Chapter 103 - Everyone Has a Story

Our carriage arrived at Thousand Flowers Pavilion, the most famous courtesan house in Guizhou.

It was famous not for actually having a thousand courtesans, but for its prices. Sure enough, dozens of luxurious carriages stood in its enormous courtyard. The joke that you could meet every wealthy person in Guizhou here at Thousand Flowers Pavilion apparently wasn’t entirely a joke.

We rode farther inside. As befitted such a large courtesan house, martial artists of considerable ability were stationed throughout the grounds. Those guarding the innermost courtyard ranked among the masters.

“Are we here for pleasure or business?”

The Wicked Laughing Demon answered my question as though it were obvious.

“Isn’t pleasure what one visits a courtesan house for?”

“Is it all right to enjoy ourselves at a key stronghold of Villains’ Valley?”

My words startled him.

“What do you mean?”

“The martial artists lying in concealment are no ordinary fighters.”

An unusual gleam crossed his eyes behind the mask’s eyeholes. He must have wondered whether anything could still surprise him, yet the surprises kept piling up.

In the end, he admitted the truth.

“People’s tongues loosen over drinks.”

Through Thousand Flowers Pavilion, the Wicked Laughing Demon gathered all sorts of information from the Central Plains. This place was effectively an external full chapter of Villains’ Valley.

“And doesn’t the quality of the information depend on the money?”

He merely gave his habitual laugh at my remark, offering no further details. With wealthy patrons and people holding key positions in Murim frequenting the establishment, it would collect a great deal of important information. That made this place all the more important to him. Instead, he told me this:

“Shall I tell you something surprising? This place earns more than the Great Lake Merchant Company you visited earlier.”

“I never imagined it would be that much.”

As we talked, the carriage stopped in front of the innermost building. Judging by the absence of any other carriages, this did not appear to be where ordinary guests were received.

The Wicked Laughing Demon stepped out, and I put on my mask and followed him.

After we had waited briefly in an elaborately decorated room, a slender woman entered. Her heavy makeup made her exact age impossible to tell, but she had an intriguing air about her.

“Welcome, dear brother.”

The moment I heard that, I laughed aloud.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Because I’m here to witness the historic moment when someone calls the Wicked Laughing Demon ‘dear brother.’”

The woman looked at me cautiously.

“I don’t believe we’ve met.”

Quick-witted as she was, she would have guessed from my easy manner toward the Wicked Laughing Demon that I was no ordinary person. Perhaps I was the first to speak of him so casually in front of her.

She offered a polite greeting and introduced herself first.

“My name is Yeo Jeong. I oversee Thousand Flowers Pavilion.”

Yeo Jeong, mistress of Thousand Flowers Pavilion.

I knew her well. In addition to this establishment, she secretly operated dozens of courtesan houses across the Central Plains. Her dream was to become an empress of the night who ruled every man in the Central Plains.

The mere fact that she dealt with a man as dangerous as the Wicked Laughing Demon showed the extent of her ambition.

I pushed my mask up onto my head and greeted her.

“My name is Geom Mugeuk.”

The pavilion mistress was startled. She had recognized me from my name alone. The Wicked Laughing Demon’s presence would have made her all the more certain.

“What an illustrious guest we have today.”

She bowed deeply on the spot. Recognizing me was understandable, but bowing like this the instant she did showed a remarkably shrewd knack for navigating the world.

“You may see me today only for me to disappear forever.”

At my joke about never seeing me again if I lost the succession struggle, she smiled.

“Or you may rule Murim for a hundred years.”

The Wicked Laughing Demon spoke cheerfully.

“Now, prepare a fine spread with drinks. Today I intend to show our Second Young Master what feminine beauty truly is, so bring in the appropriate company.”

“Of course. Please enjoy your conversation while you wait.”

Once she left, the Wicked Laughing Demon asked with a laugh,

“Doesn’t the mistress alone make you look forward to all the beautiful women here?”

“I’m very much looking forward to it.”

“Really? You don’t strike me as a man who chases women, Second Young Master.”

“Not at all. I like women too. What man doesn’t?”

“We shall see.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Yi An, who stood by the door with Blue Face.

I could feel his determination—that nasty determination to make me admit Yi An wasn’t beautiful.

‘That won’t be easy.’

The food arrived first. This was a meal served to the most distinguished guests at a first-rate courtesan house, so the table was laden with expensive, rare dishes.

