Chapter 133 : We Have Reinforcements Too? -01
Chapter 133: We Have Reinforcements Too? -01
“Still, the fact that you’re not denying it means you’re aware of your own age, I suppose.”
Nan Hui-ju continued speaking with an annoyingly sweet smile from start to finish.
She could have spoken casually just the same, yet she deliberately used polite speech. Knowing exactly why, the smooth forehead of the middle-aged woman bulged with a clearly visible vein.
“They say beauties die young, and it seems today is that day for you, little girl.”
“Oh my? Have you ever seen a little girl with everything in the right places, all filled out just so?”
Nan Hui-ju crossed her arms while staring straight into the eyes of the Demonic Fiendess.
As she did, she naturally leaned her upper body forward.
That sight made Seo Joun and Jeong I-ryong’s faces turn bright red.
The provocation had been aimed at the Demonic Fiendess, but the ones it hit squarely were the two men.
“Hehehe!”
Of course, it landed to some extent on the Demonic Fiendess as well.
However, rather than anger, she merely laughed as if it were ridiculous.
“That’s all? By nature, a woman ought to have at least this much fullness, shouldn’t she?”
Swoosh.
The Demonic Fiendess took the exact same posture as Nan Hui-ju.
Crossing her arms, she made her chest naturally stand out, then twisted her waist slightly.
It was to emphasize the line of her body as it flowed from waist to hips.
And with that subtle movement alone, the seductive charm the Demonic Fiendess possessed was maximized.
“There’s a saying: too much is as bad as too little. No matter how big your chest and hips are, what good is it if you’re short and stubby with bad proportions? On top of that, you’re already past the age to bear children, aren’t you? So what are you even going to use that chest and those hips for?”
Tremble!
Seeing Nan Hui-ju relentlessly target the Demonic Fiendess’s only real weakness—her age—the Demonic Fiendess’s body shook.
She wanted nothing more than to spit out a torrent of curses, but she did not.
In a fight between women, the one who lost composure first was the one who lost.
So instead of venting her rage, the Demonic Fiendess let her body tremble as she cooled her head.
“What good is being tall like a scarecrow? You’re so flat—do you really think men would like you?”
“Oh my? Were you the type to rely on men? That’s a bit different from what I’ve heard. I suppose a woman can’t help it, no matter how old she gets. I did wonder why you chased men so much at that age—so that was the reason.”
“Hmph. What do you know about men? From the look of it, you don’t even know what a man tastes like.”
The Demonic Fiendess wore a scornful expression.
Knowing men well, she knew women just as well.
At a glance, Nan Hui-ju looked like someone who would have ensnared many men, but in truth, she was the type with no experience.
“Still better than being worn out. Even goods are far better when they’re new rather than secondhand, aren’t they?”
Crack!
Deep wrinkles formed around the Demonic Fiendess’s eyes.
She had flared up without realizing it.
“Instead, one matures properly and gains allure. It’s more important to know what men want than to know nothing at all. A woman loved by men must be good in bed. Ah—would you even understand such refined vocabulary?”
“Talking about bed skills as if that’s something—”
The Demonic Fiendess launched a counterattack, but Nan Hui-ju did not bite.
There might be differences in taste, but nothing overcame age.
A woman’s greatest trump card, no matter what, was youth.
“Well then. What would you know about the intimacy between man and woman?”
“I can learn that little by little, but won’t you be feeling less and less by now? They say senses dull as you age. Your libido will drop too. You might maintain appearances with illusion arts, but can you manage the inside as well?”
Nan Hui-ju smiled brightly.
She smiled sweetly while driving her daggers in deep.
“Your mouth is as sharp as your looks. But tell me—can you handle it? The aftermath of what you just said?”
“I must have something to rely on if I can say everything I want to the Demonic Fiendess of all people, right?”
“Hm. Are you relying on the Divine Dragon beside you?”
“That’s right.”
The Demonic Fiendess’s gaze shifted to Ban Hojin, who stood beside Nan Hui-ju with an indifferent expression.
By her knowledge, he was only twenty-one years old, yet Ban Hojin looked this way with the face of an old man who had seen through life.
As if he understood all the transience of existence.
That sight oddly scraped against the Demonic Fiendess’s pride.
“You might get a taste today of trusting the wrong axe. But what a shame—looks like you’ll die a virgin without ever knowing the pleasures of intimacy.”
“Since I was born human, I’ll die someday—but it doesn’t seem like today. I still have many days left to live. If possible, isn’t it only natural to go in order?”
“Sorry, but that won’t happen. You won’t be going home alive today. None of the women who came here will.”
“Are you done talking?”
“Oh my? Such a nice voice too?”
The Demonic Fiendess’s eyes gleamed as she turned her gaze to Ban Hojin, who spoke as if bored.
Though it was their first meeting, she knew everything about the group through the Facial Profile Notice.
Her personal taste leaned toward refined handsome men like Seo Joun and Murong Cheok, but she also liked manly-looking men like Ban Hojin and Seonwu Bang.
And since they were all at the peak of youthful vigor, they looked to her like a lavish feast laid out with delicacies from mountains and seas.
“That’s the first time I’ve heard that.”
“Of course. You’ve spent all your time in a temple full of men. Things like this—only women notice them instinctively.”
Meeting Ban Hojin’s eyes, the Demonic Fiendess wore the smile she was most confident in.
A smile that would inevitably make a man’s heart race.
As she did, she subtly emphasized one of her greatest assets—her chest and hips.
There was no man who disliked full breasts, round hips, and a slender waist.
