The Eunuch Reclaims His Pride (2)
Eunuchs have no manhood. They serve the emperor at the closest proximity and, working in the imperial palace, interact most frequently with the palace maids. The palace maids are the emperor's women. To prevent any unseemly incidents in advance, eunuchs have their manhood severed.
Yet such a man is called the King of Indomitable Lust? There are only two possibilities. Either he fabricated this persona to flaunt his desires through a second self, or despite lacking manhood, he was so extraordinary with women that they spoke of his indomitable lust.
According to the Sword Saint, the Taehwan-gong known as the King of Indomitable Lust falls into the latter category. If the Sword Saint said so, then it must be true. Had it been the former, he would have recoiled with something like, "Even so, the King of Indomitable Lust is a bit much."
But Taehwan-gong is said to be someone called an unorthodox, or even someone whose ways align more with the orthodox factions.
"Here, information on the King of Indomitable Lust."
Dang Yuri, staying in a temporary building beneath Seongnakwon, brought over details on the King of Indomitable Lust.
"It's from the Beggars' Gang and Haomen, so only publicly known info. He started operating in earnest about thirty years ago."
"That's enough."
"Take a look."
Moyong Seol and I skimmed through the information on the King of Indomitable Lust.
A legendary figure who appeared in the murim around forty years ago, toying with numerous female experts before vanishing. All those claiming to be his victims were beauties, and in the case of the Hwangbo family, even seven sisters from a branch line had all fallen to him.
"Did the women who fell to the King of Indomitable Lust lose their virginity?"
"That's the ambiguous part. According to what's written, yes, they lost their purity."
Both the women of the Hwangbo family and the others victimized by the King of Indomitable Lust all answered that they had "lost their purity." But whether that simply meant their bodies were defiled by a man, or if the King truly took their first experience, was unclear.
Judging solely by the King of Indomitable Lust, the latter interpretation fits. But hadn't we heard other information about him from the Sword Saint—details on his true identity?
"Th-that... I don't get it."
Moyong Seol rested her hand on my thigh and tilted her head.
"How can he take a woman's purity without one?"
"I think the same."
Eunuchs have no manhood. It's not removed through some drug that suppresses masculinity, nor by tying off some tube via surgery. It's cut out entirely. Common eunuchs from humble backgrounds have both the rod and balls completely excised, while those with immense backing might keep half the rod and just lose the balls for control.
That's what being a eunuch entails. The position grants the highest power in the imperial court, but only after forfeiting something far too vital for any man.
So how was it possible?
"Were there no victims of the King of Indomitable Lust in the Tang family? Or someone like that around the Poison Demon?"
"Hmm..."
"What?"
"Well, there's someone who knows all about this stuff in detail."
Dang Yuri rubbed her fingers together suggestively.
"Who knows more about the arts of seduction than her? Right?"
"...No way."
"Yo-ma."
Moyong Seol flinched at Dang Yuri's words.
"Th-the Demon Sect's Ten Demons."
One of the Ten Great Protectors under the Cheonma, like the Poison Demon or Sword Demon, Yo-ma had proposed a plan to the Cheonma to corrupt the Central Plains murim's younger generation through honey traps.
"Right. One of the Demon Sect's Ten Demons, miss. But also the savior of many orphaned girls."
"Savior?"
"Yo-ma raised orphans as courtesans and scattered them across the Central Plains murim. Or rather, returned them near their hometowns."
"Ah..."
Moyong Seol's mouth fell open as realization dawned.
"Surely not... those kinds of people?"
"It's not out of the 'sense of justice' that the orthodox murim imagines, Miss Moyong."
Moyong Seol swallowed hard at Dang Yuri's firm declaration.
"Pity for the orphans, disgust at the Cheonma's depravity, her martial arts too low to openly betray the sect, or securing safe havens by placing other girls across the land."
"It might look righteous to some, but ultimately, Yo-ma acts in her own easiest way to survive."
"Hmm..."
"And for Yo-ma, the King of Indomitable Lust's bedroom techniques are a manual she must obtain. She wants to dominate men in bed, but he blocks that completely."
Moyong Seol gaped in surprise.
