Longevity - Chapter 42

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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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Chapter 42: Heaven’s Wrath Upon All
The Mustachioed Man’s fist closed around the eldest child of Jeon’s household, tangling in her hair.
She swallowed her scream, her hands flying to shield her head, but he paid no mind—he simply twisted his body and dragged her through the doorway.

“Let her go!”

Jeon and his wife threw themselves to their knees in unison.

“She is only a child. Please, I beg you—spare her life.”

The Mustachioed Man did not break his stride.
Jang Saeng rushed to the doorway first, bowing deeply to the three Gaebang disciples standing outside.

“I implore you—stop this man. Please.”

The Bald Man, his scalp pocked with sores, laughed.

“He’s not going to kill her. Why such fear?”

The other two said nothing. Their eyes simply roved over Jeon’s Daughter’s face and body in turns.
Jang Saeng clenched his teeth and spoke again.

“Does not the Gaebang pride itself as a fellowship of Chivalrous Heroes? To prey upon defenseless refugees—”
“Shut your mouth.”

The Bald Man shoved Jang Saeng’s shoulder with the hilt of his sword. Jang Saeng stumbled, crashing against the doorframe.
Inside, Jeon and his wife clung desperately to the Mustachioed Man’s clothes. He kicked his legs several times to shake them off, but they would not release him. His threadbare garment tore with a sickening rip.
The Mustachioed Man’s face twisted in fury. He drove his boot into the old man’s chest.
Thud.
Jeon stumbled backward two steps and crashed onto his back, the breath driven from his lungs. His mouth hung open silently, but almost at once he braced himself on his elbows, trying to rise.

“Grab me again, and I’ll kill you all.”

Jeon’s Wife refused to release her daughter’s hair. She seized the torn fabric of his garment in both hands and hung from him like a weight.
The Young Child bolted forward and wrapped both arms around the Mustachioed Man’s left leg. His body tilted, thrown off balance.

“Wretches!”

He drew the blade from his belt. When Jang Saeng saw the steel flash, he hurled himself forward.

“No!”

Even as the word left his lips, the sword fell. Jang Saeng’s fingertips brushed Jeon’s Wife’s sleeve, but he could not seize her in time.
Slice.
The blade opened a deep gash along the side of her neck. Her hands fell away from the torn cloth, and her body crumpled sideways.
Blood pooled across the floor. Jeon’s Daughter made no sound. Still gripped by the hair, she sank to her knees, her eyes wide and fixed on her mother.
Jeon pushed himself up from the ground. In his trembling hand lay half of a shattered gray brick.

“You devil!”

He raised the brick and charged. The Mustachioed Man was ready—he thrust his blade forward to meet him.
Squelch.
The sword pierced Jeon’s chest. His garment tore open, and his body froze upon the steel.
The brick, still raised in his grip, never fell. As the man wrenched his blade free, Jeon staggered two steps and collapsed first to his knees. His chest and back bloomed crimson in an instant.
The Young Child howled like a trapped animal. He seized the man’s leg more fiercely and sank his teeth into the calf.
The Mustachioed Man grimaced and raised his sword again. Without thinking, Jang Saeng threw himself forward—but at that moment, a voice called from outside the door.

“Leave the little one. We have use for him.”

The blade halted above the child’s head. In that instant, Jang Saeng seized the Young Child and pulled him back, cradling him with his body. The boy thrashed and fought to return, but Jang Saeng held him fast, wrapping him completely in his arms.
The Mustachioed Man drove his heel into Jang Saeng’s ribs. Jang Saeng twisted his body to shield the child from the blow, cradling her against his chest instead.
Thud.
The air exploded from his lungs. Jang Saeng rolled across the floor still holding the child, the pain beneath his ribs tearing like cloth, but he did not loosen his grip.
The man stared down at the bite marks on his calf and spat.

“Filthy creatures.”

He seized Jeon’s Daughter by the hair and wrenched her upright. Her legs gave way, and her feet dragged across the floor.
The young child thrashed in Jang Saeng’s arms.

“Sister! Sister!”

