Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Jeok Lee-Gun’s eyes grew unfocused, and his cheeks started flushing red.
“Ah, I think I’m losing my strength. Why am I feeling this way?”
Jeok Lee-Gun shook his head in confusion.
The Pig Emperor gave him a meaningful smile.
The women who were standing beside him began to dance around Jeok Lee-Gun.
Their youthful bodies, barely concealed by thin garments, swayed in perfect harmony while performing a mesmerizing dance.
It was an irresistible feast of temptation and a dance that led those who observed it towards their death.
The Blissful Illusory Dance.
It was the pinnacle of soul-captivating sorcery that paralyzed any sense of reason for any man who witnessed it.
From the moment Jeok Lee-Gun stepped into this chamber, the temptation had begun. The sweet fragrance he inhaled and the stimulating lights were merely the prelude to this dance.
One of the women approached and began to remove Jeok Lee-Gun’s upper garments—Jeok Lee-Gun could not resist.
Srrrk.
Jeok Lee-Gun’s upper body was exposed.
The skin on his body was smooth, without a single blemish.
It was the most perfect physique—every muscle seemed to be alive and twitching.
Could that be why? The corners of the women’s eyes seemed to blush, and their laughter grew even more bewitching.
The movements in their dance started to increase in intensity.
As the dance reached its climax, one of the women unsheathed a dagger.
Jeok Lee-Gun could only watch the scene unfold with a dazed expression.
The woman began to caress one side of Jeok Lee-Gun’s face, while the dagger in her grasp traced down the opposite side, slowly along his jawline, moving towards his neck.
At that moment, the laughter that Jeok Lee-Gun had been holding back burst out.
“Uwahaha! It tickles! I tried to hold it in, but it tickles too much.”
The startled woman reflexively thrust the dagger at him.
Swish—
It was a movement that would be considered fast by any martial artist within the Central Plains.
“That was a good dance.”
Jeok Lee-Gun grabbed her wrist.
“But not good enough to kill me.”
As soon as her wrist was caught, the woman’s strength was drained away, and she collapsed on the spot.
The Pig Emperor stood up in shock.
“The Blissful Illusory Dance failed? How?”
Jeok Lee-Gun released her wrist without intending to harm her.
The woman gazed at him with bewildered eyes, wondering why he spared her life.
Jeok Lee-Gun retrieved his garments and slowly got dressed.
“I don’t fight women, so of course, I can’t kill them.”
He added with a smirk.
“I believe that women are beings that should be too busy being loved to worry about anything else, don’t you agree?”
The Pig Emperor’s complexion turned pale.
The Blissful Illusory Dance had nothing to do with the martial arts level of the opponent. If the target was a man, particularly a young man like Jeok Lee-Gun, he would inevitably succumb to it. The Blissful Illusory Dance was among the most powerful techniques employed by women in order to enchant men.
“Why didn’t it work?”
Jeok Lee-Gun sneered.
“You must think the Blissful Illusory Dance is the best, don’t you?”
The Pig Emperor gulped loudly.
“Let me demonstrate, the only thing I need to enchant someone is my eyes.”
Jeok Lee-Gun cast his gaze at the woman he had just subdued.
At that moment, it seemed as though a crimson light flickered in Jeok Lee-Gun’s eyes.
The woman he had brought down rose to her feet, and like a dutiful servant, she spoke politely to him.
“I will do whatever you command.”
With a mere glance, the woman’s reason had evaporated in an instant.
The Pig Emperor, as well as the other women observing the situation, were shocked.
They realized that the martial arts Jeok Lee-Gun had just employed were far superior to the Blissful Illusory Dance.
Swish.
This time, a blue light flickered in Jeok Lee-Gun’s eyes and vanished.
In an instant, the woman regained her senses.
She looked around in confusion, surprised that everyone’s attention was directed towards her.
Jeok Lee-Gun cleared the unspoken doubt that was on everyone’s mind.
“In the realm of demonic arts, the hierarchy is far stricter than in orthodox martial arts, and in the case of extreme demonic arts, even more so. In essence, if you master a higher-tiered demonic art, lower-tier demonic arts will be rendered ineffective against you. That principle is crucial when considering attacking a demonic master, but you didn’t know that, did you?”
Not a single sound was heard as silence permeated the room.
Jeok Lee-Gun continued.
“Personally, I don’t like this kind of martial art. I learned it just in case, because it would be too annoying if I got caught off guard by it.”
The Pig Emperor’s face was completely pale. His mind was filled with all sorts of ominous and terrifying thoughts.
Jeok Lee-Gun quietly looked at each of the women present.
“Is anyone here because they genuinely like this lump?”
