Surviving as the Sacheon Dang Clan’s Servant - Chapter 119

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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 119
Crash!
Dust billowed as one leg skidded long across the ground.
Unintentionally striking a dramatic pose, I braced myself and landed, then quickly scrambled to my feet.
The two gatekeepers guarding the valley entrance regarded me with suspicious eyes.
“What is it. A woman?”
“Does she not know where this is, barging in like that?”
“Ah, ha, hello there. I didn’t exactly mean to come in…….”
Just then, Beop Gong mimicked a thin, reedy voice and shouted.
“I cannot share one sky with the villains who disturb my homeland! Today this humble servant shall mete out justice with my own hands!”
It’s not my homeland! What is this old fool going on about!
At Beop Gong’s nonsense, the gatekeepers’ faces darkened.
“These young brats have no fear anymore. Not knowing their place, chattering on about Coordinated Attacks, Coordinated Attacks, and swarming in like moths to a flame.”
“That’s slander! I wasn’t planning any Coordinated Attack!”
As killing intent poured down and I retreated with excuses, the other gatekeeper seized the rope attached to the bell and shook it wildly.
“Intruders! Intruders!”
Dong! Dong! Dong!
With the deafening clang of the bell, martial artists came pouring out from within the narrow valley. There was nowhere to run.
I twisted my face into an expression of anguish and gripped the Poison Powder.
“Ah, Beop Gong! What is this about!”
“Figure it out on your own! If you don’t do this properly, we’re not going to the Martial Alliance together!”
“I’m going to poison your breakfast, you old fool!”
Just wait. If I get out of here alive, I’m dealing with that Buddhist first.
* * *
Yeon Liang paced anxiously near the entrance to Gwireong Valley. The sounds coming from deeper within were not reassuring.
“Argh! Paralysis Poison! Watch out!”
“You little rat!”
“The little rat is probably the one in front of you! You’ve got teeth made for gnawing on turnips!”
“Will you shut that mouth! I won’t let this slide!”
Beop Gong, who had been listening quietly, looked at Yeon Liang with admiration.
“Huh. Yeon Liang. Your sister’s Determination Boundary Seal is quite something. She certainly has a sharp tongue.”
“……I’m afraid I’ve rubbed off on her badly. She wasn’t like this before.”
“Hard to say. That mouth of hers seems inborn.”
Unlike Beop Gong, who replied so casually, Yeon Liang looked uneasy. After chewing on his lips for a long moment, he reached for his sword hilt with resolve.
“Beop Gong. This doesn’t feel right. I should go in.”
“Wait a bit. It’s been less than an hour since she went in. Why are you acting like some father sending his daughter on her first errand?”
“I’m worried, that’s why. There are too many of them. She’s only sixteen.”
“Sixteen is old enough. When I was sixteen, the abbot threw me into the Shipman Mountain Range and told me to come back alive.”
“Are you and Sohye the same? That monster who used to crush her own seniors.”
At Yeon Liang’s irritation, Beop Gong snorted.
“I’ll be damned. So the reason that brat is so unusually docile is because of you?”
“What?”
“Wanted for a reward, stuck with a vagrant like you for nearly a year, and yet she has so little killing intent? You’ve been deliberately keeping that little one from using her hands, haven’t you? Worried the child might be traumatized?”
“…….”
“Don’t do that. Just dodging and weaving ruins a kid too. She won’t die from this. Today, just watch quietly. Once a few heads nearly fly off from the blade, she’ll snap to attention.”
“Still…….”
“When we get to the Alliance, Ak Jibak will interrogate you two. She always insists on confirming anything tied to the Demonic Cult. To face an Absolute Master like that, it’s not a bad idea to build some mettle beforehand. It’s not like you’ll be watching over her your whole life, is it?”
At Beop Gong’s cold counsel, Yeon Liang sighed and rubbed his brow.
