Chapter 629: Let’s Cut It Off.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 629: Let’s Cut It Off.
"..........Woof."
Upon returning to his quarters, Sun-woo slumped over.
All the strength had drained from his body. It was the result of enduring Tang Seo-yoon’s nagging for an incredibly long time.
I’m exhausted.
Sun-woo felt an immense wave of fatigue. He had thought that after reaching the Profound Realm, his body would no longer feel tired under normal circumstances, but it seemed mental exhaustion was a different story entirely.
Thud.
Sun-woo collapsed right where he stood. He didn't want to do anything. He just wanted to fall into a deep sleep.
Knock, knock, knock, knock.
Just then, the sound of someone knocking on his door reached his ears.
"Who is it?" Sun-woo asked, looking toward the door.
"It’s me."
A familiar voice pierced through the air.
Twitch.
Sun-woo’s body gave a small shudder. It was the voice of the very person who had been berating him for over half a shijin.
"Woof... woof. Woof-woof?" Sun-woo immediately started barking nonsense.
"Speak like a human. You don't have to bark anymore."
"Wh-what... what is it?"
Now that he had permission to speak, Sun-woo asked her in a trembling voice.
"I came because I have something to say."
Her voice sounded nonchalant as she spoke.
Spring!
Sun-woo scrambled to his feet. He hurriedly began to straighten his clothes.
"Come in."
He spoke while watching the door with a nervous gaze.
Creeeeeak.
The door opened, and the woman who had been making him tremble revealed herself.
Hair as fine as ebony. Eyes that slanted upward slightly like a cat’s. A sharp, straight nose. Alluring red lips.
The woman known as the Greatest Beauty of Sichuan.
The Poison Xi Shi, Tang Seo-yoon.
"W-welcome."
Seeing her, Sun-woo began to tremble slightly, like a mouse before a cat. It seemed the side effects of her nagging hadn't worn off yet.
"Why are you shaking like that? Like someone who’s committed a crime..."
Tang Seo-yoon let out a small smirk as she watched Sun-woo tremble.
"I just got scolded like that... isn't this a natural reaction?"
"It was only half a shijin. What’s the big deal?" Tang Seo-yoon replied with an indifferent expression.
"The person being scolded was shaking in extreme terror, you know..."
"Stop lying. You did nothing but whimper the whole time."
Tang Seo-yoon looked at Sun-woo with an incredulous stare. Throughout the entire lecture, Sun-woo had done nothing but whimper in dog sounds. How could a guy like that claim to be terrified? If anything, he was mocking her.
"That’s because... you told me to only make dog sounds..."
"And you actually barked for half a shijin? Without even an apology?"
"........I suppose that’s true."
Sun-woo conceded. It was true that he had only barked and listened to her nag without actually offering a proper apology.
"I’m sorry."
Sun-woo apologized immediately.
"Are you actually sorry?"
Tang Seo-yoon glared at him with suspicious eyes. She couldn't feel any sincerity in his apology.
"...........I am reflecting deeply..." Sun-woo mumbled.
"Then tell me."
".........What?"
"Who are the four women you seduced?" Tang Seo-yoon asked, her gaze fixed directly on him.
"...........This is embarrassing."
Sun-woo’s face flushed slightly. The women he had seduced were all Lee Jae-won’s wife and daughters. Being asked to list them out loud made him feel an awkward sense of shame.
"I need to know who they are so I can figure out how to handle this, don't I?"
"............."
She wasn't wrong. To manage the situation, she needed to know exactly who the women were—if only to prevent any future disasters.
"Paeng Ga-ryeon......"
"Paeng Ga-ryeon? The Law Enforcement Hall Master? Are you insane? That woman is your enemy! She framed you and tried to kill you! You seduced a woman like that?"
Tang Seo-yoon’s eyes narrowed into a sharp glare. She thought he was being incredibly thoughtless. How could he just go and seduce a woman who had tried to have him killed? It was absurd.
"And..... her daughter, Lee Gi-yeon...."
"You crazy bastard!"
Tang Seo-yoon finally shouted. Her blood pressure was spiking just listening to this. Paeng Ga-ryeon was one thing, but why seduce her daughter too? That meant one man had seduced both mother and daughter at the same time.
