Reaper of the Drifting Moon

Episode 408

Pyowol and the Ghost King moved out of Baektap-ri.

As the ghost king said, his memory was not perfect.

It only moved by relying on the fragments and senses of memories that came to mind from time to time. Still, Pyowol watched without intervening.

It was to determine if there was any law or consistency in the ghost king’s actions.

One of the things Pyowol does best is observation.

To look tenaciously and dig up the source.

By doing so, approaching closer to the truth was the way of transcendence.

Pyowol moved as the ghost king led.

The ghost king was really inconsistent.

Sometimes it went north, sometimes it went south.

They crossed mountains several times and crossed lakes and rivers countless times.

There was so much inconsistency that I wondered if the ghost king was doing that on purpose.

However, the ghost king was clearly doing his best.

Sometimes I stood in a daze, searching desperately for my memory, and other times I relied on my instincts to find my way. But he couldn’t find the way to where he wanted.

Pyo-wol could understand why the ghost king had come all the way to Lake Poyang and couldn’t shake off the police officer’s pursuit.

The ghost king’s movements were too inefficient.

Since there are many spontaneous decisions, it was impossible to find any clues.

Finding clues comes from prudence, but the ghost king lacks that part.

Because of that, I had to wander around Jung-gu Heating without getting any clues.

In the meantime, Pyowol only watched the ghost king. And finally, on the fifteenth day, Pyo-wol found something strange.

‘We never cross more than a certain line to the west.’

It was a fact that the leap moon could not have been known if it had not been observed steadily for the past fortnight.

It seemed to be going well, but when it reached a certain line, the ghost king changed direction without realizing it.

At first, it was difficult to notice that fact. However, as such situations were repeated periodically, Pyo-wol realized that the ghost king’s subconscious mind had been planted in the perception that he should not cross a certain line to the west.

His unconscious is refusing to cross over to the West.

Pyowol wanted to know that line. So even after that, I deliberately made the ghost king go west.

When he reached Guangxi beyond Hunan Province, the ghost king’s rejection reaction intensified.

It is not to go beyond Guangxi and go to other areas to the extent that even strangers can tell.

There was no rejection to go to Hunan, the east, but instinctively refused to go to the west of Guangxi.

‘Is it Yunnan?’

Beyond Guangxi to the west was Yunnan Province.

The hottest and most humid place in Gangho.

It was a place that ordinary people would not dare to approach because beautiful giant trees were densely populated and poisonous insects and poisonous snakes were infested.

It was said that the first sight the ghost king saw upon waking was a beautiful giant tree and a cascade of stars.

It also matched the scenery of Yunnan Province.

Of course, you can see the same scenery in other famous mountains in Gangho, but it was worth checking it out.

Pyowol asked the ghost king.

“You said you had no memory before you woke up, right?”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember going to Yunnan?”

“does not exist.”

“Have you ever been to Yunnan Province after coming out of Jianghu?”

“I don’t know.”

“We are going to Yunnan.”

“Yunnan? why?”

“Because you instinctively refuse to go there.”

“I say no?”

“Yes. If you go to the Yunnan area, you turn in a different direction.”

“I never did.”

“I guess so. It’s not something you do knowingly. It moves like that unconsciously.”

“unconscious?”

The ghost king narrowed his eyes.

It was an incomprehensible expression.

Pyowol calmly explained.

“Someone has either put such a restraint on your subconscious, or you are reluctant to approach it with your own reluctance.”

“Is it really?”

“I can only speculate. You will have to go into Yunnan to know for sure.”

“It’s Yunnan… I get it. I will follow you.”

It was he who asked to find the way.

For the past month, Pyo-wol followed and observed himself and presented the results.

Now it was her turn to follow him.

Pyo-wol went to Yunnan Province with the ghost king.

The problem occurred in Jeonyang, a border region in Yunnan Province.

From the moment he entered Jeonyang, the ghost king’s footsteps headed for the wrong place.

My head understood it, but my body was refusing the order.

‘I’m sure he planted the taboo in his unconscious.’

Pyo-wol was convinced that his guess was correct.

The problem was the ghost king’s refusal.

You have to subdue him to control him, but it was never easy.

Even the gyeongmusaeng, who can be said to be the natural enemy, was able to put the ghost king to sleep only after sacrificing two dharma treasures. If Pyowol tried to subdue the ghost king by force, both of them would suffer great damage.

After thinking about it for a while, Pyowol soon came up with a method.

“If there is a ban planted in your subconscious, it will prevent you from feeling anything at all.”

“How do you mean?”

“Cover your eyes and cover your ears. Block out your senses from the outside so you don’t even know where you are.”

“You are fooling your senses.”

“that’s right!”

“i get it.”

The ghost king immediately tore off his sleeves and covered his eyes and ears. And the internal air blocked the external senses.

So the ghost king confined himself to the dark world.

The only connection with the world was the moon.

Pyo-wol took out the silver thread from Amryongpo and connected his wrist with the ghost king. It is to convey the meaning to the ghost king through gifts.

It was impossible for a normal person to block all senses and move like this. I might be able to walk for a while at first, but after walking like this all day, I couldn’t help but lose my mind or sit down on my own.

However, the ghost king was a master with extreme strength.

He also had great mental strength.

Although his memories are not perfect, he overcomes the darkness and solitude surrounding him with strong mental strength.

Fortunately, the rejection disappeared when all senses were blocked.

It is to follow meekly as Pyowol leads.

Their appearance was very strange.

