Chapter 286

Jin Ja-gang remained motionless and stared directly at Oh Tae.

He could feel internal energy from Oh Tae’s body, who had seemed like someone who had never learned martial arts.

Oh Tae’s demeanor completely changed as he raised his internal energy. Yellow tears began flowing from his cloudy, dull eyes that had seemed like those of an ordinary country bumpkin. His eyes gradually began to clear.

He had originally dyed his eyes with muddy water to make them appear dull. The internal energy felt from Oh Tae was certainly no less than that of the masters Jin Ja-gang had met in Yunnan. In fact, he seemed superior to Black Scale Blade.

Oh Tae glared at Jin Ja-gang with chillingly sharp eyes and said.

“Listen, Poison Dragon. Still no intention of leaving? If you don’t leave, there’ll be only one thing to do and that’s spill blood.”

The feeling was completely different from before.

Jin Ja-gang looked at Oh Tae a bit longer, then stood up from his seat.

“When does the black market open?”

“What’s it to you?”

“Why else would I come to a black market? Isn’t it a place where anything can be traded?”

Oh Tae glared at Jin Ja-gang and answered.

“Three days from now.”

“I understand.”

The young men working under Oh Tae opened a path for him.

Jin Ja-gang left the gambling den without further argument.

Though Oh Tae had sent Jin Ja-gang away, his expression wasn’t particularly pleased. He frowned and muttered.

“Damn, it seems like a troublesome fellow has come. This level of reputation seems insufficient.”

The young men in the gambling den looked puzzled.

“Why… are you saying that?”

“He didn’t come intending to settle things immediately. He came to check out the atmosphere in advance.”

“What?”

“That’s why he withdrew obediently. Next time he comes, he won’t come empty-handed.”

Oh Tae snorted.

“I’d better prepare for proper trading. I’ll be meeting a real deal after a long time.”

* * *

Jin Ja-gang didn’t leave the village but stayed at a shabby inn.

Information is life in black markets. Since Jin Ja-gang’s identity was already known, the inn owner respectfully provided him a room.

“Sometimes, having a known name is good too.”

Perhaps this was why people were so obsessed with fame.

Jin Ja-gang washed up, had a simple meal, then fell into thought.

Oh Tae was the most psychologically skilled person Jin Ja-gang had ever met.

Even though he had done some research before coming to Gubuk Village, this was the first time he had been so thoroughly outmaneuvered.

Especially the final technique of switching the tiles had truly caught Jin Ja-gang off guard.

Who could have known he would open three of the four tiles and ask him to guess the remaining one!

At that moment, Jin Ja-gang had unconsciously looked at Oh Tae. He had studied Oh Tae’s face, curious about the intent behind such an absurd question.

That’s probably when Oh Tae switched the tiles. Jin Ja-gang realized his mistake when he saw Oh Tae smiling, but it was already too late.

Though it was a short time, it was enough for Oh Tae to switch tiles several times with his hand techniques.

It was a fresh experience.

When his martial arts were weak, Jin Ja-gang had used his head against stronger opponents. He had no choice.

But now that Jin Ja-gang had become stronger, those he faced were in Jin Ja-gang’s former position, using their heads.

“I need to be more meticulous, think and worry more.”

Now Jin Ja-gang had one more card called martial arts. If he added techniques that exploited opponents’ weaknesses to this martial arts, Jin Ja-gang would become much stronger than he was now.

“First, targeting the black market three days from now.”

Jin Ja-gang left the inn again in light clothing.

On the way here, he had seen various interesting plants. Those plants would probably be helpful at the next black market.

* * *

Three days later, the market opened.

During the day, it was an ordinary market. Daily necessities, various handicrafts, medicinal herbs, meat and hides from hunted animals appeared.

However, once that daytime market ended, from midnight it transformed into a completely different black market.

Instead of the bright-faced merchants from daytime, faces that had experienced all sorts of life’s hardships stood holding flags. Some were covered with scars, others had their faces covered.

Nothing was openly traded in the black market. People negotiated and traded based on the characters written on flags.

The character 乂 (cutting) meant accepting contracts for killing people and such.

The character 布 (cloth) meant money. It signified selling stolen goods or items.

The character 人 (person) meant manpower, or literally selling people. Since it included human flesh, it had a different meaning from assassination contracts.

目耳 (eyes and ears) came from 長目飛耳 (long sight flying ears), meaning sitting and seeing and hearing distant affairs, signifying finding desired information or locating people.

Holding these flags upside down meant seeking such services instead.

Jin Ja-gang passed through the street where the black market was open and headed to the gambling den where he had previously met Oh Tae. Unlike last time, the gambling den was already bustling with all sorts of shouts, cheers, and even women’s coquettish voices added to the commotion.

At the entrance, a giant with a build three heads taller than Jin Ja-gang blocked his path.

Jin Ja-gang looked up at the giant. The giant flinched but soon frowned and said.

“To enter the gambling den, it’s proper to show you have something to wager.”

The giant pointed to the side. Next to the gambling den entrance, an elderly scholar had piles of money and promissory notes on a simple table to be used instead of money.

“Inside, they use promissory notes instead of money. If you have something to exchange, change it for promissory notes.”

Jin Ja-gang took out a flag from his bosom.

It was the character 人 (person).

He held it upside down to show.

“Would this be enough? Or…”

He pointed to a flag with the character 乂 (cutting).

“I’m not sure which, but yes.”

