Chapter 43. Black Market (3)

I rose from my chair just like that.

“B-brother? A-are you leaving already?”

Nam Geon, who was stuffing his mouth with food, asked with a look of disappointment.

“You can eat the food when we get back.”

Nam Geon, who was looking back and forth between me and the food on the table, rose with a face on the verge of tears.

We left the inn and headed for the tea shop.

Last night.

And this morning.

Thanks to wandering around the village, I already knew the location of the tea shop.

When we arrived near the tea shop, I could see the owner and a customer conversing beyond the wide-open door.

“A-are you going to kill him right away?”

“It’s not certain yet.”

I forced back my impatience and entered the tea shop.

Up close, I saw a thick bundle lying next to the customer who was talking to the owner.

The customer looked like a peddler on the outside.

The kind-faced owner smiled and greeted us.

“Welcome. Hahaha. What kind of tea would you like?”

“Our money is not plentiful, so please give us the cheapest tea you have.”

“Hahaha. Understood, customer.”

As I sat on a narrow chair in a corner of the small tea shop, Nam Geon squeezed himself into the seat opposite me.

Leaving Nam Geon's pitiful figure behind, I discreetly looked around the inside of the tea shop.

A narrow space.

I couldn’t see anything that would suit the underworld or trash.

At that moment.

The owner’s voice pierced my ears.

“I haven’t seen you before. Is this your first time here?”

I slowly turned my head to see the owner smiling at me.

“Yes. We arrived last evening and are resting for a bit.”

“Hahaha. It’s a peaceful village. Please rest comfortably before you leave.”

The owner, who had laughed cheerfully, turned his body.

He scooped up boiling water from the pot where he was boiling water with a gourd dipper.

Even while the owner had turned his gaze, I continued to look at him.

Was it because I already suspected the tea shop?

While talking with the owner, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu and unease.

What could it be?

I threw a subtle question at the owner.

“It seems like a rather quiet place, but is the business good?”

“Hahaha. Well. Still, recently there have been people visiting, so it seems I won’t starve to death.”

The owner poured the boiling water into a teacup without meeting my eyes.

The steam rising from the teacup touched the owner’s face.

A faint smile on the owner’s lips.

A bead of sweat trickling down the back of his neck.

Heh.

A faint laugh escaped me.

“I was lucky.”

At my mutter, Nam Geon and the peddler looked at me with puzzled expressions.

Swish!

I suddenly flicked my sleeve, throwing a dagger at the owner’s head.

“Hiiik!?”

“B-brother!?”

While the peddler and Nam Geon let out belated, startled screams, the dagger embedded itself in the wall with a dull thud.

Thwack!

Despite being focused on the teacup, the owner reacted to the dagger I threw and dodged it.

“W-what is the meaning of this?”

I used the Eight Trigrams Flying Stream Steps and rushed towards the owner who was shouting, pretending to be surprised.

As I thrust my sword at the owner, he dodged the blow by a hair's breadth, throwing his body with a surprised expression.

The peddler next to him quickly shouted, and Nam Geon also rushed to grab me.

“What in the world are you doing!!”

“B-brother’s gone crazy! C-calm down!”

Regardless, I swung my sword again at the owner who had rolled on the floor and was getting up, and said.

“Your skill with the human skin mask is not that of a novice!”

The identity of the déjà vu and unease I felt.

It was a human skin mask.

Human skin mask.

A mask made from tearing off a person’s facial skin.

An item whose value increases the thinner the skin is peeled, so that it's not obvious a mask is being worn.

A high-quality human skin mask was an item that was difficult to recognize for the most part.

The reason I said I was lucky was also because of this.

The face of the owner who was pouring tea.

Perhaps because of the steam, his face was wet.

But it wasn’t sweat.

On the other hand, there were beads of sweat on places like the back of his neck.

A strange phenomenon where sweat flowed from the neck area, as if skipping the face.

It wasn't prominent because of the moisture on his face, but since I already suspected him, I didn't miss it.

Furthermore, if I hadn't seen a human skin mask a few times in my past life, I probably wouldn't have noticed.

And a guy who hides his face with such an inhumane item couldn't possibly be a normal person.

“Let’s see just how ugly a face you have that you have to cover it with a human skin mask.”

The moment I swung my sword towards the owner who had fled to the wall.

The owner’s aura changed completely.

“Tsk.”

The owner, who had grabbed a staff that was by the wall, took a stance as if he were performing a sword-drawing art.

Soon after, as the owner swung the staff, a thin blade hidden in the staff shot out.

Clang!!

The sound of metal rang out as the sword and blade clashed.

While our weapons were locked.

The owner frowned.

As if it were his own face.

“Strange. It shouldn’t have been of such low quality to be discovered by a brat like this.”

His impression was the same kind-looking one from a moment ago, but his eyes were so indifferent that it felt somewhat grotesque.

But the bigger change was his aura.

I felt a sharp aura that made my hair stand on end.

Clang!

I instinctively took a step back and retrieved my sword.

Slice!

Immediately after.

The man’s blade cut through the spot where I had been standing.

At some point, an aura like a heat haze had formed on the edge of the blade he was wielding.

Blade Qi.

This guy was also a Peak Realm master.

“You have good instincts.”

The owner muttered with an indifferent face.

“But you have no fear.”

“After dying once, there’s nothing left to see.”

The man let out a small laugh.

But his eyes still looked indifferent.

“Spoken like a brat. To say there’s nothing left to see after overcoming a crisis just once. For a person of Jianghu, the crossroads of life and death are a daily occurrence.”

He seemed to have misunderstood my words, but it didn't matter.

“B-brother?”

Nam Geon, who was approaching to stop me, called me in a confused voice.

