The Black Market Incident (4)

The steel whip writhed like a living black dragon and lashed toward Seol Pung.

It was a savage strike, like a dragon swiping its tail.

But even now, Seol Pung had not steeled his heart.

In his memory, the image of his mother—tears in her eyes as she breathed her last when he was a child—remained seared into him.

After that, he had lived alone with his grandfather in the mountains for many years; to him, the very idea of a woman was no different from the mother in his memory.

So dealing with women had always been hard for him.

All the more, the notion of laying hands on a woman was unthinkable.

At least, until now.

Yet Seol Pung knew.

One day he would have to face a woman as an enemy, and if even then he couldn’t act, his comrades might die because of him.

As the black whip roared down at his body, Seol Pung squeezed his eyes shut.

Then, like a cat, he flipped through the air, skimming over the whip as it swept past.

BOOOM!

As the strike smashed the ground in vain, the corners of Ya Un-hyang’s lips curled.

“Ho?”

With her smile, the whip’s motion grew even more violent and fierce.

A black dragon coiled around Seol Pung, lashing its tail from every side.

SHRAAAASH!

SHRAAAASH!

But Seol Pung’s movements—eyes still closed—grew faster and faster.

Like a cat weaving through brush, he sprang and somersaulted, turning every attack to nothing.

Now fully awake from her languor, eyes clear and bright, Ya Un-hyang cried out, delighted,

“Splendid! Try this, too!”

Her wildly writhing whip split into five at once.

At its height, it could create nine afterimages—the peerless “Nine-Tailed Fox.”

As five lashes poured in from every direction, Seol Pung’s crouched figure vanished.

PAPAK!

He burst forward at a speed most warriors could not track with their eyes.

Like a bolt of light, Seol Pung’s form rushed right up to Ya Un-hyang.

“Hmph!”

But she snorted.

People assumed her close-quarters fighting was weak because she used a long steel whip; in truth, her dagger work was no weaker than the whip.

Already prepared, she drew the dagger in her left hand like lightning to slash the onrushing Seol Pung.

But Seol Pung moved first.

A hidden weapon had somehow appeared in his grasp, and he flicked his hand toward her.

WHOOSH!

“Hidden weapons?!”

Startled, Ya Un-hyang snapped her dagger up to guard her body.

But nothing flew.

“What?!”

A feint.

Realizing she’d been duped, she moved to slash—only to find Seol Pung already within measure, his qi-hardened hand catching her dagger.

Ya Un-hyang grit her teeth.

She could not lose so easily.

“Tch!”

Her dagger danced, slipping from his grasp to carve him up—but when it only sliced his mask, Seol Pung’s fingers were already pinching the acupoint at her throat.

Tap.

Ya Un-hyang’s eyes went blank.

He hadn’t killed her, and yet he had subdued her so easily—a complete defeat.

As her vision blurred, the last image she saw was Seol Pung’s bare face revealed beneath the sliced mask.

Then she blacked out.

Having subdued her, Seol Pung wore a troubled look.

Of all things, to show his face—Seonu Jin had warned him repeatedly: if your face is seen, you must kill.

If he’d intended to kill from the start, this wouldn’t have happened; choosing to subdue rather than kill led to his face being exposed, which now demanded killing—his vision darkened.

After a moment’s struggle, he decided not to kill her.

She, too, had refrained from killing others just now.

He could not be the first to kill a kind woman who tried not to take lives.

Telling himself it was not because she was a woman, Seol Pung carefully laid her on a cushioned spot in an empty dungeon cell and slipped away.

---

When Bi Sayoung reached the warehouse, he immediately knew he was in the right place.

Three warriors were trying to rape a woman.

Beside them, a girl in her mid-teens—likely the younger sister—was tied tight with rope, crying and screaming.

“Stop, this instant! You animals! I said stop!”

They only snickered.

Two men pinned the older one while the third laughed and tugged down his trousers.

“Kh-heh-heh! A special treat tonight!”

“Hurry it up! We’re waiting our turn!”

“Relax. That rabbit won’t last long. Hah-hah-hah!”

Just as the leering man bared himself and despair washed over the captive’s eyes—

Bi Sayoung streaked in behind him like a meteor.

