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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: The Returned Child
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The dinner promised by Namgung Mucheon was prepared at the Patriarch's Residence, where Namgung Mucheon resided.
After thoroughly washing and changing into the clothes provided by the Namgung family, Ilhwa headed for the Patriarch's Residence.
The interior of the Patriarch's Residence was not much different from what she remembered from her previous life.
The flower garden was filled with purplish-red poppies, and large weeping willows hung gracefully by the edge of the big pond.
It was exactly the garden she had described when she first entered the Namgung family to prove her identity.
“Welcome.”
Dinner was set up in a pavilion near the pond.
Namgung Mucheon greeted her.
Seop Mugwang stood behind him, and no one else was visible except for one maidservant attending to them.
“Please sit comfortably. I’ve dismissed the maidservants, so there’s no need to feel conscious of anyone.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
Ilhwa politely returned Namgung Mucheon’s greeting, then took a seat.
“You’re fond of delicious food, aren’t you?”
As soon as she sat down, various delicacies arranged on the table floated up and were placed before her.
‘Gyeokgongseopmul…’
A miraculous ability, almost like a divine technique, that only those who had reached the Hwagyeong realm could perform.
It involved moving objects by manipulating qi without touching them.
It required not only the fundamental internal energy to lift an object but also the delicate skill to control qi, making it a difficult feat to accomplish.
However, Namgung Mucheon performed Gyeokgongseopmul with effortless ease, as if merely wiggling a finger.
Despite the unbelievable sight, Ilhwa’s expression remained calm.
“How are your injuries?”
Namgung Mucheon, who had pushed the delicious dishes closer to Ilhwa, asked.
Ilhwa, having chewed and swallowed a piece of dongpayuk placed before her, replied,
“I’m fine.”
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
“No. My senses are dull.”
Namgung Mucheon’s eyebrows subtly arched.
“What do you mean, your senses are dull?”
Ilhwa picked up a finger-sized dumpling topped with a flower petal and replied,
“I almost died when I was five.”
Namgung Mucheon and Seop Mugwang stiffened for a moment, but Ilhwa didn’t seem to notice their change.
“Someone forcibly pushed internal energy into my body to save me back then, and I think that’s why I lost my memories and senses.”
Ilhwa put the dumpling into her mouth and chewed it slowly. A savory aroma filled her mouth.
‘Delicious.’
It wasn’t as good as the dumpling shop Seop Mugwang took her to last time, but it was still delicious.
Is this why the faces of wealthy family scions glow so much, because they only eat such high-quality food?
Namgung Mucheon’s silence stretched on, but Ilhwa didn’t pay it much mind.
She was diligently eating.
“Was the one who saved you the Lord of Hwaoru?”
Namgung Mucheon asked, his voice noticeably heavier.
Ilhwa looked up at him.
“Yes.”
“Then why did you betray him?”
“Because the one who drove me to my death also seems to have been that person.”
“…”
Namgung Mucheon, who had been quietly observing Ilhwa, rubbed his forehead with a deep hum.
Death.
Wasn’t that too heavy a word for a thirteen-year-old child to speak so calmly?
Yet, the child spoke as if it were not her own affair.
Who had made this child like this?
‘I will definitely find them and slaughter them.’
The area near the pond where dinner was served rumbled, then quickly settled.
Ilhwa, who had just swallowed her food, looked at him.
“The Namgung family cannot defeat them.”
Namgung Mucheon’s expression hardened further, but Ilhwa did not stop speaking.
“If you confront them right now, the Namgung family will not survive.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“I will move.”
“Even so.”
Even in her previous life, the Namgung family was no match for the Hyeolgyo.
Even if the forces of Jungwon united, their strength would only be comparable; it was impossible for the Namgung family alone to bring them down.
“There are the Ten Great Experts of the world. They uphold the balance of the martial world and set the standard for order. What if three of them were to move?”
“You might be able to kill half of Hwaoru’s leadership, but it would be difficult to save your own lives.”
“Then what if half of them moved?”
“You could destroy Hwaoru, but you wouldn’t be able to kill the Lord.”
Namgung Mucheon closed his mouth, his expression grim.
He didn’t fully believe the child’s words.
Who were the Ten Great Experts of the world? They were like pillars supporting the world.
Because of their existence, peace flowed throughout the land, and no one could break that peace.
Yet, even if half of them moved, they couldn’t kill just one innkeeper?
“Who are they?”
