The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 93

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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 93
“Wait, hold on. Namgung Ryu-cheong.”
“Don’t touch my body.”
“Ah, sorry, sorry. Are you angry?”
“….”
“My older brother’s attitude was a bit rude, wasn’t it? I’ll apologize on his behalf.”
“Why would you?”
“Well, I’m still his younger brother…. Though I doubt my brother sees it that way….”
His voice was heavy with dejection. Namgung Ryu-cheong said nothing, and Jang O continued.
“Actually, I had a feeling this would happen, so I asked Mother if I could come along with her.”
I’d wondered why Jang O, who supposedly didn’t get along with Jang Cheol, had come with him—but it turned out he’d asked to join them.
I was growing increasingly displeased with Jang O. He’d followed along after asking our ailing mother for permission, yet he wasn’t staying by her side, showing no concern for her wellbeing….
Namgung Ryu-cheong asked a question.
“You anticipated the First Young Master would act this way?”
“Ah, yes.”
Jang O continued in a bitter tone.
“After my older brother got injured sparring with Namgung Ryu-cheong last time… he’s been speaking ill of Namgung Ryu-cheong everywhere.”
A faint scoff escaped Namgung Ryu-cheong’s lips.
“So when my brother said he was coming to apologize, I had a feeling it would turn out like this. I’ll apologize instead. Please don’t think too badly of my brother.”
Hmm.
I’d crossed my arms and leaned in to listen without realizing it. Despite his efforts, his true intentions were transparent—he was still just a child, after all.
‘Sowing discord, is he….’
Apologizing on behalf of Jang Cheol?
If he truly cared for Jang Cheol, he never should have come to this meeting. Who wants their younger brother to witness them apologizing to someone? Especially when they don’t even get along normally.
A younger brother with whom relations were already strained watching him apologize to another person?
‘If it were me, I’d find it even more humiliating.’
Since Jang O was favored by the Jang Family Head, Lady Jang would have found it difficult to refuse his request to accompany her.
Moreover, if he truly cared for Jang Cheol, he should have stopped him before he caused trouble.
Causing trouble first, then claiming he’d anticipated this and apologizing on his behalf? And in the process, he’d even let slip that Jang Cheol had been speaking ill of Namgung Ryu-cheong all along.
‘And how absurd—wasn’t he supposed to come apologize to me?!’
My involvement had been completely omitted.
Listening to only this, one might think Jang Cheol had come to apologize to Namgung Ryu-cheong from the start, not to me.
There was nothing more to hear. I felt no concern either. Namgung Ryu-cheong wasn’t the type to be swayed by such words. Besides, relations between Jang Cheol and Namgung Ryu-cheong were already at their worst, even without Jang O’s meddling.
‘And now Jang O will be thoroughly despised as well.’
I clicked my tongue inwardly and turned to leave. I stopped mid-step as I was about to descend the staircase.
‘What, Jang Cheol?’
At some point, Jang Cheol had positioned himself at the bottom of the staircase I was about to descend.
Jang Cheol also froze upon seeing me.
“….”
As I stared at him blankly, Jang Cheol pressed his lips firmly together and began climbing the stairs.
‘Wait, if she comes here….’
It was the moment Jang Cheol passed in front of me.
“…Elder Brother has always been a bit willful.”
At Jang O’s words, Jang Cheol’s head snapped around.
“Because of Elder Brother, Mother worries greatly too. For Mother’s sake, I wish there were no problems between the Jang Family and the Namgung Clan….”
Jang Cheol’s face contorted in an instant, and he gripped the railing tightly.
The moment Jang Cheol tried to leap forward, I struck out like lightning, striking a pressure point on his body. Jang Cheol froze mid-motion, unable to move.
“…!”
“…!”
Jang Cheol was shocked, but I was equally shocked.
First, I was amazed that striking the pressure point actually worked, and then….
‘Why did I… why did I strike him?’
With the pressure point locked, Jang Cheol couldn’t even turn his head to look at me, so he could only stare with wide eyes. As I crept forward in front of him, his pupils tracked me, glaring. Curses were written all over his gaze.
I quickly surveyed my surroundings. Fortunately, no one had witnessed this.
‘What do I do? What do I do?’
