Surviving as the Villainess’s Servant in a Martial Arts Novel - Chapter 93
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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 93
“Oh my, someone save me!”
I crouched down on the spot, covering my face with both hands like a frightened person. A sword passed over my head, cutting off my hat which flew away.
I secretly stuck out my tongue.
‘I knew it, you bastard.’
In fact, I had already noticed one of them approaching me. What kind of great master could a mere bandit be to completely erase his presence?
Since I was confident I could dodge even if he ambushed me, I let him be. And I could guess the reason too.
‘He’s probably trying to take me hostage.’
Since his comrades suddenly started losing ground, it was obvious he planned to take me hostage and threaten the young masters to subdue them.
Of course, since I was just a scholar who knew nothing, I had to pretend not to know anything.
I asked in a trembling, flustered voice.
“Why, why are you doing this? I’m just someone who has nothing to do with this!”
“If you have nothing to do with this, why are you still here? If you really had nothing to do with it, you would have run away long ago. You were hiding because you’re their colleague, weren’t you!”
‘This guy is sharp, isn’t he?’
He wasn’t a colleague, but I was helping them, so he was right.
“No, no! I was just watching for a bit because the hero’s sword techniques looked so magnificent… Ahhh!”
In the end, the bandit didn’t even listen to my full explanation and swung his sword down again.
I screamed at the top of my lungs and rolled around on the ground. This time too, the bandit’s sword didn’t hit me. Taking advantage of the momentum, I jumped up and started running frantically.
The bandit chased after me from behind, shouting.
“You rat bastard, stop right there!”
‘Would you stop if you were me?’
I giggled inwardly while sneakily glancing toward the young masters. My loud screaming seemed to have paid off, as they noticed my situation and shouted.
“Peng, someone’s being chased! We need to save him quickly!”
“I know! You handle the remaining one.”
While Young Master Jegal dealt with the remaining bandit, Young Master Peng ran toward this direction.
However, there was some distance between Young Master Peng and me. Which meant if things went wrong, I could be caught by the bandit chasing me.
‘That can’t happen.’
The bandit was already right behind me.
In a split second, I gauged the distance between the bandit and me, and Young Master Peng running toward us.
At the same time, the bandit reached out to grab me.
The bandit’s fingertips barely touched my collar. Just as he was about to clench his hand and grab my nape.
‘Now.’
“Ahhh!”
I immediately pretended to trip over a stone and fall face-first to the ground.
While doing so, I cleverly kicked a pebble backward.
The pebble flew quickly and hit the bandit’s toes. Losing his balance instantly, the bandit fell face-first to the ground like me. From a distance, it looked like he had also tripped over a stone.
The bandit cursed as he got up from his position. However, he soon had no choice but to widen his eyes in shock.
Young Master Peng, who had arrived at some point, was bringing down his great sword.
Clang!
“Argh!”
The bandit miraculously raised his weapon to block it.
However, perhaps because the striking force was so tremendous, he ended up dropping his weapon, and was eventually kicked in the abdomen by Young Master Peng and lost consciousness.
Only then did I raise my head.
“Hah, hah…”
Young Master Peng was breathing heavily from running so urgently. Just then, things seemed to be settled on the other side too, as Young Master Jegal was running over.
I looked at the reliable bulk in front of me and grinned. Then I gave a thumbs up and said.
“10 out of 10 points.”
* * *
“Thank you so much for saving me!”
I bowed my head politely in front of the two young masters.
Young Master Peng just crossed his arms and glared with fierce eyes, while Young Master Jegal stepped forward and answered with a kind smile.
“Not at all, I’m rather embarrassed that I couldn’t do anything.”
“What are you saying! If it weren’t for you two, this Jin Mo wouldn’t have been able to preserve his life. Could you tell me the esteemed names of you two heroes? I will definitely repay this favor someday.”
“There’s no need for that. My name is…”
And so I learned.
The two people’s names were Jegal-ye and Peng… ga respectively.
It wasn’t that his real name was ‘Peng-ga’, but when I asked for his name, he said ‘someone like you doesn’t need to know’ and told me to just call him Peng-ga.
‘What a personality.’
I had noticed since he was barking at the bandits, but he seemed to have quite a temper.
Even his appearance matched that personality.
Tall height with a muscular build. Thick neck with broad shoulders, large hands and feet, and most of all… a large chest.
‘Whoa, what a chest.’
I looked at the martial attire that was greatly puffed up at the chest area and admired it purely.
