Surviving as a Cripple in Murim – Chapter 22

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Teottry
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I was seventeen. Out of the blue, I gained a younger sister.

“Uncle! Uncle! Good!”

A two-year-old with skin as white as snow and eyes as bright as jewels, like her parents, pummeled my cheeks with her tiny fists.

Smack! Smack!

“Ow! Ow! Stop, stop. Uncle’s hurt.”

It wasn’t that she disliked me; she was just overly excited and flailing. To be clear, she wasn’t my sister, but my brother’s daughter, my niece, Sima Hui.

As I held the two-year-old, attempting to placate her while enduring the onslaught, a woman in her early twenties with porcelain skin and striking features—my brother’s wife, Geum Moran—swiftly intervened, scooping Hui into her arms.

“Hui! I apologize, Young Master!”

“It’s nothing. She’s so small, it doesn’t hurt.”

I tickled Hui as she squirmed in her mother’s arms.

“There, there. Having fun with your uncle?”

“Hee hee! Tickles! Good! Good!”

I chuckled at Hui’s delighted wriggling, then checked the time. It was almost time.

A new addition to the Sima Clan. A fresh face. The girl who, from today onward, would become my younger sister, was due to arrive at our estate.

To be more precise, she was my uncle’s daughter, my cousin, being adopted into the family. Still, adopted or not, she was family. My sister.

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Tap. Tap.

Staff in hand, I made my rounds, inspecting the estate, ensuring the servants performed their duties diligently. I spotted Jang Sam bustling about the kitchens.

“Jang Sam, is the food prepared?”

“A feast fit for a Grandmaster, as you commanded, Young Master. But can a young girl truly consume such an abundance?”

At Jang Sam’s question, a sentiment typical of his limited servant’s perspective, I shook my head.

“The point isn’t whether she eats it all. It’s a display of our eagerness for her arrival, a symbol of our welcome.”

“Then what becomes of the excess? It’s a waste.”

“What do you mean, ‘what becomes of it?’ You lot will enjoy it, naturally.”

Jang Sam’s eyes lingered longingly on the glistening roasted boar. The other servants, too, eyed the opulent dishes, delicacies beyond their usual fare, with undisguised anticipation.

“I hope the young miss has a delicate constitution.”

“Constitution aside, I wonder if it will suit her palate. She is accustomed to Western flavors.”

I frowned, a flicker of concern crossing my face, and Jang Sam, with a playful grin, nudged me with his elbow.

“This is a task for the Clan Leader, yet you attend to every detail, Young Master. Such diligence.”

“Clan matters are my matters. If there’s a void, it must be filled. Now, back to your duties.”

While she was my cousin, the formality of the adoption meant that, as Jang Sam pointed out, my father should have been orchestrating the welcoming preparations.

It would have been more appropriate. The Clan Leader himself welcoming the new family member would have fostered a sense of harmony and conveyed the importance of unity.

Unfortunately, Father was away on urgent clan business, and my elder brother was confined to his bed, battling a raging fever. Naturally, Mother and my sister-in-law were occupied tending to him, leaving them no time to welcome the newcomer.

Thus, by default, the responsibility fell upon me to prepare for the arrival of my new sister, Sima Yeonhwa (司馬炎火).

Now that I considered it, Yeonhwa (炎火) Blazing Fire, was a rather striking name. What fascination with fire had possessed my uncle to bestow upon his only daughter a name containing three fire radicals?

It was a question that would remain unanswered. The man who had given her the name was dead.

My uncle had perished suddenly, succumbing to a virulent plague while on a trading mission to the Western Regions. I’d heard that Yeonhwa’s mother had passed away soon after, unable to bear the grief.

To lose your entire family so abruptly…though a distant relative I had never met, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy.

Chirp… Chirp… Chirp~ chirp… Chirp…

Birds sang their morning greetings, and the warm rays of the sun, a welcome contrast to the lingering chill in the air, heralded the arrival of spring.

Truthfully, the sudden acquisition of a younger sister didn’t evoke any sense of familial connection. And I doubted Yeonhwa, currently traveling by carriage to the Sima estate, felt any differently.

For a time, an odd, unsettling distance would likely hang over the household. I might even find myself treading carefully in my own home.

A girl was joining the family. That meant changes, adjustments, accommodations. It would be inconvenient, no doubt.

