Surviving as the Sacheon Dang Clan’s Servant - Chapter 98

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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 98
The Deposed Empress savored the broth slowly, then opened her mouth slightly in admiration.
“Excellent!”
“Does it suit your palate?”
“Even the delicacies from the imperial palace never tasted like this. You have quite the gift, miss.”
Hmm. That much praise? Yeon Ryang doesn’t look the type—there’s more to him than meets the eye.
Caught off guard by her response, I laughed and waved my hand dismissively.
“It wasn’t me, but my brother who made it. I’m relieved it pleased you.”
“You’re fortunate to have such a skilled brother. If it were possible, I’d hire him as my own cook.”
The Deposed Empress, lavish with her praise, drained the bowl clean as though she hadn’t abstained from food in ages.
It must be genuinely delicious. I should go get myself a bowl later.
I smiled to myself as I cleared away the empty dish.
“Tomorrow, shall I prepare pheasant, sliced thin? Do you care for fruit? What about wild strawberries?”
“Wild strawberries… When I was at my father’s estate, he would pick them for me often. He’d wipe each one and place it in my mouth…”
A wistful smile crossed the Deposed Empress’s face, and she fell silent for a long time, her gaze distant and vacant, as though turning over old memories.
After more than a moment, she finally spoke.
“…Yes. I believe I did enjoy them.”
“Then I’ll bring some wild strawberries tomorrow. You must be tired—I’ll take my leave now, Your Majesty.”
“Yes. Thank you for the meal, miss.”
I bowed my head and gathered the dishes before slipping out of the room.
The monks were the ones most delighted by the news that the Deposed Empress had taken up her spoon.
Seol Jae recited Buddhist sutras with a pleased expression, while Gak Moon released a breath of relief, his hand pressed to his chest.
“We are grateful, benefactor.”
Wol Am grasped my hand, her face so full of emotion she seemed ready to shed tears at any moment.
Their reaction spoke volumes about how deeply they had worried over the Deposed Empress’s condition.
“She finished every last drop of the meat broth. Since she suddenly consumed something rich, her digestion may be unsettled—don’t give her anything else today. Instead, I’ll prepare a medicinal decoction for this evening.”
“Understood, benefactor.”
“Since her vital energy has weakened, keeping her confined to her room all day isn’t advisable. Let her take a walk in the courtyard for at least a moment while the sun is up.”
“But her legs are troubled…”
“If she complains of pain in her legs, I’ll needle the Zusanli Acupoint. Have her take the walk first, then call for me.”
“Yes, benefactor. I’ll do so.”
“And is there a stream nearby where turtles might live? I’d like to prepare turtle soup to fortify her body… ha.”
I flinched at the peculiar look in Seol Jae’s eyes and closed my mouth.
Fortunately, the monk seemed not to be reproaching me but answered in a kind tone.
“If you walk half a shichen to the west, you’ll find a large stream.”
“Thank you, reverend. I’ll go at once.”
With a respectful bow, I hurried out of the hermitage.
The Deposed Empress was one thing, but Yeon Ryang’s recovery was more pressing.
With no way to obtain rare elixirs in this remote mountain wilderness, I needed to help him heal through nourishing food alone.
Never mind that Yeon Ryang’s habit of preparing his own meals was a separate matter.
What fortifying ingredients could I find in this vicinity?
Turtles, carp, loaches… catfish? With luck, I might even procure deer antler.
As I mentally catalogued the food sources available, I hoisted the woven basket onto my shoulder.
This was the moment my unplanned rustic existence truly began.
* * *
Day after day, I combed the mountain like I was hunting for lice.
I alternated between trapping game and fishing, harvesting medicinal herbs whenever I spotted them, and often gathered wild fruits as well.
Most of the berries that formed where flowers had fallen were small and unripe, but I occasionally found well-ripened fruits that I could taste as palate cleansers.
After returning each day with the basket laden, Yeon Ryang—who had been lying slanted against a nearby rock—would wave his hand and greet me.
“You’re back?”
At the sight of the man chewing on a grass blade with a lazy grin, I couldn’t help but smirk.
“Someone’s been trudging up and down mountains all day, and someone else gets to laze about soaking up the sun.”
“Just a few more days, sister. When else will I get to enjoy the life of a good-for-nothing?”
“You already know you’re a good-for-nothing, don’t you? Get up and take this. I brought a beehive.”
“Ah, so that’s why that rascal’s so swollen.”
Yeon Ryang chuckled and pointed at Ju Ryeong.
The creature hanging from the basket had a face creased with grooves as it worked to brush away the bees clinging to its fur, making unhappy sounds.
“Ju Ryeong, are you still sulking?”
“Chirp!”
The disgruntled Ju Ryeong rolled across the ground, voicing its grievances.
It was a protest—why couldn’t she eat the honey when she’d been the one to gather the beehive?
“Just wait a little. Your brother will scrape the honey straight from the comb for you. Then we’ll eat it.”
“Kiii……?”
Ju Ryeong’s expression softened at that. She really was transparent in her wants.
