Reaper of the Drifting Moon

Sa Hyo-kyung looked around with angry eyes.

Jeong Sanwi, Yo Sulyeong, Cho Samcheok, and himself, the four of them gathered in one place.

The other three did not appear.

Sa Hyo-kyung was not naive enough to not know what that meant.

The deaths of Gam Ilhae and Jae Woong-pyeong have already been confirmed. All that was left was the Iron Dwarf, but seeing that he did not appear, it was clear that he was also dead.

“Who the hell is it?”

Sa Hyo-kyung’s shoulders trembled, and a ferocious force radiated from him. The surroundings shook madly at the momentum he radiated.

The Jeong Sanwi tried to calm Sa Hyo-kyung.

“Stay calm, big brother!”

“Do I look like I’m going to calm down? Three of our younger brothers whom I wanted to spend the rest of my life with are dead.”

“This is why we need you to be more sober. What he wants is for us to be agitated. Even at this moment, he is hiding and watching our every move. We need to be cool-headed.”

“Hoo…”

Only then did Sa Hyo-kyung calm his anger. Jeong Sanwi sighed in relief.

The core of the Seven Stars was Sa Hyo-kyung. Only when Sa Hyo-kyung took the center position could the group move forward without being shaken.

Sa Hyo-kyung asked Jeong sanwi,

“Who do you think did it?”

“At the moment, it’s most likely him.”

“Him?”

“Pyo… wol. If he has the ability to fight against the Qingcheng and Emei sect, it is possible that he’s responsible.”

After entering Chengdu, what Jeong Sanwi paid the most attention with is collecting information regarding subjects who could be a threat to their group.

Originally, the greatest threat were the Emei and Qingcheng sect. However, they suffered so much damage that they had stopped their activities. The same situation could be said for the other sects in Chengdu.

The Hundred Flower Room lost both of their young miss and their sect leader, while the Thunder Clan also disappeared altogether.

All of this happened because of one person.

Only one assassin shook the entire Sichuan Murim.

It wasn’t too difficult to find him. It was because he had such a beautiful appearance that it was hard to believe that they were the same species.

A man who is more beautiful than a woman.

That was Pyo-wol.

At least among the warriors who had become his enemies in Chengdu, there was no one who did not know Pyo-wol. However, no one was willing to tell Jeong Sanwi about Pyo-wol.

For that reason, it took quite a while to figure out the identity of Pyo-wol.

So he was so surprised when he found out that it was Pyo-wol who caused a lot of damage to the Iron Dwarf.

‘I should have definitely killed him back then–’

Now that he thought about it, he only has regrets.

Because they did not want to attract the attention of the Qingcheng and Emei sect, things have led to this kind of disaster.

“Did you find out why he’s after us? Don’t tell me he’s still offended by what happened with our third brother?”

The third brother he was referring to was Oh Kyung-wol, the Iron Dwarf.

Jeong Sanwi shook his head.

“If that were the case, there would be no reason for him to drag on the situation in the first place.”

“So?”

“He must be related to the child in some way.”

Jeong San-wi looked at Nam Shin-woo, who was spread out under his feet.

Sa Hyo-kyung’s eyes changed sharply.

“It’s ecause of this guy?”

“I think that’s most likely.”

Sa Hyo-kyung’s face distorted at Jeong Sanwi’s answer.

It was like getting ambushed in an unexpected place.

“We’ll get out of here for now. So far we’ve been scattered, so he’s had an advantage, but together he won’t be able to attack us easily.”

“Let’s do that. Samcheok!”

“Yes!”

“You carry this guy.”

“Alright.”

Cho Samcheok answered and then wrapped his arms around Nam Shin-woo, who had fainted.

“Sulyeong!”

“What is it?”

“You take the lead. You are the most sensitive of us, so make sure you keep track of his movements.”

“I understand.”

Yo Sulyeong nodded and took the lead.

“Be careful, everyone. You never know when or where he will attack.”

Sa Hyo-kyung once again asked the younger sisters.

“Yes!”

“Let’s go!”

At Sa Hyo-kyung’s words, the four of them began to move as one.

Yo Sulyeong, with her senses wide open, moved at the forefront, while Sa Hyo-kyung and Jeong Sanwi escorted Choo Samcheok from the left and right.

