The Lower Gate was the most likely answer.
The chief steward looked at Cheon Hyanghwa.
She was hopelessly smitten.
There was only so much he could do to stop her.
In that case—
I’ll just have to uncover that bastard’s true identity.
For now, he needed to keep her here as long as possible.
“Lady, if that bast— if that gentleman dislikes you staying at the Drunken Blossom House, then we can arrange another residence for you elsewhere.”
“A residence? No.”
“Why not? He said he disliked you staying here, so surely moving somewhere else would solve the problem. Please spare a thought for us as well, Lady. If you simply walk out like this, there’ll be a string of funerals around here.”
“Haa... All right. Now that I think about it, I was only thinking about myself.”
“Haha! A wise decision. I’m sure that bast— that gentleman... will understand once he hears about our circumstances.”
The chief steward had nearly let the curse slip out, but managed to swallow it.
“All right. Then I’ll go tell my love.”
My love.
They were already close enough for her to call him that?
Still, he had bought himself some time.
The chief steward silently vowed that before that time ran out, he would uncover the man’s true identity, expose his filthy scheme, and save his lady.
“Oh.”
Jeok Wigang looked over one of Baek Ryeongso’s creations with open admiration.
“This is impressive. How do you make something this intricate?”
Delighted by the praise, Baek Ryeongso burst into laughter.
“Hahaha! Elder Brother, this is nothing. If I put my mind to it, I could make a hundred of these in a day.”
“You can make cotton cloth look this good?”
Baek Ryeongso thumped his chest confidently.
“Of course! Put even a sackcloth rag in my hands and I’ll turn it into art.”
“Really?”
“What kind of clothes do you want? Just say the word!”
Baek Ryeongso was in an excellent mood.
He had finally gotten together with the woman he had longed for.
And it was all because Jeok Wigang had appeared.
Once, he had hated Jeok Wigang and wanted nothing to do with him.
Not anymore.
Now Jeok Wigang was his benefactor.
He no longer felt any urge to run, nor was he afraid of Jeok Wigang as he had been in the past.
“I want clothes ordinary people can wear easily. Cheap, but still attractive enough that people would want to buy them.”
“If that’s all, there’s nothing to worry about. I can mass-produce them.”
“How?”
“Hmm. This is top secret... but since it’s you, Elder Brother, I’ll make a special exception and show you.”
“What about us?”
At Ye Yahyeon and Jin Muryang’s question, Baek Ryeongso grinned and nodded.
“Obviously. Come on.”
Baek Ryeongso led them underground.
The basement was filled with strange devices, each connected to countless strands of thread.
“What’s all this?”
“The Heavenly Loom.”
“The Heavenly Loom?”
“I named it that because it can weave cloth as vast as the heavens.”
“Interesting.”
“Hahaha! It’s the greatest masterpiece of my life!”
“How does it work?”
“For now, I’m the only one who can operate it. First, I calculate the shape of the garment I want to make and input that into the formation. Then I feed inner qi into it.”
Practically bouncing with excitement, Baek Ryeongso poured qi into the loom.
GRRRRIND—
The Heavenly Loom began to tremble.
GRRRT— GRRRRT—
Wheels turned, and the threads stretched through the air were drawn into the machine as though they had come alive.
At first, they moved slowly and smoothly.
Then faster.
And faster.
The threads crossed, twisted, separated, and wove themselves together until the outline of a garment began to emerge.
CLACK— CLACK—
At last, a completed piece of clothing spread smoothly across the top of the loom.
GRRRRT—
Baek Ryeongso lifted the finished garment and handed it to Jeok Wigang.
The fabric was soft.
“Fascinating. What’s the principle behind it?”
“The mechanism at the center is the heart of the Heavenly Loom. It receives true qi and circulates it throughout the machine the way the heart circulates blood. Over here, you can see a disc engraved with the eight trigrams. That regulates the tension and speed.”
