Bu Eunseol finally understood the full extent of the situation.
The Xiaohua Pavilion was not merely a simple brothel.
It was an experimental ground for a certain faction, a place where, in order to curry favor with high-ranking officials, they used the bodies of children as raw materials to restore their health and youth.
Crack.
A sharp cracking sound echoed from Bu Eunseol’s clenched fist.
‘Right now, I want nothing more than to behead those bastards and comfort the souls of the dead children.’
But not yet.
If he killed them all here, he would never uncover the root of this evil.
Now that he had found concrete evidence, he needed to capture the masterminds behind the child abductions and these atrocities.
In the study of the separate annex at the Anpyeong Inn, Bu Eunseol, So Okrim, and Yu Cheongrim sat with grave expressions.
From ancient times, the martial world had many great arts that used children as sacrificial offerings.
Most of those, however, were methods employed by those steeped in evil to obtain immense power.
This was different.
It was done merely to restore the youth of old men—to grant them slightly better appearances.
They were dissecting innocent children in their prime, treating them like slabs of meat in a butcher shop, then using those remains to perform their great arts.
Such deeds could never be tolerated.
“No matter what faction they belong to, they are beasts in human skin—wolves wearing the heads of sheep,” Yu Cheongrim said, his body trembling with rage.
He too had grown up as an orphan. Before meeting his master, he had spent his life begging on the streets.
Yet instead of helping those pitiful orphans, they were mercilessly abducting them and turning them into medicinal ingredients to restore the youth of powerful officials?
It was utterly unforgivable.
“I have already used the forces of the Majeon to secretly surround the entire area,” Bu Eunseol said.
So Okrim nodded.
“Just surround them. Only surround them.”
Her wide-open eyes blazed with crimson fury.
“Not a single one must escape.”
A chilling killing intent billowed from So Okrim’s body.
Even while suppressing her rage, the entire annex shook as if it might collapse.
For many years, she had supported orphanages. In this harsh martial world, the reason she had preserved her sanity was her desire to protect those pure children.
Yet they were grinding those pitiful orphans into medicine?
So Okrim’s anger pierced the heavens.
“Understood,” Bu Eunseol replied, swallowing a heavy breath.
He too was furious, but it paled in comparison to hers.
It was only right to leave the handling of this matter to her.
“However, we cannot touch them yet,” Bu Eunseol said calmly. “If we do not capture their leaders and masterminds, it will all be for nothing.”
“I’ll drag the brothel master here right now. That should suffice.”
“Jin Soso is not the true master,” Yu Cheongrim interjected. “She is merely a figurehead who manages the Xiaohua Pavilion’s finances and courtesans. The real master is someone else.”
Bloodshot veins filled So Okrim’s eyes.
“So we’re just going to leave them alone?”
“In three days, the messenger who gives her orders will arrive. We must endure until then.”
So Okrim ground her teeth.
Though hot-tempered, she was not foolish.
Smashing the Xiaohua Pavilion now—while they were using byproducts from the children’s bodies to perform their arts—would be less important than uprooting the true source behind the abductions and these crimes.
“Fine. I’ll wait three days. But—”
Flames that seemed capable of incinerating the world burned fiercely in So Okrim’s eyes.
“The destruction of the Xiaohua Pavilion will be mine.”
Three days later.
At the break of dawn, a single eight-horse carriage stopped in front of the Xiaohua Pavilion.
Who would come to drink at a brothel this early in the morning?
Click.
The carriage door opened, and a masked figure clad entirely in black slowly emerged.
Creak.
As the masked figure stepped down, the main gate opened, and someone came out to greet them.
It was neither the general manager nor the supposed master, Jin Soso.
Instead, it was Seha—the woman who had played the ajaeng to entertain guests just days before—standing demurely.
Shockingly, the true master of the Xiaohua Pavilion was not Jin Soso, but the musician who had merely played instruments to heighten the mood.
“Welcome,” Seha said, greeting the masked figure with utmost courtesy.
“…”
Without a word, the masked figure entered immediately.
After a long while, they emerged again and boarded the carriage.
Raising a cloud of dust, the carriage sped away.
Whoosh!
At the same moment, three shadows hidden on the rooftop followed the carriage.
They were Bu Eunseol, So Okrim, and Yu Cheongrim—who had removed his female disguise and returned to his original appearance.
“Brother, returning to my true self feels like I can finally breathe again,” Yu Cheongrim said with relief.
After today, he would no longer need to imitate Yak Hong. The Xiaohua Pavilion would be completely destroyed.
