Chapter 59

'When exactly did his eyes start looking like that?'

Thinking about it, Cheong-ra realized it seemed to have been since they entered the outer court. He was inwardly breaking out in a cold sweat, but at the same time, his perverted tastes hadn't gone anywhere, and his heart was pounding. Cheong-ra lifted his chin defiantly and retorted,

"Why should I do that?"

"Hmm. Well. The two of them won't be back for a while..."

Dang Ran-yeong slowly stroked his chin, trailing off. Sensing an ominous atmosphere that was too unsettling to be mere mischief, Cheong-ra abruptly stood up, tossing aside the luggage he had been organizing.

"In the meantime, why don't we correct some of Young Master Baek Ri's habits?"

Cheong-ra unconsciously ran towards the door, but inwardly realized his mistake. There was nothing more foolish than turning one's back on a master like Dang Ran-yeong. Sure enough, a whip flew like lightning, striking the area in front of the door. If he had gone just a little further, his foot would have been shattered.

'...Isn't this going too far?'

Cheong-ra, starting to break out in a cold sweat, swallowed dryly and turned around. As he slowly backed away with his back against the wall, Dang Ran-yeong approached, his whip dangling. Cheong-ra unconsciously reached for his sword but ultimately didn't draw it. Strangely, he had an intuition that he shouldn't do that.

"Young Master Dang, what exactly have I done for you to suddenly act like this?"

Cheong-ra asked in a calm tone, trying to appease the other, but he didn't seem to be listening at all.

"Everything about you has been irritating me from the start."

As he said this, Dang Ran-yeong seemed somewhat annoyed, but also somewhat pleased. A strange madness was flickering in his green eyes. Cheong-ra couldn't understand why he was throwing such a violent tantrum now, after doing whatever he wanted all this time.

"If I had my way, I'd lock you up for a month and train you."

Dang Ran-yeong's eyes slowly turned upward. He fiddled with the whip handle as if thinking about something, then suddenly grinned.

"Well, this place isn't bad either."

Then he suddenly lashed out with the whip. Cheong-ra hurriedly dodged to the side, but the whip curved like a snake and caught his ankle. It didn't hurt as the intention seemed to be to catch rather than strike, but he couldn't avoid falling to the floor. Before he could get up after falling, Dang Ran-yeong roughly pinned him down.

Until now, even when Dang Ran-yeong treated him roughly, it had felt like he was under the other's rational control despite the violence. But now the atmosphere was different. It was equally violent but more emotional and raw.

Meeting the other's gaze made Cheong-ra's skin crawl and his body shrink back. The green eyes seemed to have a strange red energy swirling in them.

"Stop! This isn't The Pavilion of Golden Fragrance. Nun Mu-hwa might come in at any moment...!"

Cheong-ra shouted in panic and resisted, but Dang Ran-yeong didn't seem to be listening. He covered Cheong-ra's nose and mouth with his large, firm hand and pressed down with his knee.

"You didn't seem to like having your neck strangled. How about this?"

"Hmph, mmph, mm, mph!"

As his thumb and index finger pinched Cheong-ra's nose bridge, his breathing was completely cut off. He struggled wildly, trying to push the other away, but to no avail. With Dang Ran-yeong sitting on his abdomen, it became even harder to breathe. Dang Ran-yeong easily caught Cheong-ra's flailing right arm and pinned it to the floor.

"Young Master Baek Ri, doesn't it feel good? This way, you'll stay intact without any injuries..."

His eyes gleamed as he spoke kindly. Cheong-ra's breathing quickened as he struggled excitedly. He pounded Dang Ran-yeong's side with his left arm, but it didn't seem to have any effect.

Gradually, as his consciousness faded, the strength left his arms. It was a bit easier to endure than being strangled, but even the most skilled martial artist couldn't survive without air. Dang Ran-yeong allowed Cheong-ra a slight breath just as he was about to lose all strength.

"Huk, mph!"

Then he gave him a chance to take one breath before covering his airways again. He would release him briefly when he was about to lose consciousness, then repeat this several times...

Cheong-ra truly felt that the other was dominating him with his entire body. While his body convulsed, a strange sense of elation slowly rose. On the verge of suffocation, he could only desperately cling to Dang Ran-yeong's wrist, looking at him pleadingly.

Discovering this desperate submission, a pleased light flickered in those fierce eyes. This time, Dang Ran-yeong allowed him a very brief breath before cutting off his air again.

The next moment, Cheong-ra's body twitched. Dang Ran-yeong's hand grasped between his legs, tracing the outline of his hardened member with his fingertips. A mocking smile appeared on his handsome face.

