Chapter 236: Corruption (3)
After dealing with the Red Blossom Pavilion Madam and Yang Jong, Il-mok stepped out of the room with light steps.
As he arrived in the hallway and stairs, he stepped into a scene filled with blood, dead bodies, and freezing cold air.
It was obviously Jin Hayeon and Seon-ah's handiwork. Dam Bin was off handling another Hao Clan brothel on her own.
He went down another floor and saw the two girls fighting the last of the Hao Clan mbers.
Most of them were small fry, but there were a couple of guys mixed in who looked like First Rate fighters or maybe even early Peak Realm experts.
'Those guys must be the ones who ca with Yang Jong bastard.'
Il-mok sized up the enemies and watched the girls fight, ready to jump in if things went south.
But neither of them looked like they were in trouble.
'Miss Jin's ice art has definitely gotten stronger... And Seon-ah's is about as strong as I was when I first joined the Hall of the Demonic Way.
It was a strange feeling.
Not because Hyeokryeon Seon-ah's martial prowess was exceptional for her age.
How should he put it?
It felt like they could be blood sisters.
The girl who normally followed him around, calling him "Big Brother" with bright eyes, was now tearing her opponents with her claws, her eyes just as dead and cold as Jin Hayeon's.
Slash!
She ripped one of the Hao Clan scum's throats with her claws, causing blood to splatter on her face, yet the girl's eyes remained utterly indifferent.
"Tch."
Sothing about this didn't sit right with Il-mok, so he clicked his tongue and called out.
"Seon-ah! Close your eyes."
In the sa instant, Il-mok channeled his energy and swung the Ascension Sword wildly at the air.
Shwaaaaaak!
A barrage of Sword Qi poured out one after another, sweeping away all the Hao Clan disciples surrounding Hyeokryeon Seon-ah and Jin Hayeon.
Only then did Hyeokryeon Seon-ah realize Il-mok had arrived. She rushed toward him, calling out cheerfully.
"Big Brother!"
She was back to her usual self, totally different from the cold-blooded killer she was a second ago.
Jin Hayeon, on the other hand, kept her poker face, bowed slightly, and spoke, "I apologize for taking so long to finish them off."
"It's fine. There was just more trash to take out than we thought."
As Il-mok casually responded to Jin Hayeon's apology, one of the few survivors shouted with rage.
"You think you'll get away with ssing with the Hao Clan?!"
Il-mok let out a light sigh at that familiar threat that he'd heard a million tis.
"Haah. Are you retarded or what?"
Il-mok walked over to the guy like it was a huge chore and replied, "If I was scared of the Hao Clan, do you really think I'd be doing this?"
Too bad there was nobody left to answer him.
Slash!
Before the guy could blink, a bloody line appeared across his neck, along with the other survivors'.
***
In a cramped room tucked away in a corner of the Red Blossom Pavilion, a space that normally housed four courtesans cramd together, hung a woman suspended in the air.
She was hanging from a ceiling beam by a rope, and her face was beaten so badly you couldn't even recognize her.
And it wasn't just her face.
Not a single part of her body was unscathed. She'd been hanging there for over twelve hours, and the ropes had rubbed her skin raw.
She dangled there limply, drool mixed with blood dripping from her mouth.
She had been tortured brutally as an example ever since she got caught trying to escape last night.
It was to the point where she couldn't even process the screams, shouts, and clashing tal coming from outside the door.
Then, at so point, silence fell.
The noise stopped, and the only thing she could hear was her own weak breathing.
She remained in that hollow, half-conscious state for just a mont longer.
Creak.
A familiar sound pierced through her haze.
She jerked her head up as if seized in terror.
Because whenever that sound was heard, the torture would begin.
Even though she was barely conscious, she looked up out of habit.
'Who... is that?'
There stood a man wearing a mask.
And then—
Slash.
With a faint sound of sothing being cut, her body was freed from its restraints.
That was the last thing she rembered.
***
"Nnnngh..."
The woman woke with a groan, pain radiating through her entire body.
"Sohyang!"
And the first thing that entered her vision was the face of a woman whose eyes were brimming with tears.
It was a familiar face. It was the face of a close friend who had attempted to escape the Red Blossom Pavilion with her.
"Where... am I?" Sohyang frowned from the pain and asked in a voice cracked from thirst.
The tearful woman carefully tilted a prepared cup of water to Sohyang's lips as she answered, "You're in the clinic at the Maitreya Luminous Cult's estate. The Incarnation of Maitreya... he saved you."
Sohyang tried to piece together her hazy mories.
The first things that surfaced were the brutal tortures she'd endured for an entire day. But soon after, her final mory erged.
A mory about a masked man who'd appeared when the door opened.
'So that was... the Incarnation of Maitreya...'
As Sohyang put the pieces together, her friend spoke. "The physician said your condition is pretty bad. You'll need to stay here and recover for a while."
"What about the money?"
At Sohyang's worried question, her friend smiled brightly through her puffy and swollen eyes.
"You heard the rumors, right? If you're a follower of the Maitreya Luminous Cult, they'll treat you for free. Don't tell you're gonna say you don't believe in the Maitreya Luminous Cult?"
Sohyang smiled at her friend's joke.
