Wandering Gods of Day and Night
Chapter 208 - 165: Madman Temple

Chapter 208: Chapter 165: Madman Temple

"That shepherd can turn elderly women and men into old sheep. I suspect that all the sheep monks in Qiye Temple must be the handiwork of this shepherd. First, we need to find out where the shepherd lives!"

Zhou Xuan decided to focus his investigation of Qiye Temple on the shepherd. Si Ming said: "There’s no need to search; he lives at the foot of the southwest mountain near Qiye Temple, in Litian Village."

"How do you know that?"

"People from our Tangkou often visit Qiye Temple to pray... Some disciples have always told me they encountered a shepherd along the Mountain Gate Road, who then led them to Litian Village for lamb dishes, saying the sheep there had an extraordinarily fresh taste. Thinking about it now..."

Si Ming felt increasingly uneasy as he spoke.

The disciples from his Tangkou had most likely eaten sheep that were originally "elderly women and men."

"Then we’ll head to Litian Village," Zhou Xuan said.

...

Each year, Qiye Temple received a large donation from the "Divine Stealer" Tangkou. Apart from temple renovations and expansion, the funds were also used for farming lands.

The temple effectively functioned as a landlord, owning plenty of fertile fields nearby. But as monks refrained from manual labor, they naturally rented the lands out to tenant farmers.

Litian Village was a cluster of tenant households.

The monks on the mountain lived wealthy lives, and in order to maintain their image as high monks, they refrained from overly exploiting the tenants. As a result, the tenants lived relatively comfortable lives.

Litian Village was filled with houses roofed with green tiles. In a remote corner of Jing Country, it was considered to have quite good economic conditions.

Zhou Xuan and his two companions arrived at the wooden gate at the entrance of the village, where they found a hunched old man lying on a long bench, basking in the warm afternoon sunlight.

"Grandpa, I heard there’s someone in the village who prepares mutton feasts?" Zhou Xuan asked the old man.

"Oh, you must be talking about Boss Yang. He doesn’t host mutton feasts often though. Not sure if he has any ready today."

The old man spoke while keeping his face pressed against the wood of the bench.

"I’ll go check at his place. A friend mentioned the lamb from there is quite flavorful."

"Follow the village road. No one here hangs lanterns—people say lighting them wastes wax and is too much trouble. But his household is wealthy, so he hires laborers and lights lanterns, keeping them on all day and night."

The old man spoke of the "lanterns" with evident envy toward Boss Yang.

Following the old man’s directions, Zhou Xuan quickly found the shepherd’s residence—a large compound built of green bricks, its courtyard meticulously clean.

In one corner of the courtyard stood a carriage, though it wasn’t hitched to a horse. The horse was in the stable, nibbling on fodder, while a slightly chubby man dressed in coarse cloth was bending over, cutting the fodder with a chopping knife.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, the man raised his head to glance at Zhou Xuan and the others, asking, "Who are you?"

"We’re here to see Boss Yang about some lamb dishes." Zhou Xuan took out a small piece of silver and handed it to the man.

The man instantly broke into a wide smile, accepting the money as he said, "You’re looking for the Boss? I’m his hired hand, Liu Jiao, but the Boss isn’t back yet."

"Then we’ll wait for him."

"No problem, no problem."

Liu Jiao went into the house and brought out two long benches, placing them in the shaded corner of the courtyard. He said, "Have a seat; the Boss should be back soon."

Zhou Xuan and his companions took the seats and began waiting.

This wait lasted more than half an hour. Finally, Zhou Xuan heard the sound of footsteps.

The shepherd returned. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he began nitpicking at Liu Jiao, pointing at the grass trimmings on the ground and saying, "Look at this! The courtyard is filthy; I’ll be deducting your wages."

"And look at my carriage! You didn’t clean up the dirt properly. If I take this carriage to pick up a young lady, won’t she laugh at me? More deductions from your wages..."

"Boss, there are customers waiting to eat lamb." Liu Jiao gestured toward the shaded area.

"There’s no lamb now; all the sheep were taken by Qiye..." The shepherd’s complaints suddenly stopped when he recognized Zhou Xuan and his companions.

Having seen the three of them at Qiye Temple, he knew their visit wasn’t simply about lamb dishes.

Without a word, he turned and tried to flee.

"Running?"

Si Ming tossed away the cigarette in his hand, crouched low, and seemed to burrow straight into the ground.

In what felt like moments, Si Ming disappeared entirely, only to reemerge from the earth right outside the courtyard gate.

This was one of the Divine Stealer’s "Five Incense" techniques—the "Five-Element Escape Skill." In the world of thieves, all skills derived from the five elements.

The Divine Stealer faction was renowned for its dexterous handiwork. Though the first four incense techniques lacked fanciful maneuvers and relied solely on Light Body Techniques to approach targets, once the Five-Element Escape Skill was mastered, the practitioner could vanish and reappear amidst gold, wood, water, fire, and earth at will. This mastery marked the birth of a true Divine Stealer.

Si Ming now stood still, his face calm, holding a bloody piece of bone—a small leg bone.

He had used the Divine Stealer’s third incense technique, "Stealing," to swiftly swipe the bone from the shepherd’s leg during his earth escape. The skill was so quick that Zhou Xuan hadn’t caught the moment it happened.

The shepherd’s left leg was now hollow. Missing the leg bone, his body collapsed, and he slid forward from the momentum.

"Ahhh..." Only now did the shepherd feel the pain, gritting his teeth as he groaned in agony.

Si Ming grabbed the shepherd by the shirt collar and flung him back into the courtyard, shutting the gate.

Liu Jiao stood frozen in terror. After some time, he began begging for leniency.

"Stay in the house. We won’t let you leave, so don’t even try. Otherwise..."

Zhou Xuan warned Liu Jiao, who dared not say another word. He went inside and shut the door behind him.

"Yu Er, keep watch," Si Ming commanded.

"Understood."

Si Yuer made her way to the front of the house. She leaped lightly, her toes landing against the wall to push herself higher with deft taps against the surface. The four-meter-high wall felt like flat ground to her.

In seconds, she perched herself atop the roof, her eyes scanning around, her Perception alert for anyone approaching the courtyard.

This was the Divine Stealer’s second incense technique, "Roof Gentleman," which showcased mastery of Light Body Techniques and the agility of someone as lithe as a sparrow.