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| Reaper of the Drifting Moon Chapter 381 |
Type- Light Novel, Web Novel
Manhwa- N/A
Translation-MTL
At that moment, Deung Cheol-woong froze.
He couldn't move, like a mouse in front of a snake.
His throat felt completely blocked, as if he couldn't breathe without Pyo Wol's permission.
He had never felt such pressure before.
It was all because of Pyo Wol's voice.
There was no specific threat or intention to kill in it, but it still had that effect.
Deung Cheol-woong felt cold sweat running down his back. He prayed that Pyo Wol's voice was not directed at him.
Unfortunately, the heavens did not grant his wish.
Pyo Wol was looking directly at him.
Deung Cheol-woong asked cautiously,
"Are you... talking to me?"
"You're the master of the Blood Ant Chamber, right?"
"Why?"
"Because you seem to be at the centre of this situation."
For a moment, Deung Cheol-woong felt every hair on his body stand on end.
Although it was an unexpected statement, he understood what Pyo Wol was trying to say, but he tried to laugh it off.
"Ha, ha! I have no idea what you're talking about."
"So you're trying to involve Rain Mountain Manor to avoid pressure from the Je-Won merchant group?"
"..."
"You are quite cunning."
At Pyo Wol's piercing words, Deung Cheol-woong's face twisted. He instinctively knew that there was no point in denying it any longer.
"Don't I... have to live too?"
"So you did it all just to survive?"
"Isn't that what life is all about? Struggling to maintain the status quo. I'm no different. I think someone like you, Lord Pyo, would understand what I'm saying. Then..."
Deung Cheol-woong seized the opportunity and quickly ran out.
He mixed with the swordsmen of Rain Mountain Manor to escape from the Southern Heaven Pavilion, hoping that Pyo Wol would not take action.
Pyo Wol watched Deung Cheol-woong's retreating figure in silence.
Yong Ha-sang looked at Pyo Wol as if he found it strange.
"He seems like an insignificant person, what are you staring at so intently?"
"Sometimes those who go unnoticed can make the situation worse."
"Still, he's nothing more than a little mouse. You're too sensitive."
"Sometimes a mouse can make a dam burst."
"You worry too much. If it really bothers you, you could just kill him."
Yong Ha-sang spoke nonchalantly.
He couldn't understand Pyo Wol.
In his eyes, Deung Cheol-woong was really an insignificant person. There was no reason for someone with Pyo Wol's martial arts and reputation to pay attention to him.
Yong Ha-sang thought that Pyo Wol was not bold enough. However, he did not reveal his thoughts.
Nam Gung-Wol approached Pyo Wol and greeted him.
"Long time no see."
"Did you come because of the Rain Mountain Manor?"
"Yes!"
"What a waste of time."
"I know they wouldn't have posed much of a threat to you, Grandmaster Pyo. But I had no choice, as those who decided to join our side would have been uncomfortable if we had ignored them."
"You are thorough."
"Compared to the Golden Heavenly Hall, our Silver Lotus Hall lacks a lot. We're already at a disadvantage, so we have to take care of things like this for people to follow, right?"
"Are you really going to fight properly? You're still at a huge disadvantage."
"If we just sit still because we're lacking and struggling, we'll never get the chance to turn the tables."
Pyo Wol nodded at Nam Gung-Wol's words, understanding his point.
If they fell behind in the early momentum, there was a high chance that they would be utterly defeated without even putting up a real fight.
Even if their power was lacking at the moment, they had to go out with a bang.
"When Geum Woo founded the Golden Heavenly Hall, he started out like this. There were a lot of things missing back then, too. But he succeeded. I think we can do it too."
"Hmm!"
Pyo Wol felt that Nam Gung-Wol was a much greater figure than he had thought. He knew he was an outstanding talent, but he hadn't expected him to be so generous and far-sighted.
He has the qualities of a hero.
Just by organising the Silver Lotus Hall with Yong Ha-sang as its leader, it was clear how amazing he was.
