Episode 5. The Mirror of the Nine Heavenly Mysterious Women
Namgung Byeok frowned as he noticed the anger on his daughter’s face.
‘Yeon-i is young, but she is a child who is better at discerning right from wrong than adults. What is going on?’
Instead of living in isolation from the outside world, she is a daughter who has a smarter mind than anyone else. But that daughter is so angry that she is trembling.
Namgung Byeok glanced at Yeon Jeok Ha.
The little child was so helpless that it was pitiful.
On one side, Jang Ha-eun and Baek Mi-ju, who had been watching, intervened in a soft voice.
“Grandfather, I did something I did without knowing because I was young, so wouldn’t it be better to just forgive me?”
“Your brother is right. Aren’t they six and eight years old now?”
As his wife came out, Namgung Byeok sighed and said.
“Haa! Yeon-ah, you are still young and don’t know how dangerous the world is. But you are different. Don’t you know why your father went to Mt. Mudang? Be especially careful so that something like this doesn’t happen again. Do you understand?”
“… … .”
Instead of answering, Namgung Yeon just glared at Namgung Byeok and Yeon Mu Ryong with fierce eyes.
Baek Mi-ju, who was watching Namgung Yeon like that, asked Jang Ha-eun cautiously.
“Brother, Yeon-i originally said… … .”
Since it was in front of the parties involved, I couldn’t bring myself to ask, “Can’t I do it?”
“That’s not true. The congressman said that he was so sensitive that he closed his heart to himself. That way he could be less hurt.”
“Ah! Oh my, tsk tsk! How delicate must one be… … .”
As Baek Mi-ju clicked her tongue, a sneer appeared on Namgung Yeon’s face.
Baek Mi-ju was flustered and didn’t know what to do when she suddenly saw Namgung Yeon’s hostility.
Jang Ha-eun, who was shaking her head, took her daughter into the room before things got any worse.
And so the uproar ended.
The next day, the people of Namgung Se-ga left Waryongjang.
Yeonmu Baek, the eldest son of Waryongjang, also accompanied them.
The Yeon clan living in Waryongjang did not understand Yeon Mu-ryong, who would easily let go of his eldest son, but no one objected to it because they were the ones who were the ones who were the ones. In fact, some even said that they were glad that they could become close to Namgung Se-ga through this opportunity.
***
July of that year.
The True Moon Swordsman Yeonmu-ryong died without waking up. At that time, Yeonmu-ryong was only 40 years old.
The Yeon clan, shocked by the sudden death of the martial arts master Yeon Mu-ryong, called together the famous doctors from Luoyang and had them find out the cause of Yeon Mu-ryong’s death.
The investigation was completed in exactly one day.
A fist-sized tumor was discovered on the dragon’s head.
When Yeonmu-ryong died, Baek Mi-ju called twenty warriors from her family home, Baekga-jang, to Waryongjang. This was because Jang-ju died and there was no one left to guard Waryongjang.
She named the Baekgajang warriors ‘Baekhodae’ and appointed them as the military unit of Waryongjang.
Naturally, the influence of the Yeon clans in Waryongjang weakened.
Before long, Baek Mi-ju became the true mistress of Waryongjang.
In fact, the Yeon clan’s indifference also played a role in Baek Mi-ju becoming the mistress of Waryongjang.
They believed that Yeonmu Baek, who was training at Namgung Se Ga, would become the owner of Waryongjang when he returned. Since the biological mother of the three children (Yeonmu Baek, Yeonseung Baek, and Yeonseonju) was Baek Miju, they thought that there would be no conflict between them.
Furthermore, the Yeon clan knew that Baek Mi-ju was trying to raise Waryongjang into a powerful martial arts family. That was also what the Yeon clan wanted.
So, the Yeon clan inside and outside of Waryongjang tacitly approved of Baek Mi-ju seizing Waryongjang. If not, the Baek clan would not have been able to reside in Waryongjang.
In August, the sweltering heat began.
One day, Baek Mi-ju called the chief inspector, Yeon Mu-dok, into the main building.
“Brother, in Waryongjang, the only person I can rely on is you.”
Yeonmu-dok smiled at Baek Mi-ju’s words. For the past few days, Baek Mi-ju has been calling him “brother.”
This would not have happened if his cousin Yeonmu-ryong was alive. However, the world belongs to the living. Yeonmu-dok fell for Baek Mi-ju’s continued flirtation and naturally decided to become her older brother.
“Yeah, what’s going on?”
Baek Mi-ju looked at Yeonmu-dok with cold eyes.
“As you know, I lost my husband to the bastard I brought home.”
“Yeah, I think my brother was a bit harsh.”
“These days, whenever I see Jeokha… … . I am tormented by the thought of my dead husband and Jongnyeon’s face. Can you make that child disappear from my sight?”
“Are you telling me to kill my nephew?”
An embarrassed look appeared on Yeonmu-dok’s face.
No matter how deep Baek Mi-ju’s grudge was, it was not something that Waryongjang, who dreamed of becoming a great martial arts master, should do.
“I’m not that poisonous. I just want you to hide it from my sight.”
“Invisible?”
“That kid isn’t normal anyway. I don’t think it would be good for him to stand out to other people.”
“That’s true, but… … .”
Yeonmu-dok nodded.
Certainly, after Yeonmu-ryong died, the enemy had become very strange. He could not make eye contact with people, and would often suddenly foam at the mouth and pass out.
“That child is not human, but closer to an animal. I can’t live with an animal by my side.”
“What would be good if I were allowed to do so?”
Baek Mi-ju approached Yeonmu-dok and placed her hand over his. Then, she breathed hot breath into Yeonmu-dok’s ear.
