Chapter 75: Disguising as a Woman (1)
Taiai Town, on the outskirts of Sichuan Province.
It is a small town located in the area where four rivers overlap.
Around the time when the dawn frost frozen on the bare branches melted under the midday sun.
Inside the Dusk Sentiments Pavilion, where third-class courtesans gathered, a commotion was taking place.
“Who is going?”
“I am not going.”
“Ugh, if you go there once, your lower parts will definitely be swollen.”
“Then you have to recuperate for at least two months. You won’t even be able to receive guests during that time……”
“I went last month, so I don’t have to go this time, right?”
“What should we do if everyone just says they aren’t going.”
“Then you go!”
The courtesans had been arguing with each other since the early morning.
The reason was because of a letter that arrived in the morning.
<Recruiting twenty courtesans on Month X, Day X>
<Condition: Beautiful appearance or skilled in drinking, singing, and dancing>
<Preferred Condition: Skilled in gambling>
-Dog Fortress of the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union-
A banquet will be held at the mountain fortress of the water bandits.
Since they could not dare to reject the summon of the water bandits, the small Dusk Sentiments Pavilion had no choice but to select courtesans to go there.
However, the place where the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union was located was too far, taking a lot of time to go and return, and on top of that, they had to travel by boat for a long time, and above all, the water bandits’ misbehavior was severe, so not a single courtesan welcomed this duty.
“Sister, you go.”
“Hey! I went the month before last!”
“Last time, Ae-hyang went there and got sick from drinking, and she is still groaning.”
“Ugh, I hate that place because it is swarming with perverts……”
“If they were only perverts, it would be fortunate. Once they get drunk, they draw their swords and talk about killing and living~ Ugh, there is no worse customer than them.”
“Still, only the subordinates are the problem there; the people of Hundred-Head rank or above are quite decent. Especially the Thousand-Head……”
Anyway, not wanting to go was not wanting to go.
It was natural, since it was a place where one’s head could be cut off by the sword of a drunk water bandit hoodlum if they were not careful.
Still, somehow, the people to go were scraped together.
“What to do…… we are a few short.”
“Damn it! You selfish wenches! Volunteer!”
“At this rate, we have no choice but to draft those with the lowest frequency of going there, seriously!”
“Hohoho- if you are going to draft them in that manner, how about doing it in order of having a sturdy lower body instead?”
The courtesans who decided to go to the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union criticized those who held out until the end.
Right at that moment.
“Sisters!”
A courtesan came running from ahead.
“The day laborers have come outside, and they are asking if they can go to the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union!”
“Day laborers? Where did they say they came from?”
“I think they came from another province. I suspect they want to earn money by going to the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union because they lack travel expenses.”
“Hmm…….”
The eyes of the oldest courtesan narrowed.
It happened sometimes.
Courtesans who did not stay in one brothel but wandered around various brothels, receiving daily wages.
“How many are they?”
“There were two. They are waiting in front of the main gate right now.”
“How are their faces?”
“T-That……”
“Why? Are they to the point of being unbearable to look at? Well, how ugly must they be to wander around doing day labor.”
“It is not that. It is the opposite.”
“Opposite?”
“Yes. They are extremely pretty and young. Both of them.”
“You must be joking. Why would such girls do day labor? They would be settled down as the face of some large brothel.”
“I don’t know? Anyway, it is true!”
“I don’t know either. Then bring them in for now.”
The leading courtesan spoke.
Eventually, the two day-laborer courtesans who visited Dusk Sentiments Pavilion revealed themselves.
“……!?”
The eyes of the leading courtesan widened.
One had an appearance that seemed to have just reached her prime of twenty, and the other was a girl who looked just about sixteen.
And the report received earlier was true.
No, rather, it was a report that could not properly contain the reality.
Both were beautiful.
It was absolutely not a beauty that should be in such a rural village.
‘Although the makeup is thick, they look young. One is twenty-four, and the other is sixteen…… about that?’
The leading courtesan quickly grasped the ages of the two day-laborer courtesans.
Both were exceptionally beautiful, but the beauty of the younger girl in particular was immense.
It was great enough to make the legs of men walking by lose strength and cause them to sit down.
The leading courtesan cleared her throat a few times to erase her surprised look.
Then she spoke in a calm tone.
“O-Our Dusk Sentiments Pavilion does not accept just anyone.”
Although her voice was already trembling slightly, she continued to speak as if she were relaxed.
“A courtesan is not one just because her face is pretty. Do you have any specialties?”
At that, the two day-laborer courtesans looked at each other’s faces.
Eventually, the taller courtesan spoke.
“I am strong in drinking.”
“Ho- strong in drinking? How much?”
“Without stopping, I can drink about three or four bottles straight from the nozzle. Based on fire liquor.”
“……Does that make sense? How can a human do that. What are you, a bear?”
“If you cannot believe it, I can just show you.”
At the taller courtesan’s words, the leading courtesan snorted.
The fire liquor of Dusk Sentiments Pavilion was a drink famous for being strong.
Even if it was a drunkard who had poured liquor his entire life, it was a strong liquor that would make him groan for two days if he drank just one bottle.
However.
Glug, glug, glug, glug……
The taller courtesan’s words were true.
She drank all five bottles of fire liquor that the courtesans brought on the spot without even catching her breath.
“Smack. The fire liquor here is a bit weak. Perhaps because they mixed a lot of water, I could drink five more bottles?”
“F-Five more bottles? Are you human?”
The leading courtesan could not hide her absurdity and gaped.
Eventually, she reached out her trembling finger and pointed at the smaller courtesan.
“Y-You, what specialty do you have?”
“…….”
At that, the smaller courtesan held her chin with her hand and pondered something.