Their faces were full of wretched energy.

The three brothers who swore to die at the same time died today. If they make a mistake, that oath could have come true for all of them today.

Such a situation had to be prevented.

Sa Hyo-kyung clenched his teeth as he looked at Yo Sulyeong’s back.

‘I’m stepping down disgracefully today, but I will definitely take revenge.’

He had never had such a shameful day in his life. The fact that he had to leave Chengdu like this without doing anything made him miserable.

Jeong Sanwi, whether he had even read his mind, said.

“It is said that it is not too late to wait ten years for a gentleman’s revenge. If we hand over the child and receive support, we will be able to kill Pyo-wol easily. We just have to wait until then.”

“Yes, that’s right! I will definitely pay for today’s disgrace after consulting with everyone.”

“We will continue to follow you.”

“I’m thankful and encouraged by everyone’s presence.”

At Sa Hyo-kyung’s words, Jeong Sanwi smiled slightly. But his face soon hardened like a stone.

Now wasn’t the time to enjoy being praised.

It was time to get through the crisis together.

“Sulyeong, be careful.”

“Don’t worry. If he’s a man, what can he do to me?”

“Don’t think of him as a man. He is an assassin. Remember, there is nothing more foolish than to expect approval from an assassin.”

“Yes, I know.”

Yo Sulyeong bit her red lips.

She couldn’t hide her perplexed expression. She never dreamed that the man she was trying to seduce would be so terrifying.

If she had known the truth behind his handsome face that he was hiding such a cruel and ferocious nature, she would never have approached him so defenselessly.

‘But he’s also a man. As long as he’s a man, he won’t be able to deal with me.’

She firmly believed in her own beauty.

The best weapon for a woman was her gorgeous appearance, not martial arts. In that way, she had the strongest weapon.

Yo Sulyeong was confident that Pyo-wol would never attack her. Rather, she was convinced that if Pyo-wol appeared, she would successfully seduce him and wrap him under her skirt.

That was then.

“Keuk!”

Suddenly, a scream broke out from behind.

When she looked behind her in surprise, Jeong Sanwi was staggering.

“What’s going on?”

“Don’t stop!”

Jeong Sanwi shouted while staggering. He is trying to prevent the group from being disturbed because of him.

That was then.

Cuuc!

Suddenly, Jeong Sanwi’s body was taken into the darkness.

“Sanwi!”

“Second brother!”

Sa Hyo-kyung and Yo Sulyeong shouted and ran at the same time. However, the speed at which Jeong Sanwi was being dragged was several times faster than the speed at which they were running.

‘Keuk!’

Jeong Sanwi looked at his left foot.

Something invisible to the naked eye was wrapped around his ankles.

Jeong Sanwi struggled and tried to cut off the object that tightened around his ankle, but to no avail.

‘It’s the same with my brothers.’

He knew how his brothers died. They were all dragged into the darkness, and died instantly.

A determined expression appeared on the Jeong Sanwi’s face. He gathered his energy into the blade of his hand and smashed his leg in one breath.

Puhwack!

Jeung Sanwi was cut off his leg from the knee.

“Keurk!”

Jeong Sanwi, who had cut off his own leg, let out a suppressed groan. Without any complaining about the pain, he got up on one leg.

In his view, he saw Sa Hyo-kyung and Yo Sulyeong running towards him. Seeing them running like crazy, Jeong Sanwi shouted.

“No! Don’t come!”

Cuuc!

At that moment, Cho Samcheok, who was left alone, disappeared from view. Just like Jeong Sanwi, Cho Samcheok was dragged into the darkness with Nam Shin-woo on his back.

However, Sa Hyo-kyung and Yo Sulyeong did not notice such a fact at all as they were fixated on going towards Jeong Sanwi.

Jeong Sanwi shuddered,

”He’s a demon. He’s not human.’

An unbearable fear came over him like a tide.

So far, Pyo-wol has never shown a face. He was hiding in the dark and hunting the Seven Stars.

It would not have been so terrifying if it had been a face-to-face confrontation, because most warriors fight like that.

But this was not a battle between martial artists.

This was one-sided hunting, nothing more or less.

If it was him, he would have cursed and demeaned it as a cowardly act.

