Tales Of The Nine Dragons [EN]: Chapter 171

Nine Dragons Chronicle (171)

Hungchin Wang Mansion

Hwa-Rin was dashing along the unpaved road, breaking away from the main road at a terrifying speed.

Even while running, he seemed to be checking his surroundings, turning his head this way and that to get his bearings, before his figure blurred and disappeared from that spot.

A moment later, Hwa-Rin reappeared where men in black uniforms, warriors of the Dark Demon Tower, were gathered.

“Found them.”

As Hwa-Rin’s voice was heard, the warriors of the Dark Demon Tower all turned their gaze to where Hwa-Rin was standing.

Hwa-Rin had sensed from the dying Gungsang Clan warrior’s words that there were more Dark Demon Tower warriors nearby. Judging that they weren’t far away, he had hurriedly parted ways with Seo Daeyeong to track them down.

Hwa-Rin had learned various combat methods during his time in the Fierce Tiger Death Squad, including tracking and evasion techniques. Moreover, Salhwang’s diary contained techniques for tracking assassination targets, so finding them wasn’t too difficult.

“Who is it?”

They didn’t seem to recognize Hwa-Rin.

“Judging by the fact that you don’t recognize me, you must be newcomers to the Dark Demon Tower.”

The Dark Demon Tower warriors revealed their killing intent upon hearing that he knew who they were and had come looking for them.

The one who appeared to be the leader gestured, and one of the warriors approached Hwa-Rin.

“I don’t know who you are, but you’ll die for your ignorance.”

Hwa-Rin chuckled at his words.

“Someone who can’t even get his name on the family tree is acting so presumptuously.”

Hwa-Rin casually threw a punch, as if he was merely swatting away an annoyance.

In an instant, the fist arrived in front of the Dark Demon Tower warrior’s face at an incredible speed before returning to its original position.

The Dark Demon Tower warrior’s head snapped back sharply, and he flew through the air, landing in a heap near his comrades.

His comrades were startled by the sight, widened their eyes, looked at their leader, and shook their heads.

“Who is he?”

“You can’t recognize this?” Hwa-Rin retorted to the leader’s question.

“Recognize what?”

“Then you’re not from the Asura Demon Tower, so why are you looking for my things?”

“Your things?”

“The Seonhwa Yujeongdo [Paintings of the Immortal Blossom]!”

At the mention of the beauty’s painting, the Dark Demon Tower warriors flinched.

“The Seonhwa Yujeongdo is yours? What nonsense is that? The Seonhwa Yujeongdo is a treasure of this tower.”

“But you can’t recognize this?”

The leader tilted his head, wondering what he couldn’t recognize.

Hwa-Rin lightly extended his fist towards the leader and retracted it. But the speed was so fast that it looked like he hadn’t moved at all.

Pow!

A gust of wind rose and struck the leader’s body, and his back bent like a shrimp. The leader, spewing filth from his wide-open mouth, wore an expression of disbelief.

“When…”

“You don’t even know this, and you call yourselves survivors of the Asura Demon Tower.”

“Asura Demon Tower? We are warriors of the Dark Demon Tower.”

Hwa-Rin sneered.

“You guys are the same. There’s no way you wouldn’t know this.”

“What is it that you speak of?”

“The martial art contained within the five Seonhwa Yujeongdo that you are looking for. It’s called the Asura Meteor Fist.”

The leader’s expression twisted at Hwa-Rin’s knowledge of the Seonhwa Yujeongdo.

Hwa-Rin mimicked pulling something from the air with his hand, and a scroll appeared. When he unfurled it, a picture of a beautiful woman was revealed.

It was one of the five Seonhwa Yujeongdo, the treasures of the Asura Demon Tower.

Hwa-Rin had obtained it when he destroyed the Asura Demon Tower. At that time, four of the paintings had already disappeared, and he had recovered and kept the only one that remained.

“Seonhwa Yujeongdo!”

They were surprised to see the Seonhwa Yujeongdo, and their eyes soon turned greedy.

“You know the Seonhwa Yujeongdo but don’t know about the Asura Demon Tower… Suspicious fellows.”

Hwa-Rin judged that they were not warriors of the Asura Demon Tower or the Dark Demon Tower.

“Are you from Busan Palace? The ones who came to the Central Plains together from Heukryonggang Province.”

