Surviving as the Sacheon Dang Clan’s Servant - Chapter 52

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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 52
Ju Ryeong was the sort of creature who rose early and retired early, as was proper for a young badger of the new generation.
The creature would settle into sleep before the Hai hour had even arrived, then bolt upright the moment Myo hour came, startling me awake.
“Kyuu-wuu! Krrr-krrr!”
“Hey, quiet down.”
I pulled the blanket over my head and pressed my ears shut, but the creature simply grabbed a fistful of my hair and tugged insistently.
“I’m getting up. Stop pestering me.”
“Krrr!”
“It’s your belly, isn’t it? I think you’re hungry……”
Gyeong A, who had brought a basin of water, gazed at Ju Ryeong with concern.
“You’re hungry?”
“Krrr-krrr!”
So that was it. The creature woke me up just to be fed.
I rubbed my sleep-heavy eyes and looked at Song Ji.
“Song Ji. Don’t we have anything for her to eat?”
“Does she have to eat right now? Young Miss hasn’t even had her breakfast yet.”
“I can’t starve a spiritual creature that Grandfather brought for us.”
Left with no rebuttal, Song Ji pouted and brought two boiled eggs.
“You can shell them yourself.”
At Song Ji’s quip, Ju Ryeong settled without protest before the tray and began using her front paws to crack the shells.
“Look at her. She’s actually peeling them?”
“Kee.”
Working deftly through the shells, the creature swallowed the soft insides with satisfied gulps.
Watching the badger dispatch two eggs in what felt like moments, I couldn’t help but laugh.
I watched Ju Ryeong expel a contented belch.
“Now that you’ve eaten, let’s go to the Training Ground.”
“Kyuu-wuu?”
“Don’t play innocent. You said you could hold your own against most martial artists.”
“Kyuu-wuu-wuu?”
The creature tilted her head in confusion. I grabbed her by the scruff.
“No use playing dumb. You’ve eaten—time to earn your meal.”
“Kee! Kee-kee!”
“Unless you’d like me to summon Grandfather?”
……
At the mention of Dang Jung’s name, Ju Ryeong went rigid and all resistance drained from her body.
So even she’s afraid of Grandfather.
I chuckled and hoisted the creature onto my shoulder, making my way toward the Training Ground.
The sun had begun its longer arc; though it was still early dawn, the world shone with light. Upon entering the Training Ground, I spotted Dang Jung with a long pipe clenched between his teeth.
“Grandfather. Did you sleep well?”
“……Yes.”
Dang Jung answered and looked at me, exhaling a thin plume of white smoke. His expression was darker than usual, his mood visibly unsettled.
The thick fragrance of tobacco drifted toward me, carrying with it a prickle of unease.
……Did I do something wrong?
“Sohye. Come sit here.”
Watching his face carefully, I approached and settled myself before him.
Dang Jung, who had been breathing out heavy sighs, suddenly flicked a finger against my forehead.
Thwack!
“Ow. That hurt.”
It wasn’t mere theatrics—stars actually danced across my vision from the blow.
As I rubbed my stinging forehead and rolled my eyes, Dang Jung’s tongue clicked disapprovingly.
“This old fool has been raising a foolish brat. I thought you were clever, but you’re nothing but a complete dunce.”
“What?”
“You work with poison and you just drink whatever someone hands you? Do you even understand what that is? Do you want to die unprepared and bewildered?”
It dawned on me then why Dang Jung’s mood had soured. He must have heard the story from Dang Ju Yeop.
I muttered quietly.
“It didn’t work anyway……”
“Whether it worked or not is irrelevant. You must never forget that there are those all around you who wish you harm. Always keep your guard up. Always!”
Dang Jung’s voice rose with frustration as he struck his own chest.
How was I supposed to know he’d poison me right from the start? Besides, it was a family meal.
Feeling a twinge of injustice, I thrust out my lower lip.
“To me, it was supposed to be a digestive aid. Since no one stopped me, I genuinely thought it was one.”
“You should never have trusted. The Martial World is a pitiless place. Trust no one.”
This is home, though.
Dang Jung, reading my expression, let out a dry chuckle.
“What am I to do with this reckless child.”
This face of mine—there’s no help for it. My expressions won’t hide.
I hastily arranged my features into something contrite, but Dang Jung only snorted.
I made a small noise of exasperation and folded my arms across my chest.
“Fine, I won’t trust anyone from now on. Problem solved, right?”
“Easy words.”
Dang Jung’s grumbling lips curled upward bit by bit. When you think about it, he’s a sucker for a little charm.
The wrinkles between his brows smoothed away, and he reached over to stroke my hair.
“Don’t trust any of your siblings. Do you truly believe any of them would accept a girl who appeared out of nowhere as a true brother and sister? They’re all dying to kill you.”
I recalled Dang Ju Yeop’s eerie smile and Dang Hwa Yeop’s naked disgust, and nodded in agreement.
“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind from now on.”
“Good thinking.”
“But still… living without trusting anyone seems rather lonely.”
“Better than taking a blade in the back from someone you believed in.”
“……That’s true enough.”
I had no counterargument.
As I smacked my lips thoughtfully, Dang Jung spoke with what almost sounded like comfort.
“Even so, as you live, there will come someone—just one, perhaps—who will trust you even if you held a knife to their throat and say, ‘There must be a reason.’ Such a person, you may trust.”
“Someone like you?”
“Do you trust this old man? Not so long ago you flinched at my very shadow.”
“Me? When? Must’ve been in a past life.”
Dang Jung laughed at my teasing and gave my cheek a pinch.
“In any case, trust no one. Let that be an end to this old man’s nagging. Geun Myeong. Fetch the Ogong Jar.”
“Yes.”
