Rebirth of the Thunder God

Namgung Hui rushed over to Baek Seolhwa, who had suddenly collapsed.

As he supported her body and was about to check her pulse, a loud noise rang out.

-Growl……!

It seemed she hadn't eaten properly while being chased by the bandits all day.

So she must have lost consciousness due to extreme hunger.

Even an absolute master would die if they starved.

She too must have wandered the mountain paths for several days, so it wouldn't be strange for her to collapse like this.

‘Besides, since she was already poisoned, she would have been afraid to eat just anything.’

The reason she was poisoned in the first place was because she was eating, so there was a high probability that she had been starving all along.

At most, she would have picked a few berries from the mountain.

And since the mountains were also full of poisonous herbs and mushrooms, she might have starved completely.

‘For now, I should just take the Thunder River Liquor and leave before the bandits come flocking. As for the repairs, I'll have to bring the Hao Faction leader or learn from him later.’

And so, Namgung Hui took ten bottles of Thunder River Liquor and activated the sealing formation.

-Grrr……!

With a loud roar, the formation was activated, and the traces of the Thunder Sect disappeared without a trace.

If the concealment formation had simply hidden its appearance, the sealing formation completely blocked physical access.

It felt like it was completely separating the space itself.

Since Namgung Hui didn't know the principle of the formation, he only knew that he had to reach the 10th star of the Divine Thunder Art to open it and enter.

However, it was a bit annoying that he couldn't enter the Thunder Sect until then, but he didn't want to allow mere bandit scum into the Thunder Sect.

‘I think I've erased all the traces, shall I go down now?’

And so, Namgung Hui took the Thunder River Liquor and the uninvited guests and descended the mountain.

Not even the passing wind could pass through the desolate Thunder Sect.

* * *

Namgung Hui was quietly descending the mountain path with the unconscious Baek Seolhwa on his back.

Fortunately, no. Naturally, there was no pursuit from the Green Forest.

Mount Huang was Namgung Hui's territory to begin with, so he was confident he could shake them off even if they chased him.

On top of that, at his current realm, he would rather smash the Green Forest members.

Now that the Thunder Sect was also hidden, there was no reason to be wary of them.

Still, it's better to be safe than sorry.

As he descended the mountain path, Namgung Hui didn't forget to subtly fake his footprints to make the bandits go astray.

Even after carrying out all these plans, Namgung Hui's expression was not particularly bright.

Far from being bright, his face was even slightly flushed.

It seemed something had happened.

Chichi looked at Namgung Hui's face and asked.

"Squeak. Squeak? (What's wrong?)"

"It's nothing. It's just that my middle dantian was acting up for a moment."

The middle dantian, that is, the heart.

The reason his face was flushed was because his heart was beating fiercely.

Namgung Hui was quite uncomfortable because of the strange sensation that kept touching his back.

But he couldn't just put Baek Seolhwa down and go, so he had no choice but to keep walking.

‘Still, it doesn't feel bad.’

When Namgung Hui had come all the way down the mountain slope, Baek Seolhwa, who had regained consciousness, quietly opened her mouth.

"…Put me down."

"!!!"

Namgung Hui hadn't done anything wrong, but for some reason, he flinched.

He hurriedly put her down on the ground and awkwardly pointed to the inn that could be seen in the distance and continued.

"Th-that inn over there makes amazing Dongpo pork. Of course, that's if the old owner passed it down properly."

"How do you know that?"

"Well……."

For a moment, Namgung Hui almost said that he knew because he had eaten it a lot in the past.

How would he, who had only been bedridden, know the taste of a Mount Huang inn?

‘Right. Let's say it's information passed down in my sworn brother's family. It's as good as the Namgung family's territory anyway, so it shouldn't matter.’

"Of course. I know because it's information passed down in the family. Isn't Anhui province the territory of the Namgung family? What's important is not that, but the fact that you've been starving. Right?"

-Growl…….

As an embarrassing sound echoed from her stomach, Baek Seolhwa blushed and nodded.

And so, Namgung Hui led Baek Seolhwa into the Mount Huang inn, but there wasn't a single customer.

It was definitely an inn that was quite crowded with people in the past.

