Tales Of The Nine Dragons [EN]: Chapter 89

Nine Dragons Chronicle (89)

Finally, the grain that departed from Guangxi Province arrived in Luzhou, Sichuan Province, without incident.

As soon as the grain arrived, Hwa Jung-soo immediately divided it between two ships.

“Hurry. The ships must depart at the beginning of Mishi (1-3 PM).”

Hwa Jung-soo believed that since nothing had happened so far, everything would be fine once the ships set sail with the grain.

The workers carrying the grain from the land moved diligently.

The grain was piled up in the lower part of the ship, near the oarsmen, under the assumption that even if someone infiltrated, they wouldn’t be able to completely evade the oarsmen’s notice.

The piled grain restricted the oarsmen’s movement, but they didn’t mind. They were promised double pay if they completed this transport safely, so they could endure the inconvenience.

“We need to make a passage so people can move around.”

The oarsmen needed to move around to relieve themselves or eat, so they created a narrow path and filled the remaining space with grain.

“There’s no more space to pile up here.”

“Then pile the rest in the warehouse. Move quickly.”

At his words, the workers carrying the grain sacks were pleased.

The oarsmen’s area was the steering room on the lowest level of the ship, making even simple trips up and down exhausting.

The warehouse was above the steering room, and they could exert more strength simply by avoiding the descent.

Hwa Jung-soo couldn’t let his guard down as he watched the grain sacks being loaded onto the ship.

“No matter how skilled in martial arts someone is, they won’t be able to handle Jinmyeong Sword Ho Joong-san and Flying Blade Jeok Yeom-cheon at the same time.”

The expert Hwa Jung-soo had invited was Ho Joong-san, while Hwa Jung-guk, who had gone to Guangxi Province, had invited Flying Blade Jeok Yeom-cheon.

Jeok Yeom-cheon was a master swordsman as formidable as Ho Joong-san, worthy of being called one of the Murim Hundred Great Masters [a ranking of the top martial artists].

Whether Bae Yoon-geol was careless or not, the fact that these two accompanied the shipment was a great reassurance.

As the amount of grain piled on land decreased, the ship sank slightly, but all the prepared grain was successfully loaded onto the two ships.

Once all the grain was loaded, the ships raised their anchors and unfurled their sails.

“Departing.”

Without hesitation, the two ships left the dock and headed towards Jiangsu Province, cutting through the currents of the Yangtze River.

Now, except for a food supply stop in Wuhan, Hubei Province, the ships would not stop until they arrived in Jiangsu Province.

“Check every Sh辰辰 (two hours) to see if the amount of grain in the steering room and warehouse is changing, and also keep a close watch for any suspicious people.”

“Yes, sir!”

* * *

“Heave-ho, heave-ho!”

In the steering room, the oarsmen were rowing with all their might, chanting in unison, displaying extraordinary skill.

The man holding the rudder at the stern, at the very back, was looking at the grain sacks piled in the steering room with a displeased expression.

‘There are two experts, and many other martial artists, and that Hwa Jung-soo is learning sorcery, huh?’

It was none other than Hwa-rin. He had disguised himself and boarded the ship as a helmsman, planning to steal the grain and escape when the opportunity arose.

‘There’s one expert on each ship, so it’s not like I can’t handle them. But still, fighting would put me at a disadvantage.’

Fighting a formidable expert on a rocking ship was unwise. Although he was confident in his martial arts and could maintain his balance to some extent, he wanted to avoid fighting multiple opponents on a ship, as a moment’s carelessness could lead to a fatal crisis.

‘They said they’ll dock once in Hubei Province and then depart again, so once we dock, I’ll steal the grain here and run away, then go straight to Jiangsu Province and wait for the ship to arrive, then steal it under the cover of night and return to the manor.’

He could easily guess what would happen after that without having to experience it.

Since the Hwa-myeong Merchant Group failed to supply grain to the Eight Route Water Army [a military division], he would supply the grain to the Eight Route Water Army as promised with his uncle, Prince Yeongchin Joo Young-woon, and reap the profits.

“If I calculate all the grain I can steal, the amount of grain in the space pocket is enough to supply the Eight Route Water Army for two years, so I can create a trading partner who can secure grain during that period.”

Hwa-rin considered the Travil Kingdom as a potential grain trading partner. The Travil Kingdom’s grain production capacity was superior to any kingdom, including the Central Plains [ancient China], and many merchants traded grain with the Travil Kingdom, sending the secured grain to the Central Plains and other kingdoms.

‘The problem is that I don’t have a very good relationship with the Travil Kingdom.’

In the early days of the Maengho Death Squad [an elite military unit], the intelligence agency of Dongchang [a secret service] learned that the Travil Kingdom was securing huge funds based on its excellent grain production capacity and using these funds to prepare for war, so the Maengho Death Squad was dispatched to warn the Travil Kingdom.

At that time, Hwa-rin had gained combat experience and overcome several near-death experiences in Myogang, Wolha, and other places.

Through these experiences, he realized that when facing an enemy, he had to act coldly and boldly, and after that, he always returned covered in blood whenever he was dispatched.

Even in situations where he didn’t need to use excessive force, Hwa-rin used it a bit excessively and brutally, and even his allies saw him as a bloodthirsty person.

So they called him a madman of bloodlust, or a blood demon, and kept their distance.

Hwa-rin enlisted in the military without any social experience or interpersonal skills, and that too in the Maengho Death Squad, which was said to be the most dangerous in the Central Plains.

