Chapter 51: Escape (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 51: Escape (3)
“Puhahahaha! Look at your grandfather’s face. His jaw’s about to hit the floor.”
The Lesser Conversation Sword burst into fits of laughter.
I knew he’d be surprised, but he seemed truly stunned.
My maternal grandfather, Ha Seong-un, stood there with his mouth agape, unable to find his words. Finally, he spoke in a bewildered tone.
“Granddaughter-in-law? Wh-what on earth does that mean, child?”
At my grandfather’s question, I let out a deep sigh and turned to her.
“Young Lady Sama. We aren’t at that stage yet, are we?”
“Huh? We aren’t?”
Sama Yeong’s eyes widened as she looked at me.
“We haven’t even properly started courting, so calling yourself a granddaughter-in-law is a bit much.”
“But you asked my father for permission. You were so cool back then, Young Master.”
“…….”
She was getting way ahead of herself.
I liked her, but this wasn’t an arranged marriage, and things were moving far too fast.
“I only asked for permission to see you… and I haven’t even received that permission yet, have I?”
At my words, Sama Yeong let out a ‘tch’ and pouted, her lips twitching.
Doing that is cheating.
Strangely, whenever Sama Yeong acted sulky like that, my heart weakened.
Then, my grandfather spoke up.
“Permission? Child. Are you saying you actually asked the Moon Evil Sword for permission to… to see this young lady?”
“……Yes.”
I shifted my gaze slightly, only to find my grandfather staring at me as if asking what on earth I was thinking.
Well, it made sense. Who in their right mind would think of dating the daughter of one of the Four Great Villains?
“Then what about the part where you said you were dropped here?”
“……It was his test.”
“What? He dropped my grandson into Bongnim Valley just because you asked for permission to see her?”
My grandfather’s body trembled with rage.
It was only natural for him to be angry. What grandfather would react kindly to his grandson being dropped into Bongnim Valley, one of the Four Great Prohibitions?
However, I had to mediate.
“Grandfather. I volunteered for this.”
“You volunteered?”
“Young Lady Sama’s father gave me a chance.”
“Even so, do you think this makes any sense?! You could have died, you brat!”
Seeing my grandfather’s intense reaction, Sama Yeong suddenly knelt on the ground.
Thud!
“Young Lady?”
I wasn’t sure what she was doing now.
Sama Yeong even pressed her forehead against the ground as she spoke.
“I apologize to you, Grandfather, for my father’s rudeness. You are absolutely right. My father went too far out of his excessive affection for me. Please, scold me instead.”
‘!?’
Ah…
She was quick-witted.
She looked up at my grandfather with wide, pleading eyes.
It wasn’t without effect.
“Sigh……”
A long sigh escaped my grandfather’s lips, replacing his anger.
Since she had taken the initiative to prostrate herself and take all the blame, it seemed he found it difficult to stay angry.
-Is it because she’s the daughter of one of the Four Great Villains?
I didn’t think so.
Given my grandfather’s upright character, he wasn’t the type to be intimidated by someone’s status. It was likely that he simply couldn’t bring himself to curse her father, the Moon Evil Sword, right to her face, so he settled for a sigh.
To help her out, I added a bit more.
“I was going to tell you anyway. Her father promised to allow us to meet if I could survive here for just one month.”
“What does that mean?”
“I came in here because he promised to let me out after a month.”
“F-from here?”
“He didn’t intend to lock me up forever, so you don’t have to worry too much.”
As I said that, I caught Sama Yeong’s eye and gave her a quick wink.
Sama Yeong didn’t miss the opportunity.
“How could I leave the Young Master’s grandfather in a place like this? I’ll speak to my father and make sure you can get out as well.”
“Leave this place?”
My grandfather’s expression turned complicated.
He had been imprisoned here for over twenty years. Just hearing the words ‘leave this place’ seemed to stir deep emotions within him.
