Reaper of the Drifting Moon

“What does that mean?”

“Because wherever Master Pyo goes, bloodshed and chaos always follow.”

“……”

“I don’t believe that you simply came here for a trip. You’re not someone who moves without a clear purpose.”

Namgung Wol looked deeply into Pyo-wol’s eyes.

Having fought together on the same side, Namgung Wol got to understand Pyo-wol more deeply.

He knew that Pyo-wol was not someone who wasted time. There was no way Pyo-wol would be traveling this far without a specific purpose.

Since Pyo-wol had stopped by at Poyang Lake, this could only mean that he had some sort of agenda here. Although Namgung Wol had no idea what it was.

That’s why meeting Pyo-wol here brought both joy and fear.

“Please be honest with me. Did you really just happen to stop by while traveling?”

“……”

“I thought so.”

“I’m looking for someone. I’ve heard that he went missing around here.”

“Who?”

“Hong Yushin.”

“Hong Yushin? Are you referring to the chief inspector of the Hao clan?”

“That’s right. He came all the way here, chasing the Heavenly Flower Variety Theater Troupe, and then went missing.”

“For the Hao clan’s chief inspector to go missing…”

Namgung Wol’s expression darkened.

Since the person that went missing was the chief inspector of the Hao clan, then he must have been a formidable individual.

“Have you found any leads?”

“I’m still searching.”

“I see. Then you may have to stay in Poyang Lake for a long time to find him.”

“I can’t guarantee that. If I find any clues, I might leave immediately.”

“Uh…”

“What are you taking so long to tell me?”

“If you do plan to stay longer, then please visit the Heavenly Guardian Association at least once.”

“Why?”

“My father showed great interest in you. He would always tell me to bring you if I get the chance.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Thank you.”

Finally, Namgung Wol’s face relaxed a bit.

At that moment, the inn servant came over with a bottle of alcohol.

As he uncorked the bottle, a strong liquor aroma flowed out.

“Ahh! This scent!”

Namgung Wol exclaimed in admiration as the inn servant poured him a glass full of liquor.

Knowing that Pyo-wol didn’t drink, Namgung Wol did not bother offering it to him and drank by himself.

“Excellent! Truly amazing!”

Namgung Wol muttered as he wiped the streaks of alcohol from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve.

His chosen side dish was the cured pork left by Pyo-wol.

Namgung Wol shoveled the meat into his mouth as if he was familiar with the taste.

It was salty and slightly sour when eaten alone, but it went very well with the alcohol he was drinking.

Just as Namgung Wol was about to take another sip of liquor,

“What are you doing over there?”

Suddenly, a cold voice came from behind him.

At the sound of the familiar voice, Namgung Wol abruptly put down his glass and stood up.

“You’re here!”

Turning around, he saw a young man wearing a sleeveless robe that revealed his well-defined shoulders.

He had disheveled hair and sharp eyes, and he wore a sleeveless black robe embroidered with dragon patterns.

His entire body radiated a powerful aura.

Namgung Wol approached the man.

“You’ve arrived, Hasang!”

“If you had arrived first, you should have waited quietly, instead of drinking here with an unfamiliar face.”

“Hehe! You’d be surprised if you know who that guy is.”

Namgung Wol pointed his finger at Pyo-wol.

At that moment, the man furrowed his eyebrows.

It was because Pyo-wol had an exceptionally handsome face that made him feel uneasy.

The man’s body tensed like a sharpened blade the moment he saw Pyo-wol.

His body instantly reacted to the sight of Pyo-wol.

A fierce light flashed in his eyes.

“Who is he?”

“Tsk! Calm down a bit. Can’t you see the people suffering from your intense aura?”

The faces of the guests inside the inn turned white from the fierce energy emitted by the young martial artist.

Some of the weaker ones had already fallen to the floor, vomiting whatever was inside their stomachs.

The energy released by the young man was indeed formidable. However, Pyo-wol’s face showed no change even when directly hit by his momentum.

‘An extraordinary master!’

The young man clenched his fist tightly.

A tremendous sense of excitement surged from the depths of his heart as he looked at Pyo-wol.

It had been a long time since he had met an opponent that excited and made his heart race this much. That’s why he was even more curious about Pyo-wol’s identity.

He turned to Namgung Wol and asked once more,

“Who is he?”

“That guy is Master Pyo-wol.”

“Pyo-wol? The Reaper?”

“That’s right! That’s what the people of Jianghu decided to call him.”

“Pfft!”

The young man let out a strange laugh.

At that moment, Namgung Wol anxiously spoke,

“No, don’t–!”

But before Namgung Wol could finish his sentence, the young man had already launched himself towards Pyo-wol.

Bang!

With a loud noise, Pyo-wol’s body crashed through the window of the inn and was flung outside.

