I Thought the Youngest Daughter of the Sichuan Tang Family Was Hated - Chapter 43

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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‘Get a grip. Get a firm grip on yourself.’
I repeated the mantra while barely steadying my painfully racing heart.
In moments like this, I had to assess the situation with a clear mind.
First, I’d been kidnapped.
Just before entering the Alley, I’d been with Dang Dam.
In the blink of an eye, I’d been separated from him and trapped inside a massive cargo cart.
‘Which means…’
This was the work of a master skilled enough to shake off Dang Dam.
How had they managed to separate him from me so silently and completely?
Could they have killed him?
‘That can’t be right.’
A chill raced down my spine.
Then what about Nanny? Had she suffered the same fate?
That woman was wearing Nanny’s clothes. To lure me in.
“This is premium quality. We’ll make decent money off this.”
“More than decent, I’d say.”
Voices drifted in from outside. A man spoke excitedly while a woman answered in a low voice.
They were definitely talking about me.
“Miss?”
The woman’s voice drew closer.
She was speaking to me through the wall that separated us.
When I recalled her chilling smile, my breath caught in my throat.
“Don’t try anything foolish. We have a long journey ahead.”
The woman laughed cruelly as she continued.
“I’ll make sure you’re comfortable during the trip, alright?”
She lifted her voice coquettishly and tapped the wall repeatedly.
It seemed to be the signal to depart.
“Hyah!”
The driver began urging the horses forward.
‘A long journey?’
Did that mean I could be separated from my family forever if things went wrong?
I shook my head vigorously, casting away the horrifying thought.
Despair was a luxury I couldn’t afford right now.
I swallowed hard and pressed my body against the wall.
‘…For now. One woman. One man. One driver. So there are only three of them?’
Where exactly was I right now?
Through a crack in the wall, I could barely see outside.
“!”
We were still in the Market District. Though it seemed we’d traveled quite far from where I’d been.
My hands were bound and my mouth was gagged—I couldn’t make a sound.
The carriage moved slowly forward.
‘…But if it’s now.’
I pressed my back firmly against the wall and drew a deep breath.
My mouth and nose were blocked, making it difficult to breathe properly.
Barely managing to steady my breathing, I carefully slipped my fingers into my sleeve.
As I wiggled my fingers and stretched them out, I felt a small pouch.
When those men had grabbed me, I’d instinctively shoved the pouch from inside my collar into my sleeve.
I stretched my fingers this way and that, opening the pouch wide.
‘Ugh. My hand’s so stiff…!’
Whether from tension or fear, my hand wouldn’t obey me.
As I finally rummaged inside, fragments both large and small tumbled into my palm.
They were the sweets that Dang Lim had personally crushed for me.
“….”
I quietly dropped the pieces of sweet one by one through the gaps in the carriage wall.
‘Please.’
Praying that Dang Lim would see them and come find me.
***
The ground trembled and the air itself seemed to tear.
Everyone gathered at the Dang Family Guest House experienced the same thing in that moment.
The wrath of the direct bloodline of the Dang Family—beings who were the very embodiment of sinister killing intent.
Screeeech—at that thin, murderous sound, every bird perched on the branches fled skyward.
Like thunder rumbling, the Dang Family Head opened his mouth.
“Do you understand what you just said?”
His piercing eyes bore through the escort warrior kneeling before him.
“You’re saying that you… failed to protect my daughter. Is that what you’re telling me?”
To each word spat out like a curse, Dang Dam, his head bowed low, gave a response tinged with despair.
“…Please kill me.”
Understanding the situation took but an instant.
“…!”
Dang Lim, Gwi-heon, and Dang Eum rushed out first.
Dang Lim and Dang Eum immediately vaulted over the wall, while Gwi-heon hurried to dispatch personnel.
“Show me at once. Where you lost my daughter.”
Dang Cheon-mu dashed barefoot from the pavilion as he spoke to Dang Dam.
Dang Dam, who had been in a daze, snapped back to awareness and spoke rapidly.
“It was an alley in the Market District. The moment we stepped inside, the young lady… disappeared.”
“And then? What did you do?”
As Dang Cheon-mu listened to Dang Dam’s account while quickening his pace, the Chief Steward approached his side.
