Rebirth of the Thunder God

Beolgeok.

Although Namgung Hui threw open the door, there was no luggage in Beak Seolhwa's room.

It was extremely clean, as if no one had stayed there from the beginning.

Then, Namgung Hui suddenly realized that Beak Seolhwa had not yet entered this room.

'Ah. That's right. She didn't stop by the room because she was following me.'

Namgung Hui, guessing where Beak Seolhwa might have gone, turned around, and Seong Sohui cautiously approached and spoke to him.

"Are you perhaps looking for Miss Seol?"

"Did you see her?"

"Yes. She was at the waterfall below the valley over there."

"Thank you so much."

Namgung Hui quickly performed a movement technique in the direction Seong Sohui pointed.

He ran frantically, without even knowing what kind of gaze Seong Sohui was giving his back.

And so, at the bottom of the waterfall he arrived at, Beak Seolhwa was standing blankly.

Namgung Hui stopped his body and cautiously approached her.

Jeobeok. Jeobeok. Jeobeok.

Perhaps because the sound of his footsteps was buried by the sound of the waterfall.

Beak Seolhwa did not recognize his presence until Namgung Hui was right in front of her.

"Beak Seolhwa."

Umjjil.

At Namgung Hui's call, Beak Seolhwa's shoulders trembled as if she were surprised.

And as she slowly turned around, her face was as dark as the shadow cast in the valley.

Namgung Hui stared at her face and opened his mouth.

"I'll ask you straight. You were about to touch me just now. Were you trying to make me fall into qi deviation?"

"..."

As Beak Seolhwa still remained silent, Namgung Hui pressed her.

"Say something, even if it's an excuse."

"I wasn't trying to make you fall into qi deviation."

"Then why did you bring your hand to my face? Even a third-rate martial artist would know that moment is dangerous."

"I was just trying to touch your cheek."

"...Why?"

Namgung Hui still didn't understand, so he couldn't help but tilt his head.

"Because I was sorry."

"What were you sorry about?"

"I was sorry for pinching your cheek too hard."

"...?"

Namgung Hui, who had been puzzled, recalled that his cheek was still stinging and understood her words.

So, she was sorry for pinching his cheek a little too hard, and was trying to stroke his face.

He understood, but on the other hand, he still didn't understand.

Why did she have to do it at such a dangerous moment?

"Really? But why did you do it when I was circulating my energy? It wouldn't have mattered if you did it after I was done."

"I don't know. I just brought it as if I were possessed."

"As if you were possessed?"

Beonjjeok.

A sense of déjà vu came to Namgung Hui's mind.

A scene and a feeling he had seen somewhere before.

On the contrary, when Beak Seolhwa was closing her eyes quietly, hadn't he himself had such a thought?

He recalled the time when he had thought she looked like a real fairy as she was standing still like this, and had examined her face feature by feature.

Just as a Daoist gains enlightenment, he now fully understood the situation.

Namgung Hui, having finished his understanding, blushed slightly and scratched his cheek.

"I made a needless misunderstanding."

"I'm glad the misunderstanding is cleared up."

"Why the long face for someone who's glad? Don't tell me you cried?"

Looking closely at her face, her eyes were moist.

At first, he thought it was dew from the waterfall, but it wasn't.

Because the rest of her skin was extremely dry.

Perhaps because of Namgung Hui's pointing it out, Beak Seolhwa turned her body away with a huff.

"Why would I cry? If you're going to say useless things, just go away."

Namgung Hui, not knowing that the always strong-looking Beak Seolhwa would even show tears, was quite flustered inside.

And on the other hand, he was sorry for misunderstanding her and for this situation to have come to this.

Of course, the cause of the current situation was her identity, but anyway, he had decided to think of her as a friend for now, and had suspected her first.

And that was when she had only been trying to stroke his face out of goodwill.

Namgung Hui was suddenly reminded of the contents of the 'One Hundred Love Letters' that Jegal Geon had given him before.

When speaking from the heart, hold her hand.

And when a woman cries, hug her.

He was inwardly embarrassed, but hadn't he done even more than this in his past life?

On top of that, since Beak Seolhwa had also extended her hand to caress his face, he thought it was Namgung Hui's turn this time.

Gulp.

Namgung Hui swallowed dryly and cautiously approached Beak Seolhwa from behind.