The man had struck Pyo-wol with his fist.

However, there was no direct hit on Pyo-wol’s body. Pyo-wol had deflected the blow with the palm of his hand just before it landed.

Pyo-wol’s body descended in a long arc, making its way into Lake Poyang. Seizing this opportunity, the young man rushed towards Pyo-wol again.

Kuuuu!

The surface of the water where the young man flew over was greatly disturbed.

The man’s figure as he flew across the surface of the water looked like a black dragon wriggling.

“Wow!”

“It’s a fight between martial experts!”

The guests in the inn exclaimed at the sight.

They believed without a doubt that the young man’s fist would strike Pyo-wol’s body once again.

Indeed, the young man’s fist landed hard on Pyo-wol.

“Tsk!”

However, the expression on the man’s was not a pleasant one.

He didn’t feel any impact of his punch connecting with Pyo-wol’s body.

‘Illusion?’

Pyo-wol’s figure which he had struck with his fist disappeared in an instant.

At that moment, the man felt a strong sense of crisis and looked at a particular empty space.

Shuuu!

Pyo-wol, who used Demon Shadow Exchange to deceive the young man’s senses, suddenly appeared from thin air.

The young quickly used water flight in an attempt of evading Pyo-wol’s counterattack.

But Pyo-wol didn’t let him off easily. He unleashed his Soul-Reaping Thread with four phantom daggers hanging from the ends and aimed for the young man’s vital points.

“Chaat! Black Dragon Cannon Fire!”1

The young man hastily unfurled a technique in an attempt of saving his life.

The energy condensed in his fist pulled in water from the lake.

Boom!

In an instant, the surface of the lake exploded as a column of water shot up.

The pillar of water, combined with the man’s energy, transformed into a black dragon and flew towards Pyo-wol.

The black dragon shook off the incoming phantom daggers and even went as far as to reach Pyo-wol.

The young man was confident that his life-saving technique would hit Pyo-wol.

But his confidence was broken once again.

Kwaaaa!

Pyo-wol’s figure vanished right in front of his eyes.

Suddenly, the young man felt a chilling sensation on his back.

The man instinctively let out a cry and threw his body to evade. But he couldn’t avoid the incoming blow in time.

Thud!

“Keuh!”

He felt a powerful blow on his back. The impact was strong that his waist bent backward. The young man unintentionally let out a groan.

Luckily, none of his bones were broken, but the impact seemed to have shaken his internal organs.

The young man swallowed hard, holding back the blood rising in his throat then quickly spun around.

Black Dragon: Breaking Through Distaster.2

In an instant, a dark energy shot out.

The attack’s target was, of course, Pyo-wol.

But at the next moment, a bewildered expression crossed the young man’s face.

Pyo-wol, who he thought would definitely be behind him, was nowhere to be seen.

‘Damn it!’

The young man gritted his teeth.

Then once again, he could feel someone’s presence behind him.

Before he knew it, Pyo-wol had used water flight to move and go behind his back.

Pyo-wol’s movement and speed defied the young man’s common sense.

It didn’t make sense that someone could move and relocate at his back faster than he could spin in place. And to do so on the surface of the water.

But such a thing truly happened, and he had to prepare himself for what was to come.

“Heup!”

The young man focused his qi on his back, bracing himself for the impact.

Whoosh!

At that moment, cracking sounds erupted from his shoulders and back.

His efforts to gather energy and protect himself seemed futile as Pyo-wol’s Soul-Reaping Thread strike pierced through his back.

“Keugh!”

The man’s eyes shot open.

The wounds he received were merely the size of a needle, but the pain exceeded his imagination.

At that moment, Pyo-wol yanked the Soul-Reaping Thread.

Naturally, the young man’s body was pulled along with it.

Pyo-wol slammed his fist into the man.

Crash!

“Keurgh!”

As the man got pushed into the water, a pillar of water shot up high into the air.

Pyo-wol immediately leaped towards the shore.

The sight of Pyo-wol propelling himself from the water and flying towards the shore was incredibly graceful.

The moment Pyo-wol landed on the shore, the submerged martial artist lifted his head out of the waters.

“Eugh!”

His once initial dignified and confident appearance was nowhere to be seen, instead, he had a pathetic appearance like a mouse drowning in water.

Namgung Wol clicked his tongue at the sight.

“Tsk! I knew it would turn out this way.”

“Aargh!”

The young man roared in frustration, causing the surrounding water to surge violently as if caught in a storm.

The young man pushed himself out of the water and flew towards Pyo-wol.

He landed right in front of Pyo-wol, glaring at him as if ready to devour him.

But it didn’t take long for the young man to suddenly cupped his fist and greet,

“I’m Yong Hasang of Dragon Sky Valley. I apologize for my rudeness earlier. My competitive spirit was triggered the moment I laid eyes on Master Pyo.”

