“Are you not getting out of the way, you damned bitch!”
Yeo Bulgae went berserk and began beating her mercilessly. Even while taking the blows, the middle-aged woman shielded the other woman with her body. It was not enough for him to merely satisfy his lust—he tormented them with such perversion that she could not bear it and had stepped forward to help. She had suffered the same treatment herself, so she knew all too well how painful and humiliating it was.
Yeo Bulgae seized the woman by the hair and flung her backward. Though he was called the King of the Night, when he was angry he was nothing more than a brute. No, it would have been fortunate if he had merely beaten them like a brute. Yeo Bulgae tormented people with relentless persistence.
“Wonderful, simply wonderful. An old bitch like you has to play a part like this if she wants to survive among the rest of you, I suppose?”
Yeo Bulgae injected his internal energy into the woman’s body, intending to inflict pain.
“Aaaaargh!”
Unable to endure it, the woman screamed.
“You have to endure it! You came forward to sacrifice yourself, didn’t you? Were you only pretending to stop me?”
The young woman whom she had tried to protect stepped forward and pleaded.
“I’ll do it! I’ll do it! Please, stop!”
Tears streamed down her face. The women watching them also wept with their heads bowed.
The reason they could not move against Yeo Bulgae was not simply that they had been captured and brought here.
Yeo Bulgae had threatened their families’ lives. Some had children, some siblings, and some parents. Whether they resisted, ran away, or took their own lives, he threatened to find their families and kill them. And he had actually brought in the family of one woman who had escaped and slaughtered them cruelly before her eyes.
What made them even sadder was that they were adapting to this humiliating, bestial reality.
“You’re nothing more than lumps of flesh that exist for me. How dare lumps of flesh like you claim to protect one another?”
The middle-aged woman squeezed her eyes shut. Tears flowed down her cheeks. Every day, she wished she could simply die, but she could not because of her son. If she took her own life, he would certainly bring her son there as an example and kill him before the other women.
‘Please! Someone, save us!’
The woman’s desperate gaze turned toward the vivid blue sky far beyond the window.
‘Please!’
Just as her desperation seemed to reach the ends of the heavens, a subordinate reported from outside.
“The Heukbaek Ssangdo and Cheonhwa Ruju have arrived.”
As though he had been waiting for them, Yeo Bulgae hurriedly opened the door and came outside.
Cheonhwa Ruju was entering the large courtyard. Behind her came the Heukbaek Ssangdo, their bamboo hats pulled low over their faces. Of course, they were Geom Mugeuk and Geukak Soma.
They had anticipated all sorts of difficulties on the way in. Geom Mugeuk had been prepared to rely on his quick wits, but unexpectedly, everything had been far too easy.
One of the martial artists guarding the entrance had escorted them all the way there, as though this was what he had always done. Since the Heukbaek Ssangdo had brought women there more than once or twice, no one had suspected that these Heukbaek Ssangdo were fakes. Besides, the Heukbaek Ssangdo must have been so terrifying in their usual dealings that no one dared investigate them—or even meet their eyes.
That was how they had come all the way to Yeo Bulgae without trouble.
The moment Yeo Bulgae saw Cheonhwa Ruju, he exclaimed in admiration.
“Oh! Now that is something!”
He liked the atmosphere she gave off. She was elegant yet haughty. Was there any greater pleasure in the world than breaking such haughtiness and making a woman like that his slave?
He went back into the room, seized the middle-aged woman by the hair, and dragged her outside. Then he flung her to the ground without mercy.
“Look at her. A woman with that kind of beauty has come here. She ought to be licking my toes all day and it still wouldn’t be enough, yet you claim that you’ll protect one another?”
Yeo Bulgae had not the slightest intention of making a good impression on Cheonhwa Ruju. Rather, he meant to instill fear in her.
He flung the door wide open. The scene inside was an imperial palace to him, but hell to the women. The women kneeling, the women sprawled in the corners, the women lying on the beds—all of them raised their heads to look at Cheonhwa Ruju.
“They used to run courtesan houses, just like you.”
The moment she saw them, Cheonhwa Ruju’s expression hardened. She was not usually one to show anger, but now her face displayed unmistakable fury.
“You! Stealing their courtesan houses was not enough—you intend to steal their souls as well.”
Yeo Bulgae laughed in delight.
“You even speak so elegantly! I like you. I’ll show you the most love of all!”
The women in the room looked at her with pity.
Cheonhwa Ruju spoke in a calm tone.
“I’m told I’m very good at seeing a person’s future.”
It was one of those moments when a truly furious person became calmer instead.
“Can you see my future as well?”
“Your skin has been flayed off, your body is skewered on an iron spit, and you are being lowered into a pit of flames.”
She was describing him falling into Avīci, the most painful of all the hells.
