Reaper of the Drifting Moon Chapter 549
Pyo Wol watched the fight between Yong Ha-sang and Lee Geom-han from start to finish.
He was the only one who could follow their movements to the end, something most martial artists could not do.
As a result, he had a better understanding than anyone else of just how extraordinary their abilities were.
Lee Geom-han eventually emerged as the victor, but the martial arts of Yong Ha-sang were also truly remarkable.
Yong Ha-sang’s shoulders were trembling.
He had confidently accepted Lee Geom-han’s challenge, but the outcome was a crushing defeat.
He couldn’t even lift his head due to the humiliation.
Nobody had stronger pride than him.
He was equally confident in his martial prowess.
He didn’t entertain the thought of defeat while preparing for this match.
He was confident that he would be the winner, as he had always been.
So he didn’t even bother to think about how he would react in the event of defeat.
Facing such an unexpected defeat, he didn’t know what to do.
He felt like everyone would be laughing at him if he lifted his head. So he couldn’t look up anymore.
At that moment, Lee Geom-han extended his hand towards him.
“I admire your martial arts. How about staying with the Silver Lotus Hall and continuing to assist me?”
Yong Ha-sang’s face contorted even further with humiliation.
“Are you mocking me now?”
“I speak in all sincerity.”
“Enough! Don’t insult me any more. Even if my martial arts were lacking and I lost, I am not
someone who needs your pity”.
“Not pity but…”
“Enough!”
Thud!
Yong Ha-sang slapped away Lee Geom-han’s hand and got up.
“Do not insult me any further.”
He glared at Lee Geom-han with bloodshot eyes before turning away.
Only then did he notice the faces of those watching him.
Faces filled with shock and astonishment were vividly visible.
Grit!
Yong Ha-sang gritted his teeth.
After silently staring at the crowd for a moment, he shouted out loud.
“I admit my defeat. From now on, Lee Geom-han will lead the Silver Lotus Hall.”
Having declared his defeat, he moved through the crowd of martial artists.
No one dared to stop him.
Suddenly, Yong Ha-sang stopped in front of Namgung Wol.
“How fortunate!”
“Ha-Sang?”
“You never liked me, did you? Now that you no longer have to see my face, you must be relieved.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Am I wrong? I know full well how much you’re celebrating inside.”
“Huh.”
Instead of responding, Nam Ggung wWol sighed deeply.
It was futile to make excuses to Yong Ha-sang, whose heart was full of resentment.
“Come with me for now. We can talk on the way.”
“I’ve had enough! I don’t need your pity.”
Yong Ha-sang pushed past Namgung Wol’s shoulder and moved on.
Namgung Wol and Jo Seolpung watched Yong Ha-sang’s retreating figure with regret in their eyes.
“How did it come to this….”
“Ah…”
Meanwhile, Yong Ha-sang had disappeared completely.
That’s when it happened.
“Lee Geom-han!”
“Master of Silver Lotus Hall, Lee Geom-han!”
“Woah!”
Suddenly, the martial artists began to chant Lee Geom-han’s name.
No one knew who started it, but soon everyone was cheering for Lee Geom-han.
Especially the warriors of Silver Lotus Hall, who were to welcome their new leader, cheered with fanatic fervor.
Indeed, it was the birth of a new hero.
“Amazing!”
Pyo Wol glanced at Namgung Seol, who was hidden among the people.
He knew she was the one who orchestrated and executed all this.
The difference between Yong Ha-sang and Lee Geom-han came down to the presence or absence of Namgung Seol.
Yong Ha-sang lacked a strategist like her, while Lee Geom-han had the devoted Namgung Seol by his side.
That difference had led to this result.
Lee Geom-han would likely lead the Silver Lotus Hall without difficulty from now on.
“In the end, it came down to a confrontation between Jang Mugak and Lee Geom-han.”
The two of them had been compared to each other since birth.
Now, having seized control of the Golden Heavenly Hall and the Silver Lotus Hall, they were targeting each other’s lives.