I said to the Wicked Laughing Demon,

“May I have my heart come over and eat a little? Neither of you will be eating anyway.”

“Certainly.”

Standing at the door, Yi An wore an expression that said there was no need, but I was already beckoning her over.

She came and sat beside me, then sent a sound transmission.

—Young Master! How am I supposed to swallow a bite sitting at the same table as the Wicked Laughing Demon?

—Even so, there are too many things you like here to pass them up.

—That is true, but still.

—Even if you die, you’ll die a well-fed ghost.

I picked up my chopsticks and addressed the Wicked Laughing Demon.

“Well, we’ll start eating.”

Since things had already come to this, Yi An threw caution to the wind and began eating too. She did not regret her decision.

“This is delicious. How can everything taste so good?”

“Let’s kidnap the chef here. Maybe Chef Im is getting old—his seasoning has been off lately.”

“Chef Im would be hurt to hear that.”

“My tongue is hurt too.”

“Bear with it! Besides, you eat at Merry Life Tavern every day lately. When are you going to abandon its owner?”

“When his food starts getting too salty?”

“Young Master!”

The Wicked Laughing Demon and Blue Face silently watched our informal exchange.

We were a leader and subordinate just as they were, yet we must have looked very different. That didn’t mean I considered our relationship better than theirs. Some people might prefer a relationship where trust passed between them without words.

I stopped eating for a moment and looked at the Wicked Laughing Demon. Before I could speak, he said,

“I’m fine. Please eat.”

“It’s just a shame. Sharing delicious food would bring us closer.”

“Sharing delicious food makes me angry. It would probably make our relationship worse.”

I laughed, but he did not, as though he hadn’t been joking.

Then the pavilion mistress entered, followed by four courtesans.

The women were truly beautiful. Perhaps these four were the Four Great Beauties of Thousand Flowers Pavilion?

“Take your time and choose whichever lady pleases you.”

I answered her immediately.

“They’re all beautiful, so please have them all sit. Is there any need to choose?”

The mistress looked at the Wicked Laughing Demon. When he nodded, she had all the women sit.

“An excellent choice.”

“It’s a way for everyone to win.”

She smiled at my reply.

The woman beside me poured me a drink.

“With such beautiful ladies pouring for me, I’ll have to drink a little too much today.”

I accepted and drank a cup from each of them.

“Yi An, have a drink too.”

“I’m fine, thank you.”

“No, you may never have another chance in your life to receive a drink from the beauties of Thousand Flowers Pavilion.”

“All right. Just one cup, then.”

The courtesan nearest her poured her a drink. Yi An took only a small sip before setting the cup down again.

Since Yi An and I treated the women courteously, their gazes naturally softened toward us.

The Wicked Laughing Demon watched me while leaning against the pavilion mistress. He wanted me to indulge in some debauched revelry with the courtesans, so he was thoroughly displeased with the situation.

“Didn’t you say you knew how to enjoy yourself?”

“I am enjoying myself. This lady here is named Ju Hwa, and she says she sings well. I’m thinking of listening to a song later.”

“What good is acting like a virtuous scholar over drinks? Shall I have them grind some ink for you?”

When I behaved like a prim scholar, the Wicked Laughing Demon dragged Yi An into it, though she had done nothing. He said to the mistress,

“The Second Young Master says that guard over there is the most beautiful woman of all. What do you think, Mistress?”

Her answer came immediately, as though there was no need to consider it.

“I think he’s right.”

“Right?”

The Wicked Laughing Demon abruptly straightened up from where he had been leaning against her.

“Yes. I thought so myself from the moment I saw her.”

The pavilion mistress gazed intently at Yi An.

“She would be a truly beautiful woman, if she lost weight.”

Having seen countless women throughout her life, she had indeed recognized at a glance the beauty hidden beneath Yi An’s weight and puffiness.

The Wicked Laughing Demon, on the other hand, was astonished. After being told that I could see something he could not, he had been trying to prove by any means that Yi An wasn’t beautiful. But the mistress’s response left him momentarily speechless.

With a look of genuine regret, the mistress asked Yi An,

“You’re such a beautiful woman. Why did you put on so much weight?”

Yi An answered,

“I’m greedy for food and lazy by nature, so I couldn’t help it.”

But the mistress clearly sensed that wasn’t true.

“We all have a story we can’t tell, don’t we?”

