Chapter 225: A Precious Guest Will Arrive Today

TL: FoodieMonster007

The next morning, I went to see the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon before we left.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Let's have only you, the Smiling Demon, and I go to the Thousand Flower Palace."

I believed the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon's personal relationship with the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman was a private matter that needed protection.

However, the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon gave an unexpected answer.

"There's no need for that. Let's all go together and proceed with the original plan."

"You don't have to do something you're reluctant about. We can have Strategist Go and the others cooperate from the outside."

"That's not why," he said, revealing an unexpected reason for his suggestion. "I want to introduce them to the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman."

He meant the Poison King, Seo Daeryong, Go Wol, and even the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader.

"The Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman is a very ambitious person, but she has been holding back on many things she wants to do because of me. Meeting and interacting with these people will be a great help to her."

I could tell the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon genuinely cared for the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman. He viewed her with a deep affection that went beyond simple fondness.

"And above all, they are people the Second Young Lord trusts, aren't they? So it's fine."

I think the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon's decision is wise. There are times to hide things and times to bring them into the world. This was the latter. I did not think anyone in our group would harm the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman. We looked at each other and smiled, sealing our decision.

When I left the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon's residence, I found Go Wol in the courtyard preparing for our departure. He loaded luggage onto a carriage, his face full of worry.

"Strategist Go, don't worry so much. Enjoy it. As a strategist, you'll make countless plans in your life, but you won't often get to have me, the Smiling Demon, and the Poison King carry them out. So enjoy this situation."

Go Wol bowed his head with a grateful expression. The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader, who stood beside him, added a jealous remark.

"The points I earn with a hundred words, you always get with just one."

"Trust Strategist Go. He'll give me one point and give you a hundred, Cult Leader."

After comforting my one and only strategist and the Cult Leader, I shouted.

"Alright, let's depart!"

The room was lavishly decorated. A specially made bed was large enough for ten people, and expensive furniture crafted by master artisans filled the space. Even a single doorknob was startlingly expensive, not to mention the rare ceramics and paintings.

A dozen women knelt in this splendid room. They wore thin clothes that revealed their skin, and though their ages and beauty varied, their expressions were identical.

Despair.

They stared at the floor with eyes that held all the despair in the world.

Yeo Bulgae sat in the center of the women, who were lined up on his left and right. His hair was white and his face was wrinkled, but his eyes radiated a passion that rivaled a young man's.

Yeo Bulgae was reading a message from a pigeon. It reported that Aecha had died, not long after Jisaeng's death.

A wrinkled, gnarled hand crumpled the message and threw it at one of the women's heads. The woman picked up the fallen paper and burned it in an oil lamp.

"What do you think of this?" Yeo Bulgae asked.

Hwang Yeom, who sat before him, answered politely. "They didn't show it outwardly, but they were the types who secretly looked down on us for being in the business of selling women."

He was indirectly saying they were better off dead. As Yeo Bulgae's right-hand man, Hwang Yeom knew his master better than anyone.

Indeed, Yeo Bulgae's feelings were no different. The deceased Jisaeng and Aecha were nobodies with excessive pride who often ignored people. He had never once seen them greet him first. Their deaths concerned him less than another possibility.

"I'm saying, isn't it possible an outside force has struck?"

"It's best to rule out that possibility."

"……"

"The investigation concluded that they definitely died due to internal conflict. The higher-ups must have investigated with keen senses. If someone had the skill to deceive them, would we even be alive?"

The wrinkles on Yeo Bulgae's forehead deepened.

"Are you anxious?" Hwang Yeom asked.

"Because the next target could be me."

He did not know that the women with bowed heads on either side of him held a single wish.

Please, let him be next!

"Just in case, I will summon all the experts we can mobilize," Hwang Yeom said.

Yeo Bulgae nodded. He usually joked, "Even the King of Hell wouldn't take me. He'd say I'd dirty up his hell."