In a way, it seemed like a fate that had been decided long ago.
The crowd’s cheers were for the same reason. The thrill of witnessing and participating in a battle of destiny brought them joy.
“Sword Maniac, Lee Geom-han!”
“Leader of the Silver Lotus Hall, Lee Geom-han.”
The crowd’s shouts grew louder with each passing moment. It was truly a cauldron of fervor.
At that moment, someone quietly embraced Pyo Wol’s arm.
The woman pressing her chest tightly against Pyo Wol’s arm was none other than Hong Ye-seol.
She whispered to him.
“It’s time for us to leave now. Who knows what she might do if we stay any longer.”
“Hmm!”
Pyo Wol nodded in agreement.
This place had now become Namgung Seol’s inner sanctum.
While Namgung Wol was still resisting, it wouldn’t be long before Namgung Seol invaded his territory too.
Namgung Wol could never endure Namgung Seol’s schemes.
It was clear just by looking at how Lee Geom-han had won the hearts of the people.
Pyo Wol took one last look at Lee Geom-han.
Lee Geom-han also seemed to have noticed Pyo Wol and was staring directly at him.
An unmistakable smile spread across his face.
It was the kind of smile that only someone at the pinnacle of a power could wear.
His message reached Pyo Wol’s ears.
―I’ll formally invite you later.
＊＊＊
The news of Lee Geom-han becoming the new leader of Silver Lotus Hall spread like wildfire throughout Kangho.
Details of how Lee Geom-han used his martial arts to subdue Yong Ha-sang, how he entered the Silver Lotus Hall, and how the martial artists of the Silver Lotus Hall reacted with great enthusiasm were meticulously described.
Details that could only be known to those who witnessed it spread throughout Kangho, and the people rejoiced at the birth of a new hero.
People said that the Silver Lotus Hall was finally worth watching.
Many people thought that Yong Ha-sang was far from being a match for Jang Mugak.
After all, in Kangho, Jang Mugak’s reputation outshone Yong Ha-sang’s.
Lee Geom-han quickly took control of the Silver Lotus Hall.
Being the new master, he didn’t act according to the wishes of others, but reorganized the Silver Lotus Hall according to his own will.
The restructuring was more influenced by Namgung Seol than Lee Geom-han.
Namgung Seol, with Lee Geom-han on her back, moved flawlessly.
She sifted through the warriors of Silver Lotus Hall, appointing talented individuals to appropriate positions.
Many welcomed Namgung Seol’s approach.
Especially those who were underappreciated for their skills welcomed her measures.
The combination of Lee Geom-han and Namgung Seol skyrocketed the power of the Silver Lotus Hall.
Despite their short stay in the Silver Lotus Hall, the atmosphere had changed drastically.
The presence of Yong Ha-sang disappeared in the blink of an eye.
It was as if he had never been the leader of the Silver Lotus Hall.
“Hehe! Treating me like I’m nothing?”
A man, looking at the flowing river, was muttering to himself.
He held a jug of wine in his hand, and several empty jugs lay at his feet.
His face was flushed red from drunkenness.
Usually, no matter how much he drank, he couldn’t feel intoxicated. Any ordinary liquor would be detoxified instantly due to his powerful internal energy.
But today was different.
He had sustained severe internal injuries and his mind was disturbed, making his internal energy fluctuate uncontrollably.
The man drank from the jar in big gulps.
Streams of alcohol ran down the sides of his mouth and across his chest.
In an instant, he emptied a jar and threw it aside.
Crash!
As the jar shattered, fragments scattered in all directions.
“Damn it! Damn it all!”
He looked up at the sky and let out a roar of despair.
After exhaling all the stifled air within, the man spent a moment gasping for breath.
He looked up, running a hand through his disheveled hair.
The man, glaring ahead with bloodshot eyes, was none other than Yong Ha-sang.
After being defeated by Lee Geom-han ,Yong Ha-sang didn’t immediately return to the Dragon Mountain Manor.
