Surviving as a Maid of the Sichuan Tang Clan

THUNK! THUD!

With two dull impacts, five fish rolled belly-up and floated to the surface all at once.

“Hm? What did I just see?”

Yeon Ryang rubbed at his eyes as if he could not believe it, stared at the stream, then cried out in admiration as he scooped the fish out.

“Well, I’ll be. I’ve never even heard of anyone catching fish with rocks. Is this the kind of stunt people from the Tang Clan can do? That’s impressive, little sister.”

“This isn’t a stunt. It’s hidden-weapon technique—”

“Right, right. Hidden-weapon technique that looks like a stunt. I won’t have to worry about my next meal if I travel with you. Ha ha, that’s amazing.”

He was reacting like I had just put on some kind of acrobatic performance.

It did sound like praise, but...

Why was I annoyed?

I forced down the unpleasant feeling and asked,

“Should I catch more?”

“Let’s get five more. The fuller our stomachs are, the better.”

Grinning easily, Yeon Ryang pulled a dagger from his robes and began cleaning the fish.

I nodded and threw more stones.

While I gathered up the fish that floated to the surface, Yeon Ryang deftly scaled them and removed the guts. Then he snapped branches off nearby trees and skewered the cleaned fish through them.

In no time at all, he had made an armful of skewers. He rinsed the fish in the running stream and shook off the water.

“Come on, little sister. I’ll grill them.”

Shrugging, he picked up the skewers and started striding back.

I scratched at my cheek as I watched his broad back.

Wherever he stood, the whole view vanished. He looked less like a man and more like a walking door.

After lining the skewers up in front of the campfire, he pulled something out of his pocket.

“What’s that?”

“Rock salt.”

Yeon Ryang answered and rubbed the salt over the fish.

Once he had seasoned both sides evenly, he set them over the flames.

SSSSSIZZLE!

With the sound of fat crackling, a savory smell spread through the air.

At some point Cane had straightened up. His eyes shone as drool dripped steadily from his mouth.

“Here, little sister. Eat one.”

“Thank you.”

“You too, furball. Have one.”

“KII.”

Delighted, Cane snatched up the fish with his forepaws—

—and immediately leaped into the air and rolled across the ground.

“Well now. Must be hot. Let it cool first.”

Chuckling, Yeon Ryang stripped a sheet of bark and laid it on the ground, then set the fish on top of it.

Cane tapped at the fish with his little paws a few times, then soon began stuffing the white flesh into his mouth.

“Chomp, chomp. Chompchompchompchomp.”

Anyone watching would have thought he had gone ten days without food. The moment he finished his share, he stared at Yeon Ryang as if asking for more.

“You’re done already? Not bad at all, furball.”

Eyes widening, Yeon Ryang handed him another small fish.

Cane must have learned that fish fresh off the fire were hot, because this time he did not reach out immediately.

Instead, he lay down in front of the piece of bark and waited for the fish to cool to a suitable temperature.

The solemn dignity on his face made me snort.

I shot Cane a sidelong look and bit into my own fish, crisp from the fire. It had been grilled with nothing but salt, yet it tasted wonderful.

Yeon Ryang watched me chew, both cheeks full, then grinned.

“Eat plenty, little sister. That’s how you grow taller.”

“What? No, you keep talking about height, but I’m not short. I’m already five feet four.”

“What are you talking about, little sister? You need to be taller. A martial artist ought to be at least six feet.”

And what exactly am I supposed to do with being five-eleven? Are you trying to turn me into a walking door too?

I stared at him in disbelief, and he scratched at his jaw.

“Ah. Or do people in the Tang Clan tend to be smaller? Then maybe you really do feel tall. But at your size, it won’t do. If you want to seize the initiative in the martial world, you need more presence.”

“...”

I’m not some alley thug. Why would I seize the initiative with sheer bulk? I was so dumbfounded I could not even think of what to say.

“I’m six foot four, you know. Want me to give you an inch?”

“I don’t need it. And I use hidden weapons, remember? I already need to move quietly as it is. Why would I want to overpower anyone with my size?”

Despite my grumbling, Yeon Ryang only laughed and held out another skewer.

“Fine, fine. I get it. There are advantages to being small too. Still, if you start eating properly now, you might grow another inch. For now, eat first.”

“...”

This man was incredibly aggravating.

When I said nothing, Yeon Ryang shook the skewer at me again.

“Ha ha, don’t be mad. Eat it before it gets cold, little sister. It won’t taste good once it does.”

I glared at him, then snatched the skewer out of his hand.

*****

He said infuriating things from time to time, but Yeon Ryang was an easy, cheerful person to be around.

It was hard to believe he had been locked inside the Demonic Sect’s training compound and raised as a human weapon.

“Little sister, want a candied haw skewer?”

“I’m fine, so you eat it, Brother.”

“That one looks good too.”

“Yes, yes. Go ahead.”

He was a little too cheerful.

Like a sparrow incapable of passing by a mill, he stopped at every single stall and wanted to try every snack in sight.

It was enough to make me wonder whether I had hired an escort or signed up for a food tour. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

Even the peddlers, who had at first looked uneasy because of Yeon Ryang’s appearance, began subtly ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ calling out to him once they saw that all he did was eat quietly.

“Sir, the hearts are fried up just right. Why not try some?”

“Oh, little sister. Want some hearts?”

