Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: You Just Have to Take Responsibility!
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-Thump thump
With my heart pounding and my body trembling, I sat collapsed on the floor, staring blankly into space.
It had happened so suddenly—a forced kiss—but the lingering pleasure still clouded my mind.
As I touched my lips, still warm and moist, a white-hot rush hit my head, separate from the memory of how soft they had felt.
Lifting my gaze to look at her, I met her icy stare looking down at me.
Even in that moment, her radiant face made her already mysterious beauty seem even more ethereal.
Like a fairy descended from the heavens.
'Hot!'
At that instant, Master's face flashed in my mind, snapping me back to reality.
She was beautiful enough, sure, but she couldn't hold a candle to Master.
Compared to Master's explosive figure, this pint-sized woman was...
'...bigger than I thought?'
Taking another look, hers were surprisingly substantial.
The proportions were different, of course, but objectively speaking, they were impressive.
As I pondered this for a moment,
"Hot?!"
Her eyes returned to the way they had been when we first met.
With them, the overwhelming heavenly energy surrounding us vanished.
"Hea, Heavenly Deities? What just... what hap...?"
She patted herself down as if checking what had happened, calling out to the heavens.
When her hand reached her lips, our eyes met.
"..."
"...Hello?"
"Kyaa, kyaak!"
Her face flushed crimson as she crossed her arms over her chest in an X.
The motion only accentuated that particular area, but I quickly averted my gaze to avoid trouble.
"Wha-wha-wha-what?! What just happened?!"
"If you don't know, who does...?"
"Ughhh...!"
Her face, cold even before the personality switch, twisted in embarrassment.
Tears welled up in her eyes; it must have been a real shock.
"I-it was my first time!"
Ah. So it was her first.
"...But you're the one who did it?"
Why are you getting mad at me for it?
Anyone would think I'd kissed her first.
"I-it wasn't me, it was the Heavenly Deities who..."
"The Heavenly Deities? Why would they suddenly...? Did something happen?"
"Ughh...!"
She just huffed without a word, so I thought to myself.
'Come to think of it, isn't this an opportunity?'
The Heavenly Deities had intervened, but she was the one who'd pressed her lips to mine first.
I wasn't some paragon of purity myself, but that didn't mean she could just grope me willy-nilly.
'Let's see how you like it.'
I decided to get revenge for the spank on my butt earlier—kissing could come later.
-Rustle
I straightened my already dislodged hat to fully expose my face and covered my mouth with my hand.
Putting on my most delicate, fragile expression, I spoke.
"Stealing the lips of someone you'd just met, not content with that, even tangling tongues... Is that what someone who serves the Heavenly Deities does?"
"Like I said, it wasn't me..."
"If it wasn't you, then who? I felt your tongue ravaging my mouth firsthand."
"Urghhh...!"
Man and woman.
The genders were reversed from the usual dynamic, but I didn't care.
I just wanted to mess with her.
"Th-this was my first time! It wasn't yours!"
"So if it's not your first, it's okay to grope someone?! Is that what a Taoist says?!"
I wondered how she knew it wasn't my first, but figured the Heavenly Deities must have told her.
"Urgh... ughhh...!"
Maybe she had nothing to say to that.
Tears brimmed in her eyes, on the verge of spilling.
'Have I teased her enough?'
Seeing the woman who'd threatened me and spanked my butt reduced to this felt satisfying.
Yeah, this should do. Time to forgive her.
She was just lending her body for a bit anyway.
If I pushed further and something went wrong...
"Fine! You just have to take responsibility!!!"
....Huh?
Wait a second.
That wasn't what I wanted.
"D-don't get the wrong idea! Taking responsibility doesn't mean I have feelings for you! Even if it's you, someone I hate so much...! Even if it wasn't my will! I have to because the situation turned out this way! As someone who serves Them, it's just to avoid shaming Their name!"
"No, wait, calm down a bit..."
"But remember this...! Even if you get everything else from me, you'll never get my heart! I'll never forgive you...!"
