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| Reaper of the Drifting Moon Novel |
Type- Light Novel, Web Novel
Manhwa- N/A
Translation-MTL
It was an hour later when Pyo Wol, who had chased after Baek Do-Gyeong, returned.
"Brother!"
Do Yeonsan greeted Pyo Wol.
"How is Wind Saint?"
"He's undergoing medical treatment."
"Really?"
"And... Baek Do-Gyeong?"
"I lost him."
"You lost him?"
Do Yeonsan was surprised.
It was because the image of Pyo Wol losing his target was unimaginable.
Once Pyo Wol set a target, he would chase them to the ends of hell. It was hard to believe that he had given up on his target and returned in just an hour.
Pyo Wol said, "He wasn't alone."
"What do you mean?"
"He had accomplices2. They helped Baek Do-Gyeong escape."
"Really?"
"For now, I need to wash up and rest a bit. When Wind Saint finishes his treatment, let me know."
"Alright!"
Pyo Wol went to the well behind the guesthouse, leaving Do Yeonsan behind.
Although the front of the guesthouse was destroyed due to the battle between the absolute masters, the backyard was still intact.
Pyo Wol drew water from the well and washed his face.
As the cold water touched his skin, his mind cleared.
'Baek Do-Gyeong!'
Pyo Wol chased after Baek Do-Gyeong, determined to kill him. However, there were people protecting Baek Do-Gyeong.
They thoroughly erased Baek Do-Gyeong's traces and helped him escape.
Pyo Wol tried to capture and torture some of them, but they all committed suicide by rupturing their own veins before he could do so.
He had never seen anyone other than the Guryongsalmak treat their lives so lightly. Yet, they didn't seem to be members of the Guryongsalmak.
If they had been members of the Guryongsalmak, they would never have left Pyo Wol alone and fled.
He wiped the water off his face and sat down on a nearby rock.
Dealing with the Guryongsalmak alone was enough to make his head explode, but the involvement of Baek Do-gyeong made things even more complicated.
Pyo Wol checked his physical condition while lowering his head.
No matter how much his strength was drained from dealing with Wind Saint, his opponent was Baek Do-Gyeong, one of the Eight Constellations. considering that he had faced such an absolute master, his physical condition wasn't too bad.
It was then.
"Brother! Wind Saint has finished his healing."
Eun-yo called Pyo Wol.
Pyo Wol nodded and got up from his seat.
He followed Eun-yo to where Wind Saint had been healing.
Wind Saint stood up to greet Pyo Wol.
"You're here?"
"You seem to be okay."
"Thanks to the healing, I feel much better. Thank you for your help..."
Wind Saint hugged Pyo Wol in gratitude.
It was unusual for him to be so polite.
Wind Saint was genuinely grateful.
If it hadn't been for Pyo Wol, not only he but also Nam Shin-woo would not have been safe.
Wind Saint had no regrets in his life, but Nam Shin-woo was still an unripe flower.
If he had been harmed, Wind Saint would not have forgiven himself.
"Thank you, brother!"
Nam Shin-woo expressed his gratitude to Pyo Wol.
He had been sitting next to Wind Saint.
Pyo Wol pulled up a nearby chair and sat down, asking, "So the reason why Baek Do-Gyeong tried to take Shinwoo is indeed that secret?"
"That's right! He knows the secret of this child too."
"Hmm!"
"The dream of immortality is the ultimate goal of all those in power. Since winning over the Ghost King is virtually impossible, he targeted this child instead."
"They'll never be able to capture the Ghost King."
"What? That means..."
Wind Saint's eyes trembled for a moment.
He understood what Pyo Wol meant.
"Did the Ghost King die?"
"..."
Pyo Wol silently nodded.
"Did you kill him?"
"He died together with the Master of Life and Death."
"So you're saying they both died together? Sigh!"
Wind Saint let out a sigh.
He closed his eyes slightly and couldn't continue speaking for a while.
Both the Ghost King and the Master of Life and Death were from his era.
Both had been influential figures, revered as top martial artists of their time.
Their deaths felt like the end of the era they had dominated.
"Hoo!"
Wind Saint sighed again.
The two rarely interacted with each other.
