WeTried Translations
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: Abstract
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 35: Temptation's Touch (3)
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Temptation's Touch (3)
Most of the male cadets she'd known up to now hadn't been all that different. They talked a big game about being gentlemen and men of honor, but the moment a pretty girl started swinging her tail, nearly all of them lost their reason and any sense of judgment. Mumu, though, was different. The more she learned about him, the more his unique charm overflowed. She couldn't keep her nosebleed in check.
'Aah. To have this wonderful sight all to myself... how could I not be satisfied. Hehehe.'
She'd trailed after him in secret, uneasy in her heart, but there'd been nothing to worry about at all. Truly a real man's man, showing no mercy just because someone was a woman. Tang So-so cheered Mumu on, absolutely thrilled.
'Go, my Mumu! Yes! That's it! Those little foxes who flaunt their bodies deserve exactly this kind of lesson!'
But after slamming her down again and again for a while, Mumu began trembling, starting from his wrist and spreading through his whole body.
'Huh? Why's he doing that?'
Something was off. Tang So-so couldn't see it, but the adjustment screw of the Ki-Restraining Bracelet, which had been glowing red, now shimmered with white light and slowly returned to its original color.
Click!
At the same time, the number set at five turned back to eight. The instant it did, Mumu's eyes, which had been wide open with a terrifying glare, slid shut, and his hand let go of Jo Mae-hui's ankle. Then he collapsed face down onto the ground.
Thud!
'I, is it over?'
"Haah... haah..."
Jo Mae-hui, practically beaten to a pulp, gasped for breath. She'd never known such humiliation in her whole life. Failing to seduce him was one thing, but ending up like this on top of it...
Grit!
She clenched her teeth. She used a secret technique to loosen her body and, at the same time, shielded her entire frame with internal energy. Even so, her whole body ached like it was about to fall apart. From the feel of it, some of her ribs seemed broken, and cracks had spread through bones all over. With trembling hands, she touched her own face.
"Uhhhhh."
Her once elegant nose had broken and swollen up grotesquely. And from her face slamming into the ground, it had scraped raw and was smeared with blood.
'Th... this dog...'
Jo Mae-hui glared at Mumu, sprawled flat on the ground in a spread-eagle heap. The sight of him lying there, sleeping peacefully as if nothing had happened, was infuriating. Was this really the same bastard who'd just been slamming her around? She still couldn't forget the bloodcurdling look in his eyes while he'd been doing it. It had been enough to raise chills over her entire body.
'At least I suppose I should be grateful for that much.'
The effect of the Demonic Joy Meditation seemed to have worn off, and he'd passed out. Since it had only reached the third stage, it was a small mercy. If it had gone all the way to the fourth stage, the effect would have lasted much longer. If that had happened, she might have been slammed to death.
"Grrgh!"
Jo Mae-hui barely managed to pull herself upright and approached Mumu.
'I have to kill him. If I don't finish him off now, he'll get in the way of the greater plan no matter what.'
Shing!
She drew the dagger she'd hidden inside her thigh. With him sleeping so soundly, killing him wouldn't be difficult at all. Jo Mae-hui raised the dagger high.
'You've ruined my beautiful face like this, so once I kill you, I'm going to chew your face off, skin and all!'
Just as she was about to plunge it into Mumu's throat,
Fwip fwip fwip!
Sensing something flying toward her, Jo Mae-hui hurled her body backward in a panic to dodge it.
Thock thock thock!
Jo Mae-hui spotted needles buried in a tree nearby. Looking toward where they'd come from, she saw a cute girl with deep dimples, her face flushed, wearing an expression that screamed I am extremely angry right now, closing the distance with terrifying speed.
'Tang So-so?'
She'd committed the faces of every major threat to memory. That girl was undoubtedly Tang So-so of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
'Of all the times... tch.'
What rotten timing. But Jo Mae-hui didn't lose her composure. Injured as she was, dealing with that girl wasn't going to be much trouble. What made the Tang Clan frightening was their poison, but in terms of pure Martial Arts skill, they, like the Jegal Clan, ranked comparatively lower than other prestigious martial houses.
'I'll kill this one first, then deal with her.'
Jo Mae-hui rushed to stab Mumu. At that, Tang So-so crossed her hands and pulled needle darts from her sleeves, launching them one after another.
Fwip fwip fwip fwip!
