Reaper of the Drifting Moon

Light Novel: Volume 2 Episode 4

Manhwa: Chapter 22

Dang! Dang! Dang!

An emergency bell rang dizzyingly in the quiet Qingcheng sect.

The disciples of the Qingcheng sect, who were resting quietly, ran out bewildered. Then came the shocking news that Woo Gunsang had been attacked and killed by an assassin.

“Look for the assassin now!”

“Don’t let go of him!”

All the martial artists scattered across Mount Qingcheng came out and searched for the assassin who killed Woo Gunsang.

A disciple of the Qingcheng sect was killed within the confines of the sect. It was an unprecedented incident where a promising disciple died after being attacked by an assassin.

Of course, the Qingcheng sect was turned upside down.

In particular, the anger of Woo Jinpyeong, who lost his child, and Muryeongjin, who lost the future of the Qingcheng sect was great.

They looked at the corpse of Woo Gunsang with wretched eyes.

“GUNSAAANG!”

Woo Jinpyeong knelt in front of his son’s body and horribly sobbed.

Woo Jinpyeong, who was like a rock since he had never been shaken even once in Qingcheng sect, was now sobbing defenselessly.

At the sight of Woo Jinpyeong figure, the expressions of the elders of the Qingcheng sect became somber.

“Oh Primordial God. How could our sect endure such an ordeal…”

Muryeongjin closed his eyes and shook his white beard.

Mu Jeong-jin, an elder right below him, approached him.

“Senior brother!”

“Speak, junior brother!”

“We must deal with that child.”

Mu Jeong-jin’s gaze was pointing to the female disciple lying unconscious.

Muryeongjin frowned.

“What do you mean? That child is also a disciple of our sect, and yet you still want to dispose of her?”

“The honor of Gunsang is at stake. If it becomes known to the outside world that he has brought a female disciple during his closed training, the honor of Gunsang will hit rock bottom. He is already dead, so shouldn’t we at least protect his honor?”

“Junior brother!”

Muryeongjin unleashed a mournful roar.

All the other elders flinched, but Mu Jeong-jin continued speaking without changing a single expression on his face.

“What’s done is done. Since Gunsang, the best member of the Qingcheng sect, has died, our sect’s reputation will also collapse.”

Mu Jeong-jin’s voice was as cold as ice.

He was the one who loved Woo Gunsang more than anyone else.

Except for senior brother Ko Yeopjin, who had retired a long time ago, Woo Gunsang was the greatest talent of the Qingcheng sect.

He regarded Woo Gunsang as a talented person who would succeed in his footsteps so he taught him with great care. Although his growth has been slow recently, he has fallen into gloom in the middle, but the fact that he is a talented person who will open up a brilliant future for Qingcheng sect has not changed.

Woo Gunsang’s death was nothing short of deteriorating the future of the Qingcheng sect for at least a decade. His death was more tragic than anyone else, but now was the time to minimize the damage. Otherwise, it would take more than a decade for the sect to recover.

“Clearly, there must be someone who hired the assassin. Someone who would benefit from the fall of Gunsang and the Qingcheng sect. We must not let that happen, no matter what.”

“Urgh…!”

When Mu Jeong-jin spoke so harshly, Muryeongjin put on a perplexed expression on his face.

“Senior brother…! That shouldn’t be the case! No matter how important the reputation of the sect is, it’s not as important as a human life!”

Among the elders, the Mu Hwajin, who had the mildest disposition, came forward and stopped the Mu Jeong-jin. Then Mu Jeong-jin looked at the other elders and said,

“Is that what all of you think? Do you think it’s okay for the sect’s reputation to fall to the ground like this? If this continues, we will not be able to catch up with the Shaolin or Wudang, but rather the gap will continue to widen and we will be reduced to just some mere sect.”

No one answered.

However, their eyes were not so different from those of Mu Jeong-jin. At the appearance of the elders, Muryeongjin and Mu Hwajin put on a difficult expression.

That was then.

“I’ll do it.”

Woo Jinpyeong, who was weeping in front of his child’s body, stood up.

In his hand was a sword that was stuck in the chest of Woo Gunsang.

“Junior brother!”

Muryeongjin shouted in surprise, but he could not stop Woo Jinpyeong.

Clang!

Woo Jinpyeong stabbed the sword into the female disciple’s chest.

The woman who already lost reason, vomited blood then died.

“Junior brother Woo! What have you done!?”

Muryeongjin took the sword from his hand.

Woo Jinpyeong sat down on one spot and shouted.

