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| Reaper of the Drifting Moon Chapter 396 |
Type- Light Novel, Web Novel
Manhwa- N/A
Translation-MTL
"Everything really collapsed."
Eom Soso muttered, looking at the collapsed cliff.
She was at the place where the unreturnable prison, deep in the Dragon Tiger Mountain, used to be.
As the message had reported, the unreturnable prison had completely collapsed. It was covered with an enormous amount of rocks, making it impossible to escape even if there were survivors.
Ordinary people would have thought this was enough confirmation, but Eom Soso was different.
"Sea Squad."
"Yes!"
At her call, a group of warriors appeared silently.
All of them were covering their faces with masks.
Wearing demon masks with horns on their foreheads, these warriors were Sea Squad, one of the secret forces of the Martial Sword Alliance.
Their main tasks were tracking and execution.
They possessed great power.
"Search the area thoroughly, there might be secret passages."
"Understood!"
Despite being ordered to search the vast dragon tiger mountain, they followed without complaint.
That was their greatest advantage.
They had excellent abilities as hunting dogs without any doubt.
Eom Soso sat on a large rock and looked at the entrance of the unreturnable prison.
'I should have killed him then.'
If she had been given full authority, she would have killed Yoo Soo-hwan.
Yoo Soo-hwan was that much of a threatening existence.
He himself was an excellent reason.
If he decided to step forward, many people would follow him. Then, the Martial Sword Alliance would be divided into two factions fighting each other.
'I must confirm his death with my own eyes.'
She felt she could only sleep soundly after confirming Yoo Soo-hwan's corpse.
Eom Soso didn't move an inch while waiting for Sea Squad to return.
She spent her time practicing her martial arts.
She spent more than three days in front of the unreturnable prison like that.
Even Eom Soso's patience was running out.
The Sea Squad leader returned at that moment.
The leader bowed his head and spoke carefully.
"We found a suspicious space. You should come with us."
Eom Soso nodded and followed him.
The place Sea Squad leader took Eom Soso to was Yellow river, a river winding around the dragon tiger mountain.
The yellow river was adjacent to the cliffs of the dragon tiger mountain.
On rainy days, a waterfall flowed from the cliffs to the yellow river.
Eom Soso looked puzzled.
There was quite a distance between the yellow river and the unreturnable prison. However, she knew that Sea Squad wouldn't lead her here without a reason, so she followed them silently.
The Sea Squad began to climb the cliff connected to the yellow river.
The surface of the cliff was very slippery due to the moss. It was so slippery that ordinary people wouldn't dare to climb it.
However, Eom Soso and Sea Squad were far from ordinary. They could easily climb the cliff using their wall walking techniques.
A little way up the cliff, the Sea Squad leader pointed to a spot.
"Please, look here."
There was a small cave at the spot he pointed to.
It was a narrow cave, just big enough for a child to squeeze through.
Eom Soso concentrated her inner energy on her eyes and looked into the cave. But it was pitch black, and she couldn't even guess where it ended.
That's when it happened.
Someone crawled out of the cave.
Covered in dirt, it was a warrior from Sea Squad.
While the leader of the Sea Squad went to call Eom Soso, one of the Sea Squad warriors had entered the cave.
He was the smallest and fastest among the Sea Squad members. He came out and reported.
"The cave was connected to the side of the unreturnable prison. However, it collapsed in the middle, and I couldn't go any further."
"There's no evidence that it's connected to the unreturnable prison."
"That's correct. But I found this inside."
The warrior handed a piece of cloth to Eom Soso.
Eom So-so frowned.
The presence of the cloth in the cave was as good as evidence that someone had been there.
The warrior continued to speak.
"Not only that, but there are traces left in the cave that suggest several people have stayed there. Judging by the footprints and hand marks, I'd estimate there were more than ten."
"Hmm!"
Eom Soso unknowingly let out a sigh.
There was no evidence that Yoo Soo-hwan had stayed in the cave. Nor was there any certainty that the cave led to the unreturnable prison.
However, if by any chance the cave was connected to the unreturnable prison, and people had escaped through it, the problem would become serious.
If Yoo Soo-hwan were inside, it would be a disaster.
If word got out that the head of the Martial Sword Alliance, a prestigious martial arts clan, had sent someone to the unreturnable prison, a place of execution, they would not be able to avoid the criticism of Kangho. In the worst case,the Martial Sword Alliance's disciples could even refuse to accept Dokgo Hwang.
They had to prevent such a worst-case scenario.
Eom Soso asked the leader of the Sea Squad.
"Can you find out where the people who escaped from this place went?"
"Too much time has passed. All traces have been erased, making it impossible."
"If they really escaped from the unreturnable prison, they must have taken a break somewhere.
After being trapped in a harsh environment like the unreturnable prison for a long time, their bodies would be in bad shape."
"Understood. We'll search the inns in the area."
The leader of Sea Squad ordered his subordinates to search the inns nearby.
Sea Squad members scattered in all directions to search for inns.
There were quite a few inns around the Yellow River.
Many people came to see the beautiful scenery.
As a result, it took a long time to search each inn.
Eom Soso waited patiently for the Sea Squad to bring good news.
About half a day had passed.
"We found it."
One of the Sea Squad warriors rushed over.
"You found it?"
"Yes! Please follow me."
The place the warrior led Eom Soso to was an old inn called Hwayeong Inn.
The Sea Squad members guarded the entrance to the inn, and an old couple who didn't know what was going on were trembling.
"They said they had about ten guests on the day of the torrential rain."
"Is that true?"
