Chapter 428

“Keuk! Please run away.”

Mi-bu’s confidant shouted as he lay collapsed on the ground.

The confidant’s name was Tarap.

He was an Expert.

Not just any Expert, but a true Expert.

Although he was living a degrading life of banditry with her against his will, he had once reigned as an object of fear in the Western Regions.

During Tarap’s prime, there was no Martial Artist who dared to withstand ten of his moves. It was the first time Mi-bu had seen such a terrified expression on Tarap’s face.

It wasn’t just Tarap.

All of her Subordinates, who had been so fiercely driving back the Escorts, were all rolling on the ground.

Their faces were contorted in terror, as if they had seen a ghost.

And it wasn’t just them whose faces were contorted.

Even the Escorts of the Great Pearl Trading Company and the Martial Artists of the Demon Sword Manor wore similar expressions.

Faces and eyes filled with disbelief, like people who had witnessed something that should not exist in this world.

Their gazes were all directed at one man.

The man who was receiving the attention of everyone, regardless of friend or foe, was Pyo Wol.

When the Escorts were on the verge of annihilation by the Bandits, Pyo Wol had moved. The reason he moved was simple.

It was because he had been hired as a temporary Escort.

Pyo Wol dealt with the Bandits, who the Escorts had struggled so much against, in an instant.

Pyo Wol’s skill, having taken care of a hundred Bandits in the blink of an eye, far surpassed their imagination.

Do Yeon-san had also contributed to subduing the Bandits. However, the shock received from Pyo Wol was so great that he didn’t stand out much.

“Does this even make sense?”

“Did I… did I really see what I just saw?”

The Escorts’ eyes were wide open, as if they were about to pop out.

The moment Pyo Wol intervened, everything was over.

The Bandits’ resistance was meaningless.

Every time Pyo Wol waved his hand, the Bandits dropped dead.

It was so unrealistic that it felt like they were dreaming.

The time it took for Pyo Wol to deal with all the Bandits was merely that of a single tea ceremony.

The biggest challenge was Tarap.

Tarap was far too strong to be considered a Bandit.

It was so bad that even two of Seo Gun-hwi’s Subordinates were being pushed back by him. Pyo Wol subdued such a man in a single breath.

Tarap felt like he was having a nightmare.

‘To think a Martial Artist like this existed…’

He knew Mi-bu was strong.

But she was no match for Pyo Wol.

The Martial prowess of Pyo Wol, experienced firsthand, was far beyond their imagination.

Tarap once again shouted at Mi-bu.

“Run… Keuk!”

But he could not continue his words.

A Soul Restraining Thread had pierced his shoulder.

In excruciating pain, Tarap couldn’t speak and could only gape.

His jaw trembled from the intense agony.

Pyo Wol stepped on Tarap’s back and looked at Mi-bu.

Mi-bu’s face was frozen solid like a stone statue.

“I didn’t realize an Expert was hiding here. May I ask for your esteemed name?”

“Are you a remnant of the Small Thunder Sound Temple?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Mi-bu tried her best to answer calmly. But Pyo Wol did not miss the slight tremble in the corner of her eye.

Pyo Wol guessed that Mi-bu was a remnant of the Small Thunder Sound Temple because he had fought them before.

Having faced the Small Thunder Sound Temple’s sect leader, the Blood Buddha, their top experts, the Blood Thunder Ten Monks, and their main force, the Mara Blood Monks, he had grasped the characteristics of their Martial Arts.

Although he tried to cleverly hide its characteristics, Tarap’s Martial Arts were clearly from the Small Thunder Sound Temple.

It was the Small Thunder Sound Temple that had reigned as the hegemon of the Western Regions for hundreds of years.

Although they were annihilated overnight by Pyo Wol, not all the remnants who were outside had been wiped out.

Pyo Wol thought the two were either people who had been outside, or ones he had failed to find.

Pyo Wol put more force into the foot pressing on Tarap and said.

“The Blood Buddha, the Blood Thunder Ten Monks, the Mara Blood Monks, they all died by my hand.”

“Then you’re… the Reaper?”

Mi-bu’s last words were close to a scream.

What arose in her eyes was a feeling of extreme terror.

