Rebirth of the Thunder God

-Drip. Drip. Drip.

Eun Seolrin's tears fell onto the secret manual.

Since it was a secret manual written not long ago, the ink was spreading.

Namgung Hui, feeling sorry, tried to take the secret manual back, but he couldn't even do that properly because Eun Seolrin was crying.

He could only raise and lower his arm, fidgeting and watching.

"Ahem. Young Guild Mistress. Are you in pain somewhere?"

"N-no. I've shown you an unsightly side of me. Thanks to you, Young Master, I'm not in pain anywhere. In fact, I'm so healthy it's a problem."

"Then why are you crying...?"

Eun Seolrin wiped her tears with her sleeve and said.

"It's because this is the first time I've received such a gift..."

Namgung Hui was puzzled.

As the Young Guild Mistress of one of the three great merchant guilds of the Central Plains, she would have received not only such gifts, but also much more.

'Hmm... Is it because it's the first time she's received a martial arts secret manual? Well, I was also very happy when I received a martial arts secret manual from my master when I was young.'

Eun Seolrin's case and Namgung Hui's case seemed different, but he had no way of knowing.

He could only understand it as tears of joy.

"Then, Young Guild Mistress. I will teach you how to circulate your energy, so please sit on the bed."

"Yes."

* * *

Namgung Hui taught Eun Seolrin the Clear Mind Art and returned to his quarters.

It was about time to go home, so he had to pack his things and tidy up.

Above all, the first thing he had to sort out was.

'The Hao Faction Head.'

There were many things he was hiding, but what he was most curious about was when on earth he had built a friendship with the Myriad Gold Merchant Guild.

General Manager Heo Yeongman had clearly said that he had even planted a spy in the Hao Faction.

Then it seemed hard to see it as an alliance.

But the Hao Faction Head, who was with Guild Master Eun Chunghyeon, clearly seemed to have a rather deep friendship.

Well, there was no law saying that the heads of hostile forces couldn't have a private friendship, but it was still suspicious.

That was why Namgung Hui was now determined to clear up his doubts.

Namgung Hui, who had carefully left his quarters, headed for the General Manager's office.

Even if he asked the Hao Faction Head directly, if he was determined to hide it, there was no way to find out.

But General Manager Heo Yeongman, a third party, might confess facts that Namgung Hui didn't know.

Of course, even if he didn't tell him, he was determined to find out somehow.

Namgung Hui knocked on the General Manager's office.

"General Manager. Are you inside?"

"Is that Young Master Namgung Hui? Please come in for now."

Rustle, rustle.

The sound of papers rustling was heard.

Since he was a general manager with no time to rest, he must have been in the middle of looking at his work.

Namgung Hui, regardless, opened the door and went in.

As expected, the inside of the office was full of piles of documents.

The numbers written densely on the paper showed the aspect of a merchant guild.

"General Manager. I know you're busy, but I came because I have something to ask."

"To me, not the Young Guild Mistress? I don't have much time, so please ask right away."

"Last time, you told me that you had planted a spy in the Hao Faction and half of them were lost, didn't you? But now that I see it, the friendship between the Hao Faction Head and the Guild Master seems quite deep."

"Ah. That is. The 'sejak' (細作, spy) I mentioned was actually 'sejak' (稅作, tax work)."

"Tax work? You mean you paid money? Don't tell me you're joking?"

General Manager Heo Yeongman put down the bundle of papers he was looking at and said.

"Of course, it's a joke. But, Young Master Namgung Hui."

The moment Heo Yeongman called Namgung Hui, his tone and expression became quite serious.

Namgung Hui also straightened his posture and answered Heo Yeongman.

"Please speak."

"How much do you know about the Hao Faction?"

"I wonder. I was only lying in bed, so I don't know much."

In fact, he knew quite a bit, but that was a memory from 60 years ago.

He didn't think it would still be valid.

Most of the key positions had changed, and only the Hao Faction Head remained vaguely in his memory.

And even that was not a friendship. It was just an acquaintance.

"Then I'll have to explain it in quite some detail. First, in the Hao Faction, the Faction Head cannot wield absolute power. There are also a considerable number of forces that plant spies like us. The threshold for entry is also low, so it's easy for spies to come and go."

Courtesans, thieves, waiters, laborers, etc.

Most of those who belonged to the lower class occupations entered the Hao Faction.

In a way, it could be seen that the threshold was lower than the Beggars' Sect, which was made up of beggars.

Because the Beggars' Sect did not accept people as members unless their background was clear.

But the Hao Faction did not care about such background.

However, if one's identity was not clear, they would not be placed in a key position.

Even so, it wasn't that spies couldn't smuggle out information.

If a famous person visited a branch, that itself became valuable information.

What kind of request they made and what kind of information they received would be important, but the visit itself could be given meaning.

"I roughly understand what you mean. So you're saying you planted a spy in a place where the Hao Faction Head's influence doesn't reach?"

"Yes. In a way, it's a symbiotic relationship with the Faction Head. Because we are monitoring him, completely excluding his personal feelings."

Namgung Hui was not interested in the internal affairs of another sect.

He was just worried that the Hao Faction Head and the General Manager might be up to something.

Seeing that Namgung Hui was not interested, Heo Yeongman immediately continued.

"And the internal affairs of the Hao Faction are more complicated than you think. Since you are also called a lay disciple, Young Master, it's not someone else's business. It would probably be good for you to know."

