The safe house Jin Cheon-hee entered, trailing the Three Perfections Tracking Tiger, was a fortress of solitude disguised as a hut.

A complex formation encased the perimeter, designed with such malevolent intricacy that anyone failing to step in the correct sequence would wander in an endless loop until forcibly expelled. The presence of such elaborate measures in this unassuming location suggested that the matters discussed within were far from ordinary.

Midway through the journey, Jin Cheon-hee had been blindfolded and carried on the Three Perfections Tracking Tiger’s back. She moved with deceptive steps, a chaotic rhythm mixing truth and falsehood in her path to prevent him from deducing their location through his innate sense of direction.

“This must be a safe house built by the Martial Righteous Alliance.”

At his deduction, the muscles of the Three Perfections Tracking Tiger’s back shifted against him—a silent laugh.

“It’s a secret, yet you guess everything from one to ten, Little Brother.”

“I won’t divulge it.”

“There’s no point in blindfolding you, then. People who are too clever are such a bother.”

When they finally arrived inside the sanctuary and the blindfold was removed, a familiar wreck awaited them on the bed.

The Leader of the Sea Sand Gang, Hae Yeon-do.

—Keuk-keuk. Polite as you are, you’re just like those hypocrites of the Orthodox factions. No need for long words. I hear the Thieving Phantom is receiving treatment here? Hand him over.

Indeed. This was the despot who had once thrown a tantrum, demanding the head of the Thieving Phantom and his granddaughter when the White Qilin Medical Pavilion sought to protect them. He was subsequently disciplined by Jin Cheon-hee’s Transcendental Core Martial Art, Benevolence, and forcibly converted into a ‘patient.’

Thus, the Saber King, once hailed as one of the Ten Greatest Masters under the Heavens, was defeated by One Light and erased from the annals of glory. Jin Cheon-hee hadn’t expected the man to repent—figuring he’d live out his days committing mediocre villainy—but to meet him again like this…

“One arm has been severed, and the abdominal wound is severe,” Jin Cheon-hee observed, his voice dropping. “It’s a miracle he’s still breathing; someone must have performed emergency treatment.”

“You noticed right away. Physicians from the Martial Righteous Alliance performed urgent care. But even with their skills, they could only manage to transport him and buy enough time to call for you.”

“Is the other hand… Ice Arts? It seems a master of Ice Arts laid hands on him.”

This was as much as he could tell from visual observation. The key to the truth, as always, lay in pulse diagnosis.

Placing his hand on Hae Yeon-do’s neck, Jin Cheon-hee stifled a gasp; the condition was far more critical than anticipated. The faint thread of life vibrating at his fingertips seemed ready to snap at any moment.

“You see it immediately,” the Tracking Tiger said softly. “He’s barely holding on thanks to the Supreme Art of Tortoise Breathing and formations infusing him with vitality, but even that won’t last much longer. Can you save him?”

“Life and death are up to the Heavens, but I will do the best human hands can do.”

“You can’t give a definite answer.”

“No.”

That was the severity of the patient’s state.

“The physicians of the Martial Righteous Alliance will assist you.”

She clapped her hands, and a hidden wall panel slid open, revealing two masked physicians. They walked with extreme caution, looking as skittish as herbivores in a tiger’s den, terrified that a single dropped brush might cost them their lives.

“They could get entangled in Gangho grudges, so their faces, names, and everything else are secret. Please do not try to uncover their identities. I ask this of you.”

They weren’t warriors navigating a forest of swords; they were simple physicians. Jin Cheon-hee knew that vulnerability all too well.

“Understood.”

“I’m counting on you.”

All she could do now was watch—over the physicians, and the dying man.

Do I have to amputate the remaining arm affected by the Ice Art?

Jin Cheon-hee assessed the limb. The opponent was no ordinary master. From the point of impact, a supernatural chill continued to surge, freezing the Qi points and eroding the flesh. Modern physics might question the possibility, but by now, Jin Cheon-hee was unfazed. In a Gangho where humans sprinted across water, questioning the laws of nature was a fool’s errand. To live long, one simply accepted the absurdity.

