As Yak Ran looked at me and Ji Cheon Wu, she carefully opened her mouth.

“Miss, we should go see the Head of the Clan first.”

I nodded my head.

Then, I turned my head with a puzzled expression. It was because Ji Cheon Wu showed no intention of leaving.

“By any chance, can I come with you?”

At Ji Cheon Wu’s words, I turned to look at Yak Ran.

“It should be fine if you wait outside.”

I frowned. I thought there was no need for Ji Cheon Wu to wait outside.

However, even at Yak Ran’s words, Ji Cheon Wu’s face brightened.

He stood next to me side by side.

Ever since I met him, I always thought that Ji Cheon Wu liked to take a spot next to me whenever there was a chance.

I left him to do as he pleased.

[This is the timeline separator]

In front of Grandfather’s residence, I encountered a young boy. A boy wearing purple clothes, indicating he was a direct descendant of the Dang Clan.

Seeing him, I couldn’t hide my surprise.

‘Dang Hwa Ryeong!’

I could instantly tell who the boy was.

‘I heard there were people from the Dang Clan, so Dang Hwa Ryeong came along too.’

I pondered for a moment.

I glanced at Ji Cheon Wu’s face beside me. With an expressionless face, he seemed to have no thoughts as he looked at Dang Hwa Ryeong.

In Cheonma Jijon, Dang Hwa Ryeong and Ji Cheon Wu could be said to have a hostile relationship.

‘Even as rivals, they acknowledged each other.’

Ji Cheon Wu didn’t have many people he could call colleagues. Fundamentally, it was because Ji Cheon Wu’s skills were too outstanding, and there were few people who could earn his recognition.

Dang Hwa Ryeong was one of the few talented individuals acknowledged by Ji Cheon Wu.

Especially when it came to poisons and hidden weapons, he displayed talent that surpassed even Ji Cheon Wu.

However, Dang Hwa Ryeong had one big problem: his personality was far too peculiar.

Even the Head of the Dang Clan had a hard time dealing with Dang Hwa Ryeong.

When it came to matters that didn’t interest him, Dang Hwa Ryeong was someone who wouldn’t even listen to the Head’s orders.

I looked at Ji Cheon Wu with worry. It was because the first meeting between Ji Cheon Wu and Dang Hwa Ryeong in Cheonma Jijon came to mind.

Ji Cheon Wu looked at the boy in front of him.

He had come to find an outstanding talent from the Dang Clan, but the boy’s face was full of discontent.

He glared at Ji Cheon Wu and said, “You, annoying.”

“What did you say?”

“You live in this world alone. You may lose something precious while living in your own self-importance.”

“It doesn’t matter. I have nothing precious anyway.”

Ji Cheon Wu opened his mouth, his pride hurt.

“To hear such words from someone like you…”

Even after that, Dang Hwa Ryeong and Ji Cheon Wu often bickered.

I couldn’t help but slightly agree with Ji Cheon Wu’s words. Unlike Ji Cheon Wu, who could at least converse with others, Dang Hwa Ryeong’s sociability was somewhat lacking.

It seemed Dang Hwa Ryeong had also noticed me. His black eyes began to stare at me piercingly.

Seeing Dang Hwa Ryeong like that, Ji Cheon Wu muttered as if displeased, “What the?”

I tried to calm my rapidly beating heart. Perhaps it was because of their hostile relationship in the original work.

For some reason, Ji Cheon Wu’s gaze toward Dang Hwa Ryeong wasn’t friendly.

Dang Hwa Ryeong approached us closely. Ji Cheon Wu tried to block Dang Hwa Ryeong, but Dang Hwa Ryeong was faster in standing in front of me.

“You, like.”

Wait, is he saying that to me and not Ji Cheon Wu?

For a moment, my mind went numb.

“Uh, what?”

Why is he saying he likes me?

There were few people in Cheonma Jijon whom Dang Hwa Ryeong would say he “liked.” It was limited to the Head of the Dang Clan, whom he followed, and his parents.

And now, Dang Hwa Ryeong was saying he liked me upon seeing me.

What was even more surprising was Ji Cheon Wu’s reaction.

Ji Cheon Wu blocked me from the front.

Then he said, “Who are you to act so friendly?”

What’s with that childish remark?

Is this really the Ji Cheon Wu I know?

Moreover, it was the first time I heard Ji Cheon Wu’s voice filled with hostility. It couldn’t be helped since Ji Cheon Wu had never shown a sharp side in front of me.

[Didn’t I tell you? That guy is just putting on an act.]

Seeing Ji Cheon Wu like that, Dang Hwa Ryeong said, “You, annoying.”

“What did you say?”

I was at a loss for words at their conversation, completely identical to the original work.

In the original work, the time when Ji Cheon Wu and Dang Hwa Ryeong met was supposed to be in the far future.

But why were the two having the same conversation after meeting at this time?

Just as I thought the atmosphere between the two was unusual, the door opened, and Grandfather appeared.

“Why are you standing outside?”

Saying that, Grandfather led me inside. I held Grandfather’s hand, feeling perplexed.

