Reaper of the Drifting Moon

Episode 403

The ghost king’s eyes were somehow empty. Looking into his eyes made me feel empty on this side too.

It was the same with the moon.

Pyo-wol thought that somewhere within himself was broken.

As a human being, he endured countless severe trials that were difficult to endure, and somewhere in the human sensibility was worn out.

On the other hand, the ghost king seemed to lack some part from the beginning.

The difference between the two was great.

Pyo-wol was still able to recognize to some extent what he had lost, but the ghost king did not even know what he was missing.

Maybe that’s why I couldn’t hear what the ghost king was saying.

“What are you asking for help with?”

“Be my guide.”

“A guide?”

“I can’t find my way. I have a place to go…”

“You mean you’ll heal this woman if you find the way? how?”

“There is a land that saves people.”

“earth?”

Pyowol frowned.

It is because it is the first time that the land saves people.

But those were the words of the ghost king, not someone else.

He seemed to be missing something, but he wasn’t one to talk nonsense.

Pyowol nodded.

“Go with me.”

“good night.”

The ghost king nodded as if he knew that.

With that, the conversation between the two ended.

The ghost king, who had achieved his goal, sat with his back against the rock and closed his eyes.

Pyo-wol looked at the ghost king without a word.

He could barely breathe and showed little signs of vital activity. It looked like a wooden doll whose thread had been cut. Even so, the ghost king was still alive.

It was a mysterious existence, like the nickname of the ghost king.

Hong Ye-seol whispered in Pyo-wol’s ear.

“Did you accept his offer because of me?”

“that’s right!”

“oh! Rejoice. But are there other reasons?”

“That’s right too!”

“I knew it. I’m happy though. To receive such consideration from a man like you.”

“How am I?”

“It is a death. You smell death. so i’m afraid What scares me more is that you are attractive nonetheless.”

This is why Hong Ye-seol tries to keep a certain distance from Pyo-wol.

The fear of losing herself if she got closer to Pyowol existed inside her. So, she always struggled to keep a psychological distance from Pyowol.

Even now, if I stay by Pyo-wol’s side for a long time, I feel like I won’t be able to escape forever. so he said it vehemently.

“As soon as my body recovers, I will leave for Baek Guryun.”

“Is it because of Chilhyeonseosaeng?”

“I need to know who commissioned him to be killed.”

“I don’t think Baek Guryunju would tell me that.”

“Then we have to make them talk.”

“Is it possible?”

“It is possible.”

“I must risk my life again.”

“That’s our job.”

“I wish you success.”

“thank you.”

Hong Ye-seol looked at the bonfire with a smile.

Her pale face turned red.

＊＊＊

Around the dawn, the ghost king opened his eyes.

When normal people woke up this early, they would do various things to wake up, but the ghost king stood up right away without any of those things.

The ghost king’s behavior reminded me of a copper man at Shaolin Temple.

I thought that if Dong-in was alive and moving, he would be just like the ghost king.

Pyowol’s movement was also as good as that of the ghost king.

The moment the ghost king opened his eyes, Pyowol also opened them.

As soon as Pyo-wol opened his eyes, he checked Hong Ye-seol’s condition.

Hong Ye-seol’s condition was not very good. It got worse overnight.

It was dangerous to ride a horse like this.

After thinking for a while, Pyo-wol untied the saddle and other harnesses from the horse he had tied nearby.

Pyowol whispered to the horse.

“Good work so far. Now you are free to live as you please.”

Purr!

Pyo-wol hit the horse’s butt vigorously. Then the startled horse ran out.

Pyo-wol silently looked at the back of the horse, who was quickly moving away.

He was a guy I’d been with for quite some time. So I got it right.

It was a little sad to let go of those words, but I couldn’t help it now.

I didn’t know how rough the place to go with the ghost king was, and I couldn’t burn Hong Ye-seol.

It would be better for the sake of the horse than to give it freedom as it is.

Pyowol tore the thick cloth sandwiched between the horse and the saddle and made it into a rope.

He carried Hong Ye-seol on his back and tied her and himself with a rope.

After confirming that there was no problem in moving his limbs, he told the ghost king.

“egg plant!”

“hmm!”

The ghost king nodded and took the lead.

Pyo-wol followed the ghost king, turning one hand behind him and placing it on Hong Ye-seol’s Myeongmun-hyeol. Then, the inner energy was carefully injected.

Knowing or not knowing the fact, the ghost king spread out light-gongsul and struck forward. Pyowol also spread light air and followed him.

If other soldiers saw what Pyowol was doing, they would all say it was an act of suicide.

Injecting internal energy into the body of another person required a high level of internal energy management and concentration.

Pyowol was doing the precise work that would not be enough even if he concentrated in a quiet place without anyone’s interruption while spreading light air.

If he made a mistake, not only Hong Ye-seol, but also Pyo-wol’s life was in danger. Nevertheless, Pyowol did so without any hesitation.

The ghost king turned his head and looked at Pyowol’s actions.

If he was an ordinary military man, he would have given Pyowol any advice, but the ghost king was not an ordinary person. He stopped paying attention to Pyo-wol’s actions and focused on performing light martial arts.

In the end, it was a good thing that Pyowol let go of the horse.

The ghost king moved along a route that horses couldn’t possibly travel. They passed through dense forests without being able to see ahead and broke through high stone mountains.

It took a path that is difficult for not only horses but also quite a few unmanned people to dare to approach.

If those who followed him had not been Pyowol, they would have fallen behind.

