Her Personality
Judging by her personality, she would have originally planned to feign restraint against her family's rival, Gongsun Ying, while trying to gauge his true intentions.
What is invisible to allies often becomes visible to enemies, and it would have been the perfect opportunity to test whether he was someone who might betray her younger brother, Gongsun Ying, in the future.
However, it seemed she had realized that Gongsun Ying had already blown everything out of proportion, making it useless.
"I told you, it's a secret to others…"
"But he's the little kid who saved me. It's fine."
"How do you know that?"
"Yeah, I know. He's fine."
She was being stubborn.
But Gongsun Hyun couldn't help but look at the boy, Jin Cheon-hee, once again because of her reaction.
Her younger brother had been born with extraordinary strength.
His physical power was abnormally strong, and his stamina was astonishingly impressive.
Muscle Bone.
Moreover, it was a rare Muscle Bone known as the Sun Body.
For a child of a martial family, being born with such a physique was nothing short of a blessing.
That wasn't all.
His intuition was eerily accurate.
Gongsun Ying's intuition about people was almost never wrong.
His older sister, Gongsun Hyun, knew this well.
Gongsun Hyun eventually let out a sigh.
Her already pale face seemed to grow even paler.
"Just take one sip, sis. Please?"
Gongsun Ying was more eager to get something into Gongsun Hyun's mouth than anything else.
She had refused everything the servants had offered, but she couldn't resist her beloved younger brother.
Reluctantly, Gongsun Hyun took a sip.
Then, with slightly widened eyes, she said, "It's delicious."
"Ah, can you swallow it?"
"Yes."
"Great. Let's have some porridge too."
"I can't eat that much."
"Alright. Then let's finish this at least. Okay? I'm so happy you're eating something, sis."
If Gongsun Ying had a tail, it would have been wagging furiously.
Gongsun Hyun, on the other hand, blushed slightly, her cheeks turning red with embarrassment.
'She's so adorable, it's killing me.'
No matter how picky someone was, they would eventually give in to Gongsun Ying.
In the end, Gongsun Hyen ended up eating the medicinal mushrooms, Korean ginseng, and jujubes that were in the teapot.
Everything had been boiled until soft, making it easy for a patient to eat.
Every time her sister took a bite, Gongsun Ying smiled brightly, as if it was the happiest thing in the world.
After what could hardly be called a meal or a snack, Gongsun Hyun spoke.
"Even though I thanked you last time, I can only express my gratitude to you, young hero, for saving my foolish younger brother."
"Ah, sis. Just speak comfortably."
"How can I? If it weren't for him, who knows what would have happened to you by now."
Jin Cheon-hee chimed in.
"I'd prefer it if you spoke comfortably. Honestly, I feel a bit uncomfortable…"
He said with a charming smile.
At that sight, Gongsun Ying looked overjoyed, but Gongsun Hyun's expression turned stiff.
"That will have to wait until a more comfortable time comes."
She meant that she would let her guard down once they became closer.
"I heard you used a unique medical technique, young hero. And that you also suffered a head injury and lost your memory."
A low, husky voice came from her lips.
Jin Cheon-hee straightened his posture.
"Yes, yes."
"And you also discovered the Mountain Venom?"
Jin Cheon-hee shook his head.
"I just felt an itch in my throat, but it was Baek Rin-ui-seon who figured it out. I didn't do anything…"
"…"
She closed her mouth and simply looked at Jin Cheon-hee.
He felt like he understood the meaning behind her actions.
She had seen through him.
Of course, she couldn't have figured out everything.
But she seemed to have noticed something unusual in his behavior.
It would have been easy to press him further, but Jin Cheon-hee was her benefactor.
After a while, she spoke.
"The Mountain Venom used before the attack on the escort agency and the one used during the recent attack on the escort agency seemed the same at first glance, but their sources were different."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Do you know the main ingredient of Mountain Venom?"
Jin Cheon-hee recalled what he had read in the novel.
He knew the answer, but whether he should say it in front of her was another matter.
However, lying to her would be quite dangerous.
It was better to admit what he knew.
Jin Cheon-hee opened his mouth.
"…Isn't it the Blue-Spotted Snake?"
The Blue-Spotted Snake, a small snake no bigger than an adult's index finger.
Its bite causes a slight swelling, similar to a mosquito bite, but when multiple snakes are caught and their venom is refined, it becomes the raw material for Mountain Venom.
"Yes. You even know that much. As someone with the title of 'Poison Dragon,' I have some knowledge about snake venom. The venom from the Blue-Spotted Snake was the same, but one came from Yunnan, and the other… from Xuzhou."
"You can tell the difference even though it's the same snake's venom?"
"It's not that difficult. The Blue-Spotted Snake from Yunnan eats Yunnan frogs, making its venom richer, while the one from Xuzhou eats Xuzhou grasshoppers. Even though they're the same snake, what they eat differs depending on the region, so it's not strange to notice the difference."
Most people wouldn't know.
She continued, "In the end, even the same Mountain Venom can be used by different people, which is quite fascinating. And Xuzhou… Does that ring any bells?"
