Tales Of The Nine Dragons [EN]: Chapter 2

Nine Dragons Chronicle (2)

Following his mother’s instructions, Hwa-rin concealed his ability to see, hear, and speak, dedicating himself to mastering the secret arts of the Defiant Sect.

It wasn’t difficult, as he only needed to deceive three people, not many.

While transferring and learning the Defiant Sect’s secret techniques into Hwa-rin’s mind wasn’t without its challenges, his mother had already opened his celestial gate [a key energy point in the body, believed to enhance spiritual and physical abilities] using the Defiant Sect’s secret arts when he was young. This gave him a sharp mind and quick understanding, allowing him to overcome each obstacle with thought and perseverance.

He realized the importance of understanding the written word, and from then on, Hwa-rin prioritized learning to read.

Once he grasped the written word, learning the Defiant Sect’s secret arts transferred into his mind became much easier.

Although he couldn’t grasp the full depth without enlightenment, he could at least understand it superficially.

To deceive the three people living in the Nine Dragons Manor, Hwa-rin would leave his room at set times, walk around the manor’s courtyard, and then return to his room to sit in a lotus position and practice the Dual Origin Art.

After the Dual Origin Art, he would practice a type of soul-capturing technique called the Illusionary Soul Art, which manipulated memories to make the target repeat the same memories of the subject.

Hwa-rin learned the Illusionary Soul Art first to manipulate the memories of those in the Nine Dragons Manor. This ensured that even if they discovered he could see, hear, and speak, they would unconsciously maintain the perception that he was living as he always had.

While Hwa-rin was learning the Defiant Sect’s techniques in the Nine Dragons Manor, no one ever came to visit.

In fact, if he could at least talk… or even just hear, they might have come to tease him or play pranks. But since he couldn’t see, hear, or speak, even if they wanted to bother him, it wouldn’t be fun, so he fell out of the interest of his other siblings and they stopped visiting.

Time flowed like passing clouds, and five years passed as Hwa-rin learned the Defiant Sect’s secret techniques left behind by his mother through the Visionary Spirit Command Art.

As usual, five years passed without anyone visiting the Nine Dragons Manor.

The three people working at the Nine Dragons Manor also believed that no one would ever visit again.

Although the days were monotonous and boring, they didn’t complain or feel dissatisfied.

They lived a carefree life, and they considered it a blessing to live so comfortably in the Imperial Palace.

Hwa-rin walked around the courtyard as usual, getting some exercise. As Hwa-rin headed towards the entrance of the Nine Dragons Manor, the guard, Bang-gak, tried to stop him.

“Oh, Master!”

The servant, Cha Sang-in, startled by the sight, rushed to support him.

The entrance to the Nine Dragons Manor was a place Hwa-rin rarely visited, so they were worried he might fall.

Hwa-rin tapped Cha Sang-in’s hand twice, indicating that he was fine.

Using his cane to tap the ground, Hwa-rin moved to the entrance and crossed the threshold of the Nine Dragons Manor.

“You can’t, Master.”

Hwa-rin was not allowed to leave the Nine Dragons Manor. Hwa-rin tapped Cha Sang-in’s hand twice again, then stood at the entrance and looked up at the Nine Dragons Manor’s signboard.

He was trying to find something his mother had left behind.

“Master, now…”

At that moment, Hwa-rin cast the Illusionary Soul Art he had been practicing on the servant, Cha Sang-in.

Whether Cha Sang-in was caught off guard or hadn’t learned martial arts to resist, he fell under the Illusionary Soul Art, and Hwa-rin manipulated his memory to make it seem like he was always doing the same thing.

Cha Sang-in stood quietly beside Hwa-rin, and a strange light flickered in Hwa-rin’s eyes as he looked at the Nine Dragons Manor’s plaque.

A low voice flowed from Hwa-rin’s lips, similar to the incantations chanted by Taoists when performing magic.

