Reaper of the Drifting Moon Chapter 196

Published at 24th of January 2023 10:32:39 AM

Pyo-wol woke up early in the morning.

When he came out, he saw Soma crouching on a large tree in front of his residence.

“Brother!”

Soma found Pyo-wol and smiled widely. Like a cat, he jumped off the tree without a sound and landed in front of Pyo-wol. 

“Were you there all night?”

“Yes!”

“Did something happen?”

“None so far.”

Soma hardly slept. He stayed up all night with his eyes open while holding the sword Gongbu which was as big as his body in his arms.

Pyo-wol stroked Soma's head.

“Good job.”

“Yes!”

While the two were talking, someone came up to them. It was Woo Pyeong who brought them to the Wudang sect.

“Hehe! You're up already. How was your sleep?”

“I slept well.”

“That's good.”

A look of fatigue was evident on Woo Pyeong's face.

Although Chongjin allowed Pyo-wol to stay, some of the elders disapproved. So they harassed Woo Pyeong all night long. Because of that, Woo Pyeong hardly slept.

In any case, Woo Pyeong pushed through with his plan. While staying in Wudang Mountain, Pyo-wol obtained the qualification to examine Lee So-yeol's body and the Scripture Pavilion.

It was not an easy decision for the Wudang sect.

Some of the elders were still dissatisfied with this decision, but they kept their mouths shut because they could not disobey the order of the sect leader, Chongjin. However, it was clear that they would rush and try to bite Pyo-wol when they saw a chance.

Woo Pyeong told the two of them,

“Let's eat first.”

He took the two of them to the dining room.

The Wudang sect converted a large pavilion into a restaurant for the birthday event. They temporarily laid out a stove, and a table to welcome the visitors.

In the dining room, taoists who had risen early were eating. Hundreds of taoists gathered, but no sound was heard except for the sound of eating food.

Anyone could see how strict the rules of the Wudang sect were through their appearance.

When Woo Pyeong brought in unfamiliar figures, the taoists' attention was focused on them. This was the first time that Woo Pyeong brought in a person who was not a Wudang sect taoist.

The taoists were curious about the identity of Pyo-wol. However, no one dared to come up to Woo Pyeong and ask him. Thanks to this, the three of them were able to eat quietly.

As a taoist sect, the Wudang sect's diet mainly consisted of vegetables. There was also meat, but it was lightly seasoned, masking its scent. 

Pyo-wol was quite fond of the food of the Wudang sect because it was not heavy on the stomach. On the other hand, Soma could not stop frowning. He did not like the food at all. 

Like a child, Soma loved meat. He especially liked it in large quantities. In the end, Soma put down his chopsticks and did not eat much.

Seeing Soma like that, Woo Pyeong's smiled.

“Haha! Does the food not suit your taste?”

“It tastes awful.”

“Hold it in for one more day. The food will taste a little better once guests from the outside arrive.”

“Really?”

“Of course! We can't serve the tasteless food that taoists eat to a lot of guests, right?”

“So I just have to endure for one more day?”

Soma said with his doe-like eyes. Soma looked quite cute, so Woo Pyeong replied with a hearty smile.

“Yes.”

“Okay. I'll trust you.”

Soma replied with a grim expression, and once again Woo Pyeong laughed.

When Woo Pyeong first met Soma, he felt uncomfortable at the demonic energy radiating off of him. But now he knows that Soma is not that evil so he was able to smile towards him like this. 

Pyo-wol finished eating and asked,

“What about the corpse?”

“It's stored in Cheonbing-dong.”

Cheonbing-dong is a naturally formed cave behind the Wudang sect. In addition to being quite deep, cold winds blew from underground. 

“Move the body back to the Scripture Pavilion.”

“Why?”

“I need to see what it looked like when it was first discovered.”

“Why? Nevermind. I will do that.”

Thinking that there must be a reason, Woo Pyeong replied.

