I Thought the Youngest Daughter of the Sichuan Tang Family Was Hated - Chapter 54

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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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“Is it all finished?”
I asked hesitantly as I struggled to my feet, and Dang Mu-seon replied.
“More or less.”
“More or less?”
Tilting my head in confusion, I followed him outside.
Dang Dam, who was carrying Seong-ya on his back, and Gong Myo came out with us.
“Ugh!”
We all pinched our noses in unison.
An overwhelming stench wafted through the air.
“Don’t worry. By tomorrow, the wind will carry it all away.”
“W-what is it?”
I asked through my pinched nose, and Dang Mu-seon chuckled.
“Territory marking.”
“I… see?”
My expression twisted in disgust.
‘Grandfather, surely you didn’t…?’
Noticing I was on the verge of covering my nose again, Dang Mu-seon’s eyes narrowed.
“It’s not that kind.”
He answered firmly and ordered Dang Dam to take the others to the Village.
“Whoa!”
He suddenly scooped me up in his arms. My clothes became soaked again from the moisture clinging to him.
In an instant, we were standing atop the Cliff we had desperately leaped down from yesterday.
“Ugh…”
Perhaps from ascending so rapidly, I felt dizzy.
He carefully set me down and spoke.
“Look carefully. But don’t get too close.”
Dang Mu-seon pointed to something.
“…Gasp.”
Only then could I understand what he had done.
The landscape spread below the Cliff was entirely different from yesterday.
Ssshhhhh…
Crunch! Squelch. Squelch!
The Forest, separated from the Village, was melting into blackness.
Everything mixed together, transforming into ashen mud.
A tree split in half was sucked into that place without a trace.
‘What on earth is that.’
I glimpsed the massive scales of an enormous serpent moving between the trees.
“W-what… what is…”
I couldn’t form words at the sight of something so shocking and unprecedented.
In contrast, Dang Mu-seon’s expression remained utterly unbothered.
He removed his green robe and wrung out his damp undergarment as he spoke.
“I’ve set up a formation to ensure that any assassins who find this place are drawn in that direction.”
He lifted his downcast eyes as he continued.
“Toward that cursed land.”
“A cursed land?”
I found it amusing that Dang Mu-seon, who had been speaking of auspicious sites and cursed lands—the sort of thing Daoists would say—since before.
He seemed to read my thoughts and shook his head slightly as he explained.
“The qi of terrain isn’t something only Daoists believe in. From land that nurtures people, nations rise and family clans take root for a thousand generations.”
I nodded at his words about our Sungdo.
“Then that place….”
As I murmured as if entranced, Dang Mu-seon opened his mouth with a satisfied expression.
“The opposite. It’s land that devours people.”
His description was perfectly apt.
It seemed as though not a single insect could survive in that place, let alone a person.
“Those fools will see it and conclude that Jabyeok Valley, which they believed had harmonious fire and water qi, was actually a cursed land.”
Suddenly, a gust of wind swept past.
My body felt strangely chilled.
“They’ll think the collision of qi is rotting it from within, unable to withstand the discord.”
An exclamation escaped me at Dang Mu-seon’s words.
‘So the plan is to drive them away by making them unable to even suspect that Yak-seon could be alive here.’
Yet it was unexpected.
The usual Dang Mu-seon wouldn’t fabricate such a scheme without reason….
“I’d like nothing more than to capture and eliminate them all, but I must restrain myself here. We must hide the fact that we know.”
Yes. This is how my grandfather should be.
“So absolutely. Absolutely. Don’t even set foot in that direction, not even by accident.”
Dang Mu-seon warned me, looking down with serious eyes.
Only after promising several times that I wouldn’t even glance at that place could I descend the mountain.
As I returned to the village, I began to worry needlessly.
‘They’re not all startled because of the stench, are they?’
Besides, a warning about mortal danger….
What could Dang Mu-seon be thinking?
I glanced at him, the source of the stench, but he seemed to have no particular thoughts on the matter.
“What is this! What is this? What is this?”
“Hmm… It’s mountain lotus seedpod. Handle it carefully.”
As the village drew closer, several voices reached my ears.
‘So this is the village where Yak-seon lives.’
Perhaps because of that mystique.
The chirping of birds and the warm sunlight felt unusually peaceful.
“Does this have poison in it?”
“Hmm. Not exactly….”
An elderly man with hair white as snow sat by the roadside with a group of grimy children, trimming medicinal herbs.
It felt less like work and more like he was giving the children something to play with.
I could see the white cloth covering the old man’s eyes.
There was something heartwarming about how he cared for the children despite his own infirmity.
“A blind man who talks too much, it seems.”
Or so I thought.
‘Did I mishear that?’
Rather than showing respect for the elderly, Dang Mu-seon’s voice carried an attack, and I strained to listen carefully.
