Reaper of the Drifting Moon

“How dare you!”

Jang Hamun roared angrily.

Although he was currently working more like a merchant than a martial artist, he was still an exceptional warrior to be reckoned with.

Jang Hamun himself prided himself on being the best martial artist in Haimen.

He swiftly swung his sword toward the approaching attackers.

Clang!

His sword energy scattered, unleashing a powerful sword strike.

The leading attacker staggered from the impact. He had to withstand the full force of Jang Hamun’s sword strike.

He felt his wrist shatter and searing pain as if his internal organs were being crushed, but even then, he gritted his teeth and endured the pain.

As he was busy enduring the pain, his comrades on his left and right sprang forward, attacking Jang Hamun.

Cla-cla-clang!

“These bastards!”

Jang Hamun swung his sword wildly, blocking the combined assault of the attackers.

Their coordinated attacks were sharp and efficient.

They didn’t waste a single move.

Their gazes, gestures, and breathing all had meaning.

But Jang Hamun failed to grasp this fact.

It had been a long time since he personally fought with a sword. As a result, his sense of real combat had dulled.

He remembered the words of his master who said that the moment he gets rusty then his life as a martial artist would come to an end.

At that time, he brushed it off as a joke. But now that he found himself in that situation, he realized how careless and complacent he had been.

His martial arts skills were undoubtedly superior. Yet, he couldn’t overpower his opponents and was instead being pushed back.

His thick belly fat was adversely affecting his movements and breathing, and as a result, he couldn’t unleash his full power.

The same was true for Jang Hamun’s attendant, Woo Gunchang.

Woo Gunchang, too, was once a formidable martial artist, but he had neglected his martial arts in favor of his duties as an attendant.

Now, the price he had to pay was severe.

Cla-cla-clang!

“Argh!”

Under the relentless assault of his opponent, Woo Gunchang was continuously pushed back.

He was barely blocking his opponent’s attacks, so if things continued on like this, then he couldn’t avoid being seriously injured.

‘Where did these people come from–?’

In the face of extreme crisis, the corners of Woo Gunchang’s eyes trembled.

“Keugh!”

“Keuk!”

The members of the Sea Dragon Sect fell one by one, desperately screaming.

Although the forces of their sect far outnumbered the enemy, they could not stand and fight against them for more than a few seconds before collapsing.

It was as if they were being swept away by a tidal wave.

Jin Yoo-gun’s men were experts in surviving on the battlefield.

They knew from experience how to efficiently break through the front lines.

Except for martial arts masters like Jang Hamun and Woo Gunchang, they never engaged an opponent for long.

They constantly switched positions to disorient their opponents, and in the process, they pounced and exploited any weakness that appeared like venomous snakes.

In the blink of an eye, the Sea Dragon Sect’s battle formation collapsed.

Taking advantage of the gap, Jin Yoo-gun ran and shouted,

“Let’s go!”

As soon as he barked the order, his subordinates sprinted with all their might.

Even the martial artists who had been desperately clinging to Jang Hamun and Woo Gunchang swiftly turned their backs and fled without hesitation.

They disappeared beyond the walls of the Sea Dragon Sect in an instant.

“Huh?”

Jang Hamun stood there dumbfounded, his mouth agape, staring in the direction where the intruders have vanished.

He would normally have pursued them.

After all, he needs to have them punished for having caused such chaos in Sea Dragon Sect. That way, he could restore his sect’s shaken authority.

But Jang Hamun couldn’t gather the courage to do so.

He had experienced the strength of his opponents firsthand, and he realized how rusty his own body had become.

He was no longer the invincible martial artist he once was.

“Ha…”

His sighs scattered in the wind.

* * *

After breaking through the Sea Dragon Sect’s defenses, Jin Yoo-gun and his men raced through the streets at a terrifying speed.

They were no longer concerned about the people’s gaze. They have to take this time and opportunity to escape from Haimen with all their might.

However, their sprint was blocked by a man who suddenly appeared in front of them.

“My lord!”

A man suddenly appeared in front of them.

It was Doyeop, who had been sent to find Hwa-pyung.

Jin Yoo-gun’s expression stiffened at Doyeop’s appearance.

For some reason, he was getting a bad feeling about this.

“Doyeop!”

“I am being pursued right now.”

“Pursued?”

“The ones who killed Hwa-pyung are chasing me, and their martial arts are formidable.”

“They’re on your trail?”

“Yes! And they are no ordinary men!”

Doyeop replied urgently.

His expression and voice were unusually anxious.

It was rare for Doyeop to show this much emotion, which meant that his pursuers were no ordinary martial artists.

“I’ll hear your explanation later. For now, we retreat.”

