Rebirth of the Thunder God

The unexpected sight that Namgung Hui discovered was because he had seen a familiar face.

It was none other than the Penguin brothers from the Hebei Peng family, with whom he had clashed before.

They looked at where Namgung Hui was and tilted their heads.

"Brother. Didn't you just hear something?"

"What sound? I didn't hear anything."

"Ah. I must have been drunk and heard things. By the way, Yewol. That wench is really playing hard to get. I'll have to teach her a lesson someday."

"Stop it. Yewol is a person related to us. If she refuses like this, it's right to back off. Still, since we've got the 5th floor, let's call another courtesan and drink to our heart's content. To shake off what happened today."

"As expected. They say there's no younger brother like an older brother. You're the only one who takes care of me, brother. Then today, I'll personally yield Suwol to you."

"Haha! This brat knew I was aiming for Suwol. Yes. Let's drink until our noses are crooked today."

Fortunately, his stealth technique was not discovered.

Since he hadn't learned it formally, he had been hiding nervously, but whether it was because of their drunkenness or because Namgung Hui's stealth technique had improved, he was able to pass safely.

Namgung Hui, after completely coming out from the stairs, looked at the direction where the Penguin brothers had disappeared and narrowed his eyes.

'They clearly said they were related to Yewol. And there was also information that the Hebei Peng family was an underling of the Hoicheon Association. Then is Yewol also a person of the Hoicheon Association?'

Of course, he would only know after opening the lid.

Still, since Yewol was related to those bad guys, he felt less guilty about interrogating her.

Namgung Hui spread the electric net with his Purple Thunder Ki and sensed the guests in the room.

As expected, all the rooms were full of courtesans.

Some rooms had as many as 10 courtesans.

And some rooms were so quiet that there was no movement at all.

No. There was some intermittent stirring, but Namgung Hui suddenly felt that he shouldn't keep watching and quickly moved the electric net to another room.

And so, as he was sensing the rooms one by one.

A rather huge presence was captured from the room at the end of the corridor.

At least at the peak. Or even higher.

It meant that a master who seemed to be at the super-peak level was currently on the 5th floor.

He hesitated.

He could somehow deceive someone up to the peak level, but it was a different story if it was a super-peak master.

The super-peak level was a different dimension from the peak level.

A position that could only be reached by overcoming the so-called wall in cultivation.

To put it simply, it also meant a master who could handle Gangki.

Such a master was having a private meeting with a courtesan in the room at the end of the corridor.

Namgung Hui instinctively realized that the courtesan here was Yewol.

Then what Namgung Hui had to choose here was whether to retreat.

Or to have a tug-of-war with the super-peak master like this.

'It seems I can't do it with stealth, so I'll have to use another method.'

Namgung Hui, who had nodded, maintained his stealth and walked back to the vicinity of the stairs.

To be precise, he was waiting for someone to come out from the entrance of the stairs.

A courtesan holding a tea tray below stepped lightly and walked forward.

Namgung Hui, so as not to be heard by the courtesan, said a word of apology inwardly.

'I'm sorry. This is the only way.'

-Thud.

Namgung Hui pressed the courtesan's acupuncture points and quickly caught the tea tray that was falling from her.

Then he whispered softly in the ear of the courtesan, whose eyes were wide open.

"I'm sorry. I have some urgent business."

Namgung Hui took off the courtesan's outer garment and gently pushed her into the warehouse at the corner of the corridor.

He had set it so that the acupuncture points would be released after about an hour, so after he finished his great deed, she would be a free woman again.

Namgung Hui took off his outer garment, turned it inside out, and put on the splendid clothes he had taken off the courtesan over it.

Although his body looked slightly plump, fortunately, he seemed to be of a similar size to the courtesan he had subdued.

Namgung Hui, thinking that he wouldn't be greatly misunderstood with this much, smiled with satisfaction.

There were as many as 40 courtesans on this 5th floor alone.

The guests would not have memorized the faces of all those many courtesans.

And since he had even put on makeup, it would be difficult to recognize his face.

