The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 117

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

Chapter 117
I gazed at the Jegal Family Head with an amused smile before turning my attention to the White Cat.
“…So what have you been calling him all this time?”
“There was no particular need to call him anything.”
“You’ve never called him by a name even once?”
“That’s right.”
I tilted my head in confusion.
“How is that possible? You must have been feeding him and giving him water, haven’t you?”
“He understands my intentions without me calling him. So how should I put it….”
The Jegal Family Head paused before continuing.
“He and I are one, you could say? Yes. We share the same soul, so to speak.”
What kind of heretical nonsense is this? Share what? A soul? I regarded the Jegal Family Head with suspicion before gently setting the White Cat down.
‘If they share the same soul, does that mean this White Cat is Jeggal Hwa-mu? That would mean I’ve been petting Jeggal Hwa-mu all this time? That’s a bit….’
Heretical as it sounded, I couldn’t dismiss the Jegal Family Head’s words as nonsense. The White Cat mewed pitifully, as if wronged, and grabbed at my sleeve.
I couldn’t hide my discomfort as I asked.
“Is this related to that technique you mentioned back then…?”
“Exactly. Everything he sees and experiences, I can know. Because he is me.”
The Jegal Family Head sighed.
“That’s why I came thinking you were crying…but you weren’t.”
This brat has been hoping I’d cry since earlier.
“If you want to cry so badly, why don’t you do it yourself?”
“If I cry, will you comfort me?”
“No.”
“Ah, you’re truly heartless.”
I let out a scoff as if it weren’t funny, but then the absurdity of bantering with this brat struck me, and I burst into laughter.
Phew, laughing like this did ease the tightness in my chest somewhat. After my laughter subsided, I gazed at the White Cat with renewed interest and asked.
“Sharing a soul? So you can know everything he sees?”
“Yes. Though not constantly—it depends on how much I concentrate.”
“How is that even possible?”
Could I do it too? If I could, it would be quite convenient in many ways. The Jegal Family Head explained with surprising candor, his expression perfectly serene.
“You find a suitable creature, raise it while feeding it the blood and flesh of the person you wish to connect with. It’s within the realm of mystical arts—you’ve probably never heard of it.”
“Blood and flesh of a person…?”
From the description alone, it sounded close to forbidden magic.
“Does it… not hurt?”
“It does hurt.”
The Jegal Family Head rolled up his sleeve. The scars that lined his arm were the kind that would make anyone think he’d been abused. They looked quite old. Given that the Jegal Family Head was only eleven now, these would have been inflicted when he was at most ten years old or younger…. No, where on such a young child’s body could you even make wounds like that?
I frowned deeply.
I erased the thought I’d had moments ago about how convenient this might be, and asked in bewilderment.
“Why would you do something so insane?”
“Staying cooped up at home is boring, isn’t it? What could I possibly do with a body like this?”
“….”
I alternated my gaze between Jegal Clan Head and White Cat.
“And you haven’t even given it a name?”
A hollow laugh burst from my lips.
I glared at Jegal Clan Head, who tilted his head at my laughter.
“That’s selfish.”
“Hmm?”
“What on earth did you do to such a beautiful and adorable cat? Huh?”
“…Hmm?”
“You feed it strange things. You cast bizarre spells about the soul and whatnot. And then you say you’ll die early anyway, so why bother naming it? If you’ve taken it in, you need to take responsibility!”
Jegal Clan Head stared at me intently.
“Why?”
“I just decided.”
“Decided what?”
“Its name.”
I pointed to the cat as I spoke.
“Hmm….”
Jegal Clan Head, who had been groaning, suddenly spoke.
“But why were you doing that here?”
“….”
Abruptly, Jegal Clan Head returned to the main point.
He whispered subtly.
“Tell me. I might be able to help.”
“….”
Since I regressed and opened my eyes, I had given help regarding such information and knowledge far more often than I had received it.
‘Now that I think about it, Grandfather said Jegal Clan Head knows a way to alleviate Father’s condition.’
He said the Jegal Clan had tried everything to treat the severed meridians.
And this cat.
‘Sharing of souls?’
It was something never even mentioned in the novel.
‘I need to accept it.’
The world I knew was only a very small part of the whole.
And….
I looked at Jegal Clan Head, who still gripped my forearm tightly. He smiled broadly at me.
‘Can I trust him?’
Seeing how the Demonic Cult had invested so much effort over a long time to destroy the Jegal Family… he couldn’t be a villain. But even so… no, no. That wasn’t what mattered.
If it could help Father’s illness even slightly.
‘I need to make him my ally.’
I had to do it by any means necessary. He seemed quite interested in my abilities anyway. The fact that a child I had never even met in my previous life suddenly appeared before me was likely because of the power I received from Man Shin-ui.
“Fine. So let go now.”
I pulled my hand away from the Jegal Family Head’s grip and grasped the back of his hand instead. My eyes widened.
“Why are your hands so cold?”
The Jegal Family Head’s hands were remarkably frigid.
‘The weather is this warm….’
Even accounting for the late hour, spring had long since arrived. The temperature was so mild that I’d stepped outside without even an outer robe and felt no chill whatsoever.
