Book 14 Chapter 13

Biography of the Thousand and Seven

"Sister Sullan. Who are they?"

As he disappeared with his seven escorts in a casual manner, Lee Jin-sul asked, "After all, asking Eun Seol-ran, who was from there, was the fastest way to get answers about the Heavenly Palace.

"Seventeen thousand! …the Grand Duke's personal guard."

Eunseulan replied, her voice slightly stiff.

"It's true, I didn't think so, the rumors were true!"

Jang Hong, who had been listening through his hoodie, let out a gasp. Jang Hong scratched the back of his head as he became aware of the cold stares he was receiving from everyone around him.

"Mister, what do you know to be true?"

Bi Ryuyeon asked.

"I've only heard about it as a passing rumor, too……."

Jang Hong then began to talk.

"There are six men and one woman who shadow the Grand Duke Bi, the hidden master of the Ten Thousand Pavilions, and each of them is so skilled and extraordinary that it's hard to find a rival around them, so the aristocrats, who love to name things, call the seven of them the Ten Thousand Seven Girls."

It was too much detail for a passing rumor.

"What are you, an escort? That makes you nothing more than a pawn!"

It's clear that she knows what it means to be soft-spoken. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to get away with saying it so sensitively.

Eunsulan shook her head.

"Bi Xiaohao, you shouldn't ignore them. They may not be as widely known as they should be, but that's only because they stood by the Grand Duke's side and never left his side, not because they lack the power and skill they possess. It's just that they've had relatively few opportunities. In fact, even within the Heavenly Palace, rumors abound, but no one has ever seen the true extent of their power."

She, too, had never seen anything of their true nature. Only a few glimpses had given her a hint of the power behind them.

"They're a closely guarded secret, even within the Temple of Heaven, and I was surprised that they even participated in this volcano meeting."

Somehow, a premonition passed through her that this volcanic event was not going to be a good one.

"But I'm surprised to see a woman in the title of Chilgul. She's a very flamboyant person……."

According to Lee Jin-sul, when you think of a girl, you think of men, such as rich girls and young girls.

"Blood Heart is the founding disciple of the Red Flower Sect of the Tian Qilian Sect, the only Red Flower Sect in the world, and her specialty is the piercing technique I showed you a moment ago. But that's not all, she can turn any trinket into a mnemonic in her hands, and she possesses a weapon far more terrifying than that - the……."

"Charming."

Jang Hong interjected. Eunseulan nodded.

"Yes, you're right, her greatest weapon is her manipulative charm that can swoon any man."

"Oh, just a little. It's just a matter of remembering what it's like to be in Tianqilian, it's a famous place, especially for men!"

"What kind of place is it?"

Lee Jin-sul asked curiously.

"Oh…, what……."

Jang Hong was a little reluctant to answer. But this squirrelly little girl was so persistent, he had no choice but to answer.

"It's an organization of prostitutes!"

"If you're a prostitute, that……."

Jang Hong nodded.

"It's the prostitute."

Yikes!

What was he imagining? Lee Jin-sul's face turned as red as a ripe saffron.

"But a prostitute doesn't have to be someone who sells her body, that's a common misconception. There are also chengqi who only sell artistic skills like dancing and singing, and red prostitutes who sell their bodies are not necessarily prostitutes."

Eunsulan explained further.

"And in some places, men sell their bodies. They're a minority, but that's the way the world is."

Jang Hong said grimly.

"You're lying!"

Lee Jin-sul exclaimed in amazement; this was an unknown world she had never encountered before.

"Hahaha, you're still so naive."

Jang Hong let out a pleasant laugh.

"But the Tian Qilian is different. It's a huge organization that controls more than half of the powerhouse giru factions. More than half of the girou of the great powers are under their control. Of course, there's Chong Lian, but almost all of the giru are subordinate to them. Technically, they're not giru, they're courtesans. In fact, they're the ones who protect the rights of the prostitutes from the giru, and there are even stories of their methods being quite covert and brutal. But for the socially disadvantaged prostitutes, their organization is like a savior. They selflessly pass on what they see and hear. The amount of information they have is enormous, and because of the nature of their organization, they have deep ties to power."

When the topic of information came up, Jang Hong got pretty heated.

"Moreover, it is said that the finest courtesans there actually bewitch men into becoming their slaves. Rumor has it that they take fair girls from an early age and train them in special ways to seduce and tease men. It's a shuddering tale, if true."

