Surviving as the Sacheon Dang Clan’s Servant - Chapter 116

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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 116
“Is there any more meat?”
“Of course, honored guest. Please wait just a moment. I’ll bring it right away.”
“And bring some more stir-fried greens too. This is delicious. You there, little one—your arms drooping? Hold them up straight, won’t you?”
“Mm… yes…”
At the gesture with chopsticks, the child played pitiful, raising both arms above his head.
It was a face designed to inspire sympathy. Which somehow made it all the more infuriating.
‘How many people has that face deceived?’
Using people’s good intentions to cause them harm—it deserved proper discipline.
‘…But what am I doing? The child isn’t at fault. It’s the adults who’ve failed.’
With a sigh, I turned my attention back to the table. The sight of food piled high enough to break the table legs softened my mood considerably.
Every dish the bandits had grudgingly surrendered tasted remarkably good.
At first, Yeon Liang had been cautious about whether poison or some other substance had been added, but once he confirmed I showed no ill effects, he slowly picked up his chopsticks.
“Brother. Don’t you trust me? I trained with Grandfather in poison and herb discrimination. It’s clean. Nothing’s in it.”
“Given your peculiar palate, I honestly can’t tell whether you can really distinguish anything.”
“Well, even if you did get poisoned, I’ll make you an antidote pill.”
“…That somehow makes me trust you even less.”
Yet despite his doubts, he draped the jade pendant around his neck and began eating.
Though for someone expressing doubts, he ate quite a lot.
“Brother. Your stomach’s not getting full?”
“I could eat for another half hour at least.”
“…All right then.”
He was eating far more than I’d expected.
He devoured the meal like a bear preparing for hibernation, prompting the bandits to cast reproachful looks at one another.
“Just how many days has he been starving…?”
Their whispers were pitched low, meant to escape notice, but martial cultivators’ ears were not so easily fooled.
Yeon Liang, his cheeks bulging, replied without a hint of embarrassment.
“Four days or so.”
“Four days? You’ve starved for four days and you look perfectly fine…? Wait—you must have been terribly hungry, honored guest. Is there anything else you require?”
“You already went for more meat, didn’t you? That’ll do.”
Yeon Liang gave a small shrug and stuffed a mouthful of well-boiled, seasoned vegetables into his mouth.
Just as I felt a twinge of awkwardness and was about to set down my chopsticks, a steaming bowl of meat broth arrived.
I lifted a spoonful and examined it, then furrowed my brow.
“Hmm. There’s poison in this.”
“What? Extreme poison?”
“Not quite extreme, but you can’t eat it, Brother. Ju Ryeong. Would you like some?”
“Eee!”
Excited, Ju Ryeong bounced up and down in place. As I set the broth before him, Yeon Liang’s expression hardened and he rose to his feet.
“Is this how you treat guests? Are you looking for a fight?”
The bandit who’d brought the food dropped to his knees, trembling violently.
“P-poison, you say! It’s a misunderstanding! We only added medicinal ingredients good for relieving fatigue…”
“Oh, I know—spikenard and lotus seed complement each other well. But you put in aconite and monkshood together? Why? Those cause numbness and hallucinations—were you trying to drug him to sleep?”
“That, how did you…!”
“And this—you deliberately cultivated mold on the seeds to heighten the toxicity, didn’t you? I can tell they’re several years old, but the smell’s been masked expertly. You have someone who knows how to work with medicinal substances.”
As if I wouldn’t know this after what Grandfather taught me.
As I spoke flatly, the bandits all dropped to their knees at once.
“P-please, spare us!”
“We made a terrible mistake!”
“I’m not going to kill anyone. Who said anything about killing? Just bring fresh food. While you’re at it, bring all your money too. Silver coins, naturally?”
“Yes, yes! We apologize! Honored guest!”
I watched the bandit scurry away, then Yeon Liang sighed and gave my shoulder a gentle tap.
“…Sohye. Don’t speak like a common thug.”
“Who’s speaking like a thug? I just repeated what they said.”
“But you shouldn’t act like bandits either. What is it with your family…?”
“Brother. Don’t insult my grandfather.”
“…I wasn’t even talking about your grandfather.”
“I didn’t learn anything from the family. Everything was from Grandfather. So insulting me is insulting him.”
“I wasn’t insulting you.”
Yeon Liang replied flatly, then muttered under his breath.
“She’s grown rougher from hardship, I think. Is it because of me…?”
He pulled away from the table with a grimace, his appetite vanishing the moment he heard the word poison.
Yeon Liang swallowed a sigh, his fingers worrying the hilt of his sword before his eyes snapped open with sudden intensity.
“Don’t bring any more food. We’re finished eating.”
“Yes, understood! Great Hero! Please, go tell them to stop with the food!”
Yeon Liang watched the bandits scatter in panic before asking his question.
“What’s the nearest village from here?”
“There are no villages in this area.”
“No villages?”
“That’s correct, Great Hero. Only brothers like us who fled into the mountains live here. If you’re looking for a nearby village, you’d need to travel for at least five days and nights.”
