The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 351

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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 21
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A year had passed since then.
When Eon-du returned from a brief absence, his heart sank upon seeing Baek Li-ui-gang cornered before an old man hawking wares at a street market stall.
As he quickened his pace, voices drifted toward him, and sure enough—
“…*cough*, there’s nowhere left in the household to draw money from, and this outsider has fallen ill… *cough, cough*!”
*Tap, tap, tap!*
The old man, tears glistening at the corners of his eyes, poured out his pitiful circumstances while pressing something white and ornamental toward the Young Master. Without even examining the object, the Young Master immediately reached for his coin purse.
‘No!’
Just as Eon-du rushed to cry out, someone struck the Young Master’s wrist holding the purse.
*Smack!*
Eon-du winced, feeling as though his own hand ached in sympathy.
Not that he wasn’t grateful for being stopped from buying, but did it have to hurt that much?
Eon-du turned to face the culprit with indignation, only to stumble backward in alarm.
“Why do you fall for a scam every single time we meet?”
“…Miss Cheon.”
How dare this woman show her shameless face? That was Eon-du’s thought as he quickly slipped among the passersby.
The old man erupted in protest.
“What is the meaning of this! You’ve damaged the merchandise! What am I to do about it!”
Cheon A-ran spoke.
“My, you seem quite vigorous, sir.”
“*Ahem!* *Cough, cough!*”
As the old man launched into another fit of what sounded like death throes, Baek Li-ui-gang steadied him.
“Are you alright?”
Eon-du sighed inwardly. Though he couldn’t see Cheon A-ran’s expression from this angle, he could well imagine it.
The perceptive old man, sensing the shift, wasted no time in fleeing.
“Sir…!”
He didn’t even bother retrieving the ornament he’d dropped.
Baek Li-ui-gang called out, gesturing for the old man to take it back, but the old man bolted without a backward glance. When Baek Li-ui-gang moved to pursue, Cheon A-ran grabbed his wrist.
“Let him go. He was caught red-handed in a scam—he won’t have the presence of mind to worry about counterfeit goods.”
“Counterfeit?”
Cheon A-ran snatched the jade ornament from Baek Li-ui-gang’s hand and examined it.
“You’re the young master of the Sega Clan. One glance at the jade hanging from your belt tells you everything. You fell for such obvious junk?”
“….”
Eon-du answered silently in his mind.
‘It’s not that he was deceived—the Young Master never intended to examine the jade properly in the first place, so he wouldn’t have known it was fake.’
Cheon A-ran continued.
“Last time and now again—is falling for obvious scams perhaps your hobby?”
Only then did the silent Baek Li-ui-gang open his mouth.
Only then did Baek Li-ui-gang, who had been silent, open his mouth.
“I fail to understand what qualifications you possess to speak such words, you who betrayed us from the start. You approached us with the intention of killing that Murim Criminal, and you killed him and left. Are you claiming that wasn’t deception?”
Cheon A-ran fell silent for a moment, unable to respond, and in that pause, Baek Li-ui-gang continued with measured composure.
“At least your father’s lung disease was genuine.”
“What does that matter now? If someone has lung disease, does that justify committing fraud?”
Baek Li-ui-gang did not answer and spoke calmly instead.
“That ornament—give it to me.”
“What do you intend to do with it?”
“Return it to its rightful owner.”
“….”
Cheon A-ran appeared to have lost her words.
Eon-du had anticipated that the Young Master would say this, so he was not surprised at all. However, what followed was entirely unexpected.
Just as Cheon A-ran extended her hand as if to surrender the ornament, she clenched her fist tightly instead, and when she opened it again, the shattered fragments tumbled from her palm onto the ground with a soft scatter.
“If I hand it over, you’ll only use it to defraud someone else, won’t you?”
“What are you doing?”
“You wouldn’t suffer much from being swindled—it would be mere pocket change to you. But you should understand that your actions inflict a sense of deprivation upon others.”
“Deprivation?”
“People who earn their living honestly, day by day.”
“What?”
“If they’re foolish enough to fall for it, there’s nothing to be done.”
With those words, Baek Li-ui-gang kicked over the street market stall where the Old Man had displayed his wares for sale.
“You…!”
When Baek Li-ui-gang’s eyes widened in shock, Cheon A-ran had already deployed her lightness technique and vanished among the crowd.
Baek Li-ui-gang reflexively took a few steps as if to pursue her, then stopped with a hardened expression. He then carefully spread out the overturned stall and methodically arranged the scattered items.
Eon-du, who had watched the entire scene with his mouth agape, hurried over and helped Baek Li-ui-gang organize the goods.
“What kind of woman is she? She’s completely insane, isn’t she?”
