Reaper of the Drifting Moon

Light Novel: Volume 9 Episode 8

Manhwa: N/A

Befitting the representative armed organization of the Rain Mountain Manor, the White Tiger Sword Corps was made up of sword masters.

The strength of each individual exceeds some of the masters in Jianghu, and they were united around a powerful master named Joo Cheon-hak.

While there might be countless warriors who possess stronger martial arts than them, they were proud of the fact that there are only a select few groups that are more tightly united than them.

Joo Cheon-hak nodded as he watched the White Tiger Sword Corps assemble. 

Just being together with them made him feel secure. 

Although they were still technically in the territory of the Wudang sect, they had nothing to be afraid of because thirty members of the White Tiger Sword Corps had already gathered in one place.

Jang Muyeon gave an order to the White Tiger Sword Corps,

“The target is a little boy named Soma.
We will be guarding the road leading down to the Wudang sect.
Once he appears, take him down and steal the sword, Gongbu.”

“If we kill a person while we are in the Wudang sect territory, it’ll become a big problem.
Will that be okay?”

One of the White Tiger Sword Corps warriors asked. 

Sects with great power like the Wudang sect do not just let other warriors from other sects run around in their territory.
Furthermore, if they kill a person directly in their front yard, it will become a big issue.

“It will certainly be a problem.”

“Then why?”

“You don’t have to worry about that.
I’ll take care of everything at the Rain Mountain Manor.
Once we get out of Hubei Province without getting caught, even the Wudang sect won’t be able to make an issue out of it.”

Even though the Rain Mountain Manor is a little less powerful than the Wudang sect, they are still one of the most powerful sects in the world.
So they would still be quite a burdensome opponent to fight head-on.

Furthermore, neither the Rain Mountain Manor nor the Wudang sect would want to clash against each other. 

What remained then was a political solution.

Of course, the Rain Mountain Manor would have to pay a considerable amount of compensation, but that amount of damage was not a big deal.
Compared to the object they will take with them which is the sword, Gongbu.

Rather, the problem was that even after doing this, they were still unable to secure Gongbu.

‘Even though it would make the Wudang sect uncomfortable, we also have a justification.’

His maternal uncle, Hwa Yu-cheon, and his son were killed by Pyo-wol.

Revenge was his natural right as his maternal nephew.

If this is used as an excuse, even Wudang sect groups will not be able to escalate the issue.

Because there was no cause as strong as revenge for Jianghu warriors.

There was no evidence that Pyo-wol killed Hwa Yu-cheon, but that doesn’t matter.
If they insist that Pyo-wol is the culprit, then even the Wudang sect will not be able to dig any deeper.

There was nothing as important as having a proper justification  in Jianghu.

And Jang Muyeon was thinking of making full use of this justification.

The White Tiger Swords Corps moved immediately.

They hid themselves on the way down to Wudang Mountain.

It was late at night.

It was very dangerous to come down the mountain at this time, even for a warrior who had mastered martial arts.

They do not expect that anyone will dare to come down Wudang Mountain at this hour.
But they still had to stay here.

Even if it’s small, there’s still a chance for Soma and Pyo-wol to leave Wudang Mountain at this time.
It would be a big problem for them if they missed the two. 

Joo Cheon-hak gave an order to the White Tiger Sword Corps.

“From now on, divide the number of people into three groups and take turns monitoring the road.
You can’t take your eyes off it even for a moment.”

“Understood!”

The White Tiger Sword Corps replied vigorously.

They immediately divided the personnel into three groups.

One group decided to hide and watch the road, while the other two groups decided to stay in the nearby grass to take a break.

The leader of the first group, Cho Yeong-shin, hid behind a tree with his subordinates and watched the road. 

It was so dark on the mountain that they couldn’t see an inch ahead.
But they couldn’t afford to light a torch.
Doing so would be like announcing that they were in hiding.

Instead, they channeled qi on their eyes to improve their vision.

There was still a limit to the distance they could see, but it was the only way to keep an eye on the road given their situation that they couldn’t use torches.

Cho Yeong-shin was calm and patient.

His personality made him perfect for a monitoring job such as this.
He didn’t even feel bored as he glared at the dark alleyway.

He didn’t know how much time had passed. 

