Surviving as the Villainess’s Servant in a Martial Arts Novel - Chapter 98

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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 98

The mountain hideout of Yongcheok Fortress was quite large.

A high wooden palisade broadly encircled the mountain hideout situated on rugged mountain terrain, and inside the palisade, large and small log cabins were lined up in rows.

At first glance, it looked like a village. And in the center of the mountain hideout was…

‘A pavilion?’

There was a pavilion that was nine stories tall.

Whatever reason it was built for, the pavilion was not only tall but also large in size. Unlike the other log cabins, it had roof tiles and carvings here and there, making it extraordinarily magnificent.

And there could only be one person who would live in such a magnificent pavilion.

Perhaps thinking the same thing as me, Jegal-ye spoke.

“Is Master Chae in there?”

“Probably.”

The Master Chae of Yongcheok Fortress.

That man would be in there.

And if Master Chae was there, there was a high probability that the beauty was also there with him. Since he was said to be madly in love with that woman. Perhaps she was being kept in the best room in the mountain hideout?

‘Then I need to get in there…’

I frowned and looked around.

The problem was… there were more bandits than I had expected.

They really seemed to be grinding their teeth in anger.

Some were moving busily, others were standing guard at certain spots. But they were all uniformly armed and maintaining a tense posture.

The reason they were acting like this was obviously…

“…This won’t be easy.”

“Whose fault is it? You reap what you sow.”

It was probably because of me.

‘Damn, should I have just come later?’

In fact, entering when they were so heavily fortified was tantamount to suicide. The reason I had been safe so far was mostly because I attacked when others were off guard.

But I couldn’t just pass by a beauty who was a candidate for Young Miss. Especially since they said the wedding would be held soon…

‘What should I do about this?’

While I was rolling my eyes for a moment.

“Hey, you three over there!”

Suddenly someone shouted.

I turned my head toward where the sound came from. A bandit with bulging eyes was looking at us.

I approached the bandit who was striding toward us and spoke in a friendly manner.

“Big brother, did you call us?”

“What are you doing standing there? Don’t you see the other brothers moving busily? What unit are you from to be slacking off like this!”

It seemed our looking around had appeared like we were playing around. I frantically waved both hands and said.

“No, no. We weren’t slacking off, we were having a discussion among ourselves. We’re on our way back from the prison.”

“Prison?”

“To find out about those young punks’ families.”

The bandit stroked his chin and went “Hmm.” I was nervous that he might know the bandit who had entered the stone prison, but fortunately, perhaps because there were so many of them, he didn’t seem to know the details.

“I did hear that such guys were captured… So did you find out?”

“Of course we found out. Geez, those bastards. They were so reluctant to talk that we had quite a hard time coaxing it out of them. They’re from such prestigious families that their noses are stuck so high up it makes my teeth grind.”

“Prestigious families? Which clans?”

“Well, the thing is…”

I slightly lowered my voice.

“They said Jegal Family and Peng Family of Hebei.”

“What?”

The bandit looked inwardly shocked. He had the expression of someone who thought they were just some random noble family’s children but never dreamed these two families would come up.

“Jegal and Peng families are among the Five Great Families, aren’t they? Why are children from such families causing trouble here?”

“How would I know? And also…”

Then Jegal-ye suddenly interjected from the side.

“And also, one is the youngest son of Jegal Family and one is the second son of Peng Family of Hebei. Especially the youngest son of Jegal Family has six older sisters, so if anything happens to him, the family would be turned upside down and there would be complete chaos…”

‘Why are you saying all that?’

I quickly picked up the conversation.

“…he said while throwing a tantrum! He boasted that he would lead the warriors of his family and sweep away Yongcheok Fortress and everything else.”

“Huh…”

“If that really happens, it seems dangerous, so we were discussing among ourselves whether we should report this matter to Master Chae. Do you think it would be okay to go directly to Master Chae and report it?”

I glanced at the bandit. If I could safely enter the pavilion using this as an excuse, it would be a jackpot.

However, the bandit shook his head.

“That won’t work. Right now Master Chae isn’t letting anyone into the pavilion. Because you never know where or how Tam Hwa-jo might enter.”

It won’t work. As I clicked my tongue, the bandit continued speaking.

