The Return of the Namgoong Clan's Granddaughter-Chapter 55

“What were you thinking as you killed the demon beasts?”

Seolhwa asked, her sword raised.

“You knew why the monkeys turned into demon beasts, didn’t you?”

“...You told me.”

“How did it feel? Killing those demon beasts.”

Cheongun couldn’t answer.

Only the sensation of cutting through the demon beasts lingered faintly at his fingertips.

“Among those demon beasts, there were probably monkeys who had to watch their own child’s brain being eaten right before their eyes.”

The jingling of a bell that signals freshness to humans was, to a mother monkey watching, the sound that marked her child’s final breath.

When the jingling finally stopped, what must that mother monkey have felt?

“That must’ve been how you felt when you lost me.”

When a child’s scream is swallowed by the rushing water.

What kind of emotion had gripped him then, listening to the scream of his child as she fell, all his senses on edge?

“Isn’t that what it means to be powerless? To be filled with sorrow and grief is, in the end, just proof of one’s weakness.”

It is because you are weak that you grieve, because you are weak that you feel such anguish.

If you had strength, you’d fight back and take revenge. But lacking that strength, all you can do is harbor grief, stack up resentment.

That was the way it was for most of the Blood Demon Cult followers in her past life.

Even when wronged and filled with rage, they had no power to fight back, no chance to resolve their pain. So they were always seething with fury.

That fury became blood, soaked the world in red, and gave birth to new grudges and resentments.

It was a vicious cycle. A chain that no one could break, that only grew more tangled and cruel with time.

“...Seolhwa...”

In Cheongun’s gaze, Seolhwa looked lonely. The loneliness of a child standing utterly alone was so heavy, it made his chest ache.

He reached out toward her.

But Seolhwa’s body moved first.

“...!”

Kaang—!

Namgoong Cheongun reflexively raised his sword to block the blade charging straight for him.

A precise strike aimed directly at the back of his neck.

Had he not blocked it, he would’ve been cut down in a single blow.

“Seol—”

Ka-kang!

“—hwa!”

Cheongun drew in a sharp breath.

Follow current novℯls on ƒгeewёbnovel.com.

Kaang! Kang! Kaang—!

The girl’s sword didn’t stop. It kept aiming for Cheongun’s vital points again and again. Cheongun backed away as he blocked her attacks.

As he deflected her sword, his throat tightened.

There was hatred in her blade.

A chilling grief and piercing resentment flowed from the sword she swung.

It was as if she were asking why he had lost her. Why he hadn’t held onto her. Why he hadn’t protected her. As if she were blaming him.

As if ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ she were screaming out that blame.

Kaang—!

“Kh...!”

The girl screamed through her sword.

Sparks flew with each clash of steel, and in that flurry, Cheongun saw someone.

Kaang!

It was a falling lotus blossom—

It was white snow calling out for her father—

Kaang—!

It was himself, kneeling on the edge of a cliff, writhing in utter despair.

“Father.”

Seolhwa’s sword was heavy—far too heavy for a thirteen-year-old girl.

“I want you to become the head of the clan.”

Because that wish was in her sword.

“If possible, a head with power.”

It was a heavy, heavy sword.

Cheongun clenched his jaw and gripped his blade tighter.

Kaang—!

He put strength into his arms and parried her strike.

If Seolhwa was pouring out her resentment, Cheongun was vomiting out his sorrow.

“Just being with you is enough for me. Just the fact that you're alive and by my side makes me happy, Seolhwa. Isn’t that enough? Do you really have to climb up to such a dangerous position, no matter the cost?”

Kagagak...

Their blades locked.

Their desires clashed.

“With that kind of half-hearted attitude, you’ll never achieve anything.”

Isn’t it enough?

‘Of course not.’

In her past life, the head of the Namgoong Clan had been Namgoong Cheongsan.

But Namgoong Cheongsan hadn’t been fit to lead. He tried his best, but it hadn’t been enough.

As Namgoong collapsed, unable to protect itself, Cheongun had wandered the martial world searching for his daughter.

And in the end, he died by her hand.

What a futile death that had been.

“What is it that must be achieved? Does becoming head of the clan mean anything will be accomplished? What exactly is worth craving that position for?”

“If I can prevent a meaningless death.”

If she could stop the deaths of Namgoong people who collapsed for nothing. If she could save the life he had thrown away in vain.

