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Her glare toward Paeng Sin-hye hardened her expression into something cold, yet the kindness lingering in her beautiful features still showed concern for me, caught in Paeng Sin-hye's clutches.
"Paeng Yuwol, you...!"
I knew her at a single glance. That face, that figure—the kind that made a man want to get her pregnant just by looking—belonged to the woman I'd met in Anhui: Paeng Yuwol.
'She really did get prettier after having the baby.'
People say a woman's body is ruined after pregnancy, but Paeng Yuwol was the type whose form corrected itself after childbirth. Thanks to the line of her clothes passing just above her nipples, I could fully appreciate her even more abundant motherhood.
'Calm down, baby lust demon.'
Over a year and several months had passed.
The woman I had let go had returned, transcending mere motherhood to become a goddess, and my baby lust demon rejoiced, beside itself with excitement.
The baby lust demon declared it wanted to impregnate her again. My yang energy boiled over so fiercely it felt like the Body Transformation Art would unravel.
'Stay calm. If I get an erection here, everything's ruined.'
But right now, I am Yeon Bung. I steeled my heart and dipped my waist in a slight bow. I didn't forget to let go of Paeng Sin-hye's hand either.
"If you say Paeng Yuwol, then perhaps..."
"Yes, I am Paeng Yuwol."
Paeng Yuwol, who faced me with a stiff expression, looked like she had something to say but couldn't bring herself to speak.
'Kind as ever.'
With Paeng Sin-hye clinging right beside me, she couldn't speak directly, but her desire to convey something to me was unmistakable.
"Paeng Yuwol, is there something you'd like to say to me?"
"...It's a bit awkward to say here."
"Hey, are you trying to steal the guest I brought here?"
The moment Paeng Yuwol tried to give me some kind of signal, Paeng Sin-hye openly spat out her irritation.
"You go look after your own baby. Go feed your brat some milk."
Were all people slated to join the Blood Cult this rotten in character? Still, whether she was the Blood Torture Witch now or still the Slashing Demon Sword before entering the Blood Cult was unclear—
"Hurry up and go to your filthy bloodline—"
"You fucking bitch?"
It wasn't me. The words had risen to my throat, but there was someone who spat out the profanity faster than I could.
"Hey, you wanna die?"
The instant Paeng Sin-hye's words turned foul, Paeng Yuwol closed the distance to her in a single stride.
"Say that again. What did you say?"
"Keu, keuhk...!"
Seized not by the collar but by the throat, Paeng Sin-hye trembled violently. Paeng Yuwol paid me no mind. Well done.
"Th-this... crazy bitch...! I'm a direct descendant of the clan head, how dare you...!"
Paeng Sin-hye began to struggle furiously, but with mere first-rate strength, she couldn't possibly threaten Paeng Yuwol. Just from the footwork she used to subdue Paeng Sin-hye, I could gauge her martial level.
'Peak... and mid-stage at that!'
She was no ordinary peak expert. She had reached a level just slightly below Sagong Hee and Lee Si-a, whom I had personally nurtured.
'Her lower-body blood meridians must have opened during childbirth. As her pelvis expanded, the twisted qi meridians stretched out with it.'
Paeng Yuwol was a being who grew stronger through childbirth. Compared to Marrow Cleansing or Rebirth Transformation, pregnancy and delivery remade her body into one far better suited for cultivating martial arts.
"You, this... you disgrace the Paeng Clan..."
A murderous glint began to shimmer in Paeng Sin-hye's eyes. The moment I saw a red aura start to swirl in them, I slid my hand between the two.
"Now, now. Regardless, I do think saying such things about a child is a bit out of line."
"What...!"
I sided with Paeng Yuwol. Whether Paeng Sin-hye stared at me with a betrayed look or not, I continued speaking while smiling benevolently at Paeng Yuwol.
"How can you call a child dirty? I'd heard the Hebei Paeng Clan didn't discriminate based on lineage."
"N-no. Yeon Bung, that isn't what I...!"
Paeng Sin-hye's expression twisted beyond belief at my words. It was a truly welcome sight, but I couldn't just stand by doing nothing.
"Paeng Yuwol. I understand you're offended, but at this rate, she's going to die."
"......."
I didn't want to take Paeng Sin-hye's side, but if I let this go on, Paeng Yuwol was about to become a murderer who killed a member of her own clan. I imbued my voice with inner energy to calm her down.
