The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 238

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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 238
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Eyes followed me as I left the Spectator Stands.
I wondered if I’d displayed too much confidence, but in the Jianghu world where the strong devoured the weak, only the truly powerful could afford humility.
Would they stop if I retreated? They would only grow bolder, seeing weakness as an invitation to torment.
Most people weren’t genuinely agreeing with the Wi Alliance Leader’s words. They were simply riding the coattails of the strong.
In doing so, they tore down another’s reputation while filling their own moral superiority cup a little fuller.
Now that I’d come forward so forcefully, they would swing to my side and say the Wi Alliance Leader had gone too far.
Besides, I was sick of them constantly questioning my father’s legacy whenever my advancement to the main tournament came up.
I could feel them working to dim the luster of Baek Li-ui-gang’s championship. They wanted to suggest he wasn’t as noble as his reputation claimed.
Wasn’t there a saying about three people making a tiger?
If three people insisted on something absurd, they could create a tiger from nothing. Even ridiculous accusations, if repeated enough, would inevitably wound. I needed to break their momentum once and for all.
I climbed to the second floor of a nearby building. Leaning over the railing, the Tournament Arena spread out before me in a single glance. Beyond the considerable distance, figures no larger than twigs were pointing weapons at one another.
I felt the presence that had been following me pause at a distance. It was the same aura that had trailed me the moment I left the Tournament Arena. Until now, I’d pretended not to notice—deliberately letting information leak to them. But now the situation had shifted, and it grated on me.
‘Should I have just left it alone?’
Then another presence caught up, following right behind me.
Tap, tap, tap. Footsteps that announced their arrival.
It was Namgung Ryu-cheong.
He climbed the staircase, his gaze fixed directly on me.
Transparent sunlight spread across Namgung Ryu-cheong’s face as he emerged from the shadows. If a painter had been present, they would have despaired at their inability to capture this moment with brush in hand. I found myself inadvertently admiring his beauty.
Then I heard Namgung Ryu-cheong’s voice transmission.
[Someone is following your footsteps.]
[I know. It’s the Wi Alliance Leader.]
[You know?]
Namgung Ryu-cheong’s brow furrowed.
He broke his silence with a question.
[You left angry just now, saying you’d overheard our conversation. How is this different?]
I nodded and brushed my hair back.
[I’m letting them believe they’re tracking my every move.]
[That’s uncomfortable.]
[It is uncomfortable. But it’s worth the cost.]
I turned back to the Tournament Arena and issued my dismissal.
“Anyway, I’m fine with it, so don’t worry and go back. What will you do if you leave Gongsun Wol alone?”
I felt Namgung Ryu-cheong’s steady gaze upon me.
I deliberately avoided meeting his eyes. I was afraid that if I did, he would see right through me.
“Baek Li-yeon.”
I nodded slightly, as if inviting him to speak.
“I’ll ask you one thing. Answer me, and I’ll go.”
I observed the Tournament Arena once more before turning to face Namgung Ryu-cheong.
“Ask away.”
“Why are you so concerned about Gongsun Wol?”
It was a question that cut straight to the heart of the matter.
Namgung Ryu-cheong wasn’t someone who lacked perception—quite the opposite. He was actually remarkably perceptive.
I should have immediately denied it, but caught off guard by his sudden probe, I found myself hesitating. There was no point in claiming I hadn’t been concerned.
“….”
As I remained silent, the corners of Namgung Ryu-cheong’s mouth gradually lifted.
Only then did I manage to open my mouth. I spoke as coldly and icily as I could.
“I know what you’re thinking, but you’re wrong.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong’s smile immediately faded as he replied.
“Sure.”
This bastard didn’t believe me one bit!
I gripped the railing so hard I thought it might shatter. This was precisely why I’d been avoiding him.
I steadied myself and spoke with deliberate coldness.
“Ryu-cheong, do I need to repeat what I said last time?”
Ever since I’d rejected Namgung Ryu-cheong’s feelings in the Family Shrine, his expression from that moment occasionally haunted me. Remembering it was enough to steal my appetite mid-meal.
But his reaction now was strange. Somehow he’d already reached some conclusion and seemed utterly unbothered.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It doesn’t matter?”
“You didn’t say you disliked me.”
“That’s….”
He was right.
‘Was it a mistake? Should I have said I disliked you then?’
No. Namgung Ryu-cheong wasn’t someone who could be swayed by lies. And that wouldn’t have been my truth anyway.
