Rebirth of the Thunder God

-Clap. Clap. Clap!

"Wow~ Your fist work is really amazing. But did they come looking for me?"

Namgung Hui felt a strange sense of unease from her words, but there was nothing to pick on.

"It seems so. They even came with a portrait."

Baek Seolhwa picked up the portrait that Namgung Hui was pointing at and immediately tore it to shreds.

"These guys are really something. They can't even draw properly, just like bandits. What should we do with them? Should we just attack?"

Namgung Hui was about to stop her, but then a good idea flashed through his mind.

‘Wait. Wouldn't we get a lot of silver if we raid the mountain fortress? It's a bit worrying to have a conflict with the Green Forest, but they won't know it was my doing.’

Even if it became known, they would think it was the work of the Moon Maiden Palace. To be precise, the young palace mistress, Baek Seolhwa.

The sparks wouldn't fly to the Namgung family.

Namgung Hui's heart ached with sorrow at the fallen state of the Namgung family, having to be wary of mere bandits.

‘It's okay. I can just rebuild it in the future. My brother did it, so why can't I?’

He soon sublimated his sorrow into determination and said to Baek Seolhwa.

"Let's attack together."

At Namgung Hui's unexpected remark, Baek Seolhwa half-opened her eyes and asked.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. We can't just leave things that are causing trouble to the surroundings, can we? Maybe the Mount Huang inn went bankrupt because of those guys."

With bandits rampant in the area, it was highly likely that the number of customers would naturally decrease and the cook would also leave.

One of Namgung Hui's few memories had disappeared, so there was no way his mood would be good.

Of course, it didn't matter even if that wasn't the case.

After all, Namgung Hui's main purpose was the bandits' silver.

"Alright. Thinking about how much I was tormented by those guys, I didn't want to leave them alone. This is great. Let's go right away."

And so, Namgung Hui and Baek Seolhwa headed for the Tiger Subduing Fortress, the bandits' hideout.

* * *

As he climbed the steep mountain path, Namgung Hui asked Baek Seolhwa.

"By the way, how do you know the location of the mountain fortress and are leading the way? Let's just catch a bandit and ask."

Even after asking, Namgung Hui was filled with continuous doubt.

Namgung Hui had clearly subdued the bandits without killing them.

Out of pity for them? Not a chance.

It was to ask for the location of the mountain fortress.

No matter how familiar Namgung Hui was with the geography of Mount Huang, there was no way he would know the location of a mountain fortress that had been built while he was asleep.

That's why he had intended to catch a bandit and interrogate him.

But Baek Seolhwa had taken all of their lives.

Even though Namgung Hui had been trying to stop her by his side.

She spoke confidently, as if she could find out the location of the mountain fortress anytime.

On top of that, Baek Seolhwa had a history of finding Namgung Hui's sect, the Thunder Sect.

Of course, it could be a coincidence.

But the location of the Thunder Sect was in a very remote place even on Mount Huang, so it was a terrain that was difficult to find even if one knew.

That's why Namgung Hui had asked.

"Just know that I have a special talent. You might get hurt if you know a woman's secret."

"I'm too scared to even ask."

"And you, why have you been hiding your martial arts all this time? If you had revealed it from the beginning, you wouldn't have been caught by the Heretic Alliance."

It seemed Baek Seolhwa also didn't know why Namgung Hui had suddenly become strong.

Well, even his sworn brother, Namgung Cheonhu, only knew vaguely about the existence of the Thunder Core.

It was normal that no one other than Namgung Hui himself knew.

"I was lucky and ate a spiritual herb."

"Squeak. (That's right.)"

"Is that so? You've grown a little taller, so you must have eaten something very good. I wonder if there's a spiritual herb for me somewhere."

"Would it be a spiritual herb if it was so easy to find? Actually, I found it based on the records passed down in my family. The Martial God must have been very great."

Baek Seolhwa shook her head as if she couldn't believe Namgung Hui's words.

Then, as human footprints began to be found, she stopped and looked around.

"It seems we're here."

Namgung Hui also nodded at the stench he felt from the surroundings.

It seemed the bandit bastards had been relieving themselves anywhere.

They had littered the area with filth, as if animals were marking their territory.

Well, since they were uneducated fellows, this was probably a natural thing.

Namgung Hui held his nose and opened his mouth.

"What should we do? Attack head-on? Or wait until nightfall?"

Originally, a surprise attack should be aimed at when the surroundings are dark and the enemies are off guard.

But Baek Seolhwa didn't seem to like that, so she shook her head and said.

"No matter how strong a bandit is. How can we wait until then while smelling this stench? Let's just go in head-on. It's obvious they'll be off guard even now."

Baek Seolhwa's words weren't exactly wrong.

