Jin Cheon-hee savored the tea and sweets as his thoughts raced.

Haaa… I want to cry. How could I have forgotten something so important until now? Then again, so much has happened since yesterday, it’s no wonder my mind has been a mess…

He continued to eat, partly because the Marrow Cleansing had left him ravenous, but also to fuel his brain with sugar as he tried to organize his thoughts.

In terms of the novel, this is still Chapter 1 of the first volume. The scene where White Qilin treats the young Heavenly Demon, Yeo Ha-ryoon. But right after this, a crisis is supposed to erupt. And if I’m not careful, I could die in the crossfire.

Cheon-hee cursed himself internally.

Damn it. To think I forgot about that… I’m lucky I remembered now, but the problem is how to resolve the situation.

The tea tasted bitter.

Tsk… What do I do? I have to stop the conspiracy behind this incident if I want to live.

The event that was about to unfold at this Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency branch was one of the first major crises to befall the protagonist, Yeo Ha-ryoon. But it was a crisis for Jin Cheon-hee as well. He let out a slow breath, his eyes scanning the snacks laid out before him.

And then, it hit him.

That’s it! With this, I might have a chance!

Looking at the spread of refreshments, he felt a surge of certainty. He reached out his hand. He began to devour the sweets, stuffing them into his mouth even faster than before.

It has to be in one of these… The novel described it as having a faint, sweet aftertaste. But what the hell is a ‘faint sweet aftertaste’? Oh, to hell with it…

He sampled every single type of tea and snack laid out before him, all in preparation for it—the event that was about to happen.

In the midst of his frantic eating, White Qilin Divine Physician, and Woon Jin-sang, the Chief of the Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency, entered the room.

“You seem to be in good spirits,” Woon Jin-sang noted. “If you’re feeling this well, I trust you’re up for a long conversation?”

Now that Jin Cheon-hee, the person at the center of this whole affair, seemed to have recovered, there were many questions to be asked. Who he was, where he came from, and where he had learned his surgical techniques. He was their benefactor, but they still needed to know the essentials. That was the Chief’s duty.

The moment he finished speaking, Jin Cheon-hee broke into a fit of coughing.

“Cough, cough-cough!”

Chief Woon Jin-sang’s face creased with concern.

“Are you all right? Perhaps you haven’t fully recovered yet…?”

“…”

White Qilin, in contrast, simply maintained his gentle smile, observing Jin Cheon-hee with keen interest. This was a child upon whom he himself had just performed a Marrow Cleansing. There was no way such a child would be coughing from a common cold.

As he coughed, Cheon-hee thought, He’s looking at me as if this is some kind of test.

Though White Qilin was fundamentally a good person, he was still a man of the Murim. A maverick who treated people from the Righteous Faction, the Unorthodox Faction, the Demonic Cult, and even the Imperial Palace. He would not be fooled by a simple trick.

“It’s the tea,” Cheon-hee said between coughs. “It’s making my throat itch.”

“Itchy?”

A fragrant aroma of expensive Tieguanyin tea wafted from the celadon teapot.

“When I drink this tea, my throat feels strangely itchy,” Cheon-hee explained. “Could I just have some water, please?”

“Itchy? That can’t be… There’s no way it could be poisoned.”

“I-I don’t know…”

Unleash the child act!

Cheon-hee screamed internally as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands, the very picture of a naive, distressed child.

White Qilin sat down in front of him.

“May I check your pulse for a moment?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. Yes!”

Yes! As expected of the Divine Physician! He caught on immediately!

With a perfectly natural expression, Cheon-hee extended his small hand. White Qilin gently took the boy’s wrist and sent a wisp of his internal energy into his body.

Whoa, that feels… tingly.

He didn’t yet understand what Qi or internal energy truly was, but he could feel something flowing smoothly inside him. Strangely, it didn’t fight or even mix with whatever was already there; it simply moved through him, assessing. After a long moment, White Qilin released his hand.

“His internal energy has been scattered.”

The Chief’s eyes widened in alarm. “What? Did you say internal energy? But this child has no signs of having learned martial arts…”

“With the elixir from the Gongsun Clan, I imbued him with a small amount of internal energy while performing the Marrow Cleansing,” White Qilin explained calmly. “It is nothing significant. Just a small reserve for his future, though at this rate, it will all dissipate.”

“M-Marrow Cleansing… Pavilion Master,³ I had no idea you held this child in such high esteem.”

It was a shocking revelation. As the Chief of the Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency, Woon Jin-sang knew the man before him well—the beautiful young master famous as White Qilin Divine Physician, and master of the White Qilin Medical Pavilion. He was a maverick who possessed sublime medical arts and profound martial skill, but it was also widely known that his own health was poor. And yet, he had personally performed a Marrow Cleansing—an act that was tantamount to shaving off his own life force. This was no ordinary matter.

“…”

White Qilin did not reply, offering only his enigmatic smile. It was a clear signal not to ask any further. Besides, there was no shortage of high-ranking officials desperate to have White Qilin even look at their children. If word of this got out, the front of his pavilion would become a chaotic mess of their messengers.

“B-But…”

White Qilin cut him off. “I owe the Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency a great debt. Did you not say your grandson would soon begin his martial arts training?”