SPLAT!

In a blink, his sabre took the man’s head.

The other two shouted in fright,

“Gang-ga!”

“Wh-what?!”

They let go of the woman, sprang back, and scrambled for their weapons.

But the speed of Bi Sayoung—the Bizong Sect’s top disciple—was beyond their imagination.

He cleaved the left man next, his sabre carving the body diagonally just as the man grasped his weapon.

SPLAT!

“Graaah!”

“I-ga!”

When Bi Sayoung turned to the last one, the man already had his sabre drawn, face livid.

“You cur!”

Bi Sayoung clicked his tongue.

“Tch!”

He was getting anxious.

Thanks to Bae Jonggwan causing chaos at the gate, there was no one near the warehouse—but even so, he’d made too much noise.

And the stance of the drawn-blade opponent was not trivial.

“Haaaap!”

A hazy mist shimmered at the tip of the man’s sabre as he charged.

Sabre-qi.

Damn, a first-rate!

Bi Sayoung silently cursed and used Thousand Wind Steps to slip past the surge.

Judging from his level, the man seemed lower first-rate; not immediately deadly.

But for Bi Sayoung—who needed to finish fast and spirit the women away—this was vexing.

After a storm of slashes failed to land, the man snorted, as if he understood now.

“You can’t form sabre-qi. Fast footwork, but still second-rate rabble.”

Bi Sayoung ground his teeth.

He had no retort.

His inner energy now exceeded forty years; by that alone, he had the reserves of a mid first-rate.

Yet despite constant effort, he simply could not form sabre-qi.

Though his inner power was ample, the realm of blade-energy eluded him like a mirage.

The man stopped trying to catch the uncatchable and simply raised his voice.

“Intruder! An intruder in the warehouse!”

Bi Sayoung grew frantic.

This would ruin everything.

And here of all places—where he’d found the Living-Dead Eccentric’s children.

“You!”

Without further thought, he hurled himself in. He would not let himself ruin it for everyone.

The man, as if waiting, swung; likely, this had been his plan all along.

CLANG! CLANG-CLANG! CLANG-CLANG!

Sabre met sabre in a flurry.

The gap between first-rate and second-rate was not just blade-qi.

It meant the inner-energy control to form it—and the amplified strength, speed, reflexes, senses—every edge.

Like housecat versus lynx.

And yet Bi Sayoung felt no such gap.

Speed, strength, experience—

In everything but sabre-qi, he felt no inferiority.

He realized:

Compared to the captains he’d crossed blades with—or Seonu Jin, Lady Cheong-yeon, or Lady Na—this man’s skill was crude.

A smile finally reached his face.

At this level, he could do it—now.

Confidence surged; his Bizong Sabre Art, driven by the Kwaeui Heart Method, grew faster and faster.

The Bijong style was famed for speed—not only in movement but in most forms.

But speed alone could not subdue a foe.

No matter how fast, once the eyes adjusted, one could defend; what mattered most to speed-sabremen was tempo—varying pace to create openings.

But now Bi Sayoung made no such adjustments.

Immersed wholly in the fight, he unleashed a downpour of rapid cuts.

CHICHICHICHICHING!

Faster—faster.

As if enchanting himself.

The man, hands blurring to keep up with the ever-quickening storm, finally screamed his kiai,

“Uwaaaaaa!”

In that instant, Bi Sayoung’s sabre, faster than ever, slipped through his guard and swept his body.

SHAAAAK!

At the sabre’s tip, a pale inch of sabre-qi extended beyond the steel.

“Hah… hah… hah.”

Behind the dazed, gasping Bi Sayoung, the man’s chest split and gushed, and he toppled.

SPLASH—THUD!

“Hah… haha… hahaha. So this is sabre-qi.”

He smiled.

The sensation of inner power traveling all the way to the tip was a thrilling tingle, as if the blade were his own body.

Just then, the bound girl cried out,

“Great hero! Please help us!”

Snapping to, Bi Sayoung hurried to cut their bonds and asked,

“Are you the daughters of Master Ma, the Living-Dead Eccentric?”

“Yes! I’m the daughter! My oppa is a man!”