In Jianghu, an assassin is nothing more than a subhuman being who carried out a secret attack or ambush. That was how Jeong Sanwi had thought so far.

But from this moment onward, his thinking has changed.

Assassins were never meant to be taken lightly.

He could not laugh at them anymore.

At least, he shouldn’t judge Pyo-wol to be on the same level as the other assassins.

He now finally understands. How those large sects such as the Qingcheng and Emei sect were helplessly beaten by Pyo-wol.

Pyo-wol was a different kind of assassin.

He was clearly demonstrating the maximum value an assassin could do.

Sa Hyo-kyung and Yo Sulyeong belatedly realized that Cho Samcheok had been dragged into the darkness and looked back.

Sugak!

At that moment, something flashed in front of Jeong Sanwi. Jeong Sanwi thought that the world was turning. But in reality, his body had leaned.

His right leg, which was still intact, was amputated using the Soul-Reaping Thread.

Thud!

As soon as Jeong Sanwi fell to the floor, someone walked out of the darkness.

The pure white face that contrasted with the pitch-black darkness looked like a demon in Jeong Sanwi’s eyes. But his face was more beautiful than any other woman. So it felt even scarier.

Jeong Sanwi raised his hand and pointed to Pyo-wol.

“You?”

At that moment, Pyo-wol waved his hand.

Jeong Sanwi felt something sharp cut his throat.

That was the last feeling that Jeung Sanwi felt before a fountain of blood spurted out from his neck.

Pyo-wol ended up taking Jeong Sanwi’s life using the Soul-Reaping Thread.

“AHHHHH!”

“Second brother!”

At that time, Sa Hyo-kyung and Yo Sulyeong, who realized that Jeong Sanwi was dead, ran frantically.

Pyo-wol stood in place and looked at them. He no longer hid in the dark, nor did he try to avoid them.

Phat!

Pyo-wol’s figure flickered and then appeared in front of Sa Hyo-kyung, who was running at full speed.

He unfolded the Black Lightning.

“Bastard!”

Sa Hyo-kyung wailed like an animal and swung his fists.

Kwaaa!

A wind of formidable power came over Pyo-wol. However, Pyo-wol lightly evaded the attack by executing the Snake Steps.

Sa Hyo-kyung continued to attack Pyo-wol. However, Pyo-wol evaded and avoided all of those attacks by a narrow margin.

‘No way!’

Sa Hyo-kyung’s eyes were filled with despair.

Pyo-wol was like a ghost.

He would accurately capture the moment of his attack and would retreat. And everytime he would step back, Pyo-wol would come closer.

Pyo-wol’s reaction, as if he knew in advance what kind of technique he was going to use, made all hairs all over his body stand up.

Pyo-wol precisely matches the breathing and life response with his opponent using synchronization¹.

That’s how he was reading Sa Hyo-kyung’s reaction in advance and can respond preemptively.

It was the first time Sa Hyo-kyung had experienced this type of martial arts, so even the seasoned warrior Sa Hyo-kyung had no choice but to be flustered.

“Big brother!”

Yo Sulyeong joined to help Sa Hyo-Kyung. However, Pyo-wol’s reaction was several times faster than her movements.

Siit! Ssiit!

A sound of a weapon ripping through the darkness echoed.

The ghost daggers was released.

“Huh!”

Yo Sulyeong instinctively leaned back and swung her sword.

Kkagang!

She was able to hit the ghost dagger by a hair’s breadth. Having managed to save her life, she exhaled a deep breath and got up quickly.

Her eyes widened as if torn apart.

“Big brother!”

Sa Hyo-kyung was standing with his mouth wide open.

Around his neck was a thread so fine that it was indistinguishable with the naked eye. It was clear that the thread would pierce his neck without mercy if he moved even a little.

Behind Sa Hyo-kyung was Pyo-wol, holding the thread.

In that brief moment when Yo Sulyeong evaded the ghost daggers, Pyo-wol had wrapped the thread around Sa Hyo-kyung’s neck and went behind his back.

“Keueuk!”

The thread dug into Sa Hyo-kyung’s neck.

SoundlessWind21’s Notes

Hope you enjoy the chapter~

1. Synchronization. Raws: 동조(同調)
   1. 同 same, similar
   2. 調 transer, move, change, tune