Cho Yeong-shin’s eyes suddenly lit up.

Hoo-hung! Hoo-hung!

Together with a whistling sound, something had glowed in the forest. 

A long rod-shaped luminous object emitted light for a moment, then disappeared and reappeared again.
This happened repeatedly.

“What’s going on?”

Cho Yeong-shin channeled more energy on his eyes.
Then he could see the luminous object more clearly.

“A sword?”

The luminous body he thought was a long stick was actually a sword.
The light coming from the sword was actually sword energy.

Someone is walking around swinging a sword filled with energy. 

At that moment, Cho Yeong-shin’s expression hardened.

It was not easy to swing a sword with sword energy for a long time.

It might be possible for a person as good as their captain, Joo Cheon-hak, but it was impossible for the rest of the White Tiger Sword Corps warriors to maintain it like that.

Cho Yeong-shin wondered what kind of master would waste his strength so uselessly.

After a while, the owner of the sword appeared.

In an instant, an incredulous expression appeared on Cho Yeong-shin’s face.

‘A kid?’

He was imagining a middle-aged warrior with a stern face, but the owner of the sword was unexpectedly a young boy.

The boy, who seemed to be about six or seven years old at the most, was wielding a sword with sword energy like he was joking around. 

Cho Yeong-shin’s subordinates were also making similar expressions.

They had never seen anyone freely and easily use sword energy, especially from someone so young.

To make matters worse, the boy was humming a strange song as if he was excited.

“There are 30 wildcats hiding in the dark forest.
The chief wild cat is hideous, while the wild cat under him looks grim.
The first one was killed by his neck, the second one was crushed, and the third one…”

The moment he heard the boy’s song, Cho Yeong-shin felt the hairs on his body stand up.

The moment he felt goosebumps run up all over his body, he realized that the boy who was humming a song was actually their target. 

The eyes of the boy wielding a sword filled with energy scanned the forest.
His gaze was exactly looking at the place where Cho Yeong-shin and his subordinates were hiding.

At that moment the boy stopped singing and said,

“Hello! Wildcat brothers.
I’m Soma.
You’re waiting for me right?”

The boy, Soma, showed his teeth as he smiled widely.

At that moment, Cho Yeong-shin shouted,

“That’s our target! Kill him and steal his sword!”

The sword in Soma’s hand was Gongbu.

It was because of Gongbu that Soma was able to maintain sword energy for such a long time.
Strangely enough, injecting internal energy into the sword kept the sword energy running smoothly because there was no unnecessary leakage.

If it was ever known that this sword had this kind of feature, then Gongbu would probably be even more famous and widely coveted. 

Cho Yeong-shin and his subordinates jumped out all at once and attacked Soma.

Soma said with a bright smile,

“Wow! Brother was right.
He said you’d be all waiting for me if I go here.”

Soma put up with a lot of things while he was in the Wudang sect.

The resentment that had accumulated during that time was welling up to the top of his head.

“Heh heh!”

Soma laughed and started throwing the seven-pointed wheel that was hanging around his neck.

* * *

Joo Cheon-hak raised his head and looked at the front.

Kakakang!

A faint rustling sound was heard in the wind.

Joo Cheon-hak was a seasoned martial artist.

He knew at once what the faint metal sound meant.

“The first group has started fighting.
Everybody get up.”

He ordered the rest of the White Tiger Sword Corps warriors who were resting.

The White Tiger Sword Corps stood up and gathered in front of him.

Jang Muyeon also approached Joo Cheon-hak.

“Do you think they’re here?”

“I think so.”

“I didn’t expect they’d really come down the mountain.
Did they follow us right away?”

“That’s possible.”

“They’re stupid.”

Jang Muyeon smiled.

He thought there’s a chance that Pyo-wol and Soma would come down the mountain to pursue them, but he didn’t think that they really would. 

They must have acted that way because they were confident in their martial arts, but this was a golden opportunity for Jang Muyeon and the White Tiger Sword Corps.

No matter how strong those two were, the White Tiger Sword Corps which consists of 30 members would be enough to subdue them.

When they were about to run to the place where Soma and the first group collided,

“Oh!”

Someone suddenly gasped.

Joo Cheon-hak frowned and asked,

“What is it?”

