Surviving as the Villainess’s Servant in a Martial Arts Novel - Chapter 53

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 53

 

When I felt a strong sense of unease.

 

Just then, the Mysterious Man’s colleague who had been cleaning up the area approached us.

 

“The target?”

 

‘Target?’

 

“We lost her. She disguised some servant as herself and used him as bait. Damn it, I thought we finally caught her only to get backstabbed like this.”

 

“Hehe, just look at how she threw her own servant to the wolves to save herself – she’s no ordinary person. Her temper is famous, isn’t it.”

 

“Anyway, this has become troublesome. That guy doesn’t know anything either… Should we search the Mountain again? She couldn’t have already escaped, could she?”

 

“If she had, we would have heard from the guys waiting at the Foot of the Mountain. She’s still here somewhere…”

 

‘What?’

 

Quietly listening to their conversation, I broke out in a cold sweat.

 

Things were taking a strange turn.

 

No matter how I looked at it, these guys were suspicious. From calling me ‘useless’ to their talk of ‘target’, ‘backstabbed’, ‘waiting at the foot of the Mountain’ and so on – they definitely didn’t seem to have good intentions.

 

Rather, they seemed similar to them. To the Masked Men who had tried to kidnap rather than immediately kill…

 

‘Masked Men?’

 

I looked around the area again.

 

Now that I thought about it, the number of Masked Men lying on the Ground was strangely few. For all the commotion they had made earlier, the scene was surprisingly sparse.

 

So did the rest all escape? Weren’t they going to chase the ones who fled?

 

Most importantly, why did the Masked Men give up so easily? As if they knew these guys would come, retreating like they were putting on an act…

 

‘Could it be?’

 

Without realizing it, I took a step back.

 

Even then, they continued talking in low voices.

 

“One… standing, won’t do…”

 

“Then… except… all… kill…”

 

When I took another step backward.

 

Rustle.

 

At the sound of stepping on leaves, they turned to look at me. An ominous voice reached me.

 

“Where are you going?”

 

I quickly moved my mouth.

 

“Well, that, I, I too! Please take me with you too! You’re trying to find Young Miss, right? I want to help you Warriors too…!”

 

“What?”

 

“I’m, I’m worried about Young Miss too, and I think it would be better if you Warriors found her… Also, I’ve earned Young Miss’s trust before, so I think she’ll come out if I call her…”

 

“…”

 

“Ah, ah! And now I remember, I think Young Miss went west. Southwest? Northwest? Anyway, she went toward where the sun sets…”

 

I spoke as earnestly as possible.

 

If my guess was correct, I absolutely couldn’t let these guys find Young Miss. I had to interfere and somehow sabotage them.

 

However, perhaps because my voice was trembling too much. They didn’t answer for a moment. Instead, they just glanced at me while exchanging meaningful looks among themselves.

 

Suddenly the Mysterious Man stepped forward.

 

“You said Young Miss went west?”

 

“Yes, yes. Really, I saw…”

 

“On your life?”

 

‘My life?’

 

When I felt a chill, the Mysterious Man slowly began approaching me.

 

“Strange. The guy who until just now had no idea where she went suddenly remembers?”

 

“Well, that’s…”

 

“And how can you be so confident? That Young Miss will come out if you call her. You’re already a guy who was used as bait and abandoned – do you think she’d even respond if you called?”

 

“…”

 

“If you’re so confident, what will you wager?”

 

I quickly stepped backward. But even as I moved away, the Mysterious Man strode closer.

 

As I frantically backed away, I suddenly felt my heel catch on a rock. Without thinking, I looked behind me.

 

I was standing at the Cliff Edge.

 

“Your wrist? Your forearm? One leg? One eyeball? Or… your head?”

 

“Sir, no, great hero, just once…”

 

“Unfortunately.”

 

The Mysterious Man raised his hand.

 

“We were told to kill everyone except that girl.”

 

The moment my heart sank with a thud. Without looking further, I leaped forward.

 

As if he had expected me to do exactly that, the Mysterious Man’s palm came down toward me. Wind rose and it seemed like no ordinary move – he was trying to kill me in one strike.

 

I didn’t avoid his hand but opened my eyes wide. Then I clearly watched the direction his hand was coming from and leaned left to dodge it.

 

‘I dodged it!’

 

But I was mistaken.

 

At the same time, a hand was flying toward the direction I had dodged.

 

‘…Huh?’

