Reaper of the Drifting Moon

Won Ga-young clenched her teeth.

The wound on her ankle was still throbbing. It was a wound inflicted by Pyo-wol in their recent battle. The small wound made her feel as if a needle was piercing her ankle.

The wound itself wasn’t that serious. Even if it went through her ankle, the hole itself was so small that it was unlikely to leave a scar.

The problem was not the wound on her ankle, but her wounded pride.

‘I couldn’t even properly unleash the swordsmanship I’ve been learning.’

If she had lost after a fierce battle, her pride would not have been hurt so much. She would have understood why she lost, and she would feel an unbearable sense of defeat.

She didn’t get the nickname Phantom Swordsman by doing nothing.

After appearing in Jianghu, she did quite a bit of fighting and gained fame by punishing rogues and gangsters. As she acted fiercely like that, Jianghu recognized her feats and gave her the title, the Phantom Swordsman.

All along, she had naturally accepted her nickname as the Phantom Swordsman.

But now, the nickname she had taken for granted had never felt so heavy. It was as if the weight was crushing her shoulders.

Won Ga-young only now realized the heaviness of the special title she had.

‘I’m nothing special. I can’t believe I was satisfied with my reputation back then. I’ve put a dent in my Master’s reputation.’

Her master was the swordsman Han Yucheon.

As far as swordsmanship goes, he was a super powerhouse who achieved unparalleled status. He hasn’t allowed a single defeat in his life.

Won Ga-young thought that she would similarly walk the path of invincibility. It was something she thought of as normal and inevitable, so of course, she didn’t have a single doubt about it.

But she ended up being defeated.

It was her first time to meet such a young and skilled warrior.

She was so scared that her teeth trembled.

It wasn’t just a matter of her opponent being strong or weak.

He was like a snake. He hid himself in the grass while observing its prey.

Just as a snake induces a fundamental fear in humans, Pyo-wol also provokes a terrible fear in the warriors.

The human being, Pyo-wol, itself, is something that gives fear. Only those who competed against Pyo-wol directly would realize how terrifying he was.

It’s been two hours since their fight, but Won Ga-young still couldn’t get over the feeling of her defeat. Maybe because it was the first defeat in her life, so the feeling of defeat had lingered for so long.

Still, Won Ga-young was faring better. Unlike her, Neung Soun could not stand the humiliation and hasn’t come out of the Four Sea Pavilion.

‘Where did such a person come from?’’

Whenever she would think about Pyo-wol, her face would contort. She shook her head and gritted her teeth.

The city of Chengdu was as chaotic as Won Ga-young’s heart. This was because many warriors were on the lookout for Heukam.

Tuk!

At that moment, someone passing by bumped into her.

Won Ga-young raised her head and apologized.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was thinking about something else for a while…”

She couldn’t finish her words.

A black hand came over her face.

In an instant, her vision went black and she quickly lost consciousness.

The black figure who easily subdued Won Ga-young, soon carried her.

“Heh heh!”

The black figure was Heukam.

Heukam carried Won Ga-young’s limp body on his shoulders. Won Ga-young, who had been subjected to Heukam’s technique, could not resist at all.

“You will be a good ingredient.”

Heukam murmured.

His eyes were filled with resentment towards Jin Geum-woo.

He wanted to thoroughly destroy Jin Geum-woo. However, Jin Geum-woo and the Hao clan member’s response was quicker than he expected, so he could not achieve his desired result.

The most disappointing thing about it is that his work didn’t do much damage to Jin Geum-woo at all. He planned to kill everyone in cold-blood to drive him to despair, but it only ended with Seo Mun-pyeong’s death.

“Because of that devilish bastard…”

It was deeply regrettable that Seo Mun-pyeong easily lost his life to Pyo-wol, since he could have created more havoc if he had gone even more wild and crazy for a little longer.

“Where did such a guy come from…”

Seo Mun-pyeong was not in any way weak but he couldn’t even fight back against Pyo-wol and had his head cut off at once.

Heukam had never seen such a martial art in his entire life. Although he has yet to meet Pyo-wol in person, Pyo-wol’s eyes were enough to frighten him.

