The Bait
The moment a single woman stepped inside, the office suddenly felt packed to bursting.
Ilhong and I stared openly at Paeng Hwayeop, whose sheer presence was utterly unique.
"Please don't stare so much..."
Apparently finding our curiosity-laden gazes a bit much, she turned her head slightly aside.
"Are you really friends?"
At my blunt, no-nonsense question, Paeng Hwayeop gave an awkward little nod.
"...We are friends."
From the look of her, her personality was the complete opposite of Dang Yeohye's. If the latter was like dealing with a prickly hedgehog, Paeng Hwayeop felt more like a sturdy, straightforward bear. Maybe that was exactly why she could become friends with someone like Dang Yeohye in the first place.
"Hard to believe, is it?"
"No, just surprising."
"How did you even put up with that personality...?"
Hearing our questions, Paeng Hwayeop let out a quiet chuckle.
"Huhu. Whenever I mention a close friend, people always ask me that."
The way she smiled, as if long accustomed to it, made it clear she had fielded this exact question countless times.
"Of course we didn't get along at first. But during our travels as chivalrous knights, we ended up taking down a demonic scoundrel together, and after all the twists and turns we became close."
At the beginning, she said, she had been sick to death of that woman who spat curses and threw tantrums at the slightest thing. Then they ran into a truly dangerous demonic master, and fighting back-to-back let her see past the prickly exterior to the genuine heart underneath—and that was how they became friends.
"Huh."
The story rang strangely familiar. The path by which I had gotten close to her was roughly the same. In other words, it took a life-or-death event just to barely become friends with that woman. Dang Yeohye really was something else.
"Then how did you become close with our Yeohye?"
She seemed mildly fascinated by each other's existence, fixing me with a look that said she genuinely wanted to know.
"Pretty much the same way as you, Heroine Paeng."
A string of brushes with death and one incident after another—that had been it.
"Do you truly call each other older sister and younger brother...?"
Her voice carried a faint note of disbelief, as if she found it hard to accept.
"Yeah, more or less."
It had been half-forced in the early days, but still. When I nodded, Paeng Hwayeop let out an impressed little sound of wonder.
"So the day has finally come. No wonder Neungsam's expression has been so bright lately."
That old man had been through plenty of hardship waiting on his young mistress; it seemed they were getting along well enough now.
"Is Sister Dang Yeohye doing all right at home these days?"
At that question, Paeng Hwayeop's face darkened a little.
"An entire clan once tried to cast her out—do you think she would be fine? Of course she's sitting on pins and needles."
True enough. Aside from her father, she had next to no allies. And with her abysmal social skills, she was terrible at untangling the relationships she had twisted, so even after ousting the young clan lord she was surely living under a stifling atmosphere inside the family.
"She has been grumbling quite a lot. It seems she is thinking of leaving the clan before long and joining the Azure Dragon Unit or the Demon Extermination Unit."
I had heard something about her joining Myeolmade last time as well. She was definitely better suited to thrashing villains in the field than playing politics inside a clan.
"Anyway, I think we've talked enough about that sister of mine. Let's get to the commission."
The Hebei Paeng Clan was one of the Five Great Clans that, alongside the Jinju Eun Clan, dominated Hebei. I asked Ilhong to bring out some high-grade tea leaves and then got down to business.
"Yeohye told me you are remarkably good at finding things."
Paeng Hwayeop brought up the example of the Human-Faced Spider—the demonic beast everyone said was nearly impossible to locate—and asked along those lines. Technically I had found that one using a map handed down through the Dang Clan, but my sworn sister had clearly heaped a mountain of praise on me so the work would come my way.
"Yeah, when it comes to finding or discovering things, we've pretty much got it down."
That wasn't entirely wrong. Through Majungcheon I now had access to the Beggar Sect's intelligence network, and through the Mysterious Pavilion Master I could reach the core information of the Haomu Gate as well. A troubleshooter agency that could cross-check both intelligence organizations—ours was the only one of its kind in all of Beijing.
"Do you know anything about the Ghost-Faced Guest who has been running rampant in Hebei lately?"
At that question I immediately glanced at Ilhong beside me.
"First I've heard of him."
The same woman who, the moment Paeng Hwayeop walked into the office, had rattled off her entire profile as a heroine among women now only shrugged, claiming ignorance.
"Of course you wouldn't. He is a lust demon who only recently began spreading his notoriety by word of mouth."
She nodded to herself, adding that there likely wasn't even a wanted poster up at the authorities yet. A mere lust demon without a bounty, and a high master of the Paeng Clan was already hiring a troubleshooter to hunt him this aggressively?
"What exactly did the bastard do?"
Paeng Hwayeop's expression hardened.
"Hm. He did quite a bit. It has been kept secret so far and has not become public, but that madman laid hands on a martial artist of our Paeng Clan."
She absently toyed with the hilt of her greatsword as she spilled the clan's internal affairs.
"...Ah."
Apparently the bastard was a Peak Realm master despite being a lust demon. Even so—of all people to mess with, he had to touch a martial artist from the Paeng Clan, which wielded enormous influence throughout Hebei. No wonder a Transcendental Peak master was already on his trail as a hunter.
"So you want us to find where the guy is hiding?"
"...No. We already know the location. According to the latest intelligence, he has gone to ground in a place called Gu'an near Beijing."
I glanced at Ilhong again.
"Gu'an is a small neighboring city right below Beijing."
The Hebei Paeng Clan had deep roots planted all over Hebei—businesses, official posts, everything. It seemed they had already managed to track the man's movements to some degree.
"Then you don't need our help, do you? You already know where he is."