Namgung Hui, with a slight sense of doubt, called the waiter who was dozing off at the door.

"Waiter. Two Dongpo pork and two beef noodle soups here."

"Hup! Ah. You were a customer. Phew…… that's a relief. Please wait a moment."

The waiter wiped his drool and walked to the kitchen, but he looked so listless that it was hard to tell if he was trying to do business or not.

Namgung Hui, at the sight of the inn that was so different from his past memories, couldn't help but frown.

‘In my day, even the waiter was full of energy. How did the Mount Huang inn end up like this? What a shame.’

Memories are just memories, Namgung Hui shook his head and shook off his thoughts.

Then he took out the bundle of scrolls from his pocket.

The scroll that appeared was the information from the Hao Faction that he hadn't been able to see because of the fight with the Daexiong Gang.

To be precise, the records of the martial world for the past sixty years.

Baek Seolhwa, who had been chasing flies, also showed interest when Namgung Hui suddenly took out the bundle of scrolls.

"What's that? It's probably not a love letter."

"This? It's a brief record of what happened in the martial world for the past sixty years. I've been bedridden for a long time, so I'm not familiar with the situation in the martial world."

"Where did you get it?"

"The Hao Faction. I'm going to read it now, so don't talk to me."

As Baek Seolhwa pouted, Namgung Hui calmly read the scroll.

[60 years ago, the Great War between Justice and Evil. Victory of the Orthodox Martial Alliance]

[50 years ago, mopping up the remnants of the Demonic Cult…….]

Namgung Hui skipped the parts he already knew and read only the major events.

[40 years ago, appearance of the Heavenly Killing Star]

[30 years ago, the Shadowless Divine Thief robs the imperial palace]

[20 years ago, war between the Five Poisons Sect and the Sichuan Tang Clan breaks out]

[10 years ago, Martial Arts Tournament held]

[5 years ago, annihilation of the Jinju Eon family]

[2 years ago, Dragon and Phoenix Assembly held]

Perhaps because it was only major information, there didn't seem to be anything particularly noteworthy.

At most, the appearance of the Heavenly Killing Star and the annihilation of the Jinju Eon family were a little interesting.

‘This is why they gave it to me so readily. Most of it is useless records.’

It was understandable. If it was important information, the Hao Faction would not have given it away so easily.

The fact that they gave him a copy meant that it wouldn't be a big problem even if it was leaked, or that its value was low.

As Namgung Hui put down the scroll, the food he had ordered began to come out.

"Here. Your Dongpo pork and beef noodle soup."

Baek Seolhwa picked up her chopsticks as soon as the waiter put down the food.

She must have been starving for several days, so her hunger must be no joke.

Namgung Hui was also hungry, so he picked up his chopsticks as well.

Recalling the memories of his past life, he picked up a piece of Dongpo pork and ate it.

-Gulp.

‘!!! Why is this so tasteless? No. It smells bad to begin with!’

Not only the taste, but the gamey smell was overwhelming.

Namgung Hui put down his chopsticks and quietly looked at Baek Seolhwa.

But surprisingly, she was diligently moving her chopsticks as if the gamey smell didn't bother her at all.

Could it be that she couldn't smell it because of her extreme hunger?

Baek Seolhwa, as if she felt Namgung Hui's gaze, paused her chopsticks for a moment and opened her mouth.

"Munch, munch. Aren't you going to eat? Then I'll eat it all."

"You don't smell anything?"

"What smell?"

"Never mind. You eat it all."

Namgung Hui tilted his head, wondering if his nose was particularly sensitive, but Chichi, who was next to him, also let out a cry.

"Squeak! Squeak. (Smell! The meat must have gone bad.)"

"Right? My nose wasn't strange after all. But how can she eat so well?"

Hunger is the best sauce. It seemed her sense of smell had also gone strange due to her hunger.

Perhaps her sense of smell was paralyzed due to the aftereffects of the poisoning.

Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense for her to eat spoiled food so well.

"Ah. Don't tell me you were making a fuss over this much smell? The people of the Central Plains are really spoiled."

"Aren't you from the Central Plains? And you. Where are you going after you finish eating?"

