Cane, startled by Tang Onjeong’s sheer force, burrowed into my sleeve.

Hey. It tickles. It tickles, you little punk.

When I squirmed and jerked around like I was twisting myself into knots, Tang Jung let out a sigh like he was about to lose his mind.

I’m not doing it on purpose. It’s just itchy.

Tang Jung pulled his gaze off me and clicked his tongue at Tang Onjeong.

“You need to say it out loud to understand? Even your husband can’t handle you—he runs away every other day. And you want me to send my precious disciple to you?”

“Mongrang didn’t run away. He went out for some fresh air. He misses Xi’an, so he went for an outing.”

“That bastard Mong—he threw away his own Seongdo family and married into yours. Born the son of a high official, living without want his whole life... do you think his heart is comfortable, living with his wife’s family? Stop throwing tantrums and take care of him.”

“Tch. What do you even know about married life, Elder. You’ve never been married.”

“Even if I’ve never been married, I know this much—if you act like you do, your husband runs. Go to the market and grab a five-year-old and ask. They’ll all tell you they’d run, too.”

“Elder!”

Tang Onjeong stomped her foot, pouting like he was being unfair.

Listening to them, I rolled my eyes.

So Grandpa’s never been married. First time hearing that.

“I’m going to marry Brother Tang!”

At the same time, the image of that little girl flashed in my head, and I hurriedly shook it off. Peng Rak’s face also flashed by—laughing and saying it was about time Tang Jung got married late.

Absolutely not. No messed-up family tree.

Still grumbling, Tang Onjeong spoke curtly.

“I’ll handle Mongrang myself. Anyway—this child must come to the Poison King Hall.”

“No.”

“That’s for Sohae to decide. Well? Sohae. Won’t you come to the Poison King Hall? This aunt will treat you well.”

“Ahaha... Thank you for thinking kindly of me, Hall Master. But I still don’t know anything, so it’s hard for me to answer rashly...”

“What? What is there to agonize over? What hall could possibly fit you better than this, that you’d be hesitating?”

Tang Onjeong barked like my answer was nonsense.

I let out a hollow laugh.

Because I don’t want to touch bugs.

If they were planting poisonous herbs up on a mountain, they were definitely raising poisonous insects and venomous snakes somewhere, too. I had zero desire to squeeze and handle things like that.

I’d rather go to the Medical Hall.

...Though if the choice is between getting crushed against Tang Juhee every day or touching bugs... is touching bugs actually better? Why are my options this garbage?

As my face showed how stuck I was, Tang Jung waved his hand sharply.

“Onjeong, stop being noisy and get out. Sohae needs to rest.”

“Already? You’re too much, Elder. I came all this way—are you throwing me out without even giving me a bite of sweets? When I was little, you doted on me and always gave me sweets.”

“Oh, listen to you. Are you five? Sweets—at your age? You’re pushing forty. What sweets.”

Tang Jung snorted like it was ridiculous.

But since he was rummaging through his sleeve anyway, I got the feeling they always bickered like this.

Tang Onjeong bit into the sweets he handed over without hesitation—then her eyes went round.

“Elder... this tastes strange.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Why is there no poison? You always mixed in a little hellebore juice.”

At her question, Tang Jung shut his mouth tight. He flicked a glance at me, then forced an awkward smile.

He looked guilty.

“It’s disappointing. This isn’t the taste I remember. Ever since I was little you ‘built my resistance’ by putting poison in every snack. Sometimes I still remember when you smeared pufferfish toxin on the candy. My tongue went numb for ages.”

Tang Onjeong laughed softly, soaked in nostalgia.

This was not something I could ignore.

I asked quietly.

“...Grandpa. That sweets you gave me when we first met—did it have poison?”

“.......”

Tang Jung avoided my eyes.

Right. This old man definitely fed it to me on purpose because he couldn’t be sure I was truly poison-immune just from “touching poison and being fine.”

“Ahem. This old man is tired. Stop chatting and leave. Sohae, you go back and rest too.”

Under my vicious stare, Tang Jung cleared his throat and issued an eviction order.

I stomped out of his hall with a sulky face.

*****

“...So then Grandpa pretended he didn’t hear me and kicked me out. He definitely gave me poisoned sweets.”

“Ahaha. Our Sohae... that really hurt your feelings, didn’t it?”

At my grumbling, Tang Un burst out laughing.

“Growing up in the Tang Clan, it isn’t easy to avoid food laced with poison. Until you eat the same food outside, you don’t even know it’s poison. You think that’s just how it’s supposed to taste.”

“Was it like that for you too, Brother?”

“I was never given poison because my body is weak. But one time Juhee came to play at my hall, and she was shocked when she ate a rice cake with no poison. She asked why it wasn’t spicy—then she emptied an entire basket right there.”

“Her?”

“Mhm. Juhee was seven then. After that, she threw a fit for a while, saying she didn’t want to eat poison. Your second mother had a hard time.”

