I Thought the Youngest Daughter of the Sichuan Tang Family Was Hated - Chapter 59

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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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“….”
“Ah, that Gan-ja fellow doesn’t necessarily know about it either—he just had questions, so I shut him down. Nothing to worry about.”
I couldn’t muster any response to Song Hak’s glib remark.
‘How did he know? How could he….’
It wasn’t mere surprise.
The fact that Song Hak had made such a judgment in the first place was what baffled me.
‘Even if I knew Gan-ja’s plan that no one else was aware of….’
Wouldn’t most people assume a different reason?
“How did you know?”
When I asked Song Hak, his eyes widened noticeably. I could see his pupils gleaming.
“…Wow.”
He let out an exclamation before continuing.
“I had a hunch, but it was actually true?”
“…What? A hunch?”
So he’d just been guessing?
‘And I fell for it completely…?’
“You were speaking with such certainty just moments ago!”
When I jumped up and protested, he shrugged and drawled his response.
“I’m certain now.”
“Ugh! Really…! You were just poking around with absolutely no evidence?!”
“Well, not exactly.”
Song Hak waved his hand and continued.
“Your younger brother mentioned it. He said you’re unusually skilled at handling medicine for someone your age?”
At his words, my shoulders, which had been raised in agitation, flinched.
“That’s….”
“Besides, it would be stranger not to notice.”
Song Hak tilted his head, speaking as if bewildered.
“Do you really think you’re acting like a child?”
“I, I, I….”
He’d struck another nerve. I found myself avoiding his gaze.
“You whine and act spoiled around Dang Mu-seon, so you do seem childlike in that regard—but what child sheds tears over their family’s troubles?”
That stung. There was no defense against that.
“…You could just call me an old soul. Someone with depth of thought.”
I answered in a small voice, and Song Hak nodded matter-of-factly.
“That would normally be the case. If you hadn’t known that great technique.”
“Great technique?”
My voice rose involuntarily.
‘Is that what I’ve been wondering about all this time?’
That strange sorcery Jin Hwa had used while holding my hand.
Every time I grew curious about it, I couldn’t describe how frustrating the uncertainty felt.
Walking through an endless expanse of darkness.
With nothing known to me, there was no other choice.
‘But it seems I’ve grasped a thread now.’
“What grand technique are you referring to?”
“Hmm.”
Song Hak stroked his chin, scrutinizing me from head to toe.
“The fact that you don’t know this suggests someone has been clinging to you persistently, doesn’t it?”
His words made me furrow my brow.
Clinging persistently? What did that mean?
“Wasn’t it an act of kindness?”
Indeed, it was true—thanks to Jin Hwa, I had reunited with my family and learned the truth.
In reality, he was nothing less than a benefactor I could never repay.
“Kindness? I suppose you could see it that way.”
At his ambiguous response, I found myself grasping Song Hak’s hand without thinking.
I felt the thick fabric of his gloves.
“Please tell me properly. I know nothing about the person who sent me here.”
“Well, I don’t know him all that well either, to be honest….”
At the earnestness in my eyes, Song Hak closed his eyes tightly.
With his arms crossed, he shrugged his shoulders and began to speak.
“It is a grand technique for entwining fate—one passed down only through oral tradition from ages past, now forgotten.”
“Entwining… fate?”
Entwining fate. The phrase sounded strange to me.
It felt like words that should never be used in relation to destiny itself.
“Yes. Watch carefully.”
Song Hak unwound the cloth he had been holding up in a high knot.
Light brown long hair cascaded down over his shoulders.
“In life, there are connections that brush past you, and connections known only to one side, aren’t there?”
Saying this, he tore the cloth into thin strips.
The cloth tearing into strands seemed to represent each individual person.
“Those lost connections? Like this.”
He selected two pieces of cloth and rubbed them together in his palm.
The two cloths twisted together as one, transforming into a cord like twine.
“Forcibly entwining them.”
“Uh…?”
The more I listened to his words, the more questions arose.
‘I don’t understand what he’s saying.’
“You don’t understand, do you?”
Song Hak tossed the tattered cloth scraps over his shoulder as he spoke.
“I don’t know much either. I told you—this old man barely remembers this ancient legend. But one thing is certain: you are destined to become entangled with that man, no matter what.”
“Why… why would he do such a thing? I don’t know him at all.”
I shook my head firmly, and Song Hak’s eyes suddenly narrowed.
He seemed to recall something, but had no intention of sharing it.
“…Well, it must be for a tremendous reason. No one but a madman would do such a thing otherwise.”
I nodded quietly at Song Hak’s words.
‘That’s right. He said I’d pay an enormous price for it.’
My curiosity only grew, yet a strange certainty settled over me.
‘I’m going to meet Jin Hwa.’
Perhaps I could get answers when I ask him then.
If he, like me, carried memories of his previous life.
“Hah, so that technique bordering on fantasy actually existed—this is getting interesting.”
Lost in serious thought, Song Hak spoke with a bright voice.
“My disciple is a Hoecheon person with such excellent talent.”
Song Hak gazed at me with keen interest, his hands cradling the back of his head.
“Your disciple? Surely not me?”
I pointed to myself and asked, and he nodded shamelessly.
“Of course. You’re going to take revenge anyway.”
“…”
My mouth fell open.
The way he said it so matter-of-factly caught me off guard.
But I couldn’t deny it.
‘I only thought about protecting my family…’
Now I realized it.
There was a hatred burning in my heart that would never extinguish.
What was the greatest revenge I could achieve?
‘That’s it.’
To frustrate them.
To show those who watched us and tried to crush us beforehand.
That I survived.