Grandfather glanced at Dang Hwa Ryeong and Ji Cheon Wu, who were in a standoff.

At that moment, Grandfather’s face hardened.

Grandfather stood in front of Ji Cheon Wu.

“May I hold your wrist?”

Ji Cheon Wu didn’t refuse and extended his wrist to Grandfather.

Holding Ji Cheon Wu’s wrist, Grandfather’s eyes flickered with a strange light.

After looking at him for a moment, Grandfather took me inside his residence as is.

[This is the timeline separator]

Nam Gung Jin Cheon was slightly surprised as he looked at Ji Cheon Wu.

It was because the boy’s aura had changed in an instant.

The aura emanating from the boy’s body was growing stronger day by day.

But that was definitely strange. Was that all?

‘He has changed.’

Although he couldn’t specify what it was, he had the unique intuition of a martial artist.

The current Ji Cheon Wu was different from the Ji Cheon Wu he had known until now.

In the end, unable to hold back, he even examined Ji Cheon Wu’s cultivation level.

Nam Gung Jin Cheon almost let out a gasp at the intense energy flowing through Ji Cheon Wu’s meridians.

Ji Cheon Wu’s Nine Yin Meridian Blockage had disappeared.

‘The Nine Yin Meridian Blockage disappeared overnight…’

The only possible ways for that were to consume a spiritual medicine full of yang energy or to experience a complete transformation of one’s body and bones.

It was unlikely that a child who had only started learning martial arts not long ago would have undergone a complete transformation.

In the end, it meant he had consumed a spiritual medicine.

However, how did he obtain a spiritual medicine capable of curing the Nine Yin Meridian Blockage?

Nam Gung Jin Cheon stared intently at Nam Gung Lin. Nam Gung Lin, receiving his gaze, slowly raised her head.

“You have obtained a fateful encounter.”

Nam Gung Jin Cheon had vaguely realized it.

His granddaughter had obtained a fateful encounter. Nam Gung Lin’s body was also different from before, with a healthy glow.

The aura felt from her body had also changed in an instant, around the same time as Ji Cheon Wu. Moreover, the two had equally obtained a fateful encounter.

And the only one who had disappeared from the Nam Gung Clan for a while was Nam Gung Lin.

This implied that the subject of that fateful encounter was Nam Gung Lin.

Nam Gung Lin slightly nodded at his words. However, the child didn’t say anything to him.

“I won’t ask.”

He had guessed that there was some secret behind Nam Gung Lin’s suspiciously rapid growth.

The same went for the danger she faced this time. Eight years old, still a young child.

What could be the secret that little child was hiding?

Nam Gung Jin Cheon placed his hand on Nam Gung Lin’s head.

“You can tell me whenever you want to. However, I won’t allow anything too dangerous.”

“Grandfather…”

“I trust you.”

Nam Gung Jin Cheon continued.

“The Young Clan Head of the Dang Clan has come to apologize to you. Would you like to meet him?”

[This is the timeline separator]

I accepted Grandfather’s words. It was because I was curious about what kind of person the Young Clan Head of the Dang Clan was. I had a few things I wanted to ask him.

What he would say to me, and what kind of person he was.

And what kind of person my father was.

‘I heard he was a close friend of my father.’

[So that’s why you wanted to see him.]

I nodded.

There weren’t many people I could ask about my father. The people of the clan always kept quiet about my father, and Nam Gung Hyun Jong would get angry whenever he heard my father’s name.

I couldn’t even think of asking Grandfather and my aunt.

Because whenever my father was mentioned, their faces looked sad.

I touched the head that Grandfather had stroked. It seemed like the warmth still lingered.

Maybe not before, but now I didn’t want to see my family looking sad.

That’s when it happened.

The door of the residence opened, and a man appeared.

“You must be Lin.”

The man was wearing the same purple clothes as the boy I had met at the door. Dang Hae Yeol, the Young Clan Head of the Dang Clan.

He was also a close friend of my father.

He had a face that greatly resembled Dang Hwa Ryeong, whom I had seen earlier.

‘If Dang Hwa Ryeong gets older, he will look exactly the same.’

Dang Hae Yeol seemed surprised to see me.

He muttered softly.

“You resemble Hyun.”

My father resembles me?

I touched my face.

Honestly, I don’t remember my father’s face well. Occasionally, my father appears in my dreams, but when I wake up from the dream, I forget his face.

‘It would be stranger to remember his face.’

Isn’t it stranger to remember a face I only saw once when I was young?

“Hello.”

At my greeting, Dang Hae Yeol gave a faint smile. He was a fragile person, unlike a Young Clan Head of the Dang Clan.

His face was also pale, and he didn’t look healthy.

It was a sight that couldn’t be imagined as a person of the Dang Clan, as commonly thought.

Even in Cheonma Jijon, Dang Hae Yeol was described as an oddball.

It was because he was too kind for a person of the Dang Clan.

‘In the end, Dang Hae Yeol doesn’t become the Clan Head.’

He doesn’t survive the Sacheon Blood Incident caused by the Blood Sect.

It was also the trigger for Dang Hwa Ryeong to burn with a desire for revenge against the Blood Sect.