128
128
After Mubung left.
The two of them couldn't get up until the sun was high in the sky. When they finally did, holding hands for support, they felt a wave of embarrassment.
"...Ahem."
"Did you sleep well, Sister?"
"Yeah. I practically passed out, thanks to a certain someone."
"Though the one responsible has already vacated the premises."
The man who had guided them both into a paradise of bliss and pleasure the previous night was gone. They shared a bitter smile before quickly rising to freshen up.
"The doctor prepared everything before he left. I'll have a meal ready soon."
"Okay."
Dokgo Yeon naturally entered the kitchen, and Lee Si-a just as naturally didn't refuse her. At a glance, their relationship was—
"Is there anything I can do to help in the kitchen?"
"No. The doctor strictly ordered me not to let you anywhere near it."
"......Tch. Just you wait."
Dokgo Yeon leaned against the kitchen entrance and muttered. Separated by a single wall, their conversation continued without pause.
"Anyway, you really are something. For me, it makes sense with my father being the way he is, but your father doted on you so much. Is this really okay?"
"I saw his face maybe two or three times a week. And honestly, a part of me is fine with it. Because...."
Thwack. Dokgo Yeon brought her knife down on a vegetable and smiled.
"Father planned to marry me off to a man from another clan to continue the Dokgo line. To him, I was nothing more than an heir to carry on the family name."
"What do you mean? Are you saying he was going to marry off his daughter the moment she recovered from her illness?"
"He was going to marry me off because I recovered. A political marriage. I'd probably have been engaged to one of the Nine Dragons within a month. And then he'd be pressuring me to bear children immediately."
"Wow...."
A misunderstanding, or clear-eyed insight? Lee Si-a was taken aback by the resentment in Dokgo Yeon's eyes. If she had to choose sides between the Alliance Leader and Dokgo Yeon, Lee Si-a was on Dokgo Yeon's side.
"Yeah. You did the right thing. Honestly, if it's about continuing the clan line, why couldn't the Murim Alliance Leader just take a new wife and have a son?"
"My father is a live-in son-in-law. Strictly speaking, he doesn't carry the Dokgo clan's bloodline."
"Oh, right, that's true. ...So you're the only living person of the Dokgo clan bloodline?"
"That's right."
Smiling brightly, Dokgo Yeon set her knife down. Standing before the bubbling soup, she placed a hand on her lower abdomen and grinned.
"But from now on, the members of the Dokgo clan are going to increase. Hehe. I'm sure the ancestors will understand. Rather than becoming the wife of the Exploding Dragon or some other worthless dragon, I'll become the wife of the greatest man in the world and make the Dokgo clan's future even brighter. Hehe. How many children do you think I should have?"
Dokgo Yeon was filled with happy dreams.
"Hmm. They say it takes ten months to have a baby. So in ten years, that's twelve...! Wow!"
"You want to have twelve?"
"Ah. A slip of the tongue. Sorry."
Dokgo Yeon piled steaming rice into a bowl, grinning from ear to ear.
"I'll just have as many as the doctor wants, right?"
"What if he doesn't want you to have children?"
"Then we'll live without them. I want to bear the child of the man I want, not the child of some man I have no feelings for. Do you feel differently, Sister?"
"......."
Lee Si-a answered with her silence. She twisted a strand of hair around her finger before sitting down at the table Dokgo Yeon had set and picking up her chopsticks.
"For me, I'd like to put it off for a while."
"Why?"
"Before I become a mother, I want to be his woman and a Heavenly Demon first. Someone once told me that having a child twists your bones and changes your body, making it harder to train in martial arts."
Lee Si-a was worried about the side effects of childbirth. Dokgo Yeon nodded vigorously.
"That's true. Has there ever been a married female master who became famously powerful? The same goes for any woman who gave birth."
"......."
Lee Si-a's expression crumpled.
"I just got a bad feeling about something."
"Why all of a sudden?"
"It's just... things that seem absolutely impossible, or things you think will never happen, always seem to find a way."
"Oh, come on. That won't happen."
The two picked up their spoons. Though it was just the two of them, perhaps because their ages, social standing, and upbringing were somewhat similar, the conversation flowed easily without pause.
"If you don't have a kid, you get stronger? The less experience you have, the stronger you are? Hmm. Is it like the logic that virgins are stronger? Doesn't seem right."
"Doesn't my case sort of fit? Since I ended up a mortal instead of becoming a Celestial Maiden? If I'd stayed a virgin, I would have become a Celestial Maiden."
"I'm really curious why you take everything Bi-cheon says as gospel, but I'll let that slide for now. So what, like the Boy Virgin Art men train, the less physical contact a woman has, the stronger she is? That doesn't feel right either."
"No. ...Because we get stronger the more we have relations with that person."
At least in terms of inner energy, they had shown definite growth. In that sense, sex could be called a shortcut to power.
