Oh, My Blood God
"You're such a naughty boy..."
I opened my eyes to the sound of Baek Ri-seol's quiet grumbling as she held my spent Red Hare. Warm sunlight spilled across a soft bed, and from beside me came a voice still thick and hoarse with sleep. I turned my head slowly.
Baek Ri-seol was a complete wreck, from her hair down to her clothes. Her apron hung half-off her body, and crimson marks lingered across her pale skin. In that state, she was jabbing Red Hare with her fingertip, scolding it in earnest.
"You've gone and turned into a complete beast..."
I let out a small laugh.
"So you didn't like it?"
Baek Ri-seol's mouth snapped shut. The tips of her ears slowly flushed red. A moment later, she looked away on purpose and mumbled under her breath.
"Actually... I liked it."
Red Hare gave a distinctly self-satisfied twitch. Baek Ri-seol's face grew even more indignant at the sight.
"...Did you just laugh?"
"You laughed just now."
I couldn't hold it in anymore. I burst out laughing right there on the bed.
A little while later, Baek Ri-seol crawled into my arms with her body still running hot.
"Jin-woo..."
She whispered in that same sleep-roughened voice.
"My Blood God Qi surged again this time. A lot."
Her crimson eyes flickered, faintly excited.
"I think I've reached mid-Peak now..."
I frowned, a little puzzled. The union just now had been extraordinary, that much was true. The blood qi had circulated fiercely, and the resonance had been incomparable to anything before. And yet something was off. Ever since that day, my own Blood God Qi had barely grown at all.
I closed my eyes and examined the blood qi inside my body. It circulated, no question. Red Hare was beside itself with delight. The blood qi was stable. But that was as far as it went.
I muttered under my breath.
"Mine..."
"...feels like it hasn't changed."
Baek Ri-seol's expression hardened in an instant.
"That can't be..."
She pushed herself up a little, laid a hand on my chest, and began tracing the flow of my blood qi all over again.
"When we unite, both of our realms are supposed to rise, even if only a little. That's the foundation of the Blood God Constitution..."
Her eyes wavered. Then, as if something had just occurred to her, she murmured softly.
"...Unless."
"Could this have something to do with that True Blood Demon the Blood Fiend woman mentioned?"
I watched her in silence. Baek Ri-seol's face had sunk into deep thought.
"Ever since you absorbed that woman's power, something's been different. The blood qi itself has grown deeper... and Red Hare keeps getting stranger too."
She slowly looked down below my navel. Whether from the aftershocks of our earlier campaign, Red Hare was still twitching with lingering satisfaction. Baek Ri-seol let out something between a sigh and a laugh.
"...It's really turning into a monster, isn't it."
Silence settled over us for a moment. Then her expression grew serious again.
"I'll have my people look deeper into the True Blood Demon. How it's different from the Blood God Constitution. Why you're the only one whose growth has stopped. There has to be a reason."
I said nothing and stroked her hair. Baek Ri-seol melted back into my arms and murmured, very quietly.
"...Still."
"Just now was incredible."
After lying in my arms for a long while, Baek Ri-seol gave me a light kiss, said she was going to look into a few things, and rose from the bed. I sank straight back into sleep. After a round that satisfying, there wasn't a scrap of strength left in my body.
I don't know how long I slept. A rich, savory smell tickled my nose, and I slowly opened my eyes.
Baek Ri-seol had already changed clothes and was sitting at the table, a dumpling pinched between her fingers. The instant she was about to put it in her mouth, our eyes met.
Baek Ri-seol's eyes went round, her cheeks still working.
"Jin-woo... you're up."
I stared at her, still half-dazed. Her tousled crimson hair was tied back in a rough knot, and a sheen of dumpling oil clung to the corner of her mouth. I couldn't help but laugh.
"Don't mind me. Eat."
Baek Ri-seol hesitated for a beat, then took a huge bite of the dumpling after all. She chewed for a while, then opened her mouth with a suddenly serious face.
"Jin-woo. I found a few things out."
I sat up against the head of the bed and watched her. Baek Ri-seol picked up another dumpling and went on, taking her time.
"The being called the True Blood Demon... is what the True Blood Sect currently worships. Their version of a Blood Demon."
I narrowed my eyes.
"Above a Blood Demon, then?"
Baek Ri-seol nodded slowly.
"Yes. According to their findings, it's a being one stage higher than a Blood Demon."
She paused, then murmured under her breath.
"The true descent vessel of the Blood God."
The air in the room sank, suddenly strange. I furrowed my brow.
"Descent vessel?"
Baek Ri-seol shoved the rest of her dumpling into her mouth in one go and continued, unhurried.
"Simply put... not a vessel that receives the Blood God's power."
Her crimson eyes turned slowly toward me.
For a moment I had nothing to say. Baek Ri-seol watched my reaction and smiled faintly.
"That's why you keep getting stranger. I have the Blood God Constitution, so I grow normally from union alone. But you..."
Her gaze drifted down toward Red Hare of its own accord.
"...may have entered a stage where ordinary blood qi can no longer make you grow."
