Chapter 44: Pokyo-gwi (2)
“Hey, Sera Shin!”
I shouted.
“What the hell are you doing?!”
Clank!
When I tried moving, I heard metal chains.
Both my wrists were bound to chains attached to the wall.
Each chain was almost three fingers thick.
For the old me, escaping would have been impossible.
For the current me...
I felt like I could probably break them.
But first, I needed to understand the situation.
Fifteen women had disappeared from the slum where the Land of Zion was located.
Han Manduk had repeatedly called Terius Hyun.
Terius Hyun ran Crisis Model Line.
Sera Shin worked at Crisis Model Line.
And now Sera was holding a massive cleaver almost identical to the Agwi’s weapon.
Everything connected.
This woman is an evil spirit.
I activated Ghost Eye.
[Soul Type: Evil Spirit]
[Evil Spirit Type: Yeomgwi]
[Evil Spirit Rank: Pokgwi]
[Hybrid Status: None]
[Past-Life Karma: Former servant of Jang Noksu, concubine of King Yeonsangun during the Joseon Dynasty. Murdered by Jang Noksu.]
What?!
Two things shocked me.
First, this woman was Pokgwi-class.
That immediately reminded me of Violence Demon Gwanhyung.
If she belonged to the same rank, was she equally powerful?
Second...
She had been Jang Noksu’s servant and was murdered by Jang Noksu.
Jang Noksu had supposedly controlled King Yeonsangun through her beauty.
What kind of story had led her to murder her own servant?
“Husband! What are you doing?!”
Hwang Jinhee shouted.
“Save unnie!”
She sounded desperate.
Aize is the Demonic Spear. A normal cleaver can’t kill her, right?
“What are you talking about?”
Hwang Jinhee snapped.
“If that woman were human, then yes, a blade like that wouldn’t even scratch unnie.”
“But that woman is Pokgwi-class.”
“And right now, unnie is in human form.”
Her voice became more anxious.
“Who knows what might happen?”
She had a point.
Can you switch possession right now? You forced a switch while Aize was sleeping before.
“In her current state, unnie’s body is nearly paralyzed.”
Hwang Jinhee answered.
“Even if I switch, it won’t help.”
I see.
I calmed her down.
Don’t worry, Miss Jinhee. If things become dangerous, I can just summon Aize as the Demonic Spear.
Then I looked at Sera.
“Oh?”
Sera approached me.
“You already woke up?”
She looked genuinely surprised.
“It hasn’t even been an hour.”
“I gave you Mihonsan, yet you’re already awake.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“An ordinary human should have remained unconscious for an entire day.”
Fortunately, I had gained her attention.
She stepped closer.
“You won’t be killed.”
She smiled.
“My Queen is interested in you, so relax.”
“My Queen?”
I frowned.
“Who the hell is interested in me?”
BAM!
“Urgh!”
Before I could finish speaking, Sera punched me in the stomach.
It felt less like a woman’s fist and more like being struck by a block of iron.
“Do not place our noble Queen’s name inside that filthy mouth.”
She rubbed my cheek with her palm.
“Even if the Queen wishes to see the handsome face that seduced Aize, I can simply cut off your head and bring it to her.”
“Then why are you trying to kill Aize?”
I stared at her.
“She has nothing to do with this.”
Sera looked at her fist.
“My, my.”
She seemed puzzled.
“Even though I held back, a normal person should have at least lost consciousness again after that.”
She flexed her fingers.
“Is something wrong with my fist?”
“You should probably worry about your own life instead of asking questions like that.”
BAM!
She punched me again.
This time, harder.
“She’s too beautiful.”
Sera’s expression twisted.
“I hate looking at her.”
Her teeth ground together.
“Whenever I look at her, I remember that bitch.”
“That bitch?”
“Hehehe.”
Sera suddenly smiled.
“You truly are curious.”
Her expression changed.
“Fine. I’ve never told anyone this story before.”
She looked toward Aize.
“Maybe talking about it once will make me feel better.”
Then Sera began telling me about her previous life.
In her previous life, she had been a palace maid during the Joseon Dynasty.
The king at the time was the infamous tyrant Yeonsangun.
Yeonsangun especially loved women.
He sent officials known as chaehongsa throughout the country to find famous beauties and force them into the palace as concubines or servants.
Sera had been one of those women.
One day, a beautiful concubine entered the palace.
She had been born poor and had already given birth to a child.
But she possessed extraordinary beauty, dance, and singing talent.
She was the former gisaeng Jang Noksu.
Jang Noksu quickly captivated Yeonsangun.
Sera became her personal servant.
Jang Noksu liked Sera because she was quick-witted, intelligent, and above all obedient.
Although Jang Noksu was greedy and extremely jealous, she treated Sera well.
She taught Sera dancing and performance arts.
She even taught Sera her personal methods for pleasing men in bed.
Then one day, Yeonsangun came to visit Jang Noksu.
He intended to spend the night with her.
But that night, Jang Noksu called Sera.
Jang Noksu was menstruating and could not share the king’s bed.
She did not want another concubine taking her place.
So she ordered Sera to go instead.
Sera refused at first.
But she could not disobey Jang Noksu.
The following morning, Yeonsangun seemed satisfied.
He did not become angry.
In fact, he even said he would visit Sera again.
From then on, whenever Jang Noksu could not sleep with the king, Sera went in her place.
That was the real reason Jang Noksu had taught her dance, performance, and techniques for pleasing men.
The real problem began when Sera became pregnant with Yeonsangun’s child.
Considering how often they had slept together, pregnancy was inevitable.
Jang Noksu quickly noticed.
She secretly called Sera.
Then she gave her a cup of sweet rice punch mixed with poison.
Sera died.
From beginning to end, she had been completely used according to Jang Noksu’s plan.
Then discarded and murdered.
“Beautiful women cannot be trusted.”
Sera’s voice became poisonous.
“Men who chase beautiful women are the same.”
She looked at me.
“A bastard like you who lives by exploiting women should die.”
Then she looked at Aize.
“And a woman as beautiful as her should die too.”
“What will you do after killing Aize?”
“Eat her.”
Sera answered casually.
“Beautiful girls like her have especially tender flesh.”
They are quite delicious.”
Her answer was exactly what I had expected.
“You really are strange.”
Sera laughed.
“You don’t even look shocked after hearing I intend to eat her.”
I ignored that.
“Was Han Manduk bringing women here?”
I stared at her.
“Were those missing women eaten too?”
