Chapter 77
“…Seol-ha?”
It was undoubtedly my grandmother’s voice.
The face, the clothes, and the speech pattern—everything confirmed that she was indeed Shin Geum.
But what had I just witnessed?
The moment I first saw the thick poison fog, I instinctively put an Antidote Pearl in my mouth.
Ever since I was kidnapped by Jeok Wi-baek, I had practiced diligently, and now that effort was paying off!
But still.
Did something happen between the Poison Clan and the Yeo Family?
A deadly poison had just erupted within the Cheonhyeol Yeo Family’s estate—that was my first thought.
Then, I noticed Tak Joong-hak standing outside the poison mist, with Tak Family warriors guarding him.
“Huh?”
What the hell was going on?
Had this turned into some three-way conflict involving the Six Great Demon Clans?
As I was trying to make sense of the situation, the poison fog finally began to dissipate.
And emerging from within it—completely out of nowhere—was my grandmother.
I know the world had been unpredictable lately, but this was truly ridiculous.
Why was she coming out of there?!
“Grandmother!”
“Oh, my child! You’re safe!”
Even though I was shocked, my grandmother rushed toward me and wrapped me in a tight embrace.
“Let me see, my dear! Are you hurt anywhere?”
Shin Geum stepped back and scanned my entire body.
Her hawk-like eyes swept over me from head to toe, and only after confirming I was fine did she pull me into another tight hug.
“I can’t live like this! Didn’t I tell you a thousand times since you were little not to follow strangers?! Why did you come here?!”
“Well, I was looking for you, Grandmother…”
As Shin Geum continued to scold me non-stop, I instinctively tried to explain myself.
“Do you have any idea how worried I was?!”
“Hmph! Didn’t I tell you not to worry about me?! Because of you, I probably lost ten years off my life!”
What nonsense was she saying?
We still had a trip to go on together—what did she mean by losing ten years?
“Wow, ten years? If that’s the case, I must have lost twenty years! I haven’t slept since last night! If this keeps up, I’ll die before you do!”
“What?! You impudent little brat!”
“Whoa, whoa! Grandmother, calm down! Calm down!”
Her eyes were narrowing dangerously.
Sensing that a smack was incoming, I hurriedly took a few steps back.
“But wait a second. Isn’t this the wrong time for this conversation?”
I had nearly forgotten the situation because of her relentless scolding.
Narrowing my eyes, I grilled her.
“Shin Geum, is there something you need to tell me?”
“…What?”
“That thing you just did—whoosh! Swish! Poof! What was that?! Are you a master of Poison Arts?”
As I mimicked her gesture of dispelling the poison mist, Shin Geum’s expression immediately darkened.
“Oh? Why do you look guilty all of a sudden? Do you feel bad for lying to me all this time?”
“…I do feel bad. I had my reasons for keeping it from you, but I still lied, so…”
For the first time, she couldn’t look me in the eye.
Ugh, seriously.
She always acts tough, but she’s a total softie.
Honestly, if we were talking about who lied more, I was way worse than her.
I wasn’t even the real Shin Seol-ha!
“Grandmother, do you really need to apologize over something like this? It’s normal for people to keep secrets.”
“…Do you really mean that?”
She still looked guilty, absently fidgeting with my hands.
That familiar warm and rough touch—she had always comforted me like this.
So I raised my voice.
“Of course! Honestly, I’ve hidden things from you too! Let’s just call it even!”
“What?! You hid things from me?!”
Her eyes suddenly gleamed with sharp suspicion.
I quickly raised my hands to stop her.
“Whoa, whoa! Grandmother! Focus! That’s not what’s important right now!”
“What do you mean, not important?”
“Ugh, come on! Can we acknowledge that you just scared the life out of me?! My heart is still racing!”
And it wasn’t just me.
Even though there were so many people around us, nobody dared to move.
It was clear that everyone was too intimidated by her poison mist to make a move.
‘Wow… This is brutal.’
