Reaper of the Drifting Moon

There was still a little time left before the sun began to set, but Pyo-wol decided to camp at this point. He knows from experience that the sun goes down faster in the mountains.

The moment a person would say ‘fighting!’ the sun would have already set, engulfing the mountains in darkness.

Travelers with little to no experience often lost their way in the thick darkness by forcing themselves to continue traveling down the road.

Pyo-wol was not a person with little experience, nor was he the kind who would get lost in this much darkness. But he had no desire to continue traveling on the road at night.

Pyo-wol looked around.

He was trying to find good terrain where he could set up camp.

He then saw several large boulders the same size as a house which lay near each other. The shape of the overlapping rocks was exquisite. Its structure looked like it’s capable of sufficiently blocking the rain and wind.

There was also a small stream nearby, so he would have no difficulty obtaining drinking water.

Pyo-wol tied the horse to the side of a rock and gave it plenty of water. Beside the rock was a thick bush, which was enough for the horse to eat.

Pyo-wol picked up dry twigs and gathered them.

Rumble!

At that moment, a rumble rang out from the sky.

There is not a single cloud in the sky, but the sound of thunder rang out.

Pyo-wol wrinkled the tip of his nose.

He could feel thick moisture from the air he just inhaled.

“It’s going to rain.”

Although he couldn’t see it now, it was only a matter of time before the clouds gathered.

Pyo-wol looked at his surrounding terrain once again.

Fortunately, the place where he was located had a higher topography than other places, so he didn’t have to worry about the water collecting in his area.

Pyo-wol raked up dry twigs and piled it up next to him. He also transferred and brought the horse under the rock. Thankfully, the space under the rock was quite large, so even though such a large horse came in, there was still enough space left.

As Pyo-wol prepared to camp like that, the sun went down and darkness came.

Darkness so thick that it was impossible to see an inch ahead completely engulfed the mountain.

Pyo-wol hurriedly lit a bonfire.

After lighting a bonfire, he felt more relaxed.

Pyo-wol leaned against a rock and tore off the beef jerky he bought on the way.

The beef jerky was salty and tough, as if it was made from poor-quality meat. Still, Pyo-wol did not frown and chewed the jerky in silence.

He chewed it as slowly and for as long as possible. It took him almost half an hour to eat a piece of beef jerky the size of his palm.

When he was about to put the last remaining piece in his mouth,

Patter!

Raindrops started falling on the rocks.

It’s finally raining.

The rain that fell one or two drops suddenly turned into heavy rain and hit the ground.

Fortunately, the rain did not hit the place where Pyo-wol had settled down. He would have no problem storing and preparing dry branches in advance and lighting a bonfire all night.

Pyo-wol took a break feeling the warmth of the campfire.

But his rest did not last long.

“There’s light!”

“Let’s go over there!”

He could suddenly hear people’s voices coming from afar.

Pyo-wol looked in the direction the voices came from.

After a while, a group appeared through the darkness. They ran towards the place where Pyo-wol was, drenched in the rain.

Those who appeared like drowning mice all looked like warriors. All of them had weapons hanging from their waists.

A person, who seemed to be the eldest among the group, stepped forward and said,

“Young man! We’re indebted to you!”

He came under the rock abruptly without even asking and waiting for Pyo-wol’s permission. The rest of the members of the group followed suit and hurriedly entered.

“I told you to hurry, didn’t I? Look at us now. We’re all wet because you were late.”

The woman brushed off the water from her body and harshly criticized the man.

The woman, who appeared to be in her mid-thirties, had quite a beautiful appearance. But her eyes were sharp and fierce.

The woman sat down in front of the bonfire without asking Pyo-wol’s permission. The warmth of the bonfire softened her expression, which used to be fierce.

The warrior who seemed to be the eldest shook his head and said,

“Who would have thought it would rain so suddenly? Take it easy.”

“Whatever. When I asked you to hurry up, you didn’t even listen to me.”

“Didn’t everything work out well in the end? We already managed to avoid the rain by coming here. Anyway, to think you managed to find a place like this where not a single raindrop could come in. Young man, thanks to you, I’m alive.”

Only then did the woman’s eyes turn to Pyo-wol.

“You saved my life. Thank you!”

She spoke curtly.

“Haha! Maybe because she’s wet with the rain, but Hwa Mae’s beauty seems to come to life even more.”