As soon as their meal was over, Wu Pyeong called for Tae Kwang and ordered him to do as Pyo-wol asked. 

After Tae Kwang agreed, he ran to Cheonbing-dong.

After a while, Tae Kwang appeared in front of the Scripture Pavilion, carrying the coffin containing Lee So-yeol's body with the disciples who guarded Cheonbing-dong.

“What is going on?”

“Are you trying to desecrate So-yeol's corpse?”

The taoists, who did not know the circumstances, murmured.

They were all taoists guarding the Scripture Pavilion. They felt uncomfortable about Lee So-yeol's death since they felt that they were not vigilant enough. So seeing Lee So-yeol's body being brought back, they became angry.

At that time, a middle-aged taoist strode among the other taoists.

He immediately approached Woo Pyeong and raised his voice,

“What is the meaning of this, senior brother? Bringing the body of a child who has already died? This is an insult to him!”

“Woo-sung.”

The middle-aged taoist was Woo-sung who is in charge of the Scripture Pavilion. He was blaming himself for the fact that Lee So-yeol, who had brought him meals while he was away, died. Because of that, he reacted more sensitively than anyone else.

Understanding Woo-sung's feelings, Woo Pyeong spoke softly,

“I'm sorry! But I have no choice. I need to do this to solve the situation.”

“You mean putting the dead child's body back will help solve the problem? How?”

“Just wait and see.”

“How can you put your trust in him?”

“This has already been approved by the sect leader and elders. So trust me and wait a little longer.”

“Senior brother!”

Woo-sung roared.

Both of his eyes were red and bloodshot.

Woo Pyeong patted Woo-sung on the shoulder and said,

“When have I ever let you down?”

“………..”

“I don't like his way either, but we have no choice but to trust him. Anyway, shouldn't we clarify the cause of So-yeol's death?”

“Okay. I'll bear with it just this once. But please don't let the child's body be desecrated.”

“Don't worry. I'll stand and keep my eyes on him.”

Woo-sung nodded weakly and stepped back. But he still looked at Pyo-wol with a distrustful gaze. He glared at Pyo-wol as if to say that he would not stand still if Pyo-wol does something foolish. 

However, Pyo-wol did not even pay attention to him.

As he entered the Scripture Pavilion, he spoke to the taoists.

“Put the child down the way he was first found.”

“Okay!”

Woo Pyeong ordered the disciples to put Lee So-yeol's body down on the floor of the Scripture Pavilion. The disciples tried their best to jog their memories and placed Lee So-yeol's body exactly the way when they first found him.

“Kheuk!”

“Damn it!”

When they saw Lee So-yeol's body again, the disciples teared up. Even though they live in Jianghu making them used to death, it was painful for them to see the dead body of the child So-yeol like this again.

Lee So-yeol's face was even paler, probably because he was kept in the Cheonbing-dong.

Woo Pyeong also turned his head away for a long time, trying to avoid looking at Lee So-yeol's face.

Pyo-wol said to Woo Pyeong,

“Take everyone out.”

“You want to be alone?”

“Having many people would only add to the confusion.”

“Can you really find the cause of his death? We've gone this far, so if you can't figure it out, you and I will be in great trouble.”

Woo Pyeong said with a worried expression.

Bringing Lee So-yeol's body back had already earned the antipathy of Wudang sect disciples. It's not difficult to imagine what would happen if their hostility got worse.

Unlike Woo Pyeong, who was worried about the worst, Pyo-wol did not care much.

“If you're done with what you have to say, leave now.”

“Okay.”

Woo Pyeong took the disciples and went out.

Pyo-wol said to Soma, who was beside him,

“You go out, too.”

“Brother?”

“Hurry!”

“Alright.”

In the end, Soma also went outside. 

Once Pyo-wol and Lee So-yeol were the only ones remaining in the Scripture Pavilion, only then did Pyo-wol pay attention to Lee So-yeol's body.

When Lee So-yeol's body was first found, he was spread out on the floor.

