136
136
"Ah. I made a mistake."
I had committed a grave error. Judging by the commotion outside, there was no undoing it now.
"She was a three because of the virginity bonus."
Now that she wasn't a virgin, I'd have to dock half a point, bringing her down to two and a half stars. I reproached myself for this terrible blunder.
"Uh-ub, uhh...."
Paeng Sin-hye, bound hand and foot to a chair, drooled profusely behind her blindfold. Her dantian was utterly empty. Using the inner energy I'd stolen from her, I had cast the Soul-Hooking Technique. Before escaping the estate as Yeon Bung, I had discovered her basement and confined her there.
"I wished this didn't exist."
An altar of the Blood Cult.
Facing an altar where rituals were performed with women's blood left a bitter taste in my mouth. I'd witnessed the same scene countless times in my previous life, but the visceral revulsion it provoked was something I still couldn't suppress.
"Blood Torture Witch...."
Paeng Sin-hye was the Blood Torture Witch. Salvation already seemed impossible.
"Get lost. You sow."
"Bu-hiit?!!"
The moment I spoke, Paeng Sin-hye screamed and wet herself. The fabric beneath her grew damp, and seeing her climax instantly at the word 'sow' confirmed that the Soul-Hooking Technique had taken hold properly.
"Ah, haaht! I hate it! Violated by a man, by a man... aheuk!!"
Throughout my stay at the Paeng estate, I had continued to violate Paeng Sin-hye as Yeon Bung. Even after being ravished, she kept coming back to me, and each time, I took her and scraped away her inner energy.
I never released inside her. She mistook my member for a mere model, and without even realizing she was being had, she challenged me again and again. Not once did I spill my seed inside her.
"I can't very well bestow my essence on someone like the Blood Torture Witch."
I was deeply disappointed. I'd held some hope, wondering if a Blood Torture Witch might have room for rehabilitation, but fate had not changed.
"How cruel."
The basement was a bloodbath. The walls were so drenched in blackened gore, of an age impossible to tell, that it seemed as if blood itself had swallowed the entire space. And inside the makeshift cells of the basement, barred with iron, were women drained of all vitality. They wore the same restraints I had used on Paeng Sin-hye.
"......."
A blindfolded woman stared vacantly at me. Toward her, with both eyes and ears sealed, I sent a Telepathic Message.
[I've come to kill you.]
"Ah...."
Her withered hand trembled. It was less a shudder of terror at death and more a sigh of relief at finally being released from an eternal hell of torment.
"At last...!"
"Sob, gods of heaven and earth...!"
The other women were the same.
Their appearances were identical. Their lower bodies had suffered abuse beyond what words could describe. The women who had hemorrhaged again and again in this basement, eyes and ears sealed, all sensed my presence and wept. Every single one of them was begging for death, for rest.
These were the countless maidens captured by the Blood Torture Witch, Paeng Sin-hye. If I included those who had already perished, unable to endure the savage torture, just how many had died here? Right before my eyes alone, there were seven women in restraints.
'So she meant to perform the rite here.'
Regrettably, Paeng Sin-hye was not a candidate. She was already the Blood Torture Witch. I didn't know when she had started committing these atrocities, but she had likely been at it for a long time.
"Sow. Answer my question. What did you intend to do with Yeon Bung?"
"Uhh, uhh...."
Paeng Sin-hye wet herself several more times in succession before parting her lips.
"That insolent bitch... I was going to drug her and bring her here...."
Under the Soul-Hooking Technique, Paeng Sin-hye vomited up her thoughts without filter.
"And then?"
"Just like the other bitches... strap on a Carved Phallus and violate her... to show her who the real sow is...."
At first, she must have planned to violate me and lock me up here.
"After that, heuhet, gather her blood and use it as a ritual offering...."
"Enough. I don't wish to hear any more."
She had been violated by me, playing the sow on the surface while plotting revenge on the inside.
One more thing.
"And what did you plan for Paeng Yuwol?"
"Once Father... passes away... I'd succeed as clan head, and then I'd put that bitch in here.... Can't use her for the ritual anyway, so she'd just be a plaything to kill boredom...."
Slap.
I smacked Paeng Sin-hye across the cheek. It risked breaking the Soul-Hooking Technique, but I couldn't stop my hand.
"Wretched bitch."
If it were up to me alone, I'd kill her. But doing so would harm Paeng Yuwol, who wants to rebuild the Paeng Clan.
The legitimate daughter of the Hebei Paeng Clan abducted women, sexually tortured them, and performed rites with their blood? The Hebei Paeng Clan would be annihilated. For Paeng Yuwol's sake, this matter had to be covered up.
