Given her personality, Gongsun Hyeon’s original plan would have been to probe my intentions while pretending to be wary of her clan’s rival, Gongsun Yeong. What is invisible to an ally can often be seen by an enemy, and it would have been the perfect opportunity to test if I was the sort of person who might one day betray her younger sister. However, judging by her expression, she had already realized that Gongsun Yeong had blabbed about everything, making such a ploy useless.

“Didn’t I tell you it was a secret…?” Hyeon sighed.

“But he’s Benefactor Brat. It’s fine.”

“And how, precisely, do you know that?”

“Mm, I just know. He’s fine.”

It was completely irrational. But at her sister’s response, Gongsun Hyeon turned to look at the boy, Jin Cheon-hee, with renewed interest. Her younger sister was born with an innate strength. Her physical power was abnormal, her stamina astonishing. She possessed a rare martial constitution known as a Supreme Yang Physique.¹ To be born with such a body as a child of a martial family was a great blessing.

But that wasn’t all. She also had an uncannily accurate intuition, especially when it came to people. Gongsun Hyeon knew well that her sister’s gut feelings were almost never wrong.

In the end, Gongsun Hyeon let out another sigh. Her already pale face seemed to grow even paler.

“Just drink one sip for me, sister. Please?”

Ignoring all else, Gongsun Yeong was desperate to get something into her sister’s mouth. Hyeon had refused everything the servants offered, but she couldn’t refuse her beloved little sister. She reluctantly accepted the cup and took a small sip. Her eyes widened slightly.

“It’s delicious.”

“Ah, you can keep this down?”

“Yes.”

“That’s great! Let’s have some porridge, too.”

“I can’t eat that much.”

“Okay. Then just finish this. Please? It makes me so happy to see you eat something.”

If Gongsun Yeong had a tail, it would be wagging furiously. A faint blush crept over Gongsun Hyeon’s gaunt cheekbones, as if in embarrassment.

And that’s why she adores her. No matter how difficult a person was, they would inevitably yield to Gongsun Yeong’s relentless affection. In the end, Gongsun Hyeon ate not just the tea, but also the medicinal mushrooms, Goryeo ginseng, and jujubes that had been brewed in the pot. Everything had been simmered until it was soft, perfect for a patient. With every bite her sister took, Gongsun Yeong’s face lit up with a huge grin.

After the affair that was half-tea, half-meal was over, Gongsun Hyeon spoke.

“I have thanked you before, but I must once again express my gratitude for the grace you have shown in saving my foolish younger sister, Young Warrior.”

“Hey, sister. I told you to speak casually.”

“How could I? Who knows what would have become of you if not for him.”

I chimed in as well. “I’d be grateful if you would speak comfortably. To be honest, it makes me a bit uncomfortable…” I said, adding an endearing smile.

At that, Gongsun Yeong looked like she was about to die from delight, but her older sister’s expression only hardened.

“That is something I will do when the time comes, when we are on more familiar terms.” It meant she would drop the formalities once they were closer. “I have heard that you used a unique medical art, Young Warrior. And that you also suffered a blow to the head and have amnesia.”

A low, husky voice emerged from her lips. I straightened my posture.

“Yes. Yes.”

“And you were the one who discovered the Qi-Dispersing Poison, correct?”

I shook my head. “I only felt that my throat was itchy. It was Lord White Qilin who identified it. I did nothing…”

“…”

She said nothing, merely watching me. I understood the meaning behind her silence. She had seen through me. Of course, she couldn’t have figured everything out, but she had certainly detected the strangeness in my actions. It would have been easy for her to pick apart my story and question me, but I was her sister’s savior.

Finally, she spoke. “The poison used before the convoy attack and the poison used in the attack on the branch office, while appearing to be the same, had different origins.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Are you aware of the main ingredient of Qi-Dispersing Poison?”

I recalled the description from the novel. I knew the answer, but whether I should say it in front of her was another matter. However, trying to deceive the woman before me was a dangerous game. It was better to admit what I knew.

I opened my mouth. “…Isn’t it the Blue-Spotted Snake?”

The Blue-Spotted Snake, a small serpent the size of an adult’s index finger. Its bite caused only minor swelling, like a mosquito bite, but when the venom of several snakes was refined, it became the primary ingredient for Qi-Dispersing Poison.

“Yes. For you to know even that, you are truly remarkable. As I hold the title of Poison Dragon, I have some knowledge of snake venoms. Though both were from the Blue-Spotted Snake, one came from Yunnan, while the other… came from Xuzhou.”

“You can tell the difference even if it’s from the same type of snake?”

“It is not so difficult. The Blue-Spotted Snakes of Yunnan eat the frogs of Yunnan, which makes their venom oily. The snakes of Xuzhou, however, eat the locusts of Xuzhou. Even for the same snake, their diet differs by region. Would it not be strange if one could not tell the difference?”

Most people live their lives without ever knowing such things.

She continued, “It is curious that even the same poison was used by different people. And Xuzhou. Does that name bring anything to mind?”

It did. But I didn’t know if it was a good idea to say it. The woman before me was not a person, but a blade. A coldly gleaming sword. I felt as if I were being drawn into her orbit.

