The Heavenly Demon Wants a Quiet Life

Chapter 2: It’s Demonic Arts, but Not Demonic Arts
────────────────────────────────────

Cheon Kyungwan gazed silently at the door Byeok Taesan had entered, a hint of self-reproach on his face.

The corridor stretched out, lined with four doors.

Byeok Taesan had entered the last room, accompanied by ten courtesans.

When the courtesans exited the room en masse, Cheon Kyungwan thought they might be leaving for the night, but he soon realized that wasn’t the case. His mood darkened.

He was currently on the top floor of the Fragrant Flower House.

The Fragrant Flower House was a five-story establishment, and the fifth floor was reserved for VIPs.

Each room was equipped with a simple formation that provided perfect soundproofing and even absorbed minor shocks.

Although there were many establishments like this in Wuhan, the Fragrant Flower House was the only one to gain such fame with a single building.

All four rooms were occupied, and two guards stood watch at the entrance of each.

Perfect soundproofing was especially useful in moments like this.

Even if someone stood right outside the door, they wouldn’t have the faintest idea of what was happening inside.

Cheon Kyungwan briefly considered whether he should also stand guard in front of the door but quickly shook his head.

He was confident that even with his eyes closed, he could neutralize the guards stationed here in an instant with a simple burst of internal energy.

What he truly needed to guard against wasn’t the obvious threats but the possibility of a surprise attack.

‘Though the chances of that happening are slim.’

Who in Wuhan would dare ambush the second young master of the Golden Wall Merchants?

Besides, there was nothing to gain from kidnapping or ambushing Byeok Taesan.

It would be far more effective to kidnap Byeok Taesoo’s wife or children than to target Byeok Taesan.

No, it might even be better to kidnap the general manager of the Golden Wall Merchants.

That was the extent of Byeok Taesan’s standing within the organization.

As these thoughts passed through his mind, an abrupt sound shattered his reverie.

“Haaaaaah!”

Cheon Kyungwan’s head shot up in surprise.

A noise—indistinguishable between a scream and a moan—had reached his ears.

A quick glance at the other guards revealed that they had heard it too.

They stared blankly at the last room, their astonishment poorly hidden.

The sound had come from the room Byeok Taesan had entered.

“Huuuuuuung!”

Another moan echoed from within.

It was unclear whether it was a sound of agony or pleasure.

‘Wait, isn’t this the fifth floor of the Fragrant Flower House, known for its flawless soundproofing?’

The other rooms remained deathly silent, as if to confirm the soundproofing’s perfection.

Only the room Byeok Taesan had entered emitted such peculiar noises.

‘What on earth could be happening in there…?’

The noises didn’t stop; they continued unabated.

At first, curiosity got the better of Cheon Kyungwan. But as one hour passed, then two, and eventually three, he grew weary of it.

One of the guards standing near another room muttered under his breath.

“Wasn’t he supposed to be sick?”

For someone who was supposedly unwell, Byeok Taesan was producing moans that bordered on screams, lasting three whole hours.

When the sounds finally ceased, the door opened, and Byeok Taesan stepped out.

The three guards in the corridor, their eyes bloodshot, stared at him in a daze.

Their expressions were a mix of envy and reverence.

“Couldn’t you at least have gotten some sleep? We’ve been up all night because of you,” Byeok Taesan remarked casually.

Cheon Kyungwan lowered his head slightly.

“I’m simply fulfilling my duties.”

Unbeknownst to him, there was a subtle change in his gaze, something that hadn’t been there when they first arrived at the establishment.

“…Are you all right?” Cheon Kyungwan asked.

Byeok Taesan smirked and glanced back at the room he had exited.

“Who, me? Or them?”

“Both.”

“Never better. Now let’s head back. I need some rest too.”

“I’ll escort you.”

Cheon Kyungwan bowed his head again.

As the two descended the stairs, the corridor grew silent once more.