'Damn. What a headache.'
I had to engineer the public downfall of Paeng Sin-hye while simultaneously protecting the Paeng Clan. The scandal must end with Paeng Sin-hye simply having been 'violated.' The Blood Torture Witch's atrocities had to be halted, yet I could not let the Blood Cult suspect the Blood Torture Witch. Just as I had done with Eul So-mi, the matter had to conclude with the Sex Demon having defiled Paeng Sin-hye—not Hyeol Sin-hye.
"Euhik, hik, s-stop...."
Fortunately, Paeng Sin-hye's mind was already consumed by being ravished by me in her head.
"Ah, aaah... I hate it...!! I hate it, but heuk!"
The one violating her would not be Yeon Bung but rather the Ice-Colored Demon, yet the Blood Torture Witch, having already tasted the pleasure of violation, was already enjoying being ravished by the Sex Demon. Just like Eul So-mi, Paeng Sin-hye was a woman lewd and wanton beyond measure. A true slut who, fittingly for a Blood Torture Witch, had driven the Paeng Clan straight into the abyss.
'But that won't happen.'
The Paeng Clan is my woman's house, and my child's house. Someday my Wol-a will inherit it.
So now was the time to rescue those who had suffered, and then turn them into people who truly work for the Paeng Clan. My gaze swept over the women Paeng Sin-hye had abducted. All of them were women in their late teens to early twenties, fresh into adulthood. They were clearly all maidservants who had gone missing while working at the Paeng estate. Paeng Sin-hye had likely abducted them to this cellar while publicly covering up the truth with stories that they'd run away.
I tore open the iron cells that held them.
'Seven.'
I gathered all seven women in one place. Then I drew a small Spirit Pill from my robes and split it apart.
'For now, this will do.'
I divided one Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill into seven pieces. What had already been small became even smaller, but there was no helping it at this immediate moment.
[If you eat this, your pain will subside for a while.]
I forced the pieces of the pill into their mouths and made them swallow.
[I'll be brief.]
I gave the women a short explanation of the unjust situation they had suffered.
[You all were....]
At first, the women, who had believed they were merely being tortured by a madwoman, began to tense up one by one as they learned of the dark shadow hanging over the Murim.
[...The hope of the Hebei Paeng Clan is Paeng Yuwol. You must bury all of this. And you must work for Paeng Yuwol, for the Paeng Clan.]
Hatred and turmoil flickered across the women's faces.
[If you wish to die, I can grant that. But if you wish to live, obey my command.]
I gave the women a choice. Unexpectedly, they came to their decisions quickly.
Five chose death.
Two chose to claw their way back to life.
[May you be reborn in paradise. I will send you off without pain.]
For those who chose death, I parted their legs and thrust my member inside.
"Aaahng...."
Thanks to the Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill, their pain was suppressed, and their energy somewhat restored. Even as their yin energy and True Qi were stolen away, the women surrendered their bodies to me without resistance.
"Please... avenge us...."
"Thank you... for killing me...."
Just like that, I killed five women. Drained of all life force through the plundering of their True Qi, the women died the Pleasure Death amid ecstasy.
They were those who had already given up the will to live, so they accepted death meekly. The agony inflicted by the Blood Torture Witch had already killed their spirits.
Then there were the two who survived. They appeared to have been captured more recently than the others; their bodies were relatively intact.
"To you two, I shall apply a Forbidden Restraint."
I infused their bodies with my inner energy. The energy now seated in their dantian would react the instant they violated the prohibition.
"I will smuggle you outside. Later, you will re-enter the Paeng estate as retainers. Your task is to assist Paeng Yuwol at her side."
At my words, both nodded without hesitation. Bowing their heads under Paeng Sin-hye would have been one thing, but Paeng Yuwol was a woman well worth serving as a master.
"If you follow my orders, you can be reborn. If you wish, I will even erase your memories of this place. Will you follow me?"
"Yes...."
The bargain was sealed. I tucked the two women under my arms and slipped out of the basement.
"By the way, why do you two look alike?"
"We are... sisters...."
"......."
I searched my memory. I tried to gauge what their appearances would be once they had matured.
'The Hagyeol Twin Witches!'
The Blood Torture Witch's subordinates who would wield the Paeng Clan's martial arts. The twin sisters destined to become Peak Experts in the future. To think I would find them here.
"What do you wish to do to Paeng Sin-hye?"
"We want... to kill her. But if you who have shown us grace command otherwise...."
"We would settle for only tormenting her near to death...."
It was a good thing I'd risked letting them live.
"You must not kill Paeng Sin-hye. As for everything else—I permit it."