“Perhaps old age has clouded your judgment too… tsk! Why don’t you just die already.”
I heard him correctly.
“It’s been a long time, older brother.”
The white-haired grandfather rose and greeted Dang Mu-seon with a fist salute.
‘Did he just call him older brother?’
Could that mean Dang Mu-seon was actually older than this grandfather?
If he was older than an elderly man with hair white as snow…
‘Just how old is this grandfather anyway?’
When I glanced up at Dang Mu-seon, he opened his mouth curtly.
“So you’re still alive.”
“Ha ha. Yes, that’s how it turned out.”
Despite the endless rudeness, the old man laughed as if unbothered.
“Were the guests who visited today truly the ones you brought, older brother? I’ve shown them inside, but I could hardly believe it.”
At the old man’s words, Dang Mu-seon patted my back repeatedly.
“My grandson here needs recuperation, and this place is perfect for it.”
“Your grandson?”
At Dang Mu-seon’s words, the old man’s mouth opened slightly in surprise.
Seeing his astonishment, I approached him carefully and greeted him.
“Hello… are you close with grandfather?”
Though the old man’s eyes were covered, he sensed that I had come before him.
He bent down to meet me at eye level.
Though he surely couldn’t see, it felt as though he was gazing deeply into me.
“…Yes.”
The old man spoke kindly while stroking my head.
“So you’re older brother’s granddaughter. I ask that you take good care of him from now on.”
Somehow, I could feel what was in his heart.
It seemed he was thanking me for bringing Dang Mu-seon back out into the world like this.
“Yes. Please leave grandfather to me.”
As I smiled mischievously, Dang Mu-seon grumbled from behind.
“Who’s asking whom to take care of whom? I’m so busy cleaning up after this brat that I have no time left.”
“Ha ha. Your temperament is quite prickly, isn’t it, older brother? I hope you’ll bear with that too.”
The old man deftly parried Dang Mu-seon’s sarcasm.
I nodded eagerly, as if I too had been waiting for this moment.
“Yes! You know how well I can endure things!”
At our words, Dang Mu-seon let out a derisive snort from behind.
“Hmph. Enough. I was so worried about your frail body that I personally brought you to Yak-seon.”
He seemed somewhat displeased.
Feeling the weight of his gaze on the back of my head, I laughed awkwardly.
“Ha ha, well, but! Where is the Immortal?”
As I glanced around asking, Dang Mu-seon pointed with his chin at the Old Restaurant Owner.
“Right in front of your nose, isn’t he?”
***
The old man… no, Yak-seon led us to a small Thatched Cottage.
It was the tiniest house, nestled closest to the Riverside.
“My goodness. We nearly had a disaster while Song Hyung was away.”
The old man, having heard the full account from Dang Mu-seon, released a deep sigh.
“Yes. That’s why I hurried.”
Dang Mu-seon spoke, his gaze fixed on the powder resting on the table.
He placed some powder in his palm and blew it toward me.
“Cough! Cough! G-Grandfather! Why did you do that so suddenly!”
I had been staring blankly into empty space when I was suddenly caught off guard.
Fanning myself while glaring at Dang Mu-seon, he raised his eyebrows.
“You seemed so dazed that I thought I’d wake you up. Is it really so surprising that he’s Yak-seon?”
Of course it was surprising!
Among those who work with medicine, what kind of status does Yak-seon hold!
I was looking at a legend.
‘Actually, what’s more surprising is that Yak-seon is Dang Mu-seon’s younger brother.’
Dang Mu-seon looked so young that my sense of age had become completely warped.
“We should discuss the details with Song Hyung first, older brother.”
Yak-seon spoke while gently brushing the powder from my cheek.
“Yes. We have no choice but to wait until that fellow arrives.”
Dang Mu-seon nodded and rose from his seat.
He thrust his hands into his sleeves as he spoke to Yak-seon.
“Until then, I entrust my grandchild to you.”
“Me? Really?”
Flustered, I grasped at Dang Mu-seon’s robe and looked up at him.
“But Grandfather…”
‘We just found the spy, didn’t we?’
We needed to warn the Family Clan, and there were preparations to make before the spy awoke.
‘Like brainwashing, or things like that! Shouldn’t we?’
Looking down at me, Dang Mu-seon pressed his forehead gently.
“Your problem is that you think far too much for such a small head.”
“Oof.”
I lost my balance and tumbled backward.
Dang Mu-seon lifted one corner of his mouth as he continued.
“This place is inviolable as long as I am here. For now, take care of your body. Otherwise, you’ll catch another illness.”
“…Grandfather.”
He had reminded me of my original purpose for coming here.
The original purpose I barely cared about.
I gazed at Dang Mu-seon’s retreating figure with a sense of regret.
As he left the Thatched Cottage, he dropped a quiet remark.
“Just as you care for your family, or perhaps even more so—they worry about you.”

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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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