Tales Of The Nine Dragons [EN]: Chapter 76

구룡전기 (76)

The Fall of Seokcheon Clan

The Hwasan Assembly held at Hwasan Sect concluded earlier than usual. This was due to the unusual events occurring in Sichuan and Chongqing.

The younger generation disciples of the orthodox sects, having descended from Hwasan, were somewhat aware of the situation in Chongqing, leading to discussions about going there to assist.

“What do you think, Brother?”

“Well, I’m against it.”

Namgung Yeon-ah looked slightly disappointed at Namgung Jin’s response.

“Why?”

“It’s dangerous. The opponents are the main force of the Blood Demon Alliance, their elite martial force. Each of them is stronger than us. How could we possibly face them?”

“Can’t even you handle them, Brother?”

“It would be difficult even for me. Not only me, but few among the Ten Dragons and Eight Peaks [esteemed disciples from various powerful clans] could face them.”

“Why? You’re strong, Brother.”

“A fight to the death is different from just being strong. They have countless real combat experiences from the battlefield. Moreover, they don’t hesitate to kill. Regardless of strength, we would be overwhelmed by their momentum. Junior disciples like us wouldn’t be able to display our full abilities against them.”

“It’s not good to be too humble.”

Sadojun, who was walking with them, said. The two had become friends because of Hwarin.

Sadojun had secretly tried to leave Hwasan to inform his sect about Hwarin’s news, but the Hwasan Assembly ended sooner than expected, so he ended up descending Hwasan with them.

Some of the younger generation disciples went to Chongqing after hearing about the situation, but Namgung Jin and Namgung Yeon-ah were heading to Hubei Province, where the Jeongcheon Alliance headquarters was located.

Namgung Jin planned to visit the Jeongcheon Alliance in Hubei, take care of some business, and then return to Anhui Province. Sadojun, whose sect was also in Hubei Province, was accompanying the siblings to Hubei.

“Even if I don’t know much, I bet Jin could cross swords with them.”

“That’s right. Brother could fight them and even win.”

“Sure. But since there are so many of them, he wouldn’t be able to fight alone.”

“Ah, that might be true.”

“Why, Yeon-ah, do you want to go to Chongqing?”

“Honestly, I’m curious how the fight will turn out.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. We’re going to Jeongcheon Alliance to take care of business and then return to Anhui Province.”

Namgung Jin warned Sadojun not to encourage Namgung Yeon-ah.

“I didn’t mean it that way. I was just saying that the fight would already be over by the time we got to Chongqing, and we’d have to clean up after the martial artists.”

“Clean up?”

“Cleaning up corpses, taking care of the injured, cooking, washing dishes, all those little things.”

“Why would we do that?”

“We’re just junior disciples fresh out of the martial world, so we naturally have to cater to our seniors. This applies not only in the martial world but everywhere in society.”

Namgung Yeon-ah looked at Namgung Jin, her eyes questioning if that was true.

“Jun is right. The martial world has a stricter hierarchy than other places.”

“Why?”

“The martial world is a place where people train and strive every day to take lives. What would happen if there was no order in such a place?”

“Well……”

“It would be chaos. The strong would oppress the weak, justify their wrongdoings, and commit even more evil acts.”

“How does Jun know so much?”

“I don’t know it well, but I know someone who lived in such a world. I grew up seeing it with my own eyes.”

Namgung Yeon-ah widened her eyes in surprise and looked at Sadojun.

“Why are you so surprised? Did you really think I was like that? I was just joking.”

“Tch… I really thought you were serious, Brother.”

Although he said it was a joke, Namgung Jin took Sadojun’s words as truth.

‘Perhaps this friend, who might be stronger than me, couldn’t have lived an ordinary life. Hwarin, that friend too.’

“Is it so fun to tease me, Jun?”

Sadojun made excuses to Namgung Yeon-ah, who seemed angry, but Namgung Yeon-ah turned her head away, sulking and saying she would never talk to him again.

‘How can she be so cute when she’s sulking?’

A smile filled Sadojun’s face.