As Pyo Wol had guessed, she was a survivor of the Small Thunder Sound Temple.

Mi-bu’s name was Haran.

She was a Mara Blood Monk, the main force of the Small Thunder Sound Temple.

Tarap, who was subdued by Pyo Wol, was one of the Mad Blood Monks.

When the Small Thunder Sound Temple was annihilated by Pyo Wol, they had been away on another mission.

Thanks to that, they escaped disaster.

When they returned after completing their mission, what they saw was the Small Thunder Sound Temple turned into a land of death.

In just a few days, the Small Thunder Sound Temple where they had lived their entire lives was wiped out, and the Blood Buddha and the Blood Thunder Ten Monks, whom they revered like the heavens, had lost their lives.

She found out later.

That the one who annihilated the Small Thunder Sound Temple was a single person.

And that his Alias was the Reaper.

In just a few days, she and Tarap had lost everything. But they couldn’t even dream of revenge.

Their opponent was a monster who had single-handedly annihilated the Small Thunder Sound Temple.

He was a man for whom the Alias Reaper was by no means an overstatement.

She had no confidence to take revenge on such a man.

Because of that, she wandered for a while. The path she chose as a result was banditry.

She subdued a group of Bandits operating on the outskirts of Sichuan Province and used them as her limbs.

It was a life a queen would not envy.

There was no one who could stand against her, who had risen to the rank of a Mara Blood Monk in the Small Thunder Sound Temple.

She was among the highest-ranking of the three hundred Mara Blood Monks. She possessed Martial Arts that could even aim for a spot among the Blood Thunder Ten Monks, the Blood Buddha’s personal guards.

But even she had no confidence in facing Pyo Wol.

As soon as she learned he was the Reaper, her will to fight plummeted.

It was the same for Tarap, who was being stepped on by Pyo Wol.

“R-Run away. Keok!”

Crack!

In that moment, Tarap’s spine shattered.

Pyo Wol had crushed it with the Weight of a Thousand Geun.

“Tarap!”

Haran screamed.

The only other survivor of the Small Thunder Sound Temple besides herself had lost his life.

Now, she was the only survivor of the Small Thunder Sound Temple.

“You didn’t have to do that, did you? He had no will to resist, there was no need to kill him…”

“And you? Would you have let us live?”

“What?”

“If your plunder had succeeded, would you have let us live?”

“I-I had no intention of taking lives.”

“You’re bad at lying. All the Bandits who attacked the Great Pearl Trading Company used killing moves without hesitation. That’s proof of how accustomed they are to murder. Such people would let survivors live? That’s bullshit even a dog wouldn’t fall for.”

A thick Blood Scent was ingrained in the Bandits’ bodies.

It meant they had killed that many people.

Cruel Bandits for whom murder had become a daily routine. It was impossible for them to leave survivors.

If they were that soft, they wouldn’t have survived this long.

Haran gritted her teeth.

Her eyes were completely bloodshot.

Her Subordinates were all subdued, and her confidant, Tarap, had also lost his life.

No matter where she looked, she could see no way out.

Haran pulled Seo Gun-hwi, who had collapsed from her Sound Art, into an embrace.

Instead of a whip, she placed a dagger against Seo Gun-hwi’s neck.

“Keuk!”

The cold sensation brought Seo Gun-hwi to his senses.

Haran shouted.

“Don’t come any closer. If you move even a single step, I’ll slit this man’s throat.”

As if to prove it wasn’t a simple threat, she put force into the dagger. Seo Gun-hwi’s flesh split, and blood trickled down.

If she put just a little more force, Seo Gun-hwi’s life would be gone.

“You wouldn’t want the Young Master of the Demon Sword Manor to lose his life, would you? If you want to save him, back off.”

“Not really!”

“What?”

“I’m saying I don’t care if he dies. He’s not related to me, we just happened to join up by chance.”

“You think I’ll fall for a lie like that?”

“It doesn’t matter if you believe me or not. Because what I’m saying is the truth.”

Pyo Wol gave a slight smile.

The moment she saw his smile, Haran felt a chill as if her whole body had been plunged into ice water.

‘He’s serious.’

She was a Martial Artist who had been through all sorts of trials and tribulations.

She could distinguish truth from falsehood just by looking at a person’s expression and tone.

