I'm The Lowest-Ranking Daughter Of A Martial Arts Villain (2 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 4

Looking back, the children from Jang Village had come out in a line and were staring at Na Rin.

They didn’t seem shocked—probably because they’d known she’d leave someday—but they couldn’t quite hide their sorrowful expressions.

‘Right. What should I do about them?’

The Demon Sect members would undoubtedly want to take all the village children, since they routinely snatched up every orphan they came across as part of their “work.”

But how could she possibly send these kids into that place?

The Demon Sect! For heaven’s sake!

‘Even in the best-case scenario, they’d probably end up nothing more than human shields.’

During the month she’d spent observing them, Na Rin had concluded that most of the Jang Village children were naturally kind-hearted and diligent.

It was clear they wouldn’t survive long if dragged into the blood-soaked, cutthroat world of martial arts.

Yet leaving them behind in Jang Village didn’t seem like a guarantee of a better life either.

Just as Na Rin let out a troubled “Uuungh—” sound,

“For everything, thank you. Little Village Chief.”

Seung Woo stepped forward quietly to speak.

Among the village children, he was slightly older and seemed to have intuitively guessed what Na Rin was feeling.

“We’re planning to live on our own now—fishing and farming together. We’re farmers’ children after all, so we can handle that much.”

Though anyone could tell it was bravado, it was bravado born of admirable consideration, and Na Rin gave a gentle smile.

You rascal. You’ve really grown up.

“You have to hide well until the outsiders leave.”

“Got it. Don’t worry.”

“Dry the leftover fish with smoke or in the wind—save it for later.”

“Alright. I will.”

“You should greet the neighboring villages too. Don’t go empty-handed. Be polite or you’ll get into trouble.”

“I know. I’ll go now.”

“And also….”

“Little Village Chief.”

“Hmm?”

“Go already, will you?”

These ungrateful brats.

“Alright, I’m going.”

“Okay.”

Na Rin parted from the children of Jang Village and walked briskly toward the village entrance.

They’d survived almost a year without adults—there was no need to worry about their resilience.

Still, she made a mental note to revisit Jang Village someday if she got the chance.

She wanted to ensure the warm village life these children would create wouldn’t remain just a dream.

Anyway…

‘So they’re the ones.’

At the village entrance, three people dressed in black were rummaging through the ruins.

Na Rin was about to wave her arms and shout, “The orphan you’re looking for is right here!”—but she abruptly froze.

‘But are they really from the Demon Sect?’

Upon second thought, just because these black-clad strangers wanted to take an orphan from Jang Village didn’t necessarily mean they were from the Demon Sect.

In martial arts tales, orphans were an exceptionally valuable “resource.”

After all, what parent in their right mind would want their child to become a martial artist destined for a violent death?

Unless you belonged to a grand family like the Nangong Clan of Anhui or the Hebei Peng Family (who valued martial prowess above all else), most parents would snap their child’s legs first to stop them from entering the martial world.

Consequently, martial artists seeking potential disciples scoured the land for orphans.

Not only those from the Evil or Demon Sects—even righteous orthodox sects went berserk at the sight of a well-built orphan, exclaiming, “Your physique! Let me examine your physique!”

‘I’d better ask them outright to be sure.’

She already had a long journey ahead—being dragged off to the wrong place was absolutely out of the question.

Na Rin leapt up and flapped both arms wildly as she called out,

“Excuse me! Did you come from the Demon Sect?”

“…….”

“……?”

“…….”

An awkward silence descended.

The black-clad figures exchanged glances, unsure how to interpret this situation, then spoke to each other using a secret transmission technique known as “mind-sound”:

[Hey, what’s this?] [Isn’t that the Jang Village orphan? The one we were looking for?] [But why’s the kid we’re searching for coming to find us?] [How should I know?]

Incidentally, Na Rin could hear every word of their mind-sound transmission.

