Reaper of the Drifting Moon Chapter 573

September 27, 2023 • 11 min read • 1776 views

Looking at her subordinate, Namgung Seol frowned deeply.

“What did you just say?”

“All the troops we sent in pursuit have been annihilated.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“I apologize.”

The subordinate bowed his head in regret.

“Who was leading the pursuit party?”

“It was…Lieutenant Go Yeon-hwa.”

“What happened to her?”

“She has not been found.”

“What does that mean? You mean her body wasn’t found? Or are you saying she’s not dead?”

“I apologize.”

The subordinate bowed his head once more.

By the time he arrived, the situation had already concluded.

The martial artists of the Golden Heavenly Hall and the Silver Lotus Hall were all dead, and Go Yeon-hwa disappeared without a trace.

They sent skilled trackers to find Go Yeon-hwa, but to no avail.

There was no sign of her, whether she had ascended to the heavens or descended into the earth.

In the end, they gave up searching for Go Yeon-hwa and returned.

“The man, did you say he is Hwangbo Chiseung?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me, is he such a great master that he could massacre the elites of the Golden Heavenly Hall and the Silver Lotus Hall?”

“We found the corpse of Sadomun. His upper body was blown away with a single strike.”

“Haa!”

At the subordinate’s words, Namgung Seol sighed deeply.

Sadomun was a formidable figure even among the upper ranks of the Golden Heavenly Hall.

If such a master was obliterated with a single strike, then Hwangbo Chisueng’s martial prowess would be an easy guess.

“So, he was such a master.”

“I hesitate to say this, but I think Yul San-yeong might have been too hasty.”

“Haa! That man…”

A momentary flash of anger crossed Namgung Seol’s face.

She knew that Yul San-yeong of the Black Sword Association was a lighter figure than he appeared on the outside. However, he was skilled in martial arts and had a good reputation, so she trusted him. But she hadn’t expected him to make such a mess.

Yul San-yeong, who returned after being wounded by Hwangbo Chiseung, claimed that he had been tricked by a cowardly move. He then slandered Hwangbo Chiseung.

Though he may be skilled in martial arts, his character was wicked, and his methods were cruel, fitting someone of the demonic path, he had said.

This was the decisive reason to form a pursuit team.

“A martial artist capable of blowing away Jeon Mu-yeol with a single strike would resort to treachery against Yul San-yeong? That doesn’t make sense. Investigate the situation at that time thoroughly.”

“Understood.”

The subordinate retreated after replying.

Left alone, Namgung Seol muttered.

“Hwangbo Chiseung…”

Not only the Silver Lotus Hall, but also the martial artists of the Golden Heavenly Hall had been massacred.

It was impossible for Hwangbo Chiseung to do it alone.

There was an accomplice. And Namgung Seol already had an idea who it was.

“Pyo Wol! It’s him.”

According to the report from her subordinate, all the dead martial artists had fatal wounds in their vital points.

This was a typical sign of an assassin’s ambush.

A couple of assassins couldn’t have killed all the elites of the Golden Heavenly Hall and Silver Lotus Hall.

It was clear that at least a dozen assassins had been mobilized.

In the present Kangho, Pyo Wol was the only one who could mobilize such a number of assassins in the Poyang Lake area.

“As I thought, he didn’t leave. He was lurking around here.”

Last winter, she mobilized her subordinates and searched the area. But they didn’t find any trace of Pyo Wol and his assassins.

Many people said that Pyo Wol had left Poyang Lake, but she thought otherwise.

She suspected that Pyo Wol was hiding somewhere. And now she was certain.

Pyo Wol was lurking somewhere near them.

Having sorted out all her thoughts, Namgung Seol rose from her seat.

She headed straight for Lee Geom-han’s residence.

There were several gates, but no one tried to stop Namgung Seol.

She was the most powerful figure in the Silver Lotus Hall.

Lee Geom-han had left her in charge of everything and stayed in his training room, indulging in closed-door training.

For that reason, hardly anyone had seen Lee Geom-han’s face throughout the winter, except for Namgung Seol.

As Namgung Seol walked, she looked around.

Everyone she came across bowed to her respectfully.

After taking control of the Silver Lotus Hall, Namgung Seol had filled the executive positions with her people.

They were absolutely loyal to Lee Geom-han and her. There was no reason to doubt their loyalty.

The problem was that some of the original martial artists left when they took control of the Silver Lotus Hall.

They were all capable individuals, and would have been useful to have around. So their departure was undoubtedly a painful loss.

At first, she shrugged off their absence, thinking that she and her men would be able to fill the void. But as time went on, she realized that she missed them.

Especially, she missed her younger brother, Namgung Wol.

Namgung Wol was the focal point of the original martial artists.

He had been the glue that held the existing Silver Lotus Hall martial artists’ together.

His voluntary departure from the Silver Lotus Hall had weakened their cohesion, something evident from the current situation.

To make the Silver Lotus Hall stronger, she needed to bring Namgung Wol back. But her pride prevented her from bowing her head to him, so she hesitated.

Above all, Namgung Wol’s whereabouts had been mysterious since he left.

She had sent people to find out, but they reported that he briefly appeared at the Thousand Kingdom School and then disappeared.

‘Could he possibly be with him?’

Namgung Seol bit her lip slightly.

While the possibility was slim, if her suspicion was correct, the problem would get serious.

Thud! Thud!

Namgung Seol knocked on the door to Lee Geom-han’s secluded training room.

‘It’s me, Seol!’

When she identified herself, the door to the secluded training room opened.

Namgung Seol quickly went inside.

The training room was incredibly spacious.