"Hmm... it's a bit of a gray area. Isn't it hard to say you get stronger the more you do it? I mean, the strongest woman in the world is unmarried."
"That's true. She's not married, and there are no scandals about her with men. No woman is definitely as pure as her. If a wanton woman had become the world's strongest, that woman would be black with sin by now."
Crunch. Lee Si-a chewed on a piece of ginseng rice cake and muttered.
"The Kunlun Sect Leader... is she a virgin?"
"I think that could be the case... but still, she's one of the Ten Great Masters of the World. And she's quite old."
"You're probably right. ...Don't tell me that man, saying he was going to Hebei, has actually gone to Kunlun?"
"No way. He's one of the Three Strengths of the World."
The First Strength, the Murim Alliance Leader Dokgo Ja-yeong.
The Second Strength, the Heavenly Demon of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
And the Third Strength. The Kunlun Sect Leader.
"No matter what, he wouldn't recklessly touch the Kunlun Sect Leader. After all, if Kunlun falls, the Demonic Cult will immediately attack the Central Plains, right?"
"Right. My father would definitely do that. The reason he's staying still is because Kunlun is blocking the way."
If the Demonic Cult poured out its full strength, it could annihilate the Kunlun Sect, surpassing even sect sealing. But because of the Kunlun Sect Leader, the Demonic Cult could at best achieve mutual destruction.
Mutual destruction with one of the Nine Sects and One Gang was meaningless if you had no strength left to face all the other factions waiting behind them.
"Something tells me he won't just quietly visit Hebei... will he really stay still for two weeks? Have you ever seen a sparrow pass by a millstone? He'll definitely be running around assaulting women. That way, he can muddy his trail, making everyone think, 'The Lust Demon fled to Hebei!'"
"I think so too. Honestly...."
Dokgo Yeon wiped her lips with a cloth.
"I suggested it. Giving justification to the Lust Demon's movements."
"......What?"
"Assaulting women, I mean. But if he was going to do it anyway, I said he shouldn't target innocent women. He should target women who are a threat to the peace of the martial world. I told him that. He accepted willingly."
"You... what are you...."
"Hehe."
At Dokgo Yeon's strange, secretive smile, Lee Si-a felt goosebumps crawl down her back.
"The thing about a delicacy is, if you taste it every day, you get sick of it."
"Wow, wow...."
Lee Si-a was at a loss for words.
"I feel the same way."
Because she was thinking exactly the same thing.
* * *
"Kugh. Now I feel alive again."
"Haaah...."
Eul So-mi hung her head. I deliberately didn't wipe away the traces of violation trickling down from her petals.
"The Absorption of Yin to Nourish Yang is sweet indeed. As expected of a Blood Cult remnant. No, I suppose you're a Blood Moon Woman? Which Moon are you?"
"!!"
Eul So-mi's expression, lost in pleasure moments ago, changed in an instant. At the same time, the whites of her eyes began turning red, and I pressed her neck with my fingers, stopping the flow of her blood meridians.
"Why? Did you think I just chose you at random? Among the countless beauties of Xuchang Fortress, why did I pick you to violate?"
"...Who are you?"
The energy of the Blood Demon that Eul So-mi had been about to transform into slowly subsided. This wasn't the attitude of a woman who, just moments before, had tasted a member even greater than her husband's.
"The Lust Demon who violated you."
"Don't toy with me!"
"Kehehe. That's all you need to remember, so what's the problem? All I needed was to confirm you are a 'being of the Blood Cult'."
"!!"
Eul So-mi's face twisted. Just as I said, the Blood Cult was an organization whose existence must not yet be exposed.
"Th-this...."
"Don't worry. I don't intend to expose you. You won't have the Blood Shadow Unit Leader coming to find and kill you."
"You... just how much do you know?"
"Everything."
Because the Blood Jiangshi that contained everything about the Blood Cult was me. I was beside the Blood Cult Leader every moment, so there's nothing I don't know.
"All you have to do is say you were violated by the Ice-Colored Demon. How about it? Isn't that a good deal?"
"...Isn't this just a threat?"
"It's a threat. But if you don't want to die, you should cooperate, right?"
"...Fine. Since it's an irresistible force, I have no choice. But don't forget."
Eul So-mi—someday, she'll be called Hyeol So-mi—glared at me with eyes filled with hatred.
"Someday, the Blood World will arrive! The Yangtze River will be stained the color of blood! The world will be covered in blood!"
"Heh, I'll look forward to it."
I placed my hand on Eul So-mi's forehead.
"From this moment on, you will forget everything we discussed regarding the Blood Cult. You will forget that the truth of you being a Blood Cult remnant was discovered by me. Understood?"
"Wa-wait. I have one last request."
"What?"
"Y-you can't stop me from erasing my memory. But...."
Eul So-mi blushed and looked away.
"D-don't erase the memory of being violated...! I will recall being taken by you and come to kill you someday...!!"