“The things that will unfold ahead. Terrible, aren’t they? That’s why you cried like that.”
I lifted my head at Song Hak’s question.
In my previous life, terrible things must have befallen him by now as well.
Yak-seon, one of his sworn brothers, would lose his territory, and Dang Mu-seon would go into hiding.
‘So Song Hak was also a member of the Dang Family?’
A martial artist born as a poison expert of the Dang Family.
Then he too must have lost his homeland and blood relatives.
“I have to stop it.”
At the truth that tumbled out, Song Hak smiled with pity.
“Absolutely not. I cannot let my granddaughter endure such terrible things!”
Dang Mu-seon’s stern expression flashed through my mind.
The path ahead would certainly be agonizing.
“It will be lonely. You’ll be alone. Forever.”
The price is my world.
“Come to me, my small joy.”
….
No. No, that’s not right.
My world isn’t me.
It’s everything that surrounds me.
Father.
My brothers.
Dang Mu-seon.
My people.
As long as they remain alive, my world will never change.
I steadied my aching heart and spoke.
“It’s a secret from Grandfather.”
Song Hak fell silent, seeming taken aback by my words.
‘He was the one who suggested it first.’
Perhaps he panicked upon realizing he’d have to deceive Dang Mu-seon.
Soon enough, Song Hak opened his mouth again.
“…All right.”
I rose from where I lay and bowed my head deeply.
Clasping my hands together, I spoke with quiet resolve.
“I am in your debt, Master.”
***
We began preparing to slowly return to the Family Estate.
Seong-ya had awakened, and I’d reunited with Song Hak—it was only natural to head back.
Moreover, a letter had arrived from Father.
“My child, I do hope you haven’t forgotten about your father.”
A plainly written summons urging me to return home.
‘The recuperation may not have worked out as intended…’
Still, my spirit had grown far healthier than my body.
I felt as though I’d matured considerably.
“Ah, this cursed wanderlust of mine. I wonder if it’ll be alright.”
As we loaded the cart, I heard Song Hak’s grumbling from where he’d been fishing at the River Bank.
After speaking with Dang Mu-seon, Song Hak had decided to remain in the Village to protect Yak-seon and the people.
It seemed to be eating at him considerably.
“So-ran, you’re really leaving?”
“So-ran, older sister…”
“So-ran! No! Don’t go! *Sniffle!*”
The village children approached, their eyes glistening with tears.
Somehow, they’d opened their hearts to me.
“*Sob!* I-I’ll come back again! D-don’t worry! *Whimper…*”
Of course, I felt the same way.
“I’ll miss you all…”
As we embraced and sniffled together, Yak-seon pressed a large bundle into my hands.
“Here. I’ve prepared medicinal herbs that are good for your body. Take care of yourself.”
“Thank you, *hic!* Master Yak-seon…”
I accepted the bundle while swallowing a hiccup.
Though I couldn’t see his eyes, I sensed a faint concern emanating from him.
“Now, now. So-ran’s farewells are complete, so let’s make room. We need to organize the luggage.”
Yak-seon coaxed the village children away to clear the space.
“My goodness. Will this cart even move with so much cargo?”
Song Hak, who’d been standing at a distance, suddenly appeared beside me.
“That fellow’s just loafing about. Haha.”
He chuckled as he watched Dang Mu-seon, perched on a stone jutting from the middle of the Cliff, smoking a long pipe.
Then he handed me a small lizard.
“Here. It’s yours now.”
“Mine?”
The white lizard resting on my palm was remarkably light.
Round, large eyes and a tightly closed, aggrieved mouth.
It tilted its head as it looked up at me.
‘How adorable…’
My cheeks flushed involuntarily.
As I stroked the lizard’s head, Song Hak spoke to me matter-of-factly.
“It’s a lizard capable of killing that Gan-ja bastard.”
“What?!”
How could something this adorable do such a thing?
“With those bulging cheeks and belly, it can channel sound energy. Though it’s quite weak.”
“Mya-.”
The lizard let out a feeble sound as if to demonstrate.
The sound echoed and carried all the way to the Forest at the horizon’s edge.
“Wow!”
“Myaa!”
The lizard mimicked my exclamation and scurried up my arm to perch atop my head.
I felt it coil itself on my crown.
“If you want to kill that Gan-ja bastard, just say the word. I understand almost everything you say.”
“Ah….”
As if responding to Song Hak’s words, the creature licked my head with its thin tongue.
‘So it uses ultrasonic waves to drive the blood insect swarm into a frenzy.’
For some reason, I felt an unsettling chill.
“What did you say to make the child’s face turn pale!”
Before I knew it, Dang Mu-seon had stepped between us.
Perhaps because of Dang Mu-seon’s earlier suggestion, he bared his teeth whenever Song Hak so much as glanced in my direction.
Song Hak retreated backward, crying out as if disgusted.
“Am I going to eat her? Forget it! I was just being nice to your granddaughter.”
As Song Hak winked at me and disappeared, Dang Mu-seon hurled curses at his retreating figure.
“Don’t be nice to her. Don’t even look at her! You old venomous toad!”
Dang Mu-seon, who had been shouting with veins bulging from his neck, suddenly cradled me gently in his arms as if nothing had happened.
“Because you’re so kind and accept everything, that old fool gets cocky and wanders about without shame. Thank you for respecting your grandfather.”
“Ah… haha.”
I laughed awkwardly at the harsh words.
‘It seems like their relationship has completely fallen apart because of me.’
As we boarded the carriage, the Village came into view through the window.
It was a sight I wouldn’t see for some time now.
‘…So we’re heading back now.’
For some reason, I felt as though everything was just beginning.

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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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