Butterfly Dream
Yang Bok taught him the work at the fabric shop.
At first, Dan Yeop learned quickly, but the deeper they went, the more his true colors as a dunce began to show.
Unlike ordinary fabric shops, the one run by the Yang family in Poshi Ward dealt with a vast array of goods.
For example, while regular shops mainly sold cotton cloth, the Yang family’s store was different.
They handled dyed fabrics and five-colored cloths, of course, but also various types of silk: gyeon, reung, ra, and geum.
And that wasn’t all.
They imported Persian brocade from the Western Regions, woolen and imported fabrics known as hopo, and even made and sold finished garments.
On top of that came embroidered silks, decorative trims, scented fabrics, mixed silk-cotton weaves, silk-blended textiles, and imported silks with Western patterns…
There were endless things to memorize: names of each type, prices by length, and more.
When it became clear that no amount of repetition would help Dan Yeop with tailoring, Yang Bok had no choice but to give up.
In the end, he decided to assign Dan Yeop the simplest possible task.
It wasn’t sales. It was customer solicitation.
“…Got it? When someone who looks like they have money walks by, what are you supposed to do?”
“I escort them into the fabric shop.”
“Exactly. There’s nothing difficult about it. You can’t tell different kinds of cloth and silk apart or figure out the prices anyway, right? And that’s not even the worst part. If you slip while cutting silk, even a month’s wages won’t cover the damage. Your monthly pay is two hundred mun, right? One bolt of silk costs eight hundred mun. You want to stand there trembling while you cut expensive fabric? Or would you rather go outside, enjoy the fresh air, and bring customers in?”
Yang Bok described the customer-touting work as if it were nothing more than lounging around without doing anything.
“I’ll bring in the customers.”
Dan Yeop found working outdoors far more comfortable than struggling with complicated indoor tasks.
More than that, he had no desire to stay near the Yang family head any longer than necessary.
Yang Bok nagged constantly and couldn’t stand to see anyone idle.
“Get out there. Don’t come back until lunchtime. And don’t wander off while you’re working. If I don’t see you in front of the shop, I’ll tell Elder Yang to drag you back.”
“Understood.”
Though Dan Yeop felt irritated by the older man’s threats, he didn’t show it.
Everything felt overwhelming, so he simply decided to do whatever he was told.
Around lunchtime, Dan Yeop felt hunger gnawing at him and stepped back into the fabric shop.
Yang Bok glanced at him and said, “If you follow the road to the left for a bit, you’ll see a place called Hyangmanru. Tell them I sent you and they’ll serve you food. Go eat.”
“Yes, sir.”
Dan Yeop bowed politely and quickly left.
He walked quite a distance down the left road before reaching the restaurant district.
The entire alley was filled with the aroma of food from eateries, taverns, and pleasure houses.
Seeing the pleasure houses made him suddenly think of Ha Yong-wol from the courtesan branch.
‘Is Junior Sister Ha working at one of those places too?’
‘What kind of work could she even do in a pleasure house?’
While lost in these idle thoughts, the signboard for Hyangmanru caught his eye.
“Whoa… it’s really far.”
Yang Bok had said “a bit,” but Dan Yeop felt like he had walked for a full quarter-hour.
The moment he spotted Hyangmanru, saliva flooded his mouth.
He quickened his steps toward the restaurant.
Hyangmanru.
As soon as he entered, a waiter rushed over and shouted.
“Welcome! Please have a seat! What can I get for you?”
The rapid-fire greeting left Dan Yeop blinking in a daze for a moment.
“Sir?”
At the waiter’s prompting, Dan Yeop spoke up awkwardly.
“Um… I’m from the Yang family fabric shop…”
“Ah! You were sent by Master Yang? Understood. I’ll bring it right out.”
The waiter spun around and disappeared into the kitchen.
‘Wait, I didn’t even order anything…’
Dan Yeop looked around with a slightly deflated expression.
Seeing the dishes in front of other customers made his mouth water even more.
