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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: The Namgung Sega Granddaughter's Return
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“Good work, brothers!”
“Alright. Go put this away.”
Yugang swiftly caught something that was tossed his way. He went pale when he realized the bundle that fit snugly in his arms was a child.
“Who is this child…?”
“That’s none of your business. Tie her up in the storage room. She’ll probably get noisy when she wakes up, so gag her too.”
Yugang stared blankly at the child sleeping soundly in his arms.
Her radiant face and expensive clothes exuded an undeniable air of nobility. She seemed to be the child of some esteemed family.
‘I’ve seen this face somewhere before….’
“Ah, I’m hungry. Is dinner ready?”
“Yes? Yes! It’s all set! Today, we have stir-fried meat I bought from the market!”
“Kyah, finally some good food after a long time. Today’s definitely a good day.”
The men chuckled as they headed into the cabin. Yugang watched them for a moment before making his way to the storage room.
Inside, he laid the child down on a rice sack and spread a soft mat under a pillar of the boat. He even covered her with fresh straw to ensure no dirt remained.
Just as he held the rope to tie the child’s hands and feet, looking at her with a troubled expression,
“What are you doing?”
Yugang startled, looking towards the stacked rice sacks in the storage room.
A figure emerged from the dark shadows.
Namgung Seolhwa was coming out from behind the rice sacks, having hidden there unnoticed.
“Lady, Lady Namgung…?!”
Seolhwa looked at Hwarin, who was unconscious, and the rope in Yugang’s hand.
“Since when did you become a bandit?”
Yugang flinched, trembling. He hid the rope behind his back and laughed.
“Ah, no, it’s not that….”
“If I’d known you’d become a bandit, I wouldn’t have asked you to deliver a message.”
A cracking sound came from Seolhwa’s fingers.
Yugang started, then spoke urgently.
“I! I delivered it! To the Sect Leader!”
“And?”
“Huh?”
“Then why are you doing this here?”
A faint killing intent emanated from her smiling body.
It was as if she was implying she would kill him if he said one wrong word.
“Look, I’ll explain everything! I can explain! So, please… could you lower your killing intent first…?”
He laughed, waving his hand, but the rope was still in it.
Seeing Seolhwa’s gaze fixed on the dangling rope, Yugang hastily threw it to the ground.
“I really can explain everything! I’m innocent!”
“Alright. Tell me.”
“!”
As the killing intent receded, a look of relief washed over Yugang’s face. He began to recount in detail how he had ended up with the river bandits.
He spoke of being ambushed on his way to Namgung, following the Sect Leader’s orders.
How he jumped into the river to escape them, and when he woke up, he was on a river bandit’s boat.
Since he wasn't wearing his Hwasan uniform, he hid his identity and begged the bandits to take him in as their youngest member, hoping to avoid the attackers' eyes.
“I was planning to keep an eye on things and escape once we got far enough from my destination, but as you can see, we’ve come all the way here…?”
Seolhwa glanced at Hwarin.
Yugang quickly added.
“I didn’t know they were trying to kidnap your sister! Really! I was originally going to escape this morning, but I had a strange feeling. I overheard them talking about kidnapping a child, so I stayed just in case. I figured I should help if anything happened.”
“Then why were you going to tie her up?”
“I wasn’t actually going to tie her up. I just needed to look busy in case the brothers came to check on her. You have to pretend to work hard so they don’t get suspicious, and then you can escape undetected.”
He explained that his plan was to wait until the men who brought the child came to check, then pretend to tie her up before making his escape.
“But it seems they’re not coming. I guess the bandit brothers trust me a lot.”
He shrugged, flashing a good-natured smile.
He seemed to have a friendly personality, but to be on brotherly terms with bandits was surprising. His sociability was truly astonishing.
“Anyway, it’s a good thing you’re here. It would have been a burden to escape with an unconscious child alone. I’m glad you came. Let’s quickly get out of here….”
At that moment, with a rumbling sound, the boat swayed from side to side.
Seolhwa instinctively grabbed Hwarin’s shoulder to prevent her from falling off the rice sacks, and Yugang also supported Hwarin’s legs.
“This is bad.”
Yugang’s expression turned pale.
“It looks like the boat has set sail. They said they’d stay for another day! This won’t do. I’ll distract the brothers, so you get out quickly. Before the boat gets further from land. Hurry!”
