Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Didn't We Form a Mother-Son Bond? (4)
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Eventually, I filled the quota of six times last night before going to sleep.
Mother's body had been pushed to its limits, but even with regular energy circulation to recover my stamina and catch up on lost sleep, that seemed to be the max.
After stuffing her womb full of thick, churning semen, Mother headed off to wash up with a mix of coquettishness and complaint.
Pop pop pop pop pop!
As always, I handled the cleanup. If the maids caught wind of the sticky bedding reeking of night-blooming flowers, it'd be game over.
I shook out the damp blankets into the air and channeled Heavenly Yang Energy into them using a palm technique variation.
The trick was to collide light palm force just enough to keep them from flying away, letting the energy seep right in.
It was a method I'd developed from drying blankets so damn much. Human hairdryer, basically.
Just as they were about done drying, Mother returned.
"Every time I see it, it's such an amusing technique."
Mother smiled brightly as she spoke, and I felt a bit embarrassed. Here I was, using properly trained martial arts for this lecherous crap.
She watched my hands move, nodding a few times, then said to me,
"You're missing the step to ignite the infused energy at the end, but it resembles the Internal Energy Infusion Method."
Internal Energy Infusion Method.
A staple in wuxia tales. When an enemy's external defenses are too damn tough to breach, you slip energy inside and blow them up from within.
The Wudang's Cotton Palm and Shaolin's Dragon Claw were the famous ones.
Who knew? Drying blankets had accidentally taught me the basics of Internal Energy Infusion. Maybe I had some talent after all?
"Igniting it is the hardest part, but want to learn it properly someday?"
There it was. I'd spotted the shell but missed the core.
No reason to refuse, though, so I nodded.
"I'd be grateful if you taught me."
Mother's signature moves were the Judge's Brush and finger techniques. Among the people around me, she was second only to my master in hand-to-hand combat finesse.
We chatted amiably like that, ate the breakfast the maids brought, and soon received a visit from Peng Yeon-hwa.
"You're here early?"
"What's the point of dawdling? Let's wrap this up quick so I can check on your martial arts training."
Mother told her to wait inside while I went out alone.
Part of me wondered if "check on your training" was code for "hurry up and fuck," but a glance told me no.
Truly the ironclad Lady Peng before the dick goes in...!
I already knew the way, but I followed the maids anyway to Mother's quarters.
Mother was waiting at the entrance.
"Come on in, Sister."
"Right, Little Sister. I came early to congratulate you properly. That okay?"
"This is your house, after all."
The reason differed a bit from what she'd told me, but whatever.
Entering Mother's quarters with Peng Yeon-hwa, a fresh, clean scent hit me.
Uh oh. This is...
I glanced at Peng Yeon-hwa in panic, and she looked back with equal shock.
We're fucked.
I hadn't learned my lesson even after Tang Hye-won caught us.
Peng Yeon-hwa had sniffed out the Febreze equivalent for sure.
"My husband doesn't want much. No need to announce it publicly, but I'd like a solid apology and compensation from the Tang family head."
Peng Yeon-hwa was dumbfounded.
She knew her husband was prone to inferiority complexes and had a massive ego.
But as the head of a prestigious family, tormenting innocent people through back channels? Unbelievable.
And the target wasn't some nobody—it was a renowned peak expert. Plus, even if it was a half-admitted illegitimate child, the woman was married to a Zhuge.
It was indefensible both morally and strategically.
"Really? You'd settle for that much?"
Zhuge Mi-ryeong shook her head inwardly. She found Peng Yeon-hwa's stubbornness charming, but...
'Too soft.'
She was already siding with the family head's position the moment she heard.
Not even considering opposition to him from the start.
"Of course, that's for 'what we'll accept.'"
Then came Zhuge Mi-ryeong's loaded glance. Peng Yeon-hwa wasn't sharp, but she wasn't stupid.
"You want to curtail the family head's authority?"
"It's for the Tang family's good too. The head misusing sect assets for personal vendettas against outsiders?"
In any other family, the elders would convene, questioning his fitness and ripping him apart.
If the elders meant to check the head hadn't all died by Demonic Cult hands, he might not have dared.
"Without curbing his power and letting division leaders' council run things, this could happen again anytime."
Had the young master grown up, maybe not—but he was still a green chick who couldn't even handle basic arts.
No direct male heir to replace him meant riding it out for at least a decade.
"But I'm not a Tang. I can't promise that far..."
"Sister."
Zhuge Mi-ryeong sighed in frustration.
"Even if you're not a Tang, you're the family matriarch and the young master's mother. You know you have enough sway here, right?"