Then, she soon opened her mouth and began to sing.
妾本寒門子 荊釵居白屋
– I was originally a daughter of a humble family, wearing a thorn hairpin and living in a plain house.
美質天所生 兩臉知赬玉
– Born beautiful by heaven, my cheeks are like red jade plates.
自倚傾國艶 乃與世人踈
– Believing in my country-ruining beauty alone, I lived aloof from the people of the world.
五陵多年少 過者皆停車
– Many young men of Wuling passed by, all stopping their carriages.
一笑肯輕賣 千金且不收
– I would not lightly sell a single smile, and would not even accept a thousand gold.
以此自愆期 歲月長江流
– Because of this, I missed the prime time, and time flowed like the Yangtze River.
西風昨夜至 莎雞鳴露草
– The autumn wind arrived last night, and the crickets chirp in the dewy grass.
紅顏恐消歇 時過不再好
– I fear my beautiful face will fade; once the time passes, it will not be good again.
The singing voice and lyrics sung by the young courtesan were enough to completely bewitch the souls of the other courtesans, including the leading courtesan who had been watching with wary eyes.
“It is not the song of a human…… this is the song of a ghost…… it is the song of a Singing Ghost…….”
The leading courtesan wept and admired.
She had projected her own situation into the beautiful melody and the lyrics contained within it.
The leading courtesan tightly held the young courtesan’s hand.
“Hearing your song, my brilliant youth comes to mind. Where did you learn the song?”
“I just learned it while wandering here and there.”
“Without a separate master?”
“Yes.”
“Amazing. It is indeed an amazing talent. Do you have any thoughts of staying in our pavilion? I will treat you well.”
“I have not thought about settling down yet. However, I will think about it after this trip to the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union is over.”
At the young courtesan’s words, the leading courtesan nodded with a satisfied expression.
It was because of the expectation that after the rough work at the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union was over, they would have no choice but to become exhausted and recuperate here at Dusk Sentiments Pavilion, and thus naturally settle down.
‘A treasure has entered. This child is indeed the next generation’s darling who will lead our Dusk Sentiments Pavilion.’
Without saying another word, the leading courtesan accepted the two day-laborer courtesans as family.
The trip to the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union was decided immediately.
* * *
A room inside the brothel.
The two day-laborer courtesans came to sleep here tonight.
Early tomorrow morning, they would board the boat heading to the Yangtze River.
Eventually, the servant provided bedding to the two courtesans.
An ordinary blanket was given to the taller courtesan, and a silk bedding set was given to the smaller courtesan.
“Damn it. I am treated completely cold. Isn’t drinking well also an important virtue for a courtesan?”
Hae Baek-jeong. She spoke as she threw off the neatly arranged courtesan clothes.
Chui was sitting quietly on the silk bedding set laid next to her.
Hae Baek-jeong spoke toward Chui.
“Hey. Why do you sing so well?”
“…….”
Chui shut his mouth.
In fact, this was not a special talent.
A side effect of the demonic art.
Those who learned Spear Ghost Calling came to sing strangely well.
It was also due to the ability of the spear ghost that Spear Ghost Calling controlled.
Chui recalled a memory from his past life.
It was what Hong Gong had said as a joke.
‘A tiger ghost always cries sorrowfully and sings a sad song. If a living person cries sorrowfully and sings a song for no reason, it is surely the work of a tiger ghost.’
In other words, Chui singing well was actually a side effect of the demonic art.
Since it was not particularly harmful to the body and was rather an ability that was slightly helpful, Chui had not paid much attention to it so far.
Just then.
Creak-
The room door opened.
The leading courtesan poked only her head in and looked at Chui and Hae Baek-jeong.
Thud-
What she set down on the floor was tea and rice cakes.
“I know everything.”
The leading courtesan was looking at Hae Baek-jeong with eyes filled with tears.
“?”
To Hae Baek-jeong, who looked as if she did not know the reason, the leading courtesan spoke.
“She is your daughter, right?”
“…….”
For a moment, Hae Baek-jeong could not understand the leading courtesan’s words and grimaced.
And soon, the moment she looked at Chui next to her.
“Kya! W-What……!”
Hae Baek-jeong understood the meaning of the leading courtesan’s words.
That meant the leading courtesan was misunderstanding Chui next to her as Hae Baek-jeong’s daughter.
But Chui had no intention of resolving that misunderstanding.
“Mom.”
Chui grabbed Hae Baek-jeong’s sleeve.
Before Hae Baek-jeong could run wild, the leading courtesan pressed her eyes with her coat string.
“My goodness…… my thought was right…… it must have been hard traveling around with a baby as a single woman, right? We will protect you from now on.”
“No! T-That…… Huh?”
Hae Baek-jeong could neither get angry nor explain, showing a blank expression.
The leading courtesan tapped Hae Baek-jeong’s shoulder for a long time after that and left the room.
“……I, I am your mother? Do I look that old?”
“…….”
“Say something!”
Leaving behind the completely burnt-out Hae Baek-jeong, Chui lay on the floor and closed his eyes.
‘When I traveled with Oh Ja-woon, I disguised myself as a manure-scooping laborer, but traveling with a woman, the treatment is much better.’
It was something he could not even dream of in his past life because of the many scars on his face.
“Hey! Say something! Do I look like your mother’s age! Huh!?”
Ignoring Hae Baek-jeong, who was running wild noisily beside him, Chui tightly gripped the Plum Blossom Ghost Spear hidden inside his skirt.
Tomorrow, they would return to the Yangtze River.
The stubbornly entangled water bandit gangs, and the senior brother he had never met.
‘I can smell blood already.’
Though he did not know, it did not seem like it would be an easy journey.
Unrivaled Spear Ghost