MUC 11

Chapter 11

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For a brief moment, Dokgo Haeryang gazed down at her hand.

“Sweet child, may this old man take a look at your hand for a moment?”

“Why?”

“I just want to see how beautiful your hand is.”

‘Is he reading my palm or something?’

Eun Sowol, curious due to her interest in things like palm reading and horoscopes, demurely extended her hand. Dokgo Haeryang smiled and gently held it.

Soon after, his eyes trembled as he looked at Sowol chewing a piece of candy.

“Child… Do you ever feel out of breath or have any pain?”

“No? I’m healthy.”

“Do you get headaches? Or maybe your heart beats too fast, unusually so?”

“I said I’m healthy.”

“That can’t be…”

As Dokgo Haeryang tilted his head in confusion and muttered to himself, Sowol frowned.

“I didn’t even complain to Uncle and walked the whole way without whining! I even went on the journey for over two weeks!”

Why did he keep asking about her health when she had endured a trip that would exhaust most kids?

Irritated, Sowol pulled her hand away with a huff.

Dokgo Haeryang swallowed hard as he looked at her, now fuming.

‘This doesn’t make sense. It shouldn’t be like this…’

The moment he touched her hand, he felt something off. After checking again, it was clear—her physical condition was not normal.

She shouldn’t even be standing, let alone walking around. Lying in bed would be more fitting.

‘But she looks so lively…’

Unable to make sense of it, Dokgo Haeryang looked at her with trembling eyes.

At that same time, Dokgo Ryong was explaining everything that had happened to the senior members of the Dokgo Clan, including the Clan Head and his biological father, Dokgo Ildo.

Once he finished, Dokgo Ildo finally spoke.

“So… You’re saying that child is Hwayoung’s daughter?”

Before Dokgo Ryong could answer, one of the elders burst out.

“You mustn’t believe it, Clan Head! He clearly picked up some child from the marketplace and is claiming it to be Hwayoung’s!”

“If you had seen the child’s face, you wouldn’t say such things.”

“She did… resemble the lady, indeed…”

“I couldn’t see clearly, so I didn’t notice.”

The opinions among the upper ranks were split. But rather than argue, Dokgo Ryong chose to show them solid evidence. He untied the bundle he had brought.

“That’s…!”

The elder who denied Sowol’s identity gasped in shock.

“Surely, no one here doesn’t know what this is.”

It was Bonguhwa Sword, the famed blade bestowed upon Dokgo Hwayoung when she was appointed as the successor.

“If you doubt its authenticity, go ahead and check for yourself.”

The elder hesitantly approached, examined the sword, and his lips quivered.

“It’s genuine! This is the very sword given to Lady Hwayoung!”

Finally grasping the weight of the situation, the expressions of those present darkened.

“She… really left this world…”

“Damn! We should’ve done whatever it took to stop that bastard from marrying her! Had she tied with the Namgung family instead, she could have succeeded the clan!”

“Elder Yeon! Are you implying the current heir is inferior to her?!”

“No, that’s not what I meant. If she were still with us, things could have turned out differently…”

“Mind your tongue! She betrayed the clan! She renounced her cultivation and left for love!”

“Frankly, instead of destroying her core, she should’ve had her limbs cut off so the clan’s secrets wouldn’t leak!”

“Have you forgotten whose presence you’re in?!”

A heated debate broke out among the high-ranking elders.

Some mourned Dokgo Hwayoung and expressed regret. Others, who supported the current heir, Dokgo Cheonwoon, criticized her harshly.

This was the current power structure of the Dokgo Clan.

But too much of anything becomes poison.

Some realized they had gone too far slandering Hwayoung in an attempt to elevate the current heir. They glanced nervously at Dokgo Ildo.

Until now, Dokgo Ildo had stayed silent. But now, his sharp gaze pierced through one of them.

“C-Clan Head… I misspoke. Please forgive my foolish words.”

The man he glared at was one of the senior-most elders—even older than Dokgo Ildo. Yet, he couldn’t utter another word in defense.

It wasn’t just because Dokgo Ildo was the Clan Head. He was also a top-tier martial artist ranked among the Ten Masters.

No one in that hall surpassed him in skill.

“This will be your only warning.”

As Dokgo Ildo cooled his temper, the elder quickly bowed his head.

“So… Hwayoung is dead.”

His face returned to its original stoic expression as he looked down at Dokgo Ryong.

He might’ve looked cold-blooded, unmoved by his daughter’s death, but Dokgo Ryong saw the subtle glisten in his eyes.

“…I wonder why Hwayoung sent the letter to you, not to us.”

“I don’t know either. Maybe she did send it here, and someone intercepted it? Perhaps Madam Ryu, for instance…”

As Dokgo Ryong narrowed his eyes and scanned the upper ranks, they shook their heads as if jolted.

“Dokgo Ryong! Don’t stir trouble with baseless accusations!”

“I said perhaps. You decide if it’s true or not. Regardless, I saved the child according to my sister’s letter.”

“You must have a reason for bringing her here.”

At Dokgo Ildo’s question, Dokgo Ryong looked down briefly, thinking of Sowol.

‘Uncle!’

Most children are afraid of him the first time they meet. Adults too, for that matter.

‘But she was different.’

Maybe she was bold… or just had no sense of fear.

She would approach him without hesitation, chatting nonstop without ever tiring. It was annoying—but at times…

‘No, foolish thoughts.’

Dokgo Ryong shook his head. He couldn’t allow himself to think like that.

“I’d like you to raise her here.”

A murmur rippled through the hall. But unlike before, no one outright rejected the idea.

“My sister only asked me to protect her child—not raise her. And frankly, I’m not cut out to raise a child.”

He’d thought so the moment he first met Sowol.

He might be able to keep her alive, but raising her? That was a different matter.

“Even if she left the clan, can’t we take in her child? Surely, there’s room for one kid in this vast place.”

That’s why he came back to this wretched place—the Dokgo Clan.

It might’ve been unbearable for him, but the people here had cherished Hwayoung deeply. Surely, they’d accept her daughter too.

“We definitely can’t leave the child in his care.”

“But bringing her in so suddenly could complicate things! What if the current heir finds out?”

“So what, should we just cast her out?”

“She’s just a child. Turning a blind eye would be cruel.”

“Don’t you realize how much trouble this one child might bring us in the future?”

‘As expected…’