Reaper of the Drifting Moon

A blush appeared on her cheeks, and there was a strange heat in her eyes. Her body started to emit a sweet scent capable of easily stimulating a man’s sense of smell.

Her every move, whether it be her hands or eyes, contained the power to make a man fall.

It was as if the word stunner was meant for her.

Although she possessed an ordinary appearance, she had the power to make men’s hearts race.

Hong Ye-seol was trying to seduce Pyo-wol.

It was impossible for any man to remain sane in face of Hong Ye-seol’s temptation.

Pyo-wol slowly leaned in.

It didn’t take long for Hong Ye-seol’s red lips to press against Pyo-wol’s.

Pyo-wol coveted her lips. Hong Ye-seol responded actively.

There were many people in the inn, but strangely enough, no one paid them any attention.

Their lips locked into each for a long time before they pulled away from each other.

“Haa!”

Hong Ye-seol moaned softly.

But she soon frowned when she saw Pyo-wol’s eyes.

Pyo-wol’s eyes which were looking at her didn’t contain any emotion. Pyo-wol’s eyes were so cold that it couldn’t be said that they coveted each other’s lips just a moment ago.

“Why?”

“Your lips are cold.”

“What?”

“You can fake the color of your face and eyes, but it’s hard to fake your body temperature.”

If Hong Ye-seol was really hot and aroused, her body temperature would naturally rise up as well. But her lips were cold.

That meant she wasn’t excited at all.

Everything from her eyes, breath, and gestures which she just showed Pyo-wol were all fake.

Hong Ye-seol acted like she fell for Pyo-wol.

“Hmpf! I didn’t think that far.”

Hong Ye-seol pursed her lips.

The flush on her face disappeared like a lie.

Pyo-wol was not surprised by Hong Ye-seol’s dramatic change.

There was nothing more foolish than to put your trust in an assassin.

To achieve their goal, assassins would even fake their own feelings. They could fake everything, whether it be the way they breathe, the look in their eyes and the flush on their face.

An assassin of Hong Ye-seol’s level could easily and quickly act like she was in love.

Just as she did just a moment ago.

Unfortunately, her acting was not enough to fool Pyo-wol. But if her target was someone else, they would have fallen for her without a doubt.

Hong Ye-seol frowned, but that was only for a moment. She soon smiled brightly afterwards.

“As expected, this kind of thing doesn’t work on you. Good. I liked it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Since you didn’t fall for my seductions, then you won’t easily succumb to the other girls’ temptations.”

“If you’re going to keep talking nonsense, you should get out of here.”

“Oh, why? Do you hate having a pretty girl like me around you?”

“I don’t consider that face as pretty.”

“Ah, yes. Should I show you my real face then?”

Hong Ye-seol pushed her face closer to Pyo-wol’s.

Pyo-wol was slightly surprised. But for a different reason.

‘The face she had on Wudang Mountain was also not real.’

This means that she possessed a skill so exquisite that even he could not see through it. She just used a little bit of makeup on her face, and she could turn into another person.

Truly everything about her was a lie.

Hong Ye-seol was still smiling at him.

It was as if she had expected Pyo-wol’s reaction in advance.

Pyo-wol shook his head.

“Nevermind.”

“Why? Aren’t you curious?”

“Not at all.”

“Sheesh! What a heartless man.”

Hong Ye-seol clicked her tongue and looked disappointed.

Pyo-wol quietly looked at Hong Ye-seol.

Once a person starts being attracted to a person like her, they’re bound to lose their initiative forever.

“I want to be alone. You should leave.”

“Are you really letting me go like this?”

“Yes.”

“You’ll regret it.”

“Regret?”

“I can go back to the Snow Sword Manor and tell them that you’re staying here. Or I could also scream here—”

“You won’t do that.”

“Oh my! What makes you so sure?”

“Because your pride was hurt.”

“What do you mean by pride? I don’t have that.”

“There is no one without pride. Everyone who says so is lying.”

“So what are you trying to say?”

“You’ve probably never failed to seduce another man or failed to complete a mission. But for the first time, because of me, you’ve got a taste of failure for the first time and now you find yourself frustrated—”

“So what?”

“People like you will never forgive setbacks. Somehow or another, you’d make sure that you have your revenge against those who have caused you setbacks.”

