The Mother-in-Law from Hell
Yu Sucheon and Jeon Akgwan raced toward the Dan Manor using their lightness techniques, desperate for no one to witness their current state.
“Brother Yu, you can’t seriously be going to the market every single day, right?” Jeon Akgwan asked.
“Of course not.”
“That’s a relief. If we showed up at the market every day, the vendors would look at us like complete jokes.”
Yu Sucheon let out a bitter laugh. “It’s not every day. It’s three times a day. What, did you only eat one meal a day before all this?”
“We have to do this three times a day?”
The breath caught in Jeon Akgwan’s throat.
They were both martial artists. If they used lightness kung fu to handle the shopping and inner energy for cleaning, the results would be flawless. They could pass for the finest servants alive.
“Don’t tell me this is why he turned us into his slaves!”
“Shut up. We’re here.”
Upon reaching the Dan Manor, Yu Sucheon opened the gate and stepped inside. The rickety door let out a groaning creak, sounding like it might fall off its hinges at any moment.
Once inside, the pair tried to hand the chicken and vegetables to Dan Hyunwoo, who stood waiting in the courtyard. But he spoke first.
“The kitchen’s in the back.”
“You’re telling us to cook it?”
Dan Hyunwoo gave a silent nod, his eyes making it clear they were to take the ingredients and get to work immediately.
With no choice in the matter, Yu Sucheon and Jeon Akgwan headed for the kitchen. The cold, unlit room greeted them with a chill.
“Where’s the firewood?” Yu Sucheon asked.
“I don’t see any.”
“Damn it. He expects us to fetch that too. The Blood-Killing Demon Sword, reduced to chopping firewood…” Yu Sucheon shook his head. “You handle the chicken and pluck the feathers. I’ll get the wood.”
Using his inner energy, Yu Sucheon vaulted over the manor wall and headed for the nearby mountain. Though modest in size, the slope held plenty of thick trees—specimens too large for ordinary woodcutters to fell, which was why they still stood.
With a sharp slash, Yu Sucheon drew his sword and toppled a massive trunk. He shouldered the fallen tree and returned to find Jeon Akgwan struggling with the chickens. Killing them was easy enough, but plucking the feathers was clearly unfamiliar territory.
Yu Sucheon’s blade danced across the wood, splitting it into neat logs with every flash of steel. Soon a tidy pile of firewood stood ready. He used the fresh cuts to start a fire, but the green wood belched thick smoke.
“Cough! Cough! My eyes!”
The smoke stung fiercely, forcing tears to stream down his face. Snot ran freely as well. Yu Sucheon endured the coughing and watery eyes until the wood finally caught and burned properly. This, he thought, must be what true dog’s labor felt like.
He missed the old days—lounging in pleasure houses without a care.
Jeon Akgwan finally finished plucking, cleaned up the feathers, and carried three prepared chickens into the kitchen. Yu Sucheon wiped the tears from his eyes.
“Who’s cooking?”
“Have you ever cooked before, Brother Yu?”
“I did a little when I was the youngest in my sect.”
“Same here.”
When martial artists camped while serving their superiors, cooking always fell to the lowest-ranked member. As a result, most people in the murim had at least some experience with it. The problem was that it had been far too long, and the memories were hazy at best.
In the end, Yu Sucheon rolled up his sleeves. He had once made decent porridge from military rations, after all. He boiled the chickens, stripped the meat, and used the bones to make a rich broth. Once the rice had soaked in the broth, he added vegetables and the shredded chicken. Done.
Both men swallowed hard as they stared at the finished chicken porridge. Come to think of it, they hadn’t eaten since yesterday. Their stomachs, hollow from labor since dawn, growled loudly.
They transferred the porridge to bowls and carried it out. On the wooden porch, Dan Hyunwoo, Jin Yeongyeong, Dan Seoyeon, and Eun Doyun were already seated. A strange feeling washed over them—preparing food for people they had once tried to kill.
Jin Yeongyeong took the first bite and chewed thoughtfully.
“Sucheon.”
“Yes?”
“This porridge is too salty.”
She set her spoon down with a sharp clack and fixed Yu Sucheon with a piercing glare—the unmistakable look of a tyrannical mother-in-law.
