Rebirth of the Thunder God

"It's a matter of the Blood Cult."

As Cheon Yeohwa whispered softly, Beak Seolhwa, who was listening next to her, snorted and said.

"I can hear everything."

"Oh my. It was a word that shouldn't have been heard by you, but your ears are sharp."

As the two made eye contact, a flash of light sparked as if Namgung Hui had raised his Thunder Ki.

Namgung Hui, at such a sight, shook his head and added.

"Yeohwa. Seolhwa here is the vice-leader of the Righteous Heaven Alliance. You are the general manager. It would be good to get along from now on."

"This person is the vice-leader?"

"And I don't know if you know, but she is currently the young palace lord of the Moon Maiden Palace. Since she is scheduled to ascend to the position of palace lord soon, it would be good to be on her good side."

"...Alright."

Cheon Yeohwa, whose complexion was somewhat unwell.

Namgung Hui, in order to soothe the disheartened Cheon Yeohwa's heart, held out a small bamboo tube from his bosom and said.

"Yeohwa. And this is a present."

At the word 'present', her eyes sparkled again.

Soon, she looked at the unidentified bamboo tube and tilted her head.

"What is this?"

"It's an item called a Burning Pain Needle, a kind of self-defense tool. If you press this, a needle is fired, and if you're hit, it's accompanied by a tremendous pain as if you're engulfed in a burning pain. Since you'll be in charge of the general manager's position, you should have such a self-defense tool, right? It's hard to get, so don't lose it."

As Namgung Hui finished his explanation, Cheon Yeohwa's expression relaxed a little.

She smiled bashfully, holding the bamboo tube in her arms.

"Thank you. Older brother. I'll use this as if it were a spare life."

"Don't cherish it that much. Although it's best if there's no need to use it, if you do use it, I'll get you a new one. Or I might be able to develop something better, so don't hesitate to use it when the time comes."

If it were up to him, he would have wanted to provide something like the protective clothing he had given to Beak Seolhwa.

But if such a situation were to arise, Cheon Yeohwa, who did not know martial arts, would be helplessly captured.

He judged that it would be better for her to borrow the power of a hidden weapon or a mechanism.

‘It would be better to hire a bodyguard. But there's no one I can trust.’

Although he had secretly hoped that Muchi would come, as Namgung Hui had expected, Muchi had stayed behind to protect Bukgung Jin-u.

Still, since he had sent Muchi's wife and daughter, he was thinking that he might also come to the Namgung family estate in the future.

"Then shall we take a look at the letter from the Pungun Merchant Guild?"

Namgung Hui read the letter that Cheon Yeohwa had handed him.

The content was simple.

It was about starting a deal with the Poison Demon and delivering the requested goods to the Blood Cult's side.

Of course, it was said that what Namgung Hui had ordered was also carried out.

‘Alright. This is smooth sailing.’

"Yeohwa. I'm about to discuss the details of the Righteous Heaven Alliance. Call your older brother. I have something to discuss with him."

"Yes. I'll bring him right away. Please wait a moment."

Cheon Yeohwa, who placed the documents she had been looking at neatly on the desk, disappeared with light steps.

As she left the office, Beak Seolhwa poked Namgung Hui's side and asked.

"Is she the younger sister of the Mad Dragon you brought from the black market?"

"Uh. As befits someone from a merchant family, she's smart. Just looking at how she handles work now, her skills are extraordinary. Shall we take a look at how much work she's handled on this occasion?"

Namgung Hui stealthily looked at the pile of documents.

There were quite a few things that he hadn't ordered, and most of them were merchant guild tasks that managed funds.

‘Starting with stockpiling food, she's also bought quite a lot of weapons. If anyone saw it, they would think she was preparing for war.’

But she had made a lot of detours here and there to make it difficult to notice.

Sometimes she even borrowed the names of neighboring merchant guilds, to the extent that it was difficult to see that the Namgung family had purchased all of this.

Since the Golden Merchant Guild and the Ten Thousand Gold Merchant Guild had lent their names at the same time, it would be difficult to guess even for the Hoicheon Association.

A moment later, the Mad Dragon and Cheon Yeohwa returned to the office together.

The Mad Dragon, with a triumphant expression, straightened his shoulders and said.

"Do you need me?"

‘Is he trying to put on a brave face in front of his younger sister? Then I'll have to do as he wishes.’

