In the end, Cheonyeong's party, who had succeeded in bargaining for six for three nyang, wandered around the market, humming.

"Yongcheon! Look at that!"

"...Ugh."

"Look over there!"

"..."

"Wow! It's amazing, isn't it?"

Of course, Yongcheon, who had to wander around with Sanghui's arm linked with his, had an expression as if he were dying of annoyance.

"They're really an ill-matched pair, aren't they?"

"Keuk keuk, right?"

"Beauty and the Beast... that saying fits them perfectly."

"Yeah."

"But the Deputy Family Head doesn't seem to have any interest..."

"Does it look that way?"

"Huh?"

"You never know about the love affairs of men and women."

"And you know?"

"Of course, they're my family. Although Yongcheon acts annoyed, he does everything Sanghui tells him to."

It seemed anyone would do that. Once you've tasted Sanghui's cold glare...

"I'm thinking of pairing them up soon."

"They're getting married?"

"It's about time."

Cheonyeong nods his head.

"By the way, we need to find a place to stay, right?"

"A place to stay? Weren't we going to sleep outdoors?"

"What do you mean, sleep outdoors. Haven't you already ruined everything?"

"Me?"

"Of course. You've already shown your identification tag with the Tang family name, and you've even revealed that you're the family head... if someone finds out that we're sleeping outdoors, we'll be suspected."

Cheonyeong looks around the street at Baekta's words.

Here and there on the street, men with swords could be seen.

They were not warriors from the Central Plains. They were clearly from the Five Poisons Gate, or people with a very close relationship to the Five Poisons Gate.

Due to the characteristics of the region bordering the Central Plains, it would be impossible for a man from the Central Plains to avoid their eyes.

Because even if they pretended not to, they were surely secretly watching them, who were dressed in the clothes of the Central Plains.

Perhaps they had been watching since the moment they entered Yeongin.

"Hmm... that's true. Although it's a border area, it's the territory of the Five Poisons Gate."

"Well, it's for the better. Since it's like this, it would be more natural for me to act as a member of the Tang family."

"What?"

"Then what should I do? If I say I'm a Beggars' Sect member, what kind of trouble will I get into in the territory of the Five Poisons Gate? If that happens, do you think you, who are with me, will be okay?"

"..."

You won't be okay. You damn punk.

Anyway, you can't be careless with the Beggars' Sect punks.

The senior brother tries to live off someone else's house, and the junior brother claims to be a family member?

"Family Head."

"F-family Heaad?"

Baekta winks and bows his head.

"I'll go and look around the market slowly, so you go and rest first."

Baekta, who had bowed politely, quickly slips away.

It's absurd.

"Heh, I've been had, and had properly."

Cheonyeong sighs, looking at Baekta who has disappeared into the crowd of the market.

If this happens, if that punk causes trouble... is it the Tang family's problem?

He himself wouldn't act recklessly since it wouldn't be good to cause friction with the Five Poisons Gate, but isn't there a 'what if'?

"...Is that so? You want to be a family member, is that what you're saying?"

Cheonyeong gritted his teeth with a smiling face.

Yongcheon, who was left alone, asked Cheonyeong.

"Huh? Where did the branch leader go?"

"...He's a Tang family member."

"Huh?"

"For a short while, but he's a Tang family member. That's how it is."

Although it was a sudden statement, Yongcheon agreed as if there was no need to understand.

The Family Head said so, so what.

"Alright."

"Instead, he's under you."

"Huh?"

"When he comes back later, treat him well. Very we~ll, got it?"

"Well, okay."

Yongcheon nodded his head.

"Yongcheon! Let's go over there! I've never seen those accessories before! They're so pretty!"

Sanghui pulled Yongcheon's arm and pointed her finger repeatedly.

Anyone who saw her rubbing her face against his arm and smiling would think she was a cat.

She was no different from a beautiful cat.

"...You want me to buy it for you?"

"Yeah!"

