Surviving as the Villainess’s Servant in a Martial Arts Novel - Chapter 58

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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 58

 

“No one’s here! Come in!”

 

Soon after, I heard the sound of several people rushing into the shrine.

 

‘I thought there were only a few of them, but there are quite a lot?’

 

If I get caught, I really won’t even leave behind bones.

 

I quietly swallowed my dry saliva. Fortunately, the men seemed busy shaking off the rainwater from their clothes and settling down in the shrine.

 

After the commotion died down.

 

One man suddenly spoke up.

 

“I told you not to let your guard down.”

 

Another person replied in a disgruntled tone.

 

“Do you think we wanted to let our guard down? That Woman was acting so docile that we didn’t think she would try to escape.”

 

“Right. And we did our best. Who would have known she’d shoot needles from there? We were so shocked when The Guard collapsed. It’s fortunate it was just paralysis.”

 

“Still, it wasn’t ordinary paralysis poison. He couldn’t move for almost half a day.”

 

‘What are they talking about?’

 

I concentrated and listened carefully to the men’s conversation. I could hear clicking sounds from here and there.

 

“So is that guy okay?”

 

“He should be somewhat recovered by now, right? He was incredibly angry though. He was raging that he’d show her what’s what if he caught her.”

 

“Really, what’s the point of him showing her anything? If we catch her, we have to sell her off immediately…”

 

Suddenly, one man chuckled and said.

 

“Can we even catch her? Looking at how we haven’t seen even a strand of her hair so far, it seems she escaped properly.”

 

Someone sighed and continued.

 

“That’s what I’m saying. Honestly, when she ran into the Mountain Forest, I thought we could catch her quickly. How far could a kid go? I never thought she’d disappear without a trace like this.”

 

“Are you sure she ran into the Mountain Forest? Maybe she took a different route?”

 

“That can’t be. The Mountain was the only place to hide. The other areas were Open Fields, so if she went there, she would have been caught immediately…”

 

The men grumbled and vented their complaints. Some sighed about what kind of hardship this was, while others poured out vulgar curses.

 

Someone quietly muttered.

 

“…Should we search the area again?”

 

Another man shouted angrily.

 

“Search again? We just searched desperately through all the surrounding villages! At this point, either someone is helping her or she’s gone far. She might have already crossed over to Guangxi.”

 

“Should we go back to Guangxi?”

 

“Stop it. We can’t delay here any longer. We told Master Fang we’d bring her quickly, but we’ve just been wasting time without any word until now. At this rate, we’re really in big trouble.”

 

“But if we return empty-handed like this…”

 

The men argued back and forth for some time.

 

However, no consensus was reached, and what finally settled them was the voice of the man who had first entered the shrine.

 

“Alright, enough. For now… let’s go back.”

 

The surroundings became quiet for a moment.

 

“Go back? If we go like this, we’ll get an earful.”

 

“So you’re not going to report it at all? We need to inform them now, what would happen if we hide it and get caught? Don’t you remember what happened to Fang Gui of our Twin Serpent Sect?”

 

No one answered. It seemed the rules were strict, whatever they were.

 

The man clicked his tongue and continued.

 

“Let’s go back and report it, then follow Master Fang’s decision. He’ll hold us responsible for losing That Woman, but since we did our best, he should take that into consideration.”

 

“Can’t be helped? Let’s go back when the rain stops.”

 

“Sigh, what trouble because of That Woman…”

 

The men voiced their complaints one by one, but everyone seemed to agree.

 

After that, they talked some more. Most of it was about that Twin Serpent Sect or whatever, so I couldn’t understand it, but I could tell one thing.

 

That they were going back.

 

That they were giving up on finding the one who escaped.

 

And perhaps that escaped person was…

 

‘Pyeong Hyeon.’

 

I glanced down below.

 

Right underneath, Pyeong Hyeon was trembling.

 

‘I wondered what kind of situation she was in.’

 

I knew Pyeong Hyeon was hiding something. From how she couldn’t easily speak about it, it was definitely not an ordinary matter.

 

But to think she was being chased by those kinds of people.

 

Moreover, they had been looking for Pyeong Hyeon until just before. To think they searched not only the Mountain but all the surrounding villages – their persistence was so tremendous it was chilling.

 

Should I be grateful we didn’t reach the Village quickly? If we had been caught on the way, no, if we had been caught in the Cave…

 

‘Heaven helped us.’

 

I calmed my chilled heart.

 

What was fortunate was that they were trying to give up looking for Pyeong Hyeon. If they had spent more time searching, we wouldn’t have been able to escape in the end.

 

Please leave, please leave…

 

I waited with bated breath, hoping the rain would stop quickly and they would leave. As if my wish was granted, the sound of rain rapidly subsided.

 

When the rain stopped, the men got up one by one.