“For someone to be called a woman, isn’t your age excessively high? As far as I know, you’re seventy-four this year.”
“Gasp!”
“R-really?”
At the unexpected revelation of her age, the Demonic Fiendess froze.
Ban Hojin knew her age exactly—something only she herself knew.
The others were shocked for a different reason.
She looked at most to be in her mid-thirties, yet to hear her real age was nearly double made them all stare at the Demonic Fiendess in disbelief.
“Oh my? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You already answered with your reaction and now you’re playing dumb?”
“……How did you know?”
Realizing too late that she had failed to manage her expression, the Demonic Fiendess asked with a bewitching smile.
She was genuinely curious.
She had never told anyone, so she desperately wanted to know how Ban Hojin knew.
“You told me.”
“Have we ever met before?”
The Demonic Fiendess frowned her delicate brows.
No matter how much she thought about it, she had never met Ban Hojin.
She had never even seen a boy who looked similar, so she kept tilting her head in confusion.
“You probably don’t remember. And you won’t in the future either.”
“What does that mean? Is that your roundabout way of saying you don’t want to answer?”
“I merely spoke the truth.”
Ban Hojin shrugged his shoulders.
At the very least, he had not lied here.
He had actually heard the Demonic Fiendess’s age directly from her.
It just had not been at this point in time.
“Well, fine. In the end, what matters is the present. What you see right now is what counts most. Isn’t that so?”
Since pressing further would not make Ban Hojin explain, the Demonic Fiendess gave up quickly.
Experience had taught her well that there was no need to cling to things that would not work.
And more than curiosity, interest came first.
Especially because there were two young men who perfectly matched her tastes, the Demonic Fiendess gazed deeply at Seo Joun.
Gulp!
Though he was the youngest, when it came to Pure Yang Energy, Seo Joun was unrivaled.
As someone who practiced Yang-Gathering Yin-Replenishing, she knew the moment she saw him.
No—her body told her.
That Seo Joun was the best man she had ever encountered.
‘That doesn’t mean the other four are lacking.’
Seo Joun was simply overwhelming; the other four were still well above average.
In particular, the Demonic Fiendess lingered her gaze on Ban Hojin.
He ranked right after Seo Joun.
However, targeting Ban Hojin from the start felt burdensome.
‘My accumulated power may be greater, but inner energy is only part of deciding a fight.’
She evaluated herself calmly and objectively.
She too was a seasoned veteran of the Jianghu.
Even so, facing Ban Hojin head-on—the man who had single-handedly beaten the Blue and Red Twin Fiends—felt risky.
‘And direct confrontation isn’t my style anyway.’
The Demonic Fiendess smiled meaningfully.
Though she was a martial artist, it had been a long time since she had fought directly.
There had been no need to.
Her gaze slid past Ban Hojin and settled on Jeong Iryong.
By pure feeling, Seonwu Bang seemed the most drained, but her intuition told her otherwise.
The results would not be worth the effort.
Jeong Iryong was different.
At a glance, he looked like a complete novice with zero resistance to women.
Moreover, he was not the weakest.
That fit her conditions perfectly.
‘You first.’
When outnumbered, balance had to be adjusted immediately.
And the most frightening enemy was not a powerful foe, but an enemy within.
No matter how strong a martial artist was, everyone had weaknesses—and for those with little Jianghu experience like Ban Hojin’s group, internal division was both the worst and the strongest move.
‘You will become my slave.’
The Demonic Fiendess looked at Jeong Iryong with a deep, languid gaze.
A sudden crimson light flashed briefly in her pupils before vanishing.
The Soul-Capturing Art that had made her one of the Eight Evils of Murim—the Demonic Fiendess—had been unleashed.
The Demonic Enchantment Soul-Stripping Art, from which no man could ever escape, surged at full force, sending invisible energy into Jeong Iryong through his eyes.
“Come here.”
Though not fully perfected, a nine-out-of-ten level was no exaggeration to call Great Completion.
And ever since reaching that level, the Demonic Fiendess had never failed.
Some had escaped midway, but once caught, the art never missed.
Thus, with absolute confidence, she spoke while watching Jeong Iryong.
Step. Step.
“That’s right. Good boy.”
As Jeong Iryong approached slowly with slightly unfocused eyes, the smile at the corner of the Demonic Fiendess’s lips deepened.
No matter how renowned the Hidden Dragon was, to her he was still nothing more than a green youth.
At an age when blood ran hot and curiosity toward women burned fiercely, escaping the Demonic Enchantment Soul-Stripping Art was impossible.
“Now then—won’t you come to me as well?”
When Jeong Iryong drew close enough, her gaze shifted once more.
This time, it moved to Seo Joun, whom she had coveted from the beginning.
Seonwu Bang and Murong Cheok, being from prestigious families, might endure the art to some degree.
Seo Joun, however, was different.
With greedy desire clinging to her eyes, the Demonic Fiendess spoke to him confidently.
Yet even as he met her gaze, Seo Joun did not flinch in the slightest.
“Why should I go?”
“Huh?”
“And aren’t you overestimating your own ability? You should verify things first, shouldn’t you?”
The Demonic Enchantment Soul-Stripping Art was clearly in effect.
And yet, Seo Joun appeared completely unaffected.
That alone shocked the Demonic Fiendess.
But that was not all.
Shreeeek!
From a diagonal angle came a sharp Faint Whistling Sound, accompanied by something heavy flying through the air.
It came from the direction Jeong Iryong had been walking.
“No!”