Reaper of the Drifting Moon

Many of the faces they had seen at the banquet were visible. It was clear that all the dead bodies in front of them were warriors from the Heavenly Silver Marketplace.

As if they had fought a fierce battle, their bodies were full of small and large wounds.

Wu Jang-rak frowned.

“What happened? Did Lady Mok Gahye and her escort defeat them all?”

Wu Jang-rak figured out the level of Mok Gahye and Shin Mugum when they traveled together.

With Mok Gahye’s skills, she could not defeat so many people. Of course, Shin Mugum was much stronger than her. However, they were not strong enough to deal with so many warriors at once.

Of course, he could have hidden his power. But even so, Wu Jang-rak did not think that Shin Mugum would be able to deal with these many warriors. If he were that capable, he wouldn’t have been so helpless against the Demon Chasing Team.

‘There’s a third party involved.’

There was no way that he would have killed all those who were desperate to escape and were the new martial arts swordsmen. He didn’t even have the martial arts skills to do that.

It was clear that someone intervened and killed the Heavenly Silver Marketplace’s warriors.

‘Who is it? The Bamboo Sea Clan?’

It was quite possible.

It was the Bamboo Sea Clan, who hired the Demon Chasing Team to prevent Gongbu from entering the Rain Mountain Manor.

They had enough reason to intervene after receiving information that Heavenly Silver Marketplace was pursuing Mok Gahye.

Wu Jang-rak approached Pyo-wol,

“This is getting annoying. It’s probably better to get out of here before we get swept away.”

Pyo-wol nodded his head without saying a word.

Wu Jang-rak turned to Ko Il-pae and said,

“Make sure we’re heading to a place with as little people as possible.”

“Alright.”

Ko Il-pae replied with a calm expression.

Even though he was a mercenary who lived with death near by his side, he didn’t feel like he had so many corpses written down.

If he can’t avoid it, of course you have to fight, but if you can avoid it, it is right to avoid it as much as possible.

Ko Il-pae exchanged glances with the mercenaries.

“Seonghwa! You take the lead.”

“Alright.”

Jin Seonghwa answered.

He was the guide that Ko Il-pae trusted the most. He was quick to judge the situation and was able to trust and rely on the terrain of the area.

As soon as he received Ko Il-pae’s order, Jin Seonghwa stepped forward and began to take the lead.

“Let’s go this way.”

The mercenaries followed him without saying a word. They know and believe in his abilities.

Jin Seonghwa ran at a fast pace.

He moved in search of as few people as possible. But his movements soon hit the wall.

“What?”

Jin Seonghwa, who was running at high speed, stopped and looked at Ko Il-pae.

A look of embarrassment was evident on Jin Seonghwa’s face. It was the same with Ko Il-pae.

Dozens of bodies were lying in front of their path.

He had worked hard to avoid the battlefield, so he had no choice but too look pale when he encountered corpses in their way again.

“Is it the Heavenly Silver Marketplace’s warriors again?”

Wu Jang-rak examined the bodies.

“These are not the Heavenly Silver Marketplace warriors.”

It was his conclusion after examining the bodies.

The clothes and weapons were different from those of the Heavenly Silver Marketplace .

“They seem to be warriors of the Bamboo Sea Clan.”

Only the Bamboo Sea Clan could mobilize warriors of this size in the nearby area.

Ko Il-pae’s expression hardened.

“This is really giving me a headache. If all the men of the Heavenly Silver Marketplace and Bamboo Sea Clan were mobilized, there would be a bloody wind.”

Until she escaped with Shin Mugum, Mok Gahye would not have expected such a situation to come.

After some time, she tracked down the Heavenly Silver Marketplace and Bamboo Sea Clan in turn. This is because the movement of the Bamboo Sea Clan is bound to be later than that of the Heavenly Silver Marketplace.

However, the movement of the Bamboo Sea Clan was faster than she expected, and as a result, she collided head-on with the Heavenly Silver Marketplace.

Just as the Heavenly Silver Marketplace recruited spies and grasped information inside the Bamboo Sea Clan, the Bamboo Sea clan was also monitoring the movements of the Heavenly Silver Marketplace.

The urgent movement of the Heavenly Silver Marketplace was caught by their surveillance network.

It was not difficult for Yeo Hwa-young to find out that Mok Gahye had escaped from the Heavenly Silver Marketplace.