“I never want to feel the despair of losing my family while protecting something else ever again. If I become clan head, I’ll have to protect everyone. But I... I only need to protect you. As long as I can protect just you—my daughter—then everything else...”

The girl swung her sword. Clouds scattered, and the energy of the world stirred.

Like a swallow soaring into the blue sky, her sword—her crimson energy—rose, curling through the heavens.

The sword technique of the Namgoong Clan.

Skybound Swallow Sword.

First Form: Sky Dance Performance.

Watching that elegant cascade of sword strikes falling as if dancing in the sky, Cheongun grounded himself and braced his legs.

Kaaaang—!

He poured all his strength into receiving the girl’s sword.

Into receiving her wish.

Kuuuuung—

Crimson and blue energy clashed with the force of collapsing a mountaintop.

“I need it.”

Amid that fierce surge of power, Seolhwa’s cold voice sliced through Cheongun’s grief.

“I need strength. I need the clan. I need a fence that will protect me.”

Some might call it foolish—a life spent searching for a daughter whose survival was uncertain.

They might say the end of that life, dying by the hand of his own daughter, was pitiful.

That he gave up something great for something small.

But Seolhwa didn’t think that way.

What parent, what living creature, could sit still and do nothing while hearing their child’s skull being cracked open and their life drained away?

What parent could possibly prioritize anything else while hearing their child scream out for them as they plummeted to their death?

“Take power into your hands. Gain strength. Lead the Namgoong Clan. And with that...”

Even a mere beast can harbor resentment.

How could a human not?

“Please protect me.”

But in this life, I won’t let your devotion be in vain.

I won’t allow your life—dedicated entirely to your child—to end in a meaningless death.

The past has been cut down. The grudge severed. All that’s left is to move forward.

If it’s my existence as your daughter that drives you—

“Then become the clan head, Father.”

I’ll make you stand at the peak for my sake.

Their swords fell away.

Seolhwa stepped back a few paces from Cheongun. Their energies settled, and a heavy stillness descended.

Cheongun touched his forehead and let out a long breath.

His face was soaked—tears had been pouring endlessly.

“Ha...”

It wasn’t easy to understand a daughter who had returned after eight years.

What exactly was she trying to do? What was going through her mind?

It felt as if something ancient—like a hundred-year-old serpent—was coiled within that small body.

But—

“All right.”

If that was her wish. If that was the way to protect his daughter.

Then gladly—

“I’ll do it.”

I’ll give everything. That is the reason I live.

And just as Cheongun lifted his eyes with renewed resolve—

“...?”

He saw something.

It was the ground, revealed between the clouds scattered during the sudden battle with Seolhwa.

If they hadn’t crossed swords, the clouds wouldn’t have parted. But now, they had. And what lay exposed was glimmering.

“Wait... wait a moment! Seolhwa!”

Cheongun hurriedly sheathed his sword and dropped to one knee at the edge of where the clouds were slowly closing in again.

He reached out, feeling through the mist as if groping in the dark.

His hand wandered within the dense clouds for a long time—until suddenly, it stopped.

Clack.

Beneath the thick blanket of clouds, something shifted with a faint mechanical sound.

Cheongun looked up at Seolhwa, his eyes wide with awe.

“It’s a formation.”

“...”

“A formation, Seolhwa!”

The clouds that had covered the peak began to scatter, and the ground revealed itself beneath them.

Cheongun’s eyes grew even wider.

The mountaintop wasn’t made of ordinary stone.

It was a formation of luminous mineral—light-catching, light-reflecting. As the clouds cleared, the surface absorbed the full sunlight and shimmered with radiant brilliance in seven hues.

A rainbow...!

It was the Celestial Bow.

The color filling the peak was unmistakably that of a rainbow.

And at the end of that rainbow—where the clouds had receded—sat a small turtle-shaped object, no larger than a human palm, quietly holding its place.

It was a spot that would never have been found had the clouds not parted.

“Th-The Celestial Bow Turtle Head...!”

Cheongun’s face twisted in utter shock.

The legendary Celestial Bow Turtle Head truly existed—and they had actually found it.

He turned to look at Seolhwa, and a radiant smile bloomed across his face.

Beneath the sunlight pouring down, his smile sparkled with tears. It looked, somehow, like the smile of a man who had finally found peace.

“We really found it, Seolhwa.”

Seolhwa’s lips curved ever so faintly.

“You’re the one who found it, Father.”