Reaper of the Drifting Moon

Pyo-wol’s residence was a small house on a hill near Min River.

The house, which was previously owned by a fisherman’s family, has been abandoned for a long time and its structure was barely maintained.

Pyo-wol simply repaired the abandoned house and used it as a residence.

After Tang Sochu returned, Pyo-wol lay on the floor alone and looked up at the night sky.

It was the darkness he was tired of seeing even in the underground cave. But there was a difference.

A sea of stars flowing through the night sky.

It was the Milky Way.

Pyo-wol stared blankly at the Milky Way without doing anything else.

He thought all my emotions were worn out, but when he saw the sea of brilliantly shining stars, he felt something strange.

That was then.

Crash!

He could hear the rustling and breaking of leaves.

Pyo-wol raised his upper body and looked in the direction where the sound came from.

It was not the sound of an animal moving. Pyo-wol senses become particularly sensitive in the dark. He immediately recognized that the owner of the footsteps was a master of martial arts.

After waiting for a while, the owner of the footsteps appeared in the darkness.

There was a gleam in Pyo-wol’s eyes.

Because he recognized the identity of the uninvited guest.

‘Yong Seol-ran!’

Yong Seol-ran was the woman who exuded splendid beauty despite wearing modest and light clothing. She walked straight towards Pyo-wol.

The appearance of Yong Seol-ran approaching with her eyes slightly lowered was like a picture in itself.

Sarak! Sarak!

Yong Seol-ran, who had passed through the grass, stopped in front of Pyo-wol.

“It’s been a while.”

“What’s going on?”

“When you have a guest, don’t you even tell them to sit down?”

“Sit yourself.”

“Thank you.”

Yong Seol-ran smiled slightly and sat down in front of Pyo-wol. She looked around and said.

“You’re staying in a nice place. It took me a long time to find it. I thought you were out of Sichuan.”

“It’s a place I want to stay for a long time.”

“I agree. If I could, I would also want to live in a place like this. Having no worries or troubles…”

The darkness hid everything in the world, but with the level of Yong Seol-ran, she could still distinguish the scenery to some extent with her excellent eyesight.

Behind the house, there is a small hill that blocks the wind. While in the front, the view is wide open so the huge Min River and the plain can be seen at a glance.

Anyone who comes to a place like this will surely want to stay for a long time.

Suddenly, Yong Seol-rans gaze turned to the sky.

A sea of stars came into her eyes.

Although it is a landscape that can be seen every day at Mt. Emei, it seemed even more splendid today.

The stars could be reflected on Yong Seol-ran’s eyes.

She stared at the sky for so long.

After some time had passed, Yong Seol-ran looked at Pyo-wol. Even then, Pyo-wol was looking at her without saying a word.

“I’m sorry. I came here all of a sudden, and you were paying attention to the wrong place. Actually, a lot of things happened today. So I was a little confused.”

“I was excommunicated today. To be exact, I was the one who asked to be excommunicated, and my senior sister, Cheolsim, who became a new sect leader gave me permission.”

Even though Pyo-wol did not ask why, Yong Seol-ran continued to speak.

“I am now a person who has nothing to do with the Emei sect. Aren’t you curious why I made this choice?”

“Not really.”

“I thought so. Please listen anyway. Because it’s related to you. Now, our sect, no, the Emei sect, can’t hold their heads up high in Jianghu anymore. The cowardice that the master had done was revealed, and her face and reputation fell to the floor. Now, even affiliated sects have turned their backs on us. Regardless of public sentiment, no one believes in the Emei sect anymore. I know, this is all self-inflicted. All of the Emei school disciples know that fact. But the human heart is not always rational. “

“……..”

“The Emei sect wants to get revenge on you. Even though it’s their fault, they still want to save their face at the least. But they can’t do that because I was there looking out for them. Also, I know that if they get beaten by you again the next time, they’ll never be able to recover.”

“So that’s why you set yourself up for excommunication.”

“That’s right. You’re sharp as expected.”

Yong Seol-ran shook her head.

She looked at Pyo-Wol with an expression of genuine admiration. Pyo-wol accurately and quickly grasped the core of the words she was talking about.

Yong Seol-ran was raised by Guhwasata.

Guhwasata, who recognized her qualities, raised her with great sincerity. She generously passed on the vision of the Emei sect and gave her various elixirs.

As a result, Yong Seol-ran was able to become one of the leading disciples in the Emei sect.

If it were just that, Yong Seol-ran would have been loyal to the Emei sect.

