Rebirth of the Thunder God

Namgung Hui, as soon as he confirmed the Second General's appearance, quickly hid in the alley wall and watched him.

Since he had even used the Blood Severing Art to hide his presence, it seemed unlikely that the Second General would detect him.

'Even if his achievement is fast. That guy is still in the Hwagyeong realm. Unless he reaches the Profound Realm, it will be impossible for him to see through my concealment technique.'

Still, just in case, he even set up a formation that would blur his presence.

And then he unfolded his electric net and quietly eavesdropped on the Second General's conversation.

"Lord Wei. Are we moving on to the next task now?"

The subordinate who had asked the question was also familiar.

He seemed to be the man he had encountered at the Golden Merchant Guild before.

The sight of him holding a spear was the same as then, so he couldn't forget it.

"Since the matter of the Hebei Paeng family is over, it shouldn't matter if we move on to the next stage. My brother also instructed me to do so. By the way, Captain Yang. How is the situation with the Blood Cult?"

"According to the information this subordinate has received, it is believed that they will be busy for the time being."

"Hmm... Good. The timing is also appropriate, so I'll start the next task right away. Captain Yang, you should maintain the interior in the meantime."

"Yes! Have a safe trip. Lord."

The Second General lightly patted the shoulder of the man called Captain Yang, then kicked off the ground and disappeared in an instant.

As far as Namgung Hui knew, the use of martial arts, including lightness skills, was prohibited near the Imperial Palace.

Nevertheless, the fact that he performed martial arts like that made him realize the extent of the Second General's authority in the Imperial Palace.

'It must mean he's at a level where he's not even afraid of the emperor. As expected, the Imperial Heaven has taken control of the Imperial Palace.'

If so, there was a high probability that the current emperor was a puppet.

In the first place, if the emperor did not learn martial arts, it would not be strange no matter how he was tamed.

But, the Imperial Palace also had its own forces to protect it.

There was the Jinyiwei, the highest institution of the Imperial Palace in name and reality.

And there was also the emperor's secret royal guard, whose name was not even known.

How did he know that?

'There was a record carefully mentioned in the first Cult Leader's diary. The reason the first Cult Leader did not act rashly even though he had learned the Heavenly Demon Divine Art was because of those secret masters.'

Of course, if they had fought one-on-one, the first Heavenly Demon would have definitely won.

But they were a group, and their individual martial prowess was all similar.

Since there were about five such people, no matter how strong the first Heavenly Demon was said to be since ancient times, there was no business in numbers.

Namgung Hui, as the man called Captain Yang also disappeared into the Imperial Palace, stood in the alley for a while and was lost in thought.

'The security of the Imperial Palace is tight, as expected. Not only formations, but there's also an aura that seems to be a spell.'

Even if there were only formations, extremely difficult formulas and death gates were intricately intertwined.

On top of that, since there were even spells that Namgung Hui was not yet skilled in, it seemed impossible to cross the wall.

It was truly difficult and frustrating.

To not even be able to cross a wall after becoming a master of the Hwagyeong realm.

'Tch. I'll definitely learn about spells later, even if it's out of frustration. Then, anyway, I have to go through the main gate...'

Namgung Hui carefully watched the people passing through the gate.

They all showed something to the soldiers guarding the gate and entered.

Silver coins? Would such a bribe work?

They were just things that looked like identification tags, but their forms were all different.

But the common point was that the handwriting on the identification tags was all beautiful.

It seemed that officially issued identification tags had a different appearance.

And so, around midnight, a familiar plaque appeared in Namgung Hui's eyes.

[會 (Association)]

It looked exactly like the plaque of the Hoicheon Association that Namgung Hui possessed.

He had been secretly worried that the identification plaques of the Hoicheon Association might have different forms, but as if by coincidence, the jade plaque of the person passing by now also matched Namgung Hui's.

'Alright. Then I'll also enter with the plaque of the Hoicheon Association.'