He kept swallowing hard until the waiter who had vanished earlier returned and set down a bowl of noodles with a clack.
“Excuse me, what is this?”
The waiter turned back and answered, “Warm noodles.”
“Is this for me?”
“Yes. The Yang family fabric shop always gets one bowl of warm noodles. If you want anything else, you’ll have to pay extra. Would you like something different?”
“No, this is fine.”
Since Dan Yeop didn’t have a single mun on him, he simply shook his head.
So that was why Yang Bok had sent him here without any particular instructions. There was a set meal.
He picked up his chopsticks and began eating the warm noodles.
There were plenty of toppings, and the dish was several times more delicious than the mushy noodles he had eaten back at Byeongmachong.
Whether because he was starving or because the seasoning was perfect, he emptied the bowl completely.
He even drank every last drop of broth, yet he still felt hungry.
But with no money, he had no choice but to get up.
Dan Yeop licked his lips with lingering regret and left Hyangmanru behind.
‘Once I get my monthly pay, I’ll eat as much as I want.’
The thought of having to endure an empty stomach for an entire month made him sigh.
27. Butterfly Dream
After finishing his lunch, Dan Yeop returned to the fabric shop and diligently worked at drawing in customers.
However, the inherently introverted youth had no talent for pulling people in.
In the end, he really was doing nothing but standing around, just as Yang Bok had described.
Even so, Yang Bok never called him back inside.
‘That face alone is enough.’
He believed Dan Yeop’s smooth, handsome features would naturally attract customers.
Even today, he had seen countless passersby glancing at both Dan Yeop and the shop.
If even one of them came in, it would be worth hiring the boy.
‘Paying two hundred mun a month for a handyman is practically a steal.’
And on top of that, he could even bring in customers.
Yang Bok waited with the mindset of a fisherman hoping for a big catch.
Before long, the sun began to set, and Yang Bok closed the shop doors.
“Dan Yeop, where did you say your lodging was again?”
“BOSEONBANG.”
“The gates of Poshi Ward close in about two hours. So finish your business quickly and head straight back to Boseonbang.”
“Um… Master Yang?”
“What is it?”
“Could I possibly receive part of my monthly pay in advance?”
“Why?”
“You told me to prepare my own breakfast and dinner, but I don’t have any ingredients.”
“Ah, it seems Elder Yang forgot. Do you really not have any money at all?”
“No, sir.”
Yang Bok took out a hundred mun from his money pouch and handed it to him.
“If you’re frugal, this should last you a month. I’ll record it in the ledger, so don’t complain later.”
It wasn’t an unreasonable amount.
Thirty mun could buy about five kilograms of rice, so a hundred mun was enough for three such portions.
Adding some vegetables would easily stretch it through the month.
Dan Yeop bid Yang Bok farewell, then bought rice and vegetables at the western market.
He returned to Boseonbang before the evening curfew bell rang.
Just as he was about to enter Elder Lee’s house, the faint sound of a bell drifted from afar.
Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding—.
Elder Lee, who had just stepped into the courtyard, saw him and smiled.
“You’re late. Did you buy grass? You could have just used what’s lying around in the kitchen…”
“Ah, I didn’t know.”
“Put the rice in your room. Otherwise someone might eat it.”
“There are other people here?”
“There’s one more besides you. A water carrier.”
“Water carrier?”
“He draws water from the Dragon Head Canal that runs through Chang’an Castle and supplies it to pleasure houses, inns, and restaurants. It’s surprisingly profitable, I hear. If I were ten years younger, I would have tried it myself. Tsk!”
Elder Lee clicked his tongue with clear regret.
Dan Yeop, who was hungry, perked up at the word “profitable.”
“But I don’t see him around?”
“When there’s a lot of work, he sometimes stays overnight at the pleasure houses or inns. The heat hasn’t let up yet, so business must be booming.”
“I see.”
Wanting to end the conversation, Dan Yeop headed toward his room.
Elder Lee, having nothing more to say, went back inside the house.
Once inside his tiny room, Dan Yeop reflected on the day.
