The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 147

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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 147
* * *
In the space left behind after Baek Li-yeon and Seo Ha-ryeong departed.
“….”
“….”
Only silence hung over the table.
Yalyu stared fixedly in the direction Baek Li-yeon had gone, while Namgung Ryu-cheong kept his eyes lowered and sipped his tea with an air of detachment.
Those who had seized this moment to try forging a connection between Namgung Ryu-cheong and Yalyu hesitated, reading the atmosphere. Yet there was one person who paid no mind to that tension whatsoever.
Baek Li-ri approached the table where Namgung Ryu-cheong and Yalyu sat, glanced around, and asked.
“Where did my sister go?”
“….”
“…I don’t know.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong didn’t even lift his gaze, while Yalyu, after a brief silence, turned his eyes slightly and answered.
Baek Li-ri glared at Namgung Ryu-cheong for a moment, then turned to Yalyu with another question.
“Did you go out with Seo So-jeo alone, just the two of you?”
Yalyu nodded slightly.
Baek Li-ri turned to leave, then stopped and looked back. Then she asked abruptly.
“How did you and my sister become so close?”
Only then did Yalyu turn to face Baek Li-ri properly.
Baek Li-ri spoke as if she knew everything.
“You two didn’t get along at first, after all.”
“…Why are you curious about that?”
“Since you’re going to keep staying here as a guest at the Baek Li Estate, isn’t it natural for me to be curious about this much?”
At that moment, Namgung Ryu-cheong interjected.
“You’re staying here indefinitely?”
Yalyu spoke coldly.
“It’s none of your concern.”
That answer said everything.
Namgung Ryu-cheong sneered coldly.
“As if owing a life debt wasn’t enough, how long will you parasitize like a leech? Have some shame.”
Their gazes clashed. Soon after, Yalyu laughed softly.
“Jealous?”
“Ha.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong sighed as if exasperated.
Yalyu spoke.
“Yeon approved it, so what does it have to do with you? It’s not even your house anymore.”
Yalyu smiled wickedly.
“I’ll be looking forward to the day you leave soon.”
“….”
And watching this unfold, Baek Li-ri bristled with exasperation.
“What are you two doing? You’re not even answering my questions!”
Another voice suddenly cut through between them.
“What amusing conversation are you having?”
The smiling face belonged to Baek Li-myeong.
I realized he’d come knowing Baek Li-yeon wasn’t here, and now he was asking as if he’d just discovered it.
“Oh? Where did Yeon go?”
Baek Li-ri didn’t answer with a sullen expression and quickly slipped away.
“Li-ri, where are you going!”
Since such occurrences were frequent, Baek Li-myeong simply turned his gaze away as Baek Li-ri left with her friends.
In the meantime, the atmosphere between Namgung Ryu-cheong and Yalyu, which had seemed ready to erupt into violence, had calmed. They turned their heads away from each other as if they couldn’t bear to look.
Baek Li-myeong, unaware of the situation, smiled and spoke.
“Li-ri usually avoids strangers, so it’s surprising she’s with you gentlemen. Next time, why don’t you join Li-ri for tea at my residence?”
Namgung Ryu-cheong let out a sigh.
“Young Master.”
“Yes?”
“I’m not interested.”
And he continued with evident irritation.
“Rather than wasting time on frivolous matters, wouldn’t it be better to focus first on improving your own skills?”
“What do you mean… yes?”
“I had high expectations since you’re said to be the successor who will lead the Baek Li Estate… but I’m disappointed.”
“…”
For Baek Li-myeong, the young master of the Baek Family, this was nearly the first time he’d been so openly humiliated.
His face flushed red with bewilderment.
“Young Master Namgung, what do you mean? I was merely…”
At that moment, Yalyu suddenly rose to his feet.
Namgung Ryu-cheong frowned and looked in the direction Yalyu was gazing.
The entrance area was in commotion. Soon a boy burst in and shouted.
“Hey, hey, there’s a fight outside!”
“What? Really? Who? Who’s fighting?”
Baek Li-myeong, grateful to those who’d freed him from this awkward situation, quickly raised his voice sternly.
“What are you saying? A fight? Who would dare quarrel at the Baek Li Estate?”
“Baek Li-yeon and the Twin Cousins!”
Baek Li-myeong’s face twisted with embarrassment once more.
* * *
Before Baek Li-yeon and Seo Ha-ryeong had left the Banquet Hall, in one corner of the chamber.
The Twin Cousins stood apart in dark expressions, uninvolved with anyone else. Only a handful of minor figures gathered around them, and even they watched the Twin Cousins nervously while showing admiration toward Baek Li-yeon.
The commotion Baek Li-ui-ran had caused before the Martial Arts Sects was overshadowed by the appearance of the Tianshan Salt Sect Master and wasn’t widely discussed.
Still, the rumors couldn’t be stopped from spreading.
Baek Li-ui-muk and Baek Li-myeong, who weren’t even the subjects of the rumors and were the eldest son and eldest grandson respectively, suffered little damage.
But Baek Li-ui-ran and the Twin Cousins were different. The atmosphere that befriending Baek Li-ui-ran or the Twin Cousins would yield no benefit spread in an instant.