At that moment,
"Long time no see, big brother Nam Gung!"
Yoo Soo-hwan's voice came from behind Pyo Wol.
As soon as they confirmed his appearance, Yong Ha-sang and Nam Gung-Wol opened their eyes wide.
"No way, who is that? Isn't it Brother Yoo?"
"How did Brother Yoo...?"
Yong Ha-sang and Nam Gung-Wol looked at Yoo Soo-hwan in surprise.
Since they belonged to the Three Factions, they were familiar with each other.
Nam Gung-Wol asked,
"No, why have you become so skinny? What on earth happened?"
"There was an incident. If it wasn't for Grandmaster Pyo, I wouldn't have been able to see you both alive like this.
"It seems we have a lot to talk about."
Nam Gung-Wol sat down next to Yoo Soo-hwan.
They had come here for various reasons, but when they saw Yoo Soo-hwan's emaciated appearance, such calculations disappeared from their minds.
Yong Ha-sang and Yeom Hee-soo also sensed that the situation had taken an unusual turn.
The Yoo Soo-hwan they knew was a warrior who hid a strong will behind his softness.
The fact that he appeared so emaciated was itself proof that something had changed.
Yong Ha-sang got straight to the point.
"What happened?"
"I was imprisoned in a place called the unreturnable prison."
"The unreturnable prison?"
"A kind of prison. Once trapped, you can never escape."
"Is there such a place in Kangho?"
"I didn't know about it before I was imprisoned. Only after I was trapped did I realize that such a terrible place existed. I would still be barely breathing in a state worse than a beast if it weren't for Grandmaster Pyo."
"Huh! Hard to believe."
Yong Ha-sang had a skeptical look on his face. But he knew better. Yoo Su-hwan was not a person who would lie.
The three of them listened carefully to Yoo Su-hwan's story.
Pyo Wol quietly left the inn.
＊＊＊
The place Pyo Wol went to after leaving the inn was the Je-won merchant group.
The Je-won merchants' group he saw after a month had changed a lot.
The biggest change was the security.
Numerous guards were stationed at the main gate, and there were also guards on the walls.
When an unknown person approached, the guards at the main gate became tense.
"Stop!"
"Hold On!"
At that moment, someone appeared among the guards.
He was the chief of the Je-won merchant group.
The chief quickly approached Pyo Wol and greeted him.
"I am honored to meet you, Grandmaster Pyo. I have heard that you have returned."
"It seems that the situation is not good."
"Yes! Not only the ships, but also the convoys on land have been attacked. Now all the leaders of the Je-won Merchant Group have gathered to discuss countermeasures."
No one could have predicted that the situation would deteriorate so quickly.
The most worrying thing was that every move the Je-won merchants made was being monitored by someone.
"It must be the problem with the Blood Ant Chamber."
"We think so too. Those rats are causing a lot of damage."
The chief's face was filled with anger.
The current situation of being at the mercy of the Blood Ant Chamber infuriated him and the warriors of the Je-won merchant group.
They wanted to beat them up immediately, but Deung Cheol-woong used Rain Mountain Manor as a shield and hid in the shadows.
He also cleverly moved his residence from day to day. The Je-won merchant group was helpless, unable to find out Deung Cheol-woong's whereabouts.
"Let me take you inside first. Please come in."
"Alright!"
The chief led Pyo Wol into the empty guest room of the Je-won group of merchants.
The guest room for entertaining guests was extremely luxurious.
It was made as luxurious as possible to show the wealth and power of the Je-won merchant group to outside guests.
Pyo Wol sat on the seat led by the chief and waited for the wind to blow. But someone came before him.
An old woman with deep wrinkles all over her face.
It was Noh Tae-tae, the real owner of the Je-won merchant group.
She smiled and said, "I heard you came back. It's true."
"Weren't you at Sea Cliff Manor?"
"I brought my son and grandson here because they were in danger. I didn't want to worry my children, so I came here."
Noh Tae-tae smiled brightly.
