Tales Of The Nine Dragons [EN]: Chapter 187

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. It’s just a scratch.”

Hwa-Rin nonchalantly said, wrapping the wounded area with a cloth obtained from the inn.

“But who was that? He was comparable to the Clan Lord, or rather, since you were stabbed, doesn’t that mean the Clan Lord lost?”

“Hey, who lost? He ran away first. The one who runs away from a fight loses.”

“Since when did it change like that? Originally, isn’t the one whose nose bleeds first the loser? The Clan Lord’s side burst open first, so the Clan Lord lost.”

“Damn it, I’m already frustrated to death that I couldn’t catch the guy who hit me and ran away. Do you want to get stabbed instead?”

Just then, the waiter came out with the food.

“Guests, your food is here. I apologize for the delay.”

The waiter, having witnessed Hwa-Rin’s martial prowess, was trembling so much that he could barely stand.

Having worked as an inn waiter for many years, he had met all sorts of martial artists, but it was his first time seeing a martial artist strong enough to collapse a building.

“Hey, how much money do you have in your pocket?”

Hwa-Rin asked Seo Daeyeong, who checked the voucher he had put in his pocket.

“I have about a hundred gold nyang [a unit of currency].”

“Then we can rebuild the building. Use that money to compensate the building owner.”

“We have to?”

“Then who else would? Where am I going to find the guy who hit me and ran away?”

Seo Daeyeong’s gaze turned to Hwa-Jeongsu.

“Damn it, I have a strong suspicion, but no evidence. So, let’s pay with our money first and get it back later tenfold.”

As he shouted irritably, Hwa-Jeongsu and his brothers’ expressions contorted. Nevertheless, they didn’t dare to even lift their heads, fearing that Hwa-Rin’s anger would turn to them.

“Understood.”

-They seem properly scared.

-Of course. Their trusted Baek Jeong-in ran away, so they must be dumbfounded. Their heads must be complicated right now.

-If the rumor that Daeri Sega [a powerful merchant guild] sold farmland to the Clan Lord reaches their ears, there will be chaos.

-They’ll be lucky if they don’t collapse holding the back of their necks.

The two exchanged secret conversations through telepathy, while outwardly, Hwa-Rin spat out words irritably.

“Damn it, why did he come if he was just going to stab and run away? Annoying.”

“There’s a saying, ‘Poke at a persimmon you can’t eat.’ He probably took the job thinking he’d be lucky if he got something out of it, and if not, he’d run away.”

“Anyway, there are no assassins with grit these days. I wasn’t like that when I was an assassin.”

“Clan Lord, were you an assassin too?”

“What’s so special about being an assassin? If you kill people, you’re an assassin. Is there any martial artist who isn’t an assassin?”

“I guess that’s true when I hear it.”

“They’re all just trying to package themselves as noble. Think about what that guy, Jegal-Tak, did.”

“Are you talking about Jegal-Tak, the Chief Manager of Jeongcheon Alliance?”

“Yeah. That bastard sold me to the Saheol Alliance [a rival martial arts alliance] to take over the Nine Dragons Inn. If he had thought about what I had done for Seoseo Province, or the friendship between Jongnam Sect and Hwasan Sect, wouldn’t it be normal to help me when I fought with the Saheol Alliance?”

“That depends on how you think about it.”

“Hey, there were people from the Namgoong Clan too. How much did our Suyeon suffer because of that bastard? That’s why I don’t like the orthodox sects very much.”

-Are you telling him to tell Jegal-Tak?

-He’s deliberately speaking loudly so he can tell him.

-Oh, is that so?

-The Nine Dragons Clan has gotten everything it can get through the Nine Dragons Inn. Now, we need to get something by using the Nine Dragons Clan as bait.”

-The Nine Dragons Clan?

-There’s something like that. So, if you don’t want to die, diligently train your martial arts.”

Seo Daeyeong’s expression distorted.

-Do I have to do more here?

-You should be at least as good as Suyeon is now, shouldn’t you?

Seo Daeyeong ate his food with a serious expression.

“This is really screwed up. I don’t know if I’ll be able to live out my life like this.”

When Seo Daeyeong spoke aloud instead of using telepathy, Hwa-Rin chuckled.

“So, do it diligently. Find the guy who tried to kill me too. Just find him. I’ll go and beat him to death.”

Finding it amusing to say these things with the person in question nearby, the two openly insulted Hwa-Jeongsu’s brothers, and Hwa-Jeongsu’s brothers had no choice but to become mute.

-And when I’m not here, when Suyeon and Dongchun come back, tell Dongchun to take care of the Baekmasa bastards.

-Will Chief Dongchun be able to do it alone?

-He can. The only thing that’s bothering me is that there seems to be someone from the Maenghosa Saheol Jeondae [a branch of the Saheol Alliance] there, but Dongchun will do well.”

-Wouldn’t it be better to send Namgoong Suyeon?

-Suyeon can’t. Her name has been sold. And there will be surveillance from the Saheol Alliance. So, tell Dongchun to go and clean it up, and you clean up the assets neatly when Dongchun cleans up Baekmasa.

“Let’s go if you’re done eating. The stab wound is throbbing. I need to go to the doctor and apply some geumchanggo [a medicinal ointment for wounds caused by metal].”

The medicine sold at the clinic is largely divided into three types: tang [herbal decoction] boiled and drunk, hwan [medicinal pills] taken with water, and go [ointment] applied to wounds, and their names also vary depending on the patient’s disease.

The word geumchang refers to wounds caused by metal objects, and geumchang medicine was a necessity for martial artists who often suffered wounds from swords.

“Then let’s get up. The wound seems serious.”

“It’s not serious, it just stings. And I’m telling you clearly, I didn’t lose. I won.”

