A Promise Kept
A revolving lantern.
It is a type of lantern that creates the illusion of moving pictures painted on its shade.
While it is sometimes used to describe the fleeting nature of time, its most famous association is the saying that one's life flashes before their eyes like a revolving lantern just before death.
I never believed it.
Haeyeon had never believed such claims.
How could anyone look back on their life in the face of imminent death?
Rumble! Crash!
The entire laboratory shook as if struck by an earthquake.
A massive explosion felt imminent.
Yet, now that a mortal crisis was actually upon her,
her life truly began to flash before her eyes.
"What business does a wench have studying?!"
The first thing that came to mind was her father's harsh scolding.
His overbearing, irritated voice had sounded like the growl of a beast.
"You ruined our family!"
So her father had said.
Haeyeon came from a family of civil officials in Beijing—what people commonly referred to as the literary aristocracy.
What distinguished the literary aristocracy from local gentry was that political power was essential to growing and maintaining their wealth.
Thus, for them, power—specifically the imperial civil service examinations—held a significance far beyond a mere test.
Because of this, Haeyeon's father had staked everything on his only son.
The boy had to pass at least the provincial examination to preserve their identity as literary nobles.
Yet, that only son had no interest in studying, his mind entirely consumed by playing, eating, and idling away his time.
On the other hand, his daughter, Haeyeon, showed outstanding talent and a natural brilliance for scholarship.
That was the problem.
No matter how brilliant Haeyeon was, a woman could never enter public service as an official.
A son who should study but wouldn't.
A daughter who shouldn't study but excelled at it.
Her father had interpreted this bizarre contradiction in a twisted way.
"Because you run around playing at being a scholar, you've stolen all the auspicious energy that should have gone to your brother!"
"Burn it all!"
Rip!
Haeyeon's father had torn apart every book his daughter read, turning them into kindling.
Haeyeon had screamed and cried, but her father did not even pretend to listen.
Instead, he had ordered the servants to whip her, a punishment only barely stopped by the intervention of those around them.
It must have been from then on.
The belief that no one would ever acknowledge her.
So, she ran away from home.
She knew that if she continued to live in that suffocating household, she would eventually choke to death.
I will go to Changsha.
She had chosen Changsha for one reason.
It was far from Beijing.
And it was a place beyond her family's reach.
So that her father and her clan could never find her.
Thus, Haeyeon arrived in Changsha and threw herself into the martial world.
Her reason was simple.
If the political and official world refused to acknowledge her, she would go to a world that did.
So, she knocked on the gates of the Jianghu.
Those who walked the path of blades and swords did not look down on someone merely for being a woman.
That was how she entered the Military Strategy Department of Sadocheon.
The department suited her perfectly, allowing her to study to her heart's content and hone her abilities.
...Until she caught the eye of the Night Lord, Ji Jung-young.
Just when she thought she had fallen into the clutches of a filthy, repulsive man and her life had plunged into a second abyss—
"Would you like to learn martial arts from me?"
Elder Hwang had approached her.
Naturally, Haeyeon had not trusted Elder Hwang.
Having been deeply wounded by her closest family, she was consumed by a profound distrust of humanity.
"It will be of help to you."
Yet, Elder Hwang had taught her martial arts without asking for anything in return, slowly soothing her wounds.
Thanks to him, Haeyeon had been able to endure.
And she had realized something.
That wounds inflicted by people can only be healed by people.
"Are you alright?"
"Rest. You must be tired."
And then, she was saved by Jeok-un.
He had used a Golden Turtle Pill on her, a stranger, doing everything he could to save her life.
He had eliminated the Night Lord, the very source of her descent into hell.
And then, that benefactor had made a request.
"It is possible to extract rock salt from waste stone."
"Really? That is fascinating. How do you do it?"
"I don't know."
"...Excuse me?"
"You are going to figure it out from now on. I believe in you."
Saying he believed in her.
The man who had left after giving her such an absurd task.
Haeyeon had found it ridiculous, but she felt no anger.
Perhaps it was because she had felt a genuine, sincere trust in Jeok-un's attitude.
That was why I wanted so badly to finish it before he returned.
As she thought of Jeok-un, a wave of apology washed over her first.
Yet, even when her research made no progress, Jeok-un had always said:
"It doesn't matter if it takes a little longer. I know you'll get it done."
The last words Jeok-un had left before departing.
Those words pulled Haeyeon out of her revolving lantern of memories.
Get a grip.
Haeyeon bit her lip unconsciously as she surveyed the laboratory.
Reagents, vials, and porcelain mortars lay scattered across the floor.
The source of all this chaos was the cauldron sitting in the center.
Though it was a chaotic stew of various reagents and raw materials boiled together,
the results were actually quite promising—excluding the anomaly, of course.
Yes, excluding the anomaly.
This is dangerous. It's practically no different from a thunder bomb.
