‘I wonder if this is okay.’

I glanced at grandfather.

Grandfather held me in his arms and continued walking.

I was worried if it was alright to treat the guests of the Nam Gung family this way.

Moreover, they weren’t just visiting the Nam Gung family.

They came to investigate the death of Hyungmyeonsu and find out who killed him.

‘I didn’t expect the Murim Alliance to show interest.’

Grandfather spoke to me as I quietly rested in his arms.

“If anyone treats you carelessly, tell me anytime.”

“But… what if I become a burden? I could bring shame to the family.”

Nam Gung Hyun Jong always clicked his tongue when he saw me.

He said that a failure like me was a burden to the family just by existing.

Grandfather’s brow twitched.

“The Nam Gung family does not concern itself with the opinions of other families.”

“…”

“It means you can act even more as you please than you do now.”

“But…”

Grandfather patted my back.

His hands, hardened by martial arts training, were large and firm.

Just like my father’s hands in the past.

I felt like I might cry at his warm touch.

[This is the timeline separator]

Je Gal Yu Ryong was trying to calm Dang Hae Jun, who was grumbling beside him.

They had been expelled from the Nam Gung family compound on Nam Gung Jin Cheon’s orders.

Dang Hae Jun’s face was red with humiliation.

He had been dragged out ignominiously by Nam Gung family warriors.

It must have been the first time he experienced such humiliation since being born as a son of the Dang family.

“Isn’t it ridiculous? What I said wasn’t even wrong.”

Je Gal Yu Ryong barely managed to hold back from bursting into laughter at Dang Hae Jun’s reaction.

He wanted to mock Dang Hae Jun’s stupidity.

But instead, he carefully nodded his head. Dang Hae Jun muttered as if he couldn’t understand.

“Why on earth did the Nam Gung family head protect that thing?”

“Who knows.”

“Hwa Su clearly said that no one in the family cares about that lowborn.”

“Yet it’s Nam Gung Hwa Su who’s been expelled from the family.”

“Brother?”

Je Gal Yu Ryong, who had been looking at Dang Hae Jun with cold eyes, soon smiled brightly.

Je Gal Yu Ryong wanted to part ways with the pathetic fellow in front of him immediately.

‘But I can’t even believe if that appearance is real.’

Was that stupid and pathetic Dang Hae Jun really his true self?

It was a situation where no one could be trusted. And the same went for Nam Gung Lin. Nam Gung Jin Cheon cared for Nam Gung Lin very much.

It was like Nam Gung Jin Cheon’s gaze when he used to look at Nam Gung Hyun in the past.

‘Something is definitely strange.’

He had heard a lot about Nam Gung Lin from Nam Gung Hwa Su, who attended the academy.

That there was an idiot in his family, he said.

But the Nam Gung Lin he saw was completely different from the person Nam Gung Hwa Su described.

The mature gaze beyond that of a child and that resolute atmosphere left an impression on him.

‘If they’re on our side, we’ve discovered unexpected talent…’

Je Gal Yu Ryong couldn’t get Ji Cheon Wu, who looked at him fiercely, and Nam Gung Lin with indifferent eyes out of his mind.

It was too early to hastily conclude whether they were enemies or allies. He calmed his excited heart.

Enemies existed anywhere, anytime.

Even those believed to be comrades today could become enemies.

Wasn’t that something he had experienced many times so far?

After calming himself, Je Gal Yu Ryong asked Dang Hae Jun.

“So what do you plan to do now?”

“We’ll have to wait quietly here until the investigation team leaves. We have to return together, after all.”

It was an ordinary answer.

But Je Gal Yu Ryong didn’t believe Dang Hae Jun’s words. He observed Dang Hae Jun from an observer’s perspective.

Je Gal Yu Ryong knew Dang Hae Jun’s personality well.

He was the type to always get revenge after being wronged by someone.

[This is the timeline separator]

I planned to keep a low profile as much as possible until the investigation team left.

I also slowly resumed my training.

[It’ll be difficult to go look for the spirit medicine until those investigation team guys leave, huh.]

I nodded.

Uncle Dagger seemed to be thinking the same as me.

[There are many who would be suspicious if your inner power suddenly increases.]

Uncle Dagger told me not to trust anyone in the Nam Gung family except grandfather.

‘Let’s lay low as much as possible.’

Until Ji Cheon Wu builds up his strength. There was no one I could trust.

If before I was just desperate to survive, now it was different.

Due to the deviation from the original story, I now had many things I needed to do.

If Ji Cheon Wu doesn’t become strong, the world would surely fall into chaos.

The same went for the Nam Gung family.

When Nam Gung Hwa Su and Uncle were around, I disliked the Nam Gung family.

But the Nam Gung family with grandfather, aunt, and Nam Gung Yu Cheong now held a different meaning for me.

‘I want to protect them. Grandfather, aunt, and Nam Gung Yu Cheong too.’