"Were you born like this, or is it because you ate insects? Hm? Young Master Baek Ri... answer me."

Feeling truly insulted, Cheong-ra's face turned bright red. He had endured insects all day in the mountains, and now to suggest he wasn't in his right mind because he had eaten insects was infuriating. Though he knew it was useless, Cheong-ra pushed against the other with all his might.

Cheong-ra didn't want to be someone who got excited from being oppressed by others. For someone who wanted to maintain his beauty, this tendency had always brought him anguish. He never wanted to show an ugly side to others, so he desperately didn't want to reveal this tendency.

However, the other, Dang Ran-yeong... he alone...

"Breathe."

After allowing him to gasp for breath a couple of times, he covered his airways again. Dang Ran-yeong, seemingly displeased even with the weak gesture of pushing against his chest, commanded,

"Hands down."

With his nose and mouth covered and an elbow pressing down on his ribcage, the breath he had just taken escaped. His body jerked. His trembling fingertips scratched at the collar before finally submitting and lowering. It was painful. It was painful, but...

'Why does it feel so good...'

Amidst feelings of resentment and shame towards the other, he simply felt good. The weight of the man pressing down on him, the hand gripping his wrist tightly, the smile of satisfaction as he controlled even his breathing.

As his consciousness faded away again, Dang Ran-yeong's hand grasped the inside of his thigh. He pushed, spreading Cheong-ra's legs. Was he really going to do this in the outer court of the Hengshan Sect? A sense of crisis flashed, but only for a moment.

Dang Ran-yeong lowered his upper body. As he forcefully pushed and spread Cheong-ra's thighs, his knees tingled and his groin felt extremely taut. A shiver-like thrill ran through him from the sensation of the hand gripping his thigh tightly. Long black hair cascaded down on either side of Cheong-ra's face. Suddenly, as if entranced, the other muttered,

"You..."

Dang Ran-yeong seemed to have momentarily forgotten his usual mocking politeness of always saying "Young Master Baek Ri." Under the dark shadow, his eyes gleamed faintly with a blue-green light. Cheong-ra felt a strange sense of levitation, as if his entire body was floating on clouds.

The other was too... close.

Dang Ran-yeong tilted his head, and his lips touched the back of Cheong-ra's hand. His lips slowly parted, revealing dangerously gleaming white teeth. Cheong-ra's oxygen-deprived heart pounded rapidly, transmitting its fierce beating to the other. Completely captivated by the gaze before him, Cheong-ra momentarily forgot about his lack of breath.

A deep instinct within him felt an intense fascination for the other... It was as natural as a bee being lured to a flower.

Cheong-ra slowly raised his free hand and very lightly touched the hand that was cutting off his breath.

He slowly caressed the pinky finger, which was tense with exertion. Dang Ran-yeong's gaze slowly followed this movement, which showed no will to resist at all, but rather seemed almost coquettish. The color deep in his eyes changed.

It was at that moment that the door burst open. Just as Cheong-ra was despairing that young Nun Mu-hwa would see him in this state, he heard a different voice.

"Lord Owner Dang, now that I think about it, there's something urgent I need to tell you..."

Nam Gang-ryong's eyes widened as he spoke while opening the door and entering. While it was fortunate that Mu-hwa hadn't caught them, Cheong-ra didn't want Nam Gang-ryong to see him like this either, so he instinctively struggled as his mind snapped back to reality. The bald monk's face hardened, and his already narrow eyes narrowed even further.

He strode in, closed the door, bent his legs into a horse stance, and clenched both fists tightly. A majestic energy enveloped his entire body, and a destructive move from the Hundred-Step Divine Fist technique aimed at Dang Ran-yeong's head. It was one of the famous seventy-two Shaolin techniques. Dang Ran-yeong, who had been focused on cutting off Cheong-ra's breath, tilted his head back and narrowly avoided the attack.

"Lord Owner Dang! Come to your senses!"

Nam Gang-ryong shouted, unleashing a barrage of punches. No matter how excellent one's martial arts were, it was impossible to avoid Shaolin's Hundred-Step Divine Fist while sitting down, so Dang Ran-yeong moved back. Cheong-ra, his airways suddenly clear, gasped for breath as he crawled on the floor.

"...Impudent monk."

Dang Ran-yeong's eyes flashed dangerously. He kicked away the heavy Hundred-Step Divine Fist coming at him and threw a punch in return. Somehow, a flying dagger had appeared between his fingers. Nam Gang-ryong twisted his body backward to avoid the fist flying towards his nose bridge and moved his arms incessantly. He stood firm like a rock, not retreating an inch.