Rebirth of the Thunder God

Namgung Hui stared at Baek Seolhwa's hand as she performed the hand technique, and then realized it was a misunderstanding.

It was because her hand movements were so sharp.

She had simply snatched the necklace quickly.

Baek Seolhwa's eyes, looking at the necklace, widened like lanterns.

Soon, her eyes reddened slightly, and she opened her mouth.

"This... where did you get it?"

Namgung Hui looked at Baek Seolhwa's darkened expression and continued.

"I bought it from an antique merchant. Why? Don't you like it?"

"That's not it. I was actually going to thank you. To me, it's a very... precious item."

Namgung Hui tilted his head.

Why would Sosu Mahu's keepsake be precious to her?

Then, a thought suddenly struck him like lightning.

'Ah! Did she realize that this is no ordinary item? It must be an incredibly precious item for someone who has learned an ice-based art.'

As the artisans of the Sichuan Tang family had said, precious items have their owners.

Precious items have a destiny appointed by heaven.

Of course, not all of them would be like that, but at least the necklace before him must be such a precious item.

Since Baek Seolhwa was no ordinary person and was a master of rejuvenation.

He had brought it in case it might be helpful to Baek Seolhwa, and it seemed he was right.

'Since I have the energy of extreme yang, it's not strange that I can't recognize such a precious item.'

Namgung Hui suddenly felt a sense of incongruity, but he didn't know what it was, so he decided to let it go for now.

"Then, Seolhwa. I have to give gifts to Choyeon and Chohwa too. So I'll be on my way."

"You didn't give it to them first?"

"Of course..."

He said, but Namgung Hui himself didn't know why it was a matter of course.

Was it because of the word 'on the way'?

He hastily corrected himself and continued.

"Of course. I gave it to them first. But I forgot and gave them less, so I'm going to give them the rest."

Baek Seolhwa shook her head with a 'that's more like it' expression.

For some reason, Namgung Hui felt like he had ruined a perfectly good meal, but he really had to give the gifts to Choyeon and Chohwa, so he left the room.

As soon as he left the room, he ran into Choyeon.

Namgung Hui, thinking it was a good thing, grabbed Choyeon and said.

"Choyeon."

"Huh?! Young Master! When did you arrive?"

"I just got here. Take this."

Choyeon looked at the trinket Namgung Hui was handing her and asked.

"Isn't this a trinket? Are you perhaps giving it to me?"

"Yes. I bought it on my way back from the Myriad Gold Merchant Guild. Here's Chohwa's too. You can give it to her."

"Thank you so much~! Young Master. I'll use it well. Yahoo~!"

Choyeon, showing off her movement technique by hopping around, quickly disappeared.

Namgung Hui, at the sight of the happy Choyeon, smiled brightly and headed for his quarters.

As Namgung Hui disappeared from the Azure Sky Pavilion, Baek Seolhwa, who had been eavesdropping on the conversation, looked at the gifts she was holding.

'What? He gave it to me first? But why did he lie...?'

Baek Seolhwa couldn't understand, but that wasn't what was important right now.

It was the necklace that Namgung Hui had given her at the end.

It was not the precious item that Namgung Hui had thought, but her mother's keepsake.

A treasure that was not a treasure, which she had cherished even in her past life.

As it was in her hands again, she felt a renewed sense of gratitude towards Namgung Hui.

Because he had returned something truly precious to her.

'I'll have to repay him later when I have the chance. I also received gold ingots from that man, so...'

Baek Seolhwa nodded and finally began to examine the gifts Namgung Hui had given her.

Perhaps because of the sachet, a fragrant smell lingered in the room.

It was as if a radiant light was pouring from Baek Seolhwa's smiling face.

* * *

The next morning.

It was finally time for Namgung Hui to meet the people from the Sichuan Tang family.

Namgung Hui hadn't been anxious until this moment, but he was slightly curious about how the people from the Tang family were.

With that curiosity, he headed for the annex where the people from the Tang family were staying.

They had apparently built the place where they would be staying with their own hands.

A fortnight was a short time if you thought of it as short, but their craftsmanship had made it not a short time.

Namgung Hui stopped his steps at the rather splendid pavilion.

Then, one of the Tang family members who was carving wood from a distance rushed towards Namgung Hui.

He was the elder of the Tang family, Tang Cheolu, whom Namgung Hui had met at the Myriad Gold Merchant Guild before.

"Senior. It's been a fortnight. Did you show the secret manual I gave you to the Family Head?"

"The Family Head himself came because of that. Come, come. Let's go inside."

"Yes."

As Namgung Hui finished his answer, Tang Cheolu led the way, and Namgung Hui followed.

Namgung Hui looked at the newly built annex and then entered the pavilion.

A sharp and fishy smell brushed past Namgung Hui's nose.

Namgung Hui shifted his gaze towards the source of the smell, and he felt a huge presence from beyond the door.

'An incredible master. It was true that the Tang family head came in person.'

Hearing it with words and feeling it with his skin were completely different.

Perhaps because Namgung Hui's cultivation had risen a level, the Tang family head's ki was felt even more clearly.

"Family Head. It's me, Cheolu. May I come in?"

"Come in."

-Creak.

As the door opened, the sharp smell became even stronger.

It was as if poison was floating in the air.

This was not something felt because the Tang family members had used poison, but a body odor that was naturally emitted from their bodies.

A rumor circulated that the members of the Tang family ate poison instead of elixirs.

Namgung Hui knew better than anyone that this was not an empty word.

'The Poison King also drank poison instead of elixirs.'

As Namgung Hui was thinking of the Poison King, the Tang family head, who had his back turned, turned around and said.

"Are you the child named Namgung Hui?"

"Yes. I am Namgung Hui."

