Wanderer of the Martial World - Chapter 16

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Satori

◈ Wanderer of the Martial World ◈

Chapter 16

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As I approached the stall displaying medicinal herbs, an old man who seemed to be the owner was bargaining with a tall young man.

Both wore masks that hid their faces, but the wrinkles around their eyes made their ages easy enough to guess.

"I said fifty gold taels."

"Let's make it thirty. I even brought a Goe beast's Yodan."

The enormous sum left me breathless.

Considering that ten silver taels normally equaled one gold tael, ten gold taels meant one hundred silver taels.

It felt as though they were using an entirely different unit.

But considering that the item in question was a spirit pill, perhaps it made sense.

"Then forty-nine. A Goe beast's Yodan is worth one gold tael."

"What? The difference is that great?!"

"Do you think ritual refinement is easy?"

"Hmph! Then give me my Yodan back!"

"You want to buy back something you sold? Ten gold taels."

"No! You said one gold tael just now! And I didn't sell it! I told you to make it into a spirit pill."

"Watch your tone, brat. Once it enters my hands, it counts as sold. And isn't it natural for there to be a difference between buying and selling prices?"

"Even if it's ten times the price?!"

"Naturally."

"Dammit!"

Unable to contain his anger, the young man reached for his sword hilt.

"Are you thinking of drawing that? Have you forgotten where you are?"

Before the old herbalist had even finished speaking, a chilling bloodlust gathered from all directions.

The slave merchant, the bookstore owner who had been bargaining, and the weapon-shop owner making change were all looking this way.

Their faces were blank, yet filled with killing intent.

"...No."

"Good. So what will you do?"

Once the situation calmed down, the gazes fixed on this place withdrew.

As though this happened often, they casually returned to their work.

It gave me goosebumps.

"...Would forty gold taels not do?"

"Hmm... Forty-five. No lower. I'd be taking a loss."

"Urgh... Fine."

The gold changed hands, and the old man brought out a small wooden case and gave it to the young man.

"It doesn't have to be made from the Yodan you brought, right? This is a Goe-grade spirit pill I refined earlier."

The young man hurriedly pocketed the case, then looked around and met my eyes.

"Hmph!"

He turned away, checked the spirit pill, and addressed the old man.

"Are you sure it's genuine?"

"Yes. Otherwise, stay here until I perform ritual refinement with the one you brought. It'll take several months."

"Ahem..."

The young man cleared his throat and left.

"Tsk, tsk... What do you want?"

The old man clicked his tongue as he watched him go, then turned to me.

"I'm here to buy Yodans."

"...Yodans?"

"Yes."

After a brief silence, I could feel the old man looking at me as though I were an insect.

Of course. He could hardly help it.

Usually, the only people who bought raw Yodans were demon practitioners.

"...A Yo beast's is one gold tael, and a Goe beast's is ten. Anything above that requires separate negotiation."

Even so, the old man quoted his prices.

His attitude said it did not matter whether I was a demon practitioner or a yokai.

That actually put me at ease.

The problem was the price.

Since the unit was gold taels, a Yo beast's Yodan cost ten silver taels, while a Goe beast's cost one hundred.

That was quite expensive, considering that wound medicine and internal-injury medicine made by refining a Yo beast's Yodan sold for ten silver taels at martial sects.

In other words, refining and selling a Yo beast's Yodan brought ten silver taels.

Even so, I had to buy Yodans.

Going out to hunt was literally a matter of risking my life.

"Give me eight Yo beast Yodans."

I had saved a little over one hundred silver taels during that time.

Of course, I could have saved more if I had refrained from spending as much as possible, but I had not wanted to live that way. That was why I had only saved that much.

Besides, I had given Seoryeong no small amount of silver.

"No banknotes."

"I'll pay in silver taels."

"Fine."

The old man went inside and brought back a pouch.

It looked careless compared to the wooden case that had held the spirit pill earlier, but considering the spirit pill's price, I could understand why.

The reason I bought only eight Yodans despite having one hundred silver taels was simple.

I needed to replenish the wound medicine and internal-injury medicine I had used up last time.

Judging by the situation, prices here were clearly higher than outside, so I decided to buy the wound medicine and internal-injury medicine after returning to Yeongheung County.

After I paid, the old man suddenly asked, "That blue mark around your eye. Is it a birthmark or a bruise?"

"A birthmark."

"I see."

I lied without hesitation.

There was no need to tell the truth.

Especially not in front of someone who mistook me for a demon practitioner.

"I have a question as well."

"What is it?"

"I was able to enter this place with an acquaintance's help. I'd like to know how to find it alone next time."

The old man stared at me, then held out his hand.

As I looked at it, he spoke.

"One silver tael."

I placed a silver tael in his hand.

As the price of information, it was not too bad.

"First, whenever the Black Market opens, drawings are posted throughout the nearby counties."

"Drawings?"

"Yes. You'll see them if you look around. The pictures at the top indicate the direction. They're modeled after the Four Directional Deities."

The Four Gods.

More precisely, the Four Gods of the Directions.

The Vermilion Bird, Azure Dragon, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise were all Hae-grade yokai.