“Or, if you’d like, Grandfather, even right now…”
I cut her off before she could finish.
“Young Lady. We have a problem. It looks like we’ll have to leave before the month is up.”
“Pardon?”
“Part of the cave must have collapsed; the inner areas are flooding right now.”
“Really?”
“The water is rising from the back, and at this rate, the whole place will be submerged within two days.”
My grandfather nodded in agreement.
Perhaps because the chance to leave immediately had presented itself, his eyes were full of life.
Sama Yeong spoke as if this were good news.
“Really? Then we have no choice. It wouldn’t make sense to stay here for a whole month when such an accident has happened.”
Her lips were twitching upward.
-……She really likes you.
It seemed she was happy to have a valid excuse for us not to finish the full month.
Just then, Miyeom and several other men came running toward us, with Miyeom carrying the one-armed man on his back.
“Moon Elder! Young Master So!”
“Who are they?”
“They are the ones who followed and looked after Grandfather.”
I wasn’t sure if it would work, but I planned to use the dire situation as an excuse to take them with us.
When they arrived, they were struck speechless by Sama Yeong’s beauty.
Come to think of it, there hadn’t been a single woman in this cave. It was only natural for them to be both shocked and excited.
However, that excitement was quickly quelled by my grandfather’s warning.
“She is the daughter of the Moon Evil Sword. Do not even think of acting out of line.”
“The M-Moon Evil Sword?”
Upon learning her identity, Miyeom and the others looked as if they were about to have a seizure from shock.
Leaving their reaction behind, I asked Sama Yeong.
“Did your father come down as well?”
“No. I came down alone.”
She came down alone?
Then how did she get down here?
As I wondered, Sama Yeong gave a playful smile.
“I gathered so many ropes and tied them together just to see you, Young Master. Follow me.”
We moved through the cave, following her.
On the way, curiosity got the better of me, and I asked.
“You said you came alone, but did your father give you permission?”
“……No. Father is away right now, so I snuck down.”
Ah.
Of course.
There was no way the Moon Evil Sword, Sama Chak, would have allowed her to come down here.
“What were you going to do if you got caught?”
“But I wanted to see you, so what else could I do? If I get scolded, I get scolded.”
Sama Yeong said, twisting her body slightly as if embarrassed.
I felt it every time, but she was truly honest with her feelings.
At this, my grandfather, who was on my back, let out a forced cough.
“Ahem.”
He probably felt her blunt honesty was a bit unrefined.
Aware of this, she turned her head and gave my grandfather a bright, innocent smile.
“I like your grandson so much. That’s why I like you too, Grandfather.”
“What?”
My grandfather’s eyes sparkled with interest at Sama Yeong’s lack of hesitation. She treated him with total familiarity when most would be cautious.
“Well, now.”
He eventually shook his head.
Sensing she had the momentum, Sama Yeong moved closer and stuck to my side.
“Grandfather. Your eyebrows are so long they’re blocking your vision; isn’t that uncomfortable? Should I trim them for you later? I often trim my father’s eyebrows when they get too long.”
“Hmph. How can a grown lady be so clingy and frivolous?”
“Oh, come on. Then why is your face turning red?”
“Wh-why would this old man’s face turn red?”
“You’re secretly happy that your pretty future granddaughter-in-law offered to trim your eyebrows, aren’t you?”
“I said I’m not.”
-She’s got some serious nerve.
The Lesser Conversation Sword marveled.
I also thought her brazenness was quite impressive.
Looking at my grandfather’s voice and expression, he seemed displeased at first, but he didn’t seem to view Sama Yeong’s affectionate attitude in a bad light.
Just then, the voice of the Namcheon Iron Sword rang out.
-Un-hwi. My previous master used to say that you can tell if someone will be a good spouse just by seeing how they treat their elders.
-Hey! I think I know why.
-Hmm?
-I think I know why your previous master never got married. He knew too much and was always judging this and that, wasn’t he? He’s exactly the type of guy women hate.
