The street I arrived at, guided by the Haomun escort, was the red-light district.
As I walked among the crimson lanterns, the gazes of those around me began to gather.
It was only natural—a young man who clearly looked too young for this place, a beaten courtesan hanging off his arm, and a full-grown adult guiding him straight toward the Honghua Pavilion, the heart of this street.
Seol Ri-hyang, as if refusing to be outdone, kept her neck stiff and her slightly upturned eyes sharpened with resolve… but in the end, she couldn't withstand the excessive attention and turned her head away, poking me in the side.
Poke, poke.
"Hey."
"What is it?"
"You're going because you have a plan, right?"
"Of course. Seol Ri-hyang, you were sold to the pavilion because of money, weren't you? Pay your price and get you removed from the register—that would settle it in no time."
"And where would that money come from? I hate to say this myself, but my price is a bit steep, you know? And the way the pavilion keeps its courtesans bound is…"
"You mean how they nitpick every excuse to pile up debt? I know. I've seen and heard a thing or two."
Back when I'd just left my hometown village and was wandering from place to place as a rogue, I'd once taken on guard work at a pavilion, as unorthodox martial artists often do.
From what I heard back then, they put a price on everything—the meals they provide, the clothes, the courtesan training, and so on.
They inflate the debt by charging for all sorts of things. And they pad the prices quite a bit, too.
"If you worked an ordinary job, you could never pay it off in a lifetime, but if you worked as a courtesan, you'd barely manage to clear the debt by the time you started to fade with age—that's what they said."
"…You know quite a bit, don't you? And you're still fine with this?"
"They gave me a money pouch to use when needed, and it's fairly thick."
"You said your name is Cheong Hwi, not Tang Hwi."
"I'm a prospective live-in son-in-law, so it's close enough."
"…So you're telling me you're going to use your betrothed's money to buy a courtesan out of the register? I'm grateful, but are you in your right mind?"
"There's a flaw in your wording. I'm using my betrothed's money to save the daughter of my benefactor."
"My father being someone's benefactor—I can't even begin to understand that…"
Seol Ri-hyang let out a sigh. And rightly so. It was, after all, a blatant lie.
But since I couldn't prove my words wrong either, in the end, she had no choice but to believe me.
How many times did I nod to myself as I walked? Before I knew it, I had arrived before a magnificent pleasure house.
One of the Haomun servants who had been guiding us approached with a silly grin.
"This is it, Great Hero. This Honghua Pavilion is where the branch head resides."
He held out his hand rather subtly, as if asking for the reward we'd promised. I tossed him a silver nyang from the money pouch Tang So-wol had given me, and he bowed with an exaggerated fuss before quickly hurrying away.
As I tucked the money pouch back into my bosom, Seol Ri-hyang, who had been frowning at the Honghua Pavilion, muttered.
"So it was here? Well, that explains why…"
"Don't mutter to yourself. Say it so I can understand too."
"That's where my father handed me over. The branch head must have taken an interest in me because he saw me in his own establishment. He looks like he'd enjoy boys, yet they say he rolls around with his own courtesans every day. It's true."
"At that level, it might not simply be a matter of lust. The branch head of Haomun can't be an ordinary man."
"Is that so?"
Seol Ri-hyang tilted her head. She still didn't know much about martial arts, so it was only natural she couldn't think of it.
An androgynous appearance and excessive lechery are side effects of the Essence Absorption Art.
To be more precise, they are side effects of absorbing internal energy beyond one's own capacity by using the methods of Harvest Yin to Nourish Yang, or Harvest Yang to Nourish Yin.
I had already known this before the regression, but the fact that a branch head suffering from the side effects of the Essence Absorption Art had set his sights on Seol Ri-hyang meant, after all…
I hid the cold feeling settling in my heart and headed for the front gate, where the gatekeeper, who had been watching me with a strange expression, stepped forward to block my way.
Perhaps it was because I had pulled out silver without hesitation a moment ago. The gatekeeper opened his mouth with a fairly courteous attitude.
"So you've come to retrieve the runaway courtesan. If you wait here, we will offer you a separate reward."
"No need. I came here to meet the master of this place."
As I said that, I deliberately flicked my sleeves so that the green robe I was wearing would be clearly visible.
"Tell them I've come to see the Mistress of Honghua Pavilion."
"…Understood."
The gatekeeper nodded and headed off somewhere. Before long, he returned with a woman of marriageable age by his side.
A beauty that nine out of ten people would turn their heads to look at. A flashy outfit with a bit of exposure. And an atmosphere that openly exuded a seductive aura.
It was somewhat incongruous to call it innate, but the temperament itself was deeply familiar.
A courtesan who had mastered the Erotic Arts to a first-rate level. She must be someone who knew her craft even by Haomun's standards.
