The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 70

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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 70
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Father had waited seven days in front of Changung Pavilion, I was told. It matched the number of additional days I had spent inside Changung Pavilion.
I continued to nuzzle against Father’s chest, fidgeting repeatedly.
Namgung Wan furrowed his brow and spoke.
“You, stay still for a moment.”
“It’s fine.”
“Tch. You’ve become quite the troublemaker.”
“….”
Namgung Wan crossed his arms and looked down at me arrogantly.
“If you’d been any later, Ui-gang would have smashed the pavilion doors.”
“That never happened.”
Father spoke firmly.
“He didn’t try to force his way in?”
But even if he had forced the doors open, we would simply have ended up in separate spaces, he explained.
Such was the subtle mystery of the formation technique.
Namgung Wan asked, still frowning.
“But why did you take so long to come out?”
“Didn’t you say I could stay longer if I needed to?”
“Ah.”
Namgung Wan’s expression was entirely one of disbelief—had I really said such a thing?
Father gazed at Namgung Wan intently.
“I think some explanation is necessary. From what I’ve gathered, it seems Yeon had no idea I was coming.”
“…?”
What was he talking about?
As I looked at Father in confusion, he stroked my head.
“Before coming to the Namgung Clan, I sent a messenger pigeon, predicting the day of my arrival. I naturally assumed you would inform her.”
But having known nothing of this, I had spent an additional week inside Changung Pavilion, and consequently Father had spent that week waiting anxiously outside the pavilion.
A separation prolonged by circumstance!
Namgung Wan spoke with a shameless expression.
“If she’d known beforehand, wouldn’t she have been anxious to leave the pavilion quickly?”
“….”
“….”
Under the cold gaze of father and daughter, Namgung Wan cleared his throat and added.
“Ahem, I thought Yeon would be delighted if Ui-gang was here when she came out….”
“And?”
“I didn’t tell her to surprise her.”
I stared at Namgung Wan with wide eyes.
Then Namgung Wan cried out.
“How was I supposed to know you’d take this long! I timed the dates perfectly when I let you in. I’m not at fault here!”
“You didn’t say a word about it.”
I glared at Uncle Namgung Wan with my lips pursed, and Father gently stroked my head.
“What’s a little waiting? I don’t mind at all. Yeon had a good experience, and that’s enough for me.”
Ah, truly my father.
Thinking back on how anxiously I’d waited for a week, an ordinary person would have been furious. But my magnanimous father possessed a different spirit than most.
‘If I’d known beforehand before entering Changung Pavilion, I wouldn’t have been able to focus on my training.’
I decided to follow Father’s example and show Uncle Namgung Wan the same generous forbearance.
“That’s right! Changung Pavilion was really amazing! When I went inside, there was a lake in the middle of a vast plain! The water looked so real. But isn’t seclusion training usually done in places like caves? Why did you make it into a plain?”
Namgung Wan answered with his nose held high.
“How can one embrace the world without training while gazing upon endless wilderness? Such trivial places offer no aid to enlightenment whatsoever!”
Father calmly countered his words.
“Many martial sects and families train in caves. The Baek Li Family does as well. Yeon, you must not look down upon them.”
“Yes!”
Father gently pulled my hand and continued speaking.
“I hear you injured your hand? Let me see it.”
“Wait…!”
At Namgung Wan’s cry, Father looked at him.
“…No, it’s nothing.”
“How careless.”
Namgung Wan pretended to be composed while unable to tear his gaze from my hand. It was natural—after all, it was a wound inflicted by his own son.
Father placed my hand upon his own. Compared to Father’s hand, my already small hand looked even smaller. His long fingers with prominent knuckles and his palm, hard as stone, revealed the depth of his cultivation.
In stark contrast, my hand had been without a sword for so long that it bore no calluses. A pale new scar ran diagonally across my small palm.
“The wound must have been deep. How is the sensation?”
“It’s fine!”
Father had me move my fingers, clench my fist, and spoke various instructions as he examined my hand meticulously.
After inspecting it with his inner energy as well, Father nodded.
“Thank you. You’ve taken such good care of me.”
“Of course—it’s my duty.”
Namgung Wan cleared his throat and continued.
“Ryu-cheong received quite the scolding from me. And he’s reflected on it, at least somewhat, I’d say?”
Why is he phrasing it as a question?
He wanted to take his son’s side, but it was painfully obvious he’d never done it before.
There’s no help for it. I’ll have to step in.
“That’s right! Uncle beat the Young Master so hard that he got bruises all over his face!”
“How do you know that? Did Ryu-cheong tell you?”
Namgung Wan asked with a piercing gaze.
“What? Who else could it be? Who in the world would beat the Young Master of the Namgung Clan until he was bruised?”
“…It wasn’t beating. It was sparring.”
“I understand. I’ll believe you that it was sparring. Father heard too, right? It wasn’t beating—it was sparring.”
