Invincible with Twin Swords

Chapter 36

Fortunately, we arrived in Lanzhou, Gansu without any trouble.

At every inn we stopped at on the way, Dam Sook showed her consistently amazing appetite.

Still, it was a relief.

Wouldn't it have been a big problem if she had liked Kung Pao chicken or shredded pork with garlic sauce instead of somen?

Na Yeryeong never brought up the topic of drinking with me again.

Shaoxing wine, which had consistently comforted me whenever I was having a hard time for a long time!

He was a true friend who never betrayed me.

But now, it seems it's time to say goodbye to that friend.

"Is the First Market of the Black Market held here?"

Deoksam asked, unloading his luggage in front of the inn.

"That's right."

"Let's go. We don't have much time if we want to finish this quickly and even stop by the Martial Alliance."

Deoksam! It's not something that can be finished that quickly.

And the Martial Alliance is not a place you can just go to like you're visiting the next town.

"By the way, are you going to Hubei after this is over? I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I think I heard you talking about stopping by the Martial Alliance during your conversation..."

The coachman next to me asked.

Thanks to the skillful old man, we were able to come here comfortably.

"Ah! We have something to do in that direction in about seven days."

"That's great! I also have to go in that direction. If it's okay, would it be okay if I drive the carriage like now?"

"Ah. It's fine with us, but didn't you say you were going to see your daughter?"

"Ah... ah! That's my second daughter... I have two daughters."

So you have two daughters. You've succeeded.

Daughters are better than sons.

It's just hard to raise boys. Moreover, after you've raised them with difficulty, they just go around causing trouble.

"Then we'll see you here again before we leave."

We got a room in a small but clean inn.

"From what I've found out, the Golden-Armored Divine Turtle will be up for auction in four days. Only we will be going to the Black Market, so you can rest here until then."

The Black Market would attract too much attention if women accompanied us.

And for my plan, I only needed two people.

"By the way, you said you don't have money, so how are you going to win the bid for the Golden-Armored Divine Turtle?"

"I have a plan. Of course, hyungnim and Deoksam will have to put in some effort."

"Are we going to smash the Black Market and steal it? As expected, it's the same as my plan! Haha!"

Deoksam! Don't you make any plans.

If we follow your plan, we'll become the eternal enemies of the unorthodox faction.

"First, let's go buy a few necessary things."

We went out to the market and bought a nice set of clothes for Parip hyungnim.

After wearing only black martial arts uniforms every day, he looked quite good when he was properly dressed.

With his princely face and embroidered clothes, Parip hyungnim looked like the youngest son of a rich family to anyone.

"Oh! You look quite handsome today, hyungnim. You should dress like that usually. By the way, are you going to buy me a set of clothes like that too?"

"Deoksam, I'll buy you something else."

We went to the largest-looking blacksmith.

Various weapons were displayed in front of the shop.

"Give me the most crudely shaped lump of iron here. A mountain-cleaving saber is also fine, and it would be good if there's a big one like a meteor hammer."

"This is the largest weapon in our blacksmith."

The blacksmith owner handed me a crudely shaped mountain-cleaving saber.

"Don't you have a thicker weapon? Something that looks like it will never break or be cut."

"This is the most crude and brutal-looking weapon."

I pointed at a lump standing in a corner inside the blacksmith and asked.

"How about that one?"

"Haha! That's not a weapon. It's just a lump of iron that was left unfinished. I'm thinking of melting it down and making a sword. That thing will probably make at least ten swords."

"Let's see it."

The lump that the blacksmith owner brought out, struggling, looked like a staff roughly made of a lump of iron at a glance. In fact, it was too big to be called a staff.

Its thickness was comparable to the thickness of Deoksam's forearm.

For reference, Deoksam's forearm is about the same as my waist circumference.

"Deoksam! Try holding this in your hand."

When Deoksam held it in his hand, it had the feel of a crude staff that seemed to not exist in the world.

"Let's go with this."

On the way back to the inn, I bought a lot of candy.

