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| Reaper of the Drifting Moon Novel |
Type- Light Novel, Web Novel
Manhwa- N/A
Translation-MTL
A rather large Unmado riverboat was rocking.
The rain that had fallen all night had swelled the river.
The muddy river had a turbulent current.
Anyone in their right mind would not dare to launch a boat in such a river.
The captain of the Unmado River Boat was no different.
Under normal circumstances, he would not have dared to launch the boat at all. Although the money he would receive was good, his life was more valuable.
But he had no choice.
It was because the amount of money he received from the other party was too much.
Since he had received such a large amount of money as a down payment, he had no other choice but to launch the boat into the rapids.
"Hey, secure the sail properly."
"Helmsman, there's a rock twenty steps ahead on the right. Turn left."
"Hey, you bastards! If you don't get it together, we'll all die when the boat turns over."
The captain gave instructions, swearing incessantly.
The sailors, seemingly accustomed to such a scene, diligently carried out the orders.
Whoosh!
The Unmado River Boat leapt into the air in the middle of the rapids and crashed back down to the surface of the water. Fortunately, it didn't capsize. But the people and horses on board were thrown around by the force of the impact.
A woman who had risen quickly let out a sharp cry.
"Captain! Can't you navigate properly?"
"I'm sorry."
"Really!"
The angry woman was Ma Seo-Won. She was soaking wet from the rain that had been falling for the whole night.
At that moment, Ma Won-ik touched her shoulder and said,
"Calm down."
"Father!"
"Have you forgotten that you have to keep your composure, especially at a time like this?"
"I'm sorry."
"That's right! Keep that look in your eyes. Keep it up."
"Yes!"
Ma Won-Ik looked around the deck after making sure his daughter's eyes had calmed.
His followers were standing on the deck, holding on to the railing.
They were all skilled warriors. But their expressions were tense. This was because they never expected the boat to rock so wildly.
The deck below, where the horses were tied up, was probably even more chaotic.
All the horses were high quality breeds that the Galactic Escort Bureau had brought with them. Ma Won-Ik wasn't happy about the situation, as it could harm the horses. But he had no choice.
"By now, the Reaper, that man, must have discovered the diversion and started to follow us."
"Do you think he has already started to hunt? He's human too. Would he move through the pouring rain like it was just a moment ago?"
"Do not underestimate him as an ordinary man. He is someone who goes beyond common sense. We must always be prepared for the worst".
"That's why we've split up, to try and confuse him."
Half of the fifty people were sent to the south gate.
Once they were far enough away from Chengdu, they would split into two groups and run in different directions.
All this was to confuse Pyo Wol.
If Pyo Wol went to the south gate, it would be better. But if he happened to follow them out of the east gate, the problem would become serious.
Ma Seo-Won thought her father was worrying too much.
The river leaves no trace.
Even if he had arrived at the pier where they took the boat, there would be no trace, so it was certain that he would have a hard time tracking them down.
No matter how much he is called the Reaper, as a human, there must be limits. Father thinks too much.
But she did not speak her mind.
No matter how casual their father-daughter relationship was, there were things to say and things not to say.
Now was not the time to express her thoughts, but to get as far away from Chengdu as possible.
Ma Won-Ik ordered his subordinate.
"Check the scripture again. Look carefully for any tears in the tarpaulin."
"Yes!"
The subordinate replied and ran to the cabin.
It was the hard-earned original scripture.
As soon as the negotiations with Woo Jang-rak failed, he led his followers and raided Snow Cloud Manor.
Luckily, the rain helped them.
When it rains, people have a tendency to become emotional without realising it, and they have a tendency to let down their guard.
Ma Won-Ik was well aware of such tendencies.
As he thought, the defence of Snow Cloud Manor was lax.
It wasn't difficult to kill Woo Jang-rak and Yoo Gi-cheon. Woo Jang-rak was a bit of a headache, but he couldn't stand up to Ma Won-Ik.
The problem came at the last moment.
Shortly before collapsing from a serious injury, Yoo Gi-cheon set fire to Snow Cloud Manor himself.
He hoped that someone would see the fire and come to help.
But it was too late to extinguish the fire.
In the end, Ma Won-ik was only able to escape Snow Cloud Manor with the scripture.
"The scripture is safe.
The subordinate who had gone to check the scripture came back and reported. Ma Won-Ik nodded his head and looked ahead.
The swollen river wasn't all bad.
The speed of the boat going down the river was also faster than usual as the current increased.
Thanks to this, he was able to reach his destination earlier than expected.
Thud!
The boat docked at a pier far away from Geumdang.
The captain spoke with an exhausted face.
"We, we have arrived."
"You did well."
"I kept my promise, so please give me the rest of the payment now."
"Of course."
Ma Won-Ik nodded his head and looked at his subordinates.
His close confidant Jwa Se-gyeong approached.
He held a rather large bag in his hand.
"Take this."
Jwa Se-gyeong threw the bag to the captain.
The captain laughed with satisfaction at the weight he felt in his hand.
It was as if all the hardships he had endured had been made up for by a single pouch.
The captain called out with the pouch in his hand, "What are you doing? Hurry up and get the horses off the boat!"
"Yes!"
The sailors replied and unloaded the horses that were on board.
Some horses had broken legs, as if to prove that they had fought their way through the rough waters.
"Tsk!"
Ma Won-Ik clicked his tongue as he looked at the horses.
A horse with a broken leg couldn't be treated and used again. Not only would it be expensive, but there was no guarantee that the horse would be able to run as well as before, even if it recovered.
It would be better to put the horse out of its misery, which would also be a time-saver for them.
