006
006
After Sam-gu departed, having staged his own tearful farewell between master and disciple, I looked back at the situation on the first floor of the pleasure house.
"Whew."
Fortunately, Chu So-gwang hadn't tried to embrace Hong-ryeon.
Since the master Sam-gu had already held Hong-ryeon, Chu So-gwang was less interested in holding her and more enraged that the woman he fancied had let herself be held by another man. Paeng Yuwol's entrance then made him start cautiously gauging her mood.
- Raise your head.
Paeng Yuwol pressed Hong-ryeon, radiating killing intent. As if she had prepared for it, the clothes Hong-ryeon wore were strikingly similar to Paeng Yuwol's attire.
- That...
- This crazy bastard.
The moment she saw Hong-ryeon stand up, Paeng Yuwol drew her sword. I cheered for Paeng Yuwol as she aimed her blade at Chu So-gwang.
"Of course she should draw her sword!"
Dressing a woman who resembled you in similar clothes just to get off? That went beyond displeasure and straight into revulsion. It could not be overlooked without severe discipline.
'I can't just watch this from afar.'
I couldn't stand not seeing the expressions on people's faces up close. I leaped into the pleasure house in a single bound and hid myself in the shadows. Chu So-gwang, who was sprawled on the floor, was terrified and begging for his life.
'Let's get a little closer.'
I vaulted up toward the source of the voices.
"C-calm down! I am the man who will be your husband!"
"You dog...!"
"Don't forget! That only my clan, only I, can prevent the Hebei Paeng Clan's extermination!"
The exchange was quite riveting. My curiosity was piqued when the Rakshasa-like Paeng Yuwol retracted the blade she had raised.
Even if she was young, her fiery temper wouldn't just vanish. What kind of story could make her sheathe her sword?
"The Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill our clan possesses! If you want to save your clan head, I suggest you put down your sword quietly!"
'Blackmailing her with the Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill? He acts exactly as he looks.'
To blackmail someone like Paeng Yuwol by using her clan as leverage, he was an audaciously brazen bastard.
So, because Paeng Yuwol wouldn't sleep with him, he'd found a courtesan who resembled her and dressed her up like Paeng Yuwol to spend a night with.
Thanks to that, I had a good meal for 3 nyang of silver, but I still couldn't let it slide. It wasn't exactly that I was looking out for Hong-ryeon, nor was I being considerate toward Paeng Yuwol, whom I knew.
A sparrow can't just pass by a mill. I'd been planning to just enjoy a courtesan who looked like Paeng Yuwol and move on, but since Chu So-gwang had killed my buzz, he had to take responsibility.
'But, the Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill, huh.'
I sifted through my memories.
Clearly, around this time, the head of the Hebei Paeng Clan fell ill due to the influence of a dark art and became bedridden for years. The spirit medicine that solved it was the Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill, said to be crafted by the legendary physician known as the Divine Doctor.
'But the Paeng Clan head dies.'
Yet the Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill failed to prevent the clan head's death. Precisely speaking, the medicine's effect activated, but the clan head, whose body was already thoroughly pervaded by the energy of death, had his illness cured but his life force exhausted, leading to his demise.
If my memory was correct, Paeng Yuwol's 'marriage trade' would ultimately become a meaningless act.
"...D-don't forget! If you harm me, the Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill will become nothing but useless trash!"
"Y-you...!"
"Hold back, my lady!"
The Paeng Clan warriors were sweating bullets trying to calm Paeng Yuwol. If Paeng Yuwol ruined this deal, all the humiliation the Paeng warriors would suffer under Chu So-gwang would be rendered meaningless.
"Aaargh!!"
Paeng Yuwol flung her sword to the floor, turned around, and left the pleasure house.
The Paeng Clan warriors split into two groups, half following behind Paeng Yuwol and the other half helping Chu So-gwang to his feet. His pants stained yellow, Chu So-gwang shrieked with a face flushed crimson.
"I will not forget this day's humiliation!"
It was unclear who he was yelling at, but Chu So-gwang continued his tirade until he finally left the pleasure house. In the aftermath, the establishment, now a scene of chaos, was filled only with the sound of courtesans weeping.
"......."
Hong-ryeon, the woman at the center of the trouble, clenched her fists and searched for someone. Whether it was a woman's intuition or not, she was staring directly at the spot where I was hiding.
[Come up.]
I sent a telepathic message to Hong-ryeon. While she climbed the stairs, I had returned to the seat where I'd sat before she left and planted myself down.