Mind-sound couldn’t be concealed from someone whose power vastly exceeded one’s own—and to these black-clad figures, Na Rin was precisely that kind of being.

‘I can hear everything. All of it.’

For Na Rin, who needed to verify their identities, this was welcome news.

The largest of the three asked in a round, gentle voice,

“Ahem. Cute little one—do you have parents?”

Na Rin blinked her big eyes and tilted her head curiously.

The sight of this darling child—whose charm stat already hit 340 at only three years old—tilting her head was so adorably sweet you’d want to nibble her cheeks, though her inner thoughts were anything but innocent.

‘Did that Demon Sect bastard just ignore my question?’

In her previous life, she would’ve slaughtered him on the spot.

Na Rin suddenly caught herself growing irritable and quickly calmed down.

Apparently, dying not long ago had left remnants of her tenth-life personality still lingering.

‘Stay calm, Ju Na Rin. You’re not Blood Plum Blossom right now.’

She put on her most pitiful expression and said,

“Gone away.”

“Your parents passed away?”

She nodded.

“She really is an orphan.”

“Hmm. Burn her.”

“Wait, wait a minute!”

Na Rin flapped her sleeves energetically to grab their attention.

“I asked if you’re from the Demon Sect!”

“Huh? Oh… um…”

The black-clad figures locked eyes again.

[What do we say now?] [Just say we’re from the Demon Sect—what else is there to say?] [But isn’t that a bit awkward around people from the Central Plains? Haven’t you heard tales like “If you don’t behave, the Demon Sect will take you!” to scare kids? Maybe we should pretend we’re not?] [Are you ashamed of being a Demon Sect member?] [No! Who said that!]

‘Ah. So they are from the Demon Sect.’

There was no need to listen further. Without another word, Na Rin tossed her bundle from the cart into the wagon bed and crawled aboard slowly.

“Hey, kid! Where do you think you’re—”

“How long to Xinjiang?”

“What?”

“Xinjiang. Xinjiang.”

“…….”

Since when did I become a coachman?

The black-clad figures felt thoroughly bewildered by Na Rin’s attitude—she acted not like a kidnapped child, but like a paying customer who’d hired their carriage.

Yet, for some inexplicable reason, they couldn’t resist her.

‘What is this strange, oppressive aura?’

‘She’s clearly just a little kid—and an incredibly cute one at that!’

‘But it feels as uncomfortable and oppressive as standing before someone of high status!’

This sensation came from Na Rin’s stat called “Oppressive Aura”—an ability to intimidate others through fear or awe.

Ordinary peasants had an Oppressive Aura of about 10; peak masters who could emit sword qi had around 100—but Na Rin’s was an astonishing 1,009.

These black-clad figures, at best peak-level fighters, simply couldn’t withstand such overwhelming presence.

“Hey, sir!”

“Yes! Ah—no. Ahem! It’ll take about six months if we go directly, but since we can’t leave without filling the cart with children, it’d be a loss for us…”

In other words, they needed to stop by other villages along the way to collect more orphans.

Na Rin frowned slightly in displeasure, and the black-clad men instinctively shrank back.

“S-so anyway! You’re not the only orphan in this village, right? Where are the others?”

“All gone.”

Na Rin answered shamelessly.

“Really? Not even one left? All of them?”

“Stop it. Would such a tiny child lie?”

“I’m just suspicious because I can’t trust it.”

The tallest of the Demon Sect members let out a deep sigh and began lamenting how hard he’d worked to get here.

Apparently, they’d set out immediately upon hearing rumors of a plague in Jang Village—those Demon Sect bastards really did go through a lot.

‘But this puts me in a bind too.’

Na Rin absolutely, utterly hated traveling.

In her past life, she’d chosen to join the Mount Hua Sect precisely because it was the closest among the famous martial arts clans.

‘From Shaanxi to Xinjiang is already far enough—I can’t afford to detour through every village! Is there any clever trick… Ah!’

“Hey, sir.”

“Huh?”

