Etiquette Education - (2)
In an endlessly dark world, Dokgo Ryeong’s eyes caught a sword path.
Shiiik!
Six forms designed to dazzle an enemy’s eyes for the thrusting strike that followed.
Illusory Forms.
And the finishing form meant to snuff out the life of anyone fooled by those six.
Killing Form.
Yet something about it still felt lacking.
Is this really all there is?
The Shoot the Sun Sword Art.
A sword art born from the myth of the ten suns—sons of the Heavenly Emperor—who one day decided, as a prank, to shine upon the earth all at once. When the people suffered under the unbearable heat, the peerless archer Hou Yi shot nine of those suns from the sky.
Recalling that legend, Dokgo Ryeong naturally envisioned a final Killing Form that would complete the existing seven forms.
The last Killing Form would surely be the climax of that tale—shooting down the nine suns.
Shoot the Sun.
As her arm moved, a sword path that pierced nine vital points of the body was completed in the same instant.
Still a little short?
The sword path she had forged would have looked magnificent to anyone else, yet to her it still felt incomplete.
The moment she shifted her body once more to refine the form, her world shuddered.
A sensation of floating up into empty air and then plummeting down seized her, and Dokgo Ryeong opened her eyes.
“Ah… fuck.”
“You’re awake, Ryeong Mae?”
The floor swayed beneath her, and a soft cushion pressed against the back of her head.
The first thing that filled her upward gaze was a pair of swelling peaks hidden beneath white cloth.
When Dokgo Ryeong gave those peaks a couple of light pats, Baekri Sohyeon’s face peeked out from beyond them.
“…Where the hell are we?”
“Inside the ship. How’s your body? Gwanyeong was a little worried.”
“Ah, fuck.”
Only then did the memory return—charging into the inn to teach Eun Gwanyeong a lesson, only to get counterattacked and black out.
“Haa… damn it.”
“Does it hurt a lot?”
“…Nah. Just give me some water.”
“Mm.”
As Dokgo Ryeong pushed herself up, Baekri Sohyeon rose and went to fetch water.
Still half-dazed from sleep, Dokgo Ryeong turned the dream over in her mind.
…What the hell was that?
It had felt as though she had briefly glimpsed the final Killing Form of the Shoot the Sun Sword Art.
But it had been nothing more than outer shape.
Without circulating internal energy alongside it, the form was hollow—half a sword art at best, mere imitation.
I’m sure… it went like this…
The instant she moved her body to seize even a fragment of the Killing Form she had grasped in the dream, she realized something was wrong with her again.
Ah, fuck. Why won’t it move this time…?
The Yin energy in her lower dantian, which had been flowing freely before, had once more settled into place and refused to budge.
When she tried to draw on the Yang energy stored in the upper dantian at her Baihui point, that mad Yin energy went berserk again and tried to devour the Yang, so she finally gave up.
Just then, someone entered the cabin.
“Ah, you’re awake.”
“…Lust Demon.”
It was Wi Ilcheong.
Wi Ilcheong sat across from Dokgo Ryeong with a tea set and began brewing tea.
“Where’s Dun-chi?”
“She went to look at the sea with Miss Eun. She’d been wanting to see the ocean from the ship the whole time, but she was too worried about Miss Dokgo to go earlier.”
“…”
Feeling an unexpected twinge of guilt toward Baekri Sohyeon, Dokgo Ryeong scratched her cheek.
“More than that, I came because I have something I wish to ask.”
“I’ve got something I want to ask first.”
“It seems we have the same question.”
The words left their mouths at the same time.
““No Geukmyeong?” How did you capture him?”
Wi Ilcheong spoke first.
“I sealed his pressure points and left him in a forest a little ways off. He should be awake by now.”
“…Odds he’ll come after us?”
“High, I imagine. But better than killing him and making a lifelong enemy, wouldn’t you say?”
“Fuck…. Feels damn uneasy.”
“And you, Miss Dokgo?”
“…”
Dokgo Ryeong hesitated for a moment.
How much should I tell him?
Anyone who walked the jianghu was always told to hide three-tenths of their strength.
But that only worked when you could accurately gauge your own power.
“…First, about No Geukmyeong.”
“Yes.”
“I did subdue him. But that bastard was weaker than I expected.”
“…That can’t be. He’s Senior No Sunpyeong’s son. Among the rising talents he’s highly regarded—he can’t be weak.”
“Other people’s opinions and what you feel after meeting someone yourself are different things. Don’t you think?”
“Even so, objective facts don’t change.”
Wi Ilcheong pointed at the floor with a finger.