“By the way, Jun, what are you going to do? Are you going with us all the way? Going to Jeongcheon Alliance might be a bit much.”

“It is a bit much. So, I’ll go with you as far as I can, and later I’ll meet Hwarin at the Guryong Plaza [Nine Dragons Plaza] and freeload a bit.”

“Brother, let’s stop by Guryong Plaza for a while. I heard that the Guryong Pavilion [Nine Dragons Pavilion] that Hwarin is building is amazing.”

“What is there to see when it’s under construction? This time, we’ll stop by Jeongcheon Alliance to take care of business, then return to our family estate to report, and then visit when we have the chance.”

Namgung Yeon-ah’s lips protruded, but she had no choice but to obey her brother’s words.

“Let’s stop by on the way down. It’s on the way.”

“Can’t we?”

“Let’s do that. It’ll only take time for a meal.”

“Brother, let’s go get a meal.”

With someone helping her, Namgung Yeon-ah pestered Namgung Jin to stop by Guryong Plaza, and Namgung Jin reluctantly agreed.

“But, don’t bother Hwarin or make things difficult for him.”

“Yes. I’ll just eat quietly.”

* * *

After the battle between the Hyeonmu Unit [Black Tortoise Unit] and the Saryeong Blood Demon Squad [Four Spirits Blood Demon Squad], Red Spirit Blood Demon Squad, and Guju Death Blood Guard [Nine Provinces Death Blood Guard] at Okwha Mountain, the Hyeonmu Unit was almost annihilated.

The Blood Demon Alliance’s martial force was expected to push down to the Eulji Family, but surprisingly, the Blood Demon Alliance’s martial force remained quiet.

The Jeongcheon Alliance and orthodox martial artists, who were waiting for them to come, sent scouts to Okwha Mountain to find their traces, but they had already left Okwha Mountain.

Numerous corpses were found at the battle site, mixed with the martial artists of the Hyeonmu Unit and the Blood Demon Alliance.

“How many are there in total?”

To their eyes, it looked like at least two hundred people.

They were briefly surprised to learn that more Blood Demon Alliance martial artists had died than Hyeonmu Unit martial artists.

“First, two of you go to the Eulji Family and report this news. You, go to the Beggars’ Union branch and ask the Beggars’ Union members to find out where the Blood Demon Alliance martial artists went.”

“Understood.”

As those who received the orders hurriedly left, he gave orders to those who remained.

“Separate the corpses. Hyeonmu Unit martial artists to the right, Blood Demon Alliance martial artists to the left!”

Those who remained planned to separate the corpses and send them to the Jeongcheon Alliance in complete form, rather than searching for or chasing the Blood Demon Alliance martial artists who had disappeared from Okwha Mountain.

By identifying the sword wounds, knife wounds, or traces of injuries caused by weapons left on the corpses, they aimed to understand what martial arts the opponents used and what martial arts could be used to counter them.

“Team Leader, there are many corpses over here.”

The corpses were lying scattered in a slightly distant place, and the figures of those who had died in between were noticeable, as if they had fought while wandering around the mid-slope of Okwha Mountain.

“How many died in total?”

While organizing the corpses at the place they guessed was where the first battle had occurred, the corpses of eighty martial artists belonging to the Hyeonmu Unit were discovered, and eight more corpses were found in a slightly distant place.

Out of the hundred Hyeonmu Unit martial artists, all eighty-eight corpses could be identified, excluding the twelve who had come to the Eulji Family alive, and in addition, there were over two hundred corpses of martial artists belonging to the Blood Demon Alliance.

‘Could they have all died here?’

It was said that the Guju Death Blood Guard, Saryeong Blood Demon Squad, and Red Spirit Blood Demon Squad attacked the Hyeonmu Unit, which was waiting at Okwha Mountain.

Considering that each unit had a hundred members, the number of corpses collected here was two hundred and forty-two.

Considering that the number of Guju Death Blood Guard, who had fought in Sichuan first, was less than a hundred, it was no different from saying that three units were annihilated at Okwha Mountain.