Namgung Hui, as a final touch, used the Hao Faction Head's face change technique to put a mole next to his nose and finished his disguise.

Now, all he had to do was deliver the tea tray to the room at the end of the corridor.

After that, it was a time to entrust everything to a momentary, impromptu judgment.

Since a super-peak master was a truly rare existence, Namgung Hui could absolutely not be careless.

Namgung Hui, who had steeled his resolve, straightened his clothes and walked down the corridor.

He stepped in rhythm like the courtesans, rustling.

And so, Namgung Hui, who had arrived at the end of the corridor, opened the door with a creak and gently stuck his head in.

"Who is it!"

A sharp voice flew towards Namgung Hui.

But Namgung Hui, without being flustered at all, began to act as if he were calm.

"Oh, oh my. I'm sorry! Because I'm still inexperienced... I've been rude. I'll go back out..."

"No. It's fine. Since you've come in, just come in. But next time, be sure to knock on the door and ask for permission."

"Yes..."

At Namgung Hui's foolish appearance, it seemed they did not suspect him.

Although it was what Namgung Hui had aimed for, it was because he had to open the door so suddenly to see what they were doing properly.

As expected, their meeting did not seem to be that of a courtesan and a guest.

In the first place, the fact that they needed a tea tray like this was far from a brothel, wasn't it?

'The courtesan is not singing, not dancing, and not even pouring liquor? As expected, it must be a secret meeting.'

Namgung Hui placed the tea tray on the table and gently poured tea into the teacups.

As the steam rose and rustled.

The middle-aged man sitting across from Yewol opened his mouth.

"I've never seen this child's face before."

Namgung Hui also stealthily glanced at the middle-aged man.

As befitting the appearance of a super-peak master, just looking at him made his body tingle.

On the one hand, his fists were also itching, but Namgung Hui turned his head as if he were embarrassed by the middle-aged man's gaze.

'Looking at him up close, he's only at the beginning of the super-peak level. That's amazing in itself, but it's a relief.'

And just by looking at his clothes, it was difficult to figure out where he belonged.

He didn't seem to be a person of the Nine Sects and One Gang.

And to say he was affiliated with the Heretic Practitioners' Alliance, the ki he possessed was pure.

At the middle-aged man's question, Yewol answered as if it were nothing.

"Are there only one or two new children coming into our Full Moon Pavilion? I also don't know the faces of all the children. Then. General. Since you seem to have finished your business. Have some tea and then go. I also have to start receiving guests soon."

At the word 'General', Namgung Hui almost dropped the tea set.

But since Namgung Hui had recently overcome the crisis of cultivation deviation, fortunately, there was no such mistake.

On the contrary, pretending to spill the tea, he applied the Thousand-Li Tracking Incense to the General's sleeve.

The moment the tea splashed on his sleeve, the General frowned and shook it off.

"I'll let it slide since this is the first time. But know that there won't be a second time."

"Yes. Elder... I'm sorry."

Yewol, as if she had seen many clumsy courtesans, let out a deep sigh and waved her hand.

"It's fine. I'll take care of it here, so just go out. And you'll have to learn the tea ceremony again from the general manager. I'll be checking, so keep that in mind."

Namgung Hui bowed his head and pressed the middle-aged man's appearance into his eyes.

As if he would never forget.

Naturally, the middle-aged man did not know what Namgung Hui's gaze meant, but he must have judged that he was just trembling with fear.

'Alright. I'll be able to draw a portrait later. There don't seem to be any traces of a face change technique, so that's good.'

Namgung Hui, who had left the room, was convinced.

That Yewol was a person of the Hoicheon Association.

Because the General also seemed to be a person of the Hoicheon Association.

At first, he couldn't imagine that he would even wield the black market, but if he thought that he had connections with the government, everything was neatly resolved.

Drugs, slaves, and smuggled salt.

All were items prohibited by the country.

But if the government looked the other way?

If there was a so-called 'relationship', it wouldn't be impossible.

'The General is at least a person of the government. At a high level, he's a person with close ties to the imperial palace. It's practically impossible to secretly raise such a master.'