But apparently that wasn't the case either.
"He is an extremely careful man. From the traces we found, he has been doing this for quite some time, yet only now has he been exposed—that alone tells you something."
He was skilled at disguise arts and concealing his identity, leaving almost no trail. Until now he had not known pursuers existed and had left a tail; now that he knew, he had completely gone dark inside that city. The fact that he had been running free for so long in a dragon's den like Beijing before finally getting caught suggested his disguise skills were every bit as good as Ilhong's.
"Which is why we need 'bait' to lure him out."
Looking over his past activities, she said, he seemed almost compulsive about it—he always acted on a half-year cycle. He would move again soon, and they needed a lure for that moment.
"Bait? Why come to our detective agency just to find that?"
"Because that lust demon..."
"That lust demon?"
Paeng Hwayeop seemed reluctant to say it; she eyed us carefully before opening her mouth.
"He is a sodomite who prefers handsome men."
"..."
Our current client laid out a rather shocking piece of information. The Central Plains swarmed with every kind of freak imaginable, but a lust demon who hunted men?
"There must be something wrong with his body. He goes around absorbing men's yang energy through some twisted form of caiyin buyang. Especially handsome martial artists—he targets them first."
Paeng Hwayeop spilled everything she knew about the lust demon. I looked over at Ilhong, who had frozen solid with the teacup still in her hand.
"Ilhong, the client's leaving. See her out."
"Hold on, Young Hero Dan Mujin. Hear me out a little longer."
Looking panicked, Heroine Paeng grabbed my hand.
"Let go of me—wait, you're saying absorbing yang through men is even possible?"
I spoke as if I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"Piling yang upon yang is normally dangerous, but if the man has some bizarre constitution, he might manage it without dying."
Paeng Hwayeop explained the theory she had pieced together while tracking him. Truly, the mysteries of martial arts and the human body knew no bounds.
"Young Hero, I heard from Dang Yeohye that you are a man of rare spirit and chivalry—enough to stand tall even before the Soul-Stealing Demon Lord. Will you not help us?"
"Wait—did that sister of mine know what kind of job this was when she introduced you?"
"...Of course not. I was vague about the details."
Goddamn it. I had been thrilled that a high-profile commission that could finally put our name on the map in Beijing was walking through the door. And it turned out to be bait for a sodomite.
"Ilhong! The client's leaving—why are you just standing there?!"
I felt like I needed to throw salt over my shoulder. When I waved her off in pure disgust, Paeng Hwayeop decided she had no choice and put an offer on the table.
"Five gold coins. That is what the Paeng Clan will pay simply for drawing attention in Gu'an."
She must have heard a thing or two about me from Dang Yeohye. She thrust all five fingers straight out at me.
"Hmm. That's a bit low."
Did she really think she could buy me with that little gold?
"Very well. Even if you only draw eyes, we will provide ten gold coins."
"Hmmm."
It was an amount that made me waver more than I wanted to admit—especially since she was arguing that the Paeng Clan masters would handle all the hard work themselves.
"You said 'draw attention in Gu'an'—what exactly does that mean?"
"Well, about that..."
Paeng Hwayeop looked back and forth between my face—which had once stolen the hearts of merchant caravan wives—and Ilhong, a beauty currently wearing the skin of a pretty boy, then continued.
"I was thinking the two of you might... display a rather intimate male friendship in front of people."
If the two of us put on a show and the rumors spread, they would reach the sodomite's ears and he would be certain to take the bait, she explained.
"Wait. So what you're saying is, you want the two of us to..."
I trailed off in pure dismay. Ilhong, standing beside me, had already started imagining something; her ears had gone red and her lips were pressed tight shut.
"This is insane. Ilhong, say something already!"
"I-I might be... okay with it..."
"What do you mean 'okay,' you idiot?!"
The hard-won nickname Dog-Beating Dragon was about to get rewritten as Sodomy Dragon. What would that do to my reputation and public image?
"Of course we will disguise your identities when we spread the rumors."
"Then I won't be able to make a name for myself at all."
Which meant the dry spell of no clients would just keep going. Between the last adultery case and this—why was every job that came through personal connections such a complete mess?
"Boss, the silver we got last time is going to run out soon. Maybe you should think it over."
But then Ilhong looked straight at me and spoke up. We still had taxes and debts to pay, and there was no work. My diligent subordinate had just stabbed right into the boss's soft spot.
"Fifteen gold coins."
Seeing me waver, she quietly raised the stakes.
"I heard from Yeohye that you are a man who takes on any commission without fear."
And now she was even deploying the magic word that needled a man's pride: scared?
"Haaah."
After a long struggle, I let out a heavy sigh.
Gu'an—a fairly prosperous city that served as one of Beijing's gateway towns. We stood in the busiest heart of its central district, dressed like elegant, high-nosed young masters out for a refined stroll.
"Boss, how do I look?"
Wrapped head to toe in the expensive Sichuan silk clothes the Hebei Paeng Clan had provided, Ilhong spun around with a flourish. She looked like she was having fun.
"Well... not bad, I guess."
"Tch, what's that supposed to mean? Was that even a compliment?"
Even in male clothes, that jade-like beauty of hers still radiated out; I answered carefully, holding on to my composure.
"Then what about me?"
Fluttering silk robes, a hero's headscarf, a splendid treasured sword at my waist—I looked exactly like a jade-faced young master raised with every refinement of a prestigious clan.
"Well... you do look a little cool, I guess..."
Ilhong answered with a carefully casual air, though the corner of her mouth twitched upward just a little—so maybe all that effort dressing up had paid off after all.