Surviving as the Sacheon Dang Clan’s Servant - Chapter 127

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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 127
Yeon Liang’s killing intent made Jin Seong flinch, and he stepped back.
Facing an aura that seemed ready to cleave a man in two, I hurried forward to block his path.
“Whoa, whoa! Why are you like this? Calm down, brother. You have to let someone finish. I meant the saber technique blocked most of it—I wasn’t cut as badly as it looked.”
“…The saber technique?”
“Yes. We were hunting water bandits together. The monk called me away.”
“The monk? He never mentioned that to me.”
Yeon Liang’s eyes, furrowed and murmuring, swam with demonic energy—red as blood.
The aura he released was unsettling, as though the rush of combat had yet to fade.
Before Jin Seong could notice something was wrong, I quickly pushed Yeon Liang away.
“We can ask the monk when he arrives. Come on, we’re almost done anyway. Just need to handle a few more hiding in the water, then we’ll finish up and go. Brother, you handle that side over there. If it gets too heavy, the boat will sink—they said dump the water bandits back in right away.”
“Still…”
‘Brother. Demonic energy.’
I shook my head and let my mouth hang open slightly. Yeon Liang sighed and rubbed his eyes.
“Be careful with the blade. Don’t overtax your hands. You’ll make it worse.”
“I know. Don’t worry.”
“Wait. Let me look at your hands again. Are those blisters? If you leave a burn like that untreated, it could scar badly…”
“Oh! Over there! A water bandit’s moving! Brother! Hurry!”
I shouted and slapped Yeon Liang’s forearm. He reluctantly left his spot.
He’s become fussier lately. He wasn’t like this before.
“I’ll be right back!”
I waved after Yeon Liang’s retreating figure, then turned to Jin Seong with an awkward smile.
“I’m sorry, Master. My brother was a bit harsh. I suppose our last meeting didn’t end well.”
“No harm done.”
Jin Seong answered calmly and tossed another water bandit—one whose martial arts he’d already suppressed—into the river with a splash.
He didn’t seem offended by Yeon Liang’s behavior.
Yet I couldn’t relax. My heart gnawed at the possibility—what if Yeon Liang’s true nature had been revealed?
I rolled my eyes nervously, studying Jin Seong’s reaction.
Perhaps my anxious manner seemed odd, because Jin Seong, who had been glancing at me, slowly opened his mouth.
“I…”
“Yes?”
Startled, I turned to face him, and he bowed his head slightly.
“I had no intention of judging your martial skill. I was merely impressed that your internal energy had grown noticeably in such a short time.”
“…Yes?”
I blinked at his words and opened my mouth wide.
Was he still dwelling on that earlier comment?
“If I in any way displeased you, I apologize…”
“No! I wasn’t displeased at all. Master. I was happy to hear the praise—please don’t worry about it.”
“Understood.”
I’ll have to be more careful how I speak to Master Jin Seong. He doesn’t look it, but he’s surprisingly sensitive.
Once Jin Seong fell silent, an odd stillness settled over us.
“Ah… should we finish cleaning up? It looks like they’re thinking about running.”
“Yes.”
I gestured toward the rippling water and changed the subject. Jin Seong, who had been caressing his sword’s hilt, raised the Songmun-go-geom vertically in front of him.
The water bandits, who had been watching the flickering sword aura nervously, suddenly leaped from the water’s surface.
“All or nothing! Attack!”
“Even if we die, we must avenge our brothers!”
“You started this fight—what revenge?”
I scoffed and reached into my sleeve when something flew past with a sound like a leather drum splitting.
“Well, well. A disciple of Sword Selection arrived? You’ve grown quite a bit.”
It was Beop Gong.
Having lightly hurled three water bandits overboard, Beop Gong scrambled onto the boat, scratching his head vigorously.
His face was covered in soot—as if he’d stuck his head into a furnace and pulled it out. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Pfft! Monk. You have soot all over your face.”
“When you see Dongyeong, you’ll be shocked at your own reflection. Looks like I took a swim.”
Beop Gong chuckled teasingly and glanced around.
“Goodness, did I board a fishing vessel for anchovies? How many water bandits did you catch?”
“If Master Jin Seong hadn’t come, we would’ve been in real trouble. They just kept crawling out endlessly.”
“Is that so? Good timing on his part. What about the ringleader?”
“No movement. It seems he’s preparing an ambush.”
Jin Seong pointed from the shadows at the vessel barely visible in the darkness and answered. Beop Gong’s brow furrowed.
“You doused all the lights on deck already, didn’t you? Are there still people left to ambush? By the look of it, at least eighty percent of them must’ve gone down to the bottom of the Yangtze.”
“The Soo Ryong Clan’s main force appears not to have moved. Only second-rate martial artists attacked the ship.”
“They could have been second-rate to begin with. Rumors always get exaggerated. We’ll need to take Soo Ryong Wang alive, though. Good chance to stretch a bit.”
Beop Gong, muttering under his breath and cracking his neck side to side, turned to me with a question.
“Say, little one. Where’s your brother? He took off like a bear with its tail on fire, all worried you’d get hurt.”
“Over there. I sent him to help the passengers.”
“Lord have mercy. I just hope he doesn’t scare your brother half to death. Though I suppose that counts as help too—easier to stay focused when people are too startled to think straight.”
Beop Gong, his face slack with indifference, scratched at his ear and turned his gaze toward Jin Seong.
“The Sword Saint’s disciple has been well? Looks like you’ve grown a hand’s breadth taller since I last saw you. Looks like I’ll have to look up to you now.”
“Yes. Master Beop Gong, I trust you have been in good health. It has been three years since we last met.”
