Doctor’s Rebirth

Chapter 138

‘It must be nearly the new moon.’

Usually, rituals begin at one of two times.

One is the full moon. The other is the new moon.

Rituals performed during the full moon often involve receiving the bright moonlight to pray for blessings.

The new moon, on the other hand, is when the moon has set and many stars are visible. During this time, various bizarre offerings are common.

‘Even in the original work, the Blood Immortal Sect’s rituals were often performed during the new moon.’

By tomorrow, they would kill the kidnapped children and use them as sacrifices. And the Blood Immortal Sect would gain power once again.

Even when they perform rituals, they don’t do it in a peaceful manner.

What the evil immortals like are internal organs.

Having captured these young boys and girls, what kind of power will the Blood Immortal Sect gain?

And the souls of those children…

Jin Cheon-hee pressed his forehead firmly.

‘Ha-ryoon, come quickly. Your brother is really struggling. You wouldn’t want to be falsely accused of what the demonic cult did, right?’

In the original work, Yeo Ha-ryoon becomes the Heavenly Demon and has to clean up the mess left by the Blood Immortal Sect.

No matter how many times he shouts, “It wasn’t the demonic cult, we did crazy things with young boys and girls in the past, but that was the previous Heavenly Demon, we’ve now returned as a new entity through internal reforms!” who would believe him?

Moreover, at that point, Yeo Ha-ryoon becomes a human butcher due to the Heavenly-Killing Star, killing indiscriminately, whether they’re from righteous or evil factions, piling up corpses like mountains.

Although he’s the protagonist, Yeo Ha-ryoon himself isn’t a good person.

The demonic cult, too, only claims to follow principles now, but they’re not a kind group either.

In the end, the righteous factions come to punish the demonic cult, and the demonic cult has to beat up the Blood Immortal Sect to prove their innocence, leading to a series of frustrating events.

An average reader of the novel might give a thumbs up, thinking, “Ah, this too is the path of the Heavenly Demon,” as Yeo Ha-ryoon struggles.

But now it’s true. It has become reality.

Doctor Jin felt disheartened.

‘Would it be useless to emphasize the importance of communication to martial artists…?’

If that day were to come, it was certain that Jin Cheon-hee would struggle alongside them.

***

At the same time.

Yeo Ha-ryoon was preparing to set out on horseback.

On the surface, they looked like an ordinary merchant group.

The carriage was loaded with silk, fragrances, and various porcelain items.

To an outsider, they appeared to be a group of merchants trading over long distances.

In reality, they were people from the Sun Moon Divine Sect.

‘We’re about to depart.’

It was a simple mission. To escort a member of the cult to Bunta.

There had been a few battles, but they were handled without much difficulty.

‘As my brother said, I’ve restrained myself twice.’

Those who weren’t killed became Yeo Ha-ryoon’s subordinates, and with subordinates, Yeo Ha-ryoon could invest more time in training.

Additionally, his brother personally removed the blood shackles from Yeo Ha-ryoon’s body.

When necessary, he could now partially disobey the cult’s orders.

Some executives had already noticed that Yeo Ha-ryoon had broken free from the blood shackles, but by then, they too had been muzzled by Yeo Ha-ryoon.

“Tsk…”

Yeo Ha-ryoon clicked his tongue habitually.

It was a peculiar sight, making a slight breathing sound with his teeth clenched.

“I need to bring my brother out.”

Throughout his time in the demonic cult, Yeo Ha-ryoon had been worried about Jin Cheon-hee.

He was overly meddlesome and righteous.

He was particularly weak to children, and his outstanding appearance made him easy to notice.

Moreover, his sense of responsibility as a doctor was remarkable, to the point where it was surprising that such a person existed in this world.

If Yeo Ha-ryoon hadn’t actually met Jin Cheon-hee, he might have thought he was someone plotting something sinister.

It’s one thing to be consistent in appearance and character, but this was beyond believable.

It was a wonder that his brother hadn’t died yet with such a nature.