And the ki he had felt from the General was not that unfamiliar.

A ki sense he had felt at least once somewhere.

Although he was a middle-aged man, a strangely androgynous feeling was also exuded.

If the ki he exuded hadn't been so great, he would have been mistaken for a woman.

Well, he could find out about that gradually.

That was why he had even applied the Thousand-Li Tracking Incense.

Then what was Namgung Hui to do now?

Since he had achieved a small success, should he go down to the 4th floor and retreat?

That wasn't it.

Hadn't he heard earlier that Yewol had given the General an order to leave?

Namgung Hui couldn't miss this opportunity that had come his way.

Namgung Hui, who had returned to the warehouse through the corridor, whispered softly to the courtesan who was staring at him blankly.

"I was rude because I had some important business. If I release your acupuncture points, do you have any intention of not screaming? If you do, blink twice."

The courtesan remained still with her eyes open.

It meant she had no intention of cooperating with Namgung Hui.

Namgung Hui, as if he had expected it, smiled slightly and took out a purse from his bosom.

"Think of this as hush money. Please take the silver."

As expected, when the shiny silver came out, greed appeared in her eyes.

Well, although there were various circumstances for working in a brothel, there was a high probability that most of them were money problems.

That was why the 50 silver coins that Namgung Hui had taken out were enough to arouse greed in her eyes.

But she still did not blink.

It meant it was not enough yet.

Namgung Hui opened his purse again and added another 50 silver coins.

Now. The courtesan's eyes wavered.

"It seems you're still not satisfied."

Stack. Stack. Stack.

As the silver continued to pile up, the courtesan's eyes widened for a moment.

"Now. Are you satisfied with this much?"

A whopping 500 silver coins.

It was a truly huge sum of money.

Of course, it was also money that could be spent all in one night here, but in the first place, the silver earned here did not fall much into the hands of the courtesans.

Most of it went to the hands of the brothel.

And a certain share would be paid to the Martial Alliance as protection money.

She blinked as many as three times.

Two times were not enough, so she blinked one more time.

It meant she had surely fallen for the temptation of the silver.

"Then I will now release your acupuncture points. But. You must not come out of here until an hour has passed. Do you understand?"

Blink. Blink.

This time, she blinked properly twice.

Namgung Hui, thinking he could trust her now, released her acupuncture points.

And he took the cloth that was placed in the corner of the warehouse and stood up.

"Exactly one hour from now. You must not come out even if you have to urinate until then."

"Yes..."

Namgung Hui was about to leave the warehouse, but he stopped for a moment and said a word to her.

"If something dangerous happens later, look for Namgung Hui at the Vermilion Bird Squad of the Martial Alliance."

"Is that your name, young master?"

"Yes. I'm busy, so excuse me."

As Namgung Hui disappeared from the warehouse, the courtesan tilted her head.

He should have hidden his identity, but he had even told her his name and left.

Her question would be answered soon enough, but for now, she could absolutely not know.

* * *

Namgung Hui, after confirming that the scent of the Thousand-Li Tracking Incense had disappeared from the brothel, approached Yewol's room and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

"Lady Yewol. I'm the child who made a mistake earlier. I've brought a cloth to clean, may I come in?"

The tea that Namgung Hui had spilled had dried and left a stain.

Yewol, who had been bothered by the stain anyway, thought it was a good thing.

"Come in. It's a relief that you have some shame."

As Namgung Hui entered Yewol's room again, fortunately, there was no one in the room.

Normally, the more famous a courtesan was, the more escorts she would have, but to even dismiss the escorts like this meant that the meeting with the person called the General had to be extremely secret.

"What are you staring at so blankly? I know I'm beautiful, so don't try to flatter me."

Namgung Hui had been misunderstood, but he didn't care.

Because now he could have a private conversation with her in earnest.

"Hoho! Then, Lady Yewol. Would you mind having a little chat with me?"

Although she felt a sense of unease at Namgung Hui's suddenly changed attitude, by the time Yewol realized it.

"Mmph!"

Her mouth was covered, and her acupuncture points were pressed.

(End of Chapter)