The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 204

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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 204
I found it difficult to move, so I spoke instead.
“Clear it away.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong spoke in a voice barely suppressing his anger.
“Have you lost your mind? In that situation, you grabbed your father’s arm instead of your own? Good grief… I really…”
I felt the hands of Namgung Ryu-cheong, who gripped my arm, trembling.
“…”
Should I apologize?
‘But if I hadn’t stepped forward back then…’
Then a voice of assistance came.
“Raising a son is useless, they say. Sigh. Don’t you see your own father?”
“…”
Namgung Ryu-cheong, who had remained still for a moment, stepped away.
I glanced at Uncle Namgung Wan, then looked down at the Third Young Master at my feet. The Third Young Master, whose breath had ceased, lay with eyes still open.
Then Yalyu spoke to me.
“Is something bothering you?”
“Hmm?”
“Do you know him?”
I spoke as if it were absurd.
“How could I? He’s the Third Young Master of the Demonic Cult. How would I know him?”
“Is that so?”
But Yalyu’s response was lukewarm.
“Why?”
Yalyu stared at me intently, then lowered his gaze.
“I thought you’d know, since you know so much.”
But at Yalyu’s question, I was startled, feeling as though my thoughts had been read.
To be precise, it wasn’t a lie that I’d never seen the Third Young Master before. Only…
‘He resembles the woman who appeared in my dream last night.’
The timing was peculiar. If I hadn’t dreamed that dream yesterday, I probably wouldn’t have noticed anything even if I’d met him.
‘Could there be some connection?’
I closed the Third Young Master’s eyes. I could still feel the lingering warmth at my fingertips.
The moment I withdrew my hand, Yalyu wiped my hand with a handkerchief. Dried blood was caked on my thumb—I wasn’t sure when it had gotten there.
Now that I thought about it, Yalyu’s reaction just before had been strange too. But I couldn’t dwell on it further and pressed the area near my temples with my left hand. My head still felt dull, as though it wasn’t functioning properly.
The conversation a few paces away sounded distant, as if muffled by a barrier. It seemed a Namgung Clan warrior was interrogating Dae-gae.
“I truly don’t know. This is unjust.”
Dae-gae was nearly in tears.
“I really don’t know, I’m telling you. It was Mak-gae who exchanged messages with Chong-ta, and we couldn’t even see them.”
“Then where is that person now?”
“That… that is…”
“Isn’t it too much of a coincidence that he’s absent precisely in a situation like this? When he used to come and go as if it were his own home…!”
“Absolutely not! My brother would never do such a thing! He couldn’t have betrayed us. It was he who insisted we help Baek Li-ui-gang! If anything, we shouldn’t have helped from the start, but now that we have, why would he create this situation?”
The more I listened to Dae-gae’s words, the stranger the situation felt.
With so many disciples moving, there was no way the Beggar Sect didn’t know about it. Based on Dae-gae’s words and Mak-gae’s actions thus far, the probability of him being a traitor seemed low.
‘Then why aren’t they attacking or retreating?’
Time was on our side. The longer this standoff continued, the higher the chance reinforcements would arrive. And their indifference to the Third Young Master’s death was telling enough….
‘There’s still something they’re hiding.’
I interjected into the conversation.
“Senior Dae-gae, you have a carrier pigeon, right?”
“Huh? A carrier pigeon?”
Dae-gae spun around in surprise.
“Yes. A carrier pigeon.”
“Oh, ah, maybe?”
The Beggar Sect kept a carrier pigeon at the inn for urgent matters.
“I’ll borrow it for a moment.”
“Huh? You’re sending a carrier pigeon in this situation?”
Though he questioned it, when I grabbed my head and groaned out of sheer laziness to explain, he panicked and rushed to fetch the pigeon.
Dae-gae returned shortly with the cage. From his robes, he produced a fine brush stained with ink typically used for sending carrier pigeons, along with paper. I appreciated his preparedness.
Dae-gae spoke.
“Um, where should I send it?”
Why the formal speech?
I answered the urgent matter first.
“To the Baek Li Estate… Send it with a rough explanation of the current situation.”
I felt the eyes of those engaged in conversation turn toward Dae-gae and me.
Soon Dae-gae swallowed hard and released the carrier pigeon.
With all the nearby commoners having fled, the street was silent—not a sound of daily life remained.
In the tense atmosphere where combat could erupt at any moment, a single carrier pigeon crossed the sky beneath the heavy gray clouds.
Everyone expected to see an arrow fly and strike the pigeon. But nothing happened. The silence persisted. The carrier pigeon, which would have died from a single arrow, glided freely across the sky and disappeared from the area.