The leader flinched at the mention of Busan Palace, and Hwa-Rin, who didn’t miss it, had a faint smile on his lips.

“Busan Palace is getting greedy.”

From the leader’s bewildered expression, Hwa-Rin was certain that Busan Palace was trying to take possession of the Seonhwa Yujeongdo by pretending to be the Dark Demon Tower.

“How many of you came in total?”

“What are you talking about?”

The leader retorted, but his appearance was so awkward that anyone could tell he was flustered.

“If you all die, the others will come looking for you.”

Hwa-Rin threw the scroll into the air, and it disappeared as if sucked into another dimension.

“Heo-eot!”

Hwa-Rin’s fist moved.

Each time his fist moved, it gave the illusion that the air was caving in.

“Keo-eok!”

Each time Hwa-Rin’s fist moved, the Busan Palace warriors’ heads snapped back sharply and they flew away, crashing to the ground.

The leader jumped into the air, closing the distance and swinging his sword at Hwa-Rin. But Hwa-Rin’s fist was faster.

The first fist struck the sword, shattering it into pieces. The second fist struck his abdomen, causing him to widen his eyes in shock. The third fist struck his jaw from below, causing his body to flip over and soar into the air. And the fourth fist struck the leader’s chest, causing his body to draw a parabola and fall to the ground where he had been standing, rolling over and over.

The Busan Palace warriors couldn’t even see Hwa-Rin’s fist because it moved so quickly.

The leader died on the spot, and the other warriors exchanged glances, contemplating escape.

“Heo-eo-eok!”

At that moment, cold sweat poured down the faces of the Busan Palace warriors as they felt a murderous aura tightening around their entire bodies, as if their breath was being cut off.

The moment they came into contact with the killing intent, they realized that they could not leave this place without the permission of the man in front of them.

As Hwa-Rin’s killing intent intensified, the warriors gasped for breath, as if it was difficult to breathe.

“Keo-eo-eok…”

One of the warriors, struggling, knelt down, supporting himself on the ground with both hands, gasping for breath, but the discomfort only increased.

Eventually, some of them collapsed from suffocation, and the number increased as time passed.

Uihyeong Salin! [Killing Intent Manifestation]

It commonly refers to the state in which a warrior who has surpassed the Hyeon Gyeong [Profound Realm] and entered the realm of Saengsa Gyeong [Life and Death Realm] can kill an opponent with only the terrifying energy that naturally arises when harboring murderous intent. In fact, it has nothing to do with Hyeon Gyeong or Saengsa Gyeong, and anyone who has reached the Simuijigyeong [Realm of Mind and Will] is capable of it.

However, there is much controversy among warriors regarding Simuijigyeong.

This was because Simuijigyeong could not be accurately defined.

Some say that the state of mind and sword becoming one, where the sword moves naturally when the mind is moved—that is, the state of Divine Sword—is Simuijigyeong. Others say that the state of being able to kill a person with only the mind is not a state of martial arts but a state of divinity; that is, one must become a god.

Some claim that it is possible to reach Hwagyeong [Transformation Realm], others Hyeon Gyeong, and still others claim that it is only possible to reach Saengsa Gyeong, as it governs life and death.

Although the definition is still ambiguous in the Murim [Martial Arts World], what is clear is that Hwa-Rin has reached Simuijigyeong and is capable of Uihyeong Salin.

When all the Busan Palace warriors had fallen and only one remained, Hwa-Rin withdrew his energy.

“Huk… huk… huk…”

“You want to die comfortably with a single strike, don’t you?”

The Busan Palace warrior nodded, looking at Hwa-Rin with a face that pleaded for a quick death.

“Then a question.”

“……!”

“Why is Busan Palace collecting the Seonhwa Yujeongdo?”

“I’m just a low-ranking member, so I don’t know the reason for that.”

“Is that so? Then how many more of you came out besides you?”

“Five groups; fifty people came out.”

“So that means ten people per group, and the leaders of each group would know the reason.”

“I don’t know more than that.”

The Busan Palace warrior was answering Hwa-Rin’s questions with a desperate will not to suffer the pain from before again.

“What is the meeting day with them?”

“Only the leaders of each group know. But if they can’t be contacted, they will come looking for them.”

“Coming to find them is a given.”

Hwa-Rin looked at the Busan Palace warrior.

“I don’t know anything anymore.”

“Okay. Then kill yourself.”

