Three Years of Blacksmithing, Achieving Divine Martial Arts - Chapter 11

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 11. What Hwang Tae Gon Was Hiding
The courtyard inside the wall was wider than it appeared from outside.
So Chul

moved along the shadow of the eaves toward the side building. Two lanterns burned in the middle of the courtyard, and from the inner room came the sound of laughter and tiles clacking against a table.
No one seemed to have noticed the two he’d dropped in front of the door.

“How much time until midnight?”
“Still a ways off. Let’s play another round.”

So Chul stopped in his tracks.
There were four men in the room.
The stench of tobacco and liquor seeped through the open window. All four wore clubs or short swords at their waists.

“What exactly did that fisherman see to get you in such a state?”
“No need to worry about it.”
“But I’m curious. You’ve been going on about the Reed Field since this afternoon.”

A tile fell onto the table.

“He saw the meeting with those Gwangsabang bastards.”

So Chul’s eyes narrowed.
Gwangsabang

.
Anyone who traveled the river knew the name. A bandit outfit so ruthless that when they raided a village, they didn’t just take grain and money—people vanished too.
Even Jowunbang and the magistrate’s office had launched campaigns against them more than once and tasted blood.
Another man in the room clicked his tongue.

“Are they still even alive these days?”
“They took a hard blow not long ago. Word is Jowunbang sent people, and Cheoljangbang too.”
“And their leader got away?”
“If he were dead, would your brother be dealing with them?”

A low chuckle rippled through the room.
So Chul held his breath even deeper.

“Anyway, that fisherman had rotten luck. He happened to pass by the Reed Field right when your brother was taking delivery from the Gwangsabang stragglers.”
“Taking delivery of what?”
“If we knew that, would we be sitting here playing tiles?”

One of the men let out a snort.

“Your brother kept us at a distance and met alone. He didn’t even pull out what he received.”

So Chul’s mind raced ahead.
Hwang Tae Gon was no mere fishing village thug.
There was talk he’d come from Jowunbang, and now he was making secret contact with remnants of Gwangsabang. On the day he received something from them, So Won had been nearby.
That’s why the second payment of five taels had surfaced.
The extortion was a pretext.
From the start, he’d likely planned to silence him.

‘Uncle doesn’t even know what he saw.’

That fact made it even more dangerous.
Unable to verify anything, they would simply eliminate the witness first.
Inside the room, a different conversation was already starting.

“Hey, no more liquor?”
“Go to the kitchen and fetch it.”
“No. You go.”

So Chul picked up a small stone from beneath the window.
He wedged it between his fingers.
He had already noted the position of the oil lamp in the room.

Thwick.

The stone flew.

Crack!

The wick snapped, and the light vanished.

“What was that?”
“Why did the lamp—”

So Chul vaulted through the window.
Everyone needed roughly the same time to adjust to darkness.
He had already been watching from outside, his eyes long accustomed to the shadows.
The moment the first man reached for his sword, fumbling at his waist, the club’s handle struck his wrist first.

Thud!

“Ah—”

Before the cry could finish, So Chul pressed the back of his neck.
The second man lurched from his seat and kicked the table away.

“Who’s there!”

So Chul did not answer.
He dropped low and swept the hammer’s head sideways.

Clang!

Before the blade could even clear its sheath, it fell from his grip.
Behind him, the sound of a chair scraping came.
So Chul ducked.
Something whistled past overhead.
He twisted at the waist and countered in one motion.

Crack!

A man slammed against the wall and crumpled.
The last one bolted for the door.

“Brother!”

So Chul caught him in two strides.
He seized the man’s shoulder, wrenched him back, and struck sharply beneath the jaw before he could scream.
The body collapsed to the floor.
The room fell silent again.
So Chul remained motionless for a moment.
He checked each of the four men’s breathing in turn.
It was over.
His palms felt slightly cold.
It was different from when he had killed the crocodile.
This had been a person.
People who had cursed at him just moments ago, the same ones who’d been dealing cards before.
He didn’t linger on the thought.
By midnight, they would have returned to their own homes.
That fact wouldn’t change.
So Chul wiped the blood from the Hammer with a scrap of cloth.

‘One left now.’

Hwang Tae Gon.
* * *
Footsteps sounded from the second floor of the main house.

“Why’s it so damn quiet down there?”

