“She’s currently asleep inside a hardened shell. As if she’s sealed herself away. The dullness to pain and emotion—perhaps that was her own choice.”
Because the pain was too great. Because life had been so fierce, so relentless, that she couldn’t survive without erasing her emotions.
“In order to crack the shell imprisoning her, effort is needed. Show her beautiful things. Let her hear kind words often.”
It was about gently knocking on the heart of a child.
So the little girl hiding deep inside could hear her own voice and break through the shell.
“Love her. A lot.”
No one present could say anything after hearing the Master of the dicine Hall speak.
Eight years.
After eight years, the child returned on her own.
The bright, innocent girl who once laughed and cried at the smallest things had co back as soone entirely different.
But that didn’t an Seolhwa was no longer Seolhwa.
No matter her form, no matter her temperant—Seolhwa was still her daughter.
The daughter she had longed for and loved so deeply.
“Seolhwa.”
Seolhwa stared blankly at the man kneeling before her, smiling gently.
Was Namgoong Cheongun always this much of a crybaby?
He cried so easily. Laughed just as quickly.
Unable to understand the rapid swings between those expressions, Seolhwa felt sowhat confused.
This was the father she had killed with her own hands.
In this life, she planned to accept everything he wanted.
Yet from the very beginning, it was already this difficult.
What rhythm am I supposed to follow with him?
Namgoong Cheongun gently brushed the back of Seolhwa’s hand.
His mouth smiled, but his eyes looked pained.
“Seolhwa. Do you know why your na is Seolhwa?”
Seolhwa shook her head.
“Snow is the most beautiful flower the heavens give us. You ca to us on the day white blossoms blanketed the earth.”
He lifted his hand and softly stroked her head.
Unlike Namgoong Mucheon’s, his touch was gentle.
Watching the girl blink back at him without pulling away, Cheongun let out a soft laugh.
“Your mother gave you the na Seolhwa. She loved you very, very much.”
“What happened to my mother?”
Cheongun’s hand froze mid-motion.
His smile faltered slightly.
“She returned to the heavens that sent us Seolhwa. You were such a precious gift that the heavens took her back.”
So... Mother passed away.
That was sothing she hadn’t known.
She’d assud as much, since Namgoong Cheongun had no wife in her previous life—but learning that the woman who died was her mother brought a strange feeling.
...?
Her heart began to ache again, like it was being pricked from the inside.
It seed she really needed to start learning Namgoong’s cultivation thod as soon as possible.
Namgoong Cheongun continued speaking.
“You probably don’t rember her...”
He paused, pressing down sothing deep inside, then looked at Seolhwa again with a serene smile.
“Your mother and I—we both love you deeply. We did eight years ago, and we still do now. Never forget that.”
Facing soone who looked like he might burst if touched the wrong way, Seolhwa slowly nodded.
“I’m glad I ca back too.”
“...I see.”
His hand moved again—carefully, gently.
He looked at her with a sorrowful face for a mont, then shook his head as if shaking off his emotions and gave a bright smile.
He held both of Seolhwa’s hands.
“Shall we go for a walk in the city tomorrow? Just the two of us.”
“Tomorrow?”
“It’ll take about a day to make the official announcent that we’ve found you. While we wait, I’d like to show you the streets of Hefei you used to run through like they were your own front yard.”
Seolhwa hesitated to respond.
I wanted to start learning Namgoong’s cultivation thod tomorrow...
Now that she’d been acknowledged as a child of Namgoong, she thought she’d finally be able to learn their martial arts.
Would the delay in the public announcent an a delay in learning too?
“There’s a ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) tanghulu stall you used to love as a child. I was thinking we could stop by.”
...One day wouldn’t hurt.
Thanks to Namgoong Cheongun arriving early, she had been acknowledged as a Namgoong child sooner than expected. One day should be fine.
I am Namgoong Cheongun’s daughter.
In this life, she was determined to fulfill the role of a daughter.
****
Late at night, under the shadows of the Namgoong estate, soone moved quickly through the dark.
He stepped into the Inner Hall and paused at a fork where three paths diverged.
Straight ahead, the Celestial Tiger Pavilion rose high in the distance.
After a brief glance in its direction, he turned left and hurried onward.
A knock echoed through the corridor.
Namgoong Cheonghae, still buried in clan duties late into the night, lifted his gaze.
“Co in.”
Though the visitor hadn’t introduced himself, Cheonghae could sense his identity through the energy beyond the door.
“I greet you, Young Master.”
“Huanglong Captain. What brings you here at this hour?”
