Tales Of The Nine Dragons [EN]: Chapter 195

Ninth Dragon Chronicles (195)

“Has Hwa-rin not returned yet?”

Hwa-rin had gone to investigate the warehouse at the port, and it had been over a day since he left and still hadn’t returned.

“Right. I wonder if he’s out causing trouble again.”

“Surely not. He knows he’s under a *geumje* [restriction or prohibition], would he really cause trouble?”

Lee Seo-won said, but Baek Gun-seong shook his head.

“If it were anyone else, I’d think so, but with Hwa-rin, you never know what he’ll do.”

On one side, Danri Hyeok-jin was standing in a horse stance, something Hwa-rin had taught him. He was training his lower body whenever he had time.

“He’ll be back.”

“I wouldn’t care if he didn’t cause incidents, but if he keeps this up, people will start talking.”

“Don’t worry. Do you think that friend Hwa-rin tried to fight Meng without any thought?”

Baek Gun-seong looked at Lee Seo-won with a puzzled expression.

“I can’t know Hwa-rin’s true intentions, but he must have had some calculations. That’s why he tried to fight Meng, right?”

“That’s true. Meng actually had a hard time.”

“There were rumors that if the Meng Lord hadn’t stepped in, Meng would have knelt before the Nine Dragons Gate first. I heard this from my father.”

“Really?”

“The Jeongcheon Alliance [Righteous Heaven Alliance] and the Demonic Cult were testing the waters. If either the Demonic Cult or the Jeongcheon Alliance had intervened, Meng would have been in great difficulty.”

A faint smile appeared on Danri Hyeok-jin’s face as he listened to Baek Gun-seong and Lee Seo-won’s conversation from a short distance.

‘I knew *Hyung-nim* [term of respect for an older brother or male friend] was an amazing person, but he’s someone I can’t even dare to imagine.’

“Fortunately, the Demonic Cult and the Jeongcheon Alliance were watching each other, so their participation was delayed.”

“Because they didn’t want to hand over the easy win?”

“That’s how it should be seen.”

Lee Seo-won looked at some of the young masters of the Twelve Families in the detached residence’s courtyard and then spoke quietly to Baek Gun-seong.

“Our mission is our mission, but the goal of those people, including me, is to get to know Hwa-rin, become close, and interact with him.”

Baek Gun-seong looked at him as if asking if he felt the same.

“When I left the main family, my father told me. He said that for the glory of the main family, my efforts were important, but who my friends were was also important.”

“Hmm…”

“Imagine Hwa-rin as a friend who would rush to help if the main family was in trouble.”

Baek Gun-seong nodded.

“The Meng Lord, the heads of the Twelve Families, and the wise men of the Meng all acknowledge that Hwa-rin is a great person.”

“So they excluded others and only sent the young masters?”

Lee Seo-won nodded.

“It’s still unfamiliar and awkward, but if we spend more time together, we’ll naturally become close.”

Baek Gun-seong also nodded as if acknowledging Lee Seo-won’s words, then chuckled.

“He really is an amazing friend.”

“He’s also a fun friend.”

“By the way, didn’t you say that people from the Demonic Cult were coming today?”

“They’ll come after lunch, so probably around mid-afternoon.”

“Then I’ll meet them and go straight to Yunnan Province.”

“But are you sure that the ones who killed the Demonic Cult members were monks from the Soneoeum Temple?”

“No, Hwa-rin said he accepted a request from the Daeri Sega [Daeri Family], and we thought we might be involved in this, so we’re going to Yunnan Province with Hwa-rin.”

Lee Seo-won made an expression that he understood what Baek Gun-seong meant and chuckled.

“You said it a little while ago. Our goal isn’t to solve the case, but to become friends with Hwa-rin.”

* * *

The detached residence of the Hoeyang Inn was crowded with many people, divided into two groups.

One side was the young masters of the Twelve Families, including Baek Gun-seong, and the other side was the Demonic Cult members who came from the Demonic Cult.

The Demonic Cult came to receive the bodies of the dead Demonic Cult members, and the atmosphere between them wasn’t very good.

“If the wounds on the bodies weren’t fabricated, do you think this makes sense?”

A middle-aged man among the Demonic Cult members who came to Hoeyang Inn spoke informally to the young masters of the Twelve Families as if it were obvious.