-……..
The Namcheon Iron Sword avoided answering the Lesser Conversation Sword’s teasing.
The Blood Demon Sword simply clicked its tongue.
Suddenly, I became curious about something.
I sent a Secret Sound Transmission to Sama Yeong, who was still acting affectionately toward my grandfather.
[Young Lady.]
She looked at me, startled by the transmission.
[Young Master. I suspected it, but you’ve really recovered your internal energy?]
[Yes. I was lucky.]
[How did you recover it?]
[It’s a long story. I’ll explain later. But by any chance, did someone come out from the inner part of Bongnim Valley about four days ago?]
At my question, her eyes went wide.
[How did you know?]
[Did that person happen to have golden eyes?]
[That’s right. He suddenly jumped out of the valley, and when my father saw him, he tried to capture him.]
[He tried to capture him?]
So Sama Chak and that golden-eyed man had clashed.
They hadn’t fought for long, but the golden-eyed man was strong enough to be called a monster. He had handled me with ease even while dragging heavy iron spheres.
[……Is your father alright?]
At my concern, Sama Yeong replied with a beaming smile.
[My father is incredibly strong, if nothing else. But more than that, that golden-eyed man was strange. His arm was cut off while fighting my father, but it grew back like a lizard’s.]
So she had seen that unbelievable recovery ability.
But what was more surprising was Sama Chak.
The reputation of the Four Great Villains was truly well-deserved. The fact that he had cut off the opponent’s arm meant he was superior in combat.
[It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. It happened in an instant…]
[I met him too.]
[You met him?]
[Yes. He was the one imprisoned here. He possessed a bizarre level of recovery. Anyway, did the Moon Evil Sword capture him?]
If he was superior in martial prowess, he might have been able to suppress him.
[No. After his arm was cut by Father’s sword, he suddenly fled.]
[Did he chase after him?]
[Yes. He said he would definitely catch him and went after him. That man was inferior to Father in martial arts, but his lightness skill was incredibly fast. Even Father couldn’t keep up.]
So he had gone to catch him.
That’s what she meant by her father being away.
She must have been worried about her father, yet she had come down to this dangerous place just to see me. It was admirable.
As if reading my thoughts, Sama Yeong said:
[Father is strong, but you were dropped here with your internal energy sealed, Young Master. I was worried something might have happened to you.]
[Young Lady Sama……]
I was grateful she said that.
I felt truly lucky to have a woman like her like me.
[I hope your father will be alright.]
[He promised to return before the deadline even if he loses him, so it should be fine.]
I guess she had asked him that in the meantime.
-How devoted.
The Lesser Conversation Sword chuckled.
Anyway, if the Moon Evil Sword Sama Chak hadn’t been able to catch him even after three days, just how fast was that golden-eyed man’s lightness skill?
-Worry about yourself, human. Don’t worry about those monsters.
‘……’
As usual, the Blood Demon Sword’s words were sharp and to the point.
Regardless, he was right. I had to get out of here first to stay alive.
Not long after we moved through the cave, the sound of a waterfall and rushing rapids reached our ears.
“I secured the rope to the swing bridge, jumped down, and tied it to a stone corner. We can climb up from there.”
“That must have taken a lot of rope.”
“It took a whole day just to knot all the ropes together.”
Indeed, a rope long enough to reach from the swing bridge to the bottom of the waterfall would have been substantial.
The problem was those without internal energy.
Sama Yeong and I had internal energy, so climbing up with a rope wouldn’t be an issue. For the others, it wouldn’t be so easy.
-Why don’t you go up first and pull them up?
That seemed like a good idea.
I was about to suggest it as we stepped out of the cave, but I was suddenly struck speechless.
‘!?’
In the area before the valley where the rapids were pouring down, several people were lying on the ground.
Among them was Gapchan, the man I had entrusted with the tree root bundle.
