Chapter 87: Investors

“Mother, why are you hiding in a place like this? Are you ashamed of your son?”

Honestly, always looking for a chance to abandon me again.

When I muttered in mockery, Il Hyehyang glared at me with a venomous face.

“You bastards, just what are you…… How do you know the method to break the Eight-Directional Bewildering Formation and the Hao Sect’s Mechanism Formations so thoroughly…?”

As if to say we saw through them as clearly as one’s own palm lines.

Well, of course—we had the successor who inherited all the knowledge of the Hao Sect right here with us.

“So, Ilhong, what is this place?”

If the upper floor was the luxurious space of noble guests, then this was a shady place where sunlight barely reached and a musty smell lingered.

And in the center of the room, there was a middle-aged man who seemed unconscious, with strange tools and bottles arranged around him.

“It’s obvious. This is an interrogation chamber. A place where the Hao Sect gathers secret information. And that insect in the bottle on the table is…”

Ilhong narrowed her eyes, staring intently at the insect in the bottle, as if her memory was unclear.

The middle-aged woman who had been watching nervously swallowed hard.

“It’s just an insect used for medicine…”

“Ah, I remember now!”

As expected from her, who rarely forgot what she studied—she immediately identified the insect.

“Judging from how they’re divided into male and female, isn’t this that infamous parasite called a Gudok?”

Gudok… the vicious poison insect used in martial novels to blackmail and threaten people.

I heard they were extremely difficult to obtain.

“From the traces, it seems they implanted the male insect to control this man.”

Pointing at the unconscious man, she exposed the crime the Brothel Manager had been about to commit.

Upstairs, they were entertaining esteemed guests, and downstairs, they were committing such vile acts.

“Wow, Mother, turns out you’re a pretty bad person, huh?”

At my sneer, Il Hyehyang’s face twisted in anger.

“Don’t you dare call me mother with that detestable mouth of yours, you beggar brat.”

“Oh-ho, beggar brat, is it? I’m a Peak Martial Artist now, you know?”

And not just any—one who held the power of the Heaven-Slaying Star and immense inner energy.

Strong enough to crush a flourishing brothel and even wipe out an elite Hao Sect unit.

“What miraculous encounter did you stumble upon, for a gutter rat like you to become a Peak Martial Artist…?”

“Miraculous encounter? Please. It’s just talent.”

That damned talent bestowed by heaven for breaking and beating people down.

Though I was desperately resisting it, of course.

“And you—what’s your identity? From earlier you’ve been reciting the sect’s secrets… Don’t tell me you’re a traitor of the Hao Sect?”

After she immediately recognized the breaking methods of Coordinated Formation Strike, Mechanism Formations, and even this interrogation chamber and Gudok, Il Hyehyang now looked at Ilhong with suspicious eyes.

“Everyone and their mother keeps accusing me, this is ridiculous.”

It’s always the ones who’ve backstabbed before that get so sensitive about it.

At the word “traitor,” Ilhong’s expression looked more exasperated than anything.

“Pavilion Master of the Mysterious Pavilion, have you grown so complacent from the easy profits brought by the brothel?”

“H-how do you even know about my position…?”

“There was one person the Hao Sect had been searching for in this age range, wasn’t there?”

The successor who vanished without leaving a corpse on the day the Beijing Hao Sect branch burned down.

One who had the rightful inheritance, and who even held the sect treasure—the Sect Leader’s Seal.

“Age range… Wait. That way of speaking, could it be…?”

As she drew closer to the truth, Il Hyehyang’s face shifted from doubt to severity.

Ilhong looked at her and slowly tore off her human-skin mask, as if to flaunt it.

“Traitor Il Soyong. Do you recognize my face now?”

The delicate features and slender jawline of a boyish youth transformed in an instant into a beautiful maiden.

“Y-you are… Lady Hong Geum, the Young Pavilion Mistress?!”

The Mysterious Pavilion Master, Il Soyong, turned pale and cried out in shock as though she might faint.

“Fortunately, I’ve never forgotten your face for even a moment.”

Ilhong’s icy smile filled the underground chamber with chilling air.

Once Il Soyong realized Ilhong’s true identity, only two options remained for her.

To die—or to submit.

“Ah, open up. Say ah.”

When I raised the Dog-Beating Staff as if to split her skull, she immediately begged for her life.

