Reaper of the Drifting Moon

The security network that covers both heaven and earth and is difficult to escape no matter how hard you struggle, is called the inescapable net.¹

Seven years ago, Pyo-wol and the other assassins of the Blood Shadow Group were trapped and hunted mercilessly by the warriors of Sichuan Province.

They ran and ran to escape from the encirclement of the warriors, but in the end they died horribly.

At that time, the warriors who participated in the inescapable net killed the children with the feeling that they were enjoying a light game. The children who had struggled to survive in the dark for seven years like that, died without seeing the light of the world.

Many of the warriors who came to the Tang Family in pursuit of Pyo-wol had also participated in the inescapable net at that time.

It was absolutely no coincidence.

People’s inclinations do not change easily, so those who participated in the inescapable net came to Chengdu to enjoy similar pleasures.

It had already been seven years, but Pyo-wol remembered all the faces of the people he had met and passed by.

Among the people who came to the Tang Family, the faces of those who participated in the inescapable net at the time were visible.

He remembered them clearly, but on the contrary, they did not recognize him at all.

Pyo-wol thought it didn’t matter anyway.

Because from now on, he would make sure they would never forget it.

He will bring back memories of seven years ago.

“What bullshit are you talking about?”

A man with a quick temper rushed forward with great momentum.

A man named Oh Joo-kyung was a well known warrior in the Xichang region, which is in the southern part of Sichuan Province.

However, his fame was limited to the Xichang area, and when viewed as a whole of Sichuan Province, he was nothing more than a disgraceful existence at the bottom of the pyramid.

So he always had a desire to make his fame spread all over Sichuan.

Oh Joo-kyung thought this was a good opportunity. So, when others are hesitating, he came forward with great momentum.

A lot of people’s eyes were focused on him.

Oh Joo-kyung exclaimed in a loud voice.

“This Oh Joo-kyung is going to cut your head off!”

He took out his beloved sword and ran towards Pyo-wol.

It was only a matter of time before he would spread his fame throughout Sichuan by taking Pyo-wol’s life. So before the other warriors could take Pyo-wol’s life, he had to make his move first.

Oh Joo-kyung practiced his martial art with all his might.

But he had to stop before he could take ten steps.

Cweaeac!

Because there was a terrifying pounding sound.

“Hidden weapons?”²

Oh Joo-kyung hurriedly swung his sword and blocked the front.

Taang!

Along with the chit sound, the hidden weapon was blocked and fell to the floor. Oh Joo-kyung, who felt cheated, shouted at Pyo-wol.

“How…”

But his words ended there.

It is because three hidden weapons fly towards him again.

He barely managed to stop the first one, but the second one went through his shoulder, and the third one went deep into his stomach.

“Kheuk!”

In the end, Oh Joo-kyung collapsed without even going near Pyo-wol. He fell to the floor and was unable to move again.

A fearful expression flashed on the faces of the warriors who saw it.

It was not simply because Oh Joo-kyung lost his life because of the hidden weapons.

Because the place where he died was the Tangjiatuo.

In Sichuan, Tangjiatuo has a special meaning.

Tangjiatuo was the site of the Tang Family, where their poison and hidden weapons were feared by the entire Jianghu.

They had an underlying fear that some weapon and extreme poison might be hidden in the Tiangjiatuo. For this reason, people did not want to go to Tiangjiatuo even after the death of the Tang Family.

In such a situation, the fear of the warriors grew even more when Oh Joo-kyung died because of a hidden weapon.

It was because they thought that Pyo-wol might have revived the Tang Family that had been sleeping in the Tangjiatuo.

Their guess was half right and half wrong.

There were no machinery or weapons in the Tangjiatuo. This is because when the Tang Family collapsed, all their facilities and visions were ruined.

Instead, Pyo-wol had a Tang member.

A man who inherited the vision of the Tang Family.

When Pyo-wol was active in Chengdu, Tang Sochu mobilized all of his knowledge he had about the Tangjiatuo and set up all the hidden weapons and other machinery.

Compared to the heyday of the Tang Family, it had less than one tenth of its power, but for Pyo-wol, that was enough.

The power of machinery and hidden weapons, in the darkness where it made it difficult to see, was beyond imagination.

Pupupuk!

A sharp shattering sound ripped through the darkness and echoed.

“Kkeuk!”

“Everyone watch out!”

The warriors were scattered all over.

There was no unity or coherent system in their actions. This is because they were all warriors of different clans.

As the chaos reached its peak, the damage was even greater.

Only the disciples of the Qingcheng and Emei sect responded effectively, while the rest of the warriors moved recklessly to avoid the onslaught of hidden weapons.

As a result, the damage was even greater.

“You devil!”

At the unexpected situation, Guhwasata trembled all over.

Screams echoed from all directions, and thousands of people died.

All of this happened because of one person.

Many people ran to catch Pyo-wol, but before they could do so, they were attacked by hidden weapons and fell down.

As time passed, the damage grew exponentially.

They never expected to experience such a thing in the Tangjiatuo.

“Heuk! Save me!”

“I don’t want to be here anymore!”

There were a lot of people screaming and running away.