Jang Saeng clenched his teeth and held the child fast. If he let go now, she would die too.
The Mustachioed Man dragged Jeon’s Daughter out through the Western Wing Building and shut the door behind them. He slid the bolt home from outside.
Clang.
The child’s wails grew louder. When biting Jang Saeng’s hand and clawing at his arms proved useless, she finally cried out for her sister until her voice turned hoarse.
From beyond the door came the laughter of Gaebang disciples, punctuated by the sound of sword sheaths striking wooden pillars.

“Why keep the little one alive?”
“Sell his limbs in the market—easy coin.”
“With your butchery, nine out of ten die anyway. You planning to waste time again?”

Instead of an answer came a low chuckle, and footsteps drifted toward the Northern Main Hall.
The young child wept for a time, then suddenly went limp. Unable to bear the grief and terror any longer, she had lost consciousness.
Jang Saeng laid the child against the wall and tilted his chin to check for breath. It came faint but steady.

“Uncle.”

Jeon was still breathing.
Jang Saeng crawled on his knees and lifted the old man’s torso into his arms. Blood continued to flow from the wound in his chest, and red foam seeped from his mouth and nose.
Jeon could not speak. With a trembling hand, he pointed toward his son, who rested against the wall.
Then his eyes turned toward the Northern Main Hall. Jang Saeng understood what he was asking.

“Do not worry, sir.”

His voice shook.

“I will protect your son. And I will save your daughter—I swear it.”

Jeon’s eyes rested on Jang Saeng for a moment. In them lay more sorrow than relief. He had no choice but to entrust both his children to a stranger he’d met only hours ago.
Jang Saeng wrapped both his hands around the old man’s hand. The palm was already growing cold.

“I will take them with me. I will not abandon either of them.”

Jeon’s fingers twitched faintly. That was all the answer he could give. Then his hand fell limp.
Jang Saeng placed a finger beneath the old man’s nose. No breath came.
Moments ago, this man had spoken of empty houses and fields within Bun-yang County, saying that when dawn broke he would go to the magistrate’s office, register in the Household Register, receive the land, and begin his life anew.
That tomorrow vanished behind a single door. Jang Saeng closed his eyes, then opened them. He could not afford to grieve now. Jeon’s Daughter and the young child were still alive.
* * *
Jang Saeng surveyed the Western Wing Building.
There were no windows in the rear. The east-facing window opened directly onto the courtyard and the Northern Main Hall—anyone trying to pry it open and escape would certainly be spotted by the Gaebang disciples.
The door was locked from outside. It would not budge. Jang Saeng stared at the Parasol Tree Walking Staff leaning against the wall.
Inside it were a Detoxification Pill, a Mysterious Pill, a Return Heaven Pill, and a Return Heaven Gold Pill. None of them were poisons. Even if he could find toxic plants in the mountains, there was no time to grind them and mix them now.
There was no opportunity to feed the pills to his enemies or place them in their wounds. He had considered rushing out with a wooden sword.
But there were four of them. Just one of them moved far faster than he did. Before he could get past the three outside the door and reach the Northern Main Hall, he would be cut down.
Jang Saeng found a Rusty Kitchen Knife and gripped it. His hand tightened on the handle.
He listened near the door, counting voices. At least three men were in the Northern Main Hall, and one was moving between the courtyard and the building. The moment he broke the door, the nearest one would draw his sword and charge.
The blade of the kitchen knife was corroded with rust. Even if he aimed for the throat, the odds of cutting through in one stroke were poor. Meanwhile, the enemy’s swords had cleaved Jeon’s Wife’s throat and Jeon’s chest with a single pass each.
He could break the door and rush out to his death. But his death would not save Jeon’s Daughter. The young child would soon be dragged away to lose her limbs.
Na Yang-ja’s Return Heaven Gold Pill would never reach Gakjo Mountain. The sacrifice Yi Joong-yong and Jin Ip-chu and Jeon Jin-gung had made—their very lives spent to send him forward—would end here.

“Dying can wait.”

Jang Saeng set down the kitchen knife. First, he had to find a way to survive. Only then could he save the two children.
Laughter echoed from the Northern Main Hall—the Mustachioed Man’s laughter. Jang Saeng wanted to cover his ears but didn’t. He listened to the sound and measured what time remained.

“Hurry.”

