Chapter 3

“Whoa, whoa!”

The horses came to a halt, and the riders dismounted. I took the opportunity to observe each of them individually.

Embroidered on the chests of their azure-blue martial robes was the insignia of the Yunlong Courier Bureau.

A muscular middle-aged man of considerable stature led the group. He appeared to be in his fifties and stood well over 180 centimeters tall. He was clean-shaven and had a neat appearance.

His entire frame was so densely muscled that he resembled a bear.

He habitually ran his hand along the sword at his waist.

It was a thick blade without a scabbard.

‘A willow-leaf saber? Wait… now that I think about it, the Yunlong Courier Bureau Chief’s weapon that appeared early in Supreme Heavenly Demon was also a willow-leaf saber, wasn’t it…?’

A willow-leaf saber.

It was a thick weapon whose name referred to a blade shaped like a willow leaf. The head of the blade resembled a willow leaf, gradually tapering and narrowing toward the handle.

It frequently appeared in martial arts novels and dramas, so I recognized it easily.

The only difference was that this muscular middle-aged man’s willow-leaf saber was larger and thicker than those carried by the other martial artists.

‘So the Courier Bureau has uniforms too. Seeing them with my own eyes like this is absolutely fascinating.’

As I watched them with these thoughts in mind, the Courier Bureau members spotted me.

The tent and I were positioned slightly to the left of the incident site, so they hadn’t noticed me at first glance.

“Chief! There’s a survivor!”

‘What…? What is this? I’ve never heard this language before… but I can understand it? How is that possible?’

Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t noticed it at the time because of my confusion, but I could also understand the hairy patient’s muttering.

I had been staring at the bewildered martial artist pointing at me when I soon realized that everyone was looking in my direction.

A lone survivor.

And a boy covered in blood at that.

“Check if there are any other injured!”

The muscular giant I’d noticed earlier bellowed loudly and approached me.

Though his gait appeared ordinary, he covered three meters in a single stride. I was greatly startled by this.

‘What on earth…?’

Regardless of my shock, the massive man stood towering before me. I swallowed hard as I looked up at him.

‘This is no joke… He’s enormous. He wouldn’t hit me or anything, would he?’

While I was entertaining such thoughts, I heard the man murmur. Though it wasn’t Korean, I understood every word he said this time as well.

“I don’t recall ever hiring a child like this…”

As I instinctively felt intimidated and looked up at him, he bent his legs and lowered his body.

Even so, he was so large that I still had to tilt my head back to look at him, and my neck began to ache slightly.

“Ah, young one. I am Woon Ji-sang, the Chief of the Yunlong Courier Bureau.”

The giant offered a remarkably gentle smile as he spoke. I was inwardly impressed by his demeanor.

‘Despite his appearance, he’s quite a courteous person.’

He seemed to be treating me with utmost care, perhaps worried that the child might be frightened by his appearance.

“Would you tell me your name?”

I answered calmly.

“My name is Jin Cheon-hee.”

“A splendid name indeed. And to remain composed even in such circumstances—your mental fortitude is truly remarkable. Did you construct the tent in the back?”

“Yes. There were injured people, so…”

“An injured person? Let me go check on them first. Would you mind staying here?”

I simply nodded quietly.

Woon Ji-sang sprang to his feet at my response and swept aside the tent flap. I watched his figure disappear without a word.

“We have an urgent patient! Fetch Baek Rin-ui-seon at once! Hurry!”

He shouted in a booming voice.

I was inwardly shocked by his words.

‘Baek Rin-ui-seon! Right now. Did he just say Baek Rin-ui-seon? Could it be…?’

In the distance, I saw someone stepping down from a carriage. The coachman opened the door and gently supported the figure as he stepped out.

Hair that gleamed like starlight, silver and radiant, caught my eye. A person with skin like fresh snow and graceful features carved as if from jade slowly walked toward us.

A beauty anyone would call stunning—and remarkably, he was male.

The moment I saw him, my heart nearly burst from shock.

‘It’s… exactly as described in the novel…’

I was utterly dumbfounded.

It wasn’t just his beauty that startled me. Confusion flooded my mind at the sight of a character from a novel standing before me in the flesh.

‘Am I… inside the world of a novel?’

With a vacant expression, I stared intently at Baek Rin-ui-seon.

Soon after, I glanced back at the tent.

‘If that’s the case, then the person I saved is… the future Heavenly Demon?’

I slowly gathered my thoughts.

‘Baek Rin-ui-seon. A title born from how his hair resembles the white scales of a qilin. One of the Three Great Physicians of the Realm and, according to the novel, the last direct bloodline of the now-declining Jegal Family…’

The tent was quickly dismantled.

Baek Rin-ui-seon Jegalling approached the patients one by one and placed his hands upon them.

‘Pulse diagnosis… I always wanted to learn that.’

I was a surgeon in modern medicine, but my obsession with martial arts novels had led me to study traditional medicine as well.

However, since I hadn’t studied at a proper institution or trained under a master, it was difficult to say I possessed proper knowledge and skill.

Still, I had memorized the locations of all the acupoints and possessed some knowledge of herbal medicine.

