Surviving as the Villainess’s Servant in a Martial Arts Novel Chapter 142

Chapter 142

 

I saw a familiar face.

He had gotten a little more disheveled than when I had first seen him, but with his neatly tied-up hair, decent-looking face, loose changshan, and scholarly attire, that person was…

“Zhuge Ye?”

At my words, the young scholar, Zhuge Ye, brightened.

“Brother Dan!”

‘Seriously?’

I opened my mouth wide in bewilderment.

Honestly, even while looking at his face, I wasn’t entirely sure. This was the hideout of the Pleasure Pavilion, and there was no reason for a member of the Inspection Team who had scattered to different gambling houses to appear here.

Wait, don’t tell me.

“You bastard, you finally came to rescue us!”

“No, I got captured too.”

This isn’t going to turn into one of those situations, is it?

Just as cold sweat trickled down my back…

“I’m glad you’re safe. We were so worried about you!”

“You’re safe too… What?”

“When the people on your side told us that the two of you had disappeared, we were really surprised. And then they said they couldn’t find you no matter how much they searched the surrounding area…”

“Huh?”

“We even wondered if we should ask the Alliance for help if you didn’t come back soon. Still, I thought you’d be safe if it was you, Brother Dan, and sure enough, here you are! The squad leader is with you too, right?”

“Uh, yeah. He’s with me, but…”

“Where is he? Is he inside there by any chance? But why are you here? When did you infiltrate this far…”

“No, wait a second!”

I hurriedly cut him off. Zhuge Ye, who had no idea what was going on, merely tilted his head.

Before I got dragged into something else, I spoke first.

“I’m glad you were worried about us, but… we fell off a cliff and wandered around for a while before happening upon this place by chance.”

“You fell? How did that happen…”

“Listen first. There are some things I don’t understand. Didn’t you go to a different gambling house with Young Master Paeng? You knew it was a trap too, right? Did you manage to escape safely from there? Or were you captured and brought here…”

“Ah, that.”

Only then, perhaps realizing what I was trying to ask, Zhuge Ye scratched his cheek.

Then he spoke bitterly.

“The Sacred Flame Cult members deceived us.”

“Deceived you?”

What Zhuge Ye told me was as follows.

Just as I had thought, they had successfully infiltrated the gambling house. They somehow managed to give the password, but in the end, they were surrounded by the Pleasure Pavilion.

Up to that point, things had gone exactly the same way as they had for us. They had even ended up fighting the gang members.

However, the two of them were unable to handle so many gang members and were gradually being pushed back. Just when they thought things would turn bad and wondered if at least one of them should escape…

“The Sacred Flame Cult members came to help us.”

“They came to help?”

“Yes. At first, they were wearing masks, so we didn’t know who they were. But it turned out they were martial artists from the Sacred Flame Cult. I thought the Sacred Flame Cult members looked so weak that they didn’t have any martial force at all.”

“That’s understandable… So?”

“That’s when I realized. They had deliberately sent us to the gambling house.”

Apparently, Ayoung explained everything while apologizing.

In truth, their real objective had been the cult members who had been taken by the Pleasure Pavilion, rather than the Pleasure Pills.

The Sacred Flame Cult had contacted the Pleasure Pavilion and asked them to return their captured members, but the Pleasure Pavilion ignored them. In the end, the only way to rescue those who had been taken was to find their hideout.

However, finding the hideout was even more difficult than recovering the Pleasure Pills, and while they were wondering what to do, they encountered us.

After hearing our story, Ayoung got an idea. More precisely, she got the idea after seeing that someone who had sensed the crisis caused by the capture of the Three Demonic Ghosts of Yeongpa had informed the village and fled first.

“They said they were aiming for the same thing this time. If we took the bait at the gambling house, one of the gang members would go tell the gang leader what had happened. So they planned to secretly follow that person and discover the hideout.”

“And they succeeded?”

“Yes. We heard all of this when everyone regrouped. But since the two of you still hadn’t returned, we were worried that something terrible had happened…”

“Mm. There was a problem.”

“The Sacred Flame Cult martial artist who arrived late told us as much. Before they could help you, the door opened, and people started fleeing, but apparently the two of you weren’t anywhere inside the gambling house.”

“……”

“They searched for you two for a while, but eventually they had no choice but to return. Their plan was to storm the hideout immediately after finding it.”

Zhuge Ye paused for a moment. Then, with an apologetic expression, he continued.