The problem is, if I do this, he loses both arms…

For a martial artist, hands were life itself. The thought of leaving him limbless brought a heavy sigh to Jin Cheon-hee’s lips.

No, he has already lost them.

The Ice Art had dragged the arm past the point of no return. He couldn’t let the patient die simply to preserve a dead limb. If the frostbite were similar to the case of the previous Beggars’ Sect Leader, there might have been hope, but right now, there was no other answer.

So this is how you wash your hands of the martial world.

They said the end for those of the Unorthodox Path was usually terrible. The human body only grows frailer with age, but the grudges of the Gangho never forget a name.

First… let’s focus on keeping him breathing. That is the priority.

As long as he was alive, possibility existed. Even if Hae Yeon-do later despaired and chose to end his own life, he had to be alive to make that choice.

Steeling his resolve, Jin Cheon-hee addressed the masked physicians, who watched him with worried eyes.

“The decision to amputate the patient’s arm is entirely my diagnosis and my responsibility. I will take on any grudges that arise from this later.”

He drove the point home, a shield against the future possibility of the Sea Sand Gang Leader seeking vengeance against the assistants.

“Thank you.”

“…I will not forget this, Young Pavilion Master.”

Jin Cheon-hee nodded.

They were ordinary doctors. In a world like this, physicians were all too easily swept up in the tides of resentment and cut down by martial artists. There was a reason the White Qilin Unit guarded the White Qilin Medical Pavilion.

The two physicians expressed their deep gratitude, their shoulders slumping in relief.

***

Amputation of the upper limb was only the prologue; starting from the abdominal trauma, not a single cun of Hae Yeon-do’s body was left unscathed. Even with Jin Cheon-hee’s hands, it required a major surgery lasting over four hours.

Fortunately, the Martial Righteous Alliance physicians assisted with competence, allowing him to fully utilize his skills. He sensed traces of the White Qilin Medical Pavilion’s training in their methods and suspected he knew who they might be, but he feigned ignorance. Their anonymity was their shield.

After four grueling hours, Jin Cheon-hee stepped away from the table, exhausted.

“I’ve done everything I can for now. Depending on his condition, there may be additional surgeries later… but for now, the priority is whether he wakes up.”

“You worked hard, Little Brother.”

“Not at all. The rest depends on the patient’s will…”

He explained the procedures he had performed, starting with the grim fact that Hae Yeon-do had lost his remaining arm. Though it was a tragic fate for a fellow martial artist, the Three Perfections Tracking Tiger remained surprisingly impassive.

“Well, the Sea Sand Gang Leader is a bad man, so it can’t be helped. His victims will probably feel vindicated.”

There wasn’t a shred of pity in her voice. And perhaps she was right. The gold Hae Yeon-do had amassed through piracy was surely squeezed from the lifeblood of innocents.

“However, I made it clear that all decisions were mine, and the assisting physicians bear no responsibility.”

“What sin have the physicians committed? It was necessary to save him, so it was the right choice.”

“Indeed.”

“He’s just an information source anyway. As long as his tongue and brain are intact, it’s fine.”

“Hahaha…”

“Little Brother. Please do not waste your pity on trash like him. Your mental energy is too precious.”

Jin Cheon-hee did not reply. Instead, he asked the question burning in his mind.

“But how did the Sea Sand Gang Leader end up like this? There aren’t many people who could reduce him to such a state.”

“He was once one of the Ten Greatest Masters under the Heavens. Before you arrived, of course.”

The Three Perfections Tracking Tiger fell into thought, debating where to begin, before finally parting her lips heavily.

“First… let me tell you how I track the Blood Immortal Cult.”

“Yes. I’ve been curious about that for a long time. I wondered how you tracked them in these vast Central Plains.”

