ISS-Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Red auras warn of danger. Everything I’d seen until now had always been red auras warning of danger.

But starting a few days ago, I began seeing colors other than red auras. And reflecting on that experience, what the golden aura conveyed to me was:

Opportunity.

“Isn’t it just ordinary cotton cloth? Looking at it, there doesn’t seem to be anything particularly special about it……”

“Look more closely. I think there’s something there.”

“Yes?”

Looking at Seohwa’s questioning expression, I gave her a slight smile and turned my attention to the auction. Thinking about it logically, the auction should already be over.

According to the earlier instructions, the total number of auction items in one auction was ten. In other words, this auction was the last one. And yet the item that came out was merely common, mundane cotton cloth.

In a situation where linen fabric that only Hwangryongjangju could make had already appeared, there wouldn’t be many interested in that cotton cloth. But.

That’s what I found quite strange.

“Even if they wanted to add variation, they could have done it in a more interesting direction, but this secret auction was too easy. Don’t you think?”

“Well……”

“They used techniques that anyone with a bit of knowledge could recognize as made by Hwangryongjangju. If they’d intended to hide it from the start, they wouldn’t have done such a thing.”

The method wasn’t refined. If I were Hwangryongjangju, I wouldn’t have used such a method. I would have rather bought cheap fabric and woven it with overwhelming skill to show off my abilities.

Well, simply thinking about it, you can’t anticipate or predict everyone’s behavior patterns, so I let it pass for now. But.

What if my prediction wasn’t wrong?

“……The earlier one might not have been Hwangryongjangju’s item.”

“But doesn’t only Hwangryongjangju know the technique for weaving linen? The specialized chemical treatment too……”

“No. It’s not that only Hwangryongjangju ‘knew’ it.”

“Yes? Ah……!”

As if realizing something from my words, Seohwa’s eyes widened.

“Could it be, a successor?”

“That would be it.”

Most artisans have successors. And they work to pass down their secret techniques. So let’s think about it.

Making cloth using linen itself was something anyone who learned weaving could do. However, to raise the quality of that cloth required considerable weaving skill and a special chemical treatment process. That was precisely the reason everyone was convinced that linen fabric was Hwangryongjangju’s work. But.

What if Hwangryongjangju’s successor existed?

“The chemical treatment would have been passed down by Hwangryongjangju, and being Hwangryongjangju’s direct disciple, naturally their weaving skill would be beyond question!”

“That’s right.”

In other words, this place was both a test for the successor and a challenge thrown to us. Whether we could find the real thing hidden behind the flashy fake.

Hwangryongjangju aimed for that.

“……You thought of all this in that short time?”

At Seohwa’s tongue-clucking expression, I chuckled and nodded.

“If the direction is right, it’s not difficult. It’s not a hard story, is it?”

“It’s not a hard story, but usually reaching that point is difficult.”

“If you develop the habit of thinking about causes in everything, you can gain benefits in many areas like this. More than that, can you verify the fabric?”

“Just a moment. Let me see…….”

Looking at me with an admiring expression, Seohwa slightly leaned her body forward to get the fabric in her view. Her bright eyes shone a deep brown. She was probably drawing up her concentration.

Soon after, as Seohwa let out a light breath, I turned my gaze to the auction house. Seohwa’s eyes shining with amazing concentration.

“Can you see it? The distance isn’t too far?”

“Yes. My eyesight is quite good.”

“I see.”

As someone with an Extreme Yin Body that naturally gathered large amounts of qi, her physical abilities were bound to be excellent. An Extreme Yin Body was the equivalent of a spiritual beast among animals.

Well, that’s not what’s important right now though.

“……Wow.”

Letting out a small exclamation, Seohwa lightly brushed her shoulder with her hand and turned her gaze to me.

“I think…… it’s right.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. I can’t say for certain, but…… it’s incredibly precise. Cotton cloth tends to wrinkle easily, but looking at how the auctioneer is handling it, it has tremendous luster too. It’s hard to believe it’s cotton cloth.”

“Is it difficult?”

“It’s incredibly difficult. If such a technique exists, it wouldn’t be strange to call it a secret technique.”