Although she was over a hundred years old, her eyes were still clear and deep. She looked at Pyo Wol with a warm gaze, as if she was looking at her own grandchild.
Pyo Wol found such a look very strange.
So far, the looks of the people he had met were mostly the same.
They looked at him with eyes filled with fear or discomfort and were on guard. Of course, there were some who weren't like that, but they didn't show any friendly feelings towards him either.
But Noh Tae-tae was different.
From the first time she saw him, she looked at him with such warm eyes. It was heavy, but not unpleasant.
"You did well."
"Hehe! It's true, isn't it? When the old stubborn ones get in the way, the young ones suffer."
"Wise."
"Hearing such words from the Reaper, it feels good for no reason. Hehe!"
Noh Tae-tae laughed heartily.
She seemed really happy.
It was rather embarrassing for him to see an old person who had lived much longer than him react like that.
Then the door opened and Jo Seolpung entered.
He looked a little surprised when he saw Noh Tae-tae.
"Oh, great-grandmother, you were here?"
"I was just talking to him before you came. Actually, I was bothering him."
"Haha! Great-grandmother too..."
Jo Seolpung laughed at Noh Tae-tae's teasing.
She grabbed Pyo Wol's hand with her wrinkled hands and said,
"Now that you're here, I should get up. Please take care of our Seolpung."
"..."
"He is full of energy, so he might make mistakes and misjudge. But please be generous and guide him well.
Noh Tae-tae squeezed his hand one last time before leaving her seat.
Jo Seolpung sat down in her place and said,
"Don't worry too much about what great-grandmother said. It's just a formality that she says out of affection for her great-grandson."
"Did the meeting go well?"
"Hoo! How could it? Opinions are divided."
"Really?"
"Because of the size of the organization, there are many people who take responsibility. From the leaders who go on the journey themselves, to the guards, ship captains, and numerous others who gather for the meeting, it's difficult to gather opinions easily."
Even though Jo Seolpung's grandfather was the leader of the organization, he couldn't make decisions unilaterally.
It was his responsibility to gather everyone's opinions and make the most rational decision.
It seemed frustrating, but they had no choice but to be cautious because so many people's livelihoods were at stake.
Jo Seolpung, who had attended the long meeting, was exhausted. When he heard that he had arrived, he quickly asked his grandfather for permission to leave.
"Did you solve the problem you wanted to solve?"
"Roughly..."
"But you don't look refreshed."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
Jo Seolpung laughed and answered.
He thought it might be true.
He destroyed the prison, but the connection to Guryongsalmak was gone.
By the time Pyo Wol, Yoo Soo Hwan and the others got out, Guryongsalmak had erased all traces and disappeared.
There was no evidence left of their existence, as the unreturnable prison had also been destroyed.
The only witnesses to their existence were the men who had been imprisoned in the Unreturnable Prison, but they had all returned to their factions.
Even if they did testify, it was uncertain whether people would believe them, as they had long since been erased from their factions.
The only trustworthy people at the moment were Hong Yushin and So Geoksan.
Hong Yushin was the chief inspector of the Hao clan.
He himself had been imprisoned in the Unreturnable prison, so he had no choice but to be certain of Guryongsalmak's existence.
The reason Hong Yushin rushed back to the Hao Clan was to check the information he had overlooked in the first place.
The amount of information received by the Hao clan headquarters each day was more than a carload. If accumulated for a year, it would fill a huge warehouse.
In the Hao Clan headquarters, there was a record that summarized and stored the incoming information.
Hong Yushin wanted to see if there were any missing parts in the reports so far.
If Hong Yushin looked into the information, So Geoksan would be the one directly responsible for the pursuit.
He had lost everything at Guryongsalmak.
It was only natural that his resentment would reach to the heavens. That's why he set out to find Guryongsalmak himself.
"I will definitely find it.
These were the words So Geoksan said just before he left Pyo Wol.
So Geoksan returned to the life of an assassin raised in the underground cave.
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