Chapter 34
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 034
Chapter Title: Just a Taste
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Rrrk.
Dokgo Cheonwi opened a drawer on one side of the room.
Namgung So-yeon held her breath, her eyes fixed on his hand. What would he pull out? Some horrific torture device?
But what appeared in Cheonwi's hand was something utterly unexpected.
A single white, soft ostrich feather.
"......?"
Namgung So-yeon's eyes narrowed in confusion. It was far too random to be a torture tool.
"What... is that?"
Cheonwi twirled the feather between his fingers and grinned.
"Knives or whips would scar your body. Can't have that on premium goods—the value drops if they're damaged. This is my special interrogation tool."
"Interrogation tool...?"
"Yeah. Extremely effective."
Cheonwi approached slowly. Namgung So-yeon tensed. Was he planning to infuse it with inner energy and hurl it like a hidden weapon? Or was it coated in poison?
Cheonwi lightly brushed the feather's tip against her side.
Swoosh.
The soft bristles grazed her sensitive skin.
"Eek?! What the hell are you doing!"
Namgung So-yeon's body jolted as if electrocuted. It was a stimulus she never saw coming. Not pain, not impact—just an itchy, bizarre sensation crawling up her spine.
Cheonwi feigned wide-eyed surprise.
"Great reaction. I figured the Sword Empress would be a rock-hard statue, but you're surprisingly ticklish?"
"This stupid prank... get it away from me now!"
"Prank? This is proper mental training. Nothing breaks down the pride of stubborn warriors like this."
Cheonwi's hand moved again. Not her side this time. The inner armpit, fully exposed by the ropes—a martial artist's vital point, the hardest weakness to defend.
Swoosh, swoosh.
The feather delved into the hollow, tracing circles.
"Hah... ugh! Stop... stop it...!"
Namgung So-yeon desperately tried to clamp her arms, but the ones suspended from the ceiling wouldn't budge. Twisting only opened her armpits wider, welcoming the feather.
"Urgh! N-no! Not there, not there...!"
"Not there? You're loving it."
Cheonwi sped up. The feather slithered like a living snake across her armpit, under her breasts, around her navel.
The extreme tickling hovered on the edge of pain and pleasure. The more she resisted, the stiffer her muscles grew, the sharper her nerves.
"Pfft-haha! Ugh, stop! Please! Ehehehe!"
A grotesque sound—scream or laugh?—burst from the Sword Empress's lips. She bit her lip to hold back laughter, but the moans leaked out.
Tears of shame welled in her eyes, yet her mouth twitched upward uncontrollably. The cognitive dissonance drove her mad.
"Don't hold back. Laugh, cry, whatever. It's just us here."
Cheonwi showed no mercy. He lowered the feather.
The inner thighs. The most private, sensitive spot.
"How about here?"
Swipe.
The feather trailed up the tender flesh to her groin.
"Kyaaah! U-ugh! Haaang!"
Namgung So-yeon's head snapped back. A lewd moan escaped against her will. She thrashed to close her legs, but the ropes held them splayed in an M-shape.
The more she twisted, the deeper the ropes bit into her skin, and the feather relentlessly targeted the gaps.
"Sword Empress, those moans are downright lascivious. Guess the Murim Alliance trains you well. Is this what they call 'martial propriety'?"
"Kill... h-heuk! I'll kill you... ahak! Urgh!"
"Love the spirit. Killing comes later. Wondering about your soles now."
Cheonwi crouched and gripped her dangling foot. Smooth soles without a single callus. He scraped the arch with the fluffy part, not the quill grip.
"Heeik! A-aaah! Not the feet! Please!"
Namgung So-yeon writhed like a maniac. Toes curled, calves spasmed. Her body swung like a pendulum, but Cheonwi held her ankle firm with one hand.
The ultimate tickle burned her brain white.
"I was wrong... ehehe! Stop! Spare me!"
Finally, surrender spilled from the Sword Empress's lips. Pride be damned. This torture devoured the soul.
The tickling session ended after what felt like forever.
"Hoo, hoo..."
Namgung So-yeon dangled limp, gasping raggedly. Sweat drenched her, glistening. Disheveled hair clung to her face in a mess.
