069
069
"I've shown you something unsightly. We were both embarrassed, so let's just pretend it never happened! Haha."
"......."
If anyone asked who was more embarrassed, I could confidently answer that it was the Little Princess. Baring your naked body is one thing, but letting someone witness your tear ducts burst is something else entirely.
'I didn't cry because I wanted to. The tears came out because I couldn't hold back.'
When I was young I was beaten so much that I shed tears every single day. But after becoming an adult and escaping the Baek Family, I'd only truly cried once. That time I literally wept tears of blood, and never once shed a tear at any other time.
"Come to think of it, this seems to be the first time in my life I've ever shed tears. Ah, maybe it's because I've never cried even once until now that they just burst out."
"Don't say such nonsense. Does it make any sense for a master who has achieved Return to Youth to have never once shed a tear in their life?"
"......? But I haven't achieved Return to Youth."
"Pardon?"
I poured wine into the Little Princess's cup and continued. Perhaps the nightmare had made me more sensitive, or perhaps I'd come to trust her enough, but I felt I could tell her now.
"Let's see. If I calculate my age... I'll be 21 next year!"
"......A lie."
"What reason would I have to lie to you, Little Princess? Though there are only a few days left in this year now... three days from now, I suppose."
The night air was cold, but inside I was warm. The liquor I'd tossed back gently warmed me.
"To greet the new year together with you, Little Princess—what a pleasant night this is."
"Wait a moment. J-just a moment. Are you really that age? Don't lie to me."
"I have no reason to lie about that. Surely you don't disbelieve it? That I've attained this level of martial arts at merely this age."
Nod. The Little Princess nodded as if asking why I was stating the obvious. Indeed, when I'd played the fraud on Sam-gu, I'd claimed to be an old man who'd achieved Return to Youth, and Sagong Hee had understood me the same way. But Sagong Hee had accepted me from master to lord to husband, so she hadn't placed much importance on age.
'She was a bit surprised, but she actually liked it in the end.'
That last night before we parted, I revealed my name and age to her.
I couldn't reveal that in my past life I'd been a blood jiangshi and cultivated martial arts by consuming others' blood, or that I'd regressed and reincarnated. But from revealing my name and age, she placed her faith in me.
— Even if what you're saying, my lord, is a lie, since you've spoken it to me, I'll believe it.
'...And then right after that, she declared she was the older one and this big sister would take care of everything, climbed on top of me, and rocked her hips—that image is still so vivid.'
Sagong Hee, who hadn't believed me at first, demanded proof. I just flopped onto my back and told her that since she was older, she should lead me.
Ultimately, after desperately shaking her hips on top to demonstrate the power of an older woman, she acknowledged it with a single line from me.
— Sagong Hee noona... I-I feel like I'm going to die....
— Huuuh-uh-uhng...! My lord, keep going, just a little more...!!
How should I put it? Back then, a sort of madness flickered in Sagong Hee. I wonder if she'd been envious of Jin Sa-wol bragging about her older-woman charms toward me.
— Haa, my lord! From your noona—a little more from your noona!
Since then, I'd been doing my utmost to avoid acting in accordance with my youthful appearance.
After all, isn't an old-snake Sky-Soaring Lust Demon master who achieved Return to Youth far more convincing than a youthful Sky-Soaring Lust Demon who became a Profound Realm master at twenty?
"......My face might look a little young, but that doesn't mean I'm completely juvenile. Soon enough my beard will grow, and once it does, I'll let it grow out—"
"No. Don't grow it out. That's an order."
"Why?"
I couldn't understand the Little Princess as her Heavenly Demon Spirit Eye flashed while she issued orders.
"Isn't a beard the very symbol of a man? My heart burns for it to grow even a little faster. By tradition, isn't a man overflowing with sex appeal one who's muscular and brimming with masculinity?"
"Not at all. Did you not see the Illusion Demon? Did growing a beard somehow make him overflow with masculinity?"
"You're dragging the Illusion Demon into this when he's not even here. True, his beard isn't particularly handsome, but I can't give up on having a beard. It's simply because you've never seen a handsome middle-aged man with a beard nearby. For example... hmph... yes."
Crack, crack. I used the power of the Body Transformation Art to twist my face. But unlike when I'd transformed into the appearance of Chu So-gwang or the Bandit Demon, it didn't take very long.
