I Thought the Youngest Daughter of the Sichuan Tang Family Was Hated - Chapter 72

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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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“What? That’s not it at all!”
I could hear the tension tightening in my voice as I answered.
“Not it? What do you mean, not it.”
Dang Lim’s eyes narrowed to slits as he fixed me with a piercing stare.
“Are you hiding something from me?”
“No! Of course not…! There’s really nothing there at all!”
I waved my hands frantically, denying it with urgency.
Dang Lim fell silent for a moment, studying me with suspicious eyes.
After a pause, Dang Lim spoke again.
“So there’s truly nothing, then?”
“Yes!”
I nodded vigorously in response, and Dang Lim gestured toward the door with his chin.
“Then we should go. Since there’s nothing.”
“Yes, but…?”
How could it be that simple?
“Well, you see….”
Caught between a rock and a hard place, I cast a desperate, pleading look toward Gui Heon.
But it was useless.
“Shall we get up and check, then?”
Gui Heon set down his teacup and spoke quietly.
It seemed Gui Heon was just as suspicious of my reaction as Dang Lim was.
“Uh, well….”
Unable to respond, I stammered helplessly as the situation moved forward without waiting.
“I’ll step outside first.”
Gui Heon smiled faintly and walked out.
“Come on, let’s go.”
Dang Lim followed after him.
“….”
The sound of their footsteps echoing down the Corridor filled my ears with dread.
Gulp.
“Oh no, this is bad.”
Feeling like I was walking toward a beating, I followed them.
“Oh! Look at that! A bird—it’s doing a somersault in the air!”
“Ha ha, let’s go.”
I tried desperately to redirect their attention along the way, but it was hopeless.
Trapped, we arrived at the Chil-yeong Mountain Warehouse, and Dang Lim pointed firmly at the door.
“Now, open it.”
“Really…? You really want me to open it?”
I looked up at Dang Lim with the most pitiful, kitten-like eyes I could muster, but he answered coldly.
“Yes. Really open it.”
Dang Lim was no different.
He seemed interested only in what that something hidden deep within the room could be—something that absolutely could not be discovered.
“Ugh….”
I was finished.
With trembling hands, I unfastened the latch on the door.
Creak.
Through the crack, Dang Lim thrust his head in swiftly.
Watching him scan the room back and forth, I squeezed my eyes shut.
“…What? There really isn’t anything?”
Nothing?
I cracked my eyes open slightly.
The pile of straw that looked suspiciously like someone was hiding in it—it wasn’t visible?
I’d thought that with each breath, the pile would swell and Dang Lim would catch on immediately….
“Where.”
Jin Hwa threw the door wide open and checked inside the Warehouse.
“…Really nothing.”
His stern expression softened when he too found nothing amiss.
“Ha ha. I thought—”
Jin Hwa laughed brightly and patted my shoulder.
“—that you were hiding some runaway servant or something.”
A direct hit. He’d guessed it perfectly.
I forced a smile, trying to hide my alarm.
“…Ha ha. As if I would do such a thing!”
I probed carefully, watching his reaction.
“But if you got caught doing that, it would be a huge problem, wouldn’t it?”
Jin Hwa nodded without hesitation.
“It would. Letting an outsider into the Clan Grounds without permission is unacceptable. If you were caught, the outsider would be imprisoned, and you, Yeon-ah—”
Jin Hwa touched my cheek and continued with an ominous tone.
“—would face severe punishment from Father.”
“…Ha ha. He….”
Even forcing the words out, I couldn’t manage another laugh.
The image of Jin Hwa being imprisoned flashed through my mind.
In his current condition, imprisonment would mean certain death.
In fact, even if he miraculously survived and escaped, there was another problem.
‘What if he becomes the leader of the Crimson Flame Alliance later and tries to kill us!’
“Well, I’ve confirmed it now. But why do you look so pale? You haven’t done anything wrong.”
Lost in these horrifying thoughts, Dang Lim spoke, his hands clasped behind his head.
Having lost interest in the Warehouse, he’d already turned away from the door.
Jin Hwa was the same.
“I-I was just… scared because you were suspicious….”
As I spewed out the excuse I’d just made up, Dang Lim scratched his neck as if feeling a bit sorry.
“Hey. We’re not doing this for nothing. We’re just worried about you.”
Dang Lim pulled my cheek out in a long stretch as he spoke bluntly.
