The Return of the Namgoong Clan's Granddaughter-Chapter 13

Smack.

Ilhwa slapped her hand away.

The Medicine Hall Master, who had been reaching to check her pulse, widened her eyes.

But Ilhwa simply stared at her with even more caution.

If she’s one of the Blood Demon’s people... she’s dangerous.

This woman was known as Dokwol.

As skilled as she was in medicine, she was equally adept with poison.

If she’s a spy from the Blood Demon Cult, she might try to kill me.

The Blood Demon was never the forgiving type. If he wanted someone dead, he made sure they died—by any means necessary.

Unaware of Ilhwa’s thoughts, Seop Mugwang and the Medicine Hall Master exchanged puzzled glances before turning their eyes back to her.

“Kiddo. I need to check your pulse to know where it hurts.”

“I’m not sick. I don’t need a pulse check.”

“She says she’s fine.”

Seop Mugwang sighed, scratching the bridge of his nose.

“Come on.”

The Medicine Hall Master stepped aside. Seop Mugwang knelt in front of Ilhwa, lowering himself to meet her eyes.

Ilhwa, who had been glaring sharply at the woman, turned her gaze to him.

“Kiddo. I’m sorry for bringing you here without asking, but at least let her examine you. This lady may not look it, but she’s—”

“Oh my, can you call me ‘big sister’ instead?”

“Seriously?!”

“My, so full of energy, aren’t you.”

Clicking his tongue in irritation, Seop Mugwang tried again to reason with Ilhwa.

“Just in case—let her check. I know you’re impressive, but you haven’t eaten or rested properly in days. It wouldn’t hurt to be sure.”

“I...”

“If you let her check you out, I’ll get you as much tanghulu as you want.”

Ilhwa’s wary expression faltered at his words.

It wasn’t because of the tanghulu.

She simply had no strong reason to refuse. She alone knew this woman had once been the Medicine Hall Master of the Blood Demon Cult. She couldn’t reject the exam without raising questions.

Seop Mugwang’s here. Dokwol won’t try anything—at least not right away.

Reluctantly, Ilhwa nodded.

With a soft laugh, Seop Mugwang tousled her hair and stood up, stepping aside.

The Medicine Hall Master sat down in front of her once again.

“Will you give me your arm?”

Ilhwa extended her arm ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) to her.

Smiling gently, the Medicine Hall Master took her wrist and began checking her pulse.

She closed her eyes, focusing fully on the rhythm beneath her fingers.

Silence settled over the room.

...!

Suddenly, Seop Mugwang, who had been watching with his arms crossed, thrust his hand between them.

The Medicine Hall Master startled and opened her eyes.

But she couldn’t move.

Ilhwa’s hand was already wrapped around her throat.

“Let go,” Seop Mugwang said firmly.

“She tried to kill me.”

“That was just a normal pulse check.”

“She circulated her internal energy.”

“That’s how she does it—by using her inner energy to read your meridians.”

“....”

Ilhwa’s eyes sharpened, glaring at the woman.

Using internal energy to assess the meridians.

She knew that. Not only this woman—most physicians did the same.

And yet, Ilhwa grabbed her neck anyway.

Because if the woman was a hand of the Blood Demon, this served as a warning.

I can kill you anytime I choose.

Though she backed down at Seop Mugwang’s words, Ilhwa couldn’t afford to show weakness.

A suffocating tension filled the room.

Gradually, Ilhwa’s grip on the woman’s neck loosened.

And once she let go entirely, the woman collapsed to the floor, her legs giving out.

“...What sharp little claws you’ve got.”

Catching her breath, the Medicine Hall Master touched her now-cold neck.

Seop Mugwang and Ilhwa were still locked in a silent standoff.

“If you don’t suppress your killing intent, the Inner Hall guards will be here within seven or eight minutes,” he warned.

Ilhwa’s murderous aura began to recede.

Seop Mugwang watched her closely, his face stiff.

The moment the Medicine Hall Master circulated her inner energy, the girl struck.

If he hadn’t intervened, the woman’s neck would’ve been snapped in an instant.

He’d felt it during the fight with the Dark Blade gang too—once this child decided to kill, there was no mercy in her hand.

As though she had already taken the lives of many.

And her killing intent—it was far deeper than anything an average assassin could release.

It felt as though she was cloaked in the blood and grudges of thousands... tens of thousands.

Whatever life she’d lived, he couldn’t begin to imagine it.

...

The murderous aura had completely vanished, and Ilhwa now gave off the calm presence of an ordinary child.

“I’ll head back now.”

Seop Mugwang nodded and released her arm.