“I saw the gouges left in the floor of the inn. From what I could tell, it wasn’t that Young Hero No Geukmyeong was weak—it was that you were strong.”
“Ah, fuck.”
Dokgo Ryeong smacked her forehead.
“Forgot about those.”
“…Were you trying to deceive me?”
“You need to know something before you can lie about it. I don’t know either.”
“Pardon?”
“That bastard just suddenly charged me, and I subdued him. For some reason I could use internal energy, so I subdued him.”
“…May I check your pulse?”
“Go ahead.”
Figuring there was nothing to hide, Dokgo Ryeong held out her arm.
“Then, for a moment…”
When Wi Ilcheong took her wrist, her shoulder gave a tiny tremble.
“Nnh…”
“Are you uncomfortable?”
“Ah… no. Keep going.”
“…Yes. Please tell me if it becomes uncomfortable.”
Feeling the gradual flow of internal energy from Wi Ilcheong’s hand, Dokgo Ryeong sensed something strange.
No, fuck… why…
The moment Wi Ilcheong leaned closer to take her pulse, her heart gave a sudden heavy thump.
It was nothing more than offering her arm so he could check her pulse, yet her face flushed for no reason.
Did I catch a cold or something…?
To ignore the odd sensation, Dokgo Ryeong closed her eyes.
In the instant she felt Wi Ilcheong’s true qi circulating along her meridians, her lower dantian throbbed.
“Hey… Lust Demon.”
“Quiet for a moment, please…”
“Take your hand off. Now.”
“Pardon?”
“Pull your energy back! Hurry!”
Hearing the urgency in her voice, Wi Ilcheong withdrew his energy and released her hand.
“What is the matter, Miss Dokgo?”
“…Just a second. I’m trying to figure this out myself.”
The moment Wi Ilcheong’s true qi entered her body, the Yin energy in her lower dantian had stirred.
Startled that the sudden surge of Yin might spread to him as well, she had ordered him to let go—but this was the first time she had ever experienced anything like it, and she was thoroughly flustered.
“That… the Yin energy in my lower dantian suddenly…”
“Ah, that would be only natural.”
“Huh?”
“You were startled because the Yin energy in your lower dantian began to boil, weren’t you?”
“Uh… yeah, that’s right. How the hell do you know that?”
“Your lustful heart is boiling over. How fortunate. It seems Miss Dokgo is also adapting to the Classic of the Plain Girl.”
“…”
Dokgo Ryeong blankly turned his words over in her mind.
My lustful heart boiled over? And that’s why the Yin energy rose?
In other words, the moment she accepted Wi Ilcheong’s energy, she had started wanting to do dirty things.
The realization hit her, and her face flushed so hard it felt ready to burst.
“There’s no need to feel so embarrassed. It’s all perfectly natural…”
“Die!!!”
“Ugh!”
Dokgo Ryeong swung a fist; Wi Ilcheong, startled, dodged it.
“Oh… Miss. Once again you’re using internal energy so naturally…”
“Shut up and die already!!”
“And your hair’s gone light pink again… Ugh! What a fierce punch! As expected, you have talent for bare-handed combat…”
“Kyaaaaah!!”
In the end, Dokgo Ryeong’s rampage continued until Baekri Sohyeon and Eun Gwanyeong, drawn by the racket from the cabin, arrived to restrain her.
“Haa… haa… fuck!!”
“Ah, I told you to use nice words~?”
“Shut it!”
“Hiiing…”
“Ryeong Mae… just calm down a little…”
“Kyaaaah!!!”
“…”
Even while Baekri Sohyeon held her close and stroked her hair, Dokgo Ryeong could not easily settle.
I… I… fuck…!!!
Her lustful heart had boiled over?
Toward a man?
Every time the thought surfaced, her face burned as if it would explode.
Mortified enough that she nearly threw herself into the sea more than once, the others had to stop her repeatedly, and even afterward she still found it hard to calm down.
Watching her rough breathing and the way her face flushed then slowly returned to normal, Baekri Sohyeon asked,
“What happened, Ryeong Mae?”
“…”
“If you don’t tell me, I won’t know…”
“That’s right~… If you keep flying off the handle like that every time, we’re in trouble too~.”
“Fuck…”
Dokgo Ryeong glared for a moment at the cabin door through which Wi Ilcheong had left.
Seeing her ready to murder him, Baekri Sohyeon and Eun Gwanyeong had first shoved him outside, so only women remained in the room.
…If my lustful heart boils, the Yin energy moves?
Dokgo Ryeong needed internal energy.
To protect her own body, internal energy was essential.
