Seducing the Devoted Quanzhen Sect Leader (2)

Kiiing.

Noksu lost consciousness. His tentacles went slack and slumped lifelessly to the floor.

"Noksu! Noksu!"

No matter how hard Tae-eul-rang shook him, he would not wake.

"A physician! I have to find a physician!"

She hoisted him onto her back and was about to go searching when a thought stopped her cold.

The court of public opinion has already turned against Noksu. Even if I take him to a physician, there's no guarantee something like this won't happen again.

Tae-eul-rang nodded, as though she had come to a decision. She carried him on her back and ran for her own chambers.

The next day, Noksu awoke.

Giing. Kiing.

Tae-eul-rang lay beside him, unclothed, her body wrapped around his. She had been warming him with her own heat.

A massive, phallic tentacle brushed against her cheek.

"Nnh..."

Her eyes drifted open.

"Noksu..."

She looked at him with a tangle of emotions she could not name.

"Forget what happened today. Nothing happened at all."

She rose from the bed. Sunlight spilling through the window painted every lush, sensual line of her naked body in gold. Clutching a blanket around herself, she laid a hand on what passed for Noksu's forehead.

"The fever's broken. You may go."

Kiing.

Noksu climbed down from the bed and crawled toward the door.

"And..."

The rest of the words caught in her throat.

"Do not bring me water anymore."

Kiing?

"Do not come looking for me, either."

Kii! Kiing!

"No. Don't come. I..."

She clenched her teeth.

"I truly despise you. You're weak. You don't even have the heart of a yokai. And the way you speak to me so tenderly, every single day — I cannot stand it. Never seek me out again."

Kiing.

"Go!"

A book slammed into him. She had thrown it.

Kiiing! Kiiing!

"I said go! What would you know? I have any number of magnificent women! I have no need of a man like you! There are yokai who can replace you — as many as I want!"

A writing brush. An inkstone. She hurled them both. And then, at last, she drew her sword.

The blade whispered from its sheath.

"Must I draw blood before you will leave?"

Kiing...

"I am not that kind of person — am I?"

The tip of a sword that had never trembled once in her life was trembling now.

"No. This is the woman I have always been. Go! Get out!"

Kiing! Kiiing! Kiing!

Noksu scrambled through the door and fled.

"Kh — damn it!"

The sword rang as she flung it away. It struck the wall and clattered to the floor, ugly and discarded.

"What does it mean to be a yokai? What does it mean to be a king? When I cannot even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠smile. Not even once."

She stood before the mirror, reciting her own failures under her breath.

"I am a hideous woman."

Still naked, she sank to the floor, curled into herself, and buried her head between her knees. She stayed that way, unmoving, as time crawled past.

"This is the worst... I am..."

She did nothing else that day. She crouched in the darkened room and let the hours bleed away.

"Truly... the worst..."

"Master, how is it going?"

Ha Bo-yeon scuttled toward me on her spider legs.

"She's almost there. One tentacle in the right place and she'll be completely mine."

"That's our Master! When you punched the Quanzhen Sect Leader in the back, I thought we were dead for sure!"

"Heh. Don't worry. My arts are flawless."

Before I knew it, my level had blown past thirty and landed at thirty-three. Several stats had climbed, and the D-rank Ideal Type Mirror had evolved into the A-rank Moon Elder's Thread.

A thread of destiny, no less. Usable on only one person a month — but the effect was staggering.

And as a level-thirty bonus, I had received an item. An S-rank item, at that.

I already had an inventory, so why this? Well. It was S-rank. It would come in handy someday.

"This is where it really counts. Anyone can grab someone's attention. But making them fall for you — that takes work."

"Yes, Master!"

Of course, the Moon Elder's Thread would do most of the heavy lifting.

"Master, I've brought some new friends."

"Oh?"

"Yes. The more people we have, the easier it is to recruit newcomers."

I stepped into the house Ha Bo-yeon had prepared. A harpy with gorgeous white tail plumage. A catkin swaying her tail with feline allure, ears perked. Even a snow woman of translucent ice.

"Not bad. You put some thought into this."

