Reaper of the Drifting Moon

Pyo-wol retracted his Soul-Reaping Thread.

With the wave of his hand, the fluttering qi dissipated soundlessly like morning fog.

The Ghost Brigade also noticed Pyo-wol drawing back his qi threads.

They thought that Pyo-wol’s internal energy was exhausted.

Simply manifesting qi already consumes a huge amount of internal energy, what more for Pyo-wol who pulled out ten Soul-Reaping Threads at once.

The power behind the technique might be extremely strong, but its consumption of internal energy would be just as extreme, so they figured that Pyo-wol couldn’t use it anymore.

Their judgement was frighteningly astute.

Unfortunately, however, Pyo-wol did not fall within their predictions.

Pyo-wol stopped unleashing his Soul-Reaping Thread wasn’t because he was running out of internal energy.

He just no longer found it effective, hence he temporarily withdrew it.

The best and most powerful way of using the Soul-Reaping Thread is only during an ambush. In a direct one-to-one fight like this, there are other martial arts techniques that are far more effective.

Puk!

His fierce fist crushed the knee of one of the Ghost Brigade’s warriors. He had just completely destroyed one of the most important joints of the human body.

The Way of the Hungry Ghost1, Human Body Destruction Technique.2

The Way of the Hungry Ghost works by destroying the joints and ligaments of the human body.

He even added Black Lightning on top of it.

As lightning stimulated his nerves, the reaction speed of his body exceeded human limits.

The Ghost Brigade couldn’t even see and follow Pyo-wol.

The moment they thought that something flashed in front of their eyes, one of their joints had already been smashed, and terrible pain would follow.

“Keuk!”

“Argh!”

Continuous cries and yells rang out.

Pyo-wol’s Way of the Hungry Ghost wasn’t anything complicated.

It was as if each of the warriors here were like dots, and he just had to connect and go for each one of them at the shortest distance possible.

With that simple technique, the Ghost Brigade warriors were devoured one by one.

“You bastard–!”

In the end, Mok Hanseong, who couldn’t stand watching the situation anymore, jumped in.

At that time, more than half of the Ghost Brigade warriors had already fallen.

Mok Hanseong’s eyes glowed with killing intent.

He had no idea that his team would suffer so much damage in such a short time.

It was his miscalculation.

Pyo-wol was not just an assassin.

He was a demon, possessing martial arts that far transcended that of an assassin.

Pyo-wol’s movements as he operated Black Lightning were beyond imagination.

He was so fast that even Mok Hanseong’s eyes couldn’t keep up with him.

Sugaaac!

Mok Hanseong’s sword pursued Pyo-wol with a booming sound. However, his sword never once reached Pyo-wol’s body.

He just needs to land one blow.

He is so close to hitting him.

It was as if he could touch him if he just stretched out his hand a little further. However, no matter what he did, the gap between them did not narrow.

Flying Dragon Flash Sword.3

Mok Hanseong practiced this sword technique his entire life.

The technique flew freely in the sky like a dragon and was as fast as the speed of light.

The Flying Dragon Flash Sword is a kind of a killing technique.

A killing sword sharpened on the battlefield.

All of the unnecessary fancy movements in the techniques were cut away, and refined to an efficient killing sword.

Once perfecting the Flying Dragon Flash Sword technique, Mok Hanseong has killed everyone he had set his mind to, and no warrior could last within ten seconds.

But for the first time today.

Even though he unleashed his flying dragon sword for over ten seconds, he still couldn’t land a hit on Pyo-wol’s body.

Pyo-wol was like the moon that could never be reached.

Mok Hanseong gritted his teeth.

He could now feel and gauge the strength and level of his opponent.

And he also realized how difficult the fight he had chosen.

Mok Hanseong shouted to Jong Rigu,

“Take the Demon Transformation Pills4 and retreat!”

“What? But—”

“It’s an order!”

The word “order” stopped Jong Ligu in his tracks.

A light of conflict flashed in his eyes for a moment.

Mok Hanseong never uttered the word retreat in his entire life, so for him to order a retreat meant that he judged the situation to be hopeless.

When Jong Rigu looked conflict, Mo Han-seong shouted once more,

“We’re running out of time. Hurry up!”

“As you command!”

Jong Rigu did not hesitate any longer.

He ordered the Ghost Brigade warriors who were still able to move,

“Retreat.”

The eyes of the warriors on the Ghost Brigade flickered. But not a single one of them objected to Jong Rigu’s order.

They retreated, gathering up their dead and wounded comrades.

When Pyo-wol tried to pursue them, Mok Hanseong blocked him.

“While it’s impossible for me to catch you, you won’t be able to pass me easily either.”

Pyo-wol frowned.

He’d never seen a group like this before.

Normally, when a comrade dies, the rest of the living members would charge with vengeance in mind, disregarding their own lives. But these men had buried their anger and obeyed the captain’s orders.

This was something that could never be found in the orthodox sects of Jianghu.

Jong Ligu and the rest of the Ghost Brigade quickly left the battlefield like the ebb tide and disappeared from sight.

There was something more important to them than their lives.

He didn’t know exactly what it was, but it was clear that it was abnormal anyway.

Mok Hanseong said,

“I don’t know how someone like you came to be, but your life will be quite difficult now that we’ve become your enemy.”

“The ‘we’ you are talking about, is it the Kowloon?”

“…….”

“So I’m right.”

“How surprising, for someone to mention that name again.”

The corners of Mok Hanseong’s eyes twitched.

He was so surprised that he couldn’t deny Pyo-wol’s words.

Mok Hanseong’s reaction confirmed that what Jin Geum-woo was not an illusion, but something real.

Pyo-wol’s gaze became determined.

He finally caught the tail of Kowloon.

He had to subdue Mok Hanseong once and for all for him to approach the real Kowloon.

Boom!

Pyo-wol charged at Mok Hanseong with terrifying speed.

Bang!

His Snake Steps was followed by an explosion.

Mok Hanseong’s body flew backwards.

Even though he had blocked Pyo-wol’s attack with his sword, his body had still been sent flying by the tremendous impact.

Traces of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.

His internal organs were shaken by the destructive force.

This one move made it clear.

He knew he could not defeat Pyo-wol with his own sword.

He didn’t know how he possessed such a power, but Pyo-wol’s strength was beyond common sense.

He, too, also possessed unimaginable strength, but compared to Pyo-wol, it was merely the blood of a bird’s feet.5

Pyo-wol is a new kind of martial artist, one that had never existed in Jianghu before.

It was impossible to deal with such a person in a normal way.

After several hand-to-hand exchanges, Mok Hanseong felt desperate.

Without hesitation, Mok Hanseong pulled out a small wooden box from his bosom. Inside the wooden box was a dull-colored pill.

It was a horse dan that was manufactured at Snow Sword Manor Biji.

Mok Han-seong popped the Demon Transformation Pill into his mouth.

As the pill melted in his mouth, he felt a burning pain in his dantian.

In fact, the Demon Transformation Pill was burning the internal energy accumulated in his dantian. By igniting his internal energy, he could draw out several times more power than usual.

“Cha-hat!”

Mok Hanseong unleashed the Flying Dragon Flash Sword.

Boom!

In an instant, as many as five sword qi stretched out.

The length of the sword qi was almost as long as the length of a baton.

Mok Hanseong burned everything in him and attacked Pyo-wol.

Because he no longer had regard for his life, his attacks were unrelenting.

Dozens of Bangwon were completely placed under his control.

Pyo-wol unleashed a barrage of phantom daggers towards Mok Hanseong. However, all of the phantom daggers were struck by Mok Hanseong’s sword.

At that moment, Pyo-wol pulled out a strand of Soul-Reaping Thread.

Boom!

The Soul-Reaping Thread flew, aiming for Mok Hanseong’s forehead.

“No way—!”

Mok Hanseong shouted, unleashing the tip of his Flying Dragon Flash Sword to protect his entire body.

Although it was only for a moment, his internal energy had been amplified several times more than usual.

Mok Hanseong, of course, was confident that he would be able to cut off Pyo-wol’s Soul-Reaping Thread.

His sword was on the verge of slashing down the Soul-Reaping Thread.

But then, the Soul-Reaping Thread suddenly trembled, and became clear like a shooting star.

Puk!

The Soul-Reaping Thread pierced right through Mok Hanseong.

A line of light from Pyo-wol’s finger pierced through the sword and continued to Mok Hanseong’s forehead.

This wasn’t just an ordinary Soul-Reaping Thread.

It was the Snake Qi Thread6, a thread composed of many Soul-Reaping Threads.

“Hoo!”

Pyo-wol exhaled lightly and gathered up the Snake Qi Thread.

It took several times as much energy as a normal Soul-Reaping Thread because it was made up of condensing qi.

Pyo-wol had only unfolded it once, but he was already on the verge of exhaustion. Still, he didn’t show any signs of difficulty as he looked at Mok Hanseong.

There was a tiny hole on Mok Hanseong’s forehead.

It was a trace of the Snake Qi Thread passing through.

“Hmpf! Even a bastard like you wouldn’t be able to find out anything–”

Thud!

Mok Hanseong fell backwards.

