Chapter 667
Bu Eun-seol finally understood the full picture.
Sohwa Pavilion was no ordinary courtesan house.
It was an experimental ground for some faction, where they used children's bodies as materials to curry favor with high-ranking officials—
Restoring their health and youth in the process.
Crack.
The sound of grinding bones echoed from Bu Eun-seol's clenched fist.
He wanted nothing more than to cut down every last one of them right this instant, to offer consolation to the spirits of the dead children.
But not yet.
If he slaughtered them all here, he'd never trace the roots of this operation.
Now that he had solid evidence, he needed to capture the higher-ups responsible for kidnapping children and orchestrating this atrocity.
Anpyeong Inn, Annex Study.
Bu Eun-seol, So Ok-rim, and Yu Cheong-rim sat with grave expressions.
In the Murim world, there had long been Great Arts that sacrificed children.
But most of those were methods used by the wicked to gain power.
This was different.
They were dismantling innocent children—children who should have been growing up pure—like slabs of meat in a butcher's shop.
All to restore the youth of the elderly.
All for the sake of vanity.
It was unforgivable.
"Whoever this faction is, they're nothing but beasts in human skin—wolves in sheep's clothing."
Yu Cheong-rim trembled with rage.
He, too, had grown up an orphan, scraping by as a street urchin until he met his master.
And instead of helping those pitiful Heavenly Orphans—
They kidnapped them without mercy, turning them into medicinal ingredients to restore the youth of high-ranking officials?
Unacceptable.
"I've already used the troops from our hall to secretly surround this area."
So Ok-rim nodded sharply at Bu Eun-seol's words.
"Just surround them. Just surround them."
A crimson glow burned in her wide, bloodshot eyes.
"Not a single one escapes."
A suffocating killing intent billowed from her body like storm clouds.
Even as she restrained her fury, the entire detached residence annex trembled as if caught in an earthquake.
She had supported orphanages for years.
The only reason she'd kept her sanity intact in this ruthless Murim world was her desire to protect those innocent children.
And now they were being ground up like medicinal ingredients?
So Ok-rim's rage could pierce the heavens.
"Understood."
Bu Eun-seol swallowed his own fury.
Though he was just as enraged, his anger paled in comparison to hers.
This matter rightfully belonged in her hands.
"But we can't touch them yet."
He spoke calmly.
"Unless we capture the masterminds behind this operation, it's pointless."
"I'll just seize the pavilion owner right now. Problem solved."
"Jin So-so isn't the true pavilion owner," Yu Cheong-rim interjected.
"She's just a scarecrow managing Sohwa Pavilion's daily affairs and entertainers. The real master is someone else."
So Ok-rim's eyes were bloodshot.
"So we just let them be?"
"In three days, the messenger who gives her orders will arrive. We must wait until then."
She gritted her teeth.
Hot-blooded as she was, she wasn't stupid.
Destroying Sohwa Pavilion now—where they performed the Great Art using by-products of the children's bodies—wasn't the solution.
They had to capture the true root behind the kidnappings.
"Fine. Three days. But."
Flames that could incinerate the world blazed in her pupils.
"Sohwa Pavilion's destruction is mine."
Three days later.
At dawn, an Eight Horse Carriage stood before Sohwa Pavilion.
Who would visit a Blue Pavilion at this hour?
Click.
The carriage door opened, and a Masked Man, clad entirely in black, slowly emerged.
Creak.
As he stepped down, the Great Gate opened, and someone came out to greet him.
Not the Chief Steward, nor the supposed master Jin So-so.
It was Se-ha, the bowed zither player from before, standing demurely.
Shockingly, she—not Jin So-so—was the true master of Sohwa Pavilion.
"Welcome."
Se-ha received the Masked Man with utmost courtesy.
"..."
Without a word, he strode inside.
A long while later, he reemerged and boarded the carriage.
Kicking up dust, the carriage sped away.
Whoosh!
Simultaneously, three Shadows hidden on the rooftops gave chase.
Bu Eun-seol.
So Ok-rim.
And Yu Cheong-rim, who had shed his female disguise and returned to his true form.
"Ah, it feels like I've come back to life now that I'm myself again."
Yu Cheong-rim sighed in relief.
After today, he'd never have to impersonate Yak Hong again.
Because Sohwa Pavilion would be reduced to rubble.
But neither of his companions responded to his bluster.
Silently, they pursued the carriage.
Kidnapping children alone was already a crime worthy of Heaven's Punishment.
But they didn't stop there. They brutally murdered those children, using their lives to rejuvenate the bodies of high-ranking officials.
The mere fact of that was enough to make tearing them limb from limb feel insufficient.
Before they knew it, the sun had begun to set.
The carriage, which had been racing without pause, arrived at an orphanage located far on the outskirts of Chengdu.