Her eyes were glazed, drool trickled from her mouth. The proud poise of the world's greatest swordswoman was gone, replaced by a ravaged maiden's wretched state.
Cheonwi approached and gently brushed her sweat-matted bangs aside. A tender touch unbelievable from her recent tormentor.
He whispered in her ear.
"So? Scarier than a blade?"
Namgung So-yeon lacked even the strength to reply. She hung her head, trembling. Shame crashed over her like waves. Screaming and begging from a mere feather—it crushed her utterly.
"...You devil..."
A cracked voice leaked out. But it held fear and resignation, not venom.
Cheonwi smiled, satisfied.
"I'll take that as a compliment. But don't relax yet. This was just a taste."
He set the feather on the table.
"Haven't even started. Later, I'll educate your 'deeper' spots. Gotta see how honest your body can get."
Cheonwi turned away with those loaded words.
"Oh, and no letting you down. Reflect like that."
Thud, thud.
Footsteps receded.
Creeak. Thunk.
The heavy door shut and locked.
Silence and darkness reclaimed the room.
Alone, Namgung So-yeon stared blankly into space. Her bound limbs ached, but a worse sensation tormented her.
That odd heat when twisting under the tickling, under his gaze.
She wanted to deny it, but her body was brutally honest.
Her inner thighs felt cold.
Not from cooling sweat. Slick fluid leaked from her most private place, trickling down her thighs.
'No way... me... to this bastard...'
Not pain, not violation. Just feathers and stares making her wet.
It shattered every ounce of her Sword Empress pride.
"Huuwek..."
A sob leaked in the dark.
Namgung So-yeon despaired at her arousal-soaked core, swallowing silent screams as endless tears fell.
The night of endless descent had only just begun.
Cheonwi returned hours later.
As the Sword Empress drifted off from self-loathing exhaustion, he rummaged in the drawer with a clatter. She jolted awake, trembling. Torture tool? Branding iron? Needle? Whatever it was, terror promised worse than imagination.
But what Cheonwi held was unexpected again.
A smoothly carved jade rod.
About a handspan and a half long, thumb-thickness doubled. Crafted from top-grade sheep-fat jade, its subtle sheen looked more like a noblewoman's toy or ornament than a weapon.
Cheonwi spun it in his palm and approached the bed.
"W-what's that...?"
Namgung So-yeon rasped. A knife would've let her brace; this mystery rod stirred primal dread.
"This? Just a toy. Infuse it with qi, and it moves on its own—neat little thing."
"Moves... on its own?"
"Seeing is believing."
Cheonwi gripped the rod and fed it a trickle of dantian energy.
Woooong—whirrr—!
A faint but clear vibration shattered the silence. The jade in his hand trembled like a living creature, waves prickling her skin through the air.
"D-demon art! Demonic cult sorcery!"
"Sorcery? Harsh. Call it the pinnacle of science and martial arts."
Cheonwi grinned and thrust the buzzing rod before her eyes. The threatening hum and blurring surface intimidated.
"So, shall we test how the Sword Empress's body takes this vibration?"
"Stay back! Get that away!"
Namgung So-yeon thrashed, but suspended, her resistance was mere air-kicks. Cheonwi easily slipped between her legs.
Cool jade touched inner thigh flesh.
"Heek!"
Her back arched like a bow. The chill was fleeting; friction heated the vibrating jade to lukewarm swiftly.
Cheonwi took his time, like a predator savoring prey. The rod's tip rubbed tender inner thigh, circling toward the center.
Woooong—
Vibrations resonated through bone in eerie waves.
"U-ugh... weird... take it away..."
"Not started yet. The real deal's here."
His hand slid smoothly. The rod's rounded tip hovered at her drenched entrance, then teasingly poked the small nub above—her clit.
Zing—!
"Heeeik—!!"
A beastly scream ripped from Namgung So-yeon.
Not pain. Too sharp, too intense for pleasure. Like lightning piercing from crown to toe in white flash.
Worlds apart from the feather. If that was ripples, this was a tsunami.
"How's that? Thrilling?"
Cheonwi teased, pulling the rod away then pressing again.
Ziiiing—!
"Aaak! A-aaang!"