Cutting Ties and the Red Light District Pawnshop
After parting ways with the handsome man who possessed such a dignified brand of perversion.
I thoroughly washed the sticky traces off my body with cold water at the well, then quietly returned to my room at the inn.
Inside, **Soso** was fast asleep, sprawled out like a starfish with her blanket kicked off, completely dead to the world.
Just a short while ago, I had been outside the wall, sucking some nameless handsome man's cock and panting like a wild beast. Looking at her innocent, sleeping face now stirred a strange mix of emotions inside me.
Sigh... Kiddo. Your sister is sorry.
A small sigh escaped my lips from a sudden pang of guilt.
If that handsome man hadn't called it quits and had pushed things to the very end, I might have actually abandoned you and thrashed around wildly with him until morning.
Shaking off the complicated guilt, I carefully lay down on the bed and pulled Soso into my arms.
“Mmm... Sis...”
Soso mumbled, snuggling deeper into my embrace in her sleep.
Feeling the cozy scent of her skin and the warm heat radiating from her small, soft body, the nerves that had been wound tight all night finally began to melt away.
“Yeah, let's sleep.”
Holding Soso tight, I let myself be intoxicated by her warmth and drifted into a deep sleep.
The next morning.
Our group passed through the gates of **Kaifeng** without any trouble.
The moment I took in the bustling market noise and the dense crowd of people passing by, I stopped dead in my tracks as if I had been waiting for this exact moment, and turned around.
“Well, everyone, thank you so much for your hard work getting all the way here.”
When I suddenly clapped my hands and smiled brightly, confusion washed over the faces of **Seomun Jin** and the women.
“Since we've arrived safely in Kaifeng, I believe this is where we must say our goodbyes.”
“What? Lady **Yeonhwa**, what do you mean so suddenly...!”
Seomun Jin's face turned pale. I offered a good-natured smile to **Chaeryeong** and **Soyun**, who were standing behind him.
“You two worked hard as well. I wish you safety, and I hope you'll serve the young master well and live happily.”
Flustered, Seomun Jin hurriedly took a step forward and reached out his hand.
“Lady Yeonhwa! Are you really leaving so suddenly without a word? Our **Hebei Seomun Family**'s Kaifeng branch is right nearby. Please, come with us so we can treat you properly!”
“She's right, Sect Leader. We will serve you with the utmost comfort, so please come with us.”
Chaeryeong and Soyun chimed in from both sides.
It was truly a sight to behold—badmouthing me behind my back, yet trying their absolute hardest to hold onto me just to win their master's favor.
“Furthermore, if you come to our branch, I can present you, my savior, with our family's 'token.' If you possess it, you will be able to receive our family's full support anytime, anywhere...”
Oh, a family token? That actually sounds a bit tempting.
My ears perked up for a second, but it wasn't worth the cost of getting tangled up with that horny, silver-spoon brat and dealing with all the headache.
Firmly making up my mind, I grabbed the shoulder of Soso, who was blinking blankly beside me, and pulled her close.
“It is a wonderful offer, but this kid here has been begging me non-stop, saying there's a place she absolutely must visit once we reach Kaifeng.”
“Wh—? Mmph!”
Whoa, whoa, shut it.
Just as Soso was about to open her mouth in sheer disbelief.
I naturally pretended to hug her while flicking my finger behind her back, swiftly sealing her mute acupoint.
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
Her voice cut off in an instant, Soso widened her eyes and glared up at me in sheer outrage.
I completely ignored her stinging gaze and continued my sorrowful acting.
“Look at her. She's so desperate to go that she's practically tearing up. It's the lifelong wish of a girl who is like a sister to me, so how could I possibly ignore it?”
“Mmmph!!”
Soso pinched my waist in a desperate protest, but I kept playing dumb with a perfectly straight face.
Seomun Jin, utterly helpless against this ridiculous excuse, could only part his lips in silence.
To shake him off completely, I decided to leave him with one final, lingering hook.
“Please don't be too disappointed. This isn't a permanent farewell.”
“…Yes?”
“If the opportunity arises later, I will personally visit the main estate of the Seomun Family in Hebei. Then, we won't have to part in such a rush like this, and we can catch up at our leisure.”
Though I wouldn't go there even if my life depended on it.
At my shameless lip service, Seomun Jin's trembling eyes instantly lit up with joy.
“Lady Yeonhwa...! Do you mean it?”