At that moment, an illusion occurred where the Nine Dragons Manor’s plaque seemed to distort, and the hidden letters within were absorbed through Hwa-rin’s Baihui acupoint [the acupoint at the crown of the head].

This phenomenon lasted for a while, but from the outside, it simply looked like Hwa-rin was looking up at the plaque.

For Hwa-rin, it felt like about fifteen minutes, and after that, everything returned to normal.

Even though everything was back to normal, Hwa-rin continued to look up at the plaque, organizing the letters that had entered his mind.

After standing there for a while, Hwa-rin turned around and entered the Nine Dragons Manor, and the old servant, Cha Sang-in, supported him, worried that he might fall.

“Hey, instead of just staring, if you have nothing to do, cut down that doorstep. So that Master doesn’t trip when he walks. How many times do I have to tell you to do it?”

“Ah, Elder… I understand.”

“Don’t just answer, do it by the end of the day.”

The guard, Bang-gak, pouted and grumbled, but his eyes shone sharply.

‘Today, he went outside, unlike usual. What’s the reason?’

Bang-gak thought about reporting Hwa-rin’s actions, but he made a face as if it was a bother.

‘There’s nothing particularly unusual, so let’s just let it go. Reporting it will only make me tired.’

Hwa-rin entered the manor and went to his room.

Once inside, Hwa-rin sat in a lotus position and breathed. After five years of practicing the Dual Origin Art, he could now perfectly separate his thoughts, allowing him to think two or three things at once.

[Well done. I was worried about what would happen if you couldn’t see this, but there wasn’t much this mother could do in the heavily guarded Imperial Palace.]

Hwa-rin sat in a lotus position and recalled the letters that had entered his mind.

If his mother had left behind the Defiant Sect’s secret arts through the Visionary Spirit Command Art, then she must have left behind the Defiant Sect’s martial arts in the plaque.

[The martial arts of our sect are strong, but not the best in the world. They are weaker than the Demonic Sect’s Demonic Divine Art, lack depth compared to the Orthodox Sect’s Celestial Martial Divine Art, and are too pure compared to the Evil Sect’s Death Spirit Divine Art.]

Hwa-rin didn’t know much about martial arts, so he just accepted it.

[I wanted to avenge those who destroyed our sect and tore my family apart, but I couldn’t.]

The word “revenge” didn’t resonate with Hwa-rin.

She was his mother, whom he had never seen in his life. The fact that his mother was talking about revenge felt somewhat distant.

If his nanny, So-yong, or his servant, Cha Sang-in, were killed by someone, he might feel like taking revenge himself, but his mother, whom he didn’t even remember, was talking about revenge, and it just felt like grasping at clouds.

[There is only one place where there are martial arts that can protect me and defeat their martial arts, and that is the Imperial Vault.]

In the end, she was telling him to enter the Imperial Vault, learn the martial arts that could defeat the Demonic Divine Art, the Celestial Martial Divine Art, and the Death Spirit Divine Art, and then come out and avenge the Defiant Sect.

She also told him about the fact that she had stolen the Imperial Vault Access Token a long time ago and where she had hidden it, which was how his mother’s message ended.

“Haa…”

A deep sigh escaped him.

“What should I do?”

Hwa-rin thought about this problem for a long time.

His nanny, So-yong, prepared a meal and brought it to him, and while eating, he pondered what he should do.

For seven days and nights, Hwa-rin thought about his future and made a decision.

“It would be better to leave the Imperial Palace and go out into the world than to grow old and die here.”

He thought it would be better to live outside the Nine Dragons Manor, like a bird trapped in a cage, than to take revenge as his mother had said.

Hwa-rin decided to leave the Nine Dragons Manor. Before that, he planned to enter the Imperial Vault as his mother had said, learn martial arts, and then leave the Imperial Palace, so he looked for the Imperial Vault Access Token that his mother had hidden.

The Imperial Vault Access Token was hidden inside the pillow he slept on.