His expression hardened for an instant, but Yeo Bulgae soon smiled leisurely.
“Even the Yama of Hell wouldn’t accept me. He’d be worried I might dirty the place.”
After delivering the line he always used, he sneered at Cheonhwa Ruju.
“Only the weak prattle about hell. So, does it make you feel good to imagine me falling into the fires of hell?”
“You’re a coward. You pretend to be broad-minded on the outside, but you’re a coward who fears death more than anyone.”
“The bitches over there all acted just like you at first. They put on airs and shouted loudly, without knowing what kind of state I would reduce them to after just an hour, or what pleas they would make to me. You don’t think you could ever end up like them, do you? You think someone will come to save you, don’t you? That’s how people are. They don’t know what lies even an inch ahead of them.”
Just then, a situation unfolded in which no one knew what lay even an inch ahead.
Hwang Yeom appeared there, leading a group of experts. They blocked Yeo Bulgae’s path and stood guard around him as though protecting him.
“Who are you?”
Hwang Yeom asked Cheonhwa Ruju coldly.
Only then did Yeo Bulgae realize that they were fake Heukbaek Ssangdo. He had failed to examine them closely because he had been captivated by Cheonhwa Ruju’s appearance.
“Fakes? You crazy bastards!”
His heart had lurched at the thought that he had nearly been caught off guard, and fury surged to the top of his head. Soon, however, he mastered his emotions.
When Yeo Bulgae snapped his fingers, the women inside the room rushed out, knelt down, and lay flat on the ground with their chests pressed against it.
Yeo Bulgae sat on them as though they were chairs. It was not because he needed chairs, nor was it merely to display his authority. He intended to use them as hostages if the need arose. That was the kind of man Yeo Bulgae was.
“If those men are fakes, then that woman must be a fake as well.”
“Does it matter whether I’m Cheonhwa Ruju or not?”
“It matters. Beautiful women are a dime a dozen in this world. But there can only be one mistress of the place I have claimed.”
“I am the real Cheonhwa Ruju.”
Yeo Bulgae thought she was telling the truth. There could not be many women capable of projecting such an aura.
“That useless Heukbaek Ssangdo must already be dead.”
“My pillar lover has a rather unusual personality.”
She laughed, perhaps because she found her own words amusing. At the sight of her smile, Yeo Bulgae grew flushed with excitement. She was exactly his type. He had seen countless women, but never one who attracted him like this.
Yeo Bulgae’s gaze shifted toward the Heukbaek Ssangdo.
‘So she came here trusting those two.’
They did not look like much at a glance.
“If you’re really Cheonhwa Ruju, why did you come here?”
“I heard you were looking for me.”
“What do you think?”
“Ugly, insignificant, pathetic. I came here for nothing.”
Yeo Bulgae’s expression instantly turned cold.
“I don’t know what you were thinking, coming here and making this kind of fuss, but if you thought the Heukbaek Ssangdo were all of my subordinates, you made a grave mistake.”
Yeo Bulgae felt no anxiety. No— even if he wanted to feel anxious, he could not.
To begin with, the three subordinates standing to his front left were the Heukya Samo, the Three Crows of the Black Night. They were his longtime right-hand men, experts a level above the Heukbaek Ssangdo. Beside them stood another of his trusted men, the spear expert Hyeolmyeongchang, Blood-Crying Spear. These four experts, together with the Heukbaek Ssangdo—these six masters were the reason he had been able to become the King of the Night.
But today there were even more.
After Jisaeng and Aech’a had died, he had brought in experts from outside. The Akgyeong Osa, the Five Evil Shadow Warriors, whom he had hired for a great deal of money this time, were infamous even among the unorthodox factions. He had never seen them fight personally, but their reputations were formidable.
And above all, there were two people he could rely on more than anyone.
A man and a woman sat on a rock in front of the garden. Both wore bizarre makeup, making it difficult to tell which was the man and which was the woman.
They were the Eumyanggwi.
They were devils who used strange sorcery to drain their opponents’ internal energy. Naturally, the male Yanggwi had mastered a demonic art that absorbed a woman’s yin energy, while the female Eumgwi had mastered one that absorbed a man’s yang energy.
They enjoyed fighting almost as much as they enjoyed absorbing vital essence. Their internal energy was so profound that most experts were thoroughly toyed with by them before dying after having their essence completely drained.
Their personalities were cruel and savage as well. If anyone displeased them, they would slaughter that person’s family and companions as well, making them truly mad men and women. They caused so many problems that even the Sado Alliance disliked employing them. But in a situation like this, there was no one more reliable.
So whom could he possibly fear? Yeo Bulgae was completely at ease.
“So you were angry that I tried to bring you here, and came in person to take revenge on me?”
