Chapter 101
Chapter 101
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: Jade-Faced Lewd Demon
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“…A lecher, you say?”
“That’s right. The whole Han-gu, Han-yang, and Mu-chang triad is in an uproar because of that bastard right now.”
After Ja-seong was suddenly hauled off by the constables, Hwa-ryeon and her group entered the city in a daze.
It wasn’t long before they heard the full story from others who had been traveling with them and suffered the same fate.
The reason the constables were grabbing people at random like this.
It was all to flush out the lecher rampaging through Wuhan lately.
Over the past few months, countless women from the three cities of Wuhan had been raped by some unidentified lecher.
“…But deploying soldiers to catch a lecher?”
Hwa-ryeon raised one eyebrow, as if she couldn’t comprehend it.
Truth be told, lechers and temptresses weren’t all that rare in this world’s martial arts scene, which Ja-seong dismissed as a fake one.
In the Central Plains of this world, strength was determined by the level of one’s internal energy.
And dual cultivation—gathering yang to supplement yin, or vice versa—was one of the fastest ways to boost internal energy, aside from demonic arts like the Blood Burst Technique.
Martial artists, by nature, sought power.
Countless fools made foolish choices out of a desire to grow strong quickly, and thus new lechers and temptresses kept appearing.
The problem was that the Heaven-Subduing Citadel, which should have been stopping and weeding them out, had left them alone for so long due to its war with its vassal clans.
“Well, fortunately, in other regions, the local clans or sects step up, or so I hear….”
“Then why not here? Doesn’t the Zhuge Clan handle it?”
All of Wuhan’s three cities fell under the Zhuge Clan’s influence.
Someone might wonder here.
Xiangyang, the main base of the Zhuge Clan, is quite a distance from Wuhan—how could that be?
The answer: because their largest branch, the Wuhan Branch, was located right here.
The descendants of Zhuge Liang, the Zhuge Clan renowned across generations as the Divine Strategists.
There was no way they’d let a money-drenched city like Wuhan slip to another sect.
They had long ago negotiated behind the scenes with the branch leaders in Mu-chang and Han-yang to bring all of Wuhan under their sway.
In fact, Hwa-ryeon’s group had come to Wuhan first to visit the Wuhan Branch and convey their intent to call on the main Zhuge Clan base.
“Ha, the Zhuge Clan? What could they possibly do now?”
“What do you…?”
But at Hwa-ryeon’s question, the others let out hollow laughs or shook their heads with strange reactions.
Hwa-ryeon looked perplexed, unable to make sense of it.
The people explained the circumstances.
“As the young lady said, the Zhuge Clan did step up. They sent people from the branch and boldly declared they’d handle the lecher.”
“…And?”
That meant the Zhuge Clan had gotten involved, yet the constables were still making a fuss about catching the lecher.
In other words….
“They all got done in. By that lecher bastard.”
“…What? No way—how many of them came out…?”
“Well, I didn’t see it myself, but I hear two squads from the Zhuge Clan’s combat unit, the Heaven Guard Squad, were deployed.”
The Heaven Guard Squad was a decent representation of the Zhuge Clan’s military might.
And two squads meant half of that force.
Yet they’d all been defeated?
“How in the world…?”
At Hwa-ryeon’s question, the people just shrugged.
“We don’t know the details either. In any case, it’s true the Zhuge Clan lost to the lecher. Since the clan couldn’t handle it, what choice do they have? The magistrates have to step in.”
“That’s why the constables are searching and patrolling for the lecher.”
“Thanks to that, traveling between the three cities is a complete nightmare.”
The people sighed wearily.
That was when Seol cut in with the key question.
“Hang on, then just catch the lecher. Why grab all these people? We just arrived in Wuhan today.”
At that, the people chuckled and asked,
“Your group must be pretty handsome, huh?”
“…Handsome?”
Seol thought of Ja-seong’s face.
She’d known him so long she’d never thought of it that way….
But handsome… yeah, he was handsome.
What did that have to do with anything?
As she tilted her head, about to respond, Hwa-ryeon jumped in first.
“Yes, he’s handsome.”
“…Miss?”
Seol blankly looked up at Hwa-ryeon, who suddenly butted in, and Hwa-ryeon subtly averted her gaze.
The people chuckled at that.
“I see how it is. Is he your lover?”
“…No. L-Lover? It’s not like that.”
