Tales Of The Nine Dragons [EN]: Chapter 47

구룡전기 (47)

Late at night, men from Hwasaengbang [a subordinate group or branch] arrived at Hwamyeong Inn from the Travil Kingdom, transporting grain. After storing the grain in the warehouse, Hwajeongsu, to prevent theft, employed a technique he had learned to inscribe a ‘Sonic Boom Trap’ on the door. This trap was designed to cause the door to explode, injuring any intruders.

Afterward, he secured the door with a padlock, keeping the key in his possession.

More guards than usual were deployed around the warehouse, a thorough precaution against theft.

The warehouse was brightly illuminated throughout the night, and the surrounding area was teeming with guards and their shadows, seemingly making it impossible for even the most skilled thief to steal the grain this time.

Hwarin, from his room on the second floor of a nearby building, observed the warehouse of Hwamyeong Inn across the way.

“They’ve taken quite a bit of care,” he mused.

Undeterred by the bright lights, Hwarin quietly slipped out of the second-floor window and leaped into the air.

He employed the ‘Soaring Leap’ technique, allowing him to ascend to great heights in a single bound, avoiding the notice of the guards below. Then, tracing a long arc through the air, he landed silently on the roof of the warehouse.

While the area below the warehouse was as bright as day, illuminated by the lights, the rooftop was shrouded in darkness.

Moreover, Hwarin’s dark clothing further concealed him. As he lowered his posture on the roof, the guards below had no chance of detecting his presence.

‘I saw Hwajeongsu doing something strange earlier,’ Hwarin recalled.

Hwarin had been watching when Hwajeongsu inscribed the Sonic Boom Trap technique on the door, although he didn’t know its specific name.

Hwarin spread his energy around the warehouse, searching for any unusual disturbances.

“Hmm…….”

Through the subtle stimulation caused by the collision of energies, Hwarin realized that a dangerous trap had been set on the door. He chuckled softly in the darkness.

“If not the door, then I’ll simply go through the roof.”

Hwarin carefully placed his hand against a wooden panel of the roof, exerting his grip. With a slight cracking sound, a fist-sized hole appeared in the roof.

Hwarin’s figure slipped through the small hole as if being sucked in, entering the warehouse.

“They brought quite a lot,” Hwarin observed, a smile spreading across his face as he looked at the grain piled high in the warehouse.

“I won’t have to worry about starving for a few years.”

Hwarin used a technique to summon a space pouch [a magical bag with seemingly infinite storage space], sweeping up all the grain in the warehouse.

The space pouch, which had been rapidly absorbing the grain, stopped with only one sack of grain remaining.

“You’ve worked hard to bring the grain, so I hope you can cook a warm meal with this and return safely,” Hwarin said quietly.

Hwarin left a note on the remaining sack of grain, explaining that the stolen grain would be used for good purposes. Then, he exited the warehouse through the hole he had made in the roof.

“You should be careful about who you mess with. Trying to take what’s mine… This is where it ends this time, but if you try to take my things again, I’ll bleed you dry.”

Hwarin used the Soaring Leap technique to jump high, disappearing from people’s sight, just as he had when descending from the second floor to the roof. Then, tracing a long arc, he returned to his room through the second-floor window.

“Tomorrow will be interesting.”

Hwarin closed the window with a satisfied smile, went to the bedding spread on the floor, and lay down.

“Ah, this is comfortable.”

Feeling content as he lay there, a song naturally flowed from his lips.

Hwarin, humming to himself, closed his eyes, looking forward to the events of the morning.

The next day, Hwarin woke up to a commotion. As soon as he opened his eyes, he got up and went to the window, looking down at the disturbance outside.

“How could you stand guard and not see the guy until he made a hole in the roof and went inside?” a voice full of anger echoed loudly from the warehouse of Hwamyeong Merchant Guild before dawn.

“Drag those guys away, kill them, and bury them in the mountains!”

“Please spare us!” The warriors who had been on guard begged for their lives, but Hwajeongsu did not quell his anger over the enormous loss.

Hwarin, who was watching this from the second floor, chuckled.

“He talks about benevolence… Those who only talk the talk only say plausible things when it doesn’t affect them.”

Hwarin hesitated for a moment, watching the warriors being dragged away.

“If I injure the guys they’re taking, they’ll run away on their own.”

Hwarin made that decision and left the room.

“Innkeeper.”

Coming down to the first floor and calling out to the owner, he peeked out from the kitchen, looked at Hwarin, came out, and bowed his head.

“Please prepare breakfast.”

“What would you like……?”

“Something simple, please. Where should I go to wash my face?”

“If you go outside and around the back of the inn, there’s a well.”

Hwarin nodded and turned his body to leave the inn. At that moment, Hwarin’s figure scattered like mist, disappearing from the spot.

Meanwhile, the head guard of Hwamyeong Merchant Guild, who was dragging the warriors who had been on guard to the mountains, went up a little from the entrance of Seokchwi Mountain, turned around, confirmed that no one was there, and said.

“Release them all.”

At the head guard’s command, the guards looked at each other, but they had no choice but to obey his order.