As the women cast their glances at the Pig Emperor, fear and terror were evident. That alone was enough to guess their situation. What kind of woman would genuinely stay with such a person out of affection? They were probably dragged here at a young age, subjected to sexual abuse and all sorts of humiliation, and raised in captivity.
“Just as I thought, there isn’t a single one.”
Jeok Lee-Gun stepped aside to make way for them.
“Go.”
The women were taken aback. Based on Jeok Lee-Gun’s previous actions, they had anticipated that he would kill them all.
“Just leave. Don’t worry about what happens next.”
The women hesitated, exchanging uncertain glances. They glanced at the Pig Emperor to observe his reaction.
Jeok Lee-Gun spoke coldly.
“There’s no need to worry about a man who is soon to die.”
The Pig Emperor’s flesh trembled with rage.
They must have been groomed for a long time. Mustering the courage to leave would not be easy for them.
“Why don’t you kill him first, and then send us off safely?”
The women awaited Jeok Lee-Gun’s response.
“Leaving now and leaving later are worlds apart.”
He meant that they had to gain the courage to leave of their own will.
“If you can summon the courage to leave now… you might be able to live past the trauma you’ve experienced until now.”
The women’s gazes darted back and forth between the Pig Emperor and Jeok Lee-Gun.
The Pig Emperor’s murderous gaze hindered their resolve.
The women were deeply conflicted. The Pig Emperor’s martial arts were terrifying. They knew this from bitter experience. Could the young Jeok Lee-Gun really kill him?
Jeok Lee-Gun smiled warmly at the woman closest to him.
“You’re too pretty to be in a place like this.”
Was it because she hadn’t heard such kind words in a long time? The woman’s heart was moved.
“You must have had dreams when you were young. Dreams you wanted to risk your life for. Was this the life you envisioned?”
The woman closed her eyes in silence. There was no need for further persuasion. She had just remembered her dream.
Rustle.
The woman took a step. One step, then another. As she gradually walked towards the door, the Pig Emperor shouted.
“If you leave, I’ll kill you!”
Jeok Lee-Gun smiled reassuringly and spoke.
“You can go. Leave while you have the chance.”
The woman took another step.
“I’ll tear you apart!”
The Pig Emperor’s scream, sounding more like a squeal, had the opposite effect, giving her strength instead.
Rustle, rustle.
Another woman moved.
Is fear the most contagious emotion?
That may be the case, but at least here, it was different. The desire for freedom trumped the fear laden in the women’s hearts.
One by one, the women began to move.
When the last woman moved, the Pig Emperor stepped forward menacingly.
Thud! Thud!
At the sound of his heavy footsteps, the women tightly shut their eyes.
It was then. Jeok Lee-Gun shouted.
“You!”
Whoosh!
The building trembled once again with a powerful inner strength embedded in his voice.
The Pig Emperor’s clothes fluttered from the momentum.
“If you so much as move a finger from now on…”
A chilling murderous intent radiated from Jeok Lee-Gun’s eyes.
“I’ll grind you alive.”
The Pig Emperor’s actions halted abruptly.
The murderous intent emanating from Jeok Lee-Gun’s eyes resembled that of the evil spirit tattooed on his hand.
It was the most intense murderous intent he had ever felt in his life.
Grind him alive? Jeok Lee-Gun looked like he would definitely be able to keep that promise.
The Pig Emperor was paralyzed, unable to move a single inch.
The women, who had gained the will to leave this place, were no longer of interest to him. They were already getting tiresome. With money, he could always get new women. The Pig Emperor consoled himself with this thought.
Meanwhile, all the women gathered at the entrance.
The woman who had moved first bowed her head respectfully.
“I believe there will come a day when I can repay your kindness, benefactor.”
All the women bowed their heads respectfully.
Jeok Lee-Gun took out promissory notes from his leather pouch and threw them. Each woman received a bundle of notes. It was a substantial sum of ten thousand nyang per person.
“You’ll need this for a fresh start.”
The women were deeply moved. It was a tremendous favor they couldn’t have hoped for. With this money, they could forget their past misfortunes. If they pooled their money together, they could even open a large pavilion or an inn.
The women bowed their heads respectfully once more.
“Sisters, farewell! Live well!”
One woman, perhaps lingering, turned her gaze towards Jeok Lee-Gun.
Jeok Lee-Gun shook his head.
“People starting anew should never look back. You should live only looking forward from now on.”
The woman smiled gratefully once more.
Her lips moved as she conveyed a few words to Jeok Lee-Gun.
With her departure, there were no women left in the place.
Jeok Lee-Gun turned to the Pig Emperor. The Pig Emperor stood there with a complicated expression on his face.
Jeok Lee-Gun smirked as he spoke.
“Now, shall we discuss the value you assigned yourself once again?”
The Pig Emperor sighed.
