014
014
Whether it's the Body Transformation Art, the Soul-Hooking Technique, or a Human Skin Mask—no method can deceive the eyes of family.
'The Demonic Cult doesn't spend years observing a target before a disguise without purpose.'
Merely borrowing someone's appearance for a short time cannot perfectly mimic everything about them. Just as I am Chu Dae-gwang and not Chu So-gwang, I can alter my body to resemble Chu So-gwang by nine-tenths, but I can never fool everyone completely.
'Would his own father really not recognize him?'
No matter how useless the man, there is no way Chu So-gwang's father wouldn't know his own son. The man knew his son was worse than a mudfish—wasn't that precisely why he used the Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill as leverage to force a marriage pact with the Paeng Clan's daughter?
'He'd know full well his son is beneath contempt, and yet Chu So-gwang supposedly tamed Paeng Yuwol into submission with his lower half? Even I would be suspicious.'
It would be strange if he weren't suspicious.
He would undoubtedly bring up childhood memories or secrets known only to father and son, and one misstep could turn a situation meant for a bit of fun into a bloodbath in more ways than one.
"Hmm..."
"Is something... the matter?"
Paeng Yuwol placed her hand on my thigh, her face full of worry. Thanks to the passionate lovemaking I had poured into her night after night these past few days, she had become completely devoted to me.
"It's nothing."
"It's hardly nothing. You seemed unable to focus, unlike your usual self."
"Oh? Heh heh, you've already reached the point where you can tell whether your man is concentrating or his mind is elsewhere?"
"...Honestly, must you embarrass this maiden so?"
Paeng Yuwol had become the perfect woman.
Her masochistic nature certainly played a considerable role in bringing her under my control, but true to a Paeng Clan warrior, Paeng Yuwol preferred things bold and direct—all while cloaking herself in speech that was the very picture of feminine modesty.
"So at last... I shall meet your father."
"Now that I think of it, will this be your first time seeing him?"
"First...? No, I have met him once. Father came to the Paeng Clan personally to request a trade arrangement... Have you forgotten?"
"......."
A cold sweat trickled down my back.
"Did he? I've been lost in happy dreams lately. My mind must have wandered."
"Is that... so?"
I wished to avoid arousing suspicion over something I could not possibly know, and Paeng Yuwol, ever perceptive, took careful note of every slip I unwittingly made while playing Chu So-gwang.
"My lord...?"
"The weather is cold. Tonight, I shall have to warm the night."
I pounced on Paeng Yuwol from above. She let out a feigned shriek of surprise and naturally received me.
"Heh heh, my lord—you look so heavy, and yet you are not heavy at all."
"A man only needs to be heavy in one place."
"Your pride is truly something else—ah, ahh."
I thrust my manhood straight into Paeng Yuwol. By now, she had grown so accustomed to intercourse that she would reach down with her own hands and draw her legs back. She no longer had any hesitation about holding naked, physical conversation with me.
"My lord, my breasts, my breasts..."
"I thought you disliked having them sucked?"
"Because my lord enjoys it..."
I immediately buried my face in the twin mounds of Paeng Yuwol's chest.
As I reached down and cupped them from below, the feel of those breasts was something I could never bear to part from. Her breasts were so large and beautiful that I entertained the absurd thought of traveling the world with Paeng Yuwol's chest alone as my companion.
'Come to think of it, the very first time I held her, I pressed my length between them, didn't I?'
I had seen quite a few large-breasted women in my life, and among them were several I had violated as a Blood Jiangshi—but even compared to the countless women of the future, Paeng Yuwol's breasts were worthy of being called the Heavenly Three Breasts without the slightest exaggeration.
"Ah, haah, if you keep tormenting my heart like that..."
"How lovely. These are breasts I could happily rest in forever."
"Do you truly find them so pleasing? I find them bothersome when executing martial forms..."
"No. Your breasts are the symbol of your strength. If you let yourself be troubled by a little swaying, how could you ever swing your blade with dignity and boldness?"
I gently teased her erect nipples with my tongue. Paeng Yuwol let out an elated sigh and wrapped her legs around my back. Her thighs, toned from Inner Energy training, pressed firmly against me, making it impossible for the manhood buried inside her to slip free.
"I thought my lord was teaching me the ways of Cloud and Rain Affection—I never imagined you would also teach me martial arts."
"Is that so? Heh heh. You may take pride in your breasts. If anyone mocks them while you execute your forms, simply strike them across the head with your chest. There is no one in this world who possesses breasts as beautiful as yours."
