Hyeonjilmusin - Chapter 118



Only Krnovel

118. Where the forest is thick, tigers come (3)

“But what if the black people retaliate against me?”

“All the black people here are just trash, so it’s okay.”

Yeo Hong-yang seemed worried that I had turned the black swords. But it was a needless worry. How could the famous black swords be established when the two giants, Hwasanpa and Jongnampa, were holding out?

Our conversation ended with Yeom Baek-gyu appearing in the distance. Yeom Baek-gyu smiled brightly at us and ran towards us at a brisk pace.

“I hope you are doing well.”

“What are you talking about after seeing it yesterday?”

“Isn’t our life about not knowing what’s going to happen even an inch ahead?”

Yeom Baek-gyu laughed. Needless to say, I handed the black market invitation to Yeom Baek-gyu. Yeom Baek-gyu naturally accepted it and put it in his arms.

“Are you going to the Indian black market?”

“I just wanted to take a look.”

“Haha. Since it’s come to this, let’s go together. It won’t be boring if there’s one more person.”

Yeom Baek-gyu stuck around as expected. I had no reason to object.

“Okay.”

“Then let’s meet in front of the market.”

“good.”

Yeom Baek-gyu left, urging me to come back. I waved his hand until he was out of sight.

“We’ve almost become best friends.”

Yeo Hongyang snorted. It would be funny to see it from a third party’s perspective. It was a fight to see who could be more hypocritical. You could call it a hypocrisy showdown.

“Then, should we prepare to go to the black market?”

“What do I need to prepare?”

“Just follow me.”

Yeo Hong-yang and Myeong-il looked anxious.

* * *

The black market was a place where only the wealthy could enter. This was especially true for black markets where there were invitations. The common people were usually unaware of the existence of black markets.

“Still, this is a bit much.”

“I can’t see clearly.”

Yeo Hong-yang and Myeong-il grumbled at the same time.

At the moment, Yeo Hong-yang and Myeong-il were dressed like nouveau riche. They were wearing jewelry made of azure, agate, ivory, tortoiseshell, and lapis lazuli all over their bodies, and they even had black sunglasses on their faces, like those worn by judges.

Of course, I didn’t buy it with my own money; I borrowed it from a jeweler.

“It’s cool.”

“It’s already dark because it’s evening, do I really have to wear this?”

“huh.”

“Me too. I’ve been to the black market a few times, but this is just too much.”

“The black market is a bit excessive.”

I have been to the black market a few times in the past. Usually, the items on display at the black market are not real. The items that the merchant personally shows are real.

And to make it easy, I had to prove that I had money. That’s why I dressed up like this.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

As we walked along the street in high spirits, I felt all eyes on us. No one bothered to pick a fight with us because we were wearing jewelry so obviously. I guess they figured that if they wore that much jewelry, they would definitely have an escort.

And when we got to the outskirts where the black market was held, there were already a lot of people there. Yeom Baek-gyu was one of the people who had arrived early, so he noticed us and raised his hand.

“Oh, sir… … .”

Yeom Baek-gyu hesitated as he raised his hand. He seemed to think that our attire was too extravagant.

Even among the somewhat dressed-up merchants, our excesses shone through. The merchants even looked at us and whispered.

“Hey, what’s with the nameless clothes, merchant? You’re playing around with expensive things.”

I immediately shot a word to Yeom Baek-gyu, and Yeom Baek-gyu just laughed awkwardly.

“Shall we go in and take a look?”

“Okay.”

In front, a man in black was checking the invitation.

As we approached and showed the invitation, the man in black looked closely. After some time, the man allowed us to pass.

“This is a total devil’s paradise.”

As soon as I passed through, I saw some shabby abandoned houses. Looking around, it seemed like they had converted the abandoned village into a black market. There were quite a few abandoned villages like this in the central plains. There were also cases where a madman from the Gangho eradicated an entire village, or a group of bandits invaded.

