121

Chapter 121 - Publication - Part 3

"What's so fascinating about this book that my friend caused all this fuss?"

Master Hwang glanced over at the novel titled 'The Tumult of the Tang Household,' after having calmed his agitated friend in the next room. 

It struck him as odd that his friend, who never showed interest in books despite recommendations, now came seeking the next volume in the middle of the night.

What on earth was in its pages?

The shopkeeper had called it an erotic martial arts novel. Could it really be that in Joseon, such novels only needed to hit the shelves for customers to swarm the bookstore?

With his heart fluttering in anticipation, Master Hwang opened the first page of 'The Tumult of the Tang Household.'

"Ha! So a person from the actual Sichuan Tang household is the protagonist."

It wasn't that there had been no novels featuring real clans and sects as their background, none of them had just managed to capture Master Hwang's interest because they were unexciting. But an erotic novel with a Sichuan Tang household protagonist?

With a slightly quickening pulse, Master Hwang read on.

The main character's name was Tang Jeong.

A young man from the Sichuan Tang household, he was proficient in the family's unique poison arts and hidden weapons, a man of upright character and overflowing with a sense of chivalry.

"A character like this is usually dull."

Master Hwang frowned slightly.

What would follow was predictable: doing good deeds, suffering hardships, then more good deeds, facing crises, enduring like a foolish, bruised bear. 

He couldn't fathom why such protagonists did what they did; as the story developed, the frustration only piled up.

Had it not been for his friend's reaction, Master Hwang would have closed the book right there. Nevertheless, he continued to read with a feeling of unease.

"Ho! The unparalleled beauty of Sichuan!"

So they ranked the beauty of women in Sichuan as some sort of contest? He'd never heard of such a practice; it must be a term the author invented. Truly a clever concept.

Following the upright hero was the entrance of the most beautiful woman in Sichuan.

Even though the protagonist had an irritatingly honest character, being connected to such a beauty could certainly be a source of delight.

Master Hwang was absorbed as he read on.

Gu Sukjeong, the unparalleled beauty of Sichuan, was like a blossoming flower. Numerous young men from the martial world had shook before her, attempting flirtations and casting love-struck glances, only to be rejected time and again.

"Here. You've dropped your handkerchief."

"Thank you."

One day, the main character, Tang Jeong, picks up the handkerchief of Sichuan's unparalleled beauty and receives her thanks.

"Y-you! Belonging to a family dealing with poison and hidden weapons! How dare you..."

"How dare you monopolize the smile of Sichuan's unparalleled beauty?"

Tang Jeong, having fallen for her at first sight, knew his place. An ordinary face. Despite being from the household considered the best in Sichuan, their martial arts were scorned in whispers.

Even the young men who were better looking and possessed superior martial prowess fell short in her eyes.

He felt he could not so much as approach, let alone harbor feelings for such an exquisite woman. Tang Jeong was tormented by this.

"Ah. It's like he's one of us, ordinary folks."

With a prickle of conscience, Master Hwang began to immerse himself in the character of the protagonist, despite his average looks but noble spirit.

He longs to approach her.

Because of the woman he holds in his heart, the protagonist achieves martial arts prowess faster than anyone else and eventually gains the permission from his family elders to venture into the martial world.

"A colorful demon appears in Sichuan!"

Numerous women victimized by the demon. Enraged, Tang Jeong chased after the predator. In his pursuit, the protagonist discovers the demon moments before he could violate another victim.

But the woman in imminent danger was...

"You bastard! How dare you try to violate Sichuan's unparalleled beauty!"

It was Gu Sukjeong, the unparalleled beauty.

"You! Who do you think you are touching!"

"Lady, run away!"

The main character Tang Jeong just manages to prevent her from being assaulted, but the demon wouldn't give up on her so easily.

"Hahaha. How dare you interfere in my matters? Are you so inexperienced in the martial world that you cannot distinguish right from wrong?"

His opponent had killed countless martial artists in his quest to violate women. The protagonist's skill was no match for him.

"Lady, I cannot guarantee victory with my inferior skill. But for the demon to reach you, he must take my life first."

"Ah. This is how a man should be!"

Though his uprightness was frustrating, such frustration was more than welcome here.

The protagonist began a seemingly hopeless fight for the sake of Sichuan's unparalleled beauty.

Helplessly, she could only gaze upon the broad back of the man ready to lay down his life for her.

"You scoundrel! Is all you know how to do fling hidden weapons? Coward!"

