Chapter 233: Unwanted Companions Are Bound to Cause Trouble (2)

Early in the morning, Jin Mu-Won and Yu Geon-Yeop left the inn and headed for the large market at the far end of Taiyuan’s West Road.

Although the sun had barely risen, the market was already bustling with merchants hawking their goods and buyers picking through them. So enormous was it that people called it the Everything Market.

Jin Mu-Won led Yu Geon-Yeop through the crowd. The boy rarely showed emotion, yet even he couldn’t hide his astonishment at the sheer scale of the marketplace.

After walking for a while, Jin Mu-Won reached his destination—a carpentry shop near the horse market. He stepped inside without hesitation.

Craftsmen worked within, filling the shop with clanks and thuds.

One of them came over as Jin Mu-Won entered. “How can I help you?”

“I’d like to buy a carriage.”

“A carriage? We don’t have any pre-made ones.”

“How long would I have to wait for a custom order?”

“If it’s a simple structure, we can have it done in half a day. Something complex could take several days.”

“I don’t need anything complex. Make me a simple, sturdy one. How much will it cost?”

“For something like that, three silver taels should suffice.”

“Understood. Here’s a deposit.” Jin Mu-Won handed over one silver tael.

The craftsman’s face brightened at once.

“Is there a decent smithy nearby?” Jin Mu-Won asked. “I’d like to borrow a furnace.”

“Head straight down this road, and you’ll find the Jo Family Smithy. They primarily produce farming tools and carriage parts, and they supply us. Tell them we sent you, and they’ll lend you the equipment and tools.”

“Thank you.”

Jin Mu-Won found the smithy just as described. Since business was slow at that hour, another silver tael smoothed over the transaction, and the smith readily loaned him a furnace.

As expected of a place that made farming tools, the furnace was crude. For Jin Mu-Won’s purposes, though, it was more than enough.

He picked a lump of iron out of a corner and threw it into the fire. A faint smile touched his face.

Yu Geon-Yeop watched with interest. It was the first time he had ever seen Jin Mu-Won smile so brightly.

Jin Mu-Won waited for the iron to glow red-hot, then began hammering it.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The blows fell in a rhythm all their own.

Yu Geon-Yeop couldn’t help but smile. Just listening to the hammering and watching the sparks leap from the iron as its shape began to change excited him. Jin Mu-Won swung the hammer several times faster than the average craftsman would, but he didn’t notice.

Jin Mu-Won stretched the iron with tongs, then resumed hammering. After some time, he finally set the hammer down and smiled with satisfaction.

“What is this?” Yu Geon-Yeop asked.

“Something you’ll be wearing from now on.”

Jin Mu-Won had crafted a pair of exquisitely made, finely jointed gauntlets that almost looked like prosthetic hands.

“Try them on.”

“Yes!” Yu Geon-Yeop pulled the iron gauntlets over his hands. They fit him perfectly, but were so stiff that he could barely bend his fingers. Looking at Jin Mu-Won, he said, “My fingers don’t move well.”

Jin Mu-Won nodded. “I made them that way on purpose.”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t take them off, except when you’re eating or sleeping.”

“I understand.”

Yu Geon-Yeop didn’t ask why. He simply trusted that Jin Mu-Won had a good reason for doing this.

Jin Mu-Won looked at the boy’s face and sighed softly. Having a child be this thoughtful was not always a good thing.

Well, I was like that at that age too. Perhaps Yu Geon-Yeop is a mirror reflecting my own childhood.

Yu Geon-Yeop lowered his head and wiggled his fingers, but the stiff joints refused to give.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

After that, Jin Mu-Won stopped by the market to buy grain powder and other supplies for camping. His horse was already carrying the essentials, but his new companion was a child. Naturally, he needed to pack more provisions.

Luggage in hand, he stopped in front of a stall. An old woman was selling meat noodles, and the aroma stirred his appetite. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that Yu Geon-Yeop was staring blankly at the woman as well.

“Let’s have breakfast here.”

“Okay.”

Yu Geon-Yeop plopped down on a small stool.

Jin Mu-Won sat beside him and turned to the old woman. “Two bowls of noodles, please, with a generous amount of meat.”

“Just wait a moment. I’ll have them ready in a jiffy.”

“Yes!” Yu Geon-Yeop chirped.

The old woman dropped pre-made noodles into boiling water and stirred them.

While they waited, Jin Mu-Won looked around. Countless people walked the street, a fair number of them martial artists.

A portly, middle-aged man lounging arrogantly at a desk on the side of the road caught his eye. Beside him, a large flag bearing the emblem of Heaven’s Summit was planted in the ground. A group of five scrawny boys, who looked barely twelve or thirteen, waited behind him, glancing around anxiously.

The man ignored them and tore into a chicken leg on his desk. He ate so greedily that grease coated his hands, mouth, and sleeves.

CHOMP! CHOMP!

The boys watched him and swallowed hard, plainly hungry. Still, the man didn’t spare them a single glance and devoured the entire chicken.

“BUUURP!”

Jin Mu-Won frowned at the belch.

Just then, the old woman making the noodles asked, “What, are you trying to sell the kid too?”

“What are you talking about?” Jin Mu-Won asked.

The old woman pointed at Yu Geon-Yeop. “I’m asking whether you mean to sell this child too. If you do, I’ll never sell you noodles.”

“People aren’t objects. Why would I sell this child?”

“That’s a relief, then. I’ve been in this spot so long I’ve seen all sorts of terrible things. Maybe it’s time I quit this business.”

“What do you mean?”