“I guess you’re right. Because I want to make you kneel at my feet.”

Hong Ye-seol shook her head.

She got up from her seat.

“Okay! I hate to admit it, but I think you’re right. Be careful. I won’t back down so easily next time.”

Hong Ye-seol smiled brightly at Pyo-wol and then walked out of the inn.

She quickly disappeared into the darkness of the street.

When Hong Ye-seol completely disappeared, Pyo-wol raised his energy and muttered,

“Doing something useless again…”

Hong Ye-seol had placed another incense on Pyo-wol’s body.

Once Pyo-wol noticed the previous Thousand Miles Chasing Incense on his body, Hong Ye-seol replaced it with another scent. It was an extremely subtle scent that was difficult to detect even with Pyo-wol’s sense of smell.

Pyo-wol used his internal energy to completely blow off the incense on his body.

He will not be able to completely avoid Hong Ye-seol’s pursuit, but at least he will be able to lessen this kind of annoying encounters with her for the time being.

Pyo-wol’s gaze suddenly turned to the window.

* * *

At some point, his colleagues started to call him Dark Ghost.

A ghost hiding in the dark.

Assassins already tend to like the darkness, but he unusually loved it.

He thought it would be nice if there was only night without day.

His five senses were exceptionally developed, especially in the dark. In particular, the area he was most confident in was tracking.

He boasts his tracking technique that never loses a target once marked. Even within the Hundred Wraith Union, there was no one who possessed better tracking skills than him.

His ranking might not be that high in the Hundred Wraith Union, but he surpassed the top ten assassins in terms of tracking. Even if it’s a member of the top ten, it would be impossible for them to follow his traces.

Because of that, he became in charge of almost all tracking-related missions in the Hundred Wraith Union.

The mission Dark Ghost got from Heuk-ho was to track down Hong Ye-seol.

To be precise, it was his mission to identify and report every person she came in contact with.

Hong Ye-seol did not notice at all that the Dark Ghost was following her.

This was to be expected.

While Dark Ghost is not as strong as Hong Ye-seol, his tracking skills are far more superior to hers.

Getting caught is the same as dying, so he was especially careful in tracking down Hong Ye-seol.

Heuk-ho ordered Dark Ghost to identify and report everyone Hong Ye-seol came into contact with. And Dark Ghost faithfully carried out Heuk-ho’s orders.

Since the assassins of the Hundred Wraith Union usually take individual missions, they rarely contact each other. However, in cases where they are entrusted with a common mission like this, assassins would usually follow the command of the person with the highest rank.

He didn’t need to know why Heuk-ho ordered him to keep an eye on Hong Ye-seol. All he had to do was carry out his duties diligently.

When Hong Ye-seol disappeared into the darkness, Dark Ghost did not follow her.

His gaze remained fixed on the man sitting by the window of an inn.

He was the only person Hong Ye-seol contacted.

His face was plain, and his clothes were unremarkable.

He was an ordinary person that could be seen anywhere on the street. However, Dark Ghost knew better. He would not make the mistake of believing that the man by the window is what he appears to be based on appearances alone.

There was no way that Hong Ye-seol, who belonged among the top ten assassins in the Hundred Wraith Union, would ever contact an ordinary person.

Furthermore, he even witnessed how she kissed him so passionately. He would have to throw his eyeballs right out of its socket if he dared think of that man as normal.

Dark Ghost thought that he had to learn more about the man.

He had to find out what was so special about him to make Hong Ye-seol act like that.

Dark Ghost continued to watch Pyo-wol.

Pyo-wol went up to a room on the second floor after a while.

Even when the lights in Pyo-wol’s room were turned off, Dark Ghost did not move for a long time. He only got up from his hiding place when he had judged that his target had fallen asleep long enough.

By the time he got up, the streets were completely deserted and quiet. Thanks to this, Dark Ghost was able to climb up the roof of the inn where Pyo-wol stayed, without worrying about other people seeing him.

Dark Ghost carefully removed the tiles from the roof of the inn.

Once he carefully removed the grooves and trees filling the inside of the tiles, he created a hole that could barely fit a person.

Dark Ghost entered the hole without hesitation.

The space inside the roof was so cramped that even a child would find it hard to crawl around. However, Dark Ghost crawled freely inside of it.

He crawled on the wooden ceiling without making a sound.

