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| Reaper of the Drifting Moon Chapter 416 |
Type- Light Novel, Web Novel
Manhwa- N/A
Translation-MTL
Some people die far from home.
Soldiers, refugees, or those who have left their hometown for other reasons and lost their lives unjustly.
When the resentment of the dead reaches its peak, it tends to have a negative impact on the area.
Especially in areas where many such people have died, the energy of the dead becomes dense, and bad things happen to people.
Taoist priests prevented such situations by casting spells on the bodies of the recently dead, allowing them to move on their own.
This was the beginning of the Jiangshi.
Taoist priests would bring the spell-bound Jiangshi back to their hometown to let them rest.
In particular, the Taoist priests of the now-extinct Maoshan Sect were skilled in such spells.
Nowadays, when you think of Taoist priests, you may think of swordsmen from martial arts sects such as the Mount Hua Sect or the Wudang Sect, but in the past you could often see Taoist priests using spells or magic. However, such arts have faded into the shadows as they have fallen behind the times, making them hard to come by.
The reason Gwak Nosaeng became interested in Jiangshi, which had nothing to do with medicine, was because of the Ghost King.
The Ghost King, known as the most mysterious in the martial world.
Most people vaguely knew that the Ghost King possessed the power of immortality, but Gwak Nosaeng had discovered through years of research and obsession that he was actually able to transfer his body.
A monster born from the power of magic.
That was the Ghost King.
From that moment on, Gwak Nosaeng became obsessed with creating a being that could surpass the Ghost King.
The result was the Living Jiangshi.
Gwak Nosaeng believed that the Ghost King was also a kind of Living Jiangshi.
A Living Jiangshi born from the power of magic.
Gwak Nosaeng decided to create a Living Jiangshi using the power of medicine and spent decades pursuing it.
The Living Jiangshi in the underground space now was the result of his decades of effort.
All living humans possessed a soul.
A human without a soul was nothing but an empty shell.
It was impossible for a soulless human to move. Losing a soul meant entering the realm of the dead.
And, the dead could not move smoothly due to muscle stiffness and rigid joints. So, Gwak Nosaeng used a method of sealing a part of the soul within the body instead of completely extinguishing it.
He created a state that was neither alive nor dead, straddling the boundary.
Thanks to this, his Living Jiangshi could display smooth movements like a living person.
However, they were unable to make rational judgments due to their sealed souls.
They were reborn as monsters that only followed commands.
Unlike the Ghost King, who could think and judge like a human, they became beings without reason.
In some ways, they could be considered failures. However, Gwak Nosaeng was satisfied.
What he needed was a monster that would faithfully follow orders, not a human with reason.
The Living Jiangshi attacked all living creatures except Gwak Nosaeng .
Their inability to make rational judgments and distinguish between friend and foe was a drawback, but Gwak Nosaeng did not consider it a big deal.
Such shortcomings could be addressed later.
Despite being incomplete, they moved like humans and showed ferocious aggression.
"Please save me!"
The followers of Jang Sacheon, who were attacked by the living Jiangshi, screamed and fell.
Jang Sacheon's followers were also considered martial arts masters in their own right. However, they were defenseless against the living Jiangshi's attacks.
This was because their attacks did not work on the living Jiangshi.
Even with severed limbs, the living Jiangshi did not suffer any hindrance to its movement. It couldn't feel pain, and it had no concept of fear.
It was a perfect monster born for killing. There was still room for improvement, but time would solve that.
"Hehe!"
Gwak Nosaeng laughed as he watched his masterpiece.
The underground space was a hellish scene of severed human limbs scattered everywhere, and blood soaking the floor.
"Insane! I can't stop this."
"Master! Please save us."
The surviving followers pleaded with Gwak Nosaeng, but their pleas did not reach his ears.
He was only concerned with the movements of the living Jiangshi.
Smooth and powerful movements like a living person, and an unyielding determination to destroy its target.
Everything was satisfactory.
Gwak Nosaeng's gaze turned to Pyo Wol.
For some reason, Pyo Wol had not moved since defeating Jang Sacheon.
It felt unsettling.
