Originally, the White Scale Pavilion should have gradually declined, and after Zhuge Lin's death, its lineage should have been severed, scattering its members to the winds.
But instead, the White Scale Pavilion began to pulse with life once more.
On the other hand, it was clear that the Fire Lord Pavilion harbored more than just competitive resentment toward the White Scale Pavilion.
However, this was not particularly important to Jin Cheon-hee or Zhuge Lin.
"Grandmother."
"Yes... that's right."
"I came too late, didn't I? I'm sorry."
Jin Cheon-hee apologized to the nameless grandmother who had injured her knee.
"I promised to help you when you left, but I only came now."
Jin Cheon-hee apologized several times, feeling guilty.
Whether it was a doctor or a physician, it was always the same.
The schedule wasn't set by the physician but by the patients.
After treating the patients and engaging in a battle with the patient's guardian (the Lord King), a lot of time had passed.
It was unavoidable.
Still, there were many people in the medical pavilion.
If not Jin Cheon-hee, someone else could have helped instead.
She had asked someone else to take care of it and had forgotten about it.
But then she found out that the grandmother hadn't left and was waiting for her at the Bamboo Forest Hall.
When she finally headed to the Bamboo Forest Hall, the grandmother was there.
And beside her was the bundle, untouched, just as it had been when she first arrived.
Seeing no signs that anyone had touched it, Jin Cheon-hee felt a heavy weight in her heart.
'Did her grandchild not come? Or did they come and leave without even eating?'
At times like this, it was considerate not to ask.
Jin Cheon-hee maintained a calm expression.
Then the grandmother spoke.
"Want to eat?"
"Huh? Me?"
"Yes. It hasn't spoiled yet, so don't worry. And bring that master of yours too."
She spoke as if calling some scoundrel.
Something felt off, but Jin Cheon-hee thought, 'Maybe she thinks her grandchild is having a hard time because of my master?'
As she hesitated, the door opened.
Creak—
There stood Zhuge Lin.
The grandmother looked at Zhuge Lin and chuckled.
"I thought it was a dog, but it's a tiger. They say even a tiger comes when you call its name."
"I apologize for keeping you waiting, elder."
Huh? The two of them acted as if they had known each other for a long time.
Jin Cheon-hee was surprised and looked back and forth between them.
Zhuge Lin spoke.
"Please stop testing my disciple. Haven't you observed enough?"
Testing?
"What do you mean, Master?"
At that moment, the old woman burst into laughter.
It wasn't the voice of an elderly woman anymore.
It was a youthful, vibrant voice, yet somehow deep and resonant.
Crack—
The sound of bones twisting could be heard.
The old woman's arm twisted strangely and then rotated once.
Her skeleton gradually straightened, and the wrinkles on her skin began to tighten.
Her snow-white hair turned into a chestnut brown.
"Yes, child of the White Scale. Thanks to you, this old hag had a good show."
She swept her bangs back.
Jin Cheon-hee stepped back toward her master in surprise, ready to fight if necessary.
"Who are you?"
"Hmm, you were so polite when I was an old woman, but now you look like you're about to unleash your martial arts. Have you heard of the Blood Life Demon? Little one."
Blood Life Demon!
One of the three great medical pavilions, the master of the Black War Pavilion.
Known for her strange behavior, she was called a "monster" in the martial world.
A master of the Shrinking Tendon Technique, she always changed her appearance.
Whether she was male or female was ambiguous in the martial world... but Jin Cheon-hee knew from reading novels.
'She's a woman.'
In battle, she used the Shrinking Tendon Technique to transform into a body resembling a giant gorilla, and the term "monster" fit her perfectly.
She was obsessed with surgery and believed that through surgery, she could bring the dead back to life.
She "treated" patients in a way similar to Jin Cheon-hee but also very different.
The problem was that her treatments were bizarre.
-If you have six fingers, wouldn't you be stronger? If you wanted to climb a wall, you could do it.
In the past, she had cured a patient who had fallen into demonic cultivation in a novel.
She even upgraded them.
The problem was that she had added an extra finger.
And that was done without the patient's consent.
-You didn't have enough with two eyes, so I gave you a third.
This body is optimal for your martial arts.
Look! Isn't the cow's eye deep?
Who knows what method she used, but she attached a cow's eye.
It certainly compensated for the flaws in the martial arts.
But the patient was destined to live their life being called a monster.
However, that wasn't her concern.
Originally, she would knock out the victim she had chosen as a patient and then "treat" them...
How she treated them was known only to the Blood Life Demon.
The more terrifying thing was that the Blood Life Demon was a master who had achieved the state of Reverse Aging.
When a senior from a demonic sect found out, he screamed.
-That crazy monster has achieved Reverse Aging! Heaven is truly blind!
Thud thud thud!
With those words, he lost consciousness to her techniques and was taken away to be "treated."
The senior no longer suffered from lung disease.
He was perfectly cured.
In exchange, he gained an extra nostril.
She certainly cured people.
She did.
Even incurable diseases that no one else could treat, she had a decent success rate.
The problem was that her goodwill was something ordinary people couldn't understand.
Jin Cheon-hee recalled the novel and thought, 'I'm not sick, so she couldn't have come for me, right?'
Her opponent was a mad scientist who had achieved Reverse Aging.
