Reaper of the Drifting Moon

Both Dae Juhwa and Deung Mochang’s eyes glowed red in the light.

Even with their sudden transformation, Pyo-wol showed no signs of being surprised at all.

Dae Juhwa looked at Pyo-wol with a puzzled expression.

“How strange.”

“What’s wrong, my dear?”

“He’s too carefree, isn’t he?”

“That’s right! What’s up with him?”

Deung Mochang also had a perplexed expression on his face.

Pyo-wol’s reaction was vastly different from any other person they had encountered so far.

Usually, when they changed their appearance like this, most people would panic or be at a loss for words. But Pyo-wol was too calm and nonchalant.

Deung Mochang whispered to Dae Juhwa,

“Dear! Don’t you think we messed with the wrong person? That guy’s weird.”

“Hmpf! Even if we did, he will just end up as meat for our dumplings. Imagine how yummy he would be.”

“Hehehe, I’m sure he would be delicious!”

Saliva dripped from the corners of Deung Mochang’s mouth again.

Just thinking about it was enough to make his eyes lose focus and experience ecstasy. In contrast, Pyo-wol’s eyes sank even deeper as he looked at them.

“So, there was indeed human flesh in the dumplings you ate earlier.”

He thought it was strange that these two appeared in the middle of the night, but more importantly, that they suddenly took out some dumplings and cooked them.

From a logical standpoint, their behavior was not something one would expect from people who were lost in the mountains at night.

Moreover, there was an unpleasant odor coming from the dumplings as they cooked it. Even though it was masked by a myriad of spices, Pyo-wol could smell the eerily unpleasant smell within it, which was why he had refused when Dae Juhwa offered him the dumplings.

He had heard stories of people supplying dumplings or other dishes made from human flesh. Especially during times of famine or bad harvests, such rumors became more prevalent.

While most of these rumors were unfounded, there still exists those who indeed have a preference for human flesh.

Such as the case with the married couple in front of him.

Dae Juhwa and Deung Mochang hunted down anyone who passed through these mountains to make human meat dumplings.

Since the mountain was dense and treacherous, no one paid attention to a few missing individuals.

As a result, they had been able to continue their wicked deeds without being caught.

The prey they chose this time was Pyo-wol.

He was handsome and fair-skinned, making their mouths water just looking at him.

Dae Juhwa pulled out a large knife from her bosom and said,

“You’d better not try to run away. If you do, I’ll kill you painlessly.”

“It seems you’ve been doing this for quite some time. Aren’t you wary of the nearby officials or authorities?”

“Hmph! Do you think they care what happens up here in the mountains?”

“Listen, young master! The officials and other authorities are too busy squabbling amongst themselves to care about what’s going on up here in the mountains. Hehe!”

“Sure there were some who did manage to escape and report what happened to them, but the officials were too terrified to take any action. So that’s when we realized that the villagers won’t get involved themselves in such matters unless they have something to gain.”

Upon realizing this fact, the couple became even more daring in their hunting.

Once a person has gotten a taste for human flesh, there’s no getting away from it.

The same was true for the couple.

While their introduction to human meat was a mere coincidence, now they were deeply addicted to it that they couldn’t escape from it.

Dae Juhwa aimed her knife at Pyo-wol and said,

“I’m sure our young master here is going to become a very delicious dumpling. I can guarantee it.”

“I refuse.”

“Hehe! There’s no point in saying no. I’ve already made up my mind.”

Dae Juhwa raised her weapon, and at that moment, a faint aura surrounded it.

She was a martial arts master.

It was the same for Deung Mochang.

Although they were not world-renowned masters, they still had reached a level where they could defend themselves.

With their skills, they could easily gain recognition and receive a warm welcome in any martial arts sect.

Why they developed a taste for human flesh and chose to live in such a secluded place, no one knows, and Pyo-wol was not curious to find out.

Pyo-wol asked Dae Juhwa.

“Have you been active here for several years?”

“If you count the years we spent here training in the mountains, it’s been more than seven years. Why are you so curious about it?”

“That means no one has cared about you for seven years.”

“Do you think we are the only ones? The martial world is so big. Do you think there are only one or two deserted places like this? I’m sure most of those places are also inhabited by monsters.”

“Monsters?”

“Yeah! You know those people who go against the norms, so they’re called monsters. The problem is, we’re not the only monsters around. Hahaha! Do you know how ridiculous people are when they claim that this is the most peaceful period, but to us, it’s actually the most dangerous and chaotic time?”

Dae Juhwa chuckled.

Although the Two Factions and Three Sects dominated Jianghu, their eyes, and attention do not reach everywhere. In fact, much more was happening in places where their gaze didn’t reach. Yet, most, if not all people believed this was an unprecedented era of peace.

“Hehe! Monsters like us actually prefer times like these. People have become blinded by the word peace that they lost their sense of danger. That’s also the reason why there’s no shortage of people like you who wander alone in these dangerous mountains.”

Dae Juhwa approached Pyo-wol, holding her weapon.

She was looking at Pyo-wol as if she had already caught her prey. In her eyes, Pyo-wol appeared defenseless, like a chicken drumstick ready to be devoured.