I exaggeratedly shook my shoulders to see if I was getting cold just thinking about it.

"It's probably true, otherwise it wouldn't be there."

From the look on her face, it was clear that she wasn't too pleased with the celadon.

"In the meantime, I'll tell you what I know about the other six, so it'll be easier for you later."

In fact, she was in the position of having to make sure they didn't know much about it so that they would be harmed later. She shouldn't have let them get away with it. But none of that seemed to matter to her now. She seemed to be a bit oblivious to her situation.

"The man who attacked Confucius's side with a sword like an iron skewer is the sixth of the seven thousand and seventh, a man named Zhan Mu, a man of one point blood, a man of no emotion. In fact, he has only a name and a star, and his entire biography is shrouded in secrecy, even his origins, but as his attack just now showed, he is a master of stealth and stealthy, vicious one-bladed sword."

She recalled the sixth attack from earlier.

"It was definitely an assassin's sword, and there's a good chance it was a very competent killer, and he's an expert."

By expert, I mean someone with more blood on their sword. It makes sense that a descendant of a true assassin would hide his identity so thoroughly.

"The fifth attacker, the chain-sword wielder, is Shoufeng and Omunchu, who use a scythe in their left hand and a chain-sword in their right."

"It was a pretty unusual weapon, something I'd never seen before."

Bi recalls.

"A weapon called the Kusarigama. I've heard tales of such strange weapons on the small island nation of Why, far from Zhongyuan. I had also heard rumors that the Temple of Heaven sometimes interacted with the warriors of Why."

Like licorice in a medicine cabinet, Jang Hong interjected again.

People were impressed that he seemed to have picked up a lot of things. It wouldn't be wrong to call it a 'rumor mill'.

"Kusa… what?"

"Why are you speaking in an unintelligible dialect?" she asked.

"Ku-sa-ri-ga-ma! That's the Wichita word for weapon."

Jang Hong repeated in a gruff voice.

"Wow, you know that?"

"Well, I needed it!"

I'm not saying there aren't a few more things you can do.

Turns out, he wasn't just any old uncle.

"It's true, some ministries have sent people to study with the martial artists of Why, and he was probably trained by one of them. Their groups are very different from the Zhongyuan, and there's a lot to learn from them."

Eun confirmed his words.

"Buy is……."

She was just about to describe the fourth of the seven girls when Jang Hong interrupted again, but this time with a different attitude.

"Bai Xiaoying, age 28, Sectarian Poisonous Sword, Qi Wen Wei, Sectarian Poisonous Sword, and Sectarian Poisonous Sword, Twelve Blind Children!"

Jang Hong listed the information about him in a very businesslike tone. But there was a hint of discomfort in his words.

"Gee, you know your stuff, Zhang Confucius!"

Eunsulan said in wonder.

"Well, a little……."

Jang Hong didn't want to bring up that part of the story anymore. Eunuch Snow Lan also didn't mention it anymore and moved on. Everyone has one or two things in their heart that they can't talk about. The man in front of her seemed to have a few too many.

"The third man who attacked with the whip was Sagal Sword, a disciple and son of Sagal Demon Spirit, a master of the three thousand and one gates, who wields a dark whip with a sword blade as freely as if it were a part of his body. He is as cruel and strange in his ways as he is in his name, and his heart is as sinister as his face."

"That's right, he's got a really snakey look to him, with his eyes gaping left and right and a shallow lower canal, and he gave me a look earlier and I got goosebumps all over my body."

Lee Jin-sul said with a disgusted expression. The chills still hadn't subsided.

"Rumor has it he has bad taste in women, so be careful what you say."

Eunsulan warned. Apparently, he's been spreading all sorts of unflattering rumors.

"The man who used the second spear to strike seven times was called Zhong Lichu, the Seven Spears, so named because he could strike with seven spears at the same time. He was a master who was unrivaled even in the Temple of Heaven when it came to spears. It was said that once he struck with his spear, he could turn anything into powder, whether it was a tree, a rock, or a person."

"I've never seen anyone throw a spear that fast, it's frighteningly fast, especially the last strike, it's so powerful it sent shivers down my spine."

Lee Jin-sul said in an exclamatory tone.

"Certainly, with that kind of speed and destructive power, it would not be inferior to that of Gu Tianhua, the master of the Shadowless Spear."