Namgung Hui and the Tang family head's gazes met.

They stared at each other intently, sizing each other up.

"Indeed. He is worthy of being called a hidden dragon."

Namgung Hui, at his new title that he was hearing for the first time, tilted his head and asked.

"By hidden dragon, do you mean me?"

"Yes. You must not have heard it yet, as you have been on a long trip. The title that has been attached to you recently is 'hidden dragon'. It also means a dragon that has woken up after sleeping for 10 years."

Namgung Hui couldn't particularly refute that.

As the Tang family head had said, since he had been lying down for 10 years, it was no different from sleeping.

And since the memories of the Thunder God had also awakened late, he couldn't help but empathize even more.

As Namgung Hui gave an embarrassed smile, the Tang family head took out a secret manual from his bosom and said.

"I don't like to drag things out, so I'll get straight to the point. This secret manual. Did you write it?"

As soon as the Tang family head finished speaking, he raised his ki to its fullest.

-Gooo...

It was a fierce momentum that made the surrounding objects tremble.

A dense energy that was gradually pressing down on Namgung Hui's breath poured down on him.

Nevertheless, Namgung Hui's expression was calm.

He knew that the Tang family head would not harm him, but above all, perhaps because he had now reached the 9th star of the Purple Thunder Divine Art, the Tang family head's momentum did not feel that heavy.

Namgung Hui calmly opened his mouth.

"Yes. Since I restored it, it is correct that I wrote it."

It was clearly a newly written secret manual.

If it were the truly lost Rain of Ten Thousand Flowers, the secret manual should have been old and worn.

The Tang family head, perhaps because of Namgung Hui's calmness, nodded his head for a moment and then opened his mouth.

"Then where is the original? You didn't happen to smuggle it out, did you?"

In fact, there was no such thing as an original.

Since it was restored and organized with the insight of the Thunder God, it was only natural that there was none.

But there was no way the Tang family head would know this.

He was just very worried that Namgung Hui might have smuggled out the original.

He thought that even if Namgung Hui, a member of a prestigious family, would not learn the secret art of the Tang family, the incantations or the method to break the Rain of Ten Thousand Flowers might be leaked.

Namgung Hui also understood this completely.

That was why he had no choice but to make up a lame excuse.

"The original did not exist as a secret manual. By any chance, Family Head. Do you know that our family has completely restored the Boundless Azure Sky Sword Art?"

"I did hear that from the Namgung Family Head. He praised you highly for achieving that as well. The Namgung Family Head is finally getting his due from his child late in life."

The Tang family head looked at Namgung Hui with envy.

In a way, his eyes were full of obsession, to the point of being greedy.

Soon, the Tang family head composed his expression and asked.

"But why do you ask that? I don't think I've heard the answer to my question yet."

"Yes. I mentioned it because that incident is not unrelated to this one. I was struck by lightning about two months ago, wasn't I?"

"Yes. You and the Young Palace Mistress of the Moon Maiden Palace were struck on the same day and at the same time."

"At that time, I lost consciousness and heard a voice in my dream. It said that the incantations of a martial art were hidden in the Azure Sky Pavilion."

"Don't tell me! That voice...! The Azure Sky Martial God?"

As the Vermilion Bird Squad Commander, Gongson Jeongu, had said before, one often has strange experiences after being struck by lightning.

An ancestor appears in a dream and calls out a strange number.

Or sometimes they give special advice.

Since the Tang family head had also heard of that fact, he immediately thought of the Martial God at Namgung Hui's words.

And above all.

"In the first place, if it weren't for that, how could I have restored the Rain of Ten Thousand Flowers? A martial art that has been lost for a long time."

That's right. Since Namgung Hui had only been lying in bed, it was hard to see how he could have obtained a secret manual from the outside.

Moreover, the secret manual that Namgung Hui had restored was a much more outstanding martial art than the original, so the Tang family head was also full of doubts.

'Indeed. Did the Martial God intervene? As expected, the righteousness of the martial world has not fallen to the ground. But this is also strange. Why did the Martial God, of all people, and not the Poison Emperor, tell him?'

The Tang family head asked with eyes that had lost a great deal of suspicion.

"Then can you also tell me how and in what way you obtained it?"

"Yes. Between the corner bookshelves. To be precise, it was engraved on the wall hidden by the bookshelves. The letters were so small that it was difficult for an ordinary person to recognize them. However, my eyesight improved after being struck by lightning, so I was able to recognize it. In a way, it can be called a great fortuitous encounter."

Not all of Namgung Hui's words were lies.

He had regained his memories after being struck by lightning.

And as a result, his five senses, including his ki sense, had improved.

Since his eyesight was also one of the five senses, it was only natural that it had improved.

"The inside of the Azure Sky Pavilion... Even if I wanted to see it, I couldn't ask to be shown. Since the Azure Sky Pavilion is strictly forbidden to outsiders..."

Of course, it was a suspicious situation and statement.

But given the various circumstances, it was also strange for Namgung Hui to smuggle out a secret manual and take the risk.

Moreover, the Rain of Ten Thousand Flowers was difficult to learn unless one was a martial artist of the Tang family, and it was also useless.

Assassins might be able to perform it if they learned it, but even assassins did not handle daggers or hidden weapons as professionally as the members of the Tang family.

In other words, it was no different from a dilemma.

"Yes. That's why I kept it a secret from my father and brother. In case someone other than me might find out the incantations of the Rain of Ten Thousand Flowers."

"That's very commendable. Still, it's unavoidable that it's not entirely clear. Then how about this?"

"What do you mean?"

A moment later, the proposal the Tang family head made was in a direction Namgung Hui had not expected, and his eyes couldn't help but narrow.

(End of Chapter)