From what she could see, Pyo Wol was being sincere.

Pyo Wol’s notorious reputation in Jianghu made Haran even more conflicted.

‘Wh-What should I do?’

It was then.

Suddenly, she felt a sharp sting in her ankle.

Haran looked down at her ankle.

In an instant, her face turned deathly pale.

A snake with a bright red body was biting her ankle.

Strangely, a small horn grew on the snake’s head.

“A snake?”

Suddenly, her head spun.

The Poison Qi that entered her body through her ankle had instantly penetrated her brain.

“You, you crazy…”

There was no time to defend herself.

If another venomous snake had bitten her, she could have used her Internal Energy to stop the poison from spreading or expel it from her body, but the poison of the horned snake spread throughout her entire body in an instant.

The snake that bit Haran’s ankle was none other than Ghost Fang.

As if it had fulfilled its duty, Ghost Fang leisurely returned to Pyo Wol.

Crawling up her ankle and onto his body, Ghost Fang disappeared into his clothes.

“……”

The people who saw this could only move their mouths without a sound.

They felt as if they had seen something they shouldn’t have.

‘The Reaper…’

‘What’s with that snake? He commands a snake like it’s his own limb?’

They couldn’t have imagined that the true identity of Pyo Wol, who had been traveling with them until now, was the Reaper.

They remembered looking down on him as a temporary Escort.

Although they hadn’t openly antagonized him, they had treated him as if he didn’t exist and subtly ostracized him.

They were afraid of what might happen if Pyo Wol held a grudge over it.

“Keoheok!”

Haran fell to her knees, coughing up bloody foam.

In her vomit were pieces of her melted internal organs.

Only a moment had passed since Ghost Fang bit her, but her organs had already started to melt.

“A, a demon-like…”

Haran flailed her hands. But her movements soon subsided. She had died.

It was instantaneous from being bitten by Ghost Fang to losing her life.

Once bitten, one would lose their life immediately, with no time for any treatment.

Everyone was at a loss for words.

They only glanced at each other, no one daring to open their mouth.

They felt that if they broke the silence and caught Pyo Wol’s gaze, their hearts wouldn’t be able to take it.

“Cough!”

The one who broke the silence was Seo Gun-hwi, who had been held hostage.

He coughed and fell to his knees.

“Are you alright?”

“Young Manor Lord!”

The Martial Artists of the Demon Sword Manor rushed over and supported Seo Gun-hwi.

If he could, he would have wanted to push their help away, but the shock from the Sound Art left his limbs powerless.

He barely managed to lift his head and look at Pyo Wol.

“The Reaper?”

Although his mind was muddled from the Sound Art, he had heard everything Haran said.

He had thought Pyo Wol was no ordinary person, but he never imagined he would be the Reaper, one of the greatest Experts in Jianghu.

Although information was slow to reach the Demon Sword Manor, tucked away in Yunnan Province, he at least knew of the Alias, Reaper.

However, there was a huge discrepancy between the image he had vaguely imagined and the actual Pyo Wol.

Because of that, even after hearing that Pyo Wol was the Reaper, he couldn’t accept it as the truth for a while.

Seo Gun-hwi bit his lip hard.

It was because of the shame.

He, the Young Manor Lord of the Demon Sword Manor, one of the Three Manors of Jianghu, had been defeated by Haran, while Pyo Wol had resolved the situation in an instant and even killed her.

The difference in their military power and ability was too starkly contrasted.

At most, Pyo Wol looked only slightly older than him.

Their ages were similar, but their reputation in Jianghu and their actual military power were so far apart that comparison was meaningless.

“Keuk!”

At that moment, a fire of indignation flared up to his head.

Seo Gun-hwi momentarily lost consciousness and collapsed.

He had fainted.

“Young Master!”

“Quick, support him.”

The Martial Artists of the Demon Sword Manor supported the collapsing Seo Gun-hwi again.

Pyo Wol looked at Seo Gun-hwi indifferently before turning around. Then he saw the face of Ji Mu-hyung, who was staring at him, dumbfounded.

“Ah! Th-The temporary Escort. No, G-Great Hero… Hic!”

Ji Mu-hyung, whose eyes met his, began to babble.