Jang Hong voiced his opinion, even mentioning the name of the former master of the Iron Sculpture Temple. Then Bi Ryuyeon spoke up.

"Oh, that guy on horseback with the five-star muklong spear or something, he's got five spears and this guy has seven, so he must be a lot stronger!"

The math was strange enough to make an astronomer roll his eyes and run down the street. It was hard to tell if he was serious or joking.

"Let's just move on."

Jang Hong suggested the most sensible course of action, and Eun Seolan nodded in agreement.

"Finally, the first person to attack with the giant sword deformity was a man named Chu Ming, the first ranked of the Thousand and Seven Girls, who is recognized as the strongest of the Seven Girls."

"Come to think of it, his weapon was pretty unusual, too."

Bi Ryuyeon said, remembering the black object on his back.

"It's a type of spinneret, and it's called the Black Wing because of its inky black glossy color, and its black wings are said to be so tenacious that they never let go of their prey once they've set their sights on it."

But a moment earlier, Bi Ryuyeon had managed to dodge the black hawk's claws.

"He is said to be very reticent, but possesses a terrifying willpower to see through anything he sets his mind to, no matter what. Nothing is known about his teachers or his guru, and there are not many like him among the Thousand and Seven, which only adds to the suspicion of those around him, not to mention the curiosity. That's all I know about them."

Even for a native of Macheon, this seemed to be her limit.

"I've heard that they usually stay in the shadows and rarely appear under the sun… but to see them all at once like this……. I can't help but give it a second thought."

In particular, the Grand Duke was not light enough to be moved by a mere whim, for no reason at all. But the more he thought about it, the deeper he fell into a quagmire.

"Did you see those eyes?"

Bi Ryuyeon asked, turning to Na Yerin.

"Yes!"

Na Yerin nodded. Certainly his eyes were not the kind that could be easily forgotten.

"Well, do you know what the meaning is in those eyes? Yerin would have recognized it, wouldn't she?"

"A little; his eyes were so straight and full of solid conviction, as if it were the truth of the world, and perhaps to him it is the truth of the world."

I say to myself, this is amazing.

"Yes, you saw it right, he's full of absolute confidence in his victory, not a shred of doubt or hesitation as Turlock, and that confidence is so intense, it's like looking at the sun."

It was a different kind of arrogance; it was clear that he thought it was an absolute, immutable truth.

"But what's that……?"

I had a hard time figuring out the intent of asking such a question out of the blue.

"Oh, it's no big deal, just seeing something like that makes me want to smash it, and don't you just love the look on his face when his ego is crushed?"

Bi Ryuyeon smiled wryly as she casually spoke the terrifying words. Everyone stared at this clueless man in disbelief.

"What's inside that head?

The urge to pry open the lid and peer inside tickled their bodies.

"Seventeen thousand and seven…, such a distinguished personality, with seven servants…………. Grand Duchess Bi, you are no ordinary person after all!"

Jang Hong looked off into the distance with a wary look in his eyes.

"I'm sure he's got something dark up his sleeve!"

Bi Ryuyeon said with conviction in her voice.

"It's a poison……."

He muttered in a small voice.

"This is definitely going to be interesting."

It wasn't a hunch, it was a conviction.

'It might be fun to see how deadly it turns out to be…….'

She was the kind of actress who could make scary thoughts seem effortless.

"That, that, that!"

The old man watched the young people, a thin smile spreading across his face.

"He's on fire like that, so youth is a good thing after all."

The old man was in good shape, even though he was about to bleed out at any moment.

"When you're young, you grow up fighting!"

According to the old man's theory, it would take a war for the young to grow up.

"It's nice to see you're so confident.

The old man was pleased with himself for thinking so. Confidence, to be sure, was a privilege of youth. But this privilege sometimes leads to a loss of control and self-restraint, often to runaway behavior, to pride and arrogance, and finally to outrageous recklessness.

"Victory……."

I'm sure they don't know about it yet, and I'm sure they won't, because they won't hear about it from someone who competed in the last competition.

"Hoo hoo…, I hope you don't get disappointed when you realize the true nature and substance of this competition."

That would break the old man's heart, he lamented. The old man sighed, but in spite of the arguments in his head, the old man's mouth curled into a smile of delight.

The old man is waiting, for the moment. With reverence, like a gourmet waiting for the main course…….

Who can stop an old man who's lived long enough?