Surviving as the Sacheon Dang Clan’s Servant - Chapter 103

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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 103
The boy turned around.
He had a face resembling Namgoong Hui’s, though his frame was far slighter and his features more delicate.
Catching the boy’s eye, I bowed hastily.
“Forgive me, miss. I mistook you for someone else.”
I had jumped to the conclusion that it was Namgoong Hui stepping down from the carriage, but what emerged was a radiant little girl.
Just as I was turning awkwardly to slip away, the girl suddenly closed in and seized my sleeve.
“Do you know my brother?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You mistook me for someone else. That means you know my brother, doesn’t it?”
The girl’s expression—eyes wide and bright—was identical to Namgoong Hui’s from some time ago.
This must be Namgoong Hui’s younger sister.
I shook my hands awkwardly in denial.
“That’s not possible, miss.”
“Hmm? Really? But you seem to know something…….”
Despite my denial, the girl would not release her suspicions.
She gripped tighter and raked her gaze over me from every angle—her eyes bright with the determination to pry out who I was.
A lady’s maid who had been gathering luggage from the carriage called out to the girl.
“Miss, what are you doing over there?”
“Gyogyo, this sister just said to me——”
As the girl turned to answer the maid’s call, she loosened her grip on my sleeve.
This was my chance—run!
I bolted away as if my life depended on it.
* * *
Namgoong Yeon watched the girl’s retreating figure and let out a small gasp.
The way she fled at such speed, burdened with all that luggage, was enough to make one think she’d glimpsed a ghost.
“Gyogyo, did you see? That sister’s Lightness Skill seems even faster than my brother’s.”
“It certainly does. That was incredibly swift…….”
“She must be a martial cultivator. Why did she have dirt smeared on her face?”
Namgoong Yeon shaded her eyes with her hand and kept her gaze fixed on the street until the girl vanished entirely.
“Yeon, what are you doing out here? Why haven’t you come inside?”
“Sister Ran!”
Only then did Namgoong Yeon turn and rush toward Namgoong Ran, flinging her arms around her.
“Our little Yeon, you must have grown weary from the long journey. Didn’t your backside get sore?”
“I’m ten now. Riding in a carriage is nothing to me. Sister Ran, listen—I just saw the most beautiful sister! But she called me someone else’s name. She must know my brother.”
“Hui? How strange. Unless she’s from Hefei, there shouldn’t be many who know Hui’s face.”
“That’s what made it odd, right? So I asked if she knew my brother, and she just ran away.”
“Did she? Ha, she must have been startled by the mistake.”
Namgoong Ran brushed off the matter without much concern and pulled her younger sister along, paying no mind whatsoever to the person her sister had seen.
“Are you hungry, little Yeon? Shall we have some tea together? The guild has candied walnuts to accompany it.”
“Yes!”
“Now I’ll show you the Merchant Guild where I work. You’ll stay quiet for me, won’t you, since you’re such a good girl?”
“Of course!”
Namgoong Yeon answered with vigor, straightening her spine and pulling her shoulders back.
Suppressing a smile at the little girl’s effort to appear dignified, Namgoong Ran adjusted her pace to match her younger sister’s stride as they headed toward the office.
After settling her youngest sibling into a plush chair and laying out tea and refreshments before her, Namgoong Ran asked,
“How is Hui doing?”
“My brother? Just the same as when you left. He does nothing but practice every day, and when he rests, he hangs his brow like this and fidgets with that wrist knot.”
“Goodness. He still hasn’t undone that knot?”
“No. My brother must be foolish. They say the knot will break when a wish comes true, but who believes that nonsense?”
“Yeon, I’ve told you not to speak that way about your brother.”
Pouting, Namgoong Yeon mumbled through a mouthful of walnuts.
“But my brother’s gotten really strange lately. He doesn’t even play with me much anymore.”
At her sister’s complaint, Namgoong Ran’s eyes widened and she let out a soft laugh.
“Try to understand, Yeon. The fever of first love is always relentless. It will pass with time.”
“Okay.”
“Good girl, our youngest. Now I must get to work. Let’s talk again in an hour?”
“All right.”
Namgoong Ran gave her youngest sister’s cheek a gentle pinch and opened her ledger.

