“Hmm, so this is what it feels like.”
Having successfully freed his wrists from the handcuffs, Jin Cheon-hee now faced the challenge of the shackles. “The shackle Master made is the real problem. The principle should be similar, but the Zhuge Clan is renowned for its intricate mechanisms and formations… Figuring this out would be an intellectual puzzle in itself.”
Cracking his knuckles, Jin Cheon-hee prepared to insert the wire when the door slid open with a thud.
“Hyung, it’s time to eat,” Yeo Ha-ryoon, holding a tray of porridge, met Jin Cheon-hee’s eyes. “…”
As Yeo Ha-ryoon slowly set the tray down, Jin Cheon-hee spoke urgently. “Hey, I’m all healed! And your fingers! We have to reattach your fingers!”
“Ah, right.”
“You know I’m all better, right?”
“But Hyung. When did you learn a miscellaneous skill like that?”
Jin Cheon-hee beamed. “You live and you learn.”
“…I see that locks don’t really mean much to you.”
Next time, am I going to be tied up with solid steel chains?
Jin Cheon-hee was suddenly afraid.
“First, let’s reattach your fingers. That’s my biggest worry.”
What was more important to a swordsman than their fingers? On top of that, this was the Demonic Cult, where the strong preyed on the weak. There had to be more than a few demonic masters who would be delighted at the news of Yeo Ha-ryoon’s weakening.
“And… don’t go wagering your fingers for my sake ever again.”
“Hyung.”
“It tears me up inside.”
At those words, Yeo Ha-ryoon stared intently at Jin Cheon-hee. What was he thinking behind those black pupils? Jin Cheon-hee had no way of knowing.
“…Alright. I’ll think about it.”
***
That night, his Master came.
Wearing a human-skin mask and with his hair dyed black, his Master looked like a different person. Instead of greeting Jin Cheon-hee, he grabbed his wrist and took his pulse.
“You’re all healed.”
“That’s a relief, isn’t it?”
“You terribly unfilial brat.”
“Hehehe…”
Jin Cheon-hee deliberately put on a good-natured laugh. Seeing him smile like that, Zhuge Rin let out a small sigh. “They say no parent can win against their child, and I suppose that’s exactly my situation. I resolved to scold you severely when I saw you injured, but seeing you laugh like this, my heart softens.” His Master took out a key and unlocked Jin Cheon-hee’s shackle.
Click—
“Thank you, Master.”
“There is much to discuss, but let’s save it for when we return.”
He was already dreading the journey back. Jin Cheon-hee decided to worry about later, later. For now, he just rubbed his ankle.
A strange voice came from behind him.
“Tsk, tsk. You pitiful thing. How did you end up getting targeted by a monster like that…?”
It was Bloodborne Elder Eccentric.
Somehow, she had heard the news that Jin Cheon-hee was performing a reattachment surgery and had dropped everything to visit the Demonic Cult branch. Since the Dark Palace Medical Pavilion was on friendly terms with the Demonic Cult, it hadn’t been difficult.
Zhuge Rin looked at Bloodborne Elder Eccentric and said, “That’s too harsh. Calling him a monster.”
“Then is he sane? White Qilin?”
Bloodborne Elder Eccentric then stroked Jin Cheon-hee’s head. “And with the Star of Heavenly Slaughter latched onto you, your fate is truly a tragic one. See? If you had just become my disciple from the start and joined the Dark Palace Medical Pavilion, you wouldn’t be in this mess.”
Jin Cheon-hee shook his head. “No matter who my Master was, I wouldn’t have changed.”
He would have tried to save the children regardless.
Bloodborne Elder Eccentric replied, “What, even if I taught you jiangshi-taming arts? You could have just brought a bunch of jiangshi and traded punches with Corpse Spirit Grotesque Demon! I’m great at making jiangshi, too!”
That was right. Bloodborne Elder Eccentric was, in modern terms, a practicing mad scientist. She was a “growing adult” with a keen interest in the art of jiangshi-taming.
