The Return of the Namgoong Clan's Granddaughter-Chapter 74
“No, not at all.”
Ryeong shook his head firmly.
“From the moment I first saw your sword, I vowed to devote my loyalty to you, my lady. Whatever life you lived before means nothing to me.”
Her eyes were unwavering—steadfast and sincere.
In her gaze burned a conviction that demanded to be believed. She wanted Seolhwa to know she meant every word.
Seolhwa found herself faintly curious. How could someone trust so easily? So completely?
Just from watching her wield a sword, he was willing to pledge his life?
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He’ll turn his back when it counts.
When death truly came close—when the stakes were real—he’d abandon her. That was human nature.
Seolhwa had never trusted people easily. That was how she’d survived the Blood Demon Cult in her past life.
“Thank you. For believing in me.”
Her voice was soft, and her eyes looked distant. A hint of loneliness colored her expression.
Ryeong felt a sudden urgency in his chest.
Somehow, he wanted to comfort her.
“My lady, I...”
“Shall we go?”
But before he could speak, Seolhwa turned away as if to say she needed no comfort.
Ryeong stood still for a moment, watching her receding figure, then quietly followed.
The two returned to the Namgoong estate.
The sun had long since set. The sky above was dark, with not even a sliver of moonlight to be seen.
****
At that same time—
At the peak of Yeonhwa Peak in Mount Hua, cloaked in night.
A single shadow moved through the darkness, silent and deliberate.
The figure, dressed in dark robes and with his face covered by black cloth, was none other than Yu Gang—Mount Hua’s first disciple.
“...Hoo...”
Yu Gang moved slowly, breath steady, steps light.
It may have been night, but this was Mount Hua.
A stronghold filled with masters whose names echoed throughout the martial world—sword saints capable of shaking the Central Plains.
Even the slightest misstep would alert the elders and expose him.
He suppressed his presence as much as humanly possible, moving his qi to dim his aura as he slipped toward the location Namgoong’s young lady had spoken of.
Behind Geumcheon Palace—past the narrow path where he often sneaked away to be alone—he walked in the direction the elders were said to avoid.
According to what he’d heard, the path should have led only to an old, abandoned outhouse.
He summoned his inner sense and sharpened his /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ vision in the dark.
Drawing in every glimmer of ambient light, he scanned the ground around the structure.
Behind it.
Several sets of footprints trailed behind the outhouse.
Yu Gang took a quiet breath, then followed.
Behind the structure lay a sheer cliff. Or so everyone believed.
Mount Hua was infamous for its harsh terrain. And Geumcheon Palace stood at its highest point—of course its rear faced a cliff.
But when Yu Gang saw it with his own eyes, he was stunned.
Beneath the cliff was a modest space—and within that space, a lone building stood.
...
She was telling the truth.
Namgoong Seolhwa’s face flashed through his mind.
The child who had spoken so boldly—so precisely—about the sect leader’s condition and the crisis threatening Mount Hua.
An outsider with no connection to Mount Hua who saw more clearly than anyone within it.
...
A staircase had been carved into the cliff face, leading down to the structure.
Rough stone steps, dangerously narrow. One wrong step would send him plummeting into the abyss below.
But Yu Gang didn’t hesitate.
I need to know.
He had to confirm it for himself. Whether what she’d said was true.
At last, Yu Gang reached the door of the secluded structure.
Inside, he could sense someone’s presence.
His breath caught.
That a hidden structure even existed here—let alone someone residing in it—was almost too much to believe.
As he reached for the door, hand trembling slightly—
“Is that you, Nobaek?”
...!
A voice.
The sect leader. Silent for two years, locked in secluded meditation.
“What brings you out at this hour?”
He hadn’t heard that voice in so long it felt foreign—and yet, for that very reason, unmistakably clear.
The sect leader was here. Behind this door.
Yu Gang slowly let go of the handle and brought his hands together in a respectful martial salute.
“Sect Leader, it’s your disciple—Yu Gang.”
...
A long silence followed.
But that silence carried with it recognition. And disbelief.
“So... it’s you, Yu Gang.”
The sect leader’s voice trembled at the end.
There was no denying it now.
The sect leader had been hiding here all along.