 

“Before we leave, let’s fill our stomachs at a nearby Village. I’ve been starving since earlier.”

 

“Good idea, it would be perfect with some Alcohol too.”

 

There was the sound of footsteps, then soon a creaking door sound. The men had left the shrine.

 

Soon, silence descended.

 

The footsteps also faded away until they could no longer be heard, but I didn’t come out from behind the altar right away. There might still be someone remaining.

 

Only after quite some time had passed did I finally come out from behind the altar.

 

When I came out, Pyeong Hyeon also crawled out after me, limping. She must have suffered mentally, as her face looked haggard even in that short time.

 

I quietly looked at Pyeong Hyeon and called out softly.

 

“Pyeong Hyeon.”

 

“…”

 

“It’s you, isn’t it?”

 

The person they were talking about.

 

As if understanding the unspoken words, Pyeong Hyeon hung her head low. There was no answer, but it was an affirmation.

 

I let out a deep sigh.

 

“I wondered what had happened…”

 

“…”

 

“For now… let’s run away.”

 

“What?”

 

Pyeong Hyeon raised her head.

 

“What do you mean ‘what’? Those guys just said they were going to the Village. Now’s our chance. While they’re eating at the Inn, we need to get as far away from here as possible. We don’t know when they might come looking again.”

 

“…”

 

“Honestly, I have more than one or two things I want to ask you right now. But now isn’t the time. I’ll ask when we reach a safe place.”

 

“…”

 

“You’ll tell me everything then, right?”

 

At my words, Pyeong Hyeon drew in a breath.

 

Pyeong Hyeon looked straight at me and nodded.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Good.”

 

I turned my back to Pyeong Hyeon and sat down. It was the usual signal to get on my back. Pyeong Hyeon seemed to hesitate a bit, but soon reached out and climbed onto my back.

 

I stood up with Pyeong Hyeon on my back.

 

Time was urgent. We needed to get away from here quickly.

 

I walked with large steps toward the Door of the shrine. My heart was pounding. Ignoring the anxious feeling that kept arising, I reached out my hand.

 

Creak.

 

The Door opened.

 

I froze.

 

Strangely, a shadow fell over me.

 

What is this, why is there a shadow? And somehow it’s a much larger shadow than mine. As if it’s one of those men…

 

“Found you.”

 

I lifted my head.

 

There he was, the man.

 

The man was grinning, showing his yellowed teeth.

 

“Little rats.”

 

* * *

 

Thud-!

 

“Ugh…!”

 

Thrown into the warehouse, I let out a groan.

 

In the end, we were caught.

 

There was nothing we could do about it.

 

Just as I noticed the man’s presence, other people were already emerging from behind him, and before I could even take a step, they had grabbed Pyeong Hyeon by the back of her neck.

 

Eventually, we were tied up with rope and loaded onto horses, then after traveling somewhere, we were finally dumped in this warehouse.

 

The man in front of me let out a sinister laugh.

 

“Hehe, I knew you’d be there.”

 

“How did you know? I didn’t even notice.”

 

I’m curious too. How did he know?

 

“You don’t know? There were footprints inside the shrine. The ground was so dusty that they showed up clearly.”

 

“It could have been someone else who came and went, right?”

 

“That’s possible, but strangely the footprints were small. Actually, I wasn’t certain either. Just in case, I waited outside, but I still couldn’t sense any presence, so I thought I might be mistaken.”

 

‘Damn it.’

 

“But after waiting a bit longer, I heard some sounds from inside. After that, you kindly came out on your own.”

 

‘Damn it!’

 

I ground my teeth. In the end, I had lost the battle of patience with the man.

 

I should have waited longer. No, if this was going to happen, I shouldn’t have entered the shrine at all…. As I was dwelling on my regrets, sounds came from outside.

 

“Hey, if you’ve put them in, come out! We caught them safely, so let’s go handle the urgent matter first.”

 

“Urgent matter?”

 

“It seems the Deputy Magistrate is nearby. Let’s bring the Deputy Magistrate to confirm the girl and take her along. At least if we go with the Deputy Magistrate, we won’t face as much of Master Fang’s wrath, right?”

 

“Good, good. That would be better.”

 

The men were about to rush outside. Then suddenly, a man who made eye contact with me pointed at me and asked.

 

“But what do we do about this one?”

 

“This one?”

 

“The guy we caught together. Honestly, looking at the face, I can’t even tell if it’s a man or woman. Do we drag this one along too?”

 

“Hmm….”

 

The man outside looked at me.

 

As his snake-like narrow eyes looked me up and down, goosebumps rose all over my body.

 

The man muttered.

 

“What does it matter if it’s a woman or man? Anyway, someone that plain-looking wouldn’t be valued anywhere. We’d just get scolded for presenting such trash as merchandise. And it’s too young to be useful….”

 

“….”

 

“Let’s kill it later and dump it on the mountain.”

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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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