Shall We See That Face? (1)
As I crossed the bustling streets of Ningbo, the blazing crimson sunset had already surrendered its place to a deep indigo darkness.
Red lanterns flickered to life one by one along the roads, and by the time a chilly crescent moon like a sharp, narrowed gaze hung in one corner of the sky, I came to a stop before my destination—Monghwagak.
“Munch, munch.”
In one hand I held a skewer of glutinous rice dumplings I’d bought on the way. I savored the sweet, chewy texture that clung to my tongue, then lifted my head to gaze up at the towering pavilion’s signboard.
The journey here had been anything but smooth. The drunken men and street thugs crowding the night roads had gone beyond stolen glances; they openly dragged their sticky, licking stares across me.
Like a pack of wild dogs spotting a juicy cut of meat, those blatant eyes roamed over my entire body, thick with the stench of raw lust.
Well, it wasn’t exactly surprising. A beauty dressed in mourning clothes strolling the night streets alone without a single escort at this late hour was bound to draw flies.
Want me to gouge those eyeballs out? Where exactly are you hoping to die by staring like that?
Spoken with my mouth still full of bean powder, the words must have carried a rather vicious edge.
It was mildly entertaining to watch the men, drenched in the murderous aura riding my curses, scramble away on all fours in terror. Yet the aftertaste left in my mouth was bitterly unpleasant.
To think I had to endure the filthy lust of such lowlifes at every turn. I hadn’t even been in the mundane world long, yet I was already learning firsthand that a woman’s body was far more cumbersome and irritating than I had ever imagined.
Tsk. Maybe I should have bought a veil after all.
I seriously considered it for a moment, but soon shook my head and popped the last dumpling into my mouth.
Even if I covered my face, there was no hiding the bold curves of this body that showed clearly beneath the mourning robes. Clumsily concealing it would only ignite their perverse curiosity even more.
“Hmm.”
I flicked the empty skewer backward and slowly studied the towering pleasure house before me.
Beneath hundreds of red lanterns blazing as if to drive back the darkness, the pavilion’s form was truly overwhelming. It possessed the exact splendor one would expect from Ningbo’s greatest establishment—Sochil’s praise had not been exaggerated.
Yet what caught my attention wasn’t the opulence. It was the location where this massive building had been erected.
No matter how I look at it, the spot is completely wrong.
A pleasure house of this scale should naturally stand in the heart of the bustling market district, where human warmth and money flowed freely. Instead, Monghwagak stood alone and aloof atop a cliff at the very edge of the land, battered by fierce sea winds.
The view must be breathtaking, at least. Listening to the waves crashing below as accompaniment while sipping wine and gazing out over the sea would surely be exceptional.
But once the romance was stripped away and the numbers were tallied, the business made no sense whatsoever.
A pleasure house in such a remote, rugged place? Accessibility was terrible. No matter how beautiful the courtesans or how refined their skills, the road was far too long and treacherous for anyone seeking simple pleasure.
And there was an even greater problem.
…It feels wrong.
Though brilliant red lanterns lit up the darkness and boisterous laughter echoed from within the walls, the air enveloping the entire building had sunk as cold as a tomb.
The ornate decorations and lights only made the atmosphere feel grotesque—like a corpse’s face thickly plastered with powder and rouge to hide the mold growing across its skin. The dissonance was deeply uncomfortable.
Do they even intend to run a business here?
Setting my cold assessment aside, I pushed open the heavy doors of Monghwagak.
Creeeeak.
Beyond the threshold lay a dazzling otherworld.
The languid rustle of silk beneath crimson lanterns.
The seductive melody of a guqin.
And the thick, drunken chatter of men mixed with women’s laughter flooded my ears like a bursting dam.
Any ordinary man would have gone slack-jawed at the thick fragrance and the scent of women’s powder vibrating from the entrance.
Instead, I frowned deeply, feeling my stomach turn.
That sweet aroma drifting through the air is agarwood.
It was a common incense in pleasure houses, but its shallow, light scent marked it as the lowest grade—waterlogged agarwood. On top of that, poor maintenance had left it mixed with the damp smell of burning wood.