The woman showed no intention of hiding it, either—she smiled at me with deep, curving eyes and spoke.
"I will guide you to the Mistress myself."
"I'll leave it to you."
At my calm reply, her brows twitched in surprise. She hadn't been trying to make an obvious move, but she clearly hadn't expected me to show no reaction at all.
I gave a faint smirk and tilted my head as if to tell her to get on with the guiding. Then Seol Ri-hyang whispered softly, just loud enough for me to hear.
"Be careful. She's a top-tier courtesan of the Honghua Pavilion. If you keep staring at her, you might get bewitched in an instant. Everyone else did."
"Don't worry. That kind of thing won't work on me."
It was true. Due to the nature of the Crazy Wolf Life-Stealing Art, the power of Erotic Arts or sorcery that muddled the mind was halved.
After all, killing intent was already dissolved into the internal energy flowing through my Eight Extraordinary Meridians. And while my body was still lacking, my will remained as it had been when I stood at the Transcendent Peak.
Unless a Lust Demon who had reached the Harmony Realm through Erotic Arts appeared, there was no chance of me being swayed.
More than anything… the Erotic Arts that courtesan had mastered were quite familiar to me.
My gaze turned without my realizing it. Seol Ri-hyang blinked.
"What is it. Why are you looking this way—no, wait. Look at me instead. That'd be better."
"That's exactly why I was looking."
Erotic Arts are naturally more effective on the opposite sex, but that doesn't mean one of the same sex is entirely immune to their power.
I had wondered whether Seol Ri-hyang, who had yet to learn anything of the sort, might be affected… but it seemed there was no need to worry.
Of course. It was only natural. Whatever else might be said of her, there was no way such a clumsy level of Erotic Art would work on Seol Ri-hyang.
***
The top floor of the Honghua Pavilion, whose interior was as lavish as its exterior, was reached at the end of a climb accompanied by the increasingly loud, ragged breathing of men and women.
"Mistress. The guest you mentioned has arrived."
"Let them in."
A slender voice came from within. Whether the speaker was male or female was impossible to tell, but it was certainly a beautiful voice. At the answer, the courtesan carefully opened the door.
Creak.
The moment the door opened, a combination of colors so dazzling it hurt the eyes unfolded before her.
Red, gold, or glittering.
As if overwhelmed by an interior where nothing escaped those three, Seol Ri-hyang hesitated. Then, as if to block her path, I strode ahead and entered.
I could tell a lot of money had been smeared on the walls, but… in the Black Alliance, I had seen far more extravagant places than this.
In the Tang Clan, I had visited rooms with far more class on numerous occasions.
So there was no reason to be shaken by such external things. What mattered to me was the Mistress of Honghua Pavilion seated at the center of the room.
"Welcome. A distinguished guest from faraway Sichuan Province. And our runaway youngest."
Only when our eyes met did the man finally rise to his feet, slow and deliberate, and open his mouth.
His robes weren't properly fastened, leaving the upper half of his body half-exposed, and his face, which looked far from young, was smooth without a single trace of a beard.
He seemed to have tried to make himself look manly somehow, but his frame was so slender that even that effort made little difference.
Had he not loosened his upper garments, it would have been difficult to tell whether he was a man or a woman. The Mistress of Honghua Pavilion continued in a thin voice, yet with a manly tone.
"I assume you already know, but I am the branch head of the Haomun in Yanzhou, and the mistress of this Honghua Pavilion."
"Thank you for the warm welcome. I assume you also know well who I am, but to be thorough, I am Cheon Hwi of the Sichuan Tang Clan. And this one…"
"…"
Instead of accepting my words, Seol Ri-hyang simply stared at the Mistress of Honghua Pavilion in silence.
I shrugged at that sharp hostility and spoke lightly.
"Seems you don't feel like talking. But you probably know who I am better than I do."
"Of course. You're a child I've been keeping an eye on, after all."
"Tch!"
Seol Ri-hyang clicked her tongue and glared at the Mistress of Honghua Pavilion. But there was no reason to pick a fight now that we'd come this far. At least, not yet.
She plopped down in front of him, then lightly patted the spot beside her.
"Come sit."
"…Fine."
Seol Ri-hyang sat down beside him as instructed, never once letting down her guard toward the Mistress of Honghua Pavilion.
The Mistress's eyes sparkled at her obedient demeanor.
"Oh ho. I haven't yet heard what circumstances brought you here, but it's surprising to see this wild child actually listen to someone. If you don't mind, young hero, would you care to share that secret?"
"It's nothing. I merely promised her freedom."
"Freedom, you say? More than a few people on this street have been ruined by falling for that word. Perhaps my youngest will meet the same fate."
An unmissable sneer rose to his face, as if scolding the foolishness of his childhood.
But I hadn't come here on some youthful impulse. I'd long since outgrown such things.
