"The young lady is now like someone asleep inside a hard shell. The dullness of her pain and emotions might be something she chose herself."
Because the pain was too great, because life had been so harsh that she couldn't survive without numbing her emotions.
"If you want to break the shell that's trapping her, you'll need to try. Show her beautiful things, let her hear kind words."
It was about knocking on the heart of a child. So that the child hiding deep inside could hear her own voice and break out of the shell.
"Love her. A lot."
Everyone who heard the words of the Medicine Hall Master at that moment was left speechless.
Eight years.
After eight years, the child came back on her own. The child who had once been so bright and cheerful, who used to cry and laugh so easily because she was so sensitive, had returned as someone else. But that didn’t mean Seolhwa was no longer Seolhwa.
No matter what she looked like, no matter what kind of personality she had, Seolhwa was still her daughter. The daughter she had loved so dearly and missed so much.
"Seolhwa."
Seolhwa stared blankly at the man kneeling in front of her with a smile. 'Was Namgung Cheongun always such a crybaby?' He cried at the drop of a hat, and laughed just as easily.
Seolhwa was a little confused because she couldn’t understand the gap between his laughter and tears. He was the father she had killed with her own hands. In this life, she had decided to accept everything he wanted.
But it was already this difficult from the start. 'What kind of rhythm am I supposed to follow here?' Namgung Cheongun gently stroked the back of Seolhwa’s hand.
His mouth was smiling, but his eyes looked sad.
"Seolhwa, do you know why your name is Seolhwa?"
Seolhwa shook her head.
"Snow is the most beautiful flower that falls from the sky. You came to us on a day when white flowers covered the whole world."
He raised his hand and patted Seolhwa’s head. Unlike Namgung Mucheon, his touch was very gentle. Seeing the child blink at him without pulling away, Cheongun let out a soft chuckle.
"Your name, Seolhwa, was given to you by your mother. She was a woman who loved you very, very much."
"What happened to Mother?"
Cheongun’s hand stopped abruptly. His smile faded a little.
"She went up to the sky that sent us Seolhwa. Because you were such a great gift to us, the heavens took your mother back."
'So Mother passed away.' It was the first time she had learned this. She had guessed it, since in her previous life Namgung Cheongun had no wife, but finding out that the woman who died was her mother felt strange. '…?'
Her heart ached again, like it was being poked with a needle. It seemed she really needed to learn the Namgung clan’s cultivation method as soon as possible. Namgung Cheongun continued.
"You probably don’t remember your mother…"
He paused for a moment, as if pressing something down, then looked at Seolhwa with a clear smile.
"Your mother and I both love you very much. Eight years ago, and still now. Don’t forget that."
Facing him, as if he might burst at a touch, Seolhwa nodded.
"I'm glad I came back too."
"…Yes."
His hand moved again, carefully and slowly. He looked at Seolhwa with a sad face for a moment, then shook his head slightly as if shaking off his emotions and smiled brightly. He held both of Seolhwa’s hands.
"Shall we go out and look around the streets tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow?"
"It’ll take about a day to make the official announcement that we’ve found you. Since we have the time, I want to show you the streets of Hefei, where you used to run around like it was your own front yard."
Seolhwa hesitated to answer. 'I wanted to learn the Namgung clan’s cultivation method tomorrow.' Now that she had been acknowledged as a child of the Namgung clan, she thought she could finally start learning their martial arts.
Would the delay in the announcement also delay her training?
"There was a tanghulu shop you used to like when you were little. I was thinking of going there."
One day should be fine. Thanks to Namgung Cheongun arriving early, she had been acknowledged as his daughter sooner than expected, so one day wouldn’t hurt. 'Because I’m Namgung Cheongun’s daughter.'
In this life, she had decided to fulfill the role of a daughter.
Late at night, under the shadows of the Namgung household, someone was walking quickly. He entered the Inner Hall and stopped at a fork where the path split into three. Straight ahead, the Celestial Tiger Hall stood tall.
After looking at it for a moment, he turned and hurried down the left path. A knocking sound came from the door. Namgung Cheonghae, who had been working late into the night, looked up.
"Come in."
He hadn’t asked who it was, but he could tell from the energy beyond the door.
