Chapter 7
7
I swallowed hard and shook my head. I knew without being told. If I answered wrong here, I'd be in big trouble.
"N-No, it's just that I'm afraid I won't be able to do it well, Elder."
Only then did Dang Jung's eyes soften. He shrugged.
"Well, you'll only know if you try. It'll be as easy as doing laundry, so don't worry."
His nonchalant reply made a sharp sound escape my lips.
Elder, have you ever done laundry? Do you know how hard it is to wash a long robe with only the ends of the sleeves blackened?
Touching laundry soaked in lye water without rubber gloves will chap your hands. I feel like I'm going to get housewife eczema.
I twitched my lips and calmed my mind.
I was annoyed, but not brave enough to argue about the difficulty of doing laundry in front of Dang Jung.
This is better than listening to my boss's mantra of 'These days, martial arts novels don't have chivalry, no chivalry' throughout lunch.
...Is it?
While I was weighing the old-fashioned authority of the two men, Dang Jung arbitrarily came to a conclusion.
"Then that's settled. Go and rest for today."
"Today...?"From tomorrow, do your Maid duties as usual, but come find me around the time Shin-si (the hour of the monkey) ends. If you say you're going to run errands for Dang Jung Elder's residence, no one will ask."
That's not what I was asking, Elder. I'm asking if you're really going to take me as a disciple.
I chewed my lip, choosing my words. I couldn't think of a way to refuse without offending Dang Jung.
As the silence grew longer, Dang Jung crossed his arms as if to ask why I wasn't answering quickly.
There was no way out. I swallowed my tears and answered.
"Yes."
Dang Jung's stubbornness in the novel was no ordinary stubbornness. This man was someone who would get his way no matter what.
I gave up. Okay, if I become a disciple, at least he won't kill me.
Dang Jung's face was filled with satisfaction at my obedient answer. He smiled, his eyes crinkling, and said kindly.
"From tomorrow, have dinner and go. You have to eat well to grow well."
"I'm not that small."
"The bigger a Martial Artist is, the better. The bigger you are, the better your muscles will be. You need long arms and legs to handle weapons well."
But you're not growing, Elder.
Dang Jung coughed awkwardly as I stared at him.
"I am in a realm that is not bound by trivial conditions. But child, do you know how to read?"
Dang Jung subtly changed the subject. He had an expression that said, 'You don't know, do you?'
I was embarrassed by Dang Jung's question.
I know Hangul, but I don't know Hanja.
I looked around and mumbled.
"...No."
"...Ugh. I'll have to learn the Thousand Character Classic first."
Dang Jung sighed and rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache.
* * *
It was late at night when I returned to my residence.
Songji, who was sitting on the bed, jumped up and ran to me as I opened the door.
"Hey, where have you been? I've been looking for you."
"Songji Unnie."
"What happened? I heard you went to the Inner Ward, but I haven't heard from you, so I was worried. I thought you'd been assaulted. Are you hurt? Have you had dinner?"
"Something happened, but I'm okay."
I vaguely glossed over it.
I didn't have the strength to summarize the story of how I went to the Inner Ward to clean the training grounds because of Sim-yang's gang's threats, got lost and almost fell into the pond, found out about Dang Jung's identity, and somehow became his disciple and had to juggle work and study from tomorrow...
Songji didn't ask any more questions, probably because my complexion wasn't good. Instead, she handed me a rice ball wrapped in bamboo leaves.
"We're doing this to live, right? Even if it's hard, don't skip meals. You need to eat well to have strength."
"Thank you, Unnie."
Songji, you're a good person.
Seeing that I felt like crying over a single rice ball, today must have been hard.
I smiled faintly and took a big bite of the rice ball. The cold rice grains rolled around in my mouth.
Hmm. I miss artificial seasoning.
More than that, I need to come up with a plan for the future...
"Unnie, do you happen to have paper and a brush? I have something to write down."
"Hey. Where would we get such precious things? Why are you looking for writing tools when you don't even know how to write?"
Songji shook her head as if I was talking nonsense.
Still, I've been through 16 years of higher education, so there's no way I don't know how to write...!
...I don't know. I haven't even finished the Thousand Character Classic.
It suddenly dawned on me that this was a class-based society.
Someone drinks expensive tea that someone else has to save 10 years' salary to buy a handful of, like water.
Writing tools that are common enough to be kicked around are precious to someone else.
Maybe becoming Dang Jung's disciple isn't a bad thing. At least my quality of life will be guaranteed.
If I'm a disciple of the Grand Elder, whom even the Patriarch is careful not to displease, no one will be able to treat me carelessly.
I tried to think positively. It felt like it would be less upsetting that way.
Anyway, it seems difficult to come up with a plan by writing down the things I can think of.