"You, who plan to intoxicate a defenseless woman with poison and violate her, dare talk about cowardice?"

Had it been a typical fight between martial artists, it would have been settled in a few moves. However, the main character was from the Tang household of Sichuan.

"The fight scene is so well written, it could have been penned by someone from the Sichuan Tang household."

The protagonist kept his distance, deploying hidden weapons with calm precision targeting acupoints to paralyze the demon, and when he saw an opening, he immediately struck the demon's vital spots with his weapons.

"Hahaha! Do you think I would be overcome by a mere child's plaything?"

The colorful demon, brushing off the hidden weapons as if they were mere falling leaves, advanced toward the protagonist. A crisis of life and death.

"No, not like this!"

Was he going to be defeated by the demon? Master Hwang let out a cry without realizing it.

"Child's play? Do you think the martial arts of the Sichuan Tang household are child's play?"

Despite Master Hwang's worries, the protagonist mocked the demon calmly.

"When did you plant those caltrops on the ground? No, my body? You bastard, you used poison!"

"Poison arts are the exclusive skill of the Sichuan Tang household. How arrogant of you to act so haughtily with your rudimentary understanding of poison arts."

"You cur!"

"Come forth to my domain of poisoned death."

To display such ease in the situation. The demon was taken aback.

Caltrops that the protagonist had lain out unexpectedly, hidden weapons that seem to move with eyes of their own, attacking from mysterious angles.

And he mentioned a domain of assassination. Clearly, he had more trump cards up his sleeve.

The colorful demon couldn't fathom the type of poison coursing through his veins.

As he weighed the danger of taking away the unparalleled beauty of Sichuan, his consideration was deep but not slow. There were plenty of women in the world. The colorful demon promptly retreated.

["Pretending to be at ease with no trick left up my sleeve worked. Luckily it fooled him."]

"This protagonist! His magnanimity is truly exceptional!"

The use of poison arts and hidden weapons was so impressive, and coupled with the protagonist's quick wits. Master Hwang realized he was clenching his fists without even knowing it.

Though Master Hwang was enjoying the read, the true essence of 'The Tumult of the Tang Household' was yet to be revealed.

["My lady, you've been poisoned with an aphrodisiac! This poison stirs lustful thoughts and heats the body to its core until the bones and internal organs melt away. It can only be cured with an antidote or through sexual intercourse, but the demon has the antidote."]

An aphrodisiac? There was such a poison? Master Hwang was surprised by this poison he had never heard of and turned the page.

["If by chance you have a lover nearby, tell me. I will carry you to them posthaste."]

["I... have never harbored any man in my heart, not until just a moment ago."]

["And what does that mean?"]

"Damn. This is getting frustrating. He could have simply undressed her."

The protagonist's upright nature, once charming, now brought frustration. Surely, like any other erotic story, he had to undress the woman.

He wouldn't just leave without undressing her, would he? Master Hwang read the next lines with focus.

["However... Just a moment ago, I found myself a lover."]

["What are you saying?"]

Gulp. Master Hwang swallowed a dry mouthful.

["Please... I ask you to take my first time."]

And then the act commenced.

"Oh wow. Really. Has he gone mad? Has the author lost his mind? Instead of the man undressing her, the woman asks to be undressed. Such a development. This is madness. Ehehehe!"

An extraordinary poison named 'aphrodisiac' and a plot where the unparalleled beauty of Sichuan desires the protagonist herself. Truly thrilling.

["Although we have come together today, this is no different from rape. She wanted me because she was poisoned by the aphrodisiac, not because she liked me. I will capture the demon and beg for your forgiveness."]

A night of satisfaction. The protagonist felt guilty as he left without waking her, still deep in sleep.

["Where have you gone?"]

"No! You frustrating fool! Why run away!"

Master Hwang trembled with anger. He thinks of it as rape?

"Even after being cured and... what? She willingly gave herself!"

To think that what they shared with their hearts could be considered. And that too coming from the unparalleled beauty of Sichuan.

Master Hwang truly felt like weeping both tears of joy and frustration.

Thankfully there was still one page left. Whether to cry from joy or sadness, Master Hwang continued to read the last page.

"A preview of the next volume?"

He saw the preview for the next installment and found himself saying the same thing as his friend.

["The protagonist enters the number one courtesan house in Hubei. There he encounters a courtesan who has never been with anyone, and who commands an enormous price just to be summoned, now also intoxicated with the aphrodisiac."]

"Next voluuuuuume!"