Lecher: Jongchil-11
The Escort Captain's main duty was managing the escort agency's escorts. The escorts were the agency's very lifeline. Their skills were practically synonymous with the agency's credit rating, making their training an absolutely crucial task.
Being an escort was a truly ambiguous profession. They weren't at the bottom rung of society like beggars or porters, but calling it a good job would be a stretch too. Spending half the year on the open road and working rough hours made it unpopular even among martial artists. No matter how much martial artists enjoyed wandering the jianghu, there was a world of difference—as vast as between a leisurely stroll and a grueling march—between roaming the world on their own terms and trudging a fixed route for work. That made hiring top-tier escorts an enormous headache for any escort agency. Elite experts wouldn't deign to work for one anyway, and even if they did, their sky-high salaries killed any profitability. In the end, escorts were mediocre martial artists barely scraping above third-rate, and paradoxically, an agency hiring such riffraff could never win customer trust.
The most economical solution for an agency was to scoop up those mediocres and drill them up to at least second-rate. For that reason, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that training escorts corresponded one-to-one with generating the agency's revenue. The Escort Captain's duties were that vital.
"Alright! That's it for today. Everyone, make sure to review the Mihu Swordsmanship you learned."
""Thank you for your hard work!""
The ten escorts bowed to the Escort Captain. She flicked her hand in acknowledgment before exiting the training grounds. Supervising their practice wrapped up her morning duties. But the diligent Escort Captain never let idle time go to waste—she sought out work if there was none. She spent the rest of her morning patrolling the Silver Scale West House's perimeter.
Lunch was a simple fistful of rice balls. She'd have to oversee more training at the grounds soon. During her brief break, she strolled the estate's pavilion, lost in thought. A servant's frantic voice shattered her reverie.
"Chief Steward! L-Lecher! The lecher's appeared!"
"A lecher?"
"Yes! It's the lecher! Cheongah got hit by the lecher!"
Cheongah was one of the household maids who helped with meals. The servant's words hardened the Escort Captain's expression.
"Where's Cheongah now?"
"On her way back from the market... One of the Beggars' Sect's informants found her collapsed in an alley. I've already sent someone."
"I'll go too."
She might've been just a lowly kitchen maid, but she was still Silver Scale West House blood. The lecher's act was a blatant declaration of war against White Lily Escort Agency. Eyes blazing with fury, the Escort Captain followed the servant.
*-*-*
Crime scene: A narrow alley between Churo Inn and the fabric shop.
Victim: Cheongah, maid handling odd jobs for Silver Scale West House.
Witness: Gangsoon, first-class disciple from the Beggars' Sect Anhui branch.
Suspects: The mysterious duo, Twin Black Lechers, terrorizing Jamsan County lately.
The Escort Captain arrived and immediately checked Cheongah's condition. The fine blue robe she'd worn—specially tailored by the seamstress for the diligent girl—was shredded to rags, barely recognizable. Her pants were torn just as badly, useless now, and thick semen oozed grotesquely from between her legs.
Gangsoon had found her just two quarters of an hour (thirty minutes) ago.
"Didn't see anyone suspicious?"
The Escort Captain felt an unbearable rage at the pitiful sight of the unconscious girl. Like hot magma surging, ferocious inner energy boiled wildly in her dantian. This was a clear challenge to Silver Scale West House. She couldn't let it slide.
Favors repaid tenfold. Grudges avenged a hundredfold. One of her creeds.
"I saw two people leaving this spot. But I couldn't tell if they were men or women, adults or kids. They looked like rippling shadows—eerie. No, they were definitely human, but my memory feels... distorted. I don't know how to explain it."
The sole witness Gangsoon's testimony was vague. But the Escort Captain didn't find it odd. It was a common thread among all witnesses to the Twin Black Lechers' crimes.
They're clearly human, but their faces and voices feel inhuman, impossible to make out. Some say man and woman, others old man and child. Twin Black Lechers... They definitely use some bizarre trick. An artifact, probably.
The Escort Captain had gathered what intel she could on the Twin Black Lechers. It was only natural as the chief steward guarding Silver Scale West House. They moved like ghosts, always with some special artifact.
"They seemed to be wearing black masks over their faces. The moment I saw them, I realized, 'Ah, those must be the infamous Twin Black Lechers.' When I entered the alley they'd come from, there she was."
"Which way did they go?"
"Straight down this road, I think—but I got startled seeing the woman down and lost them. I reported to the yamen right after."
The yamen had notified Silver Scale West House immediately. The victim was wearing clothes embroidered with the house's insignia. Rags now, but still.
Cheongah had been hit on her morning errand run. It was so early, no other witnesses. And this wasn't a busy street anyway. Gangsoon spotting the fleeing Twin Black Lechers was sheer luck.