Excuses welled up to the tip of his tongue, but they weren’t entirely wrong, so he had nothing to rebut with.
No, truth be told, Beop Gong was right.
Once everything was resolved, his sister would naturally return to the Dang Clan Residence.
So he needed to begin preparing to let her go.
But…….
‘Brother! Let’s eat breakfast!’
Could he return to a life without that voice calling to him each morning?
Could he roam Zhongyuan alone again?
‘Brother. How do I start a fire without tinder? I don’t know what flint is.’
Each time the girl depended on him, each time he taught her something, Yeon Liang felt as though he’d become a reasonably decent adult.
Him, who was good for nothing but swinging a blood-soaked blade, who was a complete wreck—he could at least play the part of an ordinary brother looking after his sister.
Is this what an ordinary family feels like?
That was truly wonderful.
But to want more than this—that was Yeon Liang’s own greed.
Even if he chose to become her brother, the child’s true family lay elsewhere, didn’t it?
Yeon Liang smiled bitterly and quietly clenched his fist.
His mouth felt rough, as though he’d been holding sand.
* * *
Her breathing quickened.
Her heart hammered rapidly, and every muscle in her body pulled taut as if ready to tear.
The enemies scattered across the floor lay motionless, completely overwhelmed by poison.
She wanted nothing more than to withdraw now, but Beop Gong sat planted at the exit with a look that brooked no escape.
He called out with exaggerated boredom.
“Little one! How much longer! We’ll see the dawn!”
“You’re the one who threw me in here without warning—is that really what you should be saying?”
“I thought you’d wrap this up quickly, but you’re too slow. Put some effort into it. Don’t shame your master’s name.”
“Why are you bringing him up? Are you picking a fight? Shut your mouth!”
“Earlier you only ran. Now you’re itching to trade blows with me? I welcome it.”
“Ugh!”
This was infuriating, truly infuriating!
How did Yeon Liang ever become friends with this old fool?
Muttering complaints, she wiped the sweat from her brow, and her vision cleared.
I studied the enemy before me, gauging how much breath I had left. I figured I could manage another four exchanges or so.
The swordsman flinched at my gaze and began shuffling backward hesitantly.
“Tsk, quite capable for a girl.”
“And your tongue is quite glib. You can barely stand, yet you still have the strength to bluff? Shall I plant a poison needle on your tongue too?”
“You… insolent! Even if we perish together, I’ll take you with me!”
“Ehehehe!”
Beop Gong’s cackling laughter could be heard as he said something to Yeon Liang.
“Look, that kind of thing—you can’t learn it. She’s just born with it.”
“That’s all on me…”
I ignored the meaningless murmuring and put strength into my legs.
With the opponent’s center wobbling, I wouldn’t give an opening—I’d press forward in one decisive rush.
Once I put this one down, that makes fourteen.
And then…
“Monk Beop Gong, just wait a moment! I’m going to plant a Flying Knife right on top of your head!”
“Khaahaha, I’m looking forward to it!”
That bald monk would make fifteen!
I gritted my teeth and adjusted my grip on the Flying Knives.
* * *
Beop Gong watched Dang Sohye’s retreating figure with a belly-laugh, tears streaming down his face.
“Kehehe, what’s this? That little one’s a riot. Before, she was making such a fuss, twisting the trajectory of her Flying Knives just to avoid blood. Now she looks ready to beat me to death on the spot!”
“You provoked her.”
“Your sister’s temper is no joke, is it? She seemed mild-mannered, but touch her the wrong way and she’ll come at you foaming at the mouth. I suppose the blood of the Dang Clan doesn’t lie after all.”
Beop Gong chuckled and draped an arm over Yeon Liang’s shoulder, pointing ahead.
“See? Wasn’t I right? The little one’s technique is improving by the moment, don’t you see? Orthodox Sect youngsters need to be tested. The more they’re tested, the more they grow.”
“You’re irritating, but you’re not wrong.”
