The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 246

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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 246
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‘Something feels off.’
He claimed he’d be away for a few days due to cultivation training? And he specifically warned me to be careful.
His demeanor screamed deception. Just like his father, Namgung Ryu-cheong apparently lacked any talent for lying.
He was more convincing than Namgung Wan, at least. But after knowing him for so long, I could see through his facade.
‘Well, he must have his own reasons.’
Namgung Ryu-cheong had his affairs to attend to, and I had mine.
“Ahahaha! Is that truly so? But surely…!”
“…If that’s the situation, what about deflecting the blade downward? With our sect’s secret technique, you could maintain your center.”
Those dressed in colorful silk martial robes laughed and chattered without a care in the world.
The musicians played on while an endless stream of food and wine flowed. As I stepped out of the lavish banquet hall, I noticed the Gatekeeper questioning the person ahead of me.
“Do you require a carriage?”
The young man stumbled forward with support from an attendant.
‘Just how much did he drink?’
Continuously expelling alcohol’s effects was quite tedious—it meant constantly circulating one’s inner energy.
Anyone would prefer to relax at a gathering without such concerns. Besides, some believed that if you weren’t going to lose yourself to drink, why drink at all?
The Gatekeeper asked if I needed a carriage as well, but I declined and stepped out onto the street.
The street looked much the same as when I’d first entered the pavilion. It remained bright and bustling, though noticeably more people were now intoxicated.
As I walked past the similarly ornate pavilions clustered together, the lights faded and the surroundings grew quieter.
After walking for about half an hour, the only light on the street was the moonlight hanging in the sky.
In this shabby, foul-smelling alley, only distant sounds of commotion drifted on the night breeze.
Cramped little houses packed tightly together. Snoring from inside the homes could be heard all the way to the narrow alley.
How long had I been walking? I stopped in front of a small residential house and knocked on the door.
Though I knocked gently, the door creaked loudly. Someone still awake stirred inside and lit a lamp.
Soon the door creaked open and a thin voice emerged.
“You really came? What on earth are you curious about….”
The woman who opened the door widened her eyes upon seeing me.
“…You’re… not Jin-jin? Who… who are you?”
The woman quickly switched to formal speech after scanning my appearance.
“You should have seen me once before.”
“Pardon?”
“….”
“Jin-jin was following my instructions. You know where he’s staying now, don’t you?”
“…! Could it be… Baek Li… Miss?”
This woman was one of those rescued from Heukssi.
Among those rescued, the older ones were taken by the Murim Alliance to find their relatives, while the younger children were taken in by my father.
If one were to find the most successful person among those from Heukssi, it would be Jin-jin. He became the direct disciple of Baek Geom Danju of the Baek Li Family.
After earning recognition through relentless effort, Jin-jin looked after those around him who came from Heukssi.
“Are we going to keep talking outside?”
The woman who had been biting her lip glanced down the quiet street, then stepped aside slightly as if inviting me inside.
As I ducked through the doorway, I found myself immediately in the kitchen.
The woman eyed me warily as she spoke.
“There’s… nowhere particularly suitable to sit. Don’t expect any hospitality from me.”
“That works well. I’ve brought some rather fine tea leaves.”
“I don’t need—”
“Jin-jin asked me to bring them.”
“….”
A lie. I had simply brought them of my own accord.
I watched quietly as the woman, still biting her lip, rummaged through the kitchen cupboards.
I had been conducting a covert investigation into the Murim Alliance Leader for quite some time.
However, even when I had clashed with Namgung Ryu-cheong in the past, uncovering the secrets of the Murim Alliance had proven difficult.
Despite my grandfather’s cooperation, fueled by his anger at the conflict with the Alliance Leader, I had found no significant faults. The only thing of note was his weakness for women.
He was neither a Buddhist monk nor a Taoist priest, and a secular martial artist showing a ‘slight’ fondness for women could hardly be condemned.
Still, he was among the ten greatest masters of the Orthodox Sect and had risen from a low-ranking member of the Murim Alliance to become its Leader—a truly remarkable ascent.
Given the conflict with the Demonic Cult, even if there were minor issues, we should have overlooked them. But I did not trust him.
With the matter of Yalyu and nothing concrete to grasp, I was growing anxious when Jin-jin brought me this information.
“I heard they all left.”
Clack!
The woman set down the teapot irritably.