Yet despite his lighthearted remark, the other two remained silent, quietly pursuing the carriage.
Abducting children alone warranted heavenly punishment.
But these people went further—they brutally murdered the children and used them to rejuvenate the bodies of high officials.
That fact alone made death by dismemberment too lenient.
By the time the sun began to set, the tirelessly racing carriage arrived at an orphanage far on the outskirts, well away from the city.
Click.
The masked figure stepped down and strode into the orphanage without hesitation.
Had they used a bone-shrinking art?
Unlike when they had alighted at the Xiaohua Pavilion, the masked figure was now nearly a full foot shorter.
Step by step.
A kindly-looking old man greeted the masked figure with a smile as they hurried inside.
Watching from afar, Bu Eunseol and his companions exchanged glances, their eyes widening in shock.
‘A fully operational orphanage is their base?’
Shockingly, the hideout of the one issuing orders to the Xiaohua Pavilion was an orphanage still functioning normally.
In these harsh times, few visited orphanages, and those who did were connected to them. It was the perfect covert location for sinister schemes.
“Haha.”
As the masked figure entered deeper into the orphanage with the old man, So Okrim let out a hollow laugh.
“They didn’t raid an orphanage—they built one from the start.”
The old man was clearly the one running the orphanage.
In other words, they had not abducted children from existing orphanages.
They had established their own… and were supplying the pitiful children as medicinal ingredients.
“Stay here, both of you,” So Okrim said, turning her head, flames dancing in her eyes.
She began walking toward the path the masked figure had taken.
“Brother Yu, subdue the people in that carriage and evacuate the children.”
Bu Eunseol spoke calmly.
“This place will soon become a field of ruin.”
“Understood.”
As Yu Cheongrim answered, Bu Eunseol immediately followed So Okrim inside.
He knew her martial arts were extraordinary, but judging by their actions, this faction likely belonged to the Returning to One Realm among the Three Realms.
Even for So Okrim, they would not be easy opponents. Unpredictable dangers could arise, so he intended to assist her.
Boom.
Bu Eunseol and So Okrim entered the orphanage side by side.
The place the masked figure and old man had gone was a dilapidated warehouse in the corner of the orphanage grounds.
Inside, it was completely empty.
Since the two had suddenly vanished, there must be a secret passage.
Yet no matter how carefully they searched, no trace of a mechanism could be found.
‘Hmm.’
If it was hidden even from the Void Heart Command, they must have used some strange sorcery to conceal the entrance.
Raising his Crystal Divine Energy, Bu Eunseol said, “I’ll find the entrance.”
“No need.”
Shaking her head, So Okrim suddenly extended her left hand and began gathering inner energy.
Whooom.
Air from the surroundings continuously rushed toward her palm.
Hummm!
Suddenly, countless mystical points of light spread in all directions.
Shaaa.
The scattered lights formed the shape of a transparent door.
They had revealed a hidden door that had been invisible until now.
“How did you do that?” Bu Eunseol asked in surprise.
So Okrim answered nonchalantly, “What happens in the heavens and what happens on earth influence each other.”
The Celestial Emperor had studied the cycles and orbits of celestial bodies, thereby attaining enlightenment in martial principles.
It was said he reached the pinnacle of martial arts by observing heavenly phenomena.
And So Okrim was a descendant of that Celestial Emperor.
Bu Eunseol could not fully comprehend it in an instant, but it seemed one of the Celestial Emperor’s martial secrets could neutralize mystical sorcery.
Click.
Without hesitation, Bu Eunseol and So Okrim opened the transparent door and stepped inside.
A new landscape appeared.
The world looked as though it had met its end—the sky was dyed crimson, and beyond a barren hill in the desolate forest stood an enormous fortress that appeared centuries old.
Frowning, So Okrim strode straight into the fortress.
Creeeaaak.
As the massive door—easily five chang wide—groaned open, a vast hall bathed in soft light came into view, with an oval staircase spiraling upward endlessly.
At the top of those stairs stood a small shadow.
A boy, perhaps ten years old?
He had lively eyes and a prominent nose—a child anyone would call adorable.
Yet Bu Eunseol’s gaze turned icy.
This was the very boy he had encountered at Cold Moon Island.
The Returning to One Realm.
As expected, the faction behind the Xiaohua Pavilion was the Returning to One Realm.
“What an astonishing pair. The mercenary Seolso and So Okrim of the Heaven-Collapsing Strike.”
Surprisingly, the boy did not seem greatly shocked that Bu Eunseol and So Okrim had infiltrated this place.