 

Only then did I realize. The first strike had been a False Move, and the real one was coming from the left.

 

I immediately leaped backward.

 

Before I knew it, I was floating in the air.

 

The Mysterious Man’s palm barely touched my chest.

 

But my body was falling faster.

 

I heard the sound of wind rushing past my ears, and everything that had happened so far flashed before my eyes.

 

Being reincarnated here and meeting Mother, entering the Seo Family Estate and meeting various people, meeting Young Miss, bickering and then opening our hearts to each other. Even our final parting…

 

The last thought that came to mind was one thing.

 

‘I promised I would definitely survive…’

 

I had promised, with Young Miss. That I would definitely survive, that I would return to Young Miss’s side…

 

I’m sorry, Young Miss.

 

My body fell rapidly.

 

I closed my eyes.

 

I think I shed a few tears too.

 

* * *

 

I had a strange dream.

 

In the dream, a man and woman sat side by side in a Cave.

 

Rain was pattering Outside, and firewood was quietly burning inside the Cave. They gazed endlessly Outside while talking.

 

“Do you regret it?”

 

“Regret? Am I even worthy of having regrets.”

 

“Everyone lives with regrets. That’s the same whether they’re evil or good.”

 

“…”

 

“What do you regret?”

 

“What do I…”

 

After a long while, the man’s hoarse voice was heard.

 

“Everything.”

 

“…”

 

“I regret everything. From the beginning until now.”

 

“…”

 

“Good and evil.”

 

Only then did I realize.

 

The man had been crying for a long time.

 

“Are not so easily divided…”

 

* * *

 

“Gasp…!”

 

I opened my eyes.

 

Trembling all over as if convulsing, I gasped for breath. Something that might have been river water or tears flowed down the corners of my eyes.

 

I stared blankly into space and thought.

 

‘What kind of dream did I have?’

 

Strangely, I couldn’t remember.

 

No matter how hard I tried to recall, my mind only felt hazy. Nothing came back clearly. I only remembered feeling a little sad.

 

I shook my head and cut off my thoughts. Instead, I looked around my surroundings.

 

‘So where is… this place?’

 

Currently, I was lying stretched out in the river downstream.

 

Half of my lower body was submerged in water, as if I had been swept away and carried downstream for quite a while.

 

Suddenly, I remembered what had happened earlier.

 

The incident where I switched clothes with Young Miss and escaped. Being cornered at the cliff by the Masked Men, and someone helping me in a moment of crisis. Only to find out they were enemies too.

 

In the end, I was struck by that man’s palm strike when he turned and fell off the cliff. I thought I was surely dead…

 

‘I’m alive?’

 

I was inwardly surprised as I felt around my chest.

 

It seemed that when the man unleashed his palm strike, I fell off the cliff and didn’t take the full hit, which actually allowed me to survive.

 

Of course, surviving a fall from a cliff is another story entirely. I could only say that heaven helped me.

 

‘…My body isn’t completely fine though.’

 

Since I didn’t completely avoid it, I clutched my throbbing chest. Then suddenly, I stiffened.

 

“…?”

 

Somehow, my chest area felt empty.

 

At the thought that suddenly occurred to me, I hurriedly put my hand inside my clothes and searched.

 

But there was nothing to be found.

 

No… there was something.

 

A few pieces of a completely broken hairpin.

 

“The hairpin…”

 

I let out a groan.

 

Right, I should have expected this from the moment that man attacked my chest area. Since I had put the hairpin there. Of course it would break like this.

 

But I couldn’t help feeling upset.

 

This was Young Lady’s Mother’s last keepsake. It was something precious to Young Miss, yet she lent it to me, and I had resolved to return it to her no matter what.

 

‘I couldn’t… keep my promise.’

 

Then naturally, resentment arose. Toward that man who struck my chest. If only I had noticed something was strange about that man from back at the Seo Family Estate…

 

…Could I have noticed?

 

Honestly, I was skeptical. Neither I, nor Chief Steward, nor even Master suspected that those men harbored ulterior motives.

 

It wasn’t like Master had accepted just anyone as guards; he had properly brought them in through recommendations from trustworthy people.

 

And that trustworthy person was…

 

‘Namgung Jeong.’

 

Master’s sworn brother.

 

My temporary teacher and Young Miss’s uncle.

 

The renowned Thunder Emotion Sword master of Jianghu.

 

‘Did he really not know?’

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