After creating individual treatment spaces to isolate the patients, Sama Hyeon and the martial artists of the White Dragon Medical Pavilion went around drawing and boiling water.

—Do you understand, Hyeon-ah? If you boil the water, all the microscopic bacteria that cause infectious diseases will die. So be sure to boil it and have the people bathe. Got it?

The instructions did not end there.

—And take out the medical-grade ethyl alcohol we prepared, spray it, and pour the boiled water to clean the entire village. Use the soap we brought generously, too. It’s to kill the bacteria. In terms of poison, it’s to neutralize it.

Sama Hyeon deeply respected and revered Jin Cheonhee as a benefactor and a sworn older brother. Not only had he saved his life, but wasn’t he also a pioneer who had guided him to the Transformation Realm? Because of this, he had read the medical reports with some consistency, and since his younger sister, Sama Hye, was working at the main branch of the White Dragon Medical Pavilion, he knew a little more about medical arts than the average martial artist. Therefore, he knew about the existence of bacteria and was quite familiar with the concepts of disinfection and sterilization.

But he listened quietly to Jin Cheonhee’s explanation as if he were hearing it for the first time, and then he moved. He had already become friendly with the martial artists of the White Dragon Medical Pavilion. There was no problem with the disinfection work and cleaning the village with the villagers using boiled water, but a problem arose when it came time to give them baths.

“We are already bathing every day. So why must we bathe in water that has been boiled once?”

The residents had pushed back.

***

‘This is why people don’t get it when you just talk to them~ What should I do? Should I make an example out of one or two of them~?’ Sama Hyeon thought to himself.

Before him were the villagers. On their faces was fear, but at the same time, a sense of injustice and anger.

“In your Central Plains words… we bathe every day, to the point where there is a saying, Bathing Three Times. But now you say we must bathe in water that has been boiled once. What is the reason for that?”

The one who stepped forward as a representative was a middle-aged man who had learned some martial arts. Sama Hyeon dredged up a memory from a corner of his mind that he had introduced himself as the village chief’s son. And next to him, the Vice Leader and his senior sister, Lim Woon-hyeon, approached. She whispered softly into Sama Hyeon’s ear.

“They’re not trying to boil us to death, are they?” “What if we incur the wrath of the gods?” “Aren’t we disobeying the words of the Divine Person for no reason? What do those outsiders know!” “Can we even trust a man of the Central Plains in the first place?”

Those were the voices of the villagers at the back. A dark smile began to form on Sama Hyeon’s face.

“Really~ Seeing things like this makes me sick to my stomach~”

Strangely enough, it is a very common thing for a person who has been discriminated against to then discriminate against someone else. A rich person hits a poor person, and that poor person hits someone poorer than themselves. And when they have gone down as far as they can go, among people of the same station, they hit the children and the elderly. The more desperate humans become, the more they show their true colors, and that is never rational.

‘The Five Poisons Sect of Yunnan, which was discriminated against within the empire, discriminates amongst themselves within it, and the most discriminated-against Snake Clan immediately starts cursing me out from behind for being from the Central Plains~’

Because he had lived at the bottom, he had seen this kind of thing all the time.

“Hall Head. You know well that that is human nature, don’t you?”

Although she was the Vice Leader, since she was Sama Hyeon’s senior sister, she spoke informally like this when it was just the two of them. Sama Hyeon had no thoughts about it.

“I guess so~ but it feels like coming home~ Isn’t that right, Senior Sister?”

His senior sister, too, had grown up seeing the dregs of humanity from a young age, just like him. That was why the two of them understood each other. She replied nonchalantly, “Well, we can’t really say anything, living the life of the Unorthodox Faction. We run in a similar way.”

“You think so~? I’m trying to live a good life, though~”

“Hardly.” Lim Woon-hyeon snorted. “So. What are you going to do? It’s something that sworn brother you boast so much about ordered.”

“Hmm~. I’ll have to think about it a bit~”

Sama Hyeon thought. His sworn brother, Jin Cheonhee, was a person for whom ‘consideration’ was second nature. He would not compromise when it came to treating a disease, but he still tried to be ‘considerate’ of the other person’s situation. Unless it was an unavoidable case, he did not use violent methods. Even if the other party was a ‘detestable’ person. If they were a commoner who had not learned martial arts and did not attack him first, in the end, his brother would choose righteousness.

‘That’s what’s respectable about him, but~ it’s a little difficult at times like this~’

How could he get them to take a bath? Then, an idea flashed through his mind.

“You said you were the village chief’s son, didn’t you~?” Sama Hyeon opened his mouth towards the chief’s son.

“I did.”

“This is all~ for you people, so if you don’t believe us like this, we’ll be disappointed. You know? This is all out of goodwill.”

“I do not know… but don’t you think that just leaving us alone is what’s for our own good? Even if we were to avoid the wrath of the gods, I do not think we will be able to live well in the future.”

“Oh? What’s this? You were already worried about something like that~?”

“Because I have to take responsibility for the village.”

“So that’s why you have some guts~ Good, good. A person with guts. I like that.”

