Chapter 239
Chapter 239
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 239
>Chapter Title: Spying (3)
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I wondered if that woman was the spy from the Hao Gate, but there was another woman beside her, making it hard to gauge the situation.
“So, who exactly declared themselves a spy from the Hao Gate?”
To clear up my doubts, Il-mok asked, and the unfamiliar woman cautiously raised her right arm with a face full of fear.
* * *
A few days earlier.
A woman using the gisaeng name Baek-yeon had come to Nanju’s red-light district.
It was nothing out of the ordinary.
While many became gisaengs through abduction or human trafficking, there were always those who chose it voluntarily to pay off debts or earn money.
On top of that, Nanju had recently seen many gisaengs leave the life, leaving them short-staffed.
In the end, Baek-yeon joined Crimson Flower Pavilion without any real hassle, and the one assigned to teach her the ropes was So-hyang, who had returned to the pavilion after a few days of treatment.
“How many years have you been doing this kind of work? Oh, I’m not trying to haze you or anything. It’s just different from other places, so I wanted to explain.”
Even to a question that could come off as offensive, Baek-yeon responded with an affable smile.
“About a year. I have experience from other places.”
All while inwardly swallowing curses like, *Who the hell are you to ask me that?*
The reason she held her temper was simple. Her mission was to gather intelligence here.
Every pointless bit of hazing talk from this woman named So-hyang was valuable intel to her.
But the information coming from So-hyang was unexpected.
“Here in Nanju, nobody forces you to sleep with customers. If you don’t want to, just being a drinking companion is fine.”
“???”
Baek-yeon nearly stared at So-hyang like she was insane.
It sounded utterly ridiculous.
“Is that... even possible?”
“Thanks to the Maitreya Divine Cult.”
“Maitreya Divine Cult?”
Baek-yeon asked back, inwardly cheering.
The very intel she needed to collect was on the Maitreya Divine Cult—and here she was, volunteering it all. How could she not be thrilled?
Oblivious to Baek-yeon’s ulterior motives, So-hyang went on enthusiastically praising the Maitreya Divine Cult.
“When the Maitreya Divine Cult cleared our debts and stopped forcing us into bed, the Hao Gate locked us up and made us do it instead.”
She spat curses at the old rulers of this place, the Nancheon Society, and the more recent tormentors, the Hao Gate.
“In the end, we tried to escape just to survive, but I failed. Got caught and tortured half to death.”
With that, So-hyang showed the scars dotting her body.
But there wasn’t a trace of sorrow on So-hyang’s face as she displayed them.
“And on the day I was one step from death, true salvation arrived. The incarnation of Maitreya came to rescue me.”
If anything, her eyes shone with hope and conviction.
Baek-yeon felt a vague sense of discomfort and unease.
Eyes like that were nowhere to be found in the red-light districts where she’d grown up.
They belonged to the young elites of prestigious righteous sects or the pampered sons of high officials.
Eyes brimming with dreams and hopes that everything would work out.
Fine for those born into privilege—but for someone like her, it was a light that got trampled and extinguished over and over.
She shouldn’t stand out as a spy, but feeling irritated anyway, Baek-yeon feigned ignorance and asked,
“Are your wounds okay? Scars like that must make it hard to take customers.”
*You’re useless now even as a gisaeng,* she meant.
But to her surprise, So-hyang smiled happily at the question.
“Didn’t I just tell you? No need to sleep with customers. This much hides under clothes, no issue. Besides, I don’t plan on being a gisaeng for life.”
Baek-yeon could only laugh awkwardly and let it slide.
If she didn’t force a smile, her displeasure would’ve shown through.
After that, So-hyang explained how the gisaengs worked in Crimson Flower Pavilion and the spaces they used.
Comparing the Hao Gate’s management days to now under the Maitreya Divine Cult.
Once she finished, So-hyang fetched a sandbox and started doodling in it with her finger.
“What’s that?”
At Baek-yeon’s question, So-hyang beamed.
“Letters I learned at the Maitreya Divine Cult’s school this time. I want to learn to read and become a nurse in their clinic.”
“Then I won’t disturb you. I got all the explanations, so I’ll wander the brothel a bit.”
Spending any more time with that fool would make her snap, so Baek-yeon said that and left.
Only later did Baek-yeon realize.
It wasn’t just So-hyang.
Every gisaeng here wore a joyful smile, for some reason.
Not the fake ones plastered on for customers.
Having sold smiles her whole life while watching others’ faces, she could spot real from fake easily.
And every gisaeng and errand boy here was immersed in something—studying letters, playing instruments, you name it.
Not that everyone was quitting the gisaeng life, though.
“Ohoho. I don’t think being a gisaeng is so bad. Earn money, meet men—two birds with one stone, right?”
After all, the world had its share of romance enthusiasts, gender aside.
“Then you must not care much about the Maitreya Divine Cult?”
At Baek-yeon’s question, the gisaeng laughed and replied,
“What’re you saying? No forced bedding means no creepy customers against my will. And they teach letters, so I can even chat a little with the bookish types. How great is that?”
In any case, the gisaengs of Crimson Flower Pavilion all seemed inexplicably happy.
No—after a few more days here, it wasn’t just the pavilion.
