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Chapter 18
“Right……”
Oh, it’s just him.
The moment I confirmed it was Tang Ye’s face, my interest evaporated.
With an expression gone cold, I turned my head away.
Tang Ye immediately flared up.
“What’s with that reaction?”
Among our clan, he was already notorious for throwing his weight around under the shadow of his father, the Tang family’s eldest son.
And if my memory was right, Tang Ye never turned over a new leaf. He just grew up exactly like this.
No—worse.
He grows into an even more depraved wastrel, constantly stirring up trouble.
Considering his childhood behavior, it wasn’t strange he ended up that way.
Tang Ye had been one of the people who tormented me relentlessly when I was young.
He knew I was terrified of poisonous insects and would sneak them up his sleeves to approach me.
Then he’d release them in front of me, laughing as he watched my horrified reaction.
If I hadn’t always been quick to dodge, I probably would have been bitten.
Anyway, in my memory he was the worst of the worst.
Remembering this, I clicked my tongue.
Pfft, serves you right.
A son who’s a wastrel, and a father who’s a murderer and a traitor.
I had no intention of getting tangled with this hopeless father-and-son pair.
“What’s wrong with my reaction?” I replied flatly.
“You looked like you were disappointed to see me!”
“I wasn’t.”
“You so we—hey, why are you talking down to me?”
Ah, caught.
“I mean, I wasn’t.”
“Tch, whatever. What’s all this about then?”
“What do you mean, brother?”
“The rumor! The rumor! Everyone’s been talking about you!”
I feigned ignorance, unwilling to answer him properly.
“Just saying ‘rumor’ out of nowhere doesn’t exactly tell me what kind of rumor it is…”
“Oh, so you’re going to play dumb? Since yesterday, everyone’s been doing no work, just blabbing all day that you’re immune to poison!”
Oh-ho, so they’ve been going on about it all day.
Indeed, if a direct descendant was born with poison-immunity, that was big enough news to gossip about not just for a day but for months.
Still, hearing it from someone else’s mouth felt strange.
In my past life, I lived until fifteen, yet no one in this family really knew my face.
Father had forbidden the Tang clan’s warriors from coming near me, and the elders never looked in on me.
The only people who recognized me were the maids who cared for me when Father was absent.
And now the entire clan was in an uproar over me?
This really is a strange feeling.
Not unpleasant, though.
Maybe because it was the first time in my life something like this had ever happened.
Instead of frightening me, these unfamiliar reactions almost made my heart race.
Brushing the dirt off my hands, I looked at Tang Ye and said,
“If that’s what the rumors say, then so be it. Is that what you came here to ask?”
“Of course! Otherwise, why would I bother coming to see you…”
He stopped mid-sentence, stepping back with a suspicious look.
“…You’re not even startled by me anymore?”
He spoke as if he’d just seen a ghost.
I burst out laughing before he even finished.
Ha!
How funny—he’s surprised that I don’t recoil from him anymore?
Well, given the way I used to be, I suppose it would look strange.
Back when I was seven or eight, I was just a little kid, always afraid he’d release another poisonous bug in front of me.
But that only lasted until I was ten.
After that, no matter what kind of poisonous creature he brought out, a few needle strikes were enough to subdue it.
So now? I had no reason to fear him.
If anything, I found him laughable.
“Am I supposed to be scared?”
“Of course! You always freaked out when you saw me! If I just took out a venom centipede like this…!”
With that, Tang Ye pulled a large, hideous centipede from his sleeve.
I instinctively stepped back, covering my mouth with a sleeve while my other hand reached toward my belt for my stinger needle…
“…Oh.”
Right. I don’t have one now.
I’m only eight years old.
In my past life, I didn’t start carrying hidden weapons—daggers and stingers tucked into my belt—until I was ten.
So of course I didn’t have them yet.
Tang Ye must have mistaken my reaction for fear, because he shoved the centipede toward me even more arrogantly.