“…”
Namgung Wan’s face had gone rigid, while my father covered his mouth with his fist and tilted his head slightly to the side.
He was clearly struggling to suppress a smile.
“And the young master came to attend to me every day while I couldn’t use my hands!”
“Attend to you?”
“Yes! He poured tea for me, massaged my legs, took me to the Jang-seo-gak, and even taught me to read and write!”
“Ryu-cheong massaged your legs?”
Namgung Wan interjected in astonishment.
I clapped my hand over my mouth, but the words had already left my lips and couldn’t be taken back.
“Ah, well, that is… it just sort of happened… um.”
I’d asked him to massage my legs as a joke, and it had somehow become a regular thing. The memory was so vivid that I found myself rambling about it without thinking.
My father flicked the tip of my nose lightly.
“You shouldn’t tease your friends like that.”
“…Friends?”
I murmured to myself.
Did Namgung Ryu-cheong really think of me as a friend?
“I see. Since you’ve disciplined yourself and the child has reflected on their actions, I suppose we should let this matter rest. Besides, it was an accident, wasn’t it? Yeon, you mustn’t play such pranks anymore from now on.”
“Yes!”
I laughed and threw my arms around my father’s arm tightly. Namgung Wan exhaled in relief as well. Then he cleared his throat to draw attention and spoke.
“Well then, I shall take my leave. Since the hour grows late, I’ll rest here tonight and head to Yeon’s residence tomorrow.”
It was past the Hour of the Rat—well past eleven at night.
The Changung Pavilion was situated so far from the main Namgung Clan grounds that it was practically isolated like a separate estate. It would take quite a walk to return to my residence.
My father nodded in agreement and replied.
“Very well.”
Namgung Wan withdrew, telling my father to rest comfortably, and my father gently stroked my hair. As I felt the warmth of his touch, I slowly opened my mouth.
“Father, there’s something I need to tell you.”
I rose from my father’s embrace. Now that I was close enough to examine his face, I could see how much he had suffered.
My heart ached.
I closed my eyes, clasped my hands together, and took a deep breath. Then I opened my eyes.
“…!”
My father’s expression froze rigid.
My golden eyes reflected in his pupils.
My father cried out, his voice strained with shock.
“Yeon, why are your eyes like that?”
I told my father everything that had happened after we parted ways, holding nothing back.
How I was swept up in a landslide and barely survived after entering the collapsed Royal Tomb. How I wandered through the storage chambers and encountered Man Shin-ui on the brink of death. How he had transferred this power to me.
And I added a few details to the account. I said that Man Shin-ui had mentioned the landslide seemed unnatural. Of course, Man Shin-ui had never said any such thing—it was I who had found the landslide suspicious.
In my previous life, I had stayed in Palgwae Village for quite some time waiting for Namgung Wan. During that period, the rain had come and gone repeatedly.
But no landslide had occurred. Not until I left.
‘And even later, when I occasionally tried to learn whether Man Shin-ui had reappeared in Palgwae Village.’
Surely Man Shin-ui’s sudden death this time and the landslide were connected somehow.
Father listened to my entire explanation without interrupting, then immediately began circulating his qi to examine my body. A faint sigh escaped him, tinged with disappointment.
“Your dantian still hasn’t recovered.”
But he quickly shed his regret and spoke with evident joy.
“However, the wounds in your meridians have healed considerably.”
“Working with natural qi has brought about these changes.”
Father, pleased for a moment, regarded me with renewed concern.
“To perceive all meridians—from natural qi to human vessels. I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
I hadn’t yet felt any danger from this ability, but if it were connected to the sorcery of the Sai clan, it could become problematic. Father’s worry was justified.
Lost in thought, Father continued.
“Still, since this has aided your recovery and allowed you to wield inner force to some degree… I can only be grateful to Man Shin-ui.”
I laughed softly and nestled back into Father’s embrace. He received me naturally, stroking my back.
“This is truly wonderful.”
I lifted my head and spoke.
“For now, let’s keep this secret.”
“Why? Once you begin learning martial arts, you cannot deceive people’s eyes.”
“That’s the thing…”
I hesitated.
But to convince Father, I had no choice but to bare my true thoughts.
“I don’t know what heights this ability might reach.”
“What do you mean?”
“If people learn I can practice martial arts again, won’t they harbor unrealistic expectations?”
Father’s hand, which had been stroking my back, stilled.
Since becoming a cripple in inner force, I had endured endless contempt.
As Baek Li-ui-gang’s daughter, I was called defective, and people pointed fingers everywhere, saying I tarnished my father’s reputation. But if word spread that I could practice martial arts again, people would harbor hope.
Yet if I fell short, or if this ability had limits in wielding martial force, those who had hoped would be disappointed once more. And they would treat me far more coldly, accusing me of deception.
Better to remain known as a cripple in inner force.
I didn’t have the strength to endure that a second time.

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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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