Baek Ryeongso explained everything with great enthusiasm, while Jeok Wigang listened intently.
Ye Yahyeon and Jin Muryang, meanwhile, were yawning and not listening at all.
Baek Ryeongso continued excitedly.
“And so, by combining true qi, formations, and machinery, I created my masterpiece—the Heavenly Loom.”
“That really is impressive.”
“Hahaha! Isn’t it?”
Baek Ryeongso laughed, clearly delighted.
Ye Yahyeon and Jin Muryang stared at him in disbelief.
The bastard had not even looked this happy when he perfected his martial arts.
Yet here he was beaming over a machine for making clothes.
Maybe he truly had been born for this.
“If we use cotton cloth, how low could we get the production cost?”
“At worst, around one-tenth of what similar clothing costs on the market.”
“That cheap?”
“Yes.”
“If we sell clothes you make, our merchant company could swallow the entire market.”
“Hahaha! Naturally! Why do you think every major merchant company in the Central Plains has been desperate to recruit me?”
“I can see why. All right, then. Let’s draw up a contract.”
“You really want a contract?”
“Hm? Why? Don’t want to?”
“No, that’s not it. It just feels strange, talking about a contract between you and me, Elder Brother... Forget it.”
“Forget it? You mean you’ll just do it?”
“Yes. Calling it a contract... somehow makes me feel disappointed.”
“Disappointed?”
“Yes. Like there’s suddenly distance between us. Like we’re strangers.”
“This coming from the bastard who ran away from me?”
“I did back then. Strange, though... Now that we’ve met again, I like this much better.”
Jeok Wigang snorted softly.
“Flattering me so I won’t hit you...”
“Flattering you? I’m telling you how I truly feel—”
“I know. Thank you.”
That single sincere sentence from Jeok Wigang melted away every lingering feeling Baek Ryeongso had ever held against him.
He rubbed at his nose and muttered,
“You’ve really changed a lot too, Elder Brother. You even say thank you now.”
“Hm? Didn’t I used to?”
He turned to Ye Yahyeon and Jin Muryang.
Both men shook their heads.
“Seriously?”
“Yes. Instead of saying thank you, you usually offered us your fist.”
“Did I? You two did rebel a lot back then.”
Baek Ryeongso gave a quiet laugh.
“Maybe... you simply had more cruelty in you then. But after living among people for so long, I think a lot of it has faded.”
Ye Yahyeon and Jin Muryang nodded.
They had been thinking the same thing.
Jeok Wigang spoke.
“I’m sorry too. Back then... I was angry at the whole world. From now on... let’s get along.”
Baek Ryeongso smiled without saying anything.
Ye Yahyeon and Jin Muryang quietly bowed their heads as well.
“So Mujin’s the only one left now?”
“He’ll be genuinely difficult to find.”
“That’s right. He said he was going to open a martial academy somewhere and teach children.”
Jeok Wigang gave a small laugh.
“Do you really think an academy founded by him could stay ordinary? A sharp awl always pierces through the sack. He’s bound to have made a name for himself somewhere.”
At Jeok Wigang’s words, Ye Yahyeon and Jin Muryang looked at Baek Ryeongso and nodded.
“True enough. This bastard tried his hardest to hide too, and he still ended up famous.”
Baek Ryeongso chuckled.
“Maybe we were never destined to stay apart from you, Elder Brother. I hope Mujin finds you soon too and finally gets to live a peaceful life.”
“Hey, when you put it like that, it sounds like meeting me means he’s going to die.”
“Does it? Hahaha!”
As they laughed and talked—
They heard movement from one of the rooms.
“Ah!”
They had completely forgotten.
“Looks like those bastards are awake.”
“I’m curious who sent them. Let’s hear what they have to say.”
“And if they refuse?”
“You’ve got me.”
Jin Muryang grinned.
Baek Ryeongso snorted.
“Right. I forgot. Having you around is unbelievably reassuring.”