"I greet the Young Master."
"Yellow Dragon Unit Leader. What brings you here at this late hour?"
The one who came to see Namgung Cheonghae was Namgung Horak, leader of the Yellow Dragon Unit, one of the five martial units of the Namgung clan.
"I came to report that I’ve found information about the guest staying at the Heavenly Guest Room."
At his words, Namgung Cheonghae’s face showed interest. He neatly set down the brush he had been holding and leaned back in his chair.
"Speak."
"The guest at the Heavenly Guest Room is said to be a young girl."
"A girl…? Are you saying she’s a child of a noble family or the successor of a great sect?"
Even so, they wouldn’t open the Heavenly Guest Room for someone like that.
"Or is she perhaps a master on the level of Father?"
"That doesn’t seem to be the case. According to the servant, the guest showed no signs of being from a noble family or sect, and her inner energy didn’t even reach the level of a first-rate martial artist."
"That can’t be certain."
"True."
She could be a master so skilled that the servant couldn’t detect it.
"But…"
Namgung Horak’s lips curled slightly.
"I heard something very interesting today."
"Interesting?"
"I heard that the First Young Master is staying at the Heavenly Guest Room with the girl."
"My brother has returned?"
Namgung Cheongun had left on an escort mission and was supposed to be at least three days away. But now he was here? And with the guest of the Heavenly Guest Room?
'This isn’t good.' If the guest of the Heavenly Guest Room was someone with great influence in the Central Plains, and that person was close to his brother, then his brother’s influence would surely grow. Right now, since his brother had practically abandoned the clan and wandered outside, the Elder Council supported him, Cheonghae.
But if his brother decided to build his power again, who knew what would happen? 'Father wants to make him the next clan head. The Elder Council might change their minds at any time.'
"Is this information reliable?"
Namgung Cheonghae, who usually acted indifferent even when hearing difficult news, now showed signs of unease. Namgung Horak didn’t miss that small change.
"Don’t worry too much. It doesn’t seem to be the kind of meeting you’re imagining."
Namgung Cheonghae’s face hardened.
"What do you mean?"
"According to the servant, the First Young Master is very protective of the guest. He even walked around the garden of the Heavenly Guest Room holding her in his arms."
He held her…?
"You still don’t get it?"
Namgung Cheonghae stood up without realizing it. Namgung Horak grinned at the sight.
"Don’t tell me… you mean he found Seolhwa?"
"You’ll find out soon enough."
Namgung Cheonghae’s eyes were filled with confusion. The child they hadn’t found a single hair of in eight years, the one most of the clan had given up on—had really been found? Seolhwa had come back?
That meant…
'My brother is returning to the clan.'
"Young Master."
Namgung Cheonghae looked up at Namgung Horak.
"We can’t just sit around waiting forever, can we?"
Even though he had taken on the clan’s affairs and quietly built his strength, Namgung Mucheon had never given him the position of successor.
"It’s time to act."
Whether by choice or not, there is always a time. A cart must roll to be useful. Whether pulled from the front or pushed from behind, a moving cart has purpose.
Those who had boarded the cart had long wished for it to move. Now, the time had come.
"Move before the First Young Master settles in. Our three martial units will support you."
Boom—!
A sudden noise echoed through the training ground of the Heavenly Guest Room. It sounded like a boulder falling, but in truth, it was the sound of Namgung Jipyeong, Squad Leader of the Red Dragon Squad, collapsing.
"I… I can’t do this anymore…!"
He lay flat on the ground, and a shadow fell over his face. Namgung Jipyeong opened his eyes and looked up at the child standing over him. The child tilted her head and said, "Is fifty jin really that heavy for you?"
At her innocent and harmless words, Namgung Jipyeong flared up.
"How can you say ‘only’! With arms and legs combined, it’s two hundred jin! Two hundred! Who makes someone practice sword techniques with two hundred jin tied to their limbs and without using inner energy! Huh?"
"Does the Namgung clan not do this kind of training?"
"There is external training, but nothing like this…!"
With a serious expression, Seolhwa stroked her chin and looked over Namgung Jipyeong’s body. 'So that’s why his lower body is…'
"Wh-where are you looking…?"