The head guard, who had released all the warriors, said.

“You must run far away as you are. And you must not breathe a word about what happened today.”

“Head Guard Jang…….”

“The guild leader doesn’t know your faces. If you are careful for two or three years, he won’t be able to recognize you even if you run into him. But if today’s events become known and stories are told, not only you but also I, who released you, and the guards here will all be in trouble. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you? Everyone knows that you weren’t negligent in your guard duty. No one thinks that so much grain could be moved through a hole in the roof without opening the door.”

“Then…….”

“It’s impossible without Taoist or Demonic Cult techniques. It’s an irresistible event with your strength, so just think of it as bad luck.”

As Head Guard Jang said, it was an inexplicable event with common sense.

“Run away over the mountain as you are. We’ll go up a little further, dig in the ground, spend some time, and then go down.”

“Head Guard Jang, I will never forget this grace.”

“Don’t be ridiculous and go quickly.”

When Head Guard Jang shouted, the warriors went up the mountainside.

“Let’s go up. Go up and think carefully. Whether to remain as guards of the guild or go somewhere else and live a new life.”

Head Guard Jang took the guards to the middle of Seokchwi Mountain.

After they went up, a person appeared in that place, and it was Hwarin.

“I came up for nothing. Head Guard Jang, that person is a good person. I should bring him to our manor later.”

Hwarin made a face as if he had nothing to do and turned his body.

“Let’s go eat.”

* * *

Hwarin ate a delicious breakfast at the inn and smiled with satisfaction.

“Now that I’ve taken care of everything, shall I go back?”

As Hwarin was about to pay for his meal and get up from his seat, the guards of Hwamyeong Merchant Guild rushed into the inn.

“Catch him!”

They suddenly came into the inn, drew their swords, and threatened him, so he thought about how to respond to this.

“Why are you trying to catch me?”

Hwasaengbang, the third younger brother of Hwajeongsu, the guild leader of Hwamyeong Merchant Guild, stepped forward and said.

“Didn’t you conspire with your remnants to steal the grain?”

Hwarin made a dumbfounded expression at those words.

“What evidence do you have that I did that?”

“We’ll find out if we investigate, so surrender obediently before blood is shed.”

“You have to take responsibility for that statement.”

“What?”

“It seems that your guild is trying to vent its anger by falsely accusing me, but if this fact becomes known to my family, your main family and in-laws will be annihilated.”

Saying that, Hwarin looked at the guards pointing their swords at him.

“You won’t be able to escape that disaster either.”

Everyone was startled by Hwarin’s confident appearance. Moreover, when he mentioned his family and said that they would be annihilated, some people began to think that his identity was not ordinary.

“Don’t bluff. You thief… Catch him!”

“When that Hwajeongsu talked to me, he must have had some idea of what kind of person I am… Seeing that he stepped back and ordered other guys to do it, it seems he’s thinking of avoiding responsibility later.”

“My brother?”

“Go to Hwajeongsu and tell him to come at me with confidence.”

Hwasaengbang had no choice but to worry about what to do because of Hwarin’s too confident appearance.

“Go back.”

The guards were watching, and Hwasaengbang hesitated for a moment, but eventually had no choice but to dismiss the guards.

“Let’s go back.”

As Hwasaengbang turned back, the imminent situation ended in vain.

The owner, who had been watching this, breathed a sigh of relief and approached Hwarin.

“Please run away quickly.”

“Why should I?”

“Even if they retreat like that now, they will bring more guards.”

“Then I’ll just kill them all.”

The owner was alienated by Hwarin’s appearance of saying that he would kill people so easily, but he mustered up courage and said.

“Guests speak so easily because they are strong in martial arts, but most of those guards are people who move by orders. What fault do they have? If the guest thinks of saving many lives and just runs away, nothing will happen.”

Hwarin looked at the owner.

“Why are you doing that?”

“I’m listening to good words. As the owner says, if I avoid this situation, I’m saving many lives.”

“That’s right.”

“I’ve never thought about that before. I’ve killed all the guys who came to kill me, but from now on, I’ll have to run away depending on the situation.”

The owner was dumbfounded by Hwarin’s words, but he thought that was the way it was.

Hwarin took out two gold coins from his pocket, put them on the table, and said to the owner.

“I had a good breakfast. Do good business, and I’ll be back to stay here again.”

Whirr. Whirr.

The owner, thinking that wind was coming into the inn, looked around in surprise when Hwarin disappeared before his eyes.

“Heot!” [An exclamation of surprise]

Just in case, he checked the two gold coins on the table. The two gold coins were still there, and the owner quickly picked them up and put them in his pocket.

“That’s something.”

He had heard that there were many people in the martial arts world with amazing talents, but he had not expected that he would disappear like that before his eyes. As the owner was about to clear the dishes on the table, the guards rushed in.

“Where did that guy go?”

“He left the inn a little while ago.”

“A little while ago?”

“Yes. After the guards left the inn, he left the inn right away.”

At the innkeeper’s words, the guards left the inn to find Hwarin, and the owner breathed a sigh of relief.

“I almost had to clean up the corpses again.”