episode_0045

“Sister, why did you suddenly ask to go to Chinatown?”

Sang-moon asks as he turns the steering wheel.

He carefully observes the demeanor of Juk-sa, who is sitting alone with her arms crossed.

Her expression is unusually fierce compared to usual.

Perhaps this sight is a first since the war with the Association.

“It seems like something happened to Si-ho.”

“What? To Si-ho?”

Sang-moon turns his head to look at Juk-sa.

She pushes her subordinate’s face away and gestures forward again.

“Focus on driving. The roads here are a mess.”

The man in the passenger seat takes a deep breath.

Steam blows out from his large ox-like nostrils.

Sang-moon checks on their subordinates’ cars through the side mirror.

Behind the black sedan they are in, various Starex and SUVs were abundant.

“Even so… calling almost all our employees…”

Sang-moon clears his throat as he turns the corner.

Juk-sa raises her sunglasses blankly.

“They are business partners. If I don’t save that kid, which businessman will protect us?”

The woman inside calmly tells her subordinate.

Sang-moon mutters to himself as if impressed by his superior’s words.

“As expected – you’re calling them business partners.”

He nods with a smile.

Juk-sa, seemingly displeased by his words, looks out the window.

A complex slum with tall buildings in between.

Even though it’s still May, the residents of Chinatown roam around in T-shirts.

Among them, a woman dressed entirely in black catches Juk-sa’s eye.

As she focuses on the woman, she taps Sang-moon’s shoulder.

“Wait.”

Sang-moon steers the car towards where she indicated.

Thanks to this, their subordinates’ cars slow down in a funeral procession-like manner.

“Anna!”

At Juk-sa’s call, the woman wearing a hat stands still.

She holds some clothes in her hand.

Clothes that Si-ho wore from the department store…

The moment Juk-sa realizes this fact, her face drastically changes.

Before the car even stops, she quickly gets out and approaches Anna.

“You, you little…”

Juk-sa grabs Anna by the collar.

Her tightly clinging sleeve stretches out.

“What did you do to Si-ho?”

Anna looks at Juk-sa with a dry expression.

The killer’s face is filled with traces of dried tears.

Juk-sa is inwardly taken aback by her unexpected reaction.

In the meantime, Anna easily breaks free from Juk-sa’s grip on her wrist.

“He left the clothes behind.”

Anna says to Juk-sa in a relaxed voice.

And she shows Si-ho’s clothes to her.

“He’s looking for them to return.”

“To return the clothes, so he was at your house a while ago?”

“Yes.”

They were together, and even changed clothes, causing Juk-sa to chuckle.

She thought Si-ho had gone home quietly after disappearing from the department store… Did Anna follow her?

Are they even sharing clothes now?

“He’s probably in his pajamas now.”

“You sent him out in pajamas in this weather?”

Is this kid thinking at all?

Juk-sa puts her hand on her waist as if she wants to strip Anna bare and turn her into a pile of flesh, but she had to be satisfied with just taking a deep breath.

Finding Si-ho is the priority for now.

“Well, fine. Tell me what happened at your house later, and why did the kid disappear?”

“When I told him to leave, he disappeared.”

A very clear and concise answer.

The woman regrets what she expected from this psycho.

This is the most dangerous place in lawless Korea, Chinatown.

If you go missing here, it’s almost as good as dead.

Juk-sa thinks hard.

When Si-ho answered the phone, he must have said he didn’t know where he was.

When he left the house chased by Anna, he would have said he ended up in Chinatown.

Therefore, he must have called me and disappeared right after hanging up.

In other words, the vanished place is near Anna’s house, which she first encountered in a Chinese village.

Having made up her mind, Jexa asks Anna, “Anna, where is your house?”

“My house? Why are you asking about that?” Anna eyes Jexa warily.

To a killer, a hideout is crucial.

“As I see it, Siho clearly disappeared near your house. Let’s track from there.”

After some thought, Anna eventually points to a building with her finger.

It’s a conspicuously tall officetel even in Chinatown.

It gives off a vibe of women frequenting it for business entertainment.

Jexa briefly lowers his sunglasses and scans the area with his naked eyes.

Suddenly, he notices a back alley.

Two women in flashy qipaos enter, chattering away.

Women entering such a shady alley—there’s a high chance a different red-light district lies beyond it, Jexa is certain.

One of the women takes out a cigarette.

An expensive one.

Usually smoked before she starts her work.

Having found a lead, Jexa loudly commands, “Hey, park the car.”

While the subordinates park, she and Anna head into the alley.

Soon, men in black suits start following her.

The sudden appearance of these organized members makes the Chinese people glance nervously at them.

But soon, the residents flee to their homes to avoid the rough-looking members of the organization.

Cigarette smoke fills the air.

Jexa casually flicks the butt to the ground.

“We start the investigation here. 160 cm tall. Short hair. Anyone who has seen a girl with a mole under her eye, bring them all in.”

“Understood!”

The men shout in unison.

Their voices drown out the noise of the Chinese people.

The members start moving busily.

They check stores and interrogate people in the alleys without discrimination.

Meanwhile, their leader gazes at the discarded cigarette butt.

She slowly pushes the remaining stub towards the drain.

“…?”

Something is visible below the drainage grate.

It’s a cellphone.

Jexa’s attention is drawn to its design as if she’s seen it before.

“This is…”

She retrieves leather gloves from her jacket pocket.

Putting them on, she carefully lifts the grate with them.

Then she takes out the phone and examines it closely.

Anna seems intrigued by her actions and approaches.