It was a thinly veiled message: If you want me to look at your grandson, keep your mouth shut. It was a fair price for his silence. Moreover, this was the Divine Physician. There was nothing to be gained by antagonizing him.

“…I can only marvel at the Divine Physician’s medical skill.”

“You gild my face with such gold; I do not know where to put myself.”

Watching their exchange, Jin Cheon-hee thought, As expected of White Qilin. Even thinking of the Chief’s grandson. A true doctor of this era. Amazing! His own past profession made him see all doctors of the Murim in a positive light.

White Qilin continued. “At any rate, that internal energy has been completely scattered. It appears to be… Qi-Dispersing Poison.”

“Qi-Dispersing Poison? Who would feed this child such a thing? The Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency would never do that to a benefactor…” The Chief’s face flushed red, as if he had been falsely accused.

White Qilin shook his head. “Who did it is not what’s important. Why it was done is the crucial question. The tea and sweets this child consumed are the same as those provided to the high-ranking escorts and warriors of the Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency. Is that not correct?”

That’s it! Go, Divine Physician, go!

Watching Chief Woon Jin-sang’s expression harden, Cheon-hee struggled to hide his own. This was all part of his design!

If this works, I can prevent the attack on the Cloud-Dragon Escort branch office!

He watched their conversation unfold with bated breath.

“Hmm! Is someone targeting my escort agency…?”

“You should dispose of all the tea and refreshments at once. And… have your men arm themselves in case of an attack.”

At his words, the Chief nodded grimly. “This is more than that. The ambush on the convoy, and now poison in the branch office… There is surely a conspiracy afoot. I can only apologize to you, Divine Physician. You have been dragged into our affairs…”

The Chief had already grasped the full situation.

“Think nothing of it. I am grateful that you trust my words. Please, take measures at once.”

“If I cannot trust the words of the Divine Physician, whose words can I trust? I thank you for your consideration.” With that, the Chief turned and shouted toward the door. “Summon the Branch Master!”

Then, he looked back at Jin Cheon-hee. White Qilin turned to the boy as well.

“Did you know there was Qi-Dispersing Poison in the food?”

His translucent eyes seemed to pierce right through Cheon-hee. It was a gaze that was testing him.

Time to play dumb.

“Energy-Scattering… Poison? What’s that?” Cheon-hee asked.

A poison that scatters martial energy. Colorless and odorless. The novel had said it had a faint, sweet aftertaste, but in practice, he couldn’t tell at all. That was why he had decided to eat one of everything. He had figured he’d hit the right one eventually. The important thing was to get poisoned.

Hehehe. Whatever I have to do, it’s better than dying.

Knowing the disaster that was about to strike, there was no way he would avoid the poison just because it was a bit unpleasant.

White Qilin thought, Even if it only scatters internal energy, a poison is still a poison. Surely he wouldn’t have known and eaten it on purpose… would he?

The life of a physician was such. In the Gangho, one had to save people caught in the middle of countless graces and grudges,⁴ blood feuds and conspiracies. One was bound to witness all sorts of human drama. Perhaps that was why his physician’s intuition was screaming at him.

It told him that Jin Cheon-hee was hiding something. But strangely, he felt no sense of danger from the boy.

I feel as if I’ve been enchanted.

White Qilin said, “If an investigation reveals something, then it will not be I who saved the Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency, but you.” He spoke loudly, as if intending for the Chief to hear.

The Chief started. He’s not wrong. Even if it was luck, at this point…

Having organized his thoughts, he said, “After this matter is concluded, let us arrange a proper meeting.”

A “proper meeting” in this context would surely not be a simple tea party.

Jin Cheon-hee thought, This is my chance to get something out of them. Who in their right mind hated money? Saving lives was one thing, but he needed to survive, too. He’d been dropped into this wilderness all alone; he was going to take everything he could get.

Money, more money! Show me the money! Elixirs! I haven’t learned any martial arts, so I don’t know about that stuff! But for now, money!

The Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency held sway over the entire Yangtze River; they had to be loaded.

He put on a sad, shadowed smile, befitting a pitiful child.

“I’m in a position where I can’t remember my home or my family. If someone like me can be of help, then I am simply glad for it.”

At the young boy’s words, everyone fell silent. A few of the servants were even wiping away tears.

Is it because of my face? I think that might have been more effective than I intended.

Even the Chief seemed at a loss, placing a heavy hand on Cheon-hee’s shoulder. “Do not worry, my boy. Am I not the Chief of the Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency? You are this place’s benefactor. I will not disappoint you.”

Disappoint me how?

He spoke with such a grave and determined voice, as if he had made some monumental decision.

Just then, White Qilin grabbed the Chief’s shoulder.

“…You cannot.”

“What?”

“You cannot.”

“I know this is a child you have personally performed the Marrow Cleansing on, Divine Physician. However…”

“Hahaha, you cannot.”

White Qilin was smiling, but he was firmly shutting the Chief down.

What can’t he do?

Only Jin Cheon-hee, unaware that the Chief was trying to recruit him into the escort agency and that Zhuge Rin was stonewalling him to claim him as a disciple, darted his eyes back and forth in confusion.

It was a silent battle of wills between two men, each determined to claim the talent known as Jin Cheon-hee.