Surviving as the Sacheon Dang Clan’s Servant - Chapter 117

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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 117
“This bastard! Good to see your face. You’ve been so quiet I thought you were dead.”
“I’ll outlive a defrocked monk who guzzles grain tea in broad daylight.”
Yeon Liang approached with a chuckle and sat across from Beop Gong. I shuffled awkwardly to stand beside him.
Beop Gong tilted his head at the sight of me, then looked at Yeon Liang with a knowing expression.
“What’s this? Where’d you pick up this brat? Did you do something stupid? When did you become a father…. Oh! Spit it out, you bastard!”
Yeon Liang brought his fist down on Beop Gong’s head and spoke firmly.
“She’s my younger sister, so stop spouting nonsense. This damned monk is trying to block her marriage because he says I can’t go.”
“Even if I didn’t block it, what swordsman can’t get married! Open your eyes. You two are spitting images of each other! I’d believe it if you said you birthed her alone!”
Ignoring Beop Gong’s outburst, Yeon Liang gestured toward me.
“Sohye. Come over here and sit. This is Beop Gong.”
“Yes. Hello.”
“Ah, hello. Your name is Sohye? You look just like a daughter of the Dang Clan…. No, wait—you ARE a daughter of the Dang Clan!”
“Oh. How did you know?”
“Just from the way you hold your sleeves. You’re that kid the Alliance is looking for, aren’t you? Yeon Liang, did this madman kidnap a Dang Clan daughter?”
“Kidnap her? She’s my sister.”
“How is a Dang Clan brat your sister! You’re out of your mind, you fool!”
Beop Gong bellowed and jabbed a finger accusingly.
“This is maddening. So it was you that the Sword Saint’s disciples have been hunting with fire in their eyes? The one who refused to return until he’d completed his mission himself, and even extended his deployment? I wondered who he was after, but of course—it’s you, so they can’t catch him.”
Jin Seong’s dojo was still searching for us?
I pouted as I recalled Jin Seong setting down the Wound-Mending Salve and stepping back, looking apologetic at the time.
He seemed sorry then. Did he take losing us so hard? He was stubborn as a locked box anyway.
Yeon Liang nodded.
“That’s why I came. I need you to do me a favor.”
“What favor?”
“Come with me to the Martial Alliance and vouch for me.”
“…You’ve lost it. You’re insane.”
Beop Gong’s face went slack as if he’d heard the greatest nonsense. Yet Yeon Liang pressed on, undeterred.
“Because of me, my sister’s being hunted too. She’s done nothing wrong—I can’t keep letting her be chased. Help me.”
“Listen, Yeon Liang. Are you in your right mind? Do you understand what it means to crawl into the Alliance on your own two feet? No matter how well you hide your demonic Qi, won’t the old fools at the Alliance notice?”
“That’s exactly why I’m asking you. At least you could see me properly buried.”
“That’s rich. The Abbot would bury my corpse right next to yours. Who buries whom?”
Beop Gong scratched the bridge of his nose and spoke again.
“Still, it would be fun to give the old fossils at the Alliance a hard time.”
“Ha. I knew you’d say that.”
“Fine. I’ll vouch for you. In return, buy me drinks.”
“Done.”
“Not just once. The whole way to Wuhan.”
“Agreed.”
Yeon Liang clasped hands with Beop Gong and they both laughed.
…This old man also seems half out of his mind. Can I actually trust him?
Beop Gong caught my doubtful gaze and lifted one corner of his mouth.
“What is it, brat? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because you’re so different from how I imagined a monk would be.”
“What did you imagine a monk would look like?”
Yeon Liang answered for me.
“At least not like someone who’s just climbed out of a wine vat.”
“Your imagination’s threadbare. Monks can drink too.”
“Is that something to boast about?”
Yeon Liang clicked his tongue and shook his head.
Beop Gong remained unshaken by our reaction.
“Brat. Drinking doesn’t interfere with Buddhist practice. Think about it carefully. What do we eat when we train?”
“Bi Gok Dan?”
“Right. And Bi Gok Dan is made from grain, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Grain Tea is also made from grain. Pure grains prepared with devotion—what’s the difference between Grain Tea and Bi Gok Dan?”
“Well. They’re quite different.”
I answered flatly.
“Then why do you keep your hair?”
“Ha! Do you know why monks shave their heads? It’s an expression of will—to sever ties with the secular world and cut through desire. But I’m already out in the world, aren’t I? There’s no need to sever ties, so there’s no need to shave my head.”
What kind of nonsense logic is this? You’re definitely Yeon Liang’s friend.
When I made a face wondering what kind of madman he was, Yeon Liang giggled.
“If the Abbot drags you in, you’ll end up bald again anyway.”
“Stop spouting such unlucky words, Yeon Liang.”
Beop Gong shivered, his skin crawling, and wrapped his hands around his head as he grumbled.
“I wonder when the Abbot will ever give up on me.”
“Would you give up on someone who’s mastered seven of the Shaolin Seventy-Two Techniques? Just surrender your hair instead.”
Yeon Liang taunted him as if astounded, yet he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself.
Watching the two of them, I found my own mood lifting.
They get along well. A good friend for Yeon Liang, whether he knows it or not—but it’s a relief he has a friend who understands him.
“Enough talk. Get us more to drink. I haven’t had my fill yet.”
