Etiquette Education - (3)
Ever since Wi Ilcheong returned, Dokgo Ryeong had been thoroughly uncomfortable.
It irritated her no end that her heart would race for no good reason just from looking at his face.
"Ah, Oppa Wi. Let me dry you off."
"Oppa, give me your clothes."
"Thank you, Miss Eun, Miss Baekri."
The moment Wi Ilcheong stripped off his wet clothes, Baekri Sohyeon and Eun Gwanyeong naturally pressed in close and set to work. Baekri Sohyeon wrung the water from the garments and hung them against the wall to dry, while Eun Gwanyeong fetched a towel and began wiping down his body.
"Hehe… You should have come back earlier when it started raining."
"Even so, the three of you seemed to be enjoying your conversation so much that I couldn't find an opening to join in."
"No, Oppa Wi can interrupt anytime he likes."
"That's right. Isn't that so, Miss Dokgo?"
"Huh?!"
Suddenly called upon, Dokgo Ryeong answered in flustered confusion.
"Uh… yeah. Th-that's right."
"Heheh, see? Miss Dokgo says it's fine too."
"Huhu, very well. I'll do so next time."
Even with three women present, Wi Ilcheong casually stripped down without the slightest hesitation, and Dokgo Ryeong let out a sharp yelp.
"Y-you… hey!"
"Ah, Miss Dokgo. My apologies—there's only the one cabin…"
"You'll see it all eventually anyway, so why not get a good look now?"
"Ugh… You lewd little wench!!"
"Heheh."
Dokgo Ryeong flushed crimson and spun around. The continuous rustle of fabric behind her grated on her nerves, yet she clenched her teeth, stared hard at the floor, and forced herself to ignore the sound.
"Fuck… Why the hell did we only book one cabin?!"
"I'm sorry. We boarded so suddenly that they said there was only one cabin left."
"Fuck…"
"Ah, Miss Dokgo! Pretty words only, remember?"
"Kyaaaah!!"
"Miss Dokgo, I've finished dressing, so you may turn around now."
Dokgo Ryeong clutched her head and whirled about to find Wi Ilcheong fully clothed and seated on the floor. As if it were the most natural thing in the world—as if they had always been that way—Eun Gwanyeong and Baekri Sohyeon sat on either side of him, arms linked through his.
"…What are you doing."
"Just sitting here?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Haa…"
The instant Dokgo Ryeong approached and sat facing Wi Ilcheong, Eun Gwanyeong suddenly slammed her palm against the floor.
Bang!
"Wha—you scared me!"
"Miss Dokgo! A lady must never sit like that!"
"W-what?"
Dokgo Ryeong had simply folded her legs into her usual cross-legged seat, but the sight made Eun Gwanyeong's face twist in horror.
"So vulgar! Sitting like that, your legs and undergarments are completely on display!"
"…Then what?"
"Kneel properly with your knees together."
"Hey, fuck. Can't I just sit however's comfortable?"
"Absolutely not, Miss Dokgo."
The words had been aimed at Eun Gwanyeong, yet the reply came from Wi Ilcheong.
"Why the hell not?"
"…Because from this moment on, Miss Dokgo must conceal her true self. And… haa…"
"What, you bastard."
"If you continue like this, we will run into endless trouble throughout our journey. Especially… when we meet the Sword Queen, it will become truly problematic."
"Ah, fuck."
Only then did Dokgo Ryeong understand why they were suddenly making such a fuss over her speech and manners.
The sect leader of Botamun in Zhejiang Province, the Sword Queen Seo Gyo, was a woman notoriously sensitive about etiquette. She never forced courtesy upon others, yet she was famous for refusing to meet anyone who lacked even the basics of proper manners.
The most famous anecdote involved her quarrel with the head of the Hwangbo Clan. When the massive clan lord had passed through Zhejiang and visited Botamun, he had carelessly stepped on the threshold without watching his feet. The Sword Queen had refused to see him to the very end—a story still widely told.
She's probably a total bitch with a rotten temper.
Dokgo Ryeong had never met her, but if tales like that circulated so freely, the woman was certainly the type she would despise most.
"Then how about this. When I get there, I'll either teach you the formula myself, or I'll bring out the kid who needs it."
"…It isn't only that problem. Please also consider the trouble that may arise during travel."
"Ah, why! Shi—"
"Huh?! You were about to say something bad just now, weren't you?"
"…We're short on time, so why bother?"
Seeing that Eun Gwanyeong looked ready to pounce at any second, Dokgo Ryeong hastily changed the subject. She could endure anything else, but she had no desire to suffer those hands of hers again.
If given a choice, Dokgo Ryeong would have chosen bone-crushing torture over being caressed by Eun Gwanyeong a second time.