Yeon Ryang accepted the woven basket from me and shook it gently, checking its contents.
“Ah, full again today. You’d make a fine head of household, sister.”
“What? You’re telling a sister who hasn’t even come of age to manage a household? Have you no shame? Hand it over. Your brother gets no supper tonight.”
I snorted and lunged for the basket, but Yeon Ryang nimbly dodged and cradled it protectively against his chest.
“Now, now—that’s not right.”
His movements were spare and efficient, and I found myself frowning despite myself.
……For someone who claimed walking was difficult, his movements seemed awfully fluid. Surely his back had healed by now?
As Yeon Ryang moved away from me, he emptied out the basket to inspect today’s haul.
“Look at this—you’ve brought back snails by the handful! Stir-fried with sauce and paired with a bottle of spirits, that would be magnificent.”
“This is a hermitage, brother. And what kind of patient drinks? Stop talking nonsense and split that beehive. Ju Ryeong is waiting.”
I reproached him and sat down at his side, and Yeon Ryang skillfully split the honeycomb, transferring the honey into a fresh earthen jar.
Ju Ryeong circled around Yeon Ryang with gleaming eyes, earned a taste of honey, and broke into a blissful smile.
I hadn’t realized it before, but Yeon Ryang had a gift for household tasks.
He cleaned and prepared ingredients, cooked well, mended the hermitage’s broken doors and furniture with a hammer—tap, tap, tap—and made it look easy.
When the basket he carried developed a hole, he wove a new one to fit my frame. He was a man of many talents.
“How do you know how to do all this?”
“Ha, living teaches you everything in time. Sister, would you go to the Kitchen Hall and bring back the basket of wild strawberries and a small jar? I’ll preserve them in honey.”
“All right.”
Yeon Ryang replied as though it were nothing, and began drawing well water to scrub the snails vigorously.
By the time I returned with the strawberries, he’d finished cleaning and was brushing the soil from the medicinal herbs.
“Give me the herbs, brother. The roots will bruise.”
“I was just about to hand them over. I wouldn’t dream of touching them—I’d get scolded for it.”
Yeon Ryang chuckled and set the herbs aside. He rinsed his hands lightly and selected the ripest wild strawberries, placing them in the jar.
They were a deep, lovely red, and my mouth watered at the sight.
“Brother, couldn’t you use your Inner Martial Power to freeze the strawberries just a little? I’d love to eat them cold.”
“Sohye. Your brother can’t even circulate his energy right now.”
“Ugh, what good are you then? Useless. Grandfather just had to touch something and his cup would freeze.”
As I grumbled, Yeon Ryang shook his head as if to say I should speak sense.
“What? You can’t compare like that. The Poison King is a being beyond the heavens themselves, sister. I’m not worth the dirt under the Poison King’s fingernails.”
His bewildered tone made me pause.
“Is our grandfather really that extraordinary?”
“He is. Among the Demonic Sect—the righteous sects fear and hate no one more than your grandfather. If you gathered all the sect members the Poison King has killed, they would form a Sea of Corpses.”
Now that I thought about it, Peng Jiyun had said something similar before.
‘A disciple of the Poison King colluding with the Demonic Sect? What nonsense is this? You couldn’t find anyone in all of Zhongyuan who hates the sect more than him.’
That’s right. Grandfather hates the Demonic Sect. But what’s the reason?
I clearly knew nothing, and Yeon Ryang scratched his head.
“Sohye, you’re supposed to be the granddaughter taught the Poison King Martial Arts. You don’t even know what kind of man your grandfather is?”
“Of course not. Would our grandfather have treated me like a sect member?”
“Fair point. He probably just gave you honey candy.”
Yeon Ryang nodded in understanding. I decided not to mention that the honey candy Grandfather gave me was poisoned.
He poured honey into the jar and continued speaking slowly.
“Your grandfather lost his romantic partner in a battle with the Demonic Sect. The hatred ran so deep that the Poison King, alone and single-handed, spent five years destroying six regional chapters of the sect and slaughtering the faithful before his vengeance was satisfied.”
“……Huh?”
“It’s ancient history now, but the sect still trembles at the name Poison King. There was no righteous martial cultivator who threw himself into battle like a vengeful spirit—not like the Poison King.”
“My grandfather did that?”
“He did. This was before he earned the title Poison King. A young novice barely past twenty, and he raged so fiercely that even the Martial Alliance couldn’t rein him in, or so I’ve heard. I only know these stories secondhand.”
The unbelievable tale left me speechless.
Heavens. I’d suspected something terrible had happened when I heard he’d missed his time to marry, but……
As I stared with my eyes rolling about uselessly, Yeon Ryang shrugged in surprise.
“You really don’t know of Okh Wan, the Moonlight Immortal? She was famous in the sect. The Dang Clan must have kept it very quiet. Then again, she’s been dead for over a hundred years—it’s natural to forget.”
At the name that left Yeon Ryang’s lips, I wanted to scream.
Okh Wan?
The owner of the wooden plaque that the Martial Alliance Master had brought—she was Grandfather’s romantic partner?

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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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