“Yes!”

Jin Yoo-gun quickly made a decision.

In such a situation, swift decision-making was an essential quality for a leader.

Jin Yoo-gun led his men and raced through a different path, deviating from their original route, in an attempt to shake off the pursuers tracking Doyeop.

However, his efforts ended in failure.

“These bastards!”

They suddenly heard a roar and an old man with a yellow beard appeared.

The old man was none other than Tarha.

Tarha’s gaze fell upon the blade pinned around Jin Yoo-gun’s waist.

At that moment, flames seemed to come out of Tarha’s eyes.

“So, it’s you guys.”

Kwaang!

A surge of energy exploded through Tarha’s entire body like an active volcano.

The blade around Jin Yoo-gun’s waist was undoubtedly the Demonic Soul Blade, the treasured artifact of the Mara Sect.

“You dare to steal the treasure of our sect! I will never forgive you!”

Tarha shot a powerful strike toward Jin Yoo-gun.

Immediately, martial artists leaped out from both sides of Jin Yoo-gun to block Tarha’s attack.

Like always, they proceed to defend themselves from their opponent’s attack with coordinated strikes. It was this method that had never failed them before.

Unfortunately, this time their method didn’t work.

Kwang!

“Argh!”

“Keung!”

The two martial artists who had stood in front of Tarha’s strike were sent flying in a pool of blood. The clear murderous energy emanating from Tarha’s two fists was undoubtedly superior.

The sinister, crimson energy wrapped around Tarha’s hands was called Fist Aura.1

“Hand over the Demonic Soul Blade!”

Tarha charged at Jin Yoo-gun.

His target was the Demonic Soul Blade at Jin Yoo-gun’s waist.

Nothing else mattered to him.

“Hmp!”

Jin Yoo-gun dodged, thinking that Tarha was like an angry boar.

It would be foolish to face the explosively angry Tarha in this place.

There was a chance that Jang Hamun will regain his composure and chase after them together with his followers. They needed to leave this place before then.

“It can’t be helped.”

Jin Yoo-gun’s eyes turned cold as he looked at Tarha.

He initially wanted to escape without confronting anyone, but it was already too late for that. Now that they had crossed the line, he had to proceed with the second-best option.

And that was to quickly deal with the opponent in front of him as quickly as possible and escape.

Jin Yoo-gun launched himself at Tarha, then quickly pulled out the sword at his waist.

Clang!

Jin Yoo-gun’s sword collided with Tarha’s fist.

Tarha intended to shatter Jin Yoo-gun’s sword in one strike and deliver a blow of his own, but to his surprise, Jin Yoo-gun’s sword remained intact even when meeting Tarha’s fist aura.

Jin Yoo-gun’s sword might have swayed like a willow branch but it soon regained its original form.

“What a strange sword.”2

Tarha was greatly surprised.

If a sword could withstand a direct collision with his fist aura without breaking, it was undoubtedly an exceptional item.

There weren’t many such things in the world.

Tarha didn’t think that a seemingly ordinary sword would actually turn out to be a rare masterpiece.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Jin Yoo-gun’s sword swung elegantly, stabbing into Tarha’s entire body.

Bloodline Flowing Sword Technique.2

It was an unknown martial arts technique in Jianghu.

Only Jin Yoo-gun had mastered such practical swordsmanship3 in the world.

“Impressive!”

Tarha couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

Tarha wasn’t usually the type of person who would be fascinated by an opponent’s martial arts. Yet, Jin Yoo-gun’s swordsmanship was so impressive that Tarha couldn’t help but utter words of admiration.

Since their first clash, Jin Yoo-gun had been extremely careful not to clash with Tarha’s fist aura. Plus, Jin Yoo-gun only aimed at Tarha’s vital points.

Jin Yoo-gun’s swordsmanship was so fierce and vicious that even Tarha couldn’t afford to underestimate it and flinched.

However, that was only temporary as Tarha immediately unleashed the full power of his Asura’s Golden Emperor Fist.4

Crackle!

Thunderous roars reverberated through the dry sky. And soon, a blood-red colored energy burst forth like lightning toward Jin Yoo-gun.

After, Jin Yoo-gun narrowly avoided all of Tarha’s energy attacks, he suddenly darted forward.

“You bastard!”

Tarha’s eyes widened.

Swish!

Jin Yoo-gun’s sword grazed Tarha’s forearm as it passed by.

The wound wasn’t very deep. However, the fact that blood manage to trickle down his skin startled Tarha.

His body, tempered by his Asura’s Golden Emperor Fist technique, was as tough as iron.

Jin Yoo-gun was also equally surprised.