…Huh?

Not understanding, he asked again,

“…Pardon, young lady?”

She repeated,

“I’m the only daughter! That’s my oppa—he’s a man!”

“…Eh?”

Looking again, the one he’d thought the older sister was, in truth, a very beautiful… man.

A slim build, pretty face—very womanly—but the clothes, the bare flat chest—he was a man.

Dazed, Bi Sayoung asked,

“Then those bastards earlier were…?”

The brother answered in a shy, small voice,

“They said I was pretty… different….”

“Ugh….”

Clutching his nape, Bi Sayoung regretted having killed them so quickly.

But there was no time to kill them again.

“Can you two use lightness skill? We’re leaving now!”

“Yes!”

“Y-yes!”

Footsteps thundered from afar.

---

We all slipped safely out of the Black Market and regrouped at a lonely Guandi Shrine—the rendezvous.

The captain must have worried for Bi Sayoung’s front; he’d linked up early and moved with them.

I first looked to Bae Jonggwan, whose upper garment was shredded with sabre-cuts, and asked, concerned,

“Jonggwan, good work. Are you hurt? Your clothes look like you had a rough time.”

I regretted saddling him with such a hard role.

He just grinned sturdily,

“Hah-hah-hah! Don’t worry. Their officer was fascinated by my external arts, so I just showed him a bit more. Looked to me like he fell head over heels for my power. Wah-hah-hah!”

…So much for worrying.

Then I checked the not-two-daughters—but the son and daughter.

The pretty brother stayed silent, still shaken; the sixteen-year-old sister, at least, thanked us with composure.

“Thank you for saving us. My brother and I were in real danger. When we heard Father had abandoned us, we thought it was over….”

Her voice faltered as she fought back tears again.

“Young lady…”

I hesitated—what comfort do you offer a girl her age?—when Bi Sayoung spoke.

“Master Living-Dead is remarkable. He even accepted his children’s resentment to save them.”

Puzzled, the girl asked,

“…I’m sorry? What do you mean?”

“He refused to trade his spirit pills for you and instead posted a bounty with them. We could save you because he did that. He forced the Black Market’s master to deem you worthless as hostages and march out with all his strength to capture him. Right, Jin?”

As much as he annoyed me, Bi Sayoung sometimes had his moments.

Rare—too rare—but still.

I nodded and continued,

“Exactly. Had he traded as demanded, even your father would have been seized. Then to save you, he’d have been trapped for life in the Black Market, forced to brew pills.”

The brother snapped his head up.

“S-so that’s true? Father did it on purpose—to save us?”

Bi Sayoung sighed,

“Don’t ask us—ask yourselves. Is your father the sort to abandon you over a handful of pills?”

Brother and sister looked at each other and shook their heads vehemently.

“No, never.”

“Right. Pills can be made again. Then…”

It seemed what shattered them was less the outrage than the despair of being abandoned.

Now, grasping the truth, the brother bowed, face brightening.

“Thank you! Without you, we’d have died like fools, not understanding Father at all! It’s so simple if you think—thank you, truly!”

“Me too! I don’t know how we’ll repay this….”

The younger sister finally cried as she clung to her brother.

She’d suffered.

Watching warmly, Bi Sayoung turned to me.

“So—don’t we go save Master Living-Dead next?”

Captain Seol Pung smiled and echoed him,

“Indeed. Seeing them makes me want to hurry.”

Their eagerness fanned my own resolve.

But first, there was something we had to do.

I led the siblings to rest in back, then dropped the huge bundle I’d brought with a thump before the others.

“Before we go—let’s look at this.”

Everyone focused, curious.

“I’ve been wondering—what is that?”

“Me too. A bundle as big as you—did you kidnap a few people?”

Grinning, I untied it.

Eyes and mouths flew wide.

“Th-this is—?!”

“No way—this?!”

“Whoaaa! What is all this?!”

I savored their reactions.

Of course.

I had cleaned out all the choicest goods from the Black Market Master’s vault.

For wealth, I took only gold notes, not jewels.

Less trouble if tracked.

As for elixirs—anything that looked good, I grabbed.