No matter how interested Jin Cheon-hee was in jiangshi, it was purely from an academic standpoint—a desire to prove his hypothesis on their extermination, write a thesis, and establish a theory. It wasn’t because he wanted to go hopping around with a bunch of jumping corpses in tow.
Besides, a jiangshi-versus-jiangshi battle? This isn’t Pokémon…
It was a concept from some distant, bizarre realm.
“Master, for now, the fingers are okay, right?”
“Don’t you worry. It was a promise made with you on the line; I couldn’t be careless. I took special care. They’re as fresh as if they were just cut.”
“…”
He couldn’t blame Bloodborne Elder Eccentric. His own Master was also a brilliant mad scientist. Surrounded by these lunatics, Jin Cheon-hee decided that he alone would remain sane.
“Ha-ryoon-ah. Your hyung will definitely heal you.”
“Hyung…”
Yeo Ha-ryoon was deeply moved as he looked at Jin Cheon-hee.
***
Hehehe… They really are fresh.
He didn’t mean “refrigerator fresh.” Seeing the fingers, which looked as vibrant as if they’d just been cut, Jin Cheon-hee felt like he was losing his mind. The severed part was so clean, it was like seeing a scene from a manhwa where ‘a flower is cut, but it’s still alive.’
Is this the… ‘Life-Giving Sword’…?
Even looking at the cross-section, he couldn’t quite comprehend his Master’s level of skill.
Thanks to this, the reattachment surgery itself went very smoothly. Normally, he would have had to struggle immensely to reconnect the blood vessels, nerves, and muscles. Moreover, even after reconnecting them, restoration was often not guaranteed, making it difficult to promise a good outcome.
His Master assisted him by his side the entire time.
For nerve sutures, the needle is key.
He could make up for the rest with the Profound Primordial Complete Foundation Divine Art and the Dual Principles Cultivation Art, but some things were just impossible without the right tools. To connect the tiny capillaries and nerves, he needed a special needle and thread.
What Jin Cheon-hee used here was the Feather Needle, from the Sichuan Tang Clan. To suture a blood vessel with a diameter of less than 1mm, he needed a needle far thinner than a human hair. The Sichuan Tang Clan’s Feather Needle was perfect for this kind of microsurgery.
“How on earth did you get this!”
Jin Cheon-hee asked Bloodborne Elder Eccentric in surprise. She replied, “I went to treat someone, and they just shot it at me. Huhu. They gave me a nice present, so I kept it safe.”
It seemed they had fired it in resistance while on the brink of death. Did that nameless person from the Tang Clan… get “treated”? He couldn’t know, and he decided not to ask.
The thread was Monofilament Suture, a “Single Strand,” which Jin Cheon-hee had personally extracted from an inner core using his Metal-Generating Qi. Its tensile strength was weaker than a composite thread, but it was incomparably thin, making it perfect for micro-sutures.
“You can’t move your fingers for a while after the surgery is done.”
“Why?”
“It’ll burst.”
Jin Cheon-hee didn’t specify what would burst. From his expression and tone alone, it was clear something terrible would happen.
“Got it, Hyung.”
Yeo Ha-ryoon trusted him.
Before the surgery, Jin Cheon-hee had struggled greatly to steel his nerves. This was his little brother’s hand. A martial artist’s hand, at that. His Master had offered to do it himself if Jin Cheon-hee was too worried, but Yeo Ha-ryoon had wanted his hyung to do it.
That was why he had pushed himself to do it personally. After long preparations and repeated meditation, he had somehow managed to find his calm.
Maintaining the sterile field was Bloodborne Elder Eccentric’s role. In exchange for observing the surgery, she had prepared her own unique formation to protect the room until the procedure was over.
“This is the Bloodborne Formation. It helps keep a corpse from rotting when making a jiangshi. Conversely, it’s also helpful when performing medical techniques on a patient, my boy.”
It was a different method from the Zhuge Clan’s Five-Elemental Formation, but it was worth studying.