"Th-then..."
"Coincidentally, Yo-ma is watching Moyong Sega right now. Some of her Yo-nyeo underlings suffer from Blocked Meridian Syndrome."
"Ah..."
Moyong Seol cautiously raised her hand.
"Isn't she basically acting like a 'mother' to those orphans?"
"A mother? From the orthodox view, how can she turn daughters into courtesans selling their bodies and call herself a mother...?"
"She's unorthodox. Might align with eunuchs in a way. Some eunuchs weren't volunteers—parents pushed their kids into it. Funny, isn't it, Miss Moyong?"
"...The Central Plains murim is so complicated."
Moyong Seol gave a wry smile. To her, who had spent twenty years surviving on beds, this was as novel as tales of another world.
"So, contact Yo-ma to lure out the King of Indomitable Lust through her? Can't we officially invite Taehwan-gong to Moyong Sega via the Poison Emperor or General Yeocheong?"
"Coincidentally, no."
Yeocheong, the Imperial First Sword, coming and going from Moyong Sega could be overlooked as "possible."
"Some will know of General Yeocheong's involvement here. Impossible not to."
"But even if suspicious, no one would think she's allied with Moyong Sega. She's seen as the most upright, ironclad figure—the very ideal of an orthodox warrior in the white path murim's eyes."
Her role as inspector allows her to claim she's monitoring Moyong Sega on the state's behalf, whether for her motherhood or heightened realm.
"But Taehwan-gong is different. As a clear imperial power broker, shadows follow him everywhere."
"The Sword Saint specifically named Taehwan-gong for a reason. Meaning—"
"Taehwan-gong the eunuch must not come to Moyong Sega."
Moyong Seol finally grasped the significance of the "King of Indomitable Lust."
"Moyong Sega didn't bestow the Extreme Yang Pill on Taehwan-gong. It went to the King of Indomitable Lust, one of the vanished unorthodox masters from thirty years ago."
"Exactly."
"Then if Taehwan-gong suddenly rejuvenates, regrows lost hair, or regains fertility, it's just 'coincidence.'"
"He achieved reversal of aging or used some special great law to reclaim his manhood."
"Coincidence, right?"
"Pure coincidence."
"I see."
"That's it."
Officially, Moyong Sega has no connection to Taehwan-gong. The caution stems from the dire consequences if word spread that "the eunuch regained his pride through the Extreme Yang Pill."
"As a physician—no, back in the Demon Sect prescribing for its men, most drugs they took were for down there."
"Uh... aphrodisiacs?"
"No. Wound salves or painkillers. Because they..."
"Had received first warnings from Geomhu during her active days hunting lust demons, miss."
"First warning...?"
"Yes."
Dang Yuri extended her slender arm forward.
"For lust demons, the first warning was this."
She mimed a chopping strike downward.
"To ensure they never rape again. And if they reoffended, off with their heads."
"......."
"Those lust demons flowed into the Demon Sect, serving under the Cheonma, biding time for revenge on the Central Plains murim."
"But they were the criminals—why revenge on the murim...?"
"How could kind-hearted folk like us understand a criminal's mindset? That's why unorthodox are unorthodox, fiends are fiends."
"Physician..."
Moyong Seol blushed, grasping my hand.
"If word spreads that Taehwan-gong regained his manhood through Moyong Sega, those fiends will charge into the Central Plains murim to reclaim theirs."
"Sure, they'd be weaker than Geomhu—no, Geomhui—but she can't protect the entire murim alone. Better no victims at all."
"Then... how do we contact Yo-ma?"
"Well."
A bit coincidentally.
"We planned to provoke Taehwan-gong to draw the King of Indomitable Lust here, but someone connected to Yo-ma is already in Moyong Sega."
The family had already sent someone to contact Yo-ma at the clan level.
"The deputy family head once shared intimacy with Yo-ma."
"What."
"I didn't know either."
Even.
"The family head didn't know until consulting the deputy on this issue."
The Sword Saint hadn't known either.
"He bested the Demon Sect's top seductress in bedroom arts and escaped her seductive techniques."
On the immense talent of the deputy head, Moyong San.