Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Sichuan Stroll (1)
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Sichuan Tang Clan.
This massive family dominated the entire Sichuan region like it was their own bedroom, renowned for their poisons, hidden weapons, and the venomous hearts that combined the two.
It was so extreme that jokes even circulated claiming the legendary Formless Poison from ancient tales was actually just the Tang Clan's killing intent. That was how terrifying they were.
Even so, Sichuan was still a place where people lived. On market days, it bustled with noise, laughter, and energy spilling in every direction. Merchants grilled pigeons to sell, laid out colorful hand-dyed clothes, and hustled to catch the citizens' footsteps even for a moment.
"Whoa, buy me that."
"...Miss, cheap candy like that isn't good for your health."
"It's better than poison. Hurry up and buy it."
If not for the massive crowds, it would have been unthinkable for the daughter of the Sichuan Tang Clan Leader—a famous figure—to wander outside with just one maid.
Dang Ha-eun.
The young lady of the Tang Clan, just coming of age, who had reached the peak of Peak Realm at such a tender age. She was Sichuan's prodigy, counted among the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes, the top of the younger generation.
For reference, Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes was shorthand for the Five Dragons—five male dragons—and the Three Phoenixes—three female phoenixes.
It referred to the five most notable young male experts and three young female experts in the current martial world.
In truth, whether it was Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes or Six Dragons and Seven Phoenixes didn't matter—it just happened that exactly five men and three women stood out enough to be selected from the younger generation. If another exceptional talent emerged, they wouldn't displace an existing one; instead, they'd expand to Six Dragons or Four Phoenixes.
Anyway, among the countless martial artists of the jianghu, Dang Ha-eun proudly proved her skills and was famous for rarely traveling with escorts.
"I'm Dang Ha-eun—if I needed escorts within Sichuan, that would mean I've slacked in my training."
She had convinced the Tang Clan Leader with words like, "Get too used to protection, and your hidden weapons will dull." That's why she often went out alone or with her childhood friend and maid, Wang Hwi, for city strolls like this.
The Poison Phoenix was renowned not just for her skills but also her beauty, so she always wore a veil. But for her, born and raised as the Tang Clan's lady, these moments of breathing freely without recognition were truly precious. With a slightly excited voice, Dang Ha-eun yanked Wang Hwi's hand.
"Over there! Let's go that way!"
"You're too fast, Miss...! Slow down a bit...!"
While frolicking like a young foal here and there, a shabby street stall suddenly caught Dang Ha-eun's eye. Her bright green eyes, like a swamp kissed by sunlight, filled with curiosity.
The stall had a large, crooked sign reading:
Selling martial arts? Did that mean martial arts manuals?
Something felt off. The martial arts dealers Dang Ha-eun knew always dressed up even the crappiest techniques to look like legendary divine arts, jacking up the price.
Not just the manuals, but their shops too.
Yet this stall claimed to sell martial arts and looked rundown and pathetic. Even a cart selling watered-down rations wouldn't be that shabby.
But maybe that's why it drew the eye? Flashy martial arts shops felt cliché now...
Fallen victim to 21st-century marketing tactics, Dang Ha-eun oddly felt her interest pulling her toward this mysterious stall. She figured the manuals there were probably as worthless as the exterior, but the urge to check it out kept growing.
'Martial arts shops are all the same anyway. The sun's still high...'
Unable to resist, she approached the stall.
The closer she got, the worse it looked.
If you could call a rickety wooden cart piled with junk and topped with a creaky roof a "shop," then the neighborhood fabric store was a mansion and a rundown brothel a skyscraper. Wang Hwi pursed her plump lips and tilted her head.
"Hmm... Miss, even I can tell at a glance... there's no way this place has anything decent."
Dang Ha-eun's face flushed as she snapped back.
"You're just clueless! Places like this are the real deal!"
"Really...?"
No, it wasn't.