"No no no, just calm down."
"A-as a Taoist of Kunlun, a public marriage is impossible, but nothing stops a private one...! Neither of us needs a formal meeting of families anyway, so we can skip that..."
Wrong. She wasn't hearing me.
She'd gone too far into emotional overload.
And throwing shade at my background too?
Well, she was right that we didn't need family meetings.
"F-first, we need engagement gifts? Nothing flashy that could get in the way, so rings it is. I like jade-colored..."
-Thud
"It was a joke, so stop. I won't make a big deal of it."
I placed a hand on her shoulder.
I got that she was flustered, but this was overkill.
She was about to start naming grandkids; I had to stop her.
No matter how stunningly beautiful she was—top-tier in the Central Plains—I had no plans to tie the knot while out in the jianghu.
I'd be heading back to the mountains soon. Entangling like this would just hurt us both.
'And I don't like this kind of thing.'
Forcing a marriage without real feelings? Hard pass from my side.
I didn't want mere physical love.
I craved a love where hearts connected too.
Marrying someone who reeked of disgust was worse than nothing.
Besides, jumping from one kiss to marriage? When I'd already slept with someone else and brushed it off.
...Thinking that way made me feel like trash, but I was innocent.
Both times, I'd had no choice—purely forced on me.
"...Yes?"
"It was a joke. No need to take responsibility."
"..."
She stared at my face for a long while after hearing me.
"Eeek...!"
Her already red face turned beet red, like it might explode.
"J-just you wait!! I'll pay back today's debt someday!!"
She bolted out of the carriage.
Before I could say anything, she was gone, wrapped in blue lightning, vanishing somewhere.
"...She's really fast."
The trail of blue lightning etched clearly in the sky.
Movement like a bolt itself.
"Ha... what the hell was that."
Some random woman shows up, spanks me claiming I'd insulted the Heavenly Deities this whole time, says They saved me, then when I provoke her more, They descend and do something weird...
'But is kissing normal punishment?'
If She'd spanked me harder, it'd feel like proper punishment, but a kiss?
During it, the pleasure blanked my mind, but looking back, something felt off.
This was just Her wanting to do it...
-Crunch...
'Ah, no, sorry, I misspoke for a moment, sorry, please spare me.'
A wave had surged in my mind back then.
The same pleasurable wave from earlier.
'Phew.'
Feeling the wave recede cleanly with the apology, I decided to stay quiet.
Still, to continue this carriage journey, I'd need to stop at a village midway.
-Peek
Lifting my clothes to check my underwear, it felt a bit damp, carrying a night flower scent.
'...I leaked a little.'
I'd thought I'd stopped just before climax, but apparently not.
.
.
.
-Fluff
"Aaaah..."
After washing up and changing, I sank into the fluffy bed.
This time, I took a separate room from the Sword Empress.
I'd asked, but she seemed to have things to think about too and agreed.
A bit regrettable, but I paid for two rooms and got them.
-Roll roll
"Bliss..."
This inn bed was top-notch.
Not quite modern mattress level, but damn good for here.
I'd buy it and take it home if I could.
Or maybe it was just ordinary, and I was exhausted.
Today's events had been too much.
-Roll
'...Why did I end up here again?'
The name the Sword Empress mentioned. Yeo So-cheon had said it.
What would have happened to me without the Heavenly Deities.
They'd saved me.
Back then, I was too pissed, cursing nonstop until They descended and I caved.
But thinking now, it was pretty meaningful.
Implying I had something unknown even to myself.
'Haa...'
Sighing, I approached the candle to sleep when
-Zzzt zzzt
"...?"
An uncalled shop window appeared, spewing strange noise.
What now? I froze, watching it.
-Zzzt zzzt
The fuzzy voice amid the noise grew clearer until a distinct one rang in my ears.
'...Huh?'
Hearing the mysterious voice from the shop window, I thought.
'What the fuck is this now.'
It seemed this world still held far more secrets than I knew.