“Of course. Besides, Young Master Seomun, you've only just survived being kidnapped by bandits. You must report your survival to the branch first and return to your family as soon as possible so they can put their minds at ease.”
I added a worried expression as I continued.
“If you delay your family matters just to worry about us, I would feel terribly guilty.”
The justification was solid, and the logic was sound. It was an ironclad defense, topped off with a perfect spoonful of false hope.
Overwhelmed with emotion, Seomun Jin tried to speak again, but I didn't give him even a split second of an opening.
“Then, let us meet again in Hebei!”
After a swift bow, I grabbed the scruff of Soso's neck—who was still huffing and puffing with her mouth sealed—and dragged her forward.
Then, I firmly gripped the handles of the cart loaded with stolen goods and spoils of war.
“W-Wait just a moment, Lady...!”
Seomun Jin desperately called out, reaching his hand forward too late.
“Oh my, it seems our little one is in a real hurry! Farewell!”
Practically throwing Soso over my shoulder, I pushed the cart and bolted into the crowd like a flash of lightning.
Blending into the chaotic market at the entrance of Kaifeng took only a second.
“Bwahaha!”
Only after we had completely vanished from the Seomun party's sight and slipped into a secluded alleyway did I burst into the laughter I'd been holding back, releasing Soso's sealed acupoint.
“Sis?! When did I ever ask for that?! When else would I get treated by a rich guy like that? I wanted to be treated like royalty just once!”
“Hey, I'm the one who'd be getting treated, not you!”
*Thwack!*
“Ow!”
I gave Soso a light flick on the forehead as she huffed and complained, prompting her to rub her brow and pout her lips all the way out.
Finally, I had shaken off that baggage of a silver-spoon pervert. Now, all I had left in my arms was a lovely little sister and a cart full of lucrative stolen goods.
Alright, now let's go explore Kaifeng properly with Soso.
Inhaling the crisp morning air, I walked with light steps toward the bustling main streets of Kaifeng.
Soso, who had been pouting, soon let her natural instincts as a thief take over and began to lead the way.
“If you want to get a fair price for stolen goods, you can't just trust anyone and hand them over. I know a place that's absolutely reliable, so follow me!”
Guided by her, I traversed the streets of Kaifeng.
Of course, the journey wasn't entirely smooth sailing.
Because my beauty was so eye-catching, street thugs and half-drunk loafers kept throwing pick-up lines and trying to cling to me the entire way.
“Well, well~ What brings such a lovely lady to a shabby place like this? Let this big brother buy you something delicious...”
“Piss off.”
*Flick!*
“H-Huh...?”
The loafer who had tried to stretch his sleazy hand toward me froze right in the middle of the street like a statue.
Whenever they got annoying, I didn't even need to lay a hand on them. I just flicked a bit of energy from my fingertips to strike their acupoints.
After leaving three or four loafers standing like mannequins along the street, we finally arrived at the place Soso had mentioned.
“Alright, we're here. This is it!”
At Soso's words, I stopped in my tracks and looked up at the scene before me.
...What the?
I looked around, utterly bewildered.
Since it was a fence's hideout, I had naturally expected a dark, sunless back alley or some shady underworld where crime ran rampant.
But the street stretching out before us was lined with brilliant red lanterns even in broad daylight, and the thick scent of powder filled the air. It was Kaifeng's premier pleasure district—the **Kaifeng Red Light District**, packed with brothels.
Even in the middle of the day, courtesans in flashy attire were soliciting customers, and drunkards who hadn't slept off last night's alcohol stumbled through the streets.
While I stood there blankly, another drunkard approached, trying to hit on me thinking I was one of the courtesans.
“Hey there—!”
*Thud. Crash!*
Without even sparing him a glance, I flicked a pebble off the ground with the tip of my foot.
The pebble struck his knee acupoint with pinpoint accuracy, and he collapsed face-first without even being able to scream.
“Hey, Soso. Is this really the place? Why is a fence located right in the middle of a pleasure district?”
At my question, Soso put her hands on her hips, showing off her expertise as a back-alley native.
“Sis, you still don't know the ways of the Jianghu. Places like this are actually the fastest and safest for fencing stolen goods.”
“Why's that?”
“Think about it. Those courtesan sisters receive so many expensive gifts like silks and jewels from wealthy men every single night, right? But keeping all of that is just a burden. For them, selling it off quickly and turning it into cash is the best option.”
Soso's sharp explanation sparked a memory from my past life.
Ah... In other words, it's the Jianghu version of a luxury resale shop.
