The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 337

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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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Special Side Story Episode 7
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“How are you feeling?”
“Terrible.”
Baek Li-yeon gazed down at Namgung Ryu-cheong with concern. He pressed his temples repeatedly, his expression deeply furrowed.
Namgung Ryu-cheong had no memory of what had transpired. More precisely, his recollection vanished the moment he grasped the wooden token.
“Should I summon a physician?”
“No. My body is fine. It’s just….”
“Just what?”
“It feels like someone else was inhabiting my body. Filthy. Unsettling.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong had expected Baek Li-yeon to regard him with incomprehension, yet her eyes reflected understanding instead.
“At least you’re back. That’s what matters.”
“I’ve caused you needless worry.”
Namgung Ryu-cheong attempted to recall more details upon witnessing her peculiar reaction, but the intensifying headache forced him to abandon the effort. He asked instead.
“He didn’t do anything strange, did he?”
“No. Nothing unusual. Besides, his nature is identical to yours. Trust me on that much.”
“That’s precisely why I can’t trust it.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Though his memories eluded him, fragmented thoughts and emotional shards remained, hovering at the edge of consciousness.
What? In the past, he had despised her?
‘Absurd. Would someone who despises another harbor such feelings?’
Yet he had no intention of revealing this realization to Baek Li-yeon.
Once Namgung Ryu-cheong had sufficiently composed himself, they emerged from the chamber to find Jeggal Hwa-mu cradling Namgung Hee in the backyard of the pavilion.
It was Jeggal Hwa-mu who had summoned Baek Li-ui-gang and the children to Muuhan—all to help restore Namgung Ryu-cheong’s memories.
“Are you finished talking?”
“Yes.”
The sight of Jeggal Hwa-mu holding Namgung Hee suited him far better than expected. She had initially thought his demeanor ill-suited to children, yet the image was quite endearing.
Namgung Ryu-cheong inquired.
“Where did Hwa-a go?”
“She wanted to see the garden, so her nursemaid took her. The Baek Li Family Head had a visitor arrive, so he went to receive them.”
Jeggal Hwa-mu set Namgung Hee down from his lap. As the nursemaid led the child away, Namgung Hee, sensing the adults had matters to discuss, reluctantly followed with a disappointed expression.
Baek Li-yeon spoke.
“Hee isn’t the type to sit quietly. What did you talk about?”
“She seemed quite curious about the Jegal Clan.”
“I hope she didn’t ask anything strange….”
“Not at all. It was adorable.”
“Then I’m relieved.”
Jeggal Hwa-mu waved toward the departing Namgung Hee.
Namgung Hee bounced excitedly while waving back, nearly stumbling before the nursemaid caught her.
“So, I’ve decided it’s time for me to marry as well.”
“…What?”
“Come along if nothing else comes up.”
With that, he extended a crimson invitation card—a wedding invitation. The words implied the marriage had been decided long ago.
Baek Li-yeon observed Jeggal Hwa-mu’s expression. His smile held no lingering attachment, no shadow of doubt. He too had found his answer.
Baek Li-yeon composed herself and rebuked him with exasperation.
“Even if something comes up, you should still go. But why are you telling me this now?”
Namgung Ryu-cheong let out a derisive snort.
“Well then, go ahead and marry already.”
One cannot paint a future while dwelling in the past. Though the path to reach this point had been arduous, and the future ahead would be equally difficult, still we must press forward toward the hopeful dawn that awaits.
【Side Story 3 End】
Side Story 4. If Life Leaves Behind Regret
The rain fell in relentless sheets, obscuring even a single step ahead.
“Kugh.”
“Aaaagh!”
Their final moments were swallowed by the sound of rain. Crimson blood mingled with the downpour.
Thud. The last surviving warrior’s legs gave way beneath him, and he collapsed.
“P-please, spare me.”
Warriors trained by only one master fell without mounting any real resistance, slaughtered to the last.
