Rebirth of the Thunder God

‘Why is this here?’

What Namgung Hui found in the box was none other than a lump of iron.

One might ask what's so great about a lump of iron, not a lump of gold, but what Namgung Hui had witnessed was something worthy of it.

It was.

‘Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron.’

Meaning cold iron that is ten thousand years old.

Its strength was superior to that of a diamond, and it was difficult to even scratch it with sword ki.

With this size, he might be able to buy a whole castle and still have some left over.

It was as good as a legendary metal.

Now he understood why the former chief had risked his life and gambled.

But how did Namgung Hui recognize something so precious at a glance?

‘In my past life, the Sword God used a sword made of Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron.’

The fame of the Sword God's treasured sword was so great that it could not be described in words.

Of course, it was also famous because it was the sword used by the Sword God.

But the dark light that emanated from his sword body was quite different from other blue steel swords.

And that was even when only a part of the Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron was used.

Perhaps about half of the sword body? No, he must have used less than half.

And yet, his sword was among the top tier of treasured swords.

‘With this much Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron, I can make a whole sword.’

Just imagining it made his body tremble.

Thunder Ki was an extreme yang ki.

Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron was an extreme yin ki.

Not only was its strength outstanding, but in terms of compatibility, it was more than enough to withstand Thunder Ki.

It could be seen as a heavenly match.

But the problems were still piled up.

Where did the bandits get such a precious Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron?

‘They must have acquired it through plunder. If the owner finds out, they will ask for it back.’

Of course, they would give a sufficient reward.

But to Namgung Hui, the Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron in front of him was more desperate than such a reward.

In an instant, agony and anguish swept over him.

But it didn't last long.

Because he was already captivated by the Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron.

‘Before they reward me, I just have to help them first.’

Making a sword out of Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron was not that difficult.

In the first place, Namgung Hui had been planning with this in mind.

However, he had been thinking of getting black iron for the material, but he was lucky.

Having organized his thoughts, Namgung Hui swept up all the gold bars in the safe.

The sack bulged as if it would burst.

But perhaps because the bandits had made it sturdy for their plundering, it was fine.

Now he quietly approached the last remaining former chief.

He was already unconscious from Namgung Hui's fist, so the thread of his consciousness had long since been severed.

‘It's better this way. After all, this person must have killed many innocent people too.’

Namgung Hui drew the sword hanging on the wall.

Although it was for decoration, it didn't seem like it couldn't be used in a real fight.

Namgung Hui, who was examining the sword, swung it without hesitation.

-Slash!

Now, both the current and former chiefs of the Tiger Subduing Fortress were gone.

Still, he let him sleep forever in the safe he had so desired.

When Namgung Hui had finished cleaning up and came out, Baek Seolhwa glared at him and said.

"Why did it take so long?"

"That person from before, he said he was the former chief of the Tiger Subduing Fortress. I was a little late because I was dealing with him."

"What? The former chief? He didn't look like it……."

It was understandable. Namgung Hui also hadn't thought he was a bandit.

First, perhaps because his dantian was broken, he couldn't feel any internal energy, and his muscles were all gone, so he didn't look like he was from the Green Forest.

However, his greed was still there, which raised suspicion, and in the end, he was caught by Namgung Hui.

‘I was lucky, and he wasn't.’

Namgung Hui looked around and saw that there was one more carriage than before, so he asked Baek Seolhwa.

"It seems there are more people than before."

"Ah. I asked the people, and it seems there were also people who were forced to be servants. They were all scared and hiding, so it took some time to find them. Thanks to that, I got a lot of silver."

"Is that so? That's a relief. Then we should hurry up and leave."

"You said you were going to the Seomun family, right?"

"No. It's a bit much to go there with so much wealth. I should go home first."

In fact, the reason Namgung Hui had come out like this was to come to the Thunder Sect, so there was no need to go to the Seomun family.

Of course, he wanted to go to the Seomun family and meet Seomun Hye, but as his brother said, he could just call her to the Namgung family estate.

"Then I'll go with you."

"You're coming to my house? No, why?"

"Did you forget I ran away from home? And how am I supposed to take all those people with me? Your Namgung family is enough to take refuge in, right?"

In terms of distance, the Namgung family estate was much closer than the Moon Maiden Palace.

And as Baek Seolhwa said, she had run away from home, so it wouldn't look good to go back.

"Then I'll take the spoils too."

"Where do you think you're getting a free ride?"

"Not only are there a lot of people, but how am I supposed to feed them all? It means I'll give back to the people around me."

"Sigh……. Alright. You do as you see fit. But I can't give this up."

Baek Seolhwa was holding a bundle in her arms, as if she had taken something from the carriage.

Namgung Hui, having taken not only the gold bars but also the Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron, readily nodded.

"Then let's leave right away."

And so, Namgung Hui and Baek Seolhwa left the Tiger Subduing Fortress.

Of course, they didn't forget to erase their traces and set fire to it before leaving.

And ten days passed.

* * *

Namgung Hui went through a lot in ten days.

First, as soon as they left the Tiger Subduing Fortress, they were pursued by the Green Forest.

The number of people who came flocking seemed to be from three of the eighteen fortresses of the Green Forest.

But somehow, the Hao Faction came to support them, as if they knew.

And thanks to Choyeon setting up traps in advance, they were able to safely shake off the Green Forest.

‘Young Master. The situation is not favorable right now, so the sect leader will visit you separately later. Please be well until then.’

With the farewell of the Dongling division chief, they safely crossed the Yangtze River.

Now, if they rode the carriage for a few more days, they would reach the Namgung family estate.

He just hoped that there would be no problems until then.

"Choyeon. You've worked hard. Thanks to you, we're traveling so comfortably."

"Hehe. What did I do? I just did what I had to do."

