Chapter 50
50th Chapter: What Brings You Here?
“Kuhk, khuhk!”
The commander, who seemed to have been suppressed by the demonic energy, was lying on the ground, trembling all over.
Although he was a commander with enough strength to be among the best in the underworld, in front of a direct disciple, he was nothing more than a frightened puppy before a lion.
Tap, tap.
The disciple, having defeated the commander in just a few days, dusted off his hands.
“I’ve subdued him. Disciple.”
Despite the intense atmosphere, he said cheerfully with a bright smile.
When that peerless handsome man smiled, the dreary interior of the courtesan house felt momentarily bright, almost like an illusion.
His expression and gaze were like that of an adorable Samoyed running back with a frisbee, demanding praise.
Cute, you say?
‘Am I crazy?’
To think I found a man cute, even for a moment.
This shouldn’t be happening. I am a normal person with a perfectly normal sexual desire and taste, loving big-breasted voluptuous women.
Men, no matter how they look, never attract me.
“Thank you. Senior.”
I maintained a strictly businesslike tone and stepped back to keep a safe distance.
The beggar boy, witnessing this, trembled.
Thud.
He plopped down on the floor.
Fear flickered in the boy’s eyes.
“You can go. From now on, stop depending on the beggar trade and start earning an honest living. Got it?”
I gestured for the boy to leave.
He had been following us but wasn’t guilty of a death sentence. I had referred to him as a tail, but in the grand scheme of things, he wasn’t even a hair on a tail.
There was no need to kill a little brat like him.
He wasn’t likely to become a hassle.
It was clear how the back alleys operated. They probably gathered orphans to do the dirty work. That commander must have made them do the same.
“Yes, yes! Th-thank you! Great hero! I’ll turn my life around and won’t even look at the beggar business again!!”
The beggar boy stood up with newfound energy and sprinted away.
I turned my gaze back to the now-stiff commander.
He opened his mouth upon making eye contact with me.
“Ugh… Hao Mun… Following me… I-I don’t know anything… Why are you threatening me…”
“Then why were you pretending to be an ordinary person after learning martial arts?”
“As you know, there’s not much work to be done in the courtesan house, right? So I only learned some worthless third-rate martial arts wandering in the marketplace… What about you?! You claim to be from Hao Mun?! Looking at your martial attire, you seem to be from the Gongdong Sect. How dare an orthodox martial artist like you act so ruthlessly?!”
His expression conveyed pure injustice.
His eyes rolled around.
“Senior.”
“Yeah, Disciple.”
“Since there’s been quite a commotion, it’s likely the thugs upstairs will come down here soon. Please handle them.”
“Got it.”
The senior nodded with a smile at my words.
The commander’s statement was not entirely incorrect.
Unlike today, during the medieval martial arts world, where public security was practically nonexistent, maintaining one’s life while doing business meant either paying protection money to the local sect or hiring thugs directly.
Regular shops typically went for the first option, while courtesan houses leaned more toward the latter.
Thus, it’s highly likely there were thugs hired to resolve conflicts in this courtesan house as well.
Just like those known as bouncers in modern times.
Although, given the size of this Hao Mun branch, any thugs appearing here would likely be lowly scum from the back alleys.
Barely had I completed my thoughts when a group of six intimidating thugs burst in, wielding knives and clubs.
“What’s going on here… Khuh!?”
“How dare you… Gahhh?!”
Bang! Crash!
But they stood no chance and were subdued by the unarmed senior before they could even get a word out.
Tap, tap.
After slamming all six of them to the ground, the senior dusted off his hands again.
The commander’s pupils shook upon witnessing this.
“Really? Then I’ll find and show you that evidence.”
I had no expectations that he would admit to his identity.
If he confessed to being part of Hao Mun, that would only raise further suspicions.
For an intelligence agent to confess without any hard evidence is simply unheard of.
If there’s no evidence, then I’d have to find it. I stood up and started humming a tune, calling for the senior.