“Wait for me at the Celestial Guest Courtyard.”

“Yes.”

Ilhwa gave him a small bow, then walked out of the Medicine Hall as if nothing had happened.

The Medicine Hall Master stared blankly after her.

“Well?” Seop Mugwang asked.

“...?”

“The kid. Is she healthy?”

Letting out a faint sigh, the woman rose to her feet, dusting off her clothes.

“Where did you find that little stray cat?”

“You think that one can be tamed?”

“I don’t know. That’s up to the Lord of the Clan, isn’t it?”

Seop Mugwang chuckled.

“What? Isn’t she the one you brought in?”

“Well, sure, I brought her in.”

But taming her? That wasn’t his job.

“So? Is she healthy or not?”

“I only had a moment to check, but...”

A strange look crossed the woman’s face as she gazed toward the door Ilhwa had exited.

“...she seems to have eaten something strange recently.”

...!

Seop Mugwang smirked.

“So, you’re not sitting in that seat for nothing after all.”

“What’s with the attitude? I’ll have you know, I used to serve the Son of Heaven himself.”

“You were probably just some assistant.”

“Same difference.”

The Medicine Hall Master rubbed her sore neck.

“Anyway, bring her back again later. I need to take a proper look.”

“Look at what?”

“There’s something a little...”

She glanced down at her own hand.

It had only been for a brief moment, but when she circulated her inner energy into the girl’s body, she had sensed something... off.

“How should I put it? Like a powder keg about to explode? Or a stone wall on the verge of collapse? I’ll need time to be sure. Bring her back soon.”

Seop Mugwang frowned.

It wasn’t exactly a reassuring diagnosis.

“...Understood.”

He stared blankly at the spot where the girl had just stood.

Should I report this to the Clan Head?

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

He mulled it over for a moment, then leapt away, vanishing from the Medicine Hall with a burst of light footwork.

****

Ilhwa, now back at the Celestial Guest Courtyard, made her way toward the pond within the estate.

Beside one of the benches along the pond sat a container of carp feed.

She scooped a handful and scattered it across the water. Carp the size of her thigh surged upward, opening their mouths at the surface in unison.

Ilhwa dusted off the remaining feed in her palm above the mouth of the highest-jumping fish.

Am I still trapped in the past?

She had known the woman wasn’t trying to kill her when she flowed inner energy into her pulse.

And yet, her body had reacted on its own.

That woman used to kill Blood Cult members like that all the time.

Claiming it was treatment, she’d mix in poison. That had been her hobby.

And the reason she could get away with it, the reason no one dared challenge her, was simple.

She was one of the Twelve Moons under the Blood Demon.

The Blood Demon Cult was made up of six autonomous factions gathered under one being: the Blood Demon himself.

The leaders of those six factions were called the Six Blood Lords—martial artists of unfathomable skill.

Even in her past life, Ilhwa had never seen their faces. They always remained concealed.

But the Twelve Moons—she had known them well.

Twelve elites, forming the Blood Demon’s personal assassin corps.

Bearers of the Moon Medallion, directly imprinted with the Blood Demon’s blood and gifted with his secret blood arts.

Their martial strength was slightly beneath the Six Blood Lords, but their loyalty to the Blood Demon was absolute. They would gladly die for him.

Dokwol had been one of the Twelve Moons.

Because of that, even if she casually murdered fellow cultists, not even the Cult Leader could question her. Who could possibly stop her?

Once, Ilhwa had visited the Medicine Hall and asked Dokwol:

"Dokwol. I heard you were once from a righteous sect."

"That’s right."

"Then how did you end up in our cult?"

"Hmm... who knows?"

At the time, Dokwol’s smile had been even deeper and darker than it was now.

"Was it because there was someone you wanted to kill?"

The words, uttered with that beguiling smile, had been anything but beautiful.

Ilhwa never asked who it was she’d wanted to kill.

They hadn’t been close enough for that, and Ilhwa hadn’t been curious.

I should have asked.

Maybe then... maybe she wouldn’t feel this conflicted now.

Lost in thought, Ilhwa hadn’t noticed the carp finishing the feed and drifting off.

The surface of the pond rippled faintly as the last carp flicked its tail.

Ilhwa lowered her gaze.

When she looked at the water’s surface again, she saw it—not just her reflection, but the reflection of a large man in ornate robes standing beside her.

Ilhwa rose from her seat and bowed with a martial salute.

“I greet the Clan Head of Namgoong.”

“There’s no need to be so stiff. Just call me Grandfather.”

“....”

Namgoong Mucheon stared at her, his brow arching ever so slightly—as if he were studying something strange.

“I heard everything.”