“Hoo! It’s cold!”

Warriors sat to the left and right of the woman. They held out their hands to the bonfire. Their faces lit up once they felt the warmth coming from the fire.

The chief warrior used his qi. His face suddenly turned red, and intense heat radiated off of him.

Chiii!

The heat quickly evaporated the water from his body.

“Hoo! I think I’m going to live a little now.”

The chief warrior had a refreshed expression on his face.

The other warriors had no choice but to dry their bodies and clothes over the bonfire since they weren’t as strong as their leader.

The chief warrior sat down right next to Pyo-wol and said,

“For you to find the perfect shelter from the rain like this, you must have quite a lot of experiences. Did you know it was going to rain?”

The light which reflected on his eyes made his eyes shone even more sharply.

“I heard the thunder.”

“Really? We haven’t heard of it. And even then, you’ve found a great place to set camp.”

“It wasn’t too difficult.”

“What’s your name?”

“Why do you ask that?”

“It’s fate that we met like this, so shouldn’t we introduce ourselves?”

“Then wouldn’t it be polite to reveal your name first?”

“Haha! That’s right.”

The chief warrior laughed out loud. But his eyes remained sharp.

He revealed his identity first.

“My name is Yang Cheol-hwan.”

“……..”

“You haven’t heard of it? Not one person in Henan did not know about Yang Cheol-hwan, the Iron-blooded Bear.”1

“……..”

“You really don’t know? Heup!”

Yang Cheol-hwan smacked his lips with an awkward expression.

Then the woman said something,

“I guess he’s having a hard time catching up with the rumors in Jianghu because his ears are blocked.”

“Still, he provided a precious resting place for us, so don’t be too rude.”

Yang Cheol-hwan deliberately pretended to scold the woman.

However, anyone who would look closely at his expression could see that his words were completely different from his true feelings. Yang Cheol-hwan clearly showed signs of discomfort when Pyo-wol did not recognize him.

Yang Cheol-hwan, the iron-blooded bear, was a fairly famous expert in Henan.

In addition to his innate natural strength, he learned the qigong called Golden Bell Qigong.2 This unables sword attacks from working on his body.

Furthermore, all those who were with him were very good warriors whom he considered as brothers.

In particular, the woman who had been grumbling from earlier was Han Buyong, who had the nickname Poisonous Butterfly.3

Han Buyong handles poisons and hidden weapons well to the point that there were rumors that she inherited some of the Tang family’s vision.

They couldn’t tell if those rumors were true, but it was clear that she was well adept in using poison and hidden weapons.

“Now that we have revealed our names, can you tell us yours?”

“Pyo-wol.”

“Hmm…”

Yang Cheol-hwan made a disapproving look at Pyo-wol’s behavior of only saying two characters of his name.

It was the first time he had been treated like this in Henan. However, it would be difficult for him to argue with Pyo-wol. After all, they were the ones who had suddenly invaded Pyo-wol’s space.

‘Pyo-wol…’

Yang Cheol-hwan muttered Pyo-wol’s name. However, given that he had no recollection of his name, Yang Cheol-hwan assumed that Pyo-wol is not a well-known person in Jianghu.

“Can you tell me where your destination is?”

“Why do you ask?”

“This bastard, acting so cold-hearted.”

A man next to Yang Cheol-hwan grinned. His protruding front teeth gave him a similar impression to that of a weasel.

His name is Oh Gu-kyung.

He was a warrior who followed Yang Cheol-hwan for a long time.

When Pyo-wol looked up, Oh Gu-kyung frowned.

“What? Are you trying to pick a fight? You punk! When an adult asks, you have to answer quickly.”

“That’s enough!”

“But brother! Look at that bastard!”

“I told you to stop.”

“Fine.”

When Yang Cheol-hwan raised his voice, Oh Gu-kyung closed his mouth with a disgruntled expression.

Yang Cheol-hwan looked back at Pyo-wol and said,

“Please understand, he’s not usually like that. He just seems to be a little on edge because he got soaked in the rain. I apologize on his behalf instead.”

Pyo-wol just nodded without saying a word.

There was a moment of silence between them.

This just made the sound of the rain even louder.

It was Yang Cheol-hwan who broke the silence.

“Did you learn martial arts?”

“A little.”