Not only did he not have the heart to return to Dragon Mountain Manor to see his father, he didn’t have the heart to look at other people either.
Yong Ha-sang’s pride was stronger than anyone else’s and he had never experienced failure in his life.
He didn’t know how to pull himself together and rise again after such a defeat.
So instead of returning directly to Dragon Mountain Manor, he found a secluded spot and drowned himself in alcohol.
The heat of the liquor was rising.
The stronger the drunkenness, the stronger his anger towards Lee Geom-han and the Silver Lotus Hall.
“How could they treat me like a chewed-up bone after I built the Silver Lotus Hall from nothing, just because I lost once? Those filthy bastards.”
Bang!
He punched the rock in front of him. The large rock shattered into pieces and fragments flew everywhere.
Even after breaking a boulder the size of a house, his anger didn’t subside.
“Aaaargh!”
He let out a scream and began to swing his fists wildly.
A beautiful willow tree was cut down by Yong Ha-sang’s punch, rocks were shattered, and the whole area was completely destroyed, as if a bomb had gone off.
“Haah! Haah!”
After venting his anger, Yong Ha-sang drew ragged breaths.
He was still recovering from internal injuries, and the rampage had left him with a stabbing pain in his gut. His injuries had reopened.
But Yong Ha-sang thought it didn’t matter.
He had to return to the Dragon Mountain Manor as a defeated, miserable figure anyway. Such a minor internal injury could be treated during the journey back.
“Right! I should go back. After all, Dragon Mountain Manor is still my home.”
Yong Ha-sang gritted his teeth.
With burning rage, he began to move.
When he came to Poyang Lake, he was accompanied by many, but now the painful fact that he was returning alone made him feel even more miserable.
“Just watch. I won’t be broken like this. As soon as I return to the Dragon Mountain Manor, I’ll seclude myself for intensive training. I will master the martial arts of Dragon Mountain Manor and avenge this humiliation.”
In the Dragon Mountain Manor, there were still many secret techniques that he had not yet mastered.
Until now, he hadn’t felt the need to learn them, but now he had changed his mind.
A desire to master all the martial arts and achieve great success to exact revenge had taken root in his heart.
Yong Ha-sang moved towards the riverside.
When he arrived here, a small boat he had ridden in was moored by the riverbank.
The appearance of the small boat, just big enough to carry one person, seemed as humble as his current state.
It was when Yong Ha-sang approached the boat, shaking his head.
“Whoosh!”
Suddenly, the once calm waters became turbulent.
Yong Ha-sang furrowed his brow and looked upstream, where the water was raging.
“A ship?”
Where his gaze landed, there was a giant ship.
It was so large that it seemed like a small island moving. Driven by the movement of the ship, the once tranquil water was now turbulent.
The gigantic ship was headed precisely towards Yong Ha-sang.
“What the…”
Yong Ha-sang eyed the ship menacingly.
At the bow of the large ship, a man stood with his arms crossed.
Even from a distance, the man’s aura was palpable.
Crash!
The giant ship rammed straight into Yong Ha-sang’s moored boat.
The small boat broke into pieces in an instant, and fragments scattered over the water surface.
Yong Ha-sang’s eyebrows twitched.
“How dare you!”
Fury flashed across his face.
His mood was already at rock bottom, and to see his boat destroyed before his very eyes made him angry to the tips of his hair.
Unable to contain his anger, Yong Ha-sang leaped onto the giant ship.
Thud!
Upon landing on the deck, he demanded from the man,
“Who are you? Why did you destroy my boat?”
“You were brooding alone over your defeat here, Yong Ha-sang!”
“What? Do you know me?”
A look of caution finally crossed Yong Ha-sang’s face
As he gathered his qi, he glared at the man.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Go Il-Won.”
“Go Il-Won?”
“I am the leader of the Ghost Fleet.”
The man, Go Il-Won, unfolded his arms and stepped towards Yong Ha-sang.