Chapter 23 : Auction House (2)

Chapter 23: Auction House (2)

If he hadn’t locked eyes with the man—or if he hadn’t fused Secret Flowing Body Technique and Dispersing Mist Skill to sharpen his senses—Jang Woo-hyun wouldn’t have been able to gauge the middle-aged man’s strength from this distance.

A tremendous power was hidden behind those calm, penetrating eyes.

He neither revealed his Qi nor emitted any killing intent, yet there was a heavy sense of pressure. Instinctively, Jang’s fists clenched under the tension.

‘That’s a Master Level...’

He was more formidable than expected.

Until now, the strongest martial artist Jang had seen was Bang Jong-oh from the Demon Extermination Sect, but this middle-aged man was even stronger.

Feigning calmness, Jang raised his cup toward the man and gave a subtle nod—something a tipsy guest in a tavern might do when in a good mood.

Then, he casually turned his head and held out the cup to Hwang An.

“Brother Jang, what are you...?”

“Less talk, more pouring.”

Though flustered by the odd behavior, Hwang An did as instructed and filled the cup. Sipping the liquor, Jang discreetly glanced toward the middle-aged man and the young man walking out together.

Thankfully, thanks to the Secret Flowing Mist Technique, which masked his true strength, it seemed they had quickly diverted their attention elsewhere.

The strength Jang had currently revealed was merely at the entry level of a First-rate Martial Artist.

That level was common enough in high-end taverns like this.

“A monster just walked in.”

“A monster? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

Instead of answering, Jang stared at the spot where the middle-aged man had vanished.

What on earth was that man? For someone of that caliber to be moving around without even a single escort—it was unusual.

A Master Level martial artist was extremely rare, even among major sects. They rarely moved unless something significant was happening. For such a figure to appear here, in a Changsha tavern, was bizarre.

Moreover—

‘Something was off.’

The relationship between the middle-aged man and the young man with him.

On the surface, it looked like the young man was attending to the middle-aged one, but Jang felt something different.

‘It seemed more like the middle-aged man was serving him.’

He wasn’t entirely sure, since it was only a brief glance, but that’s how it felt. The young man appeared to be the superior, with the older man acting as his escort.

‘Where would you find someone with a Master Level bodyguard?’

Nothing came to mind. Jang mulled it over for a while before giving up. Maybe he had just seen it wrong, and besides, he probably wouldn’t run into them again.

“What are you mumbling to yourself about?”

“Hm?”

“You’ve been thinking awfully hard. More martial arts thoughts?”

“No, I just saw someone interesting.”

“An acquaintance?”

“Not exactly. Just... someone. Anyway, when’s the auction...?”

He cut himself off mid-sentence as a sudden thought struck him—that Master Level expert might’ve come here because of the auction.

“It’s in two days. What now?”

“It’s nothing... just a thought.”

“Always so vague. Looks like your head’s spinning again. Fine, let’s eat quick and head back to our rooms.”

Watching Hwang An gulp down his drink, Jang’s eyes drifted once more toward the tavern’s entrance.

The middle-aged Master and the young man. Jang felt certain he would meet them again.

Two nights later.

“About time you showed your face!”

Hwang An scolded Jang the moment he saw him.

Ever since witnessing that Master Level aura, Jang had thrown himself back into training, to the point where he hadn’t even come out for meals.

“I was starting to wonder if you even came here with me.”

“Sorry about that. I had a lot to think about.”

“You’re going to think yourself into the grave at this rate.”

After a few more grumbles, Hwang An slid something across to Jang—a wooden mask carved with a dragon’s face.

“Put this on.”

“What’s this? Some secret auction thing?”

“Right on. The items being sold aren’t exactly pocket change. Everyone hides their faces.”

It wasn’t unusual to conceal one’s identity at such events, so Jang accepted it without question.

Masked, the two of them headed to a small clearing in the city. Several carriages were parked there.

Hwang An approached and showed an invitation. The surrounding martial artists guided them to a carriage.

Once it departed, Hwang An spoke.

“One invitation cost me a hundred nyang of silver.”

“What?”

The absurd price shocked Jang.

In this world, one nyang of silver was roughly equivalent to 100,000 won in South Korean currency.

A hundred nyang. That meant they had paid ten million won just for entry—not for the auction items, but the ticket itself.

“We don’t have connections, and it’s our first time, so we had no choice but to buy one. The scalpers tacked on a profit too. We had to win an auction just to enter the auction!”

