Reaper of the Drifting Moon

Although Bo-kyeong couldn’t see the man’s face because he covered his face with a scarf, he could tell that he was the man Wu Jang-rak had just talked about.

Pyo-wol.

For some reason, Wu Jang-rak was reluctant to talk about him. He roughly evaded the question regarding Pyo-wol’s identity by simply saying that he had a very close relationship with the Snow Cloud Villa leader Yu Gi-cheon, so Wu Jang-rak needed to get his permission.

However, Bo-kyeong did not completely believe Wu Jang-rak’s words.

Bo-kyeong noticed the fear reflected in Wu Jang-rak’s eyes whenever he mentioned the name Pyo-wol.

Bo-kyeong looked at Wu Jang-rak for a while, but he didn’t seem like the type of person who could be easily intimidated by others.

A man who is polite but not cowardly. And a person who seems gentle but is actually strong.

That was how Bo-kyeong saw Wu Jang-rak. So he was curious about the man that Wu Jang-rak feared. It was for the same reason that Bo-kyeong came out.

The moment he saw Pyo-wol, Bo-kyeong felt a chill run down his spine.

The cold wind seemed to be scratching his chest, as if he had climbed the peak of a mountain in the middle of winter.

He had never felt this way from any of the other monks at Shaolin Temple. Even from Woon Seong or Seongam whom he admires the most.

Woon Seong was a monk right below Un-ji, the sect leader of Shaolin Temple. He was a warrior called the First Book of Shaolin.

Seongam was a third-generation disciple who mastered a certain type of martial arts so destructive to the extent that he was nicknamed Crazy Buddha.1

Bo-kyeong learned martial arts from them. But even with the prowess of those two, he didn’t get the same dangerous feeling he got from Pyo-wol.

Bo-kyeong cautiously approached Pyo-wol. Wu Jang-rak then introduced him to Pyo-wol.

“This is Bo-kyeong, a Buddhist monk from the Shaolin Temple. In Henan, he is so great that he is known for his Ten Invincible Steps.”

“Namu Amida Butsu Buddha! I am Bo-kyeong of the Shaolin Temple. I heard the name of Lord Pyo-wol from Lord Wu. It is an honor to meet you like this.”

Bo-kyeong greeted him.

Pyo-wol stared blankly at Bo-kyeong, then after a while, he opened his mouth,

“I’m Pyo-wol.”

“It’s nice to meet you. Lord Wu has something valuable to bring to the main sect, so I have no choice but to accompany him. I’m asking for your understanding since your schedule may be a little bit delayed.”

“Do whatever you feel like.”

“You’ll allow it?”

“They don’t need my permission. I’m in the position of riding on them.”

The reason he accompanied Wu Jang-rak in the first place was because he was not familiar with the situation in Jianghu.

On the way to this place, he had a rough understanding of how Jianghu worked. So he would no longer have a problem going to Tianzongshan Mountain even after parting with Wu Jang-rak and his party.

Bo-kyeong once again expressed his gratitude,

“Thank you for your understanding.”

“The birthday party of the Wudang sect’s leader is a pretty big event, right?”

“Because it’s not common. Many people will come thinking they can receive some help once they get acquainted with the Wudang sect on this occasion.”

“Does the Shaolin Temple also want help from the Wudang sect?”

“No way. We’ve never asked for one-sided help from the Wudang sect. We’re just mutually helping each other.”

Bo-kyeong’s voice was full of confidence.

Although their sect lost a bit of prestige due to Lee Gwak, many people still thought of the Shaolin Temple as the leader of Jianghu. The Shaolin Temple was armed with more pride than the Wudang sect.

Bo-kyeong was also armed with pride.

“Lord Pyo, what do you think of going to Mount Wudang with us? It’s the first event in decades, so the Wudang sect paid a lot of attention to this event. There’s probably a lot to see.”

“Hmm…”

“If you ever want to go up, you can tell me by tomorrow morning.”

“I will.”

Pyo-wol nodded and went past Bo-kyeong.

Anyone can see that he didn’t care too much about Bo-kyeong.

Bo-kyeong looked a little flustered. It was the first time he had been treated like this. Everyone he met had shown great interest in him whenever he came out of the Shaolin Temple.

Even those who he had no ties with, they tried to find something to talk about and get to know him even a little bit.

Bo-kyeong had often thought that the attitude of people like that was burdensome and annoying. However, when he saw Pyo-wol, who seemed to have no interest in him, he felt a bit sad.

Soma followed Pyo-wol.

The moment Soma passed by, he felt strange.

For some reason, he felt a bit sick to his stomach. But he didn’t know what his nauseous feeling meant.

The two quickly disappeared from his sight.