After an excruciatingly long wait, Jin Cheon-hee finally managed to suture all the damaged areas. Yeo Ha-ryoon, who had woken up sometime later, looked down at his hand. He attempted to move his fingers, but then, recalling Jin Cheon-hee’s words, he hesitated.
“Hold on. Let me check if it was successful,” Jin Cheon-hee instructed. He meticulously checked the nerve sensations to ensure proper connection and monitored the blood circulation by taking Yeo Ha-ryoon’s pulse. “It’s done. Now, we just need to put on a cast.”
Jin Cheon-hee swiftly prepared the cast. Yeo Ha-ryoon exclaimed, “I feel like I could pick up a sword and fight right now!”
Jin Cheon-hee couldn’t help but let out a small sigh at this potential Heavenly Demon. “I warned you, it’ll burst if you do. Besides, we must continue monitoring it. We need to check the pain levels as well.”
“Hmph.”
Yeo Ha-ryoon’s lips formed a straight line, clearly displeased.
Jin Cheon-hee said, “This is an Yeongdan-sil. Once you’re fully healed, you can circulate your energy to melt and absorb the cast. Just bear with it until then.”
At those words, Yeo Ha-ryoon said, “Hyung, you should stop worrying so much. Even if it goes wrong, it’s fine. I offered these fingers to you, anyway.”
“…Seeing you like this makes me think I really shouldn’t be so reckless with my own body from now on.”
“Then I guess I win.”
Yeo Ha-ryoon looked up at Jin Cheon-hee with his dark eyes.
Was he that worried? This kid… to the point of betting his own body…
It was a way of thinking that was completely unimaginable for a modern person. Jin Cheon-hee shook his head.
“I’ll take care of my body, so you take care of yours, too.”
“Okay.”
“Oh, right. Now that this is all over, there’s something I wanted to mention. There are a couple of kids who want to become my sworn brothers.”
“What is that supposed to…?” Yeo Ha-ryoon furrowed one eyebrow.
***
Jin Cheon-hee provided him with a concise overview of the events that transpired, detailing the first brother-in-waiting, Cheon-woo, and the second, Sama Hyeon.
Yeo Ha-ryoon attentively listened to his narrative, his brow furrowed in contemplation. “So, simply because you saved their lives, they intend to refer to you as ‘hyung’?”
“That’s essentially what they’re doing.”
“Hyung. Don’t be deceived. Those individuals are solely interested in your medical expertise. It’s a deceptive tactic.”
“You were also saved by your medical skills, Ha-ryoon-ah.”
“I’m different. You were the one who first offered it to me, Hyung. I was distinct from those individuals from the very beginning.”
Yeo Ha-ryoon firmly asserted that the actions of those two individuals were merely a ploy to obtain the Divine Healer’s skills, while his own bond was rooted in genuine, fundamental brotherly love.
Jin Cheon-hee observed him, neither confirming nor denying his assertion. “Alright. If you don’t approve of it, I’ll simply cancel the arrangement.”
“What?”
“You said you don’t like it. I won’t do something you don’t like.”
“Wasn’t this something you were asking me to approve?”
At those words, Jin Cheon-hee let out a hearty laugh.
“No, Ha-ryoon-ah. That was just me asking you because Cheon-woo and Sama Hyeon requested it. Your opinion is what’s most important to me.”
There was an order to all things. From Jin Cheon-hee’s perspective, it wasn’t a great loss even if the two kids didn’t become his sworn brothers. They could just continue their friendship, and they could help each other when needed.
But now that his hyung had agreed so easily, Yeo Ha-ryoon was the one who felt a strange sense of deflation.
“…”
He narrowed his jet-black eyes, lost in thought, before finally speaking.
“…I’m part of the Demonic Cult, Hyung. If it gets out that we’re sworn brothers, you could become a public enemy of the Murim.”
“I know.”
“Right. You knew, and you still extended your hand to me.”
Yeo Ha-ryoon sank back into thought, then said, “If those bastards are willing to risk their lives for you, Hyung, I’ll think about it then.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“If, in the future, they meet me in person and don’t falter, and if they have enough martial strength to protect you, then I will give my permission.”