What mattered most was that I didn’t want to deceive Namgung Ryu-cheong with falsehoods.
Namgung Ryu-cheong spoke.
“Do you regret not saying you disliked me then?”
It was a question that pierced my core. He seemed to be peering directly into my soul.
Namgung Ryu-cheong continued.
“Then let me ask now. Do you dislike me?”
I didn’t dodge the issue and replied coldly.
“You said you’d ask only one question.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong let out a soft laugh.
“Since you have nothing to say, you’re nitpicking about….”
“….”
I was so exasperated I couldn’t find words.
‘Where did he learn to argue like this? Why is he….’
I understood he was being deliberately evasive, but I couldn’t let him remain under a misapprehension.
“That doesn’t mean I yearn for you either.”
“I know.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong lowered his gaze briefly, then tilted his head slightly. A deep shadow fell along the sculpted line of his nose.
“Since that day, I’ve been reflecting on my own shortcomings.”
“You don’t need to do that.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong ignored my protest and continued.
“I liked you, so I naturally assumed you’d like me back.”
…What? Where does this shameless, overwhelming confidence come from?
Without thinking, I stared blankly at Namgung Ryu-cheong before reluctantly admitting the truth.
‘Yes. With a face like that, he’s earned the right to such confidence.’
But he’d chosen the wrong opponent.
Who is my father? None other than Baek Li-ui-gang—the most handsome of all handsome men, whose feet were said to be invisible beneath the flowers women threw at him.
Namgung Ryu-cheong spoke calmly.
“Nothing in this world comes that easily. So from now on, I intend to….”
Namgung Ryu-cheong hesitated for a moment.
“Intend to what?”
“Court you.”
“….”
Without thinking, I stepped back.
‘W-w-w-what kind of thing is he saying… Isn’t he embarrassed?’
Did he even know how to say such things? I didn’t think he did.
Then Namgung Ryu-cheong stepped closer to me. Without thinking, I retreated again.
Namgung Ryu-cheong slowly reached out as if to assure me not to be afraid, grasping my right hand and opening it to reveal my palm. The palm, covered in calluses, was clean.
Namgung Ryu-cheong gently traced over the area where old scars had once been.
“You should have refused back then.”
“….”
Back when my palm was injured, when Namgung Ryu-cheong came to attend to me—that’s when I should have refused.
“It’s your fault.”
And now he’s even blaming me for it?
Whether from shock or disbelief, my heart raced uncontrollably.
In that moment, a possibility occurred to me. I gasped for breath and cried out.
“You, you… Don’t tell me!”
“Speak slowly.”
“Did you have Gongsun Wol arrange this meeting? Did you have Ha-ryeong bring me here?”
Namgung Ryu-cheong answered readily.
“I didn’t instruct Seo Ha-ryeong, but if it concerns Gongsun Wol, then yes.”
Seo Ha-ryeong’s behavior was predictable. Even without Namgung Ryu-cheong instructing her to bring me, he could have anticipated her actions.
Namgung Ryu-cheong continued.
“I asked her to do it. Otherwise, you would have avoided me until we met in the main tournament, wouldn’t you?”
“….”
“If I had invited you by saying I’d arranged a meeting, you would have refused.”
After gaping like a fish for a while, a sense of injustice suddenly welled up inside me. I yanked my hand away from Namgung Ryu-cheong’s grasp and spoke.
“You say it’s because of me, but what if I disliked seeing you spend time with Gongsun Wol?”
“I naturally assumed you’d catch on right away.”
“….”
I found myself at a loss for words once more.
‘Right. How could I have missed such an obvious ploy?’
The reason was simple: my mind had been consumed by Gongsun Wol.
I pressed my lips together firmly and spoke.
“So you’re saying you’ll go even though you know it’s a thorny path?”
“You’ve always been that way.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong tilted his head slightly, his gaze fixed on empty space.
“Always looking only toward the future.”
“….”
“You don’t know how to cherish yourself in the present. You squander yourself recklessly for the sake of tomorrow.”
“A person cannot gain anything by settling for the present.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong spoke without turning to face me.
“I’ll dispose of that pest myself.”
The pest Namgung Ryu-cheong mentioned was the Wi Alliance Leader’s subordinate who had been following me. The gaze he had seemed to cast into empty space was actually fixed upon that man.
“Whether you like it or not, I’m going to do it. Your constant shadowing is inconvenient. It irritates me.”
With that, Namgung Ryu-cheong stepped onto the railing and vanished silently into the distance.

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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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