“Senior.”
“Disciple, do you have another favor to ask?”
As soon as I called, the senior dashed over, eyes sparkling like a puppy.
If he had a tail, you could imagine it wagging excitedly.
A tail?
To think of something as disgusting as a man having a tail. It’s maddening.
I quickly erased such thoughts from my mind.
This isn’t the time for that.
“Yes. Please use your senses and check if there are any hidden chambers either beneath or beyond those walls over there.”
I pointed toward the counter, kitchen, and storage areas.
Looking at the layout of the courtesan house, there must be a room keeping information stored in document form for communication with Hao Mun’s Gansu branch somewhere there.
Once inside the hidden chamber, I could uncover proof of his affiliation with Hao Mun and that someone had ordered him to follow us.
The senior naturally possessed the Heavenly Body’s Martial Bone and, being a monster born with an inherent sense, he had honed that sense to its peak through martial training.
He was practically a human radar, akin to sonar, so there was no reason I wouldn’t take advantage of his ability.
“Okay!”
Just asking him was enough for him to oblige. The senior gathered his energy. The moment his eyes sparkled with a bright light.
“I found it. There’s a large space underground near the kitchen.”
The color drained from the commander’s face at the senior’s words.
He started visibly panicking. Bingo!
Truly, the future top beauty of the world and a talent of the Heavenly Body, even without fully blooming yet, he was already this useful.
I certainly made the right choice to join the Gongdong Sect.
“Disciple! I did well, right? Huh? Did I do well?”
Now, not just his gaze and expression, but the outright verbal demand for praise from the senior.
I couldn’t even fathom why he kept clinging to me.
How annoying, for a man… yet I could hardly dismiss him.
I forced a business smile and replied in a very formal tone.
“You did well, Senior.”
“Thank you! Disciple!”
The senior beamed with joy in response to my statement.
Ignoring him, I smiled back.
Alright, let’s head into the hidden chamber and uncover that evidence.
I had to pry that evidence out and pressure the commander before moving quickly to the next step.
Just as I was thinking this and took a step forward.
[This young hero.]
A beautiful woman’s voice echoed in my ears.
It was a transmission.
The fact that a transmission was sent meant it came from a top-tier master.
Which meant the voice’s owner was someone higher up in the organization, the superior of the commander, who was moaning on the ground.
But isn’t the Gansu branch of Hao Mun supposed to be in Lanzhou, not here?
What a waste of talent. If this were a normal situation, it would be utterly nonsensical.
No matter how much of a big deal Hao Mun was, having a top-tier expert deployed to such a trivial and unimportant branch in a rural area was beyond reason.
‘Is it because of Jeoksawol?’
Well, upon reflection, I could see why a top-tier expert would be deployed.
Yeomwang Jeoksawol.
The Grand Master of Hao Mun and the head of the Sado family, the best in the underworld.
To assist her, someone knowledgeable about Hwa Myeon-ho-gyeom would have sent a strong presence to the Hwajeong County branch of Hao Mun.
It was entirely plausible.
[How about we stop tormenting our poor Commander and enjoy some private time together in the special room on the second floor? Hehe.]
A sticky and sultry voice continued to linger in my ears.
Just hearing it made my heart race.
This feeling is…
‘It’s the Beauty Temptation Technique.’
I wouldn’t expect anything less from a courtesan affiliated with Hao Mun; the flirty tactics were evident from the beginning.
Any ordinary man would have probably found his lust ignited merely from her voice, but I was not an ordinary man but a master of the Color Spectrum.
In fact, it was more irritating than anything.
Who the hell do you think you’re to try and seduce me?
Anyway, with the superior showing up, there was no longer any need to deal with the commander on the first floor.
“Senior. I received a transmission from the Hao Mun expert on the second floor requesting a private meeting. I’ll head over for a bit, so please take care of the first floor.”
