Chapter 22: The Lecherous Physician Geum Tae-yang (2)
Chapter 22: The Lecherous Physician Geum Tae-yang (2)
It was a few weeks after I had settled in this village. Maybe that was why she was taking the bait.
From Chi-chi's explanation, the woman who had made an appointment and then left was indeed the second candidate for a wife I had been aiming for.
A woman with ominous white hair, whose enormous, cow's-udder-like breasts couldn't be concealed even beneath her loose hemp robe. Chi-chi had said that rather than looking old, her face had the air of someone with years of experience behind her. Perhaps "mature-looking" was the right way to put it.
At any rate, judging by how Chi-chi—herself a rare white-haired beauty with a voluptuous figure in the Central Plains—had described her breasts as cow's udders, I was sure she was the woman I had in mind.
A woman who already belonged to someone, and yet was attractive enough to make the list of candidates for a wife.
"Pardon me."
"Come in."
"My name is Seol Yu-ran. I made an appointment yesterday."
Oh, wow.
The woman who opened the door to the clinic and stepped inside was the owner of an explosively curvaceous figure. If a dairy cow took human form, would she have a body with curves quite like these?
She was wearing a loose hemp robe and doing her best to hide her figure, but she couldn't escape the eyes of Chi-chi and me, both Peak Realm masters.
I can't see it clearly. Since she's below me, she hasn't reached Super Peak—but if it's hard to make out... does that mean she's skilled enough to reach Super Peak if she gets the right opportunity?
I could tell she hadn't reached such a level of martial prowess for nothing, even after becoming a mad avenger over the death of her family.
The white-haired, cow-uddered woman also stared at Chi-chi and me with wide eyes, as if surprised.
Her expression said that she had never dreamed a shameless lecher like me could be a Super Peak master.
It seemed she had roughly seen through our realms, too.
"How could masters like you possibly be in a place like this...?"
"Hmm. Miss, why don't you come in first? Let's have a conversation."
"This isn't a trap, is it?"
I did want to pounce on her that very moment and rut with her in a storm of passion, but I wondered for an instant how she might react if I told her it wasn't a trap. In the end, for the sake of the greater cause, I held back this innocent curiosity.
Faced with a meeting with two Super Peak masters who had suddenly appeared in a quiet village, she grew wary.
Her gaze was sharp as frost, so cold it felt as though a chill were coming off it. If I hadn't reached Super Peak, the moment I received that look, I might have imagined myself lying naked and abandoned on a snowy plain in the dead of night.
Of course, if I hadn't reached Super Peak, I wouldn't have received a look like that in the first place.
"There's no trap. I am merely the leader of the One-Person Inheritance sect, the Post-Nut Clarity Sect, and a cultivator who pursues sensuality."
"You pursue sensuality... Could you possibly be from the unorthodox faction?"
"I am not. I don't take anyone by force. Our sect's rule is that we only enter into a relationship after obtaining the other person's sincere consent. Have you ever heard that I force myself on patients while working as a physician on the side?"
"No, I haven't. Yes, I'm sorry."
"Then please, come on in now. It goes against our sect's rules to leave a beautiful woman like you standing there without offering her hospitality, so I hope you'll forgive me."
"...Yes."
She followed us farther into the clinic, but she didn't let her guard down. She said as much, but the fact that she was actually still wary didn't mean her brain was as empty as her tits were big.
I was truly relieved that this wasn't one of those old-fashioned stories where big breasts meant a brain full of air.
Since I had only known her as the woman who appeared after losing her family and going mad in the original story, her wary attitude reassured me. I had no idea what her true nature had been like before that.
"Miss, let's start by introducing ourselves. I'm Geum Tae-yang, leader of the Post-Nut Clarity Sect. And this woman dressed as a rabbit beside me is Chi-chi, who became my wife, even accepting our sect's rules."
"...Your wife? You have a wife? And yet you sexually harass other women in exchange for medical treatment?"
"It's our sect's rule. Of course, I didn't force them. It was all done as part of a fair exchange."
".........I see."
It took her quite a while to answer. She clearly didn't find it convincing at all, but her attitude suggested she was willing to let it pass for now.
Judging by her behavior, I could tell she had come because she had something truly important to discuss.
Important enough that she'd seen something she absolutely didn't want to see, then forced herself to ignore it and move on. I knew what that matter was, but I pretended not to and maintained my attentive listening posture.
Now that I was seeing her up close, though, she really was a beautiful woman. It was hard to believe she was nearing forty.
"My name is Seol Yu-ran. I was an insignificant wandering martial artist."
