Surviving as a Maid of the Sichuan Tang Clan

Contrary to her bold threat, the girl was trembling as if this were her first time taking a hostage.

I stared blankly down at the blade laid against my throat.

So this one was the Water Dragon King?

But the scrawny girl looked far removed from the leader of a river-bandit gang.

I could not feel even the slightest bearing of a martial artist from her.

While staying obediently held, I called out to the self-proclaimed Water Dragon King.

“Excuse me.”

“I’m sorry, Young Lady. I don’t mean to hurt you. Just stay like this for a little while.”

“That’s not what I meant......”

“You look like a young lady from a good family. I’m sorry for frightening you. If you stay still just like this, I’ll let you go without a scratch.”

The Water Dragon King whispered gently.

I’m not an ordinary civilian, though. Did she mistake me for a powerless physician because of the veiled hat?

“What are you planning to do by taking me hostage?”

“Get out of here.”

“If that’s the plan, wouldn’t it be better to blend in with the people and slip away quietly? Why go out of your way to cause a commotion?”

“There are people I have to take with me, so I need a hostage. Now be quiet. You’re not scared at all, so that Taoist is looking at us strangely.”

“Taoist Jinseong always has that expression.”

“I said be quiet.”

The irritated Water Dragon King yanked my hair.

I considered playing along a little longer, but if Yeon Ryang saw me being taken hostage, I had a feeling his eyes might roll back in his head.

I was absolutely not using my hands because I was furious she had pulled my hair.

I twisted my earring, sprayed poison fumes into the Water Dragon King’s face, and drove my elbow into her lower stomach.

“Cough! Cough!”

The Water Dragon King broke into coughing and stepped back, taking a defensive stance.

Whether because she was injured or because she had never been skilled to begin with, her movements were sluggish.

“You were a martial artist? You said you were a physician.”

Frowning, she swung her short blade roughly.

“I’m a physician, and I’m a martial artist.”

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

It’s true, though.

I twisted her trembling arm, made her drop the short blade, and pinned her down in one motion. The Water Dragon King screamed and thrashed.

“Let go!”

“No.”

“I said let go!”

“What kind of nerve do you have, taking a hostage when you can barely use your body?”

I grumbled as I sealed the Water Dragon King’s acupoints. Her body went rigid, and she glared at me, panting hard.

From her hopelessly sloppy movements, I instinctively realized the girl was not the Water Dragon King.

Only then did Jinseong release his tension and approach us.

Looking as though he could not understand the situation, he bent down and met the Water Dragon King at eye level.

“I heard the Water Dragon King was a man. Who are you?”

“He was until recently. My husband was the Water Dragon King.”

“Your husband? You were married?”

“Yes. But I stabbed him to death. So now I’m the Water Dragon King.”

“......I, I see.”

So she stabbed her husband to death. Fiery, this one.

“Then who is the person on that ship over there? Someone was sitting on the second floor.”

“My stand-in.”

The story was so absurd that I could not think of an answer.

I struggled to manage my expression and asked again.

“I understand what you’re saying, but I can’t believe it. Is there anyone who can prove it?”

“How are you going to look for someone to prove it when you killed all the stockade people?”

“......When you put it that way, I have nothing to say.”

Jinseong, who had been listening quietly, opened his mouth.

“It would be best to go to the flagship in person. Master Beopgong said he would capture the Water Dragon King alive, so the stand-in should also still be alive. That person will tell us the truth.”

“I can’t run over water, Taoist.”

“The Water Dragon King swam here, so we can swim there as well.”

“......Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“......”

Jinseong continued, unconcerned by my reluctant expression.

“I cannot lay hands on a woman’s body, so Young Lady Tang, please carry the Water Dragon King on your back.”

“......So, Taoist Jinseong, what you’re saying right now is that I should carry a person on my back and swim all the way to that ship.”

“Yes.”

Jinseong looked straight at me with an expression more serious than ever.

Under that burdensome stare, helpless laughs kept leaking out of me. I silently looked at the pitch-black river water.

Ha ha ha.

......Ha.

Who called this brick wall here?

*****

Swimming through a dark river with someone on my back was far harder than I had expected.

My breath rose all the way to my throat, and my legs trembled.

As I flailed my arms and legs with my whole face twisted up, the Water Dragon King laughed.

“Just unseal my acupoints. I’m a good swimmer.”

“You’ll run away if I unseal them.”

“No, I won’t. I won’t leave without my family.”

“Your family?”

“I told you. There are people I have to take with me.”

“I see. I’m still not unsealing them. I’m exhausted, so don’t talk to me. If you keep chattering, I’ll seal your mute point too.”

“......Tch.”

At my irritation, the Water Dragon King grumbled and shut her mouth. Then, before long, she started prattling again.

“But what sect are you from? Your acupoint-sealing method is unusual.”

“I said I’d seal your mute point if you talked.”

“I’m asking because I’m really curious. It felt completely different from when my husband sealed mine.”

“......Your husband sealed your acupoints?”

“I kept rebelling, so he did.”

“Wait, hold on. How old are you? What did that bastard do to you?”

“Me? Seventeen. I was married off at fourteen. My husband bought me for two silver ingots.”

At the Water Dragon King’s matter-of-fact answer, my mind went blank. When I showed signs of being flustered, she burst into laughter.

