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"Heh heh heh, hahahahaha!!"
I burst out laughing. Running against the wind meant the air resistance pressed heavily on my face, but I simply couldn't contain the energy boiling inside me.
'As expected of the Paeng Clan. Truly magnanimous.'
Even though I'd declared my intention to take three wives and four concubines, Paeng Yuwol voiced no particular complaint.
- Well, the stronger a clan's power, the more wives the clan head tends to have...
If anything, she accepted it with great composure. True to the Hebei Paeng Clan—whose traditions run deep among the Eight Great Families—and fitting for a clan with a heavily male-centric atmosphere, she laughed it off with open-hearted generosity.
- You're not jealous, or anything?
- What do I have to be jealous about? They should be jealous of me.
'I think I understand what the composure of a victor feels like.'
Having recognized that she held a clear upper hand, Paeng Yuwol asked me to keep her existence a secret.
- Still, if possible...
- No. Please don't.
I had wanted to welcome Paeng Yuwol sooner if possible, but she requested that I publicly declare her existence only after she had completely set the Paeng Clan's affairs in order.
- You have Wudang, the Demonic Cult, and on top of that, one is the Alliance Leader's daughter. I can't afford to fall short against them. The Hebei Paeng Clan cannot be outdone by other families when it comes to a dowry.
Paeng Yuwol was a woman with stronger family pride than I had expected.
- The Paeng Clan will be reborn by my hand. Since my father showed me the way, I will reclaim our past glory.
In the future I knew, Paeng Yuwol had also revived the Paeng Clan. Her martial arts might have been relatively weaker, but when it came to managing a clan, no one could match her.
- I will manage Paeng Sin-hye well myself. I'll grip the reins so tightly that she'll never be able to commit such horrors again.
Paeng Yuwol had been appalled to learn of the Blood Torture Witch's atrocities. But, being a person of the clan, she couldn't bring herself to completely cut off or eliminate Paeng Sin-hye.
- I'm not defending Shin-hye. But I want to rehabilitate her. Even if I have to beat it into her.
Because she herself was bound to the clan, even knowing Paeng Sin-hye's wrongdoings, she favored her fellow clan member.
- Shin-hye's temperament isn't the type to be broken or devastated by the shock of being violated, but you never know. What if the drugs turn her mind to mush?
- You needn't worry about that. Now that Paeng Sin-hye has been violated, the Blood Cult will pay her no further attention.
Since Paeng Sin-hye had been violated by the Sky-Soaring Lust Demon, the Blood Cult would decisively discard her.
- The Blood Cult has no interest in anyone who isn't a virgin. Most married women in the Blood Cult entered as virgins and only became pregnant by the Blood Cult's orders.
- Is that why you violated her? To tell the Blood Cult not to touch her because she's a non-virgin touched by the Sky-Soaring Lust Demon?
- That's right. So take good care of her.
Paeng Sin-hye would be bedridden for a while from the shock of being ravished by the Sky-Soaring Lust Demon, and Paeng Yuwol would soothe that emotionally wounded sow until she could function as a human being again.
- I understand. I'll turn that rotten mentality of hers right around.
Paeng Sin-hye would be reborn by Paeng Yuwol's hand.
Killing her might have been far better, but I decided to trust Paeng Yuwol.
For my part, I'd wanted to eliminate her thoroughly, as I had with the Flame Demon and the Ice Demon—especially since she was a Blood Cult witch. But thankfully, Paeng Sin-hye hadn't progressed as far as the Moon Maiden Summoning Ritual.
'She didn't become a complete Blood Demon like Eul So-mi.'
Perhaps because she'd been more focused on violating women personally, Paeng Sin-hye had never made the Blood Demon's power her own.
'She might not have learned it simply because it's so ugly.'
It could grant immense power, like the Demonic Cult's Bursting Blood technique, but because it transformed the user into an utter monster, she hadn't become a Blood Demon even while I violated her.
She had either been afraid of summoning the Moon Maiden into her body, or had merely gathered sacrifices for the Moon Maiden Descent Ritual and siphoned their internal energy for her own sexual preferences.
Since the Moon Maiden is fated to be taken by the Blood Cult Leader, she must have tried to use only the Blood Cult's power without becoming the Moon Maiden herself.
'Summoning a Celestial Maiden.'
The Blood Cult's ultimate goal is to summon the Moon Maiden—a Celestial Maiden, a goddess—down into the mortal world.
