Both Shintu and I were paralyzed—a mutual loss (양패구상, 兩敗俱傷).

But this was inside the Sacheon Tang Clan’s territory.

Which meant that, practically speaking, Shintu was already caught.

Just as I was inwardly celebrating, I heard Yeondu’s hissing cry.

—Shaaaa!

Yeondu, seemingly alarmed by my sudden collapse, began licking my face and nudging my cheek with its head.@@novelbin@@

It must have thought I was injured.

Unfortunately, since my pressure points were sealed, all I could do was roll my eyes to indicate that I was fine.

"I want to tell you not to worry, but I can’t speak right now."

Realizing this, Yeondu stopped fussing over me. Then, as if angry, it started whipping the unconscious woman’s backside with its tail.

After giving her a few good slaps, it slithered away, disappearing toward the Main Hall.

Most likely, it had gone to call for Hua-eun and the others.

I considered sending a mental message to Cho or Hyang, but since Yeondu had already left, help would arrive soon enough.

That gave me time to relax and enjoy my victory.

"Three wishes, huh? What should I ask for?"

But then a thought struck me.

"Wait… isn’t this just a fancy way of making me order a thief to steal something for me?"

That made asking for wishes feel a little awkward.

I was still mulling it over when a faint feminine scent drifted from the person lying on top of me.

"Wait… a woman? Hold on. Wasn’t Shintu supposed to be an old man!?"

A sudden realization hit me.

From what Grandfather Mandok Shingun had told me, the previous Shintu was an old man around his age.

Which meant—who the hell was this woman?

"Could it be disguise techniques?"

My first thought was that this was someone using both Bone-Shrinking Technique (縮骨功) and Face-Changing Technique (易容功) to alter their appearance.

Maybe even using some kind of voice modulation technique to fake the gender swap.

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