In fact, there were clues that could be used to roughly guess the tragedy of this nameless village: dried bloodstains stuck to the walls of the village, and a large, charred crematorium in the center of the village.

It was a space that was more than adequate for a black market, but it couldn’t help being ominous.

Merchants also came out of the abandoned buildings and set up stalls to do business. What made the black market different from a regular market was that there was no solicitation of customers.

A quiet market is truly unfamiliar, but there is a reason why it is like this.

First, most people who enter this black market have a clear purpose. Therefore, there is no need to deliberately solicit customers.

Second, if you make too much noise, you might get caught. This is probably the biggest reason.

Third, black markets are usually held in abandoned villages or mines, so they are often gloomy places. That’s why an unwritten rule has been created not to provoke the spirits.

“Oh, it’s drizzling.”

Yeo Hongyang held her shoulders and shivered. It was gloomy as it was, but it was also because the temperature had dropped significantly at night.

“I heard somewhere that this village was ruined because of the Hwasanpa Taoist priests.”

Yeom Baek-gyu said. Myeong-il flinched slightly. I asked curiously.

“Because of the Volcano Sect Taoist priest? What could possibly happen?”

“It’s a coin possession. It’s a coin possession. Why is that the case? It is said that when the warriors are possessed by a coin possession, they become mad.”

“yes.”

“But here’s the funny thing. There was a madness within the Volcano faction, and instead of killing them because they were supposed to be executed, they just let them come down. And then that madman slaughtered the entire village.”

Yeom Baek-gyu laughed heartily. Myeong-il answered coolly.

“Is that funny?”

“That’s funny.”

Yeom Baek-gyu’s laughter stopped.

“They are unleashing such crazy unmanned agents on the civilians as they please. And they are doing so under the pretense of not wanting to kill someone who was once subject to death with their own hands. How arrogant. The unmanned race… … .”

Suddenly, Yeom Baek-gyu’s voice was filled with a chill. Even I felt a chill for a moment, so Myeong-il couldn’t answer for a moment.

“But that doesn’t represent all drones.”

Myeong-il barely managed to continue speaking. Yeom Baek-gyu suddenly burst into laughter. In the black market, where there was no commotion, loud laughter was enough to attract the attention of many people.

As more and more people started to give him cold stares, Yeom Baek-gyu finally stopped laughing.

“Your Majesty, you have a very positive view of the unemployed. Usually, merchants and unemployed people hate each other, so you are a bit unusual.”

“What is that?”

“no.”

“Answer me. Does that speak for all the drones?”

Myeongil shot out. Yeom Baek-gyu’s eyes drew a curve.

“Yes. Don’t all drones have the potential to become possessed by a coin?”

Myeong-il couldn’t answer Yeom Baek-gyu’s words because it was true.

“They are essentially walking explosives. And yet they say that these bombs will protect the civilians. They arrogantly say that they are doing it on behalf of the Empire! It’s ridiculous!”

This time, even heat was mixed into Yeom Baek-gyu’s words. I listened to Yeom Baek-gyu’s words in silence.

“Do you think it is more common for a civilian to kill another civilian, or for a warrior to kill another civilian? This may be too cruel a question for a servant.”

“… … But that doesn’t mean that it represents all of the unmanned. There are also knights in the world.”

“A swordsman. Sounds good. But did you know that? Most of the swordsmen whose names are known are fabricated.”

“what?”

“I don’t know about large sects, but small and medium sects often fabricate alliances to make their name known. After all, even the nobles who pretend to be noble have to eat rice to live. They want to make money. And they curse the merchants who make money? They’re ridiculous.”

Myungil’s face turned red. I also knew that fact roughly. It was an era when even swordsmen could make money.

“Let’s stop.”

The one who said those words was, unexpectedly, Yeo Hong-yang.

“I came here to buy things, not to badmouth anyone.”

“Haha, that’s true. I apologize for my rudeness.”

Yeom Baek-gyu bowed excessively in apology. Even that seemed like a mockery to Mu-in.

