“……!” The guard froze in an instant, not even realizing what had happened to him. “Judging by the level of the guards, it seems doable?” Just as confidence surged within him, the sound of a beast growling echoed. Kung! It was a large dog.
Behind it stood Jin Cheon-hee with a crooked expression. “As they say, ‘The good ones don’t come, and those who come aren’t good.’” The literal meaning is that good people don’t come, and among those who come on their own, there are no good ones.
Someone boarding the ship in the middle of the night couldn’t possibly be a righteous person, so Jin Cheon-hee had already prepared himself.
Jin Cheon-hee asked, “Shall we ask who you are? What are you doing here?” “What does it matter to you!” At that moment, Il-seo and Yi-seo simultaneously threw daggers at Jin Cheon-hee.
Sam-seo drew his sword and joined the attack.
It was the famous combined formation of the Three Killers.
Though they were often mocked as rats, when the three of them came together, they were strong!
Jin Cheon-hee inwardly marveled at the daggers filling his vision. ‘Oh, not bad!’ With that thought, he flicked his sleeve.
The sleeve, imbued with the essence of the Five Elements Divine Art’s Wind Qi, swelled as if it would tear, creating a wall of wind. Pang! ‘It’s not as elegant as my master’s movements.’ If it had been Zhuge Lin, he would have used the absorbing essence of Wind Qi to suck all the daggers into his sleeve rather than deflecting them with wind.
But for now, Jin Cheon-hee could only use the crude method of deflecting with wind.
Still, it was effective enough. Kung! As soon as the wall of daggers disappeared, Hwang-gu bit Sam-seo’s groin. “Huh…!” It was the most vulnerable spot at Hwang-gu’s eye level.
Sam-seo couldn’t even scream and collapsed forward.
In that moment, Jin Cheon-hee used the Three Treasures Technique to appear in front of Yi-seo. Pak! A palm strike slammed into his eardrum.
The sound of his eardrum tearing shook Yi-seo’s brain.
As Yi-seo staggered, Il-seo drew his sword and swung it. “Where do you think you’re going!” Jin Cheon-hee pulled Yi-seo’s arm and placed it in front of Il-seo. “Damn it!” The moment Il-seo’s sword stopped, Jin Cheon-hee’s white hand wrapped around his wrist like a vine, twisting it in an unnatural direction. Crack! “Aaaah!” His wrist was dislocated.
In that instant, Jin Cheon-hee’s palms struck Il-seo’s eardrums. Crack! With both hands striking, Il-seo lost his vision.
At the same time, Jin Cheon-hee grabbed Yi-seo’s shoulder and dislocated it. “Aaaah!” It all happened in an instant.
Il-seo lost his wrist, Yi-seo his shoulder, and Sam-seo his groin.
The first two could be fixed with Jin Cheon-hee’s skills, but the third… even Jin Cheon-hee wasn’t sure if he could save him.
Grrr… “……” Sam-seo didn’t respond, foam bubbling at his mouth.
Whether he was conscious or not, his spine trembled with Hwang-gu’s movements. “Hwang-gu, let go.” Grr… Hwang-gu shook his head as if refusing.
As Hwang-gu shook his head, the groin he was biting also shook.
“Did you see it? The White Dragon Young Hero used a palm blast!” “I saw it too. But isn’t palm blast something only peak masters can use? Could he already be a peak master at that age?” “Young Master Namgung Woon is also a peak master! He’s the direct disciple of the White Lotus Sect Leader, so of course he’s a peak master.” Deep into the night, the guards tied up the Three Killers.
All of them had their acupoints sealed by Jin Cheon-hee, making it impossible for them to use their internal energy or even move.
As they tied them up, the guards discussed Jin Cheon-hee’s martial arts.
It was only natural for them to get excited about the appearance of a new dragon in the martial world.
Moreover, the White Lotus Sect was one of the more powerful forces in the martial world.
Though they rarely mobilized their forces, no one denied their strength.
So, it was only natural for their attention to turn to Jin Cheon-hee.
Even as they chattered, they did their job.
Sam-seo was still unconscious.
Or perhaps he was conscious but lacked the strength to speak.
He didn’t seem dead, but there was a pool of blood between his legs.
The guards glanced at Sam-seo’s groin, then at the blood on Hwang-gu’s mouth, and turned away with pale faces.
Even Jin Cheon-hee, watching from a distance, thought to himself, ‘The Dog Sect has raised an incredible… spirit beast.’ Despite being male, Hwang-gu showed no mercy.
It seemed to target only the most vulnerable spot, biting straight into it.
Even when Jin Cheon-hee ordered him to let go, Hwang-gu stubbornly held on, driven by the hunting dog’s instinct to finish what it started.
‘The slave rowers, One, Three, and Four… they’re good-looking, but…’ Jin Cheon-hee approached Sam-seo and checked his pulse.
Il-seo and Yi-seo held their breath, waiting for Jin Cheon-hee’s diagnosis.
For some reason, even the watching guards were genuinely interested in the result.
The next day.
Jin Cheon-hee’s slave rower, One, Bi-geom, woke up to row at the front.
The moment he started rowing on the first day, he realized why the Dog Sect members had looked at him with pity.
