SYM 70

Eun-hyeon was about to speak to Cheong-un when Cheong-un lightly shook his head. He probably meant that they shouldn’t talk because the others might hear.

The place Cheong-un took Eun-hyeon was quite unexpected. He had spoken as if they were about to leave the village urgently, but they had come to a brothel.

Eun-hyeon frowned at the gaudy brothel.

In his past life as a Taoist of Kunlun, he had shunned such pleasures, and after becoming Namgung Eun-hyeon, he had been too busy taking care of his weak body to even think about entertainment.

Therefore, even after living two lives, Eun-hyeon was not familiar with such extravagant entertainment.

“Welcome, young masters. Where shall I take you? Are you looking for a particular courtesan?”

As the two entered, a woman in flamboyant attire approached them.

“Take us to a quiet place. We’ll be staying the night, so a room as well.”

“This way, please.”

As he followed the woman inside, Eun-hyeon felt that this place was strange. It looked like an ordinary brothel from the outside, but once inside, it was structured like a fortress, mindful of external intrusion or attack.

None of the windows were visible from the hallway, and the internal corridors were long, winding, and branching, making it difficult for outsiders to find their way.

They entered a quiet room in the inner part of the brothel.

Looking around the neatly arranged room, Eun-hyeon looked at Cheong-un.

“Why did you come here?”

There were other places to stay for the night, so why come to a brothel?

Especially after telling Neunggwang Sword that they would be leaving soon.

“Master, you can speak comfortably now. Earlier, I was being careful because I thought they might notice something was wrong if we used a Qi barrier.”

Eun-hyeon frowned at Cheong-un’s words.

“What’s going on? At first, it seemed like you were going to help them, but suddenly you said we had to leave. And then we came to a brothel.”

“First of all, we came here to get information. This brothel is run by the Haomun. Some members of the Demonic Sect are also here.”

“…Here?”

Eun-hyeon’s eyes widened.

The Haomun was a peculiar group that stood on the border between the orthodox and unorthodox factions. It mainly consisted of people from the lower strata of society and was a place where information was bought and sold. They were mainly found in places like brothels and gambling dens.

Eun-hyeon had mainly lived in the mountains in his past life, and in this life, he had been confined to his home due to his weak body, so this was his first time seeing the Haomun.

“Is this really the Haomun?”

Cheong-un smiled as he saw Eun-hyeon’s eyes sparkling.

“Yes, it’s one of the Haomun’s branches. And…”

Cheong-un trailed off, looking at the door, and then the door opened.

“Did you call for me, guests? My name is Jarim.”

A courtesan in a beautifully decorated, flamboyant dress walked in with a sway.

As Jarim entered, the door closed on its own.

Eun-hyeon was surprised and glanced at the door. There was no sign of anyone outside, but the door closed automatically like an automatic door.

Jarim entered with a haughty expression and a smile, but as soon as the door closed, she knelt before Cheong-un.

“Cheonma has returned, may all demons submit. Greetings, Lord.”

Surprise spread across Eun-hyeon’s face. Were even Haomun infiltrated by Demonic Sect followers?

“I came to ask a few questions. I heard that children have been disappearing in this area. Do you know anything about it?”

“Yes. Many children have disappeared even within the village. In fact, two children who belonged to the brothel and did odd jobs have disappeared. At first, we thought they had run away, but now we suspect they were kidnapped.”

“…They even kidnapped children belonging to the Haomun? The daughter of Master Jang as well, something is strange.”

“They probably didn’t know that the kidnapped child was a member of the Haomun. Only a few people know that this brothel belongs to the Haomun.”

“Even so, kidnapping the daughter of that Jang fellow is not easily explained. Or do the kidnappers think they are confident enough to do this? Jarim, what about the whereabouts of the children?”

Not just one or two children had been kidnapped and disappeared. There had to be somewhere these children were being taken.

Generally, children with outstanding beauty were sold to brothels. If they went to the trouble of kidnapping children, there would be a purpose, whether it be money or connections.

But Jarim shook her head.

“They have not been found.”

