Reaper of the Drifting Moon

Hwangbo Chiseung, lived a rough life and relied only on his two fists.

Because of his two strong fists, he has been able to protect many people so far.

Although he sold himself for money and became Heavenly Silver Marketplace’s dog, he was still grateful because he was able to feed his own people. Unfortunately, even though he swore his loyalty, he was immediately abandoned the moment he lost one of his arms.

Hwangbo Chiseung’s heart was filled with despair.

Hwangbo Chiseung’s eyes looking up at Pyo-wol were empty.

It was the eyes of a person who had lost everything.

He knew that Pyo-wol was in front of him, but Hwangbo Chiseung was so in despair that he did not recognize him.

All he had left was his severed left arm.

Hwangbo Chiseung carefully picked up his severed left arm.

His situation finally sinked in.

His life as a warrior is over.

The rain kept hitting his head and shoulders. Blood flowed from the shoulder cut’s cross section, letting it mixed with the rainwater running down his body.

He thought it’d be better for him to die like this.

If the Three Fists of the Heavenly King had been completed, would everything be different? Would he have pursued martial arts rather than money?

There was a belated wave of regret.

Hwangbo Chiseung closed his eyes and sobbed.

The rain fortunately hid his tears.

Pyo-wol looked at Hwangbo Chiseung without saying a word.

He could understand the despair Hwangbo Chiseung felt. But it was up to Hwangbo Chiseung to overcome the despair he was experiencing now.

Will he let himself continue to collapse like this, or will he rise?

Pyo-wol was curious about Hwangbo Chiseung’s choice. So he continued to watch him.

When the rain stopped, Hwangbo Chiseung stood up and raised his severed arm.

Hwangbo Chiseung suddenly looked at Pyo-wol. It was only then that he realized that Pyo-wol had been standing in front of him until now.

Everyone had already left the place. Pyo-wol, who was looking down at him, was the only one left.

“What is it? Do you want to laugh at me until the end? Do whatever you want. As you can see, I’ve become a fool with no arms.”

“Losing an arm is not a big deal. Being disheartened is.”

“What do you know? Do you even know the despair I feel?”

“Do I have to understand you?”

Pyo-wol didn’t understand.

Why does Hwangbo Chiseung want others to understand his true feelings?

It was his responsibility to get through the despair he was experiencing. Although he can achieve something to a certain degree with the help of others, he cannot completely overcome it through his own will.

Pyo-wol has never wanted others to know or understand his despair.

He struggled to find a way out, and raced with all his might to escape. Because Pyo-wol had already overcome his own adversity and got to where he is today, he found it funny looking at Hwangbo Chiseung, who looked like he had lost all the world to this level of despair.

Pyo-wol turned around and said,

“Losing one arm doesn’t mean that you’ve lost all of your martial arts. But you’ve got the eyes of someone who lost the whole world.”

“Then what do you want me to do?”

“Learn from scratch.”

“………….”

“Focus the flow of your internal qi along the meridians of your remaining arms, instead of both arms. Then execute your martial arts that you used to do with your two arms with only one arm.”

“Is that possible?”

“Are you going to give up if it’s impossible? If you can’t handle that much, then you can live like that for the rest of your life.”

Pyo-wol walked away without any hesitation.

It was not as if he felt something special about Hwangbo Chiseung that would make him want to stay. Pyo-wol just wanted to see if Hwangbo Chiseung could get over his despair.

But it turns out, Hwangbo Chiseung only amounts to that much.

Spending any more time here would only be a waste of time.

That was then.

Thud!

Something suddenly flew and fell in front of Pyo-wol.

It was the arm that lost its owner.

Hwangbo Chiseung had thrown out his severed arm.

When Pyo-wol turned around, he could see Hwangbo Chiseung kneeling down.

“Help me.”

“…………”

“You said that there was a way, didn’t you?”

Hwangbo Chiseung looked at Pyo-wol with fearful eyes. The emptiness that had been in his eyes a while ago had already disappeared.

He was so desperate that he wanted to grab even a single strand of hope.

Above all, he felt that Pyo-wol was different from ordinary people. It wasn’t just because Pyo-wol remained until the end and looked at him.