"I recruited only the especially beautiful ones."

A host of yokai were waiting for me. A newcomer padded forward.

"Myaaong♥"

A small cat yokai — a tiny, adorable little thing.

"Ha. Watching Tae-eul-rang's every mood, I thought I was going to die from holding it in."

Last night in particular, staring at that insane body and forcing myself not to finish, had nearly killed me.

"Master, what is this?"

The new cat girl stared at the bead of precum welling at my tip and spoke up, hesitant.

"Suck it."

"Nyaa♥"

While Tae-eul-rang shed tears, I was leaking something else entirely.

From that day on, Tae-eul-rang, Sect Leader of Quanzhen, returned to the woman she had always been. The same woman she had been in the days before Noksu existed. She did not seek him out. Noksu vanished from her sight.

It took her less than four days to slip back into the old routines, the old face, the old life.

Then a subordinate came to see her.

"Sect Leader."

"What is it?"

"Yesterday, martial artists of the Mount Hua Sect clashed with some of our disciples."

"I received the report."

"There are those among the wounded who were badly hurt. I was told a fellow named Noksu was in the same unit."

"Haa."

The Quanzhen Sect Leader let out a sigh that sounded almost bored.

"And what does that have to do with me?"

"Pardon? Well..."

The subordinate faltered, thrown by the lukewarm response.

"I thought it best to inform you, Sect Leader..."

"Captain."

"Yes."

"Soldiers are injured in battle. That is the nature of war. Do not come running to me with every such report."

"Ah — yes! Understood. I suppose I was being overly sensitive. It's only that Noksu's unit suffered near-total casualties. Even the survivors are expected to die, or be crippled..."

"Is that so? I have heard enough. Go attend to your duties."

"Yes!"

The subordinate answered in a ringing voice and left the room.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Tae-eul-rang slammed her fist into the desk. The thick rosewood surface took the shape of her knuckles.

"Noksu... Noksu is... dying?"

She raked her fingers through her hair, tearing it into a wild tangle.

"No. That cannot happen. It must not happen. Ah..."

Alone in the empty room, she crouched in the corner and blamed herself.

"It's all my fault. If only I hadn't... Noksu! Should I go see him now?"

A single tear slipped down her cheek.

"I can't. Hic. I can't. Noksu. I can't. Hic, hic."

She touched something in the room — a click, a grinding rumble — and a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hidden door revealed itself.

"It will be here. Somewhere in here. That will be enough!"

She opened a black wooden box. Inside lay a single round pill.

The sacred relic of her own sect — the Seonhyeon Sect.

Mount Quanzhen had once been a famed Taoist mountain, home to dozens of temples. Collectively they were called the Quanzhen Sect, and Tae-eul-rang had been the sect leader of one of the five temples that stood at their head. This was the Seonhyeon Pill, the sacred treasure of her Seonhyeon Sect. The last remaining fragment of the days when she had still been human.

The image of her master rose unbidden — the day the sect leadership had been passed to her, and the Seonhyeon Pill placed in her hands along with it.

She took the elixir in trembling fingers.

"This. With this, I can save Noksu."

She did not hesitate. She opened the door and went out.

"The Sect Leader is here!"

The physician of the Healing Hall cried out at the sight of the yokai filling the room.

"What's going on?"

"Don't tell me it's because of that Noksu fellow?"

"The rumors about him have been ugly lately."

"No — she hasn't even associated with him recently."

The healers murmured among themselves as they waited for the Sect Leader to enter.

Tae-eul-rang stepped inside. The cold, severe gaze that had earned her the epithet Enchanting Witch swept over every physician in the hall.

"This is the place? Where the wounded are resting?"

"Yes."

"I came to confirm that the injured are being properly treated."

She walked the infirmary at a measured pace, looking over each of the wounded in turn.

I will tend to every patient. I cannot afford to draw suspicion.

Tae-eul-rang examined the first of the injured.

"Ugh — I never imagined the Sect Leader would come to see lowly soldiers like us. It is an honor."

"How is the arm?"