He spoke calmly, almost indifferently.
“This is a place that should never have been exposed or suspected. I truly wonder how you found your way here.”
“Why on earth…” So Okrim ground her teeth, barely suppressing her erupting rage.
“Why establish orphanages and cruelly murder innocent children?”
“Innocent children? Hahaha.”
The boy suddenly burst into shrill laughter.
“That fool truly knows nothing. Innocent children? Hahaha.”
After laughing for a long while, he clicked his tongue.
“Did you really think we from this realm captured ignorant orphans and slaughtered them cruelly? Like those idiots in the Infinite Realm?”
“Stop spouting nonsense and answer me!”
As So Okrim prepared to unleash her power, Bu Eunseol pulled her arm.
“Let’s hear what he has to say.”
“Hmm. Indeed. They said you possess martial arts of the new generation’s masters, surpassing even top-class mercenaries.”
The boy faintly smiled at Bu Eunseol, who was disguised as Seolso.
“You’re quite calm. Good eyes too. I like that. For that reason alone, I suppose I should tell you.”
“If they weren’t innocent children, does that mean you brought children guilty of mortal crimes to the orphanage?”
“Oh, yes. Something like that.”
The boy smiled faintly at Bu Eunseol’s words.
“Those children… they were the seeds of the Bound Asuras cultivated by the Infinite Realm.”
Boom.
So Okrim’s eyes widened as if struck on the back of the head.
“What nonsense is this!”
“Still don’t understand? To house those children—to create such experimental subjects—the Infinite Realm established the orphanages from the very beginning.”
The boy grinned widely, clearly amused.
“They intended to use those children to complete the perfected Bound Asuras.”
“The Seyang Orphanage I supported… was originally created by the Infinite Realm?”
So Okrim felt the world go dark before her eyes.
She had believed the Seyang Orphanage was ordinary, but it had been a laboratory built by the Infinite Realm.
And those lovable children had been seeds of the Bound Asuras created by the Infinite Realm?
“Seyang Orphanage? Oh yes, one of the orphanages built by the Infinite Realm had that name.”
“Lies!”
Whoosh!
So Okrim leaped upward in an instant, unleashing a palm strike toward the boy atop the high stairs.
Booooom!
As the massive force poured toward the boy,
Boom! Shaaa!
Suddenly, a blade-like wind erupted from behind the boy, instantly neutralizing So Okrim’s strike.
Not only that—it pushed So Okrim, floating in midair, back down.
Thud. Clang.
A strange metallic groan rang out.
Upon closer inspection, behind the boy stood a dozen pitch-black coffins, all with their lids open.
“You seem unconvinced. How regrettable.”
The boy clicked his tongue, slowly stepping backward while spreading his arms.
“I told you the truth—why won’t you believe me?”
“Enough of your lies!”
“Then see for yourself. I’ll take my leave.”
So Okrim leaped up the stairs again, pursuing the boy.
But as she reached the top, eerie cries emerged from the open coffins.
“Heuk heuk.”
Curious, So Okrim looked into one of the coffins.
A boy slowly sat up inside the open lid.
“Cheonwoong-ah.”
Shockingly, emerging from the coffin was Cheonwoong—a boy from the Seyang Orphanage So Okrim had supported.
Seeing her, he spread his arms and shed tears of blood.
“Kyaaaa!”
The cry was so piercing it seemed it would tear eardrums.
Yet So Okrim approached without concern, intending to save Cheonwoong.
“Wait.”
Bu Eunseol, who had followed immediately, grabbed her sleeve.
“Do not get close.”
“Let go! Can’t you see the crying child?”
“Look closely. Does that look like a child to you?”
“What?”
Only then did So Okrim carefully examine Cheonwoong’s body.
Cheonwoong had only raised his upper body from the coffin.
Yet his height was as tall as if he were standing.
In her extreme agitation, So Okrim had failed to notice.
“Ah…”
As So Okrim halted, Cheonwoong—who had been wailing with bloody tears—abruptly stopped.
He glared at her with terrifying eyes.
From behind the stacked coffins, the Returning to One Realm boy who had been watching sighed.
“What a pity.”
He smacked his lips.
“He could have drained your essence blood just like that.”
As it turned out, the coffin from which Cheonwoong had risen was filled with what looked like pig intestines.
His lower body was not ordinary legs—it had become a massive intestinal form.
“Cheonwoong-ah… how…”
When So Okrim shouted, it was not Cheonwoong in the coffin who answered, but the Returning to One Realm boy standing behind it.
