The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 292

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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 292
‘What a selfish child.’
How could he treat me this way?
At the very least, he shouldn’t have done this in front of me. After everything I did to save him!
Yet I couldn’t bring myself to hate him, nor could I resent him. I understood that the memories Jeggal Hwa-mu had given me would prove invaluable.
My journey here had been born of desperation more than strategy. I couldn’t simply discard the Cheonma Jibow, and if I were to hide deep within the mountains, the Demonic Cult members would swarm like a pack of dogs and annihilate the Baek Li Family without hesitation.
Yet I had no desire to die by Taego Jinperson’s hand, nor did I wish to take my own life.
So I placed my final hope on the form of Cheon-ma, who desired the Cheonma Jibow that I had left untouched until now.
‘When did this plan begin?’
Within the memories flowing through my mind, there was no recollection of when this scheme had been conceived. It seemed he had deliberately omitted that portion when transferring his memories to me.
However…
Whoosh.
The folding fan unfolded smoothly with my movement.
The sacred treasure of the Jegal Clan.
Despite it being a family heirloom, Jeggal Hwa-mu had meticulously taught me every detail of how to wield this fan.
As I gazed at it intently, I snapped the fan shut with a crisp sound and looked at Gyeol-i nestled in my arms.
[You can read my thoughts, so you know what I’m thinking right now, don’t you?]
“Chirp!”
I continued my thoughts in response to her affirmative cry.
[Once I figure it out, you must find a way to convey the antidote to my father. Understood?]
Her wavering eyes seemed to protest that she was merely a beast—how could she possibly communicate such a thing?
“Chirp! Chirp!”
Then she began to cry out pitifully, as if deeply wronged.
How could a beast possibly relay information to a human?
But then again, Jeggal Hwa-mu acted on his own whims too, so surely I could impose this much on her.
Boom—another tremendous noise shook the Cheonma Dae-chong itself.
‘What in the world are they doing out there?’
Moments ago, anxiety had flooded through me as if I needed to return immediately, but now it had vanished entirely.
The stone fragments that fell from above turned to dust and scattered before they could touch my head.
I resumed my descent.
Gyeol-i, having leapt from my arms, walked beside me like a companion.
This time, I didn’t wander—I proceeded in a straight line downward.
After traversing the labyrinthine corridor for some time, a colossal stone gate appeared before me.
It resembled the stone gate that had served as the entrance to the Cheonma Dae-chong, yet it was subtly different.
The method of opening was similar, but the vital energy flow that served as the key was distinct.
Without needing to verify it with my golden eyes, the sequence simply came to mind. The memories surfaced naturally whenever needed.
I placed my hand upon the stone surface. Only then did I realize I could now control the vital energy flow without even touching it. Habit was a terrifying thing.
This stone gate, which no human hand could open, was both the keyhole and the mechanism itself.
Boom—click-click-click-click, whirrrr—bang!
With each vital energy sequence I aligned, the sound of massive mechanisms turning echoed through the chamber.
The continuous sound ceased with a metallic click the moment I completed the final piece and withdrew my hands.
Immediately after, accompanied by a deep rumble, the stone gate swung open on both sides.
* * *
What greeted me was a vast cavern—one I would never have imagined could exist beneath the earth.
Along the edges of this spacious chamber, devoid of even a single pillar, massive braziers the size of a man burned fiercely at uniform intervals, their flames casting the cavern in daylight brilliance where darkness should have reigned.
At the center of the cavern stood a tiered dais and an altar that seemed designed for sacred rituals.
A single beam of light descended upon the altar’s center, suffused with an otherworldly sanctity.
Before it stood a figure.
Cheon-ma.
Years had passed since I last saw him, yet time seemed to have left his appearance untouched.
But that was merely surface.
The countless threads that had once bound his form immovably—threads I’d sensed the moment I perceived them, causing my breath to catch—were nowhere to be seen. Instead, only an ominous, suffocating darkness emanated from him.
It was malice stripped of purpose, retaining only obsession, stubbornness, and conviction.
I walked slowly into the chamber.
The instant my body crossed the stone gate and entered the cavern, it slammed shut with a thunderous boom.
As the gate sealed behind me, the sudden gust swept my robes and hair into wild disarray.
“I have been waiting for you.”
From the moment the Left Envoy seemed ignorant of Cheon-ma’s whereabouts, I had roughly anticipated he would be here.
Cheon-ma sought the Cheonma Jibo, and I sought the power within the Cheonma Grand Vault to vanquish him. Our meeting was inevitable.
Satisfied that my conjecture had proven correct, I opened my mouth.
“You have declined considerably.”
The Cheon-ma from the first Jegal Family Head’s memories was far more overwhelming.
Truly the embodiment of ‘Demon’ itself.