Pyo-wol squatted in front of the body and examined the body's condition closely.

As Woo Pyeong said, there were no scars on the body. Pyo-wol took off all of Lee So-yeol's clothes and looked inside, but there was not a single small wound. Even symptoms of poisoning did not appear.

Such an appearance made it look like he died naturally. However, similar to the other elder taoists, Pyo-wol did not think that Lee So-yeol died of natural causes.

Pyo-wol was more familiar with death than anyone else.

He had seen and caused so many deaths so far. That's why he could tell the cause of death just by looking at the person who died. The fact that he couldn't find out the cause of death in itself meant that it was not an ordinary case.

Pyo-wol looked at Lee So-yeol's corpse, like a stone statue.

Even when Lee So-yeol died, he couldn't close his eyes. The focus in his wide-open eyes had long since disappeared, but the grievous feelings he felt at the time of his death seemed to remain.

Pyo-wol looked at those eyes for a long time. It was as if he could find out Lee So-yeol's cause of death by doing so.

It was almost half an hour before Pyo-wol moved.

He looked at Lee So-yeol's body once again.

He still didn't find any scars.

Not to mention a sword wound, not even a hole through which a fine needle could be inserted was found. Still, Pyo-wol did not give up.

The fact that the body looked unnatural meant that artificial forces were at work.

It was clear that Lee So-yeol had been murdered by someone. It's just that he hasn't found the cause of death yet.

Pyo-wol looked into Lee So-yeol's ear hole.

The ear holes were one of the body parts closest to the brain.

There is an assassination method of pouring hot lead or mercury into the ears, or stabbing it with a silver needle. However, Lee So-yeol's ears were clear.

The next thing Pyo-wol looked at was Lee So-yeol's eyeball. But not only his eyes but his nostrils were also clean.

The last place Pyo-wol looked was the mouth. But the mouth was similarly clean.

He actually had no reason to look further given that the area is without spots or scratches. Furthermore, The Wudang sect taoists also looked at Lee So-yeol's mouth, but they gave up because they couldn't find any traces. 

However, Pyo-wol was patient and continued to examine the body.

Pyo-wol grabbed Lee So-yeol's tongue and turned it over. 

At that time, Pyo-wol's eyes shone.

It was not visible to the naked eye, but he felt a slight sense of abnormality at his fingertips. It was so subtle, that if a person's senses at the fingertips had not developed like Pyo-wol, it could never be detected.

Pyo-wol focused his energy on his fingertips. Then the abnormality he felt became much clearer.

He used his qi delicately to pull out a tiny object embedded in the tip of Lee So-yeol's tongue.

Ordinary warriors could not even dream of such a delicate operation of internal energy. However, for Pyo-wol, who can use the Soul-Reaping thread, this level of operation was not that difficult.

Tsutsutsu!

Something microscopic was plucked from the root of Lee So-yeol's tongue.

It was a silver needle so thin that it could not be distinguished with the naked eye.

The silver needle looked ten times thinner than the one Pyo-wol had. Silver needles of this magnitude cannot be created with ordinary techniques. It was an instrument that only a craftsman at the same or higher level than Tang Sochu could create.

The problem is that it is not easy to end a person's breath with such a silver needle. It was so small that it was difficult to hit the human body effectively.

Killing people with this silver needle was not easy for Pyo-wol either.

But there were times when this was possible.

There are cases where a person dies just by being lightly tapped on the shoulder while talking. The other person had no intention to kill, nor did he try hard enough to kill him, but the person died helplessly.

In such cases, it is often said that he was killed.

Some even said that he died because he was destined to die. But Pyo-wol knew very well that that was not the truth.

If Pyo-wol hadn't worked as a butcher at a slaughterhouse, he would never have known about the concept of acupoints.

The acupoints change from time to time. 

It may change according to the constitution of a person, the surrounding environment, and the change of the season. Even a small blow can change a person's acupoint.

“He…touched his acupoints.”

Chapter end