Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Natural Enemy
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‘This is the first time I’ve seen Daddy make such a dark expression in front of me.’
“How did our little Star end up asking such a question?”
But in the blink of an eye, Daddy’s dark expression vanished, replaced by his usual gentle face gazing at me.
“W-Well, I had a dream. A dream where I had a little sibling. It felt so real that I just had to ask you, Daddy.”
At my words, Daddy let out a soft sigh and pulled me into his lap, wrapping me in his arms.
“It was just a dream, wasn’t it?”
“That’s right. Just a dream.”
I couldn’t see Daddy’s face since he was hugging me so tightly, but for some reason, his voice sounded lonely when he said it was just a dream.
That night, I was left at Ik-seon’s house, just like last time.
“I’m sorry, sweetie. Daddy has to head out far away on urgent business, so you’ll have to stay at Ik-seon’s place.”
After I asked about a sibling, Daddy held me for a while before saying he had sudden business to attend to and had to leave.
‘Of course he’d worry about leaving me behind, but last time he sent me over before dinner.’
For some reason, today Daddy seemed especially reluctant to part with me.
He didn’t seem to want to let me go even after dinner, and I was starting to worry he might not send me at all.
‘Good thing I made it to Ik-seon’s before it got too late.’
“Cheon-seong-ah, you’re sneaking off to your grandparents’ again without Daddy knowing, right?”
Just as I breathed a sigh of relief, Ik-seon—my same-age friend and one of the few playmates in the village—came bounding over, her hair tied up high in a single ponytail.
“Yeah, that’s the plan.”
“Bummer. It would’ve been fun to play together. I even pulled out my favorite pink floral blanket, thinking we could share the bedding.”
I knew exactly how much it meant for Ik-seon, who absolutely hated sharing bedding, to offer me her treasured quilt.
“I’d love to hang out with you too, Ik-seon, but I can only go to my grandparents’ right now...”
When I looked apologetic, Ik-seon pouted but spread her arms wide and hugged me tight.
“I get it, so don’t feel bad toward me, Cheon-seong-ah. I’m just bummed out. No one at your grandparents’ bullies you, right? If there is, tell me! I’ll give ’em a piece of my mind!”
‘Ik-seon’s been quietly worrying about me, huh?’
She probably asked innocently without knowing, but since Mom died due to the Tang Clan of Sichuan’s schemes, my half-Tang blood might make them unwelcoming at my maternal family’s home.
Of course, it’s not actually my grandparents’—I’m heading to the Heavenly Demon Cult.
And yeah, there’s one jerk there who picks on me.
I immediately pictured Red Cloud’s face without hesitation.
“Thanks for worrying. There is someone who bugs me every time we meet, but there are relatives who look out for me like you do too.”
I thought of Chae-chae and Jang-ryu, who’d caught fireflies until they were covered in dirt just to keep me company at night in the Cult, and smiled brightly.
“You’re really okay? Wait, should I come with you to your grandparents’? If I glare at them with fire in my eyes, even the bully might back off.”
‘The problem is the one bullying me is the ruthless young lord of the Demonic Cult.’
Glare at a guy like that, and you’d be lucky not to die.
“I’m fine. If they give me trouble, I’ll come straight back to you.”
“Yeah, don’t hold back—come right back! I’ll even let you hog the pink floral blanket!”
“Got it! Thanks!”
I knew a six-year-old Ik-seon, not on her second life like me, couldn’t protect me.
‘But somehow, it makes my heart feel secure.’
Thanks to her small but warm embrace, I could empty my complicated thoughts for a brief moment and rest.
“Cheon-seooong-ah... Mmm nyah...”
In the dead of night, as Ik-seon mumbled in her sleep and tossed about in her dreams...
I slung on my prepared backpack and slipped outside.
The front yard was still quiet—Pippi hadn’t arrived yet.
‘I got a little rest, so maybe I should think things over until Pippi shows up?’
From what I gathered asking Daddy, it didn’t seem like I had any siblings.
So that dream I had after swallowing the flower seed was probably just a dream after all.
I thought it might be a clue, but I’m back to square one.
Somehow, it felt hollow.
It was right then, as I looked up at the sky and let out a sigh with my breath fogging in the air.
I spotted a familiar-looking bird approaching from afar.
‘And it looks like it’s carrying something in its talons?’
