“What other purpose?”

Jin Cheonhee put a half-boiled egg in his mouth.

Though it was perfectly boiled, he was troubled by still not being able to taste it.

Nevertheless, he pretended to enjoy it.

Out of respect for the person who prepared it.

“The egg is well-boiled.”

“Hahaha, I’m glad, Brother. Oh, right. This is just the escort couriers’ speculation, but they think the bandits were targeting the escort agency’s cargo. That’s what all the couriers who crossed swords with them felt.”

“…”

If they felt that way after crossing swords rather than just witnessing it, Jin Cheonhee thought they were probably right.

This was closer to a swordsman’s intuition. And if the circumstances actually unfolded that way…

‘From what I felt while treating them, the escort couriers did sustain unusually fatal wounds.’

The villagers were also considerably injured.

Among them, injuries from horse kicks were most common.

Of course, these were terrible wounds.

Because the bandits were toying with civilians who had some martial arts training.

But the escort couriers bore scars that showed traces of life-or-death battles, not mere toying.

From the bandits’ perspective, targeting escort couriers trained in martial arts would have been much more burdensome compared to civilians.

Despite this, they attacked because they had a purpose worth the risk.

“So the cargo itself was the target… If simple money wasn’t the goal, then there’s likely someone who commissioned this. Did the escort couriers mention anything else?”

“Hmm, if they had any suspicions, a name might have emerged, but nobody seems to know.”

“What’s in the cargo?”

“I heard it’s confidential. But… it’s hard to believe it’s extremely valuable, because if it were, they would have used higher-ranking escort couriers.”

“Then I understand who hired the bandits.”

“Yes, they escaped quickly.”

“That’s right…”

Jin Cheonhee said that much and took a few more bites with his chopsticks.

Normally, he would have emptied an entire bowl and asked for more, but it was difficult to eat any more.

Cheon Woo looked at his brother once, then at the bowl that was only half-empty, but continued speaking as if he hadn’t noticed.

“It’s suspicious, isn’t it, Brother?”

“Yes. It doesn’t seem like a normal situation.”

The Tiger Howl Gang that received a commission to steal the cargo while devastating the village.

The County Magistrate and Police Bureau soldiers who rushed in after they were repelled.

And the sudden attempt to confiscate the cargo.

‘Plus, even the escort couriers don’t know the cargo contents.’

Jin Cheonhee swept his eye area once with a tired expression and said:

“The pieces fit together too well to be a coincidence. But we can’t act based on mere ‘circumstances’ when no crime has been proven.”

Though his wrist bore the imperial dragon bestowed by His Majesty, it was like a credit card—if used recklessly, His Majesty might come to collect interest instead.

‘Still, I should at least cover the cost of the horses borrowed from the post station.’

Just then, Cheon Woo’s eyes lit up.

“But someone like you, Brother, could devise an incredible strategy to give those guys a taste of their own medicine, right?”

“No, I won’t be doing that.”

At those words, Cheon Woo looked at him with surprised eyes, as if this was unexpected.

‘Hmm… that’s the same look I had when I saw my master.’

The Zhuge Clan was always expected to devise mysterious strategies to resolve everything without a trace.

Of course, using strategy was an option.

But was it necessary to expend so much time and effort?

‘When I still need to go to Beijing and see the Imperial Palace’s Secret Archives?’

Always using incredible, strange, and miraculous strategies would age one to death.

“I’ll just sneak over at night and eavesdrop. Why?”

“…That’s… true. That would be easiest.”

“Right. What’s the point of learning martial arts otherwise?”

Was this how Alexander felt when cutting the Gordian knot?

What’s the point of mysterious wisdom when there’s an easy path?

Cheon Woo frowned one eyebrow.

“Brother, I haven’t learned concealment techniques…”

“It’s fine, I know how. More importantly, you watch over the escort couriers and the cargo. Got it?”

Someone needed to guard the cargo, which was the target.

Especially for that role, Cheon Woo—a Wudang Sect member with the face of an unorthodox sect practitioner—was perfect.

Cheon Woo pondered for a moment and then grinned.

“Brother, I have a condition.”

“What is it?”

“Eat more.”

“What?”

Jin Cheonhee’s eyebrow raised at the unexpected request.

Cheon Woo added:

“You need to eat more. Since it doesn’t seem to suit your taste, I’ll prepare some chicken.”

“That brood hen?”

“I’ll buy it. With proper payment. In this situation, having even a little more money would help them.”

“You’ve become quite talkative.”

“Brother, you’ll collapse at this rate.”

Saying that, Cheon Woo stood up.

Then he went to cook something new for his brother.

Though cooking wasn’t his hobby, and he wasn’t particularly a gourmet since he ate anything, he wasn’t especially skilled. Still, having served Wudang Sect Leader as his master and prepared meals regularly, he knew the basics.

‘Chicken broth porridge would be good.’

His brother’s complexion was becoming paler than before.

Though his vitality was clearly better than before, his worsening complexion indicated something Cheon Woo couldn’t understand.

Still, he knew that it wasn’t good, and that his brother needed to eat something.

