Episode 865: I haven’t been dragged around yet, so that’s why
Aesthetic room.
This was the name of the organization Jin Ha-gun had recently been tracking. Contrary to its name, which suggests it was a beauty-seeking organization, it was a very sinister one.
Jin Ha-gun first learned of them while investigating a series of disappearances.
As women from the martial arts world continued to disappear, Jin Ha-gun and the Myeolma Squad delved into the case in earnest.
In the process, I figured out a name.
Aesthetic room.
It wasn’t an official martial arts faction, but a secret organization. They were a human trafficking organization that kidnapped and sold women from the martial arts world.
They primarily abducted beautiful women, but they also committed heinous acts, kidnapping young girls as well as adults.
After a pursuit, the men who had been mobilized to kidnap the women were captured, but they were nothing more than pawns, acting on orders from their superiors.
It was a tightly woven syndicate, operating solely on money and orders, oblivious to who was giving them the orders.
With the lower-level organizations arrested, they stopped kidnapping women. They intended to wait for the Demon Squad’s investigation to conclude.
Jin Ha-gun was furious and despairing.
The Extermination Squad wasn’t alone in their struggles, and if things continued this way, they’d have to cover up this incident and deal with other matters.
They wouldn’t be caught until they committed another heinous crime. Furthermore, they’d operate even more clandestinely, leaving countless casualties before any clues could be found to track them down.
‘I should have caught it first somehow.’
But Geommugeuk mentioned the aesthetic room.
Immediately afterwards, even more surprising words came out of Geommugeuk’s mouth.
“There’s that ark of beauty in this room.”
“!”
Step by step, step by step.
All the demon-extermination warriors raised their spirits and stood on high alert, swords pointed in all directions.
They had followed Jin Ha-gun around and had experienced enough of the sword dance. Even though they always uttered nonsense, everyone knew he wasn’t one to joke or play around with such matters.
Jin Ha-gun’s gaze turned to the man hanging on the wall.
“Are you the author?”
I assumed it would be him, but Geommugeuk slowly shook his head.
‘No?’
It couldn’t be the additional inspection officer or his son.
At that moment, I was wondering if he was one of the fallen guards.
‘No.’
Jin-ha realized that Ian had beaten his second son, Chu-jung, without mercy, even telling him that he wouldn’t have another chance to beat him again.
“no way?”
To Jin Ha-gun’s surprise, Geommu-geuk nodded.
Jin Ha-gun’s gaze turned to Chu-jung, who was behind him. The answer to his initial question—what had he done?—was finally coming.
Not only Jin Ha-gun, but even the warriors of the Demon Squad were shocked. The son of a prestigious family was the owner of a beauty salon?
Naturally, the one most shocked was his father, Chu-yeom.
“This crazy guy!”
Just as Chuyeom was about to reflexively draw his sword and step forward.
Clank.
The sword, half-drawn, was thrust back inside.
Someone was pressing their fingers against the hilt.
It was Ian. In a flash, Ian, who had rushed in, stood right beside Chuyeom, staring at him and speaking calmly.
“I understand how you feel, but you are not the one to point a sword at.”
Chuyeom realized that this young woman was far more skilled than he was. Even with all the excitement, he couldn’t have allowed her to so easily get within arm’s reach. Furthermore, despite his fingers pressing down on the hilt, the sword wouldn’t come out.
“Who are you?”
At Chuyeom’s trembling question, Ian took a step back and said.
“It doesn’t matter who we are. What matters now is who your son is.”
She looked completely different from the previous time she’d been chewing on a chicken leg.
Jin-ha could tell. The last time he’d seen her, she was different now.
‘You’ve become much stronger.’
Moreover, her level was still rising as she talked about sword dance and martial arts during her travels.
When Jin Ha-gun winked at the warriors of the Extermination Corps, two warriors of the Extermination Corps rushed in from both sides and subdued the demonic blood of Chu-yeom.
“What are you doing?”
He shouted belatedly, but the demon had already been subdued. It was a measure for his own good. If he got carried away and ran wild because of his son, it would only end up hurting
him, Jin Ha-gun said calmly.
“Remain calm. I will find out the truth about this incident.”
Chuyeom flinched and made a suspicious expression.
“Really? Could it be that the Murim Alliance is plotting to destroy the text?”
It was understandable. A mysterious man and woman had kidnapped my son, and the demon lord who had come to rescue him seemed to know the villain.
Jin Ha-gun was not upset by those rude words because he understood him.
“If the Lord of the Gates committed an atrocity that deserved to be wiped out by the Destruction Squad, then that statement is ultimately true. But if not, then let’s just wait and see.”
Chuyeom said nothing more. His previous words had clearly been a slip of the tongue. They had insulted Meng, the Myeolma-dae, and even the So-Maeng-ju.
Jin Ha-gun looked at the sword dance again. “Chu Mun-ju, how could you possibly know? When that friend before you does something like this, it’s because he’s fully prepared.
