Reaper of the Drifting Moon

Thud!

As the red flesh hit the ground, Ji Gunseong’s vision turned pitch black.

It felt as if a volcano had erupted in his mouth, rendering Ji Gunseong unable to scream as he writhed on the ground.

Fresh blood flowed profusely from his mouth, staining his chin and chest red.

“Kuh!”

It didn’t take long for him to realize that the red flesh that fell to the ground was his own tongue.

He hadn’t even seen how Pyo-wol had used his hand. If Pyo-wol had intended it, Ji Gunseong would have already lost his life. However, Pyo-wol chose a more cruel retaliation.

He cut off Ji Gunseong’s tongue, ensuring he could never mesmerize others with his eloquent words again.

“Lord Ji!”

“Quick, apply pressure!”

The relatively unharmed members of the Shadowless Order rushed to assist, causing a commotion. However, there was no way to reattach the severed tongue.

Overwhelmed by unbearable pain and shock, Ji Gunseong’s eyes rolled back, and fainted.

One of the members of the Shadowless Order exclaimed in disbelief.

“Did you really have to be like this? Couldn’t you have simply declined with words? For master like you to be lacking in consideration…”

“Consideration?”

“That’s right. All those masters who have reached the highest realm tend to show consideration for their subordinates. That is the dignity of a master, but you don’t have any of that. It’s truly disappointing.”

“You’re that guy’s disciple.”

“What?”

“You’re good at running your mouth, even at a moment like this, you continue to babble nonsense. If anyone hears you, they’ll think I’ve unjustly harmed Ji Gunseong. When in fact, you tried to manipulate me into doing your bidding by whispering such sweet nothings. You’re no different from a parasite. You tried to use me like what a parasite does.

“……”

The member bit their lip in contemplation.

He wanted to retort, but he couldn’t think of the right words.

Pyo-wol’s words were like a sharp blade, digging deeply into his chest.

‘To think we tried to use someone like this? Ridiculous! It was impossible from the start.’

The man in front of them was not just an ordinary skilled martial artist. He possessed a great intellect and strong spirit as well.

He was definitely not someone who could be swayed by a few words. They should have expected such an obvious outcome when they tried to manipulate someone like him.

The member quickly glanced around the inn.

He was curious about the reactions of the customers. But the moment he saw their faces and expressions, he couldn’t help but feel despair.

They were all looking at them with contempt. Some even clicked their tongues in pathetic disbelief.

There wasn’t a single person who sided with Shadowless Order.

Though no one said it aloud, it seemed that they considered the severed tongue of Ji Gunseong and the injured martial artists of the Shadowless Order as a karmic retribution.

“Let’s go back.”

In the end, the martial artists of the Shadowless Order left the inn, carrying the wounded Ji Gunseong and their comrades, while the inn owner and servant quickly came forward to clean up the broken objects.

Pyo-wol said to the owner,

“I’m sorry. Because of me, the objects were broken again.”

“Oh, no, it’s alright. Thanks to you, the reputation of Lake Tai’s First Pavilion has greatly risen. Rumors have been going around that this is the place where the Master Pyo, the Reaper stays, so people come from far and wide to visit. Now, our inn has become quite renowned and famous.”

The inn owner smiled brightly and replied.

Merely having a large and splendid inn doesn’t guarantee recognition from people. In Jianghu, the most prestigious and historic inns or scenic spots that captivated people’s attention are those with compelling narratives.

They possessed stories that match the historical context.

Lake Tai’s First Pavilion lacked such stories. However, as Pyo-wol stayed in the inn, a narrative was being created.

That’s why the inn owner welcomed Pyo-wol’s long stay at Lake Tai’s First Pavilion despite the frequent incidents and accidents.

The longer Pyo-wol stayed, the more Lake Tai’s First Pavilion’s reputation soared.

In no time, the inn owner and servant swiftly removed the broken objects and replaced them with new ones.

There was a sense of peace in the room after all the commotion.

Rain was still pouring outside.

Countless raindrops collided with the surface, creating ripples. Pyo-wol silently watched the scene.

It was then.

Swoosh!

Suddenly, Gwiya, which was wrapped around Pyo-wol’s forearm began to move. Gwiya was usually immobile in crowded places, so Pyo-wol couldn’t help but pay attention to the unusual occurrence.

Gwiya climbed out of his clothes by crawling up his body.

When the little snake reached his neck, Gwiya poked its head through his collar.

Gwiya’s tiny, bright red tongue continuously flickered from its mouth.

It was exhibiting a noticeably different behavior.

Gwiya was usually relaxed.

Even when it was gliding on his body, flicking its tongue, or catching its prey– Gwiya always did all of those at a relaxed pace.

