The Return of the Namgoong Clan's Granddaughter-Chapter 16

After Seop Mugwang stepped out, only Ilhwa and the Medicine Hall Master remained in the room.

Given her past experience of nearly dying at the child’s hand, the Medicine Hall Master was visibly a little tense, but she did her best to maintain a bright, gentle smile.

“You must train really hard, huh? Still—you should be a little more careful. Now, let me take a look at the wound.”

Ilhwa extended her arm to her.

When the Medicine Hall Master looked at her with surprised eyes, Ilhwa spoke.

“I think I might have internal injuries. Can you check?”

“I can, but... I’ll need to use inner energy. Is that all right with you?”

Ilhwa nodded without hesitation.

“Oh my, I didn’t expect you to agree so easily. Does that mean I’ve earned at least a little trust?”

Despite nearly being killed during their first meeting, the Medicine Hall Master was still smiling warmly.

She took hold of Ilhwa’s slender arm, closed her eyes, and focused intently on reading her pulse.

Her qi, as fine as thread, seeped into Ilhwa’s meridians, delicately exploring her entire body.

‘A key position within Namgoong—but not someone of Namgoong.’

Strictly speaking, she held the title of Hall Master, but wielded little true influence within the clan, so it was hard to call it a high-ranking position.

Still, as the head of the Medicine Hall, she held the lives of Namgoong’s people in her hands.

If she so desired, she could poison and destroy them all in an instant.

‘Just like back in the Blood Demon Cult.’

As her energy passed near Ilhwa’s dantian, Ilhwa felt a subtle hesitation.

The Medicine Hall Master’s brow faintly furrowed.

Just as her qi, which had lingered there for a moment, began to move again—

—Is there someone you want to kill?

A quiet voice slipped into the Medicine Hall Master’s mind as she read Ilhwa’s meridians.

The woman slowly opened her eyes.

Her energy quickly withdrew.

Their gazes met—just briefly.

The Medicine Hall Master tilted her head with a smile.

—What kind of question is that?

Though the question itself held nothing unusual, she responded using sound transmission as well, signaling that she was willing to engage.

Ilhwa smiled faintly in return and said,

—Just what I asked.

—Hmm...

The Medicine Hall Master let go of her hand and leaned back in her chair.

In her gaze toward Ilhwa, curiosity mingled with a hint of confusion.

—There was a time I did. Why do you ask? What about you, my little kitten?

—Do you still want to?

—Fortunately, not anymore. That person is already dead.

Though she smiled sweetly, a cold chill seeped from her expression.

It was the same look Ilhwa had seen from Dokwol in her previous life.

A poisonous energy so thick, it wouldn’t have been surprising if someone dropped dead from ingesting a single dose.

In her past life, whenever the Medicine Hall showed this expression, someone from the cult would end up dead within a fortnight.

Each time, the cause of death was different—but Ilhwa knew.

They had all died by poison.

—Then when do you think you might want to kill again?

—Hmm?

The Medicine Hall Master tilted her head, brushing her chin with her hand.

Her expression said she didn’t quite understand the reason behind the question, but she still answered sincerely.

—If someone touches the people I love... I think I’d want to kill again.

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—Is there someone you love?

—Hmm~ was that your real question, little kitten?

—Is it someone in Namgoong?

One of her eyebrows arched at an angle.

She stared idly at the moxa ingredients laid out on the table, then shrugged with a smile.

—Well? That one’s a bit hard to answer. I can’t really say yes or no, you know?

Ilhwa gave a slow nod.

—Oh my, was that enough of an answer for you?

—Yes.

From this conversation, Ilhwa could be sure of one thing.

She wasn’t Dokwol.

At least—not yet.

And for now, that alone was enough.

Ilhwa slowly turned her gaze aside.

—Blood King’s Poison.

Crack.

The moxa container in the Medicine Hall Master’s hand shattered with a sharp sound.

—Choryeon.

When Ilhwa turned her gaze back, the Medicine Hall Master was no longer smiling.

Ilhwa’s lips curved ever so faintly.

—I’ll be needing your help.

****

Blood King’s Poison was the hidden, infamous former alias of Choryeon.

Choryeon had originally worked as an aide beneath the imperial court’s palace physicians, those who attended the Emperor directly. One day, however, the second imperial prince was poisoned.