A short while later, I used the cover of darkness to secretly spirit the two of them outside.
And just then, the Murim Alliance warriors, brimming with killing intent, were bearing down on the Paeng estate with the Peak Experts Fan Dragon and Thorn Dragon at their vanguard.
"Perfect timing."
I threw myself back toward the basement. Before the Murim Alliance warriors could reach Paeng Sin-hye's room, I grabbed her and sealed the basement. Unless a master of at least the Harmony Realm came and shattered the Ice Wall, those iron doors would never open. Channeling my surging inner energy into the Ice White Divine Art, I dashed toward Paeng Sin-hye's chamber.
"Seuup, hah."
Tak-tak-tak. Moving faster than the sound of my footsteps, I hurled Paeng Sin-hye onto the bed and brandished my member. As if that weren't enough, I thrust it truly inside Paeng Sin-hye.
Bweu-reu-reut.
I shook my hips with the full intent to release, and fortunately, it gushed out quickly. After climaxing twice already to place Forbidden Restraints on the two women who would assist Paeng Yuwol, I'd thought there'd be nothing left, but my little Sex Demon didn't hesitate to acknowledge a necessary release.
"Hoo."
I gathered Paeng Sin-hye in my arms and sat on the edge of the bed. Then I leisurely waited for the door to be thrown open.
Three, two, one.
"Lady Paeng Sin-hye—!!"
"I've been waiting."
I waved my hand at the Murim Alliance warriors who came bursting through the door.
"You're too late. I was getting bored while I waited."
"You, you bastard...!"
"Not content with Miss Dokgo, or even my mother, now you dare touch Miss Paeng...!!"
At Fan Dragon's murderous rage, I was dumbstruck. I wouldn't know about others, but in Eul So-mi's case, she'd been the one locking her legs behind my back from the midpoint onward. What grounds did he have to say such a thing?
"Hm... Are you Eul Ji-sang? The legitimate son of the Eul Family who became the Fan Dragon this time around?"
"That's right!"
"Insolent brat. Is that any way to treat your new stepfather?"
"You son of a bitch!!"
Fan Dragon instantly drew his sword. I flicked my finger and sent a Finger Technique bullet flying at his blade.
Crack! The hand of Fan Dragon gripping the sword froze solid. Thanks to the overflowing yin energy, the Ice White Divine Art required only a fraction of inner energy to freeze a man entirely.
"Tch. I'm tired of this sow anyway. I'm leaving."
I pulled Paeng Sin-hye off of me and flung her to the floor. I was careful not to let her drop head-first, but getting slammed onto the ground still must have hurt.
"Euhik, heuik...."
Paeng Sin-hye spasmed and soiled herself. The Murim Alliance warriors groaned darkly at the sight of white fluid trickling from her petals.
"Paeng Sin-hye was delicious. I don't know who'll eat her next, but heu-heu. With that soft, tender flesh—"
"You bastard!!"
Jo Cheong-hong thrust his short spear forward, aiming straight for my heart. It was a clear killing stroke, so I threw my body backward.
Crash!
The window frame shattered, and I flung myself through it. Fan Dragon and Thorn Dragon tried to use their Lightness Skill to chase me through the wreckage, but I fired Ice Bullets with my Finger Technique to slow them down.
"Hahahah! Thank you for the meal!"
I concealed my body with a flash of motion. The warriors gaped in shock at my sudden disappearance.
"D-dark arts?!"
I had simply propelled myself at a speed invisible to the naked eye. By employing the subtle principle of the Bow Body Flickering Shadow and snapping my waist forward in midair, I used the recoiling elasticity to retreat a great distance backward.
Now all that was left was to leave.
I had announced to all under heaven that the Ice-Colored Demon had violated Paeng Sin-hye, and I had even prepared thoroughly against any potential Blood Cult interference.
I just had to leap over the estate wall, and it would all be over.
But.
"......."
My feet wouldn't lift off the ground. My eyes had caught the window leading to 'that place.'
'Just one look, then I'll go.'
Killing the sound of my footsteps, I slipped in through the window. Inside the chamber, steeped in the scent of a familiar woman, a child lay sleeping as quiet as death, oblivious to the chaos outside.
"......."
Search the grounds! He can't have gone far!—Regardless of the clamorous shouts ringing out from beyond, I let my eyes linger on the deeply slumbering child.
"...Hoo."
After keeping the child in my sight for a long while, I finally turned to leave—in that very moment.
"You must have a death wish."
Seureuk.
Paeng Yuwol, clad in thin sleeping robes, stood behind me with a blade pressed against my throat.