He had left Byeongmachong, rented a room in Boseonbang, and started working at the fabric shop in Poshi Ward.
Perhaps because of the sudden change in environment, he felt utterly exhausted and didn’t want to do anything.
As he sat there blankly, his stomach growled, forcing him to stand.
He wanted to just sleep, but hunger made that impossible.
He went to the kitchen, but the fire in the stove was out and he had no idea what to cook.
In the end, Dan Yeop roughly rinsed a handful of rice, chewed and swallowed it, then returned to his room.
At least having something in his stomach helped; the moment he lay down, sleep came easily.
Though he had no bed and was lying on the bare floor, he was satisfied that it wasn’t Byeongmachong.
Just thinking about that place now sent chills down his spine.
Despite his exhaustion, Dan Yeop couldn’t fall into a deep sleep.
The unfamiliar hardness of the floor left him sore all over.
His uneasy mind also prevented him from resting properly.
‘Is it really okay to live like this?’
Spend all day working at the fabric shop, come home in the evening, and sleep.
The outside world was completely different from Byeongmachong, where he had only trained in martial arts.
People like him, with nowhere to turn, were trapped by the struggle to survive and had no time to practice martial arts.
‘Haa… Even if I trained every single day, it would barely be enough…’
Eventually, too uncomfortable to stay still, Dan Yeop got up and went outside.
He picked up a wooden stick and began practicing the Cheonji Blade Technique.
Fortunately, the first through third forms flowed without obstruction.
If even the Cheonji Blade Technique had been inconsistent, he would have been truly disappointed.
Next, he unfolded the Baekryu Blade Technique.
After the first form, Thousand Autumns, he hadn’t expected much, yet the second form, Water Thunder Retreat, rose in his mind naturally.
Even after finishing Water Thunder Retreat, Dan Yeop stood motionless.
It was clear that awakening his inner demon caused his martial progress to accelerate at a frightening pace.
Just yesterday he had struggled with the second form, yet now, in a single day, he had mastered it.
They said the inner demon was a genius, and it seemed he was receiving that same influence.
“Haa…”
It was a good thing, yet a sigh still escaped Dan Yeop’s lips.
Now, there was only one path left for him to rise within Haomun.
He would have to awaken his inner demon whenever he had a spare moment, as if it were cultivation.
Could he really learn the Baekryu Blade Technique while working alone at a fabric shop?
He now understood that it was impossible.
With training time drastically reduced by work, even ten years of hard practice might yield no results.
Dan Yeop tried to recall the third form, but not even a hair’s breadth of memory returned.
“Damn it.”
Shaking his head, he trudged back to his room.
A short while later, he took out a brush, paper, and ink from his bag and wrote a letter to his inner demon in the form of a diary.
…When the sun rises, I must go to the Yang family fabric shop and work. My job is simple. I stand in front of the store, introduce the shop to people, and bring anyone who wants to buy inside.
As he continued writing, Dan Yeop suddenly felt the words sounded pathetic and almost tore the paper apart.
But he changed his mind after a moment.
If he wasn’t going to summon the inner demon, that would be one thing. But since he had decided to use him, he needed to explain his life properly so the demon wouldn’t ruin it.
Finally, he added a threatening note.
"This body is mine, so don't make decisions on your own. If you act however you please, I will never awaken you again."
He had no confidence that the inner demon would obey him.
Still, leaving a warning made him feel somewhat more at ease.
Dan Yeop folded the finished letter and placed it on the table.
‘When he wakes up next time, the third form of the Baekryu Blade Technique should be no problem.’
That thought eased some of his resentment.
Soon after, Dan Yeop sat in a lotus position.
He recalled the introductory mantra of the Prajna Heart Method.
—When one truly sees that the substance of the world is emptiness, one can overcome all difficulties and reach that very substance.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Dan Yeop’s mind.
‘Am I just pushing all my difficulties onto the inner demon?’
Using the excuse that he had no time to train.
In Haomun, to rise quickly—