Reaper of the Drifting Moon

It had already been several months since he entered Chengdu, but Soma’s appearance remained the same. While children at his age grow up day by day, Soma’s appearance is fixed at about six or seven years old.

Any child would have been very sad having this kind of circumstances, but Soma calmly accepted his reality.

‘Well, there are some advantages.’

The bright appearance of a young child was the best weapon to soften the vigilance of the opponent and to make them lower their guards.

Yu Gi-cheon, who was in front of him, was one of those who fell victim to Soma’s appearance. Yu Gi-cheon fell in love with the appearance of Soma, whom he met by chance, and found him very cute. So he gave him some pocket money and moon cakes when he met him along the way.

Yu Gi-cheon found out about Soma’s true self by coincidence.

On his way back to the mansion with his escorts, he was attacked. They slaughtered all of his escorts and tried to take his life.

It was Soma who suddenly appeared and killed all the people.

The person who instigated the attack was a former servant of Yu Gi-cheon. He was after Yu Gi-cheon’s wealth so he hired some mercenaries.

Soma even found the old subordinates who took part and cleaned them up neatly.

It was then that Yu Gi-cheon realized that Soma was indeed a terrifying being.

After that, Soma occasionally visited Yu Gi-cheon’s mansion to eat delicious food. However, Yu Gi-cheon couldn’t deal with Soma as comfortably as before.

Because he knew the cruelty and terrifying skills behind Soma’s cute face.

Above all, behind Soma was a man who made everyone in Sichuan terrified. Yu Gi-cheon was so surprised the first time he knew of that fact.

Pyo-wol was the definition of fear in Sichuan Province. In particular, he was a subject of fear for those in power such as Yu Gi-cheon.

In the past, the powerful and influential people in Chengdu and Sichuan had lined themselves up with prestigious sects such as Emei and Qingcheng. They joined hands with those prestigious sects so that they can protect their wealth and power.

However, their operations were brutally trampled by a single person, where they had no choice but to close their gates.

Naturally, influential people tried to get in Pyo-wol’s good graces. However, no one succeeded in establishing direct contact with Pyo-wol.

Some even said that Pyo-wol had already left Chengdu. However, Yu Gi-cheon knew that Pyo-wol was actually staying in Chengdu in one of the Xintian Road mansions.

It was Soma who told him that.

Soma really liked Yu Gi-cheon. Because he was the first to treat him well without any calculations or hidden agendas in mind.

He was deceived by his cute appearance.

Even now, Soma was smiling brightly. But Yu Gi-cheon couldn’t laugh.

By knowing the true nature of Soma, it would be impossible to treat him as comfortably as before.

Soma looked down at Yu Gi-cheon.

“Grandpa is a very good person.”

“Me?”

“It was your first time meeting him yesterday. And even though you had no reason to warn him, you still did.”

“He’s a good man. Even though his nephew made a big mistake–”

“You have to distinguish between a mistake and a deliberate attempt. He crossed the fence with impure intentions. So you can’t say it was a mistake, grandpa!”

“I’m sorry. I made a mistake. Anyway, I thought it was too harsh for him to pay the price for his nephew’s wrong choice.”

“I understand grandpa’s perspective, but don’t do something like this next time. Because if you do, I might just avoid grandpa.”

“Yes, I’ll be careful.”

“I’m sorry, grandpa! For saying things like this—”

“Don’t.”

Yu Gi-cheon shook his head.

“See you later then, grandpa!”

“Okay!”

Soma floated into the air.

His figure disappeared from his line of sight in an instant.

“Hoo…!”

Yu Gi-cheon, who was left alone, let out a deep sigh.

Soma returned to the Red Villa. Then, Steward Go greeted Soma.

Steward Go initially had a very sharp impression. However, after Soma and the other two children entered the Red Villa, he became soft.

Soma asked,

“Uncle Go! Where’s Guian?”

Steward Go pointed his finger at the basement of the mansion.

“Is he stuck there again?”

