Reaper of the Drifting Moon

Pyo-wol opened the door to the brothel and stepped inside.

In an instant, everyone turned and focused their attention on him.

In particular, the courtesans who caught sight of him had a twinkle in their eyes, but before they could even flirt with him, the brothel keeper already rushed out to greet him.

“Welcome.”

The brothel keeper was the temporary manager of this Hao clan branch.

“Where is Hong Yushin?”

“The Lord is inside right now, receiving a guest.”

“A guest?”

“Yes! An unexpected guest…”

The manager closed his mouth as if he could not say anything more than that.

Pyo-wol didn’t probe any further.

Their relationship was not one of master and subordinate. He and the Hao clan had only joined hands out of necessity.

For each other’s sake, they had to keep some boundaries.

Pyo-wol stood outside the door and waited for the first guest to come out.

The manager whispered in his ear,

“Since their meeting seems to be dragging on, why don’t you wait in a room instead of standing here? I’ll send So-ok inside.”

“No, it’s okay.”

“It looks like So-ok is waiting for you, my lord. If you don’t mind–”

It was then.

Screech!

The door leading to Hong Yushin’s room opened, then, someone stepped out.

It was a gentle-looking man.

Although his appearance was not as beautiful as Pyo-wol, he still had a striking appearance that would make anyone turn their heads.

Hong Yushin followed the man from behind, seeing him off.

At that moment, the man turned his head and looked at Pyo-wol.

His soft eyes instantly turned sharp.

“You didn’t have to make him come all the way here. Or, is it because I came here that I now got to meet him?”

The man muttered something unintelligible under his breath.

Hong Yushin, who was behind him, stiffened.

Swish!

Suddenly, the man drew his sword and attacked Pyo-wol.

Neither Hong Yushin nor the brothel keeper could stop him in time.

In an instant, the man narrowed the distance between him and Pyo-wol. The sword in his hand was quickly aiming towards Pyo-wol in the throat.

“Ack!”

The courtesans screamed at the top of their lungs at the sight.

In their eyes, the man’s sword seemed to have stabbed Pyo-wol in the neck.

But it was just an illusion.

“Tsk!”

Pyo-wol’s neck that seemed to have been pierced by the man’s sword was slowly dispersing, like water vapor dissolving in the air.

“Afterimage?”

The man’s eyes turned even sharper.

It was an unexpected attack.

His attack was like a lightning strike, so sharp and fast, that even an expert would not be able to dodge it in time. But as if mocking him, his opponent disappeared, leaving only an afterimage behind.

His opponent had moved so fast that he ended up leaving an afterimage.

An ordinary warrior would have been flustered by the afterimage, but the man was different.

The man turned around.

He saw Pyo-wol standing there.

Shwiak!

The man’s sword flew again towards Pyo-wol.

His swordsmanship was smooth and natural, just like flowing water.

His reaction was truly dazzling.

There was no flaw in his judgement, improvisation, and martial arts. Everything was flawless.

Clang!

However, his attack was blocked by a small dagger that Pyo-wol was holding. Pyo-wol had blocked his attack with the phantom dagger.

“Cha-hat!”

Despite his attack being blocked, the man did not panic, he just continued to unleash his sword techniques one after another.

His sword strikes continued on uninterrupted, just like flowing water.

“Woah!”

Hong Yushin could not help but exclaim in admiration.

Although Hong Yushin had met and experienced countless martial artists, this was the first time he had seen a warrior with such fluid and graceful swordplay.

Just like how small drops of water could gather to pierce through a large rock, likewise, there was nothing in the world that could withstand the concentrated force of water.

The man’s sword strikes were like that— gentle yet contained tremendous destructive power. If it were an ordinary warrior, their body would have been sliced within three seconds.

The man’s swordplay was a masterpiece of precision and control, penetrating every element with ease.

On the other hand, Pyo-wol was deflecting the man’s fluid and smooth attacks with just his small dagger. He was able to do so by accelerating his reaction speed with the Black Lightning technique.

An ordinary person would have questioned why they were being attacked out of nowhere or even regarded the person’s behavior as rude, causing them to panic and make mistakes, but Pyo-wol was not an ordinary person.