He recognized it the moment he looked into Pyo-wol’s eyes.

That he’s one of his kind.

A person who is suited in the dark rather than the light.

The same kind as him, someone who is capable of committing any vicious thing without hesitation just to achieve his goal.

He could only have the advantage over Pyo-wol if he could make his preparations one by one over time, but if he meets Pyo-wol unexpectedly, he could not be confident of his victory.

That’s how terrifying Pyo-wol was.

“I’m forced to step down for now, but I’ll definitely come back.”

Heukam felt no shame in escaping.

Rather, he thought it would be more efficient to escape and get his revenge after finishing all his preparations.

But it still didn’t fit his temper.

So he thought of a plan on how to land a great blow on Jin Geum-woo even as he was running away. This is the only reason why he still remained in Chengdu. And now his intended purpose has been achieved.

He accomplished it by aiming for Won Ga-young.

Heukam was convinced that Won Ga-young is a precious person to Jin Geum-woo. Furthermore, her characteristics and features were appropriate.

Heukam liked to manipulate the minds of others.

His technique exerted its best power when his Demon Eyes, cursed poison, and Dream Dispersing Drug were combined.

Once he successfully suppressed someone, they would act as his puppets.

But Heukam had no intention of stopping there. So he studied how to make his puppets even stronger. He found such a way by going through the vision of the Xiaoleiyin Temple.

The problem is that all the materials needed to implement the method are in the Xiaoleiyin Temple. For that reason, there was a premise that he had to bring Won Ga-young to Xiaoleiyin Temple intact.

But Heukam was willing to take the trouble.

‘How dare you interrupt my event?’

As long as he could torment Jin Geum-woo, he was willing to do any hard work.

Heukam looked in front of him with his gloomy eyes. In the distance, he could see a group of warriors busy searching for something or someone.

He already knew who they were looking for.

Heukam laughed at them.

Until now, Heukam had never shown his true self in front of others. Heukam found it funny how those people would never figure out his real self.

Heukam disappeared without a sound, leaving nothing but his laughter.

* * *

Tang Sochu looked at the streets of Chengdu with his brow furrowed.

“Hell, there’s no such thing as a sunny day.”

Chengdu had recently experienced great bloodshed last year.

He wondered if things are starting to finally settle down, but once again the wind of destruction was sweeping through the whole city.

At this point, he was thinking whether Chengdu was actually cursed.

Thankfully, the confusion seemed to have resolved to some extent as dawn came. The screams of the people also subsided, and the flames that soared up high in the sky were also extinguished.

Tang Sochu’s workshop luckily avoided suffering damage. Still, he couldn’t shake off his ominous feeling.

His feelings soon became reality.

Pyo-wol had arrived into his workshop.

“Brother?”

Seeing the sudden appearance of Pyo-wol, Tang Sochu stiffened. It was because Pyo-wol’s expressionless face seemed somehow different from the usual.

“What’s going on?”

“I think I will be away for a long time.”

“Brother?”

“I’m in need of some items.”

“Where are you going?”

“Xizang.”

“Xizang?”

Tang Sochu’s eyes shook.

Xizang is a place that could only be reached by walking over the western plateau of Sichuan Province for more than a month. He couldn’t help but wonder why Pyo-wol was suddenly going to such a far away place.

“Is it because of what happened today?”

Pyo-wol nodded his head silently.

Tang Sochu looked at Pyo-wol for a moment with a sad gaze. Pyo-wol was trying his best to live a quiet life, but the people around him just couldn’t leave him alone and would disturb him as they liked.

Tang Sochu who looked into Pyo-wol’s emotionless eyes for a moment, said,

“Wait here for a moment.”

He entered the workshop.

Pyo-wol, who was left alone, looked at the city of Chengdu.

The wind carried a bloody smell.

Heukam manipulated people like Seo Mun-pyeong without ever using his own hands. As a result, many people died today.

Pyo-wol himself once terrorized Chengdu, but unlike Heukam, he did not dragged unrelated people to the issue of Jianghu.

Heukam’s method was truly the worst. If anyone is caught by his technique, they would continuously suspect and doubt each other.

