Why is that lady coming out of there?
Didn’t she run away to Shaanxi Province? Did Tang Geoh go all the way to Shaanxi to look for Lady Tang?
So, a person living in Sichuan Province took a head of the Seong Family in Hubei Province and then went to a mansion in Shaanxi, only to hear that Lady Tang is in Yichang and went to set a trap? And even made Tang Hwa-rin’s mother a hostage on the side?
Even villains need dedication to do their job, huh? With that level of enthusiasm, they could have put in the effort to build a healthy family instead of all this trouble. What a remarkable passion.
Thud!
‘Even in open fields, escaping would be difficult.’
There aren’t many black-clad survivors, but they’re all experts. No matter how fast I run, it would look like a turtle trying to escape to them.
For now, let’s observe the situation.
“Crazy woman? This f*ing woman can’t keep her mouth shut to her mother after a long time.”
What a heartwarming mother-daughter relationship!
Lady Tang’s mother seemed to have forgotten where she was and that she was tied up, immediately snapping back at her daughter’s crazy remarks.
As expected from a woman who ruined multiple lives while living as a head of the Seong Family; her personality isn’t ordinary.
“Why are you here?”
“Who do you think dragged me here? Are you clueless or just teasing me… cough!”
“Quiet.”
Tang Geoh pressed down on the area around her throat, and no more words came from her mouth.
Is he pressing her vital point? Blood stabbing is more fascinating every time I see it. There’s even a mute button and a sleep button!
“What the hell are you going to do with this crazy woman? You’re not actually trying to threaten to kill her, are you?”
Tang Hwa-rin looked at Tang Geoh with an expression of disbelief.
You can’t be serious about threatening to kill her, right? That wouldn’t work. Maybe if you say you’ll let her live if she eats poison, she might bite.
“I’ll give you the power of life and death over your mother.”
Tang Geoh said something shocking, as if he knew that fact.
“What?”
“Your mother is a piece of trash who, knowing everything, helped for her own wealth and glory. No, once her relationship with the head of the family soured, she even threatened me for poison.”
Lady Tang knew about the experiments? And killing her husband? The prince who enjoys usurping the throne would be a fool.
“So what? Who do you really want to kill?”
As Hwa-rin sent a murderous glare, Tang Geoh opened his mouth with a fatherly smile.
“Hwa-rin. I understand that you want to kill me for making you what you are. But I’m different from your mother, who pushed you into hell. I cherish you like my own child. If you become a poison master, I will grant you all the wealth beyond the pain you endure. So unleash your anger on her and come with me.”
These days, they even conduct biological experiments on their children. What nonsense!
“Let me go.”
Hwa-rin, don’t tell me you’re falling for such nonsense?
As Hwa-rin glared at her mother with furious eyes, Tang Geoh nodded and released her vital point.
“H-Hwa-rin.”
Concern etched on Lady Tang’s face as she looked at Hwa-rin.
“Did you really know everything?”
“I-I found out later!”
So she did know something. A shadow fell across Hwa-rin’s face. She sighed softly and closed her eyes as if trying to suppress her anger.
Hwa-rin’s eyelids trembled restlessly. No, she can’t do this. If Hwa-rin crosses the irreversible river…
“Hwa-rin! You don’t have to kill that beast and become one yourself!”
As I shouted at Hwa-rin, she looked at me with surprise.
Hwa-rin, I’m not saying this because it’s immoral; don’t commit wrongs just because it doesn’t seem right. You, you have a gentler heart than you think.
If Hwa-rin kills her mother out of anger, it will remain with her as a lifelong wound.
That wound could eventually turn Hwa-rin into a poisonous master. I don’t want that outcome.
“She’s a person not worth killing.”
Did she read my mind? Hwa-rin threw the knife she was holding away.
“Then she’s useless, so I might as well kill her.”
“No!”
Hwa-rin deflected the poison attack thrown by Tang Geoh.
“Does her life mean so much to you? If you want to save her, then eat,”
Tang Geoh mocked as he watched her.
“What a pity, she’s not worth saving anyway.”
“You’re saying that while trying to protect your mother, huh?”
Tang Geoh spoke while subtly hiding Lady Tang behind him.
“I’m not this crazy woman.”
That’s true. I don’t want to kill her, but I’m not going to eat poison to save her either. However, if I leave her, Hwa-rin’s mother will die.
Then Hwa-rin would become a passive bystander just like her mother.