Jin Cheon-hee's mind raced.
'In the novel, at this point, the Blood Life Demon rarely went out to kidnap martial artists for treatment...'
Martial artists thought that the Blood Life Demon's radical treatments had decreased.
As she aged, perhaps she was preparing for ascension like other Reverse Aging masters, taking life easy.
But Jin Cheon-hee knew from reading the novel.
'She's deeply engrossed in creating Jiangshi (zombies) right now.'
In the past, she had been a public enemy of the martial world.
The reason it was in the past was that the situation had changed over time.
There had been orders to hunt her down, but martial artists had been defeated by her power and forcibly "treated" for their injuries multiple times.
Over time, about fifty years had passed, and the resentment had faded.
Now, she had established the Black War Pavilion and traded with demonic sects and heretical factions.
The treatments of the Black War Pavilion were fast and cheap, but the side effects were a drawback.
However, it was a great advantage that one could obtain various materials used in demonic arts, demonic techniques, and heretical techniques, which ordinary medical pavilions would never handle, and receive assistance in procedures.
Moreover.
What the other two medical pavilions couldn't treat, the Black War Pavilion could.
In the process, one might die or end up worse than dead, but there was still a thread of hope.
For such a being to appear in the form of a grandmother and test her was inexplicable.
The Blood Life Demon spoke.
"Don't worry. I made a pact with the White Scale."
"A pact?"
"I agreed not to cause trouble in the White Scale Pavilion."
Jin Cheon-hee looked at her master.
Zhuge Lin sighed.
"Long ago, the Blood Life Demon was very interested in my illness. She wanted to forcibly treat me, but I resisted. We agreed that if I could last fifty rounds, I would willingly become her patient, but if I won, she would no longer cause trouble in this medical pavilion."
To last fifty rounds against a Reverse Aging master was an impossible task.
The Blood Life Demon chuckled.
"That kid lasted so easily. With the most severe type of Nine Yin Meridian Blockage, he only lost a bit of hair against a Reverse Aging master."
Her master spoke to Jin Cheon-hee as if it were natural.
"Listen well, Hee-ya. When our sect's martial arts reach their peak, you can become the greatest in the world."
"Even in the midst of this, you're still focused on teaching your disciple. White Scale."
"I have to seize every opportunity. Blood Life."
They called each other by their titles, not their real names.
The Blood Life Demon unwrapped the bundle.
"The Beginning of Spring is when yin and yang change, and the years connect. I wonder if you have the courage to eat the food I made. White Scale."
At those words, Zhuge Lin sighed.
"Blood Life, you always keep your promises like your life depends on it."
"Yes. You know me well."
The food made by the Blood Life Demon was surprisingly ordinary festive food for the Beginning of Spring.
And it was incredibly delicious.
Perhaps she had used internal energy to keep it warm, as the food was still hot.
Jin Cheon-hee picked up her chopsticks, took a bite, and then continued eating.
The Blood Life Demon watched her with satisfaction.
"I heard that the White Scale Pavilion uses surgical techniques never seen or heard of before. Could I have missed something? I came right away. Your skill in treating my knee was quite good."
"Is that so?"
Her master looked at Jin Cheon-hee with satisfaction and replied.
"Even in our Black War Pavilion, there are few with hands as fast and precise as hers. And she has ideas that others wouldn't even think of."
She examined Jin Cheon-hee's face carefully.
Jin Cheon-hee deliberately fixed her gaze on the food to avoid eye contact.
"And the Lord King came."
"Yes. If it weren't for the chaos caused by the son-in-law, the Lord King during wartime would have surely been caught."
"Is that so? Did you see the treatment?"
"I used a spell to borrow the eyes of one of the medical pavilion members. Thanks to that, I could watch well. Hmm... You treated the patient with an approach I hadn't thought of. Cutting away the damaged part first to restore the flesh."
She must be referring to debridement surgery.
On Earth, it was one of the basic emergency surgical procedures.
Jin Cheon-hee replied.
"Cutting away the infected part speeds up recovery."
If the muscle becomes a breeding ground for bacteria, recovery slows down.
Inflammation worsens, leading to complications like sepsis and embolism.
That's why it's cut away.
"I see. Cutting away to promote healing. Quite an interesting concept."
She laughed for a while, clearly interested.
Then she said.
"I'm starting to like you more and more. In the Black War Pavilion, you could be my..."
At that moment, her master grabbed her shoulder and smiled brightly.
"No."
"What?"
"No."
He refused before she could even finish her sentence.
"I haven't even finished speaking yet, and you're already saying no?"
"Hahaha, absolutely not."
But the Blood Life Demon wasn't one to stop there.
She immediately said.
"Benefit! Won't you become my disciple? If you become my disciple, the Black War Pavilion will be yours in the future, and you will be able to shake the darkness of the world."
"......"
Jin Cheon-hee dropped the fried lotus root she was holding with her chopsticks.
Thud.
"Huh?"
"Become my disciple. I can give you more than that White Scale guy."
The Blood Life Demon was desperate.
Jin Cheon-hee was a prodigy who could not only fully inherit her legacy but also advance it further.
"Your field is surgery, isn't it? The Black War Pavilion, which focuses on surgery, would suit you much better than the White Scale Pavilion, which focuses on acupuncture."