Reaper of the Drifting Moon

Boom!

An intense wave struck all around Lake Tai.

The intangible waves, which cannot be seen with the naked eye, assaulted people’s minds. As a result, most people felt an inexplicable sense of unease and fear.

“Ah!”

“Keugh!”

Many people vomited, froze in place, or fell to the ground.

They didn’t know why nor were they able to ponder why they were experiencing such symptoms. Their minds were paralyzed by instinctive fear, rendering them unable to think.

Everyone in the inn collapsed, groaning in pain.

Pyo-wol glanced at them for a moment before walking over to the window.

The surface of Lake Tai was tumultuous as if being swept by a storm.

The waves that struck people’s minds originated all the way across Lake Tai.

Pyo-wol could clearly see the turbulent air on the other side.

The energy emanating from the other side was so intense that it sent shivers down Pyo-wol’s spine.

He quickly surveyed his surroundings.

The waves were too rough to sail through, and going around the lake would take too much time.

Splash!

Pyo-wol had leaped straight to the lake.

His body flew through the air and landed directly on the water’s surface.

He could feel the sensation of his soles touching the water.

In an instant, Pyo-wol expelled his internal energy to his Yong Quan,1 to break through the surface of the water.

Just as it seemed like his entire foot would sink into the water, his body bounced back.

It was a water flight,2 a type of qinggong.

He hadn’t learned it from anyone, nor was it a technique he deliberately sought, but the method just came so naturally to him that he managed to speed across the surface of the water.

At first, using the skill consumed a significant amount of his internal energy, and his movements were slightly awkward, but as time went on, his motions became more natural.

He released only as much internal energy as he needed, and he naturally leaned forward to maintain optimal balance.

Splash! Splash!

Pyo-wol dashed across the lake at a terrifying speed.

As he was halfway across Lake Tai, an unbelievable sight caught his eye.

A giant snake was wreaking havoc on the land.

‘Jialong!’

The creature wreaking havoc was undoubtedly Jiaolong, the mount of Kyung Musaeng, the Visitor of Life and Death.

Jialong was as large as a dragon with its full body revealed, and in the wake of its rampage, the mansions in the nearby area quickly crumbled like tiles.

Kwang! Clang!

The closer Pyo-wol got to the place where the dragon was rampaging, the clearer he could see the surrounding scenery.

He could see three martial artists unleashing their martial arts techniques around Jialong.

One was the master of Jialong, Kyung Musaeng, another was a spear-wielding old martial artist, and the last was a masked figure.

Each of their martial arts had reached an astonishing level.

Even from a distance, Pyo-wol still felt chills going down his spine as he watched an intense clash unfold.

The sight of a meteor-like spear being deflected with a qi barrier was something that is not usually seen around Jianghu.

On top of that, Kyung Musaeng exerted an ominous energy, pressuring the masked figure.

Kwa-kwa-kwang!

A series of explosions erupted, causing dust to rise like a mist.

“AHH!”

“Save me!”

People screamed and scattered in all directions.

It was absolute chaos.

Boom!

Suddenly, a massive wooden pillar, struck by Jialong’s tail, flew towards Pyo-wol’s direction. However, instead of avoiding it, Pyo-wol propelled himself towards the incoming wooden pillar.

With exquisite timing, he twisted his body just before the collision, landing on top of the wooden pillar. Then, using the wooden pillar as a springboard, Pyo-wol leaped back into the air again.

Shuuu!

Pyo-wol soared dozens of feet above the ground.

And from high above in the air, he got a clear view of the situation below.

The situation was even worse than he had seen from the ground.

The square where the well was located had been completely destroyed, and the mansions in the area had all collapsed into ruins.

The three martial artists were still engaged in a fierce battle, and with each clash, the ground trembled. There seemed to be no end in sight to their battle.

Pyo-wol descended into the middle of the battlefield, arms outstretched. This was so he could maximize the resistance against the air whipping through his body as he fall, and to delay his landing as much as possible.

A moment later, a strange sight caught his eye.

Behind the masked figure, a young boy was lying on the ground unconscious, and Zhao Yiguang was approaching him like a stealthy cat.

In Zhao Yiguang’s hand was a sword.

He was planning of stabbing the boy’s heart with his sword.

As soon as Pyo-wol recognized the boy’s face, he threw a phantom dagger.

Thwack!

“Keuh!”

The phantom dagger pierced right into Zhao Yiguang’s shoulder.

Zhao Yiguang screamed, unintentionally dropping his sword.

Pyo-wol soon landed silently in front of him.

“You–!”

