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| Reaper of the Drifting Moon Chapter 412 |
Type- Light Novel, Web Novel
Manhwa- N/A
Translation-MTL
Pyo Wol slightly lifted the black dragon robe to check the situation inside.
Gwia was wriggling with its tail unfurled, but the inner core of the Imoogi, which Pyo Wol had been holding like a bead, was nowhere to be seen.
'Did it absorb everything?'
It was the inner core of a creature that had failed to become a dragon.
It contained an immense amount of power.
Pyo Wol thought it would take a considerable amount of time for the Gwia to absorb the entire core. However, Gwia seemed to have already perfectly absorbed it, as if to defy Pyo Wol's thoughts.
Gwia that had absorbed the core had changed significantly in appearance.
It's already red body had turned even redder. Its red scales seemed to hold an intense heat, as if they had been soaked in lava.
If the previous Gwia had been tiny enough to barely wrap around Pyo Wol's arm, it now seemed at least twice as large.
The biggest change of all was Gwia's forehead.
A small horn the size of a baby's pinky finger had grown on its forehead.
Gwia seemed fascinated by its transformation, twisting and turning its body, tickling Pyo Wol's chest.
Suddenly feeling Pyo Wol's gaze, Gwia looked up at him.
Their eyes met in midair.
Gwia's eyes were as red as its scales.
They looked like red gems embedded in its eyes.
In those red eyes, there was full trust towards Pyo Wol.
Seeing Gwia, Pyo Wol secretly smiled.
Gwia stared into Pyo Wol's eyes for a moment before curling its tail back in his embrace.
It seemed to be resting to recover its strength after having exhausted itself by absorbing the Imoogi's inner core.
"What are you doing?"
Yong Seol-ran looked at Pyo Wol, who wasn't eating the rabbit meat and was peeking into his embrace, with a curious gaze.
"It's nothing."
"Did you hide a gem there?"
"Something more precious than that."
Tl/n: Aww, why so cute
"Is there such a thing?"
As Pyo Wol silently nodded, Yong Seol-ran's curiosity surfaced. However, Pyo Wol seemed to have no intention of saying more, and started to eat the rabbit meat he was holding.
Yong Seol-ran looked at Pyo Wol with a disappointed expression.
Pyo Wol's face, illuminated by the campfire, was beautiful. Even Yong Seol-ran, a woman herself, was captivated by it.
She thought she had definitely forgotten about it, but now it reappeared and shook her heart.
The emotions she felt towards Pyo Wol were complicated.
Pyo Wol was the villain who caused the downfall of the Emei Sect, but if the situation were scrutinized, the responsibility of the Emei and the elder abbess of nine calamities was greater.
If the abbess of nine calamities hadn't been greedy, Pyo Wol might have lived a normal life instead of becoming an assassin.
It was the desire of the abbess of nine calamities and the Emei Sect that created the great assassin Pyo Wol.
Thus, Pyo Wol's revenge was justified.
The Emei Sect had been subdued, and the abbess of nine calamities lost her life.
Yong Seol-ran knew these facts and tried to understand Pyo Wol. But people's emotions are not always rational.
She was human, too.
No matter how rationally she tried to judge, resentment and guilt towards Pyo Wol would unexpectedly surface. So she couldn't properly look at Pyo Wol.
"Ah!"
Yong Seol-ran sighed and shifted her gaze.
Whoosh!
The rain continued to pour down with terrifying force.
Her already complicated emotions grew more turbulent as she watched the rain.
The rain continued until the next morning.
Yong Seol-ran spent that long night with her eyes wide open.
Pyo Wol and the ghost king, seemingly unaware of her tangled emotions, each settled in their places and fell into a deep sleep.
She wouldn't be too affected by just one sleepless night.
Although she had put down her sword for a long time, she had practiced her internal energy every day without fail. Nevertheless, the feeling of exhaustion was probably due to her complex emotions.
It was then.
As if they had a connection, Pyo Wol and the ghost king woke up almost simultaneously.
Pyo Wol reached his hand out of the cave, and rainwater trickling down the rock accumulated in his hands.