The way she answered with a shy smile. The people of the Tang family would never have imagined that Sanghui had such a side to her.

Yongcheon looks at Cheonyeong at Sanghui's urging.

"Go ahead. It's too early to eat, and we can find a place to stay later. Just look around the market to your heart's content for a change."

"Hah, alright."

Yongcheon sighs and walks towards the trinket seller with Sanghui.

"Let go of my arm."

"No."

"It's heavy..."

"Heavy? Me?"

"Huh? No, that's not what I meant... forget it, forget it. Just hold on."

"Okay!"

Cheonyeong shook his head at the sight of the two bickering.

...It's a good time.

Cheonyeong, who had become idle, looked around with a meaningless gaze.

A market smaller than that of Ganyang. It wasn't that there were no shops, but most of them were peddlers who had laid out stalls and were doing business.

But.

"...Huh?"

Suddenly, one place catches Cheonyeong's eye.

A hoe, a pickaxe... 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The farm tools laid out on the mat that the merchant had spread.

There weren't many items, and they didn't look to be of very good quality. But Cheonyeong approached it as if possessed by something.

"Welcome."

"Yes..."

Cheonyeong stares intently at the farm tools at the owner's response.

Cheonyeong, who was as familiar with hidden weapons as he was with poisons, also had some knowledge of blacksmithing.

Of course, he had learned outstanding hidden weapon techniques, and since his level was also high, Cheonyeong could even use natural objects as hidden weapons.

But it was just that he could use them, and it was right to use a properly forged hidden weapon for hidden weapon techniques.

Because when you meet an opponent who is much better than you, using a well-made hidden weapon increases your chances of survival.

Good quality iron, outstanding blacksmithing skills.

When those two were added, the hidden weapon technique exerted a power beyond its ability.

So, most assassins usually learn basic blacksmithing skills.

At that time, the Jinkagu had also raised countless blacksmiths to produce their own hidden weapons.

So he knew well. How the items in front of him were made.

The quality of the iron didn't matter. What was important was its use.

If someone who didn't know saw it, they would surely despise it as a defective product.

A twist that shouldn't have been there.

The problem was that the twist was intentionally made. Because it wasn't made carelessly, but had many traces of the blacksmith's effort.

Feeling an extreme curiosity, Cheonyeong squats in front of the mat where the farm tools are laid out.

"Shopkeeper."

"Pardon?"

"By any chance, did you make these items yourself?"

"No. I'm just a merchant."

"Then?"

"There's a blacksmith I know well, and he kept asking me to sell his things... but the items are all defective, so it's a big problem. If it weren't for the favor I owe him, I wouldn't have sold them."

Cheonyeong smirked at those words.

It must be so. Although there would have been customers who looked at the strange shapes, they would have soon lost interest.

The value of an item is only meaningful to those who recognize it.

"But, are you going to buy them?"

The owner asks slyly.

"All of them."

"Pardon?"

"I'll buy all of them."

"A-all of this?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"No, that's..."

Perhaps he wanted to ask, 'Why are you buying such garbage-like items?'

He might even think he was crazy.

"How much for all of them?"

Cheonyeong drove a wedge, as if to show that his words were true.

"Well... he did ask me to sell them all for five nyang of silver."

"Hmm, not bad."

"Not bad?"

The merchant is startled.

It's not like he has money to burn, and he's buying such items for five nyang of silver?

"Will you sell them?"

"Of course! Of course, that's right. Of course."

Unlike when he had bought the antidote, Cheonyeong did not haggle over the price at all, and the merchant, who thought he had suddenly hit the jackpot, nodded his head with a pleased expression.

He rolled up the items in the mat as if to hand them over before his mind changed.

"Ah, but I have something to ask."

"Pardon?"

The merchant's gaze is suspicious. He's surely worried that he might have changed his mind.

"Can I know who the blacksmith who made these items is?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because I like the items so much, I was thinking of asking for other items."

"Hmm..."

The merchant ponders for a moment.

But Cheonyeong was determined to find out his identity somehow.