Pyo-wol had never seen it move with such agility before.

It seemed as though it was on alert, wary of something.

Pyo-wol’s gaze shifted to where Gwiya was looking.

It was in the middle of Lake Tai.

Beyond the pouring rain, the surface of the water rippled.

The waters surged, crashing against the land like waves.

If it were the ocean, it would make sense. However, this was a lake.

Although its size could be mistaken for that of the sea or ocean, the fact remained that it was a lake.

It was logically impossible for such large waves to occur in a lake unless it was artificially induced.

Pyo-wol stood up and stared at the waves.

In the middle of the waves, Pyo-wol saw a figure standing tall.

It was an elderly man whose age was indiscernible.

The elderly man’s blood-red robes and disheveled hair remained undisturbed even in the rain. His sunken eyes deeply embedded in his hooked nose also added to his gloomy appearance.

The old man’s gaze suddenly met Pyo-wol’s.

In that moment, the old man’s eyes gleamed.

When the old man tapped the ground, the waves rushing towards him came to an abrupt halt. And the surface of the water swelled up like a tidal wave.

Amidst the swelled up water, there flickered a pair of enormous red eyes.

Something colossal existed beneath the surface, and the old man was stepping on its head as he made his way across the lake.

Hiss! Hiss!

Upon seeing the massive entity being stepped on by the old man, Gwiya let out a soft whistling sound without pause.

The colossal being the old man was stepping on also looked at Gwiya.

At that moment, when he saw the vertically split pair of enormous eyes, Pyo-wol realized its true identity.

‘Jiaolong?’1

A massive serpent that failed to become a dragon.

It was a creature that was only mentioned in legends.

It was Pyo-wol’s first time seeing such a creature in person.

Only the creature’s two eyes and head emerged above the surface of the water. But even then, it was larger than the combined height of three dozen people.

It was difficult to imagine how large the creature’s submerged portion beneath the water’s surface was.

The old man, riding the Jaiolong, murmured as he looked at Pyo-wol,

“You saw me, huh? An interesting lad.”

The old man’s voice echoed loudly in Pyo-wol’s ears, like thunder. But the other people in the inn continued talking amongst themselves, unbothered as if they hadn’t heard him.

Even with such a colossal water dragon outside the window, it seemed like no one could see it.

‘Is he using a technique that interferes with the senses?’

Pyo-wol’s expression turned sullen.

In contrast, the old man’s mouth curled into an eerie smile.

Pyo-wol stood up from his seat and went outside the window, but not a single one of the guests in the inn paid him any attention. They just continued to talk amongst themselves.

Pyo-wol reaffirmed the fact that the old man was using some kind of technique.

Swoosh!

The Jaiolong carrying the old man gradually approached Lake Tai’s First Pavilion, and the gigantic waves from earlier rose once again.

The Jaiolong lifted its head and raised the old man. As a result, the old man and Pyo-wol found themselves looking at each other at eye level.

“For you to see through the Invisibility Technique,2 it seems like you’re no ordinary fellow. What’s your name?”

“Pyo-wol.”

“Pyo-wol? Then you must be the one who’s being called the Reaper these days.”

The old man showed an expression of interest.

“And who might you be, old man?”

“My name is Kyung Musaeng.”

“Kyung Musaeng?”

“It seems you don’t recognize me. Well, I guess that’s understandable since it’s been more than a decade since I’ve been active in Jianghu.”

The corners of Kyung Musaeng’s mouth twisted.

It was a dry smile that could evoke an eerie feeling from anyone that saw it.

Kyung Musaeng continued,

“When I was active in Jianghu, those loud-mouth gossipers used to lumped together with the Eight Constellations.”

“The Eight Constellations?”

“Yes! They called me, the Visitor of Life and Death.3 How ridiculous. They arbitrarily judge and lumped me together with them.”

Kyung Musaeng sneered.

He wasn’t just mocking the busybodies talking about him, he was laughing at Jianghu as a whole.

And he had every qualification to do so, as a man capable of taming and riding a gigantic Jiaolong.

He had earned the right to come and go as he pleased.

“You’ve earned the right to look at me eye-to-eye. Just by seeing through the Invisibility Technique I displayed, you have enough qualifications. That little snake, too.”

Kyung Musaeng’s gaze shifted to Gwiya, which was perched on Pyo-wol’s shoulder.

Gwiya was staring intently at Jiaolong.

Jiaolong must have thought it was an adorable sight to see Gwiya challenging him with determination when it was not even the size of his eyelash.

Jiaolong was a snake that could not become a dragon.

