’s actually quite narrow. It’s different for each person, but he’s endlessly stingy with men and endlessly generous with women.”

“Is that so?”

“That’s how I’ve seen it. Especially to Danri Soso, he treats her like he’d give her his liver and gallbladder [a Chinese idiom for being extremely devoted]. He seems to treat his younger brother, Danri Hyeokjin, well, but he pushes him around a lot.”

Hearing the names of Danri Hyeokgwang’s siblings from Seo Dae-yeong, Namgung Soo-yeon thought of Danri Hyeokgwang.

Although he was the leader of a different squad, she had received his help several times during missions, and he had even saved her life.

“There’s a good reason for him to treat the people of the Danri family that way.”

If it were someone else, she might be jealous, but if it was Danri Soso, she felt Hwa-rin should treat her even better.

She had heard that Hwa-rin also owed Danri Hyeokgwang his life.

“How is the situation at the fabric store where Danri Soso works?”

“It has the highest sales among the fabric stores in Hwaeum County. It seems that the business acumen of the Danri family has been passed down to Soso. She’s very good at business.”

“What about Danri Hyeokjin?”

“He’s working hard. But the restaurant business isn’t something you can succeed in just by working hard, so I think he still needs a bit more experience.”

“I see.”

Namgung Soo-yeon thought she should check on how the two were doing and offer help if needed.

“I’ll stop by the Mount Hua Sect to check on Senior’s condition and return in two days.”

“He’s the type to survive even if you leave him alone.”

Seo Dae-yeong said bluntly.

“I know. I’m the one who’s seen Senior cross the line between life and death countless times. But you know that people’s hearts aren’t like that.”

Seo Dae-yeong knew that Namgung Soo-yeon was from the same unit as Hwa-rin, so he understood her concern.

“Then I’ll be back. If Jin or Yeon comes looking for me, say you don’t know anything.”

“Understood. Have a safe trip.”

* * *

Hwaeum County in Shanxi Province was heavily influenced by the Mount Hua Sect. Most of the shops in Hwaeum County were entrusted to merchants by the Mount Hua Sect under consignment management.

From the merchants’ point of view, they could get a shop and do business without any upfront money, give a certain percentage of their profits to the Mount Hua Sect, and keep the remaining income. There was nothing to lose, so some people living in Hwaeum County even dreamed of getting a shop from the Mount Hua Sect.

Namgung Soo-yeon visited the Nine Dragons Inn located in Hwaeum County.

The inns operated by the Nine Dragons Association were all named Nine Dragons Inn. The main branch was the inn in Sanyang County, Shanxi Province, and the inns in other counties or cities were all branches.

It was a business method similar to how martial arts clans created branches in each province, and it was widely used among merchants.

Hwa-rin also made it possible for each branch to make and sell the same food sold at the main branch, so that customers could enjoy the same food and taste no matter which branch of the Nine Dragons Inn they visited.

The Nine Dragons Inn operating in Hwaeum County was the same. In addition to the dishes sold at the main branch, they also created and sold unique dishes specific to Hwaeum County, or learned and sold dishes that sold well in other inns, but the sales were not as good as the dishes from the main branch.

Namgung Soo-yeon entered the Nine Dragons Inn and found it crowded.

“Welcome. There are no seats available right now. Would you mind sharing a table?” Danri Hyeokjin, now the branch manager, asked, bowing politely to Namgung Soo-yeon.

“I don’t mind.”

“Please wait a moment. If the guests refuse to share a table, you’ll have to wait a bit. Otherwise, if you walk about fifty steps to the right from the inn, there’s a place called the Five Blessings Inn.”

“I understand. Go ask the people first.”

“Then…” Danri Hyeokjin went to the occupied tables and politely asked the guests for their opinions. He focused on asking women sitting alone or couples if they would be willing to share a table.

“Is he being considerate in his own way? I heard he’s still acting like a thug, but it doesn’t seem like it,” Namgung Soo-yeon mused.

A woman glanced at Namgung Soo-yeon and nodded in agreement. Danri Hyeokjin returned to Namgung Soo-yeon and led her to a table where a woman was already seated.

“Thank you for arranging a seat for me,” Namgung Soo-yeon said, first thanking the woman who was eating at the table, and then turning to Danri Hyeokjin.

“Give me a plate of Palbochae rice [rice with eight treasures] and Dongchun fish and meat. And a bottle of Hwagwaju [flower wine] with it.”

“Yes, I understand. Please wait a moment.” After taking the order, Danri Hyeokjin hurried to the kitchen and asked the head chef to prepare the dishes that Namgung Soo-yeon had ordered.

Namgung Soo-yeon sat down and glanced at the woman who had allowed her to share the table.

She was wearing a sword at her waist, and the sword’s tassel was decorated with what looked like a plum blossom.

‘Plum Blossom Swordswoman?’

Seeing the woman wearing a sword that represented the Plum Blossom Sword, a symbol of the Mount Hua Sect, Namgung Soo-yeon became curious about her.

“Are you perhaps from the Mount Hua Sect?” Namgung Soo-yeon asked cautiously.

“Yes.”

“Ah, I’m Namgung Soo-yeon. I received a lot of help from the Mount Hua Sect recently.”

“Namgung Soo-yeon…!” The woman looked surprised and stared at Namgung Soo-yeon.

