Chapter 21
“Wow! Wow!”
Is this really me?
Am I moving while stepping on tree branches?
I couldn’t believe myself as I performed a scene I’d read countless times in novels.
How is this possible after just a few days?
Could I be a genius?
This kind of development usually only happens to protagonists.
Wow, I’m not even scared anymore.
I was running at an incredible speed, at a height where one slip would mean instant death.
Even though a single misstep could spell disaster, I found myself accelerating.
I couldn’t stop.
I wanted to test my limits—to see how far I could go.
Each time I exploded my energy from the tips of my toes, the scenery ahead of me changed.
It felt as if I was teleporting.
It was a sensation I could never have felt in the training grounds.
For the first time since coming to this world, I experienced freedom.
Though I hadn’t been imprisoned, my life as a maid had undeniably been suffocating.
I wanted to run away somewhere—anywhere.
As I ran freely, that impulse suddenly surged within me.
But I quickly shook my head.
Jeok I-geon wouldn’t leave me alone.
Though I couldn’t see him in my line of sight, I could feel him. No matter how much I increased my speed, he maintained a steady distance, following as if guarding me.
Even if I somehow got incredibly lucky and managed to shake him off, I couldn’t leave my grandmother behind.
Although we weren’t related by blood, she was already more than family to me.
One day, when this place turned into a living hell, I would escape with her no matter what.
That was the reason I endured.
I was fortunate, wasn’t I?
To be able to learn such incredible Lightness Techniques beforehand.
Thank you, Senior Mahu. Thanks to you, I think I can survive well in the martial world.
And thank you again, Heavenly Demon.
For passing down such extraordinary martial arts to someone like me, who was merely a maid.
Jeok I-geon, I’m most grateful to you.
Without you opening my Eight Extraordinary Meridians, none of this would have been possible.
Come to think of it, I was still puzzled.
How did I suddenly gain enough internal energy to rival a master?
Jeok I-geon mentioned that energy was scattered throughout my body.
He even asked if I had consumed any elixirs recently.
Could it have been my grandmother?
No matter how much I thought about it, the answer was always Shin Geum.
I didn’t know how she managed to feed me an elixir, but there was no other explanation.
If so, there must have been a reason.
My grandmother wasn’t the type to act without purpose.
What could it be?
Why had she changed my body without even letting me know?
Wait a moment.
Is it easy to infuse a person’s body with this much energy, almost equivalent to a master’s?
Was that even possible in the first place?
It must have been, given my current condition, but I had never encountered anything like this in any of the novels I’d read.
Moreover, Shin Geum was just an ordinary noodle shop owner who barely knew any martial arts.
While she was the most likely candidate to have given me the elixir, she shouldn’t have had the ability to do so.
Then who was it?
As I thought deeper, I began to wonder if it might have been someone else.
What were they after?
I had nothing to offer.
My doubts spiraled endlessly.
And that was my mistake.
A novice who had only just learned martial arts, I let my concentration slip by getting lost in thought.
Crack!
Too much energy was applied to my left foot, causing the branch to snap.
My body lost balance and swayed, unable to resist the pull of gravity, falling rapidly.
“Grandmotheeer!”
As always, when fear overwhelmed me, I flailed and called out for my grandmother.
At the same time, I desperately recited the incantation for the Demonic Phoenix Sky Art, trying to stabilize myself.
But it didn’t work as well as before, likely due to my inexperience.
I tried grabbing onto branches with my arms, but my speed broke them all, leaving only countless scratches on my face and limbs.
Shin Seol-ha, get a grip!
If I fall like this, I’ll die instantly!
Fortunately, I had been at a great height. If I had been any lower, I would have already hit the ground.
I can’t give up like this.
Not after coming this far!
Clenching my lips, I urgently tried to circulate my internal energy again.
But my anxiety made it difficult to control as I intended.
The ground was now right before my eyes.
Is my life really going to end by falling to my death?
“Jeok I-geon!”
In that critical moment, I instinctively shouted Jeok I-geon’s name.
He was nearby, and I desperately hoped he would save me somehow.
Did my wish reach the heavens?
“Are you alright?”
Instead of the impact of hitting the ground, I was met with Jeok I-geon’s familiar voice.
I had closed my eyes in fear, but now I regained my senses and slowly opened them.
Through the strands of my disheveled hair blowing in the wind, I saw Jeok I-geon looking down at me.
To my shock, I realized I was being held like a princess in his arms.
“Aah!”
The moment I became aware of the situation, I screamed.
The joy of surviving was fleeting.
Fear of having recklessly called Jeok I-geon by name overtook me.
“Are you hurt anywhere? Your arms? Legs? Where?”
Oblivious to my panic, Jeok I-geon inspected me closely while still holding me.
“It doesn’t seem like anything is broken… Damn it! I was too careless…”
Jeok I-geon suddenly cursed, startling me.
He looked as if he felt guilty, as though my injury would have been his fault.
Surely, I must have been mistaken.
The shock from the fall must have scrambled my thoughts.
I quickly pushed away the idea and spoke to Jeok I-geon.
“I-I’m fine. Please put me down.”
“You shouldn’t move recklessly after a fall. Check properly. There might be pain you haven’t noticed yet.”
“There isn’t any. Really.”
I brushed aside the hair covering my face with my hand and answered firmly.
But something felt off.
Jeok I-geon’s gaze was anything but ordinary.
His piercing eyes locked on me, brimming with irritation.
Why did I even bother saving you?
Was he regretting it?
His mood swung as wildly as a boiling pot, and I couldn’t help but feel tense.
As I began contemplating how to land safely if he decided to throw me,
“We’re going to the Demonic Cult’s Medical Wing.”
Without warning, Jeok I-geon started running.
What the—he’s way faster than me!
And this stability… what is this?
Despite the incredible speed, my body barely moved.
Exaggerating just a little, I felt like I could fall asleep.
He really was extraordinary.
But why are we going to the Demonic Cult’s Medical Wing?
Before I could even finish marveling at Jeok I-geon’s Lightness Techniques, we arrived at the Demonic Cult’s Medical Wing.
It was a type of hospital located in the Inner City.
Anyone affiliated with the Demonic Cult could use it, though I had never been there in the last five years.
I had never been sick, not even with a common cold.
Was it because of the elixir?
“Where is the physician?”
The moment we entered, Jeok I-geon demanded to see the senior physician.
I was still in his arms, struggling to get down, but it was pointless.
“This way, please.”
Surely, he wouldn’t meet the senior physician while holding me like this, right?
Surely, he’d put me down beforehand.
He would, wouldn’t he?
But that was just wishful thinking.
First impressions are important, and yet I ended up meeting the senior physician while absurdly cradled in Jeok I-geon’s arms.
The head of the Demonic Cult’s Medical Wing, known as the senior physician, was a middle-aged man named Pyo Jin-yang.
He hailed from the Poison Clan of the Six Great Demon Clans, known as Mandok Pyo for his expertise in poisons and exceptional medical skills.
Though eccentric, his genuine care for patients earned him many followers.
“What brings you here?”
Huh?
Did he just address the Heavenly Demon’s son informally?
Were they close?
“Uncle, have you been well?”
What? Uncle?
So, Jeok I-geon’s mother was from the Poison Clan?
That wasn’t mentioned in the original story, so I had no idea.
Jeok I-geon’s maternal family was part of the Poison Clan?
Was that why he was resistant to poison?
Memories of the numerous assassination attempts involving poison that Jeok I-geon had survived flashed through my mind.
I also suddenly wondered about his mother, who had disappeared leaving behind her young son, only to resurface decades later.
Where was she, and what was she doing now?
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