Tang Un spoke gently, like he was recalling an old, dear memory.

It was hard to imagine seven-year-old Tang Juhee whining because he didn’t want to eat poison.

So that’s why he goes around making other people eat poison now. Like, ‘I can’t die alone, so you’re coming with me,’ because he’s mad he had to eat it as a kid.

But that didn’t make me feel any better. I kept grumbling.

“Even so. Who casually hands someone snacks with poison in them...? That’s too much. I didn’t think even Grandpa would do that to me.”

“Haha. Don’t take it too hard. It’s in the past.”

“And training too. These days he doesn’t even let me breathe—he drives me all day. I’m dying. What kind of master makes you train from the moment you open your eyes until you fall asleep?”

Tang Un pinched and pulled my cheek like I shouldn’t say things like that.

“Where could you find a better master than Grandpa? You think that because you don’t know yet. There are so many bad masters in the world who treat their disciples like servants.”

Shaking his head, Tang Un went on.

“Cook. Wash clothes. Clean. Chop wood. And then—errands for liquor every other day, all kinds of useless tasks. There are even madmen who dump their gambling debts on you.”

Now that he said it... didn’t every eccentric old master in those stories act exactly like that?

“If the disciple runs because he can’t take it anymore, the master catches him and sweet-talks him. This is all part of training. I’ll teach you peerless martial arts soon. Shameless lies—just to make the disciple come back and keep serving.”

“Oh...”

“Then kids with nowhere else to go get tempted again. It’s hard to quit after you’ve already endured so much, right? But if you stay under a master like that, will you become a master? No. You become a handy laborer who’s good at housework.”

...True? That actually makes sense.

At the look on my face, Tang Un laughed.

“Well, if the child has excellent bones ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) and astonishing talent, maybe they become a master anyway. But then it’s not because of the master—someone like that would’ve become a master no matter who they met. In fact, meeting the wrong master just clips their wings. At least you don’t have to worry about that, do you? You’ll be receiving the secret techniques of Grandpa, one of the Ten Venerables of Murim.”

Tang Un patted my head like he was trying to ease me.

“Grandpa is doing it because he worries about you. He wants you to be able to protect yourself as soon as possible.”

With a sigh, I nodded.

I didn’t not understand Grandpa’s heart. I knew he cherished me, and I knew he wanted me strong fast.

My head understood.

But my body was exhausted, so the complaints kept spilling out anyway.

When I finally looked like I accepted it, Tang Un’s eyes curved prettily.

“Don’t feel too wronged. At least the poison they feed you in the Tang Clan is for the sake of raising your martial prowess. In my mother’s family, they used poison to try to kill me.”

“...What? What do you mean? The Zhuge Clan fed you poison? Why?”

When I asked, flustered, Tang Un smiled coldly.

“Who knows. I don’t really know either. Perhaps they didn’t like watching my mother—the precious jewel of the Zhuge—suffer because of me.”

“......”

Damn it. I said the wrong thing.

I forced an awkward smile and stumbled over my words.

“I-I see.”

“If you ever go out into the martial world, don’t associate with the Zhuge. That place is crawling with dullards who think they’re geniuses.”

“Ah... yes.”

“Of course, if you want to learn schemes and manipulation, it’s fine to mingle with them. Staying as a guest retainer at the Zhuge Clan for about a month could be a good experience. You’ll learn how stupid and selfish humans can be.”

“...Brother. Are you not close with your mother’s family?”

“It’s just an objective evaluation. Why would I have feelings toward them?”

Tang Un laughed behind his hand.

You have feelings. You have so many feelings they’re spilling out.

I messed up.

I hurriedly changed the subject.

“Ahaha, Brother. Tang Juhee told me—after the coming-of-age, you have to choose an affiliation, right? Where are you affiliated?”

“Ah. Me? I registered my name with the archive pavilion. Clan Head Muheok made it convenient for me, so I only have to go out about once every seven days.”

“Oh—yeah. That fits you.”

Archive pavilion. Basically a librarian. It suited the soft-spoken Tang Un perfectly.

“Sohae... you’ve already reached the age where you’ll need to choose as well. Is there somewhere you’re considering?”

“I’m not sure yet. The Poison King Hall Master told me to come to the Poison King Hall, but I’m... not thrilled about handling poisonous creatures. And if I pick the Medical Hall, I don’t know if I have the talent to be a healer.”

“You’re calm, Sohae. I think you’d do well no matter where you go. Your hair-pinning ceremony will probably be the year after next, so take your time and think.”

“Okay.”

“But your aunt won’t leave you alone. She felt wronged that the Medical Hall ‘stole’ Juhee from her. She’ll do whatever she can to drag you into the Poison King Hall, so prepare yourself.”

Thinking of Tang Onjeong’s booming voice made my ears sting for no reason.

...Honestly, I should probably avoid going anywhere near the Poison King Hall.