The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 39

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 39
* * *
After the confrontation with Cheon Gwi-jo, our group relocated from Yeongjonmun to an inn.
With a disciple dead and the shocking revelation that Bu Moon-ju was actually Cheon Gwi-jo, Yeongjonmun had fallen into such chaos that we could no longer impose upon their hospitality.
When Dang So-yong, Ak Jung-hae, and Ma Hye-hyang naturally moved with us, Namgung Wan rented out an entire inn. Byeok Seong-yul, who had fled in the chaos, never reappeared.
The moment I opened the crimson latticed door, a cheerful voice greeted me.
“You made it!”
“You called for me?”
Ak Jung-hae had survived. According to the physician who administered emergency treatment, had we arrived even slightly later, the outcome would have been dire.
He had remained unconscious for an entire day before finally regaining awareness. Judging solely from his voice now, one would never guess he’d been injured at all.
If not for the thick medicinal smell permeating the room, I would have believed he was completely unharmed.
“Come here, come here. Sit down.”
Ak Jung-hae, gesturing animatedly, regarded me with a puzzled expression.
“Hmm? Why do you look so pale? Your complexion is worse than mine, and I’m the one who’s injured.”
I rubbed both my cheeks.
“Ah… is it that obvious? I haven’t been sleeping well.”
At my words, Ak Jung-hae’s eyes brightened.
“Did you have another nightmare? What was it about?”
“…I can’t quite remember.”
“How can you not remember! Think hard. Come on!”
Ma Hye-hyang sighed and spoke.
“Senior, please stop.”
I smiled softly at them.
The claim that I couldn’t remember was a lie. I remembered it vividly even now.
‘Yalyu.’
The nightmare featuring that bastard who had slit my throat.
Shortly after my regression, I had repeatedly dreamed of Yalyu slicing through my neck. But as time proved to be a healer, those dreams gradually ceased… until now.
Of all things, the wound my father had sustained from Cheon Gwi-jo was on his neck. The gash at the nape was so deep that had it gone any further, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
Seeing my father return with his collar soaked in blood, I thought I would faint. The cold sweat and nightmares that followed suggested the shock had been profound.
And what made it worse was that this time, it wasn’t I who had my neck cut by Yalyu…
I shook my head as if to dispel the horrific memory. Ak Jung-hae reached over and patted my head.
“You know, I happen to know the Grand Elder of the Kunlun Sect. How about going to study under him?”
“Pardon?”
I blinked at the sudden suggestion.
“Or what about the Mudang Sect? I don’t know anyone there, but the Murim Alliance’s Dharma Protector is connected to the Mudang Sect…”
“Senior, please stop. You’re startling Yeon.”
“No, listen. You have spiritual sensitivity, so how else would you have such perfectly fitting dreams?”
“Yeon, don’t take your senior’s words too seriously. He’s just joking.”
“No, I’m being serious!”
I nodded vaguely in response.
“Yes! I’ll ask Father about it when he returns!”
“….”
“…Senior, please handle it yourself.”
“That… Yeon, you’re not actually planning to ask Ui-gang about this, are you?”
I tilted my head with a puzzled expression.
“Why not? Is there a problem with asking?”
“Well, that doesn’t seem like a good idea.”
“But you said you’d introduce me to the Grand Elder! I’d like to meet him!”
“That… Hye-hyang, when will Senior return?”
Ak Jung-hae, whose eyes had been darting about, asked as if changing the subject.
“I’m not sure. We received word this morning that Cheon Gwi-jo’s hideout was discovered, so he’ll probably be late today.”
“What? They found his hideout?”
As Ak Jung-hae started to jump up, Ma Hye-hyang startled and stopped him.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You need to rest anyway.”
“Still, you should have informed me about something like this!”
Ah, they finally found it.
When Father and Namgung Wan realized that Cheon Gwi-jo seemed to have fled this area, they abandoned the pursuit and focused on locating his hideout. It was because of the abducted children.
And today marked the fourth day. I’d grown anxious with each passing hour, but it seemed they’d found it today.
Ak Jung-hae rubbed his chin, his expression turning serious.
“Did they find the abducted children as well?”
“If it’s truly Cheon Gwi-jo’s hideout, they should be able to find them.”
“Yes. I hope everyone is safe.”
But things wouldn’t go as Ak Jung-hae hoped. According to my memory, not a single one of them survived. Unfortunately.
* * *
Standing before the cave discovered after searching the mountains all morning, Baek Li-ui-gang found his daughter’s voice echoing in his mind.
“I have a feeling they might be in a cave somewhere in the mountains!”
“Would Cheon Gwi-jo establish his hideout in such an obvious place?”
“It’s clichéd, but no one suspected Cheon Gwi-jo of abducting children in the first place! Well, wouldn’t there be caves that only those who’ve mastered martial arts could reach?”
