Surviving as a Maid of the Sichuan Tang Clan

“Who are you?”

Tang Jung’s face hardened. He stepped back and slid a hand into his sleeve.

It was a familiar movement, but far slower than the one I knew.

I stared at Tang Jung with my mouth hanging open.

The Tang Jung I knew was a beautiful boy too, but he could not compare to the fully matured beauty before me.

Brows as if drawn in ink and a nose bridge straight enough to cut gave him a certain noble air.

Even his long robe could not hide how firm and long-limbed his body was, and he looked easily over six feet tall.

So when he had said long arms and legs were better for handling weapons, he had been speaking from experience.

There was one difference: his eyes. Young Tang Jung’s eyes held no blue sheen.

Apparently, this was a version of him from before he created Grandpa’s Poison Heart Method.

Tang Jung seemed offended by the way I was staring straight through his face, and one brow twitched.

It was the habit he had when he was displeased. I almost burst out laughing without meaning to.

Wow. That really is Grandpa.

I rubbed the tip of my nose, struggling to pull down the corners of my trembling mouth.

I wanted to run over, throw my arms around him, and tell him how much I had missed him, how hard everything had been.

I wanted to tattle that that father bastard had thrown me out of the house, and whine for him to go scold my father for me.

But if I did that, I had a feeling I would end up with a throwing knife stuck in the crown of my head, so I held myself back.

Tang Jung’s expression was far too cold.

At that gaze, more frightening than when he had suspected me of being a spy, the emotion of reunion crumbled to dust.

Whatever was going on, I could tell one thing for certain: he was different from the Tang Jung I knew.

Why is young Grandpa here?

“I asked you. Who are you?”

Tang Jung’s voice rose, and a woman approached, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Thousand-Thousand, who came? Is it Seol-yak?”

Thousand-Thousand?

Startled by the unfamiliar address, I looked young Tang Jung over again, but he was definitely Tang Jung.

There was no way I would fail to recognize Grandpa. That particular sulky set of his mouth and his way of speaking were unmistakably Grandpa.

Tang Jung answered the woman’s question.

“Someone I don’t know. Go inside, Hwan.”

Hwan?

...No way. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t possibly be the person I was thinking of. Ahaha.

I turned around, trying to figure out what this strange situation was. But Yeon Ryang was gone.

“Brother? Cane?”

Alarmed, I called for the two of them, but no answer came from anywhere.

The stone door I had put my hand on moments ago was gone, and so was the ceiling studded with night-shining pearls.

They said an art was active here. Did I get caught in an illusion by myself?

When I showed signs of panic, the woman asked gently, “Did you take a wrong turn, Young Lady?”

“I think I did. Where is this?”

“This is...”

The woman, who had been coming closer as she answered my question, widened her eyes.

“Oh my. You look exactly like Hwayeon.”

Just then, a boyish voice cut in.

“Who looks like Sister Hwayeon? I want to see too.”

“Rak, come out and see. Other than Seol-yak, this is the first time anyone else has come in here.”

At the sight of the boy striding out with a huge saber on his back, I wanted to faint.

...Who? Rak? D-don’t tell me that’s Elder Peng Rak?

*****

The boy looked completely different from the Peng Rak I knew.

First of all, he was shorter than Tang Jung.

Truly. Peng Rak was shorter than Tang Jung.

I don’t know whether I should say Tang Jung was tall, or Peng Rak was small.

He had no beard either, and his eyes did not glow yellow like a beast’s.

The bright-eyed boy had a mischievous face suited to his age.

When I could not close my gaping mouth, the woman asked, “Young Lady. Do you know Rak? You look very surprised.”

“Um... you are Elder Peng Rak... right?”

“Elder? I am Peng Rak, but am I already old enough outside to be called an elder? Sister. Looks like I lived a long life.”

Peng Rak giggled and bragged to the woman.

You did live a long life... You’re still healthy after burying your son and grandson, and you’ll stay that way until your great-grandson becomes Clan Head.

Unlike the two people who were friendly toward me, Tang Jung did not lower his guard. He interrogated me with sharp eyes.

“You. What is your relationship with the Tang Clan?”

“I’m Grandpa’s granddaughter.”

“Cough, cough!”

Tang Jung choked at my answer and started coughing. At the same time, surprise appeared on Peng Rak’s and the woman’s faces.

“Brother got married? To who? Don’t tell me it was Sister?”

“Oh my. Really? Did I marry Thousand-Thousand?”

“Who would marry a reckless little brat like that?”

Seeing the three of them clearly start to let their imaginations run wild, I hurriedly corrected our relationship.

“To be exact, I’m a fifth-generation descendant. Grandpa is my Ancestor Jonghyeon.”

“So not a direct granddaughter, then? Haha, our Thousand-Thousand must never have gotten married.”

“Hwan!”

“Young Lady. Have you ever heard anything about that ill-tempered man’s wife?”

“No. Grandpa never married.”

“See? He couldn’t.”

The woman smiled brightly as she looked at Tang Jung. Tang Jung parted his lips as though a little startled, then glared at her.

“There was probably no one worthy of me.”

“Of course not. With that temper of yours, Brother, no one would ever marry—whoa!”

Peng Rak, who had tried to add to the conversation, dodged a flying Feather-Needle and landed on his backside.

“Ah, Brother! Use words! Please!”

It seemed that throwing hidden weapons before speaking was the same when Grandpa was young.

Tang Jung lightly ignored Peng Rak and asked me, “So that is why you resemble Hwayeon. How old are you?”