He was worried about him.

‘Even the rain is indifferent.’

For now, covering his shoulders with a blanket would at least prevent his body from cooling.

He almost wished his brother would catch a bad cold.

Then he might actually rest.

‘Brother is… strong. Righteous. And that makes me anxious.’

He thought his brother probably didn’t realize how much he worried those around him.

***

Budo County.

That’s the name of this region.

In the Supreme Heavenly Demon world, the Hwa Empire used a somewhat peculiar administrative system, using province-prefecture-county units.

Such-and-such province’s such-and-such prefecture’s such-and-such county.

That’s the format.

In Korean terms, it would be like Gangwon Province, Cheorwon County, Dongsong Township?

So, it’s easier to understand like this:

County Magistrate = Township Head.

Put this way, it sounds quite small, but a single county had a population of roughly 100,000 to 200,000 people.

Its authority was so immense that it could make even birds fall from the sky.

This was something he’d learned during his education as a White Dragon Medical Pavilion Junior Pavilion Master.

‘Because it was never mentioned in Supreme Heavenly Demon.’

Why would a Heavenly Demon need to know about administration?

A person busy cracking the heads of hypocritical righteous sects and filthy unorthodox sects has no need for administrative knowledge.

But true Central Plains world Jin Cheonhee had to pay taxes faithfully every year for the crime of entering the Supreme Heavenly Demon’s world.

‘Does the Heavenly Demon pay taxes?’

King-God old-school martial arts Supreme Heavenly Demon, being true to old-school martial arts, never covered scenes of the Heavenly Demon paying taxes.

But no matter how much treasure might glitter in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, would the government offices be able to extort taxes?

‘Is our Heavenly Demon a tax evader, then?’

Still, the merchant groups secretly operating under the Demonic Cult probably did pay taxes.

Because even that Golden Blood Chamber paid taxes.

Of course, as a place that “officially” sold only “legal things,” their books were probably double, triple, or quadruple, but they still had to pay taxes.

Therefore, the White Dragon Medical Pavilion also had to pay taxes.

How to pay them, how to achieve tax reduction—these were among the most important education topics for a Junior Pavilion Master.

According to information learned during that education, the total population of the Hwa Empire was about 80 million.

Of course, that would be the population officially registered with government offices, and there would be many unregistered people.

‘Roughly, Earth’s population in the old days was similar, so it might be historically accurate.’

With each province—like Shaanxi Province or Sichuan Province—having at least several million inhabitants, it was natural for a single county to have 100,000 to 200,000 people.

Though this only counted those registered with government offices.

Moreover.

The position of County Magistrate held both judicial and administrative authority.

This was an era without separation of powers.

This explains why it wasn’t strange for Judge Bao to handle tax matters during the day and then call for the execution blade at night.

‘At least legislation is done at the imperial palace.’

Still, because there were ambiguous regulations like the County Magistrate’s “orders,” it was difficult to say this was completely separate.

He was an extralegal authority who could be called a small king without exaggeration.

‘In one county, there are usually two Police Bureau Chiefs, with about a thousand Police Bureau soldiers attached? Of those, three hundred are cavalry to counter mountain bandits, and they’re the real elite… the remaining seven hundred are distributed across villages or small towns with certain populations within the county to maintain public security…’

This is how administration generally works in this area.

Constables, Police Bureau soldiers—to put it in perspective, they were somewhat similar to American sheriffs.

They were a force in themselves, ready to wield immediate force to maintain public order.

Though weaker than military units, they were still a force with numerical advantage.

Jin Cheonhee quietly called out “System” in his mind.

‘…’

As expected, nothing happened.

Similarly, calling out “Proficiency,” “Experience Points,” “Skill Window,” “Inventory”—things that any transmigrated protagonist might try once—produced no results.

Wondering if the genre was different, he even tried calling out “Constellation Window.”

…Nothing happened.

‘Humanely speaking, if you’re going to drop someone in a place like this, shouldn’t you at least have the conscience to provide an experience window?’

Normally, learning something once would register it as a skill, and using it repeatedly would increase proficiency, which would then evolve into a king-god skill.

Those skills would then accumulate to allow class change to a hidden profession.

‘Dropped into the martial world where I pay taxes just like on Earth, why isn’t there a system window?’

He thought it was all because the book he happened to read was “Supreme Heavenly Demon.”

The author aimed for an old-school martial arts novel feel, so it turned out this way. If it had been “SSS-Class Supreme Heavenly Demon” or “Supreme Heavenly Demon Becomes a Hunter,” things would have been different.

Though he didn’t have a concealment skill that activated with a touch, he did have one footwork technique he’d practiced about a million times.

Let’s call it out today too.

Jin Cheonhee-style Stealth Variation.

Three-Elements Stride!

He also had basic concealment methods learned from Ilkana.

Of course, without a system window, these weren’t registered as skills.

Just endless grinding and the Profound Origin Heaven and Earth Divine Technique.

‘I wish I could treat people with a heal skill and revive the dead with a resurrection skill.’

Thanks to his mental fatigue, ridiculous quips kept coming out.