That was a joke he only made when he felt confident he would not die. Now that he felt real danger, he reacted more sensitively to death than anyone.

"Just in case… contact the Yin Yang Ghost as well."

Hwang Yeom flinched at the name but soon answered obediently. "I understand."

In the past, this would have sparked a debate. Moving them cost too much money, and they might cause trouble if unleashed in the murim, which the higher-ups would not like. Now, it was good that such a process could be skipped.

Hwang Yeom knew him so well it felt like he had a second body. For instance, just by looking at Yeo Bulgae's eyes, Hwang Yeom could pick the exact woman he had chosen from among dozens.

"I'm not afraid of dying, but I haven't achieved all my dreams yet."

Yeo Bulgae's dream was to establish his brothel throughout the entire Central Plains, without exception. He had used all sorts of methods to expand his business, building brothels himself and stealing them from others.

He employed all kinds of methods in the process. He sent troublemakers to cause a ruckus, spread false rumors, drugged food to make customers sick, and even set fire to rival establishments.

One might wonder if such crude methods worked, but they were surprisingly effective. He would ruin a rival brothel's reputation to eliminate it or buy it for a pittance. Whenever he saw a brothel owner commit suicide, Yeo Bulgae felt a sense of pleasure.

"You must live tenaciously and achieve your dream. Here, this is a new dream for you to have, Pavilion Master."

Hwang Yeom held out a document containing information about the Thousand Flower Palace. Since the Thousand Flower Palace was the most famous brothel in Guizhou, where they planned to expand, they had decided to take it over first.

Yeo Bulgae's eyes gleamed with greed as he examined the contents.

"The estimated profits are enormous."

"It makes more money than any of our other locations in the Central Plains."

"Are the courtesans beautiful?"

"That, and the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman is known to be very resourceful."

"You said the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman is a woman, right?"

"That's right. She handles the courtesans well, and the customers well. Even the martial artists under her command respect her."

"Still, she's just a worthless bitch."

Looking down on women was his innate nature. He despised and hated them so much that Hwang Yeom suspected Yeo Bulgae might have been severely abused by his mother or another woman as a child. His pathological lust was clearly born not of affection, but of hatred.

"Her beauty?"

"I've heard she is quite beautiful."

Yeo Bulgae's eyes grew languid as he revealed his lust. His gaze turned to the women. All of them had once been Pavilion Masters of a brothel. To the world, they were known to be missing or dead.

They were women who had suddenly handed over their brothels to Yeo Bulgae overnight and disappeared. Their families and friends could never find them, no matter how hard they searched.

Yeo Bulgae had been kidnapping and collecting the most beautiful Pavilion Masters from the brothels he had stolen. It was a truly heinous act that would anger both heaven and man, but this fact was not known to the outside world. Even if someone had known, they would not have dared to confront Yeo Bulgae.

"Now the balance will be right."

There were nine women in total. When the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman arrived, there would be ten.

Hwang Yeom nodded with an expression that said not to worry. It was a signal that he would deliver the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman to Yeo Bulgae's bedchamber when the job was done.

"The Monochrome Blade Duo has already gone."

The Monochrome Blade Duo were Yeo Bulgae's limbs, figures not well-known in the murim. Their martial arts skills were formidable, but more than that, they had been raised from a young age to be ruthless swordsmen who only followed orders, devoid of human emotion.

In a case like the Thousand Flower Palace, where clumsy tricks would not work, he had immediately dispatched the Monochrome Blade Duo. He intended to kidnap the Pavilion Master directly and force her to stamp the contract. The nine women here had all suffered the same fate.

"Tell them to bring her here safely without laying a single finger on her!"

It was the same old worry of a lecherous old man.

"A precious guest will arrive today."

The Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman, Yeo Jong, had her residence and inner courtyard cleaned since morning. She took more care than usual with her makeup and attire.

