Volcanic Age

The war was between the Red House (紅樓) and the Blue House (靑樓).

While the two brothels still did business at night, after the sun came up, the bloody secret struggles continued.

Even within the Xia Wu Sect, the two brothels were branches that focused on attacking each other in a way that kept their battles out of sight. Occasionally, they even fought in the open.

Things might have been different during the day, but at night, Zhengzhou was dangerous. It was a place where even the imperial government's troops wouldn't patrol.

To be precise, the imperial government's troops actually did 'patrol' the streets of Zhengzhou, entering the red light district under the guise of maintaining public order and using their position to obtain free services.

After all, the red light district of Zhengzhou was also under the command of the imperial government.

"Hahaha!"

A martial artist of the Red House, the Head Splitting Ax (斧頭劈), burst into laughter.

"Hiiing, great sir~."

The two courtesans, with their white necks and shoulders exposed, laughed seductively while touching their chests to the Head Splitting Ax on either side, causing the leg of his pants to bulge. With alcohol in one hand and women in the other, the corners of his mouth reached his ears.

The Head Splitting Ax, as his title suggested, was a martial artist who split the heads of his enemies with an ax. Although he may have only been a Second Class martial artist, he was considered quite decent within the Xia Wu Sect.

Running away to the Xia Wu Sect was a good decision.

He had once been a martial artist of the Evil Valley, but his countless evil deeds eventually earned him their hatred.

So, he ran away and slipped into the red light district of Zhengzhou, where he was soon hired by the Red House.

Not long ago, he had split the heads of all the enemies sent by the Blue House to target the Red House. For that feat, he was rewarded with a month's worth of loot and two courtesans to enjoy himself with.

"Hehe. Now. Let me have a taste of some wine that has settled in the valley."

The Head Splitting Ax sneered, his eyes drifting to the courtesan’s chest with sinister intent.

"You've got quite the ample chest for it, too. Why not try drinking from your own valley?"

"Which bastard said that?!"

The sudden intrusion snapped him out of his drunken daze.

Grabbing the ax he had left on the floor, the Head Splitting Ax leaped to his feet.

"Kya!"

The courtesans who had been attached to his side fell to the ground and fled to the corner of the room.

"The Herald of Death," Zhou Xuchuan, wearing a mask over his face, answered.

"Dressed in black from head to toe and wearing a mask, you must have come to kill me secretly. Little brat, did you come here knowing who I am?"

"Yeah, you're the Head Kissing Ax or something like that. The Blue House wants your head, so I've come to take it in their stead."

"To think you would butcher the title of a soon-to-be Great Hero with your own little mouth. I'll make you regret it."

The Head Splitting Ax picked up the wine bottle, took another sip, and hurled it at Zhou Xuchuan.

Zhou Xuchuan simply raised his hand and cut the wine bottle in half with a dagger.

As the bottle split in half, spilling the wine inside, an ax filled with bloodlust quickly followed.

As expected of someone from the Evil Faction, the Head Splitting Ax was a skilled fighter. Zhou Xuchuan admired his skill inwardly, thrusting forward like a bolt of lightning.

"Huh?"

Clang!

The dagger met the ax’s blade with a force so great that the Head Splitting Ax’s wrists trembled.

‘When did he—?’

The Head Splitting Ax hadn't even seen or sensed the dagger until it collided with his ax.

‘He’s a master.’

More than that, the qi imbued in the dagger was too strong. It was no surprise that it could stop his ax. In fact, his ax had nearly been knocked aside by the sheer force of it.

The Head Splitting Ax was smarter than most people gave him credit for. His intuition, in particular, was extraordinary. That was why he had been able to escape the Evil Faction so easily.

"I don't know who you are, but just wait a—"

Squelch!

That was the last thing the Head Splitting Ax ever said.

Before he could even finish his sentence, his neck snapped back with a sickening crack.

His eyes were wide with fear as a dagger lodged itself in the center of his forehead.

"Mmmmh!"

Instead of screaming, the courtesans muffled themselves, covering their mouths with their hands and sobbing silently. Most courtesans who witnessed fights happen before them ended up dying after screaming in surprise.

After all, if they made a fuss, the enemy would quickly notice them and come running to silence them. So, the two courtesans held back their screams and fear, hoping to survive.

Zhou Xuchuan ignored the courtesans, approached the Head Splitting Ax, pulled out his dagger, and severed the warrior's hand before putting it into his pocket.

"Who else is here?"

Zhou Xuchuan wasn't standing in the Red House right now.

The Head Splitting Ax was so debaucherous that the brothel had been afraid of him disturbing their other guests, so they had prepared a separate place for him to enjoy himself and sent the courtesans and the alcohol to him.

