Clank!

Jin Cheonhee set down the ladle on the wok and said, “Line up, please! I’ll serve each of you one by one!”

With cheese dakgalbi, timing is everything.

You need to blow on it and eat it while it’s hot—once the cheese hardens, it loses its magic.

“I’ll eat first!”

“No, I was waiting longer, how could you!”

The escort agents thrust their plates forward, competing with each other.

When the Chief Escort urgently told them to form a line, they reluctantly sized each other up before falling into formation.

And then the Chief Escort himself extended his plate first.

“Ahem!”

His reddening face showed he still had some sense of shame.

Well, he is the oldest, after all.

In this knife-wielding Confucian land, age is indeed rank.

Jin Cheonhee scooped a generous portion of dakgalbi onto the Chief’s plate.

As the cheese stretched out in long strands, everyone stared at it as if hypnotized.

“Oooooh!”

That’s right. This is irresistible.

Escort agents ate at inns more often than home-cooked meals.

And they ate outdoor camping meals even more frequently.

They’d probably tried all sorts of ingredients and dishes, but cheese-topped dakgalbi seemed to be a first.

The Chief Escort received the plate with trembling hands.

“Be careful, it’s hot. Eat slowly.”

Jin Cheonhee added some egg soup on top.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

For some reason, the Chief was more moved by cheese dakgalbi than when Jin Cheonhee had treated his sprained leg.

Afraid it might cool down, he hurriedly sat down and put the dakgalbi in his mouth, exclaiming “Wooow!” like a child.

The way he pulled the stretchy cheese with his mouth resembled a child.

Good food knows no age.

After serving cheese dakgalbi to all the escort agents, Jin Cheonhee sat down to eat as well.

Woof!

Squeak, squeak!

“Yes, I prepared yours too.”

For Hwanggu and Noe-jin, he had only seasoned with salt and pepper.

Spicy food would be too stimulating for the young ones.

Squeak! Squeak!

Woof, woof woof!

Well, it seems they enjoy the taste too.

How delicious is it? Let me try a bite.

The moment he shoveled it into his mouth…

Whoooa!

It was different from the dakgalbi he’d eaten in his past life, but the crispy chicken skin followed by a sharp spiciness gave way to juicy chicken meat bursting with flavor.

Wow, this is definitely my creation. It’s me, all right!

Jin Cheonhee thought as he wolfed it down:

If I fried rice with the leftover seasoning, everyone here would die. Seriously.

He hadn’t brought dongchimi radish water kimchi, but he had brought sesame oil.

And if he added breath of wok using his fire energy, everyone would be blown away.

Hehehe… I should finish quickly and make another batch. I need to cook some rice and let it get a bit crispy at the bottom.

Thus, the White-Robed Divine Dragon continued southward, creating yet another legend in the martial world.

***

A month had passed.

As Master had said, there was no trace of the Blood Immortal Sect, and the journey was peaceful.

They hardly encountered any bandits from the Green Forest.

With the Martial Alliance combing through the mountains like picking lice to catch the Blood Immortal Sect, they wouldn’t leave the Green Forest bandits alone either.

Young martial artists, eager to make a name for themselves by capturing Blood Immortal Sect members, were searching everywhere. With the actual sect members nowhere to be found, bandits were showing up instead.

It wouldn’t end with pleasantries like, ‘My, working hard this late at night?’ ‘Yes, it’s good to see young martial artists looking for the Blood Immortal Sect.’ ‘Not at all. You must be tired from hiding in the mountains.’ ‘Hahaha, you flatter me. Please, carry on.’

They’d likely want to cut off a bandit’s head for even a minor achievement.

Taking out their frustration at not finding the Blood Immortal Sect would be a bonus.

Thanks to this, Jin Cheonhee hadn’t encountered any notable bandits.

He’d only seen one group resembling bandits—slash-and-burn farmers evading corrupt officials.

Since these farmer-bandits hadn’t learned martial arts, the escort agents intimidated them by cutting trees instead of people.

The farmers withdrew without resistance.

Even in what’s supposedly one of the Hua Empire’s rare periods of peace, corrupt officials still exist.

There’s no need to send any formal reports to His Majesties—he’s heading straight there himself.

He’d committed the corrupt official’s name to memory and planned to have a little chat with him.

Whether the man ended up receiving the rod, being banished to his hometown, or summoned for execution wasn’t his concern.

If you’ve done the crime, you should face the consequences.

So they arrived at Guangxi Province.

Turn left and we’d reach Yunnan Province.

He thought of Tang Ah.

I wonder how she’s doing?

By now, she should have escaped from that demonic cultivation that wasn’t actually demonic cultivation.

Judging by the lack of recent rumors about the Blood Whip Queen, it was certain.

Fortunately, an escort agency parting at the crossroads was headed to Tang Clan, which worked out well.

Jin Cheonhee wrapped a bar of special commemorative White Dragon Medical Pavilion soap in mulberry paper.

Hmm, this soap hasn’t even gone on sale yet. I hope she’ll like it.

Especially during these times when counterfeit soap was circulating.

New products definitely needed to be released. Plus, this soap was a step above the previous version in both fragrance and cleansing power.

He didn’t forget to include a friendly letter.

It’s best to keep things casual.

He couldn’t tell how much she might have gotten over things, but he at least hoped to avoid a situation where she’d run away at the sight of his face.

“The Blood Whip Queen will be delighted. Perhaps there’s a rom—”

“…No, there isn’t.”

He firmly cut off the escort agent’s hopeful inquiry about romantic intentions.