Unlike before, people were unwilling to engage with them in conversation, and even when addressed, they responded with indifference.
In contrast, the table centered around Baek Li-yeon was brimming with warmth and laughter.
“Hahaha. Wait, is that really true?”
“It really is.”
“The chaos that followed was unbelievable. Three out of ten young ladies jumped in to follow you across the river and ended up in the water. There were so many spectators gathered at the riverbank.”
“Hahaha.”
“In broad daylight, the main street was in an uproar with soaking wet young ladies.”
“Oh? Ah, so that’s why! Your younger sister did that?”
“Seo So-jeo, please keep quiet.”
“Pfft, hehe. Fine, fine.”
“Now that I think about it, Young Master Namgung, when you were younger, the eldest young lady of the Baek Family sparred with you and….”
“Wait, wait, wait, hold on!”
Baek Li Pyo bit his lip hard.
This was all because of that woman.
‘A lowborn wretch that even Mother doesn’t know about…!’
His insides churned with fury.
Even Baek Li-myeong was ignoring their existence. It was infuriating. How could they possibly get along with Baek Li-yeon, who had caused them to enter Gogye Hermitage!
Then suddenly, Baek Li-yeon rose from her seat along with the Suhyang Sect woman. The two of them slipped out of the Banquet Hall together.
In that moment, So U-ak’s eyes gleamed as he spoke to Baek Li Pyo.
“I have a way to drive that wretch out.”
“What? What kind of way?”
So U-ak whispered into Baek Li Pyo’s ear. Baek Li Pyo grinned wickedly before hesitating.
“But what if that woman tattles to the adults?”
“Will it ruin the banquet atmosphere? By the time word reaches their ears, it’ll all be over anyway.”
So U-ak and Baek Li Pyo quickly followed in Baek Li-yeon’s footsteps.
And now, in the present moment.
The first projectile came flying at my torso. As I twisted my body to dodge it, a second one came flying.
‘They’re thinking strategically.’
I could read their intent to throw them in a crossing pattern to prevent escape. But I was already prepared.
Fist-sized lumps of mud.
If I simply caught one, it would splatter across my palm and spray mud everywhere. Even if I dodged slightly wrong, mud would cling to my clothes.
As I evaded the off-beat projectiles, a sudden thought crossed my mind.
‘I could catch this.’
I recalled the moment when Grandfather and the Tianshan Salt Sect Master exchanged teacups.
‘If I use that method….’
All these thoughts flashed through my mind in an instant. Reflexively, I dodged what came at my body and caught the projectile.
Thwack!
Even as I dissipated the impact as much as possible, my palm stung. It was cold and damp. Though mud clung heavily to my hand, somehow it didn’t burst or splatter—the lump of mud maintained its form intact.
I felt a weighty density emanating from the mud lump.
I gazed down at it coldly.
‘…This never changes.’
In the past, I barely mustered the courage to attend when there were no elders from the family present.
Back then, I sat quietly in a corner and watched the conversations unfold. Eventually, I thought I’d take a walk and stepped outside—and that’s precisely where I was hit by a mud clump.
‘I wondered if things might have changed….’
I turned to see where the mud clump had come from.
“What, what is this! How could you!”
“How dare you dodge!”
I saw So U-ak’s shocked face and Baek Li Pyo’s indignant sneer.
Baek Li Pyo, momentarily flustered, cried out.
“Get out of here right now! Do you think you’re something special just because someone’s been coddling you?”
“Why don’t you get out? I doubt anyone would even notice if you disappeared.”
“What, what did you say?”
“From what I can see, nobody seems particularly interested in talking to you.”
My words struck a nerve, and Baek Li Pyo’s face flushed crimson.
“Shut up! I said shut up!”
While Baek Li Pyo shouted indignantly, So U-ak appeared to have grasped something.
Yes. Anyone with even a modicum of sense would understand what it meant that I’d caught the mud clump so cleanly.
Baek Li Pyo bent down and grabbed mud again.
“Wait, Pyo.”
So U-ak placed a hand on Baek Li Pyo’s shoulder as if to stop him.
“What are you doing! Hurry up and help! At least one of us should hit. With that appearance, I doubt you’ll even be able to show your face at the banquet…!”
The moment Baek Li Pyo rose to his feet, mud clump in hand once more.
Whoosh! Something flew through the air.
With a sharp crack, Baek Li Pyo screamed and tumbled backward.
“Ugh!”
“Pyo!”
So U-ak rushed to catch him in shock.
Baek Li Pyo clutched his forehead, trembling violently.
So U-ak hurriedly pried Baek Li Pyo’s hand away to examine the wound, revealing brown mud caked pitifully across his forehead and hairline.
“Gasp, huff, haaah.”
Baek Li Pyo gasped and whimpered.
Soon, a crimson hue began seeping through the mud, mingling with the earth and trickling down in rivulets.
“Blood, there’s blood…!”
Clink. A small stone that had been caught in Baek Li Pyo’s clothing fell to the ground—the stone that had been embedded in the mud.
‘I received a scar on my forehead from being hit by that back then.’
So U-ak cried out.
“What are you doing!”
I shrugged and smiled.
“I thought you were just playing around.”

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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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