Upon seeing Pyo-wol, Zhao Yiguang trembled as if he just saw a ghost.

Rather than paying attention to Zhao Yiguang, Pyo-wol looked at the unconscious boy on the ground.

Even though his skin had melted and was covered in bruises, Pyo-wol determined that the boy was Do Yeonsan.

Although Pyo-wol had no one to explain the situation to him, he deduced what had happened.

“It was you.”

“W-What are you talking about?”

“You’re the one who killed this kid’s younger sister, aren’t you?”

“W, What nonsense! D, Do you even have proof?”

“No.”

“In that case, stop spouting nonsense and go away!”

“I can’t do that.”

“What?”

“I have a connection with this child. I may not have proof, but as soon as I wake him up and ask, I’ll find out. Whether you’re the culprit or not…”

“That– uh–”

Zhao Yiguang stammered, flustered by the situation. His reaction only strengthened Pyo-wol’s conviction.

Pyo-wol approached the unconscious Do Yeonsan and injected his internal energy into him.

Seeing this, Zhao Yiguang panicked and tried to run away.

The situation had already escalated beyond his imagination.

The bustling streets of Lake Tai had turned into complete chaos, and countless people had died.

The martial artists of Jianghu will undoubtedly trace the cause of this turmoil, and once they do, they will surely discover his involvement.

Before that happened, he had to either escape or completely eliminate any evidence.

‘I still have a chance of salvaging the situation. As long as I get rid of the torture tools in the Bluefield Estate’s basement, there won’t be any evidence left.’

Zhao Yiguang couldn’t fathom how things had escalated to this point, but he thought his luck was truly terrible.

Although he was bothered by the fact that he was unable to kill and silence Do Yeonsan, confronting Pyo-wol head-on at this moment would be foolish.

It was then.

Swoosh!

Excruciating pain suddenly shot through Zhao Yiguang’s calf, causing him to fall forward.

“AHHH!”

Screaming, Zhao Yiguang looked down at his leg.

Something faint was piercing through his calf.

‘Thread?’

Before he could realize that it was a thread made of qi, his body was dragged to the place where Pyo-wol stood.

Squelch!

“Keugh!”

Zhao Yiguang struggled and thrashed around, trying to break free from the confines of the qi thread, but the more he struggled, the stronger the thread tightened around his calf.

He tried to cut the qi thread, but to no avail.

In the end, Zhao Yiguang was mercilessly dragged towards Pyo-wol.

Zhao Yiguang raised his head to look at Pyo-wol. Once he did, he saw Do Yeonsan standing beside Pyo-wol. Do Yeonsan had already come back to his senses.

Do Yeonsan had woken up after being injected with Pyo-wol’s internal energy.

Do Yeonsan’s lips quivered, and soon, a hoarse voice came out of his lips,

“Re… ve… nge…”

His vocal cords were damaged, making his pronunciation muffled and distorted. But, Pyo-wol easily understood what Do Yeonsan was trying to say.

“Revenge? Is he the man who killed your sister?”

Do Yeonsan nodded.

At that moment, Zhao Yiguang let out a furious cry,

“Lies! That bastard’s lying!”

Zhao Yiguang’s usual dignity was nowhere to be found in his current appearance.

He always acted superior, pretending to be noble and different from others, but he couldn’t afford to do so right now.

His life was on the line.

He couldn’t afford to save face.

The problem was, Pyo-wol’s Soul-Reaping Thread still had a hold on his calf. Even if he wanted to run away and escape, he couldn’t.

Do Yeonsan’s vacant pupils turned towards Pyo-wol.

Pyo-wol knew exactly what his gaze meant.

Pyo-wol nodded and stepped back.

In response, Do Yeonsan walked over to Zhao Yiguang.

“Yo-You bastard! Don’t come any closer! Do you want to die?!”

Zhao Yiguang viciously threatened Do Yeonsan.

However, Do Yeonsan didn’t stop in his approach.

Zhao Yiguang gathered qi in his arms in hopes of further intimidating Do Yeonsan.

Although his lower body was restrained by Pyo-wol, his arms were still free. And by concentrating internal energy into his arms, his arms would become weapons more fearsome than swords.

In comparison, Do Yeonsan was just an ordinary person who had not learned martial arts. He was also in a weakened state due to the poison, causing his stamina to also be depleted.

If Zhao Yiguang wanted to, he could twist Do Yeonsan’s neck like a chicken’s, killing him.

Do Yeonsan knew that fact too.

But even then, he didn’t stop walking toward Zhao Yiguang, staggering as if he would collapse at any moment.

Suddenly, Do Yeonsan bent down and picked up something from the ground.

