Surviving as the Sacheon Dang Clan’s Servant - Chapter 95

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 95
By day I followed the sun’s path; by night, the stars guided our way.
We avoided anywhere there was a sign of human presence, moving through the mountain paths as quietly as shadows.
Everything Yeon Ryang had taught me.
‘Sister. Do you see that star? That’s the Big Dipper. Greedy Wolf, Great Document, Celestial Pivot, Heavenly Market, Pivotal Rank, Breaking Army, Assistant—those seven stars are always fixed in the north. So when finding your way…….’
I kept hearing his voice as I pushed steadily eastward, ever eastward.
My plan was to slip beyond Hubei and lose ourselves in the borderlands between Henan and Anhui.
If I could find a shelter on terrain so treacherous no one would think to look there, I could buy time for Yeon Ryang to recover.
I glanced back over my shoulder.
“Brother.”
“…….”
“Yeon Ryang. Hey. You’re not dead, are you?”
I called softly, but there was no reply. I pressed my ear to his breathing.
His breath came steady and measured, not so different from a man in deep sleep.
Unconscious, but alive.
That was enough. As long as he lived, that was enough.
I was hurrying on, trying to calm myself, when a familiar cry split the air.
“Keeeee!”
I turned to see Ju Ryeong bounding up the ridge on four legs.
The creature came bounding toward me, leaves clinging to its fur, eyes bright with excitement as it leaped into my arms.
I picked the leaf fragments from Ju Ryeong’s coat and asked quietly.
“Did you lose them well?”
“Kee.”
“You didn’t run into any pursuers?”
“Kyuu.”
“They’re far off?”
“Koo-rook.”
“Good work. Well done.”
I pulled out a strip of dried meat, popped one piece into Ju Ryeong’s mouth and another into my own, then carefully lowered Yeon Ryang beneath the shelter of a great tree trunk.
“I need to clean your wounds before we move on. Just wait a moment.”
“…….”
“It might hurt a little.”
Muttering to myself, I unwrapped the cloth binding his torso and found the wounds crusted over with hardened scabs.
Thanks to the Gold Wound Medicine Jin Seong had given me, Yeon Ryang’s injuries were knitting together day by day.
New flesh had risen in just a few days, covering the bone—a mercy, truly.
Yet he remained unconscious. I wondered if it was internal bleeding, some deep injury I couldn’t see.
Another three days should do it. Or perhaps four.
My hands had grown practiced at tending wounds over these past days; they moved of their own accord while my mind wandered elsewhere.
Ju Ryeong watched as I cleaned and rebandaged the injuries, letting out a small, anxious whimper and pawing at my knees.
“Kyuuu…….”
The creature was worried about Yeon Ryang too. I poured water between his lips and whispered back.
“He’ll come around soon. I need to get some food into him, though. That’s what troubles me.”
I would have liked to make jerky broth, but there was no chance to build a fire.
“We’ll go another half day, then I’ll make you rice gruel. You’re so heavy I’m dying under the weight, so you’ll just have to go hungry. Wretched brother.”
I spoke words he couldn’t hear, then hoisted him onto my back again and climbed deeper into the mountain paths.
The pine forest grew so thick it bore no trace of human passage.
Even animal tracks were rare. The mountain was too barren and steep to draw game this high.
Exhilaration quickened my pace. I was certain I’d found the perfect refuge.
As I pushed through the dense grass and reached the summit, a building appeared.
It was a small hermitage weathered by countless seasons.
To speak kindly of it: ancient and venerable. To speak truly: it looked to be more than two hundred years old. Beneath the hermitage, an elderly nun was gathering wild herbs.
I froze, too startled even to think of running.
The old nun, having spotted me, called out.
“Have you come to make an offering?”
“Ah…… That is, I…….”
“Or are you looking for a place to stay the night?”
She showed no surprise at the sight of me carrying a man nearly as broad as a door frame.
The nun rose smoothly to her feet and gestured with a gentle, kindly smile.
“Night falls quickly in the mountains. It’s too late to descend now, so if you have no objection, won’t you come inside?”
Her voice was soft, almost warm.
I tightened my grip on Yeon Ryang’s arm, hesitating.
Could I trust this old monk? Might he report us to the authorities?
As I turned suspicious eyes about the hermitage, I soon realized how foolish my doubt was.
It was nearly impossible for an ordinary commoner to deceive me and trek down this treacherous mountain to report us to officials.
It made far more sense to worry that the pursuers chasing us might bring harm to the monk instead.
As I stood speechless, Ju Ryeong poked his head out from inside my sleeve.
“Chirp!”
“Ha ha.”
The old monk burst into laughter at the sight of Ju Ryeong, covering his mouth with his hand.
“A companion of yours, then? The little one seems quite fond of you as well.”
Seeing that Ju Ryeong showed no wariness, it seemed safe enough to stay for one night. I bowed respectfully.
“Thank you, Reverend. We’ll impose on your kindness for just one night, then take our leave.”
“Please, come this way.”
The old monk lifted a woven straw basket and began walking slowly toward the hermitage.
