Chapter 78

His mind was blank and he couldn't do anything. Dang Ran-yeong cut the strings binding his legs and removed the shackles constricting his arms and neck. Though his limbs were free, he had no desire to attack the one to whom he had already surrendered his pride and submitted.

Cheong-ra lay on his side, watching Dang Ran-yeong whose thoughts were unreadable, and asked dazedly,

"...Are you going to kill me now?"

Unable to withstand the torture, he had admitted to having a connection with the Blood Cult. Having been thoroughly toyed with, he thought all that remained would be painful. Dang Ran-yeong stared at Cheong-ra blankly for a moment before laughing.

"Didn't you ask me to act basely?"

Cheong-ra's mouth slowly opened, and soon his eyes filled with anger. He had asked Dang Ran-yeong to act basely, but he hadn't expected it to be like this. He had truly believed that Dang Ran-yeong had brought him here to torture him, suspecting him of being a Blood Cult spy. Having been brought to a prison cell where real Blood Cult members were tortured, anyone would have thought the same.

"You, you...! Son of a bitch!"

Unable to contain his anger, Cheong-ra jumped up and attacked. Naturally, Dang Ran-yeong easily subdued Cheong-ra, whose strength hadn't fully returned, with just a simple leg sweep. He showed no sign of remorse. Instead, he sneered as he knocked Cheong-ra to the floor and pinned him down.

"You still haven't learned your lesson properly."

"Aagh!"

An intense pain shot through his neck. Cheong-ra, who had instantly received several harsh bite marks, fled to a corner. When he touched his neck, he could feel clear teeth marks. Especially when he was bitten on the nape, it was so painful that it made his skin crawl. Though it wasn't the first time he had been bitten, this time it felt like his flesh might have been torn off.

Cowed and quietly staying in the corner of the cell, Cheong-ra began to shiver. It wasn't because he was in pain or afraid. Though it was spring, the underground cell was unbearably cold. Especially since he was naked and covered in sweat that was now cooling.

"Young Master Dang, please give me some clothes..."

Cheong-ra cautiously requested. As Dang Ran-yeong, who had been looking outside the iron door, approached, Cheong-ra curled up and gave him a wary look. In fact, he still hadn't completely abandoned the suspicion that Dang Ran-yeong might still think he was a Blood Cult spy. Moreover, now that his reason had returned, he felt ashamed to be seen in such a disheveled state.

Dang Ran-yeong sat down on the floor with a thud and reached out to Cheong-ra. As Cheong-ra flinched and tried to avoid him, he was instantly caught and dragged over. Dang Ran-yeong pulled Cheong-ra into his arms and grabbed his wrist, infusing him with a burst of warm yang energy. Warmth instantly spread through his body. Greatly surprised, Cheong-ra stammered,

"What, who, in this way..."

It was the first time someone had so casually and easily infused yang energy like this. Even for those skilled at transmitting inner energy, whether giving or receiving, it wasn't something to be done lightly just to warm someone up, though it wasn't as serious as energy transfer through barriers or meridian point stimulation. It was an incredibly inefficient act, as it required converting inner energy into yang energy. Dang Ran-yeong spoke nonchalantly,

"If I had tortured you directly, it wouldn't have ended so quickly."

"Why is that..."

Cheong-ra started to question but immediately understood Dang Ran-yeong's meaning. He asked quietly,

"Do you mean I should pretend to have been tortured by Young Master Dang? That it needs to appear that way to someone?"

"Beauty is clever."

Cheong-ra felt ashamed at the praise, delivered while scratching his chin as if petting an animal. However, not wanting to earn another bite mark, he behaved obediently. In truth, having been shivering from cold and exhaustion, being held in Dang Ran-yeong's arms was surprisingly comfortable.

'So that's why he deliberately called me Young Master Baek in front of that man earlier.'

He must have called him Young Master Baek on purpose to reveal his identity. Thinking about it, except for that one time, he had consistently called him Beauty. Recalling the memories of the torture, Cheong-ra's heart felt lighter.

With his head resting on the chest that rose and fell slowly and regularly, listening to the crackling sound of the burning brazier, his eyelids gradually closed. Naturally, Cheong-ra's insomnia hadn't easily disappeared even in The Pavilion of Golden Fragrance's expensive and soft silk bedding, so he was always short on sleep.

He recalled how afraid and anxious he had been in the prison cell today, how much shame and pain he had endured. Yet, far from harboring resentment, he felt surprisingly at ease. At this moment, with his tired body nestled in the man's arms, he couldn't feel any worry or concern.