However, Guhwasata hoped to get results beyond what she had invested in, and she saw Yong Seol-ran as a tool to maximize her profits.

She ignored all of Yong Seol-ran’s will and pushed for an arranged marriage with Woo Gunsang. There were many other instances where Guhwasata arbitrarily pushed and forced her to do other things.

And each time, Yong Seol-ran was left disappointed. So inn the end, she started to hate Guhwasata.

Even her senior sisters, who were supposed to support Yong Seol-ran, were jealous of her and often ignored her.

Because of that, Yong Seol-ran wandered alone.

Although she belonged to the Emei faction, she was completely pushed out of the center of power and human relations. She was alienated. Still, Yong Seol-ran did not leave the Emei sect.

No, she couldn’t leave.

She thought she had to at least repay the kindness she had received from her master. It’s been like that for over a decade. And not so long ago, that happened.

Guhwasata died and the Emei sect collapsed.

The Emei sect mused over their grudge against Pyo-wol. All the incidents might have happened because of them, but they still blamed it all on Pyo-wol.

However, they couldn’t move recklessly.

If they fail again the next time, they could be really incapable of recovering.

“So I asked for an excommunication. To fight you regardless of the Emei sect.”

Her reason was for her master’s revenge. Even if she lost, it could be dismissed as an individual challenge that had nothing to do with the Emei faction.

There was nothing to lose for the Emei sect.

As an added bonus, they had the advantage of being able to kick out Yong Seol-ran out of the Emei sect, who was like a thorn in their eye.

There was no reason not to accept Yong Seol-ran’s request for excommunication as Cheolsim had to consolidate her power as she became the new sect leader.

Pyo-wol asked,

“What do you gain by doing that?”

“Freedom!”

Yong Seol-ran replied with that single word. And her answer pierced Pyo-wol’s heart.

If she had come to him for a non-sincere reason, he wouldn’t have dealt with her, but if it was a fight for freedom, he had to accept it.

It is because he himself has been fighting for freedom.

Pyo-wol got up from his seat.

“There’s no reason to waste more time.”

“Thank you for accepting my rude request.”

Yong Seol-ran also got up. All of a sudden, a force like frost was radiating from her whole body.

Yong Seol-ran released everything she had held back tightly. A storm-like energy swirled around her in a radius of about ten meters.

Pyo-wol felt that the momentum of Yong Seol-ran was as good as the Guhwasata. On the contrary, she seemed to outperform the Guhwasata in the quantity of her internal force.

Yong Seol-ran had been hiding her strength until now. Just like Pyo-wol did.

Pyo-wol quietly raised his inner strength.

Ciiit!

It was Yong Seol-ran who moved first.

Her sword split the darkness.

For a moment, Pyo-wol saw the illusion of lotus petals flying in front of him. Whenever Yong Seol-ran wields her sword, a lotus-shaped energy rises and attacks.

Supreme Lotus Sword.¹

It was a long lost technique of the Emei sect.

It was difficult to learn, and it took a long time to master it, so it became a dead martial art. Yong Seol-ran accidentally stumbled upon it.

She couldn’t ask anyone for help because it wasn’t something formally taught. So she had to endure and learn by herself.

With her hard work, she learned more than seven strokes of the Supreme Lotus Sword.

Its power was beyond imagination.

She had mastered only up to the seventh stroke, but it has the power that easily surpasses the other signature techniques of the Emei sect.

The Supreme Lotus Sword went well with the Extreme Yin² of Yong Seol-ran. In addition to that, the Nine Shadow Steps³ was added.

Sarak! Sarak!

The figure of Yong Seol-ran has been split into nine. This was brought about by the effect of the Nine Shadow Steps.

Yong Seol-ran did everything in her power to release everything she had learned. All of her abilities and skills which were kept secret even in front of her master and the senior sisters, were now laid bare.

Her sword was wrought with thread.

Yong Seol-ran was like a priestess.

Each of her movements was graceful and beautiful. But the result was not pretty.

Purberberbuck!

There was a hole in everything that her sword hit directly. Numerous holes were made in both the beautiful tree and the large rock.

Pyo-wol moved sharply away from her sword. However, it was not easy to shake off Yong Seol-ran.

Yong Seol-ran’s Nine Shadow Steps contained the essence of the Emeis ect’s martial arts. It made Pyo-wol curious why Guhwasata didn’t learn that kind of footwork.

In order to carry out the Nine Shadow Steps, a natural talent and excellent sense were required. Yong Seol-ran was the only one who met all of those conditions.