Yeo Bulgae became even more sexually excited. Hwang Yeom, meanwhile, felt an inexplicable sense of unease, but after once nearly dying by interrupting a man who was engrossed in a woman, he never interfered again. Whatever the matter, women were one domain that absolutely must not be touched.
Instead of answering, Cheonhwa Ruju spoke to the women lying face-down on the ground.
“Everyone, close your eyes. When you open them again, you will be able to return home.”
The women’s eyes trembled at her words.
As they looked into Cheonhwa Ruju’s calm and gentle eyes, it seemed as though her words might truly come to pass. They all closed their eyes and prayed to the heavens. Please, let us return home.
At the sight, the old lecher’s lust grew even more intense.
“What an alluring old bitch you are.”
Yeo Bulgae spoke to the Akgyeong Osa.
“Five heroes, kill those men and prove your worth.”
In other words, he was telling them to earn what he had paid them.
As the Akgyeong Osa stepped forward, Geom Mugeuk also advanced. While Cheonhwa Ruju had bought them time by speaking with Yeo Bulgae, Geom Mugeuk and Geukak Soma had already formulated a plan through telepathy: how to fight these men, how to protect Cheonhwa Ruju, and how to rescue the women.
Yeo Bulgae asked Geom Mugeuk,
“If he’s the pillar lover, what are you?”
Geom Mugeuk answered,
“I’m the pillar lover’s friend.”
The gathered martial artists burst out laughing. Not one of them was tense.
“Even if you love your friend, is it wise to follow him all the way to hell?”
“I like that pillar too. He’s a pillar in my life as well.”
Though they could not be seen beneath the bamboo hat, Geukak Soma’s eyes shone with a clear light.
Geom Mugeuk’s composure made Yeo Bulgae feel a vague sense of foreboding. Thus, he issued his command with even greater force.
“Break all those damned pillars!”
The instant Yeo Bulgae’s order fell, the Akgyeong Osa drew their swords in unison.
Geom Mugeuk walked toward them slowly, as though out for a stroll.
He lightly evaded the attack of the Third Warrior, who came flying at him first, and drove his fist into the man’s abdomen.
With a dull thud, the Third Warrior crumpled. Geom Mugeuk twisted his body and slammed his fist into the face of the Second Warrior, who was stabbing at him from the side.
Lightly evading, lightly tapping.
It was a fight that made those watching wonder, What am I looking at?
The Fourth Warrior attacked from behind, leaping into the air because the fallen Third Warrior was in his way. But that movement had already been included in Geom Mugeuk’s calculations.
Geom Mugeuk leaned his back backward and lightly stabbed a dagger into the Fourth Warrior’s heart.
Stabbed in midair, the Fourth Warrior flew forward with his momentum. Using the Fourth Warrior as a shield, the First Warrior abandoned his attack and twisted aside to evade.
But Geom Mugeuk had anticipated that direction of retreat. His fist struck the First Warrior squarely in the chest. As the First Warrior crumpled and Geom Mugeuk turned around, the Fifth Warrior collapsed, clutching his throat. A dagger that no one had seen fly had lodged itself in his neck.
Geom Mugeuk had faced them by combining the Fist Demon’s boxing techniques, the Wind-God Four Steps, and throwing-dagger arts. His martial intent had reached such an exquisite level that it was difficult to recognize what he was doing.
There were no complicated movements, nor any dazzling footwork. He was simply fast and precise. His movements were utterly free of wasted force.
That was why, to everyone’s eyes, it looked as though the men were deliberately acting out their falls. They seemed to have been struck lightly by a fist, yet they could not get back up.
Yeo Bulgae was confused. The Akgyeong Osa looked like complete amateurs, while their opponent seemed like an unparalleled master. He had never seen a fight like this before.
The ones who had grasped their opponent most accurately were, surprisingly, the Eumyanggwi.
They looked at each other and smiled. They had recognized at a glance that Geom Mugeuk was a formidable opponent, and they were delighted. The stronger the opponent, the more internal energy he would possess. The Eumgwi was impatient to taste it as soon as possible.
It was then.
Boom! Rumble!
Thunder rang out from the sky. Dark clouds, seeming ready to pour down rain at any moment, cast the surroundings into darkness.
Geukak Soma slowly walked forward and stood beside Geom Mugeuk. In a flash of lightning, his white mask shone brightly beneath his bamboo hat. Geom Mugeuk knew how furious Geukak Soma was at Yeo Bulgae.
“Filthy old lecher.”
It was the first time Geukak Soma had spoken since arriving there. He did not want to exchange even a single word with Yeo Bulgae, and what followed was his final statement—one that needed nothing after it.
“You keep talking about hell every time you open your mouth. I’ll send you to the real thing.”