He didn’t know why the man was attacking him, but it was clear that he was hostile towards him.

For him to be attacked with such hostility meant that the person in front of him had some kind of grudge towards him. And there was nothing more foolish than trying to reason with such a person.

The man was like a raging river.

One wrong turn, and Pyo-wol could easily be swept away, all the way to the lower reaches of the river in an instant.

At this point, he needed to cut off his opponent’s momentum.

Pyo-wol knew exactly how to do that.

Ciit!

The range of the phantom daggers suddenly expanded.

The phantom dagger, as big as the palm of a person’s hand, flew out and attacked the man.

“Hik!”

For the first time, a puzzled expression appeared on the man’s face.

The phantom dagger that had just attacked him, was now back at Pyo-wol’s hand.

Only then did the man realize that there was an indistinguishable thread of qi attached at the end of the dagger.

It was the Soul-Reaping Thread.

Ciiit!

As Pyo-wol flicked his hand, the phantom dagger hanging from the Soul-Reaping Thread moved freely, like a sword dancing.

Ka-ka-kang!

The phantom dagger and the man’s sword clashed again and again.

The problem was, the phantom dagger was not just one.

Suddenly, one of the phantom daggers raised its head like a viper. The second phantom dagger was also being controlled by the Soul-Reaping Thread.

The two daggers attacked the man, moving back and forth through the air.

“Shit!”

For the first time, the man regretted his actions.

He attacked without hesitation upon discovering his opponent, but his opponent’s martial arts turned out to be far more impressive than he had anticipated.

It seemed impossible to break through the defense of two phantom daggers controlled by two strands of Soul-Reaping Thread in such a short time.

Kaaaang!

The man swung his sword, knocking all of the phantom daggers out of the way before retreating backwards.

By the time Pyo-wol tried to attack him again, he had already jumped onto the roof of the brothel.

The man sheathed his sword and said,

“Pyo-wol, right? My name is Jang Hoyeon.”

“…….”

“You don’t seem to know me. Shall I introduce myself? I’m the older brother of Jang Muyeon, the one you killed.”

“You’re from the Rain Mountain Manor”

“That’s right!”

The man, Jang Hoyeon, nodded.

He crossed his arms and asked,

“Where is the sword, Gongbu?”

“Did you come all the way here looking for the sword?”

“That’s right. I won’t ask about my brother’s death if you give me the sword.”

“Are you saying that the sword is more important than your brother? Jang Muyeon would be disappointed to hear that.”

“He wasn’t a good brother. He was just an annoying competitor, at best, so his death is none of my concern.”

Jang Hoyeon sneered.

Despite his gentle appearance, he was actually quite cold.

The reason he had come here today was to make sure that the Hao clan would fulfill his request.

The request he had given to the Hao clan was to find Pyo-wol.

When he asked Hong Yushin earlier, he said that he had not found him yet. But now here Pyo-wol was, right in front of Hong Yushin’s residence.

Hong Yushin had deliberately withheld Pyo-wol’s whereabouts.

“Tch!”

Hong Yushin had an awkward expression on his face.

He had told Jang Hoyeon to wait a little longer, but he hadn’t expected him to run into Pyo-wol right away.

He had no room for excuses.

This would greatly damage the Hao clan’s credibility.

Hong Yushin had to take the blame.

Jang Hoyeon said,

“If you hand over the sword, I will ignore everything that has happened so far. So just hand it over. That sword is only big, and has no other practical use. It is of no use to you even if you keep it.”

“Don’t you think it’s too cheeky to demand something that doesn’t even belong to you?”

“There’s always a rightful owner when it comes to a valuable object.”

Jang Hoyeon replied nonchalantly, without a change in his facial expression.

His shameless demeanor caused Hong Yushin and the courtesans who were watching to click their tongues.

‘I never knew that the young master of the Rain Mountain Manor could be so shameless.’

‘He’s got an iron face.’1

Despite the fact that the onlookers’ faces were all tense, the person in question, Jang Hoyeon, didn’t look embarrassed.

He truly believed in what he said.

The treasure has its own master, and the master of the sword Gongbu is none other than the sect leader of the Rain Mountain Manor.

Pyo-wol raised both of his hands and said,

“As you can see, I don’t have the sword.”