“Isn’t Xuzhou the destination of the convoy that was attacked?”

“It is. Which made me wonder. ‘Why did the first attackers, the mounted bandits, use a poison from a distant place like Yunnan?’” A faint smile touched her lips. A slight pause, and then she revealed her true point. “Does it not seem as though they were mercenaries, hired from afar, lying in wait to ambush the convoy?”

A chilling cold filled the room. She continued in a languid tone.

“And why did the second attack originate from the destination, Xuzhou? This is a branch office of the escort agency. Though it is not the main headquarters, it has walls and a roof. It is self-evident that it is a much harder target to attack than the first, is it not?”

A sharp, predatory smile graced her lips. She would kill them. Whoever had dared to touch her sister, Gongsun Yeong, she would find them and kill them. I realized what she was thinking. This was different from the novel; the raw, living presence of her intent made me shiver. I also realized that the process of her revenge would likely happen much faster than I remembered.

She said, “I believe I can identify the different attackers in time. But more than that… isn’t it fun to imagine? What could possibly be in Xuzhou?”

I knew. The shadow of the Demonic Cult was hiding there. I knew this because I had read the novel. But she had arrived at this same deduction with only a few pieces of information.

‘It won’t be long before the two sisters are called the Twin Dragons of Gongsun.’

Gongsun Hyeon continued. “Time is short, and tracking both simultaneously is no easy task. I cannot commit the folly of losing the rabbit I have already caught by chasing after a deer that has already fled. I must secure one of them for certain.”

“‘To pick up one and let go of one’,” I murmured.

“Yes. Your mind is indeed exceptionally sharp.”

It meant that to catch one thing, you must let another go. The phrase came from an anecdote about Sima Guang. When he saw a child drowning in a large water vat, Sima Guang picked up a large stone and smashed the vat, rescuing the child. Though the vat was lost, his swift judgment saved a precious life, and people praised his decision as ‘To pick up one and let go of one’.

This was that kind of situation. Gaining both was difficult. A time to abandon one thing for the sake of what was most important. She had identified that moment.

“Young Master, which one would you pursue?”

“I don’t know.”

“I am aware of your amnesia. However, I find that those who have lost their memories often have the sharpest intuition about matters concerning themselves. Please, tell me what your gut feeling is.”

She was saying, I’ll pretend to believe you, so just pick one.

Xuzhou? No, the Demonic Cult is out of the question. No matter how strong Gongsun Yeong was, she was still an inexperienced warrior who had been felled by Qi-Dispersing Poison. If they started digging into the cult, the Gongsun Clan would be the one to be annihilated.

Yunnan? But if she goes down that path, she will end up with irreversible blood on her hands.

The main culprit in this incident was the Demonic Cult; the accomplices were the elders of the Gongsun Clan. The two groups were unaware of each other, but they had become strangely entangled by a single purpose.

As I was weighing the options, a thought struck me.

Wait a minute. In the original story, didn’t she head to Yunnan anyway?

Only then did I realize that her asking me was the test itself. She had already formed a strong suspicion and was close to a conclusion.

“If it were me,” I said, “I would look for the motive before doing anything else.”

“The motive?”

I decided to present a third option.

“Yes. For a force of that size to make a move, there must be a reason, right? Wouldn’t it be best to compare the possible motives first and then go after the most plausible one?”

At my words, she was silent for a moment, and then she laughed. She thought to herself, I didn’t expect him to say what I was already thinking.

If this were a test, I had scored 120 out of 100. I was told to make a guess, and I had delivered the correct answer. She intuited that the boy before her had seen right through her. He was shedding the mask of a sweet child and showing his true face.

The strange thing was, if he had heard the rumors about her, or even the gossip among the Cloud-Dragon Escort warriors, he should have shown some wariness. Yet the boy acted as if such things didn’t concern him at all. That meant he either trusted Gongsun Yeong’s word completely, or he had already come to his own conclusions. Given his personality, he didn’t seem the type to trust people completely. Which meant he had already made his judgment.

I must bring him into the Gongsun Clan. And as a part of her younger sister, Gongsun Yeong’s, faction. For a child so young to be this intelligent, she could only imagine what he would become in the future.

***

We talked for a long time. This time, it wasn’t a test, but casual small talk. Mostly, Gongsun Yeong would talk while Gongsun Hyeon would listen, nodding with a faint smile. She was not a person who spoke much to her sister; she was a listener. I occasionally chimed in to liven up the mood.

After our conversation, I stepped outside. Gongsun Yeong came with me to escort me back to my guest room.

“Wow, it’s been a long time since my sister talked so enjoyably with someone other than me.”

“Enjoyably? She didn’t smile once in front of me.”

“My sister doesn’t smile much normally. It’s only because it was you that she even gave that small smile.”

“I think she was smiling at you, Noona, not me.”

“Normally, she wouldn’t even do that.”

What was Gongsun Hyeon usually like? It was both the same and different from what was mentioned in the novel. The few lines describing a supporting character could only reveal a fraction of the person.

“I had a feeling she might open up a little to you,” Gongsun Yeong said.