After overcoming several near-death experiences, Hwa-rin instinctively felt that he had to subdue his opponents more brutally in order to survive.

Danri Hyuk-gwang was the one who calmed down such Hwa-rin and gradually changed him through conversation.

Danri Hyuk-gwang was Hwa-rin’s instructor, a benefactor who had saved Hwa-rin’s life several times during missions, and also the person who kept Hwa-rin by his side so that he would not go mad with blood.

If Danri Hyuk-gwang had not been by Hwa-rin’s side, Hwa-rin might have become a bloodthirsty killer.

The Maengho Death Squad, which was dispatched to the Travil Kingdom, fought against the soldiers of the Travil Kingdom who were preparing for war. In the process, Hwa-rin single-handedly stormed the Travil Palace, subdued the soldiers, and captured the king and his direct family members to accept surrender.

At that time, Hwa-rin killed several members of the royal family, including the heir to the Travil Kingdom, so the people of the Travil Kingdom still thought of Hwa-rin as a son of a b*tch. So much so that when friends fought and cursed, they would say, ‘You’re like Joo Hwa-rin!’

The worst curse in the Travil Kingdom was a word that included Joo Hwa-rin’s name.

‘Give birth to a Hwa-rin-like bastard’, ‘Your dad is Hwa-rin’, ‘A guy worse than Hwa-rin’, and so on…

Due to the bad relationship at that time, Hwa-rin tried to avoid going to the Travil Kingdom if possible.

‘I can’t send Seo General Manager either. I think I’ll need a lot of people to handle administrative work in the future.’

―Change course 12 degrees to starboard!

At the voice transmitted through the long tube, Hwa-rin stopped thinking and moved the rudder.

As he pushed the rudder with force, the rudder attached to the stern moved, slightly changing the direction of the ship.

‘I thought it was simple at first, but it’s not that simple.’

Hwa-rin was a person who aimed for the Murim [martial arts world], not a person who aimed for Sangrim [business world].

It was a request from Danri Hyuk-gwang, who could be called a benefactor, so he started with the intention of helping Danri Soso and Danri Jinhyuk to eat and live well for the rest of their lives, but he gradually became greedy. As he tried to restore the old fame of the Danri family, things continued to increase.

‘One mine, supplying grain to the Eight Route Water Army, Guryongnu [a famous building], as well as inns and brothels, and fabric stores and battlefields, and loan sharking, it seems to be enough to some extent.’

If you have this much business, you will never starve to death.

‘But it would be insufficient compared to the old fame of the Danri family.’

Now that he had started, he decided to see it through to the end.

“Danri Hyung, watch over me. I’ll restore the old glory of the Danri family.”

* * *

A day had passed since the ship left Luzhou, Sichuan Province. Measures had been taken so that people in the steering room could not eat, sleep, or even move as they pleased, so they could not leave the steering room.

“Meal time!”

When a few sailors brought meals to the steering room, Hwa-rin would distribute the meals to the oarsmen. The meals were mainly rice balls or root vegetables similar to potatoes and sweet potatoes, which were easy to eat.

“Ah, it would be perfect with a drink.”

“You’re telling me.”

Every time Hwa-rin handed out food to the sailors, they would mention their desire for alcohol.

Hwa-rin smiled and handed them the food, and occasionally Hwa-rin’s eyes would turn red before returning to their original state.

The oarsmen, whether they noticed this or not, wore indifferent expressions and ate their meals in their seats.

After distributing all the food, Hwa-rin came to his seat and took a bite of the potato in his hand.

“Will we arrive in Hubei Province tomorrow?”

Waterways were faster than land routes.

―Pirates ahead, hold on meals and stand by.

When the voice was transmitted to the steering room through the long tube, some of the sailors put down the oars they were holding and stretched.

“Those guys show up every day and extort money. They’re the luckiest bastards in the world.”

“You’re telling me. They’ve learned a little martial arts and act like the best masters in the world, coming to every passing ship and extorting money.”

“But it’ll be difficult this time. I heard that there are two Murim Hundred Great Masters on our ship.”

“There aren’t two on our ship, but one on that ship and one on our ship. What was it, Jinmyeong Sword Ho Joong-san is said to be on our ship, and that person is quite famous.”

“Isn’t he one of the Hundred Great Masters? That means he’s the hundredth strongest in the Central Plains.”

“You ignorant fool, he’s not the hundredth strongest person, but one of the hundred strong people.”

“That’s the same thing.”

“You ignorant things. How can that be the same? You’re number one, and he’s number hundred. But people lump you two together as the Hundred Great Masters. Then, as number one, would you feel good about being treated the same as number hundred?”

“No, I wouldn’t. Who’s doing that?”

“That’s right. You have to say that he’s not the hundredth strongest person, but one of the hundred strong people.”

“Oh, really? Anyway, those pirates will soon run away with their tails between their legs.”

Everyone said that the pirates would run away.

‘Wait, then should I steal this now and run away?’

Hwa-rin thought that now might be the perfect time.

‘If we arrive in Hubei Province, it’ll be daytime, and if it takes about an hour to load supplies, it might be better to move now than to see how things go then.’

Just as Hwa-rin was about to take action, a voice was transmitted to the steering room.

―The situation has been resolved, so let’s depart. Row eight degrees to port.

“Didn’t I tell you? With two of the hundred strong people, it’s over quickly.”

“That’s right. Well, the pirates know that their lives are precious.”

Hwa-rin moved the rudder, wearing a displeased expression.

‘If they’re going to help, they should help properly. They’re like rabbits who fight a little at night and quickly run away.’