“Huk-hyuh! What was I supposed to do then? Gunsang was not just the hope of the Qingcheng sect! He was everything to me! As a father, how could I just watch Gunsang’s honor crumble like this?! You can curse me all you like! I dedicated myself to the Qingcheng sect. If you don’t understand this level of inconvenience, I’d rather leave the sect”

There was madness in Woo Jinpyeong’s voice.

At this point, the Muryeongjin and Mu Hwajin had no choice but to understand. What’s more, the act had already happened.

What’s more important is setting it right.

“Huu– For now, let’s just say that the girl came to receive instruction from Gunsang and then died because of the assassin.”

“You thought well.”

“I don’t know if it was a really good decision. I really don’t know.”

As Muryeongjin let out a deep sigh, Mu Jeong-jin’s eyes shone sharply and said,

“Isn’t there something more important than that now?”

“That’s right! We must catch the assassin who’s the culprit in all of this.”

“We must capture him and let him tell us who’s the person behind him.”

“Have the rest of the sects in Sichuan cooperate. For those who refuse to cooperate, let them know that we will take it as a sign that they don’t want to be in Sichuan any longer.”

“I will pass on the words of the sect leader to the Emei, Wudang, Shaolin, and all the other sects. All those involved in this sneak attack will be identified and punished.”

“Huu–!”

When Muryeongjin’s permission was granted, Mu Jeong-jin led all the elders and went out. As the words of Muryeongjin were delivered to the other sects, the whole of Sichuan was turned upside down.

* * *

Guhwasata’s eyes trembled.

In her hand was a letter tied to a bird’s ankle that came from the Qingcheng sect. The letter included a request for cooperation with the Qingcheng sect.

Words were a request, but considering the prestige of the Qingcheng sect in Sichuan Province, it was no less than a command that could not be refused.

The problem was not the Qingcheng sect’s request for cooperation.

The story was that an assassin had killed Woo Gunsang.

“Is this really true? Did an assassin really kill Woo Gunsang?!”

It was unbelievable news. But there was no reason not to believe it.

It was a letter from the Qingcheng sect, not anywhere else. They had no reason to lie to the Emei sect.

“Unbelievable!”

As Guhwasata clenched her fists, the letter was crumpled and ripped.

“Master, has Woo Gunsang really been assassinated?”

Jeonghwa asked carefully.

She was one of the few people who shared the secret with the Abbess of Nine Calamities.

Of course, she knew the full story of this event.

“Shit! An inescapable net was laid out to capture them, but on the contrary, they managed to sneaked into Qingcheng sect and assassinated Woo Gunsang?!”

Bang!

Guhwasata smashed the desk with her fist.

In her anger, Jeonghwa, Cheolsim, Yong Seol-ran and the other disciples held their breath.

Due to the death of Woo Gunsang, the picture drawn by the Guhwasata was completely destroyed.

It was because of his tremendous talent that Guhwasata commissioned the Blood Shadow Group to assassinate Woo Gunsang.

There was a gap that was difficult to narrow between the Qingcheng sect and the Emei sect. Furthermore, there’s a sense of crisis that their sect will never be able to catch up with the Qingcheng sect given that Woo Gunsang’s talent was fully blooming. It caused her to feel unbelievable pressure.

500,000 gold was by no means a small amount. This was especially true with Emei’s current situation. Nevertheless, she invested such a large amount because she recognized the appearance of a Woo Gunsang as a threat.

Then she had an idea.

If Woo Gunsang could be used as a pawn that was beneficial to the Emei sect then she would not end up paying for the 500,000 gold to the Blood Shadow Group.

Guhwasata had a beautiful disciple named Yong Seol-ran.

Yong Seol-ran both possesses great beauty and intelligence. There was also her cool temperament and blade-like judgment that other disciples did not have.

She thought that it would not be too difficult for her to control Woo Gunsang.

The Abbess of the Nine Calamities did not stop with the assassination plan while she was promoting the marriage of Yong Seol-ran and Woo Gunsang.

If Woo Gunsang had refused to marry, the assassination would have proceed.

Woo Jinpyeong, Woo Gunsang’s father, was not an easy-going person. He did not readily accept the marriage proposal of Emei.

Because he, too, knew that the marriage with the Emei sect would do more harm than good.

It was only recently that the situation changed.

Woo Gunsang had a major accident, and Woo Jinpyeong realized clearly that his son should not be left alone like this. So, he ended up accepting the marriage offer of the Emei sect.

