Chapter 149 :

Those Wearing Black Masks (8)>

Dang Hyeokjae, the Master Craftsman of All Things.

A collateral member of the Tang Clan, he developed ordinary concealed weapons such as the Sky-Thunder Sphere and Rainstorm Flower Needles, and invented the Tang Clan’s forbidden concealed weapons, including the Hellfire King’s Calamity Bomb.

But those were only a few of his achievements. He was an eccentric famous for surviving several brushes with death while testing flying machines and devices that could walk across water.

He had never been active in the murim world, and was said to detest going out in public.

Still, considering that the Tang Clan’s inventions and poisons were the reason the Demonic Cult had been stalled for so long in Sichuan during the Righteous-Demonic War, his current reputation did him little justice. There was no denying that he would become one of the pillars supporting the Tang Clan in the future.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? You’re not going to claim you don’t know now, after the Divine Sword himself wrote a letter confirming it, are you?”

So he was the person who had made the Hundred-Hair Fire Cylinder I’d once received from Yang Gunbaek.

His appearance made me feel as if a debt I’d thought I’d repaid had suddenly come back to life.

I couldn’t help feeling a little wronged. The Azure Emperor Divine Sword himself had sent a letter, and even Dang Seohee had said she would let the matter go.

“That meant I wouldn’t hold it against you. You still have to pay for using the Hundred-Hair Fire Cylinder, don’t you?”

“Isn’t it the fault of whoever let such a valuable thing as the Hundred-Hair Fire Cylinder end up in the underworld?”

“Oh? You found the Hundred-Hair Fire Cylinder in the underworld?”

“…”

“Do you know how much it costs to make just one? Five gold nyang. You understand that simply letting the matter go isn’t enough, don’t you?”

“…”

If he’d said a concealed weapon cost five gold nyang, I would have pointed at him and called him a liar. But if that was the price of a Hundred-Hair Fire Cylinder, I wanted to ask whether it could be mass-produced.

It was expensive, but its effect was incredible.

Honestly, if I could stockpile them for the coming war with the Demonic Cult, I’d want to make as many as possible.

“Besides, I made the Hundred-Hair Fire Cylinder by spending my own personal wealth. Shouldn’t I receive fair payment for it?”

As I listened, I couldn’t help tilting my head.

“You made it personally?”

“That’s right. Whenever I say I want to make something, the clan immediately objects.”

“Then it was still your personal property after you made it.”

“Of course.”

“Then why was it being sold like junk at the Haomun secret market?”

“...!”

Dang Hyeokjae blinked repeatedly, then scratched his head.

“That is strange. If the Tang Clan had designated it a forbidden weapon, it makes no sense for it to be lying around like junk at the secret market.”

“Actually, after the clan’s first test, they wouldn’t let me test it in the field.”

So he’d secretly put it on the market to see how effective it was?

I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t speak.

This man was just as eccentric as he seemed.

“Ahem. We’ve gotten a little off track. Anyway, you owed me a debt, so I’ll consider it repaid by your actions this time. How does that sound? Fair?”

It wasn’t fair at all.

But I figured it wasn’t right to press someone who seemed to be missing a few screws, so I nodded.

“Fine. Let’s call it even. By the way, I heard you don’t like going out. How did you end up taking the position of Martial Alliance branch leader?”

“Lately, a lot of interesting things have been happening in the murim world. I wanted to meet someone.”

“Interesting things?”

“I heard there’s someone who broke a five-hundred-year-old formation, stole the Golden Dragon from the Jegal Family, and can use forbidden weapons whose methods are unknown.”

“...You mean me?”

“That’s right.”

Since he mentioned the Golden Dragon of the Jegal Family, he seemed to know about Jegal Cheongi too.

“You know Cheongi?”

“The brightest genius the Jegal Family ever produced. His light was simply so bright that no one else could see it.”

“If you wanted to meet me, you could have come to find me. Why take a branch leader’s position?”

“Ah, I don’t like traveling much. I don’t really like meeting people either. It would’ve been hard for me to go find you on my own, wouldn’t it? So I tried to meet you through the Martial Alliance, and somehow ended up here.”

