The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 22

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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 22
My father smiled warmly and stroked my head.
“Then accept it.”
Pushing aside the lingering unease, I grasped the short sword firmly and sprang to my feet, bowing respectfully.
“Thank you for such a precious gift. I will treasure it dearly.”
Namgung Wan nodded with satisfaction at the child’s modest and courteous bow.
My father then spoke with a serious expression.
“It’s a fine blade, so don’t display it carelessly. And absolutely never wield it recklessly. Especially you, Yeon….”
And so my father’s lengthy lecture began. Unable to bear it any longer, Namgung Wan tapped his chest and flung the window wide open.
“…So truly, be careful.”
“Yes!”
In stark contrast to Namgung Wan, I nodded earnestly like a diligent, exemplary student and answered with vigor.
“Is it finally over?”
Namgung Wan, who had been gazing out the window in an utterly delinquent posture—legs crossed, body twisted, elbow propped on the table, chin resting on his hand—asked this question.
“You too, listen carefully.”
“I hear you, I hear you.”
“And what is that posture of yours?”
Namgung Wan waved his hand dismissively with an exasperated expression and looked me over from head to toe.
“Never mind. May I examine Yeon’s body for a moment?”
“My inner energy?”
Namgung Wan nodded slightly.
I looked at him in surprise. Among Martial World practitioners, asking to examine someone else’s inner energy was considered quite rude.
It meant assessing their level of cultivation—something one wouldn’t willingly show even to one’s own parents.
So who would be pleased to have a complete stranger ask to see it?
‘And it’s dangerous too.’
Both the one channeling inner energy and the one receiving it faced considerable risk. Yet Namgung Wan still wished to examine me….
When I looked at my father, he nodded.
My father, Namgung Wan, and I immediately moved to the spacious area within the chamber. This place, with its plush wool leather, silk cushions, and thick pillows spread about, was where I usually lounged and played.
I sat in the same posture as when I practiced breathing exercises, and Namgung Wan sat behind me.
My father stood as guardian.
Placing his hand on my back, Namgung Wan began channeling his inner energy with the words, “I shall begin.”
At first, I felt a slight tingling sensation—something indescribable and peculiar flowing into my body.
But soon it became unremarkable. It was when I briefly closed my eyes and opened them again.
I felt Namgung Wan carefully withdraw his hand from my back.
“Huh… Is it already over?”
“Half a double hour has passed.”
“What?”
I had only closed my eyes for a moment and opened them—yet an hour had gone by?
As I turned in shock to look at my father, my vision blurred and a crushing fatigue pressed down upon my entire body. Then, as if the morning after drinking heavily, nausea began to creep in.
At that moment, my father lifted me into his arms.
“I’ll put Yeon to bed and be right back.”
Namgung Wan nodded in acknowledgment.
* * *
Baek Li-ui-gang returned with his daughter just as Eon-du was about to reheat the cold teapot for the third time.
“My apologies. Yeon couldn’t fall asleep and kept tossing about.”
Namgung Wan waved his hand dismissively.
The body had endured grievous wounds. It was only natural for it to recoil from unfamiliar inner energy.
Moreover, the outcome had been dire. Not a trace of inner energy remained, and the dantian was shattered into fragments.
She had barely clung to life itself.
Baek Li-ui-gang understood his daughter’s condition better than anyone.
Namgung Wan opened his mouth slowly as he observed Baek Li-ui-gang’s troubled expression.
“When I first heard the rumor that you had a daughter, I laughed. I said some fool jealous of your reputation had spread an absurd falsehood.”
He had treated the subordinate who brought the rumor like an idiot, sneering that if he was going to be swayed by baseless gossip, he should quit. And that subordinate had since received a bonus and a promotion….
“But! Do you know how utterly astounded I was?”
The daughter actually existed, and worse—she had fallen into demonic cultivation and shattered her dantian.
When I received your letter asking if I knew of any method to restore her dantian or if I could help, I couldn’t believe it. I verified several times that the letter truly came from you.
“How did things come to this?”
Moreover, Baek Li-ui-gang cherished his daughter dearly. Namgung Wan could say with certainty that he had seen more of Baek Li-ui-gang’s smiles today than in all their years together.
Namgung Wan acknowledged that Baek Li-ui-gang possessed a gentler temperament than himself. Yet he was hardly a man prone to frivolous laughter. Rather, he resembled an unyielding, impenetrable wall.
