Out of nowhere, I received a Spiritual Medicine as a gift from Tang So-wol.
"…?"
"It's not from me—my uncle asked me to pass it to young hero Cheon. But if you'd like, you're more than welcome to thank me instead?"
Tang So-wol let out a little ahem, even though it wasn't a gift she'd prepared herself. I let out a small snort of laughter at the sight of her puffing out a breath and nodded.
"I'll think about it."
"…How about acting on it right away instead of thinking?"
"I'll think about that too."
"Tsk!"
There was a letter tucked in with the black pill, so I unfolded it and read it. To summarize, it thanked me for saving Tang So-wol and asked me to take good care of her going forward.
However, it didn't say what kind of pill it was.
"That energy it gives off is quite substantial. Do you know what spiritual medicine this is?"
"Hmm. This is a Hundred Poisons Clear Blood Pill."
"…That's a name I've never heard before."
"It's a spiritual medicine that's difficult to make, so it rarely leaks out of the Tang Clan. It's only natural you wouldn't know of it."
"Is it a remarkable medicine?"
"Of course. The Hundred Poisons Clear Blood Pill is a spiritual medicine made by carefully combining a hundred poisons so their toxicity cancels each other out, leaving only the medicinal properties. It doesn't do much to enhance internal energy, but it's purely good for the body."
"I've heard of something similar. The Hebei Peng Clan is said to have a spiritual medicine that aids in the achievement of External Arts—I take it this is a similar kind of medicine."
"Similar, but a little different. The Hundred Poisons Clear Blood Pill is a medicine that strengthens the organs and meridians—it has no effect on growing bones or muscles."
"Hoh."
With that kind of function, this is a spiritual medicine perfectly suited to me right now.
As for External Arts, it's naturally better to train them quickly, but even if I can't, I can just slowly build up my skill over time.
But the meridians are different.
Unlike the children of noble houses who received Marrow Cleansing at a young age, consumed all sorts of spiritual medicines, and learned rising martial arts, I lack a foundation.
It wasn't for nothing that I struggled with internal energy before my regression. My meridians were narrow, and the internal energy I had built up was murky, so the higher I climbed, the more stifling it felt.
Of course, learning the Crazy Wolf Life-Stealing Art solved the internal energy problem. It still lacked purity, but I had compensated by melting killing intent into it, making up for both power and the ease of control.
The meridian problem, however, remained. No matter how delicately I could control my energy, with such narrow meridians, the amount of internal energy I could handle at once was simply insufficient.
So I searched for various spiritual medicines, but everything I could get my hands on was unremarkable, and none of them had any significant effect.
The Hundred Poisons Clear Blood Pill wouldn't completely solve my chronic problem, but since it was a fairly rare spiritual medicine even within the Tang Clan, it should be a great improvement.
"I should go pay my thanks to him sometime."
"Uncle holds a somewhat special position within the Tang Clan, so you might not be able to meet him whenever you want, except for Father."
"Still, if I keep staying here, I'll get a chance to meet him at least once. That's enough. I'll ask him to be my Cultivation Guardian."
"What? R-right now?"
So she hadn't expected me to take it right away. Tang So-wol blinked her dark eyes blankly. Chuckling at her dazed expression, I swallowed the elixir.
I'd thought a good spiritual medicine would be a hassle to absorb, but… after circulating my energy through the Small Heavenly Cycle a couple of times, more than seventy percent had been absorbed into my meridians.
So this was what it meant to have no real effect on internal energy growth. There didn't seem to be anything more to do here.
I couldn't feel a big difference right away, but as time passed, the energy dissolved into my meridians would gradually widen and strengthen them.
"…Hoo."
I let out a long breath and opened my eyes, and there was Tang So-wol's face, looking utterly dumbfounded, filling my entire field of view.
It wasn't close enough for our breaths to touch, but it was near enough to see my own reflection in her eyes.
There, Tang So-wol stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at me.
"Young hero. What kind of nonsense is it to just pop a Spiritual Medicine in the middle of a conversation?"
"Well, a Spiritual Medicine should be taken the moment it comes into your hands. Of course, that's on the condition that you're in a safe place or in front of people you can trust."
