Reaper of the Drifting Moon

Light Novel: Volume 5 Episode 9

Manhwa: N/A

There have been many changes in Chengdu over the winter.

One of them is that new houses have been built in the slums.

Since the slum suffered one great fire last year, many houses were burned to ashes. The poor could not afford to rebuild their homes so they sold their house at a cheap price and left.

As they left, the rich men of Chengsu quickly entered the place they abandoned. They swept away the ashes of the ghetto and built a large mansion. The large mansions, which increased one by one, quickly encroached upon the slums and were reborn as high-end residential areas.

People were envious of the newly built high-end residential area, called the Xintian Road.¹

Most of the people who owned houses in Xintian Road were influential people in Chengdu. Among them, there were the owners of the large merchant groups, and there were those who operated the escort services or martial arts.

Thus, Xintian Road became a city for those who had money and power.

As it was a place where influential people in Chengdu lived, the security of Xintian Road was strict. Every alley was lined with warriors standing on the border, making it impossible for anyone with an unknown identity to even enter Xintian Road.

For the people of Chengdu, entering a mansion in Xintian Road has become a dream.

In particular, merchants or those in power who have recently earned a lot of wealth tried to enter Xintian Road.

However, the number of mansions was limited.

There were a lot of people who wanted to buy, but no one wanted to sell. Because of this, the mansions of Xintian Road continued to have their prices soared to the sky.

But even within Xintian Road, there was a mansion that was the object of envy. It was a great mansion in the middle of Xintian Road.

Among the luxurious mansions on Xintian Road, the mansion boasting a particularly large scale and high walls was reminiscent of a fortress.

When people saw the red pine tree on the wall of the mansion, they started to call it the Red Villa.²

Externally, the owner of the Red Villa is known to be Cho Chi-yang, the captain of the Zodiac Division group. However, he only stopped by the Red Villa from time to time, and did not live there. So, people thought of the Red Villa as a separate house for Cho Chi-yang.

However, the real owner of the Red Villa is actually someone else.

Squeak!

The huge door of the Red Villa opened and a young man entered. The man whose white face stood out even in the dark was Pyo-wol.

As Pyo-wol came in, someone rushed out from inside the mansion. It was a sharp-looking man in his early fifties wearing blue clothing.

As soon as he saw Pyo-wol, he bowed his head deeply.

Pyo-wol nodded and passed by the man. Then the man hurriedly followed behind Pyo-wol.

Pyo-wol strode without hesitation inside the Red Villa as if it were his own home, while the middle-aged man followed with the utmost respectful attitude as if he were Pyo-wol’s servant.

The middle-aged man’s name is Ko Hong-seo.

Pyo-wol called him Steward Go. Steward Go was a reticent man. Him not saying a word while following Pyo-wol showed how reticent he was.

But Steward Go had no choice but to remain silent.

Because his tongue was cut off from the root.

It wasn’t that he didn’t have a tongue in the first place. It was Gu Juyang, the leader of the Blood Shadow Group who had cut off the general’s tongue.

Gu Juyang was a cruel man.

He ran another organization separate from the Blood Shadow Group.

Most knew that assassins accepted requests and collected information directly by themselves. They weren’t wrong, since that was also true for a small group of assassins or assassins who acted alone.

But in order to further increase the Blood Shadow Group, Gu Juyang formed another organization. He gathered them so they would systematically support the assassins. Their task was to gather information and trends of the target.

Gu Juyang had cut off all their tongues to keep their job a secret. That was the reason the general’s tongue was cut off.

Seven years ago, the Blood Shadow Group collapsed, but the group founded by Gu Juyang survived. And so they waited for someone related to the Blood Shadow Group to call them back one day.

In a way, they were nothing more than a legacy left by Gu Juyang.

Their personal information remained intact in the booklet left by Gu Juyang so Pyo-wol gathered them last winter.

This didn’t mean that Pyo-wol was going to inherit the Blood Shadow Group. He had no intention of accepting an assassination quest, nor did he have the desire to kill for money.

It was just that in the process of collecting what Gu Juyang left behind, they were also gathered together.

Seven years have passed, but their loyalty to Gu Juyang remains. After the Blood Shadow Group were annihilated, they could have left and scattered among themselves, but their loyalty was proved by the fact that they still stayed.

At the center of it was Steward Go.

Steward Go, who has been loyal to Gu Juyang since childhood, switched his loyalty over to Pyo-wol this time. He had a different mindset that the average person would never understand.

Pyo-wol entrusted Steward Go to manage the Red Villa.

All of the people working at the Red Villa were the people Steward Go had with him. They were scattered all over the city today, collecting information for Pyo-wol.

That was their way of life, and they didn’t know any other way.

Pyo-wol did not specifically discourage or support them. Nevertheless, they worked zealously for their new master.

Steward Go led Pyo-wol to the largest room in the Red Villa.