However, I had no room to turn my head to Nam Geon.

The moment I take my eyes off that owner, I die.

My instincts were warning me so.

With my gaze fixed on the owner as if nailed, I said to Nam Geon.

“You take care of the peddler over there.”

A moment ago when I attacked the owner.

In the midst of the confusion, the peddler had stealthily taken out a small blade from his bundle.

It meant they were accomplices.

“Haat!”

Soon, the peddler’s shout was heard from Nam Geon’s direction.

Ting!

“Huh?”

A hollow metallic sound and the peddler’s flustered voice burst out.

It seemed he hadn't expected human skin to be as hard as iron.

The owner seemed to be in the same boat, as his eyes momentarily turned towards Nam Geon.

I once again flicked my sleeve and threw a dagger.

Swiiiiiish!

Clang!

The man easily deflected the dagger and then stepped on his footwork, rushing towards me.

From the moment his aura changed, I could see the trajectory of his footwork in his wide-open eyes.

I immediately kicked the chair next to me and sent it flying into the trajectory he was about to take.

Thwack!

Perhaps I kicked it too hard, one of the wooden chair's legs broke off and flew towards him.

“Tsk.”

The man, clicking his tongue, had his gaze fixed on me, not the chair.

He concisely took a step to the side to dodge the chair and swung his blade at the same time.

Towards me, who had closed in right after kicking the chair.

Clang!!

Once again, the blade and sword clashed, a metallic sound rang out, and the sword in my hand screamed.

Because of the blade qi shimmering on his blade, my sword's edge was being ground away.

It would be troublesome if the sword broke again, so I used the Eight Trigrams Flying Stream Steps and quickly threw my body to the side.

I couldn’t expect the good fortune of the sword blade breaking in two and flying towards his neck like last time.

For some reason, the owner, instead of chasing me, frowned and muttered.

“Hmm. Judging by the way you fight, you don't seem to be one of those hypocrites or a Beggar’s Gang beggar.”

“In what way do I look like a beggar?”

“Didn’t you come in beggar’s rags?”

It seemed they had been watching us since we arrived yesterday.

“Looks like you were watching while hiding like cowards.”

“Hoo. If I had known you were such a fearless brat, I would have taken care of you at night.”

Right after letting out a sigh full of annoyance.

He suddenly used his movement arts and rushed at me.

Swish!

At the same time, a trajectory was embroidered in the air by the blade in his hand.

I quickly used the Eight Trigrams Flying Stream Steps and stepped to the right.

But it seemed difficult to dodge completely, as the hem of my clothes was cut off and a chilling slicing sound was heard.

Slice!

“You’re unnecessarily nimble.”

The man, who had swung his blade a few times, frowned and then suddenly stretched his left hand out to the side.

He grabbed a gourd dipper with his left hand, dipped it in the pot, and swung it just like that.

Swoosh!

Boiling water scattered in the air.

As I calmly watched the boiling water and looked for a way to escape.

Between the curtains of boiling water scattered in the air.

Tiny holes appeared.

Very small needles.

Clang!

I swung my sword to deflect two needles and dodged one by turning my head.

Swish.

Right after I stepped on my footwork to evade the spot, Nam Geon’s voice was heard from behind.

“Ah, hot!!”

Ting!

It seemed Nam Geon, who was behind, had withstood the hot water and needles with his whole body.

With Nam Geon’s sturdy body, it probably wouldn’t be a big problem.

In truth, I didn’t have the luxury to turn my head and check.

Because the man had already rushed in and was swinging his blade again.

Slice!

As a stinging pain was felt from a shallow cut on my forearm, I also readily thrust my sword towards his side.

The man twisted his upper body to dodge the blow, and using the momentum from the twist, he swung his blade again.

It was a strange movement.

It wasn't a movement that came from a solid foundation.

It was closer to an animalistic movement.

It wasn't a movement from honing a specific technique, but an instinctive movement learned through countless real battles.

Slice.

As my skin was lightly cut by his blade again, I also quickly twisted my body and thrust my sword towards his neck.

For a moment, we exchanged precarious blows at a distance where our sword and blade met.

By the time he was getting used to my sword art.

I launched a concise thrust towards his left thigh as a feint.

And the moment he reacted to my sword and tried to counterattack.

Swiiiiish!

The path of my sword, which was aiming for his thigh, twisted sharply.

Towards his neck.

Slice!

A ghastly cutting sound was heard soon after, but his head didn't fall off.

All that happened was a shallow wound on his neck.

At the last moment.

The man, who had quickly twisted his upper body, narrowly dodged the Flying Swallow Sword Art.

But it wasn't without results.

Because his center of gravity was thrown off from moving hastily.

Without delay, I retrieved the sword I had thrust and swung it down.

Then, he didn't hesitate and threw his body to the side.

Lazy Donkey Rolls on the Ground.

The man, who had rolled quickly on the floor once, picked up a fragment of a teacup scattered on the tea shop floor and threw it like a hidden weapon.

While I was dodging the teacup fragment.

The owner had already gotten up.

My decisive move had been nullified.

“Tsk.”

I knew instinctively.

If I tried one more time, my neck would be cut.

That guy was completely different from the slave merchant leader I had faced before.

Splashing boiling water, throwing hidden weapons.

And even rolling on the floor without a moment's hesitation while fighting an enemy of a lower realm than himself.

Unlike the slave trader who was full of bluff like the hypocrites of the Righteous Path, this guy was a master hardened by countless real battles.

A weathered Peak Realm master.

It felt like I was watching myself fight in my past life.

If there was one problem, it was that I had never reached the Peak Realm, neither in my past life nor in this one.

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