The Return of the Namgoong Clan's Granddaughter-Chapter 97

Jin Soyak looked down at his small hands.

“If I die, my father will be very sad, won’t he? There’ll be no one left to tell him ‘I love you’ every day. No one to hug him. No child to give him toys on his birthday. I....”

Tears welled up in the boy’s eyes.

“I... won’t be able to stay by my father’s side....”

A single tear slid down his cheek.

The boy who had vowed to stay strong quickly forgot that resolve. But he didn’t break down in loud sobs.

Maybe it was just habit—Soyak swallowed the sound of his crying with effort.

“Be my sibling... I’ll give you everything I have.”

He pushed his bundle of treasures toward Hwarin.

It was all he had left of his memories with his father. Soyak was ready to entrust it all to the one who would become the new child of his father.

“...Huh?”

Hwarin could not answer.

While Soyak spoke proudly about his father, Hwarin had actually been thinking about her own—Namgoong Cheongsan.

My father’s like that too. His dad seems nice, she had thought.

But now, suddenly, she was being asked to become someone else’s daughter.

“Hwarin, just a moment.”

Yugang stepped forward, gently tapping her stiffened shoulder.

His warm smile brought relief to Hwarin, and she quietly stepped back.

Yugang plopped down in front of Soyak.

“You want me to be your older brother?”

“No.”

Soyak’s expression dimmed.

Yugang gently ruffled the boy’s hair.

“You’re amazing. Coming up with such a thoughtful idea. Your father would be proud of you.”

He slid the bundle back toward Soyak.

“But I think you should keep this. Your father gave it to you, didn’t he?”

“But... I can’t play with these things anymore. And they’re the best things I have.”

The most precious treasures a child could offer—a gift worthy of a new sibling.

“Your father probably chose those while thinking of you. If another kid had them, wouldn’t he be even more heartbroken?”

“...You think so?”

Yugang nodded.

“And family... isn’t something you can buy with an offering.”

Among Soyak’s treasures was a small wooden carving, as if it had been whittled by hand. Perhaps it had been with him a long time—its surface shone with wear.

Soyak picked up the carving and held it tightly.

“Honestly, I didn’t really want to give this one away.”

“Then it’s yours.”

What the boy didn’t want taken from him wasn’t just the carving.

Rubbing his nose, Soyak continued in a quiet voice.

“Can you tell I’ve been crying?”

“Nope. Not at all.”

Yugang grinned and gently brushed the dirt from beneath Soyak’s eyes.

“You’re strong, Soyak.”

****

The lanterns flickered in the evening.

The door opened quietly.

Soyak, who had been watching the moon rise through the window, turned and beamed at the person entering.

“Father!”

Meng Deungho’s lips curved at the sight of his son’s smile. Without hesitation, he sat by the bedside.

He placed a rough hand on the boy’s forehead as he pulled up the blanket.

The child’s lips curved into a crescent.

“What did you do today?”

“I played with my friends! I showed them the water tanks, and we played hide-and-seek and tag!”

“Friends?”

“They’re new here. One’s an older boy, one’s an older girl, and one’s a girl about my age.”

Meng Deungho recalled the three he had seen earlier in the day.

The daughter of the Namgoong Clan, whom his men had kidnapped, and the two other children who had arrived with her.

One of them had studied martial arts from Mount Hua.

And the other...

Was it a girl?

Unlike the boy, that one didn’t seem trained at all. So unremarkable, Meng Deungho could barely remember her. More importantly—

I should check on the Namgoong girl.

Not long ago, the master of the Blood Evil Stronghold—a group based in Nanjing, Jiangsu—had made him an offer.

In exchange for revealing a cure for Soyak’s meridian disorder, he was to deliver the daughter of the Namgoong Clan.

Having scoured every corner for a physician to treat his son’s rare condition, Meng Deungho could not refuse.

He had no way of knowing if the stronghold leader truly possessed such a cure, but even the slightest possibility was worth the risk.

“...Sounds like you had fun.”

“Yes! I’m going to play again tomorrow. I want to try fishing. I’m going to use the net you made to catch fish. If I catch a lot, I’ll give you some too!”

“All right.”