Click.
The masked man who stepped out of the carriage strode confidently into the orphanage without hesitation.
Had he used the Bone Shrinking Art?
Unlike when he had disembarked at Sohwa Pavilion, his height had shrunk by at least a foot.
Step, step.
As the masked man walked briskly inside, a kindly-looking old man greeted him with a smile.
From a distance, Bu Eun-seol and his companions watched the scene unfold, their eyes widening in shock.
—So the orphanage, still operating normally, was their base all along?
Unbelievably, the hideout of the one who had given orders to Sohwa Pavilion was an orphanage that remained fully functional even now.
In such harsh times, visitors to orphanages were rare, and even if there were any, they would only be people connected to the institution.
When you thought about it, there was no better hideout for scheming in secret.
"Haha."
As the masked man disappeared inside with the old man, So Ok-rim let out a hollow laugh.
"They didn't just raid an orphanage—they outright established one."
The old man was unmistakably the one running the place.
Meaning, they hadn't just kidnapped children by attacking an orphanage—they had set one up themselves...
And had been supplying pitiful children as medicinal ingredients all along.
"You two, stay here."
When So Ok-rim turned her head, flames flickered in her eyes.
Then, she began walking inside, following the traces of the masked man's disappearance.
"Brother Yu. Brother Yu, suppress the ones inside that carriage and evacuate the children."
Bu Eun-seol spoke calmly.
"This place will soon be reduced to devastation."
"Understood."
As Yu Cheong-rim acknowledged, Bu Eun-seol immediately followed So Ok-rim inside.
He knew her martial arts were extraordinary, but given the nature of these people's deeds, they were likely the Return-to-One Realm faction of the Three Realms.
No matter how formidable So Ok-rim was, this was no trivial matter—there was no telling what might happen. He intended to assist her.
Thud.
Bu Eun-seol and So Ok-rim stepped into the orphanage side by side.
The place the masked man and the old man had entered was a crumbling, dilapidated warehouse at the far corner of the orphanage.
When Bu Eun-seol and So Ok-rim went inside, they found it completely empty.
Given how the two had suddenly vanished, there must have been a secret passage within.
But no matter how closely they searched, there was no trace of any hidden mechanism.
'Hmm.'
If even the Empty Mind Spirit Perception couldn't detect it, then surely some strange Art of Spells had been used to conceal the entrance.
Bu Eun-seol drew upon his Water Essence Divine Qi and spoke.
"I'll find the entrance."
"No need."
So Ok-rim shook her head, then suddenly raised her left hand and began gathering her Internal Power.
Gooo—
The air around her palm started swirling violently, as if being sucked inward—
Wooong!
Suddenly, countless mysterious points of light scattered in all directions.
Ssshh—
The spreading lights began forming the shape of a transparent door.
It revealed a hidden entrance that had been invisible until now.
"How did you do that?"
Bu Eun-seol asked, sounding impressed. So Ok-rim answered nonchalantly.
"What happens in the heavens and what happens on earth influence each other."
The Star Emperor had studied the cycles and trajectories of celestial bodies to grasp the principles of martial arts.
He had attained the pinnacle of martial arts by observing the phenomena of the heavens.
And So Ok-rim was his descendant.
Though he couldn't fully comprehend it in an instant, it seemed the Star Emperor's martial arts contained secrets for disrupting mystical spells.
Clank.
Without hesitation, Bu Eun-seol and So Ok-rim pushed open the transparent door and stepped inside.
A new landscape unfolded before them.
The world looked as though it had met its apocalypse—the sky was dyed crimson, and beyond the desolate forested hill stood an ancient fortress that seemed centuries old.
So Ok-rim furrowed her brow slightly, then strode straight into the fortress.
Creeeak—
As the massive, fifty-foot-tall gates groaned open, a grand hall bathed in faint light came into view.
Beyond it stretched an endless series of oval-shaped stairs.
And standing atop those stairs was a small, solitary shadow.
Was he about ten years old?
A boy with innocent eyes and a pert nose.
To anyone else, he might have looked adorable—but Bu Eun-seol's gaze turned icy.
He was the very same boy they had encountered on Cold Moon Island.
The Return-to-One Realm.
As expected, the force behind Sohwa Pavilion was the Return-to-One Realm.
"What an astonishing combination. The wandering martial artist Seol-so and the Heaven-Crashing Hand, So Ok-rim."
Surprisingly, the boy seemed to have already guessed to some extent that Bu Eun-seol and So Ok-rim had infiltrated this place.
He showed no great surprise and spoke impassively.
"This isn't a place that would ever be exposed or suspected. I wonder how you managed to track us down?"
"Why in the world—"
So Ok-rim clenched her teeth, suppressing the rage threatening to burst out as she spoke.
"You set up an orphanage and brutally murdered innocent children?"
