The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 144

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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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Chapter 144
“The Tianshan Salt Sect Master?”
“No, why is the Tianshan Salt Sect Master here!”
The crowd erupted in shock and alarm.
I could see Baek Family warriors streaming out of the Banquet Hall in response. It had to be because of the Tianshan Salt Sect Master’s arrival. He must have sensed the gathering forces, yet he opened his mouth with complete composure.
“I was passing by and heard such a commotion, so I thought I’d stop in for a drink.”
“….”
“You give wine to beggars on the street, surely you won’t refuse a cup to me.”
At that moment, someone suddenly shot to his feet and cried out.
“Do you know where this is!”
The one who shouted so boldly was a fairly young man.
The Tianshan Salt Sect Master’s gaze turned toward him. The man’s face immediately drained of color, and cold sweat beaded on his brow. No one around him dared to step forward, all exchanging nervous glances.
“Master.”
Everyone turned in surprise toward the source of this sudden interjection.
“That’s enough.”
“…Tsk.”
Everyone had noticed a young boy following the Tianshan Salt Sect Master. But they’d been too overwhelmed by the master’s presence to pay him proper attention until now.
“A disciple?”
“The Tianshan Salt Sect Master has a disciple?”
The crowd gasped and whispered again. The boy had jet-black hair cut roughly to shoulder length and tied back. Combined with a plain black martial robe devoid of any ornament, he looked like any ordinary traveler wandering the Jianghu. Yet his radiant appearance could not be concealed.
‘Yalyu.’
Sure enough, someone whispered playfully.
“What a handsome young man.”
“Is that what matters? We should judge by skill, not appearance. The way he controls his aura already….”
“But his face seems so familiar somehow.”
While others marveled, I alone frowned. The sight of that all-black outfit stirred up unpleasant memories that came flooding back.
Then a large, warm, and firm hand grasped mine tightly. I didn’t need to look to know who it was. It was my father.
Father was watching me with concern. A moment later, I heard his voice transmitted directly to my mind.
[Your face has gone pale. Are you feeling unwell? Shall we leave?]
Leave the banquet now? He certainly had nerve.
I shook my head gently.
Just then, Yalyu turned and saw me. Our eyes met, and his expressionless face melted into a radiant smile.
Clack. The sudden sound made me look toward my grandfather. Our eyes met as he set down his wine cup on the table. His expression was irritable. A voice echoed in my mind.
[Do you know him?]
I nodded ever so slightly. Grandfather studied Yalyu with a tiger’s gaze. There was something distinctly displeased in his eyes.
Meanwhile, the Tianshan Salt Sect Master strolled leisurely through the Banquet Hall with his hands clasped behind his back, surveying it as though it were his own private chamber.
“When will you serve that drink?”
Grandfather’s eyes twitched. He looked ready to draw his sword on the spot, but instead of unsheathing it, he gestured toward a servant.
The servant quickly brought an empty cup. The sound of wine pouring filled the Banquet Hall—glug, glug, glug.
“My palate is particular. I don’t accept inferior wine.”
He’d barged in uninvited and had the audacity to act as though he belonged.
The wine cup was filled to the brim, threatening to overflow.
With a sharp crack, Baek Li Pae-hyuk set down the bottle and hurled the cup. I couldn’t even follow the motion properly. Not a single drop spilled from the cup that had been filled to overflowing. Yet the power contained within that cup was formidable—Jeggal Hwa-mu’s throwing daggers seemed like child’s play by comparison.
If caught wrong, it would surely cause at least a fracture, perhaps even organ rupture. And the slightest mishandling would result in being drenched in wine.
Cheonsan Yeom-je caught the cup silently without spilling a single drop. He drained it in one gulp, then wiped his mouth with a satisfied smile.
“Then allow me to offer a toast to your eightieth birthday.”
Cheonsan Yeom-je picked up a nearby wine bottle and sent another cup spinning back toward Baek Li Pae-hyuk.
Murmurs of admiration rippled through the crowd at the two elders’ display of skill.
This time I could see it more clearly.
‘He only infused inner energy into the cup itself. The wine stayed in place through rotational force. To catch that, you’d need….’
I was analyzing the technique with wide eyes when something caught my attention.
The face of the man from whose table Cheonsan Yeom-je had taken the bottle seemed odd. His complexion was terribly pale—a sickly yellow hue, as if he desperately needed to use the privy.