"Are you mad? Have you lost your mind?"
"There’s..... a deep story behind this......" Sun-woo mumbled in the face of her intense reaction.
"What kind of 'deep story' justifies taking both a mother and her daughter?"
Tang Seo-yoon rebuked him, unable to understand. There was no way she could. What possible reason could there be to seduce both?
".........The truth is....."
Sun-woo looked at her and began to slowly explain the circumstances. He told her everything regarding Paeng Ga-ryeon.
How he had followed her to get revenge. How he had accidentally witnessed her having an affair. How he had transformed into her lover, the Heavenly Dragon Sword Kang Myeong, to work on her. How her daughter, Lee Gi-yeon, had unexpectedly become infatuated with him. How he had used the daughter to blackmail the mother into submission. And finally, how he had taken the mother in front of the daughter to break her completely.
He told her everything.
"............."
Tang Seo-yoon listened to Sun-woo’s story with a calm, expressionless face. She didn't let a single emotion show.
After a while...
"......And that’s how it happened."
Sun-woo finished the entire story regarding Paeng Ga-ryeon and her daughter.
"Whew."
As soon as Sun-woo finished, Tang Seo-yoon let out a long sigh.
"So...... to summarize, you corrupted both mother and daughter simultaneously for the sake of revenge... is that it?"
She summarized his long-winded explanation into a single sentence.
"Well.... I guess you could put it that way?"
Sun-woo nodded. Though there were many details, that was the gist of it.
"Hey, Jang Sun-woo."
"....Yes?"
".....You’re real trash."
".........."
"Paeng Ga-ryeon is one thing, but what did the daughter do to deserve that?"
".........."
Sun-woo kept his mouth shut. He had no excuse. In truth, Lee Gi-yeon was innocent. She had never done anything to harm Jang Sam or Jang Sun-woo.
"Did you really have to sacrifice that girl for your revenge?" Tang Seo-yoon glared at him with sharp eyes. "Weren't you a victim yourself, sacrificed for someone else's greed?"
"..............."
"Did you, the victim, have to become the perpetrator?"
"............."
Sun-woo remained silent. Every word she said was right. He, too, had been a victim of the desires of Lee Jae-won, Paeng Ga-ryeon, and the leadership of the Cheonmu Alliance. He had been a sacrificial lamb used to maintain their power. And yet, he had committed the exact same sin, blinded by the veil of revenge.
".....You’re right....."
Sun-woo eventually nodded. He accepted the fact that there was no room for excuses. He had been trash.
"Take Lee Gi-yeon as a wife."
Tang Seo-yoon spoke in a calm tone.
"What?"
"Unlike Paeng Ga-ryeon, she’s an innocent girl. If you ruined a perfectly fine girl’s life, shouldn't you take responsibility?" She glared at him sharply.
".......Really?"
Sun-woo asked back, bewildered. He never imagined she would tell him to take her as a wife.
"However, Paeng Ga-ryeon is out of the question. She’s one of the primary culprits who ruined your life. I don't want to be treated the same as a woman like that." Tang Seo-yoon spoke with a firm expression.
".....I understand."
Sun-woo nodded. Her reasoning was sound. Even if she was currently submissive and following him, Paeng Ga-ryeon was one of the people who had ruined his life. If he treated such a woman the same as the others who had supported him with pure devotion, there would surely be a backlash.
"Then who are the remaining two?"
"......Do... do you know Hwangbo Yu-yeon?"
".........."
Upon hearing the name, Tang Seo-yoon clutched her forehead. She began to sway as if dizzy. What on earth had this man been doing?
"You crazy bastard! You seduced someone else's wife again!?"
"There’s a deep story behind this too......"
"Don't give me that bullshit! What 'deep story'! I should have known since you seduced the Great Matriarch. You're just a lecherous bastard with a fetish for other men's wives!"
Tang Seo-yoon screamed in a shrill voice. This was just too much. She had let it slide with the Great Matriarch because it was an emergency and they needed the Hundred-Year Flower to obtain the Ten Thousand Streams Return to the Source Divine Art.
In Joo So-yang’s case, she had even encouraged him. She felt it was unavoidable to keep her silent and to deal with Lee Jae-won.