I narrowed my eyes to make out what Pippi was holding.
“Pippi peep! (Seol Cheon-seong! I caught a suspicious snake lurking in your front yard!)”
“What? A snake?”
The moment Pippi cried out, the snake’s appearance came into clear view as it drew closer.
‘Golden eyes... black snake?’
It felt oddly familiar.
No way it’s the same snake from the market last time, right?
Nah, probably not.
Black snakes might be rare, but there’s more than one in the world.
That’s when I noticed the handkerchief tied around the snake’s neck.
A sea-blue handkerchief embroidered with flowers in thread the color of my eyes.
‘That’s the handkerchief I tied on the snake I met at the market!’
“Hiss!”
The instant I recognized the handkerchief and the snake, it thrashed in Pippi’s grasp, spotted me, broke free on its own, and hurled itself toward me.
“No! You’ll die falling from that height!”
The moment I shouted in panic, a misty vapor rose around the falling black snake, and a human figure emerged.
More precisely, a young man who looked just past his early twenties.
“Huh... what?”
The man—with flowing black hair, amber eyes deeper than Golden Immortal Lotus’s, and a sly, roguish face—walked on air, striding with long legs to land safely on the ground beside me.
“You... you were definitely a black snake.”
I stared at him with wide eyes, and he smiled at me, narrowing his eyes.
“Right. A black snake.”
The man pointed dramatically at the handkerchief tied around his neck with a long finger.
‘If that’s my handkerchief, does that mean this black snake and this man are the same snake... no, the same being?’
“You look pretty shocked.”
“Yeah...”
‘I’ve seen a lotus turn into a person, but a snake turning human is a first.’
Life in martial arts novels is full of surprises.
“Don’t use such formal speech—it’s awkward. We’re special to each other, aren’t we?”
“Peep? Pip? (What? You know this snake?)”
Whether he didn’t like my polite tone, the man looked sulky, and Pippi, who’d been watching, folded its wings and landed on my shoulder.
“Yeah, I met it at the market before...”
“Not just acquaintances. We’re the kind who share your first drink.”
“Wasn’t it just that you said you’d buy me alcohol once I’m of age?”
“The moment you come of age and drink, that’s your first drink, right?”
“Which is why I never said I’d drink with you the second I turn adult.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
The black snake asked slyly, matching his roguish looks.
‘They’re totally different!’
If Daddy heard that, lightning would strike from a clear sky.
Lucky snake.
“Peep pip! (Why would you drink with him? I won’t allow it until all my feathers fall out!)”
Pippi, having listened to our exchange, suddenly burst into anger.
“Oh? So if I pluck all your feathers right now, there’s no problem?”
Pippi hid behind me at the black snake’s menacing aura, as if it would yank out feathers any second.
“Peeep... (Pippi scared...)”
“Stop threatening Pippi.”
“I just wanted to keep my promise to you.”
As I shielded Pippi, the black snake put on an aggrieved expression.
‘Well, we did make a promise.’
“But I’m still years away from adulthood. Isn’t it a bit early?”
At my question, the black snake continued as if it had forgotten.
“I didn’t come today for our promise. I came because I have a message.”
“What message?”
“The Tang Clan of Sichuan is looking for you.”
“Why would the Tang Clan of Sichuan want me?”
For a moment, I recalled exposing the culprits behind the Blue Death Grass incident and rooting out Tang Clan spies during the Heavenly Demon Cult’s memorial service.
“You have an idea, don’t you? Seems the Tang Clan heard about your exploits at the Cult’s memorial.”
“But how do you know that? Don’t tell me... you’re from the Tang Clan? No, a snake from there?”
“No, don’t even joke like that. If it’s about deadly poison, I’m leagues above those Tang Clan scum.”
“Not the Tang Clan... then...”
‘No way, the Heavenly Demon Cult?’
But I met the snake at the market, not the Cult.
“Right. I forgot to introduce myself. I’m from the Heavenly Demon Cult, Gwang-yu...”
Before Gwang-yu, who’d approached me, could finish his introduction...
“Pip peep! (Get away from Seol Cheon-seong!)”
Pippi suddenly clamped its tiny beak down hard on Gwang-yu’s lips.
“Gah! You damn bird bastard!! (Urk! You damn bird bastard!!)”