Bo-kyeong asked Wu Jang-rak with a puzzled expression.

“Who are they?”

There are four sacred mountains of Taoism.

Mount Qiyun in Anhui.

Mount Qingcheng in Sichuan.

Mount Longhu in Jiangxi.

And lastly, Wudang Mountain.

The famous mountain of Taoism, which consists of twenty-seven peaks, thirty-six cliffs, and twenty-four valleys, exudes the spirit of Taoism. It has the ability to make a person’s heart feel refreshed just by looking at it.

Before society was properly established, there was a time when all sorts of evil things threw the world into chaos.

At that time, the one who led the warriors to wipe out all of the evil was Xuanwu.2

The Wudang sect is a Taoist sect that believed in Xuanwu. They boasted tremendous majesty that overwhelmed the other Taoist sects.

In the case of Mount Hua, the taoist buildings were scattered throughout because the mountain was so steep, but in the case of Mount Wudang, most of the buildings were concentrated on the peak of the mountain.

Because of that, it seemed especially grand.

Anyone who first joined the Wudang sect would be overwhelmed by its majesty.

At the time of the Battle of the Blood Heaven,3 the Wudang sect suffered great damage. The war had collapsed and burned the sect, thus shaking its foundation.

However, they reemerged and achieved prosperity again recently. But until they did, the blood and sweat shed by the Wudang sect taoists was immeasurable.

Discipline made the Wudang sect’s masters frustrated. But overcoming the ordeal gave them great pride. They consider that the greatest asset they have is the confidence that they could rise again in any hopeless situation.

The Wudang sect was busy preparing for the upcoming birthday party of their sect leader.

Chongjin did not want to celebrate his birthday in a grand way, but the elders of the Wudang sect wanted to use his birthday to let the world know about the power of the Wudang sect.

For that reason, preparations for a grand banquet were in full swing regardless of their leader’s will.

The chefs, in charge of the Wudang sect taoists’ meals, were all busy preparing food.

It already took them a whole day just to prepare meals for the Wudang sect taoists, but now they also had to prepare meals for the visitors.

The third-generation disciples tried to assist them, but they were not fast enough. In the end, they had to pay a lot of money to call people with excellent cooking skills among the people living below the mountain.

The kitchen was buzzing as numerous chefs stayed in front of each stove to cook food. The still young third-generation disciples were busy carrying food while watching the chefs.

Lee So-yeol was one of those third-generation disciples.

He, who had yet to be given a name since he just recently entered Wudang Mountain, was put into the kitchen as an assistant and was sweating profusely.

Although he is only 10 years old, Lee So-yeol received love from his masters because of his quick-wittedness.

At that time, one of the chefs called for Lee So-yeol.

“Taoist So-yeol!”

“I’m not a taoist yet.”

“But you’re going to be a taoist soon, aren’t you?”

“Still, please just call me by name.”

The chef looked at Lee So-yeol, who was blushing with embarrassment, as if he was cute. Because he felt like his own son.

He handed Lee So-yeol a tray of the food he had just made.

“Taoist Woo-sung is on duty today. Bring this food to him.”

Woo-sung was one of the first generation disciples of the Wudang sect. His responsibility is managing the Scripture Pavilion.

The Scripture Pavilion was a place where important books of the Wudang sect were stored. It was similar to the Scripture Pavilion of the Shaolin Temple, but in their case, it’s the Wudang sect’s martial arts that were stored.

Because of that, the vigilance was particularly strict, and people like Lee So-yeol, who had yet to climb the ranks among the taoists, couldn’t even dare to approach.

If it wasn’t for this kind of work, there would never have been a chance for Lee So-yeol to bring food to the Scripture Pavilion.

Lee Sa-yeol walked across the Wudang sect with quick steps. There was a fairly large tray in both of his hands, but it didn’t shake at all.

When he became a third-generation disciple of the Wudang sect, the first thing he learned was Taichi Qigong5 and Tiger Steps.6

Taichi Qigong was a basic skill for a disciple of the Wudang sect. It involves learning how to internalize energy by holding a large ball with both hands. While the Tiger Steps literally means to walk like a tiger. It was the foundation of the Wudang sect’s footwork.

The Wudang sect decides whether to accept the third-generation disciple as an official disciple or not after seeing their achievement in executing the Taichi Qigong. Those who did not have ample progress in the Taichi Qigong could never become a formal disciple of the Wudang sect.

Fortunately, Lee So-yeol was quite talented in martial arts.

He properly learned Taichi Qigong and his progress in Tiger Steps was not bad. Thanks to this, even when holding a tray full of food, he was able to move lightly without shaking.

The road to Scripture Pavilion was unfamiliar to Lee So-yeol.