She could even somewhat understand Paeng Ga-ryeon. Since she was an enemy who had ruined Sun-woo’s life, she could accept him humiliating her to give her a sense of shame as a woman.
But Hwangbo Yu-yeon crossed the line. Why drag in a woman who had nothing to do with anything?
"Th-that’s... Hwangbo Yu-yeon also... targeted my life... and for that revenge..."
Sun-woo tried to make an excuse. He did have a justification. She had conspired in his assassination. Lacking funds, she had handed over the last remaining Thunderbolt Bombs of the Hwangbo Clan to the assassins of the Sea of Blood. He had plenty of reason for revenge.
"Sigh... did that revenge have to be through humiliation?"
Tang Seo-yoon asked, looking at him as if he were pathetic. If there was a reason for revenge, she could try to understand. A man obsessed with revenge was better than a pushover who did nothing when his life was targeted.
But a question remained. Why did the revenge have to involve sexual humiliation? Why couldn't he just kill her? Why did he have to use his dick every time he took revenge?
"Be honest. Revenge was just an excuse to satisfy your own greed, wasn't it?"
Tang Seo-yoon asked, eyeing him suspiciously. No matter how she thought about it, Sun-woo’s personal desires seemed too strong.
"N-no, it wasn't.." Sun-woo stammered in denial.
".....Really?" Her suspicion deepened.
".......M-maybe a little?"
Sun-woo held his thumb and index finger slightly apart. It wasn't as if he had zero personal interest.
"Whew......"
Tang Seo-yoon let out a long sigh. She felt a surge of annoyance, but seeing him honestly admit it was almost cute, which made her anger dissipate slightly.
"Fine...... You’re a man.... I suppose it could happen."
Tang Seo-yoon nodded, trying her best to be understanding. Sun-woo was a man. A healthy man in his twenties. It wasn't a crime for such a man to be attracted to a woman. And since he had the justification of revenge, he probably threw guilt to the wind and humiliated her to his heart's content. She could understand that.
".....So who is the last one? Is it another wife?" She asked, looking at him. She wanted to know who the final person was.
"........That......... Hwangbo Yu-yeon’s... daughter..... Lee So-ran."
Sun-woo spoke very cautiously.
"............"
Tang Seo-yoon was speechless. That made three pairs of mothers and daughters he had violated. At this point, it was safe to say he was doing it on purpose. What could she even say in this situation?
Tang Seo-yoon just stood there with a blank expression, trying to organize her thoughts. She was trying her hardest to understand.
After some time...
She reached a conclusion.
"Let’s cut it off."
A very firm conclusion.
".......Where?" Sun-woo asked in a trembling voice.
"Where do you think?"
Tang Seo-yoon glared sharply at a specific part of his body.
"..........."
Sun-woo hurriedly covered that specific area with both hands. An inexplicable chill had washed over him.
"Sun-woo... my dear Sun-woo...."
Tang Seo-yoon called his name in a sweet, gentle voice.
"....Yes.."
"No matter how much I think about it, cutting it off is the only way. You can understand, right?"
"How can I understand that?!"
"I’ve understood you countless times, haven't I? Just understand me this once."
"No... Seo-yoon... just calm down for a second..... You’re too excited right now." Sun-woo spoke urgently.
"Excited? I’m more composed than ever. In fact, I’ve reached a great realization. I’ve awakened to the truth."
Tang Seo-yoon spoke with a bright smile.
"What truth?"
"The truth that a dog in heat needs to be neutered!"
Whoosh!
Tang Seo-yoon lunged straight at Sun-woo.
"Eek!"
Sun-woo quickly dodged. He began to put as much distance between them as possible.
"Get over here! Right now!"
When Sun-woo moved away, Tang Seo-yoon scowled and screamed.
"If I go there, you’re going to cut it!"
"I’ll use anesthesia so it won't hurt!"
"As if I’d fall for that!"
Sun-woo protested the absurdity. The issue wasn't whether it would hurt. It was the act of it being cut off itself. How could he possibly go to her? It was unthinkable.
Sun-woo began to run to and fro, keeping his distance as much as possible. He knew that if he were caught, it would be the end.
The game of tag between the two continued for a very long time.