“That-that…"

The courtesan, through her tears, stammered but answered diligently in order to survive.

There were two other martial artists of the Red House that were on the Blue House's list, both just as ill-tempered as the Head Splitting Ax.

While they weren't all that impressive, since he had come all this way anyway, Zhou Xuchuan also killed them as well and brought his trophies to the Blue House.

The next day.

The martial artists of the Red House were found dead in an unexpected attack. Meanwhile, the Blue House was happy that it had been able to get revenge for the attack it had suffered not too long ago.

Zhou Xuchuan handed over the three severed hands.

“What did you say your name was?” the Blue House's Madam said, looking at the hands and smiling gently.

“Dagger Phantom.”

“What do you want? Money? Alcohol? A courtesan? Just say it.”

“I want to sleep with the Blue House’s Head Madam.”

"Oho, so you want quite a big prize."

The Blue House's Head Madam was once the best courtesan in Zhengzhou. However, she had now retired to become the Head Madam and was in charge of managing the courtesans.

It wasn't that she had completely stopped doing night accompaniments; rather, her fame and wealth had made it no longer worthwhile to entertain just any ordinary client.

Although she was in her thirties, thanks to her mastery of the Beautification Art (駐顔術), she was said to still be just as beautiful as she had been when she was active.

"If that's the case, then come back after taking care of the Red House's Singing Hacker (斬樂歌). I'll at least set up a meeting then," the Madam said.

"The Singing Hacker?"

The employees behind the Madam were surprised to hear the name.

“Understood.”

After accepting the request, Zhou Xuchuan left the Blue House.

"Is he planning on killing that expert?"

"Even if a night with the Head Madam is the best bed in Zhengzhou, that's insane."

“Those blinded by pleasure will die easily.”

The Singing Hacker was different from ordinary warriors or martial artists. He was a famous expert in the Red House—no, in all of Zhengzhou.

Before coming to Zhengzhou, he had taken pleasure in cutting down all kinds of people, even singing songs in front of their corpses.

As time passed, he became more infamous, and right before he was designated as a Demon Head, he fled and vanished, only to show up again in Zhengzhou.

Now, he belonged to the Red House and laughed like a lunatic whenever he slaughtered those of the Blue House or, really, anyone who got in his way.

"I mean, why did she have to make him go for the Singing Hacker?"

"Looking at his skills, we could have used him a little longer…"

It wasn't that they felt bad for Zhou Xuchuan, the Dagger Phantom. They just regretted not using him a little more.

"Well, whatever. There are plenty of bastards like that anyway."

There were many who took refuge in the red light district of Zhengzhou and confidently accepted work as if they were the greatest at everything, trying to make a name for themselves.

The Madam had also thought the same and hoped that Zhou Xuchuan could at least take off one of the Singing Hacker's arms.

Hearing that, the Blue House employees made a small bet.

"I'll bet that he wouldn't even be able to approach the Singing Hacker and would die before he got close."

"Pssh, the Head Splitting Ax wasn't some nobody, right? Shouldn't he be able to take off a finger at least?"

Most of the Xia Wu Sect members bet that Dagger Phantom would die. However, none of them could have ever expected the result.

“The Singing Hacker is dead!”

“They said he was found in his room with his head cut off!”

The Singing Master, once praised as an expert, had been found as a cold corpse. What was even scarier was that he had been in a room within the Red House.

His cultivation was so high and there were so many people who had died after offending him, so none of the employees had dared to kick him out.

"Apparently, the Red House didn't even know someone had broken in."

"I heard from a friend that there was no sign of struggle in the room."

"Wow, just how great is his cultivation?"

“Who is he?”

“The Silent Messenger (無音使者)!”

Although no one knew that he was actually Zhou Xuchuan, that didn't mean he hadn't been given a title.

He was referred to as the Silent Messenger because he took lives silently.[1]

The next time he visited Blue House, the treatment he received was noticeably different.

No, it wasn’t exactly treatment. Rather, their caution had significantly increased.

The Madam he had seen before was standing there with a frightened look on her face, and behind him stood the martial artists of the Blue House, looking extremely tense.

"P-please come in."

"The Blue House's Head Madam?"

"Ahem. First, how about we start with a drink—eek!"

The Madam began, but her words were cut off as a dagger flew past her head, slicing her earlobe and drawing blood.

The guards immediately responded and drew their swords hesitantly. Their faces had turned pale.

An expert capable of killing the Singing Hacker without making a sound wasn’t ordinary, and certainly not someone a force like the Xia Wu Sect could handle.

