Reaper of the Drifting Moon

Swoosh!

A sharp blade of reed leaf brushed against Wol Gwi’s arm, slicing through his flesh.

“Keuk!”

As fresh blood burst out, Wol Gwi quickly used his other hand to cover the wound. However, the wound was too deep for it to stop bleeding.

‘I need to get out of here.’

It felt as if the entire reed field was conspiring against him.

In Wol Gwi’s eyes, the vast reed field looked like a gigantic monster.

He swiftly pushed off the ground and threw his body backward. But in that instant, a strand of wire came flying from somewhere, entwining around his ankle and yanking him down to the ground.

Thud!

“Kreuk!”

Mud and filth splattered on Wol Gwi’s face as he crashed roughly to the ground. However, he had no room to feel disgusted.

Pipipfit!

Reed leaves were constantly flying towards him.

Wol Gwi narrowly avoided the reed leaf by rolling on the ground. But soon, a look of despair flickered across his face.

A fierce wind was swirling around him, dragging the reed leaves along with it.

Among them, he couldn’t tell which one would transform into a lethal weapon.

“This is crazy!”

Wol Gwi felt extreme fear.

He had handled countless missions, but he had never seen anything like this before.

He had never imagined that a single assassin’s internal strength could be this great. He couldn’t even guess how much internal energy it would take to create such a windstorm.

Wol Gwi felt an extreme sense of terror.

Although he had dealt with numerous missions before, he had never witnessed such a sight.

He couldn’t have imagined that the inner strength of an ordinary assassin could be this formidable. He couldn’t even begin to guess how much internal energy would be required to create such a wind.

“Wait, let’s talk–!”

Whoosh!

At that moment, a reed leaf sliced through his side.

With fiery pain, his flesh split open, and blood gushed out.

Only then did Wol Gwi realize that his opponent had no intention of talking.

If he were in Pyo-wol’s position, he would have acted the same way.

It would be foolish to leave the person who had been shadowing them all day unattended.

However, what terrified him was the reversal of their positions.

“Yaaa!”

Wol Gwi gave up on dialogue and switched to an offensive stance.

He unleashed a powerful sword technique toward the wind that surrounded him.

Boom!

When the blade clashed with the wind, a loud noise erupted. However, it was impossible to make the wind disappear with the sword.

The wind, which had momentarily seemed to waver, soon began to whirl fiercely again.

“Kreuk!”

Wol Gwi bit his lip.

Bewilderment was plainly visible on his face.

It was then.

Papapapap!

Several reed leaves, spinning in the wind, shot toward him simultaneously.

Wol Gwi swung his sword with all his might.

His sword instantly created a defensive barrier. The reed leaves, flying toward him like arrows, couldn’t penetrate the barrier and bounced off.

“Huff! Huff!”

Wol Gwi gasped for breath.

But at that moment.

Puck! Puck!

Without a sound, phantom daggers shot through the air and embedded itself in his body.

“Keugh!”

Unable to overcome the shock and pain, Wol Gwi fell to his knees. And in front of him, Pyo-wol silently appeared.

Wol Gwi mustered the strength to raise his head and look up at Pyo-wol.

Pyo-wol’s face, illuminated by the moonlight, shone with a serene brilliance as he gazed down at him.

It was a breathtakingly beautiful sight, but it filled Wol Gwi with intense fear.

He reached for the weapon he had hidden in his sleeve. The weapon was laced with extreme poison that could swiftly claim the opponent’s life with just a touch.

However, his attempt proved futile.

Whoosh, whoosh!

One after the other, Soul-Reaping Threads pierced through his arms and shoulders.

“Kyaak!”

Wol Gwi let out a desperate scream.

The wounds inflicted by the Soul-Reaping Thread were as small as needle pricks, but the pain was unbelievably intense.

The agony was so overwhelming that Wol Gwi, who prided himself on enduring pain, couldn’t help but cry out.

Pyo-wol knelt down on one knee and looked into Wol Gwi’s face.

Tears and mucus were streaming down Wol Gwi’s face.

“P-Please, spare me.”

He pleaded with Pyo-wol for his life.

Pyo-wol smirked slightly.

