"That’s not it, Chief Yoo. How could I refuse a letter from you? I’ll open it right here in front of everyone, with gratitude."
Yoo Ho whispered two words so softly that no one else could hear.
"Are you really going to announce that it’s from the Demon Sect?"
Yes, it was a letter from the Demon Sect.
And by instinct, Jin Cheon-hee felt it was sent by Little Demon, Yeo Ha-ryun.
Jin Cheon-hee replied indifferently, "We have ties with the Demon Sect too, don’t we? Our Eui-Gak."
"That’s an internal matter, not something to be discussed openly, as you well know."
If the Hwaju Eui-Gak handled the White Path and the Heukjeon Eui-Gak handled the Black Path, then the Baekrin Eui-Gak belonged to neither.
Patients who came to the Baekrin Eui-Gak were accepted regardless of their affiliation.
What mattered wasn’t the patient’s personal beliefs or sect—it was the illness they suffered from.
Saying it like this might make it sound grand, but it was a bit different.
To be more precise, the master didn’t discriminate in his methods of researching the human body.
Even if it was the Demon Sect, he didn’t shy away if there was a clue.
In a way, if it were just about the greed for knowledge, he might not be much different from the Blood Demon.
It’s just that the master cleverly packaged it and walked the middle path.
They accepted patients from the Demon Sect too.
From the perspective of the orthodox sects, this was a serious matter, but for Jin Cheon-hee, a modern man, it didn’t matter at all. ‘Not discriminating against patients is a good virtue for a doctor.’
Instead of answering, Jin Cheon-hee just smiled.
"I’d like to open your head and take a look, young master. Fine, I’ll leave now. Take your time opening it alone."
"Ah, you’re leaving?"
"Yes. I checked, and there’s nothing dangerous inside. Well, those people have always been respectful toward the Eui-Gak, so it’s only natural."
"Alright. Then have another cup of tea."
"Ugh. Fine, young master."
Yoo Ho admitted defeat.
Jin Cheon-hee sat alone in the room, examining the wooden box on the table.
The box was tied with a silk cord, quite luxurious.
He untied the knot and opened the box.
Click—the box, which had fit together perfectly like a single piece of wood, split in half with a sound.
Inside were a letter and a silk pouch.
The letter read:
- The sect allowed me to send a letter, but the only person I could send it to was you, so here it is.
I’m doing well and staying healthy.
I’ll come see you when the time is right.
There was no sender’s name, but it was clear who had sent it. ‘Has he already risen so high in rank? He might really become a Demon Sect Young Master soon.’
For a Demon Sect member to send a letter outside, they needed to hold a certain position.
But this was too fast.
Originally, it should have taken at least five years.
What had changed…?
‘Ah, I see.
It’s because of my teachings.’
What Jin Cheon-hee had taught Yeo Ha-ryun was just basic social skills.
Not the logic of power between martial artists, but simply how people interact with each other.
It wasn’t anything extraordinary—just common sense that everyone knew.
‘From the stiff tone, it doesn’t seem like his personality has changed much.
Hmm.’
One more thing.
Jin Cheon-hee had asked him to think three times before killing someone.
Yeo Ha-ryun had said three times was too slow and that he’d only think twice.
That had led to this situation.
‘A scary guy.
It couldn’t have been easy to overcome the instincts of the Heavenly Slaughter Star.’
And one more thing.
‘He’s succeeded in suppressing the Blood Demon.’
The words “staying healthy” meant just that.
As a medical practitioner, Jin Cheon-hee felt proud.
‘Now, I just need to open this silk pouch.’
It was quite heavy.
Jin Cheon-hee opened the pouch.
Inside was a pitch-black bracelet.
As expected of the Demon Sect, a black dragon design coiled around the bracelet.
‘Is this… what I’ve seen in novels? The one Yeo Ha-ryun was supposed to wear himself?’
He wasn’t sure.
Jin Cheon-hee twisted the dragon’s head.
Click—then, a thread so thin it was almost invisible appeared.
Thinner than a thread, yet sharp enough to cut flesh.
A hidden weapon among hidden weapons.
‘Huh, the Black Heaven Blood Thread? Why would such a precious thing come with a letter?’
The Black Heaven Blood Thread.
One of the hidden weapons used by the Heavenly Demon.
In the blood-soaked Demon Sect, one needed something to protect themselves.
It wasn’t just about wielding a giant sword.
This invisible thread could strangle or slice an enemy’s throat.
In emergencies, it could create traps to ensnare hundreds of experts.
‘He’s made a connection with the Black Heaven Demon.
Has he become his disciple?’
It was a defensive weapon wielded by the Black Heaven Demon, known as the King of Hidden Weapons.
In the original story, Little Demon Yeo Ha-ryun had struggled to defeat the Black Heaven Demon and obtained this Black Heaven Blood Thread.
Its tensile strength was like an elephant’s sinew, and when infused with special internal energy, it became sharp enough to cut through diamond.
More terrifying than ten thousand daggers, it was a treasure the Black Heaven Demon had cherished his entire life.
The Black Heaven Demon was a reasonable and strong figure within the Demon Sect.
But Yeo Ha-ryun, unable to overcome his Heavenly Slaughter Star nature, had killed his son.
That was during the Blood Calamity of the Demon Sect’s Young Master.
The wounds Yeo Ha-ryun suffered then became shackles that tormented him.
But this time, it seemed different.
The bracelet was unscathed.