“Why do you think it doesn’t make sense? Isn’t the problem with the Demonic Cult members who were foolishly standing still and got attacked?”

Baek Gun-seong retorted to the middle-aged man’s words, and his eyebrows twitched.

“Are you calling us fools now?”

As he revealed his anger, the young masters of the Twelve Families became tense.

“Can you take responsibility for that statement?”

“The Demonic Cult members didn’t even resist and just stood there, afraid of the opponent, and got hit by the sword. Are you trying to pass the responsibility to us?”

Baek Gun-seong spoke confidently, even while facing the terrifying killing intent emanating from the middle-aged man.

“Are you trying to kill us by finding fault with us, since the young masters of the Twelve Families are gathered here, and benefit the Demonic Cult?”

A faint smile appeared on the middle-aged man’s lips.

“I’ve heard that Saryong [Baek Gun-seong’s title] is bold, but I didn’t think he would be this direct.”

“I don’t know why Senior Ilcheon Gungma, who is known as a good person, is trying to harass young juniors like this.”

“The rumors of the world cannot be trusted. If I kill you here, wouldn’t one or two of the Twelve Families disappear without an heir? Then it would be beneficial for our cult as well.”

“Does everything in the world go according to plan? There are always variables, aren’t there? And if we die here, do you think the Eight Great Families will be safe?”

Ilcheon Gungma’s expression slightly distorted before returning to his original face.

“I heard that thirty years ago, the Righteous, the Evil, and the Demonic joined hands to strike down the Baegyo [White Lotus Sect]. What if the Righteous and the Evil join hands to attack the Demonic Cult like that?”

“Haha, do you think the Jeongcheon Alliance will hold your hand?”

“Why, do you think they won’t? If our Meng [alliance] gives up a lot, there’s no reason for the Jeongcheon Alliance to refuse, is there?”

Baek Gun-seong didn’t back down even a word and retorted to Ilcheon Gungma, and the young masters of the Twelve Families who were watching were quite surprised by Baek Gun-seong’s boldness.

“The *Saheolmeng* [alliance of the four seas] gives up a lot?”

“Wouldn’t a father who has lost his child and gone mad do anything? Once my father steps in, even if nothing else, Ilcheon Gungma-nim, who was involved in our deaths, won’t be safe.”

Ilcheon Gungma glared fiercely at Baek Gun-seong. Baek Gun-seong also looked at him without avoiding his gaze.

The air in the detached residence of the inn changed due to the two people’s battle of nerves.

‘If he grows up like this, he will become a great rival to the Great Son. They say there are no bad dogs under a good father, and he is worthy of being called Saryong.’

Ilcheon Gungma smiled, as if he liked Baek Gun-seong, who was looking at him confidently, and released his energy.

‘Did he endure it?’

Baek Gun-seong felt that Ilcheon Gungma’s energy had disappeared and released his own energy as well.

At that moment, Ilcheon Gungma’s hand moved, and Baek Gun-seong reflexively defended against Ilcheon Gungma’s attack.

Even though it was an attack with no internal energy at all, it was filled with great power, which meant that Ilcheon Gungma had spent a long time trying to train his external skills in addition to his unique martial arts.

*Paah!*

Ilcheon Gungma attacked and drove Baek Gun-seong as if testing him, and Baek Gun-seong was immediately in crisis as he lost the initiative.

Nevertheless, Baek Gun-seong made the most of his skills and blocked Ilcheon Gungma’s attack.

-Father’s attack was all natural. It seemed to flow smoothly, but it was cut off, and even though it was an independent move, it continued, so I couldn’t get a grasp on it.

Baek Gun-seong had trained his martial arts while living with Hwa-rin, taking his advice, and that was a great help now.

Ilcheon Gungma didn’t use internal energy, so if he borrowed the power of internal energy, he could overcome this disadvantage right away, but Baek Gun-seong didn’t.

In an instant, a dozen or so exchanges continued, and Baek Gun-seong was still unable to escape from the disadvantage, but it was enough to surprise Ilcheon Gungma.

As Ilcheon Gungma was about to discover Baek Gun-seong’s weakness and push his palm in, a white figure intervened between the two.

“Heot!”

Ilcheon Gungma was surprised and gasped.

The white figure pushed away Ilcheon Gungma’s palm and then kicked his abdomen hard with his foot.

“Keueok!”

