Surviving as the Sacheon Dang Clan’s Servant - Chapter 126

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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 126
Why was someone who should be in Wuhan here? How did they even find this place?
In my moment of shock, I lost control of my strength. The Small Blade I threw with too much force pierced through the water bandit’s thigh.
“Ahhhhh!”
The water bandit who screamed collapsed backward with a heavy thud. At the same moment, the Pine-Pattern Saber Technique that cut through the air severed the water bandit’s limb meridians.
Perhaps it was the cold gleam of the blade. A memory surfaced of wandering through the mountains carrying Yeon Liang, and my mood darkened.
I asked coldly.
“I’m grateful for your help, but why are you here?”
“Are you injured anywhere?”
“I asked why you’re here.”
Beop Gong sent a letter saying he was moving to Wuhan with you. He instructed me to meet him at Gujiang, so I’ve been waiting nearby.
“……Beop Gong?”
The unexpected name made me furrow my brow.
I thought that old man only drank. So he actually does work?
Jin Seong nodded and pulled the Small Blade from the water bandit’s body, setting it down at my feet and stepping back.
Overlaid on that gesture was the memory of Jin Seong carefully handing me medicine for wounds once.
……So he didn’t come to forcibly drag me away.
As my expression softened, Jin Seong asked respectfully.
“Where is Beop Gong?”
“Somewhere in that sea of fire over there.”
I gestured toward the Yangtze River blazing fiercely, and Jin Seong let out an awkward sigh.
“Ah…….”
“Since Beop Gong destroyed it all, there shouldn’t be any major problem. More importantly, we should get moving.”
I jerked my chin toward the mass of water bandits closing in on us, and Jin Seong nodded, tightening his grip on his sword.
A water bandit crept closer and hurled a dense iron net toward us.
“Got ’em! Charge!”
At that moment, Jin Seong leaped toward the incoming net, his arms extended as though dancing.
The blade marked with pine patterns gleamed pure white. The trajectory of brilliant light elegantly split the net apart.
The net became tattered scraps in the blink of an eye.
Frozen by the overwhelming martial prowess, the water bandits retreated step by step like they had a hundred tails tucked between their legs.
Jin Seong glanced at me, then spoke calmly.
“That day was an accident.”
“Excuse me?”
“I never intended to harm you or your companions. I’ve wanted to apologize this whole time. I’m truly sorry.”
He looked sincere as he apologized, though there was a hint of nervousness in his bearing.
I felt a little embarrassed.
The situation had become complicated and my feelings were hurt, but truthfully Jin Seong had done nothing terribly wrong.
It was Peng Ji Yun who wielded the saber against Yeon Liang, and I was the one who created the problem by pretending to go along and then detonating poison and running away.
Still, it seemed that day weighed on Jin Seong’s mind. I nodded.
“Yes. I accept that apology…….”
“Die, you dog!”
At the same moment, my left fist and Jin Seong’s right foot both drove upward into the charging water bandit’s abdomen.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
Splash!
The water bandit flew three zhang high and vanished into the river, leaving us to exchange an awkward glance.
“……way.”
“Thank you.”
Jin Seong offered a faint smile and turned his sword toward the water bandits.
“Don’t be afraid! Bring down that young Daoist first! We need to take the swordmaster down first! Push with numbers!”
A water bandit wielding a bamboo spear shouted, and all of them surged toward Jin Seong at once. The synchronized movement made the boat shudder with violence.
Even under that pressure, Jin Seong remained unshaken.
With eyes as deep as a lake, he took in the approaching enemies in his field of vision.
While the water bandits’ attention was fixed on Jin Seong, the Ship Captain desperately tried to drag the boat toward shore. But the sail now ablaze caught no wind at all.
The melted robe clumped together on the mast, and the fire spread to the wooden column.
The mast, thicker than a man’s torso, had begun to burn.
“Pull the rope! Cut down the sail!”
“It’s too late! We must abandon the ship!”
“Pull it, I said!”
When no one moved, the Ship Captain released the helm, gritted his teeth, and rushed toward the center of the boat.
Sparks struck his face and the backs of his hands, raising blisters, but he did not give up and struggled to cut through the rope.
“Master, might I ask you to handle things here? I’m going to check over there.”
“Yes. Understood.”
The moment I heard his answer, I sprang to my feet and grabbed the Ship Captain, dragging him backward.
The Ship Captain, his entire body scorched and blistered red, thrashed about with a roar.
“Let go of me! The sail must be cut—you hear? It must be cut!”
“The mast is already burning! You’ll die if you do that!”
“Dead this way or dead that way, death is death either way! If you don’t want to drown, let me go! Even if I perish, I’ll see that sail severed first!”
The Ship Captain’s eyes gleamed with an iron will to face death without flinching.
“What if I smash it instead?”
“What did you say?”
“That sail—what if I smash it? I could just knock it off the ship, right?”
“That is… what…?”
The Ship Captain’s mouth gaped open in bewilderment. I released him and squinted, gauging where best to strike.
The shimmering heat stole my breath away. One wrong move and the flames would catch on my own body.
I stripped off my robe and cast it aside, then drew a deep breath. Eyes clenched shut, I hurled myself into the Yangtze River. I had steeled myself for bone-deep cold, but the water ran only lukewarm, influenced by the heat radiating from all sides.