“We’ll go together.”
Seolhwa’s eyes were resolute. It was a clear refusal to escape without him.
Yugang hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
“Let’s go quickly before the boat gets too far from land.”
Once the boat entered the middle of the river, it would be difficult for even Seolhwa and Yugang to easily escape.
Moreover, they had to take Hwarin, who knew no martial arts, and her young body would make it impossible.
Yugang lifted the sleeping Hwarin into his arms. Just as the two were about to leave the storage room.
“Wait.”
Seolhwa grabbed Yugang’s arm.
“Why?”
“It’s too late.”
Seolhwa’s gaze was directed towards the storage room entrance.
‘Two Peak masters.’
There were many masters on this boat.
It wouldn’t be strange for there to be more than just riff-raff, considering their plan was to kidnap a child from Namgung.
‘I can’t subdue all the bandits on this boat by myself.’
Furthermore, Hwarin knew no martial arts. If they tried to escape recklessly, Hwarin might get hurt.
‘In that case….’
Seolhwa looked back at Yugang.
Yugang’s face was also pale, as if he had sensed the approaching presence.
Yugang put Hwarin down again and was about to frantically tell Seolhwa to hide when Seolhwa suddenly grabbed his wrist.
“W-what…!”
Seolhwa brought Yugang’s hand to her neck and lay down on the mat she had spread.
“Ugh!”
Pulled by her force, Yugang stumbled forward. He ended up in a position where he was seemingly subduing Seolhwa with one hand gripping her neck.
The door burst open simultaneously.
“What is this!?”
The two bandits who had been chuckling as they entered were startled by the scene in the storage room and stepped back.
“Cough… let… go…!”
Seolhwa groaned as if she was being choked, and only then did Yugang understand her intention.
“Brothers! I caught a little rat!”
Yugang released the hand that was on Seolhwa’s neck, swiftly turning her around to sit her up. Instead, he held both her hands behind her back and pressed down on her body.
“This one was stealing rice from the storage room! She dared to touch our precious provisions, so I knocked her down in one go!”
The slightly surprised bandits chuckled, looking at each other.
One of them, wearing a bandana, crouched in front of Seolhwa.
“This is one troublesome rat, isn’t it? Do you even know where you’ve snuck into?”
Seolhwa shook her head with a terrified expression.
“Hehehe, this place, you see, we’ve taken a lot, but we’ve never been taken from, understand?”
“…Huh?”
“This is a bandit ship, is what I mean.”
Seolhwa’s face was filled with shock.
The bandits chuckled even more, finding her surprised expression amusing.
“No, I really didn’t know! Please spare me! I’ll do anything if you spare me! Please…!”
“What can you do?”
The bandit roughly grabbed Seolhwa’s cheek.
Yugang, who was holding her hands behind her, felt her tremble.
“I’ll do whatever you ask! I’m good at cleaning, and I’m good at laundry too!”
At that moment, a rustling sound came from behind them.
Alas! At the same time.
“Mama… *sniffle*… Mamaaaa…!”
Hwarin burst into tears.
The two bandits frowned deeply, glaring at the child.
Seolhwa suddenly raised her head and said,
“I’m good with children too!”
The bandit glanced down at Seolhwa. Then, annoyed, he clicked his tongue and gestured with his chin for Yugang to release Seolhwa.
“You’re good with kids?”
“Yes…!”
“Then, make that kid stop crying right now.”
“Huh?”
“You said you’re good with kids! Make her stop whimpering! I can’t stand whiny kids!”
“Yes, yes!”
Seolhwa quickly approached Hwarin.
In the meantime, Hwarin was wailing even louder.
“There, there, good girl.”
— Hwarin. It’s Seolhwa unnie.
Hwarin abruptly stopped crying and opened her eyes.
“Seo….”
— No. Don’t call my name here, and don’t call me unnie.
Hwarin blinked.
Though still young, she was a child who had managed to create the Sintangung by herself. She must have been disoriented and found it hard to understand the situation, but thankfully, she didn’t open her mouth rashly.
— Unnie will explain everything to you in a little while. So, stop crying. Just wait a bit. Okay?
“Okay.”
Hwarin nodded.
Then, sounds of admiration, "Ohh," came from behind them.
