“In the Gangho, it is rare to find someone who does such a thing as a matter of course,” White Qilin said, his voice soft but firm. “Chief Woon, it seems I must remain here to treat these patients. What are your intentions? They are in critical condition, and it will be difficult to move them until they have stabilized.”

“The Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency does not abandon its comrades,” the Chief stated without hesitation. “I will leave half of my men on standby. I leave the rest in your capable hands. I will return to repay this kindness.”

With those words, Chief Woon turned to leave. He paused, then looked back at the small boy.

“And you, little brother (sohyeongje[1]),” he said, his voice resonating with sincerity. “I do not know who you are, but I swear that I will repay this debt to you as well.”

He brought one fist to his open palm and gave Jin Cheon-hee a deep, formal bow. The sight of the towering, bear-like man saluting a small child was comical, but no one dared to laugh.

The gratitude of the Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency.

There was no one in the Gangho who did not understand the weight of those words.

And with that, the Chief departed. Of the twenty-two who had arrived, twelve left, leaving ten behind. Jin Cheon-hee watched them go, his mind a whirlwind.

The Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency. White Qilin Divine Physician. And the fact that I’m speaking and understanding a language I’ve never heard before. It seems I really have entered the world of the novel. Haha, how utterly absurd…

He kept his face impassive, but a wave of exhaustion washed over him. His legs began to tremble, and he collapsed to the ground.

Huh? What’s wrong with my legs?

He tried to stand, but his limbs refused to obey. He noticed his hands had begun to shake as well. Only then did he realize the state he was in.

The tension is finally gone. That’s why. Of course. I’ve been pushing myself relentlessly all day.

He had mercilessly overworked a child’s body while running on pure adrenaline. It was common for novice surgeons to experience muscle spasms like this after a long, intense surgery. He sat for a moment, focusing on evening his breath. The shaking eventually subsided. In that short time, a new camp had been erected, the large, sturdy tents a world away from his own shabby creation. A banner bearing the Cloud Dragon sigil of the Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency fluttered proudly in the breeze.

“I’m alive, huh?”

Only then did the reality of his survival truly sink in.

“I survived…” Jin Cheon-hee murmured, watching the last sliver of the sun disappear below the horizon. The feeling was finally, truly real.

***

“You are pushing yourself too hard, Master. There was no need for you to come all this way…”

A handsome man with fox-like features spoke gently to Zhuge Rin. They were inside the Divine Physician’s unique carriage.

The interior was spacious and unlike any normal vehicle. A small fireplace was built into one wall, logs crackling merrily within. A kettle sat atop it, its contents boiling vigorously. The foxy man rose, opened the kettle’s lid, and dipped a towel into the scalding water. He retrieved it without so much as a flinch, wrung it out, and gently laid it over Zhuge Rin’s face.

Before the steaming towel covered it, his master’s face had been terribly pale. As pale as a corpse.

Had Jin Cheon-hee seen this, he would have shouted, ‘It’s exactly like the carriage from the novel! White Qilin’s mobile resting place and treatment center!’

And for good reason. The rectangular space was surprisingly large, nearly fourteen square meters. A long, comfortable-looking bed was installed against the left wall, opposite the door, clearly designed for White Qilin to rest comfortably during his travels.

“It could not be helped,” Zhuge Rin’s muffled voice came from beneath the towel. “I owe the Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency a great deal. And by saving his blood-pledged brother today, I have repaid a fair portion of that debt.”

“You mean the man called Escort Head Woon?”

“Indeed. The deaths of the others are tragic, but… it cannot compare to the death of a brother.”

“Then I suppose your debt to the Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency is settled.”

“If one were to keep accounts, then yes.”

The handsome man could only sigh as he looked at Zhuge Rin, who lay motionless with the hot towel covering his face.

“Still, you overexerted yourself. You know better than anyone that the Nine Yin Severed Meridians is not an illness to be taken lightly.”

“I know, but what could I do? When my family was wiped out, it was the Chief of the Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency who hid me and saved my life. If I were to ignore his plea, I would be too ashamed to continue living.”

“Huu… You are too stubborn, Master…”

The foxy man sighed again, reaching out to retrieve the towel. He dipped it once more into the hot water and placed it back on Zhuge Rin’s face.

“I do not have much time left. For me, who should have died long ago, to have lived past the age of forty is already a long life.”

“You know how I dislike hearing such words, so why do you insist on saying them?”

“Yoo Ho.”

The fox-like man’s name was Yoo Ho.

As Yoo Ho asked his question with a sharp expression, Zhuge Rin answered from beneath the towel.

“Because I have suddenly been struck with the desire to take a disciple.”

“Master…”

“Yes. I had originally intended to leave no successor. But my heart was moved.”

“Is the child truly that remarkable?”

Zhuge Rin gave a small nod.

“I wish to speak with him tomorrow. Would you make the preparations?”

Yoo Ho bit his lip but eventually nodded.

“As you command. However…”

“I know,” Zhuge Rin interrupted gently. “You worry that raising a disciple is no easy task, and that doing so might shorten what little time I have left.”

“You know this, and yet you still insist.” Yoo Ho grumbled, tossing the towel back into the kettle.

“He is a child worthy of the risk.”

