Rebirth of the Thunder God

'A thief!'

Namgung Hui did not just stand there and watch the thief who had snatched the parchment and disappeared.

Naturally, he chased after him and immediately deployed his movement technique to its fullest.

But he was no ordinary thief; even when Namgung Hui used his full power, it was difficult to catch up.

How many owners of such a movement technique were there in the recent martial world?

In Namgung Hui's memory, the only master of such a movement technique was the Shadowless Divine Thief.

'Could he be a descendant of that man? It seems likely.'

Among thieves, the only one with such an outstanding movement technique would probably be a descendant of the Shadowless Divine Thief.

He had no particular friendship with him, so he had no intention of letting this man go.

He was even thinking of taking his life if necessary.

Namgung Hui was not so kind as to show favor to a thief.

As they engaged in a chase, they soon came to a deserted mountain.

Namgung Hui, confirming that there were no people around, wrapped his hands in Purple Thunder Qi and threw a palm strike at the thief's back.

Even if the thief dodged, there would be no damage to the surroundings.

The thief, as if he had expected Namgung Hui to attack, quickly threw his body to the side.

-Boom!

A deafening roar shook the mountain.

Startled mountain animals scattered here and there.

And the thief, as if he hadn't expected such a powerful palm strike, flinched.

It was clear that he was scared.

Namgung Hui, at the sight of the thief, sneered and said.

"It's no use regretting it now."

The thief hesitated for a moment and then quickly prostrated himself on the ground.

"I'm sorry, junior brother! I was just testing you for a moment... Gak!"

Namgung Hui's fist slammed into the thief's abdomen.

He let out a groan of intense pain and dropped the parchment.

Namgung Hui picked up the parchment and took off the thief's mask.

He grabbed him by the hair and met his gaze.

"If I didn't hear wrong just now, I think you said junior brother. You're saying you're my senior brother?"

"Ahem! I am Dam Gihae, the third disciple of the Hao Faction. In other words, I am your senior brother."

"So why did a senior brother steal my belongings and run away?"

"I was just testing you. It would be easier to think of it as me being curious about your skills."

"So what's your impression after appreciating my skills?"

"I can see that you are a very great master. You might even be stronger than the great senior brother."

Namgung Hui let go of the hair he was holding and asked.

"I've roughly heard about your situation. You're wondering if I'm interested in the position of the Hao Faction Head, right? To be honest, I'm not interested in the position of Faction Head. I don't know if you know my name, but I have the fence of the Namgung family. Do you think a person from the Namgung family will become the Hao Faction Head?"

To be honest, the Hao Faction was a sect where the lower class gathered.

And besides thieves and courtesans, there were also many ruffians and people of bad character.

A person from the Namgung family in such a sect?

That in itself could cause a scandal.

But Namgung Hui, even if not the Faction Head, was thinking of rising to a key position.

He just had no intention of officially announcing or publicizing it.

"Namgung? The master deliberately hid it from us... Is it because of that incident?"

Dam Gihae, as if he had a guess, slowly nodded his head.

Since he was a disciple of the Hao Faction, he wouldn't be ignorant of the current internal situation.

"Anyway. Is this all your business with me?"

"Ah. Yes. And I have something to give you, junior brother. Here, take it."

Dam Gihae handed him a neatly folded letter.

"It's an invitation from the great senior brother. Even though you've become a lay disciple, we should get to know each other as senior and junior brothers. It won't be a bad thing for you, junior brother. And the location is not that far, so I hope you'll stop by on your way."

Namgung Hui, having no intention of reading it right now, put the invitation in his bosom and said.

"Alright. I'll stop by if I have time. And one last thing, I don't like it when people touch my things. Even if it's my own family. Know that this is the last time I'll be merciful."

"Ah, I understand. I'll make sure this doesn't happen again. I'll also tell the great senior brother."

"Then let's see each other with a smile next time."

Dam Gihae nodded and immediately flew away.

Namgung Hui watched his shrinking back and then headed for his original destination, Mount Dengfeng.

The scent of fresh deciduous trees wafted from the passing wind.

* * *

"Kiiik. Kkik. (We're almost there.)"

"I think I've heard that at least 10 times already."

"Kkik. Kkik. (You must have misheard.)"

"I really hope this is the last time."

Was it because of Namgung Hui's wish?

Namgung Hui also now found the shape of the map on the parchment.

'We're really here. That cave seems to be the place the treasure map is pointing to.'

Now he could follow the map of the treasure map even without Chichi's guidance.

If it hadn't been for Chichi, he would have had a lot of trouble.

It wasn't just because Namgung Hui wasn't well-versed in the geography of the Central Plains.

'Who would come here just by looking at this old map? It seems the person who left this had a very nasty disposition.'

His expectations also lowered.

Seeing the disposition that liked to play pranks, it seemed there would surely be a dangerous trap inside.

Then shouldn't he just give up on this treasure map?

Namgung Hui had absolutely no intention of doing so.

He had both pride and confidence.

He was one of the Three Martial Gods, called the Thunder God, so it was an unacceptable matter to run away from a mere trap like this because he was scared.

Namgung Hui, steeling his resolve, stopped his body in front of the cave entrance.

Chichi peeked into the cave and said.

"Kiiik. Kkik? (I smell something from inside.)"

"Are you talking about a dangerous smell? I smelled that too."

It was a sense that Namgung Hui also felt instinctively.

It was like an intuition that came with his increased cultivation.

Moreover, the Purple Thunder Ki had his nerves on edge, more so than before.

Namgung Hui named this heightened sense 'super sense'.

Namgung Hui carefully stepped into the cave.

There seemed to be no dangerous signs yet.