It was a room that felt even desolate with the lack of common furniture or decorations.

When Pyo-wol sat down at the table in the middle of the room, the general handed him a paper he had prepared in advance.

The paper contained information collected by the members of the Red Villa.

How much money the merchant groups in Chengdu had earned, and what are the trends of the escort companies. There’s also information such as which martial artist expert had obtained an outstanding disciple.

All of these were information obtained by the people who served on the Red Villa.

Although it is far short of the information network of the Hao clan that covers the whole world, at least the information power in Chengdu and Sichuan was never inferior to it.

Steward Go looked at Pyo-wol with an extremely polite attitude.

Pyo-wol nodded his head.

“Good job. This is a big help.”

For a moment, Steward Go smiled.

Gu Juyang raised Steward Go as a dog.

A hunting dog that only finds pleasure in receiving praise from its owner.

Steward Go accepted Pyo-wol as the new owner, and his life was restored to the praise of his new owner.

[I will serve you with all my heart.]

With joy, he wrote on a piece of paper and showed it to Pyo-wol.

Pyo-wol nodded his head.

Among the members of the Red Villa, Steward Go was the only one who could see the whole picture. The other members of Red Villa knew only fragmentary information, but he was the only one who drew and grasped the overall picture.

Steward Go saw this as a privilege and worked more enthusiastically because of it.He was brainwashed by Gu Juyang from a young age, so his way of thinking had changed tremendously.

Steward Go looked at Pyo-wol with eyes full of anticipation. Expecting Pyo-wol to give an order.

“A man named Seo Mun-pyeong has entered Chengdu. Find out his purpose for coming to Chengdu.”

At Pyo-wol’s command, the general smiled brightly and nodded. The sight of a man over fifty years old smiling brightly seemed somehow peculiar.

As the old man leaves, Pyo-wol is left alone in the room.

A large room with nothing on it.

Pyo-wol’s second den was a huge space that could be used for martial arts. Here, Pyo-wol spent most of his time honing his martial arts and assasination methods.

Traces of Pyo-wol’s mastery of martial arts remained intact on the walls and pillars.

By absorbing the legacy of Gu Juyang, Pyo-wol was able to establish his own domain in Chengdu.

Pyo-wol did not engage in any outside activities.

By putting Soo-hyang of the Divine Fragrance Pavillion and Steward Go of the Red Villa at the forefront, his existence is thoroughly hidden.

Because of that, even Hong Yushin, the chief inspector of the Hao clan, thought that Pyo-wol left Chengdu and made a nest elsewhere.

Hong Yushin mobilized all the members of the Hao clan in Chengdu to inquire about Pyo-wol’s whereabouts. However, they could not find Pyo-wol, who was confined in the Red Villa as he heavily polished his martial arts.

The disappearance of the slums was a blow to the Hao clan. This is because the poor acted as informants due to the nature of the Hao clan.

Last year, due to the great fire, the poor were driven out of the city. Because of that, a big hole was forced to be cut in their information network inside the city.

In addition, General Go and Soo-hyang played a part in it. They used everything they had and thoroughly erased the traces of Pyo-wol.

Thus, Pyo-wol became a person who did not exist in Chengdu.

Some would feel frustrated to hide in the dark like this, but Pyo-wol was more comfortable living in hiding.

He had no desire for fame, nor did he have any desire for wealth and prosperity.

He just wanted to live as he is right now and in the future.

Pyo-wol’s gaze suddenly turned to the book lying on the desk.

It was the book that Steward Go had saved.

It was a book in which the principles of Face Changing Arts³ were written.

One of the best things about Steward Go is that he made these books easily available.

Although it was not easy to obtain the martial arts books containing the visions of each clan, it was easy to obtain as much as the books related to the Four Arts.

During the winter, Steward Go obtained numerous books for Pyo-wol, and Pyo-wol devoured them all. Thanks to that, Pyo-wol’s knowledge increased dramatically.

Pyo-wol calmly read the book that contained the principle of the Face Changing Arts.

Parak! Parararak!

In the quiet room, the sound of Pyo-wol turning the pages resounded.

It was around dawn when Pyo-wol covered the bookshelf.

The principle was similar to that of the tea sword⁴ learned in the old underground cave. The only difference was that the study was a little more profound and subdivided.

As a test, Pyo-wol performed the Face Changing Art.

Tuduk! Tududuk!

His facial muscles moved little by little, and his face shape changed.

It wasn’t that big of a change. It has only changed slightly. Still, the mood of the whole face changed noticeably. With the corner of his eyes lowered and his nose blunt, he had a face which had a slightly naive look.

Pyo-wol came out of the Red Villa in such a state.

As the day dawned, quite a few people were passing by on the street. But none of them paid any attention to Pyo-wol.

Pyo-wol’s original face is so beautiful that he always attracts people’s attention. As a result, there were many restrictions on his actions.