She had clearly been running away in a poisoned state, so no matter how much they were from the Green Forest, they wouldn't have thought she would suddenly attack.

Namgung Hui was also quite surprised when he saw her drive out the poison on her own.

‘It wasn't a feat that a mere rising star could do.’

Of course, since the Moon Maiden Palace was composed only of women, she might have received special teachings on detoxification.

The former Moon Maiden Palace mistress also had some knowledge about detoxification.

Even the yin ki of the Moon Maiden Palace had the power to suppress the spread of poison ki.

In fact, because she was the young palace mistress, she had been able to escape even after being hit by the skill-scattering poison. If it had been an ordinary master, they would have surely been caught by the Green Forest.

When Namgung Hui nodded, Baek Seolhwa continued.

"Then, if I send a sword ki, we'll attack right away, okay?"

"Alright."

Baek Seolhwa drew her sword with a triumphant expression.

Her sword blade, glinting in the sunlight, looked chillingly eerie.

It wasn't Namgung Hui's delusion, as a cold sword ki like frost was forming on the sword blade.

-Woong, woong!

A clear sword cry rang out.

A sword cry usually resembles the user's internal energy.

Baek Seolhwa swung her white sword ki towards the main gate.

-Swoosh!

A sonic boom cut through the air and flew.

But by the time the bandits heard the sonic boom, it was too late. It had already reached their vicinity.

-Crack! Crash!

The wooden stockade shattered to pieces, and splinters flew in all directions.

Following that, a bandit who was on guard duty screamed.

"Surprise attack! Surprise attack!"

-Clang. Clang. Clang!

Baek Seolhwa frowned her fine eyebrows at the unsatisfactory result and said.

"Tsk! I couldn't kill them all."

"Still, this is quite good. It seems more than five died in one move. Then it's my turn."

Namgung Hui ran towards the empty main gate.

The guards were already in a state where they couldn't do their job.

They could only stare at Namgung Hui with their mouths agape.

Namgung Hui successively planted kicks into those mouths.

A continuous strike with tangible internal energy.

It smashed the bandits' skulls to pieces and opened a path.

The small-fry bandits didn't know what to do at the sudden bloodshed.

They even showed signs of fear, especially as their comrades died cruelly.

When had they ever seen someone so ruthless in the martial world?

Even the old masters of the martial world did not take lives so mercilessly.

But Namgung Hui and Baek Seolhwa, despite their young age, were much calmer than the bandits.

As if they were used to such battles.

Still, a senior bandit belatedly came to his senses and shouted.

"You son of a bitch! It's a master! Everyone, get a grip and attack all at once!"

Still, they were from the Green Forest, different from ordinary bandits.

They even slapped their own cheeks to regain their fighting spirit.

They even spat on their hands and gripped their weapons tightly.

A heat was felt in the passing wind.

The elation of the battlefield, the solemnity.

And the resolve.

The Green Forest members were scared at first, but they rather sublimated it and were steeling their fighting spirit.

They were worthy of being called the heroes of the mountains.

‘Even so, bandits are bandits.’

Namgung Hui rather found the bandits' appearance pathetic.

Even with such bravery and martial arts, all they did was banditry, stealing from others?

Even if they weren't heroes, they should at least live without harming others.

That would be the minimum duty of being born a human.

Namgung Hui recalled the cruel demon heads of his past life and drew up his Pure Thunder Essence.

The Pure Thunder Essence, as if responding to Namgung Hui's will, shot out, emitting a brilliant flash.

-Zzzzt! Zzzzt!

Spiky flashes erupted, as if expressing his emotions.

At the sight of that tingling Thunder Ki, Chichi trembled and let out a cry.

"Squeeeak!"

In time with Chichi's cry, the form of a thunder dragon flew towards the Green Forest members.

Thunder Dragon's Advent.

The result of combining the Thunder Dragon Palm and the Explosive Thunder Palm.

The thunder dragon instantly collided with the bandits' reckless offensive.

-Kwaaaang!

His ears went deaf.

It felt as if his eyes were going blind from the flash that exploded in an instant.

Was that why? The surroundings were quiet.

If such an explosion had occurred, it would be normal to hear screams.

But no sound was heard.

"……."

Namgung Hui savored the silence, then touched his tingling palm and stared ahead.

‘I used too much power. My palm is tingling too. Well, the result isn't bad.’

Baek Seolhwa, who was watching from the side, clicked her tongue as if she was fed up.

"Wow~ The spiritual herb you ate must be really good. You're overflowing with power. Now that there's nothing in the way, let's go inside right away."

Baek Seolhwa cleared the dust with a cold chill and took a light step.

An elegant step that did not match the gruesome scene.

