DR Chapter 277

“Martial arts are just martial arts, after all.”

“Like that bow you’re holding, you mean.”

“…”

“Normally, one would think you’re being careless by abandoning your divine weapon. That the White-Robed Divine Dragon has drawn a bow trusting in his internal energy. Yes, ordinary martial heroes would think so. Even the Azure Dragon Sword would think so.”

The old person’s voice settled calmly.

“But the truth is the opposite, isn’t it?”

“…”

“While the dog escapes, you plan to become bait and provide cover. For that, archery is surely better than swordsmanship. A single arrow will be more helpful than complex sword strikes. Is this country bumpkin wrong?”

Jin Cheonhee clicked his tongue softly.

Like how the young man enjoyed mental sparring, the old person before him seemed to enjoy it in a manner unbefitting an assassin.

“Elder, you seem to be no ordinary person. Who are you?”

Thunder energy gathered on the horn bow.

Simultaneously, blue energy gathered at the tips of the Noe-jin’s feathers flying through the air.

There was one thing the old person had overlooked.

Jin Cheonhee intended to become a lightning rod himself.

He planned to shoot an arrow containing metal energy and lightning energy to guide the lightning created by the Noe-jin.

The lightning created by the Noe-jin, a Heavenly Noe-jin, was even more powerful than the thunder energy Jin Cheonhee produced.

But its disadvantage was that its accuracy fell far short compared to martial arts.

So if Jin Cheonhee directly shot an arrow containing electric charge to embed the hawk’s lightning in the exact spot.

Five in the first move.

After taking down five, he could break the formation from then on.

“You’re trying to find a way to defeat us all without killing us.”

Step—

More than a dozen shadowy figures behind the old person walked forward.

At that moment, the old person spoke:

“Everyone, step back.”

The figures stopped at those words.

Eventually, the old person walked alone toward Jin Cheonhee.

Is this also mental sparring?

Rather than letting his guard down, Jin Cheonhee thought about his next move.

Eventually, the young man devised a method to safely get Hwanggu and the patient to His Imperial Highness Eun’s mansion in just three moves.

However, what the old person did was neither drawing a weapon nor surrendering.

They simply brought their hand to their mask.

Click—

As the mask fell, a wrinkled old person’s face was revealed.

A smooth jawline with no visible beard.

In contrast, a face white to the eyebrows, yet full of scars, told how long this old person had been fighting.

“Long live the Emperor for a thousand years, and the next thousand years, and the next thousand thousand years. I, Han Kwang, who holds the position of Chief Eunuch Admiral, greet the benefactor.”

They discarded their weapon and made a cupped-hand salute toward Jin Cheonhee, bowing deeply at the waist.

Chief Eunuch Admiral… Han Kwang? That’s Han Yi-jeong’s grandfather! No, before that. Why are they saying ‘thousand thousand years’?

The Emperor’s confidant number one!

He had considered that the Eastern Depot, which could be called the imperial family’s secret unit, might be involved in this attack.

However, he never imagined that the Chief Eunuch Admiral, the head of Eastern Depot, would be directly involved in this matter.

And suddenly such an excessive greeting!

Ah, no, that’s too high… but by that standard, His Imperial Highness Eun is also high. Right…

The commoner physician’s legs trembled.

Even so, it was strange for such a dignified person to appear directly in this desert.

His Imperial Highness Eun could have called him directly.

Yet deliberately reacting this way upon recognizing Jin Cheonhee immediately was ultimately a test to see if Jin Cheonhee was someone worthy to be near His Majesty.

For now, Jin Cheonhee thought he should choose his words carefully. So he made a cupped-hand salute and spoke:

“According to the Book of Rites, excessive courtesy is discourtesy. I am merely a physician, so please lower your words.”

The Book of Rites.

A Confucian classic that records matters of etiquette. One of the Five Classics among the Four Books and Five Classics.

Naturally, in the empire, anyone with any education would know about it.

The phrase “excessive courtesy is discourtesy” from this Book of Rites means that too much courtesy is not courtesy.

Jin Cheonhee was responding to the Chief Eunuch Admiral’s action of shouting “thousand years.”

Why did you act that way when I am not someone who should receive such excessive courtesy?

“Indeed… this old servant made a mistake. Heh! Meeting the benefactor who saved the life of the one I serve, my heart got ahead of me.”

The old person spoke softly and smiled while raising their head. Though their words and behavior were natural.

The surrounding figures showed signs of agitation and disturbance.

It seems this person knows something about me… but the other Eastern Depot agents didn’t know. Then there must be a reason for speaking aloud deliberately? Is he trying to inform others about me? Or… no. Hasty speculation is meaningless for now. That’s not what’s important right now.

“Then, young master. I shall visit you later to speak about this matter. For now, I wish to discuss the matter at hand.”

“You may lower your speech further if you wish… and what matters at hand?”

“Could you hand over that child?”

Is this also a test? Impossible to know.

But it’s the same as with the Emperor.

Jin Cheonhee simply walks his own path.