Dang Geun Myeong appeared from somewhere with a small jar in hand. Dang Jung tapped the lid, then drew a breath.
“Today, I’ll teach you how to filter and absorb Poison Qi cleanly.”
“Filter Poison Qi cleanly? How can poison ever be clean?”
At my confused expression, Dang Jung spoke as if it were simple.
“It’s not complicated. Gather Turbid Qi in one place and mix it, and it becomes pure poison.”
“Hmm, I don’t follow. Won’t mixing things together make it murkier?”
“If you don’t understand, think of fire. Fire consumes all around it and grows in size, does it not? The more fuel there is to burn, the purer the flame becomes. Poison works the same way. The more impurities it devours, the stronger the Poison Qi becomes.”
It’s like mixing different paint colors on a palette until you get black. Confusing.
As I rolled my eyes uncertainly, Dang Jung swallowed a false laugh.
“……You don’t understand yet. Well, you’ll see once you do it.”
He opened the jar. From inside came a strange sound as the lid lifted.
Something like a creeping noise, or a scratching sound…
……Don’t tell me it’s insects? An actual jar of insects?
Cold sweat rolled down my back at the awful premonition.
“There are many methods for training in Poison Qi absorption, but the fastest and most effective is what we call the Ten Thousand Poisons Hand.”
“The Ten Thousand Poisons Hand?”
“Yes. It involves placing your hand in a jar filled with venomous insects and letting them sting you.”
“What?”
I knew it—insects!
This mad family feeds you poison, has insects sting you, it’s absolute chaos. People die doing this stuff. This isn’t the Sichuan Dang Clan—it’s the Yellow Springs Dang Clan.
I bolted up and tried to flee, but Dang Jung grabbed me by the collar.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Ha-ha-ha. I, um, need to use the outhouse for a moment.”
Though I offered this feeble excuse, Dang Jung showed no mercy and thrust the jar toward me.
“Go on. Put your hand in. Fifteen minutes will do.”
Fifteen minutes with my hand in a jar of insects? This has to be a joke.
I glanced back and forth between Dang Jung and the jar, then took a deep breath.
“……Grandfather.”
“What are you doing. Put it in.”
“I really can’t do this! I’m leaving!”
With that, I quickly bolted from Dang Jung’s study.
* * *
It took only a heartbeat for Dang Jung to haul me back to the Study, my hand clasped firmly in his.
Seeing my cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk’s, he pressed his fingers to his brow as if nursing a headache.
“A Poison Master afraid of venomous insects—what kind of sense does that make?”
“But… they’re so disgusting.”
“You’re not just shirking training by pretending to be squeamish, are you?”
“I’m not avoiding training. It’s just—they’re genuinely repulsive. I can’t bring myself to touch them. Grandfather.”
I’d rather handle poison-stained laundry with my bare hands than touch a centipede—a hundred times over, no, a thousand times.
As I muttered this, tucking my hands behind my back, Dang Jung’s eyes narrowed to slits.
“You’re peculiar indeed. Your sister wraps venomous snakes around her body, saying they’re beautiful.”
I think it’s Dang Ju Hui who’s the strange one, not me. She squeezes snake venom while sitting at the dinner table.
“Stop your pouting. You must grow accustomed to it, whether you like it or not. Mastering toxins is just as vital as the art of Poison Application itself.”
Dismissing my plea for basic human dignity as mere tantrum, Dang Jung fixed me with a stern gaze and tapped the jar sharply.
At that, the centipede inside began to writhe and shriek with a horrible chittering sound.
Ugh, I hate this!
I tried my best to ignore the nauseating noise and asked quietly.
“Do I really have to work with living toxins? There are plant poisons and mineral poisons too.”
“Most hemolytic poison comes from creatures. Plant toxins have their limits. Besides, you need to know how to make the poisons you’ll use. I can’t spoon-feed you forever, can I?”
“Well-I-don’t-think-I-really-need-to-couldn’t-you-just-keep-feeding-me-yourself.”
As I mumbled in protest with slurred words, Dang Jung’s expression hardened and his eyes flew wide open.
“……”
“……”
“Absolutely not. What kind of speech is that? Don’t you dare speak so carelessly when you’re out in the world. Running your mouth like that without a proper breath—such thoughtlessness.”
“Yes, sir.”
Dang Jung’s words held no flaw.
A Poison Master who couldn’t make her own toxins was no different from a cook who couldn’t prepare ingredients.
I resolved to make peace with the centipede…
Eat it? There’s no way. Absolutely not.
My expression must have been pathetic enough to amuse him, for Dang Jung let out a soft chuckle.
“You really despise them that much?”
“Absolutely appalled by them.”
“Goodness.”
Dang Jung let out a deflated sigh, then slowly closed the jar’s lid.
“I’ll let it pass today. There’s no urgency.”
“Really?”
“Try me again, and your hand goes back in.”
Dang Jung opened the lid once more with a blunt expression.
In that instant, Ju Ryeong bounded down from my shoulder and darted straight for the jar.
“Ju Ryeong? What are you—eeeek!”
I stumbled backward with a shriek.
That crazy badger was eating the centipede raw!
While I stood appalled at the ghastly sight, Dang Jung remained unmoved. He clicked his tongue and snatched Ju Ryeong up by the scruff.
“You eat the food I give you just fine—what’s gotten into you?”
“Kiii-eek!”
“Enough of that. You think I raised this Ogong Jar for three years just to serve as your snack?”
“Kyaaak!”
“Where do you get such nerve? Should I send you back to the Lim Family? Missing your days as a Flying Poison Master, are you?”
“……Kyuu.”
Threatened, Ju Ryeong transformed instantly into the picture of meekness, blinking pitifully at Dang Jung.
A badger, it seemed, understood reason quite well.

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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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