A rough voice, harsh as gravel.
So Chul pulled the fallen man’s outer coat over his shoulders and wrapped torn cloth around his face.
When he took position at the foot of the stairs, a broad-shouldered man descended from above.
His face was a map of old scars and age spots. A wide blade hung at his waist.
Hwang Tae Gon.
Their eyes met.
Hwang Tae Gon’s brow furrowed instantly.

“Who are you?”

So Chul lowered his voice first.

“Hwang Tae Gon.”
“What?”
“Gwangsabang entrusted you with that item, and you didn’t notice your tail was cut?”

The smile vanished from Hwang Tae Gon’s face.
Just for an instant.
But it was enough.

“Which side are you from?”

His hand moved toward his sword.

“Gwangsabang, or working for him?”

Him.
So Chul filed that single word away in his mind.
Hwang Tae Gon wasn’t only dealing with Gwangsabang.
There was someone else pulling strings behind him.

“Can’t tell the difference?”

So Chul slipped one hand into his jacket.
Hwang Tae Gon’s gaze followed it.
He looked as though he expected some kind of credentials to appear.
An eight-pound Hammer dropped from the Bronze Cauldron into his palm.
A flash of five-fold light gleamed briefly beneath the cloth.

Bang!

The Hammer drove into Hwang Tae Gon’s abdomen.

“Gah!”

His body staggered back two steps.
So Chul pressed in after him.
Hwang Tae Gon spat blood even as he drew his blade.

Screech!

The sword edge slashed past, inches from his face.
So Chul tilted his head back.
The ends of his hair were sheared clean away.

‘Fast.’

Even wounded, he was different.
This man was no match for the six from before—they didn’t belong in the same category.
Hwang Tae Gon clenched his teeth.

“Where did this rat crawl out from!”

The second blade came.
His feet drove into the earth, his waist snapped forward. The sword tip carried something colder than mere strength.
So Chul didn’t meet it head-on.
He dropped his center with the Banseok Technique and slipped a half-step to the side.
After activating the Jikjeon Pae, the added strength flooded through his waist and arms.

Whoosh!

The hammer struck the flat of the blade.

Clang!

Hwang Tae Gon’s wrist shook violently.
Yet he held the sword.

“1st Rank Late Stage?”

Hwang Tae Gon’s eyes changed.

“At this age?”

So Chul didn’t answer.
There was no reason to explain his strength to anyone.
Hwang Tae Gon came at him again.
This time the blade came lower.
It aimed for the knee, then immediately rose toward the throat.
So Chul deflected the first strike with the hammer shaft. He twisted free of the second, then fed the returning momentum straight into the next motion.
The Yeolseok Chubop.
Once the hammer touched his acupoint, it did not stop.

Whoosh!

The first blow drove the sword back.
The second caught his shoulder.

Thud!

Hwang Tae Gon staggered.
He raised his sword in both hands to block the third strike.

Clang!

Blood sprayed from between his fingers.

“This hammering technique…….”

Hwang Tae Gon’s face hardened.

“Cheoljangbang?”

So Chul’s gaze grew colder still.
From the moment of recognition, he could not afford to let this man live.
Hwang Tae Gon seemed to understand the same.
He swallowed blood and raised his blade.

“I don’t know who you are, but do you think it ends if you kill me?”
“I doubt it.”

He spoke for the first time in answer.

“That’s why I’m curious who stands behind you.”

Hwang Tae Gon laughed.
Bloodied teeth showed through his grin.

“Then you’ll have to keep me alive.”
“That won’t be possible, I’m afraid.”

So Chul lifted the hammer.

“What you leave behind will tell me what I need to know.”

Hwang Tae Gon’s expression shifted.
That instant was his opening.
His foot drove against the floor.
Waist and shoulder pivoted as one.

Bang!

The blade skittered across the ground.
The hammer fell once more.
Hwang Tae Gon did not rise again.
* * *
So Chul sat on the stairs for a long while, catching his breath.
His fingertips trembled.
Victory had not come because his opponent was weak.
It was possible only because the initial ambush had landed cleanly. Had they fought head-on from the start, the outcome might well have been different.

‘1st Rank Late Stage, perhaps.’