“Hey!”
I ran over and tried to wake him.
But he was already dead.
“Ah!”
Sama Yeong pointed somewhere.
There, twelve men were hanging onto a rope, climbing upward.
They were the other men who had been in the tree root bundle.
“It seems they found the rope.”
My grandfather, still on my back, clicked his tongue.
Well, since the cave was flooding from below, they must have been searching everywhere for a way to survive.
They were lucky to have found the rope Sama Yeong had prepared.
But why kill these men when they could have all escaped together?
Just then, one of the men who had climbed almost to the top of the waterfall looked down at us and shouted.
“Hahahaha! We’re getting out! You lot can stay here and eat your fill of fish!”
‘What? No way.’
“You bastards!”
One of our men, enraged by the provocation, ran toward the rope tied to the rock.
He grabbed the rope and began to climb, trying to catch up to them.
He was climbing with great momentum when—
“Hahaha! You idiot!”
The man at the very bottom of the group near the top of the waterfall struck the rope with his sword.
Thwack!
The rope was wet, so it didn’t cut all at once.
Miyeom ran forward and shouted.
“Jongbaek! Come back! He’s trying to cut the rope!”
“What?”
The man looked up, terrified, and tried to climb back down.
But it was too late.
On the third strike, the rope was severed.
At the same time, the man holding the now-slack rope fell straight into the rapids.
“Jongbaek!”
Miyeom tried to jump into the water.
“Stop!”
I held him back and hurriedly extended my left hand.
The Silver Smoke Thread shot out rapidly and coiled around the wrist of the man being swept away by the current.
Snap!
As I applied my internal power, the man’s body was pulled toward me.
If I had been even a moment later, he would have been swept into that water hole by the rapids.
“Gasp, gasp! Th-thank you, Young Master So.”
The man, having reached the shore, spoke with a face pale with terror.
“It’s alright.”
The problem wasn’t that.
It was that our escape route had been stolen by them.
I wasn’t the only one who was angry.
“Those wicked bastards!”
“To do such a thing just to save their own skins.”
The men vented their frustration.
Then, Sama Yeong clicked her tongue and said:
“That rope… I tied it to the swing bridge, so it won’t hold that many people at once. Besides, the bottom isn’t secured, so the waterfall will make it even more dangerous.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than screams echoed from above.
“Aaaaaagh!”
“Argh!”
All the men climbing the rope fell into the waterfall.
They plunged into the water, flailing as they were swept down by the rapids.
They tried to swim toward us to survive, but then, wooden planks began to rain down from above.
Crash, bang, crash!
They were the planks from the broken swing bridge.
“Heh!”
“D-dodge!”
The planks, still tied together, were heavier than expected. They fell faster than the people swept in the water and ended up entangling the swimming men like a net.
“Urgh!”
“D-damn it!”
“Save me!”
The men swept away by the rapids along with the bridge planks shouted toward us.
But who would want to save those who had cut the rope and fled just to save themselves?
Everyone watched them being swept away with cold expressions.
“Tch!”
I ran toward the edge of the rapids.
“Are you going to help them?”
My grandfather asked, sounding surprised.
He also had an upright character, but as a martial artist, he believed in clear distinctions between kindness and enmity, and he seemed to think they deserved their punishment.
“Over here! Over here!”
“Th-thank you!”
The men being swept away shouted, perhaps finding hope in my actions.
I hurriedly reached out toward them.
And I shot the Silver Smoke Thread.
Zip!
Something caught on the thread.
When I injected internal power and pulled, it wasn’t a person, but the rope.
“Y-you!”
The men being swept away were dumbfounded by the sight.
Sorry to disappoint you, but I was just trying to salvage whatever was left of the rope.
The men who had looked disappointed, thinking I was trying to help the traitors, now looked refreshed.
However, this wasn’t the time to worry about those getting their comeuppance.
