“Hngh… Hraaaaaaah!”
CHWAAAK!
With a final, explosive splash, the utterly exhausted Ten Thousands Years Fire Carp was at last dragged from the water. Its massive body thrashed on the dry land, but compared to the grueling battle beneath the surface, this next part would be simple.
Jin Cheon-hee ripped the spear shaft from its mouth. The creature, sensing a moment of freedom, flopped desperately back toward the water. In that precise instant, Jin Cheon-hee lunged, driving the spear straight through its gills. The lightning-infused shaft lanced through its vital organs.
Even from that brief contact, the creature’s body, a veritable fireball, seared Jin Cheon-hee’s hands.
Whew, that’s damn hot!
He had never, not for a second, entertained the idea of having a direct slugfest with this thing. Yeo Ha-ryoon had his methods, and Jin Cheon-hee had his.
Kieeeeeaaa—
With that final strike, the Ten Thousands Years Fire Carp‘s life was extinguished.
“I… did it!”
Jin Cheon-hee clenched his fist, his entire body shaking. His legs trembled uncontrollably. There wasn’t a single muscle that wasn’t screaming in protest, a deep ache resonating all the way to his bones. He was drowning in profound fatigue.
But he couldn’t stop here.
Harvesting the inner core of a Ten Thousands Years Fire Carp is notoriously difficult. The core, a vessel of pure heat, begins to dissipate its energy the instant the creature dies. If left for even a few shichen, it would become nothing more than a common stone. The Heavenly Demon had simply eaten his on the spot, but Jin Cheon-hee had to deliver this to his Master. He had to harvest it using the correct method, one that would preserve its fiery energy.
Jin Cheon-hee pulled the spear shaft free.
“Hoo…”
Even through the crushing fatigue, the Profound Primordial Complete Foundation Divine Art kept his mind sharp. He forced his screaming muscles to obey, driving his blade into the creature’s belly and slicing it open.
SCHRRRIIIP—
***
Hwang-gu waited, his chin resting on the ground. Waiting was one of the things Hwang-gu did best. He closed his eyes, drifting in a half-sleep. A small insect buzzed past his ear.
How much time had passed?
Suddenly, Hwang-gu’s eyes snapped open.
Bark, bark bark!
He began to bark frantically. A moment later, a human hand emerged from the subterranean hole, slapping against the ground.
“Ha… I thought I was going to die.”
The moment Jin Cheon-hee scrambled out, the hot spring erupted, spewing water everywhere. This was no temperature for a normal bath; it was, quite literally, boiling water.
Hwang-gu scrambled to safety. Jin Cheon-hee used the Rolling Dog Technique, rolling frantically away.
“Really squeezed every last bit out of that one,” he panted.
The Rolling Dog Technique. It meant, literally, to escape by rolling on the ground. It was a technique from the “Miscellaneous” section of the Zhuge library, one he had deliberately taken the time to learn. The reason was simple: when strength, internal energy, and everything else was gone, the last thing to rely on was a “junk” skill like the Rolling Dog Technique.
A junk book, maybe, but still a martial arts manual. And perhaps because he had learned it with proper focus, he could roll a full three zhang—about nine meters—in an instant without a single drop of internal energy. If he had energy, he’d use a proper evasion art, not… this. This was the pure, unadulterated survival instinct of Jin Cheon-hee, desperately trying to avoid being one-shotted. A physician to the core, he couldn’t be bothered with abstract concepts like ‘martial dignity’.
Being able to dodge nine meters without a speck of energy… that’s a damn good skill. Jin Cheon-hee panted, his lungs burning. I gambled, having no way to know the geyser’s cycle, but did it really have to erupt the very second I was trying to leave?
Just catching the Ten Thousands Years Fire Carp had been exhausting. But forcing his spent body to harvest the core, using the lakebed mud and the Five-Elemental Cultivation Art to seal the Fire Qi before it dissipated… that was an even greater trial. And he hadn’t stopped there. He had meticulously harvested the flesh from under the gills, the back muscles, the belly fat, the blood from the heart, and even the ribs. They weren’t the core, but they were all parts where a significant amount of Fire Qi had pooled.