“Yes, yes. Clan Lord won. So, please get up quickly. It would be a disaster if you get metal poisoning.”

“What’s wrong with you? I’m immune to all poisons, do you think I’ll be affected by metal poisoning?”

“Still, I think you should get treatment, so let’s go.”

Seo Daeyeong helped Hwa-Rin up and led him to the entrance of the inn.

“Damn it, it stings more when I move.”

He didn’t forget to glare at Hwa-Jeongsu once.

“You bastards, once I get evidence, I’m going to crush you to death, so know that and just wait for the day you die.”

They couldn’t even breathe properly at Hwa-Rin’s threat.

‘Who would have thought that the Sword Demon of Massacre would fail in an ambush? What do we do now?’

Now was the time for them to worry about their own safety.

Shortly after Hwa-Rin and Seo Daeyeong left the inn, a middle-aged man entered the inn, it was Baek Jeong-in, the Sword Demon of Massacre.

He went to a corner seat and sat down, then ordered food from the waiter.

“Give me a duck soup. It doesn’t matter if it takes a little longer, so please boil the duck thoroughly and bring it to me.”

“Yes, I understand. But you don’t look well.”

“I’ve always been sickly.”

The waiter nodded and told him to wait a moment before going to the kitchen.

Baek Jeong-in smiled faintly as he looked at Hwa-Jeongsu, who was agonizing with an unknown expression.

“He must be burning up.”

Baek Jeong-in sent a telepathic message to such Hwa-Jeongsu.

-It’s me.

Hwa-Jeongsu heard Baek Jeong-in’s telepathic message and looked up at the middle-aged man sitting in the corner seat.

-I’m sorry. I was a little careless and created this result. I have nothing to say about this.

Baek Jeong-in explained the plans to kill Hwa-Rin to Hwa-Jeongsu in order to get more money.

-I’ll return seventy percent of the money I received for now.

He meant that he would return seventy percent of the advance payment from the commission.

-Three percent is the cost I’ve used so far, so I hope you understand.

-Are you saying you’re giving up?

Hwa-Jeongsu sent a telepathic message to Baek Jeong-in. Baek Jeong-in looked at Hwa-Jeongsu. Sending telepathic messages requires martial arts to be at least beyond the level of first-rate.

Of course, even first-rate martial artists can do it if they eat a lot of spiritual medicine and have an uncontrollable amount of internal energy, but there are only a handful of such people, so a martial artist who can send telepathic messages is considered a super-first-rate martial artist.

-You seem to have learned quite a bit of martial arts.

-I don’t have skills worth showing off.

-Well, with that level of martial arts, it would be impossible to beat the Clan Lord of the Nine Dragons Clan.

He wanted to say that he ran away himself, but he had no choice but to endure it because his neck would fly off in this place if he did.

-What do you mean give up? Why are you saying such a disappointing thing? As I said a little while ago, I was careless. Frankly, I think the honor of being one of the Ten Great Masters made me a little careless.

It sounded like an excuse, but Hwa-Jeongsu understood Baek Jeong-in’s words.

Who would dare to avoid the Sword Demon of Massacre’s sword? When the Sword Demon of Massacre took on this commission, he also thought that Hwa-Rin was a dead man.

-I will kill him, but you will have to spend a little more money.

-Are you saying that the commission is not enough?

-After fighting today, he is stronger than I thought. So, this time, I need to prepare things in advance.

-Prepare?

-It’s been a while since I’ve used them, but I need assassination tools. I should approach him thinking I’m killing someone on par with me.

-Are you saying he’s that strong?

-That’s what I experienced today. But don’t worry too much. If you give me a little more money, I’ll definitely take his head.

-How much more do you need?

-Three times!

Hwa-Jeongsu couldn’t say anything at the word three times.

With the name of the Sword Demon of Massacre, the commission fee he receives is beyond imagination.

Hwa-Jeongsu agreed to give 100,000 gold nyang to kill Hwa-Rin, giving half of it, 50,000 nyang, as a down payment, and promising to give the remaining 50,000 nyang when Hwa-Rin died.

But if he asked for three times as much, the commission would be 300,000 gold nyang.

-It’s a lot of money, but it’s not that much compared to the reputation of the Clan Lord of the Nine Dragons Clan. I also failed once, so I have to approach him more carefully next time, and I have to use special assassination tools, not ordinary ones, so the cost has to go up that much.

Hwa-Jeongsu couldn’t answer. If his financial situation was good, it wouldn’t be a burden, but now that he had to be frugal even with one gold nyang, spending 300,000 gold nyang was not an easy task.

-Even if you don’t commission me, it’s a matter of my pride, so I will assassinate the Clan Lord of the Nine Dragons Clan. It will just take a little longer, so if you don’t like the amount, you can give up the commission.

Hwa-Jeongsu’s expression distorted.

‘The moment I give up the commission, he will kill us to cover up the fact that he tried to kill the Clan Lord of the Nine Dragons Clan.’

Commissioning him costs a lot of money, and giving up puts his life in danger, so Hwa-Jeongsu only had one choice.

‘Damn it, this is why you shouldn’t get involved with martial artists.’

-I don’t have money now, so I’ll go back to the family and cut off the Daeryuk Jeonjang’s [a major trading company] voucher.

-Okay. Then I’ll accept the commission. There will be good results this time, so don’t worry and focus on your business.

A faint smile appeared on Baek Jeong-in’s lips.

He had promised to give Hwa-Rin money equivalent to 20% of 300,000 nyang, but even excluding that, he had prepared enough money to live a peaceful life, so he had reason to smile.

‘If I spend a year in the Travil Kingdom and come back, Clan Lord Hwa-Rin will have taken care of it, so I should buy some gifts on the way back.’