"The internal affairs? I don't particularly want to get involved."

If he got involved for no reason, there was a high probability that he would only waste time and energy.

But as the General Manager said, since he was called a lay disciple, he had to see it as already being involved.

Could it be that the Hao Faction Head had called him a lay disciple with this in mind?

Namgung Hui's intuition told him that there was a high probability of that.

"Yes. The Faction Head's disciples will probably visit you soon, Young Master. To confirm whether you are just a lay disciple in name only, or a competitor aiming for the Faction Head's position."

"Hmm... So. The internal affairs you're talking about is the competition for the next Faction Head."

"Yes. And isn't the Heretic Practitioners' Alliance eyeing the Hao Faction? It wouldn't be strange if one of the disciples was won over by the Hoicheon Association. If I were an executive of the Hoicheon Association, I would surely win over one of the disciples and support them both materially and spiritually."

Nod nod.

Namgung Hui's head nodded on its own.

He roughly understood how the situation was unfolding.

'The Hao Faction Head must be busy chasing the forces of the Hoicheon Association and the Heretic Practitioners' Alliance leader. It must be a trick to pass on the matter of his disciples to me.'

It seemed the Hao Faction Head was trying to get something for nothing.

Although he felt resentful, in a way, he also thought of this as an opportunity.

Even if it wasn't the Faction Head's position, couldn't he secure a key position in the Hao Faction?

'Then I'll have an information network, so it's not bad.'

Not to mention the Hoicheon Association that he had to track in the future.

He also had to find the remnants of the Blood Cult separately.

And it would be good to chase the person who was slyly leaking information about the Thunder Gate.

Namgung Hui, having made up his mind, asked Heo Yeongman.

"General Manager Heo. Can I hear briefly about the disciples?"

"Yes. It's not a difficult matter, so I'll explain it right away. First, there are three disciples in total. The first is Hae Wicheong, the second is On Yuha, and the third is Dam Gihae. Except for the first, their martial arts are not very outstanding, but they are all talented individuals."

"Can I know exactly what kind of talent?"

"To put it simply, the first is martial arts, the second is information, and the third is thievery."

As soon as Namgung Hui heard their talents, he was sure whose side he should be on.

'Information. I should be on the second's side.'

The first's martial power and the third's thievery were of no use to Namgung Hui.

But the second's information power would be more helpful to Namgung Hui than anything else.

And even if the first didn't, the second would surely need Namgung Hui's martial power.

He also felt a sense of rejection because the third's talent being thievery was inwardly distasteful.

'Of course, that's when they approach me favorably. If they are hostile first, then whether it's the second or the first, I'll refuse them all.'

It was unknown when they would visit Namgung Hui.

And there was no guarantee that they would visit in the first place.

It was just something he had thought about because Heo Yeongman had advised him so.

"Thank you for letting me know. I don't know if I'll see them, but it was helpful."

"It may be a presumptuous thought, but they will surely visit. I hope you don't draw your sword in surprise when that time comes."

"Even if they draw their swords first?"

"That will never happen, so please rest assured. After all, you are called a lay disciple."

"Well, since you say so, General Manager Heo, I won't draw my sword. Thank you for your time, even though you must be busy. Then I'll be on my way."

"Yes. I'll see you next time when I have more time."

Namgung Hui, looking at the piles of documents filling the office, wondered if that would ever happen, but he bowed his head and left the office.

'Now I can go and take care of my last business.'

The last task left for Namgung Hui.

That was to buy gifts for Choyeon, Chohwa, and Baek Seolhwa, who were waiting at the Namgung estate.

In fact, although he had said he would buy it for Baek Seolhwa on the way, the gift he was most concerned about was the one for her.

Choyeon and Chohwa would surely be happy no matter what Namgung Hui bought them, without even showing any dislike.

But he had no idea how Baek Seolhwa would react.

What if she didn't like the gift and drew her sword?

Or what if she frowned and sulked?

All sorts of thoughts came to his mind.

'By the way, I don't know where to buy the items. The guild is so vast.'

Moreover, the inside of the Myriad Gold Merchant Guild was mostly made up of wholesalers.

There would be very few people who had opened stalls for retail.

In the first place, this was not such a marketplace.

Still, there were merchants who had opened stalls here and there.

Perhaps among them, there were some whose deals with the Myriad Gold Merchant Guild had not been successful.

Or they might have opened a stall because even the time waiting for an interview with the guild was a waste.

Or they might have laid them out like that because they had great confidence in their goods.

In any case, since the Myriad Gold Merchant Guild did not prohibit this, the merchants were freely doing business.

"Cheap! Cheap! A necklace for only 2 silver taels!"

"It's not something that comes every day!"

Unlike their loud voices, the surrounding reaction was cold.

The biggest reason was that the people inside the guild were merchants like them.

Their standards would be high, and they had come to the guild to sell goods, not to buy them.

But, Namgung Hui was different.

He scanned their stalls to buy gifts.

'A necklace like that costs 2 silver taels? It's too expensive. The trinket next to it doesn't look very good either. Huh? What's that?'

At a corner stall, an item that caught Namgung Hui's interest was seen.

From Namgung Hui's guess, it seemed to be an antique, and since no one was even hovering around, it was easy to approach.

And so, he approached the antique merchant.

'This is...!'

Namgung Hui couldn't help but widen his eyes.

Because an item he had seen in his past life was placed there.

(End of Chapter)