Rebirth of the Thunder God

-Chaeng!

The broken sword blade was stuck on the deck.

And the gazes of the water bandits were all fixed on the place where the pebble had flown from.

"A wench? Is she that Jang Yuhui, the granddaughter of the Hyeongmun Escort Agency's leader?"

"Unfortunately, I'm not the escort agency leader's granddaughter."

"Seeing as your speech is short, as if you weren't taught properly, you must be the precious gem of the Hyeongmun Escort Agency. Well, a wench has to resist like that to have the taste of conquering her. Hahaha!"

"That's right, Fortress Chief. That bitch is so feisty, I wonder if she can be like that under the boat."

Amidst the hearty laughter of the Yuangang Fortress Chief, the Vice-Chief's group, who had brought their boats alongside, were surrounding the Hyeongmun Escort Agency and coming aboard.

As they completely took control of the ship, the Yuangang Fortress Chief drew his flail and continued.

"Right. I was going to end it with an example, but it seems I'll have to show you a proper lesson. Capture the wench alive and kill all the rest!"

""Yes!!""

Twenty water bandits swung various weapons, including iron maces, at the escort agency group, which numbered less than ten.

Unlike ordinary martial artists, the water bandits used weapons that blocked the opponent's weapons.

Iron maces, sickles, flails, crossbows, etc.

Their long range was good for throwing the opponent into the water and inducing a battle on the water.

And the iron mace was also often used for the purpose of breaking the bottom of the ship and sinking it.

Of course, since they needed the escorted goods now, they didn't break the bottom, but it still boasted a powerful attack.

Even without internal energy, the heavy weight was loaded, pushing the escorts back.

Crack!

The sole of an escort's foot, unable to withstand the weight, was embedded in the wooden deck, and his steps were blocked.

Successively, the water bandits' iron maces flew towards the escort's head.

The escort, sensing his death, squeezed his eyes shut.

-Kang!

The iron mace flew away like a pebble hit by a bat.

-Crack!

"Keoheok!"

The place where the iron mace flew was, by chance, the chest of a water bandit.

And it seemed to have crushed his ribs, as he couldn't even breathe, gasping.

A water bandit who had died in a fleeting moment.

Rather, none of the escorts had died, but a water bandit had lost his life first.

"Wench. Your martial arts are more outstanding than I thought. It wasn't for nothing that you were running your mouth. Then, for my amusement, I will face you myself."

The Yuangang Fortress Chief swung his flail and walked forward.

When he was pretending to be a merchant, he hadn't exuded such a sense of pressure, but from him, who was holding the flail, the scent of a master was definitely wafting out.

"Young lady! The Yuangang Fortress Chief is a rare master even in the Janggang Waterway Fortress. He is a person who is at least in the middle ranks of the hundred great masters of the unorthodox path."

"Oho? So that level is the middle ranks. I understand."

Namgung Hui also stood facing the Yuangang Fortress Chief with his sword drawn.

At once, a gentle breeze blew and passed between Namgung Hui and the Yuangang Fortress Chief.

Amidst the heightened atmosphere, the Yuangang Fortress Chief struck the floor with his flail and said.

"I don't go easy on women. That's the same on the boat or under my boat. Haha! Then, let's see the skills of a talent of the younger generation of the orthodox path."

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

He swung the flail, which looked like a threshing tool, through the air and rushed towards Namgung Hui.

He had just swung his weapon, but the ship shook from the strong wind.

-Swoooosh!

With such an intense piercing sound, the head of the flail fell as if to split Namgung Hui's head.

-Ting!!

However, Namgung Hui easily deflected the flail and flowed into the Yuangang Fortress Chief's embrace like water.

A series of natural movements.

It didn't look incredibly fast, but Namgung Hui was swinging his sword right in front of the Fortress Chief's nose in an instant.

-Spurt!

The arm holding the flail flew off, scattering blood on the deck.

A blood flower that spread like a rose.

Soon, a scream from the Yuangang Fortress Chief followed with a fishy smell.