Namgung Hui disguised himself as a scholar and carefully approached the gate.

His fidgety appearance looked exactly like a country bumpkin who had come up from the countryside.

The gate soldier sighed deeply and opened his mouth.

"Hey. Scholar. If you have business, come forward quickly, and if not, it would be beneficial to step back. Don't get on the bad side of the higher-ups by blocking the way and get your work done quickly."

Namgung Hui approached hesitantly and opened his mouth.

"Is it alright to enter the palace now...?"

"It's allowed until before midnight, so if your identity is confirmed, there's no reason we can't let you in. Do you have an identification tag to confirm your identity?"

Namgung Hui looked around and carefully took out the jade plaque of the Hoicheon Association.

"!? There are a lot of people from the Association today. Go in."

He passed safely without much procedure.

In the case of other identification plaques, they all left a record of the purpose of their visit and their personal information, but the visitors of the Hoicheon Association did not leave any trace at all.

Rather, this secret part of the Hoicheon Association worked in Namgung Hui's favor.

'A bloodless entry. Not a bad start.'

But, there was a slightly uneasy part.

Could it be that the First General had not anticipated this?

That would definitely not be the case.

If so, did he really want Namgung Hui to join the Hoicheon Association?

Or was it that he had made full preparations even if he entered the Imperial Palace?

Or perhaps he was confident that Namgung Hui would never get a satisfactory harvest even if he entered the Imperial Palace.

'The assassination of the emperor. I have no intention of doing it, and the royal guards protecting him are obviously extremely skilled masters. And I'm not a guy who would take a hostage. The only place to aim for is the secret repository.'

Then he didn't know what might be installed in the Imperial Palace's secret repository, so Namgung Hui tightened the reins of his tension and moved his steps.

Fortunately, since it was approaching midnight, there were few people in the Imperial Palace.

Although there were officials who met Namgung Hui's gaze from time to time, they did not pay much attention to Namgung Hui's clumsy appearance.

And so, Namgung Hui, recalling the map in his head, reached the location of the secret repository.

'Let's see. According to the map that Dam Gihae gave me, the area of the secret repository starts from here. Right. That's the pavilion.'

Because it was so huge, it took longer to find the secret repository.

The pavilion in front of him did not look like a simple secret repository, but a palace where the emperor might live.

That was why he had wondered if such a building was just a secret repository for storing things.

Just by taking off the gold applied on the outside and selling it, it seemed it would be more valuable than a decent treasure warehouse.

The fact that the place where treasures were stored was built of gold seemed a bit ridiculous.

But the secret repository decorated with gold was not sloppy.

As Namgung Hui had been concerned, all sorts of formations and mechanisms were scattered all over the place.

If so, it meant that he had to open the door and enter with his own ability.

In that process, if he touched a formation or mechanism incorrectly, the existence of the intruder would be revealed.

Namgung Hui quietly hid behind the secret repository, then raised his head and scanned the secret repository from the high ceiling to the floor.

There was no way there would be a gap.

As expected, it seemed he had to dismantle the formations and mechanisms and enter.

Namgung Hui, as if he had no choice, took out his hidden card from the beginning.

-Chichi. Wake up. It's your turn now.

-Haam... Alright. What should I do?

-First, find a way to get in there.

-Easy.

Chichi jumped out of Namgung Hui's robes and immediately ran somewhere.

But the more Chichi ran, the farther he got from the secret repository, which was very strange.

Namgung Hui, with a puzzled look, followed Chichi and asked telepathically.

-Where are you going? You're getting farther and farther from the secret repository.

-Where else? The secret passage. We're almost there. You can go in from down here.

The direction Chichi pointed to was a ditch from which a terrible stench was coming.

Due to the strict external access of the Imperial Palace, when filth accumulated, it had to be discharged outside, so there was a sewer connected to the latrine like this.

But this place was quite narrow, as only filth passed through.