Gwak Nosaeng pointed at Pyo Wol and shouted.
"Capture him. Do not take his life. He will make a great material."
Gwak Nosaeng was unsure if the living Jiangshi would follow the command not to kill. But for now, he had to give the order.
Growl!
The living Jiangshi leaped over Jang Sacheon's followers and charged towards Pyo Wol.
Some ran on two legs, but more used all four limbs, moving like beasts.
They rushed towards Pyo Wol, baring their fangs.
"Dangerous!"
Yong Seol-ran shouted.
Pyo Wol knew the danger better than her shouting.
The power of the living Jiangshi was not the problem.
Gwak Nosaeng, who created such monsters, was even more dangerous.
If given time and support, Gwak Nosaeng could create as many monsters as he wanted.
Gwak Nosaeng was more dangerous than any other martial artist Pyo Wol had ever faced.
Pyo Wol kicked the leading living Jiangshi.
With a loud sound like a leather drum bursting, the living Jiangshi was sent flying.
Even the most skilled martial artist would have been seriously injured by such an impact, unable to move easily.
But the living Jiangshi was different.
Without screaming, it got up and charged at Pyo Wol again.
"Haat!"
Yong Seol-ran picked up a sword the enemies had missed instead of a tree branch and unfolded her Nihilistic Lotus Sword.
Her sword cut off the arm of living Jiangshi, but it still roared and rushed at her.
"Insane!"
Yong Seol-ran was startled by the sight of living Jiangshi rushing at her like a beast, even as blood sprayed from its wound.
She repeatedly performed her Nihilistic Lotus Sword, slashing and cutting down the living Jiangshi. However, killing the living Jiangshi wasn't easy.
To incapacitate living Jiangshi, she had to cut off its head in one swift motion. But that was certainly not an easy task, considering how violently the living Jiangshi moved.
Moreover, Yong Seol-ran had taken a break from martial arts for quite some time.
Although she wouldn't forget what she had learned, her sharpness had inevitably diminished.
Furthermore, she was still hesitant to use poison.
This mindset put her in a dangerous situation.
"Ugh!"
Six living Jiangshis attacked her.
She managed to fend off five of them, but the sixth living Jiangshi broke through her sword barrier and came right up to her nose.
The living Jiangshi opened its large mouth, trying to bite Yong Seol-ran's pale neck.
It was at that moment when Yong Seol-ran closed her eyes tightly.
Swoosh!
Suddenly, a sharp slicing sound echoed, and the living Jiangshi's head flew through the air.
Pyo Wol had cut off the living Jiangshi's head with his Soul Reaping Thread.
"Snap out of it!"
"I...I'm sorry."
"You shouldn't have followed me in the first place."
Yong Seol-ran bit her lips slightly at Pyo Wol's harsh criticism.
It was her stubbornness that made her follow him. Yet, she kept being a burden.
Everything was due to her weak mindset.
"Hu!"
Yong Seol-ran exhaled a faint breath and closed her eyes.
Roar!
A roar of living Jiangshi was heard.
The other living Jiangshis were rushing over, trampling the fallen one. Their appearance was terrifying enough to make one shudder. However, there was no longer any hesitation in Yong Seol-ran's eyes.
"Ha!"
Yong Seol-ran unleashed the Nihilistic Lotus Sword’s ultimate move, the Lotus Scattering Storm.
In an instant, her sword emitted a burst of sword energy like an explosion of fireworks.
The sword energy, resembling lotus petals, slashed through the living Jiangshi.
She didn't need to cut off their heads.
She could simply cut off their arms and legs to incapacitate them.
After all,the living Jiangshi with all its limbs severed couldn't move anymore.
Even though they were the living Jiangshi, they still had a foothold in humanity. They would eventually die if they lost too much blood.
The living Jiangshi couldn't stand against Yong Seol-ran, who had lost her hesitation.
As she swung her sword, Yong Seol-ran glanced at Pyo Wol.
The living Jiangshi corpses were piled up around Pyo Wol's feet.
'As expected!'
A look of admiration appeared in Yong Seol-ran's eyes.
Unlike her, there was no hesitation in Pyo Wol's hands.