This is because it is a place belonging to the Wudang sect second-generation disciple, so there was little chance for Lee So-yeol to enter.

The Scripture Pavilion was filled with scriptures collected by the Wudang sect. It is smaller in scale than the Scripture Pavilion of Shaolin Temple, but it is not far behind in terms of importance.

For that reason, the Wudang sect paid special attention to the security of the Scripture Pavilion.

Lee So-yeol, who was only a third generation disciple, usually could not go in and out of the Scripture Pavilion. But he has a chance to do so because of his current errand.

Lee So-yeol bowed his head to the masters guarding the entrance of the Scripture Pavilion.

“Hello.”

“Oh! It’s So-yeol. Is that food?”

“Yes! I was told to bring this to the Scripture Pavilion.”

“Really? But senior brother Woo-sung is away right now.”

The taoist looked perplexed. His name was Tae-sang, a second-generation disciple of the Wudang sect. Woo-sung, who is incharge of the Scripture Pavilion, was his senior brother.

At Tae-sang’s words, Lee So-yeol cried,

“Then what should I do? Should I come back later?”

“There’s no need to do that. You can go inside the Scripture Pavilion, leave the food on the table and then come out.”

“Is that okay?”

“He’s been away for a while because the sect leader called him, but he’ll be back soon. And you’ll not be blamed for the food being cold, so don’t worry and bring it back.”

“Yes!”

Lee So-yeol put on a relieved expression at Tae-sang’s detailed explanation. After bowing his head to Tae-sang and thanking him, Lee Soyeol entered the Scripture Pavilion.

It was quiet inside the Scripture Pavilion.

During the day, quite a few Taoists come in and immerse themselves in books, but there’s none at night. This is because there are so many books that are easily combustible that the use of lanterns in Scripture Pavilion is strictly prohibited.

No fire is permitted except for the minimum amount of lanterns to light up the darkness.

Lee So-yeol waited for a while for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, then went inside carefully.

The place where Woo-sung was located was at the entrance of the Scripture Pavilion. It was an area in the Scripture Pavilion where it was bright. There he would watch with tiger eyes to make sure that the Wudang sect Taoists did not damage important scriptures.

Lee So-yeol set down the food he had brought to the seat of Woo-sung and looked around the inside of the Scripture Pavilion carefully.

“Wow!”

An exclamation burst out of his mouth.

In order to enter Scripture Pavilion, a disciple needs to be at least a second generation or higher. So until then, he had to train while learning the martial arts taught by his senior brothers.

“Someday I will…”

Lee So-yeol dreamed of becoming an official disciple of the Wudang sect and going to Scripture Pavilion with confidence.

It was then.

“Hm?”

In Lee So-yeol’s field of vision, he saw something wriggling in the corner of Scripture Pavilion.

‘What is that?’

At first, Lee So-yeol thought he was seeing something wrong. So, he closed his eyes several times.

He rubbed his eyes with his small hands.

His eyes weren’t mistaken nor did he see an illusion.

Something was moving in the corner of the Scripture Pavilion.

‘I thought there’s no one inside the Scripture Pavilion?’

Lee So-yeol unwittingly walked towards it.

After walking more than ten steps, he realized that what he saw was a human figure covered in black.

“Ah!”

Lee So-yeol made a noise involuntarily.

At that moment, the unknown figure, who had been searching for the Scripture Pavilion while wearing black clothing, looked back.

He and Lee So-yeol’s eyes met head-on.

At that moment, a sigh escaped from the person’s mouth who was wearing black cloth.

“Ha!”

SoundlessWind21’s Notes

Thank you for reading~

Crazy Buddha. Raws: Gwangbul, 광불(狂佛). 狂 insane, mad; violent; wild 佛 Buddha; of Buddhism; merciful person; Buddhist image Xuanwu. Raws: 진무대제(真武大帝). Xuanwu, also known as Emperor Zhenwu is a powerful deity in Chinese religion, one of the higher-ranking deities in Taoism. Battle of the Blood Heaven. Raws: 혈천대전(血天大戦). 血 blood 天 sky, heaven, god, celestial 大 big, great, vast, large, high 戦 war, fighting, battle Scripture Pavilion. Raws: Janggyeonggak, 장경각을. a Buddhist temple to store books or woodblocks containing the scriptures of Confucianism and Buddhism. Taichi Qigong. Raws: Taegeukgugong, 태극구공(太極球功). 太 very, too, much; big; extreme 極 extreme, utmost, furthest, final 球 ball, sphere, globe; round 功 achievement, merit, good result Tiger Steps. Raws: Hojongbo, 호종보(虎縦步). 虎 tiger; brave, fierce; surname 縦 indulge in, give free reign to 步 step, pace; walk, stroll