There were people like this every now and then. They were too strong to generally join the ranks of the Xia Wu Sect, only joining to find women or information.

“Enough.”

A soft voice was heard from the railing upstairs.

When Zhou Xuchuan raised his head, he saw a woman with a veil covering her face.

Since the curves of her body were clearly visible, even the Xia Wu Sect members of the Blue House were mesmerized.

“I apologize, sir. The Madam’s decision to allow you to have a night with me was made on her own. She says that she never expected you to be such an expert. I apologize on her behalf.”

Judging from the atmosphere and her appearance, she was definitely the Blue House's Head Madam. Zhou Xuchuan looked over at the Madam. From his expression, it seemed that the Blue House's Head Madam was telling the truth.

"I've always heard that the faults of one's subordinates are the responsibility of the master. Since I killed the required target, the Singing Hacker, please give me my compensation."

“Oh my. It's delightful to hear that you want me so fervently. Please, allow me to serve you."

The Blue House's Head Madam glared at the Madam, then walked over to Zhou Xuchuan and linked arms with him.

‘How envious.’

‘To think he gets to hold the Blue House's Head Madam.’

‘Wow. My dream was to spend a night with the Blue House's Head Madam before I die!’

Despite her age, the Blue House's Head Madam was extremely popular in Zhengzhou.[2] So much so that her skills in bed were rumored to have literally serviced many men to death.

The higher the floor of the Blue House, the more expensive it was to rent.

The highest floor wasn't something that could be purchased with money alone.

In a room attached to the Madam's office, the Blue House's Head Madam called a few courtesans over and prepared a sumptuous feast.

"If it's okay with you, would you like to taste one of our promising young ones first?"

"I'm not interested, so tell everyone else to leave. I want a private dinner."

"I fully understand that you love me, but before you taste something really delicious, don't you think an appetizer is…"

"If you want me to start with the taste of your blood, then go ahead and continue," Zhou Xuchuan warned, his voice low and grave.

Then, the Blue House’s Head Madam's expression changed.

Sensing something odd, she made the other courtesans leave. She also sent away the nearby guards.

She could sense it with a single glance. The Silent Messenger wasn't an ordinary expert.

Even if those idiots were to conceal themselves, they would only end up irritating him.

‘Looking at him, he doesn't seem to be the kind of gentleman who would be gentle. He'll probably try to rape me like a beast in heat. How worrisome.’

The Blue House's Head Madam sighed inwardly.

While she was used to dealing with men, she sometimes had run-ins with tiresome ones like the man in front of her. With a helpless expression, she moved to light some incense that would stimulate arousal in order to lessen the pain of what she was about to go through.

"Then let's start talking seriously now."

‘Is he saying he wants to swear harshly while doing it? I'm fucked.’

The Blue House's Head Madam shivered.

"Actually, I have no intention of sleeping with the Madam."

‘No, could it be? Is he one of those perverts who feel pleasure through violence? This is a big problem!’

The Blue House's Head Madam turned a pale blue, matching her title.

She suddenly thought about fleeing and mobilizing the Blue House's martial artists to try to kill this bastard.

Sometimes, there were some crazy psychopaths who could only feel sexual pleasure from beating courtesans to the brink of death. Those types were the worst.

“What I want is information on the Xia Wu Sect.”

"Isn't there anyone out the— huh? What did you say?"

1. You don't say. ☜

2. This is the second mention of age, so I just wanted to clarify. Please see TL notes. ☜

Cyncoco's Thoughts

1. Just because a woman reaches thirty doesn't mean she's undesirable.

2. No, seriously.

Okay, now that's out of the way, there are a few factors as to why they keep mentioning the Blue House's Head Madam's age.

1. The average age of people in Ancient China/Korea was roughly the early thirties. So, reaching your thirties meant you were old.

2. While cultivation/murim/etc novels mean that the overall lifespan is a little longer, the thirties are still reaching the latter half of normal people's lives.

3. This is doubly so considering her profession - courtesan. Most clients of a brothel in any society looked for young, seemingly innocent courtesans, and the younger they were, the better. People paid high prices for virgins. Hence, being an experienced, older courtesan generally should have meant that she was less desirable.

But-

The entire emphasis on her being in her thirties and thus being old and therefore was "supposed to be undesirable," and only through the fact that she was "so beautiful and good at bedtime" that she was still seen as desirable left a bad taste in my mouth, and I wanted to explain that it's just thematically accurate, not the actual beliefs of the author.

Anyways, yeah age doesn't mean anything.

Thank you for attending my rant.

Also also, that's title number EIGHT for Zhou Xuchuan lmao.

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