Chapter 227: I’m the Gigolo’s Friend.
Chapter 227: I’m the Gigolo’s Friend.
“Out of my way! You damn bitch!”
Yeo Bul-gae flew into a frenzy, raining down a merciless barrage of blows. Even as she took the beating, the middle-aged woman kept the younger girl shielded in her arms. It wasn't enough for Yeo Bul-gae to simply satisfy his lust; his torment was so perverted and sadistic that the woman had stepped forward, unable to watch any longer. Having suffered the same treatment herself, she knew all too well how agonizing and humiliating it was.
Yeo Bul-gae grabbed the woman by her hair and flung her backward. Though he was called the King of the Night, in his fits of rage, he was nothing more than a common thug. No—it would have been a mercy if he were just a common thug who beat people; Yeo Bul-gae was a monster who tormented others with relentless, obsessive cruelty.
“Impressive, truly impressive. I suppose an old hag like you has to play the martyr to survive among the rest, eh?”
Yeo Bul-gae surged his internal energy into the woman’s body, intentionally inflicting maximum pain.
“Aaaaaaaagh!”
The woman shrieked, her body racking with unbearable agony.
“You should hold it in! Didn't you step up to sacrifice yourself? Or were you just pretending to stop me?”
The young woman she had tried to protect scrambled forward, pleading through her sobs.
“I’ll do it! I’ll do it! Please, just stop!”
Tears streamed down her face. The other women watching also wept, their heads bowed low in despair.
It wasn't just because they were captives that they couldn't lift a finger against Yeo Bul-gae. He held the lives of their families over their heads like a guillotine. There were children, siblings, and parents involved. Whether they resisted, fled, or took their own lives, he threatened to hunt down and slaughter their families—and he had already proven his word by butchering the family of one woman who tried to escape right before her eyes.
What broke them even more was the fact that they were adapting to this shameful, beastly reality.
“You lot are nothing more than lumps of flesh that exist for my pleasure. Who do you think you’re protecting when you’re just meat?”
The middle-aged woman squeezed her eyes shut, tears spilling out. Every day she wished for death, but she couldn't even seek that mercy because of her son. She knew that if she committed suicide, Yeo Bul-gae would bring her son here and kill him in front of the others as a warning.
Please! Someone, please save us!
The woman’s desperate gaze turned toward the bright blue sky visible through the distant window.
Please!
As if her desperation had finally reached the heavens, a subordinate reported from outside.
“The Black and White Twin Blades and the Heavenly Flower Pavilion Master have arrived.”
As if he had been waiting for this very moment, Yeo Bul-gae hurriedly opened the door and stepped out.
The Heavenly Flower Pavilion Master was entering the large courtyard. Behind her followed the Black and White Twin Blades, their bamboo hats pressed low. Of course, they were actually Geom Mu-geuk and the Extreme Evil Smiling Demon.
They had expected many obstacles to their entry. Geom Mu-geuk had been prepared to use his wits to talk their way in, but unexpectedly, it had been far too easy. One of the martial artists guarding the entrance had guided them here as if it were routine. Since the Black and White Twin Blades brought women here frequently, no one suspected they were fakes. Furthermore, the real Twin Blades were apparently so terrifying that no one dared to even make eye contact, let alone question them.
And so, they reached Yeo Bul-gae without a single blade drawn.
The moment Yeo Bul-gae saw the Heavenly Flower Pavilion Master, he marveled.
“Oh! She’s stunning!”
He loved her aura. She was elegant yet haughty. To him, the greatest pleasure in the world was breaking that very pride and turning such a woman into a broken slave.
He stepped back into the room, grabbed the middle-aged woman from before by the hair, and dragged her out. He threw her aside without mercy.
“Look. This is the kind of place a woman of such beauty is coming to. Even if you spent all day licking my toes, it wouldn't be enough. So who do you think you're protecting?”
Yeo Bul-gae had no intention of being polite to the Heavenly Flower Pavilion Master. On the contrary, he wanted to instill immediate fear.
He threw the doors wide open. Inside was his personal palace—and a living hell for the women. Women kneeling, women slumped in corners, women lying on beds—they all raised their heads to look at the Heavenly Flower Pavilion Master.
“They were people like you, running gisaeng houses.”
The moment she saw them, the Pavilion Master’s expression hardened. Though she rarely showed anger, her face now wore a look of true, cold fury.
“You! Not content with stealing their businesses, you seek to steal their very souls.”
Yeo Bul-gae laughed delightedly.
“Even your speech is elegant! I like you. I’ll make sure to love you the most!”
The women in the room watched her with pitying eyes.
The Pavilion Master spoke in a calm, level tone.
“I happen to be quite good at seeing a person’s future.”
