CH 118

“Why the owner?”

“Ah! I’m not trying to hold you responsible for making the idiot in that state. You can rest assured.”

“Then why?”

Soo-hyang’s eyes were full of vigilance.

She smelled a dangerous scent from the beautiful woman in front of her. A beautiful woman, armed with a sharp reason, was enough to make her alert. Moreover, Won Ga-young seemed to have mastered martial arts.”

She is often referred to as a talented girl in Jianghu.

Soo-hyang was especially wary of Jianghu’s prodigy. It’s not simply because a woman’s enemy is another woman, but because the greatest weapon of prostitutes, which was their coquettish act, doesn’t work for them.

Even the glamorous outfits that make men go crazy are just objects of contempt for the talented woman of Jianghu.

Fortunately, Won Ga-young didn’t show any signs of contempt, but her unshaken eyes were shining sharply as if she could see through Soo-hyang’s thoughts.

Won Ga-young smiled softly.

“I’m just curious as to who made the asshole that way. I promise you with my honor. I will never do any harm to your master.”

— Let her in.

At that moment, Pyo-wol’s voice came through Soo-hyang’s ears. His voice came as a whisper. Soo-hyang was surprised but she wasn’t foolish enough to reveal her agitation. 

She answered calmly.

“I’ll take you inside.”

“Thank you.”

Won Ga-young smiled and followed Soo-hyang to the annex.

Since the annex was separate from the main building, it had a quiet atmosphere.Won Ga-young’s eyes shone sharply at the simple appearance of the annex which was different from the splendid main building.

It had a woman’s touch rather than a man’s. 

‘There is a high probability that the owner of this annex is a courtesan. People who are inside the main building now must stay somewhere else, and there is a high probability that they only come here for a while for work.’

Soo-hyang’s attitude as she entered the annex was extremely polite. She could see how much she cared for her master.

“We’re going in.”

Soo-hyang opened the door and said.

Won Ga-young nodded and entered the room.

As she had guessed, the room was filled with the scent of a woman. It matched the scent she smelled from Soo-hyang. But the person in the room was a man. 

It was a Pyo-wol.

Pyo-wol was lying on the bed at an angle as he greeted Won Ga-young.

Pyo-wol didn’t use his original face. He used the same face when he dealt with Seo Mun-pyeong.

A face that was a little more handsome than the average guy. 

Among Jianghu’s famous warriors, those with this level of appearance were very common. And Won Ga-young didn’t even pay attention to those people. But somehow, strangely, she couldn’t take her eyes off Pyo-wol.

There was something about Pyo-wol that caught people’s attention.

‘Snake?’

At that moment, Won Ga-young thought of a large snake.

A snake with a very beautiful pattern. At first glance, it would seem disgusting, but the more you look at it, the more deadly beautiful it becomes.

Just by looking at him, she felt herself get enchanted. Won Ga-young bit her lip involuntarily. As she felt the pain in her lips, her mind returned.

With a cold expression on her face, she said,

“Are you the brothel keeper of the Divine Fragrance Pavilion?”

“The Madam is Soo-hyang. I just gave her some financial help to run the Divine Fragrance Pavilion.”

“That just means you’re the owner. Nice to meet you, I’m Won Ga-young, the Fairy Phantom Swordsman. Have you ever heard of my name?”

“No.”

“I have to work harder then. Still, I thought I was already famous in Jianghu, but it seems that my name is still not well-known here.”

“It’s not your fault. I just don’t know because I’m not very interested in the things outside.”

“Then, you have never been out of Sichuan Province?”

“No.”

“Okay. Then I understand to a certain extent.”

Won Ga-young smiled broadly.

Her smile was fatal. 

When a woman as cold as ice smiles innocently, her charm explodes. It was a smile with a magical power that almost any man would be captivated by at once. 

However, Pyo-wol was not captivated by her smile. Such charm could not warm his cold heart.

Won Ga-young asked,

“What’s your name?”

Pyo-wol furrowed his brow slightly. Because he had a different face, there was no reason to say his real name.

“Ya…Yaju, you can call me yaju.”

“Yaju? You mean the master of the night? What’s your real name?”

“We’re not close enough for me to reveal my real name, are we?”

“I told you mine, but you didn’t. That’s unfair.”

“If you don’t like it, you can just leave. It’s not that difficult.”

“Hmm!”

Won Ga-young crossed her arms and looked at Pyo-wol.

Pyo-wol was the first to treat her like this since she left for Jianghu. Some women would get excited at times like this, but she was rather alert.

‘He’s used to women. My beauty doesn’t work.’

In fact, Soo-hyang, who was right next to her, was also a rare beauty. 

If he could always embrace such beautiful courtesans as he wanted, there was no way he would fall for the beauty of a woman. Either that or he was not good at discerning beauty or he did not like it.

But the reason she came here today was not to seduce Pyo-wol. She came because there’s something she wanted to find out. 

“Alright, Yaju. I’m here to ask you something.”

“If there’s anything you want to know, go to the Hao clan instead.”

“You’re close with courtesans, so you’re probably well aware of the rumors here, don’t you?”

“What if I refuse?”

“It’s going to be a pain in the ass. Although Seo Mun-pyeong is an idiot, he’s still a member of the Golden Heavenly Hall.”

“So you’re going to take revenge?”

“Revenge? I’m just saying let’s be a little careful to not bother each other.””

Won Ga-young smiled brightly. 

Pyo-wol looked at Won Ga-young without saying a word.

For a moment, Won Ga-young flinched. 