The standoff between Tang Geoh and Tang Hwa-rin continued for a while. What a ridiculous situation over someone who can’t be killed or saved. Just a hopeless aunt!
“What a useless woman.”
Contrary to my thoughts, Lady Tang wasn’t a diet-conscious piece of chicken breast without salt. She picked up the knife that fell to the ground.
“What, what?”
“Were you always this clueless? You think they’ll let me live like this? …Ugh!”
Lady Tang charged at the black-clad man with the knife, and he wasn’t someone to just stand by.
In an instant, Lady Tang’s arms were severed, and she collapsed onto the ground.
“Y-Y-You’re insane?”
Hwa-rin rushed to her fallen mother in shock.
“You foolish woman. From the moment you were dragged here, you were as good as dead, so I played the role of a mother.”
The blood loss was severe. It wasn’t just her arms that were cut; there were wounds on her abdomen as well.
“Stop it! Why pretend to be good? Stop acting good!”
“You idiot. This isn’t pretending to be good; I’m still making a fuss until the end. So don’t live an embarrassing life and live well. You like that man, right? But think carefully. Once you date a black-haired guy, you can never date another.”
“You crazy woman! Hey! Hey!”
As Hwa-rin shook her mother’s shoulders, her focus was fading away.
“I don’t want to see your face anymore. Try to delay your arrival in the afterlife…”
Was it Hwa-rin’s attitude that stirred a bit of maternal instinct? Or was it the struggle of a villain who didn’t want to be controlled until the end?
The end of a woman who shook the lives of not only her daughter’s but also the people of the Seong Family was absurd and futile.
Hwa-rin’s eyes didn’t shed tears as she watched her mother die.
“…Mom.”
All she could do was bite her lips in despair.
———–
“What a useless woman until the very end.”
Tang Geoh scorned at the absurd death of the last pawn he prepared.
“What did you say?”
“If she doesn’t eat, I’ll kill them all. If you don’t want that, I’ll take her to the Demonic Cult.”
“Hwa-rin! Even if you eat, they’ll all die anyway.”
Everyone here is Hwa-rin’s hostage. Hwa-rin is in a state of Schrödinger’s poison; as long as she remains, our lives are sustained.
“This black-haired brat has been nothing but a nuisance since earlier.”
Tang Geoh seemed unable to let my remarks go any longer, grabbing my throat to lift me up. Are we going for another choking session?
Contrary to my expectations, it wasn’t pain in my neck; I felt a momentary loss of gravity.
“Huh?”
I felt like I was floating. Everything around me zipped past as if a video was sped up five times.
Ah. I was thrown.
In that brief thought, an immense impact hit me from behind.
“Yoon-ho!”
I saw Hwa-rin rushing toward me through the haze of blood.
Tang Hwa-rin rushed to Kang Yoon-ho, who flew away with an expression of fright.
“Yoon-ho! Are you okay? Yoon-ho! Yoon-ho!”
Wondering if anything was wrong, Hwa-rin hastily began to check Kang Yoon-ho’s condition, her hands trembling. In contrast, the injured Kang Yoon-ho seemed calm.
Kang Yoon-ho grabbed her wrist, showing he was fine, and leaned in to whisper only for her to hear.
“Hwa-rin, let’s ride and escape.”
Fortunately, he only suffered surface injuries. There didn’t seem to be serious injuries. Hwa-rin let out a small sigh of relief. But, escape? What did that mean?
Following Kang Yoon-ho’s gaze without turning her head, Hwa-rin glanced beside her. Now seeing it, the place Kang Yoon-ho was thrown was a stable at the inn.
It had no entrance, just a building with a roof shaped like a “丁,” where if they untied the reins, they could escape immediately.
Finding a way to flee while being thrown was truly impressive!
‘Can we both get away?’
The horses brought by the Tang family must be quality ones. It would be difficult for ordinary martial artists to catch up.
Hwa-rin felt the gazes of the black-clad men behind her. They didn’t follow her after she rushed toward Yoon-ho, showing their confidence in capturing her whenever they pleased.
‘If we escape together, I might live, but Yoon-ho will die.’
Her mother was dead, and the man she had thought of as a father for ten years betrayed her. Now, there was only one precious person left.
Should she risk everything just to keep her own life?
“Yoon-ho. Pretend to be dead.”
Hwa-rin made her resolve.
“What?”
Yoon-ho stared at her with a bewildered expression.
“If things get chaotic, escape.”
She didn’t want to die. But if she did, she wanted Yoon-ho’s last memory of her to be her smiling face.