Naturally, they didn't have a close relationship. Yet, their deaths didn't feel indifferent to him, as they had all lived through the same era.
Wind Saint spoke after a long silence.
"Do you know the grudge between them?"
"I have a rough idea..."
"The Master of Life and Death created the Ghost King but couldn't control him completely. So, he spent his whole life chasing the Ghost King across the martial world. He couldn't even fully understand how the Ghost King gained such power. In a way, the Ghost King was like a mutant that appeared in the martial world. But because his martial arts were very strong, he survived until now. However, Shinwoo is different. He is still weak."
While the Ghost King was a largely artificial existence, Nam Shin-woo was a naturally occurring special being.
The secret of immortality Nam Shin-woo held was even closer to the origin than the Ghost King. There were quite a few people who thought that if they could unravel his secret, they too could become immortal.
"We must protect Shinwo from them. If Shinwoo's power falls into their hands, something terrible will happen. Powerful people who can't die....... What could be more terrible than that?"
"Is that why Baek Do-Gyeong is after Shinwoo?"
"Yes. He even hired the Seven Star Masters that you killed in the past."
Pyo Wol frowned slightly.
Long ago, when he had just settled in Chengdu, seven warriors had entered the city chasing after Nam Shin-woo.
They called themselves the Seven Star Masters. And they all met their end at Pyo Wol's hands. So, in a way, Pyo Wol had been connected to them by a long-standing grudge.
"If Shinwoo falls into Baek Do-Gyeong's hands, terrible things will happen."
"With your martial arts skills, you can fight him equally, right?"
Today he lost to Baek Do-Gyeong, but it wasn't because Wind Saint's martial arts were weaker.
Wind Saint was distracted by Nam Shin-woo's safety and couldn't perform at his full potential.
If he had hidden Nam Shin-woo in a safe place and fought Baek Do-Gyeong, the outcome might have been different.
"As you can see, Baek Do-Gyeong is not alone. He has a force protecting him. I cannot fight him with all my strength while worrying about them."
"Who are those protectors?"
"Sigh!"
Suddenly, Wind Saint sighed.
His face was filled with wrinkles, as if he had aged ten years in an instant.
"Jang Cheon Sa!"
"..."
For a moment, Wind Saint raised his head to look up at Pyo Wol.
"Your real name, I suppose. What secret does that name hold that you've kept it hidden so carefully? Are those who protect Baek Do-Gyeong related to that name?"
"You really are..."
Wind Saint shook his head as if he was fed up.
He was speechless at Pyo Wol's intuition, remembering the name Baek Do-Gyeong had mentioned in passing and bringing it up at this moment.
It was a name he had long forgotten.
He had deliberately erased it from his memory and never mentioned it once.
When the sealed name was mentioned by Pyo Wol after Baek Do-Gyeong, Wind Saint's expression cracked.
His expression changed several times in an instant.
Pyo Wol captured every change in his face without missing any.
Negative emotions like regret and remorse surfaced one after another.
He didn't know what kind of story the name held, but it didn't seem to be intertwined with pleasant memories.
After sorting out his thoughts for a moment, Wind Saint spoke.
"Forget my name, and don't mention it anywhere. I know you're not afraid of such things, but it's best to avoid them if you can."
"You don't want to talk about it."
"I'll tell you something else instead: have you ever heard of the name Blood Martial
Empress?"
"No!"
"Of course not. It's a name that hasn't been active for decades. Her original nickname was Black Martial Empress. However, people remember her as the Blood Martial Empress."
Wind Saint paused for a moment, lost in thought. Old memories that he had buried long ago resurfaced one after another.
It was difficult to bring them to the surface, but once they did, they were as vivid as if they had happened yesterday.
"In the past, there was an organization called the Azure Sky Alliance(蒼天盟). It was a martial alliance formed to fight against the evil force of Celestial Demon Troupe. At that time, the leader of Azure Sky Alliance, Ja Hong Cheon, had three disciples. The youngest of them was Dan Li-Yeon, also known as Black Martial Empress. She was indeed a very talented person. Above all, her sense of loyalty was extremely strong, earning her the love of everyone."
"Get to the point. Explain it simply."