“We also debated whether to help them or search for the two of you, but in the end, we decided to help them first. We were worried about the people who had been captured, too, and they promised that if everything went well, the Sacred Flame Cult would provide us with every possible assistance in finding you two.”

“You did the right thing.”

This time, I nodded.

After all, we had fallen off a cliff, so no matter how thoroughly they searched the surrounding area, it would have been difficult for them to find any trace of us. And asking the Alliance for help when we were already acting against their orders would have been problematic too.

Given the circumstances, I wasn’t particularly bothered.

What really bothered me was…

‘Wow, we were completely fooled.’

So the one who had lied to us was Ayeong. 

Only then did the scattered pieces of the puzzle finally start falling into place. Why they hadn’t approached us first despite already knowing where to rescue the Pleasure Pills. Why they had given us false information. And everything concerning the Sacred Flame Cult members who had been imprisoned.

‘She really did make us play the bait perfectly.’

I couldn’t help but laugh because it was so absurd, but I wasn’t particularly upset. After all, they hadn’t had any malicious intentions.

Well, I’d have to properly question her about it later, but…

I shook my head and finally opened my mouth.

“Fine. I understand the situation now. Anyway, you’re saying there’s a war going on right now, right? Between the Sacred Flame Cult and the Pleasure Pavilion?”

“That’s right.”

“And you came here to rescue the cult members?”

“Yes. It isn’t just me. The members of the Inspection Team scattered around and were each searching places where there might be a prison. This is the prison, right? Are there any cult members here…”

“Yeah, you came to the right place.”

I smiled broadly and bent down.

Then I searched the bodies of the two unconscious men and found the prison key. After that, I took Zhuge Ye inside and said,

“There are cult members imprisoned here. I was already worried about how I was going to escape with them. But you showing up at exactly the right moment… I can only say that the heavens must have helped us. Hey!”

I happened to spot Liyeon standing in front of the prison.

Liyeon turned to look at me, then his eyes widened when he saw Zhuge Ye beside me. Zhuge Ye also waved his hand happily and called out,

“Squad leader!”

They had a brief reunion. Rather than explain the situation to Liyeon, I simply held up the key.

Then I inserted it into the hole in the iron door and turned it. The key fit perfectly, and with a click, the lock came undone. Only then did the prison door open.

The cult members were delighted and repeatedly bowed to me.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

“You don’t need to thank me. Apparently, people from the Sacred Flame Cult have come to rescue you.”

“Ahhh, from our own cult…!”

I immediately turned to Zhuge Ye and said,

“Since you came to rescue them anyway, take good care of these people and bring them to the Sacred Flame Cult. You can manage that much, right?”

“Of course. What about you, Brother Dan?”

“A war has broken out. I’d feel left out if I didn’t join in the fun. I’m going to take care of the Pleasure Pavilion bastards too, and I’d like to see the gang leader’s face. Just what kind of bastard is he to do something like this?”

“Yes.”

“The squad leader is here, so you can go with him. We can move separately now…”

“No.”

Liyeon spoke at that moment.

“I’ll go with you too. I have business with the gang leader.”

If he had business with the gang leader, was it to find out whether the gang leader was connected to the Demonic Cult?

I stared at him for a moment before giving a small laugh and saying,

“Suit yourself.”

And so, Liyeon and I went ahead to clear the way, while Zhuge Ye and the Sacred Flame Cult members would follow behind and move to a safe place.

Outside was nothing short of complete chaos. Countless people were mixed together, fighting. Dozens of blades clashed, producing sharp sounds, and screams occasionally rang out. There was even a pungent smell in the air, as though something had caught fire.

This was what every war was like. It certainly wasn’t a pleasant sight. The one fortunate thing was that everyone was so preoccupied that they didn’t have the energy to pay attention to us. I moved quickly while surveying my surroundings.

‘Where would it be?’

The place where the Pleasure Pavilion’s gang leader would be.

I looked for the largest building in the area and headed straight toward it. Behind me, Liyeon was already following with his sword drawn.

We soon arrived near the building. But instead of going through the main entrance, I went around to the back. There, I ambushed two Pleasure Pavilion members, struck their blood points, and knocked them unconscious before quietly approaching a window.

‘It’d be better to observe what’s happening inside before making a move.’

Fortunately, I could hear voices coming from inside.

I stood pressed close to the window together with Liyeon.

Then I moistened my finger with saliva, poked a hole through the paper window, and peered inside…

Only to freeze in place.

There was someone I knew.

‘Ayoung?’

“Have you arrived, Holy Maiden of the Sacred Flame?”