I followed cautiously behind him.
The hermitage, despite its modest appearance, was remarkably well-maintained.
The wooden floors gleamed without a speck of dust, and not a single cobweb was visible anywhere.
The old monk, mindful of Yeon Ryang, led me directly to a room.
A nun waiting outside the room door opened her eyes wide at the sight of us.
“Seol Jae, who are these guests……?”
“They’ll be staying for the night. Wol Am, would you prepare sleeping quarters for them?”
Only upon meeting another nun did I understand what sort of place this was.
This hermitage was a place where Buddhist nuns devoted themselves to their practice.
At Seol Jae’s calm voice, Wol Am composed herself and set about arranging bedding for Yeon Ryang.
I worried about Yeon Ryang’s filthy clothes, but finding fresh garments to fit his massive frame seemed impossible.
As I laid Yeon Ryang facedown on the bed, the muscle soreness I’d forgotten in the tension came rushing back like a tide.
As I collapsed onto the floor, drained, Wol Am spoke to me.
“All we have to offer is a Buddhist robe. Would you be willing to wear one, guest?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Then I’ll heat water so you can wash and change.”
“No, please. Just show me where the water is. I’ll heat it myself.”
“The Buddha taught that all people are Buddhas themselves, and that we should serve everyone as we would serve a Buddha. Serving you is a way for me to cultivate merit. Please, rest without worry.”
Wol Am closed the door after speaking these kind words.
I sat quietly, listening to the sounds outside.
The bucket splashed against the water’s surface as someone drew water from the well, and dishes clattered as another prepared the evening meal.
It was a sound full of kindness extended to a wandering stranger.
I slowly leaned my back against the wall.
At least for tonight, I could rest under a roof.
* * *
The meal the nuns prepared was simple, yet abundant enough to fill our bellies.
Thanks to the rice gruel prepared separately, Yeon Ryang’s strength began to return.
“You’re alive then?”
……
“No shame in you at all. Making me feed you like this. Just wait till you wake up. I’ll work you twice as hard.”
After muttering my complaints and pouring an entire bowl of rice gruel into Yeon Ryang’s mouth, I finally got to my feet.
The sensation of the long Buddhist robe wrapping around my body felt strangely familiar, and I let out a helpless laugh.
I’d never be able to wear anything but this long robe again.
“Ju Ryeong, stay here and watch over him.”
“Chirp!”
Leaving Ju Ryeong to guard Yeon Ryang, I stepped outside the room. The nuns must have been in meditation, for the hermitage was silent.
I walked slowly out of the hermitage and examined the area around it, hoping to scout escape routes in case we needed them.
As I scanned for a path that didn’t end in sheer cliff face, I sensed Seol Jae approaching in the distance. I pretended not to notice, feigning interest in the scenery.
Seol Jae came to stand quietly beside me and spoke.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Pardon?”
“Those seven peaks there—quite a magnificent sight, wouldn’t you say? They encircle our hermitage like guardians. That’s why our hermitage is called Chilbong Hermitage.”
Now that he mentioned it, I could see seven peaks, sharp as brush tips, surrounding the hermitage.
As I awkwardly nodded in acknowledgment, Seol Jae asked again.
“Do you visit temples often?”
“No. This is my first time.”
“How fortunate that the place where you first encountered the Buddha was Chilbong Hermitage.”
He smiled warmly and gazed beyond the peaks. The forest caught the dying sun’s last light, stained crimson and deep brown.
“Ha-Angeo is approaching, Patron.”
“Ha-Angeo?”
“In our order, meditation holds the highest place. When the retreat period arrives, the gates remain sealed for three months. No one may enter or leave these grounds.”
Seol Jae paused, then looked at me and took my hand. His eyes were warm.
“This is a place where only nuns dwell, so few will come seeking you. Rest here without worry.”
He meant I should recover fully before departing, without questions asked.
I stared at him numbly, bit my lip, and lowered my head.
“……Thank you. Thank you, Master.”
* * *
Life at the hermitage was peace itself.
Each dawn, I woke to the scent of incense and the small wooden fish drum echoing through the quiet rooms.
I would rise groggily, open the door to the adjacent chamber to check on Yeon Ryang, then go outside to draw water from the well and carry it to the kitchen.
This was my way of helping prepare the morning meal.
Listening to the mountain birds and watching the sky brighten, I found myself thinking it wouldn’t be so bad to live buried in these peaks without a care in the world.
Better than being a third-rate martial cultivator constantly fleeing for his life—better to be a forgotten nun in an empty hermitage.
Though I hated the thought of shaving my head.
“Let me do that, Master. I’ll take it.”
“No, Patron. I— you’re quite strong, aren’t you?”
“I’m fairly sturdy.”
After the morning meal, I would split firewood and wash the Buddhist robes in the stream. Sometimes I swept the yard or scrubbed the prayer hall floor.
I had done such chores every day during my time as a servant. These were familiar tasks, nothing difficult.
And so I lived with the nuns at the hermitage for seven days,
“Where… where am I?”
Yeon Ryang had awakened.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————