It was that specific moment when a person becomes so truly enraged that they turn preternaturally calm.
“Can you see my future too?”
“I see your skin being flayed off while you are skewered on an iron spit and thrust into a pit of fire.”
She was describing a scene from Avici Hell, the deepest level of the underworld.
Yeo Bul-gae’s expression stiffened for a moment, but he soon broke into a relaxed laugh.
“Even King Yama of Hell wouldn't take me. He’d say I’d make the place too dirty.”
He repeated his usual boast and sneered at her.
“Only the weak prattle on about hell. Does it make you feel better to imagine me falling into a pit of fire?”
“You are a coward. You pretend to be bold, but you are a coward who fears death more than anyone.”
“The bitches in there were all like you at first. Acting proud, talking big. Not knowing what state they’d be in just one hour later, or what kind of pleas they’d be begging me with. You think there’s no way you’ll end up like that? You think someone is going to come and save you? Yes, that’s how the human heart works. People never see what’s right in front of them.”
At that very moment, a situation he hadn't foreseen unfolded.
Hwang-yeom appeared, leading a group of masters. They blocked the path in front of Yeo Bul-gae, standing as if to protect him.
“Who are you people?” Hwang-yeom asked the Pavilion Master coldly.
Only then did Yeo Bul-gae realize they were fake Black and White Twin Blades. He had been so captivated by the Pavilion Master’s appearance that he hadn't examined her companions closely.
“Fakes? You crazy bastards!”
The thought that he had almost been compromised made his heart drop and his anger soar to its peak. He quickly composed himself.
Yeo Bul-gae snapped his fingers, and the women in the room swarmed out, kneeling and pressing their chests to the ground. He sat on them as if they were a chair. It wasn't because he needed a seat or even to show off his power; it was so he could use them as human shields at a moment's notice. This was the kind of man Yeo Bul-gae was.
“If those two are fakes, then obviously that bitch is a fake too.”
“Does it matter whether I am the true Heavenly Flower Pavilion Master or not?”
“It matters. Beautiful women are a dime a dozen in this world. But there is only one owner of the place I’ve seized.”
“I am the real Heavenly Flower Pavilion Master.”
Yeo Bul-gae believed her. A woman who could exude such an aura was not common.
“Those pathetic Twin Blades must be dead by now, then.”
“My gigolo has quite the temper, you see.”
She chuckled, as if finding her own words amusing. Her smile made Yeo Bul-gae flush with heat. She was exactly his type. He had seen countless women, but he had never been this attracted to one before.
Yeo Bul-gae’s gaze shifted to the Twin Blades.
So she came here trusting these two.
To his eyes, they didn't look like much.
“If you’re the real Pavilion Master, why did you come here?”
“I heard you were looking for me.”
“And? What do you think?”
“Ugly, insignificant, pathetic. I shouldn't have bothered.”
Yeo Bul-gae’s face instantly turned cold.
“I don’t know what gave you the confidence to come here and pull this shit, but if you thought the Twin Blades were the extent of my power, you’ve made a grave mistake.”
Yeo Bul-gae wasn't anxious. In fact, he couldn't be anxious even if he wanted to.
First, the three subordinates standing to his front-left were the Black Night Three Crows. They were his long-time henchmen and were masters a level above the Twin Blades. Beside them was a man holding a long spear, another loyal subordinate and spear master, the Blood Howl Spear. With these four plus the Twin Blades, these six masters were the reason he could become the King of the Night.
But today, there were more. Because Ji-saeng and Aecha had died, he had brought in reinforcements. The Five Evil-Shadow Scholars, whom he had hired for a massive sum, were notorious masters even within the Unorthodox Faction. Though he hadn't seen them fight personally, their reputations were formidable.
And above all, he had his most reliable assets.
A man and a woman were sitting on a rock in front of the flower garden. Both wore bizarre makeup, making it difficult to tell at a glance who was the man and who was the woman.
They were the Yin-Yang Ghosts.
They were demons who used strange sorcery to drain their opponents' internal energy. Naturally, the male Yang Ghost practiced an evil art that absorbed a woman’s Yin energy, while the female Yin Ghost absorbed a man’s Yang energy.
They loved fighting as much as they loved absorbing essence. Their internal energy was so immense that most masters were toyed with until they were sucked dry and killed. Furthermore, their personalities were so cruel and violent that they would slaughter entire families if something displeased them—they were truly a pair of lunatics. Even the Unorthodox Path Alliance was reluctant to use them because they caused so much trouble. However, in a situation like this, they were more reliable than anyone.
So, whom did he have to fear? Yeo Bul-gae was brimming with confidence.