Perhaps because I had said I was a descendant, Tang Jung’s voice had softened quite a lot. The way he softened at the mention of Tang Clan blood was so exactly like Grandpa that I answered with a grin.

“Sixteen.”

“You’re the same age as Sister Hwayeon too. Maybe that’s why you look even more alike.”

Peng Rak blinked in fascination. Since Hwayeon was sixteen, this seemed to be from before Tang Jung lost his younger sister.

“Um, but where is this? And how are the three of you here? Grandpa is... much too young, so I was surprised.”

At my question, Tang Jung crossed his arms and answered sullenly, “We are Seol-yak’s thought-forms.” 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

“Thought-forms?”

“Yes. Thought-forms made from Seol-yak’s memories. We are manifestations of the way Seol-yak remembers us. We can only exist inside this cave.”

“I believe he said they were made with the Maoshan Sect’s arts.”

“Probably. I don’t know. I’m not interested in arts.”

“We’ve been here for quite a while. Fifty years? It feels like it may have been longer. No, wait. If Brother has a fifth-generation descendant now, hasn’t it been a hundred years? Right, Brother?”

Peng Rak scratched the back of his neck and looked at Tang Jung as he asked. Tang Jung nodded.

“It must have been about that long. What in the world was that Seol-yak bastard thinking...”

This was the first time I had ever heard Tang Jung call Ghost-Hand Divine Therapist by name instead of calling him Old Im or the old monster, so I blinked blankly.

Were they close at this time?

When I could not take my eyes off Tang Jung, the woman covered her mouth and laughed.

“Young Lady, is your grandfather’s young face that fascinating? Judging by how surprised you are, Thousand-Thousand outside must be an old man with a bushy beard.”

“Ah, no. He doesn’t have a beard. He doesn’t, but... he returned to youth. He looks like a little child.”

“A little child? Thousand-Thousand does? Could you tell me more about that? I’m curious.”

The woman’s eyes sparkled as she asked. I answered as hard as I could, with what I knew.

He was about this tall, he wore his hair tied like this, his sulky expression was exactly the same as now, he enjoyed drinking tea, and he often sat on a willow tree smoking a long pipe...

The woman looked delighted to hear about a Tang Jung she did not know.

Young Tang Jung snorted that there was no way he would be like that, but he did not interrupt me.

He only looked at the woman with affectionate eyes.

Seeing eyes overflowing with love, not the hollow eyes of an old man left alone, I became certain.

The woman had to be Moonlit Fairy Okhwan, the beloved Grandpa had once loved.

For some reason, my chest grew tight.

Grandpa could... Grandpa could have eyes like that too. Dazed, love-struck eyes.

“Does Thousand-Thousand treat you well, Young Lady? Does he give you plenty of spending money? Even if that man acts fussy, please don’t hate him too much. Thousand-Thousand is very shy, so he often acts differently from what he really feels.”

“He treats me... well.”

He always treated me well.

If I said anything more, my eyes felt as though they would redden, so I hurriedly changed the subject.

“Why do you call Grandpa Thousand-Thousand?”

“Because the character for Jung is made from ‘thousand’ and ‘li.’ He said Li-Li sounded like a girl’s name and hated it, so it became Thousand-Thousand. But Li-Li isn’t bad either, is it? I thought it was cute.”

...Mm, I see. I shouldn’t have asked.

“What about me, Young Lady? Me?”

Peng Rak, too, asked about his outside self with a face full of curiosity.

I thought he would be disappointed if I said he had not returned to youth, so I glossed over it by saying he had earned the impressive sobriquet Fierce Tiger Blade Emperor.

“Did you hear that, Brother? Fierce Tiger Blade Emperor. I must have subdued the Central Plains with my saber!”

Peng Rak seemed to like his sobriquet, and he proudly puffed out his chest.

Okhwan curved her eyes beautifully at me and asked, “By the way, how did you come in here? Seol-yak’s secret cave should be hidden somewhere difficult to find.”

I could not bring myself to tell people who seemed to be Ghost-Hand Divine Therapist’s friends that I had come to steal his treasures. I smiled awkwardly.

“Well, that...”

“It is obvious. She came to steal Seol-yak’s treasures.”

Tang Jung spat the words out bluntly.

Grandpa. You’re terrifyingly sharp.

When my eyes rolled around, Peng Rak chuckled.

“Judging by your reaction, Young Lady, it’s true, isn’t it? Sister Seol-yak’s secret cave does have a lot of treasures. If I weren’t a thought-form, I’d have pocketed some too.”

I pretended not to hear that and looked away.

“Um, there’s something I’d like to ask. How do I get out of—”

Just as I was about to ask, a massive pressure crushed me without mercy.

It felt as if someone were strangling me. I could not breathe, and both knees hit the ground of their own accord.

I wanted to lift my head, but my terrified body was frozen stiff and would not move.

“Who dares set foot in this Ghost-Hand Divine Therapist’s domain without permission?”

A voice infused with internal energy drove into my ears like a thunderbolt. Goosebumps rose at that furious voice.

“You saw something you should not have seen.”

The tiger-rattle staff in Ghost-Hand Divine Therapist’s hand gave a harsh jangle as it pressed down on my throat.

Choking, I struggled to pry his hand away. But against the overwhelming difference in martial power, I could not move so much as a finger.

Ghost-Hand Divine Therapist looked down at me as I failed even to thrash, then said coldly,

“As the price, you will have to die here.”