"Kraaack! You son of a bitch! You cut off my arm...!"

"You seem to have the energy to talk even with your arm gone. Usually, it's normal to grasp the situation by now."

Perhaps because he was consumed by anger, the Yuangang Fortress Chief picked up the flail that had fallen on the floor with his other hand and swung it again.

It was amazing that his fighting spirit was not broken.

-Slice!

But it was foolish not to recognize his opponent.

In the end, the Yuangang Fortress Chief's neck was cut off with his eyes wide open.

Slowly, his torso fell backward.

-Splash!

He fell into the river with his severed head.

Only the flail was left alone on the deck, looking for its lost master.

The blood-stained flail rolled lonely and then stopped at the Vice-Chief's feet.

"Th-The Fortress Chief died in just two clashes? Impossible...!"

"You can't believe it even after seeing it? Then I'll send you to the Fortress Chief. Ask him yourself if he's dead or alive."

The moment Namgung Hui finished speaking and was about to swing his sword at the Vice-Chief.

-Splash!

The Vice-Chief threw himself into the river and began to swim.

Then, when he was some distance from the ship, he shouted out.

"Everyone, run! The wench is a master beyond imagination!"

As the Vice-Chief's words ended.

-Splash. Splash. Splash.

The water bandits all threw themselves into the river in unison.

A series of movements carried out like a knife, without a moment's hesitation.

As if they had been trained in advance, they swam skillfully and quickly moved away from the ship.

Escort Leader Bang, who had been watching the suddenly unfolding situation in a daze, quickly shouted to Namgung Hui.

"If we let them go like this, they will surely come back for revenge! It's better to take care of them all here...!"

Although Escort Leader Bang had said it himself, the water bandits were already quite a distance away.

Even at this moment, they were swimming and increasing the distance, and it wasn't like they had a bow right now, and even if they did, it wasn't a distance they could hit by shooting.

The escorts also made a somewhat bittersweet expression and patted Escort Leader Bang's shoulder as if there was nothing they could do.

"Escort Leader. The distance has already widened this much because of the current. Unless this merchant ship can go upstream like a salmon, it seems difficult to chase them. Let's just give up..."

The moment Escort Oh was about to say something more.

Suddenly, Namgung Hui jumped from the ship into the river and calmly landed on the surface of the water.

This was a skill that surpassed simply running on water from flat ground.

Walking on duckweed to cross water.

Crossing the river on a single reed.

Both were lightness skills that involved stepping on something like duckweed or a reed to run on water.

However, Namgung Hui had not stepped on anything, and he had fallen from a high place and stood his body on the surface of the water.

A technique made possible by using the Art of Riding the Ki to make his body as light as possible.

Of course, since he had to release his Ki at the right time to reduce his body weight.

This not only required a very high understanding of one's own body, but also the ability to control even the most minute movements of Ki.

Namgung Hui did not stand still after standing his body on the surface of the water.

He immediately ran across the river with Water-Walking and rushed towards the fleeing water bandits.

Seeing Namgung Hui running towards them, the water bandits rather strengthened their fighting spirit.

"Haha! Does this bitch think that just because she had the upper hand on the boat, it will work in the water too? Good! All Yuangang Fortress, dive!"

-Splash! Splash! Splash!

They all plunged their heads down and hid their bodies in the water.

Namgung Hui immediately sent his sword Ki at the water bandits who had sunk into the water.

-Chop! Chop! Chop!

Despite being imbued with a considerable amount of internal energy, the sword Ki could not overcome the resistance of the water and simply disappeared in the water.

Only innocent fish died and floated to the surface.

The water bandits, truly like fish in water, swam through the water and even launched a counterattack against Namgung Hui.

-Swish! Swish! Swish!

And not only from various paths, but they also threw pebbles and even fish, unfolding their tricks without holding back.

It felt like a flurry of feints and real attacks, whether it was a fish jumping or a hidden weapon flying.

Still, all he had to do was strike them all down.

Unlike the water bandits whose breathing was limited in the water, Namgung Hui had a comparative advantage.

