The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 227

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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 227
Even the now-deceased Donghobang Master had never mentioned anything of the sort.
Taego Jinperson continued speaking.
“Did it not strike you as peculiar? In the midst of this chaos, Cheon-ma simply bides time without taking action. The Murim Alliance was split in two, and had we attacked without giving them time to recover, we could have crushed them easily.”
“I don’t think it would have been that simple.”
I shook my head firmly.
Just as he had spared my life, believing that killing me would only bring forth more troublesome adversaries, there must have been some plan at work.
“Hmm? It has been quite some time since someone dared to contradict my words so directly. How bold of you.”
Oh no.
To Taego Jinperson, I must appear as nothing more than a green child. Yet I had spoken in direct opposition, which could have offended him.
I needed to choose my words carefully here.
I gazed at Taego Jinperson with sparkling eyes.
“With my grandfather present, the Namgung Family Head here, and especially with Taego Jinperson standing guard, how could the Orthodox Martial Arts Sects possibly crumble so easily?”
Taego Jinperson looked at me with eyes that held a hint of amusement.
“I thought you resembled your father, but seeing this, it seems you are quite different.”
The atmosphere had indeed softened. As always, there was no one in the world who disliked flattery—not even the greatest master under heaven.
Suddenly, my eyes met those of Jeggal Hwa-mu beside Taego Jinperson.
Jeggal Hwa-mu offered a faint smile before turning his gaze away from me. It was a perfunctory gesture devoid of any emotion.
“The Cheon-ma’s injury is not visible on the surface. One might call it an injury to one’s martial essence.”
I turned my attention back to Taego Jinperson.
“Martial essence?”
“At the pinnacle of pursuing the Way of Martial Arts, what do you believe awaits?”
“…Are you speaking of Ascension to Immortality?”
Taego Jinperson regarded me with what seemed like genuine interest.
“It is the first time I have heard someone from a great clan answer in such a manner.”
To be honest, I too had long considered it nothing more than legend, a tale too far-fetched to be true—until I encountered Cheon-ma.
And upon hearing of martial essence, I began to dimly understand what was being spoken of.
The Cheon-ma I had witnessed was utterly inhuman. Refusing death, reversing time itself… How could any mortal accomplish such feats?
I did not believe Cheon-ma to be an immortal.
Yet surely he was something approaching that realm?
And if true immortals existed, were they not the ones binding Cheon-ma from the heavens, preventing him from moving freely?
It was merely my own conjecture.
“Is Ascension to Immortality the Cheon-ma’s goal?”
“Even I cannot know that. But I have learned that to achieve Ascension to Immortality, one must cast off all attachments to the mortal world. Yet the Cheon-ma’s actions thus far have shown profound interest in worldly affairs, have they not?”
“…Yes, they have.”
“Though the Tianshan Flame Emperor has been in decline, he was counted among the supreme masters of the realm. Even for Cheon-ma, it would not have been easy when he was prepared to face death.”
Taego Jinperson continued with a faint smile.
“In my nearly one hundred years of life, I have come to understand that nothing in this world is eternal and unchanging.”
“So what you are saying is… that Cheon-ma is also in decline?”
Taego Jinperson nodded as if to confirm my understanding.
“That’s precisely why it makes even less sense, doesn’t it? The declining Cheon-ma suffered a blow to his dignity, yet he withdrew without dealing with you. Simply to see your face once? The stakes don’t match. It’s a loss for Cheon-ma alone.”
Taego Jinperson gazed into the void and continued speaking slowly.
“Cheon-ma was moved by a child’s character and potential, so he endured his own loss and spared your life? That’s absurd.”
“….”
“I thought there must be some advantage to Cheon-ma in keeping you alive. That’s why I was curious—what could his reason be for sparing you?”
It was then that Jeggal Hwa-mu suddenly interjected.
“So now that you’ve seen me, do you understand that reason?”
Taego Jinperson regarded me with a serious gaze.
“I haven’t the faintest idea.”
Suddenly, the tense atmosphere that had filled the chamber dissipated without a trace.
Taego Jinperson laughed dryly.
Jeggal Hwa-mu nodded knowingly and spoke.
“Miss Baek Li-ui-ran will be able to confirm it gradually in time, so why don’t you leave us now? I have matters to discuss with an old friend I haven’t seen in ages.”
Jeggal Hwa-mu calmly issued a dismissal to Taego Jinperson.
Looking at him now, Jeggal Hwa-mu’s complexion appeared even paler than before, and he seemed exhausted.
Taego Jinperson shook his head and rose from his seat.
“I can’t very well tell a sick man to leave, so I suppose I must be the one to go.”
“Please take care on your way. I won’t see you out.”
I watched this entire exchange in bewilderment.
Regardless of his condition, even as the Jegal Family Head, could he really speak to Taego Jinperson that way?
The age difference between Taego Jinperson and the Jegal Family Head was considerable—if Taego Jinperson had married, he would have been old enough to have grandchildren by now. Jeggal Hwa-mu’s demeanor was disrespectful by any measure.
Yet Taego Jinperson departed the chamber with an untroubled air, and at the doorway, he turned back to look at me.
“Ah, one more thing, Miss Baek Li-ui-ran—my presence in the Alliance is still a secret, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention it.”
I nodded.
After Taego Jinperson left, the chamber fell silent for a moment.