Yeon Liang replied curtly, scratching his head vigorously.
From what I could see, it was true. With each exchange, Dang Sohye’s movements were noticeably sharpening.
“Being a Dang Clan child, she clearly has talent for one-against-many combat. The way she strikes and retreats—she knows exactly when the poison spreads through the body. Good use of terrain too.”
“Well, I’ve had her ingest quite a lot of poison into people, so she ought to know precisely. I’ve drunk several doses myself.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Just talking to myself.”
Yeon Liang’s lips twisted slightly as he waved his hand. Beop Gong snorted dismissively and spoke.
“So stop trembling like that and keep putting her through her paces. If you can’t manage it, should I do it? We have quite a ways to go before we reach Wuhan, after all.”
“Fourteen! I’ve got them all! Brother! Hold that monk tight! I mean it—I’m not letting him off easy!”
Watching Dang Sohye rush toward him shouting, Yeon Liang smiled warmly and replied in a low voice.
“Get lost. You rascal.”
* * *
Lim Seol Yak stood still, gazing up at the towering wall before him.
The Dang Clan Residence, built in the heart of Seongdo, differed little from how Lim Seol Yak remembered it.
And perhaps for that reason.
‘When you pass through Sichuan, you must stay with us. My doors will always be open to you.’
The unpleasant voice from long ago brushed past his ear and faded away.
‘Have I really grown so old? My mind wanders now.’
Lim Seol Yak swallowed a sigh and moved slowly toward the city gate. Thanks to that tiresome old man’s meticulous care over more than a century, the Dang Clan had not declined—if anything, it had flourished.
The gatekeeper, intimidated by Lim Seol Yak’s arrogance, asked respectfully.
“What brings you here, sir?”
Without a word, Lim Seol Yak raised the Physician’s Token above his head.
Above his head, not over his chest or shoulder. It was a gesture of a physician of high standing, and the gatekeeper asked again.
“Are you a physician, sir?”
“Yes. I’ve come to see a patient.”
The gatekeeper scrutinized the unfamiliar physician slowly.
His long, slender hands were smooth, without a trace of hard labor. He carried none of the distinctive herbal scent of a physician, and above all, he was far too young.
He hardly seemed old enough to possess the skill needed to treat a young master of such importance.
“It seems you’re a wandering physician who came on hearsay, but please leave. The Lady of the Residence has ordered that we admit no one of uncertain identity.”
Lim Seol Yak stared at the gatekeeper with an expressionless face. The gatekeeper made an awkward gesture, waving his hand.
“It’s not that I doubt your skill, Physician, but such are the procedures. Had you brought a letter of introduction, perhaps, but with empty hands…….”
In that instant, annoyance flickered across Lim Seol Yak’s eyes.
“……How tiresome.”
“Ack—ack!”
As he slowly brushed his hair back, the gatekeeper, crushed beneath the aura of an Absolute Master, gagged and collapsed to the ground with a thud. The gatekeeper’s trousers began to dampen.
At the sight, a guard patrolling nearby came running and blew his whistle.
Shrill-whistle!
“Who goes there!”
“What audacity, in this place!”
The Dang Clan’s Martial Artists swarmed around Lim Seol Yak in moments.
“……Sigh. I should have known better than to entertain such bothersome requests.”
Lim Seol Yak murmured absently, his fingers toying with the whip at his waist. The metal and bone fragments embedded in it flashed sharply, catching the light with a lethal gleam.
“Perhaps I should simply kill them all.”
It was a whisper, barely audible. Yet the voice, weighted with killing intent, was more than enough to strike terror into every soul present.
Several Martial Artists, overcome by a threat that seemed to pierce directly into their minds, let their weapons clatter to the ground.
Then someone rushed forward and pulled the frightened Martial Artists back.
“What are you doing! All of you, lower your weapons!”
Then he bowed respectfully with clasped fists.
“This servant greets the honored physician.”

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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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