"Here's your food."
The server set down a plate of soup dumplings and a bowl of noodles at Woo Geom-san's table. Two generous chunks of meat sat atop the noodles.
Woo Geom-san picked up his chopsticks.
"Thanks. I'll eat well."
"Enjoy!"
"Actually, let me ask you something."
"Yes?"
"I overheard the men at the next table — they said some kind of ceremony is being held tomorrow?"
"Oh! You mean the Red Lotus Festival?"
"Right. The Red Lotus Festival."
"White Crimson Temple holds a ceremony once a year."
The server answered with a smile.
"A temple holding a ceremony? Do you mean a passage rite?"
"That's right. It's a type of passage rite. This time of year, the White Crimson Temple pond blooms with red lotus flowers, so they call it the Red Lotus Festival."
"Sounds like quite a big event. The people are excited, and it hasn't even started yet."
"You're an outsider, so you wouldn't know what the Red Lotus Festival means to this village. Our village used to be plagued by endless misfortune. As if cursed by the heavens, we were periodically swept up in disasters and wars — it wouldn't have been surprising if the village had been wiped out entirely. That was when the Holy Monk appeared and purified our village with his mighty sacred power. After that, the wars and disasters simply vanished. But he said this was only temporary, and that the village would need a passage rite once a year to maintain its peace — so that's why we hold the Red Lotus Festival."
"I see. So that's the story behind it."
Woo Geom-san nodded.
In recent years, the war between the Heavenly Mandate Society and the Nine Great Sects had ravaged the realm.
The military might of the Nine Great Sects, whose roots in the murim spanned centuries, went without saying — and the power of the Heavenly Mandate Society that stood against them was equally staggering.
The war between these two colossal forces had inevitably unleashed chaos, and this village could not have escaped its reach.
Now that the war between them was over, perhaps peace was only natural. But Woo Geom-san chose not to point that out to the server.
The server said with a grin:
"If you don't mind, you should stay an extra day! Apparently the White Crimson Holy Maidens will appear at this Red Lotus Festival, so it's really going to be worth seeing."
"What are the White Crimson Holy Maidens?"
"They're the maidens who attend the Holy Monk. Beautiful as celestial beings, with kind hearts to match — everyone adores them. Just seeing their faces would make an extra day in the village worthwhile."
Merely imagining the White Crimson Holy Maidens had the server flush with excitement, a fervor that bordered on fanaticism.
Woo Geom-san furrowed his brow at the unsettling sight.
"I'll think about it. I'm hungry, so let me eat first."
"Sure! Please do try to stay if you can."
Leaving those words behind, the server hurried off to the kitchen.
Woo Geom-san shook his head and began eating the food on the table.
The taste was unremarkable at best.
Bland and flat, as though the cook had not bothered tasting a single thing before serving it.
"Tch."
In the end, Woo Geom-san put down his chopsticks without finishing even half.
The meal had ruined his appetite. There was no point staying in the dining hall any longer.
He rose from his seat and headed to the room.
When he entered, Baek Ho-yang looked at him quizzically.
"Why the face? Was the food bad?"
"The worst."
"Oh dear."
"A fasting pill would've been better."
"That bad?"
"I think the cook doesn't taste anything before serving it."
"Ha ha."
Baek Ho-yang smiled at Woo Geom-san's grumbling.
They had been together for quite some time now, but this was the first time Woo Geom-san had complained this much.
'Now he is acting his age.'
Woo Geom-san was a mature child.
Having weathered so many hardships, he had grown up far beyond his years — there was an old soul lurking in him.
For him to show his emotions so openly was actually a welcome sight.
"You suffered through a bad meal."
"I think we should just skip breakfast tomorrow."
"Then we can set out at dawn."
"Yes! Let's do that. If we leave late, the Red Lotus Festival will make things hectic."
"Red Lotus Festival?"
Woo Geom-san relayed what the server had told him, and Baek Ho-yang's curiosity stirred.
"The one presiding over the Red Lotus Festival calls himself the Holy Monk?"
"Yes."
"That is a rather presumptuous title for a Buddhist monk. And holding a passage rite once a year is strange as well."
"Right? And then there are the White Crimson Holy Maidens. The whole thing is suspicious."
"How did the villagers react?"
"Very excited, from what I could tell."
"Then there is little reason for us to involve ourselves. If the villagers are content with the arrangement. Let us observe until tomorrow morning and decide then."
"Alright."
"Hoo."
Baek Ho-yang exhaled softly.
The war between the Heavenly Mandate Society and the Nine Great Sects had ended, but turmoil had not yet subsided across the realm.
The old order, built around the Nine Great Sects, had collapsed, and nothing had risen to replace it.
Until a new order took shape and settled in, chaos like this would continue.
Baek Ho-yang wished the turmoil would pass swiftly, so that people could live in peace.
The two chatted for a while longer before retiring to bed.
They had not been lying on the mattress long when it happened.
HISSSSS—
Suddenly, white smoke seeped in through the gaps around the door and window.
The pale smoke was inhaled through Woo Geom-san and Baek Ho-yang's nostrils.
Moments later, the door opened without a sound and a group of men slipped inside.
The intruders — who had not even bothered to wear masks — were the middle-aged men who had been chatting in the dining hall.
They exchanged glances and whispered.
"Both out cold."
"Heaven's Soul Incense — works as promised."
"It was a special gift from the White Crimson Holy Maidens. Of course it works."
"Heh heh. The Holy Maidens must be waiting. Let's grab the young one and go."
"What about the old one? Should we just kill him?"
A shaggy-bearded man drew a knife from his robe, but another man shook his head.