Through his conversation with Ilhwa, Namgung Mucheon realized that there was a power behind Hwaoru.
Namgung Mucheon’s question was about the identity of that force.
Ilhwa neatly set down her chopsticks and dipped her hand into the tea water.
With her hand, damp from the tea, she etched a single character onto the dry table.
‘禁 (Geum)’
Seeing that character, expressions of shock appeared on the faces of Namgung Mucheon and Seop Mugwang.
Seop Mugwang whispered softly,
“Geumje…?”
Geumje. A spell that placed a restriction to prevent certain information from being spoken aloud.
The Hyeolgyo’s Geumje was vicious; it was a malicious sorcery that would cause blood points to burst and blood to pour from every orifice of the body, leading to death, even if one tried to speak a single word.
This was why Ilhwa, despite knowing her enemies, could not utter a single piece of information about them.
“Mugwang. Summon the head of the Medical Hall.”
“Yes, sir.”
Namgung Mucheon’s expression was serious.
He had thought Hwaoru, the place that had held the child, was just another ordinary Heukdo faction.
One that the Namgung family could easily crush.
He had asked the child about Hwaoru to ascertain their crimes and mete out appropriate punishment.
But, Geumje?
That such a meticulous force existed in this peaceful martial world, capable of placing a Geumje on a child…
“Do you know what you just implied?”
“A tsunami capable of submerging Mount Tai will come. A tsunami of blood.”
The child’s words and gaze were unwavering.
They were serious words for a child, and thus, could not be easily dismissed.
“If such a force existed, why was there no one who knew information about them?”
“Because there are those who hide their existence and blind others.”
“Spies.”
Spies could make it possible. But.
“There are many forces in Jungwon. You cannot plant spies in every single one of them.”
“What if they took a very long time?”
Five years later, the biggest reason why the various forces of the martial world would collapse helplessly was precisely because of the spies the Hyeolgyo had planted within each faction.
Those who blinded others and stopped their ears, ultimately concealing the Hyeolgyo’s existence and leading them to the precipice.
In her previous life, the Jungwon martial world only became aware of their existence when they stood at the edge of that precipice.
And when everyone was in such peril, no expert, no one, could save the Jungwon martial world.
“Do you still believe me?”
Ilhwa’s earnest gaze met Namgung Mucheon’s.
It was a gaze imbued with the innocence unique to a child, yet deeper than that of an adult.
“I will ask you one thing.”
“Yes.”
“What is your reason for returning to the Namgung family?”
It was not a question of rebuke or blame for the returned child.
It was a question of whether her return to the Namgung family was merely because her memories had returned, or if she had another intention.
“I know you helped the Jeokryongdan child with his martial arts. What do you intend to do in the Namgung family?”
“I will prevent the Namgung family from falling.”
“Why?”
“Because I am a child of Namgung.”
There was not a hint of falsehood in the child’s eyes as she spoke.
No, rather, what Namgung Mucheon felt in that gaze was earnestness.
An intense earnestness, to the point where it was clear the child truly wished to save the Namgung family.
When was the last time he had felt such zeal for the family? Even his own children, who had grown up in Namgung their entire lives, did not show this level of devotion for the family’s well-being.
And yet, a child, his granddaughter, who had returned after eight years, wanted to save the family?
Under the name of Namgung.
“Hahaha…”
Namgung Mucheon merely chuckled.
He placed a dish within reach of Ilhwa, who sat demurely before him.
“Since you have answered honestly, I, too, must give an honest answer.”
Ilhwa picked up the food he had pushed towards her.
Namgung Mucheon watched her chew contentedly with a benevolent gaze and said,
“It is difficult to believe everything you say.”
Ilhwa nodded.
“Therefore, I will observe you from now on. What you do in this Namgung family, and how you intend to save it.”
She nodded once more.
“I am the Patriarch. If you take any action that harms the Namgung family, I will stop you at any time.”
The Namgung family was large and powerful.
Within it, various interests were intricately intertwined, and power struggles were by no means few.
The current power struggle over the vacant position of Young Patriarch was one such example.
Amidst this, the Patriarch, Namgung Mucheon, had to choose the direction most beneficial to the family, and he could not always take her side.
“However.”
The one standing at the pinnacle of power.
The one who reigned as the absolute authority of the family with a mighty force that commanded the martial world.
“If there is no doubt that your actions are for the benefit of this Namgung family…”
Namgung Mucheon, the Patriarch of Namgung, promised.
“I will become the greatest sky you can rely on.”