“Why? This seems like decent land for settlement.”
“Originally, there were quite a few villages in these parts, but the government’s exploitation was so severe that people fled into the mountains or left altogether. The places where villages once stood have been ruins for a long time now.”
“I see, then.”
So these bandits were weak for a reason—they were refugees fleeing governmental tyranny rather than true outlaws.
Of course, that didn’t mean he felt inclined to spare them.
“Then you’ll have to supply us with provisions.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“We were planning to buy provisions at a village. But if there’s no village, then you’re the only place to get any supplies, aren’t you?”
“That is to say….”
“Bring the dried provisions.”
“…Yes, Great Hero. Samsik, go get the dried provisions…. Bring them here….”
The bandit leader sniffled and sent another man after his first messenger.
But when the bandits returned with their provisions and a purse of silver, both were disappointingly light.
“This is far too little.”
“It really is. Why is there so little? Are you telling us we need to search the place ourselves?”
“No, Great Hero! How could we ever be so bold!”
Yeon Liang’s hand moved toward his scabbard, and the bandit leader’s eyes welled with tears as he began to explain.
“We truly have nothing more. A monk came through not long ago and ransacked the hideout completely.”
“A monk tried to rob you? You men fled here to escape government oppression, yet you dared provoke a monk? You’re asking for divine retribution. Don’t go picking fights as bandits—you can’t even tell if your opponent is skilled or not, so you rush in blindly. Keep it up and you’ll end up meeting someone who kills you.”
Yeon Liang was lecturing them, his brow furrowed, when he suddenly went still, as if something had occurred to him.
“…Wait. A monk? You’re saying a monk ransacked the hideout?”
“Yes! That’s right. He didn’t even look like a proper monk—he just stormed in, turned the hideout upside down, and left. He drained every hidden jug of alcohol we had, which is why we couldn’t even offer you a cup of wine.”
“Did he have his hair tied up? A tail this long. Nine prayer beads and an orange monastic robe?”
“That’s him!”
“When did he come through? Where did he go?”
“I’m sorry?”
“I said, where did he go? Answer quickly.”
Yeon Liang’s voice had risen sharply. The terrified bandit leader trembled like an aspen leaf as he opened his mouth to speak.
* * *
‘Not long ago. Perhaps ten days back…. I’m not certain of his destination, but he headed southeast.’
Having heard the bandit leader’s account, Yeon Liang immediately changed course to the southeast.
“This monk who ransacked them—he sounds like someone you know?”
“Definitely. I’m certain it’s him. No other monk would drink bandit alcohol like that. The Shaolin monks are too well-fed to touch cheap spirits anyway.”
“…Other monks drink too? Even though they’re monks?”
“Beop Gong doesn’t drink openly, but he does it in secret like the rest.”
Now that I thought about it, the Wudang Taoists didn’t abstain from meat and wine either. It seemed hardly anyone actually kept their precepts.
“But do you have any idea where southeast leads? Isn’t that too vague?”
At my question, Yeon Liang grew thoughtful, stroking his chin.
“Southeast from here… it seems like he went to Anjing.”
“Anjing?”
“There’s a Sadoryean branch there called Gwilryeong Valley. That man often goes around dealing with unorthodox factions. It’s the only way he avoids getting scolded by the Abbot.”
“So he deals with unorthodox factions but calls you a friend? He really is a strange person.”
The fact that he fears being scolded by the Abbot more than sword combat is rather surprising. The Shaolin Abbot must be quite a formidable figure.
“That’s what makes him a fool monk. Let’s head to Anjing. If it’s been ten days, he won’t have gone far. He’s probably getting drunk along the way.”
Yeon Liang spoke with certainty.
His guess proved correct.
Within a few days, we found the man the bandits had described in a village that appeared before us.
The dissolute fellow sat at a table in the courtyard of a shabby inn, his feet propped up, blowing on a wine bottle.
Empty bottles were piled high on the table.
He looked like any common drunkard, except for one detail….
“He’s wearing monastic robes?”
“No, no. What monk drinks liquor? He must have picked it up somewhere.”
“Strange fellow. Cheap wine, cheap wine indeed.”
The man was dressed in Buddhist monastic robes.
Despite the murmurs of passersby, the man didn’t bat an eye as he sipped his drink.
“Ahh, give me another bottle of makgeolli, will you!”
When the liquor ran dry, he shook the empty bottle, searching for more.
Yeon Liang, amused by the man’s antics, called out loudly.
“Hey there! Beop Gong.”
“Huh? You…….”
The man’s eyes went wide at the sight of Yeon Liang, and he sprang to his feet.
“Yeon Liang? You were alive?”
In the same instant, golden prayer beads scattered through the air.
Each bead spun at a terrifying speed, hurtling toward us.
Clang! Clang!
Yeon Liang deflected the beads charged with Inner Force effortlessly, his lips curling into a smile.
“It’s been a long time, Beop Gong.”

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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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