“Right then. Jeom So I! One more order!”
“Yes, sir! Coming right up!”
“Should I order something for the young one too? Do you drink, little friend? Or are you still too young for it?”
“Just a little, please.”
“Good. I’ll have them bring it—just taste it, nothing more.”
My polite reply seemed to amuse Yeon Liang, who tapped my head with a soft chuckle.
“You’ll regret it, Beop Gong. Our boy’s quite the drinker.”
“Is that so? Well, it doesn’t matter. You’re paying for it anyway.”
“You just stick to one bottle.”
“What? That’s not fair! You said you’d pay all the way to Wuhan!”
The two of them bickered back and forth like old friends, though they’d only just met yesterday. I laughed quietly and rested my chin in my hand.
* * *
The drinking bout continued until sunset.
Even after we moved inside the inn to escape the cold, Beop Gong kept drinking—and drinking, and drinking still.
The inn’s supply was running so thin that you could practically see Jeom So I diluting the dregs with water.
Ugh. So this is what grandfather meant when he said it tasted absolutely foul.
I set down the cup and smacked my lips, at which point Beop Gong made a face of disgust and wagged his tongue.
“This isn’t just good drinking anymore—you’re completely immune. Where did you dig up this heavy drinker from, Yeon Liang?”
“I don’t think that’s quite the right thing for a monk to say.”
I’ve confidence in my own capacity too, but I can’t match you. Your brother over there is already in a stupor, yet you haven’t so much as flushed.”
“It’s my constitution.”
I have Immunity to All Poisons, after all.
I shrugged and glanced over to see Yeon Liang nodding off, his elbows propped on the table.
His face was so flushed it looked more like a bright red sweet potato than a man’s.
This was the first time I’d seen Yeon Liang drunk. He wasn’t usually the type to drink this much.
Struck by how unfamiliar he looked, I carefully shook his arm.
“Brother, are you alright?”
“……Mm.”
“Right. You’re not. Just rest.”
As I patted his shoulder and cleared away the dishes in front of him, Yeon Liang’s forehead thudded against the table with a heavy thump.
He’s completely let his guard down. A man who can’t sleep without his sword by his side…
…so he trusts this monk that much.
I studied Beop Gong with an odd expression, and the monk set down his chopsticks, rubbing his bright red nose.
“You don’t seem like a true member of the Dang Clan. You’re gentle. Everyone else in your family has such an awful temperament.”
“It’s because of the poison. Poison Qi affects the mind, so it makes people sensitive.”
“You say it as if it doesn’t apply to you.”
“I have good resistance to it. Have you met my brothers?”
“Not all of them, but I’ve met Dang Young Ho and the Poison Sovereign.”
“Ah, you’ve only met the two with the worst temperaments.”
When I nodded, Beop Gong asked seriously.
“Don’t you do the succession challenge again? The current clan head is still young, but he’s already drowning in inferiority and can’t function properly. Dang… Dang…. What was it? I can’t even remember the name.”
“Ah, it’s Dang Young Ho.”
“Yes, him. If you leave him as is, he’ll run the family into the ground. Isn’t there anyone else?”
“That’s the clan head’s decision, so they’ll handle it as they see fit. My third brother does most of the external work anyway.”
“The Poison Sovereign is your third brother? He’s arrogant and as cold as a sharp wind—takes after the old clan head exactly. He’s the type to make enemies.”
So others see it the same way. I have nothing to say to that.
When I let out a rueful laugh, Beop Gong refilled my cup knowingly.
“Having the wrong brothers is hard. I know that feeling well.”
“Your sworn siblings…. must have suffered meeting you…. you defrocked monk….”
“What are you talking about? If you’re drunk, just go to sleep.”
Beop Gong furrowed his brow at Yeon Liang’s muttering, then propped his chin on his hand and asked.
“From the fact that the Dang Clan provided your identity, I’m guessing you’re one of their cast-off children. If you were hunted by the Martial Alliance, you must have had a rough time of it?”
He’d called me a cast-off child outright, yet I felt no sting. Besides, I’d never been treated as anyone’s child to begin with—what was there to resent?
I smiled faintly.
“If I hadn’t met Yeon Liang, I’d have been dead long ago. Truly.”
“He looks nothing like it, but his heart is soft. Against strong opponents he’s endlessly strong, yet against the weak he’s endlessly gentle.”
“You know Yeon Liang well.”
“I’ve watched him for a long time.”
Beop Gong stretched, his joints cracking loudly with each twist of his neck.
As he rolled his shoulders this way and that, then brushed his hands together, thin wisps of smoke curled from his fingertips—as though he were burning off poison toxins.
Beop Gong’s expression hardened as he looked directly at me.
“But here’s the thing, little one. Yeon Liang won’t be able to stay by your side forever.”
“…Yes, I suppose not.”
Yeon Liang had his own life to live, after all. Someday we would have to part.
Perhaps that day wasn’t so far off.
Judging by how he was trying to settle the Martial Alliance’s affairs, there was every chance we’d each go our separate ways soon.
At my melancholy reply, Beop Gong grinned and clenched his fist.
“So let me see your skill.”
“Pardon?”
“Let me see if you’re capable enough to get by on your own.”
In the same instant, a fist gleaming with golden light came hurtling toward me.
At that eerie sensation, my hair stood on end and I felt strength gather instinctively in my feet.
Wait—what?

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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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