“What? Then where did the kidnapped children go?”

“In fact, Master Jang requested the Haomun to find his youngest daughter, but there is surprisingly no information.”

Cheong-un listened to Jarim’s report and placed dried fruit in front of Eun-hyeon.

After that, he picked up a kettle and started heating water in it.

Unlike the Samadhi Fire that created flames, boiling water in the kettle was a type of Yeomhwa skill.

Cheong-un brewed tea with the boiled water and placed it in front of Eun-hyeon as well.

Since starting the journey, Eun-hyeon had become accustomed to receiving various services from Cheong-un and accepted what he was given without much suspicion.

Jarim had undergone rigorous training in the Demonic Sect to become a spy for the Haomun, but seeing Cheonma attending to someone, she didn’t know what expression to make.

In the Demonic Sect, Cheonma was a completely different existence from the leader of the Martial Alliance. Only those who had proven themselves with strength could become the leader of the Demonic Sect, and among those leaders, only a few had earned the title of Cheonma. Cheonma was the god of the Demonic Sect and the very identity of the Demonic Sect itself.

This was why the Demonic Sect, unlike other unorthodox factions, had a religious character.

But that Cheonma was now attending to a young man with no Martial Arts skills.

Cheonma’s eccentric behavior was nothing new, but this time it was beyond imagination.

Jarim knew that she had to manage her expression so that no disrespectful emotions would show, but her expression kept crumbling.

“What do you think, Jarim? Is the Haomun incompetent, or are they exceptional?”

Along with Cheonma’s leisurely voice, there was the sound of water being poured into a teacup. Eun-hyeon picked up the teacup and nodded, sipping it.

Jarim felt like she was going crazy from this strangeness, but she forced herself to stay focused.

“There are many strange aspects to this case. With this level of investigation, the identities of the kidnappers would usually be revealed, but we haven’t caught any leads. Furthermore, it’s strange that the authorities are not actively investigating, even though the child of Master Jang, who is clearly from the bureaucracy, was kidnapped. I feel like there’s something more behind this, but frankly, it seems impossible for the Haomun’s abilities to find out about the affairs of the government.”

“Hmm. The enemy’s competence and the Haomun’s incompetence, you mean both.”

“And this is just my personal opinion…”

“Speak.”

“I suspect that Beijing may be behind this.”

Cheong-un’s eyes twitched at the unexpected words from Jarim.

“Beijing? Are you referring to the Imperial City?”

“Yes. In fact, this is not the first time children have gone missing. For the past few years, there have been constant reports of children of commoners going missing and their parents searching for them. But the authorities have never properly investigated even once.”

“Well, it’s too hasty to connect that to Beijing. When has the government ever cared about the affairs of commoners?”

Jarim didn’t say anything else to Cheong-un’s words and lowered her head.

In fact, thinking about the Imperial Palace here was her own excessive speculation.

But there were too many strange aspects to this case.

“Have you not found any other clues? For example, the Three Evils of Seoseo. Before coming here, I saw a guy calling himself a disciple of Jongnam named Neunggwang Sword. That guy pointed to those Three Evils of Seoseo as the masterminds behind this.”

Jarim’s eyes widened at Cheong-un’s words.

“That can’t be… There has been no news of that to the Haomun yet. It is true that there are the Three Evils of Seoseo who commit evil deeds around Seoseo Province, but there is nothing to suggest that they are related to this case…”

“Then what about Neunggwang Sword of Jongnam?”

“I’ve heard of that guy. Are you talking about Neunggwang Sword Yang Il-so? I heard that he is a secular disciple of Jongnam and his skills are not bad. But I didn’t know that he was also digging into this case here.”

The corners of Cheong-un’s lips slightly rose as he heard Jarim’s words.

Eun-hyeon was curious at that smug expression and asked.

“What did you find out?”

“It seems like I’ve found out who the culprit is in this case. Those guys who were with that Neunggwang Sword Yang Il-so earlier. It seems like they are the main culprits behind this kidnapping.”

“What?”

Eun-hyeon’s eyes widened in surprise.