As Hwang An grumbled, the carriage rolled onward, eventually arriving at a manor built on a low hill outside Changsha.

The two stepped down from the carriage and were guided into a large building.

Some people wearing masks glanced briefly as they carried in their box, but quickly looked away. Apparently, carrying something in wasn’t all that unusual here, given the variety of guests.

Inside, a vast hall spread out before them. At one end stood a stage for auctioneering, and the rest of the space rose like steps in a theater, with seating arranged in tiers.

Every seat was partitioned, blocking one person from seeing the others. Once seated, only the stage was visible.

Jang and Hwang An were guided to a small, isolated seat in the corner.

“We’re nobodies, so they stuffed us in the corner. Go ahead and surprise them, Brother Jang.”

Hwang An patted the box as he spoke.

Even after they were seated, people continued to trickle in. Around half an hour later, the auctioneer finally appeared and declared the start of the event.

“Welcome, everyone, to tonight’s auction!”

After rattling off a rehearsed greeting, the auctioneer signaled the beginning.

“Let’s start with our first item.”

The first item presented was a metallic ingot with a black sheen.

“A Black Iron Ingot. Not something you can find easily. As many of you know, weapons forged with black iron become dramatically more durable. Let’s begin the bidding at one hundred nyang of silver.”

Starting with something of this caliber was a strong statement. While Black Iron wasn’t impossible to find, it wasn’t common either.

Considering auction rules—where the best items are usually saved for last—opening with black iron showed just how elite this Shangguan Family auction really was.

The black iron ingot was quickly sold. The second item was honey from the Golden-Crowned Bee King—a large, palm-sized bee native to Yunnan Province. Its honey was said to enhance Internal Energy, making it as valuable as any elixir.

“Don’t need it?”

“I already got an elixir for my last merit reward.”

“Ah... then yeah, you’re good.”

They had evenly split the credit for defeating the Five Monsters, and if Hwang An had exchanged his share for an elixir, it must’ve been a potent one—likely far superior to the bee honey.

While they chatted, the honey was swiftly sold, and the third item was brought out—one that caught Jang Woo-hyun’s attention.

“The Dual Yin-Yang Manual of Heaven and Earth. A forbidden martial art once used by the Yin-Yang Fiend, a swordsman active in the Gansu region about a hundred years ago. As some of you may know, the Fiend was infamous for wielding both sword and sabre simultaneously, using different martial arts in each hand. It’s said to be difficult to master, but rivals even Wudang’s Yang Energy Divine Art in power.”

Wudang's Yang Energy Divine Art was a martial art that allowed one to simultaneously master two different techniques. Hearing that the Dual Yin-Yang Manual of Heaven and Earth was comparable, Jang Woo-hyun turned to Hwang An to confirm.

“Is that real?”

“You mean the Fiend’s story? It’s real. Roughly a hundred years ago? That’s when he was active. Just as the host said, he wielded a sword and a sabre in each hand and used two different martial arts at once. You interested?”

Jang Woo-hyun nodded and grabbed the wooden paddle with their bidder number.

“Since it’s only the third item up, there’s a chance it’s fake.”

“Fake?”

“I mean, they must’ve verified it to some degree before listing it, but the verification probably wasn’t perfect. No one’s successfully learned the Dual Yin-Yang Manual to this day. So no one can confirm whether it’s genuine or not.”

“Then isn’t that fraud?”

“Well, if you look at it that way, maybe. But it’s more like... since it’s so complicated that no one’s been able to learn it, there’s just no way to confirm if it’s the real thing. That’s probably why the Shangguan Family put it up early in the auction, after weighing all that.”

It was a convincing explanation. If it truly was a manual on par with Wudang’s Yang Energy Divine Art, then it was a supreme-level secret manual. Something like that wouldn’t usually show up so early in the auction. If it were authentic, it would’ve been the final item of the night.

“We’ll start the bidding at 300 nyang. Bidder 83, 300 nyang.”

While Jang was talking with Hwang An, the auctioneer had finished his explanation and began the bidding. Despite everything he’d heard, Jang Woo-hyun joined in without hesitation.

“Bidder 84, 310 nyang! Bidder 83, 320! 330! 340! 350!”

The auctioneer called out as he pointed to Jang and a few other bidders, raising the price rapidly. Not long after, it passed 500 nyang, and the auctioneer paused for a moment.

“From here on, we’ll raise the bid by 50 nyang.”