'They claim they want to call down the Moon Maiden to annihilate the world, but they also secretly want to violate her at the same time.'
The objective is for the wretch called the Blood Cult Leader to satisfy his own sinister sexual desires by dragging a goddess down from heaven and getting her with child.
'Those who follow the Blood Cult have all been deceived by the Blood Cult Leader's words.'
Outwardly, it's said that a woman who becomes the Moon Maiden gains eternal youth and immortality, but in truth, the owner of the body the Moon Maiden descends into is devoured by the Moon Maiden's overwhelming spirit and extinguished.
The Twelve Blood Fairies, who offer blood sacrifices to become the true Moon Maiden, were all collecting sacrifices unaware of this fact.
'Still, now that I've run wild once, things should be quiet for a while.'
Eul So-mi in Henan.
Paeng Sin-hye in Hebei.
Since the Sky-Soaring Lust Demon had specifically violated two Blood Cult women, the Blood Cult would have to lie low. Doesn't it almost look as if someone deliberately targeted only Blood Cult affiliates and then left?
'Their heads will be spinning.'
They'd rack their brains trying to figure out whether the Sky-Soaring Lust Demon had targeted those two on purpose, or simply stopped by because they were known hot spots.
"Hoo."
My stray thoughts had gone on too long. I drew in a deep breath to settle my breathing, calmed my inner energy, and walked on slowly.
"I have to stop the Demonic Cult's Eldest Son, and stop the Blood Cult too. Honestly, I never wanted to live this busily."
I'd simply wanted to live harmoniously with pretty women and enjoy happiness, but there were more obstacles to my happiness than I'd anticipated.
"Still, the happiness is worth the suffering, so it's fine."
And so, to hold onto that happiness, I had to move personally. To endure just a little, only a tiny bit, of hardship while I was young, so that in the future I could do nothing but tend flowers in my estate and live peacefully.
'I'll raise my children well.'
After I'd run through the forest for several sichen, a small hut finally appeared before my eyes, and a smile crept onto my face unbidden.
"As expected."
The hut's kitchen had exploded. Fortunately, the house itself looked intact, and the door creaked open.
"Hey!"
"You're back?!"
Both of their faces were gaunt. Looking at them, as if they'd been starving for days, I was dumbfounded.
"I'm fairly sure I returned in under ten days, let alone two weeks, so why are things in this state?"
"W-well..."
"Sob. Doctor. I've decided to trust the doctor's words wholeheartedly."
Dokgo Yeon gazed at a distant mountain, tears welling in her eyes. Lee Si-a, standing behind her, had turned beet-red all the way to the crown of her head but couldn't offer any rebuttal.
"Just from looking, it's clear you tried to cook a Heavenly Demon meal and the pot exploded. Have you eaten? I had a feeling this might happen, so I packed some provisions and fasting pills inside."
"...We'd been eating nothing but that for nearly six days. Haha."
Dokgo Yeon's eyes were lifeless. Her already frail body, unable to eat properly, looked as though it would collapse at any moment.
"That simply won't do. To bear a child, one must eat well and grow strong. Little Princess, let us depart shortly. We'll stop by an inn on the way down and fill our stomachs before continuing."
"Right, right. More importantly, did things go well in Hebei?"
"Heh, of course."
I spread two fingers and waggled them.
"I violated two women and returned, so now those bastards will think the Sky-Soaring Lust Demon has gone to Liaodong."
"Huh? Why is that?"
"Because I left them a calling card."
* * *
The Sky-Soaring Lust Demon had struck the Paeng Clan!
The white-haired Sky-Soaring Lust Demon had violated Paeng Sin-hye, the legitimate daughter of the Paeng Clan, in plain view of everyone. Then, as if mocking them all, he concealed himself within the Paeng estate and departed at dawn.
"That... bastard...!"
Dokgo Ja-yeong, who had rushed here in a single bound after hearing the news in Henan, swallowed his fury at the Lust Demon's already-vanished presence.
There was more than one victim. After violating Eul So-mi, he had now violated Paeng Sin-hye. The Sky-Soaring Lust Demon was clearly not the type to hide his identity and lie low.
"Clan Head Paeng, I offer my deepest condolences."
"No... thank you, Alliance Leader. ...Sniff."
Comrades in grief. As a father, how could he not grieve that his daughter had been violated by the Sky-Soaring Lust Demon?
