Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1485. Why are you suddenly here? (5)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
“...Chung Myung.”
Baek Cheon and the other disciples of Mount Hua nodded to each other.
'We've been caught? Sahyung?'
'Then what should we do?'
'Should I laugh?'
'You crazy bastard. If we run, that's admitting it!'
'Then what should I do?'
Everyone's eyes shifted to Baek Cheon.
They couldn't find a proper response right now, but if it were Mount Hua's confident Acting Sect Leader Baek Cheon, surely a method......
“Keu- Keuhum. I don't know what you mean by that. W- We are people of Southern Edge Sect, though?"
'We're screwed.'
'We're fucked.'
‘He does this every now and then. Look at his neck creaking.’
The problem wasn’t that he was trying to deny it. The problem was that Baek Cheon's acting was so bad it might as well be shouting ‘I'm the culprit!’ to anyone watching.
"Mo- Mount Hua is the sect we hate most, so I would appreciate it if you were careful with your words. I’m someone who grinds his teeth just hearing the name Southern Edge Sect Chung Myung!”
Oh, this statement was half sincere. Because Baek Cheon certainly does grind his teeth just hearing the sound of 'Chung Myung'.
But no matter how you looked at it, the woman in front of them wasn’t someone who would fall for such sloppy acting.
“Sasuk. Stop the pointless act and just..."
"I see. I was rude."
"Yes. Just beat him u... Yes?"
Jo-Gol opened his eyes wide and sharply turned his head. His gaze turned to the smiling woman.
"It seems this humble woman misunderstood and made a mistake. Please forgive my discourtesy."
As the woman deeply bowed her head, Mount Hua disciples looked at each other with dazed faces. Then the woman raised her head again and spoke with utmost politeness.
"With a generous heart, would you not give me the opportunity to escort the heroes of Southern Edge Sect to the top floor?"
"Uh...."
"Tha- Thank you... very much?"
Mount Hua disciples look at each other again.
Was it really okay to go?
Now that things had turned out this way, the staircase that moments ago seemed like the path to the heavens started to look more like the gate to hell.
'What do we do, Sasuk!'
'I don't know!'
With the people around him desperately poking at his sides, Baek Cheon twitched and twisted in place.
“Will you go up?”
At the woman's urging, all eyes eventually turned to one person.
“Hmm.”
Chung Myung, who had been glaring at the woman with a hardened expression, finally let out a scoffing laugh.
"I don't know who the owner here is, but they seem to be quite resourceful.”
"I will apologize once more for the discourtesy I committed. Please forgive me with a generous heart."
As the woman bowed her head so politely as to be excessive, Chung Myung clicked his tongue.
"Is the person who told you to bring us upstairs the owner here?"
"That's correct. The Pavilion Master wishes to see you all."
“Hmph.”
Chung Myung grumbled as if he didn't like it.
"I don't know if their skills are good, but they're quite lacking in manners. If they want to see us that much, they should come down themselves."
The woman did not answer those words and smiled.
“Ridiculous.”
Chung Myung shrugged.
"Well, no point refusing when they're offering. Ah, we don't have to pay, right?"
“That goes without saying.”
"Then let's go."
Chung Myung raised the corners of his lips.
"They're offering to show us for free a place where you need a million nyang just to take a look around, so we should go and see first. Don't you think so?"
"Wh- Why are you looking at me and saying that?"
“Well… Ah, not now. Kikik.”
Chung Myung burst out laughing looking at Hye Yeon and then gestured with his chin to the woman.
"Guide us."
“Yes. Then this way.”
The woman politely took the lead and headed toward the stairs.
Seeing that, Baek Cheon drew close to Chung Myung and whispered.
"Hey. Are we really supposed to go? It's obvious we've been exposed."
"That's exactly why we must go. Turning tail now would be truly humiliating."
"That's true, but..."
“Hn.”
Chung Myung groaned.
"Pavilion Master or dog bone (Word plays with Pavilion Master). They’re not an ordinary fox. By sending an ordinary woman without martial skills to receive us, they've left us no room to act."
From Chung Myung's perspective, the Dragon's Pond and Tiger's Den (용담호혈 (龙潭虎穴)) would have been easier to deal with.
Because you can just break the heads of whatever you see. In some ways, a brothel like this is a more difficult place to handle than Magyo's main headquarters.
"Anyway, let’s go up. Whether it’s a raccoon, a fox, or maybe a wolf that comes out."
"...Just keep the marten inside properly."
“Get in, you punk!”
Chung Myung pressed down on Baek-ah's head with his index finger as the creature peeked out, then stepped forward.
“...It seems more ordinary than I thought.”
"Kinda feels that way, right?"
A faint disappointment appeared on Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong’s faces.
The first floor was so splendid that I had high expectations, but actually climbing the stairs, the sight of the other floors was not that amazing.
What was seen while going up the floors was mostly a narrow hallway connected to the stairs, and the large doors lined up on the left and right of that hallway.
"Ordinary?"
"Leave them be, Sahyung. It's better not to know."
“...I guess so.”
"Though I thought Sasuk would know a bit."
"Even if he's a child from a well-off house. It's by the standards of a martial family without money."
"...Are you guys insulting me right now?"
Jo-Gol and Tang Soso shook their heads. Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong spoke so carefreely, but from their perspective, this scene was even frightening.
"That carpet lies in front of that door... looks like it came from the West Regions. The door is made of red sandalwood too."
