The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 284

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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 284
Unrefined killing intent radiated from Namgung Ryu-cheong in waves.
Namgung Ryu-cheong bit down on his teeth and spat out his words.
“You shameless bastard, how dare you show your face here?”
I blinked in surprise.
Their relationship had never been good, but this was shocking.
“….”
“….”
Considering what had happened at the Martial Arts Tournament awards ceremony, Namgung Ryu-cheong’s anger was justified, yet something about it felt subtly different from that.
Regardless, I stepped forward to block Yalyu. Namgung Ryu-cheong’s eyes wavered.
“Ryu-cheong, stop.”
“Are you taking his side right now?”
“Yes.”
It felt as though someone had driven a blade through my chest.
Unable to meet his gaze, I squeezed my eyes shut.
I realized I could only ever be cold to Namgung Ryu-cheong like this. How many times had I wounded him?
Even as I thought this, I opened my eyes again and spoke without hesitation.
“Yalyu did everything in his power to help me. Everything he did was because of me. If you’re going to hold him accountable for the Murim Alliance’s affairs, then hold me accountable as well.”
“….”
Namgung Ryu-cheong looked as though he had forgotten how to breathe.
He exhaled sharply in exasperation and muttered.
“Did he really do everything in his power?”
Namgung Ryu-cheong looked at me with a voice strained from restraint.
“Do you trust that bastard?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I never liked him from the beginning. But he was your person, and I believed his care for you matched mine, and he even saved my life, so I tried to accept him.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong’s gaze slowly turned toward Yalyu. His dark eyes narrowed and gleamed with intensity.
“But how dare he do something like this?”
“Ryu-cheong, what exactly are you trying to say?”
“….”
Namgung Ryu-cheong’s jaw clenched with rigid force.
Despite receiving this incomprehensible rebuke, Yalyu paid him no mind and simply extended his hand to me as if to say we should leave.
“Yeon.”
I looked at Namgung Ryu-cheong one last time, as if asking him to speak.
“….”
I exhaled a long breath. We had already wasted enough time.
“If you don’t want to speak, fine. Don’t follow us anymore. That’s what I came to say.”
As I turned to leave, Namgung Ryu-cheong immediately blocked my path.
Just as I opened my mouth with widened eyes, Namgung Ryu-cheong spoke first.
“That bastard is the one who kept Baek Li-ui-ran alive and made her go to Wi Ji-baek.”
“…What?”
“That bastard was the one who put you in this state, in this situation!”
* * *
After word spread that Baek Li-yeon had escaped from the Demonic Cult’s Heavenly Net, the Heavenly Net faded from the Murim Alliance’s attention. A far greater rumor had struck the Jianghu.
“The Heavenly Demon Grand Vault has been discovered!”
“The legend was true! All the divine techniques and treasures of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect are said to be there!”
“Shouldn’t we prevent the Heavenly Demon Grand Vault, which is rooted in the earth, from falling into the Demonic Cult’s hands rather than the Cheonma Jibow with legs?”
While everyone spoke of the Heavenly Demon Grand Vault, Namgung Ryu-cheong dove alone into the Heavenly Net.
He was born fortunate. Within half a day of slaying every Demonic Cult member he encountered, he found what he had come seeking.
Or rather, traces of it.
If the Baek Geom Dan members who had desperately searched for those traces day and night learned of this, they would have his head.
A Black-Robed Attendant appeared before Namgung Ryu-cheong as he followed the trail.
Namgung Ryu-cheong, who had been swinging his blade without thought, froze the moment he saw the Black-Robed Attendant’s face.
“…!”
The Black-Robed Attendant, whose only eyes had been visible, lowered the mask.
But he could have known even before the mask came down.
The eyes resembled the one he loved. There was no way he could not recognize them.
The middle-aged woman had a delicate face that seemed ill-suited to the black robes. Yet her eyes, sharp as a honed blade, and her cold expression laid bare the traces of a life that had been far from gentle.
Her appearance bore no resemblance to Yeon whatsoever.
Even when Yeon wore such an icy expression, she remained endearing. In his eyes, even her anger was not frightening at all—rather, she looked adorable, like a rabbit squeaking in protest.
And the woman had noticed. That he had recognized who she was.
“Follow me.”
“….”
The woman spun around and casually turned her back to him.
An opponent he should have crossed blades with immediately. The Demonic Cult was their ancient enemy, the ones who had slain his blood kin.
Yet Namgung Ryu-cheong could do nothing but follow her like a dog on a leash.
There was no coercion, no threat, yet if anyone saw him now, they would have every right to call him a traitor.
And in the place where he was led….
“Baek Li Dae-hyup!”
Baek Li-ui-gang, the reason he had dove into the Heavenly Net alone, the owner of the traces he sought, lay unconscious with a pallid complexion.