Their fear reached the climax. In addition to their fear of the name of the Tang Family, they were also attacked by their signature hidden weapons.

Pyo-wol did not dare to pursue those who were fleeing. He had no room to think about them. They were not his target anyway.

In the end, his goal was Guhwasata.

“I will tear your jaws apart and kill you!”

Guhwasata led the Emei disciples to attack Pyo-wol. At that moment, Pyo-wol blew a long whistle.

Ciiii!

A whistling sound, like the sound of a snake’s breath, spread far and wide. Immediately after that, the Emei sect’s disciples burst out in screams.

“Aaack!”

“What is this?”

Disciples suddenly fell one after another.

“It’s a snake! The bushes are full of snakes!”

“Everyone, watch out!”

It was only after a dozen or so of her disciples fell down in an instant, that they found out that it was a snake.

It wasn’t just the Emei disciples.

Many warriors still remaining in Tangjiatuo were bitten by the snakes and fell.

“Watch out everyone! He uses demonic arts to control snakes!”

Guhwasata swung her staff and slashed the approaching snake and shouted.

Fear appeared on the faces of the Emei warriors. They couldn’t even guess how many snakes were hiding in Tangjiatuo. They didn’t even know what Pyo-wol was using to control those snakes.

It was true that Pyo-wol spread the inescapable net.

After the fall of the Tang family, Tangjiatuo became a habitat for snakes. The snakes living there were the last feature of Pyo-wol’s inescapable net.

Guhwasata wanted to attack Pyo-wol, but saving her disciples was her priority.

Pyo-wol looked at the situation and smiled lightly.

“I will finally get to kill you.”

His gaze turned to the swordsman who was approaching him.

Mu Jeong-jin was walking through the bushes.

The snake’s attack didn’t work for Mu Jeong-jin. The snakes were reluctant to approach him given the aura emanating from his body.

Mu Jeong-jin did not give a single glance even when a Qingcheng disciple was attacked by a snake.

He only aimed to kill Pyo-wol.

Even in the dark, Mu Jeong-jin’s eyes shone eerily. It was as if fire was burning in both of his eyes. Pyo-wol narrowed his eyes as he looked at Mu Jeong-jin.

Just as Mu Jeong-jin remembers him, Pyo-wol remembers Mu Jeong-jin clearly.

The man who threw himself into a snake pit.

While that experience gave him the ability to act like a snake, the pain Pyo-wol suffered at that time was not something that humans could dare to bear. Pyo-wol still remembered the pain of that time clearly.

Shreung!

Mu Jeong-jin approached Pyo-wol and drew his sword.

Like a swordsman representing Sichuan, a formidable energy emanated from Mu Jeong-jin’s whole body.

Puppupuck!

The head of the snakes nearby exploded at the energy he radiated.

Mu Jeong-jin said while pointing his sword at the table.

“Because of you, the wings of the Qingcheng sect were broken. You will have to pay the price with your life.”

“What price? There’s nothing in this world that I’ll pay any more.”

He was imprisoned in darkness for a whopping seven more years in return for killing Woo Gunsang. When he was dumped into a pit full of snakes, Pyo-wol was dead.

There was nothing more to pay.

There is only debt to be paid.

Sreung!

As Pyo-wol stretched out his arms, the ghost dagger that hung at the end of the Soul-Reaping Thread shook.

He had no intention of wasting any more time.

While the others have yet to regain their senses from the hidden weapons and snakes, he had to deal with Mu Jeong-jin.

Suiit!

Pyo-wol disappeared into the darkness.

It was as if his existence had been erased from the world.

He used Black Lightning that played around with the warriors of the Black Cloud Corps. They had lost a number of troops because they couldn’t catch the movement of Pyo-wol even with their eyes wide open.

However, Mu Jeong-jin was on a different level from the warriors from the Black Cloud Corps.

“You’re playing such a trick. Heh!”

He was dressed coolly and drew his sword in the right direction. A strong sword blazed from his sword and crossed the space.

Kaang!

In an instant, Pyo-wol appeared.

Surprisingly, it was the first time the Black Lightning was blocked.

Pyo-wol’s waist would have been cut in half if it had not been for the ghost dagger that blocked the sword of Mu Jeong-jin.

However, even though the Black Lightning was blocked, Pyo-wol’s expression did not change at all.

No one could read what he was thinking just by looking at his face. It was the same with Mu Jeong-jin who attacked.

Mu Jeong-jin shouted as he executed the Qingcheng’s Sect Red Cloud Sword³ towards Pyo-wol.

“It’s no use pretending to be calm. No matter what you do, you won’t be able to deceive me!”

Sususuc!

His sword caused a change in the air.

It looked like it was going to rip the surface of Pyo-wol at any moment as it slashed through the black darkness with intense black energy.

However, his black streak was deflected by Pyo-wol.

The Black Lightning might have been blocked, but Pyo-wol still had the Snake Steps.

Like a wiggling snake, Pyo-wol evaded all attacks from Mu Jeong-jin. At the same time, he wielded the Soul-Reaping Thread.

Ciiit!

