Absolute Dominion

◈ Absolute Dominion

Chapter- 34

Wuhan had become a bustling hub due to the Heavenly Dragon Tournament and the Young Dragon and Phoenix Tournament, drawing in countless merchants. Among them, the weapon merchants were the most numerous. The place where the two entered wasn’t originally a weapon shop—it had been temporarily rented out and converted into one.

After leaving the inn, the two were on their way back when they were pulled inside by the shopkeeper’s enthusiastic invitation, simply to browse.

“So, you’re saying that if you had the money, you’d buy it?”

“The problem is, I don’t have any money right now.”

The shopkeeper subtly joined their conversation.

“You have quite the eye for quality. This is truly a fine product.”

The shopkeeper, who had an impressive mustache, smiled at Cha-Ryun and gave Jeok Lee-Gun a disapproving look.

“If you’re short on money, I can give you a discount. How much do you have on you right now?”

“Ridiculous.”

Jeok Lee-Gun looked at the shopkeeper with disinterest.

“You’re selling something that didn’t even cost five nyang to make for thirty nyang?”

At this, both Cha-Ryun and the shopkeeper exclaimed at the same time.

“That’s nonsense!”

Jeok Lee-Gun turned to Cha-Ryun and questioned her.

“Did you suddenly find your long-lost father? Why are you agreeing with him so easily?”

“Well…”

Cha-Ryun hesitated. Logically, she couldn’t believe that the markup could be that extreme. Even the leather sheath alone seemed worth ten nyang, let alone the throwing daggers.

“What bullshit are you spouting? If you don’t want to buy it, then just leave!”

Jeok Lee-Gun’s eyes narrowed dangerously as he glared at the shopkeeper.

“It’s not that I don’t want to buy it, but I never intended to buy it in the first place. And what did you say? I’m spouting bullshit?”

The intensity of his gaze made the shopkeeper flinch and take a step back.

“Th-that’s not what I meant… I’m just saying the cost isn’t what you think.”

“Yeah, right.”

Jeok Lee-Gun began pulling the throwing daggers from the display and handed them to Cha-Ryun.

“Look at these. Do you notice how the weight is different for each one?”

“They seem pretty similar to me.”

“And that’s why you’re an idiot.”

“Call me an idiot again, and see what happens.”

Jeok Lee-Gun pretended to flinch, but Cha-Ryun didn’t seem to be amused, so he continued to explain.

“I can overlook the fact that they weren’t tempered correctly, but this? This is unacceptable.”

Jeok Lee-Gun balanced the daggers on his finger by their edges.

“Be careful!”

“Don’t worry, there’s no way I’ll be cut by this cheap junk.”

He stood all six throwing daggers upright on his fingers, a feat that left Cha-Ryun in awe.

“Look closely. What do you see?”

Cha-Ryun leaned in for a closer inspection.

“Ah! The balance points are all different.”

Indeed, if looked at closely, it was apparent that each dagger was balanced at a different point.

“And you think it’s worth thirty nyang? A set of daggers with inconsistent balance like this will get a beginner killed when they try to throw them.”

Having demonstrated the flaws with undeniable evidence, the shopkeeper was left speechless.

Cha-Ryun silently marveled at Jeok Lee-Gun’s sharp observation, realizing he had detected the defect just by looking.

Jeok Lee-Gun casually tossed the daggers back to the shopkeeper.

Shwik!

The daggers flew past the shopkeeper’s head, embedding themselves into the wall behind him.

ßThe shopkeeper screamed and crumpled to the ground in fear.

“You’ll get killed for real if you sell this junk to someone with a worse temper than mine. So, do yourself a favor and get rid of this trash and those over there too.”

The shopkeeper was startled. The items Jeok Lee-Gun had picked out were the cheapest in terms of wholesale price. Of course, he hadn’t marked them down accordingly when selling them.

All the shopkeeper could do was nod in fear.

The two left the weapon shop.

“Real weapons aren’t sold in places like that.”

“Real weapons?”

“The kind that makes your skin crawl just by being drawn.”

“Where do they sell those?”

“Why? Do you want one?”

Cha-Ryun wasn’t necessarily looking to buy one, she was asking more out of curiosity than desire. After her recent life-or-death battle, her interest in weapons had grown considerably.

“Fine, I’ll get you one. Follow me.”

Jeok Lee-Gun began striding ahead as he led the way.