"Enough. Let's get to the point. I intend to have Seol Ri-hyang removed from the Courtesan Register. How much debt does she owe? If possible, I'll pay it off right now. If it's more than I have, I'll send word to the Tang Clan to bring the rest."
"Hmm… before that, if you don't mind. Might I ask what reason the Tang Clan's prospective son-in-law has for showing such great interest in a mere courtesan?"
Her voice was soft and gentle. But those narrow, snake-like eyes were nothing short of bewitching.
As expected of one who had mastered the Erotic Arts.
I let out a quiet sigh inwardly and nodded.
"There's no harm in telling you. In the past, I received great help from Seol Ri-hyang's father, Lord Seol. And so, I intend to repay that favor now."
"A favor, you say. That is important. Especially so within the Sichuan Tang Clan. Since you're to become a member of the Tang Clan soon, you wish to settle your past affairs cleanly?"
"That's about right."
Upon hearing my answer, the Mistress of Honghua Pavilion's lips curled upward.
"But how am I to handle this? I do apologize, but Hyang-i is not a child that can be given away for money."
"Hah, Hyang-i?!"
Seol Ri-hyang snarled as if the friendly address gave her goosebumps, but the Mistress of Honghua Pavilion did not spare her even a brief glance.
She merely looked quietly in my direction.
"It sounds as though you want something other than money. Would you care to elaborate?"
"Of course. In truth, Hyang-i is a child who will become my successor. Young hero, have you ever heard of the Pure Yin Constitution? It is a constitution that is, in itself, no different from a talent for the Erotic Arts."
I knew of the Pure Yin Constitution. In fact, I probably knew it better than the Mistress of Honghua Pavilion herself.
Simply put, it was a constitution in which the purity of Yin Energy was several times denser than that of an ordinary woman.
It is merely a matter of being born with energy close to the extreme of Yin; the quantity does not exceed that of an ordinary person.
Therefore, unlike those with the Nine Yin Severed Meridians, who die young from an excess of Yin Energy, this is a body that carries Yin of equal purity.
That is the Pure Yin Constitution.
The Mistress of Honghua Pavilion, who was looking over Seol Ri-hyang with a gaze she thought was gentle but was, by any objective measure, utterly unpleasant, opened her mouth.
"Who in this world would sell off someone who might become their disciple for a few coins?"
"And yet you, Mistress of Honghua Pavilion, bought Seol Ri-hyang for a few coins yourself."
"Isn't this common even among the Orthodox Sects? A poor family selling their child to a trustworthy sect."
That, too, was not wrong.
While secular sects might not, Taoist and Buddhist sects often take in orphans and raise them. They even pay a small sum of money for the privilege.
But this is closer to a form of mutual benefit.
The Taoists and monks accumulate good karma, of course, and they also increase the number of highly loyal sect members raised from childhood.
The family earns money to feed their other members, and the child gets to live without going hungry. If they have talent in martial arts, they might even enjoy more than that.
But what about Seol Ri-hyang's case?
Not only was she sold off by her own father's hand, but she's also being forced into becoming a courtesan. They say they'll take her as a disciple, but it's obvious they'll teach her the Erotic Arts against her will.
No, the Mistress of Honghua Pavilion probably doesn't even see her as a disciple.
She likely sees her as something akin to a Spiritual Medicine.
I sat fiddling with the hilt of my sword before speaking.
"So I take it you won't hand her over no matter how much I bring?"
"Heh heh. If it's something money can't buy, wouldn't that change the conversation a bit? For instance, something like the Tang Clan's Ten Thousand Poisons Pill."
"…"
The Ten Thousand Poisons Pill is a Spiritual Medicine representing the Tang Clan, much like Shaolin's Great Return Pill or Wudang's Taechong Pill.
I couldn't promise to hand it over, and even if I could, it was far too precious a treasure to trade for a single courtesan.
In effect, it was no different from saying he had no intention of handing over Seol Ri-hyang.
I looked at Seol Ri-hyang for a moment.
Whether she had sensed that the conversation was taking a bad turn or not, her face was uneasy.
Over Seol Ri-hyang's earnest face, I saw the image of her from before my regression. Her last words came to mind. And then…
"I'm sorry, but I'll have to take her by force."
I drew my sword and operated the Crazy Wolf Life-Stealing Art at full power.
A sharply refined killing intent shot toward the Mistress of Honghua Pavilion.
"What the—!"
She reacted quickly, as befitting a master at the Peak Realm. But the sword drawn half a beat late was aimed not at her front, but at the floor.
Sweeeek!
"Kyaaaah!"
"Hold on tight. We're escaping now."
I grabbed Seol Ri-hyang's waist firmly as she fell toward the floor below.
And just like that, I had kidnapped Seol Ri-hyang.