The Eunuch Regains His Manhood in the Second Round

49. Hao Moon Branch Office

My senior brother and I descended from Gongdong Mountain and started purchasing various items needed for the journey at the market in Hwajeong County.

Things like jerky and dried provisions needed for long-distance travel.

“Disciple! Look over there! Candy! Candy!”

My senior brother said excitedly, tugging at my sleeve.

Candy, huh.

He’s not a child.

Or is he, considering his age?

In the medieval martial world, sweets were rare, befitting the pre-modern era. So, it was understandable that my senior brother wanted to eat candy.

“Is it okay to eat candy?”

My senior brother was lost in thought while looking at the candy laid out on the stall.

Well, it’s just candy.

—

—

“It’s okay.”

I paid with a coin and bought two sweets, handing one to my senior brother.

“Here, please have it.”

My senior brother stared blankly at the sweet I handed him.

He smiled bashfully.

“Yes. Thank you, junior.”

My senior brother ate the sweet, chewing slowly.

It was like watching a commercial. Everything my senior brother did seemed like a scene from a movie or a commercial. It was because of his cheat-level good looks.

Even as he smiled, I could see the glances of the women around us turning towards him.

If we stayed here any longer, it seemed like we would recreate the legendary tale of Ban An, the handsome man who filled a cart with fruits thrown by women as tokens of affection.

What an unfair world.

Thinking that, I took a bite of the sweet.

Compared to the highly developed modern snacks, it was a crude sweetness, but it was still edible.

I sucked on the sweet, pretending to look around naturally.

The reason I bought the sweet wasn’t just to please my senior brother.

‘As expected, there was a tail.’

I saw a boy in shabby clothes who had been following me discreetly.

He was clearly a pickpocket.

I had already noticed the tailing with my intuition and senses, so I bought the sweet to create an opportunity to look around naturally. The sweet was worth the price.

‘If he’s a pickpocket, he must be connected to the Hao Clan.’

The Hao Clan’s members included thieves, coachmen, innkeepers, courtesans, and other people from the lower rungs of society. Naturally, pickpockets were also members of the Hao Clan.

But judging by his physique, he didn’t seem to have learned martial arts, so he wasn’t a formal member of the Hao Clan like the disciples of the Beggars’ Sect.

He was probably one of the many pickpockets in this area who paid tribute to the local pickpocket organization. The leader of that organization would be a member of the Hao Clan.

Judging by his actions, he wasn’t targeting our money pouch but was following us from a distance, focusing on surveillance and tailing.

His movements were cautious enough that an ordinary martial artist wouldn’t notice. Moreover, since he was a civilian who hadn’t learned martial arts, he wasn’t overly guarded against. But I was a former intelligence agent from the Eastern Bureau.

Tailing me was like writing characters in front of Confucius, a foolish act.

‘The fact that the Hao Clan is watching us means…’

It meant that Jeok Sa Wol was seriously monitoring us, or more precisely, me.

Given her obsessive nature, it wasn’t a good sign.

But it was something I had already anticipated.

—

—

In this situation, I had to use Jeok Sa-wol and Hao-moon instead.

“Senior Brother.”

I whispered a secret to my senior brother’s ear naturally, so that Bae-soo wouldn’t notice.

Whispering secrets to a man.

Tears of blood flowed inside. I had always reserved secret whispers for sweet words of love to beautiful women.

But for the greater good, I had no choice.

If I had reached the level of a first-rate master, I would have used telepathy instead of such useless whispers.

Damn it.

“We are being followed. It seems to be Hao-moon. I will subdue the follower and use him to find out Hao-moon’s intentions, so don’t be surprised.”

Nod.

My senior brother, hearing my words, gave a slight nod.

With his approval, I naturally, but with a subtle speed using my internal energy, approached the boy Bae-soo.

The boy, seemingly well-trained as an informant, remained calm and composed even as I got close.

I created a clever blind spot with my body, blocking the market people’s view, and then used the technique of Geum Na-su to grab Bae-soo’s wrist like lightning.

“How dare you try to steal my pouch. Did you think I wouldn’t notice your hand movements? Who put you up to this?”

“W-what?!”

Bae-soo was flustered by my words.

I continued to press him without giving him a chance to think.

“But I am generous, so I won’t hold you accountable since you are still young. Surely, there is someone who ordered you. Lead me to that person. As a disciple of the Great Joint Sect, I will punish the vile person who exploits young boys and robs travelers with this sword.”

Srrrng.

The iron sword at my waist was drawn, shining brightly.

“Oh my goodness! What on earth is happening!”

“Bae-soo? Could it be that the ones who stole my pouch were······.”

“A disciple of the Joint Sect? Why now······.”

I heard the murmurs of the passersby.

It seemed my incitement and fabrication had worked perfectly.

After all, Hwa-jeong-hyeon was like a tourist spot in modern terms, in front of Joint Mountain.

Public opinion about pickpocketing in a tourist spot couldn’t be good.

“······Lead me to that vile person’s lair. If you don’t, you will face severe consequences.”

I made a scary face while releasing my internal energy.

—

Of course, just enough to listen.

The boy’s face turned pale as he directly received the martial artist’s energy.

“······Yes······. Yes······.”

Even though he had received intelligence training, he was still just a boy who hadn’t officially become a member of the Hao Clan.

There was no way he could respond to my relentless words and momentum without time to think.

“Senior Brother, please follow me.”

When I spoke to my senior brother after quickly assessing the situation, he nodded with a solemn expression.

“Yes, I’ll follow.”

“Lead the way.”

“Yes, yes!”

I walked with my senior brother, following the boy.

The place the boy led us to, after leaving the marketplace, was the dark alley of Hwa Jeong-hyeon.

We saw the disorderly shanties typical of a slum and lifeless people.