"......Huu."
Paeng Yuwol roughly threw Paeng Sin-hye to the floor.
True to the woman who once nearly swung her blade at Chu So-gwang for trying to embrace a woman who resembled her, she couldn't quite hide her quick-tempered nature.
"If you weren't my own blood..."
Paeng Yuwol hadn't let go of her anger. Her fury boiling over, she hurriedly bowed her waist toward me.
"I apologize. I've shown a guest a disgraceful sight."
"Ah, no. Ha ha..."
Thanks to Paeng Yuwol's sudden attack, things had become incredibly awkward for me as Yeon Bung, but as the Sky-Soaring Lust Demon, I found it lacking.
'Daring to call my child dirty blood?'
She should've ignored my concern and beaten her half to death. To dare speak of dirty bloodlines—she deserved to die three times over. Maybe I should kill her myself?
"...Then if you'll excuse me."
"Hey! You crazy bitch, you think you'll get away with this—!"
Seuuu.
Grrruruk.
The moment I let a gust of wind sound slip between them, something boiling rumbled from inside Paeng Sin-hye's gut.
Ggurreuk, ggrrururuk.
Paeng Sin-hye's face flushed bright red. She looked at me, smiled awkwardly, and gripped the railing.
"I-I've shown the guest an utterly shameful sight... Kreuk, P-Paeng Yuwol. You escort Lady Yeon Bung to the guest room... urgh."
Unable to finish, Paeng Sin-hye fled the scene hurriedly. Paeng Yuwol stared at me with sharp eyes.
Hwwhiuu.
I let out a low whistle, satisfied with my musical touch.
"...You?"
"Fu-hut."
I simply shrugged.
"It's nice to meet you, Paeng Yuwol. Truly."
She'd grown far more beautiful than when I first met her. Paeng Yuwol scanned me with troubled eyes, then looked into my eyes and her expression hardened.
"Have we... by any chance seen each other somewhere before?"
"Huh? Impossible. We've never met."
Paeng Yuwol studied me carefully with deeply suspicious eyes. There was no mistaking it—she sensed something. But there was no way I'd be caught. The cross-dressing was perfect, and my voice was different too. If she wanted to find any trace of Chu Dae-gwang in me, there was only one place to look.
And right now, I was in a woman's body. There was no reason to get caught.
"...Is that so."
Paeng Yuwol turned her head with a regretful voice. I bowed toward her to draw her attention.
"By the way, Paeng Yuwol. If it's not too much trouble, could I ask you to show me the way?"
"Right now? Mm..."
Paeng Yuwol looked behind her, then bowed her head deeply.
"Follow me."
Guided by Paeng Yuwol, I toured the Paeng estate.
* * *
"That rotten bitch!"
Paeng Sin-hye spat curses with bloodshot eyes.
"Daring to humiliate me in front of a guest?! You filthy wretch!"
The shame was beyond compare.
She'd wanted to show only her best side after finally meeting such a beautiful woman, but she'd ended up suffering the disgrace of being grabbed by the throat and then fleeing pathetically.
"This... damn it...!"
Paeng Sin-hye pressed her forehead against the wall and ground her teeth. An unavoidable human agony forced a groan from her lips, and irritation and raw nerves spiked at once.
"Heu-heu... I'll get my revenge someday...!"
Paeng Sin-hye poured out a continuous stream of curses at Paeng Yuwol. Being of similar age made them a constant subject of comparison, but Paeng Sin-hye was a direct descendant while Paeng Yuwol was from a collateral branch.
Collateral branches must never defeat direct lines.
But currently, all of the Paeng Clan's power was concentrated on Paeng Yuwol. Starting from her father, clan head Paeng Iwang, every elder of the Paeng Clan was relying on Paeng Yuwol alone.
"Damn it...! What's so great about a whore who sold her body outside to earn money...!"
Paeng Sin-hye's vicious words knew no end. Humiliated by Paeng Yuwol's superior martial arts time and again, the thoughts rooted in Paeng Sin-hye's head refused to budge.
"Strutting around just because she scraped together some cash...!"
She thought of the Chuso Escort Agency's inheritance—the money that had barely allowed the Paeng Clan to catch its breath—as nothing more than something the Paeng Clan was naturally entitled to enjoy.
"Heu-heu, let's see how long that authority of yours lasts...! Aaau, uaaa...!"
Paeng Sin-hye couldn't leave her room for quite some time.