As she approached him, Dae Juhwa suddenly felt a strange sensation.

She couldn’t hear her husband’s voice, which should have been right next to her.

He was a man she decided to share her life with. Even though he would nag her without fail every day, he was more important to her than anything else.

Dae Juhwa shouted without looking back,

“What are you doing? Hurry up and get close to me!”

“……”

“Seriously–”

When there was still no response from Deung Mochang, Dae Juhwa turned back in irritation. But the moment she did, her face was colored with horror.

Deung Mochang was there leaning against a rock with his tongue hanging out.

His face was discolored, and his eyes rolled at the back of his head.

Deung Mochang was dead.

A red cord-like creature was coiled around Deung Mochang’s ankle.

“A snake?”

A tiny snake, that shimmered like a red jewel, had bitten Deung Mochang on the ankle.

The potency of the snake’s venom was evident from the fact that Deung Mochang died instantly upon being bitten.

“My dear!”

Dae Juhwa cried out at her husband’s death.

At that moment, Pyo-wol spoke in a low voice,

“Come back, Gwiya.”

Hiss!

The red snake quickly slithered back towards Pyo-wol.

Only then did Dae Juhwa realize that Pyo-wol had incited the snake to kill her husband.

“Y-You! You evil bastard! You ordered that snake to kill my husband!”

Filled with anger, Dae Juhwa lunged at Pyo-wol with all her might.

Thud!

At that moment, Pyo-wol kicked away the bonfire, causing Dae Juhwa to be covered in embers and ashes.

“AHHH!”

With ash in her eyes, Dae Juhwa screamed and swung her weapon wildly.

Pyo-wol looked at her and said,

“I don’t know how you’ve managed to survive this long with such skill.”

“Where are you?! I’ll kill you!”

Dae Juhwa swung her weapon towards the direction where she heard Pyo-wol’s voice. However, her strike was in vain, as it only passed through empty air.

Swish!

Dae Juhwa’s frantic swings stopped dead in their tracks.

An eerie cutting sound came from her shoulder.

“AHHHH!”

Dae Juhwa screamed her lungs out, her vocal cords on the verge of rupturing.

Her arm, holding the weapon, had been severed from the shoulder. Blood was gushing out nonstop from the severed shoulder.

Dae Juhwa desperately tried to stop the bleeding with her intact hand, but it was futile.

Until her arm fell off, she didn’t sense any movement from Pyo-wol.

“S-Spare me! I-I was wrong!”

Dae Juhwa desperately begged for mercy. It was only now did she realize that her opponent was an incredibly skilled master who she couldn’t go against.

Despite having killed countless people before, the thought of her incoming death overwhelmed her with fear.

She knelt without any sense of shame.

However, Pyo-wol’s expression as he looked at her remained cold.

With a sweep of his hand, he cut off the remaining arm of Dae Juhwa.

“Argh! You devilish bastard! AHHH!”

Dae Juhwa screamed in pain.

She cursed at Pyo-wol, shouting all sorts of profanities.

“Who do you think you are?! Do you think you’re some sort of protector of justice?”

“I haven’t lived virtuously enough to believe in the soft, fluffy word ‘justice’.”

“Then why are you doing this? Couldn’t you just pass by quietly?!”

“I don’t have a big enough heart to spare anyone who challenges me, and most of all, you’re disgusting. I don’t consider myself a normal human either, but at least I’m not as much of a monster as those who crave human flesh.”

“Shut up! What do you know?!”

Swoosh!

At that moment, Pyo-wol’s Soul-Reaping Thread brushed past Dae Juhwa’s neck.

Dae Juhwa froze in the same expression she had while trying to scream.

Pyo-wol looked at her and muttered,

“I don’t even want to know.”

Swoosh!

Thud!

A red line appeared on Dae Juhwa’s neck, and soon her head fell to the ground.

Pyo-wol kicked away Dae Juhwa’s head which had rolled to his feet.

Her severed head disappeared into the bushes.

Pyo-wol looked up into the dark night sky and muttered,

“Perhaps the era of chaos began a long time ago.”

In a normal world, monsters craving human flesh would not have been able to operate freely.

Without people realizing it, the world had already fallen into chaos.

* * *

The Qianshan region of Anhui Province has long been famous for its picturesque landscapes.

With a large mountain called Mount Tianzhu standing behind the area like a folding screen, and the mighty Yangtze River flowing in front, it posed a magnificent scene. In recent years, however, what made Qianshan even more famous was a certain martial arts sect.

Established in Qianshan was the renowned martial arts school, the Rain Sword Mountain Manor.

Since the arrival of the Rain Sword Mountain Manor, Qianshan became even more famous and became a popular destination for many people.

Jang Pyeongsan, the sect leader of the Rain Sword Mountain Manor, was hailed as one of the greatest sword masters in the world. Anyone who aspired to learn swordsmanship, regardless of their background, wished to receive his teachings.

It was often argued among martial artists that he fell slightly behind the Sword Saint, Han Yucheon, but the difference was deemed negligible in the eyes of experts.