Yeo Ha-ryoon stood up after loading the last of the luggage.

His black hair, which seemed to swallow darkness, and his tall stature caught people’s eyes.

He was undoubtedly handsome, but it wasn’t the beauty of a crane or a flower, but rather the beauty one might find in a predator like a tiger or a lion.

Just then.

Woof!

A dog came running out.

Yeo Ha-ryoon immediately realized that this dog was a spiritual creature.

He disliked people, but he disliked animals even more.

If it had come to attack him, he would have killed it, and even if it had approached with different intentions, he would have killed it.

Normally, the spiritual creature would have been cut in two the moment it appeared, but Yeo Ha-ryoon clicked his tongue.

“Tsk…”

He had promised his brother to restrain himself twice.

He had just restrained himself once, so he had one more left.

Woof, woof!

The large dog jumped up and down, showing its neck to Yeo Ha-ryoon. And there, visible, was a well-carved symbol of the White Dragon Medical Pavilion.

The urge to kill rose again.

‘Twice.’

Next time, this spiritual creature would die.

‘I know the rumor that my brother keeps a large dog. Perhaps this dog could be Hwanggu.’

The blood of the Heavenly-Killing Star kept whispering to kill, but Yeo Ha-ryoon’s thoughts continued.

Yeo Ha-ryoon reached out and took the letter from the container on the dog’s collar.

It was his brother’s handwriting.

Convinced that it was his brother’s dog, Yeo Ha-ryoon patted Hwanggu’s head.

‘If I get on bad terms with this creature, my brother would be displeased.’

Brotherly affection towards his brother suppressed the instinct of the Heavenly-Killing Star.

Yeo Ha-ryoon naturally tossed a piece of traveler’s jerky.

Hwanggu leaped to catch the jerky and immediately chewed it.

Meanwhile, Yeo Ha-ryoon read the letter from Hwanggu.

“…”

After some time had passed.

Yeo Ha-ryoon’s expression hardened.

At that moment, Heavenly Thunder Hawk and its two chicks flew in together.

The next letter was tied to the chicks’ legs.

Yeo Ha-ryoon immediately took the letter.

After reading it, Yeo Ha-ryoon’s impression was:

“He’s crazy. My brother is still crazy.”

As Yeo Ha-ryoon reached out, the long sword hanging on the horse flew into his hand.

Void Seizing Technique.

Yeo Ha-ryoon retrieved it without even looking at the sword, just by reaching out his hand.

Little Heavenly Demon Yeo Ha-ryoon’s hair puffed up like flames with anger.

“Guide me. I’m going to save my brother.”

Woof!

Hwanggu gave a short reply and ran ahead.

Seeing Yeo Ha-ryoon like this, the people from the demonic cult called out.

“Young Master, should we go too?”

“There’s no need. You prioritize the cult’s affairs.”

With those words, Yeo Ha-ryoon’s afterimage scattered and disappeared swiftly.

***

Two hours before Jin Cheon-hee pressed the big red button named Yeo Ha-ryoon.

“You’re saying we should identify the children who will be kidnapped first and follow them… That’s a good idea, but I’ve already tried it several times.”

Jin Cheon-hee was meeting with Three Seasons Tiger Do Baek-ha.

Do Baek-ha was very grateful for the help from this little white dragon, but what couldn’t be done, couldn’t be done.

She shook her head.

“How many children do you think have gone missing in this area? Even after that, there are still many children left. How can we know who among them will be kidnapped?”

“If they are indeed using the children as sacrifices, it might be possible to find them based on their birth date and time.”

“Why do you think so, warrior?”

“As I mentioned before, if they were simply kidnapping for assassins, there would be no need to kidnap children from influential families. They could easily and inconspicuously kidnap children from poor families or begging orphans.”

At Jin Cheon-hee’s words, Three Seasons Tiger narrowed her eyes.

“The answer lies in the birth date and time?”

“When learning the Zhuge Clan’s battle formations, I’ve also learn a bit of divination(I Ching). The problem is the birth date and time of the children who haven’t been kidnapped yet.”