Namgung Hui patted the head of Choyeon, who was rubbing her nose.

It was by no means a compliment mixed with pretense, but a compliment filled with sincerity.

If Choyeon hadn't set up traps in advance, they would have had a hard time.

That's how elite the Green Forest members who came flocking were, unlike the members of other mountain fortresses.

They all seemed to be first-rate, and the chiefs who led them seemed to be much higher in rank than the chief of the Tiger Subduing Fortress.

They seemed to be members of the Asura Axe, which was said to be rare even in the Green Forest.

"Young Master. By the way, have you read everything I gave you?"

"I just finished reading it. Thank you, Choyeon."

What Namgung Hui had received from Choyeon was intelligence that had been newly updated at the Flying Swallow Pavilion.

Most of the content was information about the inside of the Namgung family.

‘Finally, there's a reaction from the third brother.’

The result of the counter-request that Namgung Hui had put in to the Five Poisons Sect, or more accurately, O Mujin, had finally appeared.

The result was that the third brother, Namgung Sang's, head had gone completely bald.

Of course, his life was not in danger at all, so it might not be a big deal.

But, the third brother was the one who cared most about his appearance among the brothers, so there was no way it wouldn't be a big deal.

In the first place, the reason he had been jealous of Namgung Hui and had even plotted to poison him was because of the inferiority complex that stemmed from such an appearance.

He would probably be running wild, trying to kill O Mujin.

There was no other reason for his hair to suddenly fall out other than the Five Poisons Sect's secret technique, the Hairless Disciple.

On top of that, perhaps because the third brother had requested support, the second brother, Namgung In, had also descended from the Mount Hua Sect.

He would probably try to capture O Mujin with the second brother's martial power and get the antidote.

But as far as Namgung Hui knew, there was no antidote for the Hairless Disciple.

In the first place, once you went bald, you could never go back.

‘Ah. I heard that if you get struck by lightning, it sometimes grows back. I wonder if the third brother will have such a fortuitous encounter.’

Namgung Hui couldn't guarantee that, but it didn't matter even if it did.

There was no way that narrow-minded third bastard would forgive the Five Poisons Sect.

The war between the Five Poisons Sect and the third brother had already begun.

‘By the way, it's a shame that I got involved with the Green Forest. I had hoped not to get caught.’

It was natural to get caught if the tail was long, but he had judged that he wouldn't get caught because he had cleaned up his tracks.

Because he hadn't left any evidence or witnesses.

But unexpectedly, the Tiger Subduing Fortress seemed to have been receiving a lot of attention.

The young palace mistress of the Moon Maiden Palace was also involved, and it seemed that the Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron and the huge amount of gold bars were also related.

Was the role of the Tiger Subduing Fortress something like an intermediate transporter?

Otherwise, there would be no way for such a swift reaction.

Well, is Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron an ordinary object? It's a precious treasure among treasures.

And the original owner of the Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron was said to be the Ten Thousand Gold Merchant Guild.

That place was one of the three major merchant guilds in the Central Plains.

It was a place that even the Martial Alliance and the government offices could not touch carelessly.

And there were widespread rumors that they could even summon ghosts with money.

But why ghosts of all things?

It was said that it was because the forces that were hostile to them lost their lives at night without anyone knowing.

Then the Martial Alliance or the government offices would be suspicious, but strangely, there was no evidence or witnesses at all.

In other words, it was either a perfect crime or really the work of ghosts.

‘Anyway, fortunately, the Green Forest also didn't seem to know the whereabouts of the Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron. It seems the former chief of the Tiger Subduing Fortress had secretly smuggled it out.’

Or, they might be pretending not to know the whereabouts at all, in case the Ten Thousand Gold Merchant Guild tried to retrieve it.

It would be easier to feign ignorance if the owner was unknown, even if they retrieved it.

Namgung Hui looked out of the carriage, thinking about his future schedule.

Then he suddenly saw Baek Seolhwa in the carriage across from him, and she was holding a pure white egg in her arms.

It seemed to be one of the spoils she had obtained from the Tiger Subduing Fortress, and he didn't know if it was a jewel or a real egg of some creature.

But since she was holding it so preciously, she looked as if she was becoming a mother.

Then, as it was time for a meal, the carriage stopped on a crowded mountain path.

"Young Master. We'll have lunch here and spend the night at Lake Chao."

"Lake Chao. We'll arrive home tomorrow then?"

"Yes. If there are no problems."

"Words become seeds. Let's just have lunch."

"Yes~"

Namgung Hui also tried to help with the meal preparation at first, but the women who had joined from the Tiger Subduing Fortress stopped him.

Whether it was because they didn't trust him, seeing him as a nobleman who had grown up delicately.

Or whether it was to repay his kindness, there was no way to know.

Baek Seolhwa also remained still, so he just looked around and stood guard.

Namgung Hui also jumped down from the carriage.

Baek Seolhwa was still holding the egg preciously, and it was so preciously that he couldn't help but head there.

"What's that you're holding so preciously?"

"This? Can't you tell by looking? It's a spiritual beast's egg."

"What, a spiritual beast? Can you get something like that so easily……."

Namgung Hui was about to say that you can't get a spiritual beast's egg so easily, but he himself was with a spiritual beast, Chichi.

Suddenly, Namgung Hui thought it would be okay to ask Chichi, so he woke up Chichi, who was in a deep nap.

"Squeak! (Why did you wake me up!)"

"Chichi. I'm sorry for waking you up, but is that really a spiritual beast's egg?"

The moment Chichi rubbed his eyes and looked at the egg.

Suddenly, the atmosphere was turning cold.

Of course, it wasn't because of the spiritual beast's egg or Chichi.

"Uninvited guests."

It was because of the uninvited guests.

(End of Chapter)