Reaper of the Drifting Moon Chapter 576

September 27, 2023 • 11 min read • 1126 views

Gi Han-seong squinted and watched the small boat fleeing.

It was manned by just three people.

A young man, a little boy, and lastly, an old man rowing the oar.

Merely three people had defeated over ten martial artists.

All of them were renowned warriors in the Golden Heavenly Hall. Among them was Gi Han-seong’s cherished confidant.

His death made Gi Han-seong’s eyes roll back in anger. So he left Eum Jeong-han and the Silver Lotus Hall on the ruined Unmado River boat and set out after them.

Now that they were stranded in the broken Unmado River boat, they had no place to escape. Gi Han-seong’s plan was to deal with those who killed his subordinates and then return.

He ordered his men to drive the ship at full speed.

Kwa-ah-ah!

The huge ship cut through the water at breakneck speed.

Sal-no rowed the boat with all his might, but he could not keep up with the speed of the huge ship.

The distance narrowed in an instant, and the ship drew near enough to touch the bow of the small boat.

Kwa-ah-ah!

The waves coming from the massive ship rocked the boat carrying Pyo Wol, making it look like it might capsize at any moment.

Sal-no said to Pyo Wol,

“I’m sorry. It seems we can’t just let them pass.”

“There’s no other way.”

Pyo Wol turned his head and stared at the fast-approaching ship.

He had wanted to visit Oh Jin-eui quietly. But now that things had come to this, he couldn’t just let them go either.

Pyo Wol pushed down his hat that was attached to his black blood robe.

Sal-no and Soma knew very well what that meant.

Ta-at!

The three of them kicked off the boat and soared through the air at the same time.

Kwa-deuk!

In an instant, the boat they had been on was crushed by the giant ship and disappeared under the water. If they had been slow to escape, they would have been sucked under as well.

Thud!

Soma lightly landed on the deck.

The appearance of the boy, who looked to be about eighteen years old, drew a puzzled look from the martial artists on board.

“Who are you?”

“Huh?”

It took a moment for them to realize that Soma was in the small broken boat.

In the meantime, Soma moved.

“Heehee! I won’t kill you. The old man told me not to kill people recklessly.”

Soma grinned and charged at the warrior who was leading.

A sword was suddenly in his hand.

Shi-ga-ahk!

The sword traced a sharp path.

“Kek!”

“Aaak!”

The warriors screamed and fell.

Deep wounds appeared on their thighs and ankles.

Soma had deliberately attacked only their lower bodies, avoiding the upper ones.

No one had expected such a sharp and merciless attack from a child like Soma. So they were slow to react.

In the meantime, a few more martial artists had fallen to Soma.

Soma’s swordsmanship was extremely powerful.

In addition to his original martial arts from Xiaoleiyin Temple, he had further developed by receiving teachings from the sword master of the Wudang Sect.

The One-Sword Master did not teach Soma the swordsmanship of the Wudang Sect. Instead, he passed on his enlightenment.

That alone increased Soma’s achievements by leaps and bounds..

It also significantly eliminated the side effects of the mysterious technique he had received from
the Xiaoleiyin Temple.

The One-Sword Master said to Soma,

“Maybe now you can grow even taller.”

If that happened, he wouldn’t have to live as a child.

Now that he thought about it, he did seem a bit taller since he met the One-Sword Master. But it wasn’t certain yet.

Nevertheless, Soma considered the One-Sword Master a benefactor.

Apart from Pyo Wol, there was no one who cared about him as much as the Sword Master. That’s why when the Taoists of the Wudang Sect asked him to go to Poyang Lake, he gladly accepted.

Tae-Won, the second great disciple, and Yun Kwang and Han Kwang, the third great disciple, died at Poyang Lake.

The taoists of the Wudang Sect asked Soma to find the monster that killed them and exact revenge.

He had originally planned to investigate their deaths separately, but it was no longer necessary.
Pyo Wol already knew the truth.

The one who killed the three was Go Il-won of the Ghost Fleet.

The past winter, Pyo Wol worked to find the whereabouts of the Ghost Fleet, and now, at last, he had found a clue to track them. But the Golden Heavenly Hall was holding him back.

Soma could not forgive them.

Even if he didn’t kill them, he had to cause enough pain to make them wish for death.

Shi-ga-ga-gak!

“Kuk!”

“Ak!”

Soma’s sword inflicted wound after wound on the martial artists of the Golden Heavenly Hall.

“What’s going on? What is this little brat?”

Gi Han-seong’s eyes bulged as he glared at Soma.

Soma boasted such martial prowess that it was hard to believe he was just a boy.

Countless warriors on deck were swept left and right by Soma.

It was like watching a flock of sheep cornered by a wolf.

It was unbelievable that the elites of the Golden Heavenly Hall were so ruthlessly shaken by a mere boy.

Gi Han-seong yelled at his followers standing beside him.

“What are you doing? Go catch him.”

“……”

Normally, an answer should have come immediately, but for some reason, no one responded.

Feeling something odd, Gi Han-seong turned to the side.

His followers were all lying on the ground, and he saw an old man standing next to them.

Gi Han-seong realized that the old man was the one who had been steering the small boat they had broken.

“You are……Kuk!”

Gi Han-seong, about to shout, suddenly grabbed his throat.

Something had tightly gripped his neck.

Something invisible was tightening around his neck.

“Kueuk!”

He realized that ‘something’ was a silver thread.

He tried to loosen the silver thread with both hands, but it was no use.

Even when he injected his full qi into it, the silver thread didn’t break.