It might have taken her a while to deliberate on the unexpected situation, but within a short time, Yeo Hwa-young moved her troops to secure Mok Gahye.

If they couldn’t get Mok Gahye, they had to at least get their hands on Gongbu. In this way, it was still possible for them to completely prevent the Rain Mountain Manor from intervening.

Once a decision was made, the action was quicker.

It was a much quicker response than Mok Gahye had expected.

Yeo Hwa-young dispatched the Bamboo Sea Clan warriors towards Mok Gahye’s escape route.

The Heavenly Silver Marketplace and the Bamboo Sea Clan’s warriors had no choice but to meet in the middle, and they clashed with all their might.

The clash between the two clans was bound to happen anyway, but it happened much earlier due to Mok Gahye’s escape.

The warriors of the Heavenly Silver Marketplace and the Bamboo Sea Clan were clashing all over the forest.

Mok Gahye did not expect that such a situation would occur due to her escape.

Chaeng! Chaeng!

The sound of weapon clashes could be heard everywhere.

The situation was becoming more serious than expected.

“Come on, let’s get out of here!”

Wu Jang-rak took his party.

* * *

There was a vast forest on the outskirts of Enshi.

The huge forest, which has densely packed trees that the sky could not be seen, was called the Dead Forest.¹

Once a person gets lost in the middle of the forest, they can’t get out until they die.

Because of that, even the people who lived nearby did not go into the depths of Dead Forest.

The forest where Mok Gahye escaped was the Dead Forest.

A woman wearing cotton cloth was standing on a large tree overlooking the Dead Forest.

Whenever the wind blew, the branch on which the woman was standing on swayed and bent, but she didn’t even move.

The woman standing upright on the tree was Yeo Hwa-young.

It was she who led the way today.

As soon as she received the information that Mok Gahye and Shin Mugum had escaped, she moved the elites of the Bamboo Sea Clan.

‘As time goes by, the Heavenly Silver Marketplace will become harder to deal with. Now is the perfect opportunity.’

Knowing that if the Rain Mountain Manor intervened, the tilted weight could not be turned back twice, Yeo Hwa-young boldly moved.

About three hundred Bamboo Sea Clan elite warriors entered the Dead Forest.

They followed the traces left by Mok Gahye and Shin Mugum and entered the depths of Dead Forest.

There were reports of collision with the warriors Heavenly Silver Marketplace. But Yeo Hwa-young didn’t even blink.

“We must secure Gongbu. The moment Gonbu is taken away by them, the Rain Mountain Manor will intervene. If the Rain Mountain Manor intervenes, we will be miserably driven from the place where we have lived for hundreds of years.”

Yeo Hwa-young encouraged the warriors of the Bamboo Sea Clan.

At that time, an old man with a strong impression like a lion approached Yeo Hwa-young. The old man who stepped on a branch the size of a child’s finger and did not waver was Ak Chusan.

Ak Chusan opened his mouth with an expression of admiration,

“Is this really okay? The damage is going to be quite severe.”

“We have to endure it.”

“You are much better than your father. You should have been born a man.”

“I think so too. If I had been a man, my father would have handed full authority sooner. If I had taken over the entire clan a little earlier, our clan wouldn’t have been pushed by the Heavenly Silver Marketplace.”

“I agree.”

Ak Chusan shook his head.

It was only last night that she was ridiculed by Hwa Ok-gi in the guest house.

If it were any other woman, she would have been shedding tears of resentment until now, but Yeo Hwa-young was different.

She thought that now was the perfect opportunity, so she moved her troops, already forgetting the shameful memories of last night.

It was a temperament that was difficult for even men to have.

Ak Chusan admired Yeo Hwa-young’s temperament and decisiveness. That kind of temperament must be innate, not something that can be learned.

‘Huh! It’s so fun to watch this child.’

Ak Chusan had never raised a disciple of his own, even though his martial arts had reached a high level. It was because his temper was so bad that all those who had gone under him could not bear it and escaped.

Because of that, he had never felt the enjoyment of raising a disciple, but now that he is watching Yeo Hwa-young’s progress, he felt a similar satisfaction.

That was then.

“L, Lord!”

Suddenly, a middle-aged man jumped up the tree.

The middle-aged man was Naeng Chushim, the head of Bamboo Sea Clan. Naeng Chushim was feared by many because of his strong martial arts and cruel hands.

Yeo Hwa-young asked urgently,

“How did it go?”

“There is a problem.”

“What is it?”

