Rebirth of the Thunder God

"Is the imugi's corpse being well kept inside?"

"Yes. Elder. Until half a shichen ago, it was quietly sleeping as if it were sound asleep. Look here... Huh? Where did it go!?"

"You're asking me?"

"N-No, that's not what I was asking. No! Elder! The imugi's corpse has disappeared!"

"What? Why are you only telling me now!"

A conversation that was frustrating just by listening.

Although it seemed like laughter would burst out, now was not the situation for that.

‘I can't take on the entire Peng family with just my brother and the Sword Spirit.’

Although he could use the Sword Spirit at full power, he wondered how much help the Sword Spirit, who had just regained his body, would be.

Hadn't even Namgung Hui taken quite a while to adapt to his body after reincarnation?

Moreover, the Sword Spirit, who had been sealed for a long time, would also take time to adapt to his body.

Jang Hwang and the Sword Spirit looked at Namgung Hui.

A look that asked how to deal with the situation.

‘Only two people have come in for now. And their realms are only at the peak and transcendent levels.’

Namgung Hui, who had made his decision, decided to subdue the people who had come in first.

Namgung Hui, who appeared in front of the members of the Peng family in an instant as if sliding.

The members of the Peng family, as a person suddenly popped out from inside the warehouse, gasped.

"Heop! A-A ghost!"

Still, the middle-aged man who was called an elder immediately noticed the strange sign and even counterattacked.

He swung a huge saber blade towards Namgung Hui's outstretched fist.

But Namgung Hui, with the principle of Tai Chi, deflected the saber and then grabbed the middle-aged man's wrist and subdued him.

As he pressed the vital point, the huge body characteristic of the Peng family collapsed to the floor with a thud.

"E-Elder!"

"Don't shout. My eardrums will burst."

Since the people of the Peng family had such good voices, if he let them talk more, it was highly likely that the outside would notice.

It was fortunate that Namgung Hui had set up a soundproof formation a little while ago.

If he hadn't even done that, they would have surely heard the shout that the imugi's corpse had disappeared, and the rest of the people would have rushed in.

Namgung Hui subdued the young Peng family martial artist who had shouted in succession.

Although a peak master was a very precious talent in the martial world, it was far from enough for Namgung Hui.

Still, because of his large build, it took quite a bit of strength to subdue a peak martial artist of the same level.

After laying the two large bodies on the warehouse floor, Namgung Hui contemplated for a moment.

‘If I set a fire like this, these two will die. Is it really okay to burn them like this?’

If it were the moment he had clashed with the So-ho Sect before, although he would have hesitated a little, he would have eventually set a fire and left.

But as his realm rose, his emotions became more diverse, and the weight of life was also felt differently.

That's probably why his sworn brother had told him to gain various experiences if he wanted to raise his realm.

Hadn't his sworn brother also said that his realm had risen while he was having relations with his sworn sisters-in-law?

Namgung Hui had also been realizing many things while communicating with Beak Seolhwa recently.

But it wasn't that Namgung Hui would go without setting a fire.

All he had to do was take measures so that only they would not die.

-Chichi. I'll leave the embers to you. When I take them out, you set the fire then. Got it?

[One bottle of Thunder River Wine.]

-Alright. If you do well, I'll even give you two bottles.

[Leave it to me!]

Looking at Chichi, whose motivation had risen greatly, Namgung Hui put the Peng family martial artists under his arms.

Although he could have carried Jang Hwang on his back like this, it seemed it would be too much with the heavy Sword Spirit.

‘It was convenient when the Sword Spirit was dwelling in the Thunder God Sword. Now that he has obtained that powerful body, there are also restrictions.’

He hadn't even experienced how powerful the imugi's body was, so the restrictions felt even greater.

If it had been a proper imugi, he might have been able to escape this place by riding the Sword Spirit.

For the Sword Spirit, who had been deprived of his inner core and even his Yeouiju, such an expectation seemed difficult.

"Why are you looking at me so burdeningly? Did my transformation go wrong or something?"