Fuck… if I have to go through that shit again…
Even a brief mental image sent goosebumps racing over her entire body. Pain was preferable; she never wanted to experience that feeling of no longer being herself.
Whether he understood her feelings or not, Wi Ilcheong continued the conversation.
"I believe we will rarely have free time like this again. There is little we can do aboard ship anyway, so I intend to devote the full week of our voyage to Shandong to Miss Dokgo."
"…I'd rather discuss martial arts…"
"That would require internal energy. Preparations for the Classic of the Plain Girl…"
"Etiquette education is fine. I've needed time to reflect on my own conduct for a while now."
"…"
Watching Dokgo Ryeong reverse her attitude the instant she heard the name of the Classic of the Plain Girl, Eun Gwanyeong laughed.
"Huhuhu, then it seems it's time for me, Eun Gwanyeong, to make another appearance!"
"I'll help too, Ryeong Mae."
"I'll handle whatever the two of you don't cover. Though in this area the other two young ladies are far more skilled than I."
"Haa…"
And so Dokgo Ryeong began her unwanted etiquette education.
The Mad Demon Dokgo Jin had been the child of slash-and-burn farmers.
The first reason he ever learned to read was simple curiosity about the enormous characters his enemies had embroidered so boldly on their clothes; later he studied further so he could track their locations.
After that, by pure chance, he obtained the secret manuals of the Nine Yang Divine Art and the Saber of Asura Rakshasa, and Dokgo Jin wandered in search of writing teachers simply so he could read those books.
Most of those so-called writing teachers could be found hanging around the gambling dens of the unorthodox factions. They were parasites who had learned a smattering of letters, freeloaded off unorthodox martial artists, and sucked the blood of ordinary people who had never studied martial arts. Dokgo Jin therefore tortured them without the slightest hesitation, learned a great many characters that way, and in the end mastered literacy properly.
But after that, Dokgo Jin never had time to learn what it meant to be human.
His thirst for vengeance was too vast to leave room for love, and wherever he went he himself turned the place into a battlefield, so he never enjoyed peace.
Naturally he knew nothing of etiquette.
The only manners he understood were these: use polite speech toward gray-haired old men older than himself who had never learned martial arts; if the bastard had learned martial arts, first check whether he was connected to his enemies, then thrash him.
For a man like that, the four days spent learning "proper etiquette" from Eun Gwanyeong and Baekri Sohyeon were pure hell.
Fuck… I never thought I'd end up missing those Tang Clan bastards.
Dokgo Ryeong sincerely longed for the days when the Tang Clan had spread their Heavenly Net across Sichuan and hunted her life.
First of all, Baekri Sohyeon's etiquette lessons were sharper than the hidden darts the Tang Clan flung.
"Ryeong Mae, keep your shoulders back, and your legs a little closer together."
"L-like this?"
"No. A little more inward…"
"Wh-where do you think you're touching?!"
"If I don't touch, how will you know…. Ryeong Mae, your hips mustn't sway. It looks vulgar…"
"Hey… th-that…!"
Baekri Sohyeon's words and hands seemed to aim straight for Dokgo Ryeong's vital points. She zeroed in with perfect accuracy on the most awkward places no one else's hands should ever reach, and continuously corrected her posture.
Especially whenever those hands slipped between her inner thighs, her lower dantian throbbed and her hair took on a pinkish cast; the sheer mortification made her want to die more times than she could count.
"Huhu… Ryeong Mae's entire body is an erogenous zone, isn't it?"
"Kyaaaaaah!!!"
Even so, Baekri Sohyeon was still better than Eun Gwanyeong.
Eun Gwanyeong's education was like a poison the Tang Clan had spent long years refining with all their heart and soul. Her lessons carried history.
"Now then, walk."
"…"
Baekri Sohyeon's instruction was vague yet ordinary.
When sitting, do not spread your legs.
When walking, maintain an even stride, keep your neck straight, and draw your chin in.
When speaking, do not glare into the other person's eyes; look at the philtrum instead.
And so on.
Utterly basic things—yet things Dokgo Jin had never known.
Eun Gwanyeong, however, as a candidate for branch leader of the Hao Sect where courtesans gathered, possessed a systematic curriculum.
The first thing she did was place bowls full of water on Dokgo Ryeong's shoulders and atop her head.
"If you spill any while moving, you fail…. You have to walk a full circuit of the cabin like that to succeed…"
"Does this actually work?"
"You just have to stay conscious of it at all times. For reference, this is the absolute foundation that every new disciple of the Hao Sect receives upon entry."
"…Shit."
Slap.
The instant a curse was about to leave Dokgo Ryeong's mouth, Eun Gwanyeong's hand flashed and the switch cracked across her backside.
"Kyaak!"