The room, which was about ten ‘Zhang’ in length, was all made of stone, and Lee Geom-han sat in the center of it.

A single sword lay across Lee Geom-han’s lap, who sat in a meditative position.

He was drenched in sweat, as if he had been training intensely before Namgung Seol arrived.

Namgung Seol started with an apology.

‘Geom-han, I’m sorry.’

‘What is it?’

‘It seems like Pyo Wol is hiding nearby.’

She then relayed the whole story about Hwangbo Chiseung to Lee Geom-han.

Lee Geom-han frowned.

‘’It’s Yul San-yeong, causing problems.’’

“Recently, newcomers have been acting rashly, relying solely on their reputation. Cracks are forming in various places as a result.”

‘’We need to find out the truth and take measures as soon as possible.’’

“I’ve already taken measures. The real issue is that there’s no unifying figure within the Silver Lotus Hall now.”

‘’Are you telling me to end my seclusion?’’

“Now that you have achieved some success, I wish you would reveal yourself to the public. After all, you are the true leader of the Silver Lotus Hall.”

“Indeed! I’ve made some progress.”

“I’m sorry for making you feel impatient.”

“No, it’s fine! I was getting bored with this isolated training anyway. It’s about time I confront the Gold Heavenly Hall in earnest. I bet Jang Mugak must be thinking the same.”

Just like Lee Geom-han, Jang Mugak hadn’t been seen since last winter.

There was no need for visual confirmation or intelligence gathering; he knew that Jang Mugak, like himself, was in secluded training.

However, the fact that Pyo Wol stayed near Poyang Lake and didn’t leave was outside of his prediction.

Lee Geom-han murmured,

“I wonder where he was hiding.”
***

Hwangbo Chiseung looked around with a surprised expression.

The place was undoubtedly blocked by a cliff. But on following Pyo Wol and Soma through the cliff, an idyllic fishing village appeared as if it were a lie.

“Is it a mirage?”

Turning around, there was no cliff to be seen, only a thick mist.

It seemed to appear as a cliff only when viewed from the outside.

“Wow!”

No matter how he looked, it was just amazing.

Another person was surprised to see the fishing village.

“I can’t believe there’s a place like this near Poyang Lake.”

Her name was Go Yeon-hwa, the Silver Winged Fairy.

Go Yeon-hwa had gained fame through her affiliation with the Silver Lotus Hall. However, there were many things that had disappointed her recently. One of them was Yul San-yeong.

When he couldn’t persuade Hwangbo Chiseung, he changed his mind and attacked him. Go Yeon-hwa tried to stop him, but by then, it was already too late.

So, even though she pursued Huangbo Chisheng, she did not actively participate. Thanks to that, she was able to save her life from the ambush of the assassins.

Above all, it was her will that brought her here.

She was curious about the base of the assassins who had silently wiped out the elites of the two great powers, the Golden Heavenly Hall and the Silver Lotus Hall..

But she never expected that the assassins’ base would be such a peaceful fishing village.

From the outside, it did not look like the base of assassins at all.

She had imagined the assassin’s base as some dark, confined place, not an open space like this one.

No matter how one looked at it, it was too bright and open to be the place where the assassins live.

Pyo Wol and the assassins who had escorted them scattered to various parts of the village as soon as they entered.

Pyo Wol said to Hwangbo Chiseung,

“You will come with me.”

“Yes, my lord.”

With his reply, Hwangbo Chiseung followed Pyo Wol.

Left alone in a daze, Go Yeon-hwa pursed her lips.

She wanted to say something, but she didn’t know what to say.

That’s when Soma approached her.

“Sister, come with me.”

“With you?”

“Yes!”

Soma smiled brightly.

Go Yeon-hwa found herself unable to reject his suggestion.

In the end, she followed Soma.

He led her to the dock just in front of the fishing village.

At the dock, a man was leisurely holding a fishing rod.

Go Yeon-hwa thought the man’s back looked oddly familiar.

She glanced at the basket next to the man.

Inside the basket, not a single fish could be seen.

It was strange. He seemed to have been fishing for quite a while, but there was not a single fish.

Go Yeon-hwa figured it was one of the two things.

Either the man was really bad at fishing, or he had no interest in it at all.

Soma asked the man.

“Not a single catch?”

“It seems the fish aren’t biting.”

“Maybe brother has no talent for fishing.”

“Seems like it.”

“Oh, by the way! I brought the sister.”

“Oh?”

Only then did the man put down his fishing rod and turn around.

The moment she saw the man’s face, Go Yeon-hwa involuntarily exclaimed.

“Ah!”

“It’s been a while.”

“Why… Why is Master Namgung here?”

Go Yeon-hwa recognized the man instantly.

He was no one else but Namgung Wol.

It wasn’t long before Namgung Wol left the Silver Lotus Hall. But she still remembered his face vividly.

“Weren’t you supposed to have gone back to the Thousand Kingdom School?”

“I did.”

“But how are you here?”

“I came back.”

“What?”

“Just understand that it happened.”

Go Yeon-hwa seemed confused at Namgung Wol’s explanation.

In fact, she was truly bewildered.

Her mind felt like tangled yarn, so confusing that she couldn’t think straight.

“Explain it to me so I can understand…….”

“Why don’t we take a walk?”

“Eh? Yes! Yes!”

“Then let’s walk.”

With a smile, Namgung Wol rose from his seat.

He took a stroll through the village with Go Yeon-hwa.

Go Yeon-hwa still wore a stupefied expression.

Namgung Wol glanced at her and began to speak.

“I’ve been here for a while.”

“Is that so?”

“How are things with the Silver Lotus Hall these days?”

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