After taking each patient’s pulse, Baek Rin-ui-seon removed their clothing and inserted needles without hesitation.

‘Wow, incredibly fast. So this really is the Baek Rin-ui-seon from the novel…’

As I watched, Baek Rin-ui-seon examined the area I had sutured in detail.

Then his handsome face filled with admiration. He had been observing the patient with utmost seriousness throughout the examination, and the sudden change in his expression caused some of those watching to blush.

He withdrew a wooden case from his robes and opened it. A pungent aroma drifted toward me.

He dipped his finger into it, then spread what appeared to be a sticky ointment across the wound with gentle tapping motions.

What was remarkable was that applying the trauma ointment seemed to follow a specific method. He tapped around the meridian points.

And despite the tapping sounds being quite loud, the patient didn’t appear to be in much pain.

‘Is that the trauma ointment? How fascinating… If this really is the world of the novel, that must be Baek Rin-ui-seon’s Baekrin Trauma Ointment! I recall the novel saying that one container was worth ten taels of gold. And the way he’s applying the medicine now—he’s not just spreading it. He’s using his inner energy to do so.’

I wanted to learn.

Beyond my sense of duty as a physician, pure scholarly curiosity surged within me.

That was when the Bureau Chief cried out urgently.

“How are they, sir? Can Dam Pyodo and Gongseon Pyosa be saved?”

‘So the man is Dam Pyodo, and the young woman is Gongseon Pyosa… Could that child really be Yeo Ha-ryun, the future Heavenly Demon?’

While I was observing with interest, Baek Rin-ui-seon turned his head and asked instead,

“Who performed this treatment?”

All eyes turned toward me.

Baek Rin-ui-seon’s gaze also fixed upon me.

The air grew strangely tense under the weight of everyone’s attention.

‘No traces of martial arts training. An utterly ordinary body. The boy appears to be around ten or twelve years old. How peculiar.’

Baekrin Uiseon Jegalling observed the young Jin Cheon-hee with contemplative eyes.

‘He sutured the wound closed with thread. This is a form of surgical technique, yet it’s not something one easily encounters in the martial world. Typically, such wounds are treated by sealing pressure points to stop the bleeding, bringing the wound edges together, applying trauma medicine, and binding it tightly with bandages. Is that not the standard approach?’

The technique resembled surgical methods practiced by those without martial arts training—ordinary people rather than the select few.

He sensed traces of a method adapted for the masses who lacked martial knowledge, rather than one reserved for the chosen elite of the medical world.

‘Hmm… How extraordinary.’

The Yunlong Courier Bureau ranked among the finest courier houses in the realm. Baekrin Uiseon had maintained close relations with them for years. One of their branches was located near the main headquarters of Baekrin Uijak, where he resided.

Yet the Bureau Chief had come rushing here personally, urgently requesting aid.

That was why he was here.

Given the bodies scattered about, this appeared to be a meticulously planned ambush. In such a place, Jegalling found himself intrigued by an unexpected discovery.

As one of the Three Great Physicians whose name was renowned throughout the realm, he possessed considerable expertise in surgical techniques.

Yet even Baekrin Uiseon Jegalling could not perform wound closure with such precision.

Rather, he had never attempted it.

The current era’s standard methods for treating wounds relied on sealing pressure points or cauterizing them with heated metal.

Suturing a wound as one would stitch cloth was simple, yet revolutionary in concept.

‘Could this child be connected to Hyeolsaeng Nogoe, perhaps?’

Hyeolsaeng Nogoe.

One of the Three Great Physicians of the Realm, he was a senior physician and martial expert who had achieved the Half-Immortal Realm. He was arguably the greatest surgical master under heaven.

Yet this was different.

Though Jegalling had witnessed Hyeolsaeng Nogoe treat external injuries several times, he had never seen him employ such a method.

‘Moreover, the thread placement is consistent. This is not the work of someone with mere practice. Had I been in that emergency situation, could I have treated this wound?’

Using pressure points to stop the bleeding would have been possible.

But employing a needle and thread under such urgent circumstances?

That would have been impossible.

Jegalling contemplated silently as he observed the boy. No matter how he considered it, this was undoubtedly remarkable medical skill.

Jin Cheon-hee spoke with difficulty.

“I merely… did what I could.”

“Truly exceptional medical skill. Had you not been here, this patient would no longer walk among the living.”

Everyone present was struck with astonishment at his words.

‘Has Baekrin Uiseon ever offered such high praise to anyone before?’

And the recipient was merely a small child.

He had always been the strictest judge of medical skill. To receive his commendation was an extraordinarily rare occurrence.

Yet the young Jin Cheon-hee showed no particular reaction upon hearing such words.

In truth, his mind was preoccupied with other concerns.

However, contrary to his inner thoughts, his demeanor appeared remarkable to the others present.

‘Hmm, if they ask who I am, I have no answer to give. What should I do? Besides, “surgical technique”—that’s the term used for things like external surgery, right? It feels strange hearing it again.’

While harboring such thoughts, Jin Cheon-hee made a brief dismissive gesture.

“I simply did my utmost to save a life.”

At Jin Cheon-hee’s response, Baekrin Uiseon smiled gently.