The maids and servants moved about diligently. They had learned that if the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman said a precious guest was coming, a guest would indeed arrive. At first, they assumed she received a message, but after many unexpected guests arrived, they all knew she was a special person.

Today, however, it seemed even she was wrong.

The people who entered the inner courtyard were not precious guests, but uninvited ones. The Monochrome Blade Duo, dressed in white and black long robes, had stormed in.

The Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman sent the servants and maids inside. At the same time, the martial artists of the inner courtyard who protected her revealed themselves.

Though their side had more numbers, the Monochrome Blade Duo was not intimidated. The aura of the two men overwhelmed the entire group, and tension filled the faces of the Thousand Flower Palace martial artists.

The Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman asked calmly, "Where are you from?"

The mafia from the Monochrome Blade Duo, dressed in black, said to her, "Our master wishes to see you. Let's go."

His tone was cold and blunt, devoid of any emotion. It sounded childish, as if a block of wood were speaking.

"Who is your master?"

"You'll know when you get there."

"I'm sorry, but a precious guest is arriving today, so we'll have to postpone this for another time."

Of course, those words had no effect on the Monochrome Blade Duo.

"There is no one more precious than our master."

With those words, the two men strode forward. Four of the eight Thousand Flower Palace martial artists blocking her path lunged forward. The remaining four surrounded the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman.

Swords and daos clashed swiftly. They were the experts who had protected the Thousand Flower Palace until now, but the Monochrome Blade Duo's skills were superior.

Two of the four who rushed forward collapsed after less than ten exchanges, their arms and waists deeply slashed.

Just as the Monochrome Blade Duo raised their daos to end their lives, the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman threw herself in front of them.

"If you want to kill these people, you'll have to kill me too."

Since their mission was to take her, the Monochrome Blade Duo lowered their daos. She pressed on the injured men's pressure points to stop the bleeding.

"Treat their wounds and wait. I'll be back."

"You can't, Pavilion Master!" the other martial artists shouted, stepping forward to stop her.

The Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman firmly restrained them. "Everyone, stop!"

At her command, the martial artists froze. They all knew that if they continued to fight, they would die a dog's death. Never since the founding of the Thousand Flower Palace had such powerful experts invaded.

"If you lose your lives here in vain, I will be filled with regret and won't be able to live properly. Retreat and protect the main building. A precious guest will arrive today, so you can report this matter to him."

Forcing the martial artists to back down, she approached the Monochrome Blade Duo without any fear.

The members of the Monochrome Blade Duo looked at each other and tilted their heads. They had kidnapped many women, but they had never seen one so calm.

The Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman stared intently at the two men. "I am good at seeing people's futures. However, the futures of you two are as dark as pitch, so I cannot see them well."

The Monochrome Blade Duo laughed coldly and strode toward her.

The mafia reached out his hand to subdue her vital points.

At that very moment, a single finger qi bullet flew in as fast as light.

PWEEE! THWACK!

The attack pierced the back of the mafia's hand, leaving a hole. He let out a short scream and tried to stop the bleeding.

PWEEE! THWACK!

This time, the bullet pierced the elbow of the other arm he was using to stop the bleeding.

"……"

The mafia instinctively ducked his body.

PWEE! THWACK!

His shoulder was pierced. The attack flew in so fast that he could not avoid it.

He turned his body toward where the finger qi had come from, but more bullets flew in succession. His stomach, waist, and knee were pierced one after another. The finger qi bullets poured down like rain, completely shredding his body.

"Uwaaaaaaaack!"

The mafia let out a desperate scream, as if releasing all the screams he had held back his entire life.

PWEEE! THWACK!

Finally, a bullet pierced his forehead, and he collapsed.

The finger qi bullets had flown in such rapid succession that everyone only saw him die. Even the man in white could only watch the mafia's death in this unexpected situation.

Only then did everyone's gaze turn to where the finger qi bullets had come from. A bright smile spread across the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman's lips.

The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon, wearing a white mask, was striding toward them.