“….”
“….”
Suddenly feeling my body lift into the air, I gasped and clung to whatever my hands could grasp. Namgung Wan had scooped me up.
“Uncle?”
I was quite grown now, so I was astonished that he could lift me with a single arm. I wrapped my arms tightly around Namgung Wan’s neck.
Yalyu, who had been supporting me, looked somewhat displeased for some reason.
Namgung Wan didn’t answer me. Instead, he turned to address everyone.
“I have a bad feeling about this. We break through immediately.”
Then he looked at the Baek Li Family warriors and spoke.
“Given the circumstances, I’ll take Yeon with me. You protect Yalyu. The rest of you take Namgung Ryu-cheong and escape. Follow the direction I mentioned. If problems arise, head there.”
It seemed he had finished his deliberations while I was examining the Third Young Master.
“Understood.”
“Good fortune to you.”
It happened then.
Suddenly, some of the cultists surrounding us parted ways.
‘What is this?’
I soon spotted something beyond the cultists whose overlapping forms had obscured my vision, and I tightened my grip around the arm encircling Namgung Wan’s neck.
Between the parted cultists, more warriors in black garments appeared on horseback. Unlike the Black-Robed Attendants who showed only their eyes, the middle-aged figure at the front had his face fully exposed. He wore no black robes either.
I could feel Namgung Wan’s entire body tense with alertness as he held me.
Among all those gathered here, none surpassed Namgung Wan.
The Third Young Master came close to his level, but this man exceeded even Namgung Wan.
The Left Envoy.
The figure who had orchestrated the assault on the Murim Alliance and forced the Murim Alliance Leader Wi Ji-baek to flee.
His face was already quite well-known, so recognizing him was not difficult.
The Left Envoy, mounted on his horse and standing before the inn’s entrance, muttered to himself.
“Huh, so he really is dead? How troublesome.”
Though it was a murmur, in a place so quiet that a falling needle could be heard clearly, his words rang out distinctly.
He glanced around the gathering, then turned his horse and withdrew.
….
Those who had come with the Left Envoy took their positions in perfect unison, and then a massive carriage came rushing down the empty street.
As the entirely black carriage drew closer, I felt as though my throat was constricting. Breathing became difficult.
As the situation unfolded this way, I found myself on the verge of laughter.
The carriage stopped before the inn and its door opened. From within, a figure dressed entirely in black slowly stepped out.
Perhaps because of all that black? Even the air itself felt darkened.
The moment he emerged from the carriage, the cultists around him prostrated themselves, their foreheads touching the ground.
….
….
In a suffocating silence, he gazed down upon the cultists. Then his gaze slowly turned, fixing directly upon me.
* * *
At that same moment, in Muuhan.
Baek Li-ui-gang and his party walked along the main road leading into Muuhan City, where the Murim Alliance Headquarters was located.
It had been an arduous journey. After riding for days with only minimal rest, they had finally arrived.
As they drew closer to the city, the crowds on the main road grew increasingly dense. Porters laden with cargo and merchants bustled about, along with guards protecting them.
An organization of the Murim Alliance Headquarters’ caliber wielded tremendous influence over the city. I had expected the atmosphere to be subdued given the Demonic Cult’s attack, yet the streets were remarkably vibrant instead.
One of the Baek Ho Dan warriors spoke with surprise.
“The atmosphere is quite bright.”
He soon grasped the reason and furrowed his brow.
“It seems we were delayed somewhat. They’ve already begun reconstruction.”
Large wooden pillars, earth, stone, and other materials rarely seen in ordinary times were piled high on various carts and wagons scattered throughout. Reconstruction work was already well underway.
As people of all walks of life moved through the streets, some recognized them despite the wide-brimmed hats they wore.
“Isn’t that the Baek Ho Dan?”
“Oh, they’re finally returning.”
“And Baek Li the Great Hero is with them!”
The atmosphere welcomed their return. Beneath the murmurs of conversation lay envious glances.
“I heard that when the Murim Alliance Leader abandoned the alliance members and retreated first, the White Tiger Unit remained to the end and helped.”
“Don’t even mention the Alliance Leader. Such a petty coward.”
“Lower your voice! Do you not know this is the Murim Alliance Headquarters?”
“So what if I’m criticized? Will you arrest me for speaking ill? Is that the way of the Demonic Cult or the Orthodox Sect?”
“Hmph, you speak truth. Does scattering money solve everything? The dead don’t return, do they?”
At that moment, a group of mounted figures thundered out from within the city and approached directly toward where the White Tiger Unit stood.
All were sturdy, well-groomed men with swords at their waists—martial artists of the Murim Alliance.

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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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