Raising an eyebrow, she says, “This… belongs to Siho.”

“I know. The question is, why is it here?”

Siho wouldn’t have thrown her phone down the drain herself.

And if she had accidentally dropped it, the power wouldn’t have been turned off like this.

She must have kept it on to wait for Jexa’s call.

Someone deliberately turned off and discarded her phone here.

Jexa looks around the drain slowly.

Soon, she spots a nearby brothel.

There are two pimps outside, covering their mouths with fans, scanning for customers.

As they watch, two women approach from a distance.

“Oh, we don’t have male hosts…”

One of the women awkwardly tells Jexa in broken Korean.

The woman in qipao beside her nudges her colleague playfully.

“You never know. Maybe our taste suits them.”

They giggle among themselves as if finding the killers amusing.

Wanting to maintain a ‘gentlemanly’ demeanor, Jexa clenches her fist discreetly.

However, there was no need to hide her fist.

Before Jexa could act, Anna rushes forward and grabs one of the pimps by the throat.

The sudden pain contorts the woman’s face drastically, almost ruining her makeup.

“Siho. Where is she?”

“W-Who’s Siho?”

The pimp stammers nervously.

Her companion, startled, flees into the store.

“Short hair. A girl with dark circles under her eyes. Have you seen her before?”

Instead of Anna, who was somewhat awkward in communication, Jexa asked.

However, the woman did not respond to that question at all.

Even though she seemed to know something by the look in her eyes.

Anna’s hand began to twist Changbu’s neck even more.

Jexa calmly watched this scene and pulled out a cigarette case.

A matchbox.

When he realized this fact, the killer in Baek-an felt disgusted.

As she gripped the last dagger, a large man emerged from the store.

The man had a large tiger tattoo on his shoulder, wearing a sleeveless outfit.

“What are you doing to our people?”

Anna looked at the man while clutching Changbu’s neck.

In order to prevent that sight, the man swung a huge fist.

At that moment, the killer in Baek-an carelessly let go of Changbu.

And she grabbed the flying man’s arm and twisted it immediately.

“—!”

Seeing a combat technique she had never seen before, the man stiffened like an animal.

He groaned in severe pain and spoke in Chinese.

Loud.

Exhaling cigarette smoke, the silver-haired killer said to the blonde killer.

“Anna.”

“What is it?”

“Kill this guy.”

“I was planning on it.”

Anna drew a dagger with her other hand.

And ruthlessly thrust it into the man’s body.

Seeing her fierce appearance, the remaining Changbu covered her face.

Even she, who had witnessed all sorts of cruel scenes in Chinatown, was just a frightened woman in front of Anna.

Jexa asked her.

“Tell me what you know. Otherwise, you’ll end up like him?”

Anna hadn’t stabbed all of the man’s vital points yet.

In the past, she would have slashed his throat without hesitation, but she deliberately spared the man.

Has he changed a bit since they last met?

“Look… I saw it.”

“Right. Tell me slowly.”

Jexa said in a reassuring voice, trying to calm her down.

Lighting the final match.

“They took Wicheongsan to the store.”

“Wicheongsan?”

Jexa’s eyebrows twitched at the name she had never heard before.

She should have visited Dariwal in Chinatown.

“He runs the biggest entertainment establishment in Daerim… He’s someone all the women in Chinatown respect…”

Trembling, Changbu muttered.

As Jexa couldn’t hear her well, she squatted down to face her.

The beautiful-faced killer asked again.

“Where is this entertainment establishment?”

“It’s Hongjeopru…”

As if mesmerized by its beauty, Changbu pointed to a building with her finger.

It was a luxurious tavern with a Chinese-style tiled roof.

“Let’s go, Anna. We’ve got the location.”

The silver-haired killer took a deep breath.

And pulled the bloody dagger out of the man.

Thanks to that, the man collapsed to the ground.

Only the flimsy signboard broke under his weight.

“Send him to the hospital. He might survive if we’re lucky.”

Jexa put on her jacket.

Then she called Sangmun and ordered all her subordinates to gather at Hongjeopru.

Meanwhile, Anna hurriedly headed to the tavern.

Jexa hung up the phone and followed her immediately.

“—.”

From afar, the sound of a play could be heard.

Following the song, as they climbed the hill, the grand entrance of the tavern unfolded.

A faint scent of herbs wafted from inside the store.

Jexa recognized this smell.

It was a drug from the past, offered to her business partner in China.

A dog-like aphrodisiac that excites women and clouds their judgment.

The chairman of Ilsim refused to buy such impure goods.

But it seems that illegal immigrants have secretly smuggled these items into Chinatown.

Is this novice without any combat skills really here?

Jexa sighed deeply with furrowed brows.

It was because just imagining the possible fate of that incompetent girl here was horrifying.

“—!”

While contemplating her next move, Anna kicked the door of the store without hesitation.

The massive gate that seemed like Mount Tai crumbled like tofu, and the shards scattered everywhere.

In that scene, the counter staff fell into contemplation.

“——, —.”

They muttered in Chinese as they took a step back.

Anna ignored their words and walked on.

She was of Russian descent, after all.

She didn’t know a lick of Chinese.

“Shiho!”

A woman with white eyes shouted loudly.

Jeoksa observed Anna in that state.

Noting how her emotions seemed richer than before.

Anna was angry now.

Jeoksa couldn’t tell if she was angry at Shiho or at herself.

But one thing was certain…

Today, everyone in this store would die.

Jeoksa wasn’t feeling any better than Anna.