As soon as Hwa-Rin’s words were finished, the warrior slit his own throat with his sword and died.

Hwa-Rin looked down at the dead Busan Palace warrior for a moment and muttered to himself.

“Even if the others come to Sichuan, they won’t know the whereabouts of the Seonhwa Yujeongdo because the Gungsang Clan has been destroyed. But if such and such words are exchanged at my uncle’s birthday and the Seonhwa Yujeongdo is revealed, it will reach the ears of the Busan Palace guys.”

Even if they are daring, they wouldn’t attack the Hungchin Wang Mansion, but he thought that they might commission a thief to steal it.

“I wonder if there’s a painting shop in Sichuan that draws well.”

* * *

“It’s been a while, Lord Daeri Myeonghan.”

Hwa Jeongsu was in urgent need of money and visited the Daeri family in Yunnan Province. The Daeri family was a family that produced Daeri stone, which was mined in Yunnan Province. Daeri stone was used as decoration or finishing material for buildings, roads, streets, and castles. Despite being a high-priced luxury building material, it was being sold to various parts of the Central Plains to the point where production was insufficient.

The Daeri family, which had amassed great wealth from the sale of Daeri stone, had absolute influence in Yunnan Province to the point where it was called the Daeri Kingdom.

“Welcome, Hwa Daein [Master Hwa]. I’ve heard the news about your brother.”

When the story of Hwa Jeongguk came up, Hwa Jeongsu swallowed hard as Hwa-Rin’s face came to mind.

Once, twice… he swallowed his anger towards Hwa-Rin as if swallowing his saliva.

He believed that the Sword Demon would move and that he would soon face death.

“I’m sorry for causing concern because of my brother’s affairs.”

“Oh, what do you mean concern? Can it be compared to Hwa Daein’s sorrow?”

The two exchanged a few pleasantries before Hwa Jeongsu revealed the reason for his visit.

“Lord, I’m sorry to ask, but please lend some money to our merchant group.”

“Money, you say?”

“Recently, bad things have happened one after another, and our financial situation is not good.”

“How much do you need?”

“I need 50 million gold nyang [ancient currency].”

“50 million nyang… That’s by no means a small amount.”

“There is a bill of exchange that must be urgently settled on the continental battlefield. I think that if we solve that, our financial situation will improve. I will repay the money I borrow from you within a few months.”

“There are rumors that the merchant group’s situation is not good these days.”

“It’s a little difficult. Doesn’t everyone have difficulties? Our Hwamyeong Merchant Group has grown to this point by overcoming these difficulties. Soon it will be His Highness Hungchin Wang’s birthday, so if we visit His Highness and supply grain to the Hungchin Royal Guard, we will be able to overcome this difficulty. If that happens, we will buy more grain produced in Yunnan Province, so please trust me and lend me the money.”

Daeri Myeonghan shook his head.

“If the Hwamyeong Merchant Group’s situation was good, I could lend you the money based on Hwa Daein’s credit, but I heard that it is very difficult now. That’s why I, who am in Yunnan Province, am hearing that Hwa Daein made the wrong choice.”

He was talking about smuggling.

It was already known among the merchants of the Central Plains that Hwa Jeongguk had died because he was caught smuggling and took his own life to protect his family.

“Those are false rumors.”

Daeri Myeonghan thought that the rumors were more credible than Hwa Jeongsu’s words, so his words did not resonate with him.

“Then how about we do this?”

“How?”

“If you leave collateral, I will lend you the amount that matches the collateral without interest.”

Daeri Myeonghan didn’t want to take a loss either.

“Collateral, you say?”

“That’s right. When you repay the money, I will return the collateral. Wouldn’t it be beneficial for Hwa Daein just to have no interest?”

Hwa Jeongsu thought for a moment and nodded. He felt from Daeri Myeonghan’s words and actions that he could not borrow money based on credit alone.

If Daeri Myeonghan, who was famous for being a good person, was saying this, it meant that he could not borrow money anywhere by using his name.

“Then what kind of collateral would you like to receive?”

“Anything is fine. It’s not that I don’t trust Hwa Daein, but I’m trying to receive collateral because 50 million gold nyang is by no means a small amount.”

“I understand. Then can I leave the merchant group’s fields in Yunnan, Sichuan, and Guizhou as collateral?”

“If you do that, I will give you the money right away.”

“Thank you, Lord.”