“How do you know where to go? I thought this was your first time in Wuhan.”

“It is.”

“Then how do you know where to go?”

“There are things you pick up from traveling the world, so even when you visit a place for the first time, there are things you know.”

“Huh?”

“The martial world operates similarly, no matter where you are.”

Jeok Lee-Gun led her to a rather surprising location—the side of Tranquility Inn.

“Why are we here? Don’t tell me you’re thinking of eating meat again after stuffing yourself earlier.”

“Hehe, not quite. We’ll eat more meat later, in the evening.”

Oh, give me a break.

But Jeok Lee-Gun didn’t step inside the inn. Instead, he examined the wall beside it. The surface was covered in a variety of crude graffiti.

“This is it.”

Jeok Lee-Gun appeared pleased as he gestured toward a specific spot on the wall.

“What exactly is it?”

“It’s a map.”

Jeok Lee-Gun explained to the puzzled Cha-Ryun.

“There are many organizations in the martial world. Some of them can’t conduct business openly. Such organizations always leave their location in code on the wall next to the largest tavern in the village.”

“No way…”

It was a cultural shock for Cha-Ryun. Never in her life had she thought to examine the walls of inns. Was this what he meant by a different world?

“This here is the mark of the Dark Treasury Traders.”

“Dark Treasury?”

Jeok Lee-Gun pointed to a drawing of a broken arrow with the characters Cheong (靑) and Il (一) written beside it. At first glance, it looked like meaningless graffiti.

“Black means north, white means south, blue means east, and red means west. This one says to head east for half a kilometer.”

It was simple, but it was a code that only those who knew the meaning could decipher.

It seemed like they were weapons dealers.

“But why do they have to be so secretive when selling weapons?”

Selling weapons or concealed weapons to martial artists wasn’t illegal—just like the weapon shop they visited earlier.

Jeok Lee-Gun smirked.

“You’ll see once we get there.”

Jeok Lee-Gun walked ahead briskly.

“Wait, slow down!”

Despite feeling a strong sense of unease from the area they were heading toward, Cha-Ryun hesitated only briefly before following Jeok Lee-Gun. Her curiosity got the better of her, and being with Jeok Lee-Gun made her feel reassured.

Once again, she found herself trusting him.

It was a strange but somehow comforting sense of trust.

Every day with this odd guy was filled with excitement and surprises.

“I had planned to come here anyway. It worked out perfectly.”

“Why?”

“I’ve been looking for something for a long time, and I think it’s there.”

They walked about half a kilometer eastward along the path indicated by the mark. The area they arrived at was lined with a few shabby stores. Jeok Lee-Gun led them into a small hardware shop.

“Welcome.”

A scruffy looking old man greeted them.

Jeok Lee-Gun wasted no time and asked him directly.

“Do you fix broken arrows here?”

The old man’s eyes shifted slightly.

“What kind of arrows are we talking about?”

“The kind that can kill anything.”

The old man’s gaze changed again.

Cha-Ryun realized that the two were exchanging code words.

The old man looked inside and shouted.

“Hwa!”

A woman emerged.

A woman stepped out from the rear of the shop. She had a tan complexion and a sharp appearance. She was unmistakably a martial artist.

“Follow me.”

Her tone was a bit blunt, hinting at her straightforward personality.

The two followed her down a narrow hallway, which led to a cluttered backyard. The woman opened a locked storage shed and led them inside, then down through a secret passage into an underground chamber.

Cha-Ryun’s jaw dropped as she descended into the underground warehouse.

The walls and display cases around the room were filled with various weapons, far more in both quantity and quality than anything they had seen in the other weapon shop they were in earlier.

The woman spoke.

“What kind of weapon are you searching for?”

Initially, Cha-Ryun had intended to buy a set of throwing knives. But seeing the variety of weapons here, she felt the urge to get something more unique.

Noticing her hesitation, the woman looked slightly puzzled. The clientele for this place was very selective.

Although Jeok Lee-Gun had casually said it as a place one could find anywhere in the martial world, in reality, very few people knew about it. The secret code exchanged with the old man was known only to trusted individuals.

Most who came here already knew exactly what they wanted. It wasn’t the kind of place people came to browse. Typically, they would request what they needed and pick it up.

Jeok Lee-Gun chuckled.

“How about you recommend something good? It’s her first time here.”

The woman picked up a small dagger from a display.

“This dagger is called the Three Shadow Dagger.”