Namgoong Yeon watched her sister hand over the ledger, then sipped her tea.
Fever of first love? Is older brother sick somewhere? He shouldn’t be sick.
No, if older brother stays sick, then I’ll have to become the clan head! I’m going to practice hard and learn the Emperor Sword Form too!
With such ambitious plans taking shape, Namgoong Yeon smiled brightly and reached for a walnut.
The memory of that pretty woman she’d met in front of the carriage had long since faded from her mind.
* * *
I hurried out of the village and glanced back, exhaling in relief as I pressed a hand to my chest.
Whew, that was close. Why was a Namgoong Clan carriage out there?
They said Anhui was under Namgoong Clan control, and it seemed their influence extended to the regional borders as well.
“Ju Ryeong. Did anyone follow us?”
“Chirp!”
Ju Ryeong answered by poking his face out and scrambling onto my shoulder. The creature, who’d been holding his breath in my cramped embrace for quite some time, had fur matted flat on one side.
If Ju Ryeong hadn’t sensed anything, it should be safe—but considering the possibility, I took the longer route around.
After climbing and descending five peaks, I returned to the Hermitage just as the sun was dipping low, and found Yeon Liang waiting for me in front of the mountain gate.
“I’m here.”
“Finally. It’s getting dark and you still weren’t back—I thought something had happened.”
He smiled weakly, checked that I was unharmed, and took the luggage from me. I grinned and opened my mouth.
“Something did happen.”
“What? Did you run into pursuers?”
I turned and pointed to the carrying sack on my back.
“Ta-da. Look at this.”
“You got a sword? That’s why you’re late, then.”
“Go ahead and open it. I’m sure you’ll love it.”
“I won’t complain. Let me see just how much you got overcharged.”
Yeon Liang opened the mouth of the sack and chuckled. But his laughter didn’t last long.
As he unwrapped the cloth wound around the blade, confusion washed over his face.
“What—what is this? Did you loot someone’s secret stash or something?”
“It’s incredible, right? Ju Ryeong found it in the blacksmith shop.”
“Chirp!”
Ju Ryeong lifted his chin as if asking for praise, but Yeon Liang didn’t even glance at him.
He spoke firmly.
“Put it back where it was. Right now.”
“What? Why? Look carefully—this is the Running Cloud Sword. It’s incredibly rare.”
“That’s exactly why we can’t keep it. Something like this always brings trouble.”
His tone was so stern it was intimidating. I stammered out an excuse.
“It’s not the kind of thing that brings trouble. The person who made it has completely forgotten about it. ……Probably.”
That’s why no one’s come looking for it in over thirty years.
“How would you know that? I don’t believe a treasure like this would just be sitting in some village blacksmith shop in the first place.”
At my excuse, Yeon Liang frowned. Then, seeming mindful of the monks in the Hermitage, he lowered his voice and jerked his chin toward the forest.
“Let’s talk over there. We don’t want to startle the monks.”
“……Okay.”
“Wait here for a moment.”
He left me standing there, moved the luggage inside the room, and came back to pull me along. His expression was uncharacteristically stern.
I thought he’d be pleased……
When I let my shoulders droop helplessly, the crease between Yeon Liang’s brows softened. He spoke in a much gentler tone.
“I’m not angry with you. I just want to make sure—items with potential to cause conflict are best avoided. How did you get it?”
I swallowed my disappointment and answered.
“Ju Ryeong discovered it crammed in a corner of the blacksmith shop. The blacksmith shop owner knows the Dang Family Master Blacksmith. He was keeping a sword the Master had made.”
“The Dang Family Master Blacksmith? What’s something like that doing lying around here?”
“I’m curious about that too. It must have been one of the elders, but I can’t fathom what he was thinking……. The clan has so many eccentric people that it’s not particularly strange, really.”
I didn’t even need to look far—my own siblings were proof of that.
Even with my explanation, Yeon Liang’s face remained skeptical.
“Setting aside where the sword came from—why would the blacksmith shop owner give a sword made by the Dang Family Master Blacksmith to you? You didn’t reveal your identity, did you?”
“The blacksmith shop owner recognized my bracelet. He asked if I was from the Dang Clan first. Apparently this was also made by the elder who crafted the sword.”
“What? You’re supposed to be in hiding. What were you thinking, letting the clan know?”
Yeon Liang pressed his temples firmly. I touched my neck sheepishly.
“I gave my brother’s name instead, so there shouldn’t be a major problem. I mentioned our second brother’s name.”
“Your former tutor—your older brother?”
“Yes. When I left the clan, he gave me his identity token. I used it to pretend to be a servant running errands for the young master.”
“You pretended to be a servant? The blacksmith shop owner believed that? And you’re wearing a protective talisman made by the Dang Family Master Blacksmith?”
“I don’t know if he believed me, but I promised him I’d keep the secret. That old man seems to care an awful lot about our family. Since he’s taken on being a disciple of the Dang Family Master Blacksmith, he won’t go blabbing about it.”
Yeon Liang, who had been watching me with a suffocated expression, sighed and rubbed his eyes.
“Hah… I’m not trying to condemn your choice, Sohye, but you don’t actually believe that old man would keep his word even with a blade at his throat, do you?”
At Yeon Liang’s words, which pointed to the part I’d been deliberately avoiding, cold sweat pooled in my palms. I mumbled something in excuse.
“He was just an ordinary old man. There’s no need to kill him just to prevent future trouble.”
Those I’d fought and killed until now were clearly enemies who’d been hunting me, but this old man was not.
He’d simply happened to meet me by chance. He’d even served me tea, treating me as a guest.
I didn’t want to become the kind of person who would drive a blade into the back of someone who’d shown me kindness without hesitation.
“… So you already knew what you should do, yet you came anyway. You soft-hearted girl.”
Yeon Liang let out a hollow laugh, muttering quietly.
“That’s what makes you who you are, I suppose. Which is why you’re going through all this trouble over one dying Demonic Cult member.”
His words, almost a lament, jolted me awake.
If I killed the blacksmith shop owner to leave no trace of trouble, it felt like I’d become just like Madam Sam. So I’d pretended not to notice and done nothing.
But what if information truly leaked through the old man?
What if my meager compassion put Yeon Liang in danger as well?
With his body as it was, he couldn’t fight or flee. This wasn’t the time to indulge in hypocrisy beyond my station.
I drew a long breath and lifted my head. It was my error in judgment, and it was right that I settle it cleanly with my own hands.
I looked Yeon Liang in the eyes and spoke.
“… I was wrong. I’ll go back to the village when the sun sets.”

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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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