The return of the granddaughter of the Namgoong family

Tap!

Ilhwa smacked the woman’s hand away.

The medical hall master, who had been about to take her pulse, widened her eyes in surprise.

But Ilhwa stared back at her with even more wary eyes.

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

This woman was once called Dokwol.

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

If this woman is an infiltrator from the Blood Sect, she might try to kill me.

The Blood Demon was not someone who would ever forgive a traitor. He would go to any lengths to ensure they were eliminated.

Of course, neither Seop Mugwang nor the medical hall master had any knowledge of these thoughts, and they exchanged puzzled glances before looking back at Ilhwa.

“Kid. We need to check your pulse to figure out what’s wrong,” Seop Mugwang said.

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

“She says so herself,” the hall master chimed in.

Seop Mugwang sighed and scratched his nose.

“Step aside.”

The medical hall master moved back, and Seop Mugwang crouched down in front of Ilhwa to meet her gaze.

Ilhwa, who had been glaring at the hall master, now turned to look at him.

“Kid, I’m sorry for bringing you here without asking, but let her examine you. This lady—”

“Oh my, could you call me sister instead?”

“Will you stop?!”

“My, my, how fiery,” the hall master teased.

Seop Mugwang clicked his tongue in irritation before trying again to persuade Ilhwa.

“Just get checked, alright? I know you’re tough, but you haven’t eaten or rested properly for days. We can’t take any chances.”

“I….”

“If you do, I’ll buy you as many candied hawthorns as you want,” Seop Mugwang added.

At that, Ilhwa’s guard faltered slightly—not because of the candied hawthorns, but because she lacked a valid excuse to outright refuse.

Only I know that this woman was the medical hall master of the Blood Sect. I can’t reject her examination without a good reason.

With Seop Mugwang here, Dokwol wouldn’t dare try anything for now.

Reluctantly, Ilhwa nodded.

Seop Mugwang chuckled, ruffling her hair slightly before stepping aside.

The medical hall master crouched down in front of Ilhwa again.

“May I see your arm?”

Ilhwa extended her arm to her.

The medical hall master smiled and gently took her wrist, placing her fingers over Ilhwa’s pulse.

She closed her eyes and focused intently on the rhythm of Ilhwa’s heartbeat.

Silence stretched between them.

“…!”

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

Startled, the medical hall master opened her eyes, only to realize she couldn’t move.

Ilhwa’s hand was already gripping her throat.

“Let go.”

“She tried to kill me,” Ilhwa said coldly.

“That was a standard pulse check,” Seop Mugwang replied.

“She used her internal energy.”

“That’s how Cho Ryeon works. She uses internal energy to examine the meridians.”

Ilhwa’s sharp gaze bore into the medical hall master.

Using internal energy to examine the meridians—Ilhwa already knew it was a common practice, not just for this woman but for most physicians.

But even knowing that, Ilhwa had seized her throat as a warning in case the woman was indeed an agent of the Blood Sect.

I can kill you anytime.

Though she stepped back at Seop Mugwang’s words, she couldn’t afford to show any weakness.

The tension in the air was suffocating.

Slowly, the strength in Ilhwa’s hand diminished, and when she finally released her grip, the medical hall master collapsed to the floor, her legs giving out.

“You’re quite the fierce little kitten…”

Rubbing her chilled neck, the medical hall master caught her breath.

Seop Mugwang and Ilhwa remained locked in a standoff.

“If you don’t calm your killing intent, the inner hall warriors will be here within a half ke (seven to eight minutes),” Seop Mugwang warned.

Ilhwa’s murderous aura gradually dissipated.

Seop Mugwang watched her with a stern expression.

The moment the hall master used her internal energy, she reacted instantly.

If he hadn’t intervened, the hall master’s neck would have been snapped in an instant.

Even when facing bandits, Ilhwa had shown no hesitation. Once she decided to kill, she did so without mercy.

It was as if she had already killed countless people before.

The murderous aura she exuded wasn’t something you’d find in an ordinary assassin—it was thick, suffocating, as if it carried the weight of thousands of lives and the resentment of countless souls.

What kind of life has this child lived?

As her killing intent faded completely, Ilhwa returned to the demeanor of an ordinary child.

“I’ll head back now.”

Seop Mugwang nodded, releasing her arm.

“Go to the guest house.”

“Yes.”

Ilhwa bowed lightly to him and left the medical hall with calm steps.

The medical hall master watched her in stunned silence.

“What did you think?” Seop Mugwang asked.

“…?”

“The kid. Is she healthy?”

The medical hall master sighed and stood up, dusting off her clothes.

“Where did you pick up a stray like that?”

“Does she look like she’d let herself be tamed?”

“Well, that depends on you, doesn’t it?”

Seop Mugwang let out a low chuckle.

“Why? Didn’t you bring her here yourself?”

“I did bring her here.”