I have to soothe Deoksam, who is sulking because I didn't buy him clothes.

Fortunately, Deoksam's mood was lifted with just one piece of candy.

"Miss Dam, don't just eat somen every day, try one of these too."

And I also handed one to Na Yeryeong, who might have misunderstood my drunken behavior.

I picked the most delicious-looking one.

"Try one. Well, you must have eaten a lot of things like this."

"Ah! The candy is so delicious. Thank you!"

I don't know if it's really delicious, or if she's saying it's delicious out of consideration for the person who gave it to her.

Seeing her eating the candy deliciously, I was suddenly reminded of the Sword Emperor in the Valley of Abandoned Bugs.

He had said he wanted to eat candy when he had dementia before he died.

I had my right arm cut off, and he had both his arms cut off, and we spent five years together.

Suddenly, I remembered the days when I swung a sword with my left hand in front of him.

He was my first and last master.

Maybe I can meet him if I go to the Martial Alliance.

What should I say when I meet him? The Sword Emperor won't know me.

I should buy some candy when I go.

As I was lost in various old memories, Na Yeryeong's voice woke me up.

"I told you to try one too, Mr. Jin."

She was holding out a piece of the candy I had bought as if she were doing me a favor.

When I put it in my mouth, a sweet taste filled my mouth.

Parip hyungnim, who had been refusing, saying it was something for kids to eat, also tasted one and was holding one in each hand.

"How many have you had already, Miss Dam? What are you going to do if you swallow candy like you're eating somen?"

Deoksam said, taking a few pieces of candy with his pot-lid-like hands.

"It's my first time eating candy. You can't spare one, you who are as big as a bear?"

I stood in a corner and looked at my smiling companions.

They were laughing and chatting so happily over a mere piece of candy.

I hope there will be a day when we can all gather and laugh after everything is over.

It will be so.

Because I will make it so.

* * *

A few days later, Parip hyungnim and I visited the First Market.

Today, Parip hyungnim is a rich young master from the Guizhou region who has come for the auction of the First Market.

I am his escort.

Originally, a person whose identity is not certain cannot enter the First Market.

I presented the letter of introduction from the Blood Dragon Sect leader.

I still have about ten letters of introduction from the Blood Dragon Sect leader in my luggage.

"Do you know that this is the First Market?"

One of the martial artists guarding the front asked.

"Our Young Master Wang is very interested in the last item of the auction. Please give us a good seat."

I put some silver in his hand and whispered in his ear.

Seeing him quickly take it, there must be many people like me.

"You cannot carry weapons. Leave them at the storage and pick them up when you leave."

I took off the Ink Blood Saber from my waist and left it at the storage.

Perhaps because I had slipped him some silver, the seat he assigned was quite a good one.

I looked around and saw that there were not many people yet.

The scale of the First Market is not large.

The Black Market, which sells everything in the Central Plains, is large and noisy, but there are also worthless fakes.

On the other hand, the items handled at the First Market are not many, but they are genuine items that have been reliably evaluated.

Most of them are things that are difficult to obtain easily.

"So we're just watching and not participating in the auction?"

"Because I know who will win the bid."

The Golden-Armored Divine Turtle, which is coming out as the last item of the auction today, will be won by Gye Yeommu.

If my memory is correct, he will win the bid for the Golden-Armored Divine Turtle at the first bid in the First Market, which is held as a reverse auction.

"Why does that person named Gye Yeommu need the Golden-Armored Divine Turtle?"

Gye Yeommu, a well-known rich man in the Sichuan region, was a man who was crazy about weapons.

He had a strong obsession with divine weapons and was a person who collected all the strange weapons in the world.

If a rare sword or saber appeared, he would go anywhere in the Central Plains and make it his own, no matter what the cost.

Most of them sold their weapons for the absurd amount of money he offered.

But among martial artists, there are also those who would not give up their sword even for a billion gold.

In such cases, he used other methods.

The Golden-Armored Divine Turtle that he will win the bid for today will be used as a material for the new sword he wants.