Baek Li-ui-gang’s stern face was drawn across with a weathered hand.
“Yeon had a nursemaid caring for her, it seems. Before that nursemaid fell ill and died, she sent me a letter.”
“Wait. What of her mother?”
“….”
Seeing Baek Li-ui-gang’s expression, Namgung Wan let out a low breath and spoke.
“Continue.”
“…When I received the nursemaid’s letter, circumstances became complicated, and it took more than three months longer than the nursemaid had anticipated. By the time I found Yeon… the nursemaid had long since passed… and Yeon had already been wandering the streets for over a month. Had I been any later….”
Namgung Wan was hearing this backstory for the first time as well. He spoke with visible disturbance.
“Heaven was merciful.”
That a small child had survived on the streets for over a month was nothing short of a miracle.
“When I first saw Yeon, I felt remorse, and then confusion.”
Baek Li-ui-gang’s expression grew increasingly contorted.
“I was in such haste to find her that I neglected my duties to the Murim Alliance. I told myself I would handle matters first and then slowly… No, it’s all an excuse. No matter what arose, I should never have left the child behind.”
“You registered her with the family and entrusted her to them. It wasn’t a poor decision.”
“No, it was. This was my mistake.”
“…A person can make mistakes.”
Baek Li-ui-gang shook his head silently.
Namgung Wan, regarding Baek Li-ui-gang with an inscrutable expression, spoke slowly.
“Then what if there were a way to undo that mistake?”
Baek Li-ui-gang’s gaze immediately fixed on Namgung Wan. Namgung Wan did not look away.
“I have a method to treat your daughter.”
“….”
Baek Li-ui-gang seemed to have turned to stone. Color rushed back into his hardened features, and exhaustion vanished in an instant.
“Is it truly so!”
“Then what did you think I came here for?”
Namgung Wan took a sip of tea before beginning his tale.
“About a month’s journey on horseback from here lies a tiny village called Palgwae Village. Last year, a massive landslide struck, sweeping away more than eighty percent of the settlement, leaving the survivors crippled or paralyzed.”
It had nothing to do with dantian treatment whatsoever. Yet Baek Li-ui-gang’s eyes burned with terrifying intensity.
“The nearest physician requires a ten-day walk through desolate terrain, and another landslide cut off the only path entirely. No one was expected to survive.”
“…A tragic affair indeed.”
“Then, half a year later, someone from a neighboring county with relatives in that remote village ventured forth to see if anyone had endured—only to discover that one of the paralyzed had regained full mobility.”
Namgung Wan moistened his parched lips with tea after his lengthy account and spoke.
“It was Man Shin-ui.”
“…!”
Baek Li-ui-gang’s eyes widened.
“You’ve heard the tale, surely? Of how Man Shin-ui healed one crippled by internal energy depletion.”
“Of course…!”
No one in the Martial World could be ignorant of such legendary rumors.
Baek Li-ui-gang, who had clenched his fists as if to rise, suddenly relaxed them. His expression grew even more anguished than before.
“But Man Shin-ui swore he would entangle himself no further with those of the Martial World….”
He had taken a vow before heaven and earth, entering seclusion. Would such a man break his oath to treat Baek Li-yeon?
Then Namgung Wan withdrew a crimson silk pouch from his breast. It was no larger than a palm, plain silk with not a single embroidered decoration.
Clack. From the sound it made striking the table, one could tell the object within was something hard and rigid.
“Open it.”
Baek Li-ui-gang accepted the pouch and opened it, revealing a flat token inscribed with characters. The crimson tassel attached to it had faded to nearly pale pink—clearly an object of at least ten years’ age.
“Isn’t this a gak-pae?”
“Indeed.”
A gak-pae was typically an identity token, a badge of status. It was the very thing Namgung Wan had presented upon entering the Baek Li Family.
“It is Man Shin-ui’s gak-pae.”
Baek Li-ui-gang drew in a sharp breath.
When martial artists surrendered their gak-pae to another, it carried profound significance. Should the bearer request aid, the token’s owner was bound by absolute obligation to comply, without question or hesitation.
It was an irrevocable promise upon which one’s honor and integrity rested. And that Namgung Wan possessed Man Shin-ui’s gak-pae meant….
Namgung Wan could demand anything whatsoever of Man Shin-ui!
“With this gak-pae, Man Shin-ui will have no choice but to treat your daughter.”

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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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