All members of the Rain Sword Mountain Manor were martial artists who had mastered the art of the sword.

While the other sects were able to train in a variety of martial arts, such as fist techniques, double-edged sword techniques, single-edged sword techniques, and palm techniques, depending on their talents, the disciples of the Rain Sword Mountain Manor solely focused on mastering swordsmanship, specifically, double-edged sword techniques.

There is a saying that goes, the Hundred-Day Spear, the Thousand-Day Single-Edged Sword, or the Ten Thousand-Day Double-Edged Sword.1

The implication was that it would take a hundred days to master a spear, a thousand days to master a single-edged sword, and more than ten thousand days to become proficient with a double-edged sword. Therefore, many people called the double-edged sword the king of all weapons.

However, there were also those who raised objections to this claim.

According to them, in terms of utility and destructive power, the double-edged sword fell far behind, and instead, the spear and the single-edged sword were superior. And to such individuals who had such beliefs, the martial artists of the Rain Sword Mountain Manor were no less than disasters.

Since the disciples of the Rain Sword Mountain Manor staunchly believed in the invincibility of the double-edged sword to the point of considering it as the ultimate weapon, they mercilessly attacked those who opposed it.

As a result, non-sword-wielding martial artists were extremely reluctant to come into contact with the disciples of the Rain Sword Mountain Manor.

It was to the point that it was almost impossible to find a martial artist in the Qianshan area carrying any weapon other than a double-edged sword.

On the other hand, artisans and scholars visited the Rain Sword Mountain Manor without any hesitation. Unlike the sect’s exclusivity of using other weapons, the Rain Sword Mountain Manor welcomed and treated artisans and scholars with extreme hospitality.

This was because Jang Pyeongsan enjoyed interacting with scholars and artisans, which also helped him develop a keen eye for art.

Furthermore, he himself also has exceptional skills in painting. Therefore, the people living in Qianshan praised him as a perfect martial artist who excelled in both martial arts and literary arts.

From the outside, at least, Jang Pyeongsan’s appearance was flawless in every aspect.

But those close to him knew of his true nature.

They knew how fearsome, and obsessive Jang Pyeonsan could be.

In particular, his obsession with famous or ancient swords was terrifying.

Jang Pyeongsan is particularly obsessed with swords made long ago. Swords with historical value, especially those by rulers who dominated the era. His obsession with the swords used by those rulers bordered on madness.

Jang Pyeongsan entered the warehouse after a long time.

The warehouse was filled with the famous swords he had collected up until now.

There was an abundance of those renowned swords that, if even one were to be leaked out, the world would be in an uproar.

Jang Pyeongsan spent a long time admiring his collection before murmuring to himself,

“But it’s still not enough.”

His gaze fell on an empty sword rest.

It was a specially crafted sword stand, diligently made by a master artisan.

The plan was to place a sword named “Gongbu” on this sword stand.

He firmly believed that he would be able to acquire Gongbu without a doubt. However, Gongbu disappeared, and the sword stand remained empty ever since.

At the thought of the sword Gongbu, anger rose in his heart.

The one sword he wanted and couldn’t get. That’s why his obsession grew stronger.

“Tch!”

Jang Pyeongsan clicked his tongue and turned around.

He should have been filled with joy at the sight of his sword collection, but instead, his anger grew.

Thud!

As Jang Pyeongsan walked out, the door of the warehouse closed behind him.

There was someone waiting for Jang Pyeongsan outside.

“Lord Jang, have you come out?”

The man who had his head lowered was Yang Jeong-hak, the steward or attendant of the Rain Sword Mountain Manor.

It was extremely rare for Yang Jeong-hak to wait in front of the warehouse, so Jang Pyeongsan asked,

“What’s going on?”

“We have received quite an interesting piece of news.”

“Interesting news?”

“Yes! It’s about the Reaper.”

“The Reaper?”

“He has appeared in Lake Tai, Jiangsu Province.”

Jang Pyeongsan showed an expression of interest.

Even in Qianshan, where the Rain Sword Mountain Manor was located, there was a lake named Taiping. Of course, it was much smaller than Lake Tai in Jiangsu, but its scenery was no less beautiful.

Hearing that Pyo-wol had appeared on a lake with an almost similar name, Jang Pyeongsan was naturally intrigued.

“So?”

“We don’t know the details yet, but they say that Lake Tai has been devastated. Furthermore, Pyo-wol has left Lake Tai and is heading south toward Anhui Province.”

“Anhui Province?”

“Yes. It’s not too far from our sect.”

“Well, isn’t that interesting? To think that the one who had killed our second young master would daringly come near the Rain Sword Mountain Manor…”

SoundlessWind21’s notes:

Thank you for reading!

The Hundred-Day Spear, the Thousand-Day Single-Edged Sword, or the Ten Thousand-Day Double-Edged Sword. Raws: 흔히들 백일창(百日槍), 천일도(千日刀), 만일검(萬日劍)이라고 말한다. Single-edged sword (刀, Dao). Curved blade. Sometimes translated as knife or sword-knife. Double-edged sword (劍, Jian). Straight Blade.