If you’re going to fill the cart anyway, it doesn’t matter who you take, right?

“My fwend no mommy-daddy too.”

“…You have a friend whose parents are gone?”

Na Rin nodded confidently and continued,

“Big, big fire in village! All grown-ups gone.”

“There was a fire?”

“The adults died?”

“Where is it?!”

She knew they’d be thrilled.

Na Rin smiled sweetly and enunciated as clearly as possible:

“Fenglin Village, Huayin County.”

“Fenglin Village in Huayin County!”

“It’s not far from here!”

Their eyes lit up as if they’d just struck gold.

Incidentally, this “Fenglin Village in Huayin County” was the very place from Na Rin’s previous life—where her Mount Hua Sect juniors, who’d relentlessly bullied her with their insufferable provincialism, had been recruited (or “harvested”) in droves.

How ironic that those orthodox Daoists of her past life were now Demon Sect members in this one.

‘Heh heh. Consider it karmic repayment, my dear senior brothers.’

Of course, it was Na Rin herself who’d orchestrated all this.

“Waaaah! Please spare us!”

“I’m skinny and tasteless!”

“Boohoo! Boohoohoo!”

As the Fenglin Village orphans wailed and were strung together like dried fish onto the cart, the black-clad men let out small sighs of relief.

Yes. This was how kidnapping orphans was supposed to feel. It wasn’t that they were strange.

The strange one was…

‘That kid.’

They shook their heads as they watched Na Rin, lounging lazily on her bundle like a cushion, calmly digging her ear. No matter how many times they saw it, they just couldn’t get used to her attitude.

“Hey, sir. Can we go straight to Xinjiang now?”

“Yes! I mean—uh, sure!”

Even stranger was their own behavior toward the little girl.

They had no idea why—every time they met those dark, round eyes, their bodies stiffened like frogs before a python, and cold sweat trickled down their spines.

“Huh huh… huh…”

“Mamaaa…”

Na Rin pretended not to notice the sobbing Fenglin orphan shaking beside her and instead let out a big yawn.

She was being kidnapped by the Demon Sect, after all—comforting them wouldn’t help anyway.

‘Let them cry their fill.’

By the time they reached Xinjiang, there’d be no energy left for tears.

Once all the Fenglin orphans were loaded, the cart was packed tightly with about twenty children, crammed like bean sprouts.

The tall black-clad man spoke proudly, like a farmer celebrating a bountiful harvest:

“With this many, we can send kids not only to the King of Darkness Hall and the Sword King Hall, but even the Medicine King Hall!”

“Pick out a girl for the Blood King Hall too. It’ll only cause trouble if we don’t show them basic courtesy.”

“Well…”

The tall man’s gaze drifted naturally toward Na Rin, then he cleared his throat loudly.

“I know what you’re thinking—but that’s not happening.”

“What? Why?”

The scrawny black-clad man clicked his tongue as if the tall one should’ve known better:

“Don’t you know how picky Lady Blood Demon is about children? That kid…”

For some reason, the scrawny man glanced nervously at Na Rin and switched to mind-sound:

[She’s only cute-looking—actually gives me the creeps and makes me feel uneasy!]

‘How utterly rude!’

Where else would you find such a well-behaved, cooperative kidnapping victim?

Unaware that Na Rin could hear every word, the black-clad men openly began badmouthing her:

[You feel that too? Honestly, me too!] [Exactly! At first I thought, “Wow, how can anything be this cute?” But I must’ve been crazy.] [No, I mean—she’s cute, sure. But every time I look at her, my knees go weak!] [Right?! Why’s a little kid so unnervingly ominous?] [But if not the Blood King Hall, where would she go?] [Hmm…]

They stared blankly at Na Rin, then shook their heads.

They’d kidnapped orphans countless times, but never before had they struggled so much to decide a child’s fate.

[This harvest is big enough—should we just leave her behind?]

‘What kind of insane talk is that?!’