In the process of courtesans secretly liquidating their gifts into cash, an underground trading network naturally formed. Because of this, the fences around the red light district had the deepest pockets and the tightest lips.
Oh... The courtesan sisters really are pros in this industry.
I slowly scanned the brothels draped with red lanterns with admiring eyes.
Whether in the modern society of my past life or the current martial world, the mechanics of the back alleys where money flowed were surprisingly identical.
“Alright. That's very convincing. Lead the way to this reliable fence of yours. We gathered quite a bit of loot when we raided that bandit mountain, so let's clear it all out and make some serious cash.”
“Hehe, leave it to me!”
Soso excitedly took the lead, and I pulled the cart of stolen goods, leisurely stepping into the red-lit street filled with the scent of powder.
The place where Soso confidently came to a halt was in front of a particularly grand and luxurious pavilion right in the center of the red light district.
“Oh, is this it? It's huge.”
I nodded in satisfaction and was about to confidently walk through the ornate main gate.
*Grab.*
“Where are you going, Sis? It's not over there.”
Soso hurriedly tugged at my sleeve, leading me away from the grand entrance and into a narrow, dingy alley running along the side of the building.
“Hey, why are we going around to a smelly back alley when there's a perfectly good front door?”
“Geez, Sis, are you stupid? Who would openly carry stolen goods through the front door to sell them?”
Soso clicked her tongue in disapproval and pointed to a worn iron door tucked away in a corner of the alley.
“You sneak in through the back door like this and sell the goods cheap. Then, they clean them up, package them, put them on display at the front, and sell them for a high price. That's how the rules of this game work.”
I slapped my knee at her sharp explanation.
Wow... So they buy stolen goods through the back door and transform them into legitimate luxury items? It's basically luxury laundering. That's incredibly systematic.
Marveling once again at the highly sophisticated system of this world's underworld, I followed Soso as she pushed open the heavy iron door at the back of the building and stepped inside.
*Creak.*
With the sound of the old iron door opening, the interior that revealed itself was a world apart from the narrow alley outside.
Unlike the dark alley, the inside of the building was quite clean, illuminated by the soft glow of candles. A massive pawnshop counter stood in the middle of the room.
...Huh?
A little girl with her hair tied in pigtails, who looked at least seven years younger than Soso, was sitting buried deep in a large chair.
She held a brush in her tiny, delicate hand, scribbling in a ledger with a remarkably serious expression.
My god, she's already made it big at that age and is running her own shop?
While I was uttering absurd compliments in my head.
Sensing a presence, the little girl looked up. Her eyes went wide when she spotted Soso walking in first.
“Ah! Sister Soso!”
“**Hongbi**! It's been a while. How have you been?”
Soso raised her hand with great familiarity and greeted her warmly.
The little girl called Hongbi tossed her brush aside and leaped down from her chair.
She ran over and threw her arms around Soso in a tight hug.
“I missed you, Sis! It's really been a while!”
“Hehe, I missed you too. By the way, are you watching the shop alone again? Where did the lady go?”
As Soso stroked Hongbi's hair and asked, Hongbi snapped her head up from Soso's embrace.
“Master is in the inner quarters! I'll go call her right now. Wait just a moment!”
No sooner had she finished speaking than Hongbi spun around and scurried toward the tightly shut door leading further inside.
“Masteeeer!! Sister Soso is here!!”
The little girl's clear, ringing voice echoed loudly through the room.
Immediately following Hongbi's loud shout, the tightly shut door of the inner quarters slid open.
“Goodness, you're going to burst my eardrums, you little rascal.”
The voice was languid, dripping with a thick, heavy sensuality.
At the same time, a woman emerged amidst a sudden, sweet waft of acrid tobacco smoke.
“...Ah.”
A voluptuous, mature beauty who didn't fit Soso's description of an "old lady" at all stood there, holding a long tobacco pipe.
However, what caught my eye wasn't her face, but the provocative outfit she was wearing.
Wait, isn't that a **Qipao**?!
It was a red silk dress that clung tightly to her body without a single gap, fully accentuating her voluptuous breasts, slender waist, and plump hips.
With every step she took, her smooth, pale thighs peeked out dizzyingly through the high side slits.
To think I'd get to lay eyes on a real Qipao—something I only ever saw in porn in my past life—here in the martial world. I used to pay my respects to this outfit quite a lot back when I watched those videos...
I scanned the woman's body, which boasted an overwhelming volume, from head to toe, unable to hold back my internal admiration.