I met Gye Yeommu in the Valley of Abandoned Bugs.

He was the only one who had entered the Valley of Abandoned Bugs without any physical damage, and there was a widespread rumor that he had given all the divine weapons he had collected throughout his life to the Demonic Cult and had saved his life in return.

Since the Beggars' Sect and the Hao Mun told the same story, it must be true.

"It will be a big problem if we try to take it by force. There will be many escorts."

"We can't take it noisily. We have to make him give it with his own hands."

As time passed, people began to fill the seats. With one or two great-looking masters as escorts by their side.

As in any era, people with too much money spend a lot of money on useless things.

Parip hyungnim's breath was taken away when he saw the genitals of a two-headed sea dog being sold for ten thousand gold.

No matter how good it is for a man.

And honestly, how can you confirm whether that obscene thing is from a regular sea dog or a two-headed sea dog?

"The rumor that a sea dog's genitals are good for stamina is a lie."

The Medicine King Hall's master, Seok Nosam, had told me in the past.

"Then what's good?"

Our hyungnim is not a prude either.

"When the time comes, hyungnim, I'll tell you everything."

At that moment, a person came up to the stage, carefully holding a lavishly decorated box.

"This is the last item of the day. It is the Golden-Armored Divine Turtle, which has reappeared in the world after disappearing after being revealed here twelve years ago."

People began to murmur.

There must be many people who have come here for this item.

The reason the Golden-Armored Divine Turtle attracted people's attention was partly because it was a rare item, but also because of the belief that the golden turtle's shell brings good fortune.

In fact, it is softer than it looks, so it would not be suitable as a material for a weapon.

Usually, there were many who wanted to carry it on their body in its original form.

"Like the previous auction, it will be held as a reverse auction where the bid gradually decreases. Those who wish to win the bid can raise their hand at a suitable price. If there are two or more people who wish to bid, it will be changed to a regular auction and the person who calls out the higher bid will win."

"The first bid for the Golden-Armored Divine Turtle is..."

People's gazes were fixed on the mouth of the person conducting the auction.

Because their chances of winning the bid are determined by what the starting bid is.

Since the first bid of a reverse auction follows the will of the original owner, it often started at an absurd price. That's why there were almost no cases where it was sold at the first bid.

"The first bid for the Golden-Armored Divine Turtle is one hundred thousand gold."

- Gasp!

Low sighs came from here and there in the auction house.

There were also those who gave up the auction and stood up from their seats at the too high first bid.

"If there are no bidders, we will move on to the next bid..."

The auctioneer, who had expected that there would be no bidders, was about to move on to the next bid when someone from the front row raised his hand.

- Waaah!

No matter how hard it is to meet the Golden-Armored Divine Turtle again in one's lifetime, one hundred thousand gold is too large an amount.

The other people here probably thought it would be at most ten thousand gold.

"If there are no other bidders, we will sell it for one hundred thousand gold."

The new owner of the Golden-Armored Divine Turtle was decided to be Gye Yeommu.

No one knew that it would be decided at the first bid of one hundred thousand gold, but I knew.

Because he had told me himself in the Valley of Abandoned Bugs.

Even after the world was trampled by the Demonic Cult, he would boast every day about how much his fortune was and how great the divine weapons he had collected were.

Even though the reality was that he was trapped in the Valley of Abandoned Bugs and living like a bug.

Those who are captivated by their glamorous past and cannot see the present and the future.

There is no need to feel sorry even if you get a necessary item for the future of the Central Plains from such a person for free.

"Let's go!"

We followed Gye Yeommu and then stood in front of him in front of the storage where we had left our weapons.

There were three escorts with considerable skills by Gye Yeommu's side.

They will also have to pick up the swords they have left.

I said in a loud voice.

"I've come to pick up the Ink Blood Saber I left earlier. It's a precious saber that is one of a kind in the world, so you should have kept it well."

The sound of Gye Yeommu's heart pounding, who was standing behind us, reached my ears.

(End of Chapter)