The scholar quickly looked Jin Ja-gang up and down. Then he issued a ten thousand tael promissory note.

The scholar showed his sparse teeth and smiled.

“That’s the amount of bounty the Zhuge family put on your neck.”

He said “put on your neck,” not “put up for your neck.”

“Sign here.”

The scholar presented a ledger.

It recorded that Jin Ja-gang, Poison Dragon, had borrowed thirteen thousand taels from the money house.

Jin Ja-gang looked at the promissory note. It was a crude note. However, though crude, it was an actual promissory note used by real money houses. If not repaid, the authorities might step in or he could go to prison.

“Is the interest thirty percent?”

“We have to make a living too. It’s cheaper than elsewhere. If someone wants to buy you, they’ll pay us that amount. Of course, if you lose all your money at the gambling den before that, it becomes the amount you’ll have to repay us.”

“I understand.”

Only then did the giant step aside. Jin Ja-gang opened the door and entered the gambling den.

At a glance, over a hundred people were enjoying gambling.

Lively and noisy sounds greeted Jin Ja-gang.

The sharp scent of alcohol, the smell of sweat stained with tension and shouting, the musk scent from half-naked women’s bodies.

In this environment, it would be difficult to detect poison use.

* * *

Oh Tae was also watching Jin Ja-gang enter the gambling den.

The young men waited for Oh Tae’s orders.

“Leave him alone for now.”

Oh Tae decided to quietly observe what Jin Ja-gang would do.

Jin Ja-gang looked around the gambling den and went to watch what seemed like the easiest gambling table.

It was gambling with bone tiles processed into square shapes with dots and colors. The bone tiles had dots from one to ten carved on them, with five distributed to each person.

Then everyone took one from their opponent’s tiles.

After a predetermined number of turns, finally leaving only three bone tiles in front of oneself, the tiles were flipped and the dots added up, with the person getting the highest number winning.

Up to four people could play in one round, with one being the tile master from the gambling den and the other three being customers. In case of tied numbers, the tile master won.

After hearing the gambling explanation, Jin Ja-gang joined the game.

“Since I don’t know gambling well, I’ll just play one round and leave.”

Jin Ja-gang presented the ten thousand tael promissory note.

The tile master and two customers looked at Jin Ja-gang. Their faces turned pale.

It was actual ten thousand taels. Money that ordinary people couldn’t earn even working their entire lives.

This amount would be difficult even for decent medium-sized merchant groups to handle.

The two customers frowned and stood up.

“Ten thousand taels in a game worth dozens of taels.”

“He’s determined to break the game.”

Jin Ja-gang asked the tile master.

“Is it not allowed?”

The tile master looked back. Oh Tae, watching from the upper floor, nodded.

The tile master answered.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Word spread around that Jin Ja-gang had wagered ten thousand taels in one game. People who were gambling turned their attention to Jin Ja-gang. Jin Ja-gang held up the ten thousand tael promissory note and shouted.

“Isn’t there anyone who can win this ten thousand taels in one game?”

People stirred.

“It’s Poison Dragon.”

“If you win that money, you can control Poison Dragon?”

Then several people got up and approached.

“That’s getting interesting.”

“If you can use Poison Dragon for ten thousand taels, it’s a cheap price.”

A middle-aged man and an elderly woman sat next to Jin Ja-gang.

Jin Ja-gang said quietly.

“I’m sorry, but I’ll only play one round.”

“Bold. Good.”

The middle-aged man and elderly woman nodded to the tile master. The tile master flipped all the bone tiles to show the tiles, then turned them face down and began shuffling.

In this one decisive game, the losing money was ten thousand taels, the winning money thirty thousand taels.

People crowded around, interested in this big single-game showdown. With over a hundred pairs of eyes watching, it would be difficult to cheat even if they wanted to.

The tile master distributed the bone tiles.

Five bone tiles were placed in front of Jin Ja-gang as well. Jin Ja-gang picked up each bone tile to check them, then put them down.

The tile master, middle-aged man, and elderly woman also checked their tiles.

“In your turn, exchange once with whoever you want to exchange with. We’ll go through five total turns, and I’ll start first.”

The tile master took one from Jin Ja-gang’s bone tiles. The middle-aged man also took one from Jin Ja-gang’s tiles. The woman took one from the tile master’s.

Jin Ja-gang was missing two, so he took one from the woman’s to make four.

“Second turn.”

Again, everyone took one bone tile each. Only three remained in front of Jin Ja-gang.

Since you ultimately keep only three tiles regardless of how many you have, discarding the rest, it becomes advantageous if others don’t take many of your tiles.

Jin Ja-gang was being checked and continuously had only three remaining.

This was very disadvantageous because at the end, you couldn’t discard low-numbered tiles and had to flip all three you had.

However, even while being checked, Jin Ja-gang remained relaxed.

This was very contrasting compared to the tile master, middle-aged man, and elderly woman who were sweating and agonizing over each choice.

Finally, the fifth turn ended. Jin Ja-gang still had only three bone tiles in front of him, so he had nothing to discard. The tile master had four in front of him. The middle-aged man had five. The woman had as many as eight bone tiles.

While the tile master and middle-aged man were checking Jin Ja-gang, the woman had collected the most tiles.

“Oh no, cooked rice for the dog.”

The middle-aged man clicked his tongue. The woman had become most advantageous. The woman giggled and checked her tiles, discarding five bone tiles. The middle-aged man and tile master discarded two and one tiles respectively.

“Then let’s all check our tiles.”