Jin Cheon-hee hadn’t left a single scrap.
The very moment he finished and tried to leave, the already scorching spring began to roil and erupt. It was hell.
Of course, he could have just dropped all the other parts and escaped with only the core.
‘Absolutely not! Do you know how much all this is worth?! This is a Ten Thousands Years Fire Carp! You can’t buy this stuff with money!’
The idea of going through all that hell and leaving with only the inner core simply did not exist in Jin Cheon-hee’s vocabulary. That damn protagonist, Yeo Ha-ryoon, would probably have a mountain-load of elixirs and cores to eat until the end of the story, but Jin Cheon-hee was different. He had squeezed out every last drop of internal energy to make sure he packed every single piece.
And the grand finale? The three-jang Rolling Dog Technique. His ultimate survival move!
Hwang-gu, looking vaguely appalled by Jin Cheon-hee’s sheer intensity, took three steps back.
“Hwang-gu, you worked hard,” Jin Cheon-hee panted. “I packed some of the Ten Thousands Years Fire Carp meat for you, too. It’s not the core, but it’s still an elixir. This is for you.”
Pant, pant!
As if to say, “Appalled? Me?”, Hwang-gu wagged his tail, pledging his undying loyalty. Jin Cheon-hee took out the back-muscle meat he’d set aside.
Chomp, chomp, chomp!
The dog devoured it greedily without even sniffing it.
“That’s right. You love elixirs and cores.” This was the same dog who’d swallowed the incredibly bitter White Qilin Divine Elixir in one gulp. He tenaciously ate anything that was good for him.
Bark!
Having finished, he panted and licked Jin Cheon-hee’s cheek.
“You’re adorable. Let’s go back.”
***
Resting at an inn was a luxury he couldn’t afford. Jin Cheon-hee boarded the ship immediately. The Three Murderous Tracking Rats greeted him with overwhelming relief.
“Because of you, Little White Dragon, Sam-seo is alive!”
“Uheuk… Thank you, Little White Dragon.”
Il-seo and Yi-seo were openly weeping as they performed a deep fist-in-palm salute. Jin Cheon-hee shook his head. “I, too, thought his fate was up to the heavens. We were fortunate.”
“No, sir! The normal punishment would have been to destroy our danjeons and sever the tendons in our limbs. For you to treat us instead, and to even set us on a new path… we are endlessly moved.”
The Three Murderous Tracking Rats looked at one another, a silent understanding passing between them. Finally, Il-seo spoke. “This isn’t just because of the blank contract, Young Master. We truly wish to follow you. That is my will, and the will of my brothers.”
This was entirely unexpected. I was just planning to work them to the bone, without pay, for the exact value of the life they tried to take. That’s it.
When Jin Cheon-hee didn’t respond, Il-seo, mistaking his silence for rejection, rushed on. “You are the first person to ever treat scoundrels like us with such genuine care!”
“Instead of crippling us, you put us to the oars. We see that as your way of guiding us onto the right path!”
“We may be ignorant fools, but we wish to follow you, Young Master!”
Jin Cheon-hee scratched his head. Well, if I’m going to run the White Qilin Medical Pavilion, I’ll need people to handle the… non-medical side of things. A medical pavilion in the Murim isn’t like a modern hospital. To survive in this world of swords, I’ll need people for these messy, trivial jobs. The Three Murderous Tracking Rats were perfect. Even more so if they were here out of genuine loyalty, not just the contract. So, the simple act of healing someone… it carries a much heavier weight in this world than I thought. That’s a good lesson. One I never would have learned if I’d stayed inside the pavilion.
He nodded. “Alright. I accept. But I warn you, it won’t be an easy path.”
Just then, Soaring Sword, who had been watching silently, stepped forward. “I wish to join the Three Murderous Tracking Rats brothers.”
Soaring Sword too?
Jin Cheon-hee looked at him, and Soaring Sword spoke urgently, “If it weren’t for them, I… I would have only been thinking of how to escape from you, Young Master! I thank all four of you for helping me see the way!”
Jin Cheon-hee thought, I… think you’ve been duped. He looked exactly like someone following a friend into signing a pyramid scheme contract. But Jin Cheon-hee had no reason to refuse.