“Is that what they’re saying? I have no parents, no connections—where exactly do you think I would go if I left here?”
There was a reason I had only now found the woman who had been rescued from Heukssi.
When the Murim Alliance was attacked by the Demonic Cult, the damage to the common people was said to be minimal, but it could not have been nonexistent.
Though the rescuers from Heukssi had fortunately survived, they had all reportedly left the Murim Alliance, traumatized by witnessing their coworkers die before their eyes.
“Then why were you hiding?”
“I wasn’t hiding to escape. What ability could someone like me possibly have to warrant hiding? I simply left to live without any connection to them!”
“You have a family, after all.”
Movement stirred from the room deeper within the kitchen.
The woman flinched in alarm, then tried to hide her frightened expression as she glared at me.
“Th-threats won’t work on me….”
“You know who my father is, don’t you? I would never do anything to tarnish his honor. I was simply asking you to keep your voice down. The child seems about to wake.”
Her husband appeared to have already woken, but as if the woman had given him a prior signal, he only soothed the stirring child and did not emerge.
“….”
The woman bit her lip, lost in thought.
Perhaps because I had mentioned my father, the woman’s demeanor seemed to soften slightly. Of course, I had mentioned it deliberately.
I sipped my tea and gave her time.
Before I could speak again, the woman opened her mouth first.
“Why do you keep… bringing up things that are already in the past… when you won’t even help?”
“Keep?”
“Yes! I was a fool to believe things would be different with you. The Namgung Clan too….”
At the sudden mention of that name, I furrowed my brow.
The woman clenched her teeth, her voice dropping to an urgent whisper.
“To people like you, the disappearance of lowly servants like us means nothing, does it?”
“Tell me the details of what happened.”
* * *
The Pavilion still blazed with lantern light.
Though many seats sat empty, the crowd was dense enough that the vacancies hardly drew notice. This banquet served another purpose for the Maeng Meeting.
A gathering place for the young martial artists of the Jianghu.
The world was vast, and these individuals were too busy cultivating as local powers in their respective regions. Many would never meet in a lifetime without occasions like this.
“Where is Baek Li?”
“I heard she left already.”
“That’s right. She only showed her face upstairs briefly before departing.”
“What? I haven’t even seen her yet!”
“What does it matter? Seo So-jeo is here. And Gong-sun is with her too—just seeing them is fortune enough.”
“Mind your tongue. Gong-sun’s father is….”
That was the moment.
Crash! Something shattered violently upstairs. A roar followed.
“You shameless hypocrites! When you wanted scraps, you clung to me and licked my boots—but now you ignore me like this!”
A young man glanced upward and muttered.
“Who is that?”
“By the voice, it sounds like Byeok Young Master….”
Everyone nodded knowingly.
One man clicked his tongue and spoke.
“Byeok Young Master must be deeply grieved. Let’s show him understanding.”
At a banquet filled with hot-blooded martial artists, such disturbances typically subsided quickly.
But contrary to expectation, the voice grew louder and more disrespectful.
“What? Namgung? Baek Li? You called them traitors in league with the Demonic Cult just recently—when did that change? Now you fawn over them?”
Wi Gu-jung, observing this, frowned and looked at someone.
“This is crossing the line. Calm him down.”
The man whose eyes met Wi Gu-jung’s swallowed hard, nodded, and rushed toward Byeok Young Master.
Wi Gu-jung sighed and glanced around.
“Byeok Young Master wanted to be here, and with family matters weighing on him, I thought his heart might feel empty, so I arranged this seat specially….”
At his regretful tone, the person seated beside Wi Gu-jung let out a bitter laugh.
“He should know his place. Are the people gathered here the sort to grovel before the Byeok Family Estate for scraps?”
“You’re right. These are people with no particular talent who relied only on the Alliance Leader’s authority—they don’t understand reality. It’s not your fault, sir.”
Wi Gu-jung rose with a bitter smile.
“Still, I can’t let this cause trouble.”
Wi Gu-jung stood and slowly descended to the lower level, which remained noisy and unsettled.
In the distance, Gong-sun held back Seo Ha-ryeong, whose fists trembled with barely contained fury.
Wi Gu-jung, eyes narrowed, clicked his tongue with regret.
Crash! Bang!
“Argh!”
“Kyaa!”
“No, Byeok Young Master, what are you doing! Stop him!”
“Have you lost your mind, Byeok Prince? Drawing your blade like this!”

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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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