'Salvation... really does co.'
Even though her swollen, battered face throbbed with pain, the smile wouldn't leave her lips.
***
Long before the woman nad Sohyang regained consciousness, Il-mok and his companions had moved busily through the night to thodically clean up the Hao Clan's presence in Lanzhou.
Except for the Red Blossom Pavilion, none of the other places had any real experts, so it didn't take long to clean them up.
After finishing their purge of the Hao Clan, Dam Bin paid a visit to the Crimson Silk Pavilion.
Catching the scent of blood emanating from her, the Crimson Silk Pavilion Master quickly bowed in respect.
"I greet the Incarnation of Maitreya."
Even without the sll of blood on her, rumors about what happened last night were already quietly spreading through the red-light district.
Since he basically controlled half the district after joining the Cult, the owner already knew what was up.
"Thanks to your cooperation, we were able to wipe out the Hao Clan cleanly. I'll see that you're rewarded."
She wasn't just talking about helping the woman nad Sohyang. The Crimson Silk Pavilion Master had consistently reported various rumors circulating through the red-light district, as well as movents from the Hao Clan's side.
"From now on, I'm entrusting you with managent of Lanzhou's entire red-light district. You are to take over the places the Hao Clan used to run as well.”
At Dam Bin's command, the Crimson Silk Pavilion Master bowed without hesitation.
"The Advent of Maitreya! Salvation for All!!! I shall follow the Incarnation's will."
When the owner looked up, she was already gone.
"Whew. There will be much to do from now on."
The Crimson Silk Pavilion Master let out a light sigh and muttered to himself.
Now that he was running the Hao Clan's brothels too, you could basically say he had beco the master of Lanzhou’s red-light district.
Of course, the real owner was the Maitreya Luminous Cult, and he was closer to being their agent.
But it wasn't all bad.
The Maitreya Luminous Cult basically stayed their hands off as long as no 'sins' were committed in his operation.
They didn't even gouge for profits, so a portion of the massive profits generated in the red-light district flowed into his own pockets.
The reason he'd sighed was simply that there was going to be a lot more work from now on.
The Crimson Silk Pavilion Master was a seasoned old man with extensive experience, so he understood what this ant.
Being the manager here ant that if anything went wrong in the red-light district, he'd be the one held responsible.
That sounded obvious, but most people in the world didn't see it that way.
People who only thought about the rights and benefits they'd gain never consider the responsibilities.
And it’s precisely because the Crimson Silk Pavilion Master was an old man who understood responsibility that the Maitreya Luminous Cult had willingly entrusted managent to him.
Even though he sighed, a faint smile played at the corners of his lips.
It wasn't because of the cash he'd earn managing the red-light district.
"Well, at least the work is rewarding."
Because the girls who used to be debt slaves selling fake smiles were actually smiling for real now.
"It's kind of ironic."
The Crimson Silk Pavilion Master shook his head, thinking it strange for soone who'd made a living off those won to have such thoughts.
He left the room.
There was a mountain of work to do.
***
Around noon.
Il-mok awoke from his sleep in an atmosphere so peaceful it was hard to believe he had waged a war against the Hao Clan just last night.
"Did you sleep well?"
"You're awake, Big Brother?"
Il-mok casually acknowledged the greetings from the two won standing guard, ate the al they'd prepared, and headed to the training grounds.
"Seon-ah. Let's have that sparring match we couldn't do yesterday."
Seon-ah's face lit up at his words.
They stood about ten feet apart. Il-mok let his sword hang loosely as he said, "Co at whenever you're ready."
The mont the words left his mouth, Seon-ah charged at Il-mok with a bright smile with crimson demonic energy blazing around her fingertips.
She unleashed a flurry of attacks, but Il-mok dodged or deflected them effortlessly.
It looked like a cat chasing after a fleeing butterfly.
The only problem was that this cat's claws were strong enough to slice through a boulder.
He played along with Seon-ah for about fifteen minutes before thinking,
'This should be enough.'
Il-mok used the principles of redirection to her claws, then placed his left hand on top of her head.
"Let's end this sparring match here."
"I can... keep going, Big Brother."
Seon-ah was panting and sweating, but Il-mok shook his head.
"I can definitely see how hard you've been working."
Smiling gently, Il-mok looked her in the eyes and added, "You're growing plenty fast, so I think you should take a break from physical training and focus on ditation instead."
"You want to train less?" Seon-ah asked back, confusion written on her face.
"You know what they say: 'Too much is as bad as too little.'"
Il-mok was worried.
He rembered how he suffered from the damned side effect when he first enrolled in the Hall of the Demonic Way and how he’d nearly gone mad when his realm advanced further within the duration.
But Seon-ah’s realm was already high enough even when she hadn’t enrolled in the Hall of the Demonic Way.
While there was a massive difference in their growth rate, Il-mok didn’t want to see this young girl driven insane by the side effect of her Demonic Art when she is still so young.
'And what I saw yesterday bothers too.'
Between the Demonic Arts and the insane training thods of the Hyeokryeon Family, he worried the girl's ntal state might be in danger.
But why...?
"Are you... trying to abandon ?"
Tears filled Seon-ah's eyes as she spoke.
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