“I knew it. There’s no way a person who hasn’t learned martial arts would be sleeping alone in a place like this.”

Oh Gu-kyung said abruptly.

“I’m sure you just learned a few techniques that anyone can learn.”

“I told you to stay quiet.”

“Yes!”

Oh Gu-kyung shut his mouth again.

Yang Cheol-hwan looked at Pyo-wol’s face and continued,

“Are you going to Runan?”

“……..”

“Looks about right.”

Yang Cheol-hwan’s sharp eyes turned even more ferocious.

It was the same for others.

In an instant, great tension filled the area.

Pyo-wol scanned the people around him one by one.

The moment they received Pyo-wol’s gaze, not only Yang Cheol-hwan, but also Oh Gu-kyung, who was smirking, flinched.

There was no emotion contained in Pyo-wol’s eyes. It was perfectly still. It was impossible for an ordinary person to hide their emotions so perfectly.

It was only then that Yang Cheol-hwan intuitively realized that the man sitting in front of him was not an ordinary warrior.

Yang Cheol-hwan asked nonchalantly,

“Why are you going to Runan?”

“I have work to do.”

“If it’s related to the Jin family, I suggest that you stop.”

Runan is a city located near Tianzhongshan, where the Jin family was located. Among the warriors visiting Runan, most of them stopped by to go to Tianzhongshan, where the Jin family is located.

Pyo-wol asked,

“Why?”

“Because there’s nothing more foolish than getting involved with a declining sect.”

Yang Cheol-hwan replied in a confident voice.

“The Jin family is declining?”

“They may still be holding out right now, but their downfall is not that far away. They used to be the ones responsible for the downfall of the Snow Sword Manor a few years ago but now that sect has come back to regain its place.”

“Snow Sword Manor?”

“Don’t you know? The place where the Jin family is currently located is originally the site of the Snow Sword Manor. Now that its original owner has returned, uninvited guests should vacate the house. They might be holding on like crazy right now, but would they be able to last long? The Jin family is almost gone. So I recommend that you don’t try anything and go back. I wouldn’t have said this if you hadn’t let us take shelter from the rain.”

Yang Cheol-hwan said as if he was giving Pyo-wol a big favor by sharing this particular information. But Pyo-wol wasn’t listening to him.

‘Did something happen to the Jin family?’

When he was in Wudang Mountain, he hadn’t heard of anything unusual happening to the Jin family. It’s possible that the rumors hadn’t reached them yet, because they were so far away.

Whatever the reason, it was clear that the Jin family had a conflict with the Snow Sword Manor, and the Snow Sword Manor had the advantage.

Jianghu warriors are more sensitive to the situation than anyone else. They rarely stood on the side of those who they were certain would be defeated. Even if these warriors were offered a lot of money, they would not accept. They know that the moment they lose their life in defeat, then it’s the end.

So while Pyo-wol wasn’t familiar with Yang Cheol-hwan’s reputation, he knew that he and his companions were quite strong. With their level of force, it was clear that they would be treated well wherever he went.

The fact that they stood on the Snow Sword Manor’s side meant that they were so sure of that sect’s victory.

He needed more information.

He had to find out the situation the Jin family was in and figure out the problem.

Pyo-wol asked,

“How big is Runan?”

“It’s pretty big.”

“To what extent?”

“To the extent that it’s overflowing with brothels. Hehe!”

“Khehehe!”

Yang Cheol-hwan and his fellow warriors burst into laughter, as if they were happy just imagining it.

SoundlessWind21’s Notes

Thank you for reading!

Iron-blooded Bear. Raws: 철혈대응(織血大熊). 織 zhī, zhì – weave, knit; organize, unite 血 xiě, xuè – blood; radical number 143 大 dà, dài, tài – big, great, vast, large, high 熊 xióng – a bear; brilliant; bright; surname Golden Bell Qigong. Raws: Jin Zhong Zhao, Geumjongjo, 금종조(金鐘罩). Chinese characters: 金 jīn, jìn – gold; metals in general; money 鐘 zhōng – clock; bell 罩 zhào – basket for catching fish; cover This is a body strengthening/hardening technique. Poisonous Butterfly. Raws: Dokhwajeop, 독화접(毒花蝶). 毒 dú, dài – poison, venom; poisonous 花 huā – flower; blossoms 蝶 dié, tiē – butterfly