What he was experiencing was the helpless feeling of terror, coupled with the unfamiliar sensation of being at the mercy of a young brat who seemed like he would burst into laughter if poked in the side. The final feeling combining the two was this.
“It feels really disgusting.”
The Pig Emperor stomped forward. Jeok Lee-Gun did not intervene.
The Pig Emperor passed by the hunchbacked man and approached the bottle. He drank the liquor straight from it.
“It’s not because I’m afraid of you that I sent those women away.”
“It appears so.”
The Pig Emperor’s last resort was himself.
His belief was in the unique martial art he had mastered while traversing this martial world—the unparalleled divine art:
The Pig Emperor’s Body Protection Art.
After he had mastered the martial art, the Pig Emperor had abandoned his original name and taken the name “Pig Emperor.” The day his name changed, so did his destiny.
The Pig Emperor looked at the hunchbacked man still standing with a blank expression on his face.
“Why would someone like you need that guy?”
Jeok Lee-Gun shrugged and answered nonchalantly.
“As you can see, I’m still quite young.”
“What?”
The Pig Emperor was taken aback by the unexpected reply. It was beyond his comprehension.
Jeok Lee-Gun spoke as if it were obvious.
“For my grand plans in the future, I need a lot of helpful adults.”
The Pig Emperor spoke with urgency.
“What about me? I can help you. I would be immensely helpful.”
Jeok Lee-Gun chuckled.
“Just because there are many vessels doesn’t mean they are all adults. I need proper adults.”
The Pig Emperor would never understand why he was deemed inferior to the hunchbacked man.
“Why? Why am I inferior to that guy? Why?”
The Pig Emperor, shouting alone, directed his murderous intent towards the hunchbacked man.
“I’ll kill that guy.”
“That’s precisely why you can’t help me.”
The Pig Emperor’s face turned slightly red. He secretly began to gather his inner strength.
“Are you placing your faith in your Pig Emperor’s Body Protection Art?”
“Keuh!”
The Pig Emperor spat out a mouthful of blood. He was so astonished that his martial art’s name was guessed so easily that his energy momentarily became entangled. It was an obscure martial art, known to very few people.
Jeok Lee-Gun spoke while extending his fist.
“The person who taught me this punching technique said that no body protection art could ever block it. Look, two adults have gathered, and there’s already a liar among us. This is why I must choose adults carefully.”
Jeok Lee-Gun clenched his extended fist with a loud sound.
Squeeze.
Simultaneously, Jeok Lee-Gun’s eyes sharpened.
“I hate bastards like you. Those who do all sorts of dirty things just to fill their own bellies. Bastards who think they are worth five hundred thousand nyang when they aren’t even worth five nyang. Fine, that’s okay, you’re not the only villain in this martial world… I’ll tolerate that much. But there’s one thing I absolutely cannot forgive. Why are you abducting women? Imagine if it was your sister being dragged away and humiliated by a bastard like yourself. You wouldn’t like it either, right? But bastards like you can’t stand it when it happens to you. You have no conscience, you hypocritical bastard.”
The Pig Emperor’s face turned red with shame.
As he continued to gather his inner strength, his fat body swelled even larger.
Puff, puff.
His body kept expanding.
The Pig Emperor’s body became twice as large as his already enormous frame.
For an ordinary master, just witnessing this scene would be enough to make their hands and feet quiver with fear. But of course, Jeok Lee-Gun was anything but ordinary.
“You need to get hit a lot, so you can grow bigger.”
The Pig Emperor bounced in place and then shot forward like lightning.
Swaeaeaeang!
He moved at a terrifying speed.
Pung!
Jeok Lee-Gun ruthlessly kicked the body that flew towards him. If he were ordinary, his foot would have shattered. Instead, it remained intact, and the Pig Emperor’s body, which should have crushed Jeok Lee-Gun, was hurled backward.
Kwaang!
The Pig Emperor, who collided with the wall, bounced back. The wall he struck had collapsed.
The Pig Emperor’s body was spinning at an incredible speed.
Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!
For an ordinary master, that rotational force alone would have been sufficient to pulverize their bones. This standard did not apply to Jeok Lee-Gun, as he kicked the Pig Emperor’s body like a child kicking a ball made of pig’s bladder.
Puhung–
“Keok!”
The Pig Emperor’s face contorted in agony. Normally, it shouldn’t have hurt, but the pain was excruciating.
Pung– Puhung–
He wasn’t even using his martial arts. Jeok Lee-Gun was just flailing his limbs wildly, kicking and punching without technique.
Once more, with the thought of ‘maybe this time,’ the Pig Emperor raised his internal energy to the extreme, but he felt with his body that even if his proud master came back to life to help him, he couldn’t win.
So the Pig Emperor changed his goal.
He decided to kill the hunchbacked man.