Of course, standing on the water consumed a lot of internal energy.

Because he had to continuously send internal energy to the Yongcheon points (soles of his feet) to offset the sinking into the water.

Perhaps what the water bandits were aiming for was to disrupt the flow of his Ki and drag Namgung Hui into the water.

Namgung Hui was not unconfident in underwater combat, but he declined to enter the water in a disguised state.

If so, he needed to break this stalemate.

Namgung Hui raised his sword high above his head.

For a moment, he had the illusion that the sky was splitting open, but the sky still maintained its clear state.

A blue light swirled from the raised sword.

-Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

As a haze shimmered and a tangible energy rose from the sword, Namgung Hui swung it straight towards the surface of the water.

Azure Sky Peerless Sword Art. Ultimate Technique. Heaven Severing.

Instead of the sky splitting, the wide surface of the water split to the left and right, and for a moment, the bottom was clearly revealed.

The fish, surprised, flopped their bodies on the riverbed.

And it was the same for the water bandits who were swimming underwater.

Namgung Hui, making eye contact with those water bandits, this time extended his left hand.

Explosive Thunder Palm. Ultimate Technique. Heavenly Explosion.

This time, as if delivering heavenly punishment from the split sky, a blue flash of light struck the riverbed with an intense explosion.

-KABOOOM!!

The wrath of the heavens tore the water bandits to shreds.

The waves shook up and down, filling the empty riverbed again.

On the vigorously surging river, a reddish sunset glow was cast, despite it being broad daylight.

The dimly rising remains of the water bandits were soon swept away by the current and disappeared.

"..."

"Gulp..."

Was it because they had seen a sunset in broad daylight?

Although their reactions were subtly different, their eyes were clearly filled with astonishment.

Especially in the eyes of Escort Leader Bang, who had hired Namgung Hui, the astonishment gradually disappeared, and a sense of pride and, at the same time, a strong desire took its place.

'That person is a true master! She must be a supreme master, of which there are few in the martial world. What she performed at the end was indeed Sword Ki.'

Was that all?

Even now, her lightness skill of gracefully walking on the river was such that it would not be an exaggeration to call her a master of lightness skills.

The palm technique that had annihilated the enemies in one move was also amazing.

And the sword momentum that seemed to split the heavens was also not of this world.

Eye-opening.

It was the moment he realized that there was another sky beyond the sky.

As Namgung Hui lightly landed on the merchant ship, the sobered Escort Leader Bang hurriedly came to meet him.

"Benefactor. You've worked hard. I am sorry that we were not of much help. Are you hurt anywhere?"

Namgung Hui couldn't bring himself to say that they had been helpful by just standing still.

Still, it was a great relief that no one was hurt and no one was taken hostage.

Well, even if they had been taken hostage, Namgung Hui would have saved them.

"I'm fine. The water bandits' skills were surprisingly poor. Are those all the water bandits of the Yuangang Fortress?"

"Hmm... There will be a few water bandits left guarding the waterway fortress. Still, since the Fortress Chief and the Vice-Chief are dead, it's as good as annihilated. Probably, when the news gets out, the remaining riffraff will take the valuables and flee."

"Then that's a relief. The water bandits won't be active for a while."

"Haha. This is all thanks to you, benefactor. Oh! The other side of the river is slowly coming into view. It seems we can dock at that pier over there. I'll go and moor the boat."

"Yes."

Fortunately, Escort Leader Bang knew how to steer a boat, and with his pretty good skills, he was able to safely dock the boat at the pier.

Escort Leader Bang jumped onto the pier and tied the boat tightly to the dock with a rope.

"Escort Jang! Now, let's unload the carriage!"

As they were about to take the carriage off the boat, Namgung Hui stopped Escort Jang and opened his mouth.

"I think we'll have to postpone getting off the boat for now. An uninvited guest has arrived over there."

As Namgung Hui said, a group of more than dozens of people surrounding the pier revealed themselves one by one from behind the trees.

And they were all vicious-looking men.

(End of Chapter)