"Yes. It's a job that you absolutely need. It's a job that no one but you can help with."

"Ahem. What is it? I'll listen first."

Although Cheon Yeohwa squinted her eyes as if she didn't like her older brother's attitude, the Mad Dragon didn't care and maintained his posture.

Although Namgung Hui felt like a laugh was about to escape at such a sight, he continued with a serious expression.

Because it was a really important story.

"Seolhwa and I are planning to infiltrate the Hoicheon Association. Seolhwa is thinking of the Northern Heaven, and I'm thinking of meeting the emperor."

"You really only choose dangerous things to do. You both might not come out alive."

"Well, as you said, if there's a great master hiding in the Imperial Palace, that could be so. So you'll have to tell me all the information you know."

"Alright. Now that the prohibition has been lifted, there's nothing I can't say."

Hadn't the parasite called Gu Poison in the Mad Dragon's head been removed by the Demonic Physician?

Since he was even dreaming of revenge against the Hoicheon Association, he would squeeze out even the things he didn't remember and tell him.

The Mad Dragon, searching his memory as much as possible, confessed everything from the geography of the Imperial Palace to the internal relationship diagram of the Hoicheon Association.

Cheon Yeohwa even drew a diagram and recorded every detail of the Hoicheon Association.

And when the Mad Dragon's long story ended, a picture like an ant's nest was placed on the desk.

"It's a truly complicated organization."

"My memory is all over the place, so there might be some wrong parts. And since the structure of the organization also changes frequently, it might be very different from now."

"If they find out that you've turned, they would deliberately change it even if it hadn't changed. I'll have to assume that things like passwords won't work at all."

"Yes. Since the General is not a clumsy guy, just use my information as a reference."

"Still, there's a lot of useful information. No matter how much they change the internal organization, they can't physically change the structure of the Imperial Palace. Moreover, if there's still a force of the emperor that is in opposition, even more so."

As Namgung Hui had guessed, the emperor and the General were said to be in a confrontational relationship.

And seeing as the General was quite wary, it was estimated that the emperor also had many secrets.

"The rest, I'll have to find out by bumping into them directly. Since you said you've never seen the emperor either."

"I was just a grunt of the Demonic Heaven, so I don't know much about the Imperial Heaven and the Northern Heaven. I'm sorry that I don't seem to have been of much help."

"No. Just bringing the information about the Heavenly Demon Divine Art is a great achievement. You said the one who handed over the treasure map was an elder of the Demonic Heaven?"

"Yes. He probably didn't know the identity of the manual. He must have just looked at the location and estimated that it was around the Kunlun Mountains."

‘If he's an elder of the Demonic Heaven, how can he not know the terrain of the Kunlun Mountains? Well, since he doesn't live in the Tianshan Mountains anymore, he might not know, but it's strange.’

If it were an elder of another sect, he could very well not know the terrain of the Kunlun Mountains.

Because the Kunlun Sect was treated like a foreign martial world.

But if it were a descendant of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, which had once lived in the Tianshan Mountains, it was a little strange that he didn't know it.

Well, since it was even more absurd to say that he had deliberately leaked the location of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, he decided to let it go for now.

"Alright. Let's end the first meeting with this. Now let's go back to our respective tasks."

"Hui older brother. Are you leaving for the Shaolin Temple right away?"

"The period the emperor promised is less than half a month. I have to go to the Shaolin Temple, find the sacred object of the Blood Cult, and then infiltrate the Imperial Palace. Although there's the information that the Mad Dragon gave me, the emperor's side is too weak."

"I'm sorry that Museong older brother couldn't be of help."

"No. Yeohwa. Why are you apologizing?"

"Oppa, just be quiet."

"..."

Namgung Hui, seeing the Mad Dragon being flustered by his younger sister, grinned.

"For that reason, I'm leaving today. And please take good care of my sworn brother. You can't treat him poorly just because I'm not here."

At first, he had intended to take Jang Hwang with him, but he judged that it would be difficult to take Jang Hwang with him on the schedule from the Shaolin Temple onwards.

He also had to leave for the Imperial Palace in a hurry.

And he thought that Beak Seolhwa would be more helpful than Jang Hwang in finding the sacred object of the Divine Cult.

And since he even had a treasure detector whose performance was better than before, there would be no need to take Jang Hwang with him.