"..."
"At least discuss it with the division leaders. You planning to hand your son a shriveled-up Tang family?"
It pained her to see this woman—who'd once spread her wings and outshone her—now huddled up.
Thud.
Zhuge Mi-ryeong lightly smacked the table, staring her down like it was decision time.
"...Fine."
Peng Yeon-hwa had no choice but to concede reluctantly.
Her head was already spinning from that scent on entry, and now Tang Jo-myeong's mess piled on.
Agreeing to Zhuge Mi-ryeong left one issue: had she really taken Kang Yun as a son... and bedded him?
Her sharp, point-by-point critiques made the suspicion feel baseless.
Maybe she'd used it to cover some stink, but the maids cleaned meticulously.
Above all, Kang Yun's guilty-as-hell face.
'Did they really...?'
No telltale signs of bedding Kang Yun—like enhanced beauty—in Zhuge Mi-ryeong.
Self-assessment was awkward, but Peng felt subtly prettier herself.
'How to confirm?'
Couldn't just blurt, "You fucking your son?" And explaining her suspicion meant outing herself.
Admitting she'd bedded Kang Yun.
"Oh, right—you said you took Young Master Kang as your son...?"
"Yes, Sister."
Topic shifted, mostly to Kang Yun: his striking resemblance, how his skills at such youth might shake Jianghu, etc.
Then came the story of him holding her hand all night when she was suffering.
"He gripped my hand so tight, it warmed me to my core..."
And Peng Yeon-hwa saw it.
Zhuge Mi-ryeong's smile wasn't a mother's for her son.
A woman's for her man.
Might be confirmation bias, but it differed fundamentally from her earlier smiles.
"Whew, we've chatted long enough. Young Master Kang's waiting..."
"Ah, you're checking him today too? Go easy, Sister."
Peng Yeon-hwa nodded at Zhuge Mi-ryeong's concern, stood, and headed to Kang Yun's quarters.
Fucked. I'm such a moron...
Peng Yeon-hwa already knew about Tang Hye-won.
She was resting due to pregnancy now, but it'd been two-timing enough. Now she'd sniffed out the third.
No clue how she'd chew me out.
Bang!
The door flew open without warning, revealing Peng Yeon-hwa's icy glare.
"Lady Peng, hear me out firs—"
Fuck?
She yanked my arm, shoved open the window, and leaped out. Dazed, I got dragged along.
Her grip crushed like iron; I couldn't even protest as she hauled me to the underground training hall.
She raised her fist the instant we arrived.
"Get ready."
"Lady Peng? Like I was say—"
She stormed in like a gale, fist flying. I reflexively thrust out to deflect, but too slow.
Thud!
Her tiny fist nailed my side, breath exploding from me.
I fired palm force to exploit the momentum and create distance, but she sliced it apart with a gesture and closed in.
'What the fuck!'
I dodged a chest shot with Iron Board Bridge, flattening my body, but before I could recover, her fist arced down.
It smashed my gut; I tumbled, nearly puking, rolling instinctively.
Her foot cratered the floor mercilessly, shockwaves rattling my rolling body.
Insane—would've killed me if it connected?
Peng's punches had erratic paths, improvised moves. No fixed forms.
But peak-expert physicality flipped everything; my forms were useless.
Like my raw-phys spar with Father last time.
Difference: I was the scrub relying on forms.
"Lady Peng, I'm truly sorry, just let me expl—"
"What'd you learn fighting that Demonic Cult expert?"
Looked pissed enough to beat me senseless, yet out came something else.
"Hostile foes attack unlike masters or peers. To kill you."
"..."
"Life-or-death teaches you something. You don't seem to have learned."
Not wrong. I'd trusted Mother would return soon, and handle those punks easily.
"Can't avoid mortal combat? Learn and grow. That's a true martial artist's way."
"Yes, understo..."
Whoosh!
Before I finished, a supersonic fist whistled; I twisted aside.
Brutal onslaught, but I realized she was pulling power. Speed was full throttle, though.
Otherwise, first hit would've shattered ribs; I'd be getting pulses checked in the infirmary.
She noticed I caught on; the barrage stopped.
Flushed from unpracticed punches in excitement, sweat beaded her face.
"...Why'd you do it?"
"..."
"Didn't you form a mother-son bond? You bed her too?"
Yeah, not just rage-beating—educational violence.
"Beautiful and huggable means anyone goes? Huh?"
No words. Mouth taped shut.
No idea how to calm Peng Yeon-hwa with her fury at max.