Clatter.
"Every time you say a bad word, you get the switch."
"Kyaaaaah!!"
"…Shall I add that meaningless growling of yours to the list as well?"
"…"
Little by little, Dokgo Ryeong was tamed by Eun Gwanyeong and Baekri Sohyeon.
Her savage wildness transformed into something more human, and the murderous gaze that once seemed to search for someone to kill softened into the sharp look of a fierce woman.
Born with natural beauty, once she was properly dressed she looked as though she might possess the dignity of a daughter from a renowned clan. Above all, her talent for martial arts was outstanding.
After completing Bone and Body Reconstitution, her sharpened senses made controlling her own body far easier; even the posture corrections that had been so difficult at first became familiar the moment she began to regard them as a form of footwork training.
This is nothing more than footwork practice…
Before long the water bowls on Dokgo Ryeong's shoulders and head no longer fell, and her gait grew elegant.
The longer the etiquette lessons continued, the more Dokgo Ryeong improved.
She was drawing closer not to "Mad Demon Dokgo Jin" but to "the woman Dokgo Ryeong."
Yet even so, there remained one single thing to which she still could not adapt.
Namely…
"Haaahnn!! Oppa… Oppa Wi… deeper…. Thrust deeper, please…!"
"Huu… Very well!"
"Hyaaang!!"
The wet, fleshy slap of skin against skin, mixed with the slick sounds of arousal, made Dokgo Ryeong's heart pound wildly.
F-fuck! Just…! Rest for even one damn day!!
It was the clouds-and-rain of man and woman.
Night after night Eun Gwanyeong and Baekri Sohyeon threw themselves into Wi Ilcheong's arms, and Wi Ilcheong never refused them.
His stamina was so legendary that once they began, the coupling lasted until just before sunrise; he did not stop until both Baekri Sohyeon and Eun Gwanyeong had gone completely limp.
The first night she simply endured it. When it happened again on the second night, Dokgo Ryeong finally snapped.
"Hey… take it easy, you bastards!! Doing something that shameless in the same room…"
"My, Miss Dokgo will do the same someday, won't you? Why not watch and learn in advance?"
"That's right, Ryeong Mae. Oppa Wi is so virile that the two of us can barely handle him…"
"…I apologize, Miss Dokgo. The mind method I practice is rather unique…"
"Kyaaaaaah!!!"
In the end, out of consideration for Dokgo Ryeong, Wi Ilcheong had Eun Gwanyeong fashion something to block her ears. Unfortunately her senses had grown razor-sharp.
Even with earplugs jammed into her ear canals, Dokgo Ryeong's heightened hearing caught every sound throughout the night; the endless cries of Baekri Sohyeon and Eun Gwanyeong, together with the thick scent of pleasure, only served to arouse her as well for no good reason.
Please… just stop already…!
"Haaauk…! I-I can't… anymore…! Oppa… Oppa Wi…!"
"Kh…! Understood… one last time…!"
"Haaahnn…!!"
Listening to Eun Gwanyeong's long, melting moans, Dokgo Ryeong let out a deep sigh.
…It's over.
Baekri Sohyeon had long since fainted, and now that Eun Gwanyeong had collapsed as well, Wi Ilcheong would soon fall asleep too.
Relieved that she had survived another day, Dokgo Ryeong was about to settle properly into sleep when she heard Wi Ilcheong's footsteps approaching her.
"…Miss Dokgo. Are you asleep?"
"…"
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Dokgo Ryeong's heart began to race.
Afraid he might notice from her breathing that she was awake, she squeezed her eyes shut tightly. Wi Ilcheong's hand drew near.
N-no…!
Dokgo Ryeong tensed and curled in on herself, yet contrary to her expectations his hand never touched her body.
"…You must keep the blanket properly over yourself."
"…"
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Little by little her heartbeat returned to normal.
"Huu…"
A short while later, once Wi Ilcheong had fallen asleep, Dokgo Ryeong sat up and surveyed her surroundings.
"…"
He was sleeping with Eun Gwanyeong, who had been sprawled on the floor, cradled in his arms.
Baekri Sohyeon lay behind Dokgo Ryeong; after placing a finger beneath her nose to confirm she was breathing, Dokgo Ryeong relaxed and turned back.
…Everyone's asleep.
Having confirmed that all three were sleeping, Dokgo Ryeong tried once more to calm her still-trembling chest and drift off.
Yet something that had been bothering her for several days now kept her from easily falling asleep.
…It itches like hell.
The space between her legs itched so badly that she kept rubbing her thighs together, and a strange sensation rose within her.
After lifting her head once more to make certain everyone was truly asleep, Dokgo Ryeong slipped her hand inside her trousers and brought it to the place between her thighs that had been itching all this time.