“I don’t see Cheol-jin.”

The warrior who gasped in surprise couldn’t hide his flustered expression.

Joo Cheon-hak hurriedly looked at the White Tiger Sword Corps.

There were nineteen people besides himself. 

One person was missing.

“What?”

Joo Cheon-hak felt a chill run down his spine.

He was the one who trained the White Tiger Sword Corps to work as a group.
He thoroughly emphasized teamwork so discipline and unity were given top priority.

He couldn’t imagine one of his members leaving the main unit without reporting it.
No one has ever left without permission like this before.

The fact that something that hadn’t happened before is happening now definitely meant that some external force was at work. 

Joo Cheon-hak shouted loudly,

“Everyone! Be careful of your surroundings!”

“Yes!”

Cwaaen!

The White Tiger Sword Corps drew their swords in unison.
They became wary of their surroundings.
Despite the sudden incident, they were not shaken at all. 

This just shows how hard Joo Cheon-hak had trained them.

Jang Muyeon’s eyes also shone sharply like a blade.

‘It’s him.’

He went to Enshi to find out the truth about his uncle’s death.

He interrogated the survivors in the Heavenly Silver Marketplace and he personally went into Dead Forest to thoroughly investigate what had happened.

As a result, he could roughly guess how Pyo-wol destroyed the Heavenly Silver Marketplace’s forces and killed his maternal uncle.

‘He knows how to maximize fear.
He incites fear by kidnapping and killing a person without the group without knowing about it.
Once fear is spread among the group, then that bastard’s hunt begins.’

Jang Muyeon, however, did not worry about it too much. 

Before climbing Wudang Mountain, he and Joo Cheon-Hak had already informed their subordinates about Pyo-wol’s methods.
They made sure to fully prepare them.

Although one person went missing due to an unexpected blow, as long as they stay alert and watch their surroundings from now on, they would still be able to hunt the Pyo-wol. 

He and the White Tiger Sword Corps were confident they were capable of dealing against Pyo-wol. 

Kakakang!

There were steady clashing sounds from the nearby area.

It was the sound of the first group and Soma fighting.
But none of the people from the remaining groups were distracted.
They are also aware of the fact that an ambush by Pyo-wol will begin the moment their attention is diverted.

Even the cries of the insects stopped, and only silence lingered in the forest.

Rattle!

When everyone’s tension reached its peak, a black figure suddenly fell in the middle of them.

“Chaat!”

“It’s him!”

Without hesitation, the warriors of the White Tiger Sword Corps immediately attacked the person who fell right in the middle of them.

Sugagagak!

Twenty sword lights split the darkness all at once and slaughtered the human figure that fell in the middle of them.

Flesh was split, bones were cut, and blood splattered in all directions.

Bright crimson blood poured over the dark bush.

“We got him!”

“Hehe!”

The faces of the warriors of the White Tiger Sword Corps were filled with joy.

In an instant, their tension was relieved and laughter came out.

It was because the assassin was easier to capture than they expected.

It was then.

“It’s not him!”

Joo Cheon-hak’s voice, which was close to a scream, burst out.

Because he was the closest, he recognized the identity of the dead person.

The one who was brutally slaughtered by the White Tiger Sword Corps was Geum Cheol-jin, who had disappeared a little while ago.

Geum Cheol-jin had his eyes and mouth wide open. 

But he could not let out a single sound. 

He could only wriggle his body once in agony and then died soon after. 

“……..”

All of the White Tiger Swordsmen who saw this were horrified.

They took the life of their colleague Geum Cheol-jin with their own hands.

Joo Cheon-hak burst into an angry roar.

“You wicked bastard! To use a living person as bait!”

It was then.

“Eurgh!”

Suddenly, with a suffocating moan, someone was pulled up into the air.

It was a warrior on the edge of the White Tiger Sword Corps.

He, too, was occupied by the sight of Geum Cheol-jin’s corpse, when something came down, wrapped around his neck and then pulled him up into the air.

“Jae-kyung!”

“Hurry! Save him!”

Nearby warriors moved to rescue him.

Jang Muyeon and Joo Cheon-hak belatedly shouted,

“No!”

“Don’t move!”

But their cries were too late.

Their formation had already collapsed.