He tore through the storage rooms that had once served as the kitchen.
Broken pot lids, cracked earthenware, rotted rope, ash hardened to the floor. He found plenty within reach, but nothing that could stop the four men outside the door.
Jang Saeng scraped the window bars with the Rusty Kitchen Knife. The wood was solid, and breaking even one bar would take far too long.
Then his knees grew wet. Blood flowing from Jeon’s Wife. Jang Saeng flinched, then stopped moving.
The blood didn’t spread outward. It trickled toward the low places in the floor, pooling in the narrow gaps between four bricks.
He pressed his palm against one of the bricks. One side shifted down slightly.

“There’s a hollow underneath.”

Jang Saeng tapped the edge of a brick with the flat of the knife. Hardened earth crumbled, and the gap widened.
As he lifted the first brick, the smell of rotted wood rose from below. Two more bricks removed, and a rectangular wooden panel appeared.
There was no handle. Jang Saeng wedged the knife’s tip into the gap and leaned his weight into it.
Creak.
The panel lifted. Narrow stairs descended into darkness below—pitch black and reeking of damp mold.
Whether it was an underground storage chamber or a passage to somewhere else, he couldn’t tell. But right now, it was the only way out.
Jang Saeng rushed to the young child. He hoisted the unconscious body onto his back and descended beneath the wooden panel.
The stairs leveled out after five steps. He felt the floor continue forward beneath his toes.
Jang Saeng laid the child against the wall and climbed back up. If he hid alone, he could never save Jeon’s Daughter. He had to draw the Gaebang disciples out of the Northern Main Hall.
He looked toward the window of the storage room.
The oil-soaked paper screen would catch fire easily. The dry wooden bars and rafters, having sat empty for so long, were brittle. The roofs of the Western Wing Building and Northern Main Hall were connected.
Jang Saeng grabbed a burning log from the brazier. He lit the paper screen from its lower edge first.
Whoosh.
Flame spread long and vivid across the oil-dampened paper. Fire climbed the bars and rose higher.
Jang Saeng moved the flame to the opposite window and to the dried grass stacked nearby. If only one spot burned, the Gaebang disciples could extinguish it. Fire had to spread simultaneously from at least three places.
But if the fire spread too fast, he and the young child could suffocate in the underground passage. He cleared the straw closest to the passage entrance, then gathered fuel to burn only at the wall where it touched the Northern Main Hall.
He had to send the flames toward the main hall but keep the passage above clear of fire. Night wind slipped through the gaps in the ruined walls.
The flames leaned eastward. Fire that had started in the bars licked the dry wood beneath the eaves, then jumped to the rafters.
Smoke rose quickly. Jang Saeng crouched low and breathed near the damp floor.

“Fire!”

A shout came from the north.
The bolt on the outer door rattled. The Gaebang disciples tried to enter the Western Wing Building, but flames were already surging through the gaps in the door.

“You in there! What have you done!”

Curses and kicks followed, but the inner fire kept the door from opening easily.
Jang Saeng didn’t answer. He grabbed another burning log and threw it toward the wall where the roof connected.
Flame now engulfed the entire Western Wing Building. Wind-driven fire raced beneath the joined eaves and stretched toward the Northern Main Hall.
The Gaebang disciples’ voices grew distant. They were abandoning Jeon’s Daughter to escape the fire.
Jang Saeng turned back to the underground passage. If the wooden panel burned through, fire and smoke could pour into the depths below.
A large cracked Water Jar stood against the wall. Jang Saeng leaned his shoulder against it and pushed.
At first it didn’t budge. His shoulder slipped, and pain flared again across his wounded ribs.

“Move.”

He threw his body against it once more. This time he hooked his feet into the gaps between bricks and pushed with his whole weight.
The jar tilted, water inside sloshing. On the third push, it broke free from its stone base and toppled sideways.
Crash.
The jar shattered, spilling its half-full contents across the floor. Water soaked the area around the wooden panel and into the brick gaps.
Smoke stung his eyes. Each breath seared his throat raw.
Jang Saeng covered his nose and mouth with his wet sleeve and lowered himself beneath the wooden panel. As he reached up to pull it shut one last time, a clear woman’s voice sounded from outside Seonghwang Temple.

“Blessed Infinite Heavenly Worthy
.”

Jang Saeng’s hand stilled upon the wooden board.

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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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