Jo Mae-hui had no choice but to pull away from Mumu just to dodge the darts, which flew with uncanny precision toward her vital points. Absolutely infuriating.
"Mumu, wake up!"
Tang So-so shouted.
'Damn it!'
If Mumu woke up now, it would be a problem. Tang So-so didn't know it, but this Mumu bastard was more of a monster than he looked. Which meant the only option was to kill Tang So-so first to silence her, then finish off Mumu quickly. The problem was whether her injuries would let her move fast enough.
'If that wench starts screaming in the meantime, I'm in trouble.'
Fortunately no one had shown up yet, but if even one person came by, it would come out that she'd tried to kill Mumu. The moment that thought crossed her mind, Jo Mae-hui's choice became simple.
'Lure her away.'
Getting further from the outhouse area and dealing with Tang So-so there was the priority now. Mumu was under the effect of hypnosis anyway, so there was a good chance he wouldn't remember any of this.
"A Tang Clan brat who's nothing without poison or darts, getting in my way. Keep following me and I'll tear your limbs off."
With those words, Jo Mae-hui made a break for it. Calling it a retreat was generous. It was really a scheme to provoke and lure her.
"What? This little fox!"
And the provocation landed dead center. That was exactly the phrase Tang Clan warriors hated hearing most. Nothing without poison and darts. Martial Arts skill too weak to even rank among the Six Great Families. To a Tang Clan member, an insult like that was practically an insult to the whole clan.
'Tch.'
Tang So-so wavered between the fleeing Jo Mae-hui and the unconscious Mumu. Should she look after Mumu first? Or chase down and beat the woman who'd provoked her and tried to kill Mumu? Weighing the two, she chose the latter. Just in case, she pressed lightly on one of Mumu's pressure points and found, fortunately, that nothing seemed wrong with his body. That settled it. Better to catch Jo Mae-hui first.
'If I let that fox get away, she'll come after Mumu again.'
Having made up her mind, Tang So-so chased after the fleeing woman. Not long after Jo Mae-hui and Tang So-so vanished from the scene, someone else stepped out of hiding. It was Ha Ryun. He'd been watching the whole thing unfold from start to finish, hidden the entire time.
'I told her not to get careless.'
He'd wanted to see how Jo Mae-hui of the Demonic Joy Palace would deal with Mumu. But the outcome had gone completely against expectation. He'd figured she was probably just playing innocent, but he'd never imagined her seduction wouldn't work on him at all. Still, what surprised him most wasn't that Mumu had resisted the seduction.
'What was that just now?'
Ha Ryun had doubted his own eyes earlier. How could muscle swell up to that degree? Was this kid really untrained in Martial Arts?
'It could be some kind of body transformation technique.'
Not among the force of justice, but he'd heard tales of a technique in the world of darker paths called body transformation, one that pushed a person's flesh to its absolute limit. Still, he wondered whether something like that could make just one part of the body bulge with muscle so suddenly, to that degree. Ha Ryun cautiously pressed his fingers against Mumu's pressure points.
Swish!
Then he frowned.
'... No way.'
If he hadn't trained in Martial Arts, then what in the world had that been just now? If it wasn't a body transformation technique, did that mean he had some ability to control his own muscles at will? There was simply no way to figure out the reason.
'Forget it.'
Ha Ryun shook his head. Whether or not he uncovered this kid's secret made no difference either way. He couldn't afford to let an opportunity this good slip by. Ha Ryun pulled a glove from inside his robe and put it on. Then he plucked one of the needle-shaped darts stuck in the ground. About three finger-joints long, shaped like a medium needle, this was a basic dart of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
'Leaving something this useful behind.'
Ha Ryun's lips curled into a thin, cruel smile. Handled right, he could pin the whole thing on Tang So-so. Ha Ryun held the needle and crept toward the fallen Mumu, deadening his footsteps as much as he could.
'Thanks to you, my hand's still a mess, still healing from the poison.'
He intended to make Mumu pay the price for that. Truly killing two birds with one stone. He'd been racking his brain over how to earn Master Heo's trust. If he finished this kid off himself, not Jo Mae-hui of the Demonic Joy Palace, and pinned the blame on the Tang Clan besides, that person would surely come to recognize his abilities.
'Lucky break.'