Splash!
Drenched from head to foot, I scrambled back onto the deck and charged forward, then kicked at the mast with all my strength.
Crack!
The mast, half-charred and weakened, couldn’t withstand the impact. It snapped and toppled to the side.
Thud! Snap!
As the mast fell leftward, the ropes attached to it snapped one by one, and the ship lurched violently to port.
“Aaaah!”
“Someone save us!”
Both passengers and crew scrambled to the right, straining with all they had not to tumble into the water.
I braced myself with my legs and pulled the broken mast free. Even with my Internal Force surrounding me, my palms seared with pain.
Biting down on my lip, I hurled the burning mast overboard. The impact thundered across the water, churning it violently.
Splash!
The ship, tossed about by the surging current, gradually steadied itself.
The Ship Captain stared at me with wide, dazed eyes. Then he snapped to attention and began fighting the remaining flames.
“Stamp out the embers! We can survive this! Get the fire under control!”
But controlling the blaze was only a temporary fix.
Pirates swarmed from some direction like rats, crawling endlessly up onto the deck.
Their sheer numbers left my mouth parched with alarm.
I quickly donned my robe again, swallowed hard, and gripped my Leaf Money tight.
The night ahead promised to be long indeed.
* * *
Beop Gong strolled leisurely across the deck engulfed in flames.
Even in heat that evoked hellfire itself, his frame—hard as diamond—felt no tickle of discomfort.
“Amitabha Buddha.”
His face expressionless, Beop Gong rolled his Prayer Beads and glanced perfunctorily at the cabin with its roof torn away.
No valuables were in sight—only crude weapons made of scrap metal and a few sacks of salt.
Beop Gong tilted his head, then nudged one of the salt sacks with his toe.
Salt melted by the heat seeped slowly through the cracked wooden floor.
“Hey, Yeon Liang! This doesn’t look like the flagship. There’s nothing here.”
“Yeah. The real one looks like it’s over there.”
Yeon Liang, standing on a plank drifting across the river to escape the flames, scratched his head.
Far off, a massive double-hulled vessel with an imposing second-story pavilion was entering the Gorge, now transformed into a sea of fire.
The elaborate ship was so immense that calling it a floating fortress would scarcely overstate it.
“Is that bastard twisted? What the hell is he doing to a ship…?”
Yeon Liang’s eyes bulged as he muttered the words.
Fire arrows shot from the grand vessel were pouring down onto the ship where his sister lay.
“Sohye!”
Yeon Liang let out a sharp cry and launched himself toward the flagship like an arrow from a bow.
“Hey, wait just—? He’s already gone. Hm.”
Beop Gong snorted and brushed the ash from his robes.
“That thoughtless fool. He treats his own sister that way—if she ever bore a child, now that would be worth seeing.”
Grumbling, he channeled his full Internal Force and brought his foot down hard.
Boom!
Crack!
The hull ruptured, and the ship began to sink stern-first, its bottom now submerged.
Beop Gong leapt lightly down onto the floating mast, then turned his gaze toward the passenger vessel engulfed in flames.
“It’s done for.”
He sighed and rubbed his forehead.
It looked as though he’d have to find a new ship to reach Wuhan.
* * *
My pride chafed at the admission, but I had to acknowledge it.
Jin Seong was strong.
After three seasons had passed—whatever had happened in that time—his blade point had grown far sharper than when I’d last seen him.
Unable to match his speed, I found myself bristling with frustration as I clung close, and Jin Seong opened his mouth as though taken aback.
“You’ve made progress in your martial training.”
“Oh, so you’re complimenting me now?”
……
When Jin Seong asked—driving his blade through a water brigand’s pressure point and driving a poison needle in after it—I pressed my lips shut.
Or perhaps not.
I smacked down the hidden projectiles that came flying at Jin Seong, savoring the moment.
Coordinating with another martial artist was a novel sensation.
I wondered if it was normal to find joy in such circumstances, but……
Truth be told, it was exhilarating.
Timing my hidden projectiles to his speed, striking down water brigands in the gaps he deliberately left undefended because he trusted me—all of it was exhilarating.
When our rhythms locked into perfect harmony, a thrill ran through me that I couldn’t quite name.
……Was this what they meant by camaraderie?
With Yeon Liang, it was less about coordinating together and more about being protected by him.
But Jin Seong was different. He regarded me as an equal martial artist and entrusted his back to me completely.
I felt my mouth curve into a grin.
For the first time, I could almost understand why martial artists grew so enamored with their blades.
Then I saw someone leap toward our boat, using the debris drifting on the river as footholds.
Even from his silhouette alone, I could tell. It was Yeon Liang.
“Brother! Are you alright? You’re not hurt, are you?” he called out, waving frantically.
Yeon Liang rushed to me in alarm and began patting me down from head to toe.
“Who’s worrying about whom? You’re soaked through. Where did Muk Li go……? Sohye, what’s wrong with your hands? Did you get burned? Fall? Your leg—you’re bleeding. You got cut!”
“Oh, that was from Jin Seong’s blade……”
Before I could finish, Yeon Liang shoved me behind him, drew his sword, and leveled it at Jin Seong.
Yeon Liang bared his fangs and growled like a beast.
“We meet again, Swordmaster. This time, I won’t let you off easy.”

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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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