In an instant, Wol Gwi’s eyes twitched. He had a sense of what Pyo-wol was about to say, and his expectation was not wrong.

“Weren’t you taught to kill yourself if you failed in a mission?”

“Well–”

“That’s what I was taught.”

Those were the last words Wol Gwi heard before he died.

* * *

Yeom Hee-soo furrowed her brows.

She tossed and turned for a moment before opening her eyes.

Even though she had slept on a top-quality bed, she felt uncomfortable. This was the first time she experienced such a situation, so Yeom Hee-soo opened her eyes with an irritated expression.

“What on earth?”

Thinking that she should ask the innkeeper, she sat up.

The moment she touched the bed, she felt a damp sensation.

Startled, she looked at her hand and saw it covered in red liquid.

“Blood?”

The scent of blood pricked her nose.

Someone’s fresh blood was clearly present.

Yeom Hee-soo hastily lifted the blanket. And there, in the middle of the blood-soaked bed, she saw a long object.

“A hand?”

It was a severed forearm.

In an instant, she recognized it immediately. She knew who it belonged to.

“Wol Gwi.”

It was undoubtedly the arm of Wol Gwi, her loyal subordinate.

In that moment, Yeom Hee-soo’s face turned deathly pale.

Someone had come while she was sleeping. And they left behind Wol Gwi’s arm, of all things.

If the visitor harbored ill intentions, she would have lost her life without even putting up a fight.

There was only one being in Poyang Lake capable of such an act.

“Pyo-wol!”

Yeom Hee-soo gnawed at her red lips.

Her entire body trembled as if she had caught a chill, feeling a bone-chilling cold.

She tried hard to remain composed, but her body was honestly reacting.

It was fear.

The fear of Pyo-wol was consuming both her body and mind.

* * *

“Please, I beg you, don’t do this. I will repay the borrowed money soon, so please spare my daughter–!”

A man in his late forties knelt down and pleaded.

Before him stood a massive figure.

With sturdy legs, a robust build, and a thick waist reminiscent of a bear, Deung Chol-ung was the leader of the Blood Ant Gang.

Deung Chol-ung, with his innate strength, established the Blood Ant Gang and controlled the underworld of Lake Poyang.

By his side stood a delicate and beautiful woman.

She was the daughter of the middle-aged man.

When the middle-aged man failed to repay his loan, Deng Chol-ung took it upon himself to take away the middle-aged man’s daughter.

The middle-aged man’s daughter was renowned for her beauty in the vicinity, attracting the attention of many men. He had been deeply concerned, constantly on guard to protect his daughter. And so far, he had managed to keep his daughter safe.

The middle-aged man was a fairly successful merchant and had considerable wealth. However, his business had taken a steep decline in the past two months, and he needed a significant amount of money. That’s why he borrowed money from Deung Chol-ung. It turned into a heavy burden.

In the end, he couldn’t repay the loan, and Deung Chol-ung appeared in person. Like any other man, he desired the middle-aged man’s daughter.

“I beg you. Please leave my daughter alone.”

“Hehehe! If you wanted to protect your daughter, you should have repaid the debt.”

“If you give me a little more time, I will definitely repay it.”

“Hehe! Can you really repay your loan if I give you more time?”

“I have the ability to do so. I still have connections–!”

“Have you ever wondered why your acquaintances didn’t lend you money?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s all because of me. Your acquaintances didn’t lend you money because they were afraid of me. So, in the end, you had no choice but to borrow from me…”

“So, everything was your doing?”

“That’s right! Hehe!”

Deung Chol-ung smirked ominously and wrapped his arm around the woman’s waist.

The woman was forced to close her eyes tightly as she nestled in Deung Chol-ung’s embrace.

The strong scent of sweat and the stench of blood assaulted her sense of smell.

It was the scent of a fierce beast she had never encountered before.

A world raw and different from the peaceful world she had lived in, a world where people with animalistic desires roamed, the scent of the Jianghu.

While tightening his grip on the woman’s waist, Deung Chol-ung spoke,

“Your daughter is mine now.”

“No!”

The woman squeezed her eyes shut as her father cried out.