Trembling in absolute terror, the warrior muttered to himself.
“W-we serve the…do you know who we serve? If word of this spreads, surely they won’t just….”
“Baek Li Estate.”
“Gasp!”
Splash, splash.
A dark shadow pierced through the torrential rain like the grim reaper itself. The warrior’s eyes went blank as he recognized the revealed face.
“Y-you…! No, why are you…?”
Eyes marked with a tear mole at the corner gazed down upon him as one might regard an insect. Lips crimson as blood began to move.
“So, did you find Baek Li-yeon?”
The warrior muttered blankly.
“H-how did you…?”
“Why?”
“Pardon?”
“Why were you looking for Baek Li-yeon?”
“B-because she’s the Family Head’s granddaughter….”
A flash of light, and only then did he notice his hand below the wrist was gone. The warrior convulsed in agony, screaming.
“I-I’m telling the truth! The Family Head sent the Fourth Young Master as well, but said he couldn’t bear to lose his daughter too…! Damn it! What does that cripple amount to anyway, living like a corpse? Why must I suffer like this!”
With each cry, his sense of injustice and rage toward the one who had placed him in this situation surged higher. Yet the cold touch of a blade against his neck instantly suppressed that fury.
Regaining his senses, the warrior looked at his assailant in terror. But all he could see through the rain streaming down that face was a scarlet smile spreading smoothly across it.
“So you found her?”
The warrior’s mind raced. This man had known everything from the start. He couldn’t fathom why a high-ranking member of the Demonic Cult sought Baek Li-yeon, but if that were the case….
The warrior swallowed hard and spoke.
“I-I found it. If you spare me, I’ll tell you. I won’t breathe a word of what happened here today to anyone. Once I leave this place, I’ll live as silent as a dead mouse.”
“Fine.”
“In the Muyang Pyo Country of Cheonju…”
It was the moment he continued speaking.
Thud. A head severed from its body rolled across the floor.
The head tumbling through the puddle seemed to gaze at him, desperately seeking an answer for why. The same expression I’d grown weary of seeing countless times while killing tens and hundreds.
Baek Li-yeon was no different, so the moment I turned away, that expression was erased from memory. Would things have been different if I’d remembered that look back then?
* * *
Clang, thud, thud, thud-thud-thud
The dull sounds and the noise of something heavy being dragged shattered my reverie. The sound of stone floors being struck and irregular footsteps followed, and voices echoed through the darkness.
“Cult Leader.”
Eyes devoid of light and a face without expression turned toward the source of the voice.
At Hyeol Seong-gun’s gesture, torches mounted on the walls ignited in sequence from the Stone Door inward.
The Sacred Ground, which had been shrouded in darkness, blazed with light. Then, the pale complexion of the figure on the Altar faintly gained some color.
Hyeol Seong-gun stroked his staff and swallowed his discontent. This half-baked Cheon-ma had the absurd weakness of disliking darkness. Such an attitude was unbecoming of a body meant to be a vessel for Cheon-ma. It seemed more training would be necessary.
‘As expected, Cheon-ma’s own blood would be a far more perfect vessel.’
Baek Li-yeon. That woman whom the half-baked Cheon-ma was obsessed with was a far more perfect vessel for Cheon-ma than this one.
For now, I must be satisfied with this much.
Hyeol Seong-gun licked his lips with regret and spoke.
“My congratulations. You have finally succeeded.”
Regrettable as it was, this vessel was still not without merit. The Cheon-ma’s energy that had seemed ready to rampage at any moment was no longer felt.
This place was a Sacred Ground where successive Cheon-mas had periodically stayed, a place where the force threatening to rampage was stabilized. The reason the half-baked Cheon-ma was here was the same. And now, at last, it had finally become properly stabilized. The power of Cheon-ma. Its very existence.
At Hyeol Seong-gun’s glance, the warrior who followed bowed his head and climbed onto the Altar with careful movements.