"Th- That painting hanging on the wall looks like Guo Xi's (곽희(郭熙)) work... to put such an expensive thing in a hallway..."
"...If that’s the state of the outside, what could they possibly have done inside?"
"I don't want to imagine it, so let's stop."
"Yes. That’s better for our mental health."
Jo-Gol shook his head.
Items that even Sahae Merchant Guild, which travels to not only Yunnan but also Tibet, wouldn't dare to handle were being used as hallway doormats. They don't know for sure, but even the imperial palace probably isn't this luxurious.
Chung Myung glanced at Jo-Gol and Soso's expressions then asked the woman who was climbing the stairs ahead of him.
"Do many martial artists come here too?"
“Heavenly Ascension Tower does not turn away anyone who meets the qualifications."
“So the answer is?”
"...In truth, martial artists rarely visit."
Chung Myung's eyes slightly sank.
This meant most patrons of this tavern were high-ranking officials or wealthy merchants. Perhaps they might even be leaders of the merchant world.
"You said one must become a member to enter, but the money spent on eating and drinking each day would be separate, right?"
“Of course.”
“I thought I was raking in money with a shovel, but turns out the ones who really make money are on another level.”
“At the end of the day, it’s just a small brothel.”
“...You don’t seem to understand what the word ‘small’ means.”
When Chung Myung laughed as if he found it ridiculous, the woman smiled faintly and quickened her pace.
'Hmm.'
Even heading to the upper floors, nothing particularly changes. The only difference was that the spacing between the doors facing the hallway gradually widened.
Those meant that the size of each room gets much larger as you go up the floors.
“If they’re going to run it this secretly, wouldn’t it be better to put doors even on the stairs? If each floor looks so similar, why would anyone pay extra to go higher?"
"...Well."
The woman trailed off as if this was a difficult part for her to answer. Just as Chung Myung was about to snort, the woman's response came back in a slightly smaller voice than before.
"Isn't that precisely what makes it desirable?"
"...Hm?"
"It doesn't look particularly different or impressive... The thing that doesn't come into one's hands. Humans are bound to feel desire for such things."
“....”
The woman briefly turned her head to glance at Chung Myung, then lightly shook her head.
“You are a strange guest. I’ve never shared my personal thoughts with any guest visiting the brothel before.”
"Oh? In that sense, have you thought about changing jobs? We're also looking for someone to work in our guest hall."
"...You are truly a troublesome person."
The woman's steps quickened slightly. And before taking a few more steps, the appearance of the brothel's top floor caught their eyes.
“....”
Sometimes symbolic things draw the eye more than opulent ones.
The scene before them on the seventh floor wasn't much different from below. A long hallway runs through the center of the brothel and the walls visible on its left and right.
The one difference was... on this seventh floor, there were only three doors visible from the hallway.
One on the left, one on the right, and...
'Center.'
At the end of the hallway they were looking at, a door painted in a different color from the other places was visible. A door that wasn’t flashy but practical. A door that clearly felt out of place compared to the doors they had seen until now.
"That is where the Pavilion Master resides."
“Hmm.”
Mount Hua disciples swallow dryly and look at that door. It felt like the tension that had loosened a little while climbing the stairs was rising once again.
'How strange.'
Baek Cheon subtly turned his head to look at his sajes.
He had not felt any signs of martial artists since he came here. That meant there were no immediate threats. However, his sajes were clearly tense as if about to enter a battle.
"I shall escort you in."
“Please.”
The woman, who had arrived in front of the door after passing through the hallway laid with red carpet, bowed politely.
“Pavilion Master-nim, I have brought the guests.”
Brief silence descended upon in the hallway. Just as Chung Myung, feeling annoyed by the atmosphere, was about to say something.
“Bring them in.”
“Yes, Pavilion Master-nim.”
As the woman carefully reached for the door, Jo-Gol and Tang Soso’s faces instantly tensed.
But when the door actually opened, what they saw was an ordinary office that didn't seem particularly impressive.
“Huh?”
"...What’s this."
A bewildered voice leaked out from Tang Soso and Jo-Gol's mouths.
Of course, it wasn't shabby. It was a well-decorated office using moderately good furniture and moderately good items. But compared to what they had seen so far, even the patriarch office of Tang Family was far more extravagant than this.
“This way.”
Before they could collect their thoughts, a curt voice sounded. The gazes of those who had entered the office turned toward where the voice had come from.
A bookshelf set against one side of the wall. A man who had pulled out a book from that bookshelf slowly turned his body to look at them. A middle-aged man wearing silk clothes made of high-quality material, but without decoration.
A man with no particularly striking impression began walking toward them with a blank expression.
“Welcome. I am Pavilion Master of Heavenly Ascension Tower.”
'...This person?'
Just as Chung Myung and his group were about to frown.
“So then. What business brings the famed Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword and Mount Hua’s Acting Sect Leader to visit me?”
Padeudeuk.
The wide-open window of the office. A small bird with golden feathers that had flown in through that window lightly alighted on the man's shoulder.
“Kii!”
Baek-ah sprang out from inside Chung Myung's clothes and bared his teeth toward the Thousand-Li Golden Dove.
Chung Myung's gaze, which had been staring intently at the sight, moves again to the man.
"It seems."
The corners of Chung Myung's mouth curled up chillingly.
"It seems I've found the right place."
The man's gaze and Chung Myung's gaze were sharply intertwined.
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