Even accounting for fear at being in Cheonsan Yeom-je’s presence, his appearance was deeply strange. Cheonsan Yeom-je seemed well-prepared, having even brought a gift for Baek Li Pae-hyuk. My grandfather reluctantly ordered a Servant to prepare a seat. Then he suddenly looked at Yalyu.
“Since you’ve brought him along, introduce your disciple. I thought you’d never take a student in your lifetime.”
As Cheonsan Yeom-je turned his body sideways with his hands clasped behind his back, Yalyu stepped forward. His face was expressionless, as if he’d never smiled.
Yalyu clasped his hands respectfully and bowed.
“I am Yalyu.”
Then an elderly man with white hair from eyebrows to beard and narrow eyes suddenly asked.
“So, Yalyu—what is your relation to Byeok Ki-hyeon?”
I looked at the old man in bewilderment.
‘Byeok Ki-hyeon?’
It was a name my father had mentioned before.
After that, curious, I’d returned to the Baek Li Estate and inquired about her. A woman of prodigious talent who, despite being born a slave, had entered a martial family. She was said to have been a swordmaster equal to my father at the time. And she was supposedly a breathtaking beauty.
A beauty with exceptional martial prowess—she couldn’t have remained unknown. Even from my brief inquiries, I’d heard many stories.
But for nearly twenty years now, she’d remained hidden from sight.
‘But what connection does she have to Yalyu?’
The name the old man had spoken rippled through the Banquet Hall like gentle waves.
“Byeok Ki-hyeon? It’s been ages since I’ve heard that name.”
“She was a swordmaster of great promise. I wonder what she’s doing now.”
“Isn’t the Byeok Family Head’s second son here?”
“Ah? Now that you mention it, doesn’t the boy bear quite a resemblance?”
Yalyu slowly opened his mouth.
“She is my mother.”
As the gathering stirred, all eyes converged on one point.
Now I understood. The man at the table from which Cheonsan Yeom-je had taken the bottle was from the Byeok Family. Cheonsan Yeom-je gazed meaningfully down at the sallow-faced man.
* * *
I grasped Yalyu’s hand and pulled him away. After weaving through the corridors outside the Banquet Hall, I found an empty chamber and slipped inside.
The moment I closed the door, I looked at Yalyu. For nearly four years, I’d heard almost nothing of Cheonsan Yeom-je. Which meant I’d heard nothing of Yalyu either.
I’d simply assumed no news was good news and carried on.
‘Not even a single letter.’
Though I couldn’t read, during my time at the Namgung Clan they taught me a few things—surely I could write something brief about how I’m doing well?
‘And after cutting off all contact like that, he just shows up like this…!’
As I stared at him in silence, Yalyu’s smiling expression gradually faded.
“Are you angry?”
“….”
“Don’t be upset. We haven’t seen each other in so long.”
Before we parted, there was barely any difference between us in height, but looking at him now, I couldn’t fathom what he’d been eating—he was a full head and a half taller than me.
And despite growing so much, he still watched my expression like he used to. His drooping posture somehow looked pitiful…
‘No, stop it. This isn’t the time for such thoughts!’
I spoke firmly.
“Will you explain what’s going on?”
“Huh?”
“What is this situation right now?”
“Ah….”
Yalyu hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“You said you could come anytime you wanted.”
Of course, I had given him an invitation letter to enter the Baek Family Estate.
“But today was Grandfather’s birthday celebration. You and the Cheonsan Yeom-je weren’t invited guests.”
“I wanted to see you.”
“….”
“Is it wrong to come?”
Yalyu quietly took my hand. When I looked up, his sharp black eyes gazed directly at me.
‘Were his eyes always like this?’
No. Yalyu’s eyes had always held a slightly clouded quality, as though he had no interest in worldly affairs.
But now they contained an unfathomable depth of emotion. I forcibly averted my gaze and withdrew my hand from his grasp.
“Anyway, what was that about?”
“What?”
Yalyu released my hand and tilted his head curiously.
“What you said about your mother.”
“Ah….”
Yalyu’s gaze lifted toward empty space for a moment—in the direction of the Banquet Hall we’d escaped from.
“It’s nothing much. As I said, my mother’s name was written with the characters for ‘Byeok’ and ‘Ki-hyeon’… and I spent my childhood at the Byeok Family.”
Yalyu’s gaze turned back toward me.

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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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