Choryeon was accused of the crime.

But by the time the imperial guard was dispatched to apprehend her, she had already vanished without a trace.

From then on, the name Blood King’s Poison stuck to her like a shadow.

No one knew why she was in Namgoong now.

But in the end, the accusation was true.

The second prince had once traveled for leisure and stayed in the village where Choryeon lived. When her neighbor—an older sister figure—refused to serve the prince, the villagers were all slaughtered.

Choryeon was the sole survivor.

Driven mad with grief, she clawed her way into the imperial palace seeking revenge—and in the end, killed the second prince.

A story so tragic, it could not be told without tears.

‘So what I heard from Dokwol turns out to be useful after all.’

In her past life, Ilhwa had liked the Medicine Hall, but she hadn’t liked Dokwol herself.

Or rather, to be more precise—she simply hadn’t cared about Dokwol.

But Dokwol had always liked to cling to Ilhwa, chattering whenever she came by. That too was just a faded memory from her past.

‘To think I had a mental suggestion cast on me... he really is meticulous.’

A suggestion was a dark technique that controlled the target’s mind.

Those affected by it didn’t even realize they were under its influence—until the caster triggered it through a specific sound or action, activating the control over their mind.

She had believed that since the Blood Demon hadn’t bound her with Blood Subjugation, she was free.

But as expected, the Blood Demon had never intended to let her go so easily.

‘He didn’t bind me so I could kill him with my own hands, but he still made sure to leave a leash.’

She had no idea when the suggestion had been placed.

Judging by the fact that she couldn’t remember, it was likely before she lost her memories—before the age of five.

‘There are two ways to break a suggestion. One, kill the caster. Two, let yourself be fully controlled until the suggestion burns out on its own.’

In other words—either eliminate the source or be used until the power of the spell runs dry.

‘The reason I was able to break free on my own today was because the caster wasn’t nearby. The connection was weak, so it broke easily.’

Which meant that the Blood Demon could appear at any time and seize control of her again.

Before that happened, she had to find a way to break the spell.

‘What happened last night... was a warning.’

A threat, for trying to break away on her own. A warning that no matter how much she resisted, she would never escape his grasp.

If she ignored that warning, he would come for her.

Within a day or two, at the latest.

‘If possible... I want to be acknowledged as a child of Namgoong before then.’

The moment she was acknowledged as Namgoong’s child, she would belong within their protective walls.

The Blood Demon Cult had yet to gather enough strength to reveal itself to the Central Plains. They were still burrowing underground, secretly spreading through the martial world.

In such a precarious stage, they wouldn’t dare drag her away by force, risking war with Namgoong and exposing their existence.

‘Once I’m accepted as Namgoong’s child, I’ll find a way to break the spell—no matter what it takes.’

She had already asked the Medicine Hall Master to help her find a way to undo the suggestion. If that wasn’t possible, she’d have no choice but to leave and return only after breaking it.

‘But before that...’

“Haa! Haap!”

Ilhwa, having come to the training grounds at ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ dawn, paused at the entrance at the sound of energetic shouts echoing from within.

‘This child’s body has limits when it comes to accomplishing anything.’

She had learned that clearly from last night.

A child’s body came with many inconveniences.

People tried to protect her, watch over her, control her—simply because she was a child.

To interfere more actively in Namgoong’s growth and future, she needed someone who could act as her shield—an adult, a force.

Someone who could sometimes stand in front of her, sometimes block others’ eyes for her.

Someone who could do the things a child could not.

‘At the very least, I need one subordinate I can trust.’

Ilhwa stepped into the training grounds.

“Hup! Haah!”

On the sparring platform, someone was training with a sword.

It was the same man she had fought just a day earlier—leader of the 11th Red Dragon Battalion.

The sight of him training from such an early hour, before the sun had even risen, answered the question Ilhwa had been pondering.

‘Change always starts with a small resolution—even if that resolution is born of despair.’

Beads of sweat clung to his face, and his martial robes were drenched with moisture.

It meant he’d been training for quite some time already.

‘And in that sense...’

Watching the Red Dragon Squad Leader, so focused in his practice that he hadn’t even noticed her presence, Ilhwa’s lips curved ever so slightly.

‘The change has already begun.’