As soon as the bidding passed 500 nyang, the number of participants noticeably dropped. Once it surpassed 1,000 nyang, only one other bidder remained besides Jang Woo-hyun.

“1,500! 1,500! Any more bids? 1,500!”

The auctioneer struck the gavel three times, and the item was sold. Jang Woo-hyun had won the Dual Yin-Yang Manual of Heaven and Earth for 1,500 nyang.

“Feels like you overpaid... but hey, it’s not like you’re broke. Congrats anyway.”

Although the price felt steep for a secret manual that might not even be real, seeing Jang’s pleased expression, Hwang An offered him a casual congratulation.

The auction continued after the first successful bid, but neither of them saw anything else that particularly caught their interest—until the ninth item was brought out.

“This next one is something very special.”

The auctioneer smiled as warriors from the Shangguan Family carefully carried out a wooden box. With an exaggerated gesture, he opened the box at an angle, then shouted louder than ever before:

“The Demonic God Art of the Mad Demon Divine Hermit!”

The hall, which had been relatively quiet, began to buzz with excitement.

Jang Woo-hyun, lacking knowledge about the martial world, had no idea what this was. As usual, he turned to Hwang An.

“Brother Jang, you’re basically a newborn when it comes to martial arts.”

When Jang didn’t react to the joke, Hwang An continued.

“The Mad Demon Divine Hermit—he was the strongest martial artist in the world three hundred years ago.”

“Strongest in the world? You mean like, the number one in the martial world?”

“Exactly. Though, not everyone agreed on that. In any case, he was a unique character.”

The Mad Demon Divine Hermit was a mysterious figure. One day, he suddenly appeared in the martial world and left behind countless eccentricities and legends. Some called him the greatest under the heavens; others said he was the most bizarre martial artist in history.

That was how he earned his nickname: Mad Demon Divine Hermit.

“He was said to possess genius-level talent, but also to be impossible to understand. There were times when he’d say strange things—completely incomprehensible. Some claimed it wasn’t even a language. Weird stuff... huh?”

As he spoke, Hwang An paused, seemingly struck by a thought, and stared silently at Jang Woo-hyun.

A genius-level talent. Strange words.

Jang Woo-hyun didn’t typically speak nonsense, but there was that one time—when he’d said something neither of them could explain.

‘Gullise.’

It sounded like a word only he understood. Even Hwang An, with his wealth of experience despite his young age, had never heard it before.

It had only happened once, but it left a deep impression.

For a moment, Hwang An felt an uncanny resemblance between Jang Woo-hyun and the Mad Demon Divine Hermit.

‘No way. It can’t be.’

It had only happened once, so of course it couldn’t be the same. He convinced himself it was just a coincidence.

“What?”

“It’s nothing. Anyway, that’s the secret manual of the Mad Demon Divine Hermit.”

Lowering his voice, Hwang An leaned in close, glanced around, then whispered to Jang Woo-hyun.

“But there’s a serious problem.”

At Jang’s subtle nod, he continued.

“It’s not just hard to understand—it’s impossible to read.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s written in some unknown language. Or rather, not even a language—maybe symbols? Glyphs? Drawings? Whatever it is, it’s just filled with incomprehensible scribbles. Some people say it’s trash. That it’s not a secret manual at all, but someone’s joke or random doodles.”

“Really?”

And yet, despite that, the auction room was heating up.

“20,000 nyang!”

The price had already passed 20,000 nyang. At that amount, even Jang Woo-hyun—who had taken all the assets from the Autumn Soul Assassination Sect—found it expensive. If it truly was the legacy of the strongest martial artist in history, it would be a bargain. But for something that might be nonsense scribbles? It was too much.

Despite Jang’s concern, the bidding continued climbing until it neared 30,000 nyang.

At last, the auction reached its highest price yet: 30,000 nyang. As the auctioneer shouted, someone rose from a seat in the corner.

“Hah, are you bastards kidding me right now?”

A man wearing a monkey mask, open around the mouth, stood up. Judging by his voice, he was likely in his twenties.

The monkey mask turned and scanned the crowd.

“Sir, please remain seated. The auction is still in progress. This behavior is inappropriate.”

At the host’s gesture, martial artists standing by at the back of the auction house approached the masked man. But the monkey mask ignored everything and continued scanning the room.

“Found you.”

A bright grin appeared beneath the mask’s opening.

Without warning, he leapt from his seat and stabbed a man sitting elsewhere.