It was because Pyo-wol’s eyes felt as if they were digging through her whole body like a dagger. However, Won Ga-young was also a well-known expert in Jianghu, and had a record of going through quite a lot of trouble. 

Thanks to that, she was able to suppress her feelings and put forth a calm expression.

Pyo-wol asked,

“What do you want to know?”

“The assassin.”

“Assassin?”

“An assassin caused a great bloodbath in Sichuan last year. Isn’t it you?”

“Why do you think so?”

“It’s just… a woman’s intuition?”

“A hunch is just a hunch.”

“Really?”

“So why are you looking for him?”

“I want to know something.”

“What is that?”

“I can only speak about it once I meet the person concerned. There’s no reason to talk if it’s not him.”

“Then you’d better just go back.”

“Are you saying no?”

“No.”

Pyo-wol lied without blinking an eye.

Won Ga-young looked at Pyo-wol with suspicious eyes. 

Pyo-wol also looked at her without avoiding her gaze.

Won Ga-young thought that by looking into the eyes of the other person, she could read his mind. When someone reaches a certain level, they can read the mind of the other person to a certain extent just by looking into their eyes. 

However, her confidence completely collapsed under Pyo-wol’s indifferent gaze. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t tell the truth from Pyo-wol’s eyes.

It was the first time this had happened, so she couldn’t hide her bewildered expression.

‘Is it really not him?’

Won Ga-young looked into Pyo-wol’s eyes once again. But she still couldn’t read the truth. Rather, it felt as if Pyo-wol was reading her thoughts through her own eyes.

In the end, Won Ga-young turned her head first to avoid Pyo-wol’s gaze. Won Ga-young hurriedly got up with the feeling that if she stayed here longer, she would be ripped off.

She gave one last look at Pyo-wol before she went outside.

“Can I come back again?”

“No!”

“How heartless.”

“As you can see, this is not my residence. I can’t keep taking over the owner’s seat.”

“Then when will you be here again?”

“When I feel like it.”

Pyo-wol curled his hand around Soo-hyang’s waist, who was sitting right next to him. Soo-hyang did not resist and embraced Pyo-wol.

Won Ga-young’s eyes trembled at Pyo-wol’s attitude that seemed to ignore her.

She suppressed her rising anger and said,

“I’m staying in Four Sea Pavilion, so if you change your mind, please contact me.”

Pyo-wol buried his face in Soo-hyang’s neck and motioned for her to leave.

Won Ga-young’s face became red and she hurried out.

“Ha!”

Through the closed door, Soo-hyang’s sweet moans could be heard.

“Such a jerk.”

Won Ga-young bit her lip hard in shame.

She regretted coming here.

The suspicion that Pyo-wol might be the assassin she was looking for no longer emerged. Tired of feeling as if her body was covered with filth, she hurriedly left the Divine Fragrance Pavilion.

* * *

Pyo-wol got up.

Right next to him, Soo-hyang’s dazzling naked body was revealed. Pyo-wol got up after putting a blanket on her.

When the Face Changing Art was removed, he returned to his original face. Pyo-wol, being careful not to wake up Soo-hyang, got dressed and went outside.

It was still before dawn, so the street was very dark. Pyo-wol walked alone on an empty street.

‘At the end of the day, they came to Chengdu to find me.’

Through conversation with Won Ga-young, he was able to easily infer the purpose of the Golden Heavenly Hall’s arrival to Chengdu.”

The question was, why are they looking for him?

The area in which he was active was completely confined to the fortress of Sichuan. Since he had never gone outside of Sichuan, he had no contact with the outside world nor had he garnered the resentment of someone.

Of course, there could have been some who had contact with the outside world among those who had suffered from him in Chengdu or Sichuan. So he could not rule out the possibility that outsiders would rush in to avenge their grudges.

But Pyo-Wol thought that was extremely unlikely.

Above all, he did not feel hostility in the conversation with Won Ga-young. If she was to meet him for revenge, he should have felt intense hostility or murderous intent, but he didn’t perceive any of that. 

‘There’s something else going on…’

Pyo-wol frowned.

Uncertainty was his least favorite word.

Pyo-wol liked anything clear.

He found it difficult for the Golden Heavenly Gates to suddenly appear in front of him and inquired about his whereabouts.

Pyo-wol shook his head and moved forward.

His head hurt, but there was nothing he could do about it. It wasn’t urgent enough for him to find a solution right away. For now, it was best to take some time and watch them.

After organizing his thoughts, Pyo-wol came into the Red Villa.

When Pyo-wol came inside, Steward Go came running. Steward Go bowed his head to Pyo-wol. Because Steward Go’s expression looked urgent than the usual, Pyo-wol asked,

“What’s going on?”

Steward Go, who could not speak, took out a pre-written letter from his bosom and handed it to Pyo-wol.

After Pyo-wol read all the contents of the letter, he asked Steward Go,

“Was there any suspicious movements detected in the Thunder Clan?”

Steward Go responded by nodding his head.

After losing both their sect leader and successor, the Thunder Clan completely collapsed. It was by no means easy for a sect without a central figure to recover.

Does that mean there’s a warrior who could be said to be the focal point?

Pyo-wol frowned.

If such an existence existed, the Thunder Clan would not have collapsed so quickly in the first place.”

Pyo-wol returned the letter to Steward Go and said,

“Monitor the movements of the Thunder Clan. Keep track of everything that is happening and report it.”

Steward Go bowed his head.

Pyo-wol looked up at the dawn sky where the moon began to rise.

There seemed to be a rotten smell wafting from the letter.