And Yeon had been right. In a cave that someone without martial training would overlook as unremarkable, they discovered traces of Cheon Gwi-jo.
Dang So-yong turned to Namgung Wan and spoke.
“There are no signs of anyone entering or leaving for at least a week.”
“Then Cheon Gwi-jo hasn’t come here. Hmm, but that child was right about using a cave as a hideout.”
Namgung Wan, stroking his chin, spoke with amusement.
“Could she actually have some talent for this?”
“Haha, I also recalled what Yeon said, so I took a closer look just in case….”
“It’s mere coincidence.”
Baek Li-ui-gang cut off Dang So-yong’s amused remark sharply.
Namgung Wan turned to look at Baek Li-ui-gang and frowned.
“Well, it’s naturally coincidence. It’s just that Yeon’s luck is quite good. This is already the second time, isn’t it?”
“….”
Namgung Wan regarded him with suspicion before turning back to discuss with Dang So-yong how they would proceed. As I listened to the conversation shift away from Baek Li-yeon, I felt a subtle wave of relief wash over me.
‘…Yes, it must have been mere coincidence.’
Yet no matter how I reasoned through it, something felt amiss. Since my daughter had awakened from her descent into demonic delusion, she had transformed completely. At first, I had simply regarded it as a blessing. But as time passed, an unsettling sense that something was wrong began to gnaw at me.
Could a person truly change so drastically all at once?
I had heard stories of those who returned from death’s threshold with their personalities entirely remade. Yet Yeon was far too young to suddenly alter her own nature so deliberately.
Did not those who changed their temperament and bearing usually carry deep regrets about their lives?
Yeon was merely six years old—too young to harbor such regrets. Perhaps this was simply her true nature, hidden away during her time adjusting to the Baek Li Family.
My time spent with my daughter had been brief. In truth, I could say it scarcely existed at all. So perhaps I had simply never known her true self.
And yet… something told me that was not the answer. This commotion over a nightmare she claimed to have suffered—had she truly experienced a nightmare?
A child who had never once done such a thing suddenly weeping and clinging to me, and then events unfolding as if from a dream itself—could this truly be mere coincidence?
But I could not voice such suspicions to anyone. And if Yeon were hiding something, the cause could only be myself. Because I had proven myself an unreliable father….
“Ui-gang, let us enter. We have confirmed all we need here. So-yong, you guard the entrance.”
“Yes. Please all be careful.”
The cave began so narrow that one had to crouch low to pass through, but it widened as we ventured deeper. As we moved away from the entrance, light faded, until eventually nothing could be seen at all.
Soon we reached a dead end. Save for the path we had entered from, all three walls were sealed by solid stone.
Crouching low, I brushed my fingers lightly across the ground.
Namgung Wan spoke.
“It has been quite some time. At least a month, by the look of it.”
It was dried blood, dark crimson in color.
Namgung Wan surveyed the surroundings with a hardened expression. As I examined the area beside him, I gripped the torch tightly and suddenly leaped upward. The torch’s light flickered and dimmed as darkness engulfed the cave.
I landed after pushing off twice against the protruding sections of the wall. With my movement, the torch that seemed to have died suddenly flared back to life.
But the torch was no longer necessary. A vast cavern opened before us. Part of the ceiling, whose height was difficult to gauge, lay open, and bright light streamed in from above.
Kururu-rung. It sounded as though the ceiling were collapsing, but it was not.
It was the sound of a waterfall. Namgung Wan, who had followed after me, spoke with wonder in his voice.
“Hidden in such a place, it is no wonder we could not find it.”
It was a location impossible to reach without martial prowess, and thus ideal for concealment. Upon a pile of straw lay furs and blankets scattered about, as if used as bedding, while on one side stood a cauldron, dishes, and stacked firewood. These were the traces of someone having lived here.
Upon discovering these traces, Namgung Wan’s complexion grew even darker.
Namgung Wan spoke to the martial artists who had followed behind.
“Spread out and search the surrounding area.”
“Yes!”
Namgung Wan exhaled a sigh laden with troubled sentiment. The entrance and exit were troublesome even for those trained in martial arts. If Cheon Gwi-jo had truly brought the abducted children here…the likelihood that he had any plan to bring them back out again was slim.
“Why in the world would Cheon Gwi-jo abduct children and bring them here?”
To his murmured question, I offered an answer.
“There is something I must tell you.”
“What is it?”
From the moment I learned that Cheon Gwi-jo was the culprit, I had abandoned all hope that the children might still be alive.
“Cheon Gwi-jo’s abduction of the children was….”
At that very moment, from the far side of the cavern, the voice of Shim Bu-gwan rang out.
“There is a survivor here!”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————