We’d planned to save the Living-Dead Eccentric and, in the end, secure elixirs; we’d already surpassed that goal.

Lastly, I took the best-looking weapons.

First, I handed the captain a pair of forearm guards.

“A gift. ‘Rampant Tiger Claws’—seems modeled after the Blood Dragon Claws.”

“Hm? Modeled after the Blood Dragon Claws?!”

He perked up.

Blood Dragon Claws were a sinister weapon used by the demonic killer Mak Jonggi: four long talons that sprang from his bracers—nightmare stuff for first-timers and veterans.

Giving a brawler talons—in short, terrifying.

After a glance, the captain grasped the mechanism, strapped them on, and twisted his wrists.

CHANG!

“Oooh!”

Eight long talons sprang—four per hand.

Focusing, he made red weapon-qi flare from them like flames.

“With these, I can pierce and slice. I won’t need to smash demons—I can cut them easily. Thanks, Jin. Best gift.”

Next, I gave Bi Sayoung a sabre engraved Crescent Moon and a throwing-knife linked by a thin silver filament.

He drew the sabre at once, awed by its wintry gleam.

“Oho! Excellent! Thanks, Jin! And this throwing-knife?”

Smiling at his delight, I explained,

“My thought: you should train throwing-blades. You already practice hidden weapons, right? That silver filament—whatever it’s made of—doesn’t cut even under sword-qi; you might even slice foes with the thread alone.”

“Oh, nice! But you’re training hidden weapons too.”

I grinned,

“Ke-ke-ke, I already picked one out for myself.”

“Heh—then I’ll accept gladly.”

Lastly, I presented Bae Jonggwan with a crescent-moon sabre (guan dao).

Its long shaft split in two to serve as twin short staves; it weighed over ten gwan—the heaviest of the lot.

He smiled apologetically and shook his head.

“I appreciate the thought, Jin, but I’m fine with my body. For a man of external arts, weapons are unnecessary! Hah-hah-hah!”

I had expected that.

But weapons aren’t just sharpness; they give reach.

And Bae Jonggwan’s grappling was weaker than his toughness—he needed reach.

I smiled.

“Agreed. You don’t need a weapon. But imagine this: a giant with your build, swinging this in a storm—who will people think of?”

“Who?”

Glancing around the Guandi Shrine, I answered,

“Lord Guan. Guan Yunchang, the greatest general of the Three Kingdoms.”

“…Guan Yunchang?”

“Yeah. Just imagine. If Lady Cheon saw you like that…”

The one-two of eternal idol Lord Guan and Lady Cheon broke him.

“R-right? You think so?”

“Of course!”

‘Admittedly, he might evoke Dian Wei or Xu Zhu more than Guan Yu; and who knew how Lady Cheon would react. But I’d only said, if she saw—no lie there. Also, if this kept him alive, it was good.’

Admiring his new Rampant Tiger Claws, Captain Seol Pung asked,

“Then what did you take, Jin? Don’t tell me you forgot yourself while gifting us.”

Good people tend to think others are like them.

I was not like the captain.

I grinned.

“As if. I picked something perfect.”

I drew the sword I’d taken.

The moment I saw it, I’d fallen for it—Black Wolf.

Hilt and scabbard were all black, with a wolf’s head snarling on the guard—a gorgeous blade.

The captain whistled.

“Oooh! Handsome!”

“Right?”

Best of all was the dusky sheen along the edge when drawn. Testing it, it split a rock clean in two; I half thought it could cleave a demon without even blade-qi.

A superb weapon is a warrior’s friend and treasure; my friends beamed, absorbed with their prizes.

I felt proud.

Lady Na would be pleased too, right?

I’d already set aside gifts for the women who hadn’t come.

My heart fluttered, imagining their faces—especially Lady Na’s.

Smiling, I clapped to refocus everyone.

“Okay! Field-testing these will come in the field. Let’s move! But… before we go, I’m peckish. How about we each pop an elixir?”

They could only let out helpless laughs.

My inner energy needed only a few more years to reach One Jia, the minimum to step into the pinnacle.

Before, I’d thought it wasteful to take elixirs now.

But with elixirs to spare, why save them?

It was finally time to fill One Jia to the brim.