Hwa-rin turned to him and smiled.
“Give me the Thousand Year Poisonous Substance. Hand it over.”
Leaving Yoon-ho behind, Hwa-rin approached Tang Geoh, extending her hand.
“Looks like you’re finally determined.”
“If even one more person dies, I won’t follow.”
“I promise.”
Hwa-rin looked at the Thousand Year Poisonous Substance in Tang Geoh’s palm. Upon closer inspection, it was broken pieces of poison.
Did that mean it was too precious to feed to just one person?
Hwa-rin gazed at the pool of Kang Yoon-ho’s blood in her palm. That face she just saw could be Yoon-ho’s last. Perhaps she should’ve kissed him before all this.
No, she can’t do that. If she did, all attention would be on her.
For Yoon-ho to escape, she couldn’t afford to draw attention.
Hwa-rin clenched her fist lightly, soaking her palm in Yoon-ho’s blood, and swallowed it with the poison.
———–
The poison she had ingested spread through her body in an instant.
The extreme poison that no one could withstand ran rampant in Hwa-rin’s blood. She felt as if a burning centipede was crawling all over her.
Even though the poison should melt through her veins, it couldn’t escape from Hwa-rin’s blood. The body she prepared over more than ten years wouldn’t easily relinquish control to the poison.
‘Shut up and follow my lead.’
At her command, the poison began to concentrate in one place.
‘We must gather the poison.’
The poison that had tried to spread throughout her body started to gather thanks to Hwa-rin’s will, slowly forming the poisonous substance.
The extreme poisons that had slumbered in her body for over a decade encircled the Thousand Year Poison gathered.
Like a spider weaving a web around its prey, Hwa-rin’s will and the poisons within her body created the substance together.
‘No. It’s insufficient.’
The gathered poison was trying to seep out. If she couldn’t hold on, her body could collapse. She had to hold on. But it was still not enough. Something was lacking.
If it continued like this, she would fail.
Amidst the despair that arose in her heart, she heard Tang Geoh and the black-clad man’s conversation.
“If this woman becomes a poison master here, can’t she take revenge on us?”
“That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“I’ve already tested the split Thousand Year Poison on several subjects.”
“Didn’t they all fail?”
“There were half-successes too. Two died during the formation of the poison, one succeeded, but a few days later, they burned from high fever and had their brains melted. The last kid withstood the heat, but eventually melted away and died in a short time. In the end, this girl will lose her mind due to high fever. At that time, we can take her away.”
The last kid must be Yoon-ho’s friend. In an instant, Hwa-rin’s mind conjured an image of Yoon-ho, who had been grieving over a woman. Suddenly, her heart ached as much as the poison’s pain.
She had to hold on. If she died like this, it would only leave another scar in his heart.
And there was something else she utterly loathed.
‘I don’t want to be the second.’
If she died like this, she would only be remembered as a passing acquaintance.
She wanted to live. If she lived, being second wouldn’t matter. One day, she would push the first out of Yoon-ho’s heart and tell him that she was here, too.
As long as she lived, she would be the final victor. But once dead, she would only be the eternal second.
‘Yoon-ho. Yoon-ho. Yoon-ho.’
A man filled Hwa-rin’s heart. If she dies, she could become the second. No, dying could also mean Yoon-ho would die.
She couldn’t lose him.
Was it because a man filled her heart? Hwa-rin felt something strange rise within her.
‘This is… Yoon-ho?’
The blood she just drank mingled with the poison. She sensed Yoon-ho’s energy. As she touched that energy, it strangely flowed toward the most dangerous spot, towards the poison.
‘No way?’
A small lead. But the most significant clue to solve her biggest problem.
Hwa-rin held onto that string firmly.
“Then there’s no need for hostages anymore. Go take the head off that one who flew over there.”
The black-clad man drew a sword after hearing Tang Geoh’s words.
“Who gave you permission?”
“Grrrrrrr!”
Hwa-rin opened her eyes wide, and as she grabbed the black-clad man’s shoulder, he melted away in an instant.
“Is it successful? Tell me!”
Tang Geoh stepped back, a mixture of vigilance and joy on his face as he asked her.
“No, it’s a failure.”
Hwa-rin looked firmly at the black-clad men and then at her own body.
It was insufficient.
It wasn’t perfect.
She knew better than anyone.
She wasn’t a complete poison master.
But.
“However, it should be enough to kill you.”
It would be enough to protect him.
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