But Dang Ha-eun was nineteen, full of youthful vigor. When it came to martial arts, she hated looking foolish—especially in front of her two-years-older childhood friend.
The brilliant mind of Sichuan's prodigy whirred furiously, conjuring a plausible excuse. Soon, she declared confidently.
"Most martial arts dealers buy manuals discovered by others and resell them at a markup, right?"
Like pawnshop owners, in a way.
People who didn't know what they had—or worried about getting stabbed for selling wrong—dumped manuals on martial arts dealers.
"Right?"
"In places like that, you only see a few cheap techniques; real gems are impossible to find. Why? Because those trade at the sect or clan level. You know how many martial arts dealers come to our Tang Clan every year trying to sell us stuff?"
"Ugh... yeah. A ton."
And the world's safest martial arts shops were the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans.
They had face to uphold—no haggling dirty, no murder over a single manual.
Apart from the minor flaw of rejecting anything less than top-tier, the best martial arts shop in Sichuan was the Sichuan Tang Clan itself.
Wang Hwi, who had once peeked at the area where they analyzed and sorted manuals, hugged her ample chest as if shielding it and shuddered.
Dang Ha-eun's eyes narrowed.
"...So no one sells real manuals to a dump like that—which means those piles are probably ones he found himself. Hidden gems always look like mud. If you want a big score, you gotta hit places like this, right?"
Of course, no self-respecting dealer would be blind to martial arts, so any decent ones were long sold. But if there was even a slim chance for a jackpot, a hole-in-the-wall beat a big shop.
"That makes sense when you put it like that. You really thought this through, Miss."
Her hastily patched-together logic was flimsy, but it convinced her childhood friend. Dang Ha-eun grinned smugly.
"Of course! This is basic stuff!"
"...Hey, customer. So, you buying or not?"
"Kyaaah!"
At that moment, a man lying ghost-like under the junk pile slithered up. Dang Ha-eun had assumed the shop was empty because the owner stepped away to relieve himself. She let out a lion's roar in shock.
True to her profound inner energy, a piercingly clear shout shot skyward—but the owner, ducking under his bamboo hat, just scratched his ear impassively.
"Sound attacks right off the bat? The jianghu's standards have hit rock bottom. Since you attacked, you gotta buy something now."
"...Where's that a rule?! You were lying there silent on purpose to scare people!"
"Blaming the winter wind for not wanting to get up? Enough excuses—browse already. I've stocked only the best in the jianghu. You won't regret whatever you pick."
Dang Ha-eun's thin lips curled up. Her eyes sparkled with mischief.
Before Wang Hwi could stop her, Dang Ha-eun's mouth was already open. She sighed and rubbed her forehead.
"Hmph. You'd put treasures in a rotting cart like this? It's like playing the lute to a cow. Guess you don't care about making money."
To Wang Hwi, Dang Ha-eun had one bad habit: when she got excited, she forgot decorum and poked without restraint.
She'd gotten a harsh scolding from Shaolin's abbot as a kid and seemed improved—until this merchant's gruffness triggered her, unleashing that prickly tone again.
But was he a seasoned merchant?
Even Wang Hwi was stunned as he spewed rude retorts, yet the man just chuckled lowly and pulled a dark rosary from the cart, tossing it over. Dang Ha-eun caught it reflexively, eyes widening.
"Sloppy defenses for such a feisty one. If words are light, armor better be heavy to keep your feet on the ground. Wear that well. Try it and you'll sense the price—payment can...
The smile under his bamboo hat. Though veiled, he seemed to know—and dote on—Dang Ha-eun.
As he prepped to leave, dragging the cart leisurely but swiftly, he turned and waved lazily. It was sunset. Backlit, his face was hard to see.
"...See you again, and settle up then. Take care of your health."
Then he turned and left. Something lonely in his figure made Dang Ha-eun watch him go for a long while, a strange feeling lingering.
"Didn't even get to look at the manuals..."
She muttered pointlessly.