Steward Go smiled and nodded. Then Soma sighed.

“What does he like about that stinky basement?”

Soma sighed and walked towards the entrance to the basement.

Steward Go looked at Soma’s back with a smile on his face.

The back view of Soma walking with the wheels hanging around his neck was so cute.

The burden on Steward Go was greatly reduced as Soma and the children entered the Red Villa. Since the children shared his work, Steward Go was able to faithfully stick to his duties.

Soma stood at the entrance and shouted,

“I’m going in!”

He shouted so Guian could hear him. If he enters without letting Guian know in advance, the devices will be activated.

Guian decorated a space just for himself in the basement of the Red Villa.

From the entrance, it was covered with various traps and machinery, reminiscent of an iron fortress. Because of that, even Soma and Eunyo had to tell him in advance when they were about to enter the underground space so that Guian could disarm the machinery and traps.

Perhaps because he heard his voice, the machinery and traps did not activate. Thanks to this, Soma was able to easily enter the space of Guian.

The basement was really spacious.

There was a huge amount of bookshelves in the vast space, and there were many books on each shelf. There was still a lot of empty space, but Soma thought it would be filled soon.

There was a large desk in the middle, and on the desk were piles of papers and booklets.

He could see Guian sitting in front of the table. Guian opened a yellow booklet and wrote something down.

Soma didn’t want to disturb him, so he just watched from the side.

It was not long after when Guian was finished with his work.

“Done.”

Tak!

Guian stretched as he closed the booklet.

Soma asked,

“What is that?”

“I organized the list of merchant and escort companies that came to Chengdu yesterday.”

Guian replied as if it were nothing.

But Soma knew how difficult it was.

Guian, who followed Pyo-wol to the Red Villa, soon discovered his aptitude.

It was his ability to collect and grasp the flow of information.

For him, who can see the flow of qi, grasping the flow of information was as exciting as a fish meeting water.

Guian took over the work that Steward Go used to do, and his talents bloomed as if he had finally found his vocation.

Guian was also the one who initiated for them to take over the underworld of Chengdu. He used Soma and Eunyo to rule over the underworld.

From then on, it was a breeze.

He established a surveillance system of his own, so he could immediately grasp what was happening in Chengdu.

It was originally the Hao clan who presided over the information in Chengdu. However, Guian nibbled away the Hao clan’s information network.

By the time the Hao clan realized this, most of the initiative had already been passed to Guian.

At least in Chengdu, the Hao clan could not maximize its strength. This was because the information system Guian built was more powerful than the Hao clan.

Having supremacy of information means having supremacy of power.

Thousands of information entered the underground space every day.

Most of the information was useless, but Guian could recognized the truth hidden behind the scenes and reprocessed them to be useful. The reprocessed information was then passed on to Pyo-wol.

Soma asked,

“Don’t you want to go outside?”

“What am I going to do out there?”

“Isn’t it frustrating? You used to be locked up in the Xiaoleiyin Temple, and now you’re locked up in the basement here as well.”

“It wasn’t my intention back then, and now it’s voluntary, so it’s different. I like this place.”

Guian spread his arms wide.

He was the owner of the vast underground space full of bookshelves.

“I could just sit here and still be able to understand the whole situation of Chengdu, so there is no reason for me to go out.”

Soma shook his head.

“You’re like a closet lover.”

“Stop talking nonsense, why are you here?”

“Ah! The issue with the Somyeong Escort Corps has been successfully resolved.”

“A report has also come in. It said that they had just left Chengdu.”

“That’s fast!”

“It’s because their lives are at stake.”

“I’m glad they’re sensible at least. If they were still here by tomorrow, I was ready to go and kill everyone of them”

Soma clicked his tongue with an expression of regret.

Guian looked at him with an expression that he couldn’t stop Soma.

Soma had a childlike appearance and an unusual way of thinking. But those who know of his true nature may find him creepy but Guian and Eunyo felt reassured with him.

The bond the three children had for each other was beyond imagination.