"You impudent brat! I don't know the exact reason, but Black Martial Empress Dan Li-Yeon went mad at one point. She killed many people, both enemies and allies. That's why her nickname became Blood Martial Empress. She had killed that many people. Anyway, after betraying her comrades, the Blood Martial Empress disappeared after the fall of Celestial Demon Troupe. She secretly raised her disciples and expanded her power."
"Is Baek Do-Gyeong her disciple?"
"That's right. He is her only surviving disciple."
"And his minions are the ones she raised."
"Exactly. Everything she left behind fell into Baek Do-Gyeong's hands."
"So?"
"He hates both the Heavenly Martial Sect and the Mad Martial Sect"
"..."
Pyo Wol showed no change in expression. Wind Saint then thought Pyo Wol did not understand his words and offered a supplementary explanation.
"Do you understand why he hates the Heavenly Martial Sect and the Mad Martial Sect?"
"Is it related to Heavenly Martial Sect being the successor of Celestial Demon Troupe?"
"Did you know that already?"
Wind Saint was astonished.
It was because Pyo Wol casually mentioned a secret known only to a very small number of people in Kangho.
"How do you know that?"
Pyo Wol did not answer.
There was no reason to explain it to Wind Saint.
The reason he knew this fact was because of Gyeongmusaeng, the master of life and death, who told him before he died with the Ghost king.
It was inevitable for Wind Saint, who didn't know the fact, to be surprised that Pyo Wol knew the secret.
"Celestial Demon Troupe, the predecessor of Heavenly Martial Sect, was originally the enemy of Blood Martial Empress, and Lee Gwak, the founder of Mad Martial Sect, inflicted a great defeat on her. Due to a series of events, Blood Martial Empress harbored a deep grudge against the two factions, and those feelings were passed down to Baek Do-Gyeong."
"What a terrible fate!"
"It is a terrible fate. In the martial world, once a bad fate is formed, it can accumulate over several generations. So be careful not to create any bad fate. You never know who might be sharpening their sword to take revenge on you right now."
With that, Wind Saint turned away.
Wind Saint never said anything about himself in the end. Still, Pyo Wol didn't feel regretful.
The secret about Baek Do-Gyeong and Heavenly Martial Sect was not known in the martial world at all. Knowing such a secret meant that Wind Saint was also involved with them.
It must have been for a similar reason that Wind Saint carefully hid his name, Jang Cheon-sa.
'Jang Cheon-sa...'
Pyo Wol quietly looked at Jang Cheon-sa's retreating figure.
His back looked rather stubborn.
Pyo Wol got up from his seat and went outside.
At that moment, Lee Shin-pil, the owner of Zigong Merchant Group, approached cautiously.
"Are you all right, Grand Master?"
"What about the damage to Zigong Merchant Group?"
"It's minimal."
"That's a relief."
"If you hadn't sent Wind Saint and Baek Do-Gyeong outside the town, the damage would have been much greater."
The time Wind Saint and Baek Do-Gyeong fought in the downtown area was barely a few moments. During that short time, half of the area was destroyed.
It was a power beyond imagination.
If they had continued fighting in the downtown area, the entire area would have been devastated.
If that happened, Zigong Merchant Group would not have been safe either. So Lee Shin-pil was infinitely grateful to Pyo Wol.
"I'm sorry. Since the guest room is so damaged, it seems we'll have to sleep outside tonight."
Lee Shin-pil seemed at a loss, as if the destruction of the guest room was his own fault.
The other people had already set up tents in the courtyard of the guest house to prepare for sleeping outside.
Pyo Wol said,
"I don't mind, so don't apologize."
"But still..."
"And from tomorrow, we'll move separately."
"What? Did we do something wrong...?"
"The reason we moved with the Zigong merchant group was to move quietly, away from the eyes of those watching."
"I understand."
"But now that we've been swept up in such a big incident, there will be people who will take interest and investigate."
It was a major incident that half of the downtown area of the town was destroyed.
If a sect with some intelligence decided to dig in, it would only take a moment for Pyo Wol's actions to be exposed.
If they worked together, it would be easy to expose Pyo Wol’s actions as well. It was better for both of them to move separately.
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