“You don’t have to ask. Eat if you want. You’re going to anyway.”

“Ha ha, thanks.”

Smiling like a man too easy to please, he took the chopsticks from the vendor and began eating the fried hearts.

Cane, who was perched on my shoulder, let out a short cry as if he wanted some too.

“KYUU.”

“Furball, should I give you one too? Little sister, is it fine if we order another plate?”

“Go ahead.” freewebnøvel.com

The instant I gave permission, Cane sprang down and settled himself on Yeon Ryang’s knee.

With grave seriousness, Yeon Ryang lifted a piece of heart.

“Do you want chicken heart or pork heart?”

“KII!”

“Hm? You want both?”

“KIUU!”

Do they actually understand each other, or are they just operating on the same level?

I stared in disbelief at Yeon Ryang sharing fried hearts with a fuzzy little beast.

He looked so carefree that it made me feel foolish for having been wary of him all this time.

From that sight alone, he looked less like a dangerous martial artist and more like some unemployed uncle from the neighborhood.

That did not mean I could let my guard down, but the longer I watched him, the more it seemed he was not a bad person.

Cane was just as shamelessly at ease.

Lying belly-up across Yeon Ryang’s broad lap while chewing away with nothing but his mouth moving, he seemed to think Yeon Ryang was his personal bed.

Maybe he liked him because he had been the one to choose him and bring him along.

If Gyeonga saw this, she’d feel hurt. Even Gyeonga hadn’t gotten to hold him more than a few times.

The thought of how Gyeonga used to light up whenever she saw Cane made my mood sink.

Was Gyeonga doing all right? Was she frustrated, with no one there to exchange written conversations with anymore?

How was Deokju? I wondered whether her injuries had healed and whether she was being treated properly.

And Songji was probably crying every day, just as I imagined. She worried too much not to.

I miss my girls.

Murmuring under my breath, I lowered my eyes to the ground.

The days when the four of us had shared tangerines and snow cakes together suddenly felt as far away as some distant age long gone.

I tried to shake off the gloom and asked the vendor,

“How much?”

“Yes, miss. Three mun.”

While I paid for the food Yeon Ryang and Cane had devoured, Yeon Ryang set down his chopsticks, rose to his feet, and rubbed his stomach in satisfaction.

Cane scampered back up onto his shoulder and let out a small burp.

Yeon Ryang stroked Cane’s head and snorted with laughter.

“Furball, you eat better than your owner does. At this rate, by next spring you’ll be bigger than little sister.”

Bigger than me? Really?

Spouting nonsense so absurd that I could not tell whether he was joking or serious, Yeon Ryang turned to me, humming under his breath.

“Now that we’ve filled our stomachs, let’s get moving, little sister. Once we cross one more mountain range, we’ll be in Hubei.”

Pointing toward the towering peaks, he took the lead.

I swallowed hard and followed behind him.

To think the moment would really come when I left Sichuan behind.

I had set Wuhan as my destination on impulse, but now that it was drawing close, my emotions felt strangely unsettled.

“If we’d gone by boat, we could have enjoyed the scenery of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze and recited poetry. Instead we’re crossing Wushan on foot. What a life.”

I lightly ignored Yeon Ryang’s muttering and rubbed at the corner of my eye.

I did not have much silver left. My destination was close, and I would be parting ways with Yeon Ryang soon too.

What worried me most was how I was supposed to survive in the Central Plains, where I did not know a single person.

Should I try working for an escort agency?

Or throw myself at the doors of a medical clinic?

I was fairly confident in treating external injuries. I might be able to find work as a physician’s assistant somewhere.

Maybe I could seek out the Hao Gate and ask them to help me find a job.

Hwahong had said they would help if I invoked her name. It felt possible that I could get work as a maid at an inn or a pleasure house.

Yes, being a maid would be better.

If I wanted to hide quietly until Grandfather came out of closed-door training, a job that did not draw attention would be safer.

No one would ever think I had learned martial arts too and then gone to work as a maid.

Laundry again? Damn it.

I was walking along, sighing to myself, when I walked straight into Yeon Ryang’s back.

My forehead throbbed where it hit solid muscle.

I irritably rubbed at it and looked up to find Yeon Ryang peering down at me with a chuckle.

“Do you think the ground’s going to cave in from a few sighs? You’ll have to sigh harder than that, little sister.”

What was wrong with him, seriously?

Pretending I had not heard, I moved to walk off to the side instead. Yeon Ryang promptly lifted Cane and set him on top of my head.

“It’ll take seven days and nights to cross the range. We’re bound to run into some brothers of the greenwood, so it’d be best to prepare.”

“The brothers of the greenwood?”

“Bandits.”

Who even called bandits that? From the way he talked, Yeon Ryang himself sounded like one of them.

I blinked and asked,

“What should I prepare?”

“Let’s see. Maybe a broad enough mind not to be startled no matter what kind of idiot jumps out at us?”

When my face twisted, Yeon Ryang pointed toward the mountainside as if aggrieved.

“I’m serious. They’re already here to welcome us.”

“Welcome us? Who exactly is coming to wel—!”

I broke off, flinching as a rapidly approaching presence hit my senses. I whipped around.

From the direction Yeon Ryang had pointed, a group of burly men dressed in animal hides came charging toward us, kicking up clouds of dust.

They were actually here.