Wandering Gods of Day and Night

"Everyone get out of the way, let those three pigs through."

Zhou Xuan listened on the side and thought to himself that Huang Zhishu, this little female yellow-skinned one, was quite remarkable. She lived up to her name, possessing a bit of an educated and sensible air.

In the yellow-skinned family, Huang Zhishu’s words carried some weight. As soon as she spoke, those blocking the path quickly moved aside.

The three pigs swaggered forward, but just then, a stubborn little yellow-skinned one stood right in the middle of the road.

This time, Big Child wasn’t in the mood to accommodate. He tilted his head and pushed the blocking yellow-skinned one to the side.

Pushing wasn’t enough; Big Child went on to mock, "Why are you blocking the way? Waiting to be granted a title?"

Zhou Xuan: "..."

Zhou Xuan had heard the tale of "Yellow-Skinned Ones Seeking Titles," which talks about how yellow-skinned ones stand in the forest or on the road to ask people for words of blessing to help them achieve immortality once they reach a certain realm in cultivation.

That yellow-skinned one’s manner of blocking the way indeed seemed a bit like seeking a title.

"This Big Child is really quite a character."

Zhou Xuan secretly praised.

After the path-blocking incident was over, the three pigs finally pushed their way to the corpse of Lady Lianhua.

Big Child sniffed hard and said, "The Silver Bodhisattva Flower on Old Huang is rapidly withering."

Erwa then said, as if disgusted, "What a motherfucking stench."

Third Child concluded, "Without the soul soil, all those Silver Bodhisattva Flowers are going to die."

Zhou Xuan asked, "What is ’soul soil’?"

The big head of the three pigs turned around and said to Zhou Xuan, "Master, some spirit flowers and herbs are planted in the Spirit Mountain Treasure River,

but some flowers and herbs grow roots in a person’s soul. Old Huang’s soul was taken away, so the soil for nurturing the flowers and herbs is gone, they’ve lost their roots."

"Without roots, the flowers and herbs cannot survive." Third Child agreed.

Zhou Xuan couldn’t care less if the "Silver Bodhisattva Flowers" on Lady Lianhua were dead or alive; he only cared if the three pigs could find Lady Lianhua and Huang Tianfeng.

He asked, "I told you to find people. Don’t worry about those flowers and herbs."

"We can find them, Master, rest assured."

Big Child explained, "Old Huang’s soul has a strong Silver Bodhisattva Flower scent. We can follow the scent to find her."

"Is the scent strong?" Zhou Xuan twitched his nose but didn’t smell anything.

"So strong it’s making me nauseous; this flower stinks." Erwa feigned retching.

Hearing this, Zhou Xuan acknowledged that each profession has its specialization—the three "children" were masters at finding spirit flowers and herbs, and only they could perceive the true scent of the Silver Bodhisattva Flower.

"Start the search."

Zhou Xuan gave the command again.

The three pigs began to wander the temple while Zhou Xuan and Zhou Lingyi followed beside them,

and some little yellow-skinned ones, worried that the pigs might cause trouble, followed them from a distance.

With everyone’s various intentions accompanying them, the three pigs roamed through streets and alleys, crossing more than half of the temple, until they entered a woodshed.

This woodshed was not big, made of mud bricks, with a chain lock on the door.

The three pigs didn’t care whose room it was, they charged forward, smashing the door to bits.

"Stop, that’s our ancestor’s temple room."

"Three pigs, don’t cause trouble."

With the woodshed door broken, its contents were clear to see. Zhou Xuan noticed inside was a statue of a deity.

The statue wasn’t anyone else; it was Lady Lianhua herself.

It was sculpted somewhat recognizably, but the statue wasn’t painted, and over time, it had been gnawed by insects and rodents, looking rather shabby.

"Master, I feel the soul is inside that statue."

The three pigs said.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xuan immediately asked, "Are you sure?"

"The scent of Silver Bodhisattva Flower inside the statue is the strongest." Big Child responded.

"Ugh, ugh, ugh!" Erwa continuously dry heaved, very intolerant of the smell.

Annoyed by the sound, Zhou Xuan gave Erwa’s pig head a smack and scolded, "Shut up, are you having morning sickness?"

"Master, I’ll go ram the statue now; I can open a path." Big Child said.

"Ram it." Zhou Xuan looked at the small yellow-skinned ones behind him and said decisively.

"Got it."

Big Child, Erwa, and Third Child maneuvered their three pig heads to merge.

When the three pig heads got close, their flesh began to fuse, forming a massive wild boar head.

This head had razor-sharp tusks, dark skin, and bristles like steel needles.

"Ho, ha! Second and Third, work together and ram for me."

Big Child shouted the command, and the three pigs started scraping their front hooves on the ground, clearly gathering strength.

When the yellow-skinned ones heard the pigs were going to ram their Grandma Lianhua’s statue, naturally they weren’t pleased and rushed to stop them.

Zhou Xuan wasn’t worried; he donned the Tao Ancestor Mask, took a Dragon Walk and Tiger Step forward.

In the temple, fierce winds rose, and sand and stones flew, creating a sand wall, blocking the path of the yellow-skinned ones.

"Mr. Storyteller, please have mercy; that’s our ancestor’s statue."

"Don’t ram it, don’t ram it."

Zhou Xuan ignored them completely and gestured to the three pigs—just ram it, he’ll take responsibility for any consequences.

Without the worry of repercussions, the three pigs grew even fiercer, gathering all their strength and charging forward.

"Ho!"

"Ha!"

With two successive commands, they rammed twice.

On the first ram, the statue remained unmoved, but the ground around the woodshed subtly trembled.

"Are these pigs so ferocious?"

Zhou Xuan remarked.

"Indeed, these pigs, I crafted their bodies to fit the intentions of the three children," Miss Qiang proudly said.

During the second ram, the force was tremendous, and the impact actually penetrated the statue.

One of its tusks cleanly pierced through the statue’s body.

With damage to the statue, the entire Lotus Temple started shaking like an earthquake.

Zhou Xuan and Zhou Lingyi’s bodies trembled continuously.

Always in a spectator mode, Yun Ziliang, Li Changxun, and Zhao Wuya simultaneously activated their Feng Shui Hall step techniques.

Among them, Yun Ziliang had the most sensitive perception of the terrain; he noticed the landscape of the entire Lotus Temple changing and hurriedly shouted to Zhou Xuan,

"Xuanzi... something’s wrong... the Lotus Temple’s prime land has turned into a fierce and ominous place."

"That pig isn’t just ramming a statue; it’s ramming the entire Lotus Temple." Li Changxun added.

"Prime land turned ominous?"

Hearing this, Zhou Xuan coldly laughed and said, "Is the Lotus Temple tearing away its second disguise?"

"Big Child, keep ramming, make it shake the ground and rock the mountains, make it collapse!"

While the ramming was heating up, Lord Jiu also floated over, looking serious, "What trouble did you stir? Our temples over there are collapsing one after another."

"Lord Jiu, my three little ones here have dug up something big."

Zhou Xuan smiled as he watched the three pigs launch one barbaric charge after another at the statue of Lady Lianhua in that woodshed...