Doctor’s Rebirth

Chapter 137

‘I don’t have the confidence to face Nun Abi again.’

Having seen a face resembling a Vajra warrior protecting Buddhism, Jin Cheon-hee resolved never to anger Nun Abi again.

Moreover, who knows how much stronger she might have become after closing the gates?

‘Right. Still, I don’t think she’d be angry.’

Given Nun Abi’s nature, there’s no way she’d blame Jin Cheon-hee.

‘She’d probably say that’s another affliction to endure.’

Do Baek-ha said,

“By the way, to earn my drink… there have been at least a hundred disappearance cases in this city. All of them young boys and girls.”

“What…?”

In the martial world, children had many uses.

Not just in the way Hao Sect bought children with money to raise them as they saw fit, but there were also many cases of kidnapping to create special jiangshi or to raise them as assassins somewhere.

“Especially in this city, even the grandson and granddaughter of the Crystal Sword Sect leader, who has considerable influence, were kidnapped, I hear? It’s not a simple matter.”

‘They even kidnapped the child of an influential person?’

This changes the nature of the case.

Poor children or orphans who are easy to kidnap could be raised as jiangshi or assassins. But to touch an influential family with inevitable guards?

It means there’s something they must do despite the risk.

Do Baek-ha continued,

“So as we narrowed down the possible groups, we’ve even reached the demonic cults. To touch the children of such families, it would have to be no ordinary group of masters. That’s why I was invited too.”

“So you’re investigating?”

“Something like that. Tracking isn’t something you do haphazardly.”

She gulped down her drink with a loud swallow.

“Come to think of it… it’s a funny question, but will you answer one thing?”

Jin Cheon-hee nodded.

“What is it?”

“Are you… perhaps a virgin?”

At those words, Jin Cheon-hee’s face flushed red.

“What kind of…!”

“Judging by your reaction, you are a virgin.”

“I don’t want to answer… huh?”

Jin Cheon-hee’s eyes widened slightly. Do Baek-ha watched Jin Cheon-hee’s changing expression with laughter.

“As expected, you’re quick-witted. I’m truly sorry for being rude. But it’s a matter of life and death. I suspect that targeting young boys and girls isn’t for brainwashing by some group, but for a ritualistic purpose. In other words, they’re kidnapping children with pure vital energy.”

Calming his surprised heart, Jin Cheon-hee replied coolly.

“If it’s for a ritualistic purpose, the children might still be alive until the day of the ritual.”

“That’s the hope I’m hanging onto. I’d prefer to resolve this rather than seek revenge, if possible.”

Jin Cheon-hee nodded at those words.

“Do you think it’s the work of a demonic cult, Three Seasons Tiger?”

“Half and half. There aren’t many groups with the power to kidnap a child from an influential family.”

“So you’re saying it’s partly not.”

“But that’s not the important part. Even if it’s not a demonic cult, it means there’s another crazy group with that much power.”

She rubbed her chin and said,

“It’s the first time I’ve thought it might be better if it were a demonic cult.”

Thud.

She put down the empty bottle she had finished drinking.

“Well, I think that’s enough to pay for the drink. I plan to stay here for a long time, so if you have any information, tell the waiter.”

“Why did you tell me this? Was it really just for the drink?”

At Jin Cheon-hee’s sharp question, she smirked.

“It seems you’re asking while knowing. The fact that you want to hear it from my mouth means you have the same intention.”

“…”

“In the martial world, doctors are the best for getting information. Moreover, no martial artist wouldn’t be moved hearing the alias Little White Dragon.”

“I see.”

“Please, if you know anything, let me know. I’m feeling quite cornered too.”

Jin Cheon-hee said,

“If you have any personal belongings of the kidnapped children, could you give them to me?”

“Hmm… anything will do?”

She rummaged in her sleeve and took out a pony trinket.

***

Jin Cheon-hee returned to his room.

After unpacking, he sat cross-legged and thought for a long time.

Not long after, Hwanggu entered the room.

Woof! Growl. – Master, I couldn’t find a similar scent.

“What?”

This was unexpected. Hwanggu pressed his forehead against Jin Cheon-hee’s hand, begging to be petted.

As Jin Cheon-hee vigorously petted Hwanggu, Hwanggu continued.

Sniff! – The scent is cut off.

“Cut off, you say?”

Hwanggu had found contaminated water sources and tracked down various spiritual medicines and creatures. For even Hwanggu to be unable to find it means they took measures to prevent it.

‘Indeed, there aren’t many groups that could do this.’

A headache was already coming on.

‘Then the next step is to thoroughly search through the novel?’

He remembered through the Profound Origin Divine Technique that there was no directly mentioned incident.

Then the next step is to look for any indirectly mentioned parts in the novel. Jin Cheon-hee took out the letters from his medicine box.

Low-quality information sent by the Trio Assassin Rats, Hao Sect, and the Beggar’s Sect.

Most of these stories are likely false. However, if there’s truth in them, cross-analyzing with the original novel might reveal matching parts.

‘This is going to make my hair fall out.’

Jin Cheon-hee let out a small sigh.

‘Young boys and girls… huh.’

Although he didn’t answer then, Jin Cheon-hee is a virgin. He was a lifelong single in his previous life, and it’s no different in this life.

A life where work is life itself.

‘This is why I died getting shot by rebels.’

He felt wronged, but also thought it might be unavoidable.

Even in modern Earth, half of humanity is starving.

Children’s rights being protected is an extremely small part of human history and only in some countries.

The fact that one child dies of hunger every 5 seconds is surprisingly not well known.

‘Even the medical techniques I used to cure cholera were created like that.’

