Surviving as the Villainess’s Servant in a Martial Arts Novel - Chapter 63
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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 63
“Family?”
Eom Father asked in bewilderment. However, Pyeong Hyeon seemed to realize something belatedly and made an “ah” sound.
I slowly began to tell my story.
“Well, I have some circumstances…”
The circumstances I revealed were similar to the story I had told Pyeong Hyeon before.
That while traveling with my family, we encountered bandits and ended up separated. I said that I had fled from the bandits, fallen off a cliff, and drifted down here.
I added at the end.
“I know I need immediate treatment too. But I don’t have time. I’m already late, and if I spend a long time recuperating somewhere else, I don’t know when I’ll be able to meet them.”
“Hmm…”
“Isn’t there another way? A way to endure for a while even without treatment…”
“You.”
Suddenly Eom Father asked.
“Are you certain your family is alive?”
I hesitated.
“Even if you were lucky enough to survive, who knows about your family. They might have been discovered by the bandits who harmed you, or met with an accident while fleeing. So what makes you believe you should search for them so urgently?”
“That’s…”
I pressed my lips tightly together.
In fact, Eom Father was pointing out exactly what I was most anxious about.
Even though I had served as bait, Young Miss might still have been caught by them, and even if she had escaped safely, there was no telling what might have happened in the meantime. But still…
“Because I promised.”
“What?”
“That even if we’re separated now, I would definitely return, that I would stay by their side… My family said they would wait too. So I believe they’re alive. Surely, they’ll be safe…”
“…”
“And if they’re safe, they probably went to the Seo Seong Trading Post Jiangxi Branch. We were heading there even before we got separated…”
“What? Seo Seong Trading Post?”
“Yes?”
Suddenly Eom Father’s eyes widened in surprise. I too could only blink blankly at this unexpected reaction.
What’s this? Does Eom Father also have connections to Seo Seong Trading Post?
“Seo Seong Trading Post? You don’t mean the Seo Seong Trading Post run by the Seo Family, do you? Do you have connections there?”
“Yes? Yes, a little… Someone who once helped me is there. But why do you ask? Did something happen there?”
“A problem…”
Eom Father trailed off and pressed his lips together. I waited for Eom Father’s words without understanding anything. Suddenly I had an ominous feeling.
‘What is it? What could have happened?’
I couldn’t hold back and pressed Eom Father.
“Please tell me. What happened that makes you react like this? What kind of problem…”
“Recently…”
Eom Father slowly opened his mouth.
“A shocking incident occurred in Jianghu.”
“An incident…?”
“The Seo Family Estate was completely destroyed, they say.”
“…What?!”
I raised my voice as if I had heard incredibly shocking news. But in reality, I wasn’t surprised at all. I had been there when the Seo Family Estate was destroyed.
Still, I should act shocked to seem natural… I asked in a flustered manner.
“No, how did that happen? That’s impossible…”
“Yes, it is shocking. The Seo Family was quite a prestigious clan in Shandong. Even if they weren’t one of the Five Great Families, they weren’t a place that could be easily destroyed.”
“Why, why were they destroyed? Are all the people there dead? Who on earth did such a thing?”
“This old man doesn’t know the details either. However…”
Eom Father said.
“Seo Seong Trading Post disappeared along with them.”
“…What?”
I doubted my ears.
“After the Seo Family Estate was destroyed, fires broke out simultaneously at each branch of Seo Seong Trading Post. They burned down in an instant without anyone being able to do anything.”
What did he say…?
“It was chaos for a while because of that incident. The fire spread not only to Seo Seong Trading Post but also to the civilian houses next to it. Officials came to investigate, but once they realized it was related to the martial world, they lost interest.”
What is this…
“Tsk, anyway, all officials are the same. They don’t want to get involved in troublesome matters. Only innocent people suffer… Child, child?”
What did I just hear?
My mind went blank and I felt dazed. Seo Seong Trading Post disappeared? Then what do I do? I thought Young Miss would be there…
‘Young Miss?’
At the sudden thought, I cried out.
“Pe, people!”
“What?”
I felt Eom Father looking at me strangely, but I only asked urgently.
“What about the people at Seo Seong Trading Post? You said there was a fire? Then what happened to the people there? Do you know anything about what happened to them?”
“How would this old man know that?”
“Still! Maybe you heard something, that they escaped safely or something like that…”
“Why are you suddenly trembling like that? Hmm… There was no talk of the trading post people being massacred, so they must have escaped or something. Those who couldn’t escape…”
“…”
“Would have burned to death.”