"No, it's not like anyone's going to steal the medicine from you. What reason do you have to take it so urgently?"
"Think it's just medicine? I've had meals snatched away from me plenty of times. In this world, there are people who draw their swords just because they're hungry, and I was one of them."
"…Aish! When you say it like that, what am I supposed to be?!"
I let out a small laugh at Tang So-wol's grumbling and nodded.
"But you do have a point. The current me is neither a pitiful beggar nor a wandering swordsman barely scraping by on a single blade—I'm the Tang Clan's prospective live-in son-in-law."
"Pardon?"
"At the very least, you should make sure you're not a disgrace to your betrothed."
"…"
Tang So-wol rolled her eyes, unable to settle her gaze, her mouth twitching as if she wanted to say something but couldn't quite get the words out. It was rather amusing.
My enjoyment of her flustered state lasted only a moment. Having apparently made up her mind, she slowly opened her mouth.
"Th-then, it's a bit early, but I'll show you around. Would you like to experience what's needed of me as your betrothed?"
"Things needed of a betrothed, you say… Somehow that has an impure ring to it. Am I allowed to anticipate something impure?"
"I've been wondering this for a while now—does the young hero have no sense of shame? How can you say such things without so much as a change in expression?"
"It's nothing. I've regretted hesitating and turning away before, so I've simply decided not to waver any longer."
He stared into the air, recalling events from before the regression—but only for a moment.
Suddenly, Tang So-wol's expression soured as she spoke, her voice turning slightly cold.
"Hoh. So there was someone who made the young hero Cheon feel regret?"
"Since there isn't anymore, you can put that pouting lip away."
"What do you mean by—ah."
Tang So-wol's eyes widened, and she began fidgeting, glancing at me nervously. She must think she's said something wrong. That's not entirely incorrect.
I shrugged once and continued in a nonchalant tone.
"Don't worry about it. It's truly nothing. More importantly, is it really what I think it is? I'm in a hurry, so answer me quickly."
"…As a son-in-law of the Tang Clan, shouldn't I know what the family has to offer? That was all I meant, so please stop with any strange expectations."
"What a shame. Still, it's good that I get to see the Tang Clan. It's true that I've grown a bit tired of going back and forth between my room and the training ground. Can you guide me right away?"
"Understood. Then shall we start with the Medical Pavilion, which will be most familiar to young hero Cheon? If you come with me, you'll be able to see places you haven't even been allowed into."
"I am a bit curious about that, but does this have anything to do with the duties of a live-in son-in-law?"
"The Tang Clan's Medical Pavilion is just as important as the Ten Thousand Poisons Hall. You just tried it yourself, young hero Cheon, so you know well, don't you? Poison and medicine are separated by a single thread."
"Indeed. Even if I don't do any work in the Medical Pavilion, I should understand how it's structured."
"Exactly! Behind the Medical Pavilion, we'll also stop by the blacksmith's forge and the Ten Thousand Poisons Hall. Then we'll go to the training ground of the Inner Court warriors, and finally, after seeing the Outer Court Hall where the retainers stay, it should be about dinner time!"
"As long as I can see everything, that's fine with me. But are you really sure it's alright to show me? Betrothed or not, it's still just a promise in words."
"Heh heh. Isn't it true that the same words carry different weight depending on who speaks them? No one in the Tang Clan takes Father's words lightly. Not even Father himself. And above all…"
"Above all?"
"The Tang Clan's foundation isn't so shallow that young hero Cheon could replicate it just by looking once."
"…"
"So stop worrying about useless things and just follow me."
Tang So-wol chuckled and walked a few steps, then stopped in place and stared straight at me.
A truly blatant gaze. Pushed along by it, I fell into step beside her, and only then did Tang So-wol move forward with a satisfied air.
"Do you see that tree over there? I planted it when I was little. I wondered whether a seed would really grow into a tree, so I secretly planted one as a child, and it actually sprouted…"
"Mm. I see."
I walked alongside her, offering a half-hearted response to her chattering voice.
"…I wasn't finished talking, you know? You just half-listened and gave a vague answer!"
