The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 45

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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 45
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A feverish child lay sprawled across the only remaining section of flooring that hadn’t burned—her flushed face a vivid crimson.
I turned to Father and asked.
“How is she?”
“The fever is severe. She’s showing signs of dehydration. It appears she’s been left untended for more than a day. If this continues….”
Father supported the child’s neck and the hollow behind her knees.
“We must get her to the village at once.”
“No. It won’t help.”
I grasped Father’s arm as I spoke.
“There’s no physician in the nearby villages.”
“Ah, that’s right.”
When Namgung Wan first mentioned Man Shin-ui, he had mentioned this—there was a physician only in a village more than four days’ journey from Palgwae Village.
“But whether this child can survive such a long journey to a larger town….”
Father’s expression grew grave. If this child awakened, I could question her about Man Shin-ui, about those who attacked this village.
Since she couldn’t speak or read, what I could learn would be quite limited, yet even that felt desperately necessary.
As I deliberated, something suddenly came to mind, and I hastily retrieved it—a small box adorned with agate.
“Father, let’s try giving her this first.”
“What is it?”
“It’s medicine that Seok Tae-ui gave me. He said to take it if my strength flagged, and well, I’m uncertain of its effects, but wouldn’t it be better to give her something rather than nothing?”
It was medicine he had given me to take, but I couldn’t keep it down whenever I rode in a carriage.
“And I noticed earlier that some medicinal herbs remained in the partially burned house. I’ll search for any usable ones!”
“Can you identify the medicinal plants?”
“Of course! Just from all the medicines you’ve given me over the years, I could open a physician’s clinic.”
I had seen so much from being at your side. Your chamber was always filled with medical texts and medicinal ingredients.
‘Besides, I studied these things before my regression.’
The memories of my desperate struggle to recover remained vivid and intact.
I added reassuringly.
“And once I bring everything back, you can verify it once more!”
“Very well. I’ll do my part by channeling my inner energy to restore her vitality.”
“Yes! I’ll go look now!”
I asked Yalyu, who was trying to follow me, to bring a towel and water suitable for placing on the child’s head.
When I returned after gathering all the remaining medicinal herbs, Father had stepped away, leaving only Yalyu. He was wiping the child’s head, neck, and limbs with cool water—a sight that seemed oddly familiar.
“Where is Father?”
“He said he had something to retrieve.”
“I see.”
….
….
….
….
This is so awkward…!
The silence felt suffocating. I found myself scratching the back of my neck and stealing a glance at Yalyu. I still hadn’t decided how to treat him. I would tell myself to forget the past and be kind to him, since what happened hadn’t actually occurred yet—but the moment I saw his face, those memories came flooding back.
I was the first to break the silence, speaking toward Yalyu.
“You seem familiar with this.”
“My mother was frequently ill.”
“You have a mother?”
“…?”
What a foolish question that was. Of course there was no child born without a mother.
I awkwardly moved past it.
“Ah, I don’t have one.”
“You don’t?”
“Right. My mother was gone before I could even remember her.”
Why was I even having this conversation with him?
“But I have my father.”
“That’s true.”
A smile came naturally to my face.
What did it matter that I had no mother? Having such a father was nothing short of the greatest fortune I could possess.
Which is why I could never lose him this time.
‘But his mother was ill?’
This hidden past, previously unknown to me, sparked my curiosity.
“What about your mother now?”
“She passed away.”
“I see….”
An awkward silence settled once more. Then the child lying down’s eyelids twitched, and slowly his eyes opened.
“Oh! He’s waking up. Are you coming to?”
When I felt his forehead, his fever had already dropped considerably.
‘Wow, that medicine really is effective.’
The child’s unfocused eyes wandered through the air before landing on me, and they widened. I explained slowly enough for the child to understand.
“We found you collapsed inside the roots of an old tree. We….”
That’s when it happened. Rumble. Suddenly the ground trembled with a sound like lightning striking.
I lifted my head and looked around.
“What was that sound?”
Had Namgung Wan been wielding his sword? The signature technique of Namgung Clan swordplay produced a sound like lightning descending.