Even the Emperor had feared his power. The very fact that the cult members who dared boast of unifying the realm and call themselves the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect were not slaughtered proved Cheon-ma’s strength.
Of course, he remained formidable even now. Who would dare claim he was not the supreme master of all under heaven?
Yet, having inherited the first Jegal Family Head’s memories, the Cheon-ma before me seemed like a child compared to the Cheon-ma of old.
Cheon-ma showed no sign of being affected by my audacious words, his expression remaining cold and unmoved.
“I wondered why you were so slow in coming. Now I sense the spirit of the Jegal Family within you.”
To discern it at first glance—I was somewhat taken aback.
“Has he transferred his power to you?”
I deliberately unfolded Jeggal Hwa-mu’s letter and displayed it. Then I cast it directly into the brazier.
White flames roared to life, their tongues licking and consuming the letter before scattering it into pale ash.
Cheon-ma fell silent, his demeanor becoming contemplative—the first emotional shift he had displayed.
When Cheon-ma spoke again, his tone carried a bitter edge.
“The death of a dear friend never becomes easier to bear.”
His repugnant attitude left me speechless.
“Dear friend? Then who killed him?”
“He should have departed long ago. I can only hope his end brought him peace.”
“….”
When I first beheld him, his power had seemed terrifying—an overwhelming force I knew not how to confront. Now, understanding the truth, he appeared nothing more than a deranged madman.
“Your eyes hold many questions. Do you wish to ask something? Speak freely.”
Cheon-ma carried himself as though he were a benevolent grandfather.
I stared at Cheon-ma intently. Smoke from the brazier danced and curled away, following a single shaft of light that illuminated the space behind him.
I opened my mouth.
“I have three questions.”
“Ask them.”
Cheon-ma replied calmly, and I tapped the corner of my eye as I spoke.
“This golden eye—why did Man Shin-ui possess it?”
Cheon-ma tilted his head slightly and opened his mouth.
“I see. A reasonable question. The answer is simple. I no longer needed that ability. Moreover, Man Shin-ui had someone he needed to save.”
Cheon-ma had already reached a state where, even without this golden eye, he could manipulate the natural order of heaven through the Absorption Demon Technique—or rather, the Absorption Demon Grand Method—with absolute freedom according to his will.
And I could discern the hidden meaning beneath what remained unspoken.
The more Man Shin-ui used the golden eye’s power to save those who should have died, the more the heavenly order would be disrupted, and the easier it would become for Cheon-ma to move.
I posed my second question.
“Why did you do that to Yalyu?”
Why deceive his entire life with such a lie?
“Do you know the easiest way to shackle someone?”
Cheon-ma spoke as though instructing me.
“Their child.”
“….”
“Had I left Byeok Ki-hyeon alone, she would have become a troublesome adversary. And look—in the end, did she not accomplish nothing because of her child?”
Just as I had seized my father’s weakness through myself, Cheon-ma had used Yalyu to seize his mother’s weakness.
“And furthermore, your fa….”
I lunged toward Cheon-ma mid-sentence. A movement beyond the realm of perception. I was startled by my own speed as I wielded the dagger.
Cheon-ma simply leaned back and evaded the attack—swift as invisibility, a surprise assault that he dodged with ease.
Kwaaaang!
The energy embedded in the dagger struck the altar with tremendous force.
Power of this magnitude would have shattered ordinary stone and more. Yet the altar, whatever he had done to it, bore only slight scratches and remained intact.
Immediately, a sword wrapped in pitch-black demonic energy flew toward me. My dagger intercepted Cheon-ma’s blade—drawn at some moment I hadn’t perceived.
The energy from the collision extinguished the brazier’s flames for an instant, plunging us into darkness before light returned.
Cheon-ma continued to swing his sword as he spoke.
“Did you not say you had three questions?”
“Ah, truthfully, there were only two from the start.”
Cheon-ma nodded and continued, as though finishing an incomplete thought.
“I was the one who sent the letter to your father, informing him of your existence.”
For the briefest moment, my eyes faltered—a lapse that returned as blood sprayed through the air.
Heat bloomed near my forehead. Had I been even slightly slower, my head would have been severed.
I muttered while blocking Cheon-ma’s blade.
“…It was my aunt who sent the letter to my father.”
“Can you be certain?”
My father learned of my existence through a letter that arrived suddenly and brought me to him. I had always understood that letter was sent by my aunt—my wet nurse—as she lay dying. Never once had I doubted this truth.
But now I was being told that even this had been Cheon-ma’s design?
Cheon-ma continued speaking.
“Without me, you would never have been born. I orchestrated your mother’s meeting with your father, brought you into this world.”
“….”
“You were born through me, and through me you rose from a life of wandering the streets like a stray dog to reach this station. Yet you show no gratitude.”

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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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