“The Heavenly Silver Marketplace sent additional troops.”

“What?”

“It is said that their reinforcements have started from the Heavenly Silver Marketplace. At this rate, even if we can secure a Mok Gahye, we will have no choice but to lose it due to inferiority in power.”

“They shouldn’t have been able to do that much, but you’re saying they asked for more troops?”

“It seems that Hwa Yu-cheon is directly bringing in reinforcements.”

“Then…”

Yeo Hwa-young’s expression hardened.

The Heavenly Silver Marketplace’s best warrior was Hwa Yu-cheon. But it was extremely rare for him to move personally especially after the Heavenly Silver Marketplace settled in Enshi.

The reason why the Bamboo Sea Clan has been pushed back by the Heavenly Silver Marketplace was because of Hwa Yu-cheon.

The influence of that one person is as great as that of hundreds of warriors.

Naeng Chushim said,

“How about stepping down for now. If we choose to proceed, the sacrifices will increase even more.”

“We can’t. We’ve already made a lot of sacrifices. If we step back now, it’s better if we didn’t start this at all.”

“But—”

“How many troops are left in the headquarters?”

“Eighty outside disciples.”

“Gather them all in.”

“But that would leave the main sect empty.”

“It’s the same with them. We have to win here. Even if we leave Dead Forest now, there would be no place for the Bamboo Sea Clan to stay any more.”

Yeo Hwa-young was adamant.

Naeng Chushim realized that he couldn’t change her mind. Yeo Hwa-young’s determination will not change no matter what he says.

In any case, the clash with the Heavenly Silver Marketplace was unavoidable.

In the end, Naeng Chushim sent a letter through a carrier pigeon, summoning the Bamboo Sea Clan troops who had been waiting in the Dead Forest.

“Waah!”

“They are the Heavenly Silver Marketplace.”

“The Bamboo Sea Clan garbage has appeared.”

Riding the wind, the voices of people and the clash of weapons could be heard everywhere.

The original purpose of taking Gongbu from Mok Gahye has long since disappeared from people’s minds.

The Heavenly Silver Marketplace and the Bamboo Sea Clan’s warriors clashed, burning their hatred for each other.

As the warriors of opposing sides kill each other, the forest becomes what its name suggests, a forest of the dead.

Pyo-wol raised his head and looked up.

There was a thick scent of blood in the wind.

While coming here, he and his companions had already seen more than a hundred bodies.

All of them were warriors of the Heavenly Silver Marketplace and the Bamboo Sea Clan.

In some places, warriors of the Heavenly Silver Marketplace were dead, and in other places, warriors of the Bamboo Sea Clan were found.

Their bodies were horribly mutilated, and blood stained the floor red.

The degree of damage to their bodies was getting worse. It was proof that their hatred for each other deepened as the fight got longer.

“Lord Pyo!”

Wu Jang-rak approached Pyo-wol.

His face was as hard as a stone. He had never lost his composure in any case, but now he was.

The atmosphere inside the Dead Forest was very gloomy.

If they meet with the warriors of the Heavenly Silver Marketplace or Bamboo Sea Clan by chance, they could have been in big trouble.

This is because warriors blinded by anger can attack a person without distinguishing between their peers.

Because of that, Wu Jang-rak’s subordinates and the mercenaries were extremely nervous.

Their anxiety was conveyed through the air to Pyo-wol.

Suddenly, Pyo-wol’s gaze turned forward.

This is because the blood scent felt especially thick.

“What is it?”

Pyo-wol did not answer Wu Jang-rak’s question and walked to the place where the scent of blood came from.

As he scrambled through the bushes, he saw twenty or so bodies laying all over the place.

They presumed they were men of the Heavenly Silver Marketplace, and Bamboo Sea Clan.

The blood they shed made up a small pond.

Someone was sitting in the middle of it.

A man with his head down helplessly and breathing heavily. His whole body was stained with blood, and he couldn’t even tell the shape of his face.

However, Pyo-wol immediately recognized the man’s identity.

“Shin Mugum.”

Shin Mugum, who had blood all over his body, barely raised his head after hearing his voice.

SoundlessWind21’s Notes

Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoy the chapter~

1. Dead Forest. Raws: 망자림(亡子林).
   • 亡 wáng, wú – death, destroyed; lose, perish
   • 子 zǐ, zi – offspring, child; fruit, seed of; 1st terrestrial branch
   • 林 lín – forest, grove; surname