Not a single sound came from the four rooms.

The formations were functioning flawlessly.

* * *

“Hwaryeong, are you all right?”

Hwaryeong, the courtesan addressed, sat blankly until the voice calling her snapped her out of her daze.

“Huh? Oh, I’m fine. Of course, I’m fine.”

Several courtesans watched her with concern etched on their faces.

“Are you really okay? Nothing happened last night? I heard it was a huge commotion…”

The concern was more curiosity than genuine worry.

The events of the previous night had already spread among the courtesans.

Hwaryeong’s cries—almost like screams—had been heard not only by the guards but also by the other occupants of the floor and even those on the lower levels.

As a result, the Fragrant Flower House’s formation masters were currently inspecting the formations in the room Byeok Taesan and Hwaryeong had used.

The Fragrant Flower House wasn’t just an ordinary establishment.

What kind of ordinary establishment would employ formation masters?

In such a situation, the courtesans feigned concern, eager to uncover what had happened.

Hwaryeong’s cheeks turned a faint shade of red.

“I… I was reborn.”

The courtesans’ eyes sparkled. How incredible must it have been for her to say something like that?

“Wait, doesn’t your skin look better?”

“It really does!”

It wasn’t just her skin. Her face seemed different, somehow.

No, her entire demeanor had changed.

She now exuded an air of purity and innocence, as if untouched by the world’s impurities.

“Now that you mention it, your body too…”

She seemed taller, her figure more refined.

It wasn’t their imagination.

The changes were evident.

The courtesans’ eyes lit up with newfound determination.

“Did he… perhaps give you some sort of miraculous elixir?”

“It wasn’t anything like that!”

Hwaryeong protested, slightly exasperated.

Truthfully, she didn’t even remember much of what had happened.

She vaguely recalled the sounds she had made—moans that were closer to screams.

It must have been truly extraordinary.

And yet, the memory of that extraordinary experience was faint, leaving her feeling somewhat cheated.

What was clear, however, was that she had been reborn.

She couldn’t recall a time when both her body and mind had felt so refreshed.

The courtesans, witnessing Hwaryeong’s transformation, were ablaze with ambition.

They vowed to seize any similar opportunity if it ever presented itself.

* * *

“Ah… This body is far worse than I anticipated.”

Byeok Taesan murmured to himself, shaking his head in disapproval.

The reason he had gone to the Fragrant Flower House the previous day was to practice the Soul Augmenting Demonic Art.

The Soul Augmenting Demonic Art, reborn through the realization he gained at the moment of his death, had transformed into something so different that it could hardly be called demonic anymore.

While it still utilized soul essences, it no longer involved extracting the souls of the deceased and consuming them as he had in the past.

Now, it extracted the soul essences of living people, purging the impurities and negative energies clinging to them before absorbing the refined essence.

These purified energies still qualified as soul essences, and the power produced from burning them was formidable—far surpassing typical internal energy cultivation techniques.

Of course, it was weaker than the original Soul Augmenting Demonic Art, but with the side effects completely removed, there was no risk of his body exploding regardless of how much power he absorbed.

Naturally, the more impure thoughts and energy clinging to the soul essences, the better the results.

That was why Byeok Taesan had specifically chosen to spend a night with a courtesan at the Fragrant Flower House.

A courtesan, having weathered countless worldly experiences, naturally had a soul imbued with substantial impurities.

Sure, the scum of the underworld—those who killed and plundered as if it were second nature—would carry even darker energies. But in his current fragile state, such souls would pose a risk to his body.

Seeking someone within the Golden Wall Merchants was also not an option.

It would not only be less efficient than using a courtesan, but it could also create unnecessary misunderstandings.

In any case, the impurities clinging to Hwaryeong’s soul yesterday had been quite satisfactory.

The problem lay in his cursed body.

“I drained every ounce from a courtesan, and all I managed was to reconnect a single, broken thread.”