Hand this to the yamen's useless runners, and it'll never get solved. Hmm... Guess I have to handle it myself?
Letting a house servant get attacked without response would make them a laughingstock. Word that mighty White Lily Escort Agency—ruling Anhui—couldn't catch one lecher would be utter humiliation. And for the deputy chief's safety, such vermin needed swift extermination.
The hastily summoned physician took Cheongah's pulse. Good news: just exhaustion, no lasting harm. Typical of the Twin Black Lechers. They raped, but never endangered a woman's life.
They've got their code and stick to it? Pathetic.
The Escort Captain had men carry the collapsed Cheongah back to the house. They'd get her testimony once she woke. Until then, she'd track the lechers based on crime scene clues.
"This the place? Where those elusive lechers showed up."
A low, grave male voice suddenly rang out. The Escort Captain knew who it was without turning.
"Young Master Hyeok. What brings you here?"
Najo Sword Namgoong Hyeok—second son of Namgoong Family, one of Zhongyuan's famed young experts—stepped into the dingy alley in shabby traveler's robes. Three years ago, he'd shockingly declared with his two-years-older brother that they wouldn't inherit the family. Before the Twin Black Lechers, he'd upended Anhui with the Emperor's Sword incident. Having tossed away a noble position others would kill for, he was infamous in Anhui as an eccentric—not for his prickly temper, but his baffling actions.
Namgoong Hyeok knelt to survey the crime scene, looking every bit the official investigator.
"Ground's wet. Turbid white fluid mixed with the woman's juices, looks like. That funky smell... urine?"
He started poking around on his own. The Escort Captain swallowed a quiet sigh. As a direct Namgoong Family scion, Namgoong Hyeok was a tricky customer. His personality wasn't awful, but nobility was nobility—uncomfortable no matter what. She wasn't lowborn herself, but she had to defer to the Namgoong young master. Suddenly, the deputy chief—who chatted casually with such superiors—seemed profoundly admirable. She doubted she'd ever reach that level, no matter her experience.
"You planning to hunt the lechers too, Young Master Hyeok?"
"Not keen on meddling in hassles, but the yamen sent a letter to the family. Public's riled up—wants us to step in."
"Tch. Forgot the no-interference pact already?"
"That's why we trade favors like this to keep it intact. Anyway, the lechers seem martial artists, so it's not really breaching anything. Martial world handles its own. Basic pact, right?"
The Escort Captain nodded at Namgoong Hyeok's words. As expected of a silver-tongued man—he left her speechless.
"They've pulled off over twenty crimes without a hitch, never caught. How do you figure they manage it?"
"Some special artifact, probably. Specialized for hiding identity. Wall Mountain Immortal would know best—might ask his advice."
She nodded again. Same thought. Piecing together witness accounts, the Twin Black Lechers clearly used an artifact to conceal themselves. Why'd such a fateful encounter go to those vile scum? She smiled bitterly.
"Guess I'll ask the deputy chief."
"Heard the victims are super uncooperative with investigations. That's stalling the yamen too."
"Blackmail from the Twin Black Lechers?"
"Could be. But I doubt it. The Twin Black Lechers... they're masters of lust arts, no question."
Namgoong Hyeok fell silent after that, eyes fixed on the turbid semen pooled on the ground. He studied its texture. Mixed with dirt and sand, but originally pure and thick.
"Like a Chupa Wol-level lust art expert?"
"Yeah, that's the right track. Chupa Wol's rotting in Fairy Gate Sect's prison awaiting execution, so not him... but maybe a secret disciple he raised is behind this mess."
If true, things got messy fast. Catching Chupa Wol had been hell. Only imperial intervention nabbed him—the lecher who'd defiled the youngest princess. Without that, he'd have slipped away forever.
"Chupa Wol's two disciples... Headache for sure. And we'd have to catch them no matter what."
Scum like that loose in Anhui spelled future trouble. Namgoong Hyeok nodded in agreement.
"Nothing useful here anyway. Cheongah, right? Only way is questioning her. Hope for a big lead."
He casually declared he'd interrogate Cheongah. Arrogance befitting a Namgoong direct descendant. The Escort Captain held her tongue. Officially, White Lily Escort Agency (or Silver Scale West House) should lead this investigation—they were the ones hit. But picking a fight with Namgoong Family was pointless. If the deputy chief were here, he'd probably tell her to swallow pride and grab the gains.
"Physician said it's just exhaustion—she'll wake soon. Young Master Hyeok, care to head back to Silver Scale West House with me?"
"Sure."
Namgoong Hyeok nodded. The Escort Captain led him back to the estate.