"Innocent children? Hahaha."
The boy suddenly burst into laughter, cackling wildly.
"You really don't know anything, do you? Innocent children? Hahaha."
After laughing for a long while, the boy clicked his tongue and said,
"Did you seriously think we just grabbed orphans who knew nothing and brutally killed them? Like those idiots from the Infinite Realm?"
"Stop spouting nonsense and answer me!"
As So Ok-rim immediately prepared to unleash her Fist Energy, Bu Eun-seol pulled her arm back.
"Let's hear what he has to say first."
"Hmm. Indeed. I heard you possessed martial arts surpassing even a Special-Grade Wanderer, reaching the level of a new-generation Grandmaster."
The boy faintly smiled as he observed Bu Eun-seol, disguised as Seol-so.
"Quite composed. And your eyes—I like them. For that alone, I suppose I should tell you the truth."
"If they weren't innocent children, then you're saying you brought children who deserved death to the orphanage?"
"Oh, right. That's a similar way to put it."
The boy smiled faintly at Bu Eun-seol's words.
"Those children... were the seeds of the Demon-Binding Jade Men the Infinite Realm had been cultivating."
Thud.
At that, So Ok-rim's eyes widened as if she had been struck on the back of the head.
"What kind of nonsense is this?!"
"Still don't get it? The Infinite Realm established that orphanage from the very beginning—to take in those children, to create those test subjects."
The boy grinned widely, as if he found something incredibly amusing.
"Because they were trying to create the perfected form of the Demon-Binding Jade Men using those children."
"The Seyang Orphanage I sponsored... was an orphanage created by the Infinite Realm from the start?"
So Ok-rim's vision darkened.
The Seyang Orphanage, which she had believed to be just an ordinary orphanage, was actually a laboratory created by the Infinite Realm.
And those beloved children... were the seeds of the Demon-Binding Jade Men they had been cultivating?
"Seyang Orphanage? Oh, right. Among the orphanages the Infinite Realm created, there was one with that name."
"Lies!"
Crack!
So Ok-rim leaped up in an instant, extending her Fist Energy toward the boy standing atop the high stairs.
Whoosh!
As the massive surge of Fist Energy poured toward the boy—
Thud! Shatter!
A sudden blade-like wind erupted from behind the boy, instantly dispersing So Ok-rim's One Fist.
Not only that, it forcefully pushed So Ok-rim, who had been hovering in midair, back down.
Thud. Clank.
But then, an eerie noise echoed.
Upon closer inspection, behind the boy lay a dozen or so pitch-black coffins, all with their lids open.
"You don't believe me? How unfortunate."
The boy clicked his tongue and slowly stepped backward, spreading his arms wide.
"I told you the truth, so why won't you believe it?"
"Stop lying!"
"Then see for yourself. I'll be going now."
So Ok-rim tried to leap up the stairs again to chase after the boy.
But as she ascended, strange sobbing sounds began to spill from the open coffins.
"Sniff... sob..."
Confused, So Ok-rim turned her gaze toward the coffins.
Then, from within one of the open coffins, a boy slowly began to rise.
"Cheon-ung...?"
Shockingly, the one emerging from the coffin was none other than Cheon-ung, a boy from the Seyang Orphanage she had sponsored.
When he saw So Ok-rim, he spread his arms wide, tears of blood streaming down his face.
"Kyaaaaah!"
His scream was so piercing it felt like it would tear through eardrums.
But she moved forward without hesitation, intent on saving him—
"Wait."
Bu Eun-seol, who had followed immediately, grabbed her sleeve.
"Don't get any closer."
"Let go! Can't you see the child is crying?!"
"Look closely. Does that look like a child to you?"
"What?"
Only then did So Ok-rim scrutinize Cheon-ung's body.
He had only lifted his upper body from the coffin.
But wasn't his height unnaturally elevated, as if he were standing?
In her agitated state, she hadn't noticed it before.
"Aah..."
As So Ok-rim halted her steps, Cheon-ung, who had been wailing with tears of blood—
Snap.
Suddenly stopped crying and glared at her with terrifying eyes.
At that moment, the boy from the Return-to-One Realm, who had been watching So Ok-rim's actions from behind the stacked coffins, clicked his tongue in disappointment.
"What a shame."
He licked his lips.
"You could've sucked out her Essence Blood just like that."
Upon closer inspection, the coffin from which Cheon-ung had risen was filled with something resembling pig intestines.
His lower body wasn't a normal pair of legs—it had taken the form of a massive, writhing intestine.
"Cheon-ung. How on earth...?"
As So Ok-rim shouted, it wasn't Cheon-ung standing inside the coffin who answered, but the boy from the Ghostly Unity Realm standing behind it.
"It's not a matter of 'how'—this is his original form. He was created as a Demon-Binding Jade Man through the Infinite Realm's experiments from the very beginning."
