ALL NOVEL The next stop after the textile shop was the blacksmith’s.
The escort warriors trailing behind Dokgorin, surprised at her inconsistent decisions, could do nothing but follow her lead since she had the upper hand here.
“Welcome.”
As we stepped into the blacksmith shop, a gray-haired blacksmith put down his sharpening stone and greeted us warmly.
“Is there something you are looking for?”
Recognizing who the guest was, the old blacksmith cautiously asked Dokgorin, much younger than him. Unlike her usual behavior, Dokgorin asked very respectfully.
“Excuse me, sir, but I have a question. Do you have black sandstone here?”
Upon hearing Dokgorin’s words, the old blacksmith tilted his head in confusion and replied.
“I do have some that I bought long ago to make quality glass, but may I ask what you need black sandstone for, young lady?”
“I urgently need it, so please sell me all you have.”
“Oh dear, that’s difficult. I need the black sandstone for a deadline.”
Saying this, the blacksmith tried to refuse, but Dokgorin pulled out the money pouch she had taken out when purchasing the Heavenly Silk earlier.
Perhaps this was her personal allowance.
“What if I give you all of this?”
The escort behind her gasped in surprise and reached out, but she had already handed the purse to the blacksmith.
Surprised by Dokgorin’s sudden action, the old blacksmith held the purse with a troubled expression.
“Young lady, no matter what, I won’t sell my credibility for money.”
Dokgorin smiled brightly and replied.
“Let’s take a look at the contents first, sir.”
“If I were to buy all the black sandstone you have now, wouldn’t your allowance be…?”
As the blacksmith spoke, he started to unwrap the bundle and his eyes widened in shock at what he saw inside.
Then, as if waiting for this moment, Dokgorin held up two fingers.
“I’ll give you double the market price if you sell it now.”
…Wait, asking for double here?
*
“Please come again! Young lady!”
Receiving a warm send-off from the blacksmith who chose money over his own credibility, we hurried back to our lodging at Yongmun Inn before it got too late.
“Rin, what in the world did you buy at the market all of a sudden?”
“I just bought some thread and a few other things.”
“Thread?”
“Yes. It’s been boring traveling, so I thought I’d play some string games with Chilbok along the way.”
“Haha, making leisure activities like that isn’t a bad idea.”
Seeing the thread that Dokgorin showed, Dokgoseok seemed to think little of it and suggested we should eat dinner since we must be hungry, leading us towards the stairs.
The inn where we were staying, Yongmun Inn, was bustling with guests, proving that it is the largest inn in the region. The first floor had tables and chairs crowded together for regular guests, while the second floor was entirely private rooms for wealthy patrons.
‘Is this what a class society looks like?’
As we followed Dokgoseok and Dokgorin to the second floor, I glanced down at the railing below, feeling like I had become someone important for a moment.
Even though I was just a lowly proletariat like them.
“Chilbok, why aren’t you coming?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. The stairs seem quite steep.”
As I said this with a sheepish smile, Dokgorin muttered, “How dull,” and pulled on my right arm.
*
When Koreans think of Chinese cuisine, they usually think of the dishes from Hunan and Sichuan provinces.
This is because most of the dishes from Hunan and Sichuan are numbing (麻) and spicy (辣), fitting the tastes of Koreans who love spicy food.
However, since China is vast, the cooking methods and types of food vary widely by region, and in the case of Shaanxi Province where we currently are, noodle dishes are particularly famous.
“…Brother, what exactly is going on here?”
“It’s knife-cut noodles. They’re supposedly a specialty of this inn.”
While Dokgoseok, Dokgorin, I, and Kyungah sister were seated around a round table enjoying hot pot, a person who looked like a chef entered the room with a huge dough ball and a square knife.
As I was just pleasantly full, I put down my chopsticks and watched the chef perform his craft. The sight of the freshly cut knife-cut noodles disappearing into a brass bowl felt almost like magic.
“Enjoy your meal.”
Once the chef bowed and exited after preparing four servings of knife-cut noodles, Dokgoseok murmured with interest.
“Although Shaanxi is known as the home of noodles, I never expected to see a dish prepared in such a unique way.”
“Let’s try it first, Sir.”
