Chapter 55
“I knew this would happen.”
When I nodded, showing I’d recovered completely, Grandfather said with a faint smile,
“I have something to give you.”
He sat me on his knee and, using Heogongseobmul — the technique of summoning objects from thin air — drew out a small wooden box.
“Whoa!”
Heogongseobmul was a technique only the most skilled masters could use. It consumed an enormous amount of inner energy.
But Grandfather performed it so effortlessly, as if simply reaching out with his hand.
“This was something I’d been keeping to give you later…”
Click.
When the lid of the box opened, inside lay a single, sharp throwing dagger.
It didn’t look new, but the faint gleam along its edge revealed its quality.
“This is the dagger I used in my youth.”
“……!”
“It’s called Ilpabido — ‘One-Break Flying Blade.’”
Grandfather’s wrinkled hand stroked the blade with quiet affection.
‘I’ve heard of Ilpabido before,’ I thought.
It was practically the weapon that had made Grandfather who he was — the blade that earned its name from piercing and shattering anything with a single throw.
It was said that, once upon a time, everyone in the martial world trembled before the Ilpabido.
When Dokjon Dang Cheongi first appeared in the martial world, people were so terrified by the power of Ilpabido that they began calling him by the same name as his blade.
And now… he was giving it to me?
I looked up at him, wide-eyed.
Click.
Grandfather drew the dagger out of the box.
“I kept it at the Namgung estate because of an old promise. It’s been a long time since I’ve held it myself.”
He handed the dagger toward me.
“Go on, hold it.”
“…You’re really giving this to me?”
“When you grow older, I’ll ask Cheolbang to forge you an even finer one.”
I carefully accepted the dagger. It had a pleasant, solid weight.
“Still, you should keep this one with you. Even when you get a new dagger.”
“……”
“There are still those in the martial world who’ll recognize Ilpabido.”
“Is this a sign that I’m your disciple, Grandfather?”
“That’s right.”
His voice softened.
“It’s not a divine weapon with special powers. But it’s the best dagger I ever owned — one that once traveled the martial world with me.”
The blade glinted coldly, light catching along its edge.
“To inherit this is to inherit the spirit I carried back then.”
“Grandfather…!”
“Work hard, Biya.”
“Are you tired?”
“N… no?”
“You look tired.”
“I’m not…”
I had said I would work hard — but…
‘I’m only eight years old!’
Grandfather was teaching me how to throw the dagger himself.
He also taught me how to retrieve it faster than anyone else.
The problem was, my small body simply wasn’t ready for that kind of training.
“Hm. Jin-hyeon could already do this easily when he was eight.”
“Father and I aren’t the same…”
Father had started learning to throw daggers practically as soon as he could walk!
I, on the other hand, had only recently begun forming a danjeon — the energy core within the body.
True, it had grown a bit thanks to Grandfather’s help and the Poison Core technique he’d guided me through, but still—
“I’ll have to feed you some elixirs. If I give them by the bowl, it’ll probably help.”
I heard him mutter to himself, lost in thought.
But I didn’t have the strength to care anymore.
While Grandfather was thinking about elixirs, I quietly lay down on the dirt floor.
Ah… I’m so tired.
‘This training is way too much for an eight-year-old!’
I knew Grandfather was holding back for my sake — taking it easy because I was young.
But there are limits to what a child can handle, even if she’s the granddaughter of one of the Ten Great Masters.
“This is the realm of… the granddaughter’s limits…!”
“What are you doing lying on the ground?”
Grandfather held out a hand to me.
“Come on, take my hand and stand up.”
“Yes, sir…”
“Just a little more. Then I’ll send you to Cheonghyeon. You said you wanted to brag about going to the Namgung estate, didn’t you?”
“I don’t think I even have the energy to brag right now…”
“Nonsense. Energy is something you make.”
“I already used all of mine…”
But Grandfather didn’t listen.
Until now, I hadn’t quite understood why Father called him “stubborn as an ox.”
‘But he really is!’