Eom Soso interrogated the old couple following the warrior's statement.
"It's true. I remember it clearly because so many people came at once."
"What were their characteristics?"
"Excuse me?"
"There must be a reason you remember them, right?"
"Well...their eyes were very scary. They were like wolves that had been starved for a very long time. I don't know where they had been trapped for so long, but their appearance was haggard, and they were extremely thin. Oh, and they also said the outside air was good."
The old man answered, recalling his memories.
"They were extremely thin?"
"Yes! That's why they ate like famished people."
The impression was so strong that the old man still remembered their faces.
"Really thin, you say?"
"Yes! That's why they ate like starving people."
The impression was so strong that the memory of them still remained vivid.
The old man described the scene he had seen in detail.
Eom Soso's expression stiffened.
It was because the people the old man described undoubtedly had the appearance of those who had been locked up in the Unreturnable Prison for a long time.
The last person especially weighed heavily on her mind.
While the others had left as their bodies recovered, the last person had stayed for over a month and still not recovered. And his facial features matched those of Yoo Soo-hwan.
'Could it really be that he is alive?'
Eom Soso bit her lip hard.
Perhaps the person the old man was talking about was not Yoo Soo-hwan. Even so, she had to verify it first.
Eom Soso asked,
"Did you say the person who brought them was good-looking?"
"Yes! Although he was a man, he was so beautiful that I thought no ordinary woman could compare."
"A man more beautiful than a woman? Pyo Wol?"
Eom Soso's expression twisted.
If her assumption were true, it would be the worst-case scenario.
"Did they say where they were going?"
"I think I heard they were going to the wharf."
"The wharf? Where can they go by boat from there?"
"If you go down the river, you'll arrive at Poyang Lake. If you go up, you'll reach the mountains."
"Poyang Lake?"
There was no need to think further.
Eom Soso threw a coin to the old man and left the inn.
She told the Sea Squad,
"We're going to Poyang Lake."
＊＊＊
Pyo Wol looked around the old mansion.
It was built around a central courtyard. There was no separate fence, but the completely enclosed structure made it impossible to see inside from the outside.
There was even a small stable on one side of the mansion.
After putting the horse in the stable, Pyo Wol sat down in the middle of the courtyard.
The owners of this mansion were an elderly couple who had nothing to do with the martial world.
The elderly couple were greatly afraid of the recent fights among martial artists near Poyang Lake.
To avoid danger, they had sold the mansion and left Poyang Lake. The place where they bought a new house was the Je Won merchant group.
Ju Seolpung, the young master of the Je Won merchant group, provided Pyo Wol with the house at a bargain price.
Originally, Pyo Wol intended to stay at a different inn. However, all the inn owners were reluctant to accept Pyo Wol.
Although they did not refuse outright, their expressions and eyes revealed their thoughts.
They believed that if they accepted Pyo Wol as a guest, there would be trouble.
Pyo Wol didn't want to stay at an inn that rejected him. Knowing his situation, Ju Seol-pung offered her the mansion owned by the Je Won merchant group.
As the elderly couple hadn't been gone for long, the house was very clean.
Pyo Wol lay down on the wooden floor, looking at the sky.
He watched the clouds quickly passing through the square of sky visible above the courtyard.
Lying with his arms under his head, he stared at the clouds for a long time.
As he idly spent his time like this, the sun set and darkness fell.
That's when it happened.
A streak of red light entered Pyo Wol's field of vision
Boom!
The light that had risen high in the night sky exploded, creating sparks.
It was a firework.
At the sight of the firework, Pyo Wol jumped up in surprise.
It was not a typical firework.
It was mainly used as a signal.
Pyo Wol flew up onto the roof of the mansion, and the scenery of Poyang Lake and its surroundings came into view.
Boom!
In the distance, another firework went off.
As Pyo Wol expected, someone was clearly sending signals.
At that moment, another firework exploded.
The path of the fireworks exploding was in a straight line, and they were exploding at a very fast speed.
Pyo Wol had a sense that something was about to change.
Although Pyo Wol usually didn't get involved in matters that didn't concern him, this time was different.
He felt that he couldn't just let it go.
Pyo Wol continued to fly along with the ones setting off the fireworks.
He saw people running in the alleyways below.
They were unaware that Pyo Wol was watching them from above.
"That way."
"He turned north."
Although Pyo Wol was no match for them in terms of martial arts skills, their skills were exceptionally good.
If they were classified as elite members of Kangho, they would be more than capable of entering the ranks of the top martial artists.
Such people were not often mobilized.
Pyo Wol carefully observed their actions.
They were all unfamiliar faces.
Not only were their faces strange, but the energy they radiated was also foreign.
At least among the martial artists and clansmen that Pyo Wol had met in Poyang Lake, there were no such people who radiated this kind of energy.
This meant that they came from outside.
Pyo Wol landed behind one of the martial artists who was running at the rear.
Even though Pyo Wol landed right behind him, the martial artist didn't notice.
Boom!
Another firework exploded.
The eyes of the martial artists running through the alleyway turned towards the firework, and they turned into the alley where the firework had gone off.
Even the martial artist who was at the back, with Pyo Wol behind him, turned to follow his comrades.
Snap!
At that moment, a strong hand grabbed the back of the martial artist's neck.
It was Pyo Wol.
He pulled the martial artist back and pushed him against the wall.
"Ugh!"
It all happened so quickly.
The other martial artists didn't even notice that their comrade had disappeared and were already far away.
The martial artist held his neck as he got up.
"Who are you? How dare you interfere with the affairs of the Snow Flower Swords ."
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