Chapter 45

***

Cheong-ra's head, completely drained of energy, dropped down. Clear marks of severe strangling were visible on his exposed nape. Dang Ran-yeong knew well that although they were just red now, they would turn a deep purple as time passed.

"He won't be able to go around with a neck like this."

Baek Ri Cheong-ra was someone obsessed with maintaining his flawless appearance, so he wouldn't go around with such bruises. This was the reason for deliberately strangling him. For a young master raised preciously, experiencing this for the first time must have felt cruel...

Dang Ran-yeong's fingers caressed the bluish bruised area. However, by his standards, this was not cruel enough to be satisfying.

For instance, what he was thinking of now was a method of hanging a person by a rope around their neck all day, making them stand on tiptoe. After enduring until their legs cramped, when their strength gave out, they would end up strangling themselves. He would watch and only provide a footrest when they seemed about to die, then remove it again after they had rested a bit.

Repeating this process of strangling and releasing all day without letting them sleep usually drives ordinary people half-mad.

Yet there were those who wet themselves in gratitude and joy from this act, which was no different from torture. There were also those who felt pleasure in inflicting such acts. The space beyond the inner door was where such people gathered.

If asked which side he was on, Dang Ran-yeong was the latter. He was clearly someone who derived pleasure from sadistically tormenting humans and seeing their painful reactions.

So what he had just done was no different from child's play. In fact, he hadn't intended to lay hands on him at all initially. But Baek Ri Cheong-ra kept provoking him, which was quite irritating. And at the same time, quite appealing... In the end, he ended up touching him like this.

And this young master had quite a nice feel to him.

The space beyond the inner door was just a place created to manage mere livestock. The objects of his sadistic enjoyment were mainly limited to enemies. Dealing with ordinary humans required too much consideration, making it annoying rather than exciting. It was far more enjoyable to capture enemies, torture them, tear off their limbs while listening to their screams, and finally take their lives personally.

Baek Ri Cheong-ra was quite sturdy even by martial artist standards. His face was exceptionally pleasing to look at, and he knew how to protect his body, making him a body that could be enjoyed for longer.

"But it seems you don't find pleasure in pain..."

He touched the slightly parted lips exhaling labored breaths. Baek Ri Cheong-ra had only looked displeased when Neung Jeong-dong was slapped and whipped, but when watching him being forcibly violated, he couldn't take his eyes off as if entranced.

How pleasing that aspect was. True sadism is most appropriate and satisfying when inflicted on those who don't enjoy pain...

As he pushed his fingers into the damp mouth, the area between his legs felt heavy and aching. The desire to thrust his thing into that mouth boiled up. No martial artist can train their throat and inner flesh. It was the most vulnerable and defenseless part of the body.

Dang Ran-yeong lightly grasped the white neck with his hand, imagining how softly it would wrap around his palm if he strangled it directly.

The reason he didn't directly strangle Baek Ri Cheong-ra's neck and only made him bite the chair's armrest, despite disliking restraint, wasn't because he wasn't aroused. On the contrary, he was quite aroused by the other.

If one needs to be moved to want something, conversely, being moved means wanting, right?

His brow furrowed slightly as he recalled the reason for not taking the desired partner he was aroused by. The unconscious other's tongue pressed softly between his fingers. After pulling and releasing it, the fingers that had been toying with the other's mouth finally withdrew.

"It's too good to use as a discarded card after all."

As he muttered, Dang Ran-yeong's gaze didn't leave the figure of the beauty who had lost consciousness from strangulation, leaning against the chair. His green eyes closed slowly once and reopened, filled with deep desire. Suppressing his greed, he gently caressed Cheong-ra's pale cheek and spoke softly.

"But it can't be helped. It's your fault for being born this way and ending up like this, Baek Ri Cheong-ra."

Just as it is mine... Dang Ran-yeong's fingers caressed the deeply bruised skin. And where his fingers brushed the nape, a faint reddish pattern appeared. It was an ominously shaped pattern.