His Soul Reaping Thread precisely cut off the living Jiangsh’s' heads.
The decapitated living Jiangshi could no longer breathe and couldn't move.
Seeing their carefully crafted living Jiangshi army being killed by Pyo Wol and Yong Seol-ran, Gwak Nosaeng's face twisted in anger.
His fury poured onto the two who were destroying his creations.
"Do you think you can handle this?"
He touched the wall, and a hidden space revealed itself as the wall moved aside.
The secret space was filled with over a hundred living Jiangshi.
These were the ones he had been secretly manufacturing without informing Jang Sacheon and others.
Gwak Nosaeng awakened all the living Jiangshi.
"Kill them."
He ordered the living Jiangshi to kill Pyo Wol and Yong Seol-ran.
Keeping them alive to turn them into living Jiangshi was too dangerous.
It seemed better to just kill them.
With the addition of over a hundred living Jiangshi, the situation became even more chaotic.
None of Jang Sacheon's subordinates were alive anymore.
Only three living people remained.
Among them, Gwak Nosaeng was the master, so he was excluded from the target.
Growl!
The living Jiangshi rushed at Pyo Wol and Yong Seol-ran like a pack of wolves.
A triumphant smile appeared on Gwak Nosaeng's face.
No matter how great Pyo Wol and Yong Seol-ran's martial arts were, it was impossible for them to handle all the living Jiangshi charging at them at once.
He thought they would be torn apart and killed.
At that moment—
Swoosh!
A sharp cracking sound echoed from the darkness.
Gwak Nosaeng suddenly felt an inexplicable, bizarre sensation. It was as if all the hairs on his body were standing on end, causing him to widen his eyes.
"What—what is this?"
The movement of the living Jiangshi, which had been charging madly toward Pyo Wol and Yong Seol-ran, stopped abruptly as if frozen.
As if they were coated with glue, they were completely stiffened.
"What's going on?"
Then—
Thud, thud, thud!
Suddenly, the living Jiangshis began to collapse in a chain reaction from the front.
The heads of the collapsing living Jiangshis were all severed from their necks.
Gwak Nosaeng yelled.
"What did you do to my children—?"
At that moment, a silver thread crossed Gwak Nosaeng's vision.
The thread, so fine that it was difficult to distinguish with the naked eye, was none other than the Soul Reaping Thread.
The underground space was filled with countless Soul Reaping Thread threads, crisscrossing like a spider's web.
It was a technique that spread the Soul Reaping Thread threads horizontally and vertically like a spider waiting for prey to get caught in its web.
This technique was called Spider Silver Net
It was another advanced form of the Soul Reaping Thread.
Thud!
The living Jiangshi, who had charged in without knowing the Spider Silver Net, fell one after another.
It looked like a sandcastle being swept away and collapsing in the waves.
"How could this happen..."
Gwak Nosaeng wore a look of disbelief.
He had never expected that the living Jiangshi army, which he had put so much effort into creating, would collapse so easily.
It felt so unreal that it seemed more like a nightmare.
Gwak Nosaeng yelled.
"Who are you? How could you kill my children like this?"
At that moment—
Thump!
He suddenly felt an intense pain in his shoulder.
Pyo Wol had responded by sending a Soul Reaping Thread instead of answering.
As Pyo Wol pulled on the Soul Reaping Thread, Gwak Nosaeng was dragged towards him.
He tried to resist by gathering his inner energy, but it was useless.
A malicious light flashed across Gwak Nosaeng's face.
He reached out with a blade and struck at the shoulder that had been pierced by the dagger. His arm fell away from his body as his shoulder was severed.
He had cut off his own arm.
Pyo Wol hadn't anticipated this move either.
"Remember this, you bastard! I will never forget this grudge."
Gwak Nosaeng shouted angrily as he fled through a secret passage.
Seeing this, Yong Seol-ran yelled.
"We must not let him escape."
Pyo Wol had the same thought.
If they let Gwak Nosaeng escape now, the consequences would be endless.
Pyo Wol immediately set off in pursuit of Gwak Nosaeng.
Yong Seol-ran followed him.
Important updates from my mtl novel translations
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