It was a being that could be called the King of all Snakes.4

It would be natural for all snakes to be submissive in the presence of Jiaolong’s power, but Gwiya was the only one who was fierce.

Kyung Musaeng found Gwiya’s behavior surprisingly intriguing as well.

Pyo-wol asked him.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m looking for someone.”

“A person?”

“Yes. I’ve been looking for him for a long time. And recently, I found out that he came here to Lake Tai.”

“If you’re looking for someone then why are you making all this noise?”

“Hahaha! How amusing. You’re the first person to ever say that to me. Moving noisily, you say.”

“Well, you’re riding on such a huge snake.”

“Hahaha! No one can see this creature other than you. I made it that way, so, there’s no need to make a fuss.”

“Are you talking about your Invisibility Technique?”

“That’s right. There are very few people in the world who can see through my Invisible Technique. Among the Eight Constellations, there are only one or two at most. So, you can take pride in yourself.”

Kyung Musaeng’s words were extremely arrogant.

His tone was as if he was looking down on everyone even Pyo-wol. But Pyo-wol didn’t pay much attention to it and asked,

“Who are you looking for?”

“The Ghost King!”

“If it’s the Ghost King, then isn’t he the man who is said to be the most incomprehensible being in all of Jianghu?”

“Ho! You seem to know him.”

“I’ve heard of him once.”

There was a child who was desperately being pursued by the Seven Stars in Sichuan Province.

The boy’s name was Nam Shin-woo, and he had extraordinary healing powers that allowed him to recover from any wound, no matter how severe, in an instant.

Hong Yushin said that the boy resembled the Ghost King. That’s why he became the target of the powerful figures in Jainghu.

They believed that if the boy’s secret was revealed, they would also become immortal like the Ghost King.

In the end, the situation came to a close when the Wind Saint took Nam Shin-woo away.

What happened to Nam Shin-woo after the Wind Saint took him away is currently unknown.

Pyo-wol hadn’t heard anything about them since.

Kyung Musaeng asked,

“Have you ever seen the Ghost King?”

“No.”

“I see. I guess if he’s so easily recognized by others, then he wouldn’t be the Ghost King.”

“Why are you looking for the Ghost King?”

“Heh heh! If I tell you the reason then you will have to die. Is that okay?”

“You? Kill me?”

“You are quite audacious. Well, if you’ve reached that level at such a young age, you can afford to be audacious. But, listen, kid. The world is much larger than you know. You may stand out among the young generation, but there are plenty of monsters in Jianghu that are no less formidable than you. And this creature has devoured many of those monsters.”

Kyung Musaeng stomped his foot on Jiaolong’s head.

In turn, Jiaolong’s gaze turned ferocious.

It was said that the eyes of the snake had the power to paralyze the soul.

Kyung Musaeng doesn’t know if that’s actually true, but it was still a fact that the snake’s eyes possessed the power to subdue the prey’s mind.

If it were an ordinary person, they would have immediately been disoriented the moment they met Jiaolong’s eyes, but unfortunately, Jiaolong’s eyes had no effect on Pyo-wol.

Pyo-wol was someone who had survived in a snake’s den.

It wasn’t just his immunity to snake venom that kept him alive.

Pyo-wol managed to gain a deep understanding of snake thinking and physiology to the point that he could communicate and assimilate with them.

Pyo-wol reached out his hand towards Jiaolong’s nose.

Seeing this, Kyung Musaeng sneered,

“Heh heh! How dare you touch Jiaolong. You’re just a bite away from its fangs–”

Kyung Musaeng’s words suddenly trailed off.

His eyes widened.

Contrary to his expectations, Jiaolong had closed its eyes, enjoying Pyo-wol’s touch.

SoundlessWind21’s notes:

Nam Shin-woo and the Ghost King were mentioned in chapter 99. Thank you for reading!

Jiaolong. Raws: 교룡(蛟龍). This is a dragon in Chinese mythology, often defined as a “scaled dragon”; it is hornless according to certain scholars and said to be aquatic or river-dwelling. 蛟龍 jiāolóng – legendary dragon with the ability to control rain and floods Invisibility Technique. Raws: 은형법술(隱形法術). 隱形 yǐnxíng – invisible 法術 fǎshù – magic Visitor of Life and Death. Raws: 생사객(生死客). 生死 shēngsǐ – life or death 客 kè – customer / visitor / guest King of all Snakes. Raws: 사중지왕(蛇中之王). 蛇 shé – snake / serpent 中 zhōng – within / among / in / middle / center / while (doing sth) / during / (dialect) OK / all right 之 zhī – (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的) / him / her / it 王 wáng -king or monarch / best or strongest of its type / grand / great