Needing to be abused to sleep well and having to submit to feel at ease. Cheong-ra unconsciously chuckled and then looked up.

Dang Ran-yeong was sitting at an angle, rolling a medicine bottle in his hand. As the flickering light from the brazier shone on him, a seductive shadow fell across his jawline. His expression was still unreadable. Suppressing the desire to caress that face composed of straight lines, Cheong-ra sighed and said,

"Young Master Dang, I have one request..."

There was no answer, but the returning gaze showed he was listening. Cheong-ra closed his eyes, turned his head, and surrendered himself to sleep as he spoke,

"Even if I seem like I'm from the Blood Cult... don't hurt me. Rather, kill me quickly."

Someone who would ask to be killed painlessly rather than to be spared.

Cheong-ra once again recalled that this was the kind of person he shouldn't get close to. Nevertheless, he found stability in the other's presence. No, this was a sensation closer to addiction than stability. He thought that if he stayed this close, he might foolishly give everything to this person someday.

When he had almost fallen asleep, giving up on getting a response from the other, he heard a faint "Alright" in his half-asleep state.

***

When he woke up from a deep, sweet sleep, he found himself in the bedroom of The Pavilion of Golden Fragrance. Dang Ran-yeong must have moved him, and given that he hadn't woken up once, he suspected a sleeping drug might have been used. In any case, his mind was clearer than ever before.

Though he appeared clean at a glance, Cheong-ra still felt uncomfortable and pulled the rope to request bath water. Soon, hot bath water poured into the tub, and shortly after, Yeo-jin came up with clothes to change into and ointment to apply to his body.

"Young Master Baek, please let me know if you need anything else."

Strangely, Yeo-jin's attitude was more affectionate and kind than ever before. Feeling a bit puzzled, Cheong-ra immersed himself in the tub. While enjoying the hot water, he opened his eyes to examine his body and understood the reason. The traces left by the sadistic acts on his body were stark.

"Oh my..."

There were clear marks where his arms had been bound, and abrasions on his thighs were evident. Cheong-ra hesitated, then carefully reached behind to touch between his buttocks. It felt slightly swollen, but otherwise fine. He shuddered with shame as he recalled his half-crazed state, enjoying having a club thrust into him.

'If it weren't for that maddening poison, I wouldn't have behaved so disgracefully.'

The endless itching had truly been agonizing. He had wanted to scratch even if it meant peeling off his skin, thinking that being beaten would have been a hundred, a thousand times better.

But the pleasure when it was relieved was truly heavenly.

Even now, recalling that sensation made his legs weak. Cheong-ra sighed and returned his hand, which had been touching his perineum, to its place, worried someone might see.

After washing thoroughly, he carefully combed and dried his hair. Feeling uneasy about having slept without doing anything the day before, he recited the Moonlight on Snow, Mind and Heart Formula at length and diligently applied beauty water to his face.

Having finished grooming himself hastily, he examined his nape in the mirror. The dark bite marks leaving mottled bruises were traces he could never show anyone, so he applied ointment and wrapped bandages around them. It was a bit stuffy, but it was better to appear as if he had been injured.

After finishing his meal and going outside, he found the sun high in the sky. It was very rare for him to start the day so lazily, so Cheong-ra strolled in the backyard, intending to spend the day leisurely. By chance, he encountered Wi Je-ho.

"Oh, Young Master Baek."

Perhaps because of the bond formed from catching the mad tiger together last time, Wi Je-ho was quite friendly even here at The Pavilion of Golden Fragrance this time.

"How are you feeling?"

As his strangely pitying gaze moved to the bandage around Cheong-ra's neck, Cheong-ra awkwardly waved his hand and replied. It was a wound difficult to explain to others.

"Ah, this is just a scratch... It's nothing. I'm fine."

"You don't look fine at all..."

Clicking his tongue, Wi Je-ho promised to treat him to a delicious meal at that place from before when he had time, and then left. Cheong-ra finished his backyard walk, bewildered by the other's suddenly very friendly behavior. Then, on his way back to the fourth-floor guest room, he encountered Nam Gang-ryong.

"Devotee Baek, are you alright?"

Before Cheong-ra could say anything about the bandage around his neck, Nam Gang-ryong repeatedly chanted "Amitabha" and then said with a face full of sympathy,

"I heard you were dragged to the prison cell and tortured. How could Lord Owner Dang be so cruel as to not end the pain at once?"

Though grateful for the concern, the mention of ending the pain at once somehow sounded like "why didn't he just kill you," which made Cheong-ra very uncomfortable. This defrocked monk, did he really become one for breaking the precept against killing by killing Blood Cult members?