Of course, since there was a stone worker who maintained this, one person could pass through enough.

'If I pass through here, my whole body will be soaked in the smell.'

Then it would be a problem even if he entered the secret repository safely.

Because of the stench coming from Namgung Hui's body, he would be discovered quickly.

As if he had read such a Namgung Hui's thoughts, Chichi sent a telepathic message.

-You have the snake skin you got before, right? If you wrap that around your body, the smell will never stick.

Come to think of it, the White Snake's skin was not only waterproof but also impervious to any contamination.

Since the snake's scales were also perfect for passing through such a narrow passage, it seemed it would not be impossible to pass through if he wore the skin.

Since he had the White Snake's skin that he had packed as a substitute for a bag, Namgung Hui entered the sewer with the White Snake's skin covering him from head to toe.

The stench was terrible.

But since he knew how to block his five senses, he blocked his sense of smell and moved forward.

Chichi, with his nimble movements, avoided the filth and guided Namgung Hui.

And after crawling for so long.

Chichi pointed up at a certain passage and said.

-Here. If you go up, the secret repository from before will come out.

Namgung Hui nodded and, like a caterpillar, bounced his body and shot up.

-Tududuk!

The filth that had been on the White Snake's skin splattered in all directions, and Namgung Hui's head popped out to the ground.

Fortunately, there was no one in the secret repository.

Although there was a keeper who looked like a scholar at the main gate, he seemed to have no interest in the inside of the secret repository.

In the first place, since he didn't know martial arts, there was no way he could read Namgung Hui's presence.

But the inside of the secret repository was not completely defenseless.

Traces of formations and mechanisms were visible everywhere.

Only in the passage where Namgung Hui was standing, there were no such traces of formations.

It meant that Chichi had really found a needle hole.

-Well done. Chichi.

-Don't mention it. You know what to do without me saying it, right?

-Alright. I'll give you a hefty settlement soon.

And Namgung Hui, looking at the dew dripping from the ceiling, realized why there were no formations only in the area where he was standing.

Ttok. Ttok. Ttok.

Namgung Hui avoided the dew dripping into the passage and looked at the strange device installed in the secret repository.

'It's a device to prevent moisture from accumulating in the secret repository. I don't know who made it, but it's very amazing.'

Due to the nature of such a warehouse, if moisture accumulated, it would cause a stench and the items would be damaged.

Books made of paper would be stained or rot.

And metal equipment, including swords, would rust.

Besides that, if moisture accumulated in such a warehouse, various germs would also breed and the items would be damaged.

The pipes hanging from the ceiling and the devices attached around them seemed to gather the moisture in the secret repository in one place and drop it here.

Indeed, a device created by the outstanding scholars of the Imperial Palace.

Among them, there must be people from the Jegal family.

'This is why Cheongi-ja and the First General are acquainted.'

Since Namgung Hui had a lot to do, he averted his gaze from the ceiling and looked around the inside of the secret repository.

As he had seen from the outside, the interior was certainly spacious.

It was also built up to the fourth floor, so it seemed that different items were stored on each floor.

What was stored on the first floor seemed to be heavy equipment that was difficult to store on the upper floors.

Various weapons and protective gear were hanging on the walls.

The floor was littered with large boxes, so it was difficult to guess what was inside unless he opened them.

If so, he could just open the boxes, but Namgung Hui did not touch the boxes or the weapons hanging on the wall at all.

The reason was.

'A formation is installed in a certain radius...!'

Fortunately, there were no traces of spells.

Perhaps because spells were dispelled when the caster died or was fatally injured, it was difficult to maintain them permanently.

But the formations were not just easy.

As if to protect the treasures alone in place of spells, a considerable number of high-level formations were in place.

Namgung Hui stood blankly, as if looking at a picture of a rice cake, but the corners of his mouth curled up.

'Then shall I proceed with the dismantling work for a change?'

(End of Chapter)