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Chapter 16
“Head of the Clan!”
The Elder Council Head looked back at Tang Cheongi.
“That is not something to be decided so hastily!”
“It was not decided hastily.”
As Grandfather rose from his seat, ripples spread through the assembly.
The elders murmured among themselves.
“This was decided long ago. There is no reason I cannot reveal it now.”
“But—!”
“There is no but.”
He turned to me and asked,
“How far have you studied martial arts?”
“I’m learning the basic cultivation method.”
“And poison arts?”
“Only the fundamentals.”
“You still have a long way to go.”
“But… you’ll teach me?”
“There’s no reason I can’t.”
The clan head’s words carried weight.
Enough strength to silence the murmurs of the gathered elders in an instant.
Though they exchanged uneasy glances, none dared openly object to a decision Grandfather had already made.
I swallowed hard.
As silence descended, tension crept up belatedly.
This was the right choice… wasn’t it?
As I had once thought, being taught martial arts directly by Grandfather, the head of the clan—
—was no different than pointing a blade at Tang Pae-jin’s throat.
It was a dangerous move.
One wrong step, and not just I, but Father as well, could be endangered.
That thought made hesitation flicker inside me.
But just then, I felt a hand gently clasp mine.
I looked up to see Father gazing down at me with a tender expression.
That look reassured me.
Sometimes, a single smile can comfort more than a hundred words.
I returned a small, awkward smile and clung tightly to his large hand.
Father’s hand was warm.
Warm enough to ease the discomfort of this uneasy place, if only a little.
Still… I didn’t expect Grandfather to grant such a request in the middle of a council meeting.
And moreover—
The reaction isn’t as bad as I thought.
I glanced around at the elders.
Several frowned in disapproval—likely those who supported Uncle.
But not everyone was displeased.
In fact, by headcount, those opposed to me were fewer.
Aside from those openly backing First Young Master Tang Pae-jin, the others were nodding as though this decision was only natural.
Strange.
Traditionally, the Sichuan Tang Clan never taught poison arts to girls, aside from the most basic Poison Handling Technique.
It was an outdated family rule, meant to prevent secrets from leaking out if a daughter married into another sect.
And it was almost unheard of for the clan head to personally teach martial arts to anyone who was not the heir.
Yet here I was—an eight-year-old granddaughter—about to receive poison arts beyond Poison Handling directly from Grandfather himself, and so few objected.
This must be because of my Body of Ten-Thousand Poisons Immunity.
The reason elders had disliked me was simple: I was Father’s illegitimate child, and worse, my constitution caused me to faint if I even got near poison, let alone practice it.
But now, one of those reasons had vanished.
On top of that, I had become the master of the Tang family’s cursed heirloom—the Blood Demon Serpent, a treasure as troublesome as it was dangerous.
That fact carried great weight.
After all, the elders are Tang Clan warriors too.
Which meant that for the sake of the clan’s prosperity, they would do anything.
Now that a girl with a Body Immune to Ten-Thousand Poisons had appeared—
Unless they were extreme supporters of Tang Pae-jin, of course they’d be interested in me.
It was only natural.
Such a rare body wasn’t some pebble lying by the roadside—it appeared only once in centuries, across several generations.
Even I nearly died of shock when I first learned of it.
Ah, no—that’s wrong. I didn’t just nearly die, I actually died.
Anyway…
That wasn’t the issue right now.
What mattered was that I had the potential of the Body Immune to Ten-Thousand Poisons,
and Grandfather had agreed to teach me poison arts directly.
That was the only thing that mattered for now.
“Then, let us end today’s meeting here.”
At the clan head’s words, the elders nodded.
Tang Rip seemed delighted at the quick conclusion, rising to his feet and stretching casually—only to meet my eyes.
He quickly turned his head away, pretending not to notice, but I had already caught the flicker of his gaze.
Grandfather rose and said,
“Everyone may leave. Tang Bi, stay behind.”
“Yes.”
“Jinhyeon, you may leave as well.”
At that command, Father flinched. But Grandfather waved his hand as if to ease his concerns.
“I will see her back safely myself.”
The elders all departed, and Grandfather led me toward Yongyeon Hall.
Because he had also sent Father away, only the two of us remained.
“Ssshh.”
“Ah, right. There’s also the Blood Demon Serpent.”
“What are you muttering about?”
“Oh, nothing.”
Hugging the serpent inside my sleeve, I scurried after him with quick steps.
Even though he slowed his pace, it still felt difficult to keep up.
“Shall I carry you?”
“It’s fine, I can walk myself.”
“You look like you’re struggling.”
“I’m really fine.”
After all, my body may be eight years old, but my mind is fifteen.
I didn’t want to act spoiled in front of him.
I quickened my pace instead.
Then suddenly, Grandfather stopped.
I nearly ran into his leg, barely stopping in time.
“!”
“When you were first born, I once went to see you.”
His firmly sealed lips opened, and an old memory flowed out.
“You were so small then. I held you very carefully, afraid you might get hurt.”
Grandfather… held me?
I blinked in surprise but stayed silent, listening.
“But then you went into convulsions. Your face turned pale, your fingertips blue, and you couldn’t breathe. Classic poisoning symptoms.”
“…”
“The physicians of the Medical Hall all agreed—you had been born with a body extremely vulnerable to poison.”
“And afterward?”
“Yes. It happened every time someone other than your father tried to approach you.”
This was news to me.
Only then did I realize why none of the elders of the Tang family had ever come near me until I turned fifteen.
Tang family warriors practiced poison arts, and faint traces of poison always lingered in their energy.
If I had truly been born so weak against poison, even those faint traces would have been fatal.
Then why… why did my constitution suddenly change?
If Grandfather’s words were true, then when I was little, I really had been fragile against poison.
Just then, Grandfather continued.
“And yet, after being bitten by the Blood Demon Serpent, you emerged unscathed. Now you stand beside me without convulsions. It is astonishing, even wondrous. I heard you fell into a pond—did you perhaps gain some fortuitous encounter there?”
At his piercing question, I gave a strained smile.
You could call it a fortuitous encounter.
After all, I died and returned to the past.
But that wasn’t something I could tell him.
And besides, I didn’t know the answers to his questions anyway.
I had no idea why my constitution had suddenly changed.
No idea why I had returned to the past.
I hadn’t discovered whether my rebirth itself caused the change, or if something else had happened before I turned eight.
So I had nothing to say.
Seeing me smile awkwardly, Grandfather also smiled, softly, warmly.
“Come inside.”
He stepped boldly into the room, and I quickly followed after him.
