Surviving as the Sacheon Dang Clan’s Servant - Chapter 115

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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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Episode 115
“……You must be the first bloodling to attempt employing me as an errand runner.”
At that cutting remark, my voice shrank of its own accord. Even I had to admit it was an absurd request.
“If it sounded presumptuous, I apologize. But I simply cannot return to Sichuan…….”
At my murmur, Gwi Su Shin Ui narrowed her eyes as though she hadn’t heard correctly.
“The daughter of the Dang Clan cannot return to Sichuan? What nonsense is this? You haven’t been expelled.”
“I have been expelled.”
“What do you mean? Did the Poison King simply watch and do nothing?”
“I was expelled after he entered seclusion…….”
At those words, Gwi Su Shin Ui understood my situation entirely and clicked her tongue.
“Tsk, tsk. No wonder you look so bedraggled for a Dang daughter.”
I startled and glanced down at myself, spotting my clothes caked with dirt in several places.
It must have been from scraping against the stone wall as I leaped from the pit.
Gwi Su Shin Ui watched as I hurriedly brushed off my robes, then spoke curtly.
“This is the only time. I shall settle this debt with the Poison King.”
I’d heard similar words before, and I managed an awkward smile.
‘Tell him I’ll settle my debts with the Lin family as well.’
They grumble that they dislike each other, yet they sound like true friends.
“Yes, thank you so very much……!”
“Now that your business is concluded, won’t you see yourself out? My head is pounding. I must rest.”
Gwi Su Shin Ui cut short my gratitude, gripping the orb and shaking it lightly.
The ground trembled, and the landscape around us twisted.
A torrent of light burst forth, and I squeezed my eyes shut, shielding my face with the back of my hand.
At the same moment, someone seized my shoulder.
“Sohye!”
“Brother?”
It was Yeon Liang.
His eyes were bloodshot as though he hadn’t slept in days, and they searched me urgently.
“Are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Yes, yes, I’m fine. No injuries.”
At my answer, Yeon Liang’s shoulders sagged with relief, he rubbed his eyes, and then words came pouring out in an angry torrent.
“You reckless girl! The moment I told you there was a spell woven into it, you reached out? You can’t just touch things like that carelessly! I searched for three days and nights without finding a trace of you—I thought my heart would stop!”
I was left bewildered by his words.
“Three days? Three days have passed?”
It hadn’t even been a double hour since I parted from Yeon Liang. Time had moved like that?
I lifted my head to gaze at the sky—the sun hung directly overhead. Since I’d entered Bidong near dusk, I realized now that time must have flowed differently inside Bidong than without.
“Yes. The moment you vanished, water began flooding into Bidong. I nearly drowned. The instant I escaped, Bidong vanished. Did you meet Gwi Su Shin Ui? Nothing terrible happened?”
“Well……yes. I did meet her, but nothing terrible happened.”
Nearly died, but didn’t—so there’s that.
I murmured vaguely while glancing around, and my jaw dropped.
This was not the lakeside scene I’d seen before entering Bidong.
The golden grass that had been so beautifully lit was now in ruins, with pits gaping throughout, and the trees and rocks where small creatures had dwelt were shattered to pieces.
It looked as though a typhoon had swept through.
“Wh-what is all this? Why is everything like this?”
“Ah, I was thinking there might be a focal point of the Formation Technique among all this.”
Yeon Liang answered sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.
His hands were covered in small cuts—he’d clearly tried to dismantle the Formation Technique to re-enter Bidong.
A warmth bloomed in my chest.
“Brother, I’m touched. You didn’t sleep for three days straight searching for me?”
“How could I sleep when you’d disappeared! I’m truly furious with you. Sohye, you’re going to be scolded thoroughly. I turn my back for one moment and you cause trouble…….”
Yeon Liang, venting his irritation, scowled and plopped down hard on the ground. The tension seemed to leave him.
He muttered weakly.
“Never mind. Scolding you would only wear out my voice anyway. The important thing is you’re unhurt and alive.”
I laughed and sprawled out beside him. Between facing Gwi Su Shin Ui, I seemed to have spent every last ounce of strength, and my legs felt like lead.
……Thank goodness. I wasn’t wrong about calling family something precious and real.
I turned my head slightly, and at the sight of Yeon Liang looking equally bedraggled, laughter burst from me.
“Ahahaha, brother, you look completely like a beggar. Like someone who hasn’t bathed in half a month.”
“You’re not much better yourself. What’s that look on your face? Did you roll around in mud?”
“That’s because you dragged me into a pit without warning, and I scraped against the wall! You’re the one who tossed me around—what are you going on about?”
I scolded him playfully, swatting at him, and he burst into helpless laughter.
“All right, all right. Let’s say that’s settled. If I want to avoid looking like a beggar, I’d better find an inn first.”
“Chirp.”
Ju Ryeong crept closer and climbed onto my belly, pretending she knew me. I stroked her gently and asked in a low voice.
“Ju Ryeong. Did you… deliberately lead me there? Did you know Grandfather was there?”
“Mew?”
Ju Ryeong scratched at her ear with her hind leg as if to say she had no idea what I was talking about.
Was it that, or did she actually know? I couldn’t tell if it was intentional or mere chance.
“What are you saying? Grandfather? But didn’t you say the Poison King is in seclusion?”
“Yes, it’s a secret.”
“My sister, keeping more and more secrets from her brother. Are you entering your rebellious phase?”
Yeon Liang made a sorrowful gesture and jabbed at the corner of his dry eyes. I gave him a sideways look and wagged my index finger left and right.
