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You Don’t Know (2)

I wanted to follow Jo Byeok and uncover something, but he never left the Martial Alliance.

The Hall of Justice, where the Chief Strategist Sima Qian resided, was deep within the Alliance’s headquarters. It wasn’t a place one could easily infiltrate. With my current skills, I could attempt it once, but there was no reason to take such a risk.

There was no way his source of money was within the Alliance, and even if it was, it wouldn’t be revealed the moment I decided to sneak in.

If it were that easy to uncover, the investigation by the Celestial Network would have already exposed it. His source of funds was undoubtedly a well-kept secret.

Instead, I decided to dig into Samyeong.

If Jo Byeok was Sima Qian’s arm, then Samyeong was like his fingers. Having worked with Jo Byeok for a long time, he must know something.

I infiltrated Hayeolru, where they had been indulging themselves for two days straight.

Hayeolru was a mid-sized pleasure house with twenty-five rooms and fifty courtesans. Samyeong was in the fourth room of the annex.

They partied until dawn, slept in the guest rooms provided by the house, and then came out late in the evening to drink and revel again. They were truly living it up, eating and sleeping in the pleasure house.

I hid in the ceiling of their room, eavesdropping on their conversations. The musty smell, the crawling bugs, and the uncomfortable position made it impossible to relax for even a moment.

This kind of surveillance was something I had never experienced in all my past lives.

In my youth, I had nothing to lose. I only had to think of myself, so I cut down evildoers without a second thought. I never worried about the aftermath.

After becoming the leader, I never had the chance to endure such hardships. A single word from me could resolve everything.

The reason I was enduring their vulgar conversations was, of course, Baek Pyo. It was to protect his life completely.

Baek Pyo must have protected me like this too. Sometimes from the ceiling, sometimes from behind a narrow wall.

I was only on my second day. He had protected me like this his entire life. How could I think it was difficult?

In any case, by observing them from my hiding place, I learned several things.

The hairy one was Il-yeong, the big one was I-yeong, and the ugly one was Samyeong. Il-yeong and Samyeong used swords, while I-yeong wielded a large axe befitting his size.

Surprisingly, they talked about everything.

They reminisced about their early days together, boasted about whom they had assaulted or killed, and spoke of their misdeeds without hesitation, even with courtesans present.

Perhaps it was the alcohol, but they seemed confident that the courtesans wouldn’t dare reveal their secrets.

Gal Saryang once told me something.

“Our Hall of Justice is cautious because of public scrutiny, but ordinary intelligence groups plant many spies in pleasure houses. Men, when drunk, like to boast in front of women. As long as that nature doesn’t change, pleasure houses will always be the places where the most secrets are leaked.”

Listening to their past misdeeds, I realized how true those words were.

After midnight, the moment I had been waiting for finally arrived.

“This place is getting boring.”

I-yeong, who had been lying on a woman’s lap, suddenly sat up.

Il-yeong, who was fondling a woman across from him, glanced over and said, “If you’re getting bored in a woman’s arms, it must be your time to die.”

“Boring is boring. Let’s go there.”

“Where?”

“You know.”

Il-yeong shook his head. “Forget it. If you’re bored, just drink more and sleep.”

“Come on, let’s go. It’s been a while since we saw the kids.”

“Didn’t the boss tell us to avoid going there?”

“We wouldn’t have even started without us, and now we’re supposed to avoid it? Let’s go.”

I tensed up. The “boss” was undoubtedly Jo Byeok. They were talking about some secret place related to him.

The two looked at the youngest, who hadn’t expressed an opinion. He seemed reluctant, but when the big one frowned, he eventually nodded.

The three left the pleasure house.

They arrived at a secluded manor not far from the market. It was a place you couldn’t find unless you knew where it was, accessible only by a narrow path too small for a carriage.

Despite the late hour, when they knocked, a voice answered from inside.

“Who is it?”

“It’s us.”

When there was no response, the big one peered through the crack in the door and said, “Open up before I rip your ears off.”

Recognizing the big man, the door finally opened.

“What brings you here without notice?”

Though he bowed, the man didn’t seem particularly welcoming.

The big man grinned. “You’ve never been folded in half, have you? Like this, not like that.”

He mimed bending backward with his hands.

The man grimaced slightly and led them inside.

“Follow me.”

“You should’ve done that from the start.”

The three followed him into the building.

Inside, it was ordinary. Just like any other manor.

They walked down the corridor and stopped between rooms. The man manipulated a lamp on the opposite wall, and a hidden door opened.

Secret passages are usually behind bookshelves in studies or under beds, but this one was in an unexpected place.

Through the passage, they entered a large hall.

There were five tables, all occupied by guests, with women serving drinks at each.

It was like a cross between a pleasure house and a tavern. Unlike typical pleasure houses where drinks are served in private rooms, here they drank openly like in a tavern, but with women attending to them like in a pleasure house.

There was one significant difference from ordinary pleasure houses.

The courtesans were very young girls. They looked no older than twelve or thirteen, serving drinks and attending to the guests.

As they looked around, Samyeong spoke.

“Business is good. Our boss is making a lot of money.”

Just as Il-yeong said, all five tables were packed with guests.

“Why not add more tables?”

“That’s the secret to its allure, isn’t it? If it’s too easy to access, people get bored quickly.”

“Our boss is a genius with these things.”

“Isn’t that the girl from back then?”

“Yes. Her sister messed up, so we ended up killing her whole family.”

“She’s grown a lot.”

“Kids grow up fast. Hey, don’t grow too much, or you’ll die.”

The three of them chuckled together.

This was Jo Byeok’s secret pleasure house.

The children here were all kidnapped from various parts of the central plains.

The guests were old men who believed that being with young girls would restore their youth.