The sharpness of the blade sent a chill down Cha-Ryun’s spine just by looking at it.

The woman aimed the dagger at a stack of rice sacks on one side of the room.

Piiing!

With a sharp, piercing sound, the dagger shot forward, embedding itself deeply into the sack with tremendous speed and force.

Click.

By activating the handle, another blade shot out from the dagger.

“Typically, concealed weapons like these only have one blade, or at most, two. But the Three Shadow Dagger has three blades. It’s perfect for catching an opponent off guard. It costs two hundred and fifty nyang. If you buy it, I’ll even throw in twenty extra replacement blades.”

Cha-Ryun’s mouth hung open in astonishment. The price was far higher than she had anticipated. But at the same time, she couldn’t deny the appeal of owning such a weapon.

She cast a playful glance at Jeok Lee-Gun, silently asking what he thought. In truth, she was teasing him—challenging him to see if he would buy something as expensive as two hundred and fifty nyang.

Jeok Lee-Gun shook his head indifferently.

“It’s too cheap-looking, and also, it seems too cowardly.”

You’re the coward here. Just admit it’s too expensive.

Though it seemed silly to associate concealed weapons with honor or dignity, somehow, after hearing him say that, it did make a bit of sense.

The woman put the Three Shadow Dagger back and brought out another item.

This time, it was a small gourd-shaped container.

“It looks like a liquor container, and you can actually use it to hold water or wine. But this is known as the Flying Heaven Bomb. It has the ability to fire a hundred needle-sized projectiles. The needles are so thin and small that they’re difficult to block with a sword. Also, each one is coated with lethal poison—even a graze will result in instant death. It’s single-use, but it guarantees a kill. The price is four hundred and twenty nyang, but I’ll give it to you for four hundred.”

The casual way in which the woman mentioned “instant death” made Cha-Ryun feel slightly unnerved.

Still, these prices were outrageous.

Jeok Lee-Gun shook his head again.

“If you use something like that, you’ll end up as a wanted criminal in the martial world.”

Cha-Ryun finally understood why this place operated so secretly. Regular weapon shops weren’t allowed to sell poisoned weapons. In addition to government regulations, sects like the Tang Clan strictly controlled the use of poison. Even without poison, the shady atmosphere of the shop suggested they dealt with stolen goods as well.

The woman, maintaining her calm demeanor, moved on to the next item.

This time, it was a sword.

As someone who wielded a sword herself, Cha-Ryun showed far more interest in this than in the previous weapons.

“This is the Brave Heaven Sword. It’s a renowned blade that needs no introduction.”

For the first time, Jeok Lee-Gun nodded in approval.

“This one seems quite impressive. How much does it cost?”

“Two thousand nyang. This item is non-negotiable—it cannot be discounted by even a single coin.”

Cha-Ryun marveled at the sword—it felt as though it could slice through anything with even the slightest touch.

‘So, this is what a truly exceptional sword feels like.’

Watching her, Jeok Lee-Gun was suddenly intrigued by the sword she was currently using.

“Is the sword you’re using now a gift from your father?”

“Huh? This one?”

She pointed to her sheath.

“Yeah.”

“Yes, that’s right. He gave it to me three years after I started learning the sword.”

“I thought so. That sword is very good. It looks like he gave you something really nice because you’re his daughter.”

Cha-Ryun glanced down at her own sword.

‘Is my sword really that good?’

“And besides, for lower-level martial artists, familiarity is the most important thing. You don’t need a better sword unless your internal energy is overflowing to the point that your sword cannot handle it anymore. The amount of internal energy you have right now is far from that level though.”

‘Why can’t you say those things when we’re alone!?’

Cha-Ryun’s face turned slightly red.

When you call a skinny person a glutton, it’s just teasing, but when you call a fat person that, it’s insulting. Calling a martial artist ‘lower-level’ is bound to sting.

“Although that sword may be better, considering your current level, it’s not worth two thousand nyang to switch.”

Jeok Lee-Gun then turned to the woman and spoke.

“Is this the best you’ve got?”

The woman’s expression stiffened, clearly feeling insulted by his remark. But then, she smiled slyly.

“Do you think you can afford anything better?”

“That’s not for you to worry about.”

At that moment, the old man’s voice was heard from behind them.

“Since you are special guests, I suppose we should show you something fitting.”

The old man entered the chamber, carrying a small box.