"A wandering martial artist who broke through the wall, I see. To have reached the Peak Realm as a wandering martial artist, you must have extraordinary talent, Miss."
"Ahem. Please call me Madam Seol, not 'young lady.' I'm a married woman with a child—being called 'young lady' is rather embarrassing."
"Understood, Madam Seol."
It seemed the proper address had eased her discomfort considerably. Seol Yu-ran's expression relaxed further as she continued.
"But the problem is... perhaps because I practiced Ice Art. The daughter I bore with my husband was born with Severed Meridians."
"You wouldn't have known at first, I suppose. Severed Meridians typically become more apparent as one grows."
"Yes. My hair turned completely white like this only after I mastered Ice Art, but my daughter's hair was white from the moment it started growing. That's how I knew it was Severed Meridians."
If one's hair color was different from birth, nine times out of ten, it was Severed Meridians. Perhaps because this was a smut-novel world, such traits stood out especially starkly here.
Strong Yang Energy? Red hair.
Strong Yin Energy? White hair.
Take, for example, the martial artists of the North Sea, whose hair was white, or the successive heads of the Solar Demon House—one of the Absolute Demon Six Houses under the Heavenly Demon Cult—who were all born with red hair.
But being born with a different hair color meant one was inherently saturated with that energy from the start. In that sense, Seol Yu-ran's daughter was unmistakably a case of Severed Meridians.
And if she had white hair from birth, her Yin Energy was likely overwhelming—possibly even the worst-case scenario: Nine Yin Severed Meridians.
"I heard Physician Geum treats patients using the Post-Nut Clarity Sect's Yin-Yang Sexual Art. I also heard you don't take payment for treating children."
"That's correct. No matter how much of a lecher I am, or how strictly I adhere to my sect's doctrines, harming a sprout that hasn't even budded yet is pure wickedness. Even if our sect walks the path of desire, the reason we still call ourselves righteous is precisely because of principles like this."
"Then... could you examine my child? I'll compensate you generously."
"No need. What kind of compensation could a former wanderer offer? Besides, treating a child is simply the duty of an adult."
At my declaration of free treatment, Seol Yu-ran blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected me to actually offer it for nothing. She'd probably assumed I'd demand her body—or at least probe for the possibility.
But I didn't call myself the Lust Demon for nothing. Why else would I go to the trouble of dressing myself up as a righteous sect?
This was all part of the buildup to thoroughly win over the hearts of my future wives. Even if I couldn't make them think highly of righteous sects, at least I could prevent them from forming a bad impression first.
"...Really?"
After a long pause, Seol Yu-ran finally smiled for the first time.
"The righteous sect lives up to its name."
***
To examine the child, I followed Seol Yu-ran up the mountain to her home. I left Chi-chi in charge of guarding the clinic, which made her puff out her lips in protest—but a filthy, perverted kiss quickly placated her. Truly fitting for our Heavenly Demon, who loved those perverted kisses.
Seol Yu-ran, who had watched us swap saliva and work our tongues as if to devour each other right in front of her, froze in culture shock.
But if anything, witnessing such behavior only made my earlier declaration—that I wouldn't take payment for treating a child—more credible.
She must have assumed I wouldn't demand anything from her, a married woman.
"Hah. Living deep in the mountains like this... If you're thinking of the child, a remote place like this, where wild animals roam, isn't ideal, is it?"
"It's fine. I've set up a Simple Formation around the house—wild animals can't approach. The same goes for people."
"I see."
A mountain home where people couldn't approach...
Not bad. It was the perfect space for... discreet activities.
Of course, this arrangement was purely for the sake of her family's peaceful life.
"We're here. That's our home."
"A rustic cabin, but quite large. Too big for just one family."
"...My master used to live with us, long ago."
Seol Yu-ran spoke as if reminiscing. So it wasn't a family of three, but four at one point.
I followed her inside. Calling it a "cabin" was an understatement—it was a two-story duplex, spacious enough to be considered a proper estate.
As we stepped inside, I saw a bright-eyed little girl—and a broad-shouldered man standing protectively in front of her.
At the sight of the two of them, the frost in Seol Yu-ran's eyes melted away. They were her husband and little daughter.
"Physician Geum, these two are my husband and daughter."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Physician Geum. I'm—"
Cutting him off, I clasped my hands in a martial salute first and bowed my head.
"The Sect Master of the Post-Nut Clarity Sect pays his respects to the Sword Saint of Zhongnan."
"......"
