The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 191
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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 191
“Since you’ve agreed, here it is.”
I handed the wooden box to Namgung Wan and glanced at my father.
“Please ensure no one approaches him until he wakes.”
“Until he wakes?”
“I slept for ten days. I can’t say how long he’ll sleep, but expect something similar.”
“What?”
“Ten days. Why?”
“No, before that.”
I replayed my own words and felt a chill run through me.
“Oh, did I say ‘I’? My mistake, just a slip. My mind’s a bit scattered.”
Suspicion flickered across their faces, but if I’d consumed the Heavenly Fate Golden Soul Pill, I wouldn’t be here, so they let it pass easily.
The real question came from elsewhere.
My father spoke.
“Sleeping for ten days—I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
I nodded calmly.
“Yes. I heard it from Hwa-mu.”
“I see.”
My father nodded as if understanding.
‘Sorry, Hwa-mu.’
I offered an apology to someone who wasn’t here.
But it wasn’t entirely a lie either. Before departing from the family, I’d received considerable advice from Jeggal Hwa-mu regarding the Heavenly Fate Golden Soul Pill.
The Jegal Family had obtained and consumed the Heavenly Fate Golden Soul Pill many times, so there were extensive records. He’d said that if an arm were completely severed, it couldn’t be recovered unless it was immediately after the severance, but a situation like this could be healed.
‘Guidance to draw out the wondrous energy of the Heavenly Fate Golden Soul Pill will be necessary, though.’
And that was something I could do.
Of course, I’d never actually tried it. But based on my experiences so far, I had faith that I could manage it.
“Take it right now. Once you do, I’ll assist from beside you.”
* * *
“Yeon, you need to wake up.”
A soft voice. Even if it was pleasant to hear, being told to wake up wasn’t welcome.
“You’ve slept far too long. You need to eat.”
I mumbled in response.
“I’m not hungry.”
“Eat and then sleep.”
“If I eat, I’ll be too full to sleep right away.”
“Then move around.”
Ugh, nagging.
I buried my face in the pillow, pretending not to hear. But the owner of that voice had no intention of letting me off.
“Get up.”
Hands grasped my waist and lifted me upright in one swift motion.
“Ugh… huh… mmm…”
“Don’t make strange noises.”
Father cut off my whimpering with the sharpness of a blade. I was well past the age where such behavior could be excused, yet here he was, yanking me upright from my bed as though I weighed nothing.
‘Most people would struggle to rouse someone so forcefully, but those trained in martial arts…’
I finally surrendered to wakefulness and allowed Father to guide me to the basin on the table, plunging my hands into the water.
“Ah, it’s cold!”
“Of course it is. Yalyu went to fetch water to wake you ages ago—why are you still sleeping?”
I had slept for nearly four days straight after finding and treating Namgung Wan.
Even after that, I continued drifting in and out of slumber.
At the time, so many events unfolded in succession that I hadn’t fully grasped what was happening. Only after sleeping and waking for four days, drawing everyone’s concern, could I understand it all.
My upper dantian had expanded tremendously. Whenever I fell asleep, dreams followed in endless succession.
Most of the dreams I experienced were scenes from the novel.
Though I had read the novel and even regressed, I didn’t remember everything. I had forgotten most trivial details, and even major events remained hazy in my mind.
Often, I only recalled them when they actually occurred, thinking, ‘Ah, so this was something that happened.’ And lately, the dreams I was having were those forgotten memories surfacing.
After a hasty wash, I dried my face with the towel Father handed me and spoke.
“Father, could I have some paper…?”
“Here it is.”
“And ink…?”
“It’s already ground.”
‘Ah, Yalyu must have prepared it before leaving.’
I hastily dipped the brush into the ink and settled into position, then began frantically recording the dreams—or rather, the memories I had just recalled.
Father, watching intently, asked with evident curiosity.
“Why do you write down your dreams like that every time?”
“I’m just recording them.”
Since I was writing in characters Father couldn’t read, it didn’t matter if he watched.
I continued moving my brush as I asked.
“How is Namgung Wan doing?”
“He’s still asleep.”
It had been seven days since Namgung Wan took the Heavenly Fate Golden Soul Pill.
As I was nodding off, a yawn suddenly escaped me. In that moment of yawning widely, my brush slipped and dragged across the paper I had been writing on.
“Oh!”
Father shook his head and produced fresh paper for me.
“Haven’t you slept enough? You keep yawning. Don’t fall asleep again—make sure you come out. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Father.”
After Father left the chamber, I continued writing on the fresh paper, then rubbed my face vigorously.
“This is infuriating…”
I couldn’t make a sound where Father might hear.
My mood was utterly foul. Fortunately, my desperate acting had kept Father from noticing.
The dream I had been having before Father woke me.
Seo Ha-ryeong’s gaze, glaring at me as though she would kill me, was vivid. Beside her, Namgung Ryu-cheong tilted his head, resting it on his hand.
‘Why do I need to recall a scene from a novel so vividly, as if I’d experienced it myself…?’