At Ma Won-Ik's gesture, his subordinates swung their swords and killed all the injured horses.
Hee hee hee hee!
The pitiful cries of the horses echoed beneath the deck of the ship.
Cruel bastards!
The captain and the sailors looked at the Galactic Escort Bureau warriors killing the horses with fear in their eyes.
Then it happened.
Jwa Se-gyeong exchanged secret glances with the other warriors.
The Galactic Escort Bureau warriors near the sailors suddenly swung their swords like lightning.
Swoosh!
"Argh!"
That was the signal.
All the Galactic Escort Bureau warriors rushed at the sailors.
"Ahh!"
"Please spare us!"
The sailors screamed and tried to flee, but the warriors hunted them down mercilessly and slaughtered them.
"Why, why are you doing this? We kept our promise..."
The captain shouted, clutching the bag tightly.
Jwa Se-gyeong said to him, "We kept our promise too."
"What?"
"Didn't we pay you? This should be more than enough for your journey to the afterlife."
"So this was your plan all along, you cunning bastards!"
"Hehe!"
Jwa Se-gyeong's expression didn't change at the captain's criticism. Instead, he quickened his pace, a grin on his face.
"Damn it!"
The captain tried to throw the bag at Jwa Se-gyeong and escape, but before he could take a single step, he felt a burning pain in his back and screamed.
"Argh!"
Jwa Se-gyeong's sword had plunged deep into the captain's back.
The captain fell to the ground, dead.
Ma Won-ik approached Jwa Se-gyeong.
"Did you finish him off?"
"Yes!"
Thud!
As he replied, Jwa Se-gyeong plunged his sword into the back of the captain's head.
Ma Won-ik nodded in agreement.
He picked up the bag from the ground and handed it to Jwa Se-gyeong.
"Use this as your travelling expenses until we meet again."
"Yes!"
"Then take care of yourself until we meet again."
"Please be careful, Your Excellency."
Jwa Se-gyeong bowed to Ma Won-ik. Ma Won-ik nodded and spoke to his subordinates.
"Let's go!"
"Yes!"
Half of the fighters who had disembarked followed Ma Won-Ik, along with Ma Seo-Won.
They left the pier with the original scripture.
Jwa Se-gyeong watched them disappear into the distance and then spoke to the remaining subordinates.
"We're going in the opposite direction. Let's go!"
They could have moved together, but splitting up like this would confuse any possible pursuit by Pyo Wol.
As Jwa Se-gyeong mounted his horse, he muttered.
"I hope he comes after me."
Pyo Wol was undoubtedly a terrifying being. But on the other hand, he was also a tempting prey.
If only he could hunt down Pyo Wol, Jwa Se-gyeong would be able to rise even higher.
Jwa Se-gyeong suddenly chuckled.
"Will he even be able to get this far?"
If they had travelled by land, there would have been traces left behind. But since they had travelled along the river, there were no tracks.
It would have been impossible for even Pyo Wol to track them that far.
Jwa Se-gyeong laughed and left.
＊＊＊
Pyo Wol ran along the river.
Kwakwakwa!
The river flowed with such ferocity that it seemed to swallow up the whole world.
On the surface it looked like muddy water, but inside there were boulders as big as houses, huge logs, and all sorts of things that had been washed down from upstream.
The swollen water rose to Pyo Wol's ankles as he ran. If he slipped, he would be crushed against the rocks and drown. But Pyo Wol ran at full speed, oblivious to the danger.
When the sun was high in the sky, Pyo Wol spotted a large ship stranded on the other side of the river.
The moment he saw it, he knew.
It was the ship he had been chasing.
The problem was to cross the river.
The distance from where Pyo Wol was to where the ship was stranded was more than three hundred paces. Nevertheless, Pyo Wol threw himself into the river without hesitation.
Pat!
His body hit the ground and flew through the air like a bird. However, after about ten steps, it began to descend.
Just before falling into the river, Pyo Wol stepped on a floating log and took off again.
High in the air, Pyo Wol scanned the surface of the river with the eyes of a hawk, looking for the next place to land.
This time, too, Pyo Wol landed on a tree floating on the water.
As soon as he landed, the tree sank into the water and rocked violently. But at that moment, Pyo Wol was no longer there, having already launched himself towards the next floating object.
Tatatag!
Pyo Wol kept jumping, never hesitating or faltering for a moment.
After stepping on the last unidentified floating object and leaping into the air, Pyo Wol performed the Bow-Body Flicker technique.
Drawing a long parabola in the air, Pyo Wol finally landed on the opposite shore. It was the pier where the ship had run aground.
Pyo Wol looked inside the ship.
The bodies of the sailors and the dead horses met his eyes.
They destroyed the evidence.
He wondered why they had killed the horses as well as the sailors. After examining the horses' bodies, he realised that all their legs were broken.
Since their legs were broken and they couldn't carry people, they killed them.
Pyo Wol came out of the ship and examined the tracks on the ground.
Horse hoof prints and human footprints were mixed together.
Pyo Wol realised that the group had split in two directions.
He couldn't tell which way Ma Won-Ik and the scripture had gone.
On one side, everyone was on horseback, and on the other side, numerous footprints were mixed with horse hoof prints.
It seemed that those who lost their horses on the ship were mixed in.
Pyo Wol decided to choose the path with a higher probability.
He chose the side where everyone was riding horses.
Logically, it made sense that the side with better mobility would transport important items. That's why he intended to follow the side where everyone was on horseback.
Pyo Wol couldn't be sure if his choice was correct. However, he knew that instead of hesitating, it was much better to pursue them a little faster.
Important updates from my mtl novel translations
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