Suddenly everything went dark before my eyes.
At that time, was Young Miss at Seo Seong Trading Post?
If Young Miss had safely escaped the mountain, she would definitely have gone to Gangseoseong. She had told me so. Knowing that the masked men were chasing her, she would have hurried even more.
Then had she already arrived at Seo Seong Trading Post? Had she been staying there?
Even when the fire broke out, Young Miss was…
‘Young Miss.’
I couldn’t breathe.
I felt like the ground beneath my feet was collapsing.
* * *
“Older Sister, please rest.”
Creak-.
I stared blankly at the closing door.
Soon, darkness came.
I lay on the bed and turned my head. Dim moonlight seeped in through the window.
Looking at the shadows created by the moonlight, I thought.
‘Young Miss…’
And I tried to calm my heart.
‘…She’ll be safe.’
It wasn’t because I was deliberately trying to think positively. It was because of the answer I heard when I asked frantically several times afterward.
“Wh, when… when did it burn? Seo Seong Trading Post, I mean, when after the Seo Family Estate was destroyed…”
“I don’t know the exact timing, but… it would have been not long after the Seo Family Estate was destroyed. News of the Seo Family Estate’s destruction and Seo Seong Trading Post’s fire spread through Jianghu at the same time.”
“…”
“…Why have you been acting like this? Don’t tell me you think your family had already arrived at Seo Seong Trading Post?”
“…”
“Get a grip! This old man said earlier. I didn’t hear that those people were massacred. Not everyone dies in a fire, so why are you like this? Didn’t you say so yourself? That you believe they’re alive.”
At those words, I finally came to my senses. Eom Father’s stern voice reached me.
“If you believe, then believe to the end. If you’re going to be shaken by mere uncertain assumptions, what will you do in the future?”
Eom Father was right.
If I was going to collapse over just this much, I should have collapsed long ago.
And when I thought about it calmly, I could see the answer.
The fire at Soseong Trading Company happened when the Seo Family was annihilated and ‘not long after.’ At that time, weren’t we running away from the Masked Man?
Even if it was a day or two after the Seo Family was annihilated, it would be the same. At that time, Young Miss would have just escaped from the mountain, and she wouldn’t have been able to reach Gangseoseong in such a short time.
So Young Miss must be alive. Even if she had just arrived, she would have only learned that Soseong Trading Company was gone.
Then Young Miss, having heard that news…
‘How would she act?’
At that time, in the secret passage, Young Miss had said this.
“…There’s the Gangseoseong Branch of Soseong Trading Company. I plan to reach there and contact Uncle Namgung.”
She said she would contact Namgung Jeong.
But now Soseong Trading Company is gone, and the means to contact him has become distant. In the end, there’s only one way to meet Namgung Jeong.
She has no choice but to go find him directly.
‘To the Namgung Family Estate.’
“I need to go right… ugh.”
I tried to get up abruptly but simultaneously felt the approaching pain and gritted my teeth.
I need to go to the Namgung Family Estate immediately. I need to go there and confirm news about Young Miss. Only when I hear that Young Miss is safe will I feel at ease.
But with my body in this state, can I even go?
‘First… recovering comes first.’
I need to be able to move before I can decide whether to leave or not. One week, let me just endure for one week.
However, things in this world don’t go as planned.
“One month! You need at least one month.”
“…One month?”
One day, Eom Father laid down the law.
“I’m telling you in advance because you keep looking impatient. Actually, one month isn’t even enough. Looking at your condition, you’d need to recuperate for half a year to barely recover!”
“…”
“Any treatment has an optimal timing. And if you miss that timing, problems arise. Not only lifelong disability, but in your case, your life could be in danger.”
“…”
“So don’t think unnecessary thoughts and consider spending one month as if you’re dead. Do you understand?”
I didn’t say anything. I felt Eom Father looking at me with an unfavorable gaze, but I couldn’t bring myself to answer.
‘One month is too late.’
In a situation where I couldn’t even be certain whether Young Miss was currently at the Namgung Family Estate, I couldn’t just waste time blindly.
And the Namgung Family Estate was also suspicious.
Regardless of my trust in Namgung Jeong, there was something questionable about the Namgung Family Estate.
First, the warriors that Namgung Jeong brought. They were definitely Namgung Family Estate warriors. From the beginning, they said they brought Namgung Jeong’s token, and there were warriors that the Master recognized.
But they betrayed us. If Namgung Jeong wasn’t in league with them… it meant there was a traitor inside who had made other arrangements.
And that traitor…
‘Might be connected to the Demon Cult, wouldn’t they?’
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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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