The incident that happened in Chengdu was proof of that fact. Most of the people who died were killed by the same people whom they trusted. As a result, confusion and distrust became inevitable.

It didn’t matter to him though. Not until Heukam touched a person Pyo-wol was related to.

While it was Seo Mun-pyeong who drove Soo-hyang to death, Heukam was the one who drove Seo Mun-pyeong to do so.

If he keeps Heukam alive, he didn’t know when a similar scenario would happen again.

That was the reason why Pyo-wol moved.

After waiting for a while, Tang Sochu came out with something.

What he brought was a black leather.

Tang Sochu spread out the leather and said,

“It’s a waterproof cloak. I made it by using a special and strong oil, so it can also block hot flames to some extent. There are several pockets inside, so you can store some small things.”

Tang Sochu wrapped the cloak around Pyo-wol.

The size was just right as if it was intentionally made for Pyo-wol.

As Tang Sochu said, there was a pocket on the inside of the cloak to store various things. And in the pocket, the things Pyo-wol needed were already stored.

“Brother might not need it, but the cloak already contains some basic weapons. Just take it. There might come a time where you would need it. And take this as well.”

This time, Tang Sochu took out a small porcelain bottle from his arms and handed it to Pyo-wol.

“What is this?”

“I managed to recover the white phosphorus fire, which is an item used by the Tang Family a long time ago. Once attached to the body, it is a flame that would never go out.”

“Is there a flame in here?”

“No, it only contains oil that is the medium for the white phosphorus fire. If you spray it and ignite it, the white phosphorus fire will start to burn. Because there are only a few drops, use it sparingly. Better yet, don’t use it at all.”

Pyo-wol took the porcelain bottle and put it in the deepest storage space of his cloak.

“I’ll use it well.”

“It’s difficult to make. If possible, don’t use it.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Damn it! From the way you talk, I’m sure you’ll be using it!”

“I have to use it since you already gave it to me.”

“Anyway, have a safe trip. Since I’m busy with work, I’ll have to return back inside now.”

Tang Sochu waved his hands once and went back to the workshop.

Pyo-wol looked at the tightly closed studio door and turned around.

There was a man waiting for him when he came out on the main road.

It was Jin Geum-woo.

Jin Geum-woo looked at Pyo-wol’s entire body with a sharp gaze.

“That’s a cloak I haven’t seen before. Are you trying to go to the Xiaoleiyin Temple?”

“Did you come here just to say that?”

“Ga-young is gone.”

“Ga-young?”

“The woman who was hurt by you. I was close with her.”

Jin Geum-woo’s expression became serious.

He didn’t see Won Ga-young all night until this morning. Furthermore, she had no reason to disappear without saying anything to him.

Jin Geom-woo, who finished investigating her whereabouts, was convinced that she had been kidnapped or killed by Heukam.

“He’s after me. He initially chose Pyeong to torment me. And now he chose to kidnap Ga-young. He’s trying to get revenge on me.”

“So you’re coming along?”

“He must have gone to the Xiaoleiyin Temple. Since I can’t find and track him on my own abilities, I’ll have to leave it to you.”

“You haven’t forgotten that I killed Seo Mun-pyeong, have you?”

“I can forget my resentment against you for a while.”

Jin Geum-woo looked directly at Pyo-wol.

There was an unmistakable stubbornness in both of his eyes. He was determined to follow Pyo-wol no matter what.

Pyo-wol turned around and said,

“You’ll have to try your best to follow along. If you fall behind, I’ll leave you.”

“You don’t have to worry about that, but how will you find him? I’m sure he’s already out of Chengdu.”

All of the warriors of the Hao clan’s Chengdu branch were already mobilized in pursuing Heukam. But up to now, they still couldn’t find him.

The Shadowless Monk, Yu Shinfeng, also joined in the search by mobilizing his personal connections, and similarly, they failed to see the trail of Heukam’s shadow.

Jin Geum-woo wondered how Pyo-wol would pursue Heukam in this situation.

Pyo-wol stepped forward and said,

“Nothing alive could escape from me.”

SoundlessWind21’s Notes

Thank you for reading!