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Chapter 10
“It is an extremely difficult task to process Manhyeolshindok (Ten-Thousand-Blood Divine Poison). Of course, there are records that in the past it was successfully processed and used to create the world’s greatest medicine, but even those records are only partially preserved.”
Tang Sayuk said this.
“But don’t worry, we will find a way.”
I nodded, clutching tightly at my father’s sleeve.
The poison will spread through Father’s body and kill him seven years from now.
And around that same time, Uncle Tang Paejin will bring his Poison Corpses and kill both me and Father.
So technically there was still a little time left. But that didn’t mean I could feel completely at ease.
“As quickly as possible…”
“Understood, child.”
Tang Sayuk answered with a gentle smile. Only then did I finally let out a sigh of relief.
‘That’s one problem solved, at least.’
Tang Sayuk was one of the most renowned physicians in the entire Tang family’s history…
‘Wait. Hold on.’
As I thought more deeply, a strange realization struck me, making my eyes snap open. I turned to look at Tang Sayuk.
“!”
The moment my eyes met his, I realized a very serious problem still hadn’t been solved.
‘Uncle is going to be expelled!’
The year I turned ten, he is banished from the Tang household.
His wrist tendons are severed to prevent him from taking the Tang family’s medical arts outside.
After that, the position of Medical Hall Master is inherited by his nephew and disciple, Tang Hak, but the Tang family’s medical division never fully recovers.
And the decisive problem was…
‘I can’t remember why he was expelled…’
I could recall only vaguely that he had been banished, not the reason why.
Had my memory worsened because I returned to the past?
I slipped free from Father’s arms and walked up to Tang Sayuk. Looking up at him, I asked:
“May I ask you one thing?”
“Yes, speak.”
“How long will it take… to make the antidote?”
“Well… no less than three years, I’d say.”
Three years!
‘But Uncle gets expelled exactly two years from now.’
Then what happens if he’s expelled before finishing the antidote?
I thought I had crossed a great mountain, only to find an even wider river blocking the way beyond it.
‘I shouldn’t have been so glad about obtaining the Manhyeol snake…’
Thinking carefully, I remembered that Tang Sayuk’s expulsion was somehow connected to Uncle Tang Paejin.
Which meant that to solve this problem too…
‘I’ll have to stop Uncle Paejin.’
Sigh. Same conclusion again.
So I began to set my priorities in order in my head:
-
To save Father, I need an antidote.
-
To make an antidote, I need Uncle.
-
To protect Uncle, I must stop Father’s elder brother.
I swallowed hard as I recalled the moment when the Poison Corpses had approached right up to my chin.
The moment when the Ilbochuhon Poison Father had given me for emergencies had proven useless.
‘I can’t let that happen again.’
To prevent it, I had to find out how Uncle Paejin had discovered the Poison Corpse Great Method and managed to create them.
The fact that he had made Poison Corpses meant the supposedly lost Great Method still existed somewhere intact.
And since it was impossible to create corpses of that level overnight, he must have begun preparing for it at least several years in advance.
‘Then chances are, at this very time, he already possesses the method.’
Or he’s just about to acquire it.
Tang family’s Poison Corpses: their very breath is a deadly toxin that can kill ten men, and their sharp claws are weapons as strong as steel.
It was the Martial Alliance itself that had banned and eradicated the Poison Corpse Method—proof of just how dangerous it was.
If more than ten such corpses were to spread across the martial world, the rivers and lakes would inevitably be drowned in blood!
Therefore…
‘I have to stop it.’
No matter what it takes, that must be prevented. With a solemn face, I nodded to myself.
Father is still alive.
Uncle Paejin hasn’t yet killed us. Everything I worry about has not yet come to pass.
But still—
‘I can’t forgive him.’
Just because it hasn’t happened yet doesn’t erase the things I went through.
Just because I’ve returned to a time before Father’s death doesn’t erase the fact that I witnessed it.
I recalled Uncle’s face in those final moments as Father died in my arms.
And I swore:
‘I will repay him in kind.’
Grace must be returned twofold, grudges tenfold!
Every Tang family child grows up with those words carved in their heart.
Even though I was never properly treated as one, I was still a daughter of the Tang clan.
Therefore…
‘I will repay him tenfold.’
For every tear my father and I shed, I will make sure blood-tears flow from his eyes.
In my past life, when I was ignored for not being allowed to learn poison arts, this would have been impossible.
‘But now, it’s possible.’
I hugged Father tightly once more, then lifted my head with resolve.
First, I would ask Grandfather about the Poison Corpse Great Method.
I had to know the truth to stop Uncle Paejin.
But before I could speak—
Knock, knock.
Someone rapped on the door. Father, Uncle, and Grandfather all turned their heads at once.
From outside, a familiar voice rang out.
“Father, it’s Paejin.”
At the sound of that voice, my eyes widened.
The voice I had never forgotten since the day I returned.
The chilling voice that still echoed in my ears.
Tang Paejin.
The very murderer who had brutally slaughtered Father and me in my previous life—was standing just beyond that door.
“Tang Bi? You mean that useless girl?”
Tang Paejin snorted.
“They say she dies instantly from a drop of poison, and her father dotes on her endlessly for it. And now you expect me to believe she caught a Manhyeol snake? Stop spouting nonsense.”
When he first heard the rumor that Tang Bi had captured a Manhyeol snake, he didn’t believe it for a moment.
She was the very bottom of the bottom when the Tang children were ranked, unable even to pass the first stage of raising poisonous creatures.
And she caught the king of all venomous snakes under heaven? Clearly a false rumor.
That’s what Tang Paejin thought.
But then—
“But sir, the young lady truly…”
“I saw it with my own two eyes…”
Servants testified that they had indeed seen Tang Bi shove the snake into a crate.
Even Tang Paejin couldn’t dismiss it entirely then.
What’s more…
“She was bitten and survived?”
“Yes, it’s true!”
She was bitten and unharmed? Even an experienced poison cultivator would suffer fatal wounds from the slightest graze of that snake’s fangs.
And yet an eight-year-old child—who until yesterday had no resistance to poison whatsoever—was bitten and survived?
‘Impossible… and yet…’
Whether truth or rumor, it was worth confirming.
The head of the clan, Tang Cheongi, the Medical Hall Master Tang Sayuk, his younger brother Tang Jinhyeon, and Tang Bi herself were all gathered together—it wouldn’t hurt to see what was really going on.
So Tang Paejin immediately went to Yongyeonjeon, the patriarch’s residence, and knocked without hesitation.
“Come in.”
Tang Cheongi did not turn his son away.
Tang Paejin opened the door without a second thought and entered.
Inside, he saw Tang Sayuk holding a small cup, and Tang Cheongi standing with his hands behind his back.
With an expressionless voice, Tang Cheongi asked:
“What brings you here?”
“I heard the Manhyeol snake escaped.”
But Tang Paejin’s gaze was not on them.
‘There she is.’
His eyes went straight to the little girl nestled in Tang Jinhyeon’s arms.
“And that the one who caught it was that child.”
Before anyone could stop him, Tang Paejin strode forward.
“They say she was bitten by the Manhyeol snake and survived…”
The only reason he had come here was to confirm the rumor’s truth. Nothing else mattered.
So, almost entranced, he reached out for Tang Bi’s ankle.
It all happened too quickly for Tang Jinhyeon to stop him.
‘If she was really bitten, there should be three fang marks left.’
Tang Paejin was just about to pull off her bandages and confirm it when—
“Kiieeeek!”
A small creature shot out from Tang Bi’s arms like lightning.