"No. Now, if I throw these Peng family martial artists, the guys will rush in. At that time, we will escape right away, so know that."

"Okay~ I got it. But it's really heavy to have a body after such a long time. When I was in the Thunder God Sword, it was so light that I felt like I could fly."

"It's not that you 'felt like' it, but you actually flew."

"Ah. That's right. Hehe."

Namgung Hui shook his head and walked towards the warehouse door.

Now the effect of the soundproof formation was not working, and the sentries in front would hear the sound clearly.

Even if Jang Hwang and Namgung Hui were to be ignored, they could not erase the presence of the Sword Spirit.

As the Sword Spirit's heavy footsteps echoed, the sentries tilted their heads and looked inside the warehouse.

Although Namgung Hui immediately subdued the sentries in front of him.

"Heop! An intruder!"

-Piiik!

He could not subdue the rest of the sentries in the warehouse across from him.

And since the Peng family martial artists were large, they were easily discovered.

As soon as Namgung Hui heard the whistle, he quickly threw the Peng family martial artists outside, carried Jang Hwang on his back, and held the Sword Spirit in his arms.

The Sword Spirit was so heavy that even though he had focused all his nerves with the electric pole opening, the sound of his bones twisting was heard.

‘I might not be able to use my arm for a while.’

"S-Sorry. I'm heavy, aren't I?"

"It's alright. We're going to run now, so keep your mouth shut."

And so, Namgung Hui performed the Wind God Steps to the extreme and crossed the wall in one go.

Swish, swish, swish!

Although a volley of arrows flew in, it was a distant matter to chase Namgung Hui, who was disappearing like the wind.

‘Hmm? There are fewer people chasing than I thought.’

For some reason, there were no pursuers other than one group.

He could soon find out the reason from the conversation they were having.

"The imugi's corpse has disappeared! There must be a group that has stolen it. Find those guys first! That guy is probably a decoy!"

Perhaps because they thought they had to find the imugi's corpse first, they had simply mistaken Namgung Hui for a decoy.

And for good reason, who would have imagined that the huge imugi's corpse would turn into a human like this?

They must have thought that he had escaped using some other means.

Perhaps they were digging the ground or releasing dogs to track him right now.

‘Then shall I shake them off appropriately and return?’

Namgung Hui, since he was training his Wind God Steps for the first time in a while, roamed around freely while holding the Sword Spirit.

When he was training with his bare body in the past, hadn't he climbed a cliff with a heavy sandbag?

As he performed the Wind God Steps while carrying the heavy Sword Spirit, he vividly recalled those days.

"Heok! Heok! That guy is deliberately dragging us around. Give up on the decoy and return to the family!"

Rather, the fact that Namgung Hui was practicing his Wind God Steps here and there seemed to them as if he were deliberately buying time.

In the end, the pursuers, who were exhausted, returned to the Hebei Peng family.

Without even knowing that the imugi they were so desperately looking for was in Namgung Hui's arms.

"What a bunch of fools. I'm right here, so why are they going over there to find me? Hahaha!"

"You're heavy, so get down."

"Ah. That's right! Sorry. Your embrace was so comfortable and familiar."

The Sword Spirit, who stuck out his tongue.

That appearance, which also suited his appearance, was quite cute. So much so that it was difficult to scold him.

Besides, since the Sword Spirit was not deliberately heavy, it was a situation where he could not be blamed.

"For now, let's go back to the inn and eat. Your body must want to eat something after a long time."

"Yes! I really wanted to try human food. Especially Dongpo pork!"

‘Dongpo pork. It's a food that Seolhwa likes. She must have arrived safely in the grasslands by now.’

Namgung Hui looked north for a moment and then nodded his head and said.

"Alright. Let's have a grand meal for the first time in a while today."

***

Namgung Hui, who had feasted for the first time in a while, patted his full stomach and looked at the monster in front of him.

"Why are you staring? You're staring at me a lot today. Don't tell me you've fallen for me?"

The identity of the monster was none other than the Sword Spirit.

It wasn't because his original identity was an imugi.

‘He really eats a lot. Is an imugi an imugi?’