My senior brother and I followed the boy through the dark alley for a long time. Because we were dressed as typical martial artists, with swords and martial robes, no ruffians dared to pick a fight with us. I poked the boy’s back with my sheathed sword as he continued walking.

“Hey.”

“Why, why are you calling me, sir?”

“Stop wandering around the dark alley aimlessly and guide us properly. I know you’ve been following orders from above and tailing us. I also know this area well.”

Familiarizing oneself with the terrain and mapping it out is the basic of basics in intelligence activities.

From the moment I followed the boy, I had memorized the entire layout of Hwa Jeong-hyeon’s dark alley, completing more than half of the map in my mind.

The remaining half was almost 90% guessed based on the terrain and building placements I had memorized so far.

Compared to the intelligence fieldwork I did in my previous life, memorizing the layout of a small dark alley was no big deal.

“Hi, hiik?!”

“Does it sound like a lie? How about we make a bet on who reaches the Hao Clan’s Hwa Jeong-hyeon branch first if I let you go here?”

“N-no! I’ll guide you properly! Please follow me!”

The boy, terrified by my words, answered.

Finally, following the boy’s proper guidance, we arrived at a red-light district lined with brothels.

There were red lanterns (紅燈) indicating brothels and green lanterns (靑燈) indicating establishments that only provided alcohol, music, and dance, prohibiting prostitution.

Of course, even though it was a red-light district, it was smaller in scale compared to the red-light districts of big cities like Nanjing.

It seemed that the Hao Clan’s branch was located in one of the brothels.

“Oh my, handsome young hero! Would you like to have some fun at our brothel?”

“`

“Hey, come to our tavern! We’ll treat you well!”

As soon as they spotted my senior brother, the touts gathered like clouds.

The scent of women’s powder and the sound of laughter echoed in my ears.

Among them, there were even courtesans openly wearing sheer robes that revealed their figures, trying to seduce us.

But it didn’t really attract me.

It was literally a street party of roadside willows and wall flowers.

“Sa, Sa-je…”

Was it because he wasn’t used to it? My senior brother, who had only grown up in the mountains, blushed at the sudden provocative scenery and clung to me.

This is why it’s tiring to have a handsome person around.

I waved off the touts and courtesans who were rushing towards my senior brother’s transcendent beauty.

“Our party already has a reserved tavern. Don’t you see the guide here?”

Glance.

When I pointed my chin at the boy, the water carrier boy smiled awkwardly.

“Tsk.”

“We could treat you better.”

Only then did the touts scatter.

Among them, there were courtesans who looked at my senior brother’s face with regret.

I had long lost interest in courtesans or red-light districts, but it’s an unfair world.

No matter how much of a pleasure district this is, it’s shocking that I’m not popular with women to this extent.

Honestly, it’s a shock.

Damn it, I need to build my reputation through heroic deeds and cover the martial world with my fame.

Then, when I walk through the red-light district, countless women will throw flirtatious glances at me like they do at my senior brother.

“…Thank you, Sa-je.”

“I just drove them away because they were a nuisance. Lead us to the reserved tavern.”

“Yes!”

Receiving the continuous gazes of the courtesans, we arrived at a tavern with a blue lantern.

The signboard read ‘Gonhwa Pavilion’. This must be the place.

The Hao Clan branch that governs Hwa-jeong-hyeon.

In fact, the real Hao Clan branch, the main one, is in Nanjing, and this place is more like a modern-day branch office, but what mattered was that there was a real Hao Clan member here, not just some unknown water carrier boy.

To deliver the letter I had in my bosom quickly and accurately without spending money, I needed the Hao Clan’s carrier pigeon network.

“`

—

The boy grasped the brothel’s doorknob with trembling hands and opened it.

The interior of the brothel, with its blue lantern at the entrance still unlit, was desolate, indicating that business had not yet started.

And there stood a middle-aged man dressed in silk.

He appeared to be the manager of the brothel.

He was pretending to be an ordinary person who had not learned martial arts, and he would indeed appear so to most, but not to my eyes.

I had once been the head of Dongchang, the largest intelligence agency in the central plains, surpassing even the Beggars’ Sect and Haomun.

Such a disguise could not fool me.

It was certain. He was the Haomun agent in charge of this Huajeong County branch.

“We haven’t started business yet…”

“As soon as I descended from the main mountain, a tail started following me. I caught him and followed him up here, and here is the body.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying…”

The manager continued to act as an innocent ordinary person.

Without a word, I took a coin from my pouch and threw it with my inner strength.

Swoosh!

The coin, imbued with my inner strength, flew towards the manager’s forehead.

If he were an ordinary person, he would never have been able to avoid it and would have suffered a severe injury to his forehead. Cold sweat trickled down the manager’s forehead as his body slid sideways to dodge the attack.

Thud.

The coin I threw embedded itself into the wooden wall.

“W-what is this sudden violence…”

The manager, who had dodged the coin, acted flustered and put his trembling hand into his pocket.

It was obvious what was inside.

A must-have item for the demonic sect, a needle launcher that they would fire when cornered.

From here, I didn’t need to step in.

“Senior brother. Did you see his movements? He has learned martial arts. He is the one who ordered our tailing. Perhaps Haomun was hired by the Black Dragon Gang to harm us. Can I ask you to subdue him?”

It was time to deploy our sect’s asymmetric power, the strategic nuclear weapon, senior brother.

Nodding at my words, senior brother leaped from his spot.

The moment senior brother’s form blurred.

Crash! Boom!

With a loud noise, the manager’s body was thrown to the floor.

Roll.

—

—

The feather needle tube that the Chief couldn’t fire rolled on the floor.

Seeing that, I clicked my tongue inwardly.

I expected him to be strong, but he’s excessively strong.