“Will you come in?”
“Yes, sir.”
Yu Gang glanced around quickly, then stepped inside.
...!
He stopped.
Inside the room, the air was thick with the scent of incense.
But beneath that aroma was another smell.
The stench of rotting flesh.
The incense was meant to mask it—but together, the two scents formed a nauseating mix.
Yu Gang closed the door without a single change in his expression.
At the far end of the room, behind a long reed curtain, the sect leader sat by the window.
“It’s been a while, Yu Gang.”
“Have you been well, Sect Leader?”
“You’ve grown since I last saw you. Children do change so quickly—it’s not so strange.”
The Sect Leader’s voice was exactly as Yu Gang remembered it from two years ago: gentle and smooth.
Like a jade bead rolling across a glass table.
“What brings you here?”
“I wouldn’t call it a coincidence.”
“Your clothing says as much.”
Yu Gang’s outfit made it obvious—he’d come here in secret.
“So you found out I was here?”
“I heard. And I came to see for myself.”
“Who told you?”
“The young lady of the Namgoong Clan.”
The Sect Leader fell into silence once more.
He had assumed one of the elders had tipped Yu Gang off—likely his own master, Elder No Moon.
But that assumption had been completely off.
“Namgoong’s... child...?”
“She also asked me to deliver this message to you.”
Yu Gang rose quietly, eyes fixed on the floor, and placed the folded note Seolhwa had given him on the table. Then he returned to his place.
Elder Noun unfolded the note with steady hands. A sharp intake of breath followed.
“You’ve read this?”
“I have. Lady Seolhwa told me to, in case I didn’t believe her.”
Open the heart’s eye, and the hidden path shall be seen.
“You know what this means?”
“I don’t. But she said you would.”
“...!”
The Sect Leader’s hand trembled as he held the slip of paper.
“What else did she say?”
“She told me... to trust no one. That in all of Mount Hua, she trusts only you—and me.”
“...?”
The more he heard, the stranger it sounded.
A girl he’d never met trusted him? Not just him, but Yu Gang as well?
And yet... the circumstances were too precise to dismiss as chance.
That girl from Namgoong knows something.
Perhaps—even the solution to this puzzle he’d failed to unravel for two years.
Noun swallowed hard, his voice faint as he spoke.
“Yu Gang... would you be willing to visit the Namgoong Clan again?”
****
As always, dawn training had ended without fail. And on the path leaving the martial courtyard, an unexpected figure stood waiting for Seolhwa.
It was Namgoong Hyuk—the Captain of the Black Dragon Corps.
“Lady Seolhwa.”
“Good morning, Captain.”
“It’s been a while.”
He had once escorted her when she accompanied Namgoong Cheongun on a stroll through the city. That same outing where she’d narrowly avoided being caught after her meeting with Ilryong, Imoe, and Sambong—he’d been the one patrolling nearby.
“Are you satisfied with your new guard?”
Namgoong Hyuk smiled with his usual easy charm.
“Yes. Very much so.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I was worried he might lack proper manners toward you.”
His eyes flicked briefly toward Ryeong.
“He hasn’t. These days, thanks to Ryeong, I’m not bored anymore.”
“Oh? That’s surprising. Ryeong’s not exactly the entertaining type. If I’d known, I would’ve assigned someone a little more talkative.”
“It’s alright. I already have someone like that in the residence. So, what brings you here?”
Namgoong Hyuk offered a warm smile, dipping his head slightly before looking up again.
“The Patriarch wishes to see you.”
Morning training usually ended just after the fifth hour—between seven and nine. It was a time when most began their day, not typically a time for unexpected summons.
But Namgoong Mucheon was well aware of Seolhwa’s daily routine and the Eleventh Unit’s schedule.
And yet, despite pretending not to know... he’d sent the Black Dragon Captain to summon her directly.
He’s heard the rumors.
If he was calling her like this, it likely meant he was angry. Angry that she hadn’t addressed the rumors sooner.
“Are you able to come now?”
Though his orders had clearly been to escort her the moment training ended, Namgoong Hyuk asked the question with unhurried courtesy.
He was being considerate. Rushing her might have made her uneasy.
“I’ll go now.”
“Then I’ll escort you.”