“So, you were so angry that I tried to bring you here that you came to seek revenge yourself?”
Yeo Bul-gae grew even more sexually aroused. On the other hand, Hwang-yeom felt an inexplicable sense of unease, but he never intervened when his master was obsessed with a woman, having nearly been killed for doing so once before. No matter the issue, women were a territory he never touched.
Instead of answering, the Pavilion Master spoke to the women prostrate on the ground.
“Everyone, close your eyes. When you open them again, you will be able to go home.”
The women’s eyes wavered at her words. Looking into the Pavilion Master’s calm and gentle eyes, it felt as if it might actually come true. They all closed their eyes and prayed to the heavens. Please, let us go home.
Seeing this, the old lecher’s lust grew even more rampant.
“That little bitch really is full of charm.”
Yeo Bul-gae spoke to the Five Evil-Shadow Scholars.
“You five heroes, kill those men and prove your worth.”
In short, he was telling them to earn their pay.
As the Five Evil-Shadow Scholars stepped forward, Geom Mu-geuk moved to meet them. While the Pavilion Master had been buying time by talking to Yeo Bul-gae, Geom Mu-geuk and the Smiling Demon had already devised a plan via Voice Transmission. They had decided how to fight, how to protect the Pavilion Master, and how to save the women.
Yeo Bul-gae asked Geom Mu-geuk, “If he’s the gigolo, then what are you?”
Geom Mu-geuk replied, “I’m the gigolo’s friend.”
The gathered martial artists burst into laughter. Not a single one of them felt any tension.
“No matter how much you like your friend, following him all the way to hell is a bit much, don't you think?”
“I happen to like that 'pillar' too. He’s the pillar of my life, after all.”
Though hidden beneath his bamboo hat, the Smiling Demon’s eyes shone with a clear light.
Yeo Bul-gae felt a strange sense of foreboding at Geom Mu-geuk’s nonchalance. Thus, he gave his command with even more force.
“Break those damn pillars!”
The moment Yeo Bul-gae’s command fell, the Five Evil-Shadow Scholars drew their swords in unison.
Geom Mu-geuk walked toward them slowly, as if taking a stroll.
He lightly dodged the first attack from the Third Evil and drove a fist into his abdomen.
With a dull thud, the Third Evil collapsed. Mu-geuk twisted his body and slammed a fist into the face of the Second Evil, who was lunging with a sword from the side.
Lightly dodging, lightly tapping.
To the onlookers, it was a fight that made them wonder, What is this?
The Fourth Evil, attacking from behind, leaped over the collapsed Third Evil to strike. But that movement was already within Mu-geuk’s calculations.
Leaning his torso back, Mu-geuk lightly drove a dagger deep into the man's heart.
Stabbed in mid-air, the Fourth Evil’s momentum carried him forward. Because the Fourth Evil had become a human shield, the First Evil was forced to abandon his attack and pivot away.
However, Mu-geuk’s fist, anticipating that very movement, struck him squarely in the chest. As the First Evil crumpled, and just as Mu-geuk turned around, the Fifth Evil collapsed, clutching his throat. A dagger had lodged itself in his neck, seemingly out of nowhere.
Mu-geuk had faced them by combining the Fist Demon’s technique, the Wind God Four Steps, and his flying dagger skills. His Martial Intent was of such an extreme level that it was actually difficult to recognize.
There were no complex motions, no flashy footwork. It was simply fast and precise. Movements that seemed to require no effort at all.
Because of this, it looked to everyone else as if the scholars were faking their falls by pre-arrangement. It seemed they had been hit with light taps, yet they couldn't get back up.
Yeo Bul-gae was confused. The Five Evil-Shadow Scholars looked like rank amateurs, yet his opponent looked like a peerless master. He had never seen a fight like this.
The ones who grasped the situation most accurately were the Yin-Yang Ghosts.
They were looking at each other and smiling. They recognized at a glance that Geom Mu-geuk was a formidable foe, and they were actually delighted. The stronger the enemy, the more internal energy he would have; the female Yin Ghost was itching to taste it.
It was then.
BOOM! Rumble!
Thunder rolled across the sky. Dark clouds that looked ready to pour rain at any moment turned the surroundings dim.
The Smiling Demon walked out slowly and stood beside Geom Mu-geuk. In the flashing lightning, the white mask beneath his bamboo hat gleamed brightly. Mu-geuk knew just how furious the Smiling Demon was with Yeo Bul-gae.
“You pathetic, old lecher.”
The Smiling Demon spoke for the first time since arriving. He didn't want to exchange a single word with Yeo Bul-gae, so his next words were his last, rendering any further conversation unnecessary.
“You can’t seem to open your mouth without mentioning hell. I’ll send you there for real.”