“Make it again.”
He didn’t dare refuse. Doing so would likely get him killed.
Yu Sucheon and Jeon Akgwan hurried back to the market and prepared a fresh batch. Jin Yeongyeong lifted her spoon once more.
“Sucheon.”
“Yes.”
“This one is too bland.”
“……”
Yu Sucheon revised his earlier assessment. She wasn’t merely a mother-in-law. She was the worst kind—an absolute demon of a mother-in-law, the sort that could nag a daughter-in-law to death.
“Make it again.”
“……”
They returned from the market even faster than before. Each rejection made Dan Hyunwoo’s expression grow darker. Yu Sucheon hastily prepared the third batch and tasted it himself. This time it was genuinely good. Surely there would be no complaint about the flavor now.
Jin Yeongyeong raised her spoon.
“Sucheon.”
“Yes?”
“This porridge is too watery.”
“……”
Before he could even wonder how it could be both watery and dry, she slammed the spoon down again and added, “Is this really the best you can do? Does money for ingredients rain from the sky? Look at you, ruining the entire household economy!”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“What are you waiting for? Hurry up and make it again!”
“Y-yes!”
Under her fierce scolding, they went to the market for the fourth time and poured their entire souls into the porridge. This batch was flawless.
Jin Yeongyeong tasted it.
“This one is passable. I’m not thrilled, but I’ll accept it for now.”
“Th-thank you.”
“You may go.”
Yu Sucheon and Jeon Akgwan retreated to the kitchen. After four market runs and four attempts at cooking, they collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion. No common servant, no matter how lowly, could possibly suffer this much.
This was Jin Yeongyeong’s chosen punishment. She would not kill them, but she would not forgive them either. She had become a fierce, tyrannical Yama King mother-in-law.
Jeon Akgwan, who now understood his sister-in-law’s past suffering, muttered, “Brother Yu, I’m starving to death.”
“Let’s eat the failed batches.”
They squatted in the kitchen and shoveled down the rejected porridge. They were so hungry they couldn’t even tell whether it was going into their mouths or their noses. After devouring it, they collected the family’s empty bowls and began washing the dishes. That was when Jin Yeongyeong suddenly returned to the kitchen.
“The stove is filthy.”
“We-we’ll clean it right away.”
“The walls are dirty too, and those broken tiles are an eyesore.”
“We’ll clean and repair them.”
“And what are you standing around for?”
“Pardon?”
“You need to prepare lunch. I’ve developed a craving for fish. Not the stale ones from the market—I want fish so fresh they’re still flapping in front of my eyes.”
“You mean freshly caught fish?”
“Why? Can’t you manage it?”
“We’ll… prepare it immediately.”
Her skirt fluttering in the cold breeze, Jin Yeongyeong left the kitchen. Only then did they realize that after preparing breakfast four times, the sun had already climbed high overhead. There was no time to fish properly.
Yu Sucheon looked at Jeon Akgwan. “Can you swim?”
Ten days later, Hangzhou was more chaotic than ever. The transformed appearances of Yu Sucheon and Jeon Akgwan seemed to have shocked the common people deeply. The biggest topic of conversation, however, was the fact that Jeon Akgwan had actually paid for goods.
People speculated endlessly: Had they truly turned over a new leaf? Or were they pretending to be good to win favor before committing some new evil? In every drinking hall, the pair had become permanent side dishes for gossip.
Of course, Yu Sucheon and Jeon Akgwan knew all about the rumors. Yet Jin Yeongyeong’s harassment proved far worse than any gossip. There had never been a mother-in-law like her. Yesterday she had overturned the entire table.
Now, beneath a sky painted by the setting sun, the two men swept the area in front of the Dan Manor. After ten days, the task had become almost routine. Jeon Akgwan gazed at the spotless main gate with satisfaction.
“Perfect. Absolutely spotless. As expected, there’s nothing I can’t—” He stopped. “No! This isn’t right at all!”
He hurled the broom away. He had completely adapted to servant life. The fact that he felt proud of pursuing perfection in response to Jin Yeongyeong’s scolding, that the clean manor and tidy kitchen filled him with satisfaction, that he felt triumphant upon finding a single grain of rice while washing dishes—it was all too much.