Silence fell over the room. Had he really thought I wouldn't know who he was? Even Seol Yu-ran seemed taken aback, and the wariness in her eyes grew stronger.
Her husband, by contrast, seemed to grow less wary of me.
He looked pleased that someone still recognized him, despite the fact that he had vanished from the world.
"Physician Geum, do you know about this nobody?"
"How could those called members of the righteous path not know of the great hero Wi Ji-ja, a man of true chivalry? When the Minor Thunder Sound Temple from Beyond the Frontier invaded the Central Plains, he was at the very forefront and protected all the people from those foolish monks. The story of that day has been passed down to this day."
"Haha. Physician Geum, you're making me blush. I only did what any martial artist of the righteous path ought to do."
"No. Fifteen years ago, you single-handedly stopped the invasion of the Minor Thunder Sound Temple, called the Shaolin of Beyond the Frontier, then quietly disappeared. You truly deserve to be called a great hero."
Wi Ji-ja, the Zhongnan Sword Saint. He was an unfortunate martial artist who had gone into hiding after his lower dantian was destroyed, even before the original novel began. Once, he had broken through a barrier, reached the Peak Realm, and earned the title of Sword Saint. Then he stopped the Minor Thunder Sound Temple's attack and vanished.
His sudden disappearance had given rise to all sorts of rumors, but I knew the truth.
He went into hiding out of shame after his lower dantian was destroyed while he was holding off the abbot of the Minor Thunder Sound Temple.
And after that, he had fallen in love and made a lifelong vow with Seol Yu-ran, a disciple of a Mount Hua elder who had likewise gone into hiding after her lower dantian was destroyed.
You never know how a person's life will turn out, but who could have imagined the Zhongnan Sword Saint would end up like this?
The Mount Hua elder and his junior, the Zhongnan Sword Saint, had joined forces to stop the abbot of the Minor Thunder Sound Temple. But both of their lower dantians were destroyed, extinguishing their lives as martial artists.
Unable to accept that fact, the two of them went into hiding. Later, Seol Yu-ran, who became a disciple of the Mount Hua elder, was joined with him and became his wife.
And in the original story, he had already died by the time the Demonic Cult invaded. Once, he had even been called the Sword Saint, but how could he have resisted with not a trace of inner power left?
In the end, he was nothing but a sacrifice, there to drive Seol Yu-ran mad with rage and turn her into a vengeful demon after she lost both her husband and daughter.
Now that the original story had been derailed, he was destined to play the role of the husband who would be cuckolded when I stole his wife away.
"I heard it from my master. The Zhongnan Sword Saint defeated the abbot of the Minor Thunder Sound Temple alongside an elder of the Mount Hua Sect. My master said that the chivalrous deeds of those two heroes must never be forgotten."
"Come to think of it, Physician Geum, you said you were from the Post-Nut Clarity Sect. Divine Physician, was your master involved in that battle?"
"Yes. Unfortunately, my master hadn't managed to break through the barrier, and so could only watch from afar. But he told me it was the most stirring battle he had ever witnessed."
"Could I ask your master's name?"
"I'm afraid not."
I refused firmly, with a tone of genuine regret.
"My master said that he had accomplished far too little compared to the level his disciple had reached, and asked that I not spread his name. The Post-Nut Clarity Sect's rules are rather... fond of matters of the flesh, and he said he had no accomplishments that could make up for having to bear that."
"Good heavens. What kind of rules could they possibly be?"
When the conversation turned to the rules, even Seol Yu-ran, who hadn't been participating until then, seemed curious enough to listen closely.
I gave the two of them the very same explanation I had once given Chi-chi.
The sect's ultimate goal was to become Immortals by turning the moment of clarity that came from satisfying lust into enlightenment. When I laid it out for them, Seol Yu-ran furrowed her brow as if she found it scandalous, while Wi Ji-ja let out a cough, his expression suggesting it was far too lewd—and yet, somehow, understandable.
"Ahem. Your sect is certainly an unusual one."
"I understand if you think it's perverted. I'm simply grateful you haven't condemned us as unorthodox."
"I see now why Physician Geum was performing qi treatment out here in this secluded countryside and asking for people's bodies in return. If that is your sect's ultimate goal, then I suppose you had little choice."
"Thank you for understanding."
"By the way, there's something I'd like to ask you, Physician Geum. No—Sect Master of the Post-Nut Clarity Sect."
Wi Ji-ja focused his gaze on me as he spoke, exuding such an imposing presence that it was hard to believe he had lost his inner power after his lower dantian was destroyed.
"Can you really treat my little girl?"