Reaper of the Drifting Moon Chapter 264

Reaper of the Drifting Moon  Chapter 264

Pyo-Wol looked around.

Although he managed to escape the island between the canyons, he could only see the mountains everywhere.

No road or village was in sight; of course, there was no landmark either.

Finding direction was difficult since it was the first time he had ever been to this place. However, Pyo-Wol didn't panic.

He had received enough training to get bored of this type of situation.

The easiest way was to go up the river. Since he had come down the river, he would eventually come across civilization if he went up the river.

The problem was that he had to take a much longer route winding through the curves and bends of the river instead of a straight road.

It was an inefficient way, but there was no other choice.

The best option is to come across a checkpoint while walking up the river.

As Pyo-Wol walked along the river, he thought about the ghost warriors and Mok-Han-Seong.

"They were an incredibly efficient group. More dangerous than the assasins and with clearly established rules."

Even when they knew their leader, Mok-Han-Seong, would die, they withdrew without confusion and left no evidence.

In the end, all Pyo-Wol had learned was that their name was Ghost Warriors, and they had obtained something called Mahwadan from the Snow Sword Manor.

Pyo-Wol recalled the movements and martial arts of the Ghost Warriors, devising a way to deal with them efficiently.

They might not have known if he had completely eradicated them, but more than half of the people survived and escaped unharmed. They will never forget the resentment they felt towards Pyo-Wol and will seek revenge someday.

They had to prepare for that moment.

Pyowol believed the Ghost Warriors were part of the Guryong (Nine Dragons) faction.

'Guryongsalmak (九龍殺幕).'


When the Ghost Warriors unloaded the manhwadan(magic pill) from the river, they mentioned "Salmak". When you add "Guryong", it becomes "Guryongsalmak".

Pyo-Wol thought that Guryongsalmak was their true name.

They had only just discovered their name.

They still had a long way to go.

The point of contact with Guryongsalmak was Lee-Yul.

While in Snow Sword Manor, Pyo-Wol investigated Pyo-Wol in various ways.

He gathered information among the people and even killed assassins to make him uneasy.

As a result of shaking things up endlessly, even the Ghost Warriors were exposed.

Lee-Yul was an unusual person in many ways.

The time he appeared in front of Snow Sword Manor coincided with when Jin Geom Woo was tracking Guryongsalmak.

And when Jin Geom Woo sent a letter to Pyo-Wol saying he had found a clue, Snow Sword Manor returned to Yeonam.

Immediately after that, Jin Geom Woo and Won Gaying died.

Time-wise and regarding the flow of events, Lee-Yul was the most likely suspect.

We don't know Lee-Yul's true identity, but he was part of Guryongsalmak.

His mission was to eliminate Jin Geom Woo, who was tracking Guryongsalmak and eliminate the Jin family

The problem was how much weight Iryul had within Guryongsalmak.

He had to figure out whether it was the head, the torso, or the tail.

So Pyo-Wol sorted out what he had to do step by step.

It was about calmly assessing and deciding what tasks to prioritize.

As he thought about this, he suddenly came across a wooden bridge. It had been built where the river narrowed.

The appearance of the bridge was evidence that there was a path.

Pyo-Wol climbed up onto the bridge.

As he had thought, a quite spacious path extended from either side of the bridge.

Without any further thought, Pyo-Wol entered the conduit.

It was easy to figure out which way to go. He only had to choose the direction that led upstream.

Pyo-Wol walked along the path.

At sunset, he finally arrived at a small village.

Luckily, there was a shabby inn open for business in the village.

Without hesitation, Pyo-Wol went inside the inn.

"Welcome."

The cosy innkeeper greeted Pyo-Wol.

Pyo-Wol asked, "Do you have a room?"

"Of course. Shall I prepare a meal for you as well?"

"Um!"

"If you wait for a moment, I'll bring your meal. And after your meal, I'll show you to your room."

The innkeeper was very kind.

Pyo-Wol nodded and took a seat at an empty table

Since it was an inn in a small village, everything was indeed shabby.

Squeak!

At that moment, the door opened, and more guests came in.

The new guests were a man and a woman.

Their shoulders were covered in thick layers of dust as if they had travelled a long distance.

"Let's rest here tonight and have some soju!" said one of the men, looking around the inn.

"There's no other proper city around here anyway."

"Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it. Who would think there's a proper city to come across to this place? It's better to rest here than to sleep outside."

The young man who replied had sun-tanned dark brown skin, strikingly dark hair and eyebrows.

He was wearing a windbreaker made of fish leather and smelled like the sea.

Next to him, a young woman was standing quietly.

The woman had her eyes half closed, looking down at the ground. She was incredibly beautiful but seemed uninterested in the scenery outside.

Like the man, the woman also seemed to carry the scent of the sea.

The man looked around the guesthouse and spotted Pyo-Wol.

"Ah! So there is a fellow traveler here," he exclaimed.

He walked straight over to the table where Pyo-Wol was seated.

"We are fated to meet, why don't we sit together?" he asked without waiting for a response, plopping down in the chair opposite him.

When Pyo-Wol looked up, the man introduced himself with a chuckle.

"My name is Dokgo Hwang. What's yours?"

"Pyo-Wol!"

"What a nice name. Are you from around here?"

"No!"

"I see. That's too bad. Since we're both new here, I had a lot of questions I wanted to ask."

There was a hint of arrogance in Dokgo Hwang's voice.

Not only in his voice but also in his gaze and body language, there was a habit of looking down on others that were naturally ingrained in him.

Dokgo Hwang called the woman over and pointed to the seat beside him with his hand.

"Come sit here, Soso."