"Kill him here and the innkeeper will blow his top. Remember last time? Half a day scrubbing blood out of the floors, and he wouldn't stop raging about it."
"Then we take him to the dungeon and finish him there."
"That's better."
The two men slung Woo Geom-san and Baek Ho-yang over their shoulders and left the inn.
***
Woo Geom-san felt his entire body being jostled.
As if someone had stirred the inside of his skull with a hand, he was dizzy and nauseous.
His limbs would not obey him. He swayed like a reed.
He tried to open his eyes, but the lids would not move, as though glued shut.
'What happened?'
He remembered lying down on the mattress with Baek Ho-yang.
After that — nothing.
Judging by the way his body was being shaken around, he seemed to be moving somewhere.
Not of his own volition, of course.
Through the fog in his mind, a single conclusion took shape.
'Am I... being kidnapped?'
He tried to think further, but his thoughts tangled and frayed.
'I need to get my head together first.'
In that moment, Woo Geom-san recalled the correct breathing Baek Ho-yang had taught him.
Every time he breathed correctly, his mind had grown clearer.
Woo Geom-san did not try to force energy into his body. He simply continued breathing, calm and steady.
At first, even that was difficult.
His mind was far too hazy.
His saving grace was that over these past weeks, correct breathing had become so ingrained that he could do it without conscious thought.
As he breathed correctly, the haze in his mind began to lift, and the stimuli from outside grew sharper.
Voices reached his ears.
"Handsome kid. The White Crimson Holy Maidens are going to love him."
"No kidding. Men or women, they're all the same — drawn to anything young and pretty."
"Heh heh. Aren't we the same? We like the Holy Maidens because they're beautiful. Can't talk."
"Fair point...... Once we offer this kid, they'll bestow their grace on us."
"I can't wait to find out how good it'll feel."
The men's crude banter went on for some time after that.
Now Woo Geom-san understood the situation.
'So they're offering me to these women called the White Crimson Holy Maidens, and in return they get to bed them?'
No legitimate temple would engage in such acts.
'It seems White Crimson Temple is a heretical cult.'
Then one of the men spoke again.
"You go on ahead to the maidens. I'll lock this old man in the dungeon and come up after."
"Hurry up. Show up late and there won't even be scraps."
"Think you can handle it on your own?"
"Heh heh. We'll find out, won't we?"
"Cut it out. They'll suck your vital essence dry and you'll end up a withered husk. One is manageable, but two — no chance."
"I know, I know. Quit nagging and get moving."
"Fine."
With that exchange, the second man's presence vanished.
'Old man? Grandfather was taken too?'
The small comfort that he had not been kidnapped alone gave Woo Geom-san some measure of relief.
CREEEAK—!
A door opened, and a thick smell of incense invaded his nostrils.
The kind of incense used in temples.
THUD—!
His body was flung roughly to the floor.
The impact jolted through him.
'Urk!'
Every bone in his body screamed, but Woo Geom-san was almost grateful for it. The pain sharpened his consciousness even further.
Then the man who had carried him in bellowed:
"White Crimson Holy Maidens! This Gang Chung-hon has brought you an offering. Come and see — he is young and handsome. He will surely please you."
"Oh ho ho! Young and handsome, you say?"
"Then he is welcome indeed."
In that instant, women's lilting laughter and a heavy wave of powder-scent drifted over on the breeze.
Someone alighted softly before Woo Geom-san.
Two stunningly beautiful women had appeared.
One wore robes the color of blood — a vivid, glamorous beauty. The other wore blue robes and carried an air of cold refinement.
Both women were dazzlingly beautiful, and bewitching smiles played on their lips.
Gang Chung-hon bared his yellowed teeth in a grin.
"Radiant as always. If I were to receive your grace tonight, I could die without regret."
"Killing you for real would be no trouble at all. If you want to die, just say the word. I'll do it right on top of you."
"Could you perhaps... kill me in the other sense?"
"Ho ho. That depends on the quality of the offering."
"You will not be disappointed. He is the finest specimen I have seen in a long time."
"Let me see."
The woman in red lifted the chin of the prone Woo Geom-san with her fingertip.
A murmur of approval escaped her lips.
"Oh my. He is handsome."
"Didn't I say so? I knew he would be to your liking."
"Good. He pleases me."
"Heh heh. Then my reward?"
"I will pay you right now."
"Truly?"
Gang Chung-hon's eyes went wide.
They were already flushed red with anticipation.
The woman in red untied her crimson sash. Her robes slipped from her shoulders, revealing pale, snow-white skin beneath.
"Come......"
Gang Chung-hon reached out and touched the woman's bare flesh.
At the silken softness beneath his fingers, his expression turned rapturous.
The woman in red wore an even more bewitching smile as she brought her face close to his.
Just before their lips met, a stream of pure white vapor flowed from her mouth into his.
In an instant, Gang Chung-hon's pupils glazed over.
"Heh heh. Yes. More. Touch me more."
He clawed at the air. But his hands grasped nothing — the woman in red had already stepped away.
Even so, Gang Chung-hon pawed and thrust as though she were still before him.
The woman in red watched him with eyes full of contempt.
"You beast. Go ahead and rut with your illusion to your heart's content."
What she had used was a dark sorcery called the Lustful Soul Rapture Art.
It trapped the victim in a fantasy of pleasure.
Gang Chung-hon believed he was engaging in actual intercourse, but it was nothing more than an illusion.
The woman in red did not spare him another glance. She turned her gaze to Woo Geom-san.
"Ho ho. I will give you real pleasure. And in return, you will offer your vital essence to us."