Against Yong Seol-ran , Pyo-wol took out his ghost daggers.

Ciiiit!

A terrifying pounding sound echoed through the night sky.

Two ghost daggers ripped the darkness to shreds, aiming for Yong Seol-ran’s breath.

Kkagagaggang!

The sword of Yong Seol-ran and the ghost dagger of Pyo-wol collided dozens of times.

Fireworks bloomed and fell, and the torn blades of grass flew in the air like rain. Yong Seol-ran generously released everything it had.

Her internal energy was about to deplete, and her muscles complained of pain. Still, she never stopped attacking.

Her motivation was revenge on behalf of her Master and Emei, but at this moment, there was no such trivial reason in her mind.

There was an absolutely strong warrior in front of her.

Only the thought of defeating him filled her mind.

Phat!

In an instant, Pyo-wol’s figure disappeared from view.

He unfolded the Black Lightning.

As it was in the state of moving at lightning speed, the movements of Pyo-wol became several times faster.

Everything around him slowed down.

It was as if he had entered another world by himself.

Of course, the pressure and burden on his body increased several times. However, Pyo-wol’s body, which had been trained to the limit, endured such pain as if it’s nothing and appeared in front of Yong Seol-ran.

Yong Seol-ran tried to defend by spreading the Supreme Lotus Sword. But Pyo-wol’s movements were more pronounced than hers.

Bang!

Yong Seol-ran flew backwards with an explosion.

Pyo-wol had used Jailbreak.

Yong Seol-ran could not even scream at the intense pain that seemed to dismantle her whole body and fell to the floor.

She tried to grab the sword even when her whole body was wrecked.

At that moment, Pyo-wol gently stepped on her sword.

Yong Seol-ran gave it her all, but the sword did not move as if caught in a huge rock.

Kkuuc!

Yong Seol-ran grabbed Pyo-wol’s trousers and forced herself to stand up.

“Huff…huff!”

Breathing heavily, she hit Pyo-wol with her fist.

Puck! Puck!

Her internal energy was exhausted, and her fists had no strength at all. Rather, every time she she punched, she felt a pain as if her muscles were being cut. Still, Yong Seol-ran did not stop punching Pyo-wol.

Kwac!

At one point, Pyo-wol grabbed her wrist.

Yong Seol-ran struggled to fight, but she couldn’t shake Pyo-wol’s hand.

Pyo-wol looked at Yong Seol-ran while suppressing both of her hands.

“Huff… Huff…!”

Yong Seol-ran forced herself to breathe and looked at Pyo-wol.

Their eyes met in the air.

At that moment, there was an exchange of intense emotions between the two of them.

Pyo-wol released Yong Seol-ran’s arm and pulled her. One of his arms went around her thin waist.

Yong Seol-ran wrapped both of her arms around Pyo-wol’s neck.

He hit his mouth against her.

Their lips met, and their tongue intertwined.

They covetted each other’s lips violently, as if they were sucking each other’s souls.

They couldn’t think of anything.

They only longed for each other.

The two of them fell to the floor, without saying anything.

Clothes were torn off one by one, and their white naked bodies shone under the stars.

They desired each other without shyness.

They made love by pushing their bodies against each other while breathing roughly on the nape of each other’s neck.

Yong Seol-ran wrapped around Pyo-wol’s body like a snake, and Pyo-wol pushed himself inside Yong Seol-ran as if he’s going to destroy her.

Until the sea of stars that covered the sky disappeared, they did not stop longing for each other.

* * *

When Pyo-wol opened his eyes, Yong Seol-ran was nowhere to be seen.

She disappeared without leaving a note or saying goodbye.

SoundlessWind21’s Notes

Not me being sad because they didn’t end up together T-T she didn’t even say goodbye… F </3

1. Supreme Lotus Sword. Raws: 무상연화검 (無上蓮花剣).
   • 無 negative, no, lack
   • 上 top, superior, highest
   • 蓮 lotus, water lily
   • 花 flower, blossom
   • 剣 sword, dagger
2. Extreme Yin. Raws: Taeumseongong, 태음선공(太陰仙功)
   • 太 very, too much, extreme
   • 陰 yin, female principle
   • 仙 Taoist super being, transcendent, immortal
   • 功 achievement, merit, good result
3. Nine Shadow Steps. Raws: Gu Dong-hwan Yeongbo, 구전환영보(九輔幻影步)
   • 九 nine
   • 輔 cheek bone, assist
   • 幻 illusion, fantasy
   • 影 shadow, image
   • 步 step, pace