I found myself frowning without thinking.
“Your hand.”
“Hm?”
“The other one.”
“What, are you treating me like a dog?”
“At least puppies are cute.”
“That’s strange. Am I not cute?”
The Jegal Family Head tilted his head with a blink, his pale complexion and the deep shadows beneath his eyes lending him a sickly appearance—though admittedly, he was quite handsome in his own right.
Because of this, his deliberately endearing expression fit him perfectly, as though he’d been born to wear it.
“…Have some shame.”
I found myself retorting half a beat too late. The Jegal Family Head laughed silently, as if he knew everything.
To silence his nonsense, I squeezed the Jegal Family Head’s hand painfully hard, then infused natural energy into the meridian points while pressing them as he whimpered, “Yeon, I’m sorry. It hurts.”—much as I had done for Seo Ha-ryeong’s wrist before.
The Jegal Family Head let out a soft moan tinged with satisfaction.
After a moment, I spoke.
“Heavenly Fate Golden Soul Pill.”
“Hm?”
“It’s useless for your severed meridians, isn’t it?”
The Jegal Family Head’s eyes merely blinked in shock. His expression made clear he’d never anticipated such a question.
“Why are you suddenly asking that? Are you trying to give it to me?”
I squeezed the Jegal Family Head’s hand painfully again. He quickly answered.
“If the Heavenly Fate Golden Soul Pill could save me, wouldn’t I have already sought it out and consumed it?”
“….”
Should I call that impressive…? His blunt words left me speechless.
“The Heavenly Fate Golden Soul Pill… it would be nice to have, but it won’t help much.”
The Jegal Family Head coughed several times as he continued speaking.
“The reason severed meridians lead to early death is because of a cursed constitution, isn’t it?”
A constitution where the meridians gradually narrow until they close entirely. When qi circulation becomes difficult, the body weakens. It meant sickness.
With illness, one might at least attempt to cure the cause, but severed meridians cannot be healed—making it far more vicious than any disease.
“If I consumed the Heavenly Fate Golden Soul Pill, my body would recover perfectly. But what good would that do? The severed meridians, the blocked qi pathways—they’d remain unchanged.”
The Heavenly Fate Golden Soul Pill could restore a damaged body, but only temporarily. Since the root cause persists, the influence of the severed meridians would weaken me again until death claimed me. It was the same result as when I’d consumed it in the past to restore my dantian.
“Well, true to its name, the Heavenly Fate Golden Soul Pill might extend my remaining days slightly.”
The Jegal Family Head paused to steady his breathing, gazing into empty space.
“But ultimately, it cannot prevent the approaching death.”
When the Jegal Family Head spoke of death, it always carried a mocking undertone. Yet this time, perhaps because it was an answer to my question, his tone was matter-of-fact, conveying the truth plainly.
“If such a thing were possible, wouldn’t the Emperor himself have achieved immortality?”
“That’s… true enough.”
The Jegal Family Head chuckled softly and whispered.
“For what it’s worth, we also know how to create the Heavenly Fate Golden Soul Pill.”
“What did you say?”
“But we can’t make it anymore. The essential ingredients have gone extinct.”
Those who once dreamed of eternal life gathered materials indiscriminately, and now they can no longer be found in this land.
The Jegal Family Head shrugged and continued.
“Not only can we no longer make it… but its effectiveness diminishes with each consumption.”
“Its effectiveness diminishes with each consumption?”
“Yes. There’s a limit to how much the human body can recover. It’s like how if you injure the same wound again, it becomes harder to heal. That’s why we abandoned the pursuit.”
Had it been otherwise, I felt certain they would have found some way to recreate the Heavenly Fate Golden Soul Pill.
The Jegal Family Head tilted his head curiously.
“But why are you asking about that? Are you planning to take it? Surely you realized why you haven’t been given any until now?”
I opened my eyes wide in disbelief.
‘How does he know about internal Baek Family matters as if reading my palm?’
Yet even the Jegal Family Head didn’t know this fact.
“Father is unwell.”
“Hmm?”
“I saw his inner energy flow suddenly stop.”
“Inner energy flow? Ah, so that’s what was happening with your father…?”
The Jegal Family Head looked genuinely shocked. When it happened, how it occurred, what his meridians looked like—I told him everything, grasping at straws.
The Jegal Family Head shook his head.
“I’ve never heard of such a condition. I say with certainty—no such illness exists. If it did, we would surely know of it.”
“But you said you knew a palliative method?”
“What I taught the Baek Li Family Head was one of the treatments the Jegal Family has long researched to slow the progression of severed meridians, however slightly.”
In other words, it wasn’t a definitive cure. We were back to square one.
“Would the Heavenly Fate Golden Soul Pill help Father?”
At the Jegal Family Head’s laughter, I raised my eyebrows.
“No, just asking such an obvious question.”
“What? I’m just—!”
“What does it matter? If it wouldn’t help, wouldn’t you simply not give it to the Great Hero of the Baek Family?”
“…Ah.”
I stared at the Jegal Family Head in astonishment. His words struck right at the heart of the matter.

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