“Very well. Then, Soaring Sword, if you would…”
He slickly produced another blank contract from his robes and handed it over. It was identical to the one the assassins had signed. Soaring Sword pricked his finger and affixed his blood seal.
Slave No. 4 was acquired.
Bark!
Hwang-gu let out a bark, and all four of his new “slaves” flinched and shuffled away from the dog.
“Young Master… is it just me, or does that dog look bigger?”
“He looks bigger to me, too.”
They all muttered. Jin Cheon-hee tilted his head. There’s no way the Ten Thousands Years Fire Carp meat is already showing visible effects… is there?
Strictly speaking, the Ten Thousands Years Fire Carp was a spiritual beast. And Hwang-gu… is also a spiritual beast. So, a spiritual beast ate a spiritual beast. Normally, they would never fight to the death unless it was a territorial dispute, and spiritual beasts are incredibly rare to begin with. This was an entirely artificial event he had created.
…Well, getting stronger is a good thing, right?
Jin Cheon-hee scratched Hwang-gu’s head roughly.
Pant, pant, pant.
Hwang-gu, loving the affection, licked his hand.
When it comes to cuteness, nothing beats a country mutt.
Back in his hospital days, whenever he got stressed, he used to watch dog videos on his phone. Even then, he’d always preferred the so-called “country mutts” or mixed breeds over purebreds. He just liked their sturdy-looking paws and their simple, cheerful vibe. Hwang-gu had grown a bit too large to be a simple country dog, but to Jin Cheon-hee, he was still adorable.
In stark contrast, the Three Murderous Tracking Rats and Soaring Sword felt a cold dread.
The Testicle-Pulverizer… just got stronger.
Sam-seo, who had personally experienced Hwang-gu’s destructive power, turned particularly pale.
***
Arc 14: Twisting History
They returned to the main branch of the White Qilin Medical Pavilion with all haste. On the way, the Three Murderous Tracking Rats and Soaring Sword temporarily departed to pay off Sam-seo’s gambling debts. Their original plan had been to capture Jin Cheon-hee to settle the debt, but since that was no longer an option, they had to find another way. Sam-seo finally confessed the true amount and was subsequently beaten to a pulp by Il-seo and Yi-seo. He swore he’d let them cut off his fingers if he ever gambled again, but only time would tell.
If the four of them pool their strength, they should be able to pay it off.
Jin Cheon-hee himself had not the slightest intention of paying it for them. The most he did was write a simple letter of introduction to the Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency. Since the group specialized in tracking and evasion, they’d surely be able to pay it off quickly by taking on smaller jobs, even if they didn’t land a huge score.
Thus, Jin Cheon-hee and Hwang-gu finally arrived near the White Qilin Medical Pavilion’s main branch, at the entrance to the valley that led to his secluded training area.
“Hwang-gu, your job is done. You can go back now.”
Woof.
The dog let out a low bark and plopped down on its rump. He had told the dog to return to the Beggar’s Sect several times, but Hwang-gu just kept following him.
Why is he doing this? It’s not like he doesn’t know the way back. Should I send a carrier pigeon to the sect? Before that, I have to return to my secluded training ground, and it’ll be a huge problem if he follows me in there. If he went in alone but came out with a dog… that would be its own problem, wouldn’t it?
“Okay, fine. I get it. Just… wait for me right around this area. You can do that, right? I’ll come back as soon as I finish my training.”
Pant, pant, pant.
As if that was what he’d been waiting for, Hwang-gu wagged his tail eagerly. Jin Cheon-hee gave his head a rough scratch.
Alright. All that’s left is to follow the waterway back to the training hall.
His Master was, originally, a man who died. To save him meant the world itself would change. The ripple effect on the Murim would be incomparably larger than from anyone else I’ve saved. In this world, a Divine Physician was an existence that could, by itself, alter everything.
But that’s fine. As long as I can save him.
Whatever changes it brings to history, Jin Cheon-hee was prepared to accept it.
He moved to the water’s edge, preparing to submerge himself.
And just then, he felt a human presence.