As he said, merchants and warriors are polar opposites. In that sense, there are many merchants who dislike warriors, but in Yeom Baek-gyu’s case, it seemed to be rather extreme. He seemed to not only dislike warriors, but to the point of hating them.

Myungil just clenched his fists and trembled. He seemed to be very upset and sad that he couldn’t refute the argument.

Yeo Hong-yang patted Myeong-il on the shoulder in a place where Yeom Baek-gyu couldn’t see him. Perhaps she was taking care of him because they had been hanging out together for a while.

“Okay, let’s take a walk around.”

I just gave the atmosphere a little air. There was definitely a lot of illegal stuff.

For example, spears whose circulation is prohibited in the government, animal carcasses or bones used in sorcery, and the genitals of Kunlun slaves that are said to be good for stamina.

Myeongil had a weak stomach, so whenever he saw such things, he would close his eyes tightly. He suddenly thought about just leaving, but he had come here to show me things like this. The world is not as clean as it looks.

“Is there anything in particular that you are concerned about?”

As I continued to look around, Yeom Baek-gyu asked. I shrugged.

“I didn’t come here to buy anything in particular.”

“You really came just to look around.”

“yes.”

“Then let’s go see something really fun.”

“Anything fun?”

“Don’t you know what a black market flower is?”

Yeom Baek-gyu smiled. The flower of the black market. Hearing that, I thought I knew where Yeom Baek-gyu wanted to go. It was definitely written on the invitation. The time of the auction. Judging by the moon, it seemed like it was getting close to the time of the auction.

“Ah. Come to think of it, you said that valuable items were coming out on the black market this time. Usually, valuable items come out at auction houses.”

“Yes.”

“Is that what you’re aiming for?”

“Yes.”

“It won’t be easy. There are so many rich people in Seoan.”

“If I didn’t have confidence, I wouldn’t have come.”

Yeom Baek-gyu guided us with confidence. The auction took place in the largest manor in the abandoned village. The manor’s yard was large enough to accommodate at least three hundred people.

“There are already a lot of people.”

As Yeom Baek-gyu said, half of the garden was occupied. There were easily over a hundred people there.

When the time came, the auctioneer, his hair neatly combed with lard, came out and greeted everyone while looking in all directions.

“Thank you for coming to Xi’an Heuksi. Everyone here is busy with construction work, so we will proceed quickly without taking up any time.”

The first item came out on a tray covered with a cloth. When the cloth was removed, several dozen thick books came out.

“This is the Great Imperial State Unification Chronicle. It is a copy of an official book. With just this, you can travel throughout the Central Plains.”

As expected from a black market, illegal items were sold from the beginning. The Daehwangguk Il Tong Ji was a map of the Central Plains, which was about a hundred volumes long. Because it was so detailed and well-described, it was mainly used by government offices. But they were selling this. Of course, it would be helpful to have it.

“I will start with 100 nyang of silver. The asking price will be 5 nyang. 100 nyang, 105 nyang, 100 nyang, from now on, I will ask for 10 nyang at a time… … .”

The auctioneer skillfully conducted the auction. I watched with my arms folded. It seemed that wasn’t what Yeom Baek-gyu had wanted, so Yeom Baek-gyu also remained silent.

And several auctions passed. Yeom Baek-gyu literally just sat there without raising a hand.

I didn’t really have anything I wanted, so I just kept quiet.

And then the thing in question came out.

“This is going to really surprise you all.”

The auctioneer smiled and took the bundle away. Inside was a shabby book.

I have good eyesight, so I saw the title of the book first. And I couldn’t help but be surprised.

“This is the Hwasanpa’s twenty-four-handed plum blossom sword technique.”

As soon as those words came out, not only Myeong-il who was next to him, but everyone else present froze.

“I will start with a thousand nyang for silver. The household income is a hundred nyang… … .”

“Two thousand nyang.”

And Yeom Baek-gyu raised his hand and shouted.