Then only one choice was left.

I picked up the grotesque insect and, imitating Juwol-a’s tone when feeding me, urged her to open her mouth.

“Say ah~ come on.”

“Mmph!”

When I was fed back then, I ate it like a baby bird, but this woman had no such intention.

In the end, I forced open her mouth with my grip and shoved the insect deep inside.

The very parasite she had planned to implant in another now entered her own body, making her thrash in rage with eyes bulging.

“Mmph! Mmphhh!”

“Well done, you ate it nicely.”

“Cough! You bastard—!”

But the Gudok was worth its price. It had already nested inside her.

She had tried to strike at Cheonhwa Pavilion but lost her own brothel. Tried to plant a parasite in a man, only to swallow it herself.

This woman’s life was a textbook example of karmic retribution.

“Argh! I’ll kill you! You filthy beggar scum…!”

Foaming at the mouth, she spewed curses at us, eyes burning with hatred.

“Oh? Careful, our female Gudok might hear you.”

I shook the bottle containing the female insect. She flinched mid-curse.

If I crushed the female here, the male would unleash its deadly venom and kill her.

Which meant, with just a wrong squeeze from my hand, her life would end instantly.

“Wh-why are you doing this to me…?”

Did she really not know?

Yet her pitifully aggrieved face almost convinced me she meant it. I found myself admiring her obliviousness.

“Pavilion Master, from now on, you’ll be our eyes and ears. You’ll report the Hao Sect’s latest intel and the movements of traitors. Every detail will come to me.”

Ilhong’s firm command.

To topple a great enemy, one had to strike from within.

If they could plant a spy deep inside the Hao Sect, especially among its high-ranking officers, it would greatly aid their revenge.

“N-no! You don’t understand how sharp they are… The moment I slip, they’ll take my head! Please, retract this order!”

She valued her life far more than her loyalty.

No wonder she had betrayed her own Sect Leader.

“How is that my problem?”

“……”

She lost her words for a moment, stunned by my way of cutting the flow of conversation short.

Judging by how she spoke, she still hadn’t realized her situation. This wasn’t a request.

“Our Gudok looks lonely without a husband already.”

When I took out another Gudok from the bottle and toyed with it as if I might crush it, she hastily grabbed my hand.

“A-all right, I understand, stop!”

“What do you understand?”

“…I completely understand. I will become the loyal eyes and ears of Lady Hong Geum, the Young Pavilion Mistress.”

Since it came from someone who had already betrayed once, it didn’t inspire much confidence.

“You know, right? The moment you try anything funny, I’ll just—snap.”

“Eek!”

When I pretended to twist the insect, she flinched and held her breath.

As expected from someone who once intended to use Gudok herself, she knew its power all too well.

“Ahh, how did I end up like this…”

Realizing there was no way out, the Brothel Manager of Honghwa Brothel collapsed in despair, clutching her hair.

While we were disciplining her, threatening and extracting information—

“Ugh…”

The middle-aged man in the center of the basement groaned and raised himself up.

His half-lidded eyes, still foggy, scanned around slowly as if trying to grasp the situation.

Then, when his eyes met ours, he opened his mouth.

“Who… are you people?”

“……?”

That guy just asked the very question we wanted to ask him.

When I whispered if he was someone I knew, Ilhong shrugged and replied she didn’t know him either.

After surveying the now-silent Honghwa Brothel, with all its martial artists subdued, the man suddenly clapped his knees in realization.

“I see…! You came here to rescue me, didn’t you? To have noticed my peril—truly, the Princess is amazing!”

He was beating his own drum without us saying a word.

I had a feeling we’d saved a strange one.

We had gone to Honghwa Brothel for revenge, but somehow we ended up seizing both a financial pipeline and an intelligence source of the Hao Sect.

That laid the foundation for Ilhong’s revenge, and though unintended, we also rescued a certain middle-aged man named Hwang Bo-gong, who happened to belong to the faction of the Third Princess.

“You said your name was Dan Mujin? I won’t forget this favor.”

“Yes, don’t forget, and spread the word to your acquaintances. I’ll soon be opening an office in Beijing, so tell them to come find me if they need anything.”

“Of course. Not only my officials, but I’ll also make sure to inform Princess Peach Blossom of your existence.”

He thumped his chest as if telling us to trust him.