Not yet, at least. I licked and nibbled at her breasts like a babe, stimulating her pleasurably. The breasts themselves were not the concentrated seat of her arousal, but I freely awakened the maternal potential that Paeng Yuwol carried within her for the future.
Motherhood.
Paeng Yuwol would make a good mother.
Because of that, I had no hesitation in releasing my essence inside her. Even if this act resulted in her bearing my child, she would raise my child with love.
'But for that to happen, I'll need to create the right circumstances and environment, won't I?'
The plan was already fully laid out. All that remained was to execute it.
"Haaah! My lord, more—press down on me harder!"
"Heh heh, very well. I shall show you the power of my new Unique Martial Art: the Mating Thousand-pound Hammer."
As though I were a boar releasing its essence upon a woman, I pressed my body flush against Paeng Yuwol's and shook my hips.
"Nngh, nnght, k-hngh! G-good! Harder! Ahaang!! More—press down on me more!!"
For now, I'd just release. I came inside Paeng Yuwol and came again, over and over, until my testicles were utterly empty.
* * *
Slap!
The sound of a palm striking flesh filled the estate.
Everyone in the clan stood frozen in shock and horror, unable to utter a word, and the middle-aged man who had been struck silently lowered his head. The middle-aged man with the thick beard bore a striking resemblance to Paeng Yuwol around the eyes.
"Paeng I-seon, you mad bastard!"
The white-haired middle-aged man of fierce countenance seemed unsatisfied with a single slap and raised his leg to kick Paeng I-seon in the shin.
"Kgh...!"
Though Paeng I-seon possessed far greater Inner Energy, the pain of the kick to his shin cut him to the core.
It was not the pain itself that pained him—no, what brought stinging tears to his eyes was the fact that the kick of a man who had once stood among the Top One Hundred Masters of the World and commanded the realm now held no force at all.
"Brother...!"
"Do not call me brother! I am a wretch unworthy of being called your brother!"
<Evil Slash Sword> Paeng I-wang.
The head of the Hebei Paeng Clan, he had been bedridden with an unknown illness and was revived by the power of the Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill.
Though he was now skin and bones, had lost much of his Inner Energy, and had fallen to the level of a Second-Rate warrior, the mere fact that a man once afflicted with a fatal illness had survived was enough to hearten the people of the clan.
"I should have—I should have died! How could you sell a child of the family to save me! Have you no shame before Yuwol?! Are you not Yuwol's father?!"
"And at the same time, I am your younger brother!"
"Silence, you wretch! Once you became a father, your child should have come first! You sold your own child to save me! How wretched—how wretched! Cough!"
Paeng I-wang beat his chest and collapsed to his knees. His hair had already turned stark white, and he looked as though he might not last another day; when he burst into coughing, the clan members rushed forward one by one to support him.
"Brother. The girl accepted her fate."
"Acceptance is not the issue! No matter the difficulty, you should have protected the clan's future!"
"...Brother, the clan's future lies with your son and heir, Chang-du—"
"You fool! The Paeng Clan's future is..."
Paeng I-wang turned his head and looked at his son, who was watching him with complicated eyes. Paeng Chang-du's hand was clenched so tightly around his own wrist that his knuckles had gone white. Paeng I-wang sighed deeply and sank to the floor.
"Ahh... the Paeng Clan..."
Having regained his vitality and clarity of mind through the Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill, Paeng I-wang now showed a frail side unlike his former self, and the Paeng Clan was sinking ever deeper into gloom.
"Yuwol will surely be unhappy..."
* * *
"Aaaang! My lord, it's so good! Haaaahk!!"
Paeng Yuwol fainted amid the pleasure of climax. Before the Bureau Chief of the Chuso Escort Bureau arrived, I had savored her body at my leisure, from the crown of her head to the tips of her toes.
"Sleep now. Tomorrow, you must pay your respects to your father."
"Yes..."
Paeng Yuwol lost consciousness with tears in her eyes. The tears of pleasure streamed down her face and soaked the bed of her chamber thoroughly. I wiped Paeng Yuwol's body clean with a silk cloth, then pressed her pressure point as she slept with gentle breaths.
"......."
Paeng Yuwol slept as still as death. Even if a fire broke out beside her, she would not regain her senses unless someone came to wake her.
"That was a fine meal."
I tidied Paeng Yuwol's disheveled hair, then sat down at the desk and wrote out a message I would leave for her.
'I can't exactly just walk away after feasting on the Heavenly Three Breasts.'
I had greedily indulged in the body of the woman called Paeng Yuwol for nearly nine days without rest. It was only right to pay the price.