I see.

“Now! Let’s begin the auction! The starting bid is ten nyang of silver-!”

“Ten nyang of silver.”

As soon as Seohwa finished speaking, seeing the auctioneer call out the auction price, I immediately started bidding. If that was real, wasn’t it something I absolutely couldn’t miss?

It was fine. I had sufficient funds. No one would spend more than four hundred nyang on mere cotton cloth. Even if they had doubts, there weren’t many in this place who would gamble that much.

“We have ten nyang of silver! Any more?”

“Fifteen nyang of silver!”

“Twenty nyang of silver.”

“We have twenty nyang of silver! Any more bids!”

Looking at the auctioneer shouting excitedly at the thought of leaving work, I let out a chuckle. The average price of cotton cloth Seohwa had whispered to me was about fifteen nyang of silver.

If the merchants here had discerning eyes, they wouldn’t try to raise the value beyond this. So we would be able to take this cotton cloth.

──That’s what I thought.

Until I heard a voice.

“Fifty nyang of silver.”

“……Mm?”

At the voice I heard, I slowly turned my gaze to look behind me. Far in the back seats, at that distant upper seat, the figure of a middle-aged man looking at me.

“Fi, fifty nyang of silver has been bid!”

Listening to the flustered auctioneer’s voice calling out the bid, I looked at the middle-aged man with a familiar face.

Of course his appearance was familiar. Because.

“What are you staring at so intently, Sohyeop?”

“…….”

The opponent I’d been face to face with just moments ago was right there.

Now, what to do.

***

‘Impudent brat.’

At the sight of Baek Riyun looking up at him from below, Baekgeommunju, So Yeohwang, let out a fishy smile.

‘Does a martial artist who lived off the Murim Alliance’s stipend think he can achieve what he wants?’

Who was So Yeohwang?

A master counted among the top five fingers near Dongting Lake, and even counting all of Hunan, a master whose name could be listed within the top twenty.

And yet that youngster showed him insufficient respect, and So Yeohwang, annoyed by Baek Riyun’s stiff-necked appearance, had put considerable internal energy into pressuring him. But.

‘I was pushed back. I, pushed back by a youngster barely past his twenties.’

Pushed back. That was the only way to put it.

Baek Riyun had brushed off So Yeohwang’s pressure, which had been pressed down with considerable internal energy, with just a light hand gesture. In fact, that alone proved that Baek Riyun’s cultivation level wasn’t far behind So Yeohwang’s.

So Yeohwang didn’t like that.

“Why are you doing this? I merely participated in the auction.”

“…….”

After staring at him silently for a moment, Baek Riyun slowly opened his mouth to bid fifty-five nyang. And as soon as he saw that, So Yeohwang bid sixty nyang again.

‘I must see that bastard’s distorted face.’

While sixty nyang of silver was a large sum, it wasn’t a burdensome amount for Baekgeommun, which controlled this area. No matter how much of a character he was, he wouldn’t try to spend more than sixty nyang on mere cotton cloth.

Thinking of winning the cotton cloth at this price, tearing it up in front of Baek Riyun, and showing who was superior, So Yeohwang wore a deep smile. And then.

“Sixty-five nyang.”

“Si, sixty-five nyang has been bid-!!!”

At Baek Riyun bidding and raising the price once more, So Yeohwang looked at the back of Baek Riyun’s head with a flustered expression.

‘He’s following this?’

Sixty nyang of silver wasn’t big money to him. But for Baek Riyun, who had just retired, it would be quite a large expense.

This wasn’t a price to follow out of pride. You could think he poked once because of pride, but by now his head should have cooled down. But how was he following?

“……Seventy nyang.”

“Seventy-five nyang.”

Seeing Baek Riyun counter-bid without hesitation as soon as he spoke, So Yeohwang’s heart grew cold.

‘This bastard is thinking something.’

Glancing at the cotton cloth on the table, So Yeohwang clicked his tongue quietly. To So Yeohwang, who had deep knowledge of luxury goods, it looked like nothing special. But wasn’t Hwangryongjangju’s playfulness quite famous?