How did he somehow end up here?

I couldn’t understand why someone who wanted to meet me had taken a position in Yueyang.

If I hadn’t come to Yueyang, we might never have met at all.

“Why did you want to see me?”

“I wanted to ask how you figured out how to use the Hundred-Hair Fire Cylinder.”

“…”

“How did you use it?”

I explained how I’d used the Hundred-Hair Fire Cylinder, adding a few small lies.

Dang Hyeokjae nodded repeatedly, carefully jotting something down on a small piece of paper.

“I wanted to make a weapon that would be useless to enemies and useful to allies, but someone as observant as you was bound to figure out how to use it.”

“Even so, I think it’s a very useful weapon. It would be invaluable in a large-scale battle.”

“Really?”

Dang Hyeokjae suddenly grabbed my hand and shook it up and down.

“Exactly! Poison is hard to predict. You can’t know where it’ll drift depending on the wind or the terrain. Naturally, it’s inevitable that our own side will take casualties too. But a mechanical weapon is clean and simple, isn’t it?”

“…”

“The idiots in my clan don’t understand that. All they think about is poison. Poison is difficult to handle in the first place, and hard to carry during a long journey.”

Dang Hyeokjae spent a long time cursing about everything that annoyed him.

I could see why the clan didn’t treat him well despite all the ingenious devices he’d invented.

Like Jegal Cheongi and Moyong Jaehwa, he was an oddity within his own clan.

“If only the thick-headed fools in the clan thought like you, the Tang Clan’s power would be twice what it is now.”

“Why not prove it to them? The Tang Clan doesn’t reject concealed weapons.”

“Do you know how much it costs to prove something like that? What about a place to test it? How long would it take? Do you think I can make all the devices by myself? Where am I supposed to find a skilled blacksmith?”

There it was...

I could smell something delicious.

It felt like rare ingredients, unknown to everyone else, were being treated like weeds.

“What if there were a place where you could get all of those things?”

“Hm?”

“Besides, the patron funding it is quite knowledgeable about such devices. You could make various devices for him and earn the Tang Clan’s recognition that way. Of course, that would depend on the Tang Clan’s approval.”

“Of course they’d approve. Do you know how many craftsmen our Tang Clan sends out every year? But who is this patron?”

I raised my hand, and his curious gaze slowly followed my finger. It came to rest on the great patron I was indicating.

Tap, tap.

“...You?”

Dang Hyeokjae looked me up and down suspiciously.

“Hmm. You don’t look like you have much money, or much knowledge of devices.”

I fired the Flying Dragon Claw attached to my left hand, extinguished the flame on the oil lamp, and reeled it back in.

“Well?”

Dang Hyeokjae stared at me, mouth hanging open.

Great. One more person for Jin Sowoon’s treasure collection.

At the same time Jin Sowoon picked up the eccentric named Dang Hyeokjae...

Inside the sealed sect in Hefei, Anhui Province, three men were having a serious discussion.

“The merchant guild is established now. As you suggested before, we’ve named it the Daecheon Merchant Guild.”

Jin Taesan looked as though he’d lost a great deal of weight. Hong Mungi, whose cheeks had grown gaunt as well, nodded.

“You’ve worked hard. Now you can finally get some rest.”

“I feel like doing nothing but eating and sleeping for about seven days and nights.”

Hong Mungi nodded at Jin Taesan’s words.

Jin Taesan had worked nonstop to stabilize the Taeul Sect, harder even than Hong Mungi had worked to master the martial arts of the Taeul True Scripture. The elders of the Elder Hall said Jin Taesan had gotten nosebleeds every night.

In any case, seeing the Taeul Sect’s finances improve so noticeably was enough to show just how hard Jin Taesan had worked.

“You’ve worked hard. Thanks to you, the Taeul Sect’s future is secure.”

“It wasn’t all my doing. Sect Leader, you’ve worked hard too.”

Hong Mungi had suffered plenty as well. With his lack of martial talent, how difficult it had been to learn even ordinary martial arts.