“Were you with the Nine Dragons Chief?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Heo Young-hwa, a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect.”

“Hyeonbong Heo Young-hwa?” Just as Heo Young-hwa was surprised to hear Namgung Soo-yeon’s name, Namgung Soo-yeon was also surprised to hear Heo Young-hwa’s name.

She had assumed the woman was simply a Plum Blossom Swordswoman because of her sword, but she never imagined that she would be Hyeonbong Heo Young-hwa, one of the Eight Peaks [eight most talented disciples of Mount Hua Sect].

Heo Young-hwa was a prominent figure of the Mount Hua Sect, known for her wisdom, which was said to rival even the Zhuge family [famous strategists in Chinese history]. Martial artists called her Hyeonbong [Wise Peak] because of her superior intellect.

Heo Young-hwa, one of the eight most outstanding female martial artists among the younger generation, was returning to the Mount Hua Sect after traveling the martial world for her own growth. On the way, she came across a new inn in Hwaeum County and stopped by to try the food, and coincidentally met Namgung Soo-yeon.

“It’s nice to meet you like this.”

“It’s nice to meet you too. I’ve heard a lot about Namgung Soo-yeon’s reputation.”

“My reputation is just a false rumor. It’s true that I fought and won against Lee Si-eon, the Twin Dragons Blood Axe, one of the Hundred Great Masters, but I didn’t win as easily as the rumors say. I struggled a lot.”

“But you still won.”

“That’s true, but I couldn’t have guaranteed the victory without the help of those around me.”

Unlike her usual self, Namgung Soo-yeon emphasized the help of others rather than boasting about her own abilities.

Even though they were becoming friends, she felt it was unwise to reveal everything about herself.

“I’ve been traveling the martial world for about three years, but I’ve rarely met such powerful masters.”

“Really? But didn’t you meet a variety of people? I lived in the military, so it was a bit boring.”

“You went to the military?”

“Yeah, I left home on a whim and had to go somewhere. Once I left home, I thought I should do something meaningful before returning, so I said, ‘Oh well,’ and joined the military.”

“Wow, you’re really amazing. How did you even think of going to the military?”

“Is the military any different? It’s also a place where people live, and it’s a group that values strength, so I thought I’d be treated somewhat well and went.”

“And then? Did you receive good treatment and live a comfortable military life?”

“No, I was sent to the front lines. To a military unit in Gansu Province. There, I trained with the men and was also assigned to missions…”

Namgung Soo-yeon told Heo Young-hwa about her experiences in the Fierce Tiger Death Squad, but she didn’t mention that she had been given missions to destroy border regions and heretical sects.

“Then weren’t there any men who flirted with you?”

“No, there weren’t. But thanks to learning martial arts, I was able to live a little more comfortably, but the military is still the military, no matter how comfortable it is.”

Heo Young-hwa nodded, looking like she understood what that meant.

“You must have suffered a lot.”

“Everyone suffers, what. If you traveled the martial world, it wouldn’t have been easy either.”

“I suffered a lot too.”

Heo Young-hwa told Namgung Soo-yeon about her experiences in the martial world.

If the military was rough and crude, traveling the martial world had its own softness and romance.

‘I’m jealous,’ Namgung Soo-yeon thought, feeling that Heo Young-hwa was describing a privileged experience, but she didn’t show it and instead agreed with her words.

As they talked, quite a bit of time passed.

“Let’s go. There’s one more place I need to stop by.”

“Okay.”

Namgung Soo-yeon paid Danri Hyeokjin and said, “Work hard. Then Hwa-rin Senior will take good care of you.”

Danri Hyeokjin looked at Namgung Soo-yeon. Namgung Soo-yeon smiled brightly at him, said goodbye, and left the inn.

The place she went to with Heo Young-hwa was the Nine Dragons Fabric Store.

Danri Soso was working there, and Namgung Soo-yeon recognized her at a glance because she had visited with Hwa-rin last time.

“Welcome,” Danri Soso greeted the two with a bright smile.

“Please show me some trinkets and accessories,” Namgung Soo-yeon requested. Danri Soso led them to the display of trinkets and accessories and explained each item.

“These are trinkets made by a jade craftsman who trades with our store. They are made and sold in pairs like this.”

She presented a round, moon-shaped trinket, split in half so that it could be separated and attached. The trinket was also decorated with five-colored threads, making it suitable to wear on the waist.

“Give me one of these.”

Namgung Soo-yeon bought the trinket and gave half of it to Heo Young-hwa.

“As a 기념 [commemoration/souvenir] of becoming friends.”

“Thank you,” Heo Young-hwa smiled brightly as she received the trinket from Namgung Soo-yeon.

“But isn’t the store a bit small? The Nine Dragons Fabric Store in Sanyang County is quite large.”

“The Chief expanded the fabric store, so it became bigger. It was this small at first.”

“Ah, I see. Then if business is good here, you’ll expand it too?”

“Yes. First of all, I need the Chief’s permission, but I think we’ll be expanding it soon. But Soo-yeon, is the Chief okay?”

When Danri Soso asked, Namgung Soo-yeon nodded.

“Of course. That human being isn’t someone who’s going to die easily, so Soso doesn’t have to worry.”

“I heard he was injured.”

“He was a little hurt. The opponent was one of the Four Emperors, after all. But he survived and will soon shake off the injury.”