Little Demon Reversion to Youth

Chapter 140

"That way."

Baekji retraced his memories and came to the shabby ferry where he had met Baekmae. Gong-yuk adjusted the sail and brought the boat to the ferry.

"This is not a place where people live."

Gong-chil said. It was Gong-chil who had insisted on coming along even though he had said it was not necessary.

"I know."

How much he had wandered in these mountains... there was no way he wouldn't know.

"Wait here."

Baekji got on land and entered the mountain path where Baekmae had come down.

Although it was a dark night, it was not much of a problem for him, who had enhanced his inner vision.

Baekji climbed onto a protruding rock in the middle and sat in a cross-legged position.

He calmed his breathing and spread his senses. His consciousness followed the slowly unraveling energy.

He felt the moonlight on his forehead. His consciousness, carried by the moonlight, covered his surroundings. It was the first time he had concentrated like this since entering the 'natural realm'.

Ten 'jang', twenty 'jang', thirty 'jang'...

As his consciousness gradually spread, mountain animals were caught, and the sound of chirping insects was loud.

His consciousness could not go further than about fifty 'jang'. He could not feel any human presence within a fifty 'jang' radius.

'Hmm. It seems she walked quite a long distance.'

Baekji went down to the path again and climbed the mountain. When he stood on the ridge, he once again put his consciousness into his energy and looked around.

'...!'

A heterogeneous energy that was somehow different from the indifferent energy of nature. It was the energy of a person.

The direction was a valley about thirty 'jang' below the ridge.

Baekji flew and landed in the valley in one breath.

In the middle of the valley basin, where a small stream wound around, there were three or four thatched houses.

The low hill seemed to be a medicinal herb field. The leaves of the medicinal herbs, bathed in the moonlight, were green.

When Baekji spread his senses, he felt a human presence in the thatched house in the middle. Seeing that his breathing was even, it seemed he was sleeping.

Baekji pushed the door of the thatched house and entered.

Kkii-iik―.

At the sound of the door opening, the person lying on the bed turned his head and was about to get up, but then he froze.

An old man of about sixty with a parched face asked with surprised eyes, "Who, who are you?"

Baekji looked around the inside of the thatched house.

In the middle was a tea table, one side was a bed, and the opposite side was a space used as a study.

Baekji pulled out a chair from the tea table, sat down, and said, "Divine Doctor of Life and Death, we must have met before. Don't you remember me?"

A strange light flowed from the 'Divine Doctor of Life and Death's' two eyes.

As if a thought had suddenly crossed his mind, he asked with a trembling mouth, "Y-Young Lord?"

"Yes."

"W-wait a moment."

The 'Divine Doctor of Life and Death', with trembling hands, changed his clothes, came to the tea table, and lit a lamp.

The inside of the room brightened, and the 'Divine Doctor of Life and Death's' face was revealed. His beard was neat, and he had a rather clear appearance.

"How did you find me?"

"Let's talk about the important things first."

"..."

The 'Divine Doctor of Life and Death' carefully observed Baekji's face.

"You really have reincarnated. Your memories... do you have your memories?"

"I would appreciate it if you would answer what I want to ask first."

"Wait, wait. A precious person has come, so I should at least serve tea."

"No, it's fine."

Baekji saw the 'Divine Doctor of Life and Death's' eyes shake several times. He must have been flustered since he had suddenly rushed in. He had to ask now to get an unadorned answer.

"Why did you hide?"

"Well... since the Young Lord went on a rampage and destroyed the divine palace... I had no choice but to flee."

"Is that the only reason?"

Baekji stared directly into the 'Divine Doctor's' two eyes. The 'Divine Doctor' could not handle the profound energy that shot out from his eyes.

"I knew things had gone wrong. So... I fled."

"..."

The 'Divine Doctor', seeing that Baekji was silent, observed him for a moment and then let out a long sigh.

"As expected... you have lost your memories."

"Now that I see, the 'Divine Doctor' is an untrustworthy person. It will be difficult to know the truth."

Baekji said, staring at the 'Divine Doctor's' constantly shaking eyes.

The 'Divine Doctor's' face turned ashen.

"Young Lord. I swear. I have never done anything to harm the Young Lord."

"Then why are you so anxious?"

"..."

"Are you afraid I'll kill you?"

"Y-Young Lord, what good would it do to kill me?"