The woman blocked Namgung Ryu-cheong as he rushed forward in alarm.
“Do not make a commotion. He must not awaken.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong glared sharply at the woman blocking him.
“What have you done to the Dae-hyup!”
“He is merely asleep. He is currently in a state where he cannot exert his martial arts.”
“What do you mean? Baek Li Dae-hyup cannot exert his martial arts!”
“He has been addicted to inner energy poison for a long time.”
“Inner energy poison?”
“As the name suggests, it is a poison that damages one’s inner energy.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong’s eyes widened.
Such a poison existed? I had never heard of it before.
“A poison…? Is the Dae-hyup doing alright?”
“For now, yes. It’s only that I cannot use my martial arts when the seizures occur. However, I cannot predict when they will strike or how long they will last.”
“…”
Namgung Ryu-cheong found himself thinking of Baek Li-yeon once more.
She possessed as keen an interest in medicine as she did in martial arts. In particular, she was always eager to study new medical texts and novel treatment methods.
He had assumed this behavior stemmed from the influence of his own descent into demonic cultivation. But could it have been because of her father?
If so, how long had he been poisoned?
Now that he thought about it, Baek Li-yeon was remarkably sensitive to her father’s wellbeing. Yet he was far stronger than she—who should be worrying about whom?
In fact, he had even told her once, “Please, just take care of yourself,” believing that Baek Li Dae-hyup must be the one fretting over her recklessness.
“…”
He wanted to strike himself for failing to notice and being unable to help.
And he could only feel pity for Yeon, who had borne this secret alone all this time.
Was Yeon alright?
How was she managing now?
He pushed aside the cascading thoughts and refocused on the urgent matter at hand.
“If it’s ‘for now’… what happens if it’s left untreated?”
“The poisoned vital energy will seize more frequently, until eventually he can no longer use his martial arts at all.”
“…!”
Namgung Ryu-cheong’s shock gave way to a new suspicion, his eyes narrowing with caution.
“…Even if everything you say is true and the Dae-hyup is indeed poisoned with such a toxin, how could you possibly know this? How did you discover what I failed to notice for so long?”
How could she know what had eluded him all this time?
The woman continued speaking with perfect composure, as though discussing last night’s dinner.
“Because I poisoned him.”
Shing—
The moment a blade-blue sword aimed at the woman’s throat, the guards moved in unison.
The woman raised her hand to stop them.
“Stand down.”
“Palace Master!”
“Yes, the Palace Master of the Demonic Cult. I was foolish not to see it sooner.”
This woman had grown and acted as the Heavenly Demon’s daughter, unlike Yeon.
She had submitted to the sect, followed the Heavenly Demon’s commands, lent her hand to shameless atrocities, and committed countless murders. As evidenced by her title of Palace Master, she even commanded her own faction within the organization.
The woman continued speaking.
“Poisoning Baek Li-ui-gang was my mission. So naturally, I know it well.”
“…”
Eyes fixed downward upon the blade. And a gaze fixed upon him.
Without realizing it, the sword point wavered.
“With his body in such a state, when he opens his eyes, won’t his fury inevitably turn toward his daughter?”
Namgung Ryu-cheong could not restrain himself and cried out.
“She’s your daughter too! Right now, Yeon is suffering because of you…”
“I have no daughter.”
“…!”
Veins bulged across the woman’s neck.
The subordinates surrounding her flinched as if they might draw their blades at any moment.
The woman spoke.
“But help that child.”
* * *
“What are you saying now? That it was Yalyu who handed Baek Li-ui-ran over to Wi Ji-baek? You’re saying that now?”
“…Yes.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong’s face bore the weight of regret and anguish even as the words left his lips. Yet he did not stop, pressing forward.
“That bastard wasn’t Wi Ji-baek’s blood.”
“What?”
“But both the Byeok Family and Wi Ji-baek were completely deceived. By Byeok So-hyeop! He deceived everyone because he thought that being known as Wi Ji-baek’s son would let him survive.”
“….”
“And the reason Byeok So-hyeop became entangled with Wi Ji-baek in the first place was due to Cheon-ma’s scheming from the very beginning. The Demonic Cult manipulated the Byeok Family into handing Byeok So-hyeop over to Wi Ji-baek!”
“….”
“And that bastard knew all of it.”
The tip of Namgung Ryu-cheong’s blade pointed directly at Yalyu.
Namgung Ryu-cheong’s voice cut through the air with precision.
“Did he ever tell you? That his true father wasn’t Wi Ji-baek, and that his mother and father becoming entangled in the first place was all because of Cheon-ma’s conspiracy?”
“….”
“That his true enemy was Cheon-ma from the very beginning.”

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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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