* * *
The reason I came into the Paeng Clan as a guest was to grasp its layout.
'I'm not a member of the Hebei Paeng Clan, so there's no way I'd know the layout. This is the first time in my life I've ever visited.'
Across both this life and my past life, this is the first time I've ever set foot in the Paeng Clan. I'd stopped by Beijing a few times in my past life, but stepping directly into the Hebei Paeng Clan was new.
'This is completely different from what I'd heard.'
I'd thought they were so free-spirited and broad-minded that they paid no attention to formalities, but the corridors and ceilings were all dazzlingly polished, as if brand new. It gave me no small amount of trouble as I tried to eye the building's structure through sidelong glances.
'I have to know the layout for later.'
Knowing the Hebei Paeng Clan's layout would help in various ways for the lust demon mischief I'd be getting up to.
For example, violating a woman from another clan or a small-to-medium sect in the guise of the Ice-Colored Demon, then disguising myself as Yeon Bung afterward to hide within the Paeng Clan.
Or, as the Ice-Colored Demon, assaulting a woman of the Paeng Clan and having an easy escape route ready.
Or, confirming the rooms of Paeng Clan women who might owe me a favor later on.
"...And so the Hebei Paeng Clan came to settle here in Beijing."
"Mhm, so I've heard. Truly a place steeped in history and tradition."
I hadn't heard a word. I was checking the layout with my side-vision while facing forward and chiming in, studying Paeng Yuwol's face in detail.
"This way is the room where you will be staying, guest."
Paeng Yuwol guided me to the guest room. Like the others, it felt like a crumbling old room that had been renovated recently at great expense. The lacquer on the wood didn't even look fully cured yet.
"Have you built new guest rooms?"
"No. We renovated all the existing buildings... As the clan regained its former prestige, our income recovered to what it used to be."
Paeng Yuwol smiled bitterly and turned her head. Oddly, it looked like a tear had glinted in her eye.
"Have you perhaps heard the recent story of the Paeng Clan's fall and revival?"
"...I know the rough outline. That the clan head fell gravely ill, and around that time, a woman from a collateral branch of the Paeng Clan married into an escort bureau. And that when the head of that bureau and his family died, all the bureau's assets were inherited by that woman."
How could I not know? It wasn't as though I lived with my ears shut, and I'd occasionally heard news of the Paeng Clan. But I answered only as much as the public would know, and Paeng Yuwol nodded.
"Correct... That was when the Paeng clan head was cured of his illness, and with the escort bureau's tremendous wealth, the Paeng Clan was able to reclaim the name Hebei Paeng Clan. Thanks to that wealth, the Paeng Clan could properly rebuild its estate and re-hang the signboards of its training halls, which had been on the verge of closing."
"You put it to meaningful use."
"Yes... It's not polite toward a guest, but there's one thing I must say."
Paeng Yuwol forcibly steadied her expression, which threatened to twist.
"If the Ice-Colored Demon's whereabouts are confirmed elsewhere, please leave the Paeng Clan immediately."
"It's not a guest's place to say this, but for someone like you to say that... there must be a reason, isn't there?"
Paeng Yuwol's expression hardened. It looked as though she might bite through her lower lip until blood came, and her hands trembled as she opened her mouth.
"...It is simply too shameful to speak of to an outsider of the clan. I was rude."
Paeng Yuwol bowed her head and left the spot. I'd hoped for a simple, intimate conversation between just the two of us, but Paeng Yuwol departed without looking back.
"Huh."
I wanted to talk a little more. Why did she leave so abruptly?
Weh-eh—
"......."
At the sound of a baby crying from somewhere, the blood drained from my hands and feet. Watching from a distance, I saw Paeng Yuwol take a child hurriedly carried over by an old maid of the Paeng Clan into her arms.
"Baby, did you find mommy?"
Weh-eh—
The child began to cry sorrowfully the moment she was cradled in Paeng Yuwol's arms. After shushing the fussing child a couple of times, Paeng Yuwol, even though they stood in a wide-open corridor, opened the top of her dress and nursed the baby.
"There, there. What a good girl. You were hungry, weren't you, my daughter."
"......."
The daughter I saw from afar for the first time was incredibly lovable, whether because she took after Paeng Yuwol—or perhaps after me.
'Wah.'
To the point where I had the thought that, along with my daughter, I wanted to be buried in that mother's bosom of milk.