At that moment, another escort agent next to them nudged the first one’s ribs.

“You’re so clueless. The Blood Whip Queen has Azure Dragon Sword and his sister. Hee hee hee!”

…That wasn’t it either.

Azure Dragon Sword was merely a victim in all this.

The elders of the Namgoong Clan had used her as a sacrificial offering to establish relations with the Tang Clan.

The one who benefited wasn’t Namgoong Woon but his younger sister, Namgoong Yeon.

Thanks to her friendship with someone who completely trusted her, she overcame her stuttering and gained confidence.

Though not comparable to Tang Ah or Namgoong Woon, she had begun methodically building her martial reputation in a way that wouldn’t shame the Namgoong Clan.

Hmm, the rumors of the martial world are indeed baseless.

After sending the letter, Jin Cheonhee parted ways with the escort agency.

Several more days of traveling southward.

Southwest of Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces.

Finally, I’ve reached the frontier.

Wuxia novels always include a section about forces from beyond the central lands.

While these frontier forces are typically portrayed as hidden masters, Jin Cheonhee hadn’t come to fight frontier experts.

Jin Cheonhee was a physician, not a martial artist.

His purpose was solely to make a house call.

Wow, it’s quite humid and hot.

Even after changing into lighter clothes, he was still sweating profusely.

His Imperial Highness Eun said he’s at the triangular border between Guangxi Province, Yunnan Province, and the Dadu Kingdom[1].

The trading city of Wannong.

It was the city at the very edge of imperial territory.

The area surrounding Wannong was desert, and Wannong itself was built on an oasis with natural water.

To the west of Wannong stretched a vast desert, to the south was jungle.

The east connected to the Central Plains.

Going north led to forested regions.

The city had grown into a trading hub thanks to these geographical advantages… and was said to have breathtaking scenery.

Why on earth is His Imperial Highness Eun getting his regular checkup in a place like this? Could this be a conspiracy between Master and His Imperial Highness Eun to give me a vacation?

In truth, he’d enjoyed himself tremendously while traveling here, eating and having fun as if on a tour, without any incidents.

His suspicions were deepening.

“Are you the young hero looking for a caravan heading to Wannong?”

“Ah, that’s me!”

It was a branch of the Cloud-Dragon Escort Agency.

Jin Cheonhee quickly raised his hand.

A strikingly handsome man with a medicine bag on his back, accompanied by a large dog and a blue hawk.

“Ex…cuse me… but…”

“If you’re looking for the White-Robed Divine Dragon, that’s me!”

Being famous was becoming familiar now.

“Oh! White-Robed Divine Dragon! Welcome! Welcome!”

The leader of the escort party, the Chief Escort, made a big fist-palm salute as he spoke.

“I’ve heard rumors that your medical skills and cooking have reached divine levels!”

Somehow, those aspects were becoming more famous than his martial reputation.

Jin Cheonhee was beginning to wonder if his cooking had surpassed his martial arts, despite his internal energy being at the three gapja level.

“You’re too kind. Especially regarding cooking—compared to the chefs of the martial world, mine is child’s play.”

“No, no! I’ve heard that when it comes to late-night meals, no one can match the White-Robed Divine Dragon! The rumor that you fed fifty people in one go particularly tugs at the heartstrings of escort agents…”

…It seems this person was more impressed by my cooking than my medical skills…?

That was indeed the case.

His expression wasn’t “With a physician accompanying us, our escort party can rest easy.”

Rather, it was the expectation of “We’re going to eat something amazing tonight!”

Jin Cheonhee was growing concerned that his career might be changing.

“Hahaha, what’s more important is that no one falls ill. If anyone in your escort party gets injured, please come to me anytime.”

“Not at all. Why should the White-Robed Divine Dragon trouble himself? Food is the best medicine. Eat well and you’ll recover.”

…His guess was right.

The Chief Escort asked:

“What ingredients would be good for cooking? We’ll prepare anything.”

Why? Are we having a feast in the middle of the desert?

***

“Wow, real camels!”

Woof!

Of course, there weren’t just camels. They were using horses too.

There were special horseshoes used by locals that made crossing the desert easier. With these horseshoes, horses could traverse the desert almost as well as camels, though not quite.

Plus, the Chief Escort who walked at the front of the procession was a veteran among veterans, capable of crossing the desert with his eyes closed.

He can find water sources without even a map.

Normally when people think of an oasis in the desert, they imagine a lake in the middle of sand, abundant with mangoes, coconuts, and palm trees. But the oases they encountered while escorting were different.

“We’ll set up camp here. Warriors, dig where I’ve marked.”

When they dug, they’d find wet sand, and digging deeper would reveal water.

They purified this water for distribution, but never used it for drinking.

There was a superstition that if you drank it carelessly, the desert god would become angry and bring disease.

They would boil it and give it to livestock or use it to wash cloth or weapons.

Even then, if they had brought enough water, they might just pass by.

This time, they set up camp in front of an oasis that resembled a small lake.

The emerald water was quite beautiful, though small.

Still, a massive oasis like Wannong must be different.

The Chief Escort hurriedly approached.

“Just in case, I should mention that if you drink the water…”

“I know. Even if I drink it, I’ll filter it through cloth and make sure to boil it first.”

“Good, I’m glad you’re aware.”

The local superstition remained strong.

From Jin Cheonhee’s perspective, knowing how dangerous parasites and microorganisms could be, the superstition didn’t seem entirely wrong.

So he simply nodded in agreement.