Chapter 100

Dang Ran-yeong soon grabbed Cheong-ra's forearm tightly and pulled him up. Cheong-ra, who had barely managed to remove his hand from the other's groin, staggered as he stood up. He felt like he might collapse at any moment from how much he had overexerted his body. Even in this state, confused and unable to understand, he asked Dang Ran-yeong,

"Why... why are you suddenly doing this to me?"

"Beauty, don't you remember Wi Je-ho's words? He said you were firmly marked by me."

Dang Ran-yeong replied as he supported Cheong-ra's waist with his arm, almost squeezing it.

"Come on, get up. You look like you're about to fall."

"I can go by myself..."

Cheong-ra, who was very conscious of the dirty smell coming from his body, clamped his mouth shut. He'd rather quickly wash his body than waste time on an argument he was bound to lose anyway.

As if someone had informed them in advance, the innkeeper had prepared hot bath water. When Dang Ran-yeong pushed him into the bath, Cheong-ra mustered his remaining strength to strip off his clothes. He also untied the lower garment ties that were damp with pre-fluid.

Having been drenched in sweat and having vomited, Cheong-ra's hands were somewhat hurried as he washed his body. He couldn't bear to be in such a disheveled and dirty state any longer. After barely managing to wash himself clean, he sank into the wooden tub, and only then did he feel like he might survive.

Though he thought he should quickly wash and go out to rest, his body kept sinking deeper. Even as he thought he should open his eyes, get up, and put on his clothes, his mind had already sunk into a distant place. Finally, Cheong-ra seemed to feel the familiar grip of hands lifting his body out of the water.

When he opened his eyes, Cheong-ra was lying on the bed in the guest room.

Cheong-ra groaned as he woke up, having slept like the dead, properly dressed in his undergarments and neatly covered with a blanket. With his whole body aching and sore, Cheong-ra turned over with a groan and pounded the bed with his tightly clenched fist, feeling self-loathing. The hot sensation still lingered in his palm.

***

After the fierce sparring session, Cheong-ra did his best to avoid Dang Ran-yeong. While the improvement in his skills was welcome, that day's sparring had been so harsh. There was a limit to how much one could be pushed, and he didn't want to experience it again, so he even refrained from training.

This avoidance was also aimed at suppressing his growing desire for Dang Ran-yeong. The heat of Dang Ran-yeong pleasuring himself in broad daylight, using Cheong-ra's hand as a tool, kept lingering on his hand. Occasionally, Cheong-ra would groan with his hand between his legs, the same hand Dang Ran-yeong had used to climax.

As this unsettling time passed helplessly, fortunately or unfortunately, Dang Ran-yeong didn't touch him again. By the time Cheong-ra's muscle pain had almost subsided, they arrived in Beijing.

Befitting the land where the emperor resided, the number of people visible was countless. It seemed as if half of the people in the Central Plains were living in Beijing. The carriage crossed the main street filled with horses, oxen, and people, and arrived in front of a magnificent mansion. It was even larger in scale than the one in Xiangyang.

"We greet Lord Owner!"

The servants managing the mansion rushed out to greet them. Seeing that Dang Ran-yeong owned such a mansion in Beijing, Cheong-ra was once again struck by how tremendous his wealth was. The servants attentively tended to Dang Ran-yeong and the other four.

Though the carriage was the most convenient mode of transportation, it wasn't without fatigue, so as soon as they arrived at the mansion, Cheong-ra lay down on the bed to rest. After resting soundly for a day, he briefly toured the streets of Beijing wearing his veil.

It wasn't his first time in Beijing. However, for some reason, it seemed even more crowded than he remembered from last time. As he walked the streets wondering about this, a conversation between passing pedestrians reached his ears.

"...I tell you, they're giving ten gold taels and spirit medicine as prizes!"

"Hah, not only born with a pretty face, but also getting gold and spirit medicine... the world is truly unfair."

"Well, we'll just have to feast our eyes on the beauties. How nice it is to have such a visual treat."

Only after hearing this conversation did Cheong-ra realize why the crowds were even more bustling than before. Rumors about the World's Greatest Beauty Contest had spread, and all the beauties, spectators, and touts from across the Central Plains had flocked to Beijing. Cheong-ra smiled bitterly, seeing that no one seemed to suspect in the slightest that the Blood Cult was behind the World's Greatest Beauty Contest.

"About a month left until the contest, I guess."

Estimating the remaining days, Cheong-ra returned to the mansion. He was pondering whether participating in the World's Greatest Beauty Contest, which was the condition he had agreed to, might actually harm his sect, when Dang Ran-yeong, whom Cheong-ra had been desperately avoiding, appeared.

"You've returned at just the right time."