Baek Li-ui-gang furrowed his brow and reflexively looked at Eon-du as if to say something, but held back.
* * *
That encounter was nothing short of disastrous, yet something in Baek Li-ui-gang’s heart seemed to shift afterward—he no longer fell for obvious deceptions.
Furthermore, he ceased blindly believing everything people told him and began to discern right from wrong. He even began demanding compensation for his aid to those who appeared wealthy or capable!
Yes, at last he had finally escaped being a fool who helped everyone he encountered without question!
Was it the Young Master’s pride that had been wounded by his inability to refute the traitor’s sermon?
In any case, Eon-du shed tears of emotion at the Young Master’s growth.
Cheon A-ran, that woman.
She had been a good traitor.
And truly, what did it matter that she had deceived the Young Master once? She had merely killed a villain marked as a Murim Criminal.
And then, a year later.
Baek Li-ui-gang, seated at a prime location in an upscale pavilion, wore an uncomfortable expression.
Just as Eon-du was about to speak, someone suddenly approached with heavy footsteps and sat across from him. Eon-du, wondering what madman this could be, looked up in shock and found the situation oddly familiar.
Baek Li-ui-gang also opened his mouth with an expression of disbelief.
“…Cheon A-ran?”
And without being offered, he picked up the wine bottle and drank straight from it.
“The aroma is quite pleasant.”
Eon-du spoke up quickly.
“If you wish to quarrel, please do so elsewhere. Today is the Young Master’s birthday, after all.”
“Eon-du.”
Baek Li-ui-gang called his name as if asking why he would say such a thing.
Cheon A-ran blinked, then spoke with evident surprise.
“Don’t you have close friends to celebrate a day like this? Usually it would be quite festive. Or were those not truly friends, but merely hangers-on chasing after your wealth?”
“That’s harsh. It’s not that—I simply didn’t announce my birthday.”
“Why?”
“Indeed, why are you doing this alone?”
“Eon-du.”
Baek Li-ui-gang and his elder brother Baek Li-ui-muk had birthdays roughly a month apart. And every year, the elder Young Master held an extravagant birthday celebration, while the younger one—accustomed to being overlooked—could never have imagined inviting friends or hosting a feast.
His birth mother had wished for him to live quietly, drawing no attention, so celebrations were unthinkable. She had scarcely let him leave the residence, so he had virtually no close friends.
Yet now that he had ventured out and made many friends, to see him acting so self-pitying caused my heart to ache.
“So that’s why you ordered so much food? And the most expensive wine as well.”
“That was Eon-du’s doing….”
Eon-du looked at Baek Li-ui-gang, whose ears had flushed red, and found it absurd. Though he had improved somewhat, he still spent money like water, yet to have indulged in such extravagance seemed to embarrass him slightly.
“I see.”
Cheon A-ran, who had been glancing around briefly, spoke.
“Let me hold your hand for a moment.”
“What?”
Eon-du’s eyes widened.
Baek Li-ui-gang too was momentarily dazed as Cheon A-ran grasped his hand. Then, holding his hand aloft, she cried out loudly.
“This young master here is celebrating his birthday and treating everyone to drinks! Come one and all to receive your wine!”
Eon-du’s mouth fell open in shock, and Baek Li-ui-gang stared at Cheon A-ran with wide eyes.
But Baek Li-ui-gang had no chance to protest.
Roooaarrr—!
A sudden roar erupted through the Pavilion as people who seemed to appear from nowhere surged toward Baek Li-ui-gang.
“Young Master! Happy birthday!”
“Honored guest! Won’t you share a drink with us!”
The area around Baek Li-ui-gang’s seat instantly became a churning mass of chaos and noise. Surrounded by the throng, he had no chance to protest to Cheon A-ran.
Just then, commotion could be heard from outside the Pavilion.
“Search! They couldn’t have gone far! Turn the place upside down!”
“What’s happening here? What’s going on?”
“Some young master is treating everyone to drinks for his birthday! Come in and claim your spot!”
“Don’t block the way! Move aside!”
The armed warriors who had rushed in with drawn swords, seeing the situation in the Pavilion, shook their heads and dashed off in another direction. Nothing unusual—such scenes were common wherever crowds gathered in the Jianghu.
Eon-du watched the warriors outside the window, then turned his gaze to Cheon A-ran. She had been pushed away from Baek Li-ui-gang’s side and now sat in a suitable spot, drinking directly from a wine bottle.
‘How much does that bottle cost, and she’s drinking it like water…!’
Eon-du’s eyes widened as he studied Cheon A-ran, and he squinted slightly at the corners of his eyes. The hem of Cheon A-ran’s dark-colored garment seemed to have a noticeably deeper hue than the rest—as if something had splattered and stained it.
‘Perhaps some muddy water splashed on her.’

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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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