“She already knows me, though.”

“Huh…? How…?”

Hwang Bo-gong asked what my true identity was.

Anyway, after sending him safely back to the palace—having paid for his debauchery—we returned to Cheonhwa Pavilion, which was still under repairs.

Clang, bang. Knock, knock.

The aftermath of the fierce battle was still being cleaned up by the brothel staff.

Since many of the guards had also been wounded, if I were to leave now, it would feel like a gaping hole was left in their defenses.

With rival establishments who had long looked down on Cheonhwa Pavilion, or Black Path thugs eager to collect protection fees, it was uncertain whether they would overlook this chance.

So even though we had dealt with the Honghwa Brothel problem, I told them I would remain here at least for the period I had promised Eun Hwaran.

Brothel Master Okryeong and the courtesans welcomed that decision with open arms.

From then on, we were treated with lavish hospitality as esteemed guests during our stay.

“So you’re saying, when Hero Mujin shouted ‘Gal!’ hundreds of enemies were so startled they turned tail?”

“Yes, exactly! A true master doesn’t even need to draw his blade.”

On the spacious veranda of Cheonhwa Pavilion, where the breeze blew gently, I was embellishing my feats to the courtesans who had come during my break.

“Oh my, how impressive. Truly, you are a great hero.”

“I knew it from when you drove out the Jeollyongmun bastards from the brothel!”

“How could you be so gallant?”

No matter what I said, they cheered me on, lifting me high as “Great Hero.”

No wonder Cheonhwa Pavilion had such good business.

“Looking at you now, Great Hero Dan Mujin, you might even be more handsome than Young Master Ilhong.”

This was it—the courtesans here knew how to tell convincing lies.

No wonder customers flocked here.

“Wow…”

Knowing the truth, Ilhong gave me a pitiful look at my boastful talk. But what could I do?

Opportunities to stand tall like this didn’t come often.

Especially since, up until now, people had only criticized me for things like “luck carried you” or “you’re only good at blowing things up.”

“Great Hero, please try this.”

And despite being the busiest of them all, Juwol-a still made time to bring me delicious things.

I looked at the dumpling, clumsily shaped, and asked,

“Oh, was this made in the kitchen? But it tastes a bit different than last time.”

“…This time I had spare time, so I made it myself.”

I couldn’t believe someone like me could enjoy such a luxury.

Truly, one had to live long enough to see such things.

“Nom nom.”

Anyway, that’s how I spent a few weeks eating and lazing around, until finally Ilhong spoke up beside me.

“Eat, sleep, eat, sleep… You’re kind of like a parasite, aren’t you?”

Parasite, she said.

“Oh come on. Thanks to us, this brothel is at peace.”

She was like those who argued for disbanding the army just because there was no war.

Didn’t she realize that it was because I was holed up here that no other factions dared to make a move?

“Leader, is that dumpling tasty…?”

“Yeah, want a piece?”

I nodded as I chewed on the leftover dumpling Juwol-a had left.

Ilhong narrowed her eyes and glared at me.

“…Parasite.”

“……”

The longer she spent time in the brothel, the more prickly Ilhong seemed to become.

A week later, once the promised period ended and the brothel had returned to normal, I brought the sulking Ilhong back with me to Eunseong Trading Company.

We went to the Trading Lord’s Office to report what had happened. Eun Hwaran welcomed us with a strange smile.

“I heard an interesting rumor.”

She tapped her lips with the end of her fan.

“Oh? What rumor?”

Since I had shown off in front of many people, various rumors must have spread.

I asked again with a bit of expectation.

“They say you have a hidden mother?”

“……”

Now that I thought about it, I had indeed called the Honghwa Brothel Manager “Mother” in front of a large audience.

Though back then, it was only to provoke her.

“…That was a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding.”

“Really? I was surprised, thinking you had some hidden family.”

“The only family I have is you, Sister Eun Hwaran. Yes, yes.”

“Fufu, of course.”

Satisfied with my answer, Eun Hwaran smiled and placed a heavy chest on the table.

“Brothel Master Okryeong also wanted to contribute to the investment, so I added some more.”

When she carefully unlocked it, piles of gold shone brilliantly before me.

“As expected of my sister!”

Are you watching this, Murong Cheonghye?

I jumped up as if I had just found my lost sister.

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