Panicking after striking him, I spotted an empty room nearby. I dragged Jang Cheol inside.
Click. I carefully closed the door, crossed my arms, and shut my eyes.
“Sigh.”
Jang Cheol. A minor villain with nothing particularly noteworthy, occasionally a thorn in Namgung Ryu-cheong’s side. He’d spouted crude remarks at me, and his relationship with Namgung Ryu-cheong was already ruined.
When I spoke with So Bu-in, I’d gleaned some information about the Jang Family. Jang Cheol and Jang O were the same age, with birthdays not far apart.
So Bu-in had probably spoken without much thought since I was young. But I wasn’t young, so from the two boys’ birthdays, I immediately grasped the Jang Family Head’s family history. That meant when Lady Jang was carrying Jang Cheol, the Jang Family Head was playing around with a concubine.
Playing around with a concubine while his wife carried his child?
‘Trash among trash.’
A sickly mother, a neglectful father, a favored illegitimate younger brother. These conditions made it nearly impossible to grow up normally.
I had never seen Lady Jang mentioned in the novel at all. She might not have been mentioned because she was too distant a relation to Namgung Ryu-cheong.
But perhaps… she had already passed away. I couldn’t tell what illness it was, but from what I’d seen recently, her vitality was already quite depleted.
‘Hmm.’
I groaned, lost in thought.
‘Do I need to do this?’
Getting involved carelessly could bring trouble down on me. I knew it was better to stay uninvolved. I bit my lip repeatedly.
But… still….
How can anyone always act purely rationally?
‘I’m a person with emotions.’
A minor villain in a novel. A child in a situation similar to mine.
Seeing this child live like this, with my own past surfacing unbidden, rage surged through me—I couldn’t let it pass. I couldn’t stand by and watch him step into a quagmire with a predictable ending.
I opened my eyes, turned my body, and stood with my back to the door. Jang Cheol, still frozen, looked as though he couldn’t believe this situation. Well, who would have imagined being struck at a pressure point by someone with sealed inner power? Even I had acted on sudden impulse.
I grabbed Jang Cheol’s cheek and pulled it. Like a well-fed, well-raised child, his cheek felt wonderfully soft to the touch. Tears welled slightly at the corners of Jang Cheol’s eyes—whether from pain or inability to move.
‘This is revenge for your crude remarks to me!’
I tormented him until a red mark remained on his cheek, then opened my mouth.
“You were about to rush out and beat up Jang O, the Second Young Master of the Jang Family, weren’t you?”
“….”
“Ah, right. I’ll release the acupoint on your voice, but if you scream, I’ll stab you again.”
Releasing only the voice acupoint meant his body would remain paralyzed, but he’d be able to make sounds.
I spoke calmly, but my inner thoughts were anything but composed.
‘I’ve never released just a voice acupoint before… Am I even doing this right…?’
Thinking of how Jang Cheol would have a fit if he knew, I carefully channeled my inner energy into the acupoint I’d struck.
There was no helping it. Striking acupoints involved driving inner energy into the body’s meridians to inflict damage….
In my past life, I lacked inner energy, so landing effective strikes had been nearly impossible. Still, I’d practiced acupoint striking as a third-rate martial artist, a desperate attempt to do something—anything. I’d tried it a few times using innate qi, but using innate qi itself was dangerous, so it wasn’t a method I could employ frequently. The number of times I’d actually attempted it on a real person could be counted on one hand, successful attempts were even fewer, and I’d never released one before.
Fortunately, with Geum-an’s help, I managed to release it safely.
The moment the voice acupoint released, Jang Cheol cried out.
“Insane…! Mmph!”
Having anticipated this, I immediately clamped his mouth shut.
“Keep your voice down. If I strike your acupoint again, I might not be able to release it this time. As you know, I’m… a cripple with no inner energy, right? I don’t practice much, so I’m terrible at it.”
I laughed wickedly.
“Will you stay quiet or not? If you’re willing to be quiet, blink your eyes three times.”
The moment I raised my hand as if to strike his acupoint again, Jang Cheol blinked—not three times, but frantically, as if at double speed.
Jang Cheol, who had been holding out, blinked his eyes violently as if in double speed the moment I raised my hand as if I were about to perform acupuncture, not just three times.

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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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