“Hot—”
When I regained consciousness after fainting, I found myself lying on a bed with something soft underneath my head.
“…What in the world is this?”
The answer to my question came from Dokgorin.
“Oh, you’re awake?”
Dokgorin looked down at me with a calm face, as if nothing had happened.
“Why are you over there, my lady?”
“That’s because Chilbok is lying on my lap!”
As she spoke, Dokgorin gently patted my head.
“……”
So, I’m currently using Dokgorin’s lap as a pillow.
Even though it was wrapped in clothing, the uniquely soft thighs of a child provided a gentle support for my head.
“How long was I fainted for?”
Dokgorin put her finger on her chin and took on a thoughtful expression.
“About a quarter of an hour, I guess?”
Since a quarter of an hour is roughly 15 minutes, it wasn’t as long as I thought.
“I’m sorry. I’ve caused you trouble.”
As I attempted to hurriedly sit up, Dokgorin pressed my chest down gently with her right palm.
“No. I actually liked it. More than that, you won’t be able to move properly for now, so just lie down a bit longer.”
“…What?”
I was confused and tried to lift my arm, but it wouldn’t move.
“While Chilbok was asleep, I checked your body for a bit, and it seemed like you had quite a bit of fatigue built up. So, I lightly did some acupressure.”
“Acupressure, you say….”
“Yeah. I’ve released all the tension where your muscles were knotted up.”
Now that I think about it, my body did feel lighter than usual, just as Dokgorin said.
It felt like I had received a full set of Thai massages, perhaps?
“Thank you. I appreciate you going through that effort for me.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. If Chilbok wants it, I can do it anytime.”
Dokgorin said that with a smile and then started softly patting my head with her small hand.
“By the way, Chilbok, can I ask you something?”
“Sure. Go ahead.”
“When I saved you from drowning last time, did you know I was a daughter of the Dokgo family?”
“Oh, about that….”
I hesitated for a moment but decided to speak the truth.
“I figured you were the daughter of a wealthy household in the village. I had seen you a few times while going back and forth through the village.”
“Is that so?”
Dokgorin responded as if she had expected that, adding a follow-up question.
“Did you perhaps expect some kind of reward for saving me?”
I realized what Dokgorin was worried about.
Could it be that the life-saver, me, was secretly hoping for some expectation for saving her?
But I was unashamed.
“I only saved someone who fell into the water. If I had been hoping for a reward, I wouldn’t have said anything and just walked away.”
I wasn’t that calculated of a person; I just saved her because I thought the kid might die, original storyline be damned.
And whether it was my genuine feelings that reached her, Dokgorin nodded with a somewhat proud expression after hearing my words.
“Okay! I’ll believe you!”
Seeing Dokgorin show such a childlike smile, I unintentionally smiled back.
It’s hard to believe this kid would later become a ruthless vengeful spirit.
The more I thought about it, the more I considered the Murim Association’s leader a scoundrel.
As I was briefly lost in those thoughts, Dokgorin suddenly exclaimed, as if she had remembered something.
“By the way, Chilbok, my second brother and I received an invitation to the Murim Association’s birthday banquet. Would you like to join us?”
“Are you talking about me?”
“Yeah. We have to travel quite a distance, and it might be lonely without a conversation partner next to me.”
“…Do I really have to go?”
To be honest, I didn’t want to leave this village.
After all, there’s a saying that leaving home leads to misery.
But when I showed a slightly negative reaction, Dokgorin looked at me with big, tearful eyes and asked.
“Are you unhappy being with me, Chilbok?”
“No! No! That’s not it! My lady!”
No matter how dense I might be, I knew it was utterly ridiculous to skip out on a trip when the lady I serve is going.
“Hehe, then we’re going together, right?”
They say if you cry and laugh, you’ll develop horns, but seeing Dokgorin switch gears so quickly made me feel a bit deflated.
‘Was that just fake crying?’
I thought that even little girls can be cunning, and half resigned, I cautiously asked.
“So where is the Murim Association’s residence?”
Dokgorin smiled and replied.
“Shanxi Province!”
*
I don’t know much about Chinese geography, but Shanxi Province is where Liu Bei and Cao Cao fought during the Three Kingdoms, and it was also the capital of the Tang Dynasty, Chang’an.