He arrived on the ceiling of Pyo-wol’s room he had seen from the outside.

Dark Ghost channelled qi into his hand.

Another martial art that he was proud of was a technique called One Shadow Finger.1 With him performing this particular technique, his fingers would become harder than steel, and he can radiate qi to his finger.

He will be able to use his qi like a winding machine.

Dark Ghost pressed his finger on the ceiling he was stepping on while operating the One Shadow Finger. Then, a hole the size of a finger was created without a sound.

The Dark Ghost brought his eyes close to the hole while lying face down.

“……..”

Dark Ghost’s eyes widened as he looked down the room.

Through the hole he drilled, he could see Pyo-wol lying on the bed.

But Pyo-wol had his eyes open.

Their eyes met in the air.

It was only then that Dark Ghost realized that Pyo-wol had been waiting for him. Pyo-wol didn’t sleep at all.

He had tracked and monitored many people before, but this was the first time that a target had noticed his presence.

‘Shit!’

Dark Ghost was quick on his toes. He hurriedly escaped from the ceiling.

As soon as he saw Pyo-wol’s eyes staring at him, he realized that the assassin Heuk-ho was talking about was him.

If Heuk-ho’s words were true, then he would not be able to defeat Pyo-wol with his current skills.

Dark Ghost did his best to run away.

He moved like a shadow as he ran on the roofs, and sneaked into the alleyways.

Since Dark Ghost’s expertise is in tracking, he also knows how to lose his pursuers.

Dark Ghost put into action everything he knew just to escape.

He even purposely went up the stream to erase his traces. But he eventually changed direction and went back to Runan.

Once he’s back in Runan, he chose a random person’s front yard, and changed into someone’s clothes that had been hung on their clothesline.

Only when he had completely changed his appearance did he let out a sigh of relief.

“Whew!”

But it’s still too early for him to be relieved.

After confirming that no one was around, Dark Ghost carefully carved a code on the wall of the house.

He doesn’t do this in just about any house.

The house needs to meet certain conditions.

The house needs to be as large as a whale’s back and has a high wall. It also needs to have red lanterns hanging along its wall as if to show off the prestige of the owner. The gate also needs to be colored black.

In this area, this is the only house that meets all those conditions.

This kind of house is a place where assassins could exchange information through their own secret language.

Assassins operating in different regions would write codes on the walls of these houses to relay information or inquire about each other’s well-being.

The content of what Dark Ghost wrote was simple.

[Hong Ye-seol came in contact with a dangerous person. Take caution.]

The code was written so messily that ordinary people would dismiss it as a child’s scribble. It would be impossible for ordinary people to decipher the true message in it.

What Dark Ghost wrote is some sort of warning to other assassins who have entered Runan.

Having finished his duty, Dark Ghost tried to leave in a hurry.

“………”

But he had no choice but to stop walking at the next moment.

This is because a black shadow appeared in the alley where he is.

The black shadow was the man he thought he had lost.

‘Shit!’

It was only then that Dark Ghost realized that Pyo-wol had played him like a fiddle.

Pyo-wol never lost sight of Dark Ghost even for a moment. Pyo-wol probably even watched him as he wrote something on the wall.

Nonetheless, he was still reassured that Pyo-wol would never figure out the message he wrote. Furthermore, he thought that it would be impossible for Pyo-wol to find out the conditions of the house where the secret word was written.

However, his composure was shattered at Pyo-wol’s next words,

“High walls, red lanterns, and discolored black gate. That must be the necessary conditions or characteristics of the house for you to write down your secret code.”

In an instant, Dark Ghost trembled.

His opponent had clearly seen through the Hundred Wraith Union’s secret language system with just one glance.

If Dark Ghost leaves him as he is, it won’t be impossible for Pyo-wol to grasp the contents of what he wrote.

‘Crazy!’

Pyo-wol did not miss the fear that flashed in Dark Ghost’s eyes.

Fishing naturally requires bait.

In that respect, Hong Ye-seol was a great bait.

By keeping her alive, he was able to catch a fish like this.

SoundlessWind21’s Notes

End of Volume 10. Thank you for reading!

One Shadow Finger. Raws: Ilyeongji, 일영지(一影指). 一 yī – one; a, an; alone 影 yǐng – shadow; image, reflection; photograph 指 zhǐ – finger, toe; point, indicate