He knew in his head that being a rower was the last resort for debtors.
He had also heard that it was so hard to find rowers that they often filled the positions with slaves.
But.
He didn’t know that curses would burst out every three seconds.
Within the first hour, he had called upon Buddha, the Jade Emperor, and the Primordial Heavenly Lord.
By the second hour, he had cursed Jin Cheon-hee, his parents, and all his ancestors.
By the third hour, he thought it might be better to die.
Normally, three workers would sit together in the front row to row.
But Bi-geom was alone.
He was doing the work of three people all by himself.
By the fourth hour, tears streamed down like a waterfall.
The boat’s bottom was filthy and cold, and the work was unbearably hard.
If he slowed down even a little, shouts would rain down on him. ‘Please, let the wind be in our favor today.’ Jin Cheon-hee was doing his best to speed up to gather his master’s medicinal herbs.
Even if the wind was favorable, the rowers’ work wouldn’t disappear.
But maybe it would be a little easier… he clung to that slim hope.
After a breakfast that he didn’t know whether he ate with his mouth or nose, two figures sat in the front row. “This is my seat. Who are you?” Il-seo and Yi-seo answered, “We’re rowers sent by the White Dragon.” “……” Bi-geom had vaguely heard about the fight on the deck.
He asked, “May I know your names?” “In the martial world, we’re called the Three Killers.” Since there were only two of them, he couldn’t immediately recall their nickname. “Where’s the third one?” Il-seo and Yi-seo answered calmly, “Sam-seo is… at a major crossroads as a man.” “What does that mean?” “Don’t ask further. Just know that he’s at a crossroads as a man.” Though he didn’t understand, the somber expressions on their faces made Bi-geom unable to ask more.
The only thing that made him happy was that he was finally rowing in the second row, not the first.
The curses that came every three seconds from Il-seo and Yi-seo sounded like sweet songs to him.
‘I think I fought better than expected.’ The boat left Hongtaek Lake and entered the Yangtze River.
The boat crossed the pitch-black Yangtze, which looked like it was filled with ink.
The current was slow, and the wind wasn’t helping, so the rowers were in for a hellish time.
For Bi-geom and the Three Killers, it was a decent punishment.
Jin Cheon-hee sat at the bow like a cat, taking in the scenery.
At the same time, he reviewed the fight with the Three Killers and Bi-geom. ‘Since it wasn’t my first time, I wasn’t nervous and it went well.
The Xianyuan Dantian Divine Art helped, but yeah, it wasn’t bad.’ The Xianyuan Dantian Divine Art.
In the martial world, it was famous for refining the five elements.
Of course, that was just one of its effects.
Focused on the heart and qi in the mind-body system, it was highly practical in real combat.
Its greatest effect was the Immovable Heart.
It kept the mind steady even in life-threatening situations.
When the mind was calm, the brain naturally worked faster.
The mind and brain moved first, and the body followed. ‘It’s truly the most fitting divine art for the Five Elements Divine Art.
It allows the combination of the five elements’ qi to lead martial arts.
It’s not just about killing the enemy but creating a favorable situation, so it’s comfortable.’ Perhaps because he had devoted himself to medicine in both his past and present lives, he felt a reluctance to kill.
If it was necessary to kill to survive, he would accept it as the fate of a martial artist, but otherwise, he wanted to avoid bloodshed. ‘Come to think of it, my master said that even if I went to the Taoist sect, my temperament would fit.’ He also said that the Wudang or Shaolin sects wouldn’t be bad either.
But Jin Cheon-hee really liked the Five Elements Divine Art.
It wasn’t just about fighting; it was helpful in everyday life.
And with the Immovable Heart and the Five Elements Divine Art together, it was possible to subdue without killing.
Like this time. ‘Still, there were some regrets.
Next time, I’ll take them down more cleanly.’ He had taken down three first-rate martial artists of the martial world quite easily.
Even considering that Hwang-gu had helped, it was a decent achievement. ‘It’s because of my medical knowledge.’ He knew where human bones, muscles, and nerves were and combined that knowledge with martial arts.
Without needing a sword or spear, he could twist and break the weakest parts of the human body to subdue them. ‘How can I take down opponents faster?’ The longer the fight, the easier it was to inflict or receive fatal injuries.
His real combat experience was accumulating as data.
He also calculated where to attack to subdue an enemy the fastest when he held a weapon.
Being able to review two or three things at once was all thanks to the Xianyuan Dantian Divine Art. ‘I’ve almost become a martial world person.
Thinking about these things…’ He chuckled, then honestly admitted, ‘I’m scared of dying.
I don’t like killing.
I don’t even know why I have to do it.’ If he had been born and raised in the martial world without memories of his past life on modern Earth, would it have been different?
Just then, a martial artist from the Namgung family approached him. “Please have this.” Unwrapping the cloth, there was a generous amount of honey-filled pastry. “Ah, thank you.” “No, we should be thanking you.” “For what?” “Among us, the name of the White Dragon is well-known. You subdued the Three Killers so easily and are using them as rowers.” “As a doctor, I try to avoid killing as much as possible.” Hearing that, the Namgung martial artist seemed impressed, his face flushing.