He could not determine Hwang Tae Gon’s exact realm, but one thing was clear: this man had trained in martial arts far longer than he had.
The gap in experience was considerable.
Today, preparation and surprise had closed that gap.
So Chul resolved not to forget that lesson.
Once his breathing steadied, he got to his feet.
He searched Hwang Tae Gon’s clothing.
A few coins, a key, tobacco leaf.
Nothing of obvious importance.
The room yielded the same.
There were silver and gold trinkets, but the item that the remnants of Gwangsabang had entrusted to him did not appear.
So Chul looked at Hwang Tae Gon once more.

‘He doesn’t have it on him?’

His gaze caught on the shoes.
The sole was peculiarly thick on one side.
When he pried up the insole, a thin piece of Silk Cloth emerged from within.
It was slightly larger than the palm of his hand.
Dense writing and diagrams covered its surface.
So Chul’s breath caught for just an instant as he read the first line.
Water Dragon Swimming Technique

.
The Bronze Cauldron responded quietly.
Five-colored light swept across the thin cloth.
So Chul still didn’t understand why Hwang Tae Gon had hidden this beneath his shoe, or why the remnants of Gwangsabang had entrusted him with such an object.
But one thing became clear.
This night had not begun because of five taels of silver.
From the start, he had stepped into something far greater.
He placed the cloth inside the Bronze Cauldron and swept the room again.
There was no ledger recording whom Hwang Tae Gon had been in contact with. Instead, bundles of silver coins, gold fragments, and several property deeds emerged. He left untouched any document whose source was unclear—carrying items connected to official records risked leaving a trail back to himself.
He took only the currency.
Ten taels of gold. Over a hundred taels of silver.
Even as So Chul counted the sum, joy did not come at once.
Days ago, five taels of silver had been stolen and his household thrown into chaos. Now more than twenty times that amount lay before him. But the manner in which this fortune had come was utterly different.
He glanced once at Hwang Tae Gon, sprawled on the floor.

‘He won’t be coming back.’

He briefly considered burning the place, then abandoned the thought. Setting a wooden annex ablaze would draw smoke visible from far off. Trying to hide a body would only announce to the entire village that something had happened.
Instead, he erased only the traces obviously belonging to him. He scattered the wet soil his footsteps had marked, wiped the doorknob and table with cloth. Though he could not erase everything perfectly, there was no reason to leave evidence pointing directly to himself.
When he left the annex, midnight had not yet arrived.
As he ran toward the Village, So Chul decided what he would say at home.
He could not tell them outright that Hwang Tae Gon was dead. So Won was the type whose face betrayed everything, no matter how hard he tried to hide it, and Im Ha threw punches before words when anger took her. It was safer that they not know.
* * *
The lamp in the house was still burning.
When So Chul knocked, the bolt inside was hastily drawn.

“So Chul!”

Im Ha checked his face first.

“Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
“You truly just took the money and came back?”

So Won lifted himself up from the room’s interior, asking.
So Chul nodded.

“I received the money from Hwang Tae Gon.”

It was not a lie—merely omitting the part that he had taken Hwang Tae Gon’s wealth as well.

“And he seems to be planning to leave this area within the next few days.”
“Leave?”
“He appears to be entangled with people from Gwangsabang. I heard he’s thinking of heading into the river.”

So Won’s expression hardened.
The name Gwangsabang carried weight. Im Ha asked nothing further and fell silent.
So Chul looked at them both in turn.

“Don’t speak of what you saw at the Reed Field today, or about Hwang Tae Gon, to anyone. If anyone asks, say you don’t know.”
“Is it something that serious?”
“It’s to keep this from becoming something larger.”
​
So Won considered for a moment, then nodded.
Only then did So Chul enter the room.
He closed the door and retrieved the Silk Cloth from the Bronze Cauldron once more.
The moment his fingers touched it, the five-colored light blazed forth more vividly than before.
The thing Hwang Tae Gon had hidden as if it were his own life.
The thing the remnants of Gwangsabang had delivered.
And the thing the Bronze Cauldron recognized as an equippable treasure.
New information materialized before So Chul’s eyes.
Water Dragon Swimming Technique.
It was no mere movement art.
What he now possessed was a martial discipline whose rank differed entirely from the Jinsan Gong he had cultivated until now. The Bronze Cauldron had clearly classified it as a Superior Rank Technique.
Now he was beginning to understand why a single palm-sized piece of Silk Cloth had been worth hiding as zealously as Hwang Tae Gon guarded his life.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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