"It was severed, but it should recover one way or another. Becoming a yokai has its advantages — even lost limbs can grow back."

"That is fortunate."

Her pupils trembled as she looked at the yokai's severed arm.

Noksu couldn't have been hurt like this... could he?

The next patient sent a chill down her spine.

"Ugh... is... is someone there?"

The next patient lay in bed, both eyes gone.

Surely Noksu wasn't injured like this.

Her heart was growing more restless by the second.

"It is the Sect Leader. Your eyes have been badly damaged."

"Hahaha — the Sect Leader herself, come all this way. An honor."

"How is your condition?"

"As you can see, I've gone blind. Hahaha."

"Why are you laughing?"

"Why wouldn't I? I'm one of the lucky ones. Most of the people in our unit are dead, or completely crippled."

Tae-eul-rang staggered. She nearly lost consciousness on the spot.

"Sect Leader, are you all right?"

The physician caught her by the arm.

"I did not sleep well last night."

"Shall I bring you a medicinal ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠decoction?"

"It is not that serious."

She walked to the next cot.

"Aaaah!"

She could not stop the cry that tore out of her. The person lying there had lost both arms and both legs.

In her eyes, the limbless figure and Noksu began to overlap.

No! Has Noksu ended up like this too? No! It's all my fault! No, no!

She shook so hard her whole body trembled.

"Physician."

"Yes."

"The decoction you offered a moment ago. May I have it after all?"

"Of course. We keep a pot prepared every day. I'll bring it at once."

"You have my thanks."

The moment the physician was gone, Tae-eul-rang secretly wiped her tears and looked at the injured patient.

If I saw Noksu hurt like this... could I endure it?

No. She had no such confidence at all.

She was breathing hard. The limbless patient was unconscious.

Is Noksu unconscious too?

Then, from somewhere, a death-scream ripped through the hall.

"Gyaaaaah! Grrrk—!"

A patient coughed up blood, his whole body convulsing. In Tae-eul-rang's eyes, he and Noksu became the same person.

"Damn it! Hold him down! Prepare the medicine!"

The physician who had gone to fetch her decoction sprinted toward the emergency instead.

"Someone — anyone — take the decoction to the Sect Leader! I'm going to save this one!"

Tae-eul-rang stared at the dying soldier, her face blank with shock.

"Graaaagh!"

On another cot, a yokai frothed at the mouth and screamed his last.

"Khah! Khah! The sword wound — it's tearing open! It hurts so much!"

"I'm going to die too! Kheeeeek!"

Once one of them started screaming, the other critical patients around them began coughing blood and seizing as well.

Hurry! Hurry! I have to find Noksu! He might be passing through his final crisis just like them!

She clenched the Seonhyeon Pill in her robes until her knuckles went white and swept the room with desperate eyes.

Noksu was nowhere.

You stupid yokai! Where are you? Where are you?!

Tears streamed down her face as she searched.

When I told you to stay out of my sight, you were always there, hovering at the edge of it! So why can't I see you now? Why?!

She drew up her inner energy and tore through the enormous ward at a speed no ordinary eye could follow, checking every bed, every corner.

Where are you? Where are you hiding? Come out this instant! I will save you! Noksu! Please... I came here ready to give everything I have to heal you.

She searched and searched. Noksu was not there.

"Sect Leader! I'll send the decoction over!"

"I don't need it."

"I have too many critical patients — someone else will bring it to you!"

Tae-eul-rang did not even answer. She kept looking for Noksu.

Tap. Tap.

Someone tapped her on the back, holding out a bowl of decoction.

Kiing!

"Noksu?"

Noksu. Noksu was standing there, tapping her on the back, the medicinal soup in his tentacles.

Kiing?

She threw her arms around him.

Kiing, kiing.

"You foolish thing."

She held him so tightly that the decoction sloshed over the rim of the bowl. Scalding soup steamed down her body, and she did not feel it at all.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

Kiing?

"I was so terribly worried about you."

Tears ran down her face.

"You foolish creature."

Somehow, those last words did not sound as though they were meant for me. They sounded as though Tae-eul-rang were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠speaking to herself.