Reaper of the Drifting Moon

When a person’s eyes are said to have been overturned,1 it is an expression that implies a person has lost their temper, causing them to stop thinking and acting properly.

That is exactly what Heo Ranju’s state is right now.

Her anger exploded, clouding her reason.

And the target of her anger was none other than Pyo-wol.

“You’re dead–!”

Ping!

Heo Ranju’s whip flew towards Pyo-wol’s neck like a viper. But Pyo-wol didn’t get caught up by her whip.

A woman in red silk intervened in time and stood in his stead.

The woman was Hong Ye-seol.

Like Heo Ranju, she was also blinded by anger. She could not believe she was attacked just because she was with Pyo-wol.

“How dare you attack me?”

“Hmpf! Your face is too ugly—”

“A bitch like you is all talk! I’ll tear that filthy mouth open!”

“I will grind your ugly face on a millstone!”

After exchanging vicious words, they soon began to fight fiercely.

Jjwaak! Cwaac!

Heo Ranju’s whip stretched out from side to side, tearing the air apart. Hong Ye-seol narrowly avoided the flap created by the whip and attempted an attack.

It wasn’t Hong Ye-seol’s style to engage in a head-on confrontation like this, since she was an assassin who specialized in stealth attacks. But that didn’t mean she was weak against this style of fighting. She just didn’t like it. But in no way does that mean that her martial arts were inferior to that of Heo Ranju.

In particular, her signature technique, Extreme Yin Hand,2 was as powerful as the legendary White Lotus Hand.3

There was no reason for her to fall behind in terms of power or strength.

Quaang!

A series of explosive blows erupted as Heo Ranju’s whip and Hong Ye-seol’s Extreme Yin Hand collided.

The fight between the two women was devastating.

As if they were having a life-and-death battle, they fought with all their might to cut off each other’s breath.

“That crazy bitch!”

Daoshi Goh cursed at the sight of Heo Ranju.

To think that she would be blinded by jealousy that she would end up leaving the battle line. Now, they could not attack Pyo-wol together thereby reducing their collective power.

Pyo-wol was not an easy opponent.

Daoshi Goh knew this fact better than anyone else, having already lost numerous colleagues in Chengdu.

He also had been severely wounded. He had one of his arms cut off by Pyo-wol and had his intestines spilled out.

Even now, as he thought back to that time, the experience was so frightening that he could barely breathe. Nevertheless, the only reason he agreed with Heo Ranju’s suggestion of attacking Pyo-wol was because he feared that he might never get the chance to kill him if he does not do so right now.

Daoshi Goh’s fears were greatly exacerbated by the few assassinations Pyo-wol had carried out in the Snow Sword Manor.

No matter how powerful the Black Cloud Corps might be, if an assassin like Pyo-wol ambushed them, they would be hunted down one by one.

The two of them could never co-exist together anyway.

The Black Cloud Corps joined the Snow Sword Manor, while Pyo-wol joined the Jin family.

They had no choice but to fight each other until the end. So if they were going to end up becoming enemies anyway, it would be better to eliminate the opponent as early as possible.

No matter what the cost.

Fortunately, even without Heo Ranju, there was no problem in executing and maintaining the Catching Tiger Defense Formation.

The real problem was that Pyo-wol was stronger and faster than they thought.

Boom!

The key to the Catching Tiger Defense Formation was to literally trap the opponent as if capturing a tiger. However, Pyo-wol’s movements were too fast for the Black Cloud Corps to keep up with, so they couldn’t complete the encirclement.

If they push him to the east, he will go to the west, and if they corner him to the west, he will escape somewhere else.

This rendered the Catching Tiger Defense Formation completely ineffective.

“Argh!”

“Keurgh!”

This in turn caused the damage on the side of Black Cloud Corps to pile up.

Pyo-wol was killing the warriors of the Black Cloud Corps one by one.

“Is the poison not working?”

The poison smoke spewed out from the barrels hanging from the arrow was still spread out thickly throughout the area.

This was a poisonous smoke that was specially prepared.

Just a bit of intake could cause the person’s body’s function to drop by nearly ten percent, and if the person takes as much as three breaths, then their heart will stop.

The poison was that lethal.

This naturally made the poison hard to find and expensive. Even the Black Cloud Corps could not help but be burdened at its price. However, they still pushed through and bought it with tears in their eyes, because they thought that they could not get rid of Pyo-wol not unless they resort to some extreme methods.

Even though the Black Cloud Corps were told that they would be fine inhaling the poisonous smoke as long as they take the antidote, they could not figure out how come Pyo-wol was still standing.

He did not take an antidote like Hong Ye-seol, nor was he moving around while holding his breath.

His mouth was slightly parted, clearly showing that he was breathing normally, so this means that he was continuously inhaling poisonous smoke.

So how come he showed no signs of being affected by the poison?

At the next moment, Daoshi Goh’s face turned white.

“In that case, does he have the Ten… Thousand Poison Immunity?”4

That was the only reason he could come up with at the moment.

If their opponent had really reached the level of Ten Thousand Poison Immunity, then they had lost the greatest weapon they had prepared today.

‘No! That’s impossible… right?’

Daoshi Goh immediately denied the idea and barked out an order to the Black Cloud Corps,

“Archers! Fire the Ghost Arrows!”5

Hearing his voice, the archers hung strange barrels across their bows.

The barrel, which looked like a bamboo split in half, was brought all the way from Haedong. The halved bamboo hung on the string, while an arrow the size of a child’s palm was fired.

In Haedong, this kind of mini arrow was called Ghost Arrows.

They called it as such because the sound produced when the arrow was fired was similar to a ghost’s wail.

Even if Haedong just came up with the name for no reason, the Black Cloud Corps didn’t care.

The important thing is that the power of the Ghost Arrows, when imbued and fired with qi, has enough destructive power to even pierce through a wall made of steel.

Cit! Ciiit!

The archers fired their Ghost Arrows.

By the time the ghost’s cries were heard, the small arrow had already come close to Pyo-wol’s body.

Piiit!

Pyo-wol twisted his body just in time to avoid the Ghost Arrows by a narrow margin. But the Ghost Arrows still grazed his body, leaving a long scar on his shoulder.

If he had taken the hit directly, the Ghost Arrows would have pierced his shoulder.

Pyo-wol’s face stiffened for the first time.

The speed of the Ghost Arrows was faster than he expected. Even his senses could barely detect the arrows before it reached him.

There were more than a dozen archers who could shoot such arrows. All of them were keeping a close eye on Pyo-wol’s movements, ready to release their arrows at any moment.

The cavalrymen attacked with their spears, while the archers filled the gap with their arrows.

Although the poisonous smoke was useless against Pyo-wol, it would still be difficult for any master to survive in the face of their Catching Tiger Defense Formation.

Daoshi Goh spoke up,

“I have no personal grudge against you. We just can’t coexist together that’s why I’m attacking you. So just give me your life.”

“I guess taking one arm wasn’t enough. I’ll cut off the rest of your arm and legs today.”

Despite the urgency in his situation, Pyo-wol still threatened Daoshi Goh.

Daoshi Goh was stunned at Pyo-wol’s appearance.

“The Great Tiger Strike!”6

They proceed to form the last lineup of the Catching Tiger Defense Formation.

The final step is to slaughter the captured tiger.

The cavalrymen positioned themselves in a wedge formation and charged towards Pyo-wol.

It wasn’t a simple charge.

Boo-woong!

Their spears trembled and spewed a cloud of smoke.

Dozens of spears resonated, causing the clouds of smoke to merge into one gigantic spear shape.

This feat was impossible for a single person.

Only when dozens of people have practised the same martial arts, and absorbed and amplified each other’s external qi could this be possible.

Its power was comparable to that of a battering ram.

It has the destructive power to break down a huge castle in an instant.

At the same time, dozens of Ghost Arrows rained down on Pyo-wol.

Pipipiping!

The archers fired their Ghost Arrows in rapid succession.

The Ghost Arrows poured down like rain, leaving him completely unable to dodge.

This is the Great Tiger Strike.

An all-out assault that can cut off the last breath of the cornered tiger.

Daoshi Goh nervously looked at Pyo-wol.

Although it bothered him that the poisonous smoke did not work on him, he still thought that an attack of this magnitude would be enough to dampen Pyo-wol’s spirit.

The reason why they were defeated by Pyo-wol in Chengdu was because they were unable to utilize the strength of their cavalry. They were only led around by Pyo-wol’s pace.

It was different now.

The tide had turned in favor of the Black Clouds from start to finish, and now it was time for the grand finale.

A siege-like charge from dozens of cavalrymen, and Ghost Arrows were about to pierce Pyo-wol at the same time.

Pyo-wol pulled out ten strands of his Soul-Reaping Threads.

The battering ram-like charge, powered by their spears, could not be stopped with the Soul-Reaping Thread. After all, their charge was itself a perfect weapon for both offence and defense.

But horses were different.

Ciiit!

The Soul-Reaping Thread spread itself across the ground. Infused with Pyo-wol’s qi, this was the sharpest weapon in the world.

The Soul-Reaping Thread easily sliced through the horse’s ankles.

Ciiit!

“Whoa!”

“Watch out—!”

The horses, which had their ankles sliced off, fell forward in unison with a mournful scream. They all slammed to the ground at the same speed they had been galloping.

The horses’ necks snapped in an unnatural way as they collapsed, while the warriors riding them screamed as they were crushed by the horses’ massive bodies.

Their wedge formations were long gone, together with the giant spear they created.

But their tragedy was yet to be over.

A hall of arrows fired by their comrades rained on the fallen cavalrymen.

“Aaack!”

“Keuk!”

The screams of the downed cavalrymen as they were hit by the arrow echoed throughout the area.

“My god!”

Daoshi Goh’s eyes widened at the hellish sight.

Never in his wildest dreams did he consider that Pyo-wol would escape from his situation this way.

The sight of the Black Cloud Corps cavalrymen entangled with their horses, while screaming in agony was like a nightmare.

It was then.

“S, Stop him–!”

“Arrow—!”

He suddenly heard the urgent voices of the archers.

He spun around, only to see Pyo-wol bursting through them.

In both of his hands were phantom daggers.

Ciiit!

From then on, a massacre began.

Archers were vulnerable in close combat.

While they were trained in martial arts, they couldn’t compare to other martial artists.

Pyo-wol was like a tiger jumping into a flock of sheep.

He mercilessly slaughtered them.

“Keurgh!”

“Hyuk!”

Every time he swung his phantom daggers, an archer would die.

“N, No–!”

Seeing this, Daoshi Goh rushed at them, screaming.

Even though he only had one arm left, that didn’t mean the martial arts he had cultivated were gone.

Kwaaaa!

He attacked Pyo-wol using his Wind and Fire Palm.7

But Pyo-wol just used Snake Steps to avoid his attack and slip through the remaining archers.

“No! Stop!”

Daoshi Goh begged, but Pyo-wol pretended not to hear him. He just continued in killing the archers. Daoshi Goh tried to follow him, but the distance between them did not close.

Pyo-wol was like a mirage that feels so close yet so far.

Daoshi Goh stretched out his hand as far as he could, but he could not catch Pyo-wol.

When Pyo-wol finally stopped, there were no more archers alive.

Pyo-wol looked at Daoshi Goh, with blood all over his body.

“You demon— After all you did, can you still call yourself human?”

“How many warriors in Jianghu can proudly say that they are human? I, at least, don’t think the Black Cloud Corps could, right?”

“…….”

Daoshi Goh could not bring himself to answer.

“This is a fight between beasts. Don’t talk about romantic things like humanity. It doesn’t suit us.”

Pyo-wol strode towards Daoshi Goh.

He walked like a cat, with how he made no sound.

The closer Pyo-wol got, the more Daoshi Goh’s face contorted in horror.

The dozens of Black Cloud Corps members he confidently brought with him had all lost their lives to Pyo-wol.

This caused the power of the Black Cloud Corps to be cut in half.

It was a terrible price to pay for touching a single person.

It was only then that Daoshi Goh realized.

That there are some people in the world that should never be touched.

And Pyo-wol was one of them.

The reaper.

His hands hold the threads of death that reaped souls.

“Who says I’ll let you off easily?!”

Daoshi Goh rushed at Pyo-wol in a fit of rage.

In turn, a Soul-Reaping Thread came flying towards him.

SoundlessWind21’s Notes:

Thank you for reading!

Ghost Arrows visualisation. There is the halved bamboo, and you can see that the arrows are shorter than usual. This is called Pyeonjeon or mini-arrow, baby-arrow.

One’s eyes are overturned. Raws: 눈이 뒤집혔다. Korean idiomatic expression. To lose one’s reason since one went through something shocking or is engrossed in something. Extreme Yin Hand. Raws: Taeemsu, 태음수(太陰手). 太 tài – very, too, much; big; extreme 陰 yīn – ‘female’ principle; dark; secret 手 shǒu – hand White Lotus Hand. Raws: 백련소수(白蓮素手). 白 bài – white; pure, unblemished; bright 蓮 lián – lotus, water lily; paradise 素 sù – white (silk); plain; vegetarian; formerly; normally 手 shǒu – hand Ten Thousand Poison Immunity. Raws: 만독불침(萬毒不侵). 萬 wàn – ten thousand; innumerable 毒 dú, dài – poison, venom; poisonous 不 bù, fǒu, fōu no, not; un; negative prefix 侵 qīn – invade, encroach upon, raid Ghost Arrows. Raws: 귀호살(鬼號虄). 鬼 guǐ – ghost; spirit of dead; devil 號 hào, háo – mark, sign; symbol; number 虄 sa – bow and arrow The Great Tiger Strike. Raws: 포호대격살(捕虎大撃殺). 捕 bǔ – arrest, catch, seize 虎 hǔ, hù – tiger; brave, fierce; surname 大 dà, dài, tài – big, great, vast, large, high 撃 jí – strike, hit, beat; attack, fight 殺 shā, sà, shài, shè – kill, slaughter, murder; hurt; to pare off, reduce, clip Wind and Fire Palm. Raws: 풍화장(風火掌). 風 fēng, fěng, fèng – wind; air; manners, atmosphere 火 huǒ, huō – fire, flame; burn; anger, rage 掌 zhǎng – palm of hand, sole of foot, paw