Reaper of the Drifting Moon 302 (My own MTL edited version)

CHAPTER 302

The man, with skin as white as the sand before him and lips as red as the sun in the sky, was none other than Pyowol.

Pyo-wol narrowed his eyes and gazed out at the blue sea.

It had taken him five long months to arrive at the seashore, leaving behind everything and everyone he knew. Even Pyowol had not expected it to take this long.

It was all because he had stayed too long on Cheonjungsan Mountain (Mountain of the Heavenly Vitality).

At first, he thought he would stay there for about ten days at most. However, as he rested and sorted out his enlightenment one by one, the time he spent there got longer and longer.

Thus, he spent four whole months there.

When his jerky ran out, Pyowol hunted animals to satisfy his hunger. And when he got tired of meat, he started to look for honey on the Poison Peak.

Of course, Poison Peak did not give up its honey easily. It attacked Pyowol to protect its beehive. However, even that became part of his training.

Pyowol supplemented his martial arts by demonstrating his inner strength to Poison Peak. He trained without realizing how much time had passed, and before he knew it, four months had gone by.

Pyowol didn't realize how absurd it was until later. 

It took a month to travel from Cheonjungsan to Haomun, and it took a total of five months to finally see the sea. Although it seemed like there would be a lot of emotion upon seeing the sea, when he actually saw it in front of him, his heart didn't waver much.

The four months at Cheonjungsan brought about significant changes in his mind and body. He became stronger and gained confidence in himself.

For a long time, Pyowol stood still and gazed at the blue sea.

He didn't move a muscle like a statue, and it wasn't until half an hour or so later that he moved again.

Pyowol headed to the harbor with his horse.

The harbor was quite bustling.

"Hurry up, hurry up."

"We have to move all the goods to the Haryongbang warehouse today."

The workers of the Red Banner Group rushed down the street, driving their carts.

When moving such a large amount of luggage, it was common to fill a carriage or a large cart and move slowly. However, the workers of the Red Banner Group loaded their goods onto a small cart and raced barefoot.

Their speed pulling the cart seemed faster than that of a horse.

They tirelessly went back and forth between the port and the warehouse. Beads of sweat poured down their bare torsos like rain.

"Get out of the way! Move!"

One of the workers shouted at Pyo-wol .

Pyo-wol stepped aside with his horse, and the cart full of goods passed him by.

If he had moved a little later, he would have collided with the cart.

Pyo-wol wasn't the only one.

This atmosphere was being played out all over the street.

"Coming through."

"Make way!"

The workers shouted and ran down the street.

The pedestrians walking along the street looked on with indifferent expressions at the workers' actions.

Although it was dangerous, not a single person had actually been involved in a collision.

For them, it was an everyday scene.

As a result, the workers were not surprised when people walked right past them.

The workers of Jukjeon-hoeui had never caused an accident while moving objects.

Pyowol moved to the side of the road with the reins in his hand. As he walked, he suddenly arrived at a place where there were many customers and stalls lined up.

"Oh my!"

"What's wrong?"

"There, Grandpa!"

The girls who saw Pyo-wol's face went crazy.

No matter how strong they were, the girls by the seaside couldn't stay calm after seeing Pyo-wol's face.

Although the girls gestured for Pyo-wol to come to their inn, Pyo-wol ignored them and headed towards a nearby tavern. Many of the girls sighed.

"Why not?"

"Because he's good to me."

The girls were eager to leave their inn and run to the tavern Pyowol was headed to.

"Hey, girls! Aren't you working?"

"What are you doing?"

If it weren't for the bosses of the innkeepers not causing a fuss, that is.

The girls had no choice but to return to their posts with their heads down under the bosses' anger.

Whether Pyo-wol knew the girls' situation or not, he arrived at the tavern.

Luckily, there were many important and influential people from the Sangdan and Saewae who were coming and going, so there was a place to park horses at the tavern.

After handing over his horse, Pyo-wol went into the restaurant on the first floor of the tavern.

Since it was already late in the evening, there didn't seem to be many vacant seats in the restaurant.

If he had delayed a little longer, there might not have been any seats left.

Without hesitation, Pyo-wol took the empty seat.

Shortly after he sat down, all the seats were filled.

After a while, the server came over and said,

"You got lucky, guest!"

"Is it always like this, where all the seats are filled every day?

"Well, whenever a large ship comes in, all the guest rooms at Haemun are fully booked. Today, a trading ship from Saewae and a cargo ship from Haeryongbang have both arrived. Both ships are so large and have so many passengers that all the guest rooms in the area are probably full."

"So, are there any rooms available?"

"There is only a detached building left now."

"Are all the other rooms gone?"

"Yes! All the cheaper ones are gone, and only the most expensive detached building is left."

All the guest rooms here had two detached buildings attached to them.

"How much does it cost to stay in a detached building?"

"It's one silver coin per day."

"A silver coin?"

One silver coin was equivalent to the living expenses of a family of four for half a month.

It was too expensive to stay for just one night. But there was no choice now. If they hesitated here, even the remaining detached building would be gone for sure.

Above all, Pyo-wol's purse was quite good. It was not worth hesitating over spending a few silver coins.

Pyo-wol handed over five silver coins to Jomsoui.

"Let's stay here for a few days."

"Okay."

"And bring some simple food here as well."

"What about alcohol?"

"Forget the alcohol."

"Understood."

Pyowol paid in advance for the food and errands to the restaurant owner. The owner grinned and ran off to the kitchen.

As Pyowol waited for his food, he looked around the crowded inn. Every table was filled with people.

