Chapter 353 Reaper of the Drifting Moon novel

Chapter 353 Reaper of the Drifting Moon novel

The room was cozy, and the bed was soft.

Thanks to that, Pyo Wol was able to get a good night’s sleep.

After sleeping soundly and waking up, his body felt great. It seemed that a good night’s sleep made his mind much clearer and more refreshed than practicing mediocre martial arts.

When he opened the window, the vast Poyang Lake came into view. Like Taeho, many fishing boats were operating on Poyang Lake.

Pyo Wol stood still like a statue and watched the scene for a long time.

He didn’t move again until almost an hour had passed.

Washing his face briefly, he went to the restaurant.

Although it was early in the morning, there were quite a few people eating in the restaurant.

They glanced at Pyo Wol as he entered.

‘That’s him…’

‘The Reaper?’…………………………….

‘He’s as handsome as I heard.’

The rumor of Pyo Wol’s arrival had already spread throughout Poyang Lake.

People who had seen the confrontation between Pyo Wol and Yong Ha-sang yesterday had spread the word. As a result, many people had come to the Southern Heaven Pavilion specifically to see Pyo Wol’s face.

As Pyo Wol sat down, the attendant quickly approached.

“Did you sleep well?”

“I slept well.”

“Are you going to have breakfast?”

“Just something simple, please.”

“Yes! Please wait a moment.”

The attendant placed a teacup and teapot on Pyo Wol’s table and hurried to the kitchen.

Pyo Wol poured the tea into his cup.

The pleasant scent of the tea made him feel good.

He was looking out the window and sipping his tea when a clear voice suddenly reached him.

“May I join you for a moment?”

Pyo Wol looked up to see a mysterious woman standing in front of the table.

She had a healthy, sun-kissed complexion and a vibrant face. She wore a vest made from fox fur and had a black whip coiled around her waist.

As he looked at her, the woman smiled and said, “My name is Yeom Hee-soo from the White Fox Clan.”

“White Fox Clan?”

“It’s one of the mountain clans that separated from the Heaven High Castle.”

Pyo Wol nodded at Yeom Hee-soo’s explanation. akhi buy me a coffee

No wonder Yeom Hee-soo’s atmosphere was similar to Bok Ho-jin from the long river fortress. He could feel the unique, free-spirited atmosphere of the Green Forest in Yeom Hee-soo.

“I had a meeting with brother Namgung and brother Yong here yesterday. Unfortunately, I arrived late and didn’t get to see you, master Pyo .”

“Where are they now?”

“They went out for another drink, leaving me behind. I don’t know where they are, and when they’ll be back, and I don’t want to eat alone. So, can I have breakfast with you?”

“Sit down!”

“Thank you.”

Yeom Hee-soo laughed heartily and sat down in front of Pyo Wol. akhi buy me a coffee

She rested both hands on the table and looked at Pyo Wol’s face with her chin propped up.

“You’re as handsome as the rumors say. I used to wonder how good-looking a man could be, but now my eyes are feasting this morning.”

“What are you having for breakfast?”

“The same as master Pyo ”

“……”

“Oh, I need to order!”

Yeom Hee-soo finally realized the meaning in Pyo Wol’s gaze and called the attendant to place her order.

Pyo Wol asked Yeom Hee-soo.

“Long River Fortress is also independent from the Heaven High Castle, right? So, they are like siblings.”

“Both are branches that grew from the heaven high castle. But they are not that close. They pay attention to each other’s movements but don’t really like working together…”

“It seems there’s a complicated situation.”

“Power is always like that. Since the first castle lord, no one has been able to firmly grasp the power of the Heaven High Castle. In the end, Heaven High Castle was divided into six factions. It would be even stranger if these divided factions got along well. Lord Bok Seong-wan, the owner of Long River Fortress, had great ambition and often clashed with other mountain fortresses. That’s why no one sees them in a good light.” akhi buy me a coffee

“What brought you here?”

“Brother Nam Gung requested it. He said that the atmosphere in Kangho is not normal, so we should unite our forces.”