Amusingly, I wanted to protect them.

I was watching Nam Gung Yu Cheong sparring with Ji Cheon Wu.

These days, the two of them sparred frequently.

Ji Cheon Wu’s sword sliced through the sky.

I marveled at Ji Cheon Wu’s sword. Uncle Dagger felt the same.

[That guy really has incredible talent.]

After the Hyungmyeonsu incident, Ji Cheon Wu’s training time was astonishing even to me.

I wanted him to become strong because I knew the future, but Ji Cheon Wu started training so hard that I didn’t know what purpose he had for becoming stronger.

‘Two monsters are sparring.’

Nam Gung Yu Cheong’s face, which had been relaxed at first, showed signs of urgency.

He must have felt Ji Cheon Wu getting stronger with each sparring session.

Even if there was a limit to how much stronger he could get right now due to the Nine Yin Meridian Obstruction, his talent was real.

I suddenly became curious.

How strong could Nam Gung Yu Cheong become?

There was a scene in the final chapter of Cheonmajijeon describing Ji Cheon Wu demonstrating his martial arts.

Ji Cheon Wu displayed power that could almost be called godly there.

‘In Cheonmajijeon, it was said that Nam Gung Yu Cheong had talent similar to Ji Cheon Wu.’

Nam Gung Yu Cheong was definitely an incredible talent. If he hadn’t been defeated by Hyungmyeonsu, he would have been a reliable shield for Ji Cheon Wu in the future battle against the Blood Sect.

But in the end, Nam Gung Yu Cheong disappeared without ever shining.

‘The same would have happened to me.’

Thinking that far, I realized I hadn’t said something important to Uncle Dagger.

‘Uncle, you seem like a really good person. If it weren’t for you, I might not be alive.’

However, Uncle Dagger did not respond. Just as I began to feel puzzled, his answer came.

[I am not a good person.]

I blinked in confusion. It wasn’t the usual confident tone Uncle Dagger used to speak.

It was a deeper, darker voice filled with guilt.

[I was trapped in the dagger to pay for my sins.]

‘….’

[It’s an unforgivable sin. Because I couldn’t atone for it while alive, I chose to be trapped in the dagger.]

This was the first time I heard about Uncle Dagger’s past. I didn’t know how to respond.

If it was such a grave sin that he willingly trapped himself in a dagger, how serious must it have been?

In the Cheonmajijeon content I knew, Uncle Dagger barely appeared. So I never saw him atone for his sins and gain freedom.

‘Then does that mean he has to be trapped in the dagger forever?’

That seemed too cruel.

But since I didn’t know what kind of sin he had committed, I couldn’t speak carelessly.

At that moment.

Nam Gung Yu Cheong and Ji Cheon Wu, who had finished their sparring, approached me.

Both were drenched in sweat. Nam Gung Yu Cheong spoke to me as if he had just remembered something.

“Lin, would you like to go to the market together?”

“The market?”

“Uncle asked me to run an errand.”

“What kind of errand did he ask you to do?”

“He told me to deliver a letter to someone named Dang Hae Jun. I thought we might as well go to the market together while we’re at it.”

“Why would he ask brother to…”

Dang Hae Jun, of all people, he wants a letter delivered to that guy?

I couldn’t understand why he would ask Nam Gung Yu Cheong to do something that could be done by a servant.

‘He must be plotting something.’

But I couldn’t tell Nam Gung Yu Cheong, who was looking at me with an innocent face, not to go.

I narrowed my eyes.

‘Still, he probably doesn’t intend to kill Nam Gung Yu Cheong right now.’

If Uncle is in his right mind, that is.

His ambition wasn’t supposed to be revealed until much later in the future.

I felt that things had gone awry. I had planned to lay low until the investigation team left…

Can’t be helped.

Leaving Nam Gung Yu Cheong alone was unsettling.

It hadn’t been long since the future where he got hurt had changed.

I smiled brightly and said.

“Alright, brother. Let’s go together.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Ji Cheon Wu watched Nam Gung Lin walking in front of him.

Her gait was full of vigor. As if she hadn’t been affected by the Hyungmyeonsu incident at all.

Ji Cheon Wu wondered how she could be like that.

And what secrets she might be hiding.

‘It’s strange that she came with guards today. She seemed to move around freely before.’

Nam Gung Lin was accompanied by guards from the Nam Gung family.

Ji Cheon Wu wasn’t a fool either.

He was keenly aware of the atmosphere in the Nam Gung family. Not everyone in the Nam Gung family was on Nam Gung Lin’s side.

As the person who had possessed Nam Gung Lin’s body said not long ago, Nam Gung Lin had many enemies.

“Try this.”

Ji Cheon Wu accepted the candy Nam Gung Lin offered.

She was holding handfuls of candy in both hands. Ji Cheon Wu carefully took the candy Nam Gung Lin handed him and ate it.

A taste he had never experienced before spread in his mouth.