Surviving as a Maid of the Sichuan Tang Clan

Jinseong flinched at the killing intent Yeon Ryang released and took one step back.

The force of it looked as though he might split a man in half at any moment, so I hurriedly blocked Jinseong’s path.

“Huh? What’s wrong? Calm down, Brother. You have to hear people out to the end. I meant I was cut less because Taoist Jinseong blocked it for me.”

“......The young Taoist did?”

“Yes. We were catching river bandits together. Master Beopgong said he called him.”

“That fake monk did? He never said anything about that.”

Yeon Ryang muttered with his brow furrowed, his eyes rippling with demonic qi until they were red as blood.

Maybe because the excitement of battle had not yet settled, the energy pouring out of him was no small thing.

Before Jinseong could notice anything strange, I quickly shoved Yeon Ryang’s back.

“We can ask when Master Beopgong gets here. Come on, we’re almost done cleaning up here, all right? We just have to take care of the three or four hiding in the water, so I’ll finish up and come right away. Brother, clean up over there a bit. They said the boat will sink if it gets too heavy, so we should throw river bandits into the water right away.”

“Still......”

Brother. Demonic qi.

When I shook my head and mouthed the words, Yeon Ryang sighed and rubbed at the corners of his eyes.

“Be careful with blades. Don’t use your hands too much. The wound will fester.”

“I know. Don’t worry.”

“Wait. Let me see your hand again. Didn’t it blister? If you leave a burn alone, the scar can get big......”

“Uh, uh, over there! A river bandit is twitching! Brother! Hurry!”

When I shouted and slapped Yeon Ryang’s forearm, he reluctantly left.

He’s been making a fuss more often these days. He wasn’t like this before.

“I’ll be there soon!”

I waved at the back of Yeon Ryang’s head as he moved away, then looked at Jinseong and smiled awkwardly.

“I’m sorry, Taoist. Brother was a little prickly, wasn’t he? Our last meeting wasn’t exactly pleasant, after all.”

“It is all right.”

Jinseong answered calmly and plopped a river bandit whose martial ability he had crippled into the river.

He did not seem offended by Yeon Ryang’s behavior.

But that did not mean I could simply relax. A guilty conscience needs no accuser; I was worried he might have noticed Yeon Ryang’s identity.

I anxiously rolled my eyes around, watching Jinseong’s reaction.

Maybe my attitude looked strange, because Jinseong glanced at me and hesitantly opened his mouth.

“Um......”

“Yes?”

When I turned to him in surprise, he bowed his head.

“I did not mean to assess your martial ability, Young Lady. I was simply impressed that your bearing had changed in such a short time.”

“......What?”

As I blinked at the baffling words, my mouth fell open.

Don’t tell me he was still chewing over what he said earlier.

“If you were offended in any way, I apologize......”

“No! I wasn’t offended at all. Taoist, I was happy to be praised, so please don’t worry about it.”

“Understood.”

I shouldn’t speak carelessly around Taoist Jinseong. He doesn’t look it, but he’s unexpectedly sensitive.

Once Jinseong closed his mouth, a strange silence settled over us.

“Uh...... Should we finish cleaning up? I think they’re wondering whether to run away or not.”

“Yes.”

When I changed the subject and pointed toward the rippling surface of the water, Jinseong, who had been touching the hilt of his sword, raised the Pine-Pattern Ancient Sword vertically in front of him.

The river bandits, who had been watching the rippling sword energy, burst up above the surface.

“It’s do or die! Attack!”

“Even if we die, we have to avenge our brothers!”

“You attacked first. What revenge?”

Just as I snorted and slipped my hand into my sleeve, something flew in with the sound of a leather drum bursting.

“Oh? The Sword Immortal’s disciple is here. You’ve grown a lot already?”

It was Beopgong.

After lightly blasting three river bandits off the boat, Beopgong scratched his head and climbed aboard.

His face was smeared with black soot. He looked as though he had stuck his face into a stove and pulled it back out, and I burst into laughter without meaning to.

“Pfft! Master Beopgong. You have soot on your face.”

“Kid, you’ll be shocked by your own state when you look in a bronze mirror too. Looks like you did some swimming.”

Beopgong snickered as if teasing me, then looked around.

“Well, would you look at that. Did I get on an anchovy-fishing boat? How did you catch so many river bandits?”

“If Taoist Jinseong hadn’t come, things would’ve gone badly. People just kept crawling out endlessly.”

“Really? Then he came at the right time. What about the flagship?”

“It has not moved. They appear to be preparing a surprise attack.”

Jinseong pointed at the ship hidden in the darkness, only its outline visible, as he answered. Beopgong frowned.

“They already put out all the deck lights? Do they even have people left for an ambush? At a glance, eighty percent of them must have sunk to the bottom of the Yangtze.”

“It seems the stockade’s main force has not moved. The ones who attacked the boat were only second-rate martial artists.”

“They might have been second-rate to begin with. Rumors are always exaggerated. We need to capture the Water Dragon King alive, right? Guess I’ll get to stretch myself for once.”

Beopgong muttered as he cracked his neck from side to side, then asked me,

“By the way, kid. Where’s your brother? He ran off like a bear with its tail on fire because he was scared you’d get hurt.”

“Over there. I sent him to help the passengers.”

“Good grief. We’ll be lucky if they don’t faint from the sight of your brother. I suppose that counts as help too. Losing consciousness might be easier.”

With an indifferent face, Beopgong picked at his ear and turned his gaze to Jinseong.

“You’ve been well, Sword Immortal’s disciple? You look at least a handspan taller than when I last saw you. I’ll have to start looking up at you now.”

“Yes. Have you been in good health, Master Beopgong? It has been three years since I last saw you.”