“Is there any evidence that Chu So-hyeop is the ark of the underworld?”
“Of course.”
“Then do you know where the women you sold are now?”
In fact, this question was the most important to Jin Ha-gun. Saving them was his top priority.
I assumed the Sword Dance Theater would have figured it out.
“No one sold it.”
“No one?”
To Jin Ha-gun, who was puzzled, Geommu-geuk revealed a shocking truth.
“The Tammibang is an organization that never existed in the first place.”
“!”
Amazing words kept flowing out.
“The Detective Agency is a fictitious organization that has been causing confusion among you.”
The gaze of the swordsman turned towards Chujung.
“When you pressured him to investigate the missing persons case, he created a fictitious organization called the Tammibang. He spent money to recruit several people as members of his syndicate and used them. He actually had them kidnap women and have them captured by you.”
“Why?”
“Because as long as the perpetrators of this act are considered a human trafficking organization, they’ll never be caught.”
It was true. It was unimaginable that a descendant of a prestigious political family, and one known for such kindness and intelligence, would run such an organization.
But there were some parts that Jin Ha-gun couldn’t understand.
“Even if he hadn’t created such an organization, I wouldn’t have thought Chujung would have done something like that.”
As if it were a valid question, Chuyeom nodded and waited for an answer.
This answer, too, was a series of surprises.
“It wasn’t created to protect oneself. It was created to protect one’s master.”
At Master’s words, Chuyeom shouted.
“Now it turns out that was nonsense. I am the master of the Central Powers.”
Meanwhile, Jin Ha-gun realized who the master Geommu-geuk had spoken of was.
His gaze naturally turned to the man hanging on the wall.
“The master is the author.”
Geommugeuk nodded and extended his hand forward.
Swoosh.
As the sword dance technique unleashed its magic, the man who had been bowing his head lifted it of his own accord. He was still asleep, and his face wasn’t that of the handsome middle-aged man I’d met at the inn. It
was that of an old man, much older than me. He had revealed his true colors.
It was then that Jeong Gyeong, a warrior from the Demon Squad, recognized the old man.
“It’s a demon of sexual misconduct.”
Everyone was shocked by his true identity.
He was a notorious lecher. He was listed in the martial arts world for murdering countless women. He was known for his viciousness, absorbing the vital energy of women before killing them.
The Murim Alliance tried to track him down by any means necessary, and last year they even deployed a net to corner him, but in the end they were unable to catch him.
But that prostitute was caught here.
The nymph approached Geommu-geuk and Ian, offering them drinks and food at the inn.
Seeing him approaching them, Geommu-geuk asked Ian with a look, “Do you recognize me?” Ian nodded, “I understand.”
He was asking if the man recognized the Ju-an technique (駐顔術) that made his face look younger.
Geommugeuk had reached a level where he could recognize those who had mastered the art of the eye just by looking at them, and he taught Ian how to recognize their unique aura and characteristics.
The unmanned Jeonggyeong of the Myeolma-dae relayed what he had thought of belatedly.
“Come to think of it, the place where the Murim Alliance lost that guy was around here.”
Jin Ha-gun’s expression darkened. If the evil spirit had intervened in this matter.
“Then all the kidnapped women must be dead.”
The fornicator he knew never spared his victims.
It was as he had expected. Geommugeuk sighed and said.
“They all died with their energy sucked out.”
Not only Jin Ha-gun, but also the warriors of the Demon Slayer Corps all sighed. They wanted to rescue the women who had been sold. Naturally, their eyes turned fierce.
Now, the last thing Jin Ha-gun was curious about was this.
“How did you catch him?”
“I didn’t catch him. He came to me on his own.”
Jin Ha-gun knew he’d been caught committing adultery, lured by Ian’s beauty. He’d chosen the wrong partner, after all. For a nympho, these two were a natural disaster.
“I caught the man who tried to drug us and revealed that he was a fornicator. Honestly, I wasn’t planning on handing him over to you, a busy person. I was just going to punish him and kill him. Then he said this: ‘Please stop the suffering, and I’ll tell you who the troublemaker in the martial arts world is.'”
Now Jin Ha-gun was able to understand the whole story of this incident.
“You can hear the rest yourself.”
The sword dance blasted a gust of wind, waking him from his
slumber. He blinked, glancing at the people before him.
He wasn’t daunted by the sight of Jin Ha-gun and the demon warriors lined up. Instead, a reflexive smirk curled at the corners of his mouth.
Jin Ha-gun asked him.
“Did you threaten Chujung to make him your disciple?”
The fornicator laughed and said.
“What nonsense are you talking about now?”
Then someone spoke next to him.
“Answer politely.”
The demon looked to the side absentmindedly and met Geommu-geuk’s eyes.
He blinked briefly, then gasped in surprise.
“Ugh, ugh.”
