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Episode 51: Bright Flower Pavilion (1)

Dongting Lake is a lake in Hunan Province.

Perhaps because Yueyang Tower is so famous, many people come here to enjoy the cruise. That is why there were many restaurants and inns around Dongting Lake, and it was always crowded with people.

However, not all places in Dongting Lake were crowded with people.

The pleasure house named High Demon Pavilion didn’t have a single guest, so owner was also passing the time yawning lazily.

“Is this it?”

Someone appeared on that high platform.

“Who are you?”

The owner of High Demon Pavilion, Im Sa-gyeong, frowned as he watched the people coming in. There were four young men and women.

“Hmm.”

They didn’t answer Im Sa-gyeong’s questions and just looked around. Then, they quickly went to a random table and sat down.

“If I come to High Demon Pavilion, then I must be a guest.”

The brown-haired young man, Jin Myeong, blurted out.

“Bring me some food you’re confident in and some drinks.”

“Got it, Sir.”

‘The little boy was very ill-mannered.’

‘Besides, this is not a restaurant, it’s a pleasure house.’

‘A place to embrace courtesans.’

Bringing a woman to a place like that and ordering food and drinks, they seemed to be ignorant of the ways of the world. But looking at the weapons on their waists, Im Sa-gyeong had no choice but to head to the kitchen.

“I guess that’s the owner.”

“There are no guests and I don’t see any accommodations.”

Whether Im Sa-gyeong was a master of pleasure or not, he simply stir-fried some green onions and brought them over with a bowl of rice wine (takju).

“……”

The four people were silent for a while as they looked at the stir-fried green onions and rice wine that Im Sa-gyeong had placed on the table.

“Do I have to keep putting up with this?”

“Just have a taste.”

They somehow suppressed their anger and took the stir-fried green onions that Im Sa-gyeong had brought to their mouths.

“Haaa.”

They picked them up one by one, ate them, frowned, and drank the rice wine. The green onions were still covered in dirt, so it seemed like they had been stir-fried roughly without being washed properly.

“I can’t stand it anymore,” Gu Ja-hong, who had seemed uneasy since he arrived here, finally got up from his seat.

“Are you going? Give me a hundred pennies.”

“…How much?”

A hundred pennies is not a small amount of money. But how can someone give a hundred pennies for such inedible food? (Note: ‘Pennies’ likely refers to ‘Mun’ or ‘Nyang’. 100 Mun is small, 100 Nyang is huge. Context implies it’s expensive for trash food.)

It was also very simple, just stir-fried green onions.

“Are you saying you can’t give it to me?”

As Im Sa-gyeong spoke, people began to appear here and there. At first glance, they looked like very fierce people.

“If you eat food, you have to pay.”

“Do they think they’re so great just because they’re holding a sword?”

As they looked at the five men who had revealed themselves, none of them looked frightened. Seeing that relaxed look, Im Sa-gyeong felt that something was wrong.

“Hoo, Yang Jeon, Gu Ja-hong.”

Gu Ja-hong chuckled at Jin Myeong’s call, and Yang Jeon, who had been sitting still, sighed deeply and got up from his seat.

“What are you doing! Hurry up and handle this!”

As Im Sa-gyeong shouted, five men immediately rushed toward them.

And then five on one side and two on other started to fight.

“Ugh!”

“Kwaaak!”

A scream is heard. But the ones screaming were the five men that Im Sa-gyeong trusted so much. They were being beaten by two young men without even being able to use their strength properly.

‘They are beaten so badly?’

‘This is ridiculous.’

‘But I could see why it was so ominous,’ Im Sa-gyeong’s instincts knew this would happen.

‘I have to run away,’ Im Sa-gyeong hesitated and stepped back.

The four young men and woman moved towards the door of the main building, while Im Sa-gyeong hoped that he would not be noticed.

‘Just a little more… ,’ Im Sa-gyeong, who had been moving backwards, turned around as soon as he realized he was getting close to the door.

“Eww!”