Being located at the center of the vast Chinese mainland, Shanxi Province was a transportation hub, and it would surely take at least a month on foot to travel from Sichuan, where the Dokgo family is located, to Shanxi Province.
So, for someone like me with weak stamina, I wanted to avoid a long-distance trip, but life doesn’t always go as you wish.
‘…Damn it.’
Before I knew it, I had joined the expedition heading to Shanxi Province with Dokgoseok and his party.
From the looks of it, the second son of the Dokgo family, Dokgoseok, gave off a vibe that reminded one of a playboy.
And there was Dokgorin, the precious daughter of the Dokgo family and the one who would eventually become a part of the top ten great masters.
Excluding the eldest son, who is essentially the next heir, all the prominent figures of the Dokgo family were participating in this birthday banquet for the Murim Association’s leader.
“Seok, don’t pick unnecessary fights with members from other sects or families.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Father.”
Under normal circumstances, Dokgojin, the head of the Dokgo family, would personally attend the Murim Association’s birthday banquet, but since his aging body surely wouldn’t withstand the long-distance travel, he had to send his son and daughter instead.
After saying goodbye to the family who had come to see them off, Dokgoseok looked around and seemed to find me awkwardly standing next to Dokgorin, beaming with a grin as he extended his right hand.
“Hey, you’re the same kid I saw in Lin’s room last time. It seems you’re coming along on this trip.”
“Yes, I’ll be counting on you, Second Prince.”
“I don’t like stiff titles. So as long as you’re comfortable with it, you can call me brother in a private setting.”
“How could a mere servant like me call you that?”
“Haha, you’re quite the sharp one, aren’t you? Then do as you please.”
With that, Dokgoseok unfolded a folding fan adorned with plum blossoms, fanned himself, and hopped onto his horse.
Wait, are we riding horses?
I thought we would be walking, so I had packed a few pairs of extra straw sandals in preparation, leaving me with a bewildered expression.
Nevertheless, the group began to mount their horses one by one, and I looked to the last bastion of hope: Dokgorin.
But Dokgorin skillfully mounted her horse.
After all, she was the daughter of a martial arts family.
She must have learned some basic horsemanship and martial arts.
As I stood there lost, looking back and forth at the group, Dokgorin extended her right hand from her saddle.
“Let’s go, Chilbok.”
It felt like a lifeline being thrown down from heaven in a critical moment, and I quickly grasped Dokgorin’s hand and climbed onto the horse.
“Ahem!”
The head of the family cleared his throat upon seeing us, but when Dokgorin said, “Should I tell Chilbok to run over here while everyone else rides?” the air suddenly went quiet.
“G-Goodbye. Have a good trip.”
I could indirectly feel the heartfelt emotions of a father watching his beloved daughter grow, but honestly, if I wasn’t going to ride with Dokgorin, there was no choice but to ignore the elder’s sharp gaze.
I figured that a bit of short discomfort was far better than a long-lasting unease.
Eventually, Dokgoseok and Dokgorin stepped out through the main gate of the mansion, greeting the household staff as they went.
“We’re off.”
Thus began a long, long journey.
*
Dokgorin felt a sense of happiness from Chilbok, who had his hands around her waist, as she recalled the upcoming schedule.
‘It’ll take about a month to get from here to Chang’an.’
During that time, she could practice some fundamental martial arts techniques, but outside, she could freely train her existing martial arts.
The family’s proprietary cultivations, the Nine Palaces Martial Art, were excellent, but the top priority for her was to master poison techniques.
Having inherited her mother’s bloodline from the Sichuan house, Dokgorin had a high resistance to poison, which meant that before her reincarnation, she had transformed her own body into a perfect poison.
Of course, she didn’t dare dream of reaching that original level again in just a month.
But she could certainly create poisons to assassinate the leader of the Murim Association.
And that was because she had one secret weapon.
‘Now that I think about it, it was Chilbok who informed me about it.’
Docgogo family, known for knowing all types of poisons in the world, couldn’t even recognize the odorless and colorless deadly poison.
It’s known as Uranium (Heavenly Poison).
If she used this deadly poison made from rare metals, even the strongest masters of the martial world would be unable to avoid death.
‘This birthday banquet will be the day of your funeral, Weijichun.’