Jeggal Hwa-mu turned to me with a gentle smile and gestured for me to come closer.
“Now that I think about it, I haven’t even offered you tea yet.”
His tone was noticeably softer compared to how he’d spoken to Taego Jinperson.
Seeing his pallid complexion, I said to him:
“If you’re tired, we can talk another time.”
“You’re still as kind as ever. It’s fine. I had back-to-back meetings before seeing you, so I’m just a bit worn out.”
I sat down in the seat where Taego Jinperson had been moments before.
Jeggal Hwa-mu cleared away the teacup in front of me and brought a fresh one.
“Has it been three years since we last met?”
“About that.”
After exchanging brief updates on our circumstances, I asked directly:
“The Cheonma Jibow—was there a reason I needed to see it?”
Jeggal Hwa-mu grumbled in affirmation.
“Your old man’s instincts are sharp as ever. Now there’s nothing for it but to win. He seems to view it as the bare minimum standard he expects.”
“‘Old man’? That’s rather harsh language. And why should I be the one to see it?”
“Curious?”
I let my irritation show on my face.
“If you’re curious, win the tournament and find out yourself—otherwise, I won’t tell you.”
“….”
Jeggal Hwa-mu blinked, momentarily at a loss for words.
Then he shifted the subject.
“Why do you think Cheon-ma attacked the Murim Alliance? And the Mudang Sect—what was their reason? Simply to weaken the factions?”
The Mudang Sect’s sect leader was gravely wounded in that attack.
Many disciples were injured as well, and there were rumors that the most promising successor—the one expected to become the next sect leader—might never wield a sword again.
Beyond that, nothing more could be learned. The Mudang Sect had declared their gates sealed.
They hadn’t even participated in this Martial Arts Tournament.
“Are you saying Cheon-ma attacked the Mudang Sect to find the Cheonma Jibow?”
Jeggal Hwa-mu nodded.
“As for why he attacked the Jegal Clan when it was already dying—it was because he couldn’t pinpoint where the Cheonma Jibow was hidden. And while he was at it, he burned down the Jegal Clan’s archives, which would have disappeared anyway once I was dead.”
Yet in the end, it turned out that Taego Jinperson had possessed it all along.
I asked, puzzled.
“Even after returning multiple times, Cheon-ma still couldn’t figure out where the Cheonma Jibow was hidden?”
Jeggal Hwa-mu spoke as though it were obvious.
“If Cheon-ma knows he returns, would he hide the Cheonma Jibow in the same place every time?”
“….”
Was such a thing even possible?
I gained fresh appreciation for how the Jegal Clan had managed to contend with Cheon-ma across all those ages.
Whatever method they employed, the Jegal Clan had hidden the Cheonma Jibow in a different location each time to prevent Cheon-ma from discovering it—and this time, they had entrusted it to Taego Jinperson of the Kunlun Sect.
After a moment of silence, I asked.
“You seem quite close to Taego Jinperson.”
From the way they exchanged jokes and casually issued the Chukgaek Order, their intimacy was striking.
“He was close with my grandfather.”
Jeggal Hwa-mu laughed lightly.
“Taego Jinperson has met both my father and my grandfather. A master of his caliber doesn’t find it difficult to remember trivial habits or speech patterns. He’s quite perceptive, after all.”
I narrowed my brow.
“You’re saying Taego Jinperson knows the Jegal Clan’s secrets?”
“Not exactly, but from his demeanor, it seems he believes I’m my grandfather—the Jegal Family Head from generations past. At his age, wouldn’t he long for a childhood friend to remember? It wasn’t difficult to play along.”
The Jegal Family Head inherits memories passed down through generations.
Jeggal Hwa-mu had been extremely cautious and reluctant to unseal those inherited memories.
But after returning to the Jegal Clan, Jeggal Hwa-mu had undergone secluded cultivation twice. And he still treated me with familiarity and offered considerable help.
Yet now I couldn’t be certain whether the Jeggal Hwa-mu standing before me was the same one I had known.
“…be careful.”
“Ah, what? I didn’t quite catch that.”
Jeggal Hwa-mu stared at me intently, then smiled slightly.
“As you know, Cheon-ma can’t move recklessly. He must evade the heavens’ surveillance. So with each move, he’ll seek to extract maximum advantage.”
I nodded.
“This martial arts tournament where you and Cheonma Jibow stand together—it’s an irresistibly tempting bait that Cheonma knows is a trap yet cannot help but take. So no matter what happens, it won’t be strange. Be careful.”
“Okay.”
In the past, I had once used myself as bait to capture Baek Li-ui-ran.
Jeggal Hwa-mu had not wanted this, so he subtly redirected Baek Li-ui-ran’s target to Baek Li-myeong instead. And now he was saying he would use me as bait to draw out Cheonma.
If Taego Jinperson thought of Jeggal Hwa-mu as someone like his grandfather, I felt the opposite.
He no longer felt like the Jeggal Hwa-mu I once knew—the one who harbored bitterness over his sister’s death and despised the fact that he had inherited the memories of his predecessors—but rather like someone entirely different.
‘Does he still remember?’
The things he had confessed to me.
It would have been better for us both if he forgot.
‘I tell myself this turn of events is fortunate, and yet….’
But I could not understand why, whenever I saw Jeggal Hwa-mu, a bittersweet feeling would arise in my heart.

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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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