Chapter 43
"Her face is so beautiful, maybe they're planning to present her to someone of high status later?"
One of them said in a vile voice.
"I don't think so. If that were the case, wouldn't they have to feed her well and educate her? But there's none of that. They've locked her up in a small room, and as if that weren't enough, they've tied her up and even put iron bars in the room. Who would lock up a girl they're planning to present to someone of high status like this?"
Listening to them, I finally realized how thorough Son Eun was.
I had thought that I could quietly go in and take her out when the people in the manor were asleep, but if I hadn't heard that story, I might have been in big trouble.
"It would be better if she just got sick and died on her own."
"That's what I'm hoping for. But if she dies while we're guarding her, I think we'll get into trouble."
Seeing them worry about something so obvious, I thought they were pathetic.
Still, the stories they were sharing were quite helpful, but at some point, the conversation stopped.
It hadn't been long since Son Eun had sent a message to strengthen the security, but they had decided on a rotation, entrusted the watch to one person, and each had gone in to sleep.
Saying that nothing had happened so far, and who would know to come here, they were being complacent.
That was a great help to me.
I quietly went in front of the room and then covered the nose of the person guarding it with a cloth soaked in a sleeping powder.
With that much, he would be sound asleep for at least the next two hours.
When I opened the door and went in, the scene that the two men had talked about came into view.
There were bars, and inside the bars was a woman tied up in restraints.
The door had opened late at night, but she showed no signs of surprise.
Her face was completely drained of energy, as if she had been beaten a lot, and her body was limp.
It seemed that it had been like this since we were dragged to Nether Shadow Valley, and thinking about how she had been locked up and suffered such harsh treatment all this time, I shouldn't have let Son Eun live.
"Miss, I am a close friend of Pae Maseong. Are you Pae Maseong's younger sister, Miss Pae Maling?"
At that, her eyes shone in the dark.
At first, there was surprise, but then she nodded.
"I will take you out."
"Thank you for coming to get me. Thank you so much. My brother didn't forget me."
A sobbing sound was heard for a moment, and then she stopped her tears.
It seemed she knew that she shouldn't make such a sound.
From then on, I focused only on breaking the bars and taking Pae Maling out.
While I was breaking the bars and opening the restraints on her wrists and ankles, Pae Maling watched the scene with a surprised face.
"Can you get on my back?"
"Yes."
When I sat down in front of Pae Maling, she got on my back.
I thought that the people wouldn't be able to wake up yet because of the sleeping powder, but I wasn't completely at ease.
Pae Maling, for her part, seemed to be trying not to even make a sound.
The opportunity to finally escape from this place had come, and she seemed to think that she shouldn't ruin it by making a mistake.
After carrying Pae Maling on my back and using my movement technique for a long time, I stopped when I thought I had put some distance between us.
'What will Pae Maseong think when he sees Pae Maling? Is it okay to show her to him like this?'
If I were Pae Maseong, if I found out that my younger sister had been locked up and had been living in such a state all this time, I would be furious and would probably immediately storm into the Cho family and say that I would annihilate them.
I don't have a younger sister, but wouldn't an older brother naturally do that?
Moreover, it seemed that Pae Maseong could succeed in that to some extent.
So I was even more worried. If he thought he couldn't do it, he would give up, but Pae Maseong seemed to think that he could.
It didn't seem right to delay their reunion because of that, but I kept hesitating when I saw Pae Maling.
But Pae Maling seemed to have noticed my thoughts first.
"If my brother sees me like this now, I don't know what he'll do. Could you take me somewhere else? I think it would be better to see my brother after I've recovered from my injuries there."
If she said that herself first, I was grateful.
"I understand. Then I will do so."
"If you are my brother's close friend, you are my brother. Please speak comfortably. Thank you so much for saving me like this. You are the savior of my life. I thought I was going to die there..."
Then Pae Maling began to sob.
As time went on, her crying grew louder.
It was a mountain path with no houses.
There was no one who would chase after her for crying like that there, but I was at a loss as to what to do when a girl was crying.
"How is my brother? Is he healthy and safe?"
"Yes."
It was difficult for me to decide on my own anyway.
It seemed that this problem would be difficult even if only Yeon Cheongha stepped up.
Pae Maling needed a place to stay, and it seemed that a trustworthy person would have to stand guard, and to do that much, at least someone of the stature of the family head of the Danli family would have to step up.
The children of Nether Shadow Valley were not yet at a level where they could deal with the martial artists of the Cho family.