“I see!”

Pyo Wol nodded his head.

Considering Nam Gung-wol’s temperament, it was a plausible thought.

Nam Gung-wol had always been a person full of righteousness and spirit, more than anyone else he had met so far.

“So, what was the outcome?”

“Well, I agreed with brother Nam Gung’s opinion. But I’m not sure about brother Yong . So, brother Namgung had a separate drinking session to persuade him. I’m also curious about the conclusion.”

Yeom Hee-soo’s smiling expression looked very mischievous. Just by looking at her expression, one could tell how playful and clever she was.

“Here’s your meal.”

At that moment, the attendant approached with a tray of food.

The tray contained freshly cooked warm rice, beef hot pot, and a few side dishes.

“Please enjoy your meal.”

The attendant bowed his head and then went back to the kitchen area.

“I was getting hungry, so this is perfect.”

Yeom Hee-soo looked at the still boiling hot pot and smiled.

She took a spoonful of hot pot to taste and then scooped a full amount into her rice bowl and started eating.

She filled her mouth with rice and hot pot and chewed without worrying about other people’s gazes.

On the other hand, Pyo Wol ate his food as slowly as possible. The two of them were in stark contrast.

When Yeom Hee-soo had finished a bowl of rice, there was still plenty left in Pyo Wol’s bowl.

Yeom Hee-soo asked Pyo Wol.

“Is the food not tasty?”

“No, it’s delicious.”

“Then why are you eating so slowly? If you nibble like that, your fortune will fly away.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Hmph!”

Yeom Hee-soo made a strange noise through her nose while watching Pyo Wol eat. akhi buy me a coffee

She usually didn’t like people who ate their food little by little like Pyo Wol. It was bad luck.

Yeom Hee-soo belonged to the white fox clan, which was fundamentally part of the green forest. For the green forest, enjoying the taste of food was a luxury.

Eating food slowly like Pyo Wol would often lead to it being taken away. That’s why Yeom Hee-soo had developed the habit of eating quickly since she was young.

In that place, eating food slowly like Pyo Wol would make you a target for hungry people.

‘Handsome people look good doing anything.’

Yeom Hee-soo stared intently at Pyo Wol, almost to the point of being burdensome.

Ordinary people would feel awkward if someone stared at them so persistently.

However, Pyo Wol showed no signs of discomfort and maintained his slow eating pace.

Finally, Pyo Wol’s long meal came to an end.

Pyo Wol rinsed his mouth with tea, got up from his seat.

“Hey, aren’t you staying longer?”

“I have somewhere to go.”

“Where? Can I come with you?”

“No!”

“Chet!”

At Pyo Wol’s firm refusal, Yeom Hee-soo pouted her lips.akhi buy me a coffee

Her expression was so cute that it seemed like something to bite, but it was far from enough to shake Pyo Wol’s heart.

Yeom Hee-soo didn’t push any further.

She had only tried asking for the sake of it.

Pyo Wol left the inn with Yeom Hee-soo behind him.

The moment his figure completely disappeared from sight, Yeom Hee-soo sent a message to someone.

―Wolgui!

―Yes! My lady.

Her loyal servant, Wolgui, responded through the message.

“― Follow the guy’s tracks. Report on where he goes and who he meets.”

“― Understood.”

Wolgui’s presence disappeared.

Yeom Hee-soo leaned back slightly in her chair and mumbled.

“I can’t help being curious.”

Her words weren’t just due to her attraction to Pyo Wol’s appearance.

Pyo Wol’s face was incredibly handsome, but she was far too experienced to give her heart away based solely on a man’s face.

There was a reason she was called the Hundred-faced Flower at White Fox Clan.

A flower with a hundred faces.

She had only revealed one face so far.

＊＊＊

Pyo Wol left the Southern Heaven Pavilion and walked along the main street.

Numerous shops lined both sides of the street, and the center was crowded with street stalls.

Merchants raised their voices to attract customers.

“We have ginseng imported from Haedong.”

“Here is an incense burner from the West.”

“Come here. I’ll give you a good price.”