Hwa-rin took the key out of the pillow. It was a key made of gold with a square base and a dragon decoration as the handle.

There were letters engraved in relief below the square base, but Hwa-rin didn’t think much of the letters.

He kept the key in his bosom and waited for night to come.

When night came, Hwa-rin left his room. The guard, Bang-gak, saw Hwa-rin and approached him.

“Where…”

Hwa-rin’s eyes sparkled, and he met Bang-gak’s gaze head-on. At that moment, Bang-gak’s eyes glazed over, and he lowered his head.

“No one will come here, so act as usual.”

“Yes, Master.”

Hwa-rin went to his nanny, So-yong, and used the Illusionary Soul Art on her, brainwashing her, and only then did he leave the Nine Dragons Manor.

Hwa-rin used the Defiant Sect’s secret arts he had learned to head to the Imperial Vault. Occasionally, the Imperial Guard in charge of guarding the Imperial Palace would pass by, but no one discovered Hwa-rin.

This showed that the Defiant Sect’s secret arts he had learned for five years were working even on the Imperial Guard warriors of the Imperial Palace.

Still, Hwa-rin moved as carefully as possible and was able to arrive in front of the Imperial Vault, one of the secret places of the Imperial Palace.

The Imperial Vault was located a little away from the palace, and it was built by digging a cave under Mount So-o, which firmly supported the rear of the Imperial Palace, and spending a lot of time and money on it.

There were also warriors from the Eastern Depot [a secret intelligence agency in the Imperial Palace] guarding the front of the Imperial Vault, but they had been neglecting their duties for over fifteen years because no one had come to the Imperial Vault.

Sometimes, like today when Hwa-rin visited the Imperial Vault, they would not even stand guard and spend their time elsewhere.

When Hwa-rin arrived in front of the Imperial Vault, fortunately, no one was there, so he looked around and inserted the Imperial Vault Access Token into the crack of the firmly closed iron gate.

When he felt something subtly pushing in, he heard the sound of a mechanism operating from the inside.

Kkiririririk!

Hwa-rin heard the sound and turned the key to the right, and the sound of the mechanism operating was heard again. After a while, the heavy iron gate opened to the left and right, and the Imperial Vault was opened.

When the iron gate was completely open, Hwa-rin pulled the key out of the iron gate.

As soon as he pulled out the key, the iron gate tried to close on its own, and in the meantime, Hwa-rin entered the iron gate.

Kuuung!

When the iron gate was completely closed, only silence flowed in front of the Imperial Vault as before.

Hwiririririk…….

After Hwa-rin entered the Imperial Vault, a person wearing black light armor somersaulted and landed in front of the Imperial Vault and looked around.

“Those who live off the nation’s salary…”

He spoke as if he was dumbfounded that the Eastern Depot warriors who should have been guarding the front of the Imperial Vault were not visible.

Sarararak!

A man and a woman stepped on the air and landed behind him, then bowed to him.

“You have worked hard.”

The man in black light armor spoke as if he knew who the two people were.

The two people raised their heads, and it was Hwa-rin’s nanny, So-yong, and his servant, Cha Sang-in.

“What was the Crown Prince like while you were watching him?”

“He was a good person.”

The man in black light armor nodded.

“I understand. From tomorrow, the two of you will return to the Inner Guard [a division responsible for the security of the Emperor and the Imperial Family].”

“We receive the Commander’s orders.”

The two people bowed their heads and left the place, and the man in black light armor looked at the firmly closed iron gate and nodded.

After guarding the place for a while, the man in black light armor also left.

After Hwa-rin entered the Imperial Vault, all the people working in the Nine Dragons Manor disappeared, and the plaque of the Nine Dragons Manor was also changed to another name.

As if trying to completely erase the traces of Hwa-rin’s life in the Nine Dragons Manor, the Nine Dragons Manor was changed to a building belonging to the Inner Court, which manages the palace maids of the Imperial Palace.