Chapter 171
Chapter 171: Lawless City (2)
"I will never forget Great Hero's grace for my entire life."
The merchant tried to bow while dragging his broken knee, but Dong Bong-soo deliberately stopped him and instead gently supported him.
"Rather than that kind of grace, treat your wounds first."
Dong Bong-soo took out a bottle of golden wound medicine from the waist of the dead Iron God Society warrior and handed it over.
The merchant received the medicine with trembling hands.
"To kill Iron God Society warriors... I am so grateful for receiving grace as deep as the sea that I don't know what to do with myself, but Great Hero, you have truly committed a fearsome deed. In this Gangdo—"
"Enough. Whether it's Gangdo or anywhere else, what does it matter? There are only shitty things and flower-like things."
"Pardon...?"
"I'm just saying those shitty bastards deserved to die."
"But."
The merchant looked around and lowered his voice.
"This western official road is Iron God Society's territory. Society Leader Cheol Mu-han is famous for his cold-blooded nature. Especially, he never tolerates anything that damages his face."
Damaging his face.
Dong Bong-soo thought for a moment before asking calmly.
"Specifically, what damages his face?"
"That bastard... no, no. Cheol Mu-han is... no, no, Great Hero."
The merchant quickly looked around hurriedly and put his index finger to his lips.
"In this territory, the Iron God Society is both the blade and the law. There are eyes and ears everywhere... you must always be careful with your words, actions, and body."
A knowing smile formed on Dong Bong-soo's lips.
"Thank you."
"Yes, yes? What do you mean?"
"You're saying if I am not careful with my words, actions, and body, it damages his face, right?"
"...Pardon?"
"That's enough, so hurry home."
"But... what about these corpses?"
"Forget it. If they wanted their corpses intact, they should have lived like flowers."
The merchant fidgeted restlessly but had already half-turned his body.
"Though not as much as the Seven Star Immortal Assembly, the Iron God Society controls two-thirds of this Western Road. The rest is divided between the Black Wind Hall, Single Eye Gate, and others... Society Leader has one only daughter who is viciously ruthless beyond measure..."
Yet even so, he poured out all the information he had about the Iron God Society to Dong Bong-soo, who was clearly an outsider.
"Great Hero, please be careful. The Iron God Society is..."
"Are you an old woman?"
"Pardon?"
"If you're not an old woman, why do you worry so much like an old woman? Don't get unnecessarily involved and just leave. You said you have a daughter?"
Dong Bong-soo's order to leave on the road.
"..."
Nevertheless, the merchant hesitated for a long while before finally leaving. Limping while adding dozens more reminders to be careful.
"Quite human."
Though it happens every time, the human species is certainly peculiar.
Selfless to the point of having no bottom, yet at times human to the point of having no ceiling like that.
Anyway, after confirming the merchant's energy had completely disappeared, Dong Bong-soo roughly stuffed the corpses of the dead Iron God Society warriors into a corner of his Inventory.
It was fine to leave the corpses, but he judged it would be better to make it take time for them to discover his identity.
Dong Bong-soo deliberately left only bloodstains and quietly chewed over the information about this Western Road that the merchant had told him before leaving the spot.
Though he'd been slightly delayed, it was time to head to his original destination.
***
Various Items Antique Shop.
An antique shop located in an alley at the far end of Western Road.
On the sign, the characters 'Various Items' were written large with 'Antique Shop' written small below. As if emphasizing the meaning 'has all sorts of things.'
The main room beyond the worn wooden door.
A distinctive nose-piercing smell of mold and dust mixed with unknown incense and dyes vibrated through the air, and shelves reaching almost to the ceiling were arranged like a maze.
All sorts of junk were also haphazardly piled on top.
Rusty swords, broken pottery, unidentified scrolls, bizarre-shaped sculptures.
Also, there were several small storage rooms behind the main room, and in the basement below those storage rooms existed a huge appraisal room.
And.
That place was Various Items Antique Shop's essence and true form hidden in a secret place.
"Ugh! Why won't this finger come off?"
A middle-aged man was moving busily deep inside the appraisal room.
An oily face with narrow eyes. A man with the typical appearance of a fence. He was the owner of Various Items Antique Shop, antique dealer Ak Bul-jin.
He was struggling to pull off a gold ring from a severed hand of unknown ownership. The finger stiffened by rigor mortis wouldn't budge.
Crack.
He finally cut off the finger with a small axe. Blood splattered, but he picked up the gold ring unconcernedly.
"Hehe, this should be worth ten silver coins too."
The appraisal room was gloomy. In every corner, corpses not yet processed were scattered, and all sorts of stolen goods were piled up like mountains. Swords, jade pendants, calligraphy and paintings, and even unidentified objects.
In one corner of the floor was a hole large enough for a human torso to fit through. Ak Bul-jin tossed the severed hand and finger into it like throwing away trash.
Oink oink.
Faint pig squealing sounds came from below.
"Ah, you pig bastards. If you're going to die anyway, at least lose some weight before dying. This is killing me."
He clicked his tongue.
"Though steamed would be better for the kids' meals."
Oink oink oink oink— oink.
Through the gap in the hole, he could see the pigs fighting over the 'food' that had just come in.
"Hehehe. Pig bastards eating pig bastards."
After watching his beloved pigs eat for a bit longer, he returned to his workplace.
Today, the Northern Yan army had made a brief provocation, so cheap stolen goods were overflowing and work had increased accordingly.
Just as he was about to approach a corpse with a rusty axe stuck in its waist.