My irritation was irritation, and writing down what I’d recalled was simply writing.
If I made Father wait too long, he might come looking for me again, so I jotted down something hastily and left the chamber.
Even as I stepped into the corridor, I couldn’t stop yawning. By now I should have been awake, yet drowsiness clung to me. It wasn’t certain, but it felt like a side effect from the sudden opening of my lower dantian.
‘It should improve with time, right? This can’t keep happening…’
As I walked down the corridor, a voice reached my ears.
It sounded like a conversation from the First Floor Dining Hall.
“He’s been asleep for seven days now. We haven’t even let the Physician in, and you’re certain everything is truly fine? Could something have gone wrong?”
With my lower dantian opened, my sensitivity to qi had sharpened considerably. My ability to control natural energy had naturally improved as well.
“Tch, why speak such inauspicious words? If you have nothing useful to say, keep your mouth shut.”
“I only ask because I’m concerned.”
“Sigh. Since the Great Master Baek said all is well, we have no choice but to trust him. With the Young Master nursing him day and night, surely nothing could go wrong with So Ga-ju? Still, I do hope the family’s warriors arrive soon. Of all places, it had to be Ak-yang…”
“At least the Great Master Baek has agreed to stay until So Ga-ju awakens. That’s a blessing.”
These were conversations I would normally have needed to focus to overhear.
I continued walking, leaving the conversation behind.
Soon I greeted the person standing guard at the door and entered.
Father was holding Namgung Wan’s wrist, channeling qi into him.
It wasn’t anything like performing the Microcosmic Orbit for him, but rather using his inner strength to revitalize Namgung Wan’s vitality. Yet Namgung Ryu-cheong, who was always by his side, was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is Ryu-cheong?”
“He stepped away for a moment, I’m told.”
“Oh? That’s unusual.”
That boy, who slept and ate here constantly, had actually left?
Father spoke quietly.
“Even he needs rest sometimes.”
That couldn’t be right. Namgung Ryu-cheong wouldn’t have left just to rest.
‘Perhaps he went to the privy?’
Namgung Wan showed no signs of waking even as we conversed, sleeping peacefully. Only the thick beard growing on his face marked the passage of time.
“I’m not fond of beards.”
“Hmm?”
In this world, most men grew beards as they aged. They took great pride in cultivating and grooming them daily, considering it a mark of dignity.
But Father’s reaction seemed slightly odd.
“…Is that so?”
“Oh… were you thinking of growing one?”
“I had been considering it, should I grow older.”
My lips parted slightly.
“A b-beard like that would look good too, I think.”
Father’s lips curled upward as he stroked my head. I quickly pulled back the blanket covering Namgung Wan.
The wound on Namgung Wan’s arm, which had been so deep that bone showed through, was now covered with pale red new flesh. Only the red new skin stretching nearly halfway around his arm in a diagonal pattern hinted at how severe the injury had been.
Father spoke softly.
“Every time I see this, it truly seems like a miracle.”
Even by my own assessment, it was truly a remarkable sight.
Moreover, Namgung Wan’s complexion was so healthy that one could never believe he was someone who had been lying down for three days.
To be precise, his complexion was far better than it had been before those three days. His muscles showed no signs of atrophy, and the flow of his qi was remarkably smooth.
‘The only concern is the matter of his nerves….’
That would only become clear once he awakened.
For now, though everything appeared fine to my eyes, for a martial artist, the hands were the most sensitive area. Even upon waking, he would need absolute rest and must not overexert himself for some time.
As I examined Namgung Wan carefully, I tilted my head in puzzlement.
The qi that had been calm until now was displaying vigorous movements unlike before. The appearance of such movements meant….
I spoke excitedly.
“Father, it seems Namgung Wan will wake up soon.”
“….”
But there was no response in return.
Confused, I turned my head.
Father was staring at me with vacant eyes.
“Father.”
“….”
“Father!”
Father came to his senses belatedly and spoke.
“Ah, what did you say?”
Father had been staring at me blankly like this quite often recently. Especially after seeing Namgung Wan.
At first, I wondered why he was doing this, but I soon understood.
Seeing how well Namgung Wan had recovered, he was thinking—if only I had taken the Heavenly Life Golden Soul Pill, wouldn’t I have been healed too? Seeing Father like that, my own heart felt heavy.
I spoke with a smile.
“Father, Father. I have good news.”
“What is it?”
“It seems Namgung Wan will wake up soon.”
“Already? Didn’t you say I should expect at least ten days?”
“Indeed. It seems his condition is even better than that person’s.”
After examining Namgung Wan a bit more, I left the chamber with Father. Then I immediately went down to the First Floor Dining Hall and took a seat.
I was about to call for Jeom So-i when I looked around with a puzzled expression.
“Come to think of it, where is Yalyu?”
We always ate together.
Father spoke casually.
“It seems he’s still with Namgung Ryu-cheong.”
“Pardon?”
What is this about? Yalyu is with Namgung Ryu-cheong?
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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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