They seemed to have forcibly blended in rose fragrance to arouse the men, but it was the worst possible combination. The heavy depth of agarwood clashed with the sharp bite of rose, creating a headache-inducing discord. No wonder the wine would taste flat and conversation would grow tiring so quickly.
Tsk. It’s already ruined from the start.
Without bothering to hide my displeasure, I strode inside with confident steps.
“Welcome—”
The doorkeeper who had been preparing a friendly greeting froze the moment he saw my face.
“Uh… huh…?!”
Seeing a woman in vivid white mourning clothes beneath the red lantern light must have been a first for him, despite greeting countless guests every day.
As if the Grim Reaper herself had stepped into his pleasure house, the man stared at me with a face drained of all color.
“...”
“Um… excuse me…”
Even when I arched one eyebrow in clear warning, he only fidgeted like a mute who had swallowed his tongue.
Finally losing patience, I let out a short sigh and delivered a cold rebuke.
“Hey. Is this how your establishment greets its guests?”
“Y-yes?! N-no, of course not!!”
Only after my icy rebuke did he snap back to his senses and bow frantically.
“W-welcome, young miss! However…”
When he cautiously raised his head, his face still clearly showed distress. Swallowing dryly, he looked up at me with eyes full of suspicion.
“Have you perhaps come to the wrong place? This establishment is…”
It was understandable. A young woman in mourning clothes with a sword at her waist, arriving at the red-light district of her own accord at this late hour. He probably thought she was either mad or possessed.
“Hmm.”
Instead of answering, I let out a soft nasal sound and slowly scanned the interior. The first thing that filled my vision was the hundreds of red lanterns.
Far too bright.
The excessive light made me frown instinctively.
Lighting in a pleasure house should be soft and subtle. Only then could a woman’s skin glow mysteriously like jade bathed in moonlight. Yet the lights here were as harsh as daylight torches, exposing every single flaw.
They’ve mixed cheap rapeseed oil into the lamp fuel. The flames are flickering and there’s a pungent soot smell.
Under lighting like this, even the courtesans’ fair makeup looked cheap and garish, and guests’ eyes would inevitably grow bloodshot and dry as the night wore on.
A pleasure house was meant to drown people in illusion and help them forget reality. Instead, this place only piled on the fatigue of the real world. It was obvious the owner lacked even the most basic understanding of the entertainment district.
That wasn’t the only issue.
Ting, tiiiing—
At the sound of the guqin performance drifting from the central stage on the first floor, I narrowed my eyes and clicked my tongue.
The tuning is completely off.
They must have overlooked how the damp sea air loosened the strings. The courtesan in the middle of the stage was putting on a decent display of skill with a long melody, but it was pointless if the instrument itself wasn’t properly tuned.
Tiiing, tiiiing—
Those slightly discordant notes scraped sharply at the listeners’ subconscious. Far from arousing interest, the performance was so irritating it made one want to set down the wine cup they had just raised to their lips.
My gaze finally settled on the faces of the courtesans greeting the guests.
“Haah…”
A deep sigh escaped me the moment I saw them attending to the customers.
The rouge is far too heavy. That’s a fresh, youthful shade that only suits the youngest, newly debuted girls.
To paint even the mature courtesans who should be displaying rich, ripened beauty with such a color lowered their class and reeked of vulgarity.
And that wasn’t all. Even the way they used their eyes was wrong. Staring so directly and boldly at the men—how could that possibly work?
They should lower the corners of their eyes shyly and steal secretive glances to create a tantalizing effect. A courtesan lacking that subtle mystery was nothing more than a doll that poured drinks. For all the flashy exterior, the substance was painfully lacking.
After instantly processing all this information, one obvious question rose in my mind.
This place that can’t even get the basics right is supposed to be Ningbo’s greatest pleasure house?
It was logically impossible. Which left only one answer.
It means the signboard of this establishment—Baek Mo-ran—must be beautiful enough to overshadow all these flaws.
As I fell silent in thought, the air grew even heavier.
“Um… is there some kind of problem…?”
When I continued glaring into empty space with a fierce expression, the doorkeeper couldn’t withstand the cold aura radiating from me and began sweating profusely.
With my arms crossed, I jerked my chin toward the interior and spoke a single line.
“I heard there’s a courtesan here named Baek Mo-ran.”