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| Reaper of the Drifting Moon Chapter 375 |
Type- Light Novel, Web Novel
Manhwa- N/A
Translation-MTL
"Aaah!"
"We're out."
The men shouted, their voices almost screams. But their voices were quickly drowned out by the sound of the waterfall and the rain.
"Heave!"
"We finally made it. We're out."
"Ugh!"
The men fell to the ground, weeping.
They were all warriors, trapped in the unreturnable prison.
In a confined space without light or hope, where they couldn't even stretch their legs, they had waited to die.
The sight of these tough men, who had been treated worse than pigs trapped in a pen, sobbing made those who saw them solemn.
Hong Yushin looked at them with pity.
These men had been imprisoned for much longer than he had. He couldn't even begin to imagine how much despair they had endured during that time.
So he could only watch. There was no way to comfort their hearts with clumsy words.
For now, the best he could do was let them vent their frustrations and watch over them.
"Phew!"
Yoo Soo-hwan sighed and leaned against the cliff to sit down.
His complexion was ashen.
His lips were turning blue and his condition was so bad that it wouldn't be surprising if he collapsed at any moment. But he tried to catch his breath and looked at Pyo Wol.
The past month had been hellish.
The fire started by Gu Ja-hwang had not gone out and continued to burn.
At first, they waited for the fire to die out naturally after a few days, but the flames showed no signs of weakening. It was clear that if they continued like this, all the air in the underground room would be consumed by the fire.
As everyone despaired, Pyo Wol began to move, with Gwia at the forefront.
Instead of approaching the vertical cave, which was the only exit to the outside, Pyo Wol looked for another way out.
Others did not know what to do in such a situation as it was their first time, but Pyo Wol had survived in such an environment before.
More than anything else, finding a way to survive in a desperate situation was what he did best.
Being trapped in the pitch-black darkness without a single ray of light, all his senses became even more alive.
Even in the tightly sealed underground space, there was still a flow of air. This meant that there was a way for the wind to come in from the outside.
The place Pyo Wol found was the wind path.
After much effort, he found the wind path, but it was only wide enough for one person.
It was also pitch black.
It seemed possible to squeeze in, but if there was a narrower section, their bodies might get stuck and unable to move.
In a dark room with no light, the chances of dying from starvation or suffocation were high.
Even the bravest of warriors would not have the courage to jump into such an unknown space.
In fact, some of the warriors trapped in the prison refused to enter the wind path. They chose to stay in the prison and wait for the fire to die down.
Pyo Wol did not force them.
It was their choice.
Pyo Wol chose the wind path.
Without a moment's hesitation, he thrust his body into the narrow space.
The one who helped him at that time was Gwia.
Gwia was a snake who had lived in a filthy swamp. His senses were so developed that he could move freely in a swamp where he couldn't see an inch in front of him.
His keen senses were even better than Pyo Wol's.
Gwia moved ahead of Pyo Wol,
Hong Yushin and Yoo Soo-hwan followed. Then about ten men moved together. There were some who stayed behind, but there were more who took up the adventure.
The cave was terribly narrow.
The tunnel, tightly squeezed together, twisted here and there like an ant's nest.
Sometimes a narrow gap, barely big enough to fit an arm through, blocked the way forward.
Pyo Wol concentrated his energy in his hand to tear off pieces of stone or to chisel away at the rock.
The space was too narrow to swing his hand far. He could only rely on the strength of his grip and the internal energy of his hand.
It required a high degree of concentration, internal manoeuvrability and sensitivity of the hand.
Boom!
The narrow space, barely big enough to fit his wrist, shattered, revealing a much larger space, and he took a moment to breathe before moving on.
The pitch-black underground space was filled with unidentifiable insects. The people following Pyo Wol caught and ate insects to satisfy their hunger.
All they had to do was follow Pyo Wol, but Pyo Wol had to lead and clear the way, so he consumed many times more energy. Still, he never complained and silently blazed the trail.