I looked down at Red Hare without a word. The thing still seemed thoroughly pleased with the fierce battle just past, twitching away in smug contentment. I muttered with a complicated expression.
"So you're saying... I'm the body of the True Blood Demon."
I flicked Red Hare with a finger.
"And this thing is the Blood God?"
Baek Ri-seol stared at it for a moment, then finally snorted out a laugh.
"Seems that way."
And then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, she cupped Red Hare in both hands.
"...My adorable Blood God."
Red Hare twitched again, thoroughly gratified. I let out a hollow laugh, at a loss.
"I think that thing's starting to grow an ego."
Baek Ri-seol nodded with a perfectly serious face.
"Yes. Honestly, it's a little frightening. But it's cute. And that's what makes it even scarier, you know?"
I looked down at Red Hare in silence. Then I slowly picked up the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron cleaver standing beside the bed.
A heavy metallic ring filled the room. I slung the blade over my shoulder and fixed Red Hare with a cold stare.
"Don't you dare get any ideas. About dominating me. About taking my body."
The edge of the cleaver flashed, ice-cold.
"...We clear?"
In that instant, Red Hare shrank back with remarkable meekness. The same thing that had been twitching so proudly a moment ago suddenly went still, as if playing dead. Baek Ri-seol took one look and completely lost it.
"Pfft— the Blood God just got scared!"
I set the cleaver back down with a straight face.
"Discipline is important."
Baek Ri-seol soothed Red Hare with a few strokes, then opened her mouth again, her expression turning serious once more.
"A report came in from the spies I planted over there."
I sat back against the bed and listened in silence. Baek Ri-seol rubbed Red Hare gently with her fingertips as she spoke, her voice low.
"The True Blood Sect is trying to create a True Blood Demon as well. By forcibly injecting Blood God Qi."
I furrowed my brow.
"Artificially?"
Baek Ri-seol nodded slowly.
"Yes. But most of them failed. Their bodies couldn't endure it, or they were swallowed by the blood qi and went mad."
Her eyes darkened a little.
"Even so... a few candidates survived. Their condition is wretched, of course."
I waited quietly for her to continue. Baek Ri-seol hesitated, then let out a small sigh.
"And they hit a point too, where the Blood God Qi suddenly stops going in."
I narrowed my eyes.
"...Like me?"
"Yes."
Baek Ri-seol nodded quietly.
"So they started using a different method over there."
Her expression twisted slightly.
"They kidnap other female martial artists... and force them into union."
The air in the room went cold in an instant. I looked at her without a word. Baek Ri-seol's hand, which had been stroking Red Hare, went still as she continued, slowly.
"They force a foreign type of qi into them. They mix the yin energy of women with different constitutions, and manufacture a growth stimulus by force."
I muttered under my breath.
"And that makes them grow?"
Baek Ri-seol was silent for a moment. Then she opened her mouth, very slowly.
"...Some of them. They grew a little, apparently. But in the end..."
Her crimson eyes wavered.
"...most of them failed. The blood qi ran wild, or their bodies collapsed, or they turned into something that wasn't even human anymore."
"Would I be any different...?"
The room went quiet for a while. Dust drifted in the sunlight, and the distant voices of people on the inn street carried faintly through the air.
Baek Ri-seol said nothing, slowly stroking Red Hare. The thing seemed to have recovered its spirits; it was nuzzling against her palm for no particular reason. Then, a moment later, she let out a small laugh and lifted Red Hare slightly.
"If our Red Hare... really is the Blood God..."
Her crimson eyes turned slowly toward me. There was a certainty in them that was almost strange.
For a moment I couldn't say a word. Baek Ri-seol slipped back into my arms just like that, and murmured, very softly.
"So you can't go falling apart on me. You're not... just your own anymore."
Her fingertips slowly traced across my chest. Baek Ri-seol buried her face against me for a long while without speaking. Then she opened her mouth in a voice so quiet I almost missed it.
"Jin-woo... while we search for the divine relics."
Her fingertips slowly covered the back of my hand.
"...let's actively take other women in as well."
For a moment I had nothing to say. Baek Ri-seol looked at my face and smiled faintly.
"Don't feel guilty. I know your true nature better than anyone."
She gave a small laugh and flicked Red Hare with a fingertip.
"And."
Baek Ri-seol's crimson eyes lifted slowly to meet mine. There was no jealousy in them, and no sign of anything being forced down. Instead, there was only a resolve so calm it was almost unsettling.
"This is how we survive. If you don't want to fall apart... it's something we have to do."
I looked at her for a moment, then slowly let out a breath.
"Even so. It won't be easy."
Baek Ri-seol let out a small laugh and burrowed deeper into my arms.
"It's fine. But."
The corner of her mouth curved up.
I ended up laughing.
"What a greedy Blood Demon."
Instead of answering, Baek Ri-seol gave my throat a light bite. And just like that, she climbed on top of me again.
That night, we tumbled together until dawn. Unlike Baek Ri-seol, I felt no further strengthening of my Blood God Qi — in stark contrast to the fierce pleasure.