Hong-ryeon cautiously opened the door, entered, and knelt before me.
"My lord."
"Is it true you received a promissory note?"
"...That man gave it to me one-sidedly. I tried to return it, but it was useless."
Hong-ryeon's gaze as she looked at me wavered slightly. Her fingertips shook slightly, and her pupils continuously darted away, avoiding my eyes.
"You lie. You've been struck from the register, haven't you? You were planning to make off with a huge sum behind his back, weren't you?"
"N-no, that's wrong. I am—"
"That guy has some peculiar tastes, but you're a piece of work too. Even for him, dragging me into this was too much."
Thud! Hong-ryeon slammed her forehead to the floor.
"Please forgive me, my lord!"
"I'm not even married to you, so what's with all this 'my lord' nonsense? Didn't we just mix flesh because we both wanted something from the other?"
I wanted Hong-ryeon's body, and Hong-ryeon wanted silver from me. To be precise, she wanted something greater than silver.
"Do you crave advanced martial arts that badly?"
"......."
Hong-ryeon's eyes flared like flames. Just as she had reasonably played along when Sam-gu pretended he was the one who had held her, Hong-ryeon clearly knew that the master Sam-gu was effectively my servant.
In other words, she had a rough idea of my martial ability. She had been a 'Murim warrior' before becoming a courtesan, after all.
"Did you think if you pierced my heart and bewitched me, I'd just hand you a secret manual? Or maybe a spirit medicine?"
"...Didn't you raise that man to be a master?! And he was nothing but a mere herb gatherer!"
"Right. I raised him. So now you're telling me to raise you too? Why would I?"
"I will do anything, my lord!"
Hong-ryeon slammed her head down again, trying to show her fierce resolve. But seeing the blood trickle from her forehead didn't stir my heart.
"Planning to walk the path of a martial artist while simultaneously living as the concubine of an escort bureau's minor lord is certainly ambitious. If I'd come the next day, or if that bastard had come the next day, you might well have achieved your goal. But it's a shame. That both he and I chose the exact same day to try to take you."
"M-my lord! But I was not embraced by that bastard!"
"How am I to believe you? What use is it to ask a courtesan about her chastity?"
I pushed the coin purse containing 3 nyang of silver toward her with my foot. Seeing the silver scattered before her eyes, despair, rage, and jealousy began to boil up in Hong-ryeon's eyes.
"How can you do this! After whispering such sweet love to me!"
"It was sweet talk to rouse the mood. And did we mix bodies because our hearts connected? Didn't I give you five nyang of silver each and every night?"
"My lord!!"
"How ugly. Once you're caught, at least have the decency to disappear quietly. Why are you still clinging here? Hoping I caught feelings just because we slept together?"
"I will become your maidservant! You may hold me as much as you please whenever you wish! Please, I beg you, help me! Please help me escape from Chu So-gwang, that bastard!!"
"Tsk..."
I hate clingy behavior, but seeing her beg so desperately tugged at my conscience.
"Fine. I'll help you. But I'll do it my way."
"Huh...?"
Whisper whisper. I leaned into Hong-ryeon's ear and murmured my plan. Her eyes went wide as saucers, and she reeled back in shock.
"S-such a thing!"
"Whoops, acupoint pressing."
I struck Hong-ryeon's pressure point to silence her. Subdued in an instant, Hong-ryeon stared at me with horror-filled eyes. The desperation and sense of betrayal from moments before vanished, replaced only by loathing and terror.
"Ahh, such familiar eyes. It brings back old memories after a long time. Now, go to sleep just like that."
I pressed the crown of Hong-ryeon's head, forcing her into unconsciousness. The blood trickling from her forehead provided the perfect cover for a fainting spell from anemia. I laid Hong-ryeon on her side and dusted off my hands.
"By the time you open your eyes, everything will be over."
Because the source of your worries will have vanished.
"I'll kill Chu So-gwang for you. How about it? Neat and tidy, right?"
* * *
Bang!
Fury meant for people was vented on objects. Chu So-gwang hurled a defenseless wooden chest to the ground, letting out his rage.
"Aaarrgh! Fucking hell!"
His aimless fury turned toward the shattered debris of the wooden chest. The heavy intoxication he'd felt earlier had already vanished without a trace, leaving only the shame and resentment of his humiliation.
"How dare she point a sword at me, the man who will be her husband!"
Chu So-gwang lifted a sheet of paper from inside the wooden chest.
On the high-quality hanji, a portrait of a woman was drawn in ink. The beautiful face, which would be praised as a painting of a renowned beauty if passed down to later generations, belonged to Paeng Yuwol.
Riiip.
"That rotten bitch!"
Chu So-gwang tore up the painting he had paid the price of a small golden calf to obtain. The revenge upon Paeng Yuwol could be repaid over a lifetime after just nine days, but enduring those nine days was no easy task.
"Once the marriage is done, I'll have you pinned under me, making you piss yourself in terror for life. Uuuugh...!"
If he took her by force under the name of marriage and made her bear a child, she would become docile.
No matter how much of a martial clan's daughter she was, a woman was still a woman.
Especially if she was a daughter of one of the Eight Great Families, who cared so deeply about public reputation. How long could she keep strutting around with that proud chin held high? With that thought, Chu So-gwang burned the torn portrait over a candle flame.
"More importantly, that master bastard... he wouldn't hold a grudge against me, would he?"
Chu So-gwang bit his nails, trembling with anxiety.
Paeng Yuwol could be suppressed using the Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill and money to clear her debt as an excuse, but a first-rate master with absolutely no ties of favor or debt was someone even Chu So-gwang had to grovel before.
To be honest, the master wasn't at fault.
He had simply entered the pleasure house to embrace a woman, and the woman the establishment provided just happened to be Hong-ryeon, who resembled Paeng Yuwol.
He had only gone to the pleasure house to momentarily relieve his lust for Paeng Yuwol, but instead of relief, he'd suffered nothing but shame and humiliation.
"Damn. There's no flesh as supple as a courtesan who comes from a Murim background..."
He'd never held one himself, but rumors said so. The rumor that women trained in martial arts pleased men far more than ordinary women held considerable credibility.
"Tsk, what a waste. A real waste. I could've had some fun for the first time in a while."
Chu So-gwang quickly put the thought aside.
What his late father taught him about business was never to dwell on lost profits. She was a courtesan another man had already tasted; there was no point in taking her himself now.
"Still, I need to recover the promissory note... Who's there?"
Chu So-gwang grabbed the cord attached to a bell. Ready to sound the alarm and summon his guards if it was a threat, Chu So-gwang swallowed hard and warily surveyed his surroundings.
"What, it was just a ra— guhk!"
Crack!
Something struck Chu So-gwang hard on the back of the head. With the impact feeling as if his skull was being crushed, Chu So-gwang slammed his head onto the table. In a world spinning from the blow, Chu So-gwang steeled his will and pulled the cord.
Sliiip.
Only the severed cord came away. The end looked as though it had been cut by a sharp object, and despite his head hitting the table, the alarm bell hadn't rung.
"Utter a single word, and a blade will enter your throat."
A deep, weighty voice echoed from behind him. Chu So-gwang swallowed hard. The fact that this intruder had penetrated his bedroom while the outside was silent proved he had to be a tremendous master.
"What do you wa— gurk?!"
Stab. A sharp blade pierced slightly into Chu So-gwang's neck. Fresh blood trickled down from under the dagger, dripping onto Chu So-gwang's thigh.
'Crazy bastard! He actually stabbed me!'
"I dislike repeating myself. The only thing you need to answer is the specific reply to the question I'm about to ask."
"......."
What do you want? Chu So-gwang desperately hoped his telepathic message would reach the intruder. He couldn't even use telepathy, but he couldn't die without ever having tasted Paeng Yuwol.
"The Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill."
"Hic!"
"Hand over the Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill. Where is it right now?"
"......."
Cold sweat began streaming down Chu So-gwang's forehead.
He couldn't easily answer even as the sweat dripped from his forehead and fell from his chin. Anyone could see that asking for the location of the Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill signaled an intent to take it.
And if it was revealed that the Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill was gone? The marriage pact was void. Paeng Yuwol would surely try to kill him someday.
"Th-the Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill is, well..."
Stab!
A knife plunged into Chu So-gwang's shoulder. A searing, sharp pain spread throughout his body, and Chu So-gwang screamed with his entire being.
"Kaaaargh!!"
But no scream came out. The intruder twisted the dagger buried in his shoulder and asked.
"Speak and you live. Refuse and you die."
Chu So-gwang had only one choice.
"Aaargh! That crazy bastard, he snatched it and ran! Hey! Is there anyone, anyone out there?!!"
With a dagger still stuck in his shoulder, Chu So-gwang bellowed at the top of his lungs, pleading for rescue.
"Hurry, hurry... guheog...!"
Chu So-gwang's screams only echoed faintly inside the room, as if something were caught in his throat.