Father was absolutely right.
Still, I didn’t complain further. I grabbed his hand and pulled myself up.
Then I looked down at the dirt-smeared Ilpabido.
It was filthy, but when I wiped it once with my sleeve, its brilliant sheen returned immediately.
“Focus again, and throw.”
Grandfather brushed the dust off my shoulders with a pat.
“Don’t throw with the thought of hitting the target — throw with the thought of piercing through it.”
“But… it’s not working well.”
“That’s because your hands are still weak. Even Jin-hyeon started by learning to throw needles instead of daggers. Why did that boy teach you backwards…”
Grandfather placed his hands over mine.
“When you throw, think there will be no next time if you fail to pierce it. That mindset — that’s what you need right now.”
Under his guidance, my small hands moved naturally with his.
“One strike. End it in a single blow.”
Before I even realized it, the dagger had already flown from my hand.
It struck dead center on the target board Grandfather had pointed to.
Grandfather stroked his beard, sleeves fluttering in the breeze.
“See? You’re good, aren’t you?”
I stared at him and the dagger, my mouth wide open.
‘That was you throwing, Grandfather!’
I swallowed my frustration.
‘Becoming the patriarch’s disciple is seriously hard work…!’
“So that’s what happened,” said Cheonghyeon, sipping her chrysanthemum tea.
I stirred the petals floating in my own cup.
“Yeah. Anyway, that’s how it went… So now I’ll be going to the Namgung estate. It’s not so sad to part anymore.”
“Why not?”
“Because even if we part, we’ll meet again.”
“So you were only sad before because you thought you wouldn’t see me again?”
“Uh-huh.”
If you can meet again, farewells aren’t frightening or sad.
But if you can’t… that kind of parting is lonely — and it hurts.
I knew that all too well. I’d already experienced both kinds of farewells.
Cheonghyeon added a few more chrysanthemum petals to my cup.
“Even if I know I’ll see you again, I still feel sad when someone leaves.”
“If you promise to meet again, there’s nothing to be sad about.”
“How can feelings be controlled that easily?”
“Heh…”
This older sister was already fifteen — old enough to master her emotions, unlike me.
“Hm?”
“Nothing.”
I quickly sipped my tea to hide my thoughts.
“Anyway, that’s how it is. So I’ll see you again in Anhui, okay? You won’t pretend not to know me, right?”
“Why would I? You’re probably the only person there I’ll have to greet anyway.”
“That’s a good answer.”
Namgung Cheonghyeon glanced at my empty sleeve.
“By the way, what about your snake? Did you release it into the Thousand Poison Forest?”
“Yeah. I left it with Aunt. She said she’d feed it well and send it back later, so not to worry.”
Aunt treated Manhyeolsa — the snake — with great care.
I couldn’t leave it to the servants; they were terrified of it.
So Aunt took it upon herself to release it into the Thousand Poison Forest.
‘I guess I ended up dumping a troublesome job on her…’
But Aunt had just smiled warmly and told me not to worry — she didn’t mind at all.
She was always kind and gentle like that.
Then Cheonghyeon suddenly spoke.
“Be careful.”
“Why?”
“That snake is your bodyguard, right? But it’s not by your side now.”
She wasn’t wrong.
“It’s fine. I have another protector.”
As I said that, I glanced toward the window.
Somewhere out there, Choyo was watching over me.
“Still, you should be cautious. On the way here, I noticed the carp in the pond were all dead…”
“What?”
“Since ancient times, when the carp in a household’s pond die, it’s considered an ominous sign. If the family’s fish all died at once, something bad could…”
Before she could finish, I slammed my teacup down.
Tea splashed onto my sleeve, but I didn’t care.
“The carp in the pond — all dead?”
“Yeah, the one we passed just earlier.”
That pond… that was where Dang Pae-jin had taken me yesterday.
The same pond where I threw away the mooncake he’d given me!
‘Then… it’s true?’
Did he really… poison the mooncake?
Even knowing that I’m immune to poison?!