It was the cylinder containing poison-coated needles.

Zhao Yiguang’s face instantly turned white. He was well aware of the power of the cylinder after witnessing it harm his subordinates.

Do Yeonsan aimed the cylinder at Zhao Yiguang.

“N-No!”

“Hmngh!”

A strange wheezing sound escaped Do Yeonsan’s mouth, and at the same time, the corners of his mouth twitched.

Do Yeonsan was both laughing and crying.

Pyo-wol could feel Do Yeonsan’s conflicting emotions and seemed to understand them.

At that moment, Do Yeonsan triggered the firing mechanism of the cylinder.

Phew, phew, phew!

Poison-coated needles shot out of the cylinder and flew towards Zhao Yiguang.

Zhao Yiguang swung his concentrated qi-filled hand to block the needles coming towards his upper body, but the same couldn’t be said for his lower body.

Since his lower body was still restrained with Pyo-wol’s Soul-Reaping Thread, Zhao Yiguang wasn’t able to defend his lower body in time.

In the end, he had allowed two needles to pierce him.

“N-No!”

Zhao Yiguang cried out.

At that moment, he felt an immense pain surge inside his body.

It was as if there was fire raging and swirling through his veins at a tremendous speed.

“AHHHH!”

In the end, Zhao Yiguang couldn’t bear the pain any longer and screamed.

His scream was so ear-splitting and desperate that the three absolute masters who had been fiercely fighting each other, stopped for a moment.

Zhao Yiguang scratched his body with his fingers.

His flesh was torn off, but Zhao Yiguang didn’t stop. He continued to scratch his entire body frantically.

His skin was melting away.

The Luminous Blood Poison was taking effect.

The poison not only melted his skin but also his muscles.

Unfortunately for Zhao Yiguang, he didn’t possess the same poison resistance as Do Yeonsan.

Furthermore, even if he wished for his life to end sooner, his high cultivation and well-honed internal energy didn’t allow his life to extinguish easily.

As a result, he had to vividly experience the excruciating pain of his body melting away.

“AHHHH! GAHHHH!”

He could only scream his lungs out non-stop.

However, after a while, even his screams ceased.

His vocal cords had melted away as well.

Do Yeonsan silently watched as Zhao Yiguang suffer, with tears streaming down his face.

He then pointed the cylinder containing poison-coated needles at his own head.

Now that he had exacted his revenge, there was no reason for him to stay alive.

He had killed and injured too many people because of his personal thirst for revenge.

The area had become a hellhole, and Do Yeonsan didn’t have the strength or will to deal with the aftermath.

From the moment he decided to carry out his plans, Do Yeonsan knew that he only had one option left.

Pyo-wol knew that Do Yeonsan was about to commit suicide, but he didn’t try to stop him.

Pyo-wol didn’t need to see it with his own eyes to know that Do Yeonsan’s thirst for revenge had caused all these incidents. And if that was the case, Do Yeonsan had to bear the consequences as well.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Do Yeonsan activated the cylinder’s trigger.

But at that moment, a large hand firmly grabbed the cylinder.

The owner of the hand was none other than the Ghost King.

The cylinder containing the poison-coated needles crumpled in the Ghost King’s hands before it could be fired.

“Let… me… go! I have to… die–!”

At that moment, the Ghost King spoke,

“You cannot die. You have to become me.”

“What?”

Just as a look of confusion flickered in Do Yeonsan’s eyes, the Ghost King knocked him unconscious.

The Ghost King then picked up the unconscious body of Do Yeonsan on his shoulders and disappeared.

“Stop! Ghost King! You damn– Are you planning on taking on a new body?”

Kyung Musaeng shouted as he chased after them while riding Jialong.

Kwa-kwa-kwa!

A massive furrow appeared in the ground where Jialong quickly passed by.

Pyo-wol stood in place and watched as their figures grow distant.

Just then, Zhao Jakyung approached him.

While looking at the gradually melting body of Zhao Yiguang, Zhao Jakyung asked Pyo-wol,

“Is this your doing?”

SoundlessWind21’s notes:

Thank you for reading!

Yong Quan. Raws: 용천혈(湧泉穴). Also referred to as Gushing Spring or Bubbling Spring. This is an acupuncture point at the sole of the foot, and is is located on the sole of each foot where the kidney meridian emerges. Water flight. Raws: 수상비(水上飛). It is a type of qinggong. Qinggong is also referred to as ‘lightness skill’ and is the ability to lighten the body and move with great agility & swiftness. 水上 shuǐshàng – on water / aquatic 飛 fēi – to fly