Moonlit Night Chapter 8 (Patreon)

Chapter 8

"What exactly happened here? I only heard from the master that the damage caused by the spirit beast was severe."

At Cheong-ra's question, Sect Leader Shim Ryang sighed deeply and began to speak with a gloomy face.

"A month ago, a commoner's field was greatly damaged. At that time, we thought it was the work of wild boars."

However, he said that gradually, in the middle of the night, the sound of beasts howling loudly began to damage not only the fields but also various parts of the town. The Dragon Gate Sect also tried to catch the beasts, but as soon as they appeared, the beast would flee into the mountains like arrows. Moreover, the size they briefly saw was so huge that it could only be considered a spirit beast.

Eventually, when people started dying, the Dragon Gate Sect began to thoroughly search the nearby mountains to catch this spirit beast. And in the midst of that, two disciples disappeared. The place where they disappeared was filled with traces left by the spirit beast, along with a lot of blood. Having finished explaining up to this point, the sect leader's face was filled with worry and the sadness of losing his disciples.

"I know. The chances of the disciples being alive are probably low. Still, I want to at least find their corpses, and if that's difficult, I want to at least deal with the spirit beast. Last night, the spirit beast caused havoc again, and everyone is exhausted from cleaning up the aftermath."

"I understand, Sect Leader. We will do our best."

"Yes, I will only trust the Moonlight Flashing Sword."

After the sect leader left, telling them to have a comfortable meal since they had come a long way, Cheong-ra spoke.

"Let's look around the town first. To find out what kind of spirit beast it is, we'll have to examine its traces."

"You're right, Senior Brother. I learned that dealing with spirit beasts is dangerous. We must always be cautious."

Since they were hungry from the long journey, they first had the meal provided by the sect leader. After filling their empty stomachs, they decided to look around the town with a martial artist from the Dragon Gate Sect.

"It's an honor to meet the renowned Moonlight Flashing Sword. My name is Jong-wi."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Baek Ri Cheong-ra."

Jong-wi was a martial artist in his thirties who seemed to have trained quite diligently. Due to the incident that occurred in the sect, his face was filled with fatigue from the continuous searches.

The first place he guided them to was a commoner's house located at the foot of the mountain. The dilapidated house was half-collapsed, revealing its household items. On one side of the yard, there was a corpse covered with a straw mat, and the surroundings were filled with blood. The faces of two junior brothers who had never seen a corpse before turned pale. Cheong-ra knelt on one knee and lifted the straw mat.

"...Oh my."

"We don't know how brutal and cruel this thing is."

As Jong-wi lamented, the form of the corpse revealed under the straw mat was not intact. People had tried their best to gather the limbs that had been separated, but they could not do anything about the expression of the deceased, which was distorted by fear. In the end, the sound of one of the junior brothers vomiting could be heard. Cheong-ra only lightly clicked his tongue and examined the traces on the corpse in detail without being shaken.

"It doesn't seem to be a herbivorous spirit beast."

"The Dragon Gate Sect also speculates the same. It doesn't appear to be a snake or an arthropod either."

Soon, Cheong-ra stood up and examined the surrounding traces as well. The broken trees and walls around were clearly marked with thick and sharp claw marks. Judging from the height at which the claws were engraved, its height seemed to be at least one zhang (about 3 meters). Scattered fur could also be found around.

"The fur looks like it's made of gold, so could it be a tiger?"

Cheong-ra carefully wrapped the fur in a handkerchief and put it in his sleeve, shaking his head in denial at Jong-wi's words.

"Unlike ordinary beasts, spirit beasts have peculiarities, so we shouldn't hastily infer their species based on the color of their fur."

"Ah, is that so? Well, I don't know much about spirit beasts."

After examining all the traces, Cheong-ra, guided by Jong-wi, visited each place the spirit beast had been to so far.

According to him, the spirit beast always appeared only on dark nights, and as the casualties gradually increased, it was causing fear among the people. Including the two disciples of the Dragon Gate Sect, the number of people who had gone missing or died had already exceeded ten. There was a reason why the atmosphere was so bad.

It was when they were visiting the fifth place that had been damaged, guided by Jong-wi. As they were about to open the door and enter, someone was just about to come out. Jong-wi, who had stepped back, made an "oh" sound as if he recognized the other person. It was that man again.

"P-please go ahead."