“Where are you going?”

But before he knew it, a sword was floating before his eyes. Im Sa-gyeong was so surprised that he fell backwards without realizing it. Im Sa-gyeong, who was eventually caught, knelt down in a row with five men.

“Do you guys know who am I?” Im Sa-gyeong shouted, though he couldn’t get up from his seat.

“Who are you?”

“That……” Im Sa-gyeong couldn’t open his mouth easily.

“It won’t end like this. You will definitely regret what happened today.”

“I think it will be you guys,” Jin Myeong, who had been listening quietly, let out a sigh.

“One of the branch offices that was supposed to send money to the Main Sect is in this state.”

“Sir, are you from the Sect?”

Only then did Im Sa-gyeong understand why his colleagues had suffered without even being able to put up a fight.

“Hehehe. What on earth is going on at our sect……”

As soon as he found out that they had come out of the Main Sect, Im Sa-gyeong’s attitude changed.

“And what kind of noble people are you……”

“You really didn’t hear anything? That someone from our sect was coming?” Im Sa-gyeong nodded vigorously to the question.

“That can’t be true. Is the Heavenly Demon Hall really that inexperienced in handling matters?”

When the name Heavenly Demon Hall came up, Im Sa-gyeong’s face hardened. He concluded that they were not just a simple member of the sect.

“This guy might not have checked.”

“No! We really haven’t received any correspondence from our sect!”

Im Sa-gyeong shouted desperately. Yang Jeon’s suspicious gaze was extremely frustrating.

“But who exactly are you……”

“Why do you want to know so much? If you know who we are? Are you going to ask the sect?”

“No!” Im Sa-gyeong desperately tried to find out their identities, but when Gu Ja-hong glared at him, he hurriedly lowered his head.

‘Brown hair… … .’

Unlike the five men who had no clue what was going on, Im Sa-gyeong seemed to have a clue.

‘Can’t I guess?’

Suddenly, he remembered that the sword that had stopped him was floating in the air.

‘Mixed blood with a colored eyes! Divine Demonic Fang!’

‘Why didn’t I notice it right away!’

“Why is His Highness the Sixth Disciple of the Sect Leader in a place like this……”

Currently, the most famous person in the Heavenly Demon Sect is Jin Myeong, the Sixth Disciple of the Heavenly Demon. He couldn’t understand why Jin Myeong had come to such a remote place.

“That’s right. Why is it like this?” Jin Myeong sighed and looked at Im Sa-gyeong.

“I feel like we were sent here and there randomly, but why am I here?”

“Yes?” Im Sa-gyeong looked puzzled at Jin Myeong’s incomprehensible words.

“Are you the owner here?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“What about these guys?” Jin Myeong looked at the five men next to Im Sa-gyeong.

“The Mak brothers are, from oldest to youngest, Mak-il, Mak-i, Mak-sam, Mak-sa, and Mak-o.”

“……”

Jin Myeong almost said that the name was just randomly chosen. By the way, when he heard that they were brothers, he thought their faces definitely looked similar.

“By the way, what’s the name of this building? High Demon Pavilion? A lot of people will be coming.”

Jin Myeong didn’t like the name of this place from the start. Which club puts the word “Demon” (魔) in its name?

“Hehehe. This is not a tavern; this is a pleasure house.”

“What? A pleasure house!!”

Only then did Jin Myeong realize that he had been mistaken. Somehow, it seemed like the interior was surprisingly fancy for a small building. If it’s a restaurant, the food may actually taste bad.

If the courtesan is really outstanding.

“They advertise here and there that they are related to the Heavenly Demon Sect.”

“……”

Im Sa-gyeong cursed inwardly as he watched Jin Myeong change his words.

‘What’s so bad about this name, which is for a martial artist to see high places?’

“Then there are guests upstairs?”

If it was a pleasure house, it was natural that there were no people here.

“Hehehe. There’s no one.”

“……”

At first, it seemed as if their thoughts were correct that there were no guests.