It wasn’t even a major meridian.

It was a thread-like, inconsequential vein, barely distinguishable from a capillary.

While his condition had marginally improved, the change was imperceptible on the surface.

“It seems… I’ll have to live at the Fragrant Flower House for the time being.”

Attempting to draw from the more dangerous scum of the underworld would only cause his body to collapse.

Impurities gathered through lust were far gentler than those clinging to souls tainted by murderous or predatory intent.

For now, he decided to source soul essences exclusively through the Fragrant Flower House.

What mattered most was reconnecting all his severed meridians.

Once that was achieved, he could resume training without needing to absorb soul essences at all.

Byeok Taesan closed his eyes and focused on cultivating the fragile thread of energy he had painstakingly reconnected earlier.

Reconnecting it was just the beginning.

Fully restoring it would require relentless effort.

* * *

“Are you going to the Fragrant Flower House again today?”

Soso looked at Byeok Taesan with a startled expression.

“Why? Is that a problem?”

“No, not exactly, but… If the young lady finds out, she’ll be terribly disappointed!”

“Well, that can’t be helped.”

He couldn’t afford to abandon his treatment just because of Yeon Harin, his fiancée whom he hadn’t even met yet.

Besides, judging from the circumstances, Yeon Harin didn’t seem particularly eager to marry him either.

If the wealth allotted to Byeok Taesan was so paltry, why would she tied herself to a dying man like him?

Perhaps if she intended to leverage him as a connection to interfere in the Golden Wall Merchants’ power struggles.

“And if you push yourself too hard, it could become dangerous.”

Byeok Taesan smirked.

“You think you know what I’m doing?”

Soso’s face flushed bright red.

“Y-you’re doing that! That!”

“And what exactly is that?”

Soso pursed her lips in frustration.

“You’re so mean, Young Master!”

Byeok Taesan chuckled as Soso continued to fuss over his clothes despite her complaints.

* * *

By the time the sun had reached its zenith, Byeok Taesan was leaving the Fragrant Flower House.

It has been ten days now.

For ten consecutive days, he had come to the Fragrant Flower House and spent each night with a courtesan.

On the first day, he had left immediately after finishing his work—absorbing the impurities clinging to the courtesan’s soul essences.

But after a few days, he realized there was no need to rush.

He began using the Soul Augmenting Demonic Art to repair his severed meridians while still in the room.

The courtesans, meanwhile, remained unconscious.

The experience of having one’s soul purified was no trivial matter.

The body often follows the state of the soul. As the soul was purified, it influenced the body, cleansing it as well.

During this transformation, the courtesans would lose consciousness.

Inevitably, the courtesans who spent a night with Byeok Taesan found themselves infatuated with him.

Those who had not yet had their turn eagerly awaited their chance, their hearts aflutter.

Over the past ten days, Byeok Taesan had spent time with ten courtesans and managed to repair ten of his meridians.

Though the progress was slight and the improvement almost negligible, it was progress nonetheless.

Thus, Byeok Taesan’s steps felt lighter as he headed home.

Cheon Kyungwan followed quietly a step behind.

Halfway back, Byeok Taesan noticed someone approaching from a distance.

What caught his attention was simple.

‘What an extraordinary beauty.’

Of all the women he had encountered as the Heavenly Demon, this one ranked among the top ten.

Such beauty was a rarity, even during his time as the Heavenly Demon.

“She’s stunning.”

Byeok Taesan muttered, turning to glance at Cheon Kyungwan with a look that seemed to ask, Did you see that too?

For the second time, Byeok Taesan witnessed a change in Cheon Kyungwan’s usually stoic expression.

It was an incredulous look, as if to say, Are you serious?

From that reaction, Byeok Taesan finally guessed the woman’s identity.

By then, the beauty had stopped before him.

Byeok Taesan halted as well.

This woman was none other than his fiancée, Yeon Harin.