Surviving as the Villainess’s Servant in a Martial Arts Novel – Chapter 134

Author: Cireng

Chapter 134

Without delay, I ran toward the door. There was no one blocking my way anymore. As soon as I dashed outside, I saw the back of the man running away in the distance.

‘At least I have to catch that bastard.’

I was worried about the other members of the Inspection Squad, but there was quite a distance between each gambling den, so even if I went there now, I wouldn’t be of much help.

It would be better to catch that bastard and make him confess something. He might even have some Pleasure Pill on him…

Having finished my calculations in an instant, I gathered my internal energy. Then I unleashed my movement technique and sprinted forward.

Tap-tap-tap!

I quickly chased after the man. At the sensation of someone following him, the man’s face turned pale. He ran even harder, desperately trying not to get caught.

I didn’t know what his martial arts skills were like, but when it came to movement techniques, I seemed to be a step above him. Before long, the distance between us had become much shorter than before.

I continued chasing him without rest and shouted,

“Hey, brother! Didn’t you say you were going to make us pay the price this time? What happened? Instead of showing us what you’ve got, you’re running away with your tail between your legs!”

“Grrk…!”

“Haha, I wonder how long you can keep running? Go ahead, keep running. I’ll chase you all the way to the end of the world if I have to!”

Whoosh, whoosh!

At my shouting, the man hurriedly fired hidden weapons backward, but there was no way I would get hit by projectiles he threw without even looking.

I lightly twisted my body and dodged them. Then, when another hidden weapon came flying at me, I caught it and threw it back toward the man. A long gash appeared across his thigh.

The man’s movements gradually slowed after sustaining the injury. Like a hunter pursuing prey, I slowly drove him into a corner.

In the end, the man’s struggle didn’t last long.

“Huff, huff, huff…”

He had reached the edge of a cliff.

Looking at the terrified expression on the man’s face, I was overcome with reminiscence for the first time in a while.

‘So this day has finally come.’

There had been a time when I was the one being chased like that. While disguised as a young lady, I had run away from a masked man, only to end up cornered at a dead end and standing on a cliff just like that man. Back then, I thought I was going to die without a doubt, yet somehow I was still alive. And not only that, this time I had become the hunter myself.

Not bad.

I gave the man a grin and said,

“Did you enjoy your walk?”

“You bastard…”

The man ground his teeth and glared at me.

“Brother, I don’t know why you’re so afraid, but I’m more merciful than you might think. Unlike you, I have no intention of doing something cruel like cutting off your arms and legs and leaving you barely alive, you know?”

“…”

“Furthermore, if you willingly cooperate with us, I’m willing to let you go completely unharmed. What do you say?”

“You want me to cooperate with you?”

But despite my gentle proposal, the man merely snorted.

“I’m a rat in your hands. And you say you’ll let me live if I cooperate? How am I supposed to believe that? You’ll just kill me once I’ve served my purpose!”

“…If I swear an oath.”

“And do you think the main sect would leave a traitor alone? The main sect’s rules aren’t so lenient. They’ll chase down a traitor to the very end and kill him, and they’ll even wipe out his entire household!”

“Pleasure Pavilion won’t last much longer anyway. The Murim Alliance is keeping an eye on it…”

“What? The Murim Alliance?”

The man’s eyes suddenly widened. He stared blankly at me, apparently unable to understand what I was talking about. Then he suddenly burst into loud laughter and said,

“Ha-ha-ha! I wondered what you were talking about, and it’s the Murim Alliance! What an amusing thing to say. Do you really think the Murim Alliance could oppose our main sect?”

“…What?”

“Do you know how much money we’ve given those esteemed elders of yours? We’ve been carefully catering to their whims and regularly supplying them with our goods, and now they want to betray us? If that’s the case, they should be prepared to die with us!”

“…”

I suddenly remembered the note the Inspection Squad had received.

[It has been determined that Pleasure Pavilion has no connection to the Demonic Cult, so Inspection Squad Unit 5 is to return immediately.]

‘Aha. So that’s why they were so adamant that we return.’

To think there were people backing an organization like this in that supposedly righteous Murim Alliance. As expected, every organization had people who were like rotten flesh in a wound.