As soon as the conversation between Woo Gunsang and Yong Seol-ran was made, Guhwasata cancelled the assassination request. And in order to destroy the evidence, she moved the warriors of Sichuan to attack the Blood Shadow Group assassins.

“It was already cooked rice, but how dare you sprinkle ashes…”¹

Fire seemed to be burning in the eyes of Guhwasata.

If Yong Seol-ran and Woo Gunsang had gotten married as planned, they would have dominated the Emei sect within ten years.

But all of her plans went awry because of a mere assassin.

All the plans that were created for seven years were ruined.

Jeonghwa said,

“We must not leave the assassin who killed Woo Gunsang live. They may know our secret, so we must get rid of them.”

“You must immediately lead the disciples and participate in the inescapable net immediately. You must kill that assassin.”

“Leave it to me.”

Jeonghwa led her brothers and sister disciples out.

It was time for Yong Seol-ran to naturally follow them outside.

“Now that the marriage has been cancelled, you must be overjoyed, aren’t you?”

The sharp voice of Guhwasata stopped her.

When Yong Seol-ran turned back, Guhwasata was looking at her with cold eyes.

Yong Seol-ran answered calmly.

“Of course not. There is no way I am glad that I lost my husband.”

“Husband?”

“We decided to marry, so he is my husband”

Yong Seol-ran bowed her head at Guhwasata and went outside.

* * *

Everything regarding the Qingcheng sect has turned into his enemy.

In fact, the whole sect couldn’t be his enemy, but it was what Pyo-wol felt. Everything in the Qingcheng sect seemed to be aiming at him with hostility.

The death of Woo Gunsang of the Qingcheng sect was revealed much earlier than Pyo-wol had expected.

He expected that the pursuit of the Qingcheng sect would start in the morning, but in reality, less than half an hour later, the masters of the Qingcheng sect had already begun to move.

It was a much quicker response than Pyo-wol had calculated.

On the other hand, Pyo-wol’s physical condition was at its worst.

Due to the confrontation with Woo Gunsang, his body was seriously injured.

Not only external wounds, but his internal injuries as well were in critical condition. He wanted to hide somewhere for just a moment. But he wasn’t given even a small amount of time.

Pyo-wol hurriedly went down the mountain after he barely stopped the bleeding. But he had to change direction before going down half a mile. It was because the masters from the nearby area were blocking the way.

Bark bark!

The sound of a dog barking echoed from somewhere. Even the dogs raised in the sect were mobilized to track down Pyo-wol.

‘I have to get rid of the smell.’

As it was, it was clear that his actions would soon be discovered.

Pyo-wol turned his body in the direction where he felt the strong moisture. As he walked along, following the damp smell, a small valley came out.

Pyo-wol moved along the valley.

He could not help but try to remove his body odor as much as possible.

Fortunately, the barking of the dog was no longer heard. It was because the water removed the body odor of Pyo-wol.

But a bigger challenge awaited him.

“Block the valley.”

“Set up a checkpoint over here.”

In the nearby area, the warriors were sent to prevent anyone from going out of the valley.

The martial arts skills of the warriors didn’t seem that great. Unlike the previous disciples who were training in the main mountain, they only learned a little bit of martial arts for self-defense.

‘I have to break through.’

Choosing to go on a detour would be a waste of time. It was safe to say that they were guarding only all the way up to this point, since it was filled with warriors.

It would have been better for him to break through head-on before their encirclement was completed.

With his judgment made, he quickly acted on it.

Pyo-wol rushed towards the warriors in an instant.

“There’s the assassin!”

“Stop!”

By the time the warriors noticed Pyo-wol’s existence, he had already come close.

Puverbuck!

Pyo-wol’s attacks exploded on their necks and stomachs.

In an instant, three or four warriors collapsed.

The warriors, who had deflected Pyo-wol’s attack, hurriedly fired firecrackers into the air.

Pyo-wol gave up attacking and ran away.

“This way–!”

“The assassin has fled this way!”

Seeing the firecrackers, many of the warriors ran towards him.

All the people in Mt. Qingcheng chased after Pyo-wol.

Editor’s Notes

Thank you for taking the time to read! Commenting or reacting to the post would be highly appreciated~ it gives me motivation to translate and edit chaps <3

1. It was already cooked rice, but how dare you sprinkle ashes. This is a Korean proverb.
   • Other way of saying it is “scattering ashes on already cooked rice.” Or “don’t rain on someone else’s parade.”
   • This refers to ruining work that is almost finished.