At the end of the Soul-Reaping Thread, two ghost daggers hung and attacked Mu Jeong-jin.

“Heh! That’s pretty good.”

Mu Jeong-jin snorted and unleashed the Qingcheng swordsmanship.

Tadadadang!

The sound of heavy weapons hitting an iron plate broke out countless times between the two.

It was the sound of the ghost dagger and the swords of Mu Jeong-jin.

The ghost dagger was wriggling like a living serpent, aiming for Mu Jeong-jin’s life. It also served as a shield to block all of the attacks of Mu Jeong-jin.

For the first time, a light of admiration appeared on Mu Jeong-jin’s face.

He had ignored and treated him as a lowly assassin before, but Pyo-wol’s technique was sharper and more terrifying than the martial arts of any prestigious sects.

If he showed even a small gap, the ghost dagger seemed to dig in.

Mu Jeong-jin felt an extreme sense of crisis.

This was the first time he had felt such a strong sense of crisis, having reigned invincible in Sichuan for decades.

He felt a shiver all over his body.

The strong sense of crisis awakened his desire to win.

Chaat!

Mu Jeong-jin performed the Qingcheng Sect’s Thirteen Swords,⁴ the secret swordsmanship of the Qingcheng sect.

Of course, it did not contain the swordsmanship that could be unleashed by a master at their peak. Even so, people felt a chilling chill the moment Mu Jeong-jin unfolded the Thirteen Swords.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that the power of the sword is maximized when the energy is exposed outwardly like a sword energy. The Thirteenth Swords of the Qingcheng sect exerts its maximum power by placing a formidable energy inside the sword.

It looks plain on the outside, but inside, it contains a formidable force.

Cwaaac!

Like a meteor that cuts through the night sky, the sword of Mu Jeong-jin slid towards Pyo-wol.

Pyo-wol felt goosebumps rising all over his body.

It was because he could feel how intense the power was contained in Mu Jeong-jin’s blow.

But he didn’t feel afraid.

Pyo-wol flew towards Mu Jeong-jin.

His figure was engulfed in darkness.

Again, Black Lightning was unleashed.

“Didn’t I tell you it’s useless?”

Mu Jeong-jin swung his sword towards the place where the flow of qi was violently fluctuating.

Sugagak!

Mu Jeong-jin had no doubts that he could kill Pyo-wol with this one blow. He could already imagine Pyo-wol splitting in two with his sword.

That was then.

Tuck!

There was a sound different from what Mu Jeong-jin had expected.

His sword was blocked by something.

Surprisingly, it was Pyo-wol’s finger that blocked his sword.

He had stopped the formidable qi contained in the sword of Mu Jeong-jin, who said that there was nothing that his sword could not cut.

An incredulous look could be seen in his eyes.

“Y, You?”

Blood stains appeared on the corner of Pyo-wol’s mouth.

He suffered quite a few internal injuries from the impact of the Qingcheng Sect’s Thirteen Swords. Even so, his complexion did not change.

One candle is enough to illuminate the deep darkness.

[조양흑암(照亮黒暗) 일촉화(一蚀火).]

It is enough for a firm mind to go through the darkness before me.

[아전흑암(我前黑暗) 족단심(足丹心).]

One candle is enough to light the deep darkness,

One hard heart is enough to get through the darkness in front of him.

No matter how great the sword was with its formidable energy, there is nothing that cannot be destroyed by gathering Black Lightning at one point.

Mysterious Ghost Break.⁵

Jjooeng!

Mu Jeong-jin’s sword, which collided with Pyo-wol’s finger, cracked like a spider’s web and exploded.

SoundlessWind21’s Notes

…istg translating techniques is the most difficult part. It’s full of Chinese characters. I did my best to try and translate it but again, if there are any suggestions, let me know T–T

1. Inescapable net. Raws: Net of Heaven and Earth, Tianluodiwang 천라지망(天羅地網).
   1. Meaning: Chinese Idiom. there are nets everywhere in the sky and the ground; the metaphor is very strict and cannot be escaped.
2. Hidden weapons. Raws: 암기.
   • Meaning: Hidden weapons are also known as assassination weapons and assassination weapons . In order to facilitate the weapons to carry out surprise attacks in the dark , the types of human projection and slaughter commonly used in ancient times, such as darts, hidden arrows, throwing knives, etc.
3. Qingcheng Sect’s Red Cloud Sword. Raws: 청운적하검(青雲赤霞剣).
   • 青 qing, blue
   • 雲 clouds, Yunnan province
   • 赤 red
   • 霞 rosy clouds
   • 剣 sword, dagger
4. Qingcheng Sects’s Thirteen Swords. Raws: 청운십삼절(青雲十三切)
   • 青 qing, blue
   • 雲 clouds, Yunnan province
   • 十 ten
   • 三 three
   • 切 cut
5. Mysterious Ghost Break. Raws: [아귀도(織鬼道) 비전식(秘傅式) 파옥(破玉).]
   • 織 weave, knit, organize
   • 鬼 ghost, spirit
   • 道 path
   • 秘 secret, mysterious
   • 傅 tutor, teacher
   • 式 system
   • 破 break, ruin
   • 玉 jade