If Baek Riyun knew something and was bidding on that, and thus Hwangryongjangju’s silk fell to Baek Riyun?

‘I can’t let the gift for Akyang’s branch magistrate be stolen.’

While Baekgeommun had strong influence, it hadn’t properly set foot in Dongting Lake’s interests. That’s why today So Yeohwang had entered the Heuksi to gain the favor of the Akyang branch magistrate who wielded great power in Dongting Lake.

‘I can’t take the risk that might exist.’

Anyway, Baek Riyun’s financial resources had limits, so even if he suffered a loss, it wouldn’t be a big one, would it?

“Eighty nyang.”

Having finished his judgment, So Yeohwang slowly raised his number plate and jumped into the bidding war. And at that sight, the merchants began murmuring.

“Is there something about the cotton cloth……? I don’t know why they’re raising it so much.”

“No, it’s not. Look carefully. That cotton cloth…… isn’t it a bit strange for ordinary cotton cloth? The luster is flowing……”

“Could it be?”

Opinions quickly exchanged and merchants began handling their number plates one by one. And shortly after, the moment the merchants gained some certainty.

The bidding war began.

“Eighty-five nyang!”

“Ninety nyang!”

“One hundred twenty nyang!”

Seeing the bid instantly far surpass the average price of cotton cloth, So Yeohwang handled his number plate. Baek Riyun in front there, looking at the auction house with a stiffly hardened face.

‘Either way, the cotton cloth won’t go to that bastard.’

It must hurt. He must have thought that if only he hadn’t participated, he could have obtained Hwangryongjangju’s silk for a pittance. But hadn’t that story already passed far away?

“Two hundred twenty nyang!”

“Two hundred forty nyang!”

“Hmm. But still.”

So Yeohwang, who had been watching the continuously soaring price, quietly opened his pouch to check his financial situation.

‘I need to prevent it from rising too much.’

While he could buy it without burden at about sixty nyang, if it exceeded six hundred or a thousand nyang, the story would be different. Considering that the previous auction soared to two thousand two hundred nyang, there was no knowing how much higher this auction might soar if it overheated.

He needed to cut it off here. So Yeohwang felt that way, and immediately raised his hand to call the auctioneer.

“Auctioneer.”

“Two hundred sixty nyang! Two hundred sixty nyang has been bid……!”

“I’m not bidding. Auctioneer. I’d like to make a proposal to the witnesses in this place, would that be alright?”

“A, a proposal you say?”

The auctioneer, who had been rolling his eyes at the unexpected price, bowed to So Yeohwang in a servile manner.

“What do you have to say?”

“I’m thinking that if it continues like this, the auction will become too overheated. Of course, if the auction gets heated, it would be fun for those watching or participating, but rational judgment becomes impossible.”

“Yesss…….”

“So I’d like to propose.”

Standing up and looking around, So Yeohwang wore a thick smile and continued speaking.

“How about, in one go, everyone bids simultaneously and the one who writes the highest bid wins?”

“……That’s.”

“I think this is a reasonable proposal.”

If they covered the bids and proceeded with the auction, they could prevent the auction house from overheating and enable a battle of wits between each other. It wouldn’t be a bad story for the merchants in this place either.

Considering all that, at So Yeohwang’s question, the auctioneer looked around and opened his mouth to ask opinions, then nodded.

“Since Baekgeommunju asks so, there’s no choice. Then we’ll proceed that way.”

As soon as it was decided, paper was distributed busily. The organizers quickly ran around distributing paper, brush, and ink to the participants.

‘How about that, now you won’t even dare. Huhu.’

Receiving the brush and ink, So Yeohwang smirked. Baek Riyun, with his limited financial resources, would never be able to seize victory in this secret auction.

‘I look forward to the moment it’s won.’

So Yeohwang slowly turned his head to see Baek Riyun’s shit-eating expression. And.

The moment his view reached Baek Riyun’s mouth.

“What is he saying?”

At Baek Riyun’s appearance conveying something to him with mouth shapes while wearing a light smile, So Yeohwang tried following the mouth shape and frowned.

“Tha…… nks?”