A seductive smile played on the handsome face of the man walking towards him with heavy steps.

"Young Master Dang..."

Cheong-ra flinched as he greeted Dang Ran-yeong. This was because Dang Ran-yeong was holding a ceramic bowl about the size of a washbasin in his hand. Glancing inside, Cheong-ra saw an unidentified black liquid sloshing around. As the potent energy wafted over even from this distance, Cheong-ra's face turned slightly pale. It was clear to anyone that Dang Ran-yeong had brought it to use on him.

"Sit down."

Dang Ran-yeong ordered Cheong-ra, who wanted to flee, as he set the bowl on the table. Then he divided the black liquid into three smaller bowls. He grasped the bowls and infused them with yang energy, causing them to heat up until steam rose.

"What... what is this exactly?"

Cheong-ra asked, feeling very anxious.

"It's a tonic. I made it myself in preparation for the beauty contest. You've seemed a bit weak lately."

Dang Ran-yeong lied without blinking an eye. Cheong-ra, unable to believe it, shook his head. Recalling what Dang Ran-yeong had done to him recently, he didn't want to put that poisonous-looking liquid in his mouth.

"It was just muscle pain! I'm almost better now. And where's the guarantee that there's no poison in there?"

"A guarantee that there's no poison, you say."

Smiling faintly, Dang Ran-yeong picked up one of the three bowls and downed it in one go. Cheong-ra's face paled as he watched Dang Ran-yeong's masculine Adam's apple gulp down the "tonic" smoothly. Dang Ran-yeong showed him the now empty bowl.

"Well, how about that? I drank it myself, so it's proven not to be poison, right?"

"Wh-what! Young Master Dang is from the Tang Clan of Sichuan, aren't you? Even being bitten by Rin-rin's venomous fangs didn't affect you, so this doesn't prove anything!"

Cheong-ra continued to resist, not wanting to swallow that black substance down his throat at all. Surprisingly, Dang Ran-yeong readily agreed with Cheong-ra's words.

"Indeed, I do have a resistance to poison."

Then Dang Ran-yeong beckoned to Nam Gang-ryong, who had come out to look around the backyard. Nam Gang-ryong approached, puzzled.

"What is it, Lord Owner Dang?"

"I'm trying to feed Beauty a tonic, but he won't eat it because he suspects it might contain poison. So, monk, why don't you try it too? It's good for the body."

Cheong-ra had been feeling slightly remorseful, wondering if he was being too suspicious of Dang Ran-yeong, but judging from his face, Nam Gang-ryong also didn't seem too keen on consuming the tonic Dang Ran-yeong was offering.

However, Nam Gang-ryong soon chanted "Namu Amitabha" and held up the bowl of sloshing "tonic." His expression was as calm and benevolent as that of Buddha.

"This humble monk will drink it, trusting Lord Owner Dang."

As Cheong-ra watched tensely, wondering if he should stop him even now, Nam Gang-ryong drained the entire bowl of tonic in one go. Nam Gang-ryong smacked his lips and tilted his head.

"Hmm... the taste isn't as bad as I expected."

"I took quite some care in brewing it."

When Nam Gang-ryong remained standing normally even after drinking the tonic, Dang Ran-yeong nodded with a "See?" expression. Feeling that he would look too cowardly if he backed down after all this, Cheong-ra reluctantly picked up the bowl. He closed his eyes tightly and drank, finding it surprisingly fragrant and mellow in taste.

"The taste is... really not bad."

Cheong-ra was carefully sniffing the empty bowl, wondering if it contained spirit medicine given its clear aroma reminiscent of Dang Ran-yeong's alcohol, when suddenly Nam Gang-ryong's face turned pale and he staggered. As Cheong-ra watched with startled eyes, veins bulged on Nam Gang-ryong's forehead beneath his shaved head.

"Guk... Lord, Lord Owner Dang. You devil..."

Nam Gang-ryong, who had been pointing accusingly, soon collapsed to the floor with a thud. Poison! Cheong-ra, shocked, jumped to his feet.

"Monk Gang-ryong!"

He rushed to Nam Gang-ryong and checked his pulse, which fortunately was stable. There was no foam at the mouth, no blood vomiting, and no change in complexion. But if Nam Gang-ryong was like this, then what about himself who had drunk the same tonic? Dang Ran-yeong spoke with a smile to Cheong-ra, who was looking at himself in fear,

"See, it's fine."

"How is this fine?!"

"You didn't die from drinking it, did you?"

Didn't die from drinking it... didn't die... So as long as they didn't die, it was fine?

Dumbfounded, Cheong-ra was about to demand what exactly he had been fed, but soon he too lost consciousness and collapsed like Nam Gang-ryong.