“Whether the Murim Alliance is watching us or not, the main sect won’t suffer any damage. Rather, it’ll be you false cultists who’ll be in trouble if you’re branded as criminals! …Wait, could it be that you’re not from the Seonghwa Cult, but from the Alliance…?”

“Haha, could that really be the case?”

I calmly denied it.

“Yes, our cult would be in trouble if we were branded as criminals of the Murim world, so we were being overly cautious. But I didn’t realize your sect had already gotten its foot in the door. Did you receive some good teachings?”

“Nonsense!”

“Regardless, if you’re saying you can’t betray Pleasure Pavilion, then…”

I spoke coldly.

“That means negotiations have failed.”

“…”

Just as tension once again flowed between us–

Tap.

Footsteps came from behind. I glanced back and saw a familiar figure. Liyeon had caught up at some point and was standing there.

I gestured to Liyeon with my eyes, telling him to block the man’s escape route. Understanding my signal, Liyeon moved and blocked the diagonal path in front of him.

The man’s face turned even paler.

“…”

We gradually narrowed the distance between the man and us. He backed away, then turned around.

There was a cliff.

Realizing that there was nowhere left to run, the man tightly closed his eyes. Then he opened them again. In an instant, he reached into his clothes and pulled something out.

Inside a transparent bottle was a single pill about the size of a fingernail.

“…This is what you bastards want, isn’t it?”

‘Pleasure Pill!’

So that bastard had the drug on him after all. I slowly approached him and said,

“That’s right. That’s all we wanted from the beginning. What do you say? Will you hand over the medicine? We don’t need any other information, so if you just give us that, we’ll leave.”

“…”

“Think carefully. You can simply say that you lost the medicine somewhere, but you only have one life…”

At that moment–

Swish!

The man tipped the medicine from the bottle into his mouth. My eyes widened to the size of saucers.

Without realizing it, I shouted,

“No!”

But the man had already swallowed the pill with a gulp. Before long, the man’s eyes began to take on a strange, dreamy look.

“Heh heh… hehehe…”

The man looked excited, as though he had fallen into a state of ecstasy.

With his eyes half-unfocused and his mouth hanging open in a grin, he looked genuinely happy, yet at the same time, he looked like someone who had completely lost his mind.

The man soon looked back at us. His black eyes were looking at us, but somehow it seemed as though he wasn’t really seeing us. He blinked his unfocused eyes and kept grinning.

“What should I do? I ate the last Pleasure Pill I had. Now, even if you bastards want to get the medicine, you won’t be able to.”

“…”

“Even if you capture me and torture me, it won’t do you any good. No matter what pain I suffer, all that will remain for me is pleasure. I’m going to die either way. Whether it’s this way or that way. So if that’s the case…”

The man suddenly opened his eyes wide.

“I’ll drag at least one of you to the afterlife with me!”

Then he charged at me with a beast-like roar.

I frowned. It wasn’t some impressive technique, nor was there a real attack hidden within a feint. It was nothing more than him recklessly charging forward while swinging his fists.

At this level, I could easily dodge to the side…

‘Wait.’

The words the man had spoken suddenly echoed in my mind.

‘I’m going to die either way. No matter what pain I suffer, all that will remain for me is pleasure.’

Those words meant…

“Damn!”

I hurriedly gathered my internal energy. Then I raised both hands and thrust them forward, releasing a palm strike imbued with seven-tenths of my power toward the charging man.

Boom!

Unable to withstand the fierce palm force, the man was blown backward. At the same time, something inside the man’s clothes flashed with light.

I quickly leapt backward. A moment later, a tremendous roar erupted from the man.

BOOM!

The man’s body exploded along with a bomb.

‘He blew himself up.’

Cold sweat trickled down my back. I had wondered why he suddenly ate the Pleasure Pill, but it seemed he had intended to die without pain by taking me down with him. But if he charged at me like that, anyone could easily dodge him.

For someone who had said he would drag at least one person to the afterlife with him…

‘At least one person?’

I froze.

Yes, now that I thought about it, that was what he had said.

The man said he would kill at least one person.

Then he charged straight at me. Even though he clearly knew I could easily dodge him.

Why?

It was as though he wanted to draw my attention toward himself.

“…!”

I abruptly turned my head. In the direction of my gaze was Liyeon.

Liyeon was frowning as he watched the man blow himself up.

And beneath him…