Sometimes they climbed endlessly upwards, and sometimes they headed for an unknown underground.
Occasionally, a space large enough for all of them to gather and rest would appear, and they even encountered an incredibly vast underground lake.
The underground lake was inhabited by strange eyeless fish.
They caught the fish and barely satisfied their hunger.
The existence of a lake meant that water was flowing in from the outside. Pyo Wol decided to follow the water upstream.
Everyone followed him.
Now they trusted Pyo Wol completely.
It wasn't just because of his strong martial arts skills.
They were also impressed by his strong will and action to pioneer an unknown space.
Before they were imprisoned in the Unreturnable Prison, they were all martial artists who were well known in Kangho.
Their pride was so strong that they didn't easily acknowledge others. However, they all recognised Pyo Wol and accepted him as the leader of their group.
They trusted Pyo Wol and wandered through the pitch-black underground space without a single point of light.
They didn't know how much time had passed.
They just looked at the person in front of them and followed him. Finally, they emerged into the outside world.
"Hahaha!"
"Ugh!"
Laughing and crying, they breathed in the fresh air of the outside world.
They never knew that the pouring rain could be so welcoming.
Only then did they feel the reality of coming out into the world.
They looked at Pyo Wol.
As he came out, Pyo Wol's inhuman appearance became more apparent.
A face more beautiful than a woman's. But hidden inside was a will as strong as steel.
They had all seen and experienced Pyo Wol's will.
For a whole month, no less.
It was impossible not to respect Pyo Wol.
They all deeply admired Pyo Wol.
Yoo Soo-hwan suddenly embraced Pyo Wol and said,
"As Yoo Soo-hwan of the Martial Sword Alliance, I will serve Pyo Wol as a lifelong benefactor. I swear to jump into hellfire if Pyo Wol commands me to do so".
Startled by his sudden words, Hong Yushin looked at him.
Yoo Soo-hwan's expression and look were determined.
It wasn't just a casual remark made in the joy of escaping.
He had thought about it over and over again during the month it took to escape.
No matter how much he thought about it, the conclusion was the same.
I trust and follow this man.
He sensed that troubled times were coming.
The existence of a facility like the Unreturnable Prison was proof that the troubled times had begun.
Those imprisoned in the Unreturnable Prison were all talents highly valued by their respective factions. The fact that they couldn't accept such talents and kept them in the Unreturnable Prison was enough to cause chaos in Kangho.
The fact that such things were done in secret, unknown to the people, was a serious problem.
And there was no guarantee that such facilities or inhumane acts were only happening here.
Surely such inhumane acts were going on all over Kangho.
It was extremely rare to have someone you could follow and trust in such a chaotic world.
Yoo Soo-hwan thought that Pyo Wol was such a person.
Having already received the help that saved his life, there was no hesitation in his decision.
As Yoo Soo-hwan paved the way, other men followed, took their positions and spoke.
"I, Ji Yeon-pyung of the House of Justice, swear to follow Grandmaster Pyo with all my heart.
"Nam Soo-gon of the Golden Gate also vows to follow Grandmaster Pyo. I will gladly follow wherever Grandmaster Pyo goes, even if it's a thorny path.
"Buk Shin-hoo of the Sword Gate..."
"Mak Woo-sung of Amber Moon swears."
The men's voices cut through the sound of the rain and echoed around them.
Pyo Wol looked at the men with a slightly furrowed brow.
It was because he hadn't helped them to gain their loyalty.
That was it.
Chuk!
Geoksan put his hand on Pyo Wol's shoulder and spoke.
"Congratulations. All the poisonous beasts of Kangho have sworn allegiance to you. I will definitely keep my oath as well."
***
The Hwayeong Inn was a very old inn.
The building was old, the owners were old, and they weren't very enthusiastic about serving guests. As a result, the number of guests gradually dwindled and the inn barely survived.
Sometimes they didn't have a single guest in a day. But the old couple weren't in a hurry.