It was impossible for the current Yeo Ha-ryun to have taken it by force.
It seemed they had formed a bond stronger than resentment.
Whether he had become the Black Heaven Demon’s disciple or done some favor for his only son, he had obtained this treasure four years earlier than expected.
‘But why would the Demon give this to me? Shouldn’t he be using it himself?’
And he just tossed it over like it was nothing, as if he’d picked it up on the way.
‘If I were an ordinary person, I wouldn’t even know the value of this bracelet.
What if I’d sold it?’
It was chilling.
The Demon’s coolness was too chilling.
Jin Cheon-hee equipped the bracelet.
It was a bit loose now, but it would fit once his body grew.
‘I should write a reply, right?’
In case someone might peek, it’d be better not to write any names.
Even if the messenger arrived at the Demon Sect’s branch, there was no guarantee it would reach the Demon himself.
Jin Cheon-hee wrote a simple reply.
A formal message telling him to eat well and stay healthy.
After sending the messenger, Jin Cheon-hee sat on the porch, fiddling with the Black Heaven Blood Thread.
From the outside, it looked like an ordinary bracelet.
No, it was quite luxurious and expensive-looking, so it was far from ordinary.
‘The craftsman who made the Black Heaven Blood Thread must have been a strange fellow who liked flashy things.’
Hidden weapons are better the more ordinary they look, right? This bracelet would only be ordinary by the standards of a rich young master.
Still, it was hard to believe this was such a legendary treasure.
He tried twisting the dragon’s head to pull out the black thread.
The tensile strength was impressive, but the cutting power didn’t seem that high.
He tried channeling some internal energy into it.
"……."
There wasn’t much change.
This time, he adjusted the combination of internal energy, mixing the Metal and Water energies of the Five Elements Divine Art in a 2:1 ratio.
Finally, there was a reaction.
Sss—the entire thread reacted.
When he touched the end of the thread, a red line appeared.
The cutting power was like a scalpel.
‘I heard it reacts to special internal energy, but it seems the Five Elements Divine Art can mimic it.’
Originally, it would have reacted to the Demon Sect’s demonic energy.
‘Hmm.
Shortcuts are sweet.’
How much did Yeo Ha-ryun know when he sent this? Jin Cheon-hee fell into thought.
"What are you thinking about?" Yoo Ho came to collect the tea and snacks Jin Cheon-hee had consumed, along with the wooden box.
Jin Cheon-hee fiddled with the bracelet and answered calmly, "I’m wondering how I can use this to save lives."
"You want to use a weapon made to kill people for medical purposes?"
"Does that sound crazy?"
"Since when have you ever been sane, young master? To you, that’s normal."
‘This guy…’ Jin Cheon-hee was pondering how to tease him when Yoo Ho added, "That’s probably why he gave it to you. Because you’re not normal, he thought you might use it in a different way."
"……?"
How did this guy know? Jin Cheon-hee glanced at him.
Yoo Ho frowned.
"Well, those who’ve been to the bottom think alike. If someone like that got their hands on it, it’s obvious how they’d use it."
"The bottom, the bottom…" Yoo Ho’s words had a strange persuasiveness, as if he’d been there himself.
Come to think of it, he’d once referred to himself as a lowly creature.
Had he grown up in the slums? Or had he been kidnapped by a heretical sect or the Demon Sect as a child and escaped? Maybe he’d been brainwashed and kidnapped by an assassination sect.
The martial world was like that.
You couldn’t tell just by looking.
‘Well, I have no intention of forgiving someone who’s always threatening to kill me.’
Anyway, it seemed Yeo Ha-ryun had hoped he’d use this in a different way.
Of course, it could also be for self-defense.
‘Half right.
I was already thinking about how to use it medically.’
Yoo Ho placed another cup of tea and three rice cakes in front of Jin Cheon-hee, laced with a bit of sarcasm.
Jin Cheon-hee chuckled and teased Yoo Ho like that.
He spent a few hours alone on the porch, mentally working on how to apply the Black Heaven Blood Thread, when he felt someone approaching.
‘Yoo Ho? No.’
Yoo Ho’s footsteps were more like a four-legged beast’s, likely due to the martial arts he practiced.
But the footsteps he heard now were different—light and quick.
"Cheon-hee."
It was Wang Ga-gyeon.
She was now fully healed, with all her meridians cleared.
Among her peers, there were hardly any in the martial world’s prestigious families who could match her.
On her back was a large bow.
The Pasa Bow, a weapon not quite divine but modified to be suitable for using the Pasa Divine Art.
It bore the marks of use—it had been her father’s bow.
Her father, now at the peak of archery, no longer needed the Pasa Bow.
He had transcended the need for a bow.
So he passed it down to his daughter, Wang Ga-gyeon.
Though it was a large bow for a young girl, she wielded it with ease.
"What’s the matter? Why are you so out of breath?" Wang Ga-gyeon asked.
"You’re good at Qinggong, right?"
"I can manage the Three Talents Qinggong derived from the Three Talents Footwork."
The Three Talents Qinggong wasn’t much different from the Three Talents Footwork.
Left, right, forward—that was all there was to it.
It was a low-level Qinggong that most would treat as a joke, but Wang Ga-gyeon’s expression was serious.
"Can you come with me for a bit? There’s someone I’d like you to treat."
She fumbled in her pocket and pulled out one silver coin and nine copper coins.
Jin Cheon-hee knew that was all the money she had.
"What’s going on?"
"Please…" She couldn’t answer right now.