I Thought the Youngest Daughter of the Sichuan Tang Family Was Hated - Chapter 53

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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As the lamp oil burned down to its last drops, the Male Accomplice awoke.
“Ugh….”
Dang Mu-seon called out to the man, who was rising while cradling his head.
“You certainly sleep a lot.”
The Male Accomplice’s eyes widened in shock.
He had only just realized he was still alive.
“I… how is this possible….”
“I saved you. It wasn’t that difficult.”
As Dang Mu-seon smirked with self-satisfaction, the Male Accomplice’s eyes narrowed.
He stared at Dang Mu-seon and slowly opened his mouth.
“No matter what torture you inflict, no matter what poison you force down my throat, you’ll get nothing from me.”
“Right. I know. All you spies are the same.”
At his casual response, confusion flickered across the Male Accomplice’s eyes instead.
Gong Myo emerged from behind Dang Mu-seon.
“…!”
His pupils trembled even more violently.
With the tip of his blade pressed against Gong Myo’s throat, Dang Mu-seon asked coldly.
“Not you—this child will endure considerable suffering. How does that sound?”
“…That’s….”
“So speak truthfully. Who are you?”
The Male Accomplice’s lips trembled. He was clearly conflicted.
‘My instinct was right.’
Though I didn’t know the full details, Gong Myo was important to this man.
So I decided to threaten him by pretending to kill Gong Myo.
‘I’m so grateful Gong Myo agreed to this.’
Before my regression, Gong Myo survived alone.
She couldn’t have simply escaped by luck. Someone must have helped her.
Someone who knew in advance of the Dang Family’s annihilation and could extract her.
‘Who else could it be but this man?’
The threat worked—the Male Accomplice squeezed his eyes shut.
Then he finally opened his mouth.
“…My name is Seong-ya. I infiltrated the Dang Household disguised as a member of the Jinbeop Order. The ones who sent me….”
He hesitated mid-sentence, so Dang Mu-seon pressed the blade harder against Gong Myo’s throat.
“You’d better speak quickly. As you can see, I’m rather impatient.”
Seong-ya’s forehead beaded with cold sweat as his eyes darted between Gong Myo and Dang Mu-seon.
From behind, I signaled him urgently with a desperate expression.
‘This person really is impatient. One wrong move and we’re all dead.’
Did my gaze reach him?
His shoulders trembled slightly. Then, his voice cracking, he spoke.
“…The Maeng. They sent me.”
At his words, Dang Mu-seon fell into contemplation. He closed his eyes slowly, then opened them again as he muttered.
“Those ungrateful wretches….”
Dang Mu-seon tightened his grip on his blade, suppressing his fury.
‘…I had hoped it wouldn’t be so.’
I felt my head grow cold.
My entire life before the regression—it had all been a deception.
I steadied my trembling heart and looked at Dang Mu-seon.
He asked Seong-ya in a voice pitched low and heavy.
“Tell me exactly which faction you belong to. The Rapid Current Faction or the Righteous Path Alliance?”
“That is….”
When Seong-ya hesitated again, Dang Mu-seon ground his teeth.
“Fine. Let’s begin with blood.”
As he raised the hand holding his blade high, Seong-ya’s face drained of all color.
“No! Please! I’ll tell you everything! Please, just put the blade away!”
Seong-ya continued, his eyes desperately fixed on Gong Myo’s vacant face.
“Miss Gong Myo has nothing to do with me. I’ll tell you everything, just—just put the blade away!”
“Why should I?”
Dang Mu-seon looked down at Seong-ya with cold eyes and spoke.
“Don’t try to negotiate with me. Speak now, if you’ve made up your mind.”
“The Rapid Current Faction! The Rapid Current Faction!”
The Rapid Current Faction. One of the Three Great Families of Murim.
Not just my mind, but my heart turned to ice.
Do-hwi’s face flashed before my eyes, and I squeezed them shut.
“I was raised as a spy by them. That’s why I don’t even know the details of my own birth….”
“Why were you following us?”
Dang Mu-seon continued his questioning without lowering his blade.
“…Because I was afraid Miss Gong Myo might….”
Seong-ya answered in a voice that seemed to crawl.
“Is it because of the assassins ahead?”
“Yes. I received word that assassins were being sent to Jabyeok Valley….”
“Ha, you expect me to believe you were worried about mere assassins when I’m here?”
Dang Mu-seon let out a hollow laugh, and Seong-ya glared at him as he spoke.
“…You only know how to protect the youngest lady. You don’t care about anyone else, do you?”
Listening quietly, I furrowed my brow sharply.
‘Did I really think Dang Mu-seon was such a cold-hearted person?’
“Hmm. That’s true.”
…He didn’t even refute it. So he really doesn’t care about others.
“Why did the Three Great Families send assassins?”
At Dang Mu-seon’s continued question, Seong-ya bit his lip.
As if he had given up on everything, he let out a deep sigh and opened his mouth.
“Jabyeok Valley is a place where Yak-seon might be hiding.”
Yak-seon.
My ears perked up at the name.
