TL: FoodieMonster007; ED: TheGreatT20
Black markets were places where illegal goods were traded, and because of the nature of such items, there were no consistent sources of supplies and most such markets only opened sporadically. For this reason, it was safe to say that there were few ways for the general public to access the black market unless they knew of it in advance.
Furthermore, due to Yuxi’s close proximity to Kunming, where most common goods could be obtained, it was very unusual for a black market to open there. However, since the trade routes had been cut off lately, many necessities must have been in short supply, forcing the merchants to seek alternative sources such as the black market.
As for the merchants themselves, well, since when had merchants cared about the origins of their wares? They were only interested in profit, not always only because of greed, but because that was their bread and butter. It wasn’t like most of their customers even knew about the existence of black markets, anyway.
Late one night, a group of people suddenly appeared in the vacant lot at the end of the Black Tortoise Street, followed by around a dozen wagons. They swiftly unloaded the contents of the wagons onto the ground, and when they were done, a horde of merchants suddenly swarmed into the lot as if they had mutually agreed upon a starting time beforehand.
The merchants carefully appraised the goods on display, which included silks, ceramics, medicinal herbs, weapons etc. If there was one thing in common about all these items, it was that none of them were easy to obtain in Yunnan.
The group organizing the black market this time did not interact much with the merchants, instead choosing to stand off to the side, whispering softly to each other.
Some time later, the merchants gathered around the middle of the lot. From previous experiences, they knew that the haggling and auctioning was just about to begin.
A man who appeared to be the leader of the black market organizers stepped forward, and all eyes fell upon him as he announced, “I’m sure you lot have finished appraising everything and have concluded that nothing is defective. The prices of the goods are the same as last time. Now, come forward one at a time to finish the transaction.”
The merchants immediately formed a line, causing a small commotion in the process as they jostled each other around. One particularly short merchant among them then asked the organizer, “Are you absolutely sure that these goods are not defective? What if there’s a problem…”
“It’s entirely up to you whether you want to buy stuff or not, because there are a lot of people lining up behind you.”
“Looks like you can’t guarantee anything, huh.”
Tired of answering the merchant’s incessant questions, the organizer instead released a powerful killing aura and threatened, “No more questions.”
“I’m not asking anything very complicated, am I? We’re also taking big risks here, you know.”
“And I already told you, you don’t have to buy anything if you don’t like it.”
“You’re avoiding all my questions. As expected, these goods weren’t acquired legally, were they?”
In an instant, the organizer’s killing intent intensified, and his eyes flashed red.
“Who are you?” he demanded.
In the face of the black market organizer’s intimidation, the short merchant only grinned and shot back, “I’m the one who should be asking you that question. Who are you?”
“You’re no ordinary merchant.”
“ And neither are you.”
Even in the face of the black market organizer’s display of power, the short merchant remained calm. However, this only served to provoke the organizer further.
One after another, the remaining organizers rallied around their leader and released their own killing auras. Sensing that there was trouble, the other merchants quickly took several steps back, trying to retreat out of the conflict zone.
The short merchant continued grinning broadly at the leader.
SHIIING!
The organizers drew their weapons, but still, the short merchant was not intimidated, instead folding his arms and watching them with a look of amusement.
Huh? Is he… Nah, no way, thought the leader, before shouting, “Kill them all and erase all traces of our presence here today!”
“Yes Sir!”
The armed men immediately launched themselves at the merchants.
“UWAAAH!”
“HEEEELLLP!”
The merchants screamed and tried to run away, but the men chased after them and cut them down. The empty lot quickly descended into pandemonium as more and more blood was splattered. It was a scene straight out of hell, but the short merchant who provoked the black market organizers never even batted an eye.
SWISH!
“Die!” The lead organizer thrust his sword at the short merchant, who raised a hand to block it.
CLANG!
The lead organizer’s eyes widened with shock, feeling the recoil from his attack. The merchant had stopped his blade with his bare hands!
“You?”
“Hahaha!” the merchant laughed, rubbing a thin film off his face and revealing a completely different appearance. His skin was so pale that it was as if it never saw the sun, his lips were as red as blood, and his eyes as cold as a snake’s.
“A mask?” The lead organizer’s eyes trembled, not because the merchant was in disguise, but because his true appearance was too alarming.
The pale-skinned man grinned coldly, saying, “I’ve finally caught you in the act, you damn slippery rats.”
“Who are you?”
“Yul Gyeong-Cheon.”
“You’re from the Blizzard Squad!”
The lead organizer, whose name was Yoon Moon-Cheon, shuddered and looked around hurriedly. As expected, another twenty men in white armor had appeared out of nowhere and were surrounding the black market.
The Blizzard Squad was a military organization directly serving Jo Cheon-Woo, the Sect Leader of the Tyrant Fist Sect. They were in charge of taking care of all the shady jobs, and answered only to Jo Cheon-Woo and Yeop Pyung.1
Moreover, the squad consisted entirely of peak-level experts who had undergone rigorous training to improve their coordination, so much so that they could understand each other’s intentions with a mere exchange of glances. However, they were also extremely cruel, and for the sake of their mission, they would murder even helpless women and children.