Both she and her father were mere prey caught in the trap set by a ferocious beast. There was no way to escape from this trap.

No matter how much money her father repaid, Deung Chol-ung would never set them free.

“Hehe!”

“I have a request.”

“Hmm?”

Deung Chol-ung opened his narrow eyes and looked at the woman.

“If I go with you willingly, will you forgive my father’s debt?”

“What?”

“You did this out of greed for me, so please forgive my father’s debt.”

“Why should I? I already have you in my grasp.”

“Because if you don’t, I’ll take my own life.”

“What?”

“Isn’t it a shame? To lose what I obtained with such difficulty without even enjoying it?”

“Hahaha!”

Deung Chol-ung burst into laughter at the woman’s threat.

This was the first time a woman had dared to threaten him on the shores of Lake Poyang, even with her own life. While he didn’t feel bad about it, he still had no desire to fulfill the woman’s wishes.

Deung Chol-ung pulled the woman’s face close to his own and said,

“If you die, your father dies too.”

“……”

“If you take your own life, I will kill your father. Slowly and as painfully as possible… I will cut off all his limbs until he can’t move, and then feed him to the wolves. I will make him feel the pain of being eaten alive. Even then, will you still take your own life?”

The woman shut her eyes tightly, unable to say a word.

She felt deep despair in the face of an opponent who remained unaffected by her threats. And she realized that there was no way to escape.

Deng Chul-ung whispered into the woman’s ear,

“If you don’t want your father to die a painful death, live on relentlessly. Hehe!”

The woman gritted her teeth and nodded.

Thick tears rolled down her cheeks.

Deung Chol-ung commanded his subordinates.

“Take her away. I will enjoy her tonight.”

“Yes!”

His subordinates took the woman away.

“No!”

The middle-aged man cried out, but it was futile. He fell to the ground, regretting his foolish choices.

Seeing him in despair, Deung Chol-ung smirked.

He had seen countless people in such a pitiful state before.

The mountain called the Blood Ant Gang, which he had created, was built on the corpses of countless people.

Trampling on others and shedding tears of blood was an everyday occurrence for him. To him, the tears of the middle-aged man and his daughter held no significance or appeal.

“Excellent!”

Deung Chol-ung laughed, revealing his yellowed teeth.

Although he was nothing compared to the mighty factions of the Jianghu, he was diligently expanding his territory.

“What a bunch of idiots! Leaving such a precious place for the sake of their dignity. Well, it’s good for me. Haha!”

He had no ambition to conquer Jianghu or become the leader of Jiangxi Province. He was satisfied with becoming the ruler of Poyang Lake. And even now, he was getting closer to his dream little by little.

It was then.

“Boss!”

His subordinate, Oh Shin-pyeong, rushed to him.

“What’s the matter?”

“We have a troublesome issue.”

“What?”

“Do you remember the visitors who came in a while ago?”

“Visitors?”

“Those ten people who barged in at once and demanded a place to hide?”

“Oh! Those annoying bastards! Why?”

“There is someone looking for them.”

“What? Who is looking for them?”

“Some assholes have been asking about their whereabouts since this morning.”

“Damn it!”

Deung Chol-ung cursed.

A worried expression appeared on his face.

A while ago, ten armed men unexpectedly visited the Blood Ant Gang. They requested cooperation from Deung Chol-ung.

It was called cooperation, but it was more like a threat.

Although Deung Chol-ung was also a skilled martial artist, he didn’t dare to confront them. They exuded a dangerous aura. That’s why he cooperated with them. And a few days later, the Hao clan’s secret branch was annihilated.

It was only after the destruction of the Hao clan that he realized that it was the work of the people he had helped hide.

No matter how much Deung Chol-ung boasted about being the ruler of Poyang Lake, he couldn’t compare to the true factions of the Jianghu. Let alone the fact that his opponent was the Hao clan.

If the Hao clan had decided to attack, the Blood Ant Gang would have been wiped out overnight. That’s why he carefully concealed the presence and existence of the visitors completely.

“Who are they? Who dares to look for them?”

“We don’t know yet.”

“Hurry up and find out their identities.”

“Yes!”

“Mobilize all our subordinates.”

“Understood.”