But Hae-grade and Jae-grade beings were, in truth, difficult to regard as yokai.

They were classified that way, but most are said to possess intelligence great enough to restrain their instincts.

That is why they are said not to oppose humans without reason.

If they had wanted to kill humans indiscriminately, every human in the world might have disappeared.

"They aren't drawn exactly like that. Azure Dragon is drawn as a snake, Vermilion Bird as a bird, that sort of thing. If it points east or west, there'll be a snake and a cat at the top."

"Yes."

"The distance is marked below using the twelve animals. From rat to pig, count two ri for each one."

Rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, pig.

That allowed a distance of up to twenty-four ri to be marked.

"Cases farther away are rare, but when they happen, more symbols will be drawn beside it."

I was satisfied by the fairly kind explanation.

"Lastly, the password is made by combining the first animal in the upper picture with the first animal in the lower one."

Turtle Snake.

The password I had used to enter came to mind.

The turtle represented Black Tortoise, meaning north, while the snake represented a distance of twelve ri.

People coming from other villages would have different passwords, but it was not so sloppy that I could guess one blindly just because I understood the method.

Still, I had not expected him to tell me so easily.

Since coming here, aside from when Yi So-gang taught me to read, this was the first time I had received a normal explanation of anything.

The Black Market, which had seemed so secretive and hidden, now felt a little different.

"Now go."

"...All right."

At the old man's dismissal, I turned away.

I looked around as I walked, and when I reached the slave merchant I had seen earlier, I heard someone speak.

"Is that all you have? Their condition is terrible."

At the familiar voice, I turned my head.

"There's an auction tomorrow. Look then."

"An auction?"

"That's right. Rare goods and slaves that are normally hard to acquire will be put up for sale."

"Hmm... Not bad. Give me that one for now."

The man pointed to one of the animal cages.

"All right."

The slave merchant opened it, grabbed a weakly struggling woman by the hair, and dragged her out.

"Do you need her wrapped?"

"That won't be necessary. By the way, where are the private annexes?"

"Go a little farther that way."

The man paid, dragged the woman away, and disappeared.

She struggled, but she could not overcome the strength of a first-rate martial artist.

Gwak Ha-jun.

The son of Azure Balance Gate's Young Gate Master.

The man said to be leaving soon for the Martial Alliance was here.

Had he come all the way here because rumors that he was a scoundrel had spread and he could no longer find women in the county?

Or had his habit of beating women during sex grown worse?

I knew such habits demanded ever stronger stimulation.

And Gwak Ha-jun had already left a woman half-crippled before.

What was he planning to do to that woman?

Should I follow him? If I followed and saw him cross the line, would I be able to restrain myself?

And if I could not, what would happen?

The first thought that came to mind was that my life might be in danger.

The next was that I might never be able to return to this place, where I could safely obtain Yodans simply by paying money.

I shook my head at my own cowardice and looked up at the ceiling.

The uneven roof of the cave was illuminated by countless torches, revealing its shape.

Now I understood why the old man had so readily told me how to learn the Black Market's location and password.

My assumption that martial sects and influential families would destroy it if they discovered it had been wrong.

They all knew how to reach the Black Market.

And if they needed something, they used it.

That must have been why he had told me so easily.

Everyone who needed to know already knew.

As I erased my cowardice with other thoughts, I spotted someone passing some distance away.

He headed straight for the exit.

At the same time, I remembered Jo Man-sik passing by me.

The instant Jo Man-sik left through the exit, I followed him.

"Wait one quarter-hour."

As soon as I approached the exit, a man standing beside it spoke.

Fifteen minutes.

It seemed I could not follow him immediately.

But I had no intention of giving up.

Once the quarter-hour passed, I planned to go outside and follow him.

The sun would not rise anytime soon, and I did not know any tracking methods, but I felt I would be more at ease if I at least took a chance.

There were three directions he could head from here.

One was Yeongheung County. Another was the county farther north. The last was a village to the east.

I planned to head north from here.

If Jo Man-sik returned toward Yeongheung County, that was fine.

I could find him inside the county.

If he headed east, there was nothing to be done, but I thought it likely that he would head north.

The eastern village was small, so if he wanted to go elsewhere, he would probably choose the northern county.

"You may leave."

At the exit guard's words, I immediately started walking.

In truth, Jo Man-sik had done nothing to harm me.

But parting with Seoryeong, the cowardice of looking away from people treated like animals, and the woman Gwak Ha-jun had dragged away all weighed on me.

It felt as though my morality as a modern person was gradually being worn away.

That feeling had grown into killing intent.

Yes. I was looking for someone to take my anger out on.

I passed the old man sitting in the chair and the men guarding the temple's main gate, then hurried down the mountain.

And ran north.

I ran on the balls of my feet, making as little sound as possible.

Jo Man-sik was probably walking.

Surely, he would not expect me to chase him all the way here.

As though answering that expectation, I soon spotted a familiar back.

He turned to look at me.

It was dawn, the world gradually turning blue as though the sun would soon rise.

His startled face appeared, and he began to flee at once.