As this was organized in his head, he widened his eyes in surprise and looked at the dead corpses.

“Who on earth……”

“Team Leader, there are a few corpses over there.”

“What, there are more? How many died at Okwha Mountain in total?”

* * *

“I can’t believe it. Who killed them all?”

Those who saw the corpses filling the wide garden of the Eulji Family were beyond surprised and reached the level of astonishment.

“The number of dead martial artists from the Blood Demon Alliance is two hundred and sixty-two. Since there were casualties from the Guju Death Blood Guard from the battle in Sichuan, it is thought that the Saryeong Blood Demon Squad, Red Spirit Blood Demon Squad, and Guju Death Blood Guard were all annihilated. And looking at the wounds, it seems that one person faced them all, not several people.”

They were even more surprised by the fact that one person had killed them all.

“It must be him. It seems that he faced them alone and killed them all.”

Hyeok Jiseok recalled the mysterious man who had helped the Hyeonmu Unit escape from Okwha Mountain and spoke.

“It must be him.”

Hyeok Jiseok spoke with a slightly excited tone, and the others shook their heads.

“Even so, all of them alone?”

“Isn’t it unlikely that they would have committed suicide together?”

Realistically, that was the most likely explanation.

“Didn’t you say he was a young man?”

“He said he saw his profile, so it’s not certain. Even if he’s over thirty, he might look young if you only see his profile. And it was a tense situation, so he might have seen it wrong.”

The fact that there was a skilled person among the young people, that is, the younger generation, who could annihilate them all was actually a burden to them.

It seemed good to have young and strong people, but in reality, it wasn’t. The more there were, the weaker their say became.

Even though the martial world was a world of the survival of the fittest, politics was also necessary. The stronger the say, the more they could push out the existing vested interests and rise to the mainstream, so they were wary.

“There is also the possibility that he is not a younger generation but an established generation, or a hermit master who fought against the Baegyo [White Demon Cult] thirty years ago.”

“Listening to you, that might be the case. He’s too cruel to be called a young man. It wouldn’t be easy to kill so many people unless he’s been in war for a long time.”

“Who among the hidden masters is in Okwha Mountain?”

“We can’t know that. Would they have hidden for no reason? According to rumors at the time, there were quite a few martial artists who found the Baegyo’s hidden secret techniques. Perhaps he hid to learn the secret techniques and came out into the martial world after mastering them.”

Dang Sang-myeong, one of the elders of the Dang Family, tried to diminish the merit of the person who had annihilated them.

“If he was upright, he would have come to the Eulji Family after destroying them, but the fact that he doesn’t come means that he also has something to hide, so he doesn’t come.”

“Surely not.”

When Hwajin Jin-in of the Hwasan Sect denied it, Dang Sang-myeong shook his head.

“Then it doesn’t make sense that he left that place after achieving such great merit, does it? He has a record of single-handedly annihilating three of the Blood Demon Alliance’s five martial force units. It doesn’t make sense for someone who has achieved such great merit to stay still.”

“I also agree with Elder Dang Sang-myeong’s words. Isn’t it because he has something to hide from us that he doesn’t appear?”

Hwajin Jin-in felt a little sorry listening to their words.

It wouldn’t be that difficult to acknowledge someone other than themselves, but they were so eager to put others down to build their own prestige that it was too obvious.

“Then what do we do now?”

Hwajin Jin-in changed the subject because he didn’t like the way they were trying to put down the man who was becoming their benefactor.

“It would be good to wait two or three days just in case, and then return to our respective sects.”

“I think it would be good to do that too. And it wouldn’t be bad to inform the Eulji Family people in the Baekri Family’s safe house about this fact and allow them to return to the Eulji Family to live.”

“Let’s do that.”

Hyeok Jiseok felt a little disappointed in the conversation with them, but he thought that this was politics and the reality of the current Jeongcheon Alliance, so he felt a little pathetic about his situation.

‘Now that the Hyeonmu Unit is gone, it seems like it’s time for me to leave the Jeongcheon Alliance too.’