The subjugation of the mountain bandits was possible because it was a surprise attack, and if they were to engage in a head-on battle with a skilled adult, there would be no children who could survive.
No matter how important Pae Maling was, it was not to the extent of giving up the children's lives.
And I also needed time to find out what kind of person Pae Maling was.
While I was silent with such thoughts, Pae Maling watched my expression.
"I think I have a place for you to stay, so let's go with me for now."
"Yes, brother."
It wasn't just about providing a place to stay; Pae Maling had many large and small injuries on her body, and I also needed the family head's help to treat those injuries.
The family head would probably have pills that would help in treating injuries and recovering stamina, and it would also be much easier to call a physician.
"Can you tell me what happened all this time?"
"My parents sold my brother first. My brother probably doesn't know that his parents sold him. I knew because I heard the two of them talking. How can parents sell their own child... Even now, the two of them are probably living well. They sold my brother first, and then they handed me over. I thought I was being sold to a place like a brothel or a red-light district."
Pae Maling was two years younger than Pae Maseong.
So she must have been sold at the age of eight.
While she was talking, she was full of hostility towards her parents, and that was understandable.
"But they locked me up in a small hut, and after that, they moved me to several places and locked me up. I tried to escape a few times, and later they even put iron bars in the room."
She must have been beaten a lot, but she didn't go on and on about being beaten.
It seemed that she was not the type to want to gain sympathy by talking about her hardships.
I liked that about her.
Even though she was still young, her gaze was intense, and it seemed that the saying that blood is thicker than water was true.
The more I looked at her, the more she resembled Pae Maseong.
Pae Maling might have been born with an extraordinary martial talent, but it was a little late to start martial arts.
As I was thinking that, I sensed a sudden presence, grabbed Pae Maling's hand, hid her behind me, and drew my sword.
Then I blocked the dazzlingly spread sword techniques.
Behind the person who was showering me with sword techniques, two people slowly descended.
They were the ones who had been at the place where Pae Maling had been held captive.
I had put them to sleep with sleeping powder, so how did they appear here? As I was thinking that, one person said.
"Did you think we didn't know you were there? We were just waiting to see who you were. We were trying to find out whose orders you were following. But since it seems you did it on your own, lay down your life here."
I was dumbfounded.
So they knew I was listening.
I was ashamed that I had been tricked by a fool.
While they were talking, the remaining people also arrived one after another.
I had thought that the martial prowess of the people assigned to protect Pae Maling would be nothing special, but it seemed that Son Eun had been protecting Pae Maling more thoroughly than I had thought.
They surrounded me and aimed their swords at me.
Even if I wanted to take out my poisonous creatures, there had to be a small opening, but if it went on like this, it seemed that all my movements would be read.
"You've done something interesting, but this is it."
And when one person ran towards me, Pae Maling shouted and ran out to face him.
"If I die, what will you say to your master!"
The man's sword cut Pae Maling's arm, and blood gushed out.
They were so surprised that Pae Maling had suddenly come out like that that they took a step back.
That was exactly the amount of time I needed.
I released my poisonous creatures and at the same time, I moved my sword and attacked the vital point of the man in front of me.
He tried to avoid my sword and counterattack, but my speed and strength were not inferior to his.
As the sword strikes continued, the bewilderment on his face grew deeper.
He seemed to be wondering how I could shower him with such sword techniques.
Seeing that face, I thought that my attack was working properly.
"Pae Maling, tear your clothes and wrap your wound. If you lose too much blood, you'll die without even seeing your brother."
"Yes, brother."
Pae Maling's skirt tore with a ripping sound.
The guys' swords came at me all at once.
The more I looked, the more dazzling it was, and it seemed they were trying to distract my gaze, but there was no need to focus on or react to each one.
I kept watching their swords, and when I saw an opening, I aimed for it and attacked accurately.
Seeing that I was not swayed by their attacks and was avoiding all their tricks, I felt that they were getting more and more desperate.
As time went on, their speed noticeably decreased.
It seemed that the poison was slowly spreading.
Someone flew up into the air, aiming for my face, but he couldn't let out a sword strike and fell to the floor.
Then he writhed and then vomited a gush of dark red blood from his mouth and died.
I dealt with the ones who were fiercely holding on until the end with my sword, and when I cut their waists, deviating from the sword path, one more person fell.
"You guys. I believed in you, but is this all you've got?"
When I shouted, Pae Maling was surprised and looked at me.
"Ah, I wasn't talking to you."
At that, the poisonous creatures moved towards the guys again, and after that, there was no need for me to step up.
(End of Chapter)