Nodding at Kyungah sister’s prompt, Dokgoseok scooped up the noodles submerged in the milky broth with a ladle.
Slurp—
“Hmm.”
His expression was vague, as if he couldn’t quite gauge the taste at first glance.
“What do you think?”
Kyungah sister nudged him for his opinion, and after taking another slurp of the knife-cut noodles, Dokgoseok said.
“They have a unique texture compared to regular noodles.”
“…And?”
“That’s all there is to it.”
“No, surely you can be a bit more detailed.”
Kyungah sister seemed a little frustrated, choosing instead to try the noodles herself rather than relying on his review.
“Here you go, Miss.”
“Thank you.”
“You too, Chilbok.”
“Thank you.”
As Kyungah sister served herself and then helped me and Dokgorin, she took a bite of the knife-cut noodles with a look of anticipation.
Moments later,
“Delicious!”
Her eyes sparkling as she looked down into her bowl, I wondered if it really was that tasty. I picked up a serving of the knife-cut noodles myself.
‘Ah, it feels like eating handmade dumplings.’
Knife-cut noodles are cut diagonally from a huge dough, so their surface is uneven, tricking me into the feeling of eating dumpling soup.
But it wasn’t exactly dumpling soup; it felt more like a blend of regular noodles with the texture of dumplings.
In any case, I thoroughly understood why the knife-cut noodles were the signature dish of this inn.
“What do you think, Miss?”
I asked, turning to Dokgorin, who replied with a puzzled “Hmm?” but had soup splattered all over her mouth from eating so hurriedly.
“Uh, it’s not too tasty.”
Saying that, Dokgorin tried to look indifferent.
She finished an entire bowl of knife-cut noodles in the blink of an eye, pretending as if it wasn’t delicious.
Her lack of conviction made me unintentionally smirk.
*
“Rin, go to bed first. I’m going out to enjoy some entertainment for a bit.”
“Okay. Have fun, brother.”
Clap!
“……”
After dinner, Dokgoseok, sharing the same room, left to go drinking, leaving Dokgorin alone in the room. She quickly pulled out a bundle she had hidden under the bed.
Black sandstone.
A stone that shatters like sand with just a bit of pressure on the finger, it’s considered bad luck among miners because when this ore appears, no more silver can be mined from the silver mine.
But it became known that adding a small amount of this black sandstone when making glass results in more beautiful colored glass than usual, giving it some utility, although most people were typically unaware of its existence.
However, for Dokgorin, who possessed knowledge from before her reincarnation, this black sandstone was an invaluable treasure, unlike anything else.
This is largely due to the alias she garnered as the Heavenly Poison Sorceress, where “Heavenly poison” referred to this black sandstone used to create natural uranium.
In the past, according to Chilbok, a small amount of natural uranium poses no harm to the human body, but when concentrated and ingested, the result is entirely different.
Concentrated uranium can easily kill a person even in tiny amounts, and there is no antidote to it. Moreover, it is basically odorless and tasteless, making it impossible to distinguish when someone ingested it.
Even a master who has reached the unkillable level could be slain by it, thus it is an item that could undermine the very foundation of the martial world.
Hence, the name “Heavenly Poison.”
After setting aside the black sandstone she would use to kill Weijichun, she crushed the rest into powder and packed it in paper, leaving only one small piece of black sandstone and stowing everything else in her bag.
She then sat on her bed, rolled a piece of paper into a tube resembling a cigarette, and inhaled the black powder with her nose.
Sssss!
It seemed that oral inhalation was slower to absorb, so she opted for nasal absorption.
‘Good, it’s working.’
This was one of the methods to create a poison user in the Poison Master sect, a kind of training method that builds tolerance to poison by continuously ingesting small amounts.
As the saying goes, “Using poison to counter poison,” in order to handle uranium, she first needed to cultivate resistance to it.
Feeling the rapid absorption of the black sandstone powder through her nasal mucosa and the accompanying euphoric sensation, Dokgorin swiftly crossed her legs and began to meditate.
Her ultimate goal was to become a complete poison user.
Like before her reincarnation, she aimed to be reborn as a superhuman with perfect resistance to the radiation emitted by uranium.
Naturally, the accompanying beauty effects were just a bonus.