Thanks to their hard work in their youth, they had accumulated a lot of money, which made their later years comfortable.
The reason they kept the inn open wasn't to make money, but because they didn't want to let the room, filled with their blood, sweat and tears in their youth, die.
The old man muttered as he looked out the window at the pouring rain.
"It looks like we won't have any guests today either. Well, that's understandable. What kind of madman would come in this rain?"
The old man thought he should close the shop early that day.
That's when it happened.
A figure appeared through the heavy rain.
"A customer?"
And it wasn't just one or two people.
More than ten men approached the Hwayeong Inn.
The old man thought he saw something wrong and rubbed his eyes. But it wasn't a mistake.
In fact, there were more than ten men coming.
"What?"
The old man trembled.
The intense look that pierced through the rain made him shrink back.
It was like the gaze of a wolf that had been kept in a cage for a long time and had just been set free. And it wasn't just one or two wolves coming, but more than ten.
The old man felt his legs tremble.
Finally, the men came through the rain to the tavern.
They were the martial artists who had just escaped from the Unreturnable Prison.
At the head of the group was Pyo Wol.
Pyo Wol spoke to the innkeeper.
"Bring out all the food."
"What?"
"Take out all the food in the inn."
"Ah, all right."
The old man nodded quickly.
He ran into the kitchen, shouting.
"Oh no! Darling, we're in big trouble. Quick, get the food ready."
The sound of frying and cooking could be heard from the kitchen.
Pyo Wol and the men each took a seat.
"Ha! This is nice and cool."
"The air outside is definitely cleaner."
"I wouldn't mind dying right now."
The men each uttered a sentence as they sat down.
"Where on earth did they come from?
The old man trembled as he watched them from the kitchen.
The fierce atmosphere, as if starved wolves had gathered, frightened the old man.
The old man, who prided himself on having seen it all while running the inn all his life, thought he had no fear. But just the sight of those wolf-like men occupying the centre of his inn sent shivers down his spine.
The only relief was that they didn't seem to want to harm him or his wife.
"Bring him out quickly."
The innkeeper's wife brought out plates of food.
The old man served the food quickly.
As soon as the table was full, the men began to eat hastily.
They ate the food on the table with incredible speed, as if they were possessed.
Pyo Wol said to the old man.
"Keep bringing the food."
"What? But there's already so much..."
"We will eat many times that amount, so keep bringing it."
"Ah, all right."
The old man replied and hurried into the kitchen.
The sound of the innkeeper's wife being scolded could be heard, but no one present paid any attention.
Pyo Wol looked at the men.
The shortest time any of them had been imprisoned was four months, and there were others who had been imprisoned for over a year.
They had been starving for a long time.
The only food they had eaten during that time was an unidentifiable gruel. They ate it just to stay alive, and it had no taste at all.
After surviving like this, they finally got to taste human food again. The men's feelings were indescribable.
Ordinary stir-fried pork tasted heavenly.
The innkeeper's wife cooked non-stop, and the old man served the food without a break. But they couldn't keep up with the men's eating pace.
In the end, the old couple had to cook and serve until they were completely exhausted.
"I think I'll live."
"Phew!"
The men finally stopped eating when the plates piled up like a mountain on the table.
Someone said,
"Now it feels real that I'm alive."
"We should do what we have to do."
"That's right! We must show hell to those who sent us here.
These people had gone through hellish times, full of resentment and burning with anger.
Just because they had escaped from prison didn't mean that their anger had gone away. In fact, their anger grew stronger with time.
Pyo Wol and the men continued to stay at the Hwayeong Inn.
.
They ate, rested and practised martial arts. One by one, they left the Hwayeong Inn as their bodies recovered.
"Call me anytime if you need my help.
"We are brothers. If a brother calls, I'll run to the ends of hell."
"I'll come back as soon as I settle my family's affairs."
They said goodbye to Pyo Wol and left the inn.
Their directions and destinations were different.
Even though their bodies were separated, they were connected by a strong bond.
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