It did.
But he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to say it.
The woman in front of him wasn't a person—she was a sword.
A cold, gleaming blade.
Jin Cheon-hee felt as if he was being sucked into her presence.
"Isn't Xuzhou the destination of the escort agency that was attacked this time?"
"That's right. That's why I'm curious. 'Why did the first attackers, the bandits, use venom from the distant Yunnan Blue-Spotted Snake?'"
A smile played on her lips.
A brief silence.
Then she revealed what she really wanted to say.
"It's as if they were hired from afar, lying in wait before launching the attack."
A chilling air filled the room.
She continued lazily, "And why did the second attack use venom from Xuzhou, the destination? The escort agency's branch. Although it's different from the main branch, it still has walls and a roof. Isn't it obvious that it would be harder to attack than the first?"
She smiled faintly.
She would kill.
Anyone who dared to touch her younger brother, Gongsun Ying, would be hunted down and killed.
Jin Cheon-hee sensed that she was thinking this.
The vividness of her presence, different from what he had read in the novel, made him shiver for a moment.
He also realized that the process would unfold faster than he had imagined.
She said, "I think we'll be able to reveal the different attackers later. But… isn't it interesting to imagine what might be in Xuzhou?"
Jin Cheon-hee knew.
The shadow of the Demon Sect lurked there.
That was information he had from reading the novel.
But she had deduced this with just a few pieces of information.
'It won't be long before the two sisters are called the Gongsun Twin Dragons.'
Gongsun Hyun continued, "Time is short, and it's not easy to track both at the same time. In the end, we can't risk losing the rabbit while chasing the fleeing deer. We need to catch at least one for sure."
"Picking one and letting the other go, huh?"
"Yes. You really are exceptionally intelligent."
It meant that to catch one, you had to let the other go.
It came from a story about Sima Guang, who, upon seeing a child struggling in a large water jar, picked up a rock and broke the jar to save the child.
Although the jar was lost, his quick judgment saved the child's life, and people praised him for "picking one and letting the other go."
This was that kind of situation.
It was hard to get both.
Sometimes, you had to give up one for the sake of the more important one.
She had figured that out.
"Which one will you pursue, young master?"
"I don't know."
"I know about your memory loss. But those who have lost their memories often have a better sense of things related to themselves. Even if it's just a gut feeling, please tell me."
She was asking him to choose, even if it was just a guess.
'Xuzhou? The Demon Sect is out of the question.'
No matter how strong Gongsun Ying was, he was still a novice martial artist who could be affected by Mountain Venom.
If they dug too deep, it would be the Gongsun family that would suffer.
'Yunnan? But if we go there, she'll end up with blood on her hands that she can't wash off.'
The mastermind behind this incident was the Demon Sect, and the accomplices were the elders of the Gongsun family.
Though they didn't know about each other, the two groups had become strangely entangled due to a shared goal.
As Jin Cheon-hee pondered, he suddenly came to his senses.
'Come to think of it, didn't she head to Yunnan in the original story?'
Only then did he realize that her question was a test.
She had already formed a hypothesis.
Jin Cheon-hee said, "If it were me, I'd look for the motive first."
"The motive?"
Jin Cheon-hee decided to make a third choice.
"Yes. If a force of that level came, there must be a reason, right? I'd compare that first and then head to the most plausible place."
At his words, she was momentarily speechless, then laughed.
She thought to herself, 'I didn't expect him to say what I was thinking first.'
If this were a test, he would have scored 120 out of 100.
He had brought the correct answer with just a gut feeling.
She sensed that the boy in front of her had seen through her.
He had removed the mask of childish charm and was showing his true self.
What was strange was that he didn't seem to care about her reputation or the rumors spread by the people of the Unryong Escort Agency.
It was as if he didn't pay any attention to such things.
This meant he either fully trusted Gongsun Ying's words or had made his own judgment.
Given her personality, she didn't seem like someone who would completely trust others, so it meant she had made her own judgment.
'I should bring him into the Gongsun family.'
And through Gongsun Ying's influence.
Even though he was just a child, he was so intelligent that it made her look forward to how he would grow in the future.
They had a long conversation.
This time, it wasn't a test but a casual chat.
Mostly, Gongsun Ying talked while Gongsun Hyun nodded with a faint smile.
She wasn't someone who talked much to her younger brother.
She was usually the listener.
Occasionally, Jin Cheon-hee added a bit of excitement to the conversation.
After the conversation, Jin Cheon-hee stepped outside.
Gongsun Ying accompanied him to the guest room.
"Wow, it's been a long time since sis had such a fun conversation with someone other than me."
"Fun? She didn't smile even once in front of me."
"Sis doesn't smile much. She only smiled a little because of you."
"That smile was for you, not me."
"Normally, she wouldn't even do that."
What was Gongsun Hyun usually like? She was both similar to and different from the description in the novel.
The few lines written about a supporting character in a martial arts novel could only give a fragmented understanding.
Gongsun Ying said, "I think she might open up a little to you."