Ding.
The reception bell hanging at the entrance rang.
"A customer? At this hour?"
Ak Bul-jin roughly wiped blood on any of the corpses' clothes and went outside. From the appraisal room to the storage room, from the storage room to the main room again.
Creak.
A man entering through the worn wooden door came into view. A young man in his mid-twenties. Though dressed in ordinary night clothes, he somehow exuded a cold atmosphere.
'Blood smell?'
There was a strong scent of blood. Well, it would be harder to see a martial artist without blood on them in this Gangdo though.
"Welcome."
Ak Bul-jin guided him to the reception table with a sly smile.
"What are you looking for? Or are you selling something?"
The man silently placed something on the table.
Thud.
"...!"
It was a tail several times thicker than even a tiger's tail. Silver fur reflected off the candlelight, even emitting a strange radiance.
'This is... a Spirit Creature?'
It could be a monster, but that had its own value either way.
An undeniable smile of greed spread across Ak Bul-jin's lips in an instant. A sticky smile like flies clinging to rotten meat.
"It's a fox tail?"
"Its value?"
Ak Bul-jin rolled his eyes and examined the man more closely again.
He didn't use the local dialect, his face was unfamiliar, and he didn't appear to be carrying any weapons outwardly. Though the blood smell was strong, he didn't look like much of a master.
'A sucker, a sucker.'
"Huh? What value would an ordinary fox tail have?"
At Ak Bul-jin's dismissive words, the man turned his body without a word.
"Hey now. This customer is quite hasty."
Ak Bul-jin said hurriedly.
"One hundred silver coins. If you tell me where you caught that fox, two hundred silver coins. If you give me all the remaining parts..."
The man stopped walking and looked back.
"One thousand silver coins."
The man who had stopped his departing steps returned and sat before Ak Bul-jin.
'Good. If I can just find out where the rest of this Spirit Creature is. Hehehe.'
Today our piglets will become adults in just one day.
Thud.
A book newly placed on the table.
《Vermilion Umbrella Lord Saber Technique》
"...!?"
"Its value?"
The man uttering the same words in the same tone as before.
Ak Bul-jin quietly flipped through the book.
One page, two pages...
Manage expression, manage expression...
'Value?'
It wasn't worth mentioning.
This book was undoubtedly the secret martial arts of Vermilion Umbrella Lord Saber Na Hang, one of the Twenty Great Masters who had gone missing over a decade ago.
"Hehehehe..."
Greed he couldn't contain leaked through his vocal cords through the gap in Ak Bul-jin's lips.
'There's no sucker like this sucker bastard.'
His finger drew a hand seal while channeling internal energy into the summoning formation attached under the reception table. Instantly, the summoning formation resonated and ignited secretly, immediately contacting the standby team.
Half an hour.
In just about the time it takes to eat one meal, dozens of Iron God Society martial experts would burst through that door.
He raised the hand he had lowered as if he had never lowered it naturally and rested his chin on it. A world's kindest reception smile overflowed on his face.
"This is a secret manual from an ancient master."
"So its value?"
What couldn't he say to someone who would die anyway?
"Oh my, how can one put a price on something like this?"
I'll tell you honestly.
"If it's genuine, name your price. By any chance, do you have anything else?"
He'd already brought out enough to fill his belly for several years, but who knows. There might be more.
Ak Bul-jin smiled.
The young man, that is, Dong Bong-soo also smiled.
Of course, the meaning of their smiles was completely different.
Dong Bong-soo showed other items he had obtained from the Floating Island one by one.
Several sheets of unidentified paper, five shining stones, and a jade pendant engraved with strange patterns.
"Their value?"
Ak Bul-jin's eyes widened. Especially upon seeing the shining stones, saliva went down his throat.
"Wow. These are really good items. These stones can fetch one hundred silver coins each, and if these formation manuals are genuine..."
The appraisal continued for half an hour.
And...
Creeeak.
Finally, the door opened again.
Then dozens of 'customers' burst in.
At that, Dong Bong-soo slowly stood up.
Another half hour passed.
***
Oink oink oink.
Huge pigs were writhing in the pen. They weren't ordinary pigs. Their eyes were bloodshot red, and their teeth were abnormally sharp.
Such creatures rushed in madly. The sound of bones being crushed, the sound of flesh being torn off filled the underground pigsty.
It was a festival.
For them, today was the greatest festival.
And it would likely be their last festival.
From the appraisal room upstairs, Dong Bong-soo was looking down at that scene expressionlessly.
"An inefficient method befitting stupidity."
It wasn't a bad method for disposing of corpses, but it took a long time and left many traces. Unexpectedly, pigs as creatures didn't have perfect digestive organs.
Though such beasts wouldn't have such a biological perspective.
He turned and left the antique shop.
Outside, dawn was already breaking.
The Various Items Antique Shop sign tilted as if greeting, hanging with only one side attached and dangling.
The antique shop where all sorts of things sold had now come to an end.
[【Sub】Wronged Merchant]
[【Chain】]
: As you help the wronged, you may sometimes encounter unexpected difficulties.
I pray you overcome those difficulties well. Please.
․ A grudge relationship with the Iron God Society has been formed.
․ Disband the Iron God Society.
├─ Progress: 1.7%
└─ Reward: Hero History +5
"1.7%."
Quite a gain for trash cleanup.
The appraisal of many 'items' he didn't know about was also finished.
Step step.
Dong Bong-soo walked slowly yet straight, just as he had when leaving the inn. As one usually does when going for a walk.