Surviving as the Villainess’s Servant in a Martial Arts Novel - Chapter 59

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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 59

 

‘…!’

 

I held my breath. Fortunately or unfortunately, after saying those words, the men left the warehouse.

 

Thud, the door closed with a clanking sound. From the sound of chains rattling for quite a while, it seemed they were locking the door securely.

 

‘Escaping through there is out of the question.’

 

I stared at the tightly closed door then turned my head. Perhaps shocked by what the man had said earlier, Pyeong Hyeon had turned pale and was trembling violently.

 

“Pyeong Hyeon.”

 

At my call, Pyeong Hyeon’s shoulders jumped. I swallowed a sigh and continued speaking.

 

“We agreed to hear this in a safe place, but things have turned out this way. We don’t have much time, but I need to know the whole story first….”

 

“….”

 

“Can you explain it to me now?”

 

At my words, Pyeong Hyeon’s eyes trembled finely.

 

Pyeong Hyeon fidgeted restlessly then soon hung her head low. A small voice flowed out.

 

“Yes….”

 

The circumstances I heard from Pyeong Hyeon were as follows.

 

Originally, Pyeong Hyeon said she came from Guangxi Hezhou.

 

Moreover, Pyeong Hyeon hadn’t lost her grandmother while going to the marketplace.

 

She had already arrived in Hezhou and was shopping with her grandmother, but Pyeong Hyeon got distracted and ended up letting go of her grandmother’s hand, becoming lost.

 

Pyeong Hyeon wandered around the marketplace looking for her grandmother.

 

However, perhaps because it was market day, there were too many people there, and no matter how much she called out, she couldn’t find her.

 

That’s when a man with a kind face approached her, saying he would help find her grandmother.

 

‘A common kidnapping method.’

 

But Pyeong Hyeon, who had grown up only in the mountains since childhood, didn’t know much about the outside world. In the end, she followed the man without suspicion and ended up in this situation.

 

“When I came to my senses, I was locked in some room…. No matter how many times I screamed and begged, they wouldn’t let me go….”

 

“….”

 

“From listening to what they said, it seemed they were trying to sell me to a Merchant Master they do business with. An old man who has a thing for young girls and pays handsomely….”

 

“Crazy….”

 

I frowned. As I’d felt from the beginning, these weren’t ordinary scoundrels.

 

“We changed carts several times to get here. Thinking I’d really be sold at this rate, I kept looking for any chance to escape, and I was barely able to run away when they let their guard down.”

 

“How did you escape? It wouldn’t have been easy for you to escape alone.”

 

“I used a paralyzing needle.”

 

“Paralyzing needle?”

 

I asked back then immediately understood. I remembered the men talking about things like ‘only paralyzed’ and ‘paralyzing poison’ at the shrine.

 

“Eom Father installed a device in my sleeve just in case. When you pull a thread from inside, a thin needle shoots out.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“When we were changing carts, I said I needed to relieve myself. Perhaps because I had been obedient and they felt at ease, they told me to do my business in the thicket. They only sent one person to watch me.”

 

“So that’s when you….”

 

“…Yes.”

 

Pyeong Hyeon muttered quietly.

 

“I barely escaped by shooting the paralyzing needle, but they soon discovered me. They started chasing me, and I ran into the mountain forest. Then I accidentally misstepped and fell down the mountain slope….”

 

“….”

 

“There happened to be a rabbit burrow where I fell. I hid there…. I crouched in that place all day until they left. After that….”

 

I could guess without her saying more.

 

Pyeong Hyeon, who came out of the rabbit burrow, would have started running away again. But since she had injured her ankle falling down the mountain slope, she couldn’t have gone far.

 

In the end, she would have sat down under a tree and cried, and that’s where she met me. So that’s why….

 

‘That’s why she was so scared.’

 

I nodded and said.

 

“I understand your situation now. Thank you for telling me the truth. Honestly, I’m surprised. I knew there had to be circumstances, but I never imagined you were being chased by human traffickers….”

 

“….”

 

“Couldn’t you have thought to tell me earlier?”

 

Yes, I could understand everything.

 

Why Pyeong Hyeon didn’t speak, why she avoided telling the truth.

 

Since it was such a serious situation, it wouldn’t have been easy to tell the truth. Not knowing how the other person would react, but needing help.

 

But what felt strangely disappointing was….

 

“At first, I can understand not trusting me. But you could have told me later. I thought we’d become somewhat close while traveling together….”

 

“That’s, that….”

 

“Do you still not trust me?”

 

“No!”

 

Pyeong Hyeon, who had been stammering, shouted loudly.

 

“It’s not like that. It’s not because I couldn’t trust you! I was happy traveling with you too, Sister. I was happy that we became close…. You were such a support to me….”

 

“….”

 

“I was just a little, a little scared….”

 

“….”

 

“I was afraid that if I told you the truth, you would leave, that I’d be left alone again….”