“Hmpf! The little brat who’s been hanging out with you probably has it. You’d better tell that brat to surrender the sword obediently. The moment he refuses, the Rain Mountain Manor will side with the Snow Sword Manor.”

The corners of Jang Hoyeon’s mouth curled up.

He was not a fool.

He already knew how the current war between the Snow Sword Manor and the Jin family was shaping up, and that Pyo-wol had close ties to the Jin family.

The war between the Snow Sword Manor and the Jin family had spiralled out of control. Numerous sects had gotten involved, and even the Shaolin Temple had joined the fray.

It was a mess that was close to becoming a full-blown war.

So if the Rain Mountain Manor decides to get involved in the already chaotic situation, then it would truly be like bringing hell on earth.

It was a situation that anyone would be afraid of.

Most people would hope that the situation would be resolved to some extent and not be further escalated. At least anyone who had their sanity intact would hope so.

So that’s what Jang Hoyeon was aiming for when he threatened Pyo-wol.

“If you give me the sword, I will completely withdraw from Runan. What do you think?”

“I don’t care if you don’t withdraw.”

“So you’re willing to put yourself at a disadvantage?”

“We’ll see who’s actually at a disadvantage when we get to the end.”

“Aha! You’re going to attack and then hide just like an assassin, aren’t you? Anyway, I’m going to give you a day, so think about it. Think about which decision is really the best.”

Jang Hoyeon jumped out of the roof and disappeared from everyone’s sight in an instant.

After he disappeared, Hong Yushin approached Pyo-wol.

“Tsk. I’m in trouble now. Even the Rain Mountain Manor might get involved in this mess.”

“It won’t be that easy.”

Hong Yushin looked puzzled at Pyo-wol’s answer.

“What do you mean?”

“That guy is too brainy to just do things on a whim.”

“Brainy?”

“People with excellent insight don’t get involved in things without a plan. They intervene after reviewing and preparing countermeasures. They try to avoid hastily intervening and making things worse.”

“Are you sure?”

“His goal is the sword Gongbu, so until they have it, they have to be cautious.”

“What is up with the sword Gongbu?”

“It’s literally just a sword that’s a little sturdy.”

“Why desire a sword like that?”

“Perhaps the history behind it caught their interest.”

“Hmm! Then Jang Pyeongsan, Jang Hoyeon’s father, must be greedy for that sword.”

As the chief inspector of the Hao clan, Hong Yushin knew a lot about Rain Mountain Manor’s sect leader, Jang Pyeongsan.

Even though Pyo-wol said that the Rain Mountain Manor would not be able to easily intervene, the worry on Hong Yushin’s face did not disappear.

If the Rain Mountain Manor decides to intervene then the fight between in Runan would spiral out even more out of control.

“Hoo! How on earth did we get to this point… Anyway, why are you here this early in the morning? Is it all because of Seol Kwang-ho?”

“Are the rumors true?”

“Yes. I’ve already confirmed it in the main headquarters. The Snow Sword Manor has completely been overturned because of his death. Right now, the Snow Sword Manor is like a cauldron of chaos. There are rumors that say that the eyes of the Snow Sword Manor’s sect leader have been completely turned upside down.”

“What about Namgung Wol?”

“It’s been reported that he has suffered serious injuries.”

“Really?”

“Huh! Namgung Wol says he participated in his personal capacity, but most people won’t believe him. They’ll probably think he’s been representing the Heavenly Guardian Association.”

Hong Yushin’s face darkened.

As far as he could feel, the troubled times had already begun.

From the Shaolin Temple to the Rain Mountain Manor, and even the Heavenly Guardian Association.

The fight between the two factions was pulling in the factions of Jianghu like a whirlpool.

Even the thought of how big the whirlpool would become was terrifying.

SoundlessWind21’s Notes:

Start of Volume 12. The storm brewing in Runan is getting bigger and bigger. I wonder how Pyo-wol would deal with this. Anyway, thank you for reading!

Iron face. Raws: 얼굴에 철판을 깔았구나. Korean idiom. It’s a state when a person is doing an unpleasant or embarrassing activity, but acts like it’s nothing. To be brazen-faced