Of course, it was absolutely not that Namgung Hui was trying to spend some intimate time alone with Beak Seolhwa.

"Alright. Leaving aside that he's your sworn brother, how can I ignore the sect leader of the Maoshan Sect? Don't worry about that and have a safe trip. And Beak Seolhwa. The Northern Heaven is a force that is no different from an unknown territory to me, so it would be good to be careful."

"I'll take care of that myself. Thank you for your concern."

What the Mad Dragon had told Beak Seolhwa was about the location of the Northern Heaven's garrison.

Unlike the Imperial Heaven, they did not stay in the Imperial Palace.

As the name Northern Heaven suggests, they were said to be based in the north, in the Heilongjiang area.

"But have you received permission to visit the Shaolin Temple? You'll have to go deep inside to find the sacred object. I wonder if that's possible. Don't tell me you're planning to secretly infiltrate the Shaolin Temple."

"I've already prepared a way for that."

Wasn't the reason he had tried to take Jang Hwang, who was the brother-in-law of the Shaolin Temple's abbot, with him for this?

But he had also received a nameplate symbolizing the Maoshan Sect Leader from Jang Hwang.

And more than anything, if it didn't work, he was planning to sell the name of the Black Tortoise Troupe Leader.

"Well. If it's a direct descendant of the Namgung family, they won't treat you poorly at the Shaolin Temple. Since your reputation has been spreading far and wide lately, they'll welcome you with open arms."

And Beak Seolhwa and Namgung Hui were the winners of the martial arts tournament.

The Martial Arts Alliance leader, who had praised that, hadn't even been able to hold a proper awards ceremony because of the commotion before.

For that reason, there was no reason to refuse their official visit.

Moreover, because of the martial arts tournament that was said to be held at the Shaolin Temple, they would try to use them widely as promotional figures.

"Then, Mad Dragon, Yeohwa. I'll trust you with the work of the Righteous Heaven Alliance."

"Yes. Hui older brother, I hope you will also achieve what you want. Have a safe trip."

"Just trust me here. I'll fill in all your empty spots."

Although the Mad Dragon was not very reliable, Cheon Yeohwa, who had faithfully carried out the missions she had been given so far, was trustworthy.

Namgung Hui nodded his head and left the Righteous Heaven Alliance headquarters.

Although it was a little shabby to be called a headquarters now, he vowed that when he stopped by again in the future, he would fill it so that it would not be lacking at all.

"Seolhwa. Are you ready?"

"Yeah."

"Then let's go right away."

And so, Namgung Hui and Beak Seolhwa quickly performed their lightness skill and left the Namgung family estate.

In the place they had left, a particularly large emptiness seemed to be felt.

"Huh? Our Hui-a has disappeared without a word again?"

"Our Seolhwa too?"

"Yes. Family Head. Palace Lord. My subordinate should have told you in advance, but because they disappeared so quickly, I was late."

"Hoho. There's really no day without a storm. Then I'll have to tell you this story next time. Palace Lord. Since we have time, let's have lunch together."

"Yes. Let's eat that today."

As if such an outing were familiar, Yu Seolran and Namgung Uncheon naturally left the family estate.

The members of the Namgung family and the Daoists of the Moon Maiden Palace, who were watching this.

They followed behind them as if it were nothing.

***

"Hui. Weren't we going straight to the Shaolin Temple?"

"Ah. I was only talking about the Hoicheon Association, so I didn't get to say it. Among the roads we passed with Tang Soso before, there was a place where it was pouring rain. I'm going to take a closer look there."

"The place where they said a dragon was making it rain? Why there?"

Namgung Hui stealthily looked at the Thunder God Sword and said.

"I thought it would be good to show it to my new friend. And I also wanted to check if my prediction was right. Since it's on the way anyway, it doesn't matter if we stop by, right?"

"That's true, but I'd rather not get rained on."

"At our current realm, even such rain won't be able to touch us."

"Alright. Instead, if I get soaked in the rain, Hui, you have to take responsibility and clean up everything."

"Clean up?"

"If you get rained on, your clothes get wet. Your body also gets dirty."

"I can just buy you new clothes, but your body? Are you telling me to wash you or something?"

"..."

Beak Seolhwa, without any answer, ran straight towards the Yellow River.

It was truly like a single tiger rushing towards the rain falling from the sky.

(End of Chapter)