It was thus rumored that wherever the Blizzard Squad passed though, not even an ant would be left alive. They were an object of fear for anyone who knew of their existence.
And Yul Gyeong-Cheon, the “Heinous Squad Leader”, was the captain of the Blizzard Squad as well as a merciless warrior with a slew of accomplishments.
Although Yoon Moon-Cheon was quite confident in his own abilities, he didn’t think that he would be a match for Yul Gyeong-Cheon. He quickly retreated backward, shouting, “Damn it!”
However, Yul Gyeong-Cheon wasn’t about to let him escape.
“What makes you think that you can get away?”
SWISH!
Yul Gyeong-Cheon’s clothes flapped loudly as he charged at Yoon Moon-Cheon, catching up with him in an instant. No matter how fast one retreated backward, they would never match the speed of someone running forward.
“Keuk!” Yoon Moon-Cheon swung his sword at Yul Gyeong-Cheon’s neck in desperation.
SWOOSH!
Despite the sword darting at him like a venomous snake, Yul Gyeong-Cheon did not panic. Instead, he simply reached out with a white-gloved hand and grabbed the blade. He trusted that his gloves, which were made of Heavenly Silk, would not be damaged by a normal blade.
He then tightened his grip around the blade, snapping it in half.
“Fuck!” Yoon Moon-Cheon immediately tossed aside his broken sword and swung his fist at Yul Gyeong-Cheon, but Yul Gyeong-Cheon’s next palm strike slammed into his chest before his mind even registered it.
BAM!
“Ugh!” Yoon Moon-Cheon fell to the ground, rolling. He struggled to stand up, but for some reason, he couldn’t summon any strength into his arms and legs.
In a mocking tone, Yul Gyeong-Cheon said, “Don’t bother trying to get up. When a person gets hit by my Void Palm (空線掌), they’ll lose control of their muscles.”
Yoon Moon-Cheon quickly looked around him for help, but at some point, all of his men had been subdued by the Blizzard Squad, causing the lot to fall into silence. Sigh, as expected of the infamous Blizzard Squad…
KUHEOK!
Suddenly, one of the subdued black market organizers threw up blood and collapsed onto the ground.
“He took poison! Restrain their movements!” one of the Blizzard Squad members shouted, but it was already too late. All of the organizers’ faces had turned black, and they were on the verge of death. The poison they had taken was fast and lethal.
No way…? Yul Gyeong-Cheon immediately turned toward Yoon Moon-Cheon.
WHOOSH!
The sound of something piercing through the air stung Yul Gyeong-Cheon’s ears and he instinctively ducked in response, narrowly dodging an arrow aimed at his head.
“Who is it?” he shouted, drawing the dao at his waist, but the only reply he got came in the form of three more arrows.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
He swung his dao and cut down all the arrows, but he was not happy.
“How dare you!”
Yoon Moon-Cheon was gone. Within the short time he was distracted, someone had whisked the man away. He instantly gave chase, growling through gritted teeth, “Do you think you can escape from me?”
Yul Gyeong-Cheon tore through the dark streets of Yuxi, the Blizzard Squad trailing right behind him. It was the dead of night, and these wolves were now on the hunt.
Meanwhile, the vacant lot where the black market had been fell into silence. Most of the merchants who had gotten embroiled in the fight now lay motionless on the ground, dead or dying, and every last one of the black market organizers had also committed suicide. The sight was reminiscent of a slaughterhouse, but all of the dead were human beings.
“Whoa, what a mess! It’s a total massacre,” a skinny man in his twenties said, shaking his head.
The skinny man was, naturally, Cheong-In. All the way here, Kwak Moon-Jung had found himself constantly annoyed by the spy’s constantly changing faces. Just how many times does he change his face in one day? he wondered.
However, the bloody scene at the lot quickly caught his and Jin Mu-Won’s attention. It was a painting of hell.
Jin Mu-Won grimly surveyed their surroundings. Neither the black market organizers nor the Blizzard Squad had given the merchants’ safety any consideration, but as far as he could tell, more of the merchants had actually been slain by the Blizzard Squad than the black market organizers.
Cheong-In looked at Jin Mu-Won apologetically. He felt rather guilty about the situation, as the massacre might have been prevented had he been able to obtain information on the black market faster.
“What now? I think we’re a step too late,” he asked.
Instead of answering, Jin Mu-Won simply picked up one of the arrows that had been fired at Yul Gyeong-Cheon. It bore a striking similarity to the ones that had been shot at him not too long ago.
“It’s the Crimson Ghost Corps.”
“The Crimson Ghost Corps?” Cheong-In asked. He had never heard of such a group before.
“Hmm… Huh? Hey?!” He was just about to ask Jin Mu-Won for more details, when the young man abruptly dashed off into the darkness, leaving him and Kwak Moon-Jung no choice but to run after the young man.
“Damn it! Hey, is it so hard to explain something to us clueless folks here before we dive right into something?”
Translator’s Notes: Murim authors like “cheon” in names way too much, sigh… Then again, Chinese authors like “tian” which is the same thing, all meaning “heaven/sky”. Heavenly EVERYTHING! Heavenly Sword, Heavenly Alliance, Heavenly Demon, Great Sage Equal to Heaven…
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