"I'll stand behind. It's more comfortable for me."

"You're making me uncomfortable. You can leave the guarding to the three Swordsmen of Namhae(South Sea) and sit next to me."  

(Note: Namhae probably means South Sea, so I might South Sea sometimes in place of Namhae to keep the context of the text)

"Okay."

In the end, the woman called Soso sat next to Dokgo Hwang.

Dokgo Hwang introduced her to Pyowol.

"Her name is Eom Soso. She's my escort."

"Escort?"

"Don't approach her carelessly just because she's beautiful. Her black thread is scary even for me sometimes."

Dokgo Hwang chuckled, and Eom Soso remained silent, gazing at Pyo Wol.

Eom Soso's pupils had light blue energy swirling around them. They were eyes that reminded one of the blue seas.

He laughed as he looked at Eom Soso.

"Hehe! Why are you interested in this friend? You wouldn't be a woman if you weren't interested in him after seeing that face."

Pyo-Wol didn't bother to put on an act, he just showed his true face.

Eom Soso denied Dokgo Hwang's words.

"That's not it."

"Hey! It's okay anyway. Even if I were a woman, I would want to hug that friend."

"Don't talk nonsense."

"Ah! Okay, I got it. Damn it! I'm so scared."

Dokgo Hwang raised both arms and exaggerated, but Eom Soso's expression remained unchanged.

He stuck out his tongue and looked at Pyo Wol.

"Tsk! It's not fun. Understand. Women from our hometown are famous for being rough."

"...."

"But where are you going? You don't seem to be from around here."

"Yeonnam."

"Yeonnam? Oh! Coincidentally, our destination is the same."

"Where is Jin-Manor and Snow Sword Manor?"

"What? Ah! Are you asking which side I'm on? I don't care about either side."

"But why are you going?"

"Isn't it the most fun to watch other people fighting and shedding blood? Also, I have some business nearby, so I'm going as a side trip."

Dokgo Hwang chuckled.

It was a rough attitude and voice.

"So why are you going to Yeonnam?"

"I know someone there."

"You must have an acquaintance. Is it Snow Sword Manor, or Jin-Manor?"

This time Dokgo Hwang asked

"Jin-Manor!"

"Ha! So, you have a connection with Jin-Manor. This is getting more interesting."

"What's so interesting about it?"

"Didn't I tell you? Watching other people fight is the best, especially when the person involved is right before you. You can watch with more interest, can't you? I Wish for Jin-Manor's victory. Hehe!"

Dokgo Hwang chuckled to himself.

It was a strange sight indeed.

Five people were in the group, but only Dokgo Hwang spoke and laughed. The others just watched him without saying a word.

Especially the three men standing behind Dokgo Hwang were completely silent, watching their surroundings cautiously.

Dokgo Hwang called them the three Swordsmen of Na.

Nicknames often contain a lot of information.

The nickname was made by combining words that best represented the person's characteristics.

It's not for no reason that they are called the three Swordsmen of Namhae.

They could make a name for themselves in Namhae.

The smell of the sea that Pyo-Wol sensed from Dokgo Hwang and Eom Sosso made his guess all the more certain.

Unusual prayers, the keyword Namhae, and a confidence that seemed to come from looking down on the world from above.

There was a place where these three things were perfectly combined.

Is it the Mu-Geom clan? (武劍聯)

The great power of namhae based in Henan Province.

A superpower that was categorized as one of the three great powers along with the "Dragon Stream Valley" and the "Thousand Kingdom School".

Eom Soso let out a soft sigh as she watched Dokgo Hwang with cold eyes.

"This man, I can't read his thoughts at all."

Eom So-so had a special ability: to read people's thoughts and emotions.

She was excellent at guessing and deducing the thoughts of others through their expressions, gestures, and small habits.

It was a special talent that stemmed from her keen observation skills, but those who didn't know her were afraid of her ability. That's why she was nicknamed "Changhae Witch" despite her beauty not matching the title.

But Eom Soso never had any complaints about it because her true nature remained unchanged, no matter what others said.

Above all, Eom Soso loved to observe others and understand their thoughts and emotions.

Having a weapon that others didn't have in the dangerous world was a huge advantage, especially if she could anticipate their moves by reading their emotions.

That's why she always tried to understand the thoughts and emotions of people she met for the first time, and it was no different when she met Pyo Wol.

She wasn't captivated by his handsome appearance but instead tried to understand his thoughts and emotions through his gestures and expressions. But she hadn't discovered anything about him yet.

All she could see was a deep darkness; she couldn't read his thoughts.

She felt like she was stumbling in the snowfield, exposed under the gaze of Pyowol, who seemed to scrutinize every aspect of her.

It was as if everything about her was being read thoroughly.

It was her first time feeling this way, and she couldn't hide her bewilderment.

That was when Dokgo Hwang patted her shoulder and said, "Relax. What are you so afraid of?"

"When did I ever get tense?"

"It looks like you're very tense."

"I've never been like that."

"Oh, I see. Let's stop staring at each other and have a meal. If you keep looking at me like that, I won't be able to eat."

Finally, Eom Soso realized her mistake.

She had been so focused on Pyo-Wol that she hadn't even noticed the generous spread of food on the table.

There were all sorts of delicious-looking dishes on the table.

Dokgo Hwang picked up a chopstick and said, "Let's see how delicious the fish from the mainland is."

He grabbed a piece of white flesh with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth.

"Well, it's edible. You should try it too. You're not a bad cook either."

Watching him eat like a glutton reminded her of a savage beast that could smell blood from hundreds of miles away.

"Is it because she was born in Yeonnam that she can smell the scent of war?"

INDEX