I'm The Lowest-Ranking Daughter Of A Martial Arts Villain (2 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 5

[Maybe that would actually be easier on my conscience…]

Unable to take it anymore, Na Rin suddenly shouted out loud.

“You ungrateful bunch!”

“Huh!”

“Sorry!”

Na Rin, who had sprung up in anger, and the black-clad men, who had reflexively apologized, found their eyes meeting.

“…”

“…”

[Did she just hear our telepathic conversation?] [Ah, no way.] [Right? That can’t be, can it? It doesn’t make sense!]

“…”

Na Rin’s eyes rolled and landed on the little boy beside her, who was still sobbing miserably.

Sorry. But it can’t be helped—you’re just unlucky enough to be sitting there.

Whack!

“Aaah!”

Na Rin kicked the boy beside her right in the rear.

Of course, if she’d truly kicked him with full force, the poor child’s pelvis would have shattered, so she’d only tapped him gently without using any internal energy.

“Stop crying! You don’t even know what’s going on!”

“M-me?”

The boy, struck in the rear, raised his thick eyebrows in an upside-down “eight” shape and looked back at her with a terribly wronged expression.

“You bet! You should thank me for saving you a seat! In the detention barracks!”

“Wha—huh? But still—”

“Hmph!”

“I-I’m sorry…?”

“If you understood, then speak up!”

Fortunately, the black-clad men were fooled by Na Rin’s act and turned back around with expressions of “Ah, that makes sense.”

Having successfully deceived them, Na Rin sat back down on her bundle with a satisfied look.

Unsurprisingly, the other children’s crying stopped dead the moment they saw her.

“She’s insane.”

“What do we do? She’s scary.”

“Do we have to go with her too?”

It was fortunate, at least, that Na Rin couldn’t hear the children’s thoughts.

[This is the timeline separator] [Name: Ju Na Rin

Age: 4]

She had turned four.

“Exactly half a year has passed since then.”

She had grown slightly, so her speech—though still difficult to understand—had become a bit less lispy.

Though even then, no one would go so far as to call it clear or articulate.

Several months ago…

The group, originally traveling by cart, had switched midway to riding twin-humped camels to continue their journey.

Some children cried upon seeing a camel for the first time, but there were even times when they couldn’t ride camels at all.

Naturally, meals were never plentiful, and often they didn’t even get enough water.

Yet not a single child had been left behind on this journey.

And that was all thanks to Na Rin’s tireless, noble eeeeffort.

“Brother, I’ll give you a massage.”

“Huh? Ah—no, no. Really, I’m fine, Na Rin.”

“Now.”

“…Okay.”

At the end of each day’s grueling travel, when everyone was exhausted, Na Rin would choose the children who looked like they might drop dead at any moment and secretly perform “Tui Gong Guo Xue”—a technique involving internal energy to unblock meridians and boost vitality—under the guise of giving them a massage.

She didn’t mind expending her overflowing internal energy, especially since there was no need for fighting anyway.

More than that, she simply couldn’t bear watching young children die right before her eyes.

“These kids would’ve joined Mount Hua Sect if it weren’t for me.”

Maybe she felt just a little bit guilty.

For taking young saplings destined to cultivate the righteous Dao in pure, serene halls and grow into noble heroes of the martial world—and twisting them into junior Demon Sect disciples to suit her own circumstances… Wait. Hold on. Something feels off here.

“Aren’t they supposed to be grateful to me?”

Upon serious reflection, she realized this was absolutely true.

No matter what, these children were fated to become martial artists. If they’d followed their original paths and become disciples of Mount Hua Sect, wouldn’t they have just died pointlessly in the great Demon Sect war anyway?

Exactly! She’d placed them on the winning side for free—they should be overflowing with gratitude!

Thinking this way, she found it utterly infuriating whenever her senior martial siblings complained or resisted her treatments.

“What made me think it was worth using my internal energy just to pamper you ungrateful brats!”

Whack!

She unconsciously pressed even harder with her massaging fists.

“Aaagh! N-Na Riiin!”

“Please! Ah! Ah, please! Sto-oop!”

“Get up. Go.”

Seeing this, the tall black-clad man spoke to Na Rin.

“Are you saying I’m hurt, or telling me to shut up?”

“Brother Ma Jung.”

His name, which she’d learned over the past six months, was Ma Jung.

It was common in the Demon Sect not to have a surname; in such cases, they adopted the character “Ma” (meaning demon) as a family name and lived together like kin.

For reference, the short, skinny one was Bi Cha of the Bi clan, and the big fellow’s name was Ma Dae Heung.

“Well, Ma Dae Heung is fine, but ‘Ma Ma Jung’? Seriously, ‘Ma Ma Jung’?”

“Pfft! Pfffttt!”

Every time Na Rin remembered Ma Jung’s name, an absurd giggle burst out of her.

Though objectively, her random laughter looked extremely strange, Ma Jung didn’t bother pointing it out.

To the guides, Na Rin had always been—and continued to be today—an utterly bizarre child.

“Hmm. I came because I have something to ask you.”

“Me?”

Na Rin blinked her big round eyes.

Though her expression was heart-meltingly adorable, to Ma Jung—who’d spent the last six months with her—it was simply chilling.

“Honestly, where do you want to go?”

Again, the matter of Na Rin’s future arose.