Yes. The first incident that began to destroy the Dang Family’s reputation.
I was standing at the very starting point of it all.
As the reality of it sank in, tension coiled tightly in my stomach.
“…They killed the villagers and kidnapped Yak-seon, then tried to frame the Dang Family for it.”
Seong-ya finished his explanation and looked at Gong Myo with eyes filled with concern.
“If I surrender myself, will you spare Gong Myo?”
“You’re trying to negotiate?”
Crack!
That was the sound of Dang Mu-seon striking Seong-ya’s head.
Blood erupted from his nose in an instant.
“Aaaagh! My skull! Aagh!”
Seong-ya curled up, cradling his head as he rolled across the ground.
Dang Mu-seon stared down at him with an expressionless face.
“Stop your whimpering. You failed to die when your cover was blown as a spy. That means you’re already mine. You should have been prepared for at least that much.”
“Ugh…”
Seong-ya gingerly touched his head and met Dang Mu-seon’s gaze.
“I understand.”
True to his words, Seong-ya was resolved.
“My life doesn’t matter. Once the plan is complete, I’ll be discarded and killed anyway—I’ve already accepted that. But still, if only…”
Whether or not Seong-ya noticed the swelling on his head, his gaze turned back to Gong Myo.
“If only I could save Gong Myo…”
“That cursed Gong Myo! Gong Myo!”
“Aagh!”
Another crack echoed out.
How could a human head make such a sound?
‘In any case, my prediction was correct.’
Seong-ya had known about the Dang Family’s destruction and extracted Gong Myo beforehand.
“How did you know Yak-seon was here?”
At Dang Mu-seon’s question, Seong-ya’s eyes widened.
“Is Yak-seon really here?”
“What? You didn’t know?”
“No. I simply… probe any place that seems suitable for Yak-seon to live. This valley is among the most auspicious locations, is it not?”
I nodded quietly to myself.
It was pure luck.
‘So they still don’t know for certain that Yak-seon is here…’
I could lead them on a wild goose chase.
Dang Mu-seon seemed to have the same thought, as a crooked smile crept across his lips.
“Yes. That’s right….”
Hearing his murmur, an odd sensation suddenly washed over me.
It felt as though the regression had shifted the axis of some vast current.
‘In my previous life, Grandfather would never have had reason to come here.’
He’d blamed his back, but truthfully, he’d chosen the journey to Yunnan because of my recovery.
‘If I hadn’t left….’
Goosebumps erupted across my arms.
I was suppressing the chill when Seong-ya suddenly staggered and collapsed.
“Ugh….”
White foam bubbled from Seong-ya’s mouth as his head struck the ground.
“W-what?! You mean the antidote still hasn’t fully taken effect?”
I asked in alarm while checking on him, and Dang Mu-seon turned his head.
He muttered with an awkward expression.
“Hmm. Perhaps I struck him too hard….”
“Pardon?!”
Did he really crack his skull?
“It shouldn’t be a serious injury. He’ll wake up eventually. Sometime.”
“Sometime?!”
Sometime? Grandfather!
Dang Mu-seon cleared his throat, avoiding my shocked gaze, then gestured to me.
“In any case, while I’m away, you wait here.”
“You’re leaving? Where to?”
I blinked in confusion, and Dang Mu-seon nudged Seong-ya’s body with his foot.
“Didn’t you hear something from this fellow?”
Various hidden weapons glinted from within his sleeves.
“This place must be protected.”
The lamplight reflected the scene of this cave.
‘…So much has happened.’
It was the same at the Assembly Meeting.
I’d barely caught my breath when I suddenly found myself in Yak-seon’s cave with an unconscious man.
“….”
My chest throbbed painfully. It was from betrayal and shock.
It wasn’t anger so much as sorrow. I pitied myself.
‘No. No.’
I shook my head, recalling Dang Mu-seon’s words.
I’m growing stronger.
So I can’t falter over something like this.
‘I have to endure!’
My fists clenched as I trembled.
“Miss, are you… are you cold?”
Gong Myo gently rubbed my arm and asked with concern.
“No, I’m fine.”
Between the thick Wind-Breaking Technique and Dang Dam removing his green robe for me, I was actually overheating.
“Th-that’s a relief.”
Gong Myo smiled, visibly reassured.
She gazed silently down at Seong-ya, bound tightly from head to toe.
They were roughly the same age.
‘Now that I think about it, it’s strange.’
Someone raised as a spy ruining a mission over unrequited love.
Perhaps being raised that way made him vulnerable to emotions like love.
My feelings toward Seong-ya were far from kind.
This man was one of the principal culprits who murdered my family.
With an uneasy heart, I hugged my knees.
“…sigh.”
I couldn’t sleep properly, only opening and closing my eyes repeatedly.
How much time had passed like this?
A rustling sound came from outside.
We all tensed, our gazes fixed in that direction.
Soon the brush parted, and Dang Mu-seon entered with the bright sunlight.
“Phew.”
Drenched in water, he swept his wet hair back and spoke.
“Come out now.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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