After being kidnapped by the Xiaoleiyin Temple from a young age and growing up together, their bond became so strong that no one could dare to intervene.

Soma thought of Eunyo and Guian as more than his own blood. Because of that, he became extreme when it came to matters related to them.

If Pyo-wol did not exist, the Somyeong Escort Corps would have disappeared from this world last night.

Soma asked,

“What about Eunyo?”

“She’s with brother.”

“Is she learning the zither again? How persistent.”

“She really is. The problem is that she doesn’t have that much talent…”

Guian shook his head with a tired look on his face.

Soma stood up and said,

“Shall we go together?”

“No!”

Guian refused.

He had no intention of going out of his own space.

Soma clicked his tongue and left the underground space.

The place he headed for was Pyo-wol’s residence.

Pungtadadang!

The closer he got to Pyo-wol’s dwelling, the louder the sound of the zither was heard.

Soma frowned heavily.

The sound of the zither should be clear, but all he could hear was a strange sound like someone was scratching a metal.

As he got closer to the area, the noise got louder.

Soma eventually had to cover his ears with both of his hands.

“Brother, this is Soma! I’m going in.”

He spoke loudly and entered the room.

In the room, Pyo-wol and Eun-yo were sitting facing each other.

A zither was placed in front of Eunyo, and her white hands were diligently plucking strings. For every pluck of the strings, there would be an unpleasant sound.

Soma frowned even more by the sound of a metal being scratched by a fingernail.

‘Oh my god!’

Now that he got closer, the sound was several times more terrible than it was outside.

But what was more impressive was Pyo-wol.

Even while listening to Eunyo’s distressing music right in front of him, Pyo-wol did not even flinch.

Later on, Eunyo’s terrible music was over.

Eunyo tilted her head.

Her unfocused eyes were filled with a subtle anticipation.

At that moment, Pyo-wol opened his mouth.

“The zither doesn’t seem right for you.”

“Ugh!”

“There’s no problem with you running a brothel even if you don’t know how to play the zither, so just give up.”

Eunyo bowed her head at Pyo-wol’s resolute words.

“Kekeke!”

Seeing Eunyo like that, Soma burst out laughing.

“Don’t laugh!”

“See! This is why I told you to give up earlier. Don’t you know you’ll just be ruining your own business?”

“Hmpf! I won’t give up. I won’t!”

Eunyo got up from her seat.

She glared at Soma and went outside. Even though she was blind, she had the ability to perceive her surroundings accurately through her other senses.

Soma smiled and sat down in front of Pyo-wol.

“Brother is so amazing, how can you keep hearing that kind of noise? I couldn’t stand it for even a moment.”

Just as Guian found his aptitude, Eunyo also found a place she liked.

It was the brothel that Pyo-wol owned.

Eunyo had never decorated herself in a splendid fashion in all of her life. So she was fascinated by the splendor of the brothel and courtesans.

Although she couldn’t see it with her own eyes, she liked to wear colorful clothes and accessories.

Although she had no intention of selling her body as a prostitute, she wanted to run a brothel. She thought that in order to run a brothel, she had to know what the courtesans were doing. That’s why she was trying to learn how to play the zither.

Unfortunately, however, she didn’t have the talent for it.

The heavens gave her such a beautiful appearance, but it didn’t give her the talent for music.

She was sent to the Celestial Music Hall where Pyo-wol learned music, and studied under the band teacher, but her skills did not improve at all.

Rather, it made the band teachers tired of the terrible sound she was making. In the end, she could not last two months and was kicked out of the Celestial Music Hall.

After that, she came to Pyo-wol because she wanted to learn how to play the zither. Of course, the result was the same.

Soma was envious of Guian and Eunyo. The two of them had already found a job they liked.

He hasn’t found anything yet.

Something he would like to do.

And the direction he wanted to go.

Although he escaped from the Xiaoleiyin Temple, he was still wandering around, searching.

SoundlessWind21’s Notes

Thank you for reading!