With that water, he quickly washed her face.
Yong Seol-ran followed Pyo Wol's example and washed her face with the rainwater.
The cold water made her feel refreshed.
Pyo Wol spoke.
"Let's go now."
The ground was a mess after the night-long rain.
The earth had turned into a muddy swamp, and large puddles had formed everywhere.
There were no signs of anyone passing by. Yet, Pyo Wol fearlessly followed the traces of the bandits.
Yong Seol-ran watched where Pyo Wol was looking. She didn't see anything unusual. However, it seemed that Pyo Wol saw something different.
By merely glancing at the ground, Pyo Wol determined the direction and moved on. After tracking for more than half a day, they arrived at a small clearing.
Originally, the place was full of grass that grew up to a person's waist. However, whether it had fallen due to heavy rain or wind, it was all lying flat on the ground. Pyo Wol was certain that the men had stayed here.
"They must have slept here."
The terrain was higher than other places, so it hardly gathered water. Moreover, trees were densely packed behind like a folding screen. It was an environment that could sufficiently block the wind, if not the rain.
If he had led a large group and suddenly encountered a downpour, he would have definitely slept in such a place as well.
Picking up the bent grass, he saw footprints of people and horses that hadn't been erased yet.
It was then that Yong Seol-ran realized that Pyo Wol had been precisely tracking them.
'I bet this person would chase me to the ends of hell if we were enemies.'
A frightening thought crossed her mind.
With the persistence and patience of someone like Pyo Wol possessing such terrifying tracking skills, it seemed like there would be no perfect place to hide anywhere.
"Ah!"
Yong Seol-ran unknowingly let out a sigh.
It was at that moment.
"Huh!"
Suddenly, the ghost king let out a strange, labored breath.
This had never happened before, so Yong Seol-ran was startled and looked at the ghost king.
The ghost king stood there like an old tree, shivering violently.
Yong Seol-ran hesitantly stepped back at his unusual appearance, while Pyo Wol, on the
contrary, approached The ghost king.
"What's wrong?"
"The smell..."
"Is it getting stronger?"
"Yes! It's making me... angry."
The ghost king gritted his teeth.
His ears were covered with cloth, but his anger still flared.
Tss!
The moisture beneath his feet evaporated and flew away in an instant.
It was an astonishing display of energy.
Yong Seol-ran, amazed by the ghost king's internal energy, didn't dare to approach him.
However, Pyo Wol fearlessly got close to his face and said,
"Regain your senses."
"I can't..."
"You're the ghost king, aren't you? If you've lived by taking over other people's bodies, you should have a sense of responsibility that suits it."
Pyo Wol's voice was chillingly cold.
Yong Seol-ran shuddered just by listening to their conversation from a distance.
Fortunately, Pyo Wol's words seemed to work, as the ghost king gradually calmed down.
"Phew!"
The ghost king let out a soft sigh and tightened the cloth covering his eyes and ears even more.
The ghost king said,
"I've blocked my sense of smell. However, I cannot guarantee how long I can suppress my
anger."
"Try to endure it as long as you can."
"I'll try."
With those words, the ghost king also blocked his sense of hearing.
He completely isolated his consciousness in darkness. It was an action that could only be taken if he trusted Pyo Wol completely.
Pyo Wol sensed that the ghost king couldn't hold on for much longer.
Something nearby was provoking the ghost king.
"Move."
Pyo Wol pulled the silver thread connected to the ghost king.
The ghost king moved forward, relying solely on the silver thread.
They went deeper and deeper into the forest.
The bushes were so dense that barely any light could enter even during the day.
As Yong Seol-ran doubted whether there would be a place for humans to stay in such a place, a sudden moment arrived.
"Hurry up!"
"If we're late, the hard-earned ingredients will go bad."
Suddenly, voices of people were heard from beyond the bushes.
It was Jang Sacheon and his men.
Pyo Wol had been tracking them precisely.
The three watched as the men unloaded their cargo, unaware of their presence.
"But where is this place?"