Jin Seong bowed respectfully, and Beop Gong clicked his tongue.
“Still stiff as a stone, I see. Relax. Loosen up.”
“I am at ease.”
“Look, your master is a free spirit, but why do you carry yourself so rigidly? There’s so much fun in the world. Live a little more flexibly.”
He sounded like an obnoxious uncle trying to lead his proper nephew astray, so I rolled my eyes at Beop Gong.
“You called him over just to criticize him?”
“What? Little one. Are you taking the Sword Saint’s disciple’s side? That’s the man who came after you with fire in his eyes?”
“And who was the one who called him here in the first place? Anyway, since you’re here now, I’m going to go find Yeon Liang. You two talk.”
I slipped away, and Beop Gong chuckled, placing his hand lightly on my head.
“Good work.”
That one simple phrase made my chest feel warm and full.
“You too, Master…”
“But things are about to get harder.”
“Pardon?”
Just then, the ship that had been shrouded in darkness blazed with brilliant light.
The sudden brilliance made me squeeze my eyes shut. I shaded my eyes with the heel of my hand and gazed at the illuminated vessel.
It was a ship unlike any I’d ever seen—wide as if two ordinary vessels had been lashed together, with a two-story pavilion structure rising from the deck.
I’d been wondering where all those water bandits kept pouring out from, but seeing the flagship’s grandeur made sense of it.
A vessel that size could hold an endless stream of men.
Atop the two-story pavilion, a man sat in a high-backed chair with his legs crossed, regarding us. I suspected he had to be Soo Ryong Wang.
A man standing beside him bellowed out.
“A proclamation from Soo Ryong Wang!”
Beop Gong held back a laugh and spoke sarcastically.
“Looks like someone learned how to ape a court herald.”
“His Majesty has been moved by your courage! He holds your talents in high regard and bestows his mercy upon you—from this day forth, you shall become members of the Soo Ryong Clan…!”
“That’s enough.”
“Should I shoot him down?”
“Yeah. Shut that mouth.”
At Beop Gong’s nod, I flung a Feather Needle toward the herald. The needle lodged in his throat, and the herald toppled forward, choking and convulsing.
“Yeon Liang! Get over here, now!”
In the same instant, Beop Gong burst forward, racing across the water and vaulting onto the flagship’s deck.
Yeon Liang, muttering a curse from afar, kicked off the rail and somersaulted over to the flagship as well.
Watching the two men vanish like the wind, I tapped Jin Seong.
“Can your school do that? I can only manage about this distance across water.”
“…I am still learning as well.”
“Hmm. Should we just wait here then?”
“Yes.”
Jin Seong nodded. We exchanged an awkward glance, then began helping the remaining passengers with cleanup.
* * *
The mast was gone, and the ship—charred and splintered in places—remained afloat almost miraculously despite its ruined state.
With so many wounded, groans echoed from every direction.
The captain, attending to those who had passed, bore an expression of profound grief.
“It would be better to bring them to shore for proper burial, but circumstances don’t permit it. Forgive me.”
He swallowed a heavy sigh and gently closed the eyes of a corpse that had been staring wide open.
Two crew members who had been watching gently lifted the body’s limbs and lowered it carefully into the river.
The solemn atmosphere weighed on my heart as well.
I knew we couldn’t save everyone, but confronting the reality of it made my stomach churn.
A woman approached me quietly as I gnawed at my lip, pressing something into my hands.
“Great Hero.”
It was the neck cloth that had vanished in the chaos of battle.
I’d thought it swept away somewhere down the Yangtze, but it seemed the woman had fished it out and kept it.
“Thanks to you, I’ve been saved. Thank you, Great Hero. Though my child’s father is gone…….”
The woman smiled gently, her eyes glistening with tears. A child slept soundly on her back, oblivious to the world.
I didn’t know what words of comfort to offer. My mouth hung open uselessly as I wrapped the neck cloth she handed me around myself.
I wanted to hide my ruined expression.
The woman bowed her head and soon moved away from me. I watched her go, dazed, as she hurried to aid other survivors, and then I steeled myself.
……At least I could tend to the wounded.
Then a distant cry cut through the darkness, and all eyes turned toward it.
“Please! Save me! Help! Someone help!”
“Rope! Where’s the rope?”
“Hold on just a little longer!”
Someone was screaming in the darkness, swimming frantically toward our boat.
Men hurried to throw down a rope and hauled the figure aboard.
The girl was about my age, her lips blue with cold, her whole body trembling.
“Escaped from the Water Bandits? You look a mess. Clean yourself up.”
A man clucked his tongue and handed her a dry cloth with a look of pity.
“Cough, cough! Thank you.”
Sitting on the deck and wiping away the water, the girl’s left ankle was visibly swollen—she must have twisted it while escaping.
“I’m a physician. Your ankle seems injured. Let me take a look.”
When I stepped forward and raised my hand, the crowd parted to make way.
The moment I crouched down before the girl, Jin Seong called out urgently.
“Dang!”
My body jerked as the cold touch of metal pressed against the base of my skull. Jin Seong, who’d been rushing toward me, froze in place.
His face tense, he edged closer gradually. But the girl yanked me back roughly, as if to make her point.
“I’d advise you not to come any closer. Take another step and the Daoist’s companions will get hurt.”
Jin Seong’s knuckles went white as he gripped his sword, his voice sharp as a blade.
“Who are you?”
“Does it matter?”
“It does. Your treatment will depend on your identity.”
“……Tiresome Daoist.”
The girl’s reply was fierce, and she bared her teeth in a snarl.
“That’s right. I’m the Soo Ryong Wang you’ve been looking for. So stay still. I’ve had enough bloodshed for one night.”

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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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