"You're spouting nonsense—!"
So Ok-rim tried to yell, but no more words escaped her lips.
Truthfully, she had already sensed it.
That child wasn't a fake.
He was the Cheon-ung from Seyang Orphanage. The boy she had cherished so dearly, whose cheeks she had caressed.
"Fine. Let's say you hunted down and slaughtered the test subjects of the Infinite Realm's faction—so be it."
At that moment, Bu Eun-seol stepped forward.
"But what was the point of capturing and killing those children just to restore the youth of high-ranking officials? There was no need for that."
Because he was disguised as Seol-so.
He pretended not to know, even though he was aware the boy belonged to the Infinite Realm.
"Hahahaha."
The boy laughed coldly.
"That's right. We restored their youth. But that youth... was the kind that leads to a swift and natural death."
Bu Eun-seol's brow furrowed deeply.
He had realized what the boy's words implied.
"You mean to say those Great Arts didn't actually restore their youth...?"
"Hehehe. Exactly."
The boy bared his white teeth in a grin.
"Those filthy pigs all deserved to die. But if we didn't kill them naturally, there'd be backlash..."
He whispered as if sharing a secret.
"So we pretended to restore their youth, then killed them in a way that wouldn't raise suspicion."
Bu Eun-seol felt dizzy.
What in the world was the Ghostly Unity Realm's purpose?
Why eliminate Demon-Binding Jade Men and kill high-ranking officials?
Were they... actually doing good?
"What is your faction's purpose?"
"Who knows?"
The boy smiled faintly.
"Even if you are the Bullet King's disciple, these aren't matters to be shared with a mere wanderer like you."
"Are you afraid of me?"
"Hahaha."
The boy grinned, flashing white teeth.
"Our faction has finally obtained the true Lord of Heaven. Now the world can return to its rightful state. In the end, everything—"
Splat!
But then, the boy's cheek split open.
So Ok-rim had appeared before him in an instant.
And in a voice colder than winter, she spoke:
"You've been yapping nonstop since earlier."
With overwhelming force, she flicked her fingers, unleashing a powerful Finger Wind straight at the boy.
"Hehehe. Heaven-Crashing Hand, So Ok-rim. I know you've cultivated formidable martial arts."
Snap.
The boy flicked his fingers in response.
At once, Cheon-ung, still standing inside the coffin, stiffened his serpentine internal organs and rose to his feet.
Their length stretched at least 100 feet.
The elongated organs dangling below his waist glistened with an eerie sheen.
He looked like a monstrous serpent yokai that had manifested in human form.
"That child began his breakthrough to become a Demon-bound Dry Prison Human long ago. The Infinite Realm succeeded in creating quite the monster, but..."
The boy shook his head regretfully.
"Unfortunately, his quality and condition deteriorated. At this point... he's only fit for a Beijing Opera performance about yokai."
"You bastard!"
"My apologies. I've rambled too much."
The boy smiled sweetly.
"It'd be better if both of you just died here."
Snap!
When the boy flicked his fingers again—
"Aah..."
A low moan escaped Cheon-ung's lips, and crimson fog began rising in all directions.
Clang. Clang.
The lids of all the surrounding coffins burst open, revealing ten more children.
Fortunately, unlike Cheon-ung, they weren't missing lower bodies.
But their pupils were unfocused, their skin ashen like corpses.
And—as if fate were mocking her—they were the children So Ok-rim had often visited at Seyang Orphanage.
"Not bad for defective products, right?"
The boy turned away as he spoke.
"Since they're children, their bones haven't hardened yet. Even as Soulless Ones, they can execute martial arts flawlessly."
He clicked his tongue.
"If the Infinite Realm had remained intact, we would've made something somehow. But alas, this is all we have left. Well, new research is planned in the main realm."
With those final words, the boy's form melted into the darkness.
Thwip! Thwip!
Bu Eun-seol swiftly threw concealed daggers, but the boy had already vanished without a trace.
"Lady So."
When Bu Eun-seol looked at So Ok-rim—
Whoosh.
Her fists, clenched as she stared at the ground with eyes darker than night, began radiating a faint glow.
Those pitiful children had all become Soulless Ones.
Which meant they couldn't be left to be exploited by those demons—they had to be freed as soon as possible.
Liberated from the shackles of their wretched bodies.
"Go."
So Ok-rim spoke to Bu Eun-seol beside her.
"I'll handle things here. You make sure to catch that rat bastard."
There were twelve Iron Coffins in total.
And since the boy said they were near-complete Demon-bound Dry Prison Humans, their power would be terrifying.
But Bu Eun-seol nodded without hesitation.
"Understood."
After one last glance at So Ok-rim—
Swish!
He dashed off in the direction the boy had disappeared.