"Whoa, whoa!" The horses came to a halt, and the people dismounted.
Jin Cheon-hee could observe them one by one.
Their martial robes, dyed in blue, bore the embroidered emblem of the "Cloud Dragon Escort Agency" on their chests.
At the forefront stood a tall, muscular middle-aged man who appeared to be over 180 centimeters tall.
Judging by his appearance, he seemed to be in his fifties.
He had no beard and looked quite neat.
His entire body was well-muscled, giving him the appearance of a bear.
He habitually ran his hand over the sword at his waist—a thick blade without a sheath.
'Isn’t that a Willow Leaf Saber? Wait, now that I think about it, the weapons used by the Cloud Dragon Escort Agency in the early parts of Supreme Demon Lord were also Willow Leaf Sabers, right...?' The Willow Leaf Saber, a thick weapon shaped like a willow leaf, had a blade that resembled the tip of a willow leaf, gradually tapering toward the hilt.
It was a weapon frequently seen in martial arts novels and dramas, so Jin Cheon-hee recognized it easily.
The only difference was that this muscular middle-aged man’s Willow Leaf Saber was larger and thicker than those of other martial artists.
'The escort agency even has uniforms.
Seeing it in person is so fascinating.' As Jin Cheon-hee watched, the people from the escort agency noticed him.
Jin Cheon-hee and the tent were slightly to the left of the scene, so they hadn’t spotted him right away.
"Chief! There’s a survivor!"
'Huh...
What’s this? It’s a language I’ve never heard before, but...
I can understand it? How?' Come to think of it, even though he had been in a daze earlier, he had also been able to understand the mutterings of the bearded patient.
Jin Cheon-hee, with a confused expression, looked at the martial artist pointing at him and soon realized that everyone was staring at him.
The sole survivor—a boy covered in blood.
"Check if there are any more injured!" The muscular giant he had seen earlier shouted loudly and approached Jin Cheon-hee.
Though his steps seemed ordinary, he covered three meters in a single stride.
Jin Cheon-hee was utterly shocked.
'What the heck is this?' Whether he was shocked or not, the giant man stood tall in front of Jin Cheon-hee.
Jin Cheon-hee swallowed hard and looked up at him.
'He’s ridiculously tall...
He’s not going to hit me, is he?' As he thought this, he heard the man mutter something.
Though it wasn’t Korean, Jin Cheon-hee could understand it perfectly this time as well.
"I don’t recall hiring a child like this..."
Feeling instinctively intimidated, Jin Cheon-hee looked up as the man bent his knees and lowered his body.
Even then, Jin Cheon-hee had to crane his neck to look up, and it started to ache a little.
"Ah, yes. I am Yun Ji-sang, the chief of the Cloud Dragon Escort Agency."
The giant spoke with a surprisingly gentle smile.
Jin Cheon-hee was inwardly impressed. 'Despite his appearance, he’s an extremely polite person.' It seemed he was aware of his intimidating looks and was being as careful as possible so as not to scare the child.
"May I know your name?" Jin Cheon-hee calmly replied, "It’s Jin Cheon-hee."
"That’s a fine name. And to remain so composed in this situation—your mental fortitude is truly remarkable. Did you make the tent behind you?"
"Yes. There were injured people, so..."
"Injured people? I’ll go check on them first. Please stay here, alright?" Jin Cheon-hee simply nodded.
Yun Ji-sang immediately stood up and lifted the tent flap.
Jin Cheon-hee quietly watched.
"An urgent patient! Quickly, summon Physician Baek Rin! Hurry!" His booming voice echoed.
Jin Cheon-hee was inwardly shocked. 'Baek Rin? Did he just say Baek Rin? Could it be...?' In the distance, someone was getting out of a carriage.
The coachman opened the door and gently assisted the person out.
Silver hair that sparkled like stars came into view.
With skin as white as snow and features as if carved from jade, the person slowly walked toward them.
It was a stunningly beautiful man.
The moment Jin Cheon-hee saw him, his heart nearly stopped. 'He...
He looks exactly like the description in the novel...' Jin Cheon-hee was dumbfounded.
It wasn’t because of the man’s beauty, but because he had just seen a character from a novel in real life.
His mind was in chaos. 'Am I... inside the world of the novel?' With a dazed expression, Jin Cheon-hee stared at Physician Baek Rin.
Soon, Jin Cheon-hee turned his gaze back to the tent. 'Then, the person I saved...
Could it be the future Demon Lord?'
Jin Cheon-hee slowly organized his thoughts. 'Baek Rin, the Physician.
His nickname comes from his hair, which resembles the scales of a white dragon.
He’s one of the three great physicians of the world and the last direct descendant of the declining Zhuge family, as described in the novel...' The tent was quickly dismantled.
Physician Baek Rin, Zhuge Lin, approached each patient and placed his hands on them. 'Pulse diagnosis...
I’ve always wanted to learn that.' Though Jin Cheon-hee was a modern surgeon, he had also studied traditional medicine due to his fascination with martial arts novels.