"You won't hear this since you're asleep, but consider this child support for my offspring."
I wrote while imitating Chu So-gwang's handwriting. A trained examiner would normally see through a forgery in an instant, but I wielded the brush with enough skill to confound even an expert.
- I may soon meet my death.
How could the handwriting of a man facing death be neat and orderly? Writing a last testament like a resolution of unwavering determination would ill suit Chu So-gwang's true character. He was the very model of a man petty, cold-hearted, and mean-spirited.
'Still, since he's going to die anyway, I ought to send him off in style. It's the price of borrowing his name.'
Just as a murim warrior leaves behind a secret manual in death and a man leaves behind his name, I decided to grant Chu So-gwang honor in exchange for borrowing his name and body.
- Our time together was brief, but I was happy.
Though he feared the death that might soon be upon him, he mustered his last courage for the woman he loved, crafting the impression that he had reached some kind of resolution.
- The rest I entrust to the Heavenly Guest.
Here and there, for the sake of any Demonic Cult underlings who might discover and examine this will, I wove in a few appropriately fabricated secrets.
'Stamp—thud.'
Chu So-gwang's last testament, complete.
'If there is room for suspicion, simply eliminate the seed of suspicion.'
The father might come, and if we met I might be exposed? Then all I need to do is ensure there is never any occasion for a meeting.
"Is anyone out there?"
I stepped out of Paeng Yuwol's chamber. Servants were waiting outside. In the span of just a few days, a subtle respect for me had taken root in their eyes.
"Let no one enter this room. When she wakes in the morning, she will dress herself."
"Dress her... Ah! Understood."
Fortunately, the servants were quick to grasp my meaning.
"Allow us to escort you, Young Bureau Chief."
"That won't be necessary. I am merely returning to my own room for a while."
"Your room?"
"Yes. I shall summon a woman from the Hong-ok Giroo. ...Let no one enter my room either. Understood?"
"K-heh heh, understood."
Putting one's bride-to-be to bed before the wedding and then calling for a courtesan to spend the night in debauchery—that was exactly the kind of conduct befitting Chu So-gwang's public reputation.
'It's going to be a very hot night.'
Once inside my room, I immediately released the Body Transformation Art.
* * *
How long had she slept?
Paeng Yuwol slowly opened her eyes, her mind hazy. The unfamiliar room was, in fact, the chamber the Chuso Escort Bureau had provided for her, yet it felt terribly strange to her.
"Ah..."
All this time, whenever she had woken from sleep, it had been in a man's room. She had been so thoroughly steeped in pleasure that she could scarcely recall how many days ago she had last returned to her own chamber.
Discovering yet another side of herself had driven her to abandon all restraint, much like the days when she had first learned martial arts.
"Now that my body has become like this... Huh?"
Paeng Yuwol slowly drew up her Inner Energy from her Dantian. The flow of qi coursed refreshingly through her body as though blocked pathways had been cleared, without the slightest obstruction. At the sensation of Inner Energy suffusing her entire body, Paeng Yuwol let out a hollow laugh.
"Only after becoming a woman do I finally reach the next realm..."
How could such a thing happen in this world? Paeng Yuwol assumed the posture of Energy Circulation Breathing atop the bed and attempted to settle her Inner Energy.
Her body was clean, without a trace of sweat, and she had been dressed in white garments. Paeng Yuwol smiled to herself as she circulated her energy.
"Hoo, with this, I too am now First-Rate..."
"Young miss! A great calamity!"
No sooner had she finished stabilizing her qi than a Paeng Clan warrior burst inside in alarm. Paeng Yuwol opened her eyes to narrow slits and rebuked the warrior.
"Even a calamity has its limits—how dare you enter my room without—"
"The main hall is on fire! The Young Bureau Chief's room!"
"!!"
Paeng Yuwol urgently flung herself out of the room. Leaping over the lake within the estate, her heart plummeted at the sight of the fire demon roaring fiercely in the night.
"Ah...?"
Crackle, roar.
The servants desperately doused the building with water, trying to catch the flames, but it was futile.
The blaze burned the building so ferociously that no one could enter, and only after the morning sun had risen did the flames finally die down, having consumed half of the Chuso Escort Bureau.
Crumbled.
Paeng Yuwol walked into the completely incinerated building, oblivious even to the fact that her white garments were becoming black with soot.
"Ah, aaaah...!"
Casualties: a single person.
Inside the Young Bureau Chief Chu So-gwang's room, one burned corpse lay face-down on the floor.
"......Huh?"
His member, burned to death in the fire, was strangely small.