Namgung Hui, at Baek Seolhwa's back, felt a strange sense of déjà vu, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

‘She doesn't look like a fairy, she looks like a witch.’

Well, it was strange to feel sympathy for bandits, so her attitude might be natural.

Since they were the Green Forest members who had been tormenting her for several days, it would be a relief if she didn't take out her anger on their corpses.

Namgung Hui also followed Baek Seolhwa into the mountain fortress with a calm step.

Baek Seolhwa looked around the inside of the mountain fortress and opened her mouth as if in admiration.

"It seems the bandits live better than our Moon Maiden Palace. It's a waste to destroy such a building."

"It means they've plundered a lot from the surroundings. For some reason, I feel sorry for the villagers."

"Why you?"

"If our Namgung family's power was intact, that wouldn't have happened, would it?"

"My, my. You worry too much. Why are you sorry for that? Did they help you when your Namgung family was having a hard time?"

"Umm……. No, they didn't."

While Namgung Hui and Baek Seolhwa were having a leisurely conversation, the bandits of the Tiger Subduing Fortress had already completed their encirclement.

A particularly large bandit walked forward and boasted in a booming voice.

"Are you guys really crazy? How dare you attack our Tiger Subduing Fortress? Hey! Wench! Are you by any chance the young palace mistress of the Moon Maiden Palace?"

"Yes. I am the young palace mistress of the Moon Maiden Palace. And you, are you the chief of this fortress?"

"Well, well? You're a young wench, why is your speech so arrogant? Kids these days have no manners. Tsk. I'll have to show you what true education is. Boys! Kill the man and capture the young palace mistress alive!"

""Yes!""

Seeing him give the order, the large bandit seemed to be the chief of the Tiger Subduing Fortress.

He seemed to be at the level of the elder of the Heretic Alliance that Namgung Hui had faced before.

No, on the contrary, perhaps because he was so large, he even felt stronger.

His subordinates were not to be trifled with either. There seemed to be over thirty of them, and they all seemed to have learned a considerable amount of martial arts.

It was natural, as they were from the Green Forest, not ordinary bandits.

On top of that, they had even learned some military tactics, however crudely, and had formed a plausible formation.

But could Namgung Hui and Baek Seolhwa not have expected such an encirclement?

As if that was by no means the case, Baek Seolhwa smiled triumphantly and opened her mouth.

"You're ready, right?"

"Yes."

As soon as Namgung Hui finished speaking, the bandits rushed in recklessly.

They each took their assigned positions and formed a solid encirclement.

They swung their spears and axes at Namgung Hui, as if to deal with him first.

-Swish, swish! Swoosh, swoosh!

All sorts of weapons poured down with a time difference.

They even calculated the range and tried to confuse Namgung Hui's feet.

It was a systematic attack method, perhaps because they were from the Green Forest, not just simple bandits.

However, Namgung Hui was also not a simple rising star.

-Zzzzt!

He stepped on the Thunder Cloud Step and elegantly deflected the offensive.

Was that all? Namgung Hui, now with no lack of internal energy, immediately released the overflowing internal energy outside without mercy. And with his sword at that.

-Clang!

He deflected all the weapons in one move.

The moment the weapons gathered in one place, he thrust his sword there.

Namgung Hui did not stop there and successively thrust his sword.

-Shuk. Shuk!

Every time the blue flash passed, the bandits collapsed.

Baek Seolhwa, as if not to be outdone, scattered a silver sword light, spreading a cold chill.

It felt as if the moonlight was spreading in all directions.

-Rustle. Rustle.

The bandits couldn't come to their senses as the cold chill and Thunder Ki raged from all sides.

It was cold, then hot, so their minds were bound to be distracted.

On top of that, the brilliant sword light emanating from Namgung Hui's sword must have also played a part.

As his subordinates were being defeated helplessly, the chief of the Tiger Subduing Fortress, unable to watch any longer, threw himself into the fray.

He knew better than anyone that if their momentum was broken like this, it would lead to defeat.

-Hoo-woong!

A huge axe made a loud noise and came down on Namgung Hui's head.

Despite his large size, his movements were unbelievably nimble.

His momentum was also such that it looked like it would split Namgung Hui in half.

However, Namgung Hui, unfazed by such great power, met the sword.

Looking at their appearances alone, it was like a puppy pouncing on a bear.

-Kaang!

The bear and the puppy created sparks.

Those sparks did not stop at once but flashed several times.

It seemed no one knew how many sword strikes had been exchanged in that fleeting moment.

Except for Baek Seolhwa.

‘Twelve times in one move. By the way, when did he learn a sword art? And it's a sword art I've never seen before.’

As Baek Seolhwa was tilting her head, the match seemed to have been decided.

Namgung Hui had been pushed back by a full three steps.

"Cough!"

(End of Chapter)