The moment he saw Pyo-wol’s still eyes, Hwangbo Chiseung could instinctively feel it.

He had the eyes of someone who had climbed up from the bottom of despair which was worse than his.

He doesn’t know what despair is worse than his own, but he thought that if Pyo-wol had endured such a hellish time, he would be able to present a new path to himself.

“Why should I help you? What do I gain from it?”

“I will offer my allegiance.”

“I do not need it.”

“Then I’ll give you my life. If you can help me recover my martial arts, even if you take my life, I will accept it.”

Hwangbo Chiseung was sincere.

He realized that he didn’t need pride anymore because he was completely abandoned by the world. What he needed was a strand of hope that could lift him from the bottom of despair.

If he could only hold the hope, he would even use his own soul as a mortgage.

For the first time, a look of interest flashed in Pyo-wol’s eyes.

This is because Hwangbo Chiseung’s face reminded him of a face he had long-forgotten.

So Yeowol.

A girl who was trapped in the underground cave with him.

So Yeowol, who used her feminine charm to treat many men as if they were her hands and feet, were similar to Hwangbo Chiseung.

If there was one difference, it was that So Yeowol overcame her challenges with her own strength, while Hwang Bo-chi-seung had asked him for help.

Pyo-wol looked at Hwangbo Chiseung. The latter didn’t even properly stop the bleeding, so blood continued to flow from his wound.

Hwangbo Chiseung’s condition was so bad that it would not be strange if he stopped breathing at any moment due to his pale complexion.

Still, he longed for Pyo-wol.

Maybe he can open up a new path for him to go.

He suddenly became curious.

How far can he go if that man opens the way?

“Follow me.”

Pyo-wol walked forward.

Hwangbo Chiseung followed suit.

He didn’t even look at the arm he had been holding dearly until recently.

His arms were nothing more than a legacy of the past.

As long as he couldn’t attach his arms back, he shouldn’t have any lingering feelings. That was why he gave up his arm.

Hwangbo Chiseung followed Pyo-wol while ruminating.

Losing an arm was different from simply losing a part of the body.

It was the human body that felt pain with just one tiny thorn in his fingertips, and withdrew to alleviate the pain.

The fragile human body was harmonized through a complex complementary process.

A body that is out of harmony was like the body of a young child who has just learned to walk.

Hwangbo Chiseung’s physical condition was currently like that.

He tried to walk the same way as usual, but he kept on leaning to one side. His head was also tilted to one side.

The harmony and balance of his body were completely broken, making it difficult to even rest.

Still, Hwangbo Chiseung followed Pyo-wol.

The place where Pyo-wol stopped was at an abandoned house on the outskirts of Enshi. Fortunately, the ceiling was still capable of blocking the pouring rain.

“Sit down.”

Hwangbo Chiseung sat cross-legged without saying a word.

Pyo-wol searched through his Black Dragon Robe and pulled out silver needles.

These were hidden weapons made by Tang Sochu.

The hidden weapon was called a cow hair needle. As its name would suggest, it was as thin as a cow’s hair. This makes it almost impossible to distinguish with the naked eye.

Pipit!

Pyo-wol poked the needles on Hwangbo Chiseung’s body.

The needles were mercilessly stabbed into his body without any warning.

“Keuk!”

Hwangbo Chiseung let out a painful moan.

Since the needles were as thin as a hair, there should have been no way that he would feel any pain just because it is stuck in his body.

But Hwangbo Chiseung felt excruciating pain.

The place where the needle was pierced was painful as if struck by lightning.

Hwangbo Chiseung could not stand the pain and started screaming loudly.

But at that moment, Pyo-wol’s cold voice was heard.

“If you can’t stand it, how are you going to recover?”

“Hngg!”

Hwangbo Chiseung clenched his teeth.

There was no hesitation in Pyo-wol’s hand.

He inserted 20 needles in Hwangbo Chiseung’s body. However, all of the places where he placed the needles were concentrated on Hwangbo Chiseung’s left torso.

Pyo-wol completely blocked Hwangbo Chiseung’s left meridian.

It was a kind of restriction.

Now Hwangbo Chiseung’s qi will not flow to his left body.

Hwangbo Chiseung raised his head and looked at Pyo-wol.