“I managed to salvage the rope, but there’s no way to climb up.”
At those words, everyone’s face darkened.
In an instant, the hope of escaping had vanished.
Sama Yeong approached me and asked.
“Young Master, could we perhaps attach a dagger to that thread and embed it in the wall to climb up, like when we first met?”
“Phew. I tried that once. The thread gets weaker every time it touches water.”
“Ah…….”
I had tested it as soon as I recovered my Dantian—whether I could climb up by embedding a dagger into the wall beyond the waterfall.
But I hadn’t realized that the Silver Smoke Thread lost its elasticity the more it came into contact with water.
It would return to normal over time, but in this situation, it was useless.
“Sigh……”
“What are we to do?”
Everyone fell into despair.
The water was steadily filling the cave, and there was no way to escape.
It was a moment of utter hopelessness.
“Young Master. There’s something in the water over there.”
Sama Yeong pointed at something and asked.
It was where the rapids were flowing down, but something was moving upstream against the current at an incredible speed.
The water itself was dark, so it looked like a black shadow, but it was very large.
And incredibly long.
Everyone approached with puzzled expressions, wondering what it was.
At that moment—
Splash!
Something massive burst through the surface and onto the shore.
“Eek!”
“A s-snake monster!”
Miyeom and the other men were so startled they fell backward in a panic.
It was none other than the Human-Faced Snake, Jaso.
-How did this monster get all the way here?
That was exactly what I wanted to say.
I thought he could only enter through the hollow with the pond. I didn’t know he could come all the way here.
Jaso, now on land, rolled his purple eyes and approached.
“Ch-child!”
My grandfather, still on my back, tensed up his arms and legs in alarm.
He must have heard that I was friendly with this creature, but seeing it in person seemed to have made him forget.
“It’s a m-monster! Young Master.”
Sama Yeong stepped in front of me as if to protect me.
I said to her:
“It’s okay. He’s not dangerous.”
“This isn’t dangerous?”
I walked toward Jaso as if to prove it.
“Young Master!”
Sama Yeong grabbed my sleeve in alarm, but I reassured her that it was fine.
Jaso lowered his head, expressing his delight at seeing me.
“Jaso.”
I placed my hand on his forehead.
‘Hmm.’
The slimy feeling of the scales wasn’t great.
As I touched his forehead, he rubbed his head against me as if acting cute.
Sama Yeong’s eyes widened at the sight.
“I told you it was okay. Do you want to touch him?”
Sama Yeong quickly shook her head from side to side.
Grrrr!
Suddenly, Jaso turned his head and looked toward the water hole he had come through.
I couldn’t tell why.
He rolled his eyes, seemingly trying to tell me something.
He moved his head to point at the water hole, then suddenly slithered onto the ground and crawled between my legs.
“Jaso! Wh-what are you doing… huh?”
Kruuuu!
Having crawled between my legs, he raised his head.
As a result, I ended up in a position as if I were riding Jaso like a horse.
“……I’d like to get down.”
My maternal grandfather, still piggybacking on me, had inadvertently ended up riding atop the Human-Faced Snake’s head as well. His entire body was rigid, frozen stiff with terror.
The men watched on with worried expressions, calling out, “Moon Elder! Moon Elder!”
“Hold on, Grandfather. Jaso, what are you doing?”
At my question, Jaso rolled his eyes and gestured toward the water outlet once more.
!!!
Only then did I realize what he intended to do.
“Are you… are you saying you’ll take us outside?”
The creature blinked and nodded his head up and down.
Perched atop his head, I felt a sense of motion sickness that didn't even compare to riding a horse. I looked back and forth between Jaso and the dark opening where the rapids surged through.
…
After a moment of deliberation, I looked down from Jaso’s head and spoke.
“We’re all going to die if we stay here anyway. Since it’s come to this, are you all willing to take a gamble?”
At my words, everyone’s faces turned pale in unison, as if they shared a single mind.