Having given up on taking notes, I tried to remember what <Namgung's World> was about.
<Namgung's World> was a novel about the growth of Namgung Hwi, the Young Patriarch of the Namgung Family.
The content was nothing special. Starting with winning the Later Generation's Top Martial Artist Tournament, the protagonist travels through the Jianghu and revives the Namgung Family.
The protagonist, who became the Patriarch of the Namgung Family, made the Namgung sword known to the world and earned the nickname Sword Emperor... I couldn't remember after that.
It had been half a year since I read it, so only fragmentary pieces came to mind. I was just sad about my shoddy memory.
It seems that the basic requirement for a web novel transmigrator is memory. How can everyone know exactly what this work is, what the content is, and how to act?
I scratched my cheek and thought of the cool guy drawn on the cover.
Namgung Hwi was a character who was full of justice if you put it nicely, and rude if you put it badly.
It was called the art of provocation. He would verbally scratch the villains in the novel, and when the excited person rushed at him, he would show off his skills by beating them with his sword.
"He was amazing."
"What?"
"Ah, no. Just talking to myself."
Songji looked at me with pity. She had a look on her face that said I was going crazy because my work was hard.
I smiled awkwardly and swallowed the rice ball. Hunger rushed in. My stomach churned, demanding more food.
Did the snack I ate earlier all go down already?
I guess I was so nervous that I didn't feel hungry.
As I chewed the food faster, Songji handed me a glass of water.
"Eat slowly. You'll get indigestion."
I nodded and gulped down the water. I felt a little better now that my stomach was full. At the same time, my head started spinning quickly.
There were two ways I could get information right now.
Check if a person named Namgung Hwi is coming to the upcoming meeting of the Five Great Families.
And Dang Jung.
It was after the Top Martial Artist Tournament that Dang Jung coveted Namgung Hwi and gifted him the Myriad Poison Pill.
If I could find out if Dang Jung had the Myriad Poison Pill now, or if he had met Namgung Hwi, I could figure out the point in the story.
"Hey, aren't you sleeping? I'm turning off the light."
"Yes, Unnie. I'll just sit here for a bit and then go to sleep."
"Don't think about anything and go to bed early. We shouldn't think about things. Being smart only makes life miserable."
"Okay."
But how am I going to find out if Dang Jung has the Myriad Poison Pill? The moment I ask about the existence of the Elixir Pill, I'll be suspected again.
It would only be the difference between being a spy who came to steal the Elixir Pill and a Maid who covets presumptuous things, and the speed at which I'd be grabbed by the collar would be similar.
I looked at Songji, who had fallen asleep as soon as she lay down. I felt suffocated.
Songji might be right. If I just did the cleaning and laundry I was told to do without thinking, I could save my life.
But I didn't want to live like that.
I tossed and turned until the stars embroidered in the sky hid beyond the mountain ridge, and then I fell into a deep sleep.
* * *
As dusk fell, Dang Jung stood in the front yard of a dark palace.
His face was expressionless as he looked up at the sky turning black.
Dang Jung closed his eyes as the wind rustled through the bushes.
"So, Geun-myeong, have you found out?"
Dang Geun-myeong, who had approached silently, bowed respectfully. He answered politely.
"Yes, Elder. He is said to be an orphan who grew up in the Tang Clan since he was a child."
"An orphan."
Dang Jung muttered and slowly opened his eyes. His dark blue eyes shone sharply.
"Yes. Lady Yi is said to have taken in a skinny five-year-old. He is definitely not of the Tang Clan's bloodline."
"It's just the same name. Well, she couldn't have survived after eating the Scarlet Blood Poison for ten months. I feel sorry for that mother and daughter."
Dang Jung clicked his tongue. Dang Geun-myeong, who had taken a moment to catch his breath, continued.
"He is said to have been unusually resistant to Poison since he was a child. He doesn't seem to have learned Martial Arts separately."
"I have confirmed that with my own eyes. The Qi and blood in his whole body were blocked."
"He is said to be ostracized among the Maids, probably because of his appearance. He is a child who would stand out if he were mixed among ordinary people. ...Don't look at me like that, Elder. Why would I have ulterior motives for a snot-nosed kid? But, there are rumors that he has become strange in the last seven days. He used to be a shy and quiet child, but he has started to argue about unfair things and get angry."
"The last seven days..."
Dang Jung quietly calculated the date. It overlapped with the time he first met the young Maid.
"Is there a possibility that he is a spy sent from the outside?"
"I will check if there are any traces of using a human skin mask."
"Do so."
Dang Jung answered coldly.
It was necessary to check directly whether he had accidentally picked up a jade stone, or whether someone had thrown a jade stone with Poison on it over the wall.