His once relaxed gaze was now filled with fear. He only now remembered what had happened before he fell asleep.
“fizzle.”
When the sword dance told him to be quiet, the demon closed his mouth like a clam.
“You are the leader of the Martial Arts Alliance. Please answer politely.”
At the mention of the Little Leader, Eom Haeng-ma’s eyes widened, but the person he was still afraid of was Geommu-geuk.
“Okay.”
It was the first time I had seen a prostitute so obedient.
“I will tell you everything honestly, so please keep your promise.”
The eunuch remembered his promise again, and Geommugeuk nodded obediently.
“What did you just ask?”
“I asked if you threatened Chujung into becoming your disciple.”
The gaze of the adulteress turned towards Chujung.
“That child saved me from dying with serious injuries in the midst of the chaos.”
The shocking truth was the statement that followed.
“Even though you knew who I was, you still wanted to be my disciple.”
Everyone there was shocked by the fact that he had not been forced to become a disciple, but rather the opposite.
“I knew the moment I saw that child. He was born with a lust and a viciousness stronger than anyone else’s. He had absolutely no compassion. He was a child who would surpass me. What a shame.”
Of course, Chujung strongly denied it.
“That’s a lie. It’s a plot to trap me.”
Then the fornicator looked at him and sighed.
“It’s over, disciple. We… were wrong.”
At the sigh of the adulteress, Chuyeom shouted.
“Shut up! Where the hell is that pervert spouting such dirty nonsense? So Myeong-ju, you don’t believe that pervert’s words, do you? Isn’t it all just his words? You can’t accuse my son of a crime without evidence.”
At that time, the evil spirit spoke to Chuyeom with a cold look in his eyes.
“Your son’s body is filled with the sexual energy I learned from him. If you check his internal energy, you’ll know it right away. He’s already sucked off nine women.”
Chuyeom was shocked by the word nine.
“You might have forced it on me!”
Regardless of the nonsense it might be, this is what Jin Ha-gun was curious about.
“Then why didn’t Jajeon say that first? That the person hanging on the wall forced him to become her disciple.”
For a moment, Chuyeom flinched. It was true. If he were innocent, he would have started by saying that he had been forced to become a disciple and that the author had forcibly injected energy into his body.
“Well, I guess that’s because you’re flustered.”
The sword dance drama drove the wedge in.
“Since the detective agency was run as a spy organization, there must be evidence of the organization. If we search the author’s residence, there’s bound to be a secret safe, and evidence related to it. We can find it by comparing the handwriting.”
“And that evidence must have been fabricated!”
Jin Ha-gun asked him, who was trying to protect his son in some way.
“Chu Mun-ju, will you be able to take care of your son in the future?”
“!”
A silence fell.
Chuyeom slowly turned to look at his son.
“I will never let you be falsely accused…….”
For a moment, Chu-yeom was speechless.
His son wasn’t even looking at him. The angry look in his eyes, staring at the adulteress, was unlike the rage of someone falsely accused.
Perhaps feeling he could no longer hide, Chu-jung revealed his true colors.
“You idiot! I told you to stay put for a while! You’re ruining your work because you couldn’t stand it for a few days!”
Chuyeom was startled by the cold gaze and tone of voice. His appearance was so unfamiliar that he almost felt like it wasn’t his son.
The fornicator laughed loudly.
“Disciple, even if I were to die, how could I just sit by and watch such a beauty?”
The demon said to Geommugeuk as if he had done all he could do.
“Be sure to keep your promises.”
As the swordsman waved his hand, he was subdued again and fell asleep.
“What promise did you make to the author?”
Surely the Sword Dance Theater would not have promised to release such a villain.
“It was a promise I made not to drag him back to the main school. I scared him a bit by punishing him. I’ll take him back to the main school, continue treating him, and make him suffer this pain for the rest of his life.”
At times like these, Jin Ha-gun feels beyond indignation, reaching his limit. Every time he sees a villain who mocks good and bravery, unable to withstand the fear of a greater evil, a fire ignites within him.
“I was trying to find out where the women’s bodies were buried, but they said only the author knew the location.”
Jin Ha-gun walked over and stared at Chu-jung.
“Where did you bury the bodies of the women you killed?”
Chujung’s eyes were empty, and there was only a speck of malice in them.
The moment Jin Ha-gun saw the strange smile that formed on Chujung’s lips, he knew: he would never reveal the location of the body.
No matter how much you interrogate him, no matter how much you torture him, he won’t get the answers he wants. Instead, he’ll try to enjoy his final game by keeping it a secret. He was born this way.
The sword dance group behind him seemed to have felt the same way.
“Send it to us.”
Jin Ha-gun turned and looked at Geommu-geuk.
Just as Chu-jung had revealed his true colors, Geommu-geuk, at this moment, was also revealing who he truly was.
“That’s because no one has been dragged to the basement of the main building yet.”