"Huhuhu."
I shook my member in front of Eul So-mi. She gulped and turned her head away again.
"What? Did it reach places your dead husband never did? Tell me honestly. You just want to keep the memory of my cock, don't you?"
"......."
Silence.
I pushed internal energy into her head.
"Tsk, Blood Cult bitches. Every single one of you is loose and easy. Like a bunch of whores devoted to the cock."
"D-does a Lust Demon have any right to say that, hnnng?!"
Crackle.
Stricken by the true qi I injected, Eul So-mi trembled and lost consciousness. After laying her against the warehouse wall, I grabbed the bundle containing the human-sized doll again.
"A mature dish is quite tasty too, compared to a young hen. It's been a while since I tasted one; it brought back pleasant old memories."
I flicked several sheets of paper through the air. The paper adhered to the disrobed Eul So-mi's body, barely covering her secret places, soaked by sweat.
"A small but decent meal."
Three and a half stars.
I drew stars onto the paper with Samadhi True Fire before burning it, then deactivated the Bewildering Mark Nine Palaces Formation.
"Ten, nine, eight...."
The moment I counted down to one.
Boom!
The door burst open, and a young man with a white headband appeared.
"Great Mother—Mmgh?!"
"I was getting bored waiting."
As the Flying Heaven Ice Demon, the Ice-Colored Demon, I waved my hand at the martial artists who had raided the warehouse. The one who had appeared right before me was apparently a young man of the Eul Family Estate and looked remarkably similar to Eul So-mi.
"A relative? Not one of the Nine Dragons."
"You, you villain!!"
"Thanks for the meal! Uwahaha!!"
I kicked through the window and jumped outside. The area was already in chaos with warriors making a racket. I fully utilized the Ice White Divine Art, stepping through the air as if climbing a mountain. I didn't forget to shake the bundle behind me, which held what looked like a trapped person.
"Void Step?!"
"Kuhahaha!!"
I ran through the void, bursting with maniacal laughter. I sprinted across the sky, freely using the inner energy I had drawn from Eul So-mi. With every step I took on the air, platforms of ice formed and scattered into nothing.
"Catch me if you can, amateurs!"
Who could catch the Lust Demon as he ran freezing the sky itself? I pushed the Heavenly Demon Divine Art to its peak and leaped over the final wall of Xuchang Fortress. Beyond the endless plains stretching out before me, Hebei was visible past the Yellow River.
'On to the next target.'
Two weeks.
During this short time before I return to Hubei, as the Lust Demon, I will violate another woman in Hebei.
The Hebei Paeng Clan.
I'll kill yet another Blood Cult remnant located there.
* * *
Near Xuchang Fortress.
As a middle-aged man watched the commotion in Xuchang from atop a pavilion, a man in a black uniform knelt and prostrated himself behind him.
"Unit Leader. An intelligence report. A man known as the Flying Heaven Ice Demon has reportedly kidnapped Dokgo Yeon and fled to Hebei. The Murim Alliance has designated the Ice-Colored Demon as a Public Enemy of the Martial World."
"Flying Heaven Ice Demon? Wasn't the Ice Demon one of the Wild Three Demons? Did you say he serves under the Little Princess?"
The eyebrows of the middle-aged man addressed as Unit Leader furrowed.
"Our prediction was wrong? It's not the Earth Qilin Thunder Demon?"
"According to the Little Princess, the Ice Demon is a woman. Provided the Little Princess hasn't lied... the Ice Demon has aligned with the Little Princess, and the man calling himself the Flying Heaven Ice Demon is likely impersonating the Demonic Cult, perhaps?"
"Let me see."
The Unit Leader scanned the report brought by the black-clad warrior and nodded slowly.
"Judging by his use of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, he is certainly a being of the Demonic Cult. He even uses the Ice White Divine Art. But he's clearly a different entity from the current Ice Demon.... A former Ice Demon, perhaps? Investigate within the Demonic Cult."
"Understood. Also, the Ice-Colored Demon reportedly violated Eul So-mi. How should we proceed?"
The Unit Leader's expression twisted momentarily.
"Our existence wasn't exposed, was it?"
"Of course not. There was no trace that she confessed any information. Though she was violated."
"Then it's fine. If it's the Lust Demon who did it, I couldn't care less."
Despite the woman being violated, the Unit Leader was rather pleased.
"If anything, this is good. Heh, if a daughter is born, won't that just increase our supply of sacrifices?"
"Understood. I will confirm later whether she becomes pregnant, and if so, whether the child is a girl."
"Good. Do not forget. For the sake of the Cult Leader's wish, we must conceal our identities until that day."
"Acknowledged. The Blood World."
The black-clad warrior vanished. The Unit Leader raised both arms toward the moon hanging in the night sky.
"The Blood World. On that day, the day the Moon Woman descends upon the earth... the entire world will be stained with blood."