Chapter 35
This tea was something I had brewed myself from the very beginning, and I had never seen anyone tamper with it.
If there had been medicine in it from the start, wouldn’t something have happened long ago? Yet the young lady had drunk as much tea as she wanted before the Young Master arrived, and nothing had happened.
‘Then how on earth…?’
Perhaps he noticed the confusion in my eyes, because the Young Master let out a sinister laugh and said,
“You seem curious. Well, since you’re going to die anyway, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to personally show you what an incredible strategist this Young Master is.”
“……”
“I applied the medicine to my fingers.”
His fingers?
“I coated my fingers with the medicine beforehand and smeared it onto the spout of the teapot. That way, whenever I poured the tea, the medicine would naturally mix into it.”
“……!”
“Of course, to avoid looking suspicious, I had to pretend to drink the tea myself. As expected, Miss only took a sip after I had drunk from it several times. I have to commend you for that.”
“……”
“But you overlooked one thing as well, Miss.”
The Young Master stuck out his tongue, licked his finger, and chuckled.
“That the medicine doesn’t work on this Young Master.”
Only then did I realize what that meant.
He had taken the antidote beforehand!
While I was at a loss for what to do, the Young Master threw his head back and burst into hearty laughter as if he found the whole thing absolutely hilarious.
“Do you understand now? The greatness of this body, this genius strategy? So don’t be afraid, Miss So. Isn’t this Young Master a fine husband candidate after all?”
“This crazy…”
“Now then, shall we have a look at the face of my future wife!”
In an instant, the Young Master’s hand shot forward like lightning and grabbed the cloth of the myeokri the young lady was wearing. Before I could stop him, he immediately grabbed the cloth and tore it apart.
I hurriedly shouted toward the young lady.
“Don’t! Miss… Huh?”
Then I stopped.
What I saw beyond the torn myeokri wasn’t a fair and lovely face…
It was a face veil.
Wait, there was a face veil underneath the myeokri?
‘Good grief, our young lady.’
Just how many layers of defenses had she put up?
Could it be that the face veil wasn’t even just one layer?
I was secretly impressed by the young lady’s foresight, while the Young Master, who had discovered the face veil at the same time as me, flew into a rage.
“Damn it! What kind of face are you hiding that you’re putting up this much resistance? It won’t do you any good. You’ll belong to me anyway!”
Just as the Young Master reached out his hand again…
Bam!
“Argh!”
The teapot I had thrown by surprise struck the Young Master squarely in the face.
The Young Master cried out and covered his face. Blood was flowing from his nose, visible between his fingers.
When the Young Master finally saw the blood smeared across his own palm, his face gradually turned red.
“This lowly bastard, how dare a wretch like you…!”
The Young Master pulled something from inside his clothes.
Shing…
It was a dagger.
A dagger with a blade as sharp as ice was now in the Young Master’s hand.
My face turned pale at the same time.
‘No, but using a knife is just cheating!’
Regardless, the Young Master pointed the dagger at me. His eyes, red with rage as he glared at me, looked completely unhinged.
“You bastard! I was going to kill you with a single stroke after seeing the young lady’s face, but if that’s what you want, I’ll tear your limbs apart and throw you to the beasts!”
As the Young Master charged at me, I hurriedly rolled sideways to evade him.
Slash!
A cut mark appeared where I had been standing.
Breaking into a cold sweat, I hurriedly escaped the pavilion. My only thought was to get him as far away from the young lady as possible.
As expected, the unhinged Young Master chased after me. He didn’t even forget to throw the teacup in his hand.
“Don’t you dare run!”
Crash!
I deftly dodged the flying teacup.
Then I snorted.
‘Hmph, I’ve dodged this kind of thing hundreds of times already.’
The dagger attacks following right behind him were the real problem.
Aside from the occasional wrestling matches where the young lady and I threw things at each other, or when I was being taught by Namgung Jeong, this was my first time facing a full-fledged attack.
But surprisingly, the dagger’s movements were clumsy.
It wasn’t as fast as the things the young lady threw at me, nor was it as precise as Namgung Jeong’s demonstrations. Before long, I could see the dagger’s trajectory.
‘Judging by the twist of his shoulder and the direction of the dagger, he’s definitely trying to slash horizontally at my head. Then I should…!’
I quickly lowered my head. Just as expected, the dagger passed right over my head.
As sweat ran down the bridge of my nose, I felt a surge of exhilaration.
‘I dodged it!’
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The more I dodged the dagger, the more the fear inside me gradually disappeared.