And there had been no one to teach him. All he could do was cling to his martial arts and study them relentlessly. Thanks to that perseverance, he’d managed to reach a level he wasn’t ashamed to show his disciples.

“Why does it sound like only the two of you worked hard?”

Kang Chaeseok grumbled, and the other two glared at him.

“Honestly, what have you worked hard at?”

At Jin Taesan’s sharp retort, Kang Chaeseok puffed out his cheeks in disbelief.

“Do you have any idea how hard it was to put those kids through special training after they returned from the Moyong Family? Look at this. My once-taut skin has wrinkles now!”

The wrinkles around Kang Chaeseok’s eyes weren’t very noticeable. No, they’d probably appeared because he had so little to worry about and so many reasons to laugh.

“All right, all right. You’ve worked hard too. Still, as sect leader, I’m proud to see everyone in the sect working so diligently.”

Jin Taesan pointed at Kang Chaeseok.

“Sect Leader, leave that fellow’s praise out of it. What about how I feel, when I’m the one who’s really worked hard?”

“Hey, I worked hard too!”

“Ahem! Then why does your tab for drinks keep going up every month?”

“Why do you drink every four days now when you used to drink only once every seven?”

“Ahem, well... Hmm! I-I had to drink to relieve my exhaustion from teaching all those kids!”

“Ahem! Which of the disciples needs your help now? They’re all doing fine on their own.”

In truth, the Taeul Sect’s disciples were full of children with aptitude so exceptional that their masters couldn’t compare.

Especially the children Jin Sowoon had brought back. Most had martial talent that could stand alongside the promising young disciples of the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families.

“You think I don’t know you drink because you have nothing else to do?”

“…”

At Jin Taesan’s reproach, Kang Chaeseok could only twitch his lips without replying.

In the end, Sect Leader Hong Mungi stepped in.

“Taesan, you know Chaeseok has worked hard too. Give him a break.”

Hong Mungi hurriedly tried to change the mood.

“By the way, Sowoon sent a letter. He says he’ll send us a candidate disciple.”

“Again?”

Jin Taesan frowned, but Kang Chaeseok burst into a wide grin.

“See? Your son keeps sending candidates without warning. Imagine how exhausting that is for me.”

Jin Taesan ignored Kang Chaeseok and looked at Hong Mungi.

“Well, the choice is mine, he says. Still, since Sowoon sent the child, we ought to accept him.”

“Ahem. Of course. The child probably doesn’t even have the basics down, so I’ll have to work myself to the bone for a while.”

“…”

For some reason, every child Jin Sowoon sent had astonishing aptitude.

Like a tree with deep roots that grows well anywhere, talented children could quickly show their abilities once their foundations were properly established.

When it came to teaching the fundamentals, no one could match Kang Chaeseok, so Jin Taesan couldn’t keep pestering him.

Just then, one of the fourth-generation disciples came inside.

“Sect Leader... Someone has arrived carrying Senior Brother’s letter.”

The three men exchanged glances.

Wasn’t this the disciple they’d just been talking about?

“Good. Since it’s come to this, bring him in.”

“...Bring him in here?”

“Yes. He’s probably going to be a fourth-generation disciple. He came on the recommendation of your Senior Brother.”

“...What? A-a fourth-generation disciple?”

The fourth-generation disciple’s face twisted awkwardly.

He looked like a puppy that needed to relieve itself but didn’t know what to do. Kang Chaeseok barked at him.

“What are you waiting for? Hurry up and bring him!”

“...Y-yes! I understand!”

The fourth-generation disciple snapped out of it and dashed away.

He had reached a high level of the Taeul Eight Myriad Divine Steps.

The three watched him go with satisfaction, then waited for the new disciple.

Step, step, step.

With heavy footsteps, a huge man entered the room.

The three men, who had been drinking tea, turned to look at his massive frame.

“Hm?”

“Who is that?”

The large man clasped his hands politely and greeted them.

“Greetings. I’m Buk Wonpyeong. I came on the recommendation of Young Hero Jin, hoping to become his disciple.”

Pfft—

Dribble...