She denied it flatly, but the tremor in her voice was quite clear.
At her reaction, some muttered, “Lucky guy,” while others grinned in amusement.
Feeling like a spectacle and tempted to bolt, Seol finally heard the answer to her question.
“The lecher’s nickname is the Jade-Faced Lewd Demon.”
“…Jade-Faced Lewd Demon?”
“Yeah, doesn’t the name give it away? The bastard’s ridiculously handsome, they say. Even the victims who were hit with alcohol or aphrodisiacs remembered that much in their hazy state.”
But they only recalled that he was handsome—due to their foggy consciousness, none could properly recall his facial features.
“No face to go on, so what can they do? The constables drag off anyone who looks vaguely handsome.”
“Th-Then, when can we expect release?”
“Who knows…. It varies by city. Hey, anyone know how long it takes in Han-gu?”
The middle-aged man explaining turned to the others.
“Dunno, about two days?”
“Nah, four days for me.”
“The guy from our side was a whole week.”
The responses varied wildly.
As the times grew longer toward the back, the group’s expressions darkened.
After parting with the crowd, Seol spoke up immediately.
“What do we do? If they hold him for a full week like they said….”
“Haah….”
“…….”
Dae-un let out a long sigh, no clever idea coming to mind as he looked at Seol’s anxious face, while Hwa-ryeon clamped her mouth shut.
“…Let’s go to the Zhuge Clan branch.”
After brooding with her chin in hand for a while, Hwa-ryeon gave her resolute answer.
“The Zhuge Clan branch? What for…?”
“As originally planned, convey our intent to visit the main Zhuge Clan base in Xiangyang, and ask them to help get our companion released since he’s been detained.”
Seol tilted her head at Hwa-ryeon’s plan.
“Will that work?”
“We have Lord Namgung’s letter and token. They can’t ignore that lightly.”
“Ah…!”
Seol let out an exclamation at Hwa-ryeon’s explanation.
A place under the Zhuge Clan’s influence in Wuhan.
If things went as planned, they could demand Ja-seong’s swift release from the constables through them.
“Sounds like a solid plan.”
Dae-un nodded in agreement.
After much hassle, the group left their cart at a nearby inn (no one but Ja-seong could properly drive it) and headed to the Zhuge Clan branch.
*
Fortunately, the Zhuge Clan’s Wuhan Branch was in Han-gu.
The group went straight there and showed the gatekeeper the Namgung Clan’s token.
The startled gatekeeper said to wait a moment and hurriedly dashed inside.
Soon after, they were ushered into the branch leader’s office.
“Welcome. I am Zhuge Geunyeong, branch leader of the Zhuge Clan’s Wuhan Branch.”
The man who introduced himself as the branch leader smiled awkwardly as he greeted them.
“I never dreamed guests bearing Lord Namgung’s token would show up out of the blue. Let alone requesting to visit the main house….”
It must have been quite—nay, extremely—disconcerting for him, with their sudden arrival.
Hwa-ryeon immediately apologized.
“I’m sure our abrupt visit startled you. Please forgive us. Our circumstances left us no choice.”
“Hm, I’d like to hear those circumstances.”
Fortunately, he didn’t seem offended and nodded, asking for details.
They informed him of what happened at Han-gu’s checkpoint.
After hearing everything, Zhuge Geunyeong let out a regretful sigh.
“Ah…. So that’s what happened.”
“We just arrived in Wuhan. There’s zero chance our companion is the lecher. Could you inform the magistrates and have him released?”
Hwa-ryeon had no doubt Zhuge Geunyeong would readily nod.
But things didn’t go so smoothly.
“I’m afraid that might be difficult.”
“Pardon? Why…?” “Well….”
With a slightly awkward and embarrassed look, Zhuge Geunyeong explained.
“You’ve surely heard about the Jade-Faced Lewd Demon by now.”
“Yes. The lecher terrorizing Wuhan lately. That’s why the constables are rounding people up.”
“…Then you know it’s because our clan failed to deal with him.”
“Of course…. Don’t tell me?”
Realizing something, Hwa-ryeon stared straight at Geunyeong, who nodded with a ashamed expression.
“Yes. Because of that, our clan is currently in hot water with the branch leaders in Mu-chang and Han-yang. If we step in, it might backfire.”
To Hwa-ryeon and the group, it was like a bolt from the blue.