He had learned a little about formations from the Hao Faction Head.

He could vaguely read the traces of formations or mechanisms felt in a place like this.

There seemed to be no traps yet.

Just as Namgung Hui's body was about to be swallowed by the darkness of the cave.

A sensation that ran down his spine shot up.

An alarm bell rang.

Namgung Hui quickly threw his body to the side. At that moment, arrows that cut through the air whizzed past.

Seeing the bluish arrowhead, it seemed to be coated with a deadly poison.

He thought that the person who had made the treasure map might not just have a nasty disposition, but a truly evil nature.

'An ordinary person would lose their life even if they were just grazed by it.'

Still, since there were no corpses at the entrance, it seemed no one had died yet.

Namgung Hui, having no intention of dying obediently, carefully moved his feet.

After that, various mechanisms were activated.

Sometimes a large rock would roll down.

And sometimes the floor would collapse, and sharp spear blades would greet Namgung Hui.

But he dodged everything by unfolding his ethereal movement technique.

Then, at some point, there were three forks in the road, and Chichi pointed to the rightmost path and said.

"Kiiik. Kkik. (I feel something from the right passage.)"

"Are you saying there's a precious item here?"

"Kiiik. (Probably.)"

Since Chichi's intuition had never been wrong, he threw himself to the right without hesitation.

As Namgung Hui left the spot, the other forks in the road disappeared as if they had never existed.

* * *

Namgung Hui walked for quite a long time.

He even thought that he might end up going out of the cave beyond the mountain.

But from the subtle sensation, it felt like he was gradually descending underground, so he thought that probably wasn't it.

After walking for about a shichen, the path was finally coming to an end.

What appeared at the end of that path was a large stone gate.

It was also a moment when he became very curious about who would have made it in such a deep cave.

"This is no ordinary skill. Well. With the skill to install such mechanisms, he wouldn't be an ordinary person. Then shall we open it and see what on earth he left behind?"

"Kiiik! Kkik. (Wait! I don't think you should open it yet.)"

"Why? Is there a trap?"

"Kiiik. (Just wait a moment.)"

Chichi suddenly jumped out of Namgung Hui's bosom and ran to the stone gate.

And then it slipped into a small hole in the corner of the stone gate.

It didn't come out even after a moment had passed.

Namgung Hui had the delusion that Chichi might have 'betrayed him and taken the treasure for itself', but soon Chichi jumped out of the stone gate again.

"Kkik. Kiiik. (It seems they didn't want to give the treasure to anyone who wasn't an invited guest.)"

"What do you mean?"

"Kiiik. Kiiik. (If you tried to open the door without a key, everything inside was scheduled to be destroyed.)"

"Ah. So you're saying you can't get the treasure just by having the treasure map. Then that's a problem."

Sometimes, a treasure map would appear in the martial world, and a storm of blood would blow to possess it.

And such treasure maps sometimes required various things.

Outstanding martial arts.

One's rightful heir.

Or a special device or key was needed.

It seemed that now was the time when such a key was needed.

He was lucky to have gotten the treasure map for free, but in the end, he was unlucky.

"It's a dilemma. I can't open the door like this..."

"Kiiik. Kkik. (Why can't you open it? I took care of that from the inside. Let's hurry up and go in.)"

For a moment, he thought that Chichi might have 'also broken the formation of the Thunder Gate', but that wasn't what was important right now.

"Chichi. Thank you. Then let's go in."

-Grrr.

As the heavy door opened, stone debris fell from the ceiling, and a bright light swallowed Namgung Hui.

What was emitting that bright light was none other than.

"Luminous pearls! To think there are three of those precious things embedded here...!"

Luminous Pearl.

A supreme treasure that was said to be able to buy a castle with just one.

A whopping three of them were embedded in the ceiling.

That alone was worthy of being called the treasure of the treasure map, but it seemed that wasn't the end of the treasure.

Because Namgung Hui had discovered some writing.

"Empty Gate Sect. Was the owner of this place the Shadowless Divine Thief?"

Namgung Hui was not ignorant of the Shadowless Divine Thief.

He was the number one thief in the Central Plains.

In some ways, he was a man more notorious than the demonic heads.

Of course, he didn't know if he was still alive.

His disciple was probably serving as the current Empty Gate Sect Master.

Perhaps the thief named Dam Gihae, whom he had met a while ago, was the true heir of the Shadowless Divine Thief.

'But it's strange. This treasure map seems to be older than the Shadowless Divine Thief. It seems the Empty Gate Sect Master from two generations ago left it.'

If the Empty Gate Sect Master from two generations ago had left it, it wouldn't be strange.

However, it was a little strange that the greedy Shadowless Divine Thief had left this as it was.

Since Chichi said it had removed the dangerous elements, if he looked around, something would probably come out.

Namgung Hui first headed towards the writing that said Empty Gate Sect.

It seemed there would be a message left for future generations.

As expected, there was a thin booklet.

Namgung Hui picked it up and read it.

[To have reached this point safely, you must be a disciple of Empty Gate Sect. I am the 6th master of Empty Gate Sect...]

'6th? I thought the Shadowless Divine Thief was the 10th master. It's an older place than I thought.'

[The reason I am leaving this record is because I am being chased by a certain force. They were very cruel and so huge that their power could not be grasped. I eventually fled to a safe house. But they tenaciously found even the safe house. In the end, I decided to make a secret passage and leave this fact and my legacy to my descendants.]

Namgung Hui felt a slight pang of guilt for not being his descendant, but that was all blown away by a certain word that came later.

[...Lastly, their name is said to be the Hoicheon Association.]

(End of Chapter)