“So, since there are no customers, are you still extorting money like before?”

“Hehe. There are no customers to extort money from.”

“It’s a boast.”

Jin Myeong sighed as he looked at the dignified Im Sa-gyeong.

“I heard that the payment to the sect was delayed.”

“I guess it’s a bit difficult because there aren’t any customers……” Im Sa-gyeong scratched his head and answered weakly.

“Did you think it was okay because the sect didn’t send anyone?”

“I guess so,” Im Sa-gyeong didn’t send the money, and the sect didn’t urge him to do so.

Im Sa-gyeong was anxious about when someone would come, but when no one really came, he felt relieved without realizing it.

Im Sa-gyeong was just wasting time like that.

“So that’s why they sent you here,” Im Sa-gyeong seemed to think that he didn’t care about small businesses like this, but that wasn’t the case.

Judging from the fact that Jin Myeong came here, it seems that the other disciples also headed to a place with problems like this.

“From today, I am in charge of this place.”

“Yes?”

Im Sa-gyeong made a puzzled expression at Jin Myeong’s words.

“I was put in charge of this place because you never sent sect money.”

“Ah, so suddenly?”

“Yeah. Suddenly. If you had done well, this wouldn’t have happened,” Im Sa-gyeong opened his mouth with a complicated expression.

“Then what happens to me?” Im Sa-gyeong thought the sect didn’t care about him or this place, but he was wrong.

“Am I going back to the Sect?”

Im Sa-gyeong’s voice was trembling. He’s not happy about the thought of returning home. He was worried that he might lose his life if he entered the Main Sect like this.

“I won’t step forward directly. You’re the face of the show.”

“Yes?”

Jin Myeong sighed as he looked at Im Sa-gyeong who did not understand what he was saying.

“Just keep pretending you’re the owner of this place.”

“Oh, I understand,” Im Sa-gyeong thought he would lose his life because a new person came, but luckily it seemed like he would survive.

“And you guys… I guess you can at least kick out the real ones,” Jin Myeong said while looking at the Mak brothers.

Even though they were first-class warriors who had not yet reached the peak, they would be able to drive out the troublemakers.

“The first thing we need to do is change our name.”

High Demon Pavilion was a name that you would come here and just leave with.

“And I’ll save the chef.”

“Huh? Are you hiring a chef?”

“Yeah. Your cooking really doesn’t taste good. It’s a place to eat food, so of course it has to taste good.”

“This isn’t a place to eat……”

“So, it’s not like I don’t eat at all.”

Although the concept of a pleasure house embracing a courtesan was stronger, it was still after they enjoyed drinks and food in their respective rooms.

“But the servants won’t come.”

High Demon Pavilion’s notoriety had already spread far and wide.

Since Im Sa-gyeong hasn’t paid his wages properly so far, no one will want to come here.

“They say that once a year, they give you ten nyang of silver.”

“Huh? Ten nyang of silver?” Im Sa-gyeong made a surprised expression.

Ten nyang of silver is a very expensive amount of money.

‘You can think of it as roughly around twenty million won.’

It is difficult to convert exactly, but Jin Myeong thought that one nyang of silver was worth about two million won. And Jin Myeong thought it would be a very good deal if he could find a decent chef for an annual salary of 20 million won.

“At that level, many masters will gather.”

“Really? Then let’s have a cooking competition or something. I think we’ll pick a few people who make the most delicious food,” Jin Myeong, who had decided what to do for Im Sa-gyeong, immediately began looking around the pleasure house.

‘Is this okay?’

‘Is it because he didn’t manage it?’

Jin Myeong couldn’t help but think that the pleasure house’s condition was very good. Jin Myeong continued to climb up and began to examine the structure in detail.

‘This might be a little difficult.’

Dongting Lake has many good inns and restaurants. Even if we found new place and changed the name, it seemed like they would only get a little more customer than now, and wouldn’t see much success.

Jin Myeong’s worries about how to run the pleasure house were deepening.

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