“Let’s go.”
“Ugh! My head...”
The martial artists regained consciousness one by one, clutching their heads as they struggled upright.
“Where are we?”
They looked around warily at the unfamiliar room.
“Did that... textile-shop owner get [N O V E L I G H T] us?”
“I don’t know. I can’t even remember what happened.”
“I remember reaching the front of the shop. Nothing after that.”
“Let’s get out of here first. We can figure things out later.”
“Right.”
They rose to leave—
CREEEAK—
The door opened, and Baek Ryeongso entered with Jin Muryang.
Jeok Wigang and Ye Yahyeon followed behind them and took seats off to one side to watch.
The martial artists glanced around in confusion, only to spot Baek Ryeongso.
They shot to their feet and glared at him with guarded expressions.
“You’ve got some nerve. You think you’re in any position to look at me like that? You ought to be smashing your foreheads into the floor begging forgiveness.”
The enormous pressure radiating from Baek Ryeongso plunged them into despair.
There could be no doubt now.
The one who had subdued them before they even had a chance to react had been the owner of the textile shop.
To think they had attacked a master this powerful.
They had been nothing more than newborn puppies charging at a tiger without knowing enough to fear it.
“W-We were wrong.”
“W-We only came to buy clothes.”
The instant those words left his mouth, the speaker felt cold metal against his neck.
His eyes dropped.
A razor-sharp dagger was resting against his throat.
“E-Eek!”
When had that happened?
“Lying tends to be bad for your health. Who sent you?”
“Th-That...”
“I happen to have a specialty I’m particularly good at. Want to know what it is?”
He really did not.
“Torture. You’ve heard of Tendon-Severing Bone-Dislocation, right?”
The martial artist nodded.
“Ever experienced it?”
He shook his head rapidly.
“Want to start with that, then?”
The shaking doubled in speed.
“Come on. Just a little taste. I think it’ll make our conversation go much more smoothly.”
“N-No! No need! A-Ask us anything!”
“That’s right! Loyalty, keeping secrets—we don’t believe in any of that!”
“Really?”
“Yes! We’re from an unorthodox sect! You know what unorthodox sects are like! Loyalty means nothing to us!”
“Well, this is disappointing. Too easy. No, wait. Anyone who answers that easily is hard to trust.”
“I-It’s true! J-Just ask us first. If you don’t like the answer, then you can give us a little taste afterward!”
“Should I?”
“Yes!”
The man nodded so violently it looked as if his neck might snap.
“Fine. Hey, ask them. They say they’ll answer.”
Baek Ryeongso chuckled and bent down until he was eye level with the kneeling martial artists.
“Who sent you?”
“The Deputy Magistrate of the Baili County office!”
“Why?”
“The county magistrate’s son said the textile-shop owner humiliated him, so he hired us to retaliate.”
“Ah! That idiot?”
“I-I don’t know whether he’s an idiot!”
Baek Ryeongso nodded.
“Sounds right. That fool would absolutely do something like this.”
“Yeah? Then do we just let them go?”
“What else?”
“Nothing more you want to know? Their family situations, maybe?”
“Why would I care about that?”
“If you let them go and they come back looking for revenge?”
“Why? Scared?”
“As if.”
“If they come back for revenge, wouldn’t you lot be happier?”
“Well... yes.”
Baek Ryeongso turned back to the martial artists.
“Where are you from?”
Behind him, Jin Muryang was watching with obvious anticipation.
“The Blood Thunder Gate!”
“Oh, that sect on Mount Gaemun?”
“Yes!”
Jin Muryang asked Baek Ryeongso,
“You know them?”
“Some of their people came by a few times asking me to make clothes for them.”
“Are they famous?”
“They have a fair amount of influence around here.”
Jin Muryang grumbled in disappointment.
“Damn it. Why are they only telling the truth? I thought I might get to hear some bones twisting today.”

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