“He... smiled with joy.”
Cheon Gang’s voice trembled with rage and sorrow. Just talking about that day was draining him, body and soul.
He steadied himself for a mont, then murmured as if reciting sothing painful.
“What I still don’t understand is why he let live. Why...?”
“You will never escape.”
Even now, that voice echoed in his nightmares—every single night. The mysterious man had vanished after saying those words. Neither Cheon Gang nor his father ever saw him again.
At last, Cheon Gang returned from his mories. His arms were trembling. He couldn’t hold on any longer—he grabbed the bottle and poured himself another drink.
The liquor spilled wildly, missing the cup and splashing across the table.
What disgrace, in front of Lady Yeon...
He tried to force strength back into his arms—
“Cheon Gang.”
A calm voice. A hand gently gripping his arm.
Cheon Gang looked up. Yeon’s steady gaze was fixed on him.
She channeled a soft wave of inner energy into his arm. The erratic tremors gradually began to fade.
Once the shaking stopped completely, Yeon ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) released his arm and gestured for him to pour again.
“...Thank you.”
This ti, Cheon Gang poured with control. Not a single drop missed the cup, and he downed it in one go.
Yeon watched him, deep in thought.
So that’s what Cheon Gang was carrying all this ti...
It felt like all her lingering doubts had finally been answered. That deep, cold fear she had felt when he was lost in heart deviation—it had been rooted in childhood trauma.
Looking into soone’s inner world changes how you see them. Cheon Gang’s actions, his words—they all started to make sense now.
When she had hesitated about learning martial arts from Great-Grandpa, it was Cheon Gang who told her that if she truly wanted to be strong, she had to abandon trivial reasons. Now she realized... that had co from experience.
Even the way he kept people at arm’s length—maybe that was a symptom of his trauma too.
He had probably faced cold rumors and misunderstanding for years. Imagining the silent burden he must’ve endured made Yeon’s heart ache. She felt a sudden urge to hug him.
“It must’ve co out of nowhere for you.”
Cheon Gang’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts.
“No... Thank you for telling .”
She answered sincerely. And Cheon Gang looked at her in silence.
He was sending a signal.
You have sothing to tell too, don’t you?
Yeah, Yeon thought. You must have a lot of questions about , Cheon Gang.
The thought flashed through her mind, but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything.
Because unlike him, she wasn’t ready to be honest.
The truth was... she already knew how this world would unfold. In the world she ca from, this was just a novel. And because she had read that book, she held information no one else did.
But how could she possibly explain that?
In the end, she couldn’t be as honest as Cheon Gang had been. And he noticed. A faint flicker of disappointnt crossed his face.
No, that’s not what I ant...
Yeon knew exactly what it ant that soone like Cheon Gang had shared such a secret. It ant he saw her as soone truly special.
Not being able to return that openness—it gnawed at her. Guilt twisted in her chest.
Should I just say it?
The impulse hit her hard. But she knew she couldn’t.
After all, she was a RoFan nerd.
In body-swap RoFan novels, the heroine almost never revealed her true identity. It wasn’t just for the sake of the story’s suspense—it was because it was hard to make it believable.
Lack of plausibility ant it was sothing that would never happen in a real world. That’s also why Yeon kept the truth about the Hundred Flower Cult to herself.
Still, she couldn’t stay completely silent. So she opened her mouth.
“Then... maybe the man who hard your mother was also part of the Hundred Flower Cult. Like the Elder.”
This was her own speculation now—sothing she felt she could be honest about.
“If he was as strong as your father, then he couldn’t have been just any cultist. Even the Elder couldn’t control the black fla directly. He must’ve been soone central... maybe even the cult leader himself.”
“...The cult leader.”
That phrase seed to shove Cheon Gang’s grief aside. Yeon, feeling a little relieved, continued.
“Let’s say he was the cult leader. Then why did he visit your family? Was he just roaming around the Central Plains by himself?”
According to the novel Yeon had read, the Hundred Flower Cult leader didn’t appear in the Central Plains until much later. But even that could be inaccurate—there was always a twist in the final act.
Still... even if he was powerful, it doesn’t make sense that the entire Central Plains would fall so easily. And he was only about as strong as Cheon Gang’s father, right?
Maybe the cult had already been planting seeds. Just like the Red Flower Gate—laying the groundwork quietly, spreading evil across the land, waiting for the right mont to strike.
The more Yeon thought, the clearer her goal beca.
Track down every clue related to the Hundred Flower Cult. Uncover the traces the cult leader left in the Central Plains. And just like with the Red Flower Gate—wipe them all out.
But more than that...
Yeon looked at Cheon Gang again.
The man hailed as heir to the greatest martial clan under heaven—yet in truth, soone still struggling with wounds from childhood.
And that bastard dared to give my man trauma?
Yeon had already made it her mission to take down the Hundred Flower Cult for her own reasons.
Now, she had an even stronger one.
She chose her next words carefully. Now that their goals aligned, she wanted to give him sothing to hold on to.
“Cheon Gang.”
“Yes?”
“I know. I know you’re curious about , too.”
“...”
“There’s a reason I can’t tell you everything right now. But I’m not lying to you. I’m not trying to hide anything out of malice. It’s just... the timing isn’t right yet.”
Yeon silently prayed that the right mont would co. That one day, she could tell him everything.
That she was soone from another world.
In most RoFan novels, the heroine confessed her secret near the end. And the hero always understood. Yeon had found those scenes a bit implausible back when she read them, but still...
“Will you be able to understand?”
Yeon held her breath as she waited for his answer.