The purpose of his trip to Yunnan stemmed from the medicine room that Gongson Seung had mentioned.

Because he had thought that in Yunnan, he might be able to find a physician who had learned both poison and medicine.

Also, he wanted to know the situation of Yunnan, which bordered Sicheon, and he also thought that he might be able to secure a business partner who could continuously supply the poison that the Tang family would use in the future.

That's how he had come to Yunnan. But perhaps... he might be able to get a useful blacksmith.

A craftsman who makes items faithful to their use.

Wasn't he one of the most needed talents for the Tang family, which had declared that hidden weapon techniques would be their main focus?

Hidden weapon techniques.

Since it was a field he knew best and was the best at, he could say for sure. That there was no martial art as good as that for a weak person to defeat a strong person.

If he could get a skilled blacksmith, it was natural that the military power of the Tang family, which had started by gathering vagrants, would grow rapidly in an instant.

"If you tell me, I'll pay double the price."

"Pardon? Then ten, ten nyang of silver?"

"Yes."

The merchant swallows his saliva as Cheonyeong shakes the money pouch filled with silver as if to show him.

But he couldn't easily make a decision.

"Why? Is there a reason?"

"No, that's not it... if you tell me and I get five nyang of silver, it's good for me, but..."

"I won't harm the blacksmith."

"That's not what I meant."

"Pardon?"

The merchant lets out a deep sigh as Cheonyeong shows his persistence.

"Actually, that blacksmith is a terrible drunkard."

"A drunkard?"

"Yes, and his personality is so eccentric. Actually, the reason he asked me to sell these items was because of his drinking money."

"Ah!"

That's a relief. If that's the reason...

"You don't have to worry about me."

"But, I'm worried you'll say something else later."

"No way. That will never happen. I promise."

Although Cheonyeong says it again, the merchant still hesitates and is reluctant to speak.

"I'll add another five nyang."

"...Pardon?"

Cheonyeong takes out fifteen nyang of silver from his money pouch and shows it on his wide-open palm.

Gulp.

The merchant's Adam's apple moves greatly, and his eyes, which have become as big as lanterns, have no intention of leaving Cheonyeong's hand.

He must be conflicted. But greed had already taken root.

Chwa-reuk!

The merchant quickly snatches the silver from Cheonyeong's hand.

"If you go down south for about ten li, there's a place called Yeoktaek. The blacksmith who made these items is there."

"Yeoktaek, ten li south."

Cheonyeong, who repeated it so as not to forget, packed the items and got up.

He was going to go right away. He was very curious about what kind of person the blacksmith who had made the items that had caught his eye was.

"Ah, what is that blacksmith's name?"

"Danya, it's Danya."

"Danya... I see. Thank you."

Cheonyeong, who had muttered as if to memorize the name, turned his head and looked for someone.

"Yongcheon!"

"Huh? Why? What is it? Is there something you want me to do?"

Yongcheon, who was being worked to death by Sanghui, looks at him happily as if he had found a lifeline.

"I have a place to go for a while. You and Sanghui look around the market enough and find a place to stay and wait."

"...What?"

Cheonyeong, who had left Yongcheon, who had been hoping for a lifeline, behind, ran south like an arrow.

Yongcheon, who was staring at his heartless back, hangs his head.

Damn Family Head. Why are you going alone?

Can't you take me with you?

"Yongcheon, did you hear? He said we can continue to look around the market. Let's go over there this time. Isn't that dress pretty? It has a beauty that I haven't seen in Sicheon."

That day, Yongcheon realized that looking around the market with Sanghui was the hardest thing in the world.

She doesn't even buy anything... why does she keep trying things on and putting them on?

"How is it?"

"...It looks good on you."

"This one?"

"That too."

"Tch! I really hate you!"

Huh? Suddenly?

He had answered every time, but why on earth was she angry? Yongcheon had no idea.

And if you hate me, why do you keep pulling my arm?

(End of Chapter)