Kang Chaeseok spat out all the tea in his mouth, while tea dribbled from Jin Taesan’s lips.

The child they’d been expecting was a little bigger than they’d imagined.

Buk Wonpyeong, the Three Pure Guardian Divine Dragon.

He was the disciple candidate Sowoon had mentioned.

“Why have you only come now?”

When I returned to Jang Dowon’s shop, he’d gone back to being the taciturn man he’d been before.

This is better.

Jang Dowon smoked his long-stemmed pipe, then went around back and brought out a large bundle and a long iron club.

“What are these?”

“What do you mean, what are they? They’re what you ordered.”

“I did?”

I’d asked him to make a steel bow for Moyong Jaehwa and ornaments by cutting up the White Fragrance Jade, one of the treasured items I’d received when I became the academy representative.

But here was no jewelry, only a heavy iron club. Was he telling me to do something with that?

“Oh! Did you really make it?”

Geumpyo opened the bundle and broke into a bright smile.

“You really made them!”

I turned to see what he meant, and something familiar emerged from the bundle.

“Flying Dragon Claws?”

They were none other than the Flying Dragon Claws I wore on my left hand. Geumpyo quickly took them out one by one and handed them to Eunho and Dongryong.

“...What are these?”

“Oh, we asked him to make them separately.”

“You did? Never mind the money. Where did you get Celestial Silkworm Thread?”

“Jaehwa said her family had plenty of Celestial Silkworm Thread, so while he was making hers, we asked him to make some for us too.”

“…”

Jang Dowon frowned deeply.

“I barely slept while making all this in such a short time. I expect to be paid properly.”

“You have money?”

“Huh? Senior Brother, I just remembered something urgent.”

“Me too!”

“Wait for me, brothers!”

The wretched Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers bolted out of there.

“You have good junior disciples.”

“They’re the ones with a good Senior Brother.”

“You’re too young to know how good your junior disciples are.”

“Those guys eat nine portions of rice at every meal.”

“Enough. Check the other item.”

“Come to think of it, where’s the steel bow?”

“Isn’t it right there?”

“What?”

What Jang Dowon held out was a crude iron club.

“There are grooves at both ends. Attach this to them. I’m too old to bend it now.”

“…”

Even if it was made of iron, wouldn’t it dent or break if you tried to bend it by force?

But, unbelievably, the iron club bent as I pushed it, then sprang back to its original shape with a ting.

“If you’re going to use a steel bow, your drawing strength needs to be just as great.”

It wasn’t an ordinary steel bow.

It might not have been a divine weapon, but it was certainly a treasured item.

I couldn’t help being amazed that he’d made such a fine weapon in only half a month.

“What are you talking about? How could I make it in that short a time? I’m giving you one I made earlier.”

“Oh... Is that so?”

“I spent all that time making the Flying Dragon Claws and that necklace. Anyway, that item isn’t bad either.”

It wasn’t merely “not bad.”

It was certainly as good as, if not better than, the steel bow Moyong Jaehwa had used before.

“Thank you, Elder.”

“Don’t thank me. Just pay me properly.”

I handed Jang Dowon a bank draft worth five hundred gold nyang that I’d prepared in advance.

He checked the amount and was momentarily surprised, then repeatedly cleared his throat as though nothing had happened.

“And another thing...”

“Yes?”

“Ahem...”

For some reason, Jang Dowon hesitated for a long while.

“Please speak freely, Elder.”

After another long pause, Jang Dowon finally spoke, as if he’d made up his mind.

“W-well, I heard from your junior sister that you were looking for a craftsman to work with your sect. I was wondering... whether the conditions were any good.”

“What?”

“I learned something from what happened this time. So I wanted to ask what your sect is like. Anyway, how is it?”

Considering that in my past life Jang Dowon eventually entered the Martial Alliance as a nobody, this must have been proof that something else had happened in the meantime.

In an era of chaos, dangerous incidents were commonplace.

In any case, it was a good opportunity for both Jang Dowon and me.

“Someone like you would naturally receive the best treatment.”

Sorry, but now all fifteen divine weapons are mine. Heh heh heh.