The sight of a young man with a white face and beautiful appearance leading a young boy with his eyes closed caught everyone’s attention.

If you were a normal person, people’s stares would have been burdensome, but neither Pyowol nor Ghost King were people who cared about such things.

Regardless of the eyes of others, they moved on silently.

As a result, they were able to enter Yunnan Province within a few days.

From the moment I entered Yunnan, the air changed dramatically.

The damp and hot air had already choked my breath.

I realized that I had entered Yunnan Province just by changing the air.

Pyowol asked the ghost king.

“Do you feel anything?”

“Not yet.”

“Tell me if there are any small changes.”

“i get it.”

The ghost king nodded.

Even after entering Yunnan Province, he did not break the blockage of his senses.

It was because I was quite used to it now and had no problems walking with the help of Pyowol.

The two wandered around Yunnan aimlessly.

After walking all day, if a guesthouse appears, take a break for the night and set out on the road the next day. It was a repetition of such a life.

It wasn’t just a day or two, I lived like that for almost a month.

A normal person would have already passed out from exhaustion, but neither of them showed a sign of exhaustion.

In the meantime, they traveled all over Yunnan Province.

There was almost no place in the eastern part of Yunnan Province that I had not visited.

Until then, there was no income.

It was the next day that the change occurred.

Suddenly, the ghost king opened his nose.

“I am familiar with this smell.”

“Are you sure?”

“Obvious. I’ve taken it once.”

The ghost king replied in a confident voice.

I didn’t know at first. But the more I focused on the smell, the more convinced I was.

The fact that he once smelled something like this.

It was such a damp, pungent smell.

I had never smelled anything like this outside of Yunnan Province.

“I must have been here sometime.”

“What else?”

“I do not know yet.”

Despite the ghost king’s answer, Pyo-wol was not disappointed.

It was a great thing just to catch a clue like this.

“If you stay around here for a little longer, there will definitely be something that comes to mind. Let’s find the authorization.”

Pyowol looked around.

I spent more than 15 days in Yunnan Province, but I did not know the exact name of this place.

Yunnan was different from other provinces in Jianghu.

Unlike other castles where people appear a short distance away, there are many places where you cannot see a single house even if you walk all day here.

It was such a place where we are now.

I looked around, but I didn’t see a single house, let alone a city.

I could have been homeless, but if possible, sleeping at home was good for preserving my stamina.

Leaving the ghost king alone, Pyowol climbed up a high tree branch and looked around.

A village was visible in the distance.

It was a small village with only a dozen or so households.

It looked like a village built by slash-and-burn farmers.

Pyowol went to the village with the ghost king.

As he guessed, it was clear that the village was built by slash-and-burn farmers.

There were burnt marks around the field, which appeared to have been recently built. They set fire to part of the forest to cultivate the fields.

In the newly cultivated field, middle-aged men who looked like a couple were diligently picking out stones.

When Pyowol and the ghost king approached, the couple was startled.

“Eggumona!”

“Heheuk!”

They screamed and ran away like criminals.

Pyowol slightly frowned at the unexpectedly violent reaction.

No matter how wary the slash-and-burn farmers were, this kind of reaction was too much.

People poured out from the village as if the couple had informed them.

In their hands were objects such as pitchforks and axes.

An old man who appeared to be the village head came forward.

The skin tanned by the sun and the saggy wrinkles were telling us how hard the old man had lived.

The old man, like everyone else, had a pitchfork in his hand.

He said, pointing the pitchfork at Pyowol.

“I don’t know where you are from, but our village doesn’t accept strangers, so please go home.”

“Can’t I be beholden to you for the night?”

“As you can see, there are no guesthouses here. Since they are all people who live day by day cultivating the fields, they cannot even provide food. So give up staying here and go somewhere else.”

Others agreed with the village chief’s words.

“We do not accept outsiders.”

“Go somewhere else.”

Pyo-wol slightly frowned at the reaction that was more stubborn than expected. However, I had no intention of persuading those who showed such a clear reluctance.

Pyowol said to the ghost king.

“Let’s leave.”

“for a moment!”

However, it seemed that the ghost king had no intention of leaving quietly like this.

I closed my eyes and ears while coming here, but I opened my ears for a while to hear the conversation with the villagers. Thanks to you, I heard everything they had to say.

The ghost king radiated mighty momentum from his whole body.

“I must sleep here today.”

He was acting monni.

They became hostile to the slash-and-burn people who rejected them without reason.

The ghost king had an unpredictable disposition.

While traveling with Pyowol, he softened a little, but his nature did not completely disappear.

“Heheuk!”

“omg!”

When the ghost king released his momentum, the faces of the slash-and-burn people turned white.

In particular, the nearest village chief sat down on the floor and urinated.

The spirit of the ghost king was too powerful for an old man like him to handle.

The village chief felt like an ant facing a tsunami.

My mind went blank, my head was empty, no thoughts came to my mind.

It was only then that he realized that the men in front of him were more terrifying than expected, but there was nothing he could do.

It wasn’t just the village chief.

Everyone in the village fell to the ground and was shaking.

Some people may enjoy this spectacle, but it wasn’t Pyowol’s taste.

Pyowol tried to tell the ghost king to stop. But someone else spoke first.

“That’s about it. It’s not because they have malicious intent.”

It was the kind of tone that calmed even the heart of the listener.

The owner of the voice walked out of the village.

It was as quiet as a voice.

As soon as he checked that figure, Pyowol’s expression slightly changed.

“agave?”