The street was very noisy with the addition of haggling customers’ voices.

Pyo Wol took in the bustling street as he walked.

His destination was the local branch of Hao Clan in Poyang Lake.

The Poyang Lake branch was located in a place unknown to most people, like the Taeho branch.

Hong Yushin had previously told Pyo Wol that the Poyang Lake branch was one of the most special places among Hao Clan’s local branches.

Unlike other branches hidden in secluded areas or away from public view, the Poyang Lake branch was disguised as an ordinary house with no trace of Hao Clan’s characteristics.

The Poyang Lake branch operated independently without the intervention of the organization.

As such, exceptionally skilled and knowledgeable individuals gathered there.

The information they provided was as accurate and reliable as the information analyzed directly by the organization.

That’s why the organization rarely interfered with the Poyang Lake branch’s affairs.

Given the branch’s special nature, Hong Yushin had explained it to Pyo Wol in detail.

Pyo Wol sought the Poyang Lake branch to track down Hong Yushin and So Geoksan’s whereabouts.

Nonetheless, since it happened nearby, the Poyang Lake branch would undoubtedly have the most information.

Finding the Poyang Lake branch wasn’t too difficult.

“…….”

The problem was that the Poyang Lake branch had turned into a heap of black ashes.

Pyo Wol furrowed his brows.

He looked around, wondering if he had come to the wrong place. However, the scenery matched exactly what Hong Yushin had described.

He hadn’t come to the wrong place.

Pyo Wol looked back at the Poyang Lake branch again.

The sight of everything burned down, leaving only ashes, was eerie.

A passing child stared at Pyo Wolas if he were strange.

“Mister! Do you have business at this house? It burned down, you know…”

“Do you know when it burned down?”

“Three or four days ago, I think. Anyway, it burned down around that time.”

“Do you know what happened?”

“I don’t know. I woke up, and everything was burned.”

“Any survivors?”

“My dad said that everyone burned to death without anyone left alive.”

“Everyone died?”

“Yes!”

The boy nodded.

Pyo Wol left the boy behind and entered the ash-covered ruins of the Poyang Lake branch.

Everything was burnt black.

There were hardly any intact pillars, and the roof had completely collapsed. Blackened furniture and bricks covered the floor.

It seemed impossible to find anything in this place.

That’s why the authorities only roughly collected the corpses and didn’t properly investigate the cause.

Pyo Wol began to carefully examine the burnt remains of the Poyang branch.

His face and body were covered in black ash, but he didn’t care.

‘It was an attack.’

Pyo Wol found traces of weapons on the burnt pillars.

It was the mark left by a powerful weapon, such as a sword or an ax. And there were not just one or two of these marks.

Although hidden under the ashes, traces of fighting could be found in various places, each with different weapon marks.

It wasn’t just one or two people involved. It was clear that at least a dozen or more skilled fighters had participated in the attack.

‘It was organized.’

Pyo Wol had left Taeho five days ago.

If there had been a fire here at that time, the Taeho branch would have known about it.

However, the Taeho branch had no knowledge of the fire here.

Someone had clearly intentionally blocked the information from this place.

The organization with the best information network in the world was Hao Clan.

The fact that they managed to neutralize Hao Clan’s information network and blind their eyes and ears spoke to the attackers’ extraordinary abilities.

There was nothing more to gain here.

Pyo Wol dusted off the ashes from his body and went outside.

The boy was nowhere to be seen.

Pyo Wol’s next destination was the government office where the corpses had been taken.

When he asked to see the bodies, an official clicked his tongue and said,

“Tsk! You’re too late for that. All the corpses have been cremated.”

“Cremated?”

“With no one coming to claim the bodies, and the horrible smell from the rotting, it was the only choice.”

The official said that all the corpses had been turned to ashes and scattered in the river.

All the clues about the Hao Clan had disappeared. However, Pyo Wol didn’t give up.

Ping!

He flicked a coin to the official, who grinned greedily.

“Hehe! What, do you have more questions?”

“Has there been a rich man who recently invited a troupe of performers?”