“There’s a warehouse at the back of the annex.”
“That warehouse… … .”
It was originally used as a wine cellar.
Yeonmu-ryong converted it into a warehouse and moved all sorts of odds and ends that had been passed down through the Yeon clan for generations. The light didn’t shine through well, so much so that he joked before he died, “I could catch bad guys and lock them up here.”
Yeonmu-dok looked at Baek Mi-ju with a complicated expression.
Because of that, the two people’s faces were almost touching each other.
Baek Mi-ju said with a sharp face.
“That child is a disgrace to our Waryongjang. I think he fits in best there.”
“Ugh… … .”
A groan escaped Yeonmu-dok’s mouth.
It’s not because of a guilty conscience.
He no longer cared about anything other than locking his nephew in the shed.
Yeonmu-dok, intoxicated by the fragrant breath of Baekmiju, grabbed her shoulder.
And then he climbed onto Baek Mi-ju’s body like a dog in heat.
That afternoon, Yeonmu-dok called a carpenter and installed a head-sized auxiliary door next to the warehouse door. It was to be used to put in and take out food and waste containers.
In the evening, he took his six-year-old daughter, Yeon-jeok-ha, to the warehouse.
“You know you have a lot of problems. You are a headache for the Yeon family. So from now on, you have to stay here without being noticed by others. Do you understand?”
“……yes.”
I couldn’t understand what my uncle was saying, but I had no choice but to answer, ‘Yes.’
Yeonmu-dok locked his young nephew in the warehouse and personally sealed the door. The future he would build with Baek Mi-ju was more important to him than Yeon Jeok-ha.
‘I won’t live long… … .’
With any luck, you might be able to hold out for a while.
But since it is a place where there is no sunlight, he will eventually get sick and die. Baek Mi-ju will not call a doctor for him.
Yeonmu-dok put his young nephew in danger with his own hands and blamed everything on Baek Mi-ju. ‘I am just the general manager of Waryongjang and I do whatever my mistress tells me to do,’ he said.
***
If the commander-in-chief, Yeonmu-dok, had known Yeonjeok-ha’s true feelings, he might not have blamed himself so much.
I felt rather peaceful while lying in the dark warehouse.
Just being free from Grandmother’s persistent harassment was enough to satisfy Yeonjeok. To be honest, Yeonjeok liked the warehouse more than Waryongjang.
The first few days were like that.
But soon, the fear of being in a confined space began to consume me.
“Eww!”
“Gyaaaahhhh!”
Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.
At night, the fear grew worse.
He screamed and pounded on doors and walls to escape the darkness that was lurking around, but it was no use. The cries of a six-year-old child and the sounds his hands made were ridiculously small.
No, even if that sound leaked out, it would be useless. In Waryongjang, no one would go against the will of the female owner, Baek Mi-ju.
The ignorant lover screamed at the top of her lungs every night.
The closest thing to the warehouse is the annex.
However, the people using the annex were the Baekho-dae, the personal guard of Baek Mi-ju. They were experts, so they heard the child’s screams, but they all turned away.
They knew what kind of humiliation the owner, Baek Mi-ju, had suffered from Yeon Mu-ryong. Yeon-jeok-ha’s mother, who was locked in the warehouse, was a maid from Baekga. To them, Yeon-jeok-ha was just a puppy of the dog that had bitten the owner.
So whenever they heard Yeonjeokha’s screams, the Baekhodae warriors would completely ignore them, talking about karma and retribution. There were even times when they would laugh and mock them.
***
About ten days passed like that.
Young Yeon-jeok became accustomed to the closed warehouse. Perhaps it was because Baek Mi-ju’s bullying had tempered his mind. Without any special reason, Yeon-jeok was no longer afraid of the narrow, dark warehouse.
One day, I suddenly felt a fresh breeze from the outside world flowing in through a small window on the wall where I was staying.
And I also noticed that when I laid my head on the floor, I could see a few trees through the small gap under the door frame.
Just this alone freed him from the anxiety and fear that had been weighing on him. He no longer screamed or banged on doors or walls.
***
Yeonjeokha’s daily life was extremely monotonous.
When I opened my eyes, I ate, pooped, looked at the things in the warehouse, ate again, pooped, and fell asleep.
Sometimes, when I was free, I would search through the warehouse.
Now, at only six years old, Yeon-jeok-ha had very limited options available to her.
All I do is look around and move the junk I’ve thrown away in the warehouse from here to there.
Even so, if you make too much of a mess, you will have less space to walk around, so you have to be very careful.
It was when the wind blowing through the warehouse was starting to get a little cooler that Yeonjeokha discovered ‘it’.
At the very bottom of the rubbish lay something huge, made of bronze.
He pulled it out, making a groan.
It was like a mirror, covered entirely in rust and dirt.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the words ‘Gucheonhyeonnyeo-gyeong’ were engraved on the back.
Without thinking much about it, I started wiping it with a rag.
It doesn’t even clean well no matter how old it is.
But the lover didn’t rush. Time was running out anyway.
Wiping the mirror was quite hard work, and I was sweating profusely. But Yeonjeok kept doing it, as if he was possessed by something.
Winter has passed and spring has come again.
Only then was I able to remove the old stains from the mirror.
As I polished the mirror’s surface until it was shiny, a small child appeared.
Yeonjeok, who had now turned seven, waved his hand with an innocent face.
“hi?”
The child in the mirror also waves his hand.
I looked closely at my reflection in the mirror.
The bronze mirror was so clear that it was possible to see even the contents of the eye pupils.
A sigh escaped from Yeonjeokha’s mouth as she blinked her eyes a few times for fun.
Wuxia,