Before I knew it, I was looking straight at the dagger flying toward me.
Without panicking, I watched its trajectory carefully and dodged in the opposite direction of its approach. Unlike me, who was becoming calmer with every passing moment, the Young Master was getting increasingly agitated.
“Why, why won’t you get hit?! You little rat! You’re nothing but a nobody…!”
‘So that’s why Namgung Jeong said maintaining composure was the most important thing in an actual fight.’
Unlike me, the Young Master’s dagger was shaking so badly after he lost his composure that it was almost painful to watch.
And that was when I realized.
Now…
This was the moment.
I had to use the technique Namgung Jeong had taught me!
“Hyah!”
For the first time, instead of running away, I charged toward the Young Master.
For a moment, it felt as though I could hear Namgung Jeong’s voice beside my ear.
“First, this technique begins under the assumption that the enemy has grabbed you. If you can’t possibly avoid being caught, then let yourself be caught. You’ll have a better chance that way.”
Pretending I knew nothing, I waved both hands around and charged at the Young Master.
When the Young Master panicked and moved aside, I staggered as though I were about to trip over my own foot.
The Young Master didn’t miss that moment. He grabbed me by the back of the neck with a geumnasu and lifted me up.
I pretended to be startled with an “Oh!” while secretly grinning.
‘That’s it.’
“If you’re grabbed by the back of the neck, immediately grab the enemy’s armpit, the Geukcheongyeol Point. If you press that acupoint, the enemy won’t be able to help but release you. It is even better if you strike the Sohae Point on the elbow at the same time.”
Just as Namgung Jeong had instructed, I grabbed the middle of the Young Master’s armpit.
Sure enough, the strength drained from the Young Master’s hand, and I was released.
I immediately struck the inside of his elbow with the edge of my hand.
But perhaps I had hit the wrong spot, because the Young Master merely staggered.
Realizing I had failed, I moved on to the next step without hesitation.
“However, unless you’re a master, striking both acupoints simultaneously won’t be easy. In that case, immediately roll your body and enter between the enemy’s legs. Move behind him as quickly as possible, then punch the Weijung Point behind the kneecap.”
I dodged the hand reaching for me and rolled between the Young Master’s legs.
The Young Master couldn’t even manage to stab at me between his legs and didn’t know what to do.
Meanwhile, I moved behind him and clenched my fist tightly. Then I struck the back of his knee.
Bam!
“Urgh!”
The Young Master’s leg trembled as though it had been electrocuted before buckling underneath him.
The back of the Young Master’s neck was directly in front of me as he dropped to his knees.
“When the enemy kneels in front of you, that is your opportunity. Their vital point will be right in front of you. Grab the enemy’s back and strike the Tianzhu Point at the back of the neck with your foot, and then…”
But there was one problem.
The Young Master’s sitting height was larger than I had expected, making it difficult to strike him properly.
Then what should I do?
Should I just hit him once according to what I had learned and see what happened?
What if I failed?
I had finally managed to make the Young Master unable to move. Did I really want to waste this opportunity?
‘I can’t do that.’
That’s when I spotted the tree behind him.
There was no more time to think.
I stomped my foot against the ground, kicked off the tree, and leaped into the air.
The Young Master happened to turn toward me.
I forcefully spun my body and brought my heel down toward him. More precisely, toward the Yintang Point in the very center of his forehead.
Time seemed to slow as my heel approached the Young Master’s face.
Then…
Bam!
“Aaaargh!”
I grinned broadly.
One Move to Save Your Life, Transformation!
“Urgh!”
The recoil from kicking the Young Master sent me rolling across the ground several times.
My vision went dark for a moment, but I quickly regained my senses.
I hurriedly turned around and thought,
‘Did I get him?’
But that was a line I shouldn’t have said.
The Young Master had fallen to the ground and was groaning, but he hadn’t passed out.
Why?
Was I not strong enough?
Or had I gotten the location wrong again?
If I had gotten it wrong, I could just try again.
While he was still unable to recover, I would attack…!
Thwack! Crash!
“……!”
At that moment, a teacup flew from somewhere like a bolt of lightning and struck the Young Master’s head. It had been thrown so hard that the teacup shattered upon impact.
At the same time, the Young Master’s head split open, his eyes rolled backward, and he collapsed.
Thud.
I stared blankly at the Young Master lying on the ground.
Then I suddenly turned my head toward where the teacup had come from.
I shouted,
“Miss…!”
The finishing blow is cheating!
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