The man silently offered a sinister curved blade with both hands, and Dang Cheon-mu deftly grasped the handle and concealed it in his sleeve.
It was the Wave-Slayer blade, the Dang Family Head’s prized weapon.
“…We searched the surrounding area thoroughly, but could find no trace of the young lady.”
Dang Cheon-mu’s clenched fist trembled violently.
“….”
Around Dang Cheon-mu, whose veins bulged even at his temples, an opaque qi rippled and surged.
He appeared to be on the verge of losing his reason.
He was consumed by fierce rage and fear.
The fear that he might lose another precious person.
“Anger won’t change anything.”
Dang Mu-seon spoke as if pouring cold water on his turbulent emotions.
He stood leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.
He must have heard the news, yet he remained composed.
By his usual nature, he could have turned all of Anhui upside down.
“I’ve released the poison hounds. They’re sensitive creatures that know the baby’s scent—they’ll find her quickly.”
He spoke in a flat voice and turned his head toward the direction of the Market District.
He continued, gesturing with his hand.
“Once you find her, finish the business and bring them to me. I possess the Searing Venom among my arsenal.”
At his calm words, Dang Cheon-mu’s eyes gleamed.
One of the Dang Family’s Eight Poisons—the Caustic Flame that could dissolve even hair.
Dang Cheon-mu immediately understood what he intended to use it for.
“For daring to snatch away my granddaughter, they will pay the price.”
***
“Damn it. Damn it…!”
Running across the Market District floor, I swallowed back curses.
With a pale, ashen face, I suppressed my sobs and sprinted with all my strength.
“Kyaaaah!”
Colliding with people as I ran through the crowd, but I couldn’t run over them.
I had to find some trace of Hee-yeon.
“Yeon-ah! Where are you, Yeon-aaah!”
My voice, piercing loud enough to touch the sky, cracked and broke.
Calling out Hee-yeon’s name only made the tears flow harder.
“Damn it!”
I rubbed my eyes frantically to clear my blurred vision.
Then, something swift passed along my ankle.
The afterimage disappeared in an instant, and the people around me didn’t even notice its existence.
But I could tell.
It was a snake. A venomous one that Dok-jon raised.
“Could it be….”
My gaze followed the trail it had left behind.
“Huh?”
Something that caught my eye was scattered across the ground.
I picked it up and held it to the sunlight.
A glimmering red fragment.
His eyes shone even brighter than that piece.
“The red bean candy…!”
It was the candy he had personally crushed for Dang Eum.
In that instant, the darkness clouding my vision cleared.
Between the feet and shadows of the dense crowd, I could see red traces leading me forward.
Though small, they were all visible to me. It was only natural—he had made them himself.
“I found it. I’ll find you!”
I began to run, chasing the fragments.
The trail guided me to the right side of the Market District.
With light, swift steps, I pursued the path Dang Eum had laid out for me.
At the end of the connected fragments stood the low outer wall encircling the Market District.
“Huh…?”
The gate leading outside was firmly shut.
Just in case, I leaped upward, but the red fragment was nowhere to be seen.
The trail had ended.
I felt my body turn cold.
“…”
What should I do? My head was spinning in that moment.
The snake belonging to Dok-jon, whom I’d seen earlier, brushed against my heel.
It flicked its tongue, sniffing the surrounding air, then suddenly turned its head to one side.
There was a Relay Station. Carriages were parked beside horses drinking water.
The snake moved swiftly toward one of them.
“!”
The moment I knew the direction, I was faster.
I kicked off the ground and leaped onto the carriage.
As I stomped on the hinge, the door fell limply to the ground.
I threw myself into the carriage, plunging my hand into my sleeve.
“Dang Eum!”
If you so much as laid a finger on my sister—
I would melt your entire body in the Chuhon Mountain flame…
“Kgh…hack…!”
A death rattle echoed.
It was not from Dang Eum.
The scene inside the carriage reflected in my dilated pupils.
A man pierced through by a blade, coughing blood as he collapsed, and another man already fallen beside him.
Next to them, Dang Eum, bound hand and foot, covered in blood.
And finally, the young boy who had rescued Dang Eum from her kidnappers—Namgoong Do-hwi.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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