The 'Divine Doctor', who had been flustered by Baekji's sudden visit, gradually regained his composure.

And his shaking eyes also became stable.

"It was the Young Lord himself who said he could accept it even if he lost his memories."

Then he went to the study, rummaged through a drawer, and took out a wooden box. When he opened the wooden box, there was a document inside.

"Look. The Young Lord wrote it himself."

When Baekji looked, it was indeed his own handwriting that Tie Yantai had shown him. It stated that he would fully accept all risks arising from taking the 'reincarnation pill' and would not hold anyone responsible for it. There was even a signature at the bottom.

"Then why did you run away?"

"It seems you have completely lost your memories."

"..."

He could not tell the truth.

Baekji could not trust the 'Divine Doctor of Life and Death'.

The 'Divine Doctor' had now completely regained his composure. After hesitating for a moment, he opened his mouth.

"We decided to use the 'Great Soul Weaving Art' of the Hyuk-ryeon family because we saw that the 'reincarnation pill' had the risk of memory loss."

"The Hyuk-ryeon family's 'Great Soul Weaving Art'?"

"It was a precaution to tie up the soul for a while and then release it after the reincarnation was over."

"And?"

"But there was a problem with the 'Great Soul Weaving Art' that the Hyuk-ryeon family had provided."

The 'Divine Doctor of Life and Death' confessed the situation at that time.

"Reincarnation is not about returning the physical body, but about being reborn with a new physical body. Of course, since it happens on the basis of the original, it looks as if one has become younger. We saw that there was a high possibility of losing all the memories stored in the brain in that process."

"..."

It was true.

"So we decided to extract the soul containing the memories with the 'Great Soul Weaving Art' and then put it back in. On that day, as planned, we extracted the soul before the Young Lord took the medicine."

"And?"

"The extraction of the soul was successful. The Young Lord also confirmed this and took the medicine, but in less than half an hour, the soul scattered. According to the Hyuk-ryeon family, it could be tied up for three days, but it was a lie."

"Did you make a mistake while performing the great art?"

"No. Later, when I looked at the great art again, I found that a few incantations were missing. The Hyuk-ryeon family had given us an incomplete great art."

"..."

Baekji frowned.

"Did the Hyuk-ryeon family know about the reincarnation?"

"No... they probably didn't. Only the three of us, me, the Cult Leader, and the Young Lord, knew about the reincarnation."

"Yes? The Cult Leader also knew?"

Baekji was inwardly surprised. He had thought he had stolen the Cult Leader's medicine, but to think that the Cult Leader also knew.

At Baekji's question, the 'Divine Doctor' looked at him with a puzzled expression... and then, 'ah', he sighed. He had realized once again that Baekji had lost his memories.

"You must not know about the Cult Leader's condition either."

"..."

"Originally, we were not trying to make a 'reincarnation pill'. We had gathered medicinal herbs to make a 'miraculous medicine' for the Cult Leader's ascension. But the Cult Leader knew that his lifespan would end before the medicinal herbs were gathered. So he told us to make a 'reincarnation pill'."

"What? Are you saying my father passed away?"

Although he was a father he didn't even remember, he couldn't help but be surprised that he was already dead.

The 'Divine Doctor of Life and Death' silently nodded his head.

"No one said that. Everyone thinks the Cult Leader is alive!"

"Before he died, the Cult Leader went up to the 'Ice Jade Platform' in the 'Heavenly Demon Cave' and sealed his soul, spirit, and ethereal soul."

"What does that mean?"

The 'Divine Doctor of Life and Death' had now found his composure. He shook his head and said with a sigh, "I'll have to tell you from the beginning. All of this was to deal with the 'remnant soul'."

"A 'remnant soul'?"

"It refers to an unscattered soul that has been passed down from ancient times."

"The Blood Cult Leader!"

"That's right. He is also a part of the 'remnant soul'."

* * *

Hyuk-ryeonhu landed on Baekmae's boat.

"Miss Baek. Why are you trying to take such a difficult path when there is an easy one?"

"What on earth are you doing? Why do you keep tormenting people!"

Although Baekmae shouted, unable to contain her anger, Hyuk-ryeonhu paid no heed. He said with a gloomy face, "This wench doesn't know her place. Do I look like a pushover because I'm being nice?"