“I’m sorry. I intend to take this person in and have a conversation.”

The smile disappeared from the old person’s face.

“You speak knowing that the child you’re sheltering wielded an assassin’s blade and tried to assassinate the Third Prince of the Dadu Kingdom?”

It might be a crazy answer.

But if he backed down here, this person would die. Since he couldn’t allow that.

“It’s a blade with nowhere to go anyway. The blade’s owner will worry about where it points and try to break it. They will try to eliminate it without hesitation, so there’s no problem if I pick it up and use it.”

Assassins from the Assassination Order are required to commit suicide if captured during a mission.

If they don’t commit suicide, other assassins are dispatched to certainly kill them.

That’s their method of protecting their organization.

Jin Cheonhee’s words referenced this, and Chief Eunuch Admiral Han Kwang was well aware of this fact.

However, him knowing this and Jin Cheonhee mentioning it carried different weight.

“Hohohoho. Interesting. That you would answer so. According to my investigation, young master, you’ve clearly never seen this child before, have you?”

They know that much.

Well, Jin Cheonhee’s actions would indeed seem very strange.

Even I think this makes no sense.

Suddenly, he noticed blood seeping onto Hwanggu’s back.

Although he had stopped the bleeding with acupressure, the patient’s life was fading by the minute.

If a battle broke out, the patient would have to bear the burden throughout that time.

I need to give an acceptable answer for them to step aside.

Jin Cheonhee took a deep breath and said:

“If there’s a connection, I want to interrogate this individual personally. I’m also interested in the strange martial arts this person has shown.”

Wearing a mask befitting the Divine Doctor White Dragon would be a more convincing answer.

Smiling as he recalled the Bloodborne Elder Eccentric, Jin Cheonhee’s expression was that of a physician obsessed with research.

“…”

The Chief Eunuch Admiral fell into thought, then said:

“Since you are favored by the Emperor, I will let it pass this once, but I will certainly report this matter. Then the judgment will be made by the Emperor. Is that acceptable to you?”

Reserving judgment for His Imperial Highness Eun?

That too was what he wanted. It meant buying time to treat the patient.

“Yes. By all means.”

“Very well. However, this old servant begs you to take care of yourself.”

With those words, they put the mask back on.

The Eastern Depot agents scattered, disappearing toward the desert horizon.

As the Chief Eunuch Admiral’s figure dispersed, Jin Cheonhee finally exhaled a small sigh of relief.

“Hwanggu, Noe-jin. Let’s go back.”

Jin Cheonhee spoke with difficulty, dispersing the electric current gathered at his fingertips.

Dawn gradually broke at the edge of the desert horizon.

I can still feel their gaze.

They said they would let it pass, but not that they would completely let go.

As expected of the Chief Eunuch Admiral.

But it’s alright. As long as he can treat the patient.

It had been a long, long dawn.

***

Ilkana dreamed.

In her dream, her mother was alive, and the Sultan loved her mother.

There were no conspiracies or power struggles there.

The Sultan embraced young Ilkana and gave her a piggyback ride.

Her mother walked through the garden with the Sultan.

Wild beasts were visible in the garden, but none mauled her mother’s flesh.

Because they were properly leashed and not hungry.

Her mother also embraced Ilkana and didn’t talk about royal plots.

It wasn’t a story to tell a child not even ten years old.

It was just that the child was smart enough to understand the story, and loved her mother enough to understand her pain-filled whispers and malice-filled screams.

The young girl rode the Sultan’s piggyback, swaying.

She could see the Sultan’s crown.

This world was full of only good things.

But she reached out her hand. Something hard was grasped. It was a chakram.

Her weapon, practiced hundreds of thousands of times.

And with that weapon, she strikes the Sultan’s head.

Thunk!

The skull shatters.

Her mother screams.

The beasts rejoice too. Whose corpse will they be fed?

Crack!

She strikes the Sultan’s head, and strikes again.

The beast within her laughs.

Yes, this is what she wanted. The Minister of Defense and the Assassination Order… this is what she wanted.

Looking at the blood-soaked head and her equally red hands, she alternated between laughing and crying.

Woof!

With the sound of a dog barking, something wet touched her cheek.

Thus, Ilkana woke from her nightmare and returned to reality.

Where am I? I was surely…

A familiar ceiling. The ceiling she had drawn in her mind hundreds or thousands of times to eliminate her target.

That was the first thing she saw.

Ah… I tried to save my subordinates.

They were attacked by assassins.

Judging by their skills, they felt less like martial artists and more like the imperial army of the Central Plains.

She had eight subordinates.

There were thirty attackers.

Not only were there no gaps, but the opponents were strong, as if they had practiced in the desert beforehand.

Eventually, Ilkana volunteered to become bait to save her subordinates.

Her subordinates escaped.

Only suicide remained.

But I couldn’t bite the poison inside my molar.

Was it because her sense of self was too strong to become an assassin?

She couldn’t commit suicide.

Wounds accumulated, and she missed the final timing to commit suicide.

And as the last sword pierced her chest… consciousness flickered.