The long journey from Xian to Xinjiang…

Throughout those six months, the black-clad men had discussed it repeatedly but never managed to decide which organization Na Rin should join.

Na Rin tilted her head, looking puzzled.

“Shouldn’t you all decide that…?”

“We know. Of course we know. It’s our guides’ right and duty. We’ve already assigned destinations for all the other children, haven’t we? But you…”

Ma Jung let out a deep sigh.

In one sense, she seemed like she’d adapt well anywhere—but in another, nowhere seemed quite right for her.

So what else could they do?

Since they couldn’t find a perfect fit for her, they might as well prioritize her own preference.

“Decide by tonight. You’ll be formally entering a branch tomorrow.”

Na Rin blinked her wide-open eyes in surprise.

“How unusual.”

She’d been expecting to end up as some suspicious ingredient in a strange potion at worst.

Never did she imagine she’d get to choose her own branch within the Demon Sect.

“Where can I go, then?”

“Right. That’s where we start.”

Bi Cha chimed in.

He’d clearly been waiting for the right moment to speak since earlier.

Bi Cha took a seat by the campfire and handed Na Rin a freshly baked wheat pancake as he spoke.

The pancake—made from coarsely ground wheat flour mixed with salt and sesame oil, then baked over the fire—wasn’t gourmet, but it had a subtly nutty, savory flavor that was oddly satisfying.

“You can’t just go anywhere in the Sect. We guides can only recommend up to the Halls.”

“Halls?”

“Haven’t you heard of them occasionally? Hall of Darkness King, Hall of Sword King…”

Na Rin nodded.

She definitely remembered hearing those names before.

Munch munch.

Na Rin bit the crispy edge of the pancake and pulled it slowly.

She stretched the pancake into a long strip, bit it a few times, popped it into her mouth, and chewed happily—it was delicious.

Bi Cha continued.

“But those are just starting points. Your ultimate destination will completely determine your path.”

“Bi Cha, do you really need to say all that…?”

“Why not? You don’t actually think Na Rin will end up as an ordinary follower, do you?”

Bi Cha picked up a stick and drew on the ground as he explained.

“The Demon Sect’s original name is Tian Mo Shen Jiao—the Heavenly Demon God Sect. Sounds cool, right? Even though we call it the Demon Sect, it’s not meant to be disrespectful—but when showing proper etiquette, we should say Tian Mo Shen Jiao.”

“I see.”

Na Rin’s eyes sparkled, and she nodded eagerly.

Seeing her unusually focused, and noticing the other children pretending not to listen while actually straining their ears, Bi Cha gave a small chuckle.

“You should all listen. This won’t hurt you to know.”

“Yes!”

As the children gathered around in little groups, even Dae Heung—who had been pretending to be busy tending the camels—reluctantly joined them.

Bi Cha had a storyteller’s flair and sometimes exaggerated or embellished tales, so Dae Heung stayed nearby to correct him if he spread misinformation.

“The Heavenly Demon God Sect is broadly divided into three factions. First is the Sect Master Faction, led by Heavenly Demon Lord and the four Heavenly Dharma Protectors. Second is the Demon Sovereign Faction, which follows the Seven Great Demon Sovereigns. And third is the Elder Faction, centered around the Twelve Elders.”

Sect Master Faction. Demon Sovereign Faction. Elder Faction.

Na Rin blinked quietly and nodded.

“The first step is choosing one of these three factions. Switching factions after your choice is as difficult as being reborn—so choose wisely.”

Na Rin crossed her arms and made a thoughtful “Hmm” sound.

“The Sect Master Faction… If I think simply, that might actually be best.”

Though she was technically the Sect Master’s daughter, she couldn’t just blurt that out recklessly. At the very least, she needed to stay somewhere close enough to the Sect Master to have opportunities to approach her.

“But the Sect Master Faction includes the Dharma Protectors.”

Na Rin recalled her past-life nemesis, Heavenly King Vaisravana Jeok Gun Ak.

Even though she’d been reborn, could she really get along with someone who’d relentlessly tried to kill her in her previous life?

Honestly, she wasn’t confident.

Her hatred for Jeok Gun Ak had been so intense that her entire unit’s official charge cry had literally been “Die! Jeok Gun Ak!”

Dae Heung, who’d been listening to Bi Cha’s explanation, snorted mockingly.

“How’s a kid supposed to choose with that kind of talk?”

“Then how should I put it?”

“You should tell her which faction’s easier to settle into, which offers faster advancement, which has better benefits and future prospects. That’s how she’ll decide.”

That was actually a very fair point.

Dae Heung—the voice of reason among the guide trio—took over the explanation from Bi Cha.

“The Sect Master Faction is purely merit-based. Combat divisions like the Hall of Darkness King and Hall of Sword King belong here. You can learn advanced martial arts, and advancement is fast if you have achievements. But many die on missions, so manpower is always short, and the workload is crushing—it’s not easy. Still, many join this faction out of loyalty to the Sect Master, so the seniority bullying is harsh, and those weak in martial arts get ignored.”

Just from hearing this, it sounded like a terrible job.

“It’s just like the Martial Alliance’s Search Unit.”

Na Rin was reminded sharply of how awful her working conditions had been in her past life.

“If I join the Sect Master Faction, can I meet the Sect Master?”