There are countless cases of people dying because they can’t afford IV fluids and antibiotics. In some places, people die because they can’t afford ingredients to make oral rehydration solution.

That’s why many scholars tried to find substitutes to lower costs, and lower them again, trying somehow to save people.

It’s the same in this world.

‘I don’t like children getting sick, and I don’t like children getting hurt…’

Jin Cheon-hee judged himself a fool.

‘Ah, shit. I could just close my eyes and eat my spiritual medicines regardless of whether children die or not…’

After scratching his head for a while.

Jin Cheon-hee furrowed his brow.

It might have been easier if it was certain they were dead.

The thought that they might be alive until the ritual stimulated the instincts of a passing citizen of Korea.

‘Right. Since it’s come to this, I might as well extort a hefty sum from the Crystal Sword Sect leader.’

At that moment, Jin Cheon-hee remembered a passage from the novel.

‘It’s the Blood Immortal Sect. This… it’s the Blood Immortal Sect. And… our Yeo Ha-ryoon passes through here?’

Jin Cheon-hee called Hwanggu.

***

There’s a passage in the novel related to this period.

-The road to the destination was quite desolate. Yeo Ha-ryoon heard from Dark Blood Demon that recently, young boys and girls have been disappearing, causing unrest among the local people. People assumed it was the work of demonic cults and felt resentful.

-Yeo Ha-ryoon didn’t bother to answer, but still thought it was cheap. It wasn’t unprecedented for demonic cults, and people needed someone to be angry at, so wasn’t it natural?

-In the end, everything goes according to the natural order. Yeo Ha-ryoon had an intuition that this demonic cult, namely the Sun Moon Divine Sect, would suffer great calamity someday.

A description of just a single line. There was no village name, not even the names of the missing children, so normally he wouldn’t have paid attention to it.

It wasn’t a big incident, just a device to show how bad the reputation of demonic cults was getting.

The content itself was short.

‘But…’

When comparing the characteristic terrains and climates mentioned throughout the novel, the routes overlap.

Plus the briefly mentioned rumors of young boys and girls disappearing. The uneasy public sentiment.

The season roughly matches too.

‘Of course, it’s just my own calculation based on what I read in the novel, truly just a guess…’

To find out if the guess is correct, it would be best to find Yeo Ha-ryoon.

“I can’t fight the Blood Immortal Sect elites alone, Ha-ryoon. Help your brother out.”

Jin Cheon-hee had Hwanggu smell Yeo Ha-ryoon’s scent and sent him with the Heavenly Thunder Hawk.

By pointing out a few major routes where Yeo Ha-ryoon was presumed to have passed, the search radius was greatly reduced.

Meanwhile, Jin Cheon-hee headed towards the Crystal Sword Sect.

***

Ding. Ding.

In a space made of stone where light doesn’t enter.

An eerie bell sound resonated in this place called a stone chamber.

Then, one by one, people entered through a hole in one side of the stone chamber.

They are small in stature and have small bodies.

Looking closely, their eyes are glazed over, appearing to have lost their faculties, and they were all children.

Children around ten to fourteen years old.

These children walk like dolls, having lost their reason. And they sat in chairs in front of a dining table placed in the stone chamber.

“Good. Good. You must eat well. That way your blood will become pure and you’ll be healthy, won’t you?”

An old man dressed in elegant Taoist robes stroked his beard and smiled.

In one hand, he held a bell with a handle.

If Jin Cheon-hee had seen this scene, he would have said this:

Blood Immortal Sect!

Yes. This old man was the culprit behind the kidnapping incident in Tangbaek, the city where the Crystal Sword Sect is located.

“Grandmaster, Little White Dragon has appeared at the Crystal Sword Sect.”

“Little White Dragon? You mean that child disciple of White Dragon?”

“Yes.”

“Is that child also a virgin?”

“According to the spy who witnessed, it was revealed in a conversation with Three Seasons Tiger that he is a virgin.”

“Kekeke.”

The old man laughs and shakes the bell.

Ding. Ding.

“Chew thoroughly. You must digest well.”

And the children began to move at those words.

They slowly eat and drink the prepared food.

It was a scene that would make observers’ skin crawl, but the old Taoist sitting at the head of the stone chamber just smiled.

“That child must have the purest vital energy. Capture him.”

“I obey the command.”

A black shadow standing behind the old man disappeared.

“Hehehe. That Lightning Spirit Grandmaster fellow still hasn’t caught the Heavenly Thunder Hawk… I’ll be far ahead after this is over. If I do well, the Ten Heavenly Lords might even pass down the Dao to me…”

The old man muttered this while watching the children eat.

***

Thanks to the name Little White Dragon, gaining entry was extremely easy.

He said he came to observe the renowned swordsmanship of the Crystal Sword Sect.

At the Crystal Sword Sect, he heard that while they were glad Little White Dragon had come, it was difficult to receive guests due to current misfortune.

‘Oh dear, what a pity. Is there anything I can help with?’

With just one furrowing of his brow like this, the lady burst into tears and told him everything.

It had been a normal day, she said. Then when she went to wake them in the morning, they were gone.

In the end, Jin Cheon-hee couldn’t find any clues.

‘Hmm. Indeed, it’s not easy to catch the tail.’

Even with two spiritual creatures, Hwanggu and Noe-jin, mobilized, he couldn’t find any clues. Moreover, Jin Cheon-hee himself wasn’t a tracking expert like Three Seasons Tiger, nor was he familiar with this area.

‘Oh my, being a passing scholar isn’t something just anyone can do.’

Still, there was one last method left.