However, since he hadn’t received formal education or apprenticed under a master, it was hard to say he had proper knowledge or skill.
Still, he had memorized all the acupoints and had some knowledge of herbal medicine.
As Physician Baek Rin performed the pulse diagnosis, he removed the patient’s clothes and swiftly inserted needles. 'Wow, he’s incredibly fast.
He really is the Baek Rin from the novel...' As Jin Cheon-hee watched, Physician Baek Rin carefully examined the area Jin Cheon-hee had sutured.
Then, his handsome face showed a look of admiration.
He had been focused solely on the patients until now, and even his expression change made some people blush.
He took out a small case from his robe and opened it.
A pungent aroma wafted over.
He dipped his finger inside and applied a sticky, ointment-like liquid to the wound, tapping it gently.
Strangely, there seemed to be a method to applying the Golden Wound Ointment, as he tapped around the acupoints.
Despite the loud tapping sounds, the patient didn’t seem to be in much pain.
'Is that the Golden Wound Ointment? It’s fascinating...
If this is the novel, then that must be Baek Rin’s White Scale Golden Wound Ointment.
In the novel, it was said to cost ten gold coins per jar.
And the way he’s applying it isn’t just smearing it on—he’s using internal energy to apply it.' Jin Cheon-hee felt a surge of desire to learn.
It wasn’t just his duty as a doctor but also pure scholarly curiosity.
At that moment, the chief urgently shouted, "How are they? Can Dan Pyo-du and Gongson Pyo-sa survive?" 'So, the man is Dan Pyo-du, and the woman is Gongson Pyo-sa...
Is that kid really the Demon Lord Yeo Ha-ryun?' As Jin Cheon-hee watched with interest, Physician Baek Rin turned his head and asked instead, "Who performed this treatment?"
All eyes turned to Jin Cheon-hee.
Physician Baek Rin’s gaze also fell on him.
The air grew strangely tense.
'There’s no trace of martial arts training.
An extremely ordinary body.
He’s around ten to twelve years old.
How peculiar.' Physician Baek Rin Zhuge Lin, one of the three great physicians of the world, thought as he looked at the boy, Jin Cheon-hee. 'He sutured the wound with thread.
This is a form of surgery, but it’s not something commonly seen in the martial world.
For such wounds, the usual treatment is to stop the bleeding through acupressure, align the wound, apply Golden Wound Ointment, and tightly bandage it.'
It resembled a surgical technique from outside the martial world, one that seemed to have been adapted for the masses who didn’t know martial arts, rather than a select few physicians. 'Hmm...
How peculiar.'
The Cloud Dragon Escort Agency was one of the top escort agencies in the world.
Physician Baek Rin had been closely associated with them for a long time.
Their branch was even located near the main headquarters of the White Scale Medical Pavilion.
The chief himself had rushed over to urgently request help.
And so, he had come.
The scene was littered with corpses, clearly the result of a meticulously planned ambush.
In such a place, Zhuge Lin found himself intrigued by an unexpected sight.
As one of the three great physicians of the world, he was well-versed in surgical techniques—cutting flesh and performing operations, a practice from ancient and medieval China.
Even Physician Baek Rin Zhuge Lin couldn’t suture a wound so cleanly.
No, he had never done it before.
In this era, wound suturing primarily involved using acupressure or cauterizing the flesh with a hot iron.
Suturing a wound like sewing clothes was a simple yet revolutionary idea.
'Could this child be related to Blood Sage No-goe?' Blood Sage No-goe, one of the three great physicians and an elder to Zhuge Lin, was a martial artist who had achieved eternal youth.
He was considered the best in the world when it came to surgical techniques.
But this was different.
Zhuge Lin had seen Blood Sage No-goe treat external injuries several times, but never like this. 'Moreover, the placement of the sutures is precise.
This isn’t the work of someone who’s only done it once or twice.
If it were me, could I have treated this wound?' Using acupressure to stop the bleeding might have been possible.
But using a needle and thread in such an emergency? That would have been impossible.
As Zhuge Lin pondered, he looked at the boy.
No matter how he thought about it, this was an extraordinary medical technique.
Jin Cheon-hee struggled to speak.
"It... was me."
"That’s an excellent medical technique. If it weren’t for you, this patient would no longer be among the living."
Everyone was shocked by his words. 'Has Physician Baek Rin ever praised someone like this before?' And the recipient of such praise was a small child.
He was always the strictest when it came to medical techniques.
Receiving praise from him was an extremely rare occurrence.
However, the boy, Jin Cheon-hee, didn’t seem to care about such things.
In fact, he was preoccupied with something else.
But despite his inner thoughts, his demeanor seemed special to others. 'Hmm, if they ask who I am, I don’t know what to say.
By the way, isn’t "surgical technique" the term used for things like surgery? It’s strange, but it doesn’t sound familiar.' While thinking this, Jin Cheon-hee waved his hand dismissively.
"I just did my best to save a life."
In response to Jin Cheon-hee’s answer, Physician Baek Rin smiled gently.