Damn. Caught.
***
She had been a bit sulky about it, but Tang So-wol guided me through the Tang Clan as promised, starting from the Medical Pavilion and continuing along the path to the Outer Court Hall.
Back when I belonged to the Black Alliance, I had risen to the rank of captain. So I'd had a thought that no matter how impressive the Tang Clan was, how great could it really be… but.
It was far more impressive than I had expected, and far more complex than I could have imagined.
The Black Alliance was an organization formed by unorthodox martial artists banding together, so the logic of power naturally prevailed there.
Naturally, its members regarded strength as the greatest virtue—whether it came through martial prowess, wealth, or something else entirely.
Perhaps that was why artisans and physicians were not treated particularly well in the Black Alliance.
It couldn't be helped, since they didn't fight directly and worked for the benefit of others rather than themselves.
But the Tang Clan was different.
Whether it was because of their mastery of poisons and hidden weapons, or because of the difference between the Orthodox and Unorthodox Sects, I couldn't say.
What was certain was that the people working for the Tang Clan wore rather fulfilled expressions.
It was only after I had looked around the last of the Outer Court Halls that I understood. Tang So-wol had wanted to show me the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Why the Tang So-wol before the regression had been so attached to her family, so obsessed with revenge, and what she had wanted to build together with me.
Now, I thought I understood a little.
"It's a good place. The Tang Clan."
"Right? Now this place is young hero Cheon's home too."
"Home, is it."
Come to think of it, I had often lodged here and there until now, but there had never been a place I could call home.
"Ahem! Now do you see? What kind of person you kidnapped, young hero."
Tang So-wol lifted her chin slightly, a smug smile playing on her lips. I nodded with a serious voice, watching the line of her neck naturally emphasized.
"Right. Next time I kidnap someone, I should only do it when I'm confident I can escape from the entire Tang Clan."
"Does the idea of resolving things through conversation first never occur to you?"
"Didn't I try that? You just wouldn't listen."
"Ah."
Feeling a pang of guilt, Tang So-wol averted her gaze. I walked half a circle around her and stood where her eyes were looking.
"When you talk to someone, look them in the eye."
"…!"
Startled, Tang So-wol reflexively slapped my shoulder. It didn't hurt—she hadn't put any internal energy into it, and her power control was just right.
"What was that for?"
"If words don't work, use force. Isn't that what you taught me, young hero?"
"And yet you still lost to me even with that force."
"…"
Tang So-wol narrowed her still-black eyes and kept pestering my shoulder, as if trying to ease her own embarrassment.
Slap, slap!
It still didn't hurt, but I couldn't help the attention it drew.
Well, of course. I was bickering with none other than Tang So-wol, so anyone from the Tang Clan would naturally look our way.
"Is that him?"
"…He looks even younger than my own son."
"Hey now. That person must be just as remarkable as the young lady."
"He seems close with the young lady."
"Didn't she bring him along with such care? Perhaps…"
They thought they were whispering as quietly as possible, but to anyone who had trained in martial arts, their voices were perfectly clear.
Tang So-wol, who had been concentrating for a long while, suddenly paused and then quietly lowered her hand.
Then, with the atmosphere having grown a bit awkward, she began to clear her throat.
"Ahem. Well, we've made a full round, so shall we head back now?"
"Sure. It's just about the right time to do a bit of training and then fall asleep."
"Young hero, you really do enjoy training, don't you?"
"How many people in this world actually enjoy training? Everyone does it because they have to. Because they have to."
"Because they have to, you say? …W-Well, if I may say so. Surely you know that training alone all the time isn't good for you?"
"Hm?"
"After all, martial arts aren't something you unfold by yourself—they're something you interweave with an opponent. So what I mean is…"
Tang So-wol had been circling around the subject this way and that, but soon she seemed to steel her resolve and looked straight at him before opening her mouth.
Only opening it.
"So-wol!!!"
Everything was buried under the shout that came from far away.
Turning his head toward the source of the sound, there stood a man in green martial robes, running toward them while waving his hand in greeting.
It was a face that resembled Tang So-wol's.