The mixture inside the cauldron was boiling furiously, emitting a strange light.
She had created a solvent using a new formula, only for this sudden, runaway reaction to occur.
Because of it, Haeyeon had been knocked off her feet, her desk had shattered, and reagents had spilled everywhere.
If I value my safety, I should back away right now, but...
She couldn't.
If she didn't stabilize this solution, it would end in an explosion.
If an explosion occurred, an investigation would inevitably follow.
And at the end of that trail, suspicion would fall upon Jeok-un.
That would only push Jeok-un, who was already drawing resentment due to his aggressive actions, further into a corner.
I can't let that happen.
She hadn't even repaid her first debt of gratitude yet.
Under no circumstances could she allow herself to become a detriment to him.
First, this...
With trembling hands, Haeyeon picked up a reagent bottle.
The intense heat made it feel as though her hands were burning,
but she didn't care.
I must stabilize it here, no matter what. And then I will find the solution.
Until now, no matter what solution she poured over the waste stone, there had been no reaction.
But the fact that a new reaction had occurred meant there was progress in her research.
She had to see this through to the end.
Think. How did the runaway reaction start?
The key lay in the starting point of the reaction and the threshold where it turned explosive.
Haeyeon used her brilliant mind to recall every step of her research, quickly pinpointing the exact moment the initial reaction had occurred.
It was when I added the ingredient containing Yang energy.
The moment the Yang-infused ingredient was introduced to the reagent, the runaway reaction had begun.
In that case, what if she added an ingredient containing Yin energy?
To escape this immediate crisis...
No.
But Haeyeon quickly shook her head.
When hot oil is boiling furiously, pouring water on it doesn't extinguish it—it causes an explosion.
So, I need to cool down the boiling oil.
Several hypotheses and dozens of methods tangled in her mind in rapid succession.
Since the product of hypotheses and methods equaled the total number of solutions,
there were dozens of ways to resolve the current situation.
She could choose only one.
And there won't be a second chance. The probability of failure is too high.
Therefore, she had to choose carefully, but with absolute certainty.
Haeyeon pushed her brain to its absolute limit.
Yes. This is it.
Finally, a single method came to mind.
Without a moment's hesitation, Haeyeon acted.
Plop! Plop!
She threw in more flesh of the Fire Carp, the extremely Yang-aligned ingredient that had caused the runaway reaction in the first place.
Once more.
Indeed, there was only one way to lower the temperature of boiling oil.
To increase the volume of the oil itself.
Plop! Plop!
Haeyeon threw the ingredient in repeatedly.
The searing heat threatened to scorch her skin, but she did not back down.
And finally...
Fsssshh!
With a strange, deflating hiss, thick smoke filled the room.
"Cough, cough!"
At that moment, someone burst into the laboratory, coughing violently.
"Cough, hack! Se-Senior Hae? Are you al—?!"
It was Go Bok-gil.
Sensing the tremors and seeing the smoke rising from the laboratory, he had rushed inside, fearing a fire.
Go Bok-gil covered his mouth with his sleeve to block the smoke and called out to Haeyeon, but there was no reply.
Panic seized him.
What if Haeyeon had suffocated and collapsed?
No, absolutely not!
Go Bok-gil plunged into the smoke, desperately searching for her.
Every breath of smoke felt like it was burning his lungs, but he didn't care.
He had already grown deeply attached to the members of the Baekya-dan.
Damn it! Damn it all!
He had never felt so frustrated by his own pathetic martial arts.
He should have studied harder when Jeok-un offered to teach him.
If Haeyeon died like this, he felt it would be entirely his fault.
But then.
"!"
As the smoke cleared slightly, he finally spotted her.
"Cough, gasp! Se-Senior Hae...?"
Go Bok-gil's eyes widened as he approached her.
Standing tall in the middle of the ruined laboratory, Haeyeon was...
"Junior, please go call the Leader."
...holding a chunk of pure white salt.
"I have completed the formula."
Even as more smoke billowed in, Go Bok-gil's jaw dropped.
Thwack!
Smack!
"Aaargh! It hurts, it hurts, Leader!"
"You idiot! I thought something terrible had happened!"
Jeok-un roared, raining blows down on Go Bok-gil.
Elder Hwang also wanted to beat him with his fists like Jeok-un, but...
"Ow! Ouch! Why are there pebbles?! Ow!"
...he contented himself with flicking small pebbles at him with his toes.
Go Bok-gil ran for his life, desperately trying to dodge Jeok-un.
And of course, Jeok-un chased him down to give him a proper thrashing.
"They were tears of joy! Tears of joy, I tell you!"
"Then let me give you some tears of pain!"
"Aaaaaargh!"
Go Bok-gil was forced to shed tears just as salty as the mounds of salt piled on the floor.
Watching the chaotic spectacle,
Haeyeon let out a bright, radiant smile.