The man passed by in front of Jong-wi, who was acting overly tense and stiff as if it was natural. As he did so, his gaze was blatantly directed at Cheong-ra. This time, when he looked at him without avoiding his gaze, the man chuckled. Cheong-ra slightly frowned.

'It's strange to be a coincidence when we've already encountered each other twice in Dragon Spring.'

It was as if his purpose and Cheong-ra's were the same.

The junior brothers seemed to find Jong-wi's attitude strange, but they didn't dare ask out of courtesy. Jong-wi also acted as if nothing had happened, but the man left a deep impression on everyone. Even if it wasn't because of the crimson silk robe and flashy accessories that hardly anyone wore, he had an intense aura that drew everyone's attention.

After that, they walked around Dragon Spring until their feet hurt, looking at all the damaged areas, and decided to take a break at an inn. After ordering tea and some simple food from the innkeeper, they discussed their future plans.

"For now, we'll search the mountains during the day and prepare for the spirit beast's appearance at night."

"Won't you be too tired?"

"Such matters should be dealt with as soon as possible to minimize the damage. Also, if it's not feasible, I plan to immediately request support from the main sect."

Jong-wi's face was clearly moved by Cheong-ra's words. The lay disciple sects were like allies and brothers to Moon Lake Sect. In exchange for receiving tribute, it was the main sect's duty to protect them. By keeping this agreement, Moon Lake Sect was respected and trusted as a righteous sect in the Central Plains.

"But it's strange. It's not uncommon for spirit beasts to attack people, but it's very rare for them to come down to human settlements like this."

Cheong-ra expressed his doubts while drinking tea. Even though he was receiving the attention of almost everyone in the inn, he was so used to such situations that there was not a single hint of agitation on his face. Rather, because of that, anyone who became interested in him couldn't easily strike up a conversation and only glanced at him.

"There must be some factor that lured the spirit beast here."

"Hmm... Could it be that it accidentally tasted the blood of an herb gatherer and developed a taste for humans?"

Even after hearing Jong-wi's words, Cheong-ra couldn't easily deny or answer. Usually, spirit beasts were hunted when there were human casualties. Having seen many corpses of people who were eaten by beasts while wandering in the mountains in search of spirit beasts, he felt that this was not a simple case of a spirit beast hunting humans.

'People were either missing or found torn to pieces. There were no traces of them being bitten or eaten.'

Judging from the traces, it didn't seem like the purpose was to eat humans. Or could it be that the spirit beast held a grudge against humans and was seeking revenge? It was then, as Cheong-ra was pondering.

Lim Jeong made an "oh" sound and pointed at someone.

"Senior Brother, look over there."

Cheong-ra's eyes widened as he turned his head, hoping it wasn't true. It was that man again. The man was sitting quite close, to the point where it was strange that Cheong-ra had noticed his presence as soon as he entered the inn. One or two coincidental encounters a day could be considered a coincidence, but three times was too strange, so the junior brothers sent wary glances.

It was then. The man, who had been drinking alone without any snacks, put down his cup, and the sound was particularly loud. The accessories jingled and swayed with that action.

Just like when Cheong-ra saw him at Full Moon Lake last time, the man was dressed luxuriously. The delicately embroidered sleeves, the glittering golden earrings, and the jade accessories hanging from his waist were all like that. Even that alone was enough to overwhelm others, but his innate sturdy physique also naturally aroused wariness.

The man, who had drawn everyone's attention, poured more alcohol into his cup and spoke.

"No matter how much of a Moonlight Beauty Sword you are, I wish you would stop following me around like this."

There was a mischievous glint in his eyes as he said that.

"Young Master Baek Ri, it seems you couldn't forget our encounter at Full Moon Lake, could you?"

"...!"

Cheong-ra flinched, startled. He had not told anyone in Moon Lake Sect about what had happened with that man. It was because he knew it was a shameful situation, separate from the fact that he had taken it as a secret pleasure.

"Senior Brother, do you know him?"

Lim Jeong, who had been frowning since the nickname Moonlight Beauty Sword was mentioned, asked with great wariness. Cheong-ra, who had been staring at the other person, shook his head in denial.

"No, I don't know him."

Even as he said that, Cheong-ra's heart had been beating rapidly since the moment he saw the man. The way the man had rudely and violently suppressed him at Full Moon Lake came to mind again. It was the first time he had felt so excited to see someone, so Cheong-ra's face seemed coldly stiff as he tried his best not to show it. To anyone who saw it, it looked like a face that was frowning because he disliked the other person.