About half of them seemed to be from Jungwon, but the rest appeared to be from Saewae. The language they spoke was different and Pyowol couldn't understand over half of what they were saying.

Despite this, the atmosphere didn't feel foreign because both the inn and the city of Haemun were very open-minded. Scenes that would have felt strange in other cities seemed natural here in Haemun.

Pyowol thought it was a fascinating sight.

Thump!

Just then, someone approached and stood in front of Pyo-wol's table.

When Pyo-wol looked up, he saw an old man with a face full of yellow beard and a blonde woman with blue eyes, who appeared to be his granddaughter, looking down at him.

When Pyo-wol met their gaze, the old man spoke in awkward Korean.

"Can you join us? We're late and there are no more seats available."

"Sure, I'd be happy to," replied the woman in awkward Korean as well.

Pyowol looked at them for a moment before saying, "Please sit down!"

"Thank you!" they both said as they expressed their gratitude and took their seats.

Just then, the server came running over.

The two people, like Pyowol, had rented one of the remaining guest houses.

Finally, the old man breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew! I almost had to sleep on the street."

"That's why I told you to hurry," the granddaughter said.

"Who knew we would be so late? But at least we managed to find a room, so that's fortunate," the old man smiled despite the woman's rebuke.

The old man laughed for a moment before realizing his mistake.

"Oh! I forgot to introduce myself after giving up my seat. I am Tarhara from the Western Station."

"Tarhara?"

"It's not an easy name to pronounce. This is my granddaughter, Yura-yeon. Her father is from the Jungwon area, so we named her accordingly. And what is your name?"

"Pyo-wol!"

"Ah, Pyo-wol!"

"You came from the station?"

"Yes!"

"Are you here for business as well?"

"Business? No, we came to borrow some money."

"Debt?"

"I only know about that much. It doesn't seem appropriate to talk about it in our first meeting."

Taryeong nodded in response to Pyowol's words.

They were just passing acquaintances, after all. There was no need for them to know each other's detailed circumstances. Pyowol's question was just a customary reaction, not an actual attempt to find out about his situation.

There was a moment of silence between the three people. It was Yura-yeon who broke the awkward atmosphere.

"Does Sir Pyo-Wol know this area of Haemun well?"

"No, I'm also new here."

"Then you don't know much about the geography of this place?"

"That's right!"

"Then where should we go to get information about this place?"

"Information?"

"Yes! We might have to stay here for a while, so it would be good to know at least some of the local circumstances."

"If it's information you want, Haomun would be the most accurate and fastest source."

"Haomun?"

Yura-yeon opened her eyes wide.

"It's an organization created by the poor. There's nowhere better than Haomun to gather vast amounts of information. But if you simply want information about a particular area, it's best to find the loser in that area and ask for their cooperation."

"Ask for their cooperation? How?"

"You'll figure it out."

"Is that so?"

Yura-yeon blinked her big eyes.

Perhaps because her features were large, her expression seemed quite varied.

Yura-yeon spoke with Tarha and the horse.

As they conversed in Seoyeok(classical Chinese characters in Korean sentences), Pyowol couldn't understand what they were saying. However, she could roughly guess the meaning.

"Are they discussing the reliability of my words?"

It didn't matter whether they believed her or not.

Pyowol spoke the truth, and it was up to them whether or not to accept it.

At that moment, Jumsoui brought out the food.

The conversation naturally ended, and they each focused on their meal.

Pyowol observed them closely while eating.

To the outside, he looked like an ordinary merchant. He wore the same clothing as the other merchants seen around here. But he was not a merchant at all.

His fist, like a nail, showed the proof of that with its hardened flesh popping out.

He was a martial artist who had trained his fists, and not just any martial artist, but one with a very special skill.

It was not just his hardened flesh that was as tough as a nail; even the color of his skin on both hands was different from his natural skin tone, with a faint red tint that looked somewhat ominous.

Yura-yeon was the same way.

Her blue eyes were full of a bright gleam, and her slim figure overflowed with elasticity. Only someone who had trained in martial arts could possess such a physique and elasticity.

Martial arts were not exclusive to the Gangho River.

There were also martial artists among the common people.

Their names were simply different.

Pyowol thought that the young man in front of him might be one of those people.

When he saw Yura-yeon, he was reminded of Um So-so.

Her eyes were also blue like Yura-yeon's , but if there was a difference, it was that Yura-yeon's irises were much bluer. It was like a blue gem was embedded in her eyes.

If Yura-yeon went outside, there would be chaos. Even now, many people inside the restaurant were stealing glances at her.

Her exotic beauty had captivated people's hearts. But the atmosphere around her and Tarha seemed ominous, so no one dared to approach them recklessly.

That's when it happened.

Bang!

Suddenly, with a loud noise, the door to the inn opened wide, and a group of people entered.

"Wow!"

"Who are they....?"

The guests inside the inn were terrified when uninvited guests broke in.

A dozen burly men entered the inn. However, they were all wearing red hoods, indicating that they were members of the Red Banner Group. But their atmosphere was clearly different from that of ordinary workers.

In particular, the atmosphere of the man at the forefront was unusual.

A huge figure reminiscent of a whale, with tiger-like fierce eyes and thick lips like a catfish, made his impression very strong.

People immediately recognized his identity.

"It's Yoo Cheol-gwang of the Red Banner Group."

"Why did Yoo Cheol-gwang come here?"

"No way?"

People's gaze naturally gathered on Pyowol.

As if proving their expectations, Yoo Cheol-gwang immediately approached Pyo-wol.

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