“But it would still be good to try conveying the message. Brother Jang will come later, so try asking him to pass it on to Master Chae. I don’t know if he’ll listen though. Master Chae doesn’t meet with people much these days because he spends all day with that person.”

‘Oh, really?’

“Hehe, Master Chae really cherishes that person. Even now, the two of them are probably spending sweet time together in the topmost room, right?”

“What are you talking about? Master Chae personally goes to that person’s room, so it would be the lower room. Sheesh, what’s the use of all that sweet time? We’re suffering like this outside…”

“Ah, right, right. I sometimes forget…”

‘So the beauty’s room is right below the topmost floor.’

I almost went to the wrong place and came back empty-handed. I secretly wiped my chest in relief and continued chatting with the bandit.

Fortunately, the bandit was talkative, and I roughly went along with his words.

Even walking through the mountain hideout with him, the people around didn’t show any particular signs of suspicion. I naturally led that bandit to a dead end and asked one last question.

“Big brother, I forgot something again. Let me ask one more thing. Do you happen to know where our food storage is?”

“The food storage is naturally that big building over there… Wait, why are you asking this? You’ve been continuously…”

“Why am I asking?”

I stopped abruptly. Before I knew it, there were only the four of us around.

“Because I don’t know.”

Thud-!

“Guk…!”

I immediately drove my fist into the bandit’s abdomen. I put internal energy into my fist, so the bandit vomited blood and fainted on the spot.

Just in case, I even pressed his blood points. A shocked voice came from beside me.

“I’ve thought this before, but Brother Dan seems to solve everything with his fists. Couldn’t you just secretly press blood points from behind?”

“Ha, this precious young master doesn’t know this pleasure. You have to punch guys like that with your fists to feel that solid impact.”

“What terrible taste.”

“Yes, yes, anyway, did you hear earlier? Master Chae is with the beauty in the room right below the topmost floor? It’s a bit troublesome that I have to deal with Master Chae to see the beauty, but…”

“Yes, that’s true.”

Jegal-ye said with a troubled expression.

“We found out the location of the room, but we still don’t have a way to enter the pavilion. Since Master Chae spends all day with the lady…”

“The lady-to-be!”

“…Yes, the lady-to-be, so he doesn’t meet with other people much. It would have been good if we could have entered by saying we’d convey a message earlier…”

“Forget about things that can’t be helped. There are other methods.”

“Yes? What method?”

I smiled silently without saying anything. Seeing that expression, Jegal-ye and Peng-ga sent anxious looks instead. I continued speaking while hiding the bandit somewhere in a secluded thicket.

“Now, here’s a question. What’s dangerous when it sticks to trees?”

“Sticks to trees? Fire… right?”

“Then what happens if the food storage disappears?”

“There would be chaos, right?”

“Exactly. Let’s go.”

“Yes?”

I said confidently.

“To start a fire.”

* * *

“Fire! There’s a fire in the food storage!”

“Damn it, where’s the fire coming from! Hurry and bring water!”

“Call more people! At this rate everything will burn down!”

After cheerfully heading to the food storage.

I immediately used the fire tongs to start a fire.

Fortunately, most of the bandits’ forces were concentrated around the wooden palisade and pavilion area in preparation for Tam Hwa-jo’s invasion. So starting the fire was easy.

Once the flames grew to a certain size, I shouted “Fire!” to draw attention.

Naturally, the mountain hideout was thrown into chaos.

The bandits all came running, carrying water buckets and pouring them on the flames. However, since I had also set fire to the surrounding buildings while I was at it, the fire wasn’t easily extinguished.

I weaved through the chaotically moving bandits and chuckled to myself.

‘Yeah, work hard putting out that fire. In the meantime, I’ll go see the beauty.’

I cheerfully headed toward the pavilion.

However, it wasn’t long before I despaired.

The pavilion, the pavilion’s forces…

‘Not a single one left!’

Hey guys, isn’t your food storage important? Huh? Don’t you see your brothers over there carrying water until their arms fall off? Shouldn’t you be helping them!

But they seemed to think guarding the pavilion was more important, standing firmly in place. They had such steadfastness that they wouldn’t budge even if an army charged right at them.

‘What do I do about this? What do I do?’

Should I set fire to another place? Or should I create a distraction some other way? What method…

As I was grinding my teeth.

“It’s the Martial Alliance! The Martial Alliance has invaded!”

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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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