As soon as Jin Cheon-hee finished speaking, Three Seasons Tiger pulled out an enormous pile of documents from her own pocket.

“This is information about the children obtained from the government office. Thanks to Crystal Sword Sect’s help, we were able to get it easily.”

“It seems this neighborhood manages household registers.”

“Surprisingly, the government office here is quite well-managed. That’s why it was even more strange. I wondered why they would choose to kidnap children from a place like this. If it’s really for the purpose of performing rituals, it makes sense.”

“Yes, I noticed the geomantic features too.”

Jin Cheon-hee quickly grasped the children’s birth dates and times.

“Are the folded ones the kidnapped children?”

“Mm. You figured it out quickly. I’ve been thinking this for a while, but are all Zhuge Clan members this quick-witted? You’re flipping through things so fast as soon as you see them…”

“Hahaha. I’m just this level, but my master is far more formidable.”

Jin Cheon-hee laughed awkwardly as he searched for the children’s birth dates and times.

‘The I Ching was originally created by Fu Xi, they say.’

When people think of the I Ching, they often think of divination first. But in the Zhuge Clan, this I Ching is used to determine the direction and time of battle formations.

Based on the eight trigrams, with the principles of yin-yang and the five elements incorporated, it was also important when learning the Five-Elemental Formation.

‘Comparing the birth dates and times of the kidnapped children one by one to find the next child to be kidnapped. Even I think it’s a crude method.’

The 64 hexagrams of the I Ching, in a way, had similarities with the base-64 system.

“Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun…”

Three Seasons Tiger watched intently as Jin Cheon-hee muttered and calculated for a long time.

“If it’s alright, could you check if someone I know was kidnapped according to the same rule if I give you their birth date and time?”

Even while concentrating on the calculations, thanks to the Dual Mind Technique, he could easily answer with the other part of his brain.

“Who are you talking about?”

At Jin Cheon-hee’s words, Three Seasons Tiger smiled bitterly.

“I have a younger sister. She went missing in a similar way a long time ago.”

Jin Cheon-hee’s eyes widened slightly.

“A younger sister?”

Perhaps because Three Seasons Tiger was a supporting character.

There wasn’t much information about her.

She only had as much significance as receiving a reward from the protagonist Yeo Ha-ryoon and finding someone for him.

Short lines and a bold way of speaking.

He didn’t know such a person had this kind of backstory.

Three Seasons Tiger said.

“It’s a common occurrence in the martial arts world. One day, I suddenly returned to find my parents brutally murdered and my sister gone.”

She deliberately brushed her bangs as if it was nothing and continued.

“What can a wanderer do? All I could do was grasp a sword and search for those who kidnapped my sister. I became the Three Seasons Tiger, but I still haven’t found a single clue. Hahaha.”

Her voice even carried a hint of intoxication.

“When did your sister go missing?”

“It’s been almost twenty years. Ah, don’t tell me she’s dead. Even if that’s the case, my only wish is to find her body.”

She looked down at her own withered wrists.

“Since that day, I can’t swallow food… Who knows, maybe if I find even her corpse, I might be able to eat something other than alcohol.”

“…”

“It’s like this. I wasn’t born with a special constitution, nor was I exceptionally talented from childhood like the Blood Whip Queen who won the recent Dragon Phoenix Gathering. People like us are scattered throughout the martial arts world like sand, but misfortune comes to us all the same.”

It seems Tang Ah won this Dragon Phoenix Gathering as well.

‘Impressive, Tang Ah.’

She was a child who truly deserved to be called a genius.

The fact that she experienced something similar to the Tang Clan’s unique heart demon was proof of that.

Tang Ah would lead the Sichuan Tang Clan in the future.

Now, no one in this martial arts world would doubt that fact.

Three Seasons Tiger said.

“Although I’ve reached the peak as a sword master, I know that talented children rise to heights far beyond me by the time they reach my age. That’s why this slow-witted older sister might have wasted twenty years searching for her younger sister.”