He turned to vent to Yu Sucheon. “Brother Yu!”
“The sweeping isn’t finished yet.”
Yu Sucheon continued working in silence. He was probably hurrying because he planned to visit Cheon Ilseong at the medical hall after finishing his chores. The man was still lying in bed there.
Jeon Akgwan quickly finished his own sweeping. As they left the manor and headed toward the medical hall, his lips twitched. Today was the last night he would sleep at his own house. Dan Hyunwoo had been steadily seizing all their assets. The house now belonged to the Dan family, so starting tomorrow they would sleep in the manor—in a tiny, single-room servant’s quarters.
Damn it all. My manor. My Nine Dragons Sect! And Flower Bun! I spent a fortune trying to win her over! I only managed to hold her hand before it all ended, damn it!
The Nine Dragons Sect had shown some invisible resistance, but it was gradually falling under Dan Hyunwoo’s control. Flower Bun had already run off with another man. Still, there had to be a way.
By the time these thoughts ran through his mind, they had reached the medical hall. Jeon Akgwan opened the door to the treatment room. Cheon Ilseong lay there with his face still horribly swollen.
“Are you all right?” Jeon Akgwan asked.
“I still can’t move. How are you and Brother Yu these days? The rumors say you two have been carrying fish around. Soaking wet, apparently.”
“Even that rumor reached the ears of someone stuck in a sickbed?”
Cheon Ilseong nodded. He understood exactly what those rumors meant. The sight of them leaping into the sea for fish, carrying chickens and vegetables, would soon be his own future.
With his face burning red, Jeon Akgwan burst out, “I can’t live like this. This is hell made real! We who lived freely, reduced to slaves—does that make any sense?”
“Are you suggesting we run away?”
“We can’t stay slaves forever! If I have to, I’d do far worse than simply running.”
Jeon Akgwan trembled, teeth clenched. What frustrated him even more was that Yu Sucheon—the one who should be raging alongside him—remained completely silent. It was as if he had already abandoned his pride.
Unable to hold back any longer, Jeon Akgwan turned on him. “Brother Yu! Do you really plan to keep living like this? Have you become a slave in mind as well as body?”
“If we don’t live, then what?”
“Are you serious?”
Yu Sucheon looked at Jeon Akgwan’s aggressive tone and, instead of getting angry, simply gave him a pitying look.
“If you can’t bring yourself to die, then live like this. That’s the jianghu.”
“You’re saying living as a slave is the law of the jianghu? That losing a fight means you deserve to live like a dog, always watching your step?”
“Haven’t you been living by that law all along? Thanks to it, you built the Nine Dragons Sect and lived comfortably for years.”
“Brother Yu!”
“You’re a man of the jianghu. No one escapes its laws. Don’t forget that.”
Yu Sucheon left the treatment room. Jeon Akgwan stared after him with an incredulous expression, then clicked his tongue.
“Tsk! ‘If you can’t die, then live like this’? He talks like some lofty expert, but he’s just scared and trying to avoid the problem!”
“Brother Jeon, it looks like Brother Yu has completely given up. After kneeling to the Dan family, he’s become strange.”
“The great Yu Sucheon has turned into a coward.”
“Never mind him—when are we running away?”
“From tomorrow we’ll be living at the Dan Manor, so we won’t be able to move freely. Today is our last chance. I have an excellent idea.”
“If it succeeds, don’t forget about me.”
“I’ll settle down first and come for you. Just lie there a little longer. We’ll strike it big again somewhere else. The Dan Manor? We’ll do something so grand it won’t even compare! Do you think we’ll waste our lives groveling at the bottom here?”
“Of course not. I’ll trust only you, Brother Jeon.”
Jeon Akgwan gave Cheon Ilseong a couple of light pats on the shoulder. With that farewell, he left the medical hall and vanished into the darkness.
Yu Sucheon, whom they had assumed had already left, watched his retreating figure from the shadows. Leaning against the wall, he let out a small sigh and clicked his tongue.
“Tsk. I clearly warned you. You stupid bastard.”