“It’s not ‘how’. This is his original form. He was an experimental Bound Asura created by the Infinite Realm from the start.”
“You keep spouting—”
So Okrim tried to shout, but her voice would no longer emerge.
Deep down, she already sensed it.
That child was not fake.
He was truly Cheonwoong from the Seyang Orphanage—the boy she had doted on and caressed.
“Fine. Let us accept that you hunted down and slaughtered the Infinite Realm’s experimental subjects.” Bu Eunseol stepped forward. “But why go so far as to capture and kill these children to restore the youth of high officials? There was no need for that.”
Since he was disguised as Seolso, he pretended not to know the boy was from the Returning to One Realm.
“Hahahaha.”
The boy laughed coldly.
“Yes, we restored their youth. But that youth… is the kind that leads to a swift and natural death.”
Bu Eunseol deeply furrowed his brow.
He understood what the boy meant.
“Surely those great arts did not truly restore youth, but rather…”
“Hehehe. Exactly.”
The boy grinned, revealing white teeth.
“Those pig-dogs all deserve to die. But if they do not die naturally, backlash comes…”
Whispering as if sharing a secret, the boy continued, “So we pretend to restore their youth while ensuring they die naturally—no repercussions.”
Bu Eunseol felt dizzy.
What exactly was the Returning to One Realm’s goal?
Why eliminate the Infinite Realm’s Bound Asuras and kill high officials?
Were they… performing acts of good?
“What is your true objective?”
“Who knows.”
The boy smiled faintly.
“Even if you are the disciple of the Bullet King, it’s not a story for a mere mercenary like you.”
“Are you afraid of me?”
“Hahaha.”
The boy smiled, showing his white teeth.
“Our realm has finally obtained the true Heavenly Lord. Now the world can return to how it should be. In the end, everything…”
Pshht!
Suddenly, the boy’s cheek split open.
Somehow, So Okrim had reached him.
In an infinitely low voice, she said, “You’ve been chattering annoyingly for a while now.”
She had flicked her finger with immense power, sending a powerful finger wind at the boy.
“Hehehe. So Okrim, the Heaven-Collapsing Strike. I know you have mastered extraordinary martial arts.”
Snap.
The boy snapped his fingers.
Cheonwoong, standing in the coffin, straightened his snake-like long intestines and rose.
Those intestines stretched at least ten chang, glistening with an eerie sheen.
He resembled a massive snake yokai manifesting in human form.
“That child began his metamorphosis into a Bound Asura long ago. The Infinite Realm created quite a monster, in their own way…”
Shaking his head, the boy continued, “Unfortunately, the quality and condition deteriorated. At this rate… he’s only fit for an opera about yokai.”
“You bastard!”
“Sorry. I’ve talked too much.”
The boy grinned.
“It would be better if the two of you simply died here.”
Snap!
As the boy snapped his fingers again,
“Ahhh.”
A low moan escaped Cheonwoong’s mouth. Crimson mist spread everywhere.
Clank. Clank.
All the surrounding coffin lids opened, revealing ten children.
Fortunately, they did not lack lower bodies like Cheonwoong yet their eyes were unfocused, and their skin was gray like the dead.
And they were—by cruel twist of fate—the children So Okrim had often visited at the Seyang Orphanage.
“Pretty impressive for defective goods, aren’t they?”
Turning away, the boy said, “Since their bones aren’t fully hardened yet, even as puppets, they can perform perfect martial arts.”
He clicked his tongue.
“If the Infinite Realm had remained intact, they might have created something worthwhile, but it ended like this. Well, our realm plans to conduct new research.”
With those words, the boy’s figure melted into the darkness.
Swish swish!
Bu Eunseol quickly threw hidden darts, but the boy had vanished completely.
“Lady So.”
When Bu Eunseol looked at So Okrim,
Whirr.
Staring at the ground with endlessly dark eyes, faint light rose from her clenched fist.
Those pitiful children had all become beings without souls.
Rather than leaving them to be exploited by these demons, it was better to end their suffering quickly—to free them from the shackles of their wretched bodies.
“Go.”
So Okrim said to Bu Eunseol beside her.
“I’ll handle things here. You must capture that rat-like bastard.”
There were twelve iron coffins in total.
Moreover, they were nearly complete Bound Asuras, possessing terrifying power.
Yet Bu Eunseol nodded without worry.
“Understood.”
Looking at So Okrim one last time,
Tsh tsh tsh!
Bu Eunseol dashed toward the direction the boy had vanished.