The mistress smiled, and Yi An answered with a faint smile of her own. Her words seemed to acknowledge Yi An’s pain somehow, and Yi An appeared comforted.

“Thank you for thinking so kindly of me.”

“Not at all.”

The pavilion mistress was certainly no ordinary woman. Then again, that must be why she had grown close enough to call the Wicked Laughing Demon “dear brother” and was nurturing an ambition to become empress of the night.

“Now, let’s all have a drink!”

I raised my cup high, and Yi An and the courtesans joined me in a toast.

After drinking and enjoying myself, I stepped into the inner courtyard for some fresh air.

Clearly, I wasn’t cut out to be a great hero—not when something as simple as the scent of face powder gave me a headache.

Then someone called me from behind.

“Young Master.”

I turned to find the pavilion mistress.

“If the courtesans aren’t to your liking, please tell me. We have many ladies here.”

“They’re fine.”

“You’re such a proper gentleman.”

“I have to be proper in the Wicked Laughing Demon’s presence. When I go out on my own, I’m a complete bastard. You couldn’t bear to watch.”

She gave a knowing smile.

“It isn’t because of your guard?”

“Do you think it’s because of her?”

“You seem to cherish her a great deal.”

“Does it show?”

“Yes, very much.”

“Please be sure to tell her that when you go back inside.”

We looked at each other and laughed.

“To be honest, I was surprised. You recognized at a glance that my guard was originally beautiful.”

“I’ve been good at reading people since I was young. Would you call it intuition? I got a feeling about women in particular. That woman would be beautiful with her makeup done this way. She would look lovely dressed like that. That woman probably has a shitty temper. That one probably likes men. Strangely enough, I was usually right. Enough that people said I was possessed.”

“What did you think of my guard?”

“Her beauty was one thing, but more than that, she struck me as someone who would accomplish great things. Someone destined for an exalted place.”

Her eye for people was as accurate as ever.

“What about me?”

“I only know how to read women.”

She smiled slightly. Perhaps her intuition worked on men too.

But knowing that using it indiscriminately could endanger her life, perhaps she had limited her gift to women and was carving out a new destiny for herself.

“Shall we go back inside, then?”

“Let’s.”

At the very moment she stepped ahead to lead the way—

SWISH.

A masked assailant emerged from concealment and thrust a dagger at the pavilion mistress. She didn’t even have time to scream.

In that desperate instant, I unleashed the fastest move I could perform. Charging forward with the Underworld King’s Step, I drew the Black Demon Sword.

I unleashed Azure Heaven, the swift-sword fifth form of the Heaven-Soaring Sword Art, which I had mastered to the eleventh level.

SLASH.

Blood sprayed across her face.

When the pavilion mistress opened her eyes, the masked man who had tried to kill her lay on the ground with his face pierced through.

Drenched in his blood, she turned in shock to find my sword suspended in midair. Her eyes widened.

Before her eyes, the sword was splitting apart.

SHRRRING!

Four swords.

They were not actual swords, but sword qi I had created. Because they took the shape of the Black Demon Sword, it looked as though the sword had split into four.

The seventh form of the Heaven-Soaring Sword Art: Shadowed Heaven.

The pavilion mistress’s mouth fell open at the astonishing spectacle.

The instant the qi extending from my body in all directions like a spiderweb detected every concealed enemy—

WHOOSH!

The four swords of qi shot off in different directions like rays of light.

An exclamation escaped the pavilion mistress at the dazzling sight. It was followed by the sound of tearing flesh and dying screams.

Silence followed.

Then blood erupted from the seemingly empty spaces the swords had pierced.

SPLURT!

Four masked men emerged from concealment. Blood gushed from the holes the sword qi had pierced through them, and all four collapsed at once.

BOOM!

In the next instant, a figure landed there as though driven into the ground.

It was the Wicked Laughing Demon.

“What happened?”

“It was a surprise attack aimed at the mistress.”

At my words, he looked at the pavilion mistress standing there drenched in blood.

At the realization that they had targeted her rather than him, the Wicked Laughing Demon gave a cold laugh—a low sound like the growl of a wild beast.

I could feel his fury. Because he had been laughing over drinks just a short while ago, it felt all the more intense.

It was always the same. The most cowardly, vile methods were this effective.

The Wicked Laughing Demon addressed me in a voice that had instead settled into calm.

“Second Young Master, since I failed to prove that your heart is ugly, would you now like to see my real world?”

Yes. This was how a bloodbath began.