"Look. Would it be proper for a face like this to have no beard?"
"......Whose face is that?"
"My future appearance?"
I studied the face reflected in my wine cup closely.
'I only removed the injured parts from my future face, so this should be right.'
Back when I used to get beaten at the Baek Family, I'd at least protected my face and minimized damage there, so this face should be correct. I'd straightened my collapsed nose bridge, corrected my twisted jaw, and cleaned it up into a face without a single scar, leaving the fundamental framework untouched.
'Please, let me grow up to look just like this.'
For the path of a handsome middle-aged Sky-Soaring Lust Demon brimming with masculinity. I drained my wine cup clean.
"It's-horrible-I-don't-want-to-see-it. Please return to your original face at once."
"That's a bit disappointing."
I returned to my original face as the Little Princess commanded. But she approached me, grabbed my cheeks with both hands and pulled them downward, venting her anger.
"Not this kind of fraud—I said show me your real face!"
"I'm not using the Body Transformation Art right now, you know."
"Liar!"
"It's the truth. If this isn't my real face, may my cock be cut off."
"......."
The Little Princess flopped back down into her seat. As if deeply wronged about something, she glared at me for a long while, then neatly emptied her wine cup.
"So you really mean you'll turn 21 in a few days?"
"You truly are a distrustful person. Didn't the Heavenly Demon reach the state of Transcending Demon at 25? I merely reached the realm a bit faster than that. A genius like me has to exist somewhere on these vast Central Plains."
I raised my cup toward the Little Princess.
"Perhaps you too might reach this realm next year. Bloom to the Peak Realm before spring, bear fruit before summer, and scatter seeds around the time the sun sets and winter comes again."
"That sounds like some kind of code based on what you said back then, but I won't press you on it. It only makes my head hurt."
A belly ache too, I expect. I tossed down the unspoken words into my stomach along with the wine.
"So I'll ask you, Sky-Soaring Lust Demon who claims to be twenty: when will you go to the Emei Sect?"
"After the commotion has spread enough."
They said a golden dragon ascended from the Tang Clan. Rumors spread faster than a plague, and the more people are interested, the further they'll spread. It might even reach as far as Heavenly Mountain, far beyond this land of Sichuan.
"First, you needn't worry about your concern that the Bandit Demon is a descendant of Emperor Shaolie. The Tang Clan won't spread word that the Bandit Demon inherited the Dragon Emperor Sword."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because the Tang Clan has the deepest attachment to their own people. Even if that attachment is twisted in direction."
"If the Sichuan Tang Clan were to rise in insurrection from here, claiming that Red Demon Dang I-jeong inherited Emperor Shaolie's martial arts, the clan would be annihilated. Understood, I'll accept that."
As I'd intended, the rumor fortunately spread like this:
"A man of unknown identity attacked the Sichuan Tang Clan's 'Dok-gwi' and revealed the power of the Dragon Emperor Sword, proclaiming himself to all under heaven as a descendant of Emperor Shaolie!"
"A falsehood has spread. The truth isn't that, is it?"
"Everyone who knows will keep their mouths shut, and we need to use this falsehood to draw out the Flame Demon hiding behind it. In that sense, several Flame Demon candidates have already been eliminated."
"Dok-gwi Dang Sa-rim, Crow Chaos Finger Disease Dang O-dok."
"Precisely."
If Dok-gwi or Crow Chaos Finger Disease were the Flame Demon, they would have blocked me with full strength. They would have interrogated my identity using the Hellfire Great Law while I wielded the Dragon Emperor Sword.
They would have executed me for using the Dragon Emperor Sword, triggering a bloody war among three factions over the sword's rightful owner. But because they perceived the owner of the Dragon Emperor Sword as someone from the Tang Clan, they concealed the truth.
"It's quite strange. I had thought a person from the Tang Clan would be closest to being the Flame Demon."
"...Heh-heh, we'll know after checking everything. Whether the Little Princess's intuition was correct, or whether the cunning Flame Demon manipulated things to make it feel that way."
The wine had run out at just the right moment, and I poured the last of it into the Little Princess's cup and mine.
"Let's have a drink and get some deep sleep. At dawn, we must depart for the Emei Sect."