There would be friction, disagreements, perhaps even clashes. But what choice did I have? Family was family; I would have to adapt.

Regardless, from this day forward, Yeonhwa was my sister, and I, her older brother.

An older brother had a responsibility to protect and guide his younger sister. A burden to bear.

“Young Master, I’ve prepared confetti. Shall we scatter it when the lady arrives?”

At the preposterous sight of the basket overflowing with neatly cut squares of colored paper, I rapped Jang Sam lightly on the head with my staff.

“Oof!”

“Do you truly believe a joyous celebration is appropriate for one who arrives on the heels of a double funeral?”

As I oversaw the final preparations, the carriage bearing Sima Yeonhwa arrived at the estate gates.

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I smoothed my robes and surveyed the courtyard. No other family members were present. …They all had their reasons, but it was a poor showing nonetheless.

I scanned the courtyard again, a flicker of irritation rising within me. Beside me, Jang Sam trembled, his face pale with anxiety.

“Calm yourself, Jang Sam.”

“I wasn’t concerned before, but what if the young miss proves to be…difficult?”

True, for me it was simply the addition of a sister, but for the servants, it meant another master to serve. Their apprehension was justified.

Thinking about it, I knew little of Yeonhwa myself. Fifteen years of age. Her mother a ‘Saekmokin’, implying mixed blood. That was the extent of my knowledge.

Come to think of it, I didn’t know much about Yeonhwa either. I only knew that she was fifteen and mixed-race, her mother having been a “Saekmokin.”

Just in case, I closed my eyes and simulated having a younger sister with a terrible personality.

“Chuckle chuckle♥ Pathetic♥ You can’t even walk properly without a staff~♥ Useless♥ Useless brother♥”

“I’ll take care of my useless brother who goes ow~ ow~ without his staff~♥”

“Chuckle chuckle♥ Seriously, how does it feel to be supported by a girl younger than you? Tell me~♥”

Hmm… perhaps a sadistic little sister wouldn’t be so terrible after all?

While I was indulging in such foolish fantasies, the carriage door opened, and Sima Yeonhwa gracefully stepped out. And all my foolish fantasies vanished.

To be precise, I was so stunned by her unexpected beauty that my mind went blank and I was speechless.

Flawless, smooth, white skin, neat, well-kept black hair, a cute nose, light pink lips, and captivating red eyes that drew attention with a single glance.

She was beautiful. A beautiful child. Like a perfectly crafted porcelain doll.

Although she was only fifteen, she carried herself with a mature air, every movement exuding elegance and grace.

I had expected a kid, but… this was unexpected. Shocking.

But her eyes were red… strange. Was she albino? But her hair was black, and she didn’t seem to have any problems being in the sunlight. Was it just genetic?

As I observed her, taking in information, I noticed an unusual ornament among her accessories.

It was a golden figurine of a creature with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a bird with outstretched wings.

I’d seen it before. Or rather, in my past life. It wasn’t just an ornament. It was a religious symbol.

I hadn’t seen it in any religious texts, but in a manga. If I remembered correctly, the name was…

“Zoroastrianism?”

Yeonhwa, who had been quietly observing her surroundings, widened her eyes in surprise. Her round eyes widened. They lit up.

As if the doll-like composure she had maintained until now was a lie, Yeonhwa clasped her hands together as if in prayer, her face brightening with a radiant smile.

“Wow! You know about Zoroastrianism! It’s truly a divine religion!”

“Excuse me?”

Yeonhwa immediately approached me, clasped my hands in hers, and, ignoring the stares of those around us, chattered excitedly in a sweet voice.

“You’re Brother Mancheon, right? People in the Central Plains usually call it fire worship, but how did you know the official name, Zoroastrianism? Where did you learn the Western language? From your father? I mean, from my uncle? Did he tell you about me?”

There were so many things I wanted to say.

For example, “Gasp! I already have a church I go to!” or “Don’t use foreign words in the martial world!” or “This isn’t muhyup!” but the words wouldn’t come.

Looking into her joyful red eyes, sparkling with the excitement of meeting someone who shared her faith in a foreign land far from home, I couldn’t say anything.

In the end, I resorted to my ultimate technique.

“Let’s… talk over dinner. I didn’t know what you liked, so I prepared a little bit of everything.”

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Oho I thought she was from Crimson flame sect or else but all I know she’s westerner.🤦‍♂️