He ate such a large amount of food.

Even though they had rented the entire inn, the ingredients were running out.

Well, considering the huge build of the imugi, it wasn't that he couldn't understand him eating a lot, but he still stuffed a large amount that transcended common sense into his mouth.

"I'll have to be satisfied with this much. The moon is starting to set."

The mealtime alone had already passed three shichen.

Jang Hwang had already gone up to the guest room to sleep, tired.

And Namgung Hui was watching the Sword Spirit in case something happened.

Since he didn't know what kind of accident he would cause with the body he had regained after a long time, and since there might be a pursuer aiming for the Sword Spirit.

‘Still, fortunately, it seems there's no tracking scent or anything on the Sword Spirit's body.’

Besides that, the Sword Spirit's body could be tracked with various spells or devices.

But fortunately, Jang Hwang had guaranteed that such a method was not being used.

The Sword Spirit had also said that he did not see such traces on his own body.

‘It must have been possible because the General was away. Or it could have been an incident that happened because the Peng family was stupid.’

Namgung Hui, as his stomach became full, began to feel sleepy.

Hadn't he also not slept properly for the past few days?

And since he would be busy with matters related to the Imperial Palace from tomorrow, there was a need to get some sleep.

"Sword Spirit. Do you also have to sleep?"

"Hmm... I'm not particularly sleepy. I sleep in batches. I'm fine for a few days and nights."

"I'm going up to sleep, so I'll leave the cleaning to you."

The empty bowls and liquor bottles that were piled up.

Since even the waiter had already passed out, the Namgung Hui party had to take charge of the cleaning.

Since it was the Sword Spirit who had eaten the most food, it was also right to leave it to him.

However, it was questionable whether he could clean this up properly.

But he had no intention of cleaning up for him.

If he was clumsy, he could learn, and if once was not enough, he could repeat it twice, and if that was not enough, he could repeat it three or four times.

"Alright! Just leave it to me! And attach this squirrel fellow to me too."

[Me too? You ate everything, so why are you blaming me? You sly snake.]

"If you don't want to be eaten by a snake, follow obediently. And how many liquor bottles did you drink?"

[Hoo... Alright. I'll help you just this once.]

Chichi, as if he couldn't trust leaving it to the Sword Spirit alone, winked at Namgung Hui and remained on the first floor of the inn.

Namgung Hui, although he couldn't trust the Sword Spirit, could trust Chichi, so he went straight up to the second-floor guest room and lay down on the bed.

And so, the moment he was about to give in to his drowsiness and fall asleep.

-Hui. Are you asleep?

It was Beak Seolhwa, who had left for the grasslands, who had contacted him through the magic tool after a long time.

Namgung Hui, whose sleepiness had vanished in a flash, quickly sent a reply.

-No. I was awake. Seolhwa, did you arrive safely?

-Yes. I just arrived, so I tried to contact you. Perhaps because it's been a while since I've come this way, it's a little different from before. The local atmosphere is also like that.

-Still, I'm glad you arrived safely. Ah, that's right. Seolhwa. I found the Sword Spirit's body and just resurrected him.

-Oh, that's great. And did you meet the emperor?

Since Namgung Hui could not talk for long with the communication artifact, he briefly explained the story related to the emperor.

-Really? The emperor is a ghost? The Soul-Stealing Sutra I have must be related.

-It probably is. The Hoicheon Association might have tried to turn the emperor's soul using that. But it seems the communication is about to be cut off. Seolhwa. Contact me again when you have time.

-...Tsk. Do I have to do it first again? You do it first sometimes.

Although Namgung Hui wanted to say that it was so as not to interfere with Beak Seolhwa's event, since the number of times the communication artifact could be used was up, his last plea was in vain.

‘Well, I'll have to try to contact her before I go to sleep. She probably won't be working then.’

Namgung Hui fell into a sweet sleep, thinking of Beak Seolhwa like that.

And the next day.

A guest came to Namgung Hui, who had woken up from his sleep, early in the morning.

"Are you the new inspector? It's a call from His Majesty the Emperor."

(End of Chapter)