“Although the Central Plains are vast, a large number of people living together inevitably leaves a mark. The Blood Immortal Cult is a massive organization, so its headquarters must be substantial. Yet, why is it so hard to find traces of them in the Central Plains?”

“…”

“Let me rephrase the question. The Demonic Cult is hard to find because they are far from the Central Plains. The Blood Immortal Cult is similar. However, it’s impossible for them to occupy the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, because the Demonic Cult loathes the Blood Immortal Cult. Well, from our perspective, they’re all the same.”

Cult versus Cult. Just imagining the clash made one’s chest swell with the grandeur of chaos.

“Yes, that’s true.”

“So I shifted my gaze. To the sea. There are over three thousand islands recorded in the Empire. Including uninhabited ones, the number is enormous. There are countless islands not even on the map. So I began tracking toward the ocean.”

“The sea?”

“Yes. Even if I don’t find their headquarters, finding a branch would be a gain.”

It was a decision bordering on madness. Even if it was to find her lost sibling, to search that vast ocean and countless islands… Every day must have been a grueling battle against the infinite horizon.

Yet, the Three Perfections Tracking Tiger continued speaking as if it were a trivial stroll.

“In the process, I witnessed the internal strife of the Sea Sand Gang… and the Sea Sand Gang Leader’s power was collapsing due to that conflict.”

“Strange.”

“Right. If there was someone capable of bringing down the Sea Sand Gang Leader to that extent, the Martial Righteous Alliance, the Hao Sect, or the Beggars’ Sect would have known. But my information network picked up no such signs. So, I planned to extract the Sea Sand Gang Leader and flee.”

“A truly bold plan.”

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If it went well and I caught the tail of the Blood Immortal Cult, it would be lucky. Even if it failed, I could hand him over to the authorities for the bounty, so it was a win for me.”

Hearing her logic, it made sense. Still, to maintain such clarity in that situation proved she was an exceptional tracker.

“From the near-dead Sea Sand Gang Leader, I heard quite good news. He said the Blood Immortal Cult had taken over the Sea Sand Gang.”

“Oho?”

“Didn’t I tell you before? I’m strong against bad luck. I am like most hounds; once I bite, I never let go, and strangely, the unluckier things get, the better they unravel in this direction.”

She sighed softly, as if the memory itself was a weight.

Her shallow breath boiled with inner demons before subsiding, repeating the cycle. Over this long time, memories might weather, but emotions remained without fading, carving out the caverns of a person’s heart.

Why is it that even when faces grow dim in memory, longing boils deep in the solar plexus as a solidified grudge?

Another word for longing is solitude.

Solitude becomes a Gu Poison, leaving a bitter taste in the back of the throat. Therefore, some solitude is bitter enough to make one vomit.

“Phew. The Sea Sand Gang is a group of pirates. Even so, the reason they established themselves as one of the Unorthodox factions is that they kept a certain line. Of course, ‘keeping the line’ here means they were mindful of the authorities and the Orthodox Path, not that they didn’t commit evil acts.”

“I know.”

“Right. But if the Blood Immortal Cult has taken over the Sea Sand Gang, indiscriminate looting and rituals could occur. You know what kind of ‘rituals’ I mean.”

“I know very well.”

“That is exactly… what happened on a coast just a few days’ journey from Hangzhou, where you were.”

“…”

Jin Cheon-hee closed his eyes.

The puzzle pieces began to fit together into a grim mosaic.

So the bird he saw back then was indeed an agent of the Blood Immortal Cult. Even if they had spotted Jin Cheon-hee while conducting their business nearby, they couldn’t act immediately.

It was impossible to move rashly because the Demonic Cult was there. Dark Cloud and his subordinates were present.

Cults do not coexist with other Cults.

And as of now, the Blood Immortal Cult could never defeat Her—the Heavenly Demon. She wasn’t called the Demonic Supreme, one of the Three Supremes, for nothing.

So they must have waited for the Demonic Cultists to leave, or simply held their breath in the shadows. That must be the reality of the situation.