How many people died just now?
Judging by the corpses, at least thirty had fallen victim to Grandmother’s poison.
All of them were completely unrecognizable—the pain they must have felt was beyond imagination.
Even the ground within a certain radius had turned black, a sign of how deadly the poison mist was.
Wow, my grandmother did all this?
‘This is insane!’
I had only read about poison martial arts in novels.
Handling poison was so difficult that even highly skilled warriors risked self-destruction if they weren’t careful.
Considering everything, Shin Geum’s skills were definitely extraordinary.
How had she managed to hide her abilities for so long?
If it were me, I would have boasted about them to everyone.
‘Grandmother… what’s your story?’
For a brief moment, admiration filled me, but soon pity took over.
“What is all this commotion?!”
A booming voice suddenly shook the entire area.
With Shin Geum’s overwhelming display having brought a temporary lull, the head of the Cheonhyeol Yeo Family, Yeo Gong, finally made his entrance.
“How dare you defy me, Yeo Gong, and challenge the Cheonhyeol Yeo Family?”
I recognized him from the Martial Competition.
Standing beside him was Wi Lin, the head of the Goru Wi Family.
Those two had sat together in the VIP section that day—now they were showing up together again.
Were they dating or something? Seriously.
“Stay right behind me!”
I pursed my lips and glared at Yeo Gong and Wi Lin, but Grandmother grabbed me and pulled me behind her.
Not that it helped much, since I was taller than her, but I let it slide—it was her way of protecting me.
“Tak Joong-hak, have you lost your mind? Destroying the Yeo Family’s gates was already outrageous, and now you’ve slaughtered our people? Are you declaring war?!”
“The ones who started this war were you.”
Until now, Tak Joong-hak had simply observed our conversation in silence, but now he stepped forward.
“You dare kidnap the First Young Lady and attempt to murder her grandmother? The Tak Family will never let this slide!”
Wait, what?
Murder?
“Grandmother! Is that true? They tried to kill you?!”
A chill ran down my spine.
Until now, I had assumed she had come here to save me—I hadn’t even considered why I had been imprisoned in the first place.
“You choose your words well, Tak Joong-hak. But we can no longer turn a blind eye to the Tak Family’s deception either.”
Yeo Gong swept his gaze across the gathered warriors before dramatically pointing at Grandmother.
“So, you are Shin Geum? I will give you one chance to confess your crimes. If you do, I may spare your life. What will you do?”
What the hell was he saying?
What crime had my Grandmother committed?!
‘Find me another person as honest as my Grandmother! I dare you!’
Just as I was about to curse him out, Shin Geum acted first.
“You really must not value your life, using my granddaughter as bait to lure me here.”
So I was the bait?
But why?
What exactly had Grandmother done to warrant this?
“As expected, you won’t admit it so easily.”
Yeo Gong’s lips curled into a smug smirk.
His eyes sparkled like a child who had just found a new toy.
“You really thought we wouldn’t know after seventeen years of hiding?”
“We already knew you were a spy for the Martial Alliance!”
“You dared deceive us, infiltrate the Demonic Cult, and mock our order? Your head will be delivered to the Martial Alliance before the day is over!”
For a moment, my mind blanked.
What the hell were they talking about?
The Martial Alliance?
According to them, Grandmother was a spy—and she had been for seventeen years.
That meant she had infiltrated the Demonic Cult when I was just a newborn.
‘Grandmother… is that true?’
I turned to stare at her, expecting her to deny it.
If she would just say one word, I would scream at these bastards for their nonsense.
But she was silent.
Which meant… it was true.
Hold on…
What did they just call her?
Thousand-Hand Fragrant Poison, Tang Yeong-ryeong?!
Wasn’t that the same woman who had been framed by the Namgung and Moyong Clans, forced to take her own life in despair?
Wait.
That legendary poison and hidden weapon master was…
My Grandmother?!
Hold on—just how old was she?!
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