Yong Hasang’s eyes still gleamed with a strong determination.

Although he had been defeated by Pyo-wol, he didn’t attribute his loss to his lack of skill.

He believed that if they had fought on land instead of on the water, things would have been different. But a loss was a loss, so he had no choice but to treat Pyo-wol with courtesy for now.

“Dragon Sky Valley? One of the Three Clans?”

“Yes. I am Yong Hasang, the young master of Dragon Sky Valley.”

Yong Hasang’s voice was filled with pride.

The Dragon Sky Valley belonged to one of the Three Great Clans and was considered among the top prestigious sects in Jianghu. And, Yong Hasang was the young master and successor of such a sect.

His father, Yong Geomsan, is the sect leader of the Dragon Sky Valley and is known by the nickname the Iron Lord Dragon.3 Even he, himself, is also an exceptional martial artist, even earning the title of Young Lord Dragon.4

His pride was so great that he didn’t easily acknowledge others.

Among his peers, there were only a few whom he recognized, including Namgung Wol.

During his journey from the Dragon Sky Valley to Poyang Lake, the rumors he had heard the most were all about Pyo-wol.

He had heard that Pyo-wol possessed extraordinary martial art skills and a seemingly inhuman appearance, that earned him the title of the Reaper.

Yong Hasang thought that such rumors were exaggerated.

He didn’t want to admit the fact that there is a young martial artist of the same generation as him to have surpassed him by a considerable margin.

That’s why he attacked Pyo-wol as soon as he saw him.

Although he suffered a great defeat from Pyo-wol, his thoughts remained unchanged.

He believed that he had only been defeated because they were fighting in an extremely unfavorable location, which was on the surface of the water, but had they fought on solid ground, where he could step and move easily, the outcome would have been different.

That’s why he still held his head high and looked intently at Pyo-wol.

Pyo-wol stared back at Yong Hasang and said,

“You have a lot of vigor.”

“I often hear that.”

“But if you want to live a long life, you’ll have to kill some of that energy. I let you off the hook this time because of Namgung Wol, but you won’t be so lucky next time.”

“Hmph! Do you think I would be intimidated by that?”

Yong Hasang’s face lit up with even more determination.

Just then, Namgung Wol walked over to Yong Hasang’s side.

Namgung Wol bowed his head to Pyo-wol in gratitude and said,

“Thank you for saving his face. As you can see, this guy has the temper of a wild boar. He would often rush forward without considering the consequences. I never expected him to behave that way towards you, Master Pyo. I assure you that there won’t be such incidents in the future.

Yong Hasang became furious at Namgung Wol’s words.

“Who are you calling a wild boar?”

“Who else but you? It’s you who’s standing right before me.”

“Argh!”

Namgung Wol then turned to Pyo-wol,

“It seems that staying here will only disturb you, so I’ll come to you later once this fellow has calmed down.”

“Mm!”

“Then, see you. Hope you have a good time.”

Namgung Wol cupped his fist in farewell before leading Yong Hasang up to the second floor of the inn.

Even as Yong Hasang followed Namgug Wol to the second floor, Yong Hasang didn’t take his eyes off Pyo-wol.

Pyo-wol saw the immense ambition reflected in Yong Hasang’s eyes.

‘It seems that guy is also a dragon waiting for turbulent times.’

SoundlessWind21’s notes:

Thank you for reading!

Black Dragon Cannon Fire. Raws: 흑룡포화(黑龍砲火). 黑 hēi – black / dark / sinister / secret / shady / illegal 龍 lóng – dragon 砲 pào – ancient ballista for throwing heavy stones / variant of 炮, cannon 火 huǒ – fire / urgent / ammunition / fiery or flaming / internal heat Black Dragon: Breaking Through Distaster. Raws: 흑룡파겁(黑龍破劫). 黑 hēi – black / dark / sinister / secret / shady / illegal 龍 lóng – dragon 破 pò – broken / damaged / worn out / lousy / rotten / to break, split or cleave / to get rid of / to destroy / to break with / to defeat / to capture (a city etc) / to expose the truth of 劫 jié – to rob / to plunder / to seize by force / to coerce / calamity Iron Lord Dragon. Translate: 철패룡(鐵覇龍). 鐵 tiě – iron (metal) / arms / weapons / hard / strong / violent / unshakeable / determined / close / tight (slang) 覇 bà – hegemon / tyrant / lord / feudal chief / to rule by force / to usurp / (in modern advertising) master 龍 lóng – dragon Young Lord Dragon. Raws: 소패룡(小覇龍). 小 xiǎo – small / tiny / few / young 覇 bà – hegemon / tyrant / lord / feudal chief / to rule by force / to usurp / (in modern advertising) master 龍 lóng – dragon