"...Heh-heh, in that case, Bi-cheon. Are you scared to sleep alone? Shall I sleep next to you? If you cry again, I'll hold you. Are you perhaps afraid to sleep by yourself? Shall I hold your hand and sleep beside you? Heh-heh."
The Little Princess lifted her chin and provoked me. But she knew only one thing and was ignorant of another.
"Is that so. If I'm to protect you, Little Princess, the right way is to guard you right by your side."
"Huh?"
Crack! I swung my sword and split my bed in two. Then I slipped right into the Little Princess's bedding and patted the empty spot with my hand.
"With this, only your bed remains, Little Princess. Now, come in. Watch closely whether I cry in my sleep."
"...Hoo, hoo. Fine. Let's see who wins."
After draining her last cup of wine, the Little Princess boldly lay down. And she flashed a victorious smile at me.
"Let's see if you can keep yourself from pouncing on adorable little me. Let's see who can't fall asleep. Hmph, do you think something like this would make my heart pound?"
"...That wasn't meant to be a contest, you know."
The Little Princess closed her eyes. I gently laid a blanket over her.
As expected of Lee Si-a. Even with me right beside her, she fell asleep trusting me. Certain that I wouldn't pounce until I'd won her heart.
Squeak. Squeak.
"......But she really is pretty. I'm not getting any sleep tonight."
I meekly admitted defeat and freely savored her sleeping face.
* * *
"Seo-hui. Is there no intelligence coming in from the Tang Clan?"
Seok Gae, branch manager of the Hao Sect's Chengdu Branch in Sichuan, was nearly going mad with frustration.
"Last night, a golden dragon ascended from the Sichuan Tang Clan. We must confirm whether this is truly the birth of a hero signaling the start of a new nation, or whether Emperor Shaolie's martial arts genuinely possess the power to command a golden dragon."
"So you can sell the information?"
"Yes! And also for the honor of the Hao Sect!"
Seo-hui, the courtesan kneeling before Seok Gae, shook her head.
"Since when does the Hao Sect have honor?"
"Seo-hui, should you, as the sect leader's disciple, be saying that?"
"Is there a problem? Aren't I just a wench who sells wine, sells smiles, and sells her body? And the only customer from the Tang Clan is one of their young masters—do you think he'd come to me in times like this?"
"The Tang Clan people not coming isn't because of that...."
Grin. At Seo-hui's sharp smile, Seok Gae swallowed his next words.
"Forget it. Anyway, use your connections to investigate. Wouldn't you gather all sorts of information if you received various customers?"
"I'm not sure. I've only been receiving one customer lately...."
Seo-hui murmured in a regretful voice. While Seok Gae racked his brain in agony, the door opened and a courtesan carefully entered the room.
"Seo-hui, the Golden Giant Tree has arrived."
"Oh my, really?!"
Seo-hui's eyes widened in surprise as the corners of her mouth lifted, and even Seok Gae sighed in relief as he swept a hand down his chest.
"Seo-hui, is this person called Golden Giant Tree perhaps the one you mentioned last time..."
"Yes, that's the one. Branch Manager, I'll go freshen up first."
Seo-hui rose and sat before her bronze mirror, devoting herself to tidying up. The branch manager sprinkled incense around the room and withdrew, and the room, which had been covered with blackout curtains, transformed into a courtesan's chamber for receiving a man.
"Ahem."
At the sound of footsteps approaching from afar, Seo-hui finished preparing her heart. The other party was the one who first mentioned the 'Heavenly Dragon Emperor,' and was the strongest candidate within the Hao Sect to be the true owner of the Twin Old Eagle Swords.
Creeeak.
The door opened. Seo-hui demurely turned her body and lowered her head.
"Gaga, you've come to see me again today. First, a drinking table—"
Towering.
Right before Seo-hui's eyes, a giant tree thick with heat rose erect. Confronted by an overwhelming masculine presence, Seo-hui gulped.
"Ga-Gaga? No matter what, there's still such a thing as order—"
"I've been so angry earlier I couldn't hold back. No matter how I think about it, I felt so wronged I came running here in one breath."
"Pardon?"
"I'll need to pull out at least one, no, at least ten. Spread 'em."
"Ga-Gaga! If you do that I'll—mmph!!"
The scorching giant tree pressed down on Seo-hui.