Most folks in the red-light district gave off a vibe totally unlike what she knew.
Sure, every place had its complainers, but compared to elsewhere, this was paradise.
Sometimes she even forgot she was in a red-light district.
As she gathered intel on the Maitreya Divine Cult and Nanju, Baek-yeon pondered.
Treatment aside, why was the atmosphere here so uniquely different?
Thanks to So-hyang, who always looked after her, she found the answer.
“I’m going to become a nurse.”
It was hope.
Even knee-deep in muck, give people hope for better days, and they’ll smile and push forward.
A sudden thought struck Baek-yeon.
*Even if I hand over intel on this place to the Hao Gate, will my life get any better?*
Sure, the Hao Gate had promised rewards.
Cash for minor intel, and for big wins, training in bedroom arts and martial skills—maybe even groom her into a branch leader someday.
But.
*Still a gisaeng. Still muck.*
Compared to the hope these people held, their “reward” looked like a pile of filth.
She felt wronged. Furious.
What good did learning this now do?
*If only I’d been here from the start.*
She envied them—their hope. Envied them so much she wanted to smash it to pieces.
Then one day, So-hyang led Baek-yeon somewhere.
“Today’s assembly day.”
At the vast Maitreya Divine Cult estate, she listened to a man in an angry mask deliver a sermon.
“Maitreya is the flame that judges all evil, yet merciful. Repent. His mercy will find those who truly atone their sins; His heavenly punishment, the shameless.”
“Maitreya has come! Salvation for all!”
“Repentance isn’t hard. First, reflect and change your ways. Second, confess your sins honestly. Accept punishment and be reborn, everyone.”
“Maitreya has come! Salvation for all!”
That day’s sermon was on repentance and confession.
New doctrine crafted by Il-mok after exposing the Beggar Clan’s codes, now spread to Nanju—preached by Won-sool in his mask.
Hearing it, Baek-yeon sank into deep contemplation.
*Can even my sins be forgiven?*
She wanted to confess as a spy and join the Maitreya Divine Cult’s faithful.
The gisaengs around her, living on hope—she envied them to death.
But fear held her back.
*What if I’m not forgiven? Or even if I am, the Hao Gate comes for me?*
Everyone treasures their own life.
That’s when So-hyang spoke up, noticing her darkened demeanor.
“Something bothering you?”
After hesitating, Baek-yeon replied indirectly.
“Just... I feel like I’ve got sins too. Can they really be forgiven?”
“Huhu. Yesterday’s sermon got to you, huh? Don’t worry. The Maitreya Divine Cult has never once gone back on their doctrines or sermons.”
“What if scary people made me do bad things? Revealing it—they might kill me...”
As Baek-yeon spoke fearfully, So-hyang took her hand and said,
“The place that booted out the infamous Hao Gate? That’s the Maitreya Divine Cult. I was tied up at the time, so I didn’t know, but I heard later a Hao Gate elder was here.”
“A H-Hao Gate elder?”
A mere grunt like her had no clue. An elder, dead here? Unthinkable.
Seeing her shock, So-hyang added reassuringly,
“And I heard one of those Hao Gate thugs said to Maitreya’s incarnation that day, ‘Aren’t you afraid of our Hao Gate!’”
“A-and? What’d he say back?”
To her question, So-hyang pulled a mocking sneer, like she was acting out a scene.
“‘If I feared the Hao Gate, you think I’d have done this?’”
So-hyang, acting out a scene she’d never witnessed.
Emboldened by the tale, Baek-yeon nodded.
“I... have something to repent.”
“Good. Scared to speak? I’ll go with you. Lady Crimson Pavilion, who runs the red-light district, is close to Maitreya’s incarnation. You can tell her.”
And so, hand in hand with So-hyang, Baek-yeon went to Lady Crimson Pavilion.
“I’m... a spy from the Hao Gate.”
At Baek-yeon’s bold confession, So-hyang—still clutching her hand—froze like stone.
* * *
After hearing the full, winding tale from Baek-yeon and So-hyang.
Il-mok’s first thought was relief at wearing the mask.
Without it, his grotesquely twisted face would’ve been on full display.
*Absurd.*
He hadn’t lifted a finger, and it’d sorted itself out.
*Guess living right really brings blessings?*
Probably the payoff from all the good deeds under the Maitreya Divine Cult banner.
But Baek-yeon was just a fluke. If anything, she’d confirmed Hao Gate spies infiltrating Gansu Province.
*Other outsiders must include spies too... Minus those two who trained martial arts, they’re all just hymn-singing oddities...*
As his thoughts reached that point, a forgotten memory flashed up.
*Planned proselytizing—how’d I forget that one!?*
Sorting his thoughts swiftly, Il-mok sent a transmission to Dam-bin.
—Send people across Gansu wherever outsiders showed up. Round them all up in one spot.
—Imprison them for torture to root out spies?
—Will find the spies, but no torture needed.
From *Do you know the way?* onward—the full array of modern cult recruitment tactics.
People recoiled at those alone, but the real kicker was elsewhere.
—Gather them, run faith education for a full month. Lock ’em down—no leaving. Full camp-style immersion.
Time to brainwash—no, instill true faith—with every trick in the book.