As Sama Hyeon narrowed his eyes, for some reason, a chill ran down the spine of the chief’s son. He was certainly a handsome man with the air of a nobleman, and on the surface, he looked like a good person, but something, a fear, stimulated his sixth sense. Looking at the chief’s son, Sama Hyeon thought languidly.

‘Hmm~ This isn’t simple selfishness~ Should I call it self-preservationism~?’

The son of the chief. Sama Hyeon had noticed what he was worried about.

‘And that makes it even more disgusting.’

They thought that it would be a problem even if the disease was cured. What would happen if the wrath of the gods was actually cured? Would the Five Poisons Sect leave them alone? They were already worried about that. And because of that, they were wishing for their own families and friends to die. Because if he, as one of the leaders, cooperated with the Five Poisons Sect, there would be a way for him to survive. And since that side would also need someone to discriminate against, they wouldn’t kill the entire village. All so they could live.

Of course, not all of them would be like that.

‘But… I wonder how many are complicit in that thought?’

No. It might be that only the chief’s son was making such calculations. The residents behind him might just be afraid because of something they believed in, and, feeling anxious, wanted to make others into a sacrifice.

‘Still. Either way, it’s disgusting…’

Sama Hyeon narrowed his eyes. And then he smiled. “Then wait a moment. I’ll show you why you have to bathe in ‘boiled water’.”

Sama Hyeon decided to move in Jin Cheonhee’s way. And a short while later, the villagers began to scream, one by one.

***

“Is… is this real!?”

“I-it was Gu Poison!?”

“He said it’s called bacteria!”

“What’s the difference between this and Gu Poison!?”

He had told Jin Cheonhee the situation and brought over the primitive microscope. And he showed them the ‘bacteria’ in question directly.

“Now, now. They say that seeing is believing, right? I’ve prepared everything so you can all see~ Now, you all get it, right? In the cold water you use, things like this are crawling all over the place. They got inside your bodies, and that’s why you got sick.”

In truth, from Sama Hyeon’s perspective, he didn’t know if these were really the bacteria that caused the disease. It could be other bacteria, but well, the important thing was that they saw something, right?

“Th-this can’t be.” The chief’s son also seemed to be in great shock. “Wh-who used Gu Poison on us…”

“I told you, it’s not Gu Poison.”

Was it because of the characteristics of Yunnan Province? Even though they weren’t martial artists, the villagers somehow knew about Gu Poison well. But as far as Sama Hyeon knew, that was not Gu Poison. And so, just as he was about to say what it was, a hand touched his shoulder.

“I’ll explain from here.” Jin Cheonhee appeared, looking somewhat tired.

“Oh~ Are you done with the examinations already?”

“Yeah. I’m done. Except for a few over there.”

“Don’t overdo it. If you get sick, brother, it’ll be a big problem~”

“I’m well enough to look after patients, so don’t worry. I’ve had a few fortuitous encounters myself, you see.”

‘That’s not what I was worried about, though~’

Sama Hyeon couldn’t bring himself to say his inner thoughts and watched Jin Cheonhee’s back as he walked towards the chief’s son.

‘By the way, he said he was the chief’s son, that guy. His own father might die from this infectious disease, yet he acts like that. He really has some guts.’

He was disgusting, but he liked that his calculations were clean. In the Unorthodox Faction, good and evil didn’t matter anyway. Stealthily adding his name to his list of potential recruits, Sama Hyeon watched what would happen next.

***

What Jin Cheonhee did was explain, and explain, and explain. And he also took measures so that the healthy people could take turns looking through the primitive microscope. The result. The people were convinced more quickly than when they had just heard it by word of mouth. The fact that this was a natural disease, and that a tiny living thing called bacteria had caused it.

After going that far, the atmosphere completely changed. Contrary to the calculations Sama Hyeon had sensed from the chief’s son, the residents began to take an interest in whether their families and relatives could be saved.

Watching them, Jin Cheonhee thought, ‘They’re pure. And just as barbaric because of it…’

Jin Cheonhee replied to them that the treatment was only just beginning and turned his steps to look after the patients again.

“Good work, brother~”

“What do you mean, good work? By the way, now that things are settled, you have to depart, too.”

What Jin Cheonhee meant by ‘depart’ was nothing special. It was about procuring supplies from the Golden Blood Chamber. In the first place, the Golden Blood Chamber had followed along to this Yunnan Province on business as well. Their party consisted of only six people. Moreover, the leader was Sama Hyeon. So Sama Hyeon had to go back, bring supplies from the Golden Blood Chamber, and bring martial artists or manpower as well.

“No. I’m going to have my subordinates do that. I’m staying.”

“Is that okay?”

“What’s not to be okay about?”

“Hmm…” Jin Cheonhee couldn’t judge whether this was the proper procedure or not. How was he supposed to judge when he didn’t know how the Hao Sect operated!

“Besides. As you know, brother, the speed at which the Five Poisons Sect’s martial artists gather will be faster than the speed at which the supplies and martial artists arrive.”

“Yes. I know.” Jin Cheonhee nodded. His eyes were already tinged with blue, glowing.

“What do you think, brother? Will the Divine Person come to attack?”

“I only saw him once, and only for a moment, so it’s difficult to grasp. But.”

“But?”

“For some reason, I’m starting to think that in this mad group, that guy is the cold and rational one.”