The man who had co was Namgoong Horak, Captain of the Huanglong Guard—one of Namgoong’s five elite martial divisions.
“I stopped by to report the identity of the Celestial Guest Courtyard’s honored guest.”
Interest sparked in Namgoong Cheonghae’s eyes.
He carefully set down the brush in his hand and leaned back in his chair.
“Go on.”
“The honored guest in the Celestial Guest Courtyard is said to be a young girl.”
“A girl...? Are you saying she’s the daughter of one of the noble clans? Or the heir of a great sect?”
Even so, it wouldn’t warrant opening the Celestial Guest Courtyard.
“Unless she’s a master on the level of my father?”
“That doesn’t seem to be the case. According to the maid, the guest shows no signs of being from a noble clan or sect. Even her inner energy doesn’t reach the level of a first-rate martial artist.”
“That can’t be confird for certain.”
“True enough.”
After all, she might be a master skilled enough to mask herself from even a trained eye.
“But still...”
The corners of the Huanglong Captain’s mouth curled faintly.
“I happened to hear a very interesting piece of news today.”
“Interesting?”
“They say First Young Master is currently staying in the Celestial Guest Courtyard... with the child.”
“You’re saying my brother returned?”
Namgoong Cheongun had recently departed on a distant escort mission that was supposed to take at least three days for a round trip.
And yet now he was here? Not just that—he was with the honored guest of the Celestial Guest Courtyard?
This isn’t good.
An honored guest of the Celestial Guest Courtyard would likely be soone with considerable influence even across the Central Plains.
If such a person had a close relationship with his brother, it could only an that his brother’s influence would grow in kind.
For now, Cheonghae held the support of the elders’ council—since his brother had all but turned his back on the clan and wandered outside. But if his brother decided to reestablish his base of power...
Father always wanted to na him as the next Clan Heir. The elders could change their allegiance at any mont.
“Are you certain the information is reliable?”
Namgoong Cheonghae, who normally acted unbothered no matter how difficult the intel, finally betrayed a hint of anxiety.
Namgoong Horak, Captain of the Huanglong Guard, didn’t miss that subtle shift.
“No need to worry so much. It doesn’t seem to be the kind of relationship you’re imagining.”
Cheonghae’s face hardened.
“What do you an by that?”
“According to the maid, First Young Master is extrely affectionate toward the guest. She said he even walked around the garden of the Celestial Guest Courtyard... while holding her in his arms.”
He... held the guest?
“You still don’t get it?”
Without realizing it, Namgoong Cheonghae sprang to his feet.
The Huanglong Captain smirked at the sight.
“Don’t tell ... You an he found Seolhwa?”
“We’ll know soon enough.”
Namgoong Cheonghae lowered his gaze, dazed.
The child they couldn’t find even a single strand of hair from for eight years—the one the clan had long given up on—was really found?
Seolhwa has returned?
Which ant—
My brother is returning to the clan.
“Young Master.”
Namgoong Cheonghae lifted his eyes to et the Huanglong Captain’s.
“We can’t afford to keep waiting in peace forever, can we?”
No matter how much he silently took on the clan’s burdens and built up his strength, Namgoong Mucheon never granted him the position of Clan Heir.
“It’s ti to act.”
Whether by choice or by circumstance—every ti has its turning point.
A cart only has aning when it moves. Whether it’s pulled from the front or pushed from behind, a cart in motion has value.
And those riding that cart had long since desired for it to start rolling.
Now the ti had co.
“Before First Young Master cents his position, you must move swiftly. The three martial divisions under our command will support you.”
****
Boom—!
A sudden crash echoed through the training grounds of the Celestial Guest Courtyard.
It sounded like a boulder collapsing—but in truth, it was the sound of Squad Leader Namgoong Jipyeong of the Eleventh Red Dragon Formation hitting the ground.
“I... I can’t go on...!”
Flat on his back, arms and legs splayed, Namgoong Jipyeong’s face was shadowed by soone standing over him.
He cracked an eye open and looked up at the child gazing down at him.
Tilting her head, she spoke.
“You’re struggling with just fifty jin?”
Her innocent, guileless tone made Namgoong Jipyeong flare up in protest.
“‘Just’?! That’s two hundred jin total across all four limbs! Two hundred! And you won’t even let use my inner energy while swinging a sword—what kind of training is this?!”
“So Namgoong doesn’t do things like this?”
“There’s training for external martial arts, sure—but this?!”
Seolhwa rubbed her chin, eyes scanning Jipyeong’s body with a serious expression.
That would explain his weak lower half...
“H-Hey, where are you looking...?”
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