Wandering Gods of Day and Night
Chapter 209 - 165 Madman Temple_2

Chapter 209: Chapter 165 Madman Temple_2

Zhou Xuan stomped his boot against the shepherd’s chest and asked, "You know how to turn people into sheep!"

"I... I don’t know!"

"Still denying?" Zhou Xuan exchanged a glance with Si Ming.

Si Ming’s hand dipped slightly, and between the fingers of his right hand, an eyeball glistened.

"Aaah... Aaah..."

The shepherd groped at his hollow right eye socket with his left hand, then broke into agonized screams.

"If you’re not honest, I’ll start ripping the pieces off you one by one."

Si Ming tossed the eyeball into the stable.

The horse bent its head, sniffing noisily at the foreign object on the ground before inhaling sharply, sucking the eyeball into its mouth and chewing in greedy gulps.

Watching his eyeball being devoured, the shepherd screamed anew, pleading desperately, "I... I know how to turn people into sheep! I’m a veterinarian!"

"A veterinarian?" Si Ming tore open the shepherd’s clothing, revealing hidden compartments sewn into the lining, each pocket stuffed with pouches of strange medicine.

"So you really are a ’veterinarian’—making people beasts every day with your vile concoctions."

"These medicines," Zhou Xuan asked Si Ming, "if consumed by a person, will turn them into livestock?"

"Exactly. Mixed into soda or boiled into soup, any normal person who drinks it will transform into an animal. Depending on the medicine, they’ll turn into a sheep, cow, pig, or dog. This stuff is called Beast-making Medicine."

"But for those of us who walk through the shadows and offer rituals to spirits, our perception is sharp—we can tell the medicine is tainted just from its scent and would never drink it."

Hearing this, Zhou Xuan pressed harder against the shepherd with his foot and demanded, "Are Qiye Temple’s sheep monks all made from your medicine?"

"No, no!" The shepherd quickly denied.

"Still lying!"

Si Ming reached again to dismantle more ’parts’ from the shepherd, but Zhou Xuan stopped him—it wouldn’t do to break too much too quickly. There were only so many pieces to take; once gone, there’d be no leverage left.

Besides, the shepherd clearly knew strange, invaluable truths. If pushed too hard, he’d invent lies, and verifying them would be painstaking.

It required cunning.

Zhou Xuan softened his tone, speaking sweetly to the shepherd: "You’re just a veterinarian. Sure, you brewed the medicine, but the sins lie on the monks at Qiye Temple who forced you into it. You’re innocent—they’re the ones to blame. Me? I only go after the masterminds. If you spill everything you know, honestly and completely, I’ll let you walk free."

The shepherd said nothing—he didn’t trust Zhou Xuan.

"Don’t believe me? We can seal it with a Blood Covenant."

"Smack!"

Inside several layers of clothing, the gavel tapped lightly, conjuring a dream targeted only at the shepherd...

Zhou Xuan pulled out a notebook, tore out a page, and began writing an agreement.

"The terms are simple. Your duty is to confess everything you know—truthfully, completely. If you lie, omit, or fabricate, you’ll suffer the wrath of a thousand ghosts tearing you apart. My duty is straightforward—once you’ve told me everything, I won’t take your life. I’ll set you free. We’ll seal it in blood..."

Examining the document carefully, the shepherd finally calmed and agreed to seal the covenant with Zhou Xuan, their blood mingling on the pact.

With the Blood Covenant forged, the shepherd shifted easily into his role as an aggrieved victim.

"It’s all those monks from Qiye Temple forcing me."

"How did they coerce you?" Zhou Xuan asked.

"They..."

"Speak the truth, or face the thousand ghosts." Zhou Xuan reminded him with a smile.

"They... They forced me to turn pilgrims into sheep—five hundred yuan for each one I transformed."

Zhou Xuan sneered coldly. Qiye Temple truly drove you hard.

"Why do Qiye Temple’s monks need people turned into sheep?"

"I don’t know the specifics, but I’ve overheard whispers—they often perform evil ceremonies requiring human blood and bones. But since they’re monks, using those directly would weigh on their conscience..."

"What kind of ceremony?"

"I don’t know, but the rites seem ancient. We veterinarians have collaborated with Qiye Temple for generations."

"How many lives have been lost for such ceremonies?" Zhou Xuan couldn’t help but remark.

"It’s those wicked monks from Qiye Temple—they’re monsters, not humans, not humans!"

"Don’t rush to curse them; tell me more. When are these ceremonies usually performed?"

"I don’t know the exact timing, but it seems connected to Qiye Temple’s Forbidden Tower! And every night, that tower seems to drive the monks in the temple... mad!" The shepherd revealed.

"Mad in what way?" Zhou Xuan pursued.

"I haven’t seen it myself."

The shepherd explained, "Qiye Temple’s outer walls are high, and the entrance passage closes at night, guarded by monks—outsiders can’t get in. That’s all I know, and I swear it’s all true. You must honor the covenant and let me go."

"But first, answer this: once someone takes your Beast-making Medicine and transforms into livestock, is there any way to reverse it?"

Zhou Xuan questioned the shepherd.

"No... no, it’s irreversible."

"Understood." Zhou Xuan stood and delivered a crushing elbow to the back of the shepherd’s skull.

...

Night had deepened. Zhou Xuan carried the shepherd’s limp body as he joined Si Ming and Yu Er at the Sheep Monk’s Wooden House in Qiye Temple.

As the shepherd had claimed, Qiye Temple was heavily guarded at night. But Si Ming and Yu Er were Divine Stealers—masters of the "roof gentleman" Light Body Technique; scaling the towering ten-meter walls was child’s play.

Once atop the wall, they dropped a rope, hoisting Zhou Xuan and the shepherd’s body up with ease.

Inside the temple grounds, the group headed straight for the Sheep Monk’s Wooden House.

At the door, Zhou Xuan knocked lightly, calling, "Master Dezhong, Master De Hai is looking for you!"

The monk guarding the wooden house was Dezhong—Zhou Xuan had heard Master Dehai call out his name during the day.

The door creaked open, and a monk clad in a kasaya peered out cautiously. Zhou Xuan’s Bone Teeth dagger lashed upward, piercing through his throat.

The stench of blood brought the unconscious shepherd back to his senses.