“Qi would naturally flow to both of your arms. But since you lost your left arm, the qi flowing there would just be unnecessary outflow of energy. It would be better to block the leak of energy and aggregate everything on the right arm.”

“Oh!”

At that moment, Hwangbo Chiseung’s eyes widened as if he had gained a great realization.

Hwangbo Chiseung was an outstanding warrior. He immediately understood what Pyo-wol was trying to say.

Pyo-wol said to Hwangbo Chiseung, who had his eyes wide open.

“It won’t be easy but you have no choice. If you can’t take it, just drop the ball and retire from Jianghu.”

* * *

It was late at night when Pyo-wol returned to Heavenly Silver Marketplace.

The warriors who were guarding the Heavenly Silver Marketplace brought Pyo-wol inside without any question. It was because Soma, who had been waiting at the door for Pyo-wol to return, welcomed him.

“Brother! Why did you return so late? I’ve been waiting for a long time.”

Soma was the first to greet Pyo-wol.

“What about the Ko Il-pae group?”

“They came back a little while ago.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah! Except that brother returned late.”

“Something happened.”

“What is it?”

“I sowed the seeds.”

“Seed? Like a flower seed?”

“That’s right.”

“Are you farming? Why are you sowing flower seeds?”

“It remains to be seen whether it will be a thin flower or a thick tree. Anyway, it will be fun.”

“If brother is having fun, then I’m happy too. You must take me with you next time you go out.”

“Sure.”

“Hee-hee!”

At Pyo-wol’s definite answer, Soma smiled.

“How was the banquet?”

“It’s delayed.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Suddenly someone came and informed me that the banquet had been postponed until tomorrow evening.”

“Really?”

Pyo-wol’s eyes gleamed.

It was not very common for a huge power like the Heavenly Silver Marketplace to postpone a set schedule. Because there are so many people, every time a schedule is changed, a huge amount of money is consumed.

Moreover, it was very rude to ask the guests they had invited first to postpone the schedule.

‘Is it because of Hwa Ok-gi?’

Hwa Ok-gi’s visit to Yeo Hwa-young was probably not planned.

He went and quarreled with Yeo Hwa-young and as a result, his subordinate, Hwangbo Chiseung lost.

It would have been okay if he had handled and cleaned up the situation after Hwangbo Chiseung lost. But instead, he returned and abandoned Hwangbo Chiseung like trash just because he lost one arm.

In fact, Hwa Yu-cheon was furious with Hwa Ok-gi.

Hwangbo Chiseung was a master whom he worked hard to recruit. He was not the type of person to throw away like a fool just because he lost one arm.

For Hwa Ok-gi, Hwangbo Chiseung’s loss was a matter of great embarrassment, but for Hwa Yu-chun, it was not such a simple matter.

Although their sect had been gaining momentum for a while now, the Heavenly Silver Marketplace’s foundation was actually weak.

This is because they didn’t raise most of Heavenly Silver Marketplace’s warriors by themselves. Those warriors were bought with money.

If a warrior is invited with a promise of wealth and glory, but like Hwangbo Chiseung, were to be mercilessly thrown away, who would be loyal to the Heavenly Silver Marketplace?

So what Hwa Yu-cheon did was to kick out Hwa Ok-gi. He threatened the latter not to even think of entering the Heavenly Silver Marketplace not unless he brings back Hwangbo Chiseung.

Because of that, Hwa Ok-gi went out to find Hwangbo Chiseung together with his subordinates.

Naturally, with everything that had happened recently, the sect couldn’t dream of hosting a banquet. It probably won’t happen not unless Hwa Ok-gi manages to find Hwangbo Chiseung and bring him back to Heavenly Silver Marketplace.

Pyo-wol was genuinely curious.

He wondered how the seed called Hwangbo Chiseung, who was thrown away by Hwa Ok-gi, would grow into.

‘I’ll find out soon enough.’

SoundlessWind21’s Notes

Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoy the chapter~

1. Cow hair needle. Raws: 우모침(牛毛針).
   • 牛 niú – cow, ox, bull
   • 毛 máo, mào – hair, fur, feather
   • 針 zhēn – needle, pin, tack, acupuncture