Dang Ran-yeong's gaze darkened as he looked at that pattern.

***

As Cheong-ra lifted his heavy eyelids, a familiar ceiling came into view. It was the ceiling of the guest room he was staying in at The Pavilion of Golden Fragrance. After staring blankly for a while, he came to his senses and sat up. Then he frowned deeply and suppressed a groan.

'My neck hurts so much...'

He lay back down and waited for the pain to subside before finally gathering himself. As he approached the dressing table, his eyes widened. There were hideously dark blue bruises left on his neck. It was so severe that anyone would recognize it as the neck of someone who had been badly strangled, making it impossible for him to even think of going out for a while. When he carefully tried to speak, a very hoarse sound came out with the pain, making him shut his mouth tightly.

He sat in front of the dressing table, carefully examining his neck, but at some point, his mind went blank. Slowly, heat rose to his face. Scenes from the previous night flashed through his mind. The one who enjoyed slapping, whipping, and violating others, and the one who ejaculated several times while being subjected to such acts.

'To think there were so many people like me.'

He swallowed briefly as he repeated this fact to himself. The afterimages of Neung Jeong-dong's face, crying out in joy, and the scholar getting excited watching him lingered. For someone who had only lived in Moon Lake Sect until now, the scenes he saw yesterday were a tremendous shock. And what Dang Ran-yeong had done to him was equally shocking.

His neck had been strangled countless times, cruelly enough to make him lose consciousness. He still felt the intense pressure of the rope that had strangled his neck.

Yet far from being angry, he felt calm and good...

Wondering about the reason for this, Cheong-ra caressed his neck, which showed traces of ointment having been applied, and the clothes that had been changed while he was unconscious. The treatment was different from last time when he had been beaten and left collapsed all night.

Of course, he didn't think Dang Ran-yeong had personally changed his clothes and applied ointment kindly. It was probably Yeo-jin's touch. Nevertheless, a subtle emotion arose, making Cheong-ra's cheeks slightly red.

'Still, I don't want my neck strangled again.'

Cheong-ra sighed as he looked in the mirror once more. Thinking about how long it would take for these bruises to disappear, he realized that this too might have been Dang Ran-yeong's intention.

'Stay put quietly until I use you.'

Recalling Dang Ran-yeong's words, a bitter smile appeared on Cheong-ra's lips. It was a statement that made his attitude towards him clear. While feeling bitter, his gaze looking at the bruises on his neck in the mirror gradually filled with a faint heat.

'Oh, come to think of it...'

After examining the items on the table once, he opened the small drawer of the dressing table. His eyes shone. The ice jade that Dang Ran-yeong had given him instead of a thousand gold was neatly wrapped in red cloth inside. Unable to take it out of the drawer, he gazed at the ice jade in rapture for a long time.

Then he carefully lifted it. After examining it closely and fiddling with it for a while, he gently pressed it against his cheek because it was so smooth. A cool, cold sensation spread. They say good energy comes from jade, would it be good for the skin too?

"Young Master Baek Ri, I'm coming in."

Startled, Cheong-ra quickly pushed the ice jade back into the drawer and turned around nonchalantly to see Yeo-jin entering with a tray. Seeing that Cheong-ra was up, the courtesan approached with a bright face.

"Young Master Baek Ri, you're awake! How is your neck?"

When he just smiled and slightly moved his lips, Yeo-jin nodded as if she understood everything. She seemed to know well about the secret space in this Pavilion of Golden Fragrance and what kind of people were there. That must be why her reaction was so calm even after seeing the marks left on Cheong-ra's neck.

"I'll apply some medicine for you after you've had your meal."

Cheong-ra got up from his seat and approached the table. Although he had only been strangled while sitting, his body felt stiff, perhaps from resisting with all his might yesterday. When he sat in the chair, he unknowingly flinched inside. Even though it wasn't the same one, touching the armrest felt somewhat embarrassing.