Only then could she perform the foundation of every martial art—issuing force.
And her body held a vast quantity of pure Yin energy, enough to chew up most peak masters.
To move that Yin energy, her lustful heart had to boil.
She still wasn’t sure this was right.
Even in the days when she had been the Mad Demon Dokgo Jin, she had deliberately kept women at a distance and had never once failed to control her lust.
That was why the feeling now was so unfamiliar—and even frightening.
“…Aren’t you going to talk, Ryeong Mae?”
“That…”
“Mm-mm. Tell big sister everything.”
“Haa… fuck.”
In the end, unable to bear the frustration, Dokgo Ryeong scratched her head hard and forced the words out.
“That… fuck… haa… fuck…”
“You can take your time, Ryeong Mae.”
“…You guys, when you do… that. That thing.”
“That thing?”
“What is it~?”
“No… fuck…”
Blushing with shame, Dokgo Ryeong hung her head and mumbled.
“Ugh… Yin-Yang Dual Cultivation.”
“Ah, yes. What about it~?”
“…Does your lustful heart boil even when you’re not doing that?”
“Of course?”
“That’s right.”
“Huh?”
Dokgo Ryeong lifted her head in bewilderment.
“No, I mean… even normally?”
“Yes~. Not all day long… but outside of sleeping hours it’s pretty much always heated up.”
“Mm… I just wait for night.”
“…You lewd bitches.”
“Is it because of the Classic of the Plain Girl?”
As if she had read Dokgo Ryeong’s mind, Baekri Sohyeon mentioned the manual, and Dokgo Ryeong’s head snapped up.
“H-how did you know?”
“After something happened between you and Big Brother Wi, your hair turned pink, you suddenly used a bit of internal energy, and then you brought up dirty talk you never usually mention?”
“…Fuck.”
“Ryeong Mae.”
“What?”
Baekri Sohyeon wrapped her arms tightly around Dokgo Ryeong’s waist from behind and pressed firmly on her lower abdomen.
“Does it throb here?”
“…Sometimes.”
“I see. Hehe.”
“…Why are you laughing?”
“Nothing. Just thinking that Ryeong Mae is a woman too.”
“What’s that supposed to—!”
“I’m the same.”
Baekri Sohyeon’s breath brushed Dokgo Ryeong’s neck, tickling her.
“The Classic of the Plain Girl is… a mind method that lets a man’s Yang energy and a woman’s Yin energy dual-cultivate together.”
“…And?”
“In the process it raises the efficiency of energy accumulation and increases the man’s internal energy… but it also purifies a woman’s internal energy, you know?”
“…”
“As the first stage, a woman’s body has to be ready to accept a man’s Yang energy. Ryeong Mae, you’ve reached that readiness.”
“…What’s the next stage?”
“Clouds and rain?”
“Kyaaaaah!!!”
Dokgo Ryeong shot up as if having a fit and wriggled free of Baekri Sohyeon’s arms.
Watching her, Eun Gwanyeong said,
“If you just leave your body to Big Brother Wi, you’ll be able to use internal energy and feel good too~…”
“Shut up!!”
“Hiiing…”
“I… I… am never spreading my legs for some man!!”
“Everyone says that at first…”
“Gah!!”
When Dokgo Ryeong poured internal energy into a lion’s roar, the cabin creaked.
“…How do you handle internal energy so well already.”
“She’s really a lump of talent~…”
“Cut the bullshit!! Fuck… I’m going out!”
“Where are you going~?”
“I don’t know, fuck! Anywhere’s fine.”
The moment Dokgo Ryeong boldly flung open the cabin door, someone blocked her path.
“Which bastard—!”
“I’m afraid you won’t be able to go outside, Miss Dokgo.”
She looked up. There stood Wi Ilcheong, completely soaked.
“D-did you fall in the sea or something?”
“No. The weather suddenly turned vicious. It’s pouring. They say we should stay quietly inside the cabin and be careful of the rough waves.”
“Ugh…!”
Dokgo Ryeong flushed and peered past his shoulder.
Just as he said, rain was hammering down outside, and the few crew members were scurrying about busily.
Right then the ship gave a great heave.
“Kyaak!”
“Oops…. Are you all right, Miss?”
Wi Ilcheong caught the stumbling Dokgo Ryeong and pulled her into his arms as he asked.
Her heart began racing again.
“Ah… no, that… fuck…”
Her lower dantian throbbed once more.
“For now there’s nothing we can do, so let’s wait quietly inside.”
Wi Ilcheong added with a bright smile,
“This is a good chance—there are quite a few things I’d like to teach Miss Dokgo.”