Pyo-wol ran close to the ghost king with Hong Ye-seol on his back.

At first, Pyowol also felt difficult. However, as time went by, I learned how to operate my inner energy more precisely.

Hong Ye-seol’s paralysis was strict.

If Pyowol had not endlessly injected inner energy, his life would have ended right away.

There was also a big crisis in the middle.

“Haha! Haha!”

Suddenly Hong Ye-seol gasped for breath and had a big seizure.

Pyo-wol made her take the poison of the last remaining black hwajiju.

Fighting!

Seoncheonjigi was stimulated and shook greatly.

After a while, the color returned to Hong Ye-seol’s face. It was clearly stable. Breathing seemed much easier. However, Pyo-wol’s expression as he looked at Hong Ye-seol was dark.

This is because she knows that her current appearance is a phenomenon in which her energy has temporarily returned, like retro-reflective reflection.

It stimulated the congenital organs and temporarily boosted vitality, but no one knew how long this phenomenon would last.

One thing is for sure, when the present phenomenon is over, there will be no way to save her life.

Pyo-wol asked the ghost king, carrying Hong Ye-seol back on his back.

“Is it still far?”

“Almost there.”

The ghost king’s answer was what he had heard half a day ago.

Even then he said he wasn’t far off.

Pyo-wol said while tying the string around Hong Ye-seol and himself.

“You really should have come.”

“I don’t lie.”

The ghost king turned around.

Pyo-wol looked at the back of the ghost king for a while, but couldn’t pursue him further.

It was too late to go back after coming this far.

No matter what the outcome was, I had to follow the ghost king to the end.

Pyowol threw herself after the ghost king.

After following the ghost king for days and days, I couldn’t even guess where I was passing.

The ghost king’s light-gongsul was truly amazing, so if he paid attention to other things a little bit, the distance would quickly go away. Because of that, Pyowol had to focus only on following the ghost king.

The place we arrived at was an unknown dense mountain.

The tall trees were so dense that it was impossible to guess the direction.

People who first came here were likely to die of starvation after getting lost and wandering.

However, it was a story that had nothing to do with the ghost king and Pyowol.

It was because they were performing light maneuvers by stepping on the top branches of the trees, rather than moving along between them.

Pyowol wrinkled the tip of his nose.

Suddenly, a strong musty smell wafted up.

The intense smell that stimulates the sense of smell made my head dizzy.

Pyowol’s sense of smell, trained underground, was sharper than that of beasts. Such sensitivity made Pyowol even more uncomfortable.

Pyowol blocked his sense of smell with his inner air. Only then did my dizzy mind clear.

It was a terribly dank, yet unpleasant smell.

It was the first time Pyowol had smelled such a stench. So it was even more embarrassing.

The ghost king called it the land that saves people, but if you continue to smell this smell, no living being will be able to endure it and die.

After the dense forest, a black land without a single blade of grass appeared like a lie.

There were no traces of life on the black ground, as if it were covered with black sand.

A stench was emanating from the black earth.

the king said

“Arrived.”

“Doesn’t it look like a land that saves people?”

“You have to go a little deeper. There is a land that can save people.”

“Really?”

“It is true.”

The ghost king strode into the black land.

Pyowol also followed suit.

The further inside, the stench got worse.

Even though I blocked my sense of smell with my inner air, my head still throbbed.

It was a moment when I was worried about whether I could save people in a place like this.

Suddenly, a red earth appeared in front of my eyes.

An exceptionally red land that exists like an island in the middle of the black land.

The ghost king looked at it and said.

“There it is. That red land sucked in all the air from the vicinity and became a dead land.”

“Are you saying you suck up your breath?”

“I don’t know why, but it is true. I also healed a big wound here.”

It was by chance that the ghost king discovered this place.

At the time, he was seriously injured. He had near-immortality regenerative abilities, but his wounds were so great that it was critical.

At that time, he found this place like instinct.

I didn’t know anything about the location of this place, but I just found this place with my tenacity and instinct to live.

It was because of the red land that the whole land was dyed black so that life could not live there. The red earth sucks in all the vitality and keeps it.

“How can I do it?”

“You can bury it in me. The red earth will take care of the rest.”

“okay?”

Pyo-wol entered the red land holding Hong Ye-seol.

The energy of the red earth was unusual enough that he could feel it at once.

Pyowol laid Hong Ye-seol on one side and dug the red ground with both hands. The red soil was soft like tofu, so it was easily dug without using internal skills.

After digging deep enough for one person to lie down, Pyo-wol carefully laid Hong Ye-seol down.

Pyowol covered Hong Ye-seol’s entire body with red soil except for his face.

Even then, Hong Ye-seol was not conscious.

Pyo-wol looked at Hong Ye-seol’s face for a while and then came to the place where the ghost king was.

The ghost king said to Pyowol.

“You have to stay away from here.”

“Why?”

“Staying near the red land takes away our prayers.”

The ghost king didn’t even listen to Pyowol’s answer and threw himself away and sat down on a tall tree outside the black earth.

Pyowol also threw herself and landed next to the ghost king.

“Now our work is done. The land will do the rest.”

“Do you know the identity of that red land?”

“I don’t know. But it is not the only place in the world where such a land exists.”

“Are there more?”

“There are more than three that I have seen with my own eyes.”

“So you’re saying it’s not known to people?”

“Because no one has buried their bodies in the ground like me.”

Above all, all the lands he found were in places that were not easily accessible to others.

The ghost king muttered.

“Someday that land might cover the whole world.”