Even though Namgung Hui was right behind her, she was still turned away.

How defenseless.

To the point where he could kill her if he took out a knife and stabbed her right away.

Originally, one only showed their back to someone they could trust.

Namgung Hui, as if he had read Beak Seolhwa's heart, extended both hands towards her with a determined expression.

The two extended hands soon became one.

And the part where the hands were joined was placed on Beak Seolhwa's dantian.

Umjjilumjjil.

Beak Seolhwa's body trembled as if she were surprised, but there was no particular resistance.

No. Rather than resistance, a strong palpitation was felt from her middle dantian.

As if Namgung Hui had also been infected, his heart also raced fiercely.

"I'm sorry too, Seolhwa."

"...What are you sorry about?"

"Just. For not being able to trust you?"

"I never asked you to trust me. And I can't even trust myself."

Beak Seolhwa was sincere.

It was still unknown where her heart would flow.

Since she was heading to the Blood Cult to confirm that, Namgung Hui's concern was also fully understandable.

However, what she could be sure of was that she was currently Beak Seolhwa, not Sosu Mahu.

Of course, in the current Beak Seolhwa, the ego of Sosu Mahu was also large.

But as she gradually gained experience and even emotions, the ego of that Sosu Mahu faded.

To confirm the identity of this ego, she needed to go to the Blood Cult and have a showdown.

Unlike Namgung Hui, who had been reincarnated in the family of his sworn brother, her faction had even changed, and she hadn't been bedridden for 10 years like Namgung Hui.

The two egos were bound to be in conflict.

Rather, Beak Seolhwa needed a 'Consensus Heart Method,' not a 'Two-Forms Heart Method.'

Beak Seolhwa released Namgung Hui's hand that was hugging her and turned around.

Her red eyes had returned to normal.

This time, she opened her mouth with a flushed face.

"I'll really tell you everything after this Blood Cult business is over. I think my mind will be firmly made up by then. You can wait, right? Hui."

"Of course. I'll wait for a thousand years, ten thousand years. So you have to tell me for sure."

"Okay."

They stared at each other and smiled shyly.

In the midst of an awkward silence.

Only the sound of the waterfall falling echoed in the valley.

And that silence was soon broken by someone.

"What are you two doing? It's time to eat."

Muchi had come to inform them that it was already evening.

Beak Seolhwa and Namgung Hui, having finished their business, followed Muchi's call and moved their steps to the inn.

Below the waterfall where the two had left, the breaking water droplets scattered in the empty air, and a particularly red sunset seeped through them.

The sight was as if blood droplets were being scattered, as if to foreshadow what was to come.

* * *

After finishing dinner, they each returned to their rooms.

Since they hadn't had a proper rest since they had set out on their journey, Namgung Hui also decided to go to bed early today.

And since his mind had been complicated all day and he had created many new martial arts, he also took the time to check them.

'The Heavenly Thunder Emperor Divine Art, the Flash Lightning Thirteen Thunders. I should leave these to the Namgung family, not the Thunder Sect.'

Of course, if one didn't have a talent for thunder ki, it would be difficult to learn them easily, but if talent allowed, there was no reason why a member of the Namgung family couldn't learn them.

He suddenly thought that his niece, Namgung Yeonji, might be able to do it, so he decided to try teaching her when he had the chance.

Finally, Namgung Hui, with the Two-Forms Heart Method he had secretly learned, performed a dagger with one hand and a palm technique with the other, checking if the movements were perfect.

Fortunately, the Two-Forms Heart Method worked normally, and there were no problems.

He retrieved the dagger that had been swimming in the empty air and smiled with satisfaction.

-Toktoktok.

As soon as Namgung Hui put the dagger in his robes, someone knocked on the door.

Judging by the footsteps, it was not one of Namgung Hui's party.

"Who is it?"

"It's the owner of the inn."

Knowing that the owner of the inn was a person from the Pungun Merchant Guild, he immediately opened the door.

"Come in."

"Excuse me for a moment."

The inn owner who entered the room spoke perfect Cantonese.

At the sight of such an inn owner, Namgung Hui thought that the infiltration of the Blood Cult had not happened suddenly, but had been prepared step by step from before.

"What brings you here at this hour?"

"I came at the risk of being rude because I have a letter and a message to deliver."