“Haa, I am a simple man, I do not understand such things. I only wish for my master to live a long life… That is all that would satisfy me.”

“Yes. I know that as well.”

A faint smile touched Zhuge Rin’s lips. But Yoo Ho knew that once his master wore that expression, his mind was made up.

Just what kind of child is he, to move the heart of the great Divine Physician, White Qilin?

Yoo Ho felt a knot of anxiety tighten in his chest. He didn’t know if the boy would ever understand the sacrifice his master was willing to make, but he sincerely hoped the child would recognize that this was not an opportunity to be taken lightly.

***

The smell of medicinal herbs filled the air. It was a scent from his childhood, one he often encountered at the marketplace. Jin Cheon-hee tried to sit up but let out a pained groan.

“You should lie still for a while longer.”

Stirring at the sound of the low voice, Cheon-hee fluttered his eyelids open.

Before him stood White Qilin Divine Physician, surrounded by a number of escort warriors. The sight of so many hardened warriors gathered around a scrawny little boy was rather ridiculous, but their expressions were dead serious.

Wow… this is… their stares are a bit much…

A cold sweat began to form on his brow.

He was inside a building, with several beds arranged around him. On one of them lay the boy he had treated, the one he suspected was the future Heavenly Demon, Yeo Ha-ryoon.

Where did they take the other two?

Taking in the scene, Cheon-hee carefully opened his mouth.

“Where is this…?”

“This is one of the Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency’s branch offices.⁵ You were asleep for the entire journey. As you were not fully unconscious, we left you as you were.”

Cheon-hee turned his gaze toward the person sitting closest to him. It was the beautiful man with shimmering silver hair, now neatly tied back.

Wow, up close he looks like a celebrity. But wait, in the novel, was White Qilin younger than me, or older?

A deeply ingrained instinct, courtesy of his Korean upbringing, kicked in, and he found himself trying to calculate their respective ages before stopping himself. Right now, he was a child. It would be absurd for him to be concerned with age-based seniority.

Still, he’s using honorifics even with a child like me. He’s a truly decent person.

It was common, even in martial arts novels, for adults to speak informally to children. He was, as the novel described, a good and righteous man. He was also a man of many secrets, which made him difficult to understand, and a man who met a tragically early end.

White Qilin briefly explained what had happened while he was unconscious. He himself had performed the final treatments, but he made it clear that without Cheon-hee’s initial first aid, all of them would have died. In other words, it was no exaggeration to say that Cheon-hee had saved their lives. He added that they would suffer no major lingering effects, and that thanks to his help, not only the Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency but also the Gongsun Clan had pledged to repay the favor.

“The… Gongsun Clan?”

“Yes. Do you recall the young lady with the sword at her waist, among those you saved, Young Warrior?”

“Ah. Yes.”

There had been a boy, a middle-aged man, and a young woman.

“She is a daughter of the Gongsun Clan, and was serving as an escort warrior for the Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency as part of her martial training. If it were not for you, she would have likely…”

White Qilin let his words trail off. The implication was clear to everyone.

Hearing this, Jin Cheon-hee felt a little dazed.

The Gongsun Clan… that’s the family that appears later in the story. I just wanted to save a dying person… but was she an important daughter of the Gongsun Clan? She can’t be from a minor branch if they’re pledging to repay a debt like this.

Was it because the novel was so long, or because his mind was still foggy? He had to think for a moment before the memories started to surface. The Gongsun Clan. As far as he knew, a Family-based Clan was a clan formed by a single bloodline. But there were always clear distinctions in status between the direct and collateral branches. It was a common theme in martial arts novels. No, it was a common theme in reality, too.

Having organized his thoughts, Cheon-hee slowly pushed himself up. It was painful, but he felt he should sit up to continue the conversation. A man at his side immediately helped him, supporting his body as he rose. Cheon-hee glanced over and saw it was a handsome man with narrow, slit-like eyes.

Chief Steward Yoo Ho, the one who always accompanies White Qilin… Is that him? I think so. Slit-eyed characters aren’t exactly common.

Now fully upright, Jin Cheon-hee looked White Qilin directly in the eye.

“Not at all. I merely helped with my crude skills. I am just glad that I could be of assistance.”

I still don’t fully understand what’s going on… but for now, it’s best to be polite.

He acted with a gravity well beyond his years. A flicker of light danced in White Qilin’s eyes as he watched the boy, a detail that Jin Cheon-hee failed to notice.

***

“First, this is a medicine for your internal injuries,” White Qilin said. “The Gongsun Clan sent it to express their gratitude.”

Tak.

He opened a wooden box. The red-hued wood was carved with the image of a pine tree, the symbol of the Gongsun Clan, though this was meaningless to Cheon-hee. The moment the lid was opened, a crisp, cool fragrance filled the room, like the scent of a pine forest at dawn.

Everyone in the room, except for Cheon-hee, gasped in awe.

*One Hundred Years Pine Elixir!*

It was an elixir made from the collected resin of a hundred-year-old pine tree grown in a special location, said to contain the very life force of the ancient tree. While it was a tier below the Thousand Years Pine Elixir, which was made from the essence of a thousand-year-old pine, the One Hundred Years Pine Elixir was still an incredibly precious elixir. This was not only due to its potent healing properties for internal injuries but also because it could significantly enhance one’s internal energy.