 

Pyeong Hyeon, who trailed off, soon started crying with sniffles. I watched Pyeong Hyeon without saying anything.

 

Perhaps misunderstanding my gaze, Pyeong Hyeon hurriedly continued.

 

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry. For making you go through this, for getting you captured too…. I’ll try to do something. I’ll go along quietly, so please let Sister go…!”

 

“Well, I don’t think they’ll let me go. They said so earlier. That they’d kill me and throw me in the mountain.”

 

“That’s, sniff….”

 

“….”

 

“What should I, sob, what should I do….”

 

Only Pyeong Hyeon’s crying echoed in the quiet warehouse. Instead of comforting Pyeong Hyeon, I looked around.

 

The inside of the warehouse was dirty with accumulated dust.

 

There were piles of straw here and there, and from the several farming tools standing around, it seemed like a place originally used as a warehouse by a farmhouse.

 

Among them, I examined the farming tools closely. Plow, hoe, pickaxe, shovel, rake….

 

‘That’s it.’

 

Having spotted something, I crawled over there. I could feel Pyeong Hyeon’s puzzled gaze, but I didn’t have time to worry about it.

 

I immediately reached out to grab it, then returned to Pyeong Hyeon.

 

A rusty sickle was in my hand.

 

“What’s that…?”

 

“Let’s untie the ropes first and then talk. Is that okay?”

 

To the confused Pyeong Hyeon, I held out the sickle backwards. Then I placed the rope binding my wrist against the blade part of the sickle and started moving.

 

Perhaps because it was rusty, the rope didn’t cut easily. I moved calmly while speaking.

 

“Hey, there’s something I want to ask.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Why did you save me?”

 

Before Pyeong Hyeon could ask back, I continued first.

 

“Honestly, it wasn’t your concern. Whether I died from the cold poison spreading or not. Or you could have threatened me by showing the Baedog Seokhaehwan and saying you wouldn’t give me the medicine unless I helped, right?”

 

“…!”

 

“It was the same afterward. What made you trust me enough to give me all the medicine? What were you going to do if I just took the medicine and ran away?”

 

“That’s….”

 

As if she hadn’t even thought of such a situation, Pyeong Hyeon’s face was colored with confusion.

 

Pyeong Hyeon pondered then said stammering.

 

“Well, you looked like you were in so much pain.”

 

“And?”

 

“You were… kind to me. You treated my foot first, and even though you were in more pain than me, you kept carrying me around….”

 

“That’s it?”

 

“….”

 

Pyeong Hyeon closed her mouth. I couldn’t help but laugh.

 

“How is that being kind? The treatment was just wrapping some bandages around your ankle, and even though I carried you, I kept resting and only delayed us.”

 

“But….”

 

“You really shouldn’t go outside. You believe everything just because someone helps you a little….”

 

“That’s…!”

 

“I’m the same way.”

 

Pyeong Hyeon looked at me in bewilderment.

 

“I told you before, right? That I was attacked by some assailant and got injured. Actually, I still can’t tell you the details, but… I was being chased just like you. In the end, I fell off a cliff while running away and drifted down here.”

 

“….”

 

“So when I first saw you, I had a feeling. Maybe she’s in the same situation as me. Maybe someone is chasing her too….”

 

“….”

 

“I thought about it a lot at first.”

 

I recalled when I first met Pyeong Hyeon.

 

How she looked at me in surprise when I treated her ankle, how she desperately asked for help while being evasive about her circumstances.

 

What choice was I trying to make then?

 

In the end, I ended up helping Pyeong Hyeon in an unavoidable way because of my poison acting up, but as I traveled with Pyeong Hyeon and shared various stories, that feeling gradually grew.

 

I’m glad I could help this child. I’m glad it was this child who helped me.

 

If I could, I wanted to help her until the end….

 

“My choice is the same as it was then.”

 

I said with a playful smile.

 

“No, and now that I know about this situation, how could I run away alone? I know exactly what would happen if I left you behind, right? Do I look like such a despicable person to you?”

 

“No, no! Really….”

 

“I’m not going.”

 

Snap-.

 

Finally, the rope broke.

 

I exclaimed in delight and moved my hands. The rope that had been wrapped around my wrists slid down. I briefly lifted my head to look ahead.

 

Before I knew it, tears had formed in Pyeong Hyeon’s eyes.

 

“How could I leave you alone when you’re so tender-hearted.”

 

“….”

 

“I said I’d be your big sister, didn’t I? Try relying on your big sister for once. I absolutely won’t let those bastards drag you away.”

 

“….”

 

“You understand, right? Then come here, I need to cut your rope….”

 

But I couldn’t continue speaking.

 

Pyeong Hyeon had jumped into my arms.

 

Soon after, Pyeong Hyeon began to cry. What started as sniffling gradually became loud sobbing. I smiled awkwardly while embracing and patting Pyeong Hyeon’s back.

 

My chest became damp. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.

 

I finally laughed out loud and said.

 

“You’re not going to blow your nose, are you?”

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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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