If Paeng Iwang's body had been healthy like in the old days, he would have grabbed a blade and charged out himself, just like Dokgo Ja-yeong.
"Was there anything unusual?"
Dokgo Ja-yeong turned his head toward two young heroes. The Fan Dragon and the Thorn Dragon both shook their heads.
"No. We combed through every corner of the Paeng estate. But we couldn't determine where the bastard had been hiding at all."
"Clan Head, is there a secret room known only to the Paeng Clan's people?"
"...None at all. There is no such place."
Paeng Iwang shook his head in lament.
"If there were such a place, I would have inspected it first. But not a single trace of the Sky-Soaring Lust Demon was found."
The Paeng Clan had even checked every secret chamber. Yet nowhere could any sign of the Sky-Soaring Lust Demon be found.
"Are we perhaps missing something?"
"Impossible. Where in the Hebei Paeng Clan could there be a place I do not know?"
"Hrmm..."
Ultimately, they could not find him, no matter how hard they tried. The plan to seize the initiative and suppress the Lust Demon by digging in here in Hebei had all come to naught.
"If only the Lust Demon hasn't left for another place yet... Damn it, if I just knew his tracks."
"Alliance Leader!! We've found something!!"
At the breathless voice of the strategist who had rushed in, the Alliance Leader rose with a murderous glare.
"What have you found?"
"We've found the bastard's next target!!"
Strategist Jegal Gil urgently led the people somewhere. There stood an enormous pillar of ice, inside which one woman was still imprisoned.
"Ice White Divine Art!"
Even though morning had come and the sun was beginning to shine, the fact that it remained frozen was unmistakably a hallmark of the Ice White Divine Art.
"That woman is his next target, you say? There was no mention of this in the reports?"
"The floor! Look at the floor!"
The Alliance Leader and the others lowered their gazes. Beneath the two smooth spheres, on the ground illuminated by the sunlight, traces carved by a sword were starkly visible.
- I will scatter foul blood across the world.
"Why, you... dog...!"
"Alliance Leader, below that!"
Seeing the phrase etched below it, Dokgo Ja-yeong was truly overcome with rage.
- Wash yourself and wait, Yeonhui Peak. I shall come to claim you soon.
"Yeonhui Peak... Moyong!!"
Shandong, Liaodong.
At the Lust Demon's announcement of his next destination, the people of the Alliance were thrown into terror.
* * *
We stopped at an inn to eat.
After the meal, we walked leisurely.
Once we felt hungry again, we sprinted along the mountain path, using our lightness arts at full speed.
"Bi-cheon, when will we arrive?"
"Soon. Endure just a little longer, and we'll be there."
"Doctor, my body's starting to ache~"
"Since I cannot treat you here, I shall administer the injection once we arrive."
As the two women's disruptions grew fiercer, I simply grabbed both of them by the waist and ran. If our relationship was to avoid growing distant, doing things together was far better.
"Lord, can't we just do it between ourselves?"
"Lord, if the two of us combine, I think we'd be about as good as sister Yeon."
"If we do that, Gyeonhui will sulk, so it's not allowed."
Not three, but four, together.
And after days of running and running.
Step. Step.
I finally arrived there.
The place I hold more affection for than anywhere else.
The place I first thought of as a 'refuge' after leaving the Sam-gu's house.
The very place where, when I returned from a long journey far away, one woman would be waiting for me. Her fingers wrapped in white bandages, she greeted me like a housewife welcoming her husband home from a long business trip.
"Welcome back, my lord."
"I'm back."
Sagong Hee had come out all the way to the main gate to greet me, and I took her hand.
"Si-a, and Yeon. Come in, quickly. Oh, right. Lord, I nearly forgot something."
Sagong Hee wiggled her fingers, then pulled Lee Si-a and Dokgo Yeon inside by the hand.
"What would you like to do first? A meal? A bath? Or maybe..."
Sagong Hee glanced sidelong toward the bedroom.
"...internal energy cultivation... shall we begin with that?"
"Internal energy cultivation, is it? Let's fix that wording."
I pointed inside the bedroom.
"Internal energy cultivation can be done anytime, and washing up after working up a good sweat isn't too late. There's just one thing we absolutely must do right now."
I tossed my outer robe onto the daybed.
"Let's eat first."
I headed toward the kitchen first.