“It’s fine. That’s why I killed him.”

“......You. I can’t tell whether you have a good personality or you’re a little insane.”

“You live in a stockade for three years. You’ll become like me. We’re here. Taoist! Pull us up!”

The Water Dragon King giggled and shouted toward Jinseong. Jinseong had already climbed onto the ship.

After hesitating, Jinseong soon reached out and pulled us up onto the deck.

I sprawled across the floor, gasping for breath.

After looking me over, Jinseong cautiously apologized.

“......I did not realize you would find it this difficult. I apologize.”

“I’m going insane. That hurts my pride even more, so please don’t apologize.”

If he was apologizing so seriously, then I must have looked terrible.

As I lay spread-eagled and peeled the hair stuck to my face away, I saw Yeon Ryang standing on the second-floor pavilion with a bored expression.

“Brother!”

At my shout, his eyes widened, and he looked down from the pavilion. When his eyes met mine, Yeon Ryang panicked and jumped down over the railing.

“Why did you come all the way here instead of waiting on the boat?”

“I wanted to do that too.”

“You’re soaked again. You’ll catch a cold.”

Yeon Ryang lifted me upright and wiped the remaining water from my face with his sleeve. I meekly accepted his touch and asked,

“Brother. Did you catch the Water Dragon King?”

At that, Yeon Ryang looked troubled.

“Yes. The fake monk is interrogating him...... Don’t go up there. His methods are rough, so it’s better not to watch.”

“I need to check something for a moment. Can you tell him to stop? This young lady says she’s the Water Dragon King.”

“......The Water Dragon King? This girl?”

“Yes. I’m the Water Dragon King.”

At her proud attitude, Yeon Ryang furrowed his brow. Scratching his head roughly, he shouted toward the second floor.

“Fake monk! Come down for a moment!”

“Why? I’m busy!”

“Come down when I tell you to!”

“What is it? And why did all the kids come swarming over here? I’m not a nursemaid.”

Beopgong came down the stairs in long strides, irritated. His savage energy made my skin prickle. Red bloodstains remained on the back of his hand.

......Looks like that wasn’t interrogation but torture.

When Beopgong saw us, he frowned, then slowly reduced his energy.

“What’s this kid now?”

“The Water Dragon King.”

“What?”

“I said I’m the Water Dragon King. The one up there is my stand-in. So let Chiyong go.”

When the Water Dragon King answered, Beopgong rubbed at the corners of his eyes with a look that asked what in the world this was.

“......Wait, wait. What kind of situation is this? Explain it step by step so I can understand. Sword Immortal’s disciple. You tell me.”

At Beopgong’s call, Jinseong nodded and slowly opened his mouth.

“Well......”

*****

She had been sold at fourteen and become the Water Dragon King’s wife. After enduring three years of life in the stockade, she could not take it anymore, so she fed her husband drugged liquor and stabbed him to death.

After that, she set up a stand-in for the Water Dragon King and had been waiting for a chance to escape.

After hearing the girl’s story, Beopgong silently pressed at his temples.

The Water Dragon King watched him and asked calmly,

“Are you the leader, mister? You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?”

“Why would I kill you?”

“I’m a river bandit.”

“How are you a river bandit? You’re a kid who was sold to river bandits.”

At Beopgong’s answer, the Water Dragon King tilted her head.

“Then you won’t kill me?”

“You kid sold into river bandits. I’m a monk. Monks don’t kill people. I can make them suffer enough to wish they were dead, though.”

At that, the man called Chiyong went deathly pale and hiccuped.

“......I’ll try to endure the torture. In exchange, please grant me one request. There are young children and women locked in the lower hold, doing menial work. About twenty of them. They didn’t do anything wrong, so please let them go.”

Beopgong stared at the Water Dragon King as she spoke clearly, then snorted.

“What? Admirable courage, I’ll give you that. I suppose you need that much resolve to take a man’s head and order ordinary civilians killed.”

His mocking eyes sank coldly. The Water Dragon King trembled under that gaze, but she did not lose heart and continued.

“Yes. I was the one who fed my husband drugged liquor and stabbed him to death. I was the one who handed his head to Chiyong and made him Stockade Lord. I was the one who ordered today’s attack on the merchant ship. So kill only me.”

“I won’t kill you. I won’t torture you either. Why would I kill a kid without a single drop of internal energy? Do you think I’m like you unorthodox bastards?”

Beopgong sighed over and over as if this were driving him insane.

“If it had been the real Water Dragon King rampaging around arrogantly, that would be one thing. But you’re a kid who doesn’t even have the strength to swing a real sword. You look like you’d go flying if our kid hit you once. I don’t want to get tangled up with you.”

Pressing at his temples, he met the Water Dragon King’s eyes and continued.

“I don’t know what your usual fighting strength is like, but all four ambush boats you brought out today were smashed by me, and your combat unit was wiped out. The only thing left is this ship, and you don’t even have people to row it or someone to take the helm. Can you call yourselves river bandits right now?”

“......No.”

“Then you’re not river bandits anymore. Use this chance to scrape together whatever valuables are left on the ship and run. I’ll overlook that much.”

The Water Dragon King’s eyes widened.

Beopgong’s words meant he would let her go without holding her guilty for anything.