He had stopped breathing.

Pyo-wol searched Mok Hanseong’s arms. But he found nothing that could prove his identity or connect him to Kowloon.

It was then.

Boom!

Suddenly, an explosion erupted from the shacks.

The shacks were destroyed in an instant, and the remaining wreckage was engulfed in flames and smoke.

Pyo-wol looked at the shacks with his brow furrowed.

Sssss!

The fog that had descended on the entire island after the explosion and destruction of the shacks gradually cleared.

The fog dissipated, revealing the island in its true form.

There was no sign of the Ghost Brigade on the island.

They had completely disappeared, leaving only Mok Hanseong’s body behind.

Pyo-wol searched the island. But there was no evidence of their stay in the island anywhere.

No traces related to Kowloon could be found.

They had simply evaporated.

At that time, a strange stench pierced the tip of Pyo-wol’s nose.

Following the source of the stench, he saw Mok Hanseong’s body rapidly dissolving.

Whether it was a side effect of the Demon Transformation Pills or some kind of technique, Pyo-wol could not tell.

What mattered was that Mok Hanseong’s body had melted down to the point where his flesh was unrecognizable.

This completely erased any trace of Mok Hanseong and the Ghost Brigade presence here.

Pyo-wol let out a faint sigh.

“Hoo!”

Several days of hard work had been wasted. His contact with Kowloon has completely gone.

Still, Pyo-wol was not disappointed.

In any case, he had already confirmed the existence of Kowloon.

Now that he knew it existed, he might be able to find it someday.

Most importantly, he still had one remaining contact with Kowloon.

‘Lee Yul…!’

* * *

“Captain!”

Jong Rigu looked at the burning island in the distance.

In the shacks, which they used as a temporary shelter, the buried bombs just in case. They buried it to erase their traces in the event of an emergency. But they didn’t really expect to detonate it.

As such, the appearance of Pyo-wol was not in their calculations.

How he had tracked them down was unknown.

But this made one thing clear..

Pyo-wol’s existence is clearly a threat to them.

He was an enemy they had never met before.

He was unusually strong for an assassin, and possessed a number of techniques that other warriors did not have. He is a great threat to them.

They have already lost an outstanding warrior, Mok Hanseong.

Nothing can make up for the loss they feel.

Jong Rigu looked at one of the men on the boat.

“From now on, you’ll act as the vice-captain.”

“All right.”

The warrior accepted Jong Rigu’s order.

“Make plans to come by ship when the monk is in danger.”

“Yes!”

The warrior answered as he cupped his fist.

Jong Rigu gritted his teeth as he stared at the distant island.

“You’ve won for now, but not for long”

Now that Mok Hanseong is dead, he is now the captain of the Ghost Brigade, and as the new captain of the Ghost Brigade, it’s his obligation to avenge his predecessor.

SoundlessWind21’s Notes:

Thank you for reading!

Way of the Hungry Ghost. Raws: 아귀도(餓鬼道). Previously translated as Aguido. Hungry ghost is a concept in Buddhism, and Chinese traditional religion, representing beings who are driven by intense emotional needs in an animalistic way. 餓 è – hungry; greedy for; hunger 鬼 guǐ – ghost; spirit of dead; devil 道 dào, dǎo – path, road, street; method, way Human Body Destruction Technique. Raws: 인체파괴술(人識破壤術). 人 rén – man; people; mankind; someone else 識 tǐ, tī – body; group, class, body, unit 破 pò – break, ruin, destroy; rout 壤 rǎng – soil, loam, earth; rich 術 shù – art, skill, special feat; method, technique Flying Dragon Flash Sword. Raws: 비룡일섬검(飛龍一閃剣). 飛 fēi – fly; go quickly; dart; high 龍 lóng, lǒng, máng – dragon; symbolic of emperor 一 yī – one; a, an; alone 閃 shǎn – flash; avoid, dodge, evade 剣 jiàn – sword, dagger, saber Demon Transformation Pill. Raws: Mahwadan, 마화단(魔化丹). 魔 mó – demon, evil spirits; magic power 化 huà, huā – change, convert, reform; -ize 丹 dān – cinnabar (native HgS); vermilion (artificial HgS used as pigment) Blood of a bird’s feet. Raws: 조족지혈(鳥足之血). It means the blood of a bird’s feet, and it is a word that refers to a very small amount figuratively. In order words, ‘it’s a piece of cake’ Or ‘a drop in a bucket or ocean’ Snake Qi Thread. Raws: 사사강(絲蛇罡). 絲 sī – silk; fine thread; wire; strings 蛇 shé – snake 罡 gāng – the name of a certain stars; the god who is supposed to live in them