“There’s plenty to be scared of. But I’m more scared of you.”
“Ugh. My cheek’s stretching.”
When I smacked the back of his hand repeatedly, Dang Lim finally let go.
“Don’t be scared. You understand?”
“Yes.”
I answered while rubbing my tingling cheek.
Dang Lim, who had been looking down at me quietly, and Gui-heon soon locked eyes with each other.
When Dang Lim shrugged his shoulders, Gui-heon nodded.
It seemed both of them had completely dropped their suspicions.
“Anyway, we’re leaving. Get inside.”
“Be careful.”
As if their only purpose had been to confirm things, they turned away anticlimactically.
I exhaled in relief while rubbing my tingling cheek.
I stood without opening the Warehouse door until they descended below the Hill and disappeared from sight.
Only when I was completely alone did I open the door.
‘What on earth was inside the Warehouse that I didn’t get caught?’
As I carefully opened the door, the answer became clear.
“Huh?”
There was a pile of straw, but it had been dug through in places.
It was impossible to even imagine that someone could be hiding in it.
I rushed over and frantically dug through the straw piled up to my ankles, but of course, I touched nothing.
“That can’t be….”
The person who was definitely here until yesterday—where did they go?
I jumped up and searched the entire surroundings.
I thoroughly searched under the table where medicinal herbs were placed, inside medicine boxes, behind woodpiles, and even inside the furnace.
But Jin Hwa was nowhere to be found.
At this point, my heart grew anxious.
‘Could they have actually left?’
There’s no way they’d do something that stupid.
They must be in here somewhere. I’m sure of it.
“Hey… where are you…!”
I called out to Jin Hwa with an impatient voice while looking around.
My body naturally moved toward the farthest corner of the Warehouse.
A dusty space where miscellaneous items were haphazardly piled up.
It was the moment I was slowly walking into a place where sunlight barely entered.
“Could you really have actually left—ugh!”
Suddenly, someone grabbed my wrist and pulled me forcefully.
In an instant, my body lurched sideways—into a shadowed corner shrouded in darkness.
Crash!
Boxes and tattered cloth tumbled across the floor in a cacophony of noise.
I collapsed beneath the avalanche, buried under it all.
“….”
It didn’t hurt.
Whoever had pulled me here had cradled my waist firmly, shielding me from the fall.
“Haa.”
I felt ragged breathing against my face.
I felt the hand clamped over my mouth, and the searing heat of perspiration-dampened skin.
When I lifted my head, I saw the face of a young boy sculpted from shadow.
Like flecks of gold, a faint crimson light glimmered within his irises.
‘Jin Hwa…. Yes, it’s him.’
Those eyes confirmed it beyond doubt.
The young boy before me was Jin Hwa, and he had finally awakened from his deep slumber.
He stared toward the closed door, his eyelids trembling slightly.
“Hey, there’s no one—mmph-.”
The moment I tried to speak, he pressed his hand harder against my mouth.
‘Ugh. Why is this kid so strong?’
My cheeks were practically being crushed.
I pushed against Jin Hwa’s arm wrapped around my body, squirming, and only then did he look at me.
Suddenly, his face drew closer.
His eyes caught the light again, gleaming.
The image I’d seen just before the regression overlapped with this moment.
He looked far more innocent then, though with a sharper, more feline edge.
“What are you.”
As I found myself tracing the contours of Jin Hwa’s face as if entranced, he parted his cracked lips.
‘He can speak.’
With the wound in his abdomen, I’d expected him to struggle with words.
He must have recovered considerably.
An unexpected warmth bloomed in my chest—memories of nursing him back to health with such care flooded back.
Before I knew it, a smile spread across my face.
“You’ve recovered completely, haven’t you?”
Delighted by his stirring, I pulled him into an embrace.
“Truly, you have no idea how worried I’ve been! Haha.”
“….”
I felt his body stiffen like stone.
Jin Hwa looked down at me with a rigid expression.
Rigid, or perhaps startled—it was hard to tell.
“Ha, ha…. Um….”
Or not? Is he angry?
Suddenly, I noticed the boy’s eyes—usually expressionless—blazing with fierce intensity.
‘Ah, that’s right. This is Jin Hwa.’
I had forgotten in my joy at seeing him.
The child I was holding was destined to become a magnificent talent—a promising prodigy who would grow into a ruthless killer in the future.

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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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