Jo Byeok only recruited a select few wealthy clients, charging exorbitant prices compared to regular pleasure houses. Yet, there was never an empty seat.

When this place first opened, these three had been the ones to kidnap the girls.

To maintain secrecy, the only guards were the three men, including the one who had opened the door.

“I was hoping there’d be an empty seat.”

I-yeong clicked his tongue, and the other two expressed similar disappointment.

“Let’s go. Let’s grope some more breasts. We’ll have to start working again tomorrow since we’re out of money.”

“After seeing these fresh ones, those will just ruin the mood.”

“You crazy fool!”

At that moment, the man who had opened the door earlier brought a young girl onto the stage. She looked about twelve or thirteen, a very cute child.

“Here she is, the one you’ve been waiting for. A girl who’s never been with a man.”

The old men licked their lips, swallowing their lust.

The girl trembled with fear. The lustful gazes were already stripping her of her clothes.

“Starting at five hundred nyang.”

When a new girl arrived, they auctioned her off like this.

The five old men began raising the price. Each time a hand went up, the price increased by a hundred nyang.

In no time, it surpassed a thousand nyang, then two thousand.

The man on stage occasionally threw out enticing words to the old men.

“Look at this skin. It’s purer than the snow on a winter’s day.”

The bidding continued until it stopped at seven thousand five hundred nyang. An enormous sum for just one night.

“If no one else bids by the count of three, it’s settled.”

Seeing no one else was likely to bid, an old man grinned widely.

“One, two…”

Then, a low voice came from behind.

“One hundred million nyang.”

Everyone turned in shock to see where the voice had come from.

All eyes were on me.

“How could that girl be worth only one hundred million nyang?”

I asked coldly, looking at the old man who had been about to buy the girl.

“Would you sell your granddaughter for seven thousand five hundred nyang?”

The old man’s face turned red and blue. Seeing that I was a martial artist, he couldn’t bring himself to curse and looked back at the man on stage.

The man on stage signaled with his eyes, and two men with swords rushed at me.

I easily dodged the flying swords and struck one man’s neck with the edge of my hand.

Crack!

His neck bone snapped, and he collapsed.

I flipped the other man over and slammed him to the ground.

Thud! With a heavy sound, his spine shattered.

After quickly subduing the two men, the man on stage looked at Samyeong.

Samyeong leaped down in front of me.

I-yeong looked at the other two and said, “I had a strange feeling we should come today. What would have happened if we hadn’t?”

Then Il-yeong suddenly shouted in surprise.

“Watch out…!”

Before I could even finish warning him to be careful, my kick landed squarely on the back of Lee Young’s head. The moment he turned his head, I was already charging at him.

There was a sickening crack, and I could almost hear something shattering inside his skull.

His heavy body collapsed forward.

I leaped again, driving my knee into his head.

Thud!

His skull shattered into pieces. His body twitched a couple of times before going still. The large axe at his waist never even had a chance to be drawn.

Looking down at the corpse, I muttered quietly, “Why turn your back on an enemy?”

The technique I used to take him down was the art of the Crane.

Il-Young and Sam-Young glared at me with wide eyes.

Even though it was a surprise attack, the fact that I had taken down Lee Young, known for his iron-like defense, in just two moves was a shock to them.

Il-Young and Sam-Young exchanged glances and nodded. As soon as they signaled to attack together, they rushed at me simultaneously.

I faced them with the same Crane technique.

Dodging their flying swords, I twisted my body and charged at them. My unexpected movement allowed my shoulder to slam directly into Il-Young’s.

With a dull thud, he staggered back, trying to retaliate. But instead of attacking, he let out a scream.

“Aaargh!”

His shoulder had been shattered by the blow.

As he awkwardly tried to attack again with his dangling arm, I wrapped my arm around his neck.

Crack.

His neck snapped at a right angle, killing him instantly.

Even as I dealt with Il-Young, my eyes were on Sam-Young.

“Spare me! I’ll leave!” Sam-Young, terrified, threw down his sword and bolted for the door without waiting for my response.

I kicked the fallen sword on the ground.

Swish! Thud!

The sword flew through the air, piercing Sam-Young’s back. He flailed his arms in the air before collapsing forward.

The man who had been auctioning off children on stage was nowhere to be seen. I had seen him slip away when the fight with Sam-Young began, but I let him go on purpose.

He would lead me to the one I must kill today.

While waiting for Jo-Byuk, I beat the old men who were there.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Teeth shattered, and limbs broke. The old men screamed for their lives.

“Please, spare us!”

None of these old, wretched men begged for death. Even in this situation, they clung to life.

“Fine, I’ll let you live as you wish.”

Thud! Thud! Thud!

I beat them mercilessly, leaving them half-crippled but alive. What was the point of killing old men who were already at death’s door?

I would expose their crimes to the world. Their families would know, and they would spend their remaining days in prison, broken and humiliated. They would be reduced to eating gruel with their shattered teeth, living a life that was no life at all.

They would die in disgrace and agony.

The girls huddled in a corner, watching with a mix of satisfaction and fear.

I asked them, “Do you want to see your mothers?”

Tears welled up in their eyes at my words.

“I’ll send you home.”

Watching their tears fall, I felt a pang of guilt.

I’m sorry. Truly sorry.

What they experienced here would leave an indelible scar. These children, taken before they even understood the world, knew only this place as their reality.

Whether they could ever lead normal lives was uncertain.

I showed them everything that happened here for a reason. If they couldn’t forget, I wanted them to remember the justice served on their tormentors.

I believed this was a step toward healing their wounds. So I intended to show them everything.

Creak.

The door opened then. Jo-Byuk must have arrived.

So watch closely. From now on, see everything that happens as that door opens.