"I don't know."

-Slurp.

Baek Seolhwa emptied the beef noodle soup to the bottom and wiped her mouth with her sleeve.

That appearance didn't match her beautiful looks, and it even felt a little out of place.

As Namgung Hui continued to stare at her, Baek Seolhwa reluctantly opened her mouth.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to the Seomun family. To get some fresh air and take care of some business at the same time. But why did you run away from home?"

"I just had a disagreement with the palace mistress, so I came out for a while."

"Why?"

"That's my personal business, so I can't tell you."

"Is that so? Well, I wasn't that curious anyway, so it's fine. Now that you've eaten, and you seem to have regained your energy, let's go our separate ways. It was nice meeting you."

As Namgung Hui was about to get up from his seat, Baek Seolhwa grabbed his arm and said.

"Wait a minute. Can I see that scroll too?"

"There's no great information in it, so you can just have it. But don't just throw it away anywhere, make sure to burn it."

Namgung Hui handed the bundle of scrolls to Baek Seolhwa and approached the waiter.

"How much is it here?"

"40 copper coins."

As Namgung Hui handed over the money, he glanced at the kitchen and saw that its condition was not good.

Was there even a cook? He couldn't even see a cook.

Well, even the Namgung family had fallen like this, so there was no law that said a mere country inn couldn't go out of business.

Still, in Namgung Hui's standards, it was an inn that was among the best, so it was just a shame that the taste had changed like this.

"By the way, I don't see a cook, did you make the food?"

The waiter cautiously glanced at Namgung Hui's face and then nodded.

"Yes. Due to some circumstances……."

Namgung Hui was about to say something, but he made a pitiful expression and patted the waiter's shoulder.

"Alright. Keep up the good work. Sell a lot."

The waiter had closed his eyes tightly and cowered, as if he thought Namgung Hui would hit him.

But when he belatedly realized that he had been encouraged, Namgung Hui had already turned around and was heading for the door.

The waiter hesitated for a moment and then hurriedly shouted.

"Young hero! Be careful!"

"Why is he suddenly telling me to be careful out of the blue?"

"Th-that's… there are a lot of bandits around these days. That's why I said it."

"Bandits…… alright. You be careful too."

Namgung Hui glanced at Baek Seolhwa, who was engrossed in the scroll, and then leisurely walked out of the inn.

But when he came outside, he saw that hairy men had set up a formation.

"Hey. Have you seen a woman who looks like this?"

The hairy men, or more accurately, the bandits who looked like they were from the Green Forest, held out a portrait.

Although it was roughly drawn, it was a picture of a beauty that clearly referred to Baek Seolhwa.

"I've seen her."

"Really? If you're lying……."

"But are you only looking for that one person? Are there no other portraits?"

"Yes. We just need to catch this one wench. Was she with someone else by any chance?"

‘As expected, my information wasn't leaked. Well, I've erased all the traces. And the Hao Faction still wants something, so it's natural.’

Namgung Hui nodded and then immediately threw a punch.

-Thwack!

The bandits, not expecting Namgung Hui's sudden attack, didn't even think of moving until their comrade was slammed into the ground.

-Thud……!

When the large body slammed into the ground, a reaction finally began to appear.

"You son of a bitch! Get him!"

Three or four bandits rushed towards Namgung Hui, swinging their axes.

-Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh.

The axes cut through the air with a fierce sonic boom.

But they literally only cut through the air.

They couldn't reach Namgung Hui.

The only thing that reached was Namgung Hui's fist.

And it was on the bandits' faces.

-Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Namgung Hui's fists successively struck the bandits' vital points.

A disciplined punching.

To call it just punching was a slightly inadequate expression for the fist's power.

But to call it a fist technique also felt excessive.

Of course, Namgung Hui's fists contained a lot of force.

Since the Thunder God's insights were left in them, they couldn't be light.

It was a fist form that had once made even the fearless Demonic Cult members tremble in fear.

So it was only natural for those bandit scum to flutter like duckweed.

‘Well, there's probably no one who can recognize this now.’

But as if that was Namgung Hui's delusion, an unexpected reaction came from behind.

(End of Chapter)