“A private meeting? No way. Disciple. That’s dangerous. I need to go too…”
The senior looked worried upon hearing my words.
He tugged at my sleeve.
“It’s alright. Trust me, Senior. There won’t be any problems. If anything happens, I’ll send a signal.”
Danger? What danger?
I was confident that I could overcome any traps laid out.
Being compared to notorious figures like Jo Go, the real power behind the Imperial Palace, or the worst eunuch in history, I didn’t earn those titles for nothing.
Just trust me.
The moment the senior heard my words, his eyes trembled.
He fell silent for a moment before releasing my sleeve and said.
“Okay. I’ll trust you. You are my disciple, so I’ll believe everything you say. Just be careful. If something happens, please send me a signal.”
“Understood.”
I ascended the stairs toward the second floor, leaving behind the senior’s concerns.
As I climbed the wooden stairs, a typical courtesan house scene unfolded before me.
Sliding doors lined the corridor on both sides.
It didn’t seem like anyone was around yet, as there was not even a hint of a presence.
[Just continue straight ahead, young hero. Hehe.]
Following the guidance of the voice, I navigated through the hallways until finally arriving at the front of the special room located deepest within the second floor.
Creek.
As I reached the door, the sliding door opened on its own.
There, I finally came face-to-face with the courtesan who had sent me the transmission.
Behind the sliding door, leaning against a gorgeous flower-patterned screen, sat a beauty like a painting.
Though her face was obscured by a veil, her beauty radiated through, practically shining.
With a pair of peaches and ample curves that seemed to burst through her exquisite silk attire, she embodied a seductive black-haired goddess.
The moment I saw her true identity, I recognized her instantly.
Yeomhee Neungwolhyang of Sichuan, the number one beauty in the province.
True to her nickname, she was not only the top beauty in Sichuan but also one of the potential candidates for the next “Most Beautiful in the World.” The only “heavenly level” courtesan at Baekhwa Pavilion in Chengdu, she always donned a veil, revealing her face only to men who had passed tests in the four arts.
Her services at Baekhwa Pavilion consisted solely of playing the guqin and calligraphy, and even those who passed the tests were not allowed to lay a finger on Neungwolhyang’s hand.
Passing the tests meant they could only gaze upon her and enjoy her guqin playing over drinks like they were at an idol concert.
And yet, countless refined young men took the tests just to have a glimpse of Neungwolhyang. The rumors had spread far beyond Sichuan, encouraging men from other regions to come to visit. Moreover, every man who spent time drinking with her walked away satisfied.
Of course, the fact that the courtesan belonged to Hao Mun was as natural as a beggar being affiliated with the Beggar Sect.
But the real problem was that she wasn’t just any courtesan.
According to Dongchang’s intel, Yeomhee Neungwolhyang was the second persona of Jeoksawol, the beauty of the underworld.
Right, there she was, appearing in front of me once more.
Facing the second persona of the Yeomwang here of all places was a ridiculous twist of fate.
How absurd.
What a damned character concept!
“Please have a seat, young hero.”
In stark contrast to Hwa Myeon-ho-gyeom’s rough and aggressive tone, Jeoksawol spoke softly, seductively, and kindly, inviting me to sit.
There was simply no way to perceive her as the same person as Hwa Myeon-ho-gyeom. It seemed like she was acting as well, just like the rest of us.
Although Jeoksawol’s sudden appearance was unexpected, it was welcome.
I accepted Neungwolhyang’s invitation and took a seat.
Creek, thud.
The two courtesans who had opened the sliding door hurried out, closing it behind them.
In the moderately adorned special room overlooking a meticulously maintained garden, I sat across from Neungwolhyang, who now resembled Jeoksawol, with a table of tea set between us.
“So, what brings you to our establishment today?”
The moment Jeoksawol spoke again in that sticky voice, my senses went on high alert.
Her Beauty Temptation Technique was about to unfurl, revealing a sticky allure that enveloped her entire being, enticing any man before her.