“Those children over there were all sold by their own parents. I watched with my own two eyes as those so-called parents took ten silver taels for their own flesh and blood.”

Jin Mu-Won’s face darkened. He knew Heaven’s Summit recruited orphans. It was common knowledge that they took in children with promises of food, clothing, and martial arts training, only to send them to the front lines with minimal preparation.

However, the fact that they bought children outright to fill their ranks was news to him. The fact that children were sold in a public market was appalling.

As if to prove the old woman’s words, a shabby middle-aged man in his early forties appeared, leading a boy of about thirteen or fourteen by the hand.

He looked around cautiously before approaching the recruiter standing under the Heaven’s Summit flag. After a brief negotiation, the man handed the boy over and took ten silver taels in return.

Perhaps with a sliver of conscience left in him, the shabby man turned to the boy. “Daddy will make a lot of money and come back for you. Trust Daddy and wait for me.”

“Okay.” The boy nodded anxiously.

His father comforted him for a moment longer before scurrying away. The boy stared endlessly at his father’s receding back.

The instant the man was out of sight, the recruiter stood up, shackled the boy’s ankle, and warned, “You’re part of the Demon Slaying Army now. If you run away, we won’t just take the money back from your father. We’ll drag your younger sibling here in your place. If you’re fine with that, go ahead and run.”

The boy’s head dropped powerlessly. Finally, he realized the harsh reality of his situation.

The old woman spat, “Hmph! Empty promises. Not once have I seen any of these parents come back for their child. What are the gods doing not striking those bastards down with heavenly punishment?”

She continued to curse for a long time.

Jin Mu-Won and Yu Geon-Yeop ate their meat noodles in silence, feeling uneasy. The boy’s expression also soured.

Just as they were finishing their meal, a group of martial artists from Heaven’s Summit appeared. Taking the boys from the recruiter, they disappeared.

“Where are they going?” Yu Geon-Yeop asked worriedly.

“They’ll probably be sent to Gansu or Shaanxi Province, where they’ll receive expedited martial arts training before being sent to the battlefield,” Jin Mu-Won explained frankly. There was no reason to hide the truth, and since Yu Geon-Yeop had decided to learn martial arts, he needed to confront reality.

The boy fell silent for a long time, and Jin Mu-Won didn’t press him for a response. No matter how mature he was, Yu Geon-Yeop was only six, and the darkness of this jianghu was difficult for someone his age to accept.

In the end, Yu Geon-Yeop stayed silent until they finished their meal and returned to the carpentry shop.

A large carriage, big enough for four or five people, stood in the courtyard of the carpentry shop. Although its exterior was shabby, it appeared more than capable of keeping out the wind and rain.

Jin Mu-Won paid the remaining balance, bought a horse from the adjacent market, and hitched it to the carriage. The two-horse carriage slowly rolled out of the Everything Market and headed for the outskirts of Taiyuan.

Yu Geon-Yeop said nothing the entire ride. He was a quiet child to begin with, but now he was quieter still, and a faint killing intent hung about him. What had only swirled inside him was beginning to leak out.

Seeing the boys sold to the Demon Slaying Army had clearly changed him. He was born with immense killing intent, and now that it was seeping out, it was only a matter of time before others noticed.

Jin Mu-Won had to make a decision. He had agonized over it the night before, and now he had made one.

This child’s killing intent isn’t something that can be easily suppressed or removed. If that’s the case, I should maximize it instead and teach him to manage it himself.

This was no easy undertaking. Neither the Shadow Blade of Destruction nor the Art of Ten Thousand Shadows suited Yu Geon-Yeop. This meant that he would have to create a new martial art for the boy.

I never thought I’d end up creating a new martial art for such a reason.

Jin Mu-Won calmly reviewed every martial art he knew. He had personally mastered the Art of Ten Thousand Shadows, the Shadow Blade of Destruction, and the Flowing Stream Steps. Many more, however, lay dormant in his mind. These included the techniques engraved on the Wall of Ten Thousand Shadows, as well as everything he had read in manuals over the last three years.

There are many paths to the pinnacle, but once a man reaches it, the road he walks becomes crystal clear.

Jin Mu-Won could not be sure that he had reached the pinnacle himself. Regardless, the path he had walked was clear to him, and he was confident he could create a martial art suitable for Yu Geon-Yeop.

I think fist arts would suit Geon-Yeop best.

Although he looked ordinary, Yu Geon-Yeop’s bones were far stronger and denser than those of other children, and he was physically strong. Fist arts would suit him far better than fumbling with a weapon that didn’t fit his hands. That was Jin Mu-Won’s rationale for forging the iron gauntlets.

Those with strong killing intent were bound to bring death upon others. Stories of men killing an opponent with nothing but a light touch are mostly about people born with dense killing intent, like Yu Geon-Yeop. The gauntlets were meant to prevent that.

There was another advantage to wearing them as well. Their stiffness would significantly strengthen the wearer’s grip. For a martial artist who practiced fist arts, a strong grip was an absolute necessity.

It’s time to begin... Hmm?

Just as Jin Mu-Won resolved himself, a group approached from behind. He turned to see familiar faces.

“You are?”

“We meet again, Master Dan,” Jongri Mu-Hwan greeted.

He was accompanied by Chae Yak-Ran, Gongson Chang, and Go Cheon-Hu.

Go Cheon-Hu stepped forward. “We’re heading this way too. I guess our journey won’t be boring for a while.”

His gaze landed on Yu Geon-Yeop, who was sitting beside Jin Mu-Won, as if by chance.