"In an organization or group, you need strategies to survive. Humans are creatures of emotion. Sometimes, small actions can solve many problems."
"Is that what you call the wisdom of someone who hasn't learned martial arts?"
"Whether you have martial arts or not, you need wisdom. That's why martial artists can't make it. They always draw their swords at the slightest provocation, stabbing here and there. You can't live long like that. Even if a doctor saves you with all their might, do you know how deadly it is when air enters your organs?"
"Hmm..."
"Do you think a human body is like a game character that can be stitched back to its original state? Those people end up coming back to the hospital with adhesions."
"... I have no idea what you're talking about. Brother, is a doctor the same as a physician? And what is a game?"
"I misspoke."
"..."
Yeoharyun looked at his brother with suspicion but eventually shrugged his shoulders.
Jincheonhee spoke.
"Anyway, if you ever have to use a sword, hold back three times. And if you really must use it, think about where the nearest physician is and stab in a way that keeps them alive."
"... What if it's someone who must be killed?"
It was not something you would expect from a child's lips.
Especially not while finishing off tanghulu and stuffing fried honey rice cakes into his mouth without drinking water.
Jincheonhee answered the question.
"Then make sure to kill them on the spot. Leave no room for a physician to intervene. You wouldn't understand the feeling of trying to save someone you know you can't."
Yeoharyun furrowed his brow, deep in thought.
Eventually, he spoke.
"Twice."
"What?"
"I'll hold back twice. Because it's your advice. Three times seems too late, no matter how I think about it."
"What's too late?"
"..."
Instead of answering, Yeoharyun focused on eating his skewer.
Jincheonhee didn't ask further, understanding the clear expression of not wanting to answer.
The fact that he would think twice before killing someone was quite an achievement.
A sword could easily solve some problems, but it could also make things more complicated.
It was never because he lacked strength or because he spared someone who should have died that things got tougher.
More often, it was because he killed someone he shouldn't have, or because the madness of killing started to consume him, making things more complicated.
Just this alone would improve his path.
"I'm not saying don't kill. Just think about it."
"Hmm."
His mouth formed a straight line.
"Alright. Brother."
"Good. Is there anything else you want to eat?"
"What's that dish called, the one with simmered pig intestines?"
"It might be quite spicy. Can you handle it?"
"There's no need to worry about that, brother."
His tone was quite determined.
It seemed he had steeled himself in front of the spicy aroma that could make one cough.
That kid seemed to have an infinite stomach.
He ate endlessly.
It's often mentioned in books that martial artists eat more than ordinary people.
That's true.
Unless you're a master on the verge of ascending to immortality, if you move a lot, you need to eat a lot.
It's the law of calorie conservation.
Martial artists have much more activity than ordinary people.
A sword is heavier than it looks, and swinging it for just an hour makes your whole body scream.
The body will desperately draw calories from fat cells, and the stomach will command the brain to gather more calories.
It means you get hungry.
And if this repeats, the stomach naturally expands, allowing you to eat a lot.
A human body is ultimately shaped by genetics and habits.
'So when you hit forty, you really have to take responsibility for your own body.
Even if you say that...
Oh, that's not it.'
Anyway, Little Heavenly Demon is already a huge eater.
"Brother, you don't have to give up your food for me..."
"... No, I'm really full."
He gave him two more hotteoks.
"Don't refuse and eat. It's from your brother. You don't refuse what your brother gives you."
"Hmm, it's the first time I've heard that, but thank you, brother..."
He put the hotteok in his mouth.
Before they knew it, the day began to set over the market.
They watched a performance by a troupe.
A large dragon puppet moved as if it were alive.
It spewed fire from its mouth, and it was amazing how they did it.
Jincheonhee asked in a voice only he could hear.
"You're leaving soon, right?"
The Demon Cult.
At Jincheonhee's words, Yeoharyun erased his expression and became serious.
"They said the escort company is reorganized and will depart soon."
"It'll be a tough journey, but you're still going?"
"There's no other way."
"Alright."
"..."
The dragon went in, and this time a tightrope walker came out.
He jumped up and down on a high rope.
Of course, there were no safety devices or nets.
It was that kind of era.
People laughed and clapped.
Coins were thrown from all directions.
"Why don't you ask? Why I'm so obsessed with going there. Why I'm going to a place everyone calls hell on my own."
At Yeoharyun's words, Jincheonhee smiled gently.
Seeing that, Yeoharyun seemed to realize something and lowered his voice slightly.
"Do you know something...?"
Jincheonhee replied.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I just thought there must be a reason since it's something you decided."
Yeoharyun's mouth formed a straight line.
After keeping his mouth shut for a while, he spoke.
"Brother."
"Yeah?"
"Someday, you'll tell me what you're hiding, right?"
'No, no matter how much time passes, I won't tell you.
Saying it would only make me look crazy.'
But Jincheonhee answered with a small smile.