"Well, it's not a rudeness. May I see the letter now?"

"Here it is."

Namgung Hui, as soon as he saw the appearance of the letter, figured out who had sent it in one go.

The quality of the luxurious paper.

Even just the visible handwriting was extremely elegant.

'Cheongi-ja sent it.'

Namgung Hui, quite curious about what was written, immediately opened the letter and read it.

[How have you been? You have so many titles now, I'm at a loss as to what to call you. Hidden Dragon, Jade Qilin, Thunder Sect Leader, and even the title of Heavenly Phoenix that you recently got. It's a passage that shows how busy you are, running around here and there. I'm sorry to you who are so busy, but I have a favor to ask.]

Namgung Hui didn't mind the other titles, but he couldn't help but tilt his head at the word 'Heavenly Phoenix.'

'If it's Heavenly Phoenix, isn't that a title given to a woman? Don't tell me it's a title attached to my current appearance?'

A while ago, he had shown off his martial prowess in front of the Wudang Sect's ancient sword masters and the Shaolin Temple's arhats.

Since he had faced the Heretic Alliance Lord, a master of the Transformation realm, they must have judged that he was more than worthy of being included in the Seven Dragons and Five Phoenixes.

Since the Sword Dragon and the Divine Dragon were martial artists who vied for the top spot among the Seven Dragons of this generation.

It was not strange for such a rumor to circulate.

However, it was only a day since he had parted with them, and it was quite surprising that Cheongi-ja had grasped this information so quickly.

[The favor I have to ask is for you to meet someone at the Blood Cult you are about to enter and receive a mission from him. The name of the person you have to meet is a man named 'Gwon Cheong.' He will tell you what you have to do.]

He was subtly changing the word from a favor to a mission.

Should I say it felt like it had changed from an option to a requirement?

Since it was something Namgung Hui had also promised the Young Guild Leader of the Pungun Merchant Guild, he passed it over without much thought.

After that, trivial stories were written.

The man named Gwon Cheong was also Cheongi-ja's person, and the detailed mission could be heard when he met him.

And there was also one interesting piece of news written. It was said that the Golden Merchant Guild Leader had risen from his sickbed and had appointed Hwang Sujin as the Young Guild Leader.

It seemed that since his son, the Young Guild Leader, was in a critical condition due to poisoning, he had appointed Hwang Sujin as the Young Guild Leader.

She also seemed to have changed her attitude, perhaps because of a change of heart while being with Namgung Hui.

As long as the Golden Merchant Guild distanced itself from the Hoicheon Association, it was a good thing, so he thought it was good news.

Namgung Hui, having finished reading, folded the letter and put it in his robes.

Then, as if he had been waiting, the inn owner spoke.

"Then I will now deliver the message. To be precise, I received an order to check the Young Master's Cantonese."

Seeing that he called him 'Young Master,' it seemed he even knew the fact that Namgung Hui was in disguise.

Since he was Cheongi-ja's person, it would be strange if he didn't know, so he nodded and said.

"How is my Cantonese?"

As he spoke in an unfamiliar tone, it was so awkward that it felt like thorns were growing in his mouth.

"Oh. It's more plausible than I thought. However, when you say 'ah' and 'ga,' it would be less incongruous if you raise the tone more."

After that, he heard some minor corrections and advice and then left.

Namgung Hui, who was alone again, felt the need to tell this to Beak Seolhwa as well and was about to go to her room, but then he discovered the letters he had not yet read.

One was a letter that the First Senior Brother of the Hao Faction had given him as a gift before they parted.

The other was a work report sent by Cheon Yeohwa, which he had been too busy to read.

For now, since he had been concentrating on the martial arts tournament and his martial arts, he hadn't bothered to read them.

Now that the martial arts tournament was over.

And since his martial arts were also somewhat organized, he decided to read the letters this time.

'Let's read what the First Senior Brother gave me first.'

He was looking forward to what kind of great letter the person called the First Senior Brother had given him, to even call it a gift.

If the expectation was great, the disappointment would also be great, but if that disappointment piled up, it would be the First Senior Brother who would suffer the loss.

Because Namgung Hui would not cooperate with him as much as he was disappointed.

Namgung Hui, full of anticipation, opened the letter and read it.

And as if not to betray his expectations, quite an interesting content was written.