But taming her isn’t my job.

“So, is she healthy or not?”

“Hard to say. I didn’t get a proper look. But…”

A peculiar expression crossed the medical hall master’s face as she glanced toward the door Ilhwa had exited through.

“She seems like she’s recently… eaten something unusual.”

“…!”

Seop Mugwang’s lips curled into a grin.

“Looks like you’re not just sitting in that position for nothing.”

“What do you take me for? I was once the personal physician to the Heavenly Son himself, you know.”

“Probably just a low-level lackey.”

“Same difference.”

The medical hall master rubbed her stiff neck.

“Anyway, bring her back later. I’ll need to examine her properly.”

“For what?”

“There’s something about her…”

The medical hall master looked down at her own hand thoughtfully.

“Is the kid healthy?”

The medical hall master sighed and stood up, brushing off her clothes.

“Where did you pick up such a stray cat?”

“Do you think she’d let herself be tamed?”

“Well, that depends on you, doesn’t it?”

Seop Mugwang chuckled deeply.

“Why? Didn’t you bring her here yourself?”

“I brought her, yes.”

But taming her isn’t my responsibility.

“So, is she healthy or not?”

“Hard to say. I didn’t have enough time to examine her. But…”

The medical hall master glanced at the door Ilhwa had just exited with a peculiar expression on her face.

“She seems to have… consumed something unusual recently.”

“…!”

Seop Mugwang’s lips curled into a grin.

“Looks like you’re not just idly sitting in that position.”

“What do you take me for? I used to be the personal physician to the Heavenly Son, you know.”

“Probably just a lowly subordinate.”

“Same difference.”

The medical hall master rubbed her stiff neck.

“Anyway, bring her back later. I need to examine her properly.”

“For what?”

“There’s something about her…”

The medical hall master looked down at her hand.

For a brief moment, as she used her internal energy to examine the girl, she had felt an unusual presence within Ilhwa’s body.

“Like a bomb ready to explode… or a crumbling stone wall. I’ll need more time to figure it out. Bring her back soon.”

Seop Mugwang frowned.

It wasn’t exactly a reassuring assessment.

“I understand.”

He gazed blankly at the spot where Ilhwa had left.

Should I report this to the family head?

After a moment’s hesitation, he used his lightness skill and departed from the medical hall.

Upon returning to the Celestial Pavilion, Ilhwa headed toward the pond within its grounds.

Beside a chair by the pond lay a container of fish food.

Scooping up a handful, she scattered it into the water. Carp, each as large as her thigh, leapt from the surface, opening their mouths wide.

She sprinkled the remaining food onto the highest-jumping fish.

“Am I still tied to my past?”

She had known that the medical hall master wasn’t trying to kill her when she infused internal energy into her.

And yet her body had reacted instinctively.

“That woman often killed members of the Blood Cult in such a way.”

It was her habit to claim treatment as her reason while mixing in poison to end lives.

And yet, she had managed to retain her position as the Blood Cult’s medical hall master because…

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

The Blood Cult was composed of six independent factions united under the Blood Demon.

The heads of these factions were called the Six Blood Lords, each a martial artist of unparalleled skill.

Even in her previous life, the Six Blood Lords always concealed their faces, so Seolhwa had never discovered their identities. However, she had known the Twelve Moons well.

The Twelve Moons were the Blood Demon’s elite assassins, each receiving a Moon Medallion imprinted with the Blood Demon’s blood and mastering secret blood arts.

While their martial skills were slightly inferior to the Six Blood Lords, their loyalty to the Blood Demon was absolute—they would sacrifice their lives for him without hesitation.

Dokwol had been one of the Twelve Moons.

That’s why, even when she arbitrarily killed members of the Blood Cult, the Cult Leader turned a blind eye. Who could have stopped her atrocities?

Once, when Ilhwa had visited the medical hall, she had asked Dokwol a question.

“Dokwol, you were originally from the orthodox martial world, weren’t you?”

“That’s right.”

“Then, how did you end up joining the Cult?”

“Well…”

At the time, Dokwol had a deeper, more enigmatic smile than she did now.

“Perhaps I had someone I wanted to kill.”

Her words weren’t as beautiful as her mesmerizing smile.

Ilhwa hadn’t asked who that someone was.

They weren’t close enough for her to ask, nor had she been curious.

“I should have asked.”

Perhaps then, she wouldn’t feel this confused now.

While lost in thought, the carp had already finished eating and scattered, swimming away leisurely.

The last carp’s tail caused small ripples in the water.

As Ilhwa looked down, her reflection in the water revealed a large man in a lavish robe standing beside her.

She rose and clasped her hands in salute.

“Greetings to the head of the Namgung family.”

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

“…”

Namgung Mucheon gazed at Ilhwa intently, his eyebrows arching as though he found something intriguing.

“I’ve heard about you.”