In the center of the Altar was a bath filled with something dark and crimson, unsettling to behold. The warrior draped clothing over the shoulders of the figure rising from within it. With attendants serving him, his vacant gaze fixed on empty space seemed utterly indifferent to all of this.
Yet Hyeol Seong-gun was certain he would show a reaction to his words.
“At last, we have found the final piece. Once more, the Demonic Way shall reign supreme over the lawless.”
Hyeol Seong-gun knelt on his crutch and held up a wooden tablet with both hands. As expected, the half-baked Cheon-ma reacted.
A shadow approached without even a whisper of presence and stood before him.
“This is the last one?”
The moment Cheon-ma grasped the wooden tablet, time seemed to freeze over the Sacred Ground.
A thick, murky energy spread from the tablet, crawling up his arm and slowly creeping across Cheon-ma’s body. Despite the absence of even a breeze, his long hair rippled and scattered as if caught in wind.
Hyeol Seong-gun watched with bloodshot eyes as light seeped into Cheon-ma’s body.
“At last…!”
It was Hyeol Seong-gun who had absorbed Cheon-ma’s power and brought the dying Yalyu to a comatose state, transporting him to the Sacred Ground. In the process, he had lost one of his legs, but this was something he had to do.
For the sake of the Demonic Way’s supremacy that Cheon-ma would one day achieve.
To him, Cheon-ma was a god, and the Demonic Way’s supremacy was the realization of faith. He could cast away even his own life as easily as dust.
Of course, from the beginning, this half-baked Cheon-ma had shown no willingness to cooperate with him. He had interfered many times. In a moment of carelessness, he had used the Muyang Pyo Country to steal and destroy Cheon-ma’s sacred relics, and had even sabotaged the plan for a heretical alliance led by Wi Ji-baek to prevent the expansion of the Murim Alliance’s power.
When he had disrupted the great cause for the trivial reason of avenging his biological mother, I truly could not contain my rage. Had he not possessed a large fragment with Cheon-ma’s soul, I would have torn him to pieces myself.
But because this half-baked one was obsessed with such trivial reasons, putting a leash on him was easy enough.
The ominous energy dissipated as though absorbed entirely, and Hyeol Seong-gun bowed respectfully as he spoke.
“The time of reversal has come. Reclaim the sacred relic that the treacherous apostate has extinguished. Then you shall recover your complete power.”
This timeline had failed. But that was fine now. I could simply begin again from the start.
“And do as you wish. Bring the treacherous apostate back into the embrace of Cheon-ma for salvation and conversion.”
Baek Li-yeon. By turning back time, I had been given another chance to reclaim that woman!
For one so obsessed with that woman, it was a temptation he could never refuse. After all, she was a major obstacle to the great cause. Though it was regrettable that his memories would fade when time reversed, if he could eliminate her first, it was no loss at all.
In the moment he harbored such thoughts….
“Gasp.”
His breath was cut off, and the sound of bones snapping echoed not through his ears but directly within his mind.
There was no movement to see, no chance to react. Hyeol Seong-gun’s sole remaining foot dangled uselessly in the air as his neck was seized. His already paralyzed body could not move even a single fingertip.
And then he felt all the energy within him being drawn toward a single point. To have one’s vital force absorbed by Cheon-ma and die was not mere death.
Even if one’s spirit were absorbed by Cheon-ma and regressed, one’s very existence would be erased—true and eternal annihilation.
Hyeol Seong-gun’s eyes widened as he rolled them to look at his opponent.
‘Why…!’
The incomplete Cheon-ma smiled faintly with mockery.
“You seem curious.”
Of course he was!
He could not remember, but he must have regressed countless times while serving at Cheon-ma’s side. He was a faithful servant and chosen retainer for establishing demonic supremacy over the world.
To reclaim the treacherous apostate Baek Li-yeon, he—a strategist superior to all others—would have been absolutely indispensable! So why!
“Even if you turn back time, she won’t be the one I knew.”

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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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