It was a dense forest in the heart of Yunnan Province.
It was known to be a place where people couldn't live due to the many poisonous insects and fierce beasts. Occasionally, there were tribes that adapted to the forest, but their numbers were not that great.
Even they lived on the outskirts of the forest, not in the heart of it. The deep forest was dangerous even for them.
Yong Seol-ran carefully observed the place where the men were.
"A ruin?"
The place where they were was also overgrown with bushes. However, there were traces of collapsed walls and foundation stones here and there. The scale was beyond imagination.
At a glance, it seemed to stretch all the way to the horizon.
It was the trace of a huge city, not a village.
"Did such a place exist in the world?"
Yong Seol-ran's forehead involuntarily furrowed.
As she searched her memory for a long time, her face gradually turned to horror.
It was because she had pulled out a piece of memory that had been buried for a long time.
"Yunnan, the forest, the city... could it be the Celestial Demon Troupe?"
Decades ago, the legendary martial arts sect that had once dyed the Kangho(Jianghu) in blood was based in Yunnan Province.
According to what she had heard from her master, the Celestial Demon Troupe had built a massive fortress deep in Yunnan Province.
The city was abandoned when the Celestial Demon Troupe invaded Kangho, and it collapsed along with their downfall. The abandoned city became ruins and was forgotten in people's memories.
"Is it really the Celestial Demon Troupe?"
Yong Seol-ran hoped that her conjecture was not true. However, the ruins of a huge city in the middle of the forest could not be explained if it wasn't the Celestial Demon Troupe.
"Could it be that the Celestial Demon Troupe is stirring again?"
The Celestial Demon Troupe was thoroughly destroyed decades ago by the joint attack of the Mad Martial Sect and the martial artists of Kangho. It was known that its life was completely cut off when Jang Cheon-Hwa, the founder of the Heavenly Martial Sect, took the life of Go Geom Wol, the lord of the Celestial Demon Troupe.
Her palms were sweaty from tension.
Yong Seol-ran cautiously looked at Pyo Wol.
Pyo Wol was also looking at the ruins. However, he didn't seem as tense as her.
"Does he not know about the Celestial Demon Troupe?"
Suddenly, she had such a thought. But it was unlikely.
She knew how obsessed Pyo Wol was with collecting information. A person like Pyo Wol would likely know the history of the Kangho by now.
It was at that moment.
"Heeeugh!"
An unusual breath escaped from the ghost king's lips.
Ugh!
Unable to bear the suffocating feeling any longer, the ghost king tore off the cloth that had covered his eyes and ears.
His exposed eyes were bloodshot, and madness flickered within them.
The ghost king stared at the ruins as if they were a matter of life and death.
"Ugh... the disgusting smell! this is the place."
Suddenly, the ghost king stretched his body into the air. He reached a height of about ten meters in the air, and then flew like a meteor towards one spot in the city.
"Huh, huh?"
Yong Seol-ran was startled and covered her mouth with her hand. Fortunately, the people unloading the horses did not notice that the ghost king had flown over their heads.
"Huh?"
The only one who raised his head with a strange feeling was Jang Sacheon. However, by the time he looked up at the sky, the ghost king had already hidden his presence.
Pyo Wol looked in the direction where the ghost king had disappeared.
The ghost king had clearly said 'here.'
He had arrived at the destination he had wanted.
'The promise has been kept.'
As a condition for saving Hong Ye-Seol, he had promised to guide the ghost king to the place he wanted.
Since the ghost king had arrived at the place he had been searching for so desperately, the promise had been fulfilled.
From now on, whatever happened would be the ghost king's business.
So now she should be able to move freely without being tied to The ghost king.
Pyo Wol looked at Jang Sacheon.
The men Jang Sacheon had brought were putting the items they had taken off the horses into a ruined building.
Even if it was called a ruin, it was nothing more than a small pavilion.
It was difficult to accommodate all thirty or so men. However, once the men went in, they did not come back out.
There was only one conclusion.
'There must be an underground space large enough to accommodate them.'
Important updates from my mtl novel translations
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