Meng Deungho looked down at his son with a gaze full of tenderness.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

****

After Soyak left, Seolhwa and her companions made their way back toward the barracks they had been assigned earlier that day.

Yugang walked ahead in silence, carrying the sleeping Hwarin on his back.

Since the encounter with Soyak, Yugang’s expression had darkened in a way that was uncharacteristic for him.

He spoke less and less, and after Hwarin had fallen asleep, he had not said a single word.

Seolhwa, too, had been lost in thought ever since hearing what Soyak had said, and the two of them continued walking in silence.

It was when they neared the barracks that Seolhwa suddenly came to a stop.

—He’s the stockade master’s son.

At her words, Yugang halted as well and turned to look at her.

—Jin Soyak. He’s Meng Deungho’s son. His surname is different because they used the one from Meng Deungho’s late wife.

“I figured.”

It wasn’t surprising; he had more or less guessed as much already.

After all, he had spent the entire day alongside Jin Soyak, watching how the bandits constantly monitored the boy’s every move.

“This is an opportunity.”

At Seolhwa’s words, Yugang slowly closed and opened his eyes.

—If we take Jin Soyak as a hostage, we’ll be able to escape from here easily.

Under the moonlight, Yugang and Seolhwa stared at each other, their eyes steady and unwavering.

After a long silence, Yugang spoke in a quiet voice that seemed to melt into the darkness.

“Why are you saying something you don’t even believe?”

“...What?”

“If things were as you said, then maybe it’s worth trying. But... you don’t actually want to do that.”

You don’t want to take Jin Soyak hostage.

Seolhwa’s hand clenched into a loose fist before she realized it.

“...Why? What makes you think that?”

Taking a vulnerable target as a hostage is the simplest way to pressure an enemy.

And Jin Soyak was undeniably Meng Deungho’s son. More than that, he had shown not even the slightest suspicion toward them.

He’s practically walking into our hands—how could I not want to use this chance?

How ridiculous.

Every survival instinct, every lesson from her previous life, screamed at her that if she let this moment pass, there might not be another.

“I...”

“You.”

“....”

“You look like you’re about to cry. Do you know that?”

Her heart dropped with a heavy thud. Her thoughts went blank, as if the gears of her mind had jammed all at once.

I... want to cry?

Seolhwa placed her clenched hand against her chest.

Before she knew it, her heart was pounding. As though her instincts were violently rejecting the cold logic that had formed in her mind.

Rejecting...

Why?

The path was so clear. So why did she feel this sudden, overwhelming resistance?

...Am I... feeling pity?

For Jin Soyak?

The realization left her disoriented. The unfamiliar stir of emotion made her breath catch in her throat.

As she slowly worked to steady her breathing, Yugang’s voice reached her ear.

—Let’s watch a little longer. Luckily, we’re in a position to keep taking care of Hwarin.

Seolhwa looked at him.

Yugang offered her a calm, reassuring smile.

“Don’t rush. It’ll be all right.”

****

The next morning.

Soyak came to find Seolhwa’s group early.

When he asked if they wanted to go catch fish by the river, all three readily followed after him.

The day before, they had focused on scouting the stockade’s structure and fencing. Today, it was the riverside terrain «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» and the docked boats they needed to inspect—Soyak’s invitation had come at the perfect time.

“If you put the bait in like this and throw it in, you’ll catch some fish eventually.”

“Wow—!”

“Want me to throw it for you? I can toss it really far.”

Seolhwa sat beneath the shadow of a large boat, watching the three of them crouch along the riverbank, preparing to cast their nets.

A quiet sigh slipped from her lips.

Is it really all right to be this relaxed?

She didn’t know. Every part of her told her they needed to escape as soon as possible.

The Namgoong Clan must be looking for us by now.

She pictured Namgoong Cheongun’s face, likely pale with worry.

He had already lost a daughter once. Now she was putting him through the pain of losing her again.

I must not be a very good daughter.

Her soft sigh turned her gaze toward Jin Soyak, chattering away excitedly nearby.

Meng Deungho’s son. Jin Soyak.

It wasn’t until she heard his story the night before that a forgotten piece of her past life had resurfaced.

A vague mention, never dwelled on—something about Meng Deungho’s child.

He suffered from meridian blockage when he was little...