At least his face was on the handsome side, but even that had wrinkles between his brows, and thick eyebrows that curved upward like seagulls, giving off a fierce atmosphere.
Young Master Jegal, Jegal-ye, had the completely opposite impression.
Jegal-ye, who had his hair tied up and wore a jade crown, was clearly an elegant young master at first glance.
With a handsome face constantly wearing a gentle smile, and restrained, proper behavior, he might have seemed weak in some ways. However, he too had a well-balanced body befitting a martial artist.
While I was observing the two people with interest, Jegal-ye suddenly asked.
“But why were you there, Jin-hyeong?”
“Ah, that’s…”
I smoothly recited the prepared story.
“Actually, I was on my way to Hunan Province, Changsha to visit a relative elder. I briefly stopped by Guangxi Province and was on my way to Hunan Province when I got lost and wandered around, eventually entering the mountain…”
“I see.”
“Were you two on a heroic mission? Did you come to eliminate Yongcheok Fortress?”
“That’s not it…”
Suddenly Jegal-ye and Peng-ga looked at each other and exchanged glances. When I felt puzzled by their eye contact, Jegal-ye answered.
“We came from the Martial Arts Alliance.”
“The Martial Arts Alliance?”
When I asked in confusion, the two people didn’t answer any further. It seemed they found it difficult to answer in detail.
I pondered Jegal-ye’s words and suddenly remembered something.
“…That’s why people say the inspection team is like the former Dragon Phoenix Corps.”
That’s what the man at the inn had definitely said back then.
The Martial Arts Alliance Leader had requested help from the Nine Sects and One Alliance and the Five Great Noble Families to catch Demon Cult members, and each faction had sent their rising young talents.
Rising young talents under the Martial Arts Alliance, and since Hebei Peng Family and Jegal Noble Family belonged to the Five Great Noble Families, they were exactly…
‘The inspection team.’
The back of my neck went cold.
As the man and his colleague had discussed back then, the inspection team and enforcement corps were famous in the current martial world.
Organizations established to oppose the Demon Cult.
They would rush anywhere if they detected even a hint of anything related to the Demon Cult, and if someone was confirmed to be a Demon Cult member, they would punish them without mercy. Thanks to such activities, the number of Demon Cult members running rampant in the Central Plains had clearly decreased…
…All of that was complete nonsense.
‘When did we ever run rampant?’
The former Gwangjin-gyo, called the Demon Cult, had already disappeared long ago.
Now, with only the name remaining and a small number of people living in hiding, what power did we have to run rampant or anything?
I had even gone to see a Demon Cult member they claimed to have caught because it seemed so strange.
But he wasn’t a Demon Cult member.
To be precise, he wasn’t a member of our ‘Gwangjin-gyo’. He didn’t know about the ‘tokens’ or ‘signals’ that a cult member would know, and when I checked with Eom Father just in case, he said he didn’t know the person at all.
‘Then who did they catch?’
…I didn’t know that much.
Why they caught someone who wasn’t even a real Gwangjin-gyo member, why they went around bragging about catching a Demon Cult member, whether there was ‘another’ Demon Cult.
I couldn’t know any of it.
One thing is certain: from Gwangjin-gyo’s perspective, the Supervisory Team and Enforcement Hall are troublesome entities.
The more they rampage, the more they catch non-existent Demon Cult members and spread word of the Demon Cult’s wickedness, the more our Gwangjin-gyo’s position will be squeezed.
“Jin-hyeong? What’s wrong?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. I was just…”
I’m regretting it, you fool.
‘Damn, did I save them for nothing?’
What was so precious about those Righteous Faction bastards who already ostracize our school that made me save them? I should have just left them to live or die on their own…
…No, thinking about it again.
‘This might be an opportunity.’
I steeled my resolve and smiled brightly.
“I was just surprised. Though I don’t know much about martial world affairs, I do know that the Martial Alliance works tirelessly day and night for the peace of the Central Plains. Plus, you two are quite young, aren’t you?”
“Huh? Yes. That’s true, but…”
“Wow, that’s truly amazing! I heard that only exceptional masters among the Righteous Faction martial artists can enter the Martial Alliance, and the two of you in front of me are exactly those masters. I suspected it from when you saved me, but I’m truly impressed!”
“Haha, no, it’s not that much…”
Jegal-ye blushed and didn’t know what to do with himself, though he was secretly pleased. As expected, praise worked regardless of good or evil.
“So, about that…”
I finally revealed my true intention.
“Would it be alright if I traveled with you two?”
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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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