At Hyuk-ryeonhu's chilling words, Baekmae flinched and took a step back.

"I can also find out by extracting your soul. Can you endure that pain? Obediently tell me where the 'Divine Doctor of Life and Death' is."

At the words of extracting her soul, everyone on the boat trembled in fear.

"Hmph! Who do you think is afraid?"

Although Baekmae shouted, she could not hide the trembling in her voice.

"Your courage is commendable."

Hyuk-ryeonhu snorted and then gave a look, and Zhuo Ming and Zhu Zhanyan grabbed Baekmae's shoulders.

"What are you doing?"

Although Baekmae struggled, it was useless. Hyuk-ryeonhu stretched his right hand up, palm facing the sky, and stretched his left hand down, facing the ground, and then slowly drew a reverse taiji.

At that, a black energy gathered in Hyuk-ryeonhu's palm.

Hyuk-ryeonhu brought his two hands that had drawn the reverse taiji together in front of his chest and then stretched out his right index finger and touched Baekmae's forehead.

"Aaaak!"

Baekmae really struggled in the pain of her soul being extracted. The other five plums who saw this trembled.

"After your soul is completely extracted, you will become a fool. This is the path I have chosen, so do not resent me."

Hyuk-ryeonhu's voice spread gloomily, as if it were echoing from the underworld.

"Wait! I will tell you. Let Baekmae go."

The captain, unable to watch any longer, stepped forward.

"No..."

Baekmae, who had almost had her soul extracted, muttered even in her dazed state, but Hyuk-ryeonhu, 'tuk', hit her forehead. Baekmae fainted just like that.

"Didn't I say I would tell you! Why..."

"She's not dead. She just fainted for a moment. If you don't tell the truth, not only this wench but everyone will die."

Hyuk-ryeonhu glared at the captain.

"I will guide you myself. But there is no wind right now, so I cannot move the boat."

"Alright. If you try any tricks, everyone will die."

Hyuk-ryeonhu had Zhuo Ming and Zhu Zhanyan press the blood points of the six plums and threw them into the cabin.

"Divine Doctor of Life and Death, I finally caught you."

* * *

The old soul that Jin Tiansuo had mentioned was called a 'remnant soul' by the 'Divine Doctor of Life and Death'.

"The Cult Leader wanted to ascend to the 'Heavenly Throne' to deal with the 'remnant soul'. Because only those who have ascended to the 'Heavenly Throne' can learn the true 'Heavenly Demon Divine Art'. But it took longer than expected to master the 'natural realm'."

"The 'natural realm'? Do you have to be in the 'natural realm' to ascend to the 'Heavenly Throne'?"

"That's right. It seemed that ascending to the 'Heavenly Throne' meant breaking through the 'natural realm' and reaching the 'harmony realm'... to be honest, I don't know that realm either, so I can't say for sure."

There was no separate training method passed down for even the profound realm. It just depended on the practitioner's enlightenment.

So it goes without saying for the 'natural realm' and above.

The 'Divine Doctor of Life and Death' continued, "The Cult Leader knew his lifespan long ago. That's why he thought he needed a 'miraculous medicine' to ascend to the 'Heavenly Throne' before his lifespan ended. He gathered thirty-eight thousand six hundred and fifty kinds of medicinal herbs over twenty years. In the meantime, I was called by the Cult Leader."

"..."

"As you know, you can't get all the medicinal herbs you want. The Young Lord suffered a lot."

"Me?"

The 'Divine Doctor of Life and Death' nodded his head.

"Half of the medicinal herbs, and most of the rare ones among them, were obtained by the Young Lord himself."

Aha. I think I know why I ate medicinal herbs so well.

"The Young Lord also obtained medicinal herbs in his spare time while tracking the Blood Sect."

So that's how it was. I was also a former medicinal herb gatherer.

If it was half of over thirty-eight thousand kinds of medicinal herbs... he must have suffered a lot.

Then of course it's right for me to eat the 'reincarnation pill'.

"But before he could obtain the last medicinal herb, the Cult Leader's lifespan ended. So he entrusted the future to the Young Lord, went up to the 'Ice Jade Platform', and sealed his soul, spirit, and ethereal soul."

"Why? Why did he seal himself?"

"To be precise, you could say he sealed the 'Heavenly Demon Divine Art'."

"..."

(End of Chapter)