When Jinseong bowed politely with cupped hands, Beopgong clicked his tongue.

“You’re still like a block of stone. Relax. Relax.”

“I am relaxed.”

“Hey, your master is a free spirit, so why are you so stiff when you’re still young? There are so many fun things in this world. Live a little more flexibly.”

At his words, which sounded like an annoying uncle trying to corrupt a well-behaved nephew, I glared at Beopgong.

“Why are you picking on someone after calling him here?”

“Huh? Kid, are you taking the Sword Immortal’s disciple’s side right now? He was running around with bloodshot eyes trying to catch you.”

“And who was the one who called that bloodshot person here? Anyway, since you’re here now, Master Beopgong, I’ll go to Yeon Ryang. You two can talk.”

As I tried to slip away, Beopgong chuckled and placed a hand lightly on my head.

“You worked hard.”

For some reason, that one simple sentence made my heart feel soft and warm.

“You too, Master......”

“But what can we do? Looks like you’ll have to work harder.”

“What?”

At that very moment, the ship that had been sunk in darkness burst into bright light.

My eyes squeezed shut for an instant at the glare. I shaded my eyes diagonally with my palm and looked at the illuminated ship.

It was a kind of ship I had never seen before. It was as wide as though two other ships had been joined together, and on its deck stood a two-story pavilion.

I had been wondering where all those river bandits had been coming from, but once I saw the grandeur of the flagship, I understood.

If they packed people onto a ship like that, of course they would pour out endlessly.

On top of the two-story pavilion, a man sat cross-legged in a raised chair, looking at us. I had a feeling he was probably the Water Dragon King.

The man standing beside him shouted in a booming voice.

“I shall deliver the Water Dragon King’s words!”

Beopgong gave a sneer and mocked him.

“Looks like he learned how to imitate his betters, at least.”

“The King is impressed by your courage! He has recognized your talent and shown mercy, so from this day forward, you shall become members of Water Dragon Stockade and......!”

“Hey. No need to listen any longer.”

“Should I throw hidden weapons?”

“Yeah. Shut that mouth.”

At Beopgong’s jerk of the chin, I shot a Feather-Needle at the messenger. The needle lodged in his mute point, and the messenger choked and toppled forward.

“Yeon Ryang! Get over here on your own!”

At the same time, Beopgong shot forward, ran over the water, and climbed onto the flagship’s deck.

Yeon Ryang, who muttered something from far away that sounded suspiciously like a curse, kicked off the railing and leaped over to the flagship as well.

I watched the backs of the two men vanish like the wind, then tapped Jinseong.

“Taoist, can you do that too? I can only run about twenty feet over water.”

“......I cannot do it yet either.”

“Hmm. Should we just wait here?”

“Yes.”

Jinseong nodded. We exchanged awkward looks, then began helping the remaining people clean up.

*****

The mast was gone, and the ship, burned in places here and there, was such a wreck that it was a wonder it still floated on the water.

There were many injured as well, and groans could be heard from every direction.

The captain, who was gathering the dead, looked devastated.

“It would be best to take them to land and give them funerals...... but circumstances won’t allow it. I’m sorry.”

He swallowed a sigh and closed the corpse’s staring eyes.

The two sailors watching him carefully lifted the corpse by the arms and legs and lowered it into the river.

The solemn atmosphere dragged my mood down too.

I knew we could not save everyone, but facing the result directly made my stomach churn.

As I bit my lip, a woman quietly approached me and held something out.

“Great Hero.”

It was the veiled hat that had disappeared in the chaos.

I had thought it had flown somewhere down the Yangtze, but it seemed the woman had picked it up and kept it safe.

“Thanks to you, I lived. Thank you, Great Hero. Though my child’s father died......”

The woman smiled gently with tears hanging in her eyes. On her back, a child was sleeping peacefully, oblivious to the world.

I did not know what comfort I could offer.

After opening and closing my mouth, I silently put on the veiled hat she handed me.

I wanted to hide the mess my expression had become.

The woman bowed her head and soon moved away from me. As I stared blankly after her while she went to help another survivor, I steadied my heart.

......I should at least tend to the injured.

Just then, everyone’s eyes gathered at a shout from far away.

“S-save me! Glub! Help me!”

“Rope! Where’s the rope?”

“Hold on a little longer!”

In the darkness, someone was wailing and swimming toward our boat.

People hurriedly threw a rope and pulled her up onto the boat.

The person trembling with blue lips was a girl about my age.

“Did you escape from the river bandit ship? You’re in a terrible state. Wipe yourself off.”

A man clicked his tongue and handed her a dry cloth with a pitying expression.

“Cough, cough! Thank you.”

The girl sat on the floor and wiped off the water. Her left ankle was badly swollen, as if she had twisted it while escaping.

“I’m a physician. It looks like you hurt your ankle, so I’ll take a look.”

When I raised my hand and stepped forward, people opened a path for me.

The moment I approached and crouched down in front of the girl, Jinseong urgently called me.

“Young Lady Tang!”

My body was flipped around, and the cool touch of metal reached the nape of my neck. Jinseong, who had been rushing toward me, froze in place.

With a tense expression, he began closing the distance little by little. Then the girl yanked me tight against her, as if to say he had no chance.

“You’d better stop coming closer. If you come any nearer, the Taoist’s companions will get hurt.”

Jinseong gripped his sword so tightly that veins stood out on the back of his hand and asked sharply,

“Who are you?”

“Does that matter?”

“It matters. Your treatment ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) will change depending on your identity.”

“......What a troublesome Taoist.”

The girl answered fiercely and ground her teeth.

“Fine. I’m the Water Dragon King you’re looking for. So stay still. I don’t want to see any more blood today.”