His sword was so sharp that there was hardly anything it couldn’t cut. Yet, it had only left a trace on Tarha’s forearm.

His opponent’s martial arts prowess had exceeded his expectations.

Jin Yoo-gun knew that the longer he dragged out the fight against this old man, the more he would be at a disadvantage.

‘This is getting difficult.’

Things were getting too twisted.

Now that Jin Yoo-gun thought about it, things had gone wrong from the moment he sneaked into the harbor of Haimen. If they hadn’t been detected by that boy, then their situation wouldn’t have gotten so out of hand.

Thinking about it made his anger surge.

Jin Yoo-gun tried to suppress his anger and assessed the situation calmly.

‘I need to discard what needs to be discarded.’

Whistle!

Jin Yoo-gun blew a long whistle, and immediately after that, his subordinates stepped in, blocking Tarha.

What Jin Yoo-gun was about to discard was the lives of his subordinates.

Although this decision would end up reducing their organization’s strength, it was an unavoidable choice.

As more than a dozen warriors teamed up against Tarha and took his place, Jin Yoo-gun immediately flee the battlefield.

The rest of his men who did not engage in a fight against Tarha followed him. One of them carried the man they had captured from the Sea Dragon Sect.

The man was unconscious with his head hanging limply on his back. Fatigue was evident on the face of the subordinate carrying the unconscious man. Nevertheless, he gritted his teeth as he followed Jin Yoo-gun.

Jin Yoo-gun hadn’t expected to suffer such heavy losses until he entered this place.

“You coward! Are you trying to flee? How despicable!”

Tarha’s enraged voice echoed through the streets.

Tarha tried to chase after Jin Yoo-gun, but each time Tarha did, Jin Yoo-gun’s subordinates would grab hold of his ankles and hinder him.

It was an unfair battle from the start.

If Tarha was a massive bear, then Jin Yoo-gun’s subordinates were nothing more than hunting dogs.

The longer they stalled, the more certain their deaths would be. Yet, they continue to fight against Tarha without a shred of fear.

They knew they couldn’t defeat Tarha, but at the very least, they could delay him by holding onto his ankles.

“These–!”

Tarha’s yellow beard trembled.

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing right now.

Every human, regardless of who they were, yearned to live.

It was one of the inherent attributes of life.

No matter how prepared a person may be for death when they are actually faced with it, they naturally couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed.

However, such fear couldn’t be seen in front of Jin Yoo-gun’s subordinates’ eyes.

It was as if the emotion of fear had been castrated.

‘Who on earth are these people?’

While Tarha was fuming, Jin Yoo-gun and his subordinates had already disappeared into the distance.

As if to take out his anger, Tarha unleashed a series of Asura’s Golden Emperor Fist at the martial artists holding his ankles.

“Argh!”

“Keurgh!”

The left-behind members of the Phantom Fleet screamed as they collapsed on the ground.

Jin Yoo-gun could clearly hear their dying screams even from a distance.

His brow twitched.

Even if he was the most single-minded person in the world, it would be impossible for him to remain aloof while listening to the screams of his subordinates.

However, the mission took precedence over their lives.

Jin Yoo-gun sprinted on, trying to maintain an impassive expression.

It didn’t take long before a harbor appeared in front of him.

Jin Yoo-gun jumped onto the fastest-looking ship among those anchored in the harbor. As soon as he stepped aboard, his subordinates raised the anchor and prepared to set sail.

“Let’s depart!”

In an instant, they left the harbor.

“Phew!”

Jin Yoo-gun let out a sigh of relief.

The tension he had been feeling had finally been released.

Maybe that’s why he failed to notice the small boat quietly following their trail.

Soundlesswind21’s notes:

Thank you for reading!

Fist Aura. Raws: 권강(拳罡). This refers to the energy or aura that surrounds and emanates from a martial artist’s fist during combat. It signifies the power and strength of their martial arts techniques. 拳 quán – fist / boxing 罡 gāng – stars of the Big Dipper that constitute the tail of the dipper Bloodline Flowing Sword Technique. Raws: 혈선유검(血線流劍). 血 xuè – blood / colloquial 線 xiàn – thread / string / wire / line 流 liú – to flow / to disseminate / to circulate or spread / to move or drift / to degenerate / to banish or send into exile / stream of water or sth resembling one / class, rate or grade 劍 jiàn – double-edged sword Practical swordsmanship. Raws: 실전검(實戰劍). 實戰 shízhàn – real combat / actual combat 劍 jiàn – double-edged sword Asura’s Golden Emperor Fist. Raws: 수라금황권(修羅金皇拳) 修羅 xiūluó – Asura 金 jīn – gold 皇 huáng – emperor 拳 quán – fist / boxing