The reason why Pyo-wol specially obtained and learned the book of changing his face was in order to be free from people’s gaze.

Pyo-wol walked freely on the streets of Chengdu.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

Because he saw a familiar face.

A middle-aged man with a stylish beard. In his hand, he held a colorful painting.

‘Yu Shinfeng.’

He was the Shadowless Monk, Yu Shinfeng.

Yu Shinfeng, who came to Chengdu last year, for some reason did not leave and remained in the city. He continuously inquired about Pyo-wol’s whereabouts.

However, since the fall of last year, Pyo-wol has completely disappeared from Chengdu, and Yu Shinfeng has lost sight of his goal.

Yu Shinfeng did his best to find Pyo-wol. However, with his limited information it was impossible to find Pyo-wol who seemed to have disappeared.

Yu Shinfeng eventually gave up looking for Pyo-wol. He thought that Pyo-wol had already left Chengdu. So he also thought of going out of Sichuan, but it snowed heavily that winter.

All roads leading to the outside were clogged with snow, and they had to spend the winter in Chengdu. That was the reason why Yu Shinfeng was still in Chengdu.

Yu Shinfeng’s face looked very haggard because he had suffered a lot. In fact, he was in a very exhausted state right now.

He had sent his niece out of Sichuan and he ended up being left alone. However, he did not produce any results. In the end, his heart was heavy because he had wasted the entire winter.

“Hu…!”

Yu Shinfeng sighed involuntarily.

Pyo-wol was right next to him, but he didn’t recognize him.

Pyo-wol silently watched Yu Shinfeng like that. Pyo-wol received reports of Yu Shinfeng’s every move through Steward Go. Pyo-wol knew what Yu Shinfeng was looking for and what he was wary of.

While watching Yu Shinfeng, Pyo-wol came to know more about him. How diverse human psychology is, and how much patience a person with a strong sense of sympathy and will can have once he sets a goal.

Yu Shinfeng became a great teaching aid for Pyo-wol without even knowing it. By observing his actions, Pyo-wol came to know the psychological state underlying the factionless warriors.

Even when Yu Shinfeng dies and wakes up, he will not know that he has been observed by Pyo-wol. Pyo-wol also had no intention of going forward and revealing it.

That was then.

Dagdak!

With a powerful sound of horseshoes, a large carriage ran toward the direction of Pyo-wol and Yu Shinfeng.

The carriage stopped right in front of Yu Shinfeng.

“Hm?”

At the moment Yu Shinfeng was looking at it curiously, someone jumped out of the carriage.

“Uncle!”

The woman who was embraced in Yu Shinfeng’s arms with a loud voice was Lee So-ha, who had left Chengdu last year.

“So, So-ha! How are you?”

Yu Shinfeng opened his eyes in surprise. Then Lee So-ha raised her head and said,

“Uncle didn’t come, so I came back instead.”

“Oh!”

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

Tears welled up in So-ha’s eyes.

After Yu Shinfeng made her return to her home alone, she could not sleep comfortably for a single day. In her heart, she wanted to return to Chengdu as soon as possible, but the heavy snow blocked the road, so she had to wait until spring.

As soon as she heard the news that the road to Chengdu had been opened, she immediately set out for Chengdu.

“You didn’t come alone on that rough road, did you?”

“I’m here with a friend.”

“Friend?”

Yu Shinfenglooked at the carriage with a puzzled expression.

At that moment, a woman in a light suit disembarked from the carriage. Because of her cold atmosphere, she was a rare beauty reminiscent of an ice flower.

The woman greeted Yu Shinfeng while walking.

“This junior Won Ga-young is meeting the Shadowless Monk, Mister Yu Shinfeng.”

“Won Ga-young? Huh! So, is this Young Miss the Fairy Phantom Sword, then?”⁵

A look of astonishment appeared on Yu Shinfeng’s face.

SoundlessWind21’s Notes

Hope you enjoyed the chapter~

1. Xintian Road. Raws: Shincheon-ro, 신천로(新天路).
   • 新 new, recent, fresh, modern
   • 天 sky, heaven, god, celestial
   • 路 road, path, street
2. Red Villa. Raws: Jeoksongjang, 적송장(赤松莊).
   • 赤 red
   • 松 pine tree, fir tree
   • 莊 village, villa
3. Face Changing Arts. Raw: Yeokyongsul, 역용술(易容術).
   • 易 change, easy
   • 容 looks, appearance, figure, form
   • 術 art, skill, special, method, technique
4. Raws: 차검(搭 験)
   • 搭 join together, attach, add to
   • 験 test, examine, inspect, verify
5. Fairy Phantom Sword. Raws: 환검선자(幻剣仙子).
   • 幻 illusion, fantasy, mirage
   • 剣 sword, dagger
   • 仙 Taoist super being, immortal
   • 子 offspring, child, fruit