No matter what kind of story this was, Cheon Gang was no longer a character—he was real, right here in front of her.
Thankfully, his response was a positive one.
“...I will trust you, Lady Yeon.”
There was probably an “for now” implied in there sowhere. But that was enough for Yeon. Asking for more would’ve felt greedy.
“Thank you. I promise I’ll never betray that trust.”
“Yes.”
As their conversation wound down, Yeon lifted her glass. She was about to propose a drink to mark their new understanding when—
Tap tap tap!
Rapid footsteps echoed, and suddenly Tang Soso burst into the room.
“S-Sis!”
Her face was flushed, hair disheveled from running.
“Soso? What’s wrong?”
“Sis, the monk, he...”
Monk Gongye?
Yeon narrowed her eyes.
“...Did he cause trouble or sothing?”
“W-Well, I guess you could call it trouble...”
It was clear sothing had happened—yet Tang Soso’s reaction was strangely vague.
Yeon set down her cup and stood up.
“Let’s just go check. Lead the way, Soso.”
With Cheon Gang and Soso at her side, Yeon picked up her pace. Up ahead, Soso walked hurriedly, her nervous energy barely contained.
“Um, it’s not exactly a bad thing, but... I still think you need to see it, sis.”
“What happened?”
“Well, the monk... at the ga stalls—”
“Ga stalls?”
Waaaah—!
Yeon’s question was drowned out by a deafening cheer.
As they turned the corner, she saw a crowd packed tightly into the street market.
“There?”
“Yeah...”
They pushed through, though there was barely enough space to squeeze between people. The crowd showed no signs of parting—until soone spotted Soso and shouted.
“Hey! That girl’s friend is here!”
“Oho! You just missed it! Your friend, he—!”
At that mont, Gongye erged from between the masses, looking sheepish. The crowd’s reaction was explosive—people clapped him on the back or shouted at him enthusiastically.
“That guy! A sha about the ending, but still—unreal performance!”
“You’ll be back tomorrow, right? Yeah?”
“I thought the god of bone tiles had descended, I swear! Hahaha!”
Bone tiles?
The na clicked in Yeon’s mind, dredged up from the depths of Hwang Bo Yeon’s knowledge. A ga where players matched numbers and symbols on tiles—basically gambling, no two ways about it.
This monk’s gambling now...?
Yeon stood there, mouth open in disbelief, while Gongye scratched his head—well, technically his wig, since he was back to wearing one that looked just like the last.
“Heh heh, you’re all here. There were just so many new gas—I got a little carried away.”
Yeon’s expression softened a little. For soone raised entirely within a monastery, it really must’ve felt like a whole new world.
“So... looks like you lost?”
“That’s how it went. Lost the final round where I bet everything. Ahh, such a sha...”
“That’s why you don’t gamble.”
Yeon clicked her tongue just as Soso’s voice piped up.
“Y-You lost everything?”
She looked like she’d seen a ghost, while Gongye answered breezily.
“Yep.”
“H-How did you even lose that much money...?”
Yeon frowned and asked cautiously,
“Did you win a lot earlier or sothing?”
“He did win a lot at first, but, sis...”
Soso was on the verge of tears now. A creeping sense of dread stirred in Yeon’s gut.
“Soso... where’s that pouch of money I gave you earlier?”
Soso turned to her like a broken puppet, face pale. And then Gongye—clearly just rembering sothing—clapped his hands.
“Ah! Right, there was that pouch. I threw it in with my other bets—”
“...What did you just say?”
Yeon’s voice went cold. Gongye flinched.
“I-I only ant to win big for all of us, but... Don’t worry! I’ll co back tomorrow and double it! Triple it, even!”
“...”
“I swear, I’m feeling lucky. So, if you could just spot so seed money. Oh! Didn’t you say earlier I had a share in that jade heirloom? We could liquidate a bit of—”
As Gongye rambled on, Yeon quietly clenched her fist.
“Didn’t you say showing off brings misfortune?”
“Heh heh, well, that’s just an old saying. Don’t be so upset. All things with form are but illusion, after all. Amitabha.”
That damn “Amitabha” line—only ever showed up when he’d done sothing stupid—just grated on Yeon’s nerves now. She was annoyed with Gongye, and also just... embarrassed. Embarrassed in front of Cheon Gang.
One of us is pouring his heart out about childhood trauma... and the other’s gambling away soone else’s money? Seriously?
Yeon’s fist trembled.
Seeing this, Gongye scrambled to apologize.
“S-sorry! I really didn’t an to...”
BZZT!
A sharp snap of static made him shut his mouth instantly. His face went pale.
Without another word, Gongye turned tail and bolted.
Fwoosh!
“...He actually ran for it.”
Yeon smiled sweetly, lips curved like a knife.
Soso trembled beside her, just as she had when facing the Elder. That sa deep, gut-level fear.
“Soso, can you head back to the inn and wait there for a bit?”
“Y-Yes, sis.”
“Actually, stop by the apothecary again. Stock up on herbs. A lot of them.”
“H-Herbs?”
“Yeah. We’ll probably need them soon. Before the night’s over, most likely.”
Soso couldn’t even speak. She gave a stiff nod and backed away.
Yeon looked off in the direction Gongye had disappeared and murmured,
“Please don’t get caught, monk. Honestly, maybe it’d be better if you just went back to Shaolin.”
She finished her thought with silent telepathy, hoping it would sohow reach him:
Because next ti, it won’t end with you just fainting.
CRACK!
Yeon’s figure flashed like lightning as she shot down the main road.
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