Ha Ryun eyed Mumu's neck. If he drove this medium needle into a particular pressure point at the cervical vertebrae, the boy would lose all sensation below the neck. Ha Ryun gripped the needle and focused his force of ki into it.
'This time will be different.'
Last time, he'd tried to naturally clasp their palms together and slip in a thin needle. But this was a completely different matter, a medium needle meant for use as a dart. And unlike last time, he'd poured internal energy into this needle as well, so no matter how tough the body, it would have no choice but to pierce through.
'Live the rest of your life a cripple, then die.'
Ha Ryun drove the needle toward the pressure point at Mumu's cervical vertebrae. He'd focused his internal energy at the needle's tip to pierce through in a single strike, but,
'Huh?'
Something was wrong. The needle's tip wouldn't break through the skin. He'd definitely loaded it with internal energy, so he couldn't understand why it wouldn't pierce the neck. No matter how thick the muscle, this shouldn't be possible.
'What? This can't be happening...'
Ha Ryun raised his force of ki even further, concentrating it at the needle's tip. Then something absurd happened.
Snap!
The needle couldn't withstand the resistance of Mumu's neck muscles, and its tip broke clean off.
'What in the world...'
Ha Ryun stared at the broken needle, utterly dumbfounded. A needle loaded with the force of internal energy, withstood, no, overpowered, by mere muscle? How did that make any sense? His head throbbed. And if he loaded the medium needle with too much of the energy from the fake Overlord lineage, his own life energy would likely fail to hold under the strain instead.
'Damn it.'
He'd have to change his approach. He'd meant to leave the boy paralyzed, condemned to a lifetime of suffering, but it looked like he had no choice but to aim for an instant kill instead, targeting a fatal point on the head.
'Even you couldn't have built muscle all the way up into your skull.'
Ha Ryun discarded the broken needle and picked up another of the Tang Clan's medium needles stuck in the ground. Then he aimed the needle at the fatal point on the back of Mumu's head.
'Go straight to hell.'
He gripped the needle and began to focus his strength. That was the exact moment.
"Mumu!"
Someone's voice rang out from the direction of the plaza. Someone who knew Mumu seemed to be approaching.
'I need to hurry...'
Fwip! Thwack!
At that instant, the prone Mumu suddenly arched his back and shot upright.
"That's Jin-hyeok's voice. Huh... why was I sleeping here?"
Mumu looked around, puzzled. Then a strange sound came from behind him.
"Agagagack."
Mumu turned his head, confused.
'!?'
There was Ha Ryun, a medium needle buried dead center in his forehead, eyes rolled back, his whole body trembling.
"What are you doing?"
'You... you dog... son of a...'
* * *
Not far from the men's outhouse.
Drip drip!
Drops of blood stained the ground. Jo Mae-hui stared at her own right arm with disbelieving eyes. The arm that should have been there, below the elbow, was simply gone. Her right arm hadn't been cut off, nor torn away. To put it precisely, it had melted away. Jo Mae-hui swallowed hard, her eyes trembling as she stared at Tang So-so. Tang So-so's hair, once black, and her eyes, had turned a lustrous violet, and an ominous shimmer of heat rose from her entire body.
'Wh... what is this bitch?'
The Tang So-so she knew was supposed to be thoroughly ordinary and pathetically weak compared to her own older brother, Tang Seong-baek, a third-year at the academy. But this was completely beyond anything she'd expected.
'P... Poison Form? No? What is this?'
Fzzzzzt!
Leaves drifting on the wind brushed near Tang So-so and instantly shriveled up as if burning away. An astonishingly overwhelming poison aura. Jo Mae-hui had heard of people reaching the realm of Poison Form before, but this went far beyond that.
'Don't tell me... a, a Body of Ten Thousand Poisons?'
The body Heaven grants as the ultimate vessel for cultivating Martial Arts is called the Heavenly Martial Body. But among those who train in the Poison Art, there's a body spoken of as a legend. A constitution that, by nature, embodies every poison that exists in the world. That is the Body of Ten Thousand Poisons.
'How can a monster like this even exist?'
Jo Mae-hui, pale as a sheet, backed away. Tang So-so closed the distance toward her, lips pursed in anger, and spoke.
"You little fox. You've already paid for insulting the Tang Clan, so now you'll pay for setting your sights on our precious Mumu too."
Flinch!
Tang So-so's violet-tinted eyes fixed on Jo Mae-hui's remaining left arm.
Footnotes:
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