“It’s still a secret, no matter what you say.”
This was something Grandfather himself would want to keep hidden.
So it seemed best to keep what happened in Bidong as a secret of mine alone.
28. The Eccentric Monk of Shaolin
Even after my body learned that the world’s affairs were far less straightforward than any novel, the trials did not end.
Our provisions ran out completely before we even reached Yugan.
If there had been a village, we could have bartered what we had for food, but no matter how far we walked, we saw only mountains. No village appeared.
If it had been summer, things would have been different. Finding food in a mountain gripped by winter was no easy task.
Even wild game seemed to have vanished—we could barely find a single rabbit.
As I watched Yeon Liang soften the last handful of provisions in water, I asked morosely.
“Brother, are we going to starve to death like this?”
“Who knows. You’re sturdy enough that you’d need three months of fasting to die of hunger.”
“That’s even more dreadful.”
He was saying I could endure three months of meager rations without perishing.
Yeon Liang shrugged and scrubbed a concave stone slab with river water, then set it over the fire.
He poured water onto the slab, mashed the softened rice, thinly sliced the dried meat jerky and added it, then boiled it into a porridge that smelled delicious.
As Yeon Liang stirred the porridge, he spoke gravely.
“We can’t keep moving like this. Finding a village has to be our priority.”
“It’s too treacherous a place for people to live in. We won’t find one unless we descend the mountain.”
“Then we’ll descend and search. I don’t mind, but you can’t go hungry, Sohye. You’re at the age when you should be eating well to grow tall.”
He muttered with concern, his jawline sharper than usual. It was because he kept leaving most of our meager food for me to eat.
Knowing how much Yeon Liang normally ate, watching him consume only scraps gnawed at my conscience.
I should have gone straight to Yugan instead.
But the blue-green stone oil was essential. Since I’d sent Gwi Su Shin Ui to the Dang Clan, it would help Dang Un too.
Ah, it’s already in the past—I shouldn’t regret it.
Gathering my resolve, I nodded.
“I understand, Brother. Let’s eat this and head down.”
Just as he said, it seemed better to secure food even if we risked being tracked.
* * *
Descending the mountain while searching for signs of people proved far simpler than eluding our pursuers.
“Chirp!”
I only needed to follow Ju Ryeong down.
“Furry little thing. You’re surprisingly useful.”
At Yeon Liang’s exclamation, Ju Ryeong puffed out her fur proudly. I laughed softly and asked.
“Ju Ryeong, how much longer to the village?”
“Meow.”
Ju Ryeong answered briskly, as if to say it wasn’t far. In that moment, I sensed someone approaching us.
“Brother.”
“Yes.”
Yeon Liang nodded and put his hand on his sword hilt. I too tensed at the sound of footsteps and gripped my poison powder.
At the same time, a child’s cry pierced the air.
“P-please help me……!”
A child?
As I blinked in confusion, a young boy came running and grabbed my skirt.
“P-please help……! Mother, mother……!”
The boy was sobbing with tears streaming down his face, and though he seemed pitiful, suspicion rose in me before sympathy.
The mountains were so treacherous that not a single village existed. This was no place for a child to wander alone.
His innocent face notwithstanding, I doubted whether he was truly just a child.
After all, there was Dang Jung’s precedent.
When we didn’t react, the child looked up at me with tears streaming down his face.
“Please……. B-bad people took my mother away……!”
Yeon Liang scratched his cheek and asked.
“Bad people? How many?”
“F-five of them…….”
“All right. Lead the way. Let’s go.”
“Th-thank you! Thank you so much! Sir……! It’s this way!”
At Yeon Liang’s ready answer, the child began hurrying ahead to guide us.
Why did he agree so easily? Yeon Liang should have noticed something was off.
I shot him a puzzled look and jabbed his ribs repeatedly.
‘This smells like a trap.’
‘I know.’
‘Then why are we going?’
‘Wherever there are people, there’s food.’
Ah? The man’s shrewd.
I gave a thumbs-up, and Yeon Liang chuckled softly before scooping up Ju Ryeong.
My suspicion proved correct.
As the child led us deeper, the air grew thick with presence—dozens of people hidden all around.
Not a shred of Internal Power among them, which told me these were common bandits, nothing more.
We walked into their encirclement without hesitation, and suddenly they poured out, surrounding us on all sides.
“Haha! Gang A, well done.”
“Uncle. You owe me pocket money.”
The child, who moments before had been begging us pitifully, now grinned wickedly and slipped behind the gang of bandits.
Look at this brat. He’s had plenty of practice at this game.
I let out a dry laugh and glanced at Yeon Liang, who just shook his head as if to say there was nothing to be done.
A bandit who seemed to be their leader leveled his sword at us and snarled.
“Hand over everything you’ve got! If you cooperate, we’ll let you keep your lives!”
“Tedious. I’d rather not.”
My blunt refusal made the bandit’s face flush with fury.
“Rather not? You dare? Impudent! Do you think this old master is joking?”
His blustering threats were repulsive, but I had no patience for further conversation.
I reached out and bent the bandit’s sword in half with my bare hand.
“Wh……. Wha……?”
The bandit stared down at his blade—now folded like paper—his face draining of all color.
“When did you get in front of me……?”
“I didn’t even see you move……!”
The gang of bandits stumbled backward, terror etched across their faces.
Ignoring their fear, I held out my hand and tapped it impatiently.
“Enough of this. Do you have any food?”

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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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