"Yeah. Someday. You're my brother."
Saying that, he stood up.
"Let's go back."
"Alright."
"And today, I'll tell you what you've been wanting to hear. You should hear it before you leave."
The way to solve the Blood Palace.
The last lesson.
002. Someday, the inevitable defeat, but not yet
Yeoharyun left like that.
After seeing him off, Jincheonhee let out a small sigh.
'Now what do I do...?'
He had done everything he could.
The rest was up to our protagonist.
'Still, being called brother by Yeoharyun of the world feels quite nice.'
It felt good, but that was it.
Now, Jincheonhee's life remained.
Gongsun Hyun sent the Black Pine Cloud Sword.
Since Gongsun Young was down, he asked to allow a reply as soon as he woke up.
Gongsun Young had finally crossed the wall of a supreme master.
A big reward was coming, said the Gongsun family's warrior, grinning from ear to ear.
Judging by the other words he heard, it seemed they seriously wanted to recruit Jincheonhee into the Gongsun family.
'The Gongsun family... isn't bad.'
If it were the point in the novel where Gongsun Young was dead, it would be one of the three major dens of evil to avoid at all costs, but now Gongsun Young was alive and even became a supreme master.
'Getting a job as a physician in the Gongsun family.'
Even just making penicillin would be enough to earn a doctor's worth.
Blue mold.
In novels, movies, or dramas where doctors go back in time, they always start by making penicillin for a reason.
But it's not easy to make.
Due to the nature of mold, it's sensitive to temperature and environment, and even if you cultivate it quickly, it's difficult to reach the stage of mass fermentation production with current technology.
Still, he could at least protect one family.
'The Unryong Escort Agency isn't bad either.'
He succeeded in winning over the elders of the Unryong Escort Agency, led by the agency head, Un Jisang.
He was the benefactor kid of the Unryong Escort Agency.
The agency does a variety of work.
In modern terms, it's like a combination of a delivery company, a security company, and a service company.
They handle numerous tasks in the middle and get paid.
In this martial world where swords are faster than words, there are many occasions for people to get injured.
Naturally, the role of a physician is important.
He could aim for a key position in the future.
That wouldn't be a bad life either.
Jincheonhee lay on the wooden floor, basking in the sunlight.
Until recently, he had been living desperately, struggling to survive.
Now, it felt like he had lost a molar.
"So you were here."
Silver hair came into view.
Soon after, a pale face devoid of any pigment appeared.
A man with a body temperature more like a snake's than a human's spoke to him.
Baekrin, the Divine Physician.
A man revered as a god by people.
"Could we have a little chat?"
"What? You want me as your direct disciple...?"
"It's stranger that you didn't notice after all the hints I gave."
'Well, that's because you've never taken a disciple in the novel... right?'
If there had been even a single line describing his interest in successors, it might have been different.
He lived nobly and died nobly.
He never seemed to feel loneliness, nor did he have any attachments.
In a way, he seemed like a person devoid of desires.
Jincheonhee's eyes rolled around.
'This is amazing.
This is bigger than combining the Gongsun family and the Unryong Escort Agency.'
The Divine Physician.
His nickname included the character for "immortal."
His patients were mainly martial artists.
Among them, he treated those whom ordinary physicians couldn't cure.
Due to the nature of being a physician, he also saw people from the imperial palace or government, and even treated figures from the Demon Cult.
The more unknown and strange the disease, the more likely it was to catch the Divine Physician's interest.
To catch his interest meant that he wouldn't treat just anyone for money or fame.
Already, prestigious families that couldn't do without him were lined up.
However, the one problem was that he, as the last descendant of the Jegal family, suffered from the Nine Yin Terminal Pulse.
He reached the position of the revered Divine Physician, but he couldn't cure his own body.
No, if it were a disease, there might be a chance.
Strictly speaking, the Nine Yin Terminal Pulse was a constitution.
It could only be said that he was born that way.
He studied medicine with the desire to live, but ironically, he couldn't solve his own condition.
'By now, he must have somewhat accepted his limited lifespan...'
Jincheonhee thought.
'Why me?'
Baekrin asked.
"Do you dislike it?"
"Oh, no! How could I! It's an incredible honor! It's just so sudden."
"That's a relief."
Baekrin smiled slightly.
It was still very strange.
Even with the sun shining down like this, there was no warmth felt from the man.
Jincheonhee thought and thought again before speaking.
"If I become a disciple, what should I learn?"
"You should learn everything from me."
He answered without a moment's hesitation.
It wasn't a simple joke.
There was no hidden meaning.
He truly wanted Jincheonhee to become his disciple.
"It seems like you're hesitating."
Baekrin himself was a patient, wasn't he? If you think about it logically, it's a jackpot story.
He's someone who's about to die.
He has no descendants, so all his achievements and legacy would become Jincheonhee's.
But is that enough?