In the end, Gi Han-seong gave up trying to break the thread with his hands and pulled the sword from his waist, swinging it wildly in the air.

Tiing!

But even his full swing couldn’t cut the silver thread; instead, it bounced back.

‘Wha, what?’

Gi Han-seong’s complexion turned deathly pale.

He never expected that he wouldn’t be able to sever the silver thread even with a sword.

At that moment, the silver thread was still digging deeper into his throat.

Terror, accompanied by excruciating pain, washed over him like a tidal wave.

‘Who on earth?’

Even if he was going to die, he wanted to know who was going to kill him. But whoever was
controlling his breath did not seem to want to reveal themselves.

They never revealed themselves, and Gi Han-seong’s body was lifted into the air.

A moment later, Gi Han-seong’s struggles ceased.

He had stopped breathing.

Thump!

Then Gi Han-seong’s body feall to the floor.

Sal-no glanced at Gi Han-seong for a moment, then looked up at the mast.

There stood Pyo Wol.

With the aura of his crimson-black blood robe fluttering in the wind, he resembled the God of Death.

Pyo Wol’s figure disappeared from sight.

Even with Sal-no’s internal energy, he couldn’t capture Pyo Wol’s disappearing figure.

“Heh!”

Sal-no let out a disbelieving laugh.

Thud!

Then, from the back of the boat, the sound of something hitting the water was heard.

As Sal-no went to the stern, he saw a small boat descending to the surface. Pyo Wol had lowered the small boat he was carrying to the water.

Pyo Wol was already on the boat.

“Really……”

Sal-no jumped onto the small boat with a frustrated expression.

Until then, the martial artists on the ship hadn’t known about the deaths of Gi Han-seong and his trusted followers.

They realized the deaths of their leaders only a moment later.

“What! What’s this?”

“Master Gi has died.”

“This can’t be! All the leaders have……”

The martial artists on the ship couldn’t even finish their sentences.

The time they had been mesmerized by the Soma was not long. It had only been enough time to burn a single stick of incense.

During that time, Gi Han-seong and his followers had all been killed.

Still, no one had noticed their deaths. Even if their attention had been completely focused on
Soma, it was still an incredible situation.

Moreover, there were no signs of resistance from Gi Han-seong.

It was clear that he had been killed without even realizing it.

“My God! One of the great martial artists has been defeated without even demonstrating his martial arts.”

“Who on earth killed the Wind Spirit Swordsman?”

“It’s the Reaper. The Reaper has been here!”

“Ugh!”

The moment someone mentioned Pyo Wol, the atmosphere on the ship rapidly cooled.

Such was the weight of the nickname “Reaper.”

A moment later, when people came to their senses, Soma had also disappeared.

He had leaped onto the boat driven by Sal-no. But the warriors of Golden Heavenly Hall, who had lost their leadership in an instant, dared not pursue.

In the meantime, Sal-no’s boat had disappeared from their sight.
***
Sal-no steered the boat into the reed beds.

Thanks to the reeds, which were taller than a man, no one knew they had arrived at Poyang Lake.

The three hid the boat in the reeds and went out to the bustling streets.

The town center was sparsely populated, reflecting the mood of Poyang Lake these days.

The occasional passerby scurried along, hunched against the cold.

Though winter was turning into spring, the air was still chilly. The occasional wind sent shivers through them.

This made the streets even more deserted.

Thanks to this, Pyo Wol and his party were able to proceed to their destination without worrying about the gaze of others.

Their destination was a small brothel in the bustling area.

The recently established brothel was popular for its pretty prostitutes.

Despite the ongoing martial arts war, martial artists consistently sought the brothel houses.

They were young and full of energy, having mastered martial arts. Their desires were many times stronger than ordinary people.

Hence, brothel houses were rather flourishing.

The brothel Pyo Wol and others were headed to was also one of those thriving places.

Thud! Thud!

When Sal-no knocked, the door slightly opened and someone peered out.

It was the steward of the brothel. He asked cautiously.

“Who is it?”

“We are from Black World.”

For a moment, the steward’s face turned ashen.

With a trembling voice, he said.

“P-please, come in.”

He opened the door and let the three men in.

Pyo Wol asked Sal-no.

“Black World?”

“Recently, people have started to call us that.”

“……”

As Pyo Wol furrowed his brows, Sal-no added with a smile.

“Many now understand that the supreme lord has united the world of assassins. Since the lord didn’t name it, people have started calling it the Black World.”

“It doesn’t sound very pleasant.”

“But it’s enough to instill fear.”

Black Worlds.

The world of assassins unified by Pyo Wol was called such.

No one knew who started it, but now everyone who knew a little about the world of assassins referred to it as such.

It made sense why the steward was trembling.

For ordinary people, the Black World was synonymous with death and terror.

Even after Pyo Wol unified the world of assassins and prohibited all private requests.

The steward didn’t dare raise his head to look at Pyo Wol.

He instinctively felt that Pyo Wol was someone he should not look at.

He led the three to the residence of the Madame of the brothel.

“Madame! Guests have arrived from the Black World.”

“The Black World?”

A woman’s voice came from within, and the door opened at once. A beautifully dressed prostitute revealed herself.

Seeing Pyo Wol, she immediately rushed out.

“Master!”

The woman who bowed her head before Pyo Wol was none other than Oh Jin-eui.

Having been forcibly abducted by Deung Cheol-woong and living a life of humiliation, she was rescued by Pyo Wol and Sal-no. Now, she was the Madame of a brothel.

Oh Jin-eui prostrated herself before Pyo Wol.

The steward’s face turned pale as he watched.

‘Could it be that he is the Reaper? Good heavens!’