The child who had been lying down suddenly gripped my arm tightly. It was astonishing where such strength came from in a child who had just been unconscious.
“Can you get up?”
The child staggered but managed to pull himself to his feet somehow.
Then another roar echoed. Rumble rumble rumble. This time it was very close. Held by the child’s grip, I nearly stumbled and fell with him.
Why was he trying to get up while staggering like this?
I looked at the child in confusion before realizing it wasn’t the child who was trembling. My hair stood on end with a chilling sensation, and when I jerked my head up, I could see it.
Trees on the mountainside slope were collapsing simultaneously. The ground shook. It was a landslide.
* * *
Tap-tap, tap, tap-tap, tap.
The rhythmic sound slowly pulled me from unconsciousness. Every inch of my body throbbed with pain—I couldn’t find a single place that didn’t ache. And through that agony, I understood the truth.
‘I… survived?’
And I was lying face-down on what felt like stone.
When the mudslide swept me away, I was certain death was inevitable… I wondered if Father had managed to catch the others safely?
“Ugh.”
As I slowly pushed myself up, a sharp pain shot through the arm I’d braced against the floor, and I groaned.
“It doesn’t feel broken, but maybe cracked?”
Well, at least I’d kept my life.
As I surveyed my surroundings, I frowned.
“Where… am I?”
The flat stone floor and walls suggested this was an artificial structure. The faint light filtering in from somewhere allowed me to make out objects in dim silhouette.
“Ah. Ah. The way my voice echoes… this must be a cave?”
I looked up at the ceiling and quickly scrambled away from that spot. Large boulders were tangled together in what looked like a collapsed wall from a landslide. If I hadn’t fallen into this chamber, I would have been crushed beneath those stones…
“Ugh.”
The pain in my arm flared again, and I groaned. After walking a few steps, I leaned against the wall and slid down to sit.
“There definitely wasn’t a landslide like this last time.”
Breathing heavily, I rummaged through my robes.
Fortunately, I found my medicine pouch. The lock mechanism was damaged, so it took a moment to open. Not long after I chewed and swallowed the medicine, the pain gradually subsided.
“This medicine really is effective.”
Gritting my teeth, I pushed myself up using the wall.
After walking a short distance, I discovered the source of the faint light. Luminous pearls embedded in the walls at regular intervals illuminated the darkness. Beyond the pile of rubble, I detected only the musty smell of ancient dust.
Not a trace of mold in this underground space.
‘That means the ventilation is excellent…’
And as I walked further, I caught a scent that grew increasingly familiar.
Medicinal herbs.
‘Medicinal herbs in a place like this?’
I walked suspiciously toward where the scent grew stronger. Soon a half-open stone door came into view. Beyond it was far brighter than the dimly lit corridor. I pushed against the stone door with my whole body, squeezing through, and my eyes widened in astonishment. The entire chamber was lined with shelves.
‘A library… or perhaps a storehouse?’
The shelves held all manner of items.
Books, bamboo slips, wooden boxes whose contents I couldn’t determine—and dozens of ceramic bottles no larger than a finger, each compartment filled.
One wall’s drawers overflowed with medicinal herbs of every variety, though many I couldn’t identify. My height prevented me from even seeing the upper shelves.
To maintain such a place underground.
‘Could this possibly be Man Shin-ui’s storehouse?’
That seemed most likely.
I removed one ceramic bottle and struggled to open it, only to be met with an indescribable foul stench. Alarmed, I quickly sealed it and returned it to its place.
Opening the hexagonal box beside it revealed pills of some kind. And as I opened box after box, all manner of medicines appeared. Several bore inscriptions identifying them as rare and precious elixirs.
‘This is Tae Cheong Hwan? They possess even this? Remarkable.’
It was a medicine that purified inner energy and cleared the meridians, but the materials were so difficult to obtain that only a select few were ever produced.
I wish I could give this to Father….
After browsing for a while, I sat down on a random box and sighed.
Where is the way out!
As the medicine’s effects wore off, dizziness returned and my body began to ache once more.
That was when it happened.
Tap, tap. A faint sound echoed, as if something were knocking against a wall somewhere.

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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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