The white figure quickly approached him, who was staggering back from the impact on his abdomen, spun his body once in the air, and then kicked Ilcheon Gungma’s chin with his foot.

Ilcheon Gungma’s head turned sharply for a moment and he fell to the floor, and everyone who saw this widened their eyes in surprise.

‘He subdued the Ilcheon Gungma in an instant.’

Ignoring the surprised gazes, the figure in white looked at Baek Gun-seong and asked.

“Who is this old man?”

It was Hwa-rin.

“He’s Senior Ilcheon Gungma.”

Hwa-rin looked at him, who was passed out at the word Ilcheon Gungma, and said nonchalantly.

“Ah, he must have been weak since he was an archer.”

Hwa-rin would be the only one in the world to call Ilcheon Gungma weak.

“But why are you fighting with him? Aren’t you just supposed to take the bodies?”

“He suddenly attacked, but he didn’t use internal energy, so I think he was trying to gauge my skills.”

“Skills… he should hone his own skills.”

Then Hwa-rin looked at the Demonic Cult members.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and support him and lay him down.”

Hwa-rin appeared and resolved the situation in an instant, and the young masters of the Twelve Families who witnessed this with their own eyes were looking at Hwa-rin with their mouths open.

The Demonic Cult members laid Ilcheon Gungma down on a bench in the inn’s courtyard.

“If you came, you should have just collected the bodies and left, why are you causing trouble?”

He asked the Demonic Cult members, but they couldn’t answer anything like dumb people.

“Could it be that you were trying to kill them because they were young masters?”

“At first, he seemed like he was going to, but after exchanging a few words with Gun-seong, I think he gave up on that idea.”

“Even if he’s not very smart, he can’t do that if he thinks about the aftermath.”

Hwa-rin nodded as if he had roughly grasped the situation and said to Danri Hyeok-jin.

“Hyeok-jin, tell the inn owner to bring a table of food.”

“Yes, I understand.”

As Danri Hyeok-jin went to the main building of the inn, Baek Gun-seong asked Hwa-rin.

“Where are you coming from?”

“Looking for the guys who killed them.”

The Demonic Cult members’ eyes sparkled at Hwa-rin’s words.

“So?”

“What do you mean, so? I went to confirm where they are.”

“You found them?”

“If I set my mind to it, there’s nothing I can’t find. The weight of the title in front of my name makes it possible to do things that ordinary people can’t do in just a few hours.”

Hwa-rin said the words that Baek Mu-gi had said to him.

“The weight of the title in front of your name?”

“Nine Dragons Gate Lord!”

He caused an incident that turned the Murim [martial arts world] upside down, giving a great shock to the Murim, but he didn’t have a Murim title yet, so he brought the name Nine Dragons Gate Lord himself.

The young masters of the Twelve Families, who were expecting something but made a disappointed expression, chuckled as if they had promised each other.

“Funny?”

“How did you find them? There wouldn’t have been any traces inside the warehouse.”

“There weren’t any? There were a lot.”

“A lot?”

“Those guys used magic. They built a formation using magic to make them unable to move.”

“Is that true?”

One of the Demonic Cult members asked.

“Then what benefit would I get from lying here?”

“Hmm…”

“But those guys seem to be related to the Baegyo [White Lotus Sect].”

Those who heard the word Baegyo flinched.

“I’ve been deployed to several operations in the military and experienced all kinds of magic from the Milgyo [Esoteric Buddhism], Soneoeum Temple, or the Saekmok Kingdom, but this is a bit different.”

“Really?”

“There’s a magic called *Sahon Swaeryeong* [Soul Binding Curse].”

Hwa-rin spoke of the Baegyo’s magic as if it were magic from somewhere other than the Baegyo.

“Sahon Swaeryeong?”

“It’s a general term for a type of magic that binds souls, and there were elaborate formations drawn on the walls, floor, and ceiling of the warehouse to cast this Sahon Swaeryeong.”

“*Hyung-nim*, does that mean that the fierce beasts had already occupied the warehouse and lured the Demonic Cult members?”

Hwa-rin looked at him.

“This is Song Jung-gi from the Heuknansa [Black Orchid Society].”

“Yes. Like Jung-gi said, they must have lured the Demonic Cult members into the warehouse. What does that mean?”

“It means that the remnants of the Baegyo, who were destroyed thirty years ago, have begun to operate.”

Hwa-rin clapped his hands.

“Correct!”