“See! That’s the you I know, the coward who jumps at this! And yet you dare act calm and raise your head at me?”
But I wasn’t startled by the centipede—only by my own instinctive movement, reaching for weapons that weren’t there.
That was all.
As for the bug itself? Hardly worth my concern.
Besides, grandfather had already told me—
That I was likely born with the Poison Spirit Physique.
And you think a single poisonous insect could scare me?
I stared at the fat centipede, then slid my hand quietly into my sleeve.
Even if my belt was empty…
I’ve got something better.
My eyes gleamed as I stepped toward him.
“Brother.”
“W-what is it?”
“Could you set the centipede down for a moment?”
“W-why all of a sudden?”
“Please.”
“Why?”
“I want to show you something.”
“N-no! Why would I listen to you?”
“Well, if you don’t want to, that’s fine. Pity, though—I was going to show you something fun.”
“……!”
My words shook him.
Since he was dying to know whether I really was poison-immune, it wasn’t surprising.
Hesitating, he finally lowered the centipede to the ground.
It wriggled forward on countless legs, crawling toward me.
I watched it creep closer, then tapped my sleeve.
From within, the snake that had grown rather fond of me by now slithered out.
Tang Ye’s eyes bulged wide.
“A-a snake!”
Judging by his shock, he hadn’t heard that grandfather had given me the serpent.
Even if he had, though, he couldn’t help but be frightened.
“Good boy, right?”
The snake raised its head with a hiss, making Tang Ye flinch.
Then, without hesitation, it slithered up and chomped down on the centipede in front of him.
Chomp, chew—
Gulp.
In a blink, it swallowed the entire thing and let out a satisfied burp before returning to my arms.
The whole scene passed in the space of an eye-blink.
I glanced at Tang Ye’s face, pale with rage.
He was Tang Pei-jin’s precious eldest son—spoiled, forgiven no matter what trouble he caused.
But if Tang Pei-jin learned that I had humiliated him, he’d be furious.
And yet…
My plan to stay quiet and unnoticed was already ruined.
At the elders’ meeting, I’d already made a splash right in front of him.
So what’s the point in holding back now?
Tang Ye was the cousin who had tormented me—and the son of the man who killed me.
And he was the one who first pulled out a poisonous insect to threaten me.
So this much retaliation was only fair.
Besides, as long as grandfather favored me, Tang Pei-jin wouldn’t dare openly attack.
Tang Ye stared at me in shock, eyes darting to where the centipede had vanished.
“Wh-what the hell? Where did you get that snake?”
“Grandfather gave it to me.”
“…Grandfather? Liar!”
“Believe it or not.”
“Th-this…”
He crouched, trembling, running his hands over the spot where the centipede had been.
Tang Ye loved playing with venomous creatures. That was why he’d brought them to my room every day.
And now, the pet he cherished so much had been devoured in one gulp.
“Y-you! What are you going to do about this? Huh? That was precious to me!”
“Should you really shove something you ‘cherish’ in your little sister’s face just to scare her?”
“Hey!”
“Oh, brother, your voice is so loud!”
Tang Ye’s face flushed red.
The sight reminded me so much of Tang Pei-jin’s angry face that I clicked my tongue and turned away.
“Don’t ever bring something like that again.”
“You little—!”
“If you do, I’ll tell Father. And Grandfather, too.”
In my past life, I had never told Father that Tang Ye bullied me.
Why? Because I grew up hearing things like:
‘Ha! If your father knew how weak you are, he’d throw you away on the spot!’
I’d known it was a lie, even then.
But when you hear lies often enough, they start to sound true.
Eventually, fear kept me silent.
I was such a fool.
Father would never have hated me over something like that.
Clutching the snake in my arms, I turned to leave Tang Ye behind.
And just then—
“Hey! Tang Bi!”
“Huh?”
My vision lurched violently.
“W-wah!”
My feet lost balance, and my body pitched forward.
