Wandering Gods of Day and Night

"Oh?"

Zhou Xuan expressed some curiosity: "So they are all ghosts?"

"They are ghosts who died on the road to worship the Buddha," the Eternal Life Sect Leader chimed in from the side. "The people of Snow Plain Prefecture are devoted to Buddhism, even if heavy snow seals the mountain, they’ll find a way, enduring long treks, to reach Bai Fo Gong Temple for worship.

Often, people freeze to death on this vast snowfield, and after death, most of these people are claimed by the ’Broken Robe.’"

Zhou Xuan nodded, pointed to the distant ridge, and asked: "Are they also your Broken Robe disciples?"

The ridge was strewn with many bones.

Judging by the size, shape, and appearance, they should be cow bones.

Among the cow bones, sat a person mostly decayed.

The Green Robed Buddha looked in the direction Zhou Xuan was pointing, and after seeing clearly, said: "Master, those are not disciples of the Broken Robe, they are bone shrines, sacrifices offered by the Revolving Wheel Temple to the Snow Mountain."

Zhou Xuan was again curious: "Sacrifices? Are these sacrifices made with people?"

"I’ve said all along that the so-called Revolving Wheel Temple is just notorious, it’s actually a bunch of strange sects, adorned with nothing but the name of the Great Buddha."

The Tiancan Monk suddenly switched to "ranting mode," smearing the Revolving Wheel Temple without reserve.

The Green Robed Buddha frowned slightly and said: "Master, actually, those who are treated as sacrifices were all people with great sins in their lives,

these sinners are sewn into the cow’s belly, cohabiting with the cow for three months."

"Can a person survive being sewn into a cow’s belly?"

Zhao Wuya wrapped his arms around his shoulders, shivering like a grandson from the cold.

But despite his trembling and shivering, his interest in gossip was undiminished.

"They can survive."

The Green Robed Buddha said: "Once the person is inside the cow’s belly, the cow goes mad too, refusing to eat grass, preferring flesh, and needs to be fed fresh meat daily.

Meat goes into the cow’s belly and the sinner inside eats the undigested raw meat in the stomach as well.

After the cow consumes the meat, it secretes a lot of acid, gradually corroding some of the sinner’s skin and flesh.

By the time three months pass and the cow is slaughtered, the person coming out from the cow’s belly is already half-rotted waste."

The Tiancan Monk clicked his tongue continuously at the side, saying: "Master, listen to this, the methods of those monks are really ruthless, at most our Broken Robe would only swallow people alive, making them suffer for one night, far kinder than the monks of the Revolving Wheel Temple."

"That’s not exactly kindness either, is it?"

Zhou Xuan frowned deeply, wondering how Snow Plain Prefecture, proclaimed as Jing Country’s Buddhist city, could have such bloodshed.

"The cow kills the person, and the person is killed too, then both are sent up to the Snow Mountain, called a bone shrine, serving a sacrificial purpose," remarked the Green Robed Buddha.

Zhou Xuan, hearing this, glanced again at the white walls of the Buddha Praise Heavenly Palace far away, feeling as if they were oozing blood.

"What a Buddhist city ancient temple."

Zhou Xuan raised a hand and said: "Let’s not waste time, let’s go into the heavenly palace and have a look."

Following his command, the Eternal Life Sect Leader, Green Robed Buddha, and Tiancan Monk each manifested a giant Dharma Image, jointly generating a force to lift Zhao Wuya.

Zhao Wuya swayed as if seated in a sedan chair,

with Zhou Xuan leading at the front, this was the grand setup he had planned for the journey.

Zhao Wuya was publicly known as Wu Ya Zen of the "Twenty-one Zen."

Ascending the Great Snow Mountain, it would be ridiculous not to make an impression.

The five of them immediately set off across the snowfield, heading for Buddha Praise Heavenly Palace, encountering robe ghosts weaving through the dense snow, reporting to the monks of the Revolving Wheel Temple about strange sights on the Great Snow Mountain.

...

Ning Yu stood in the side room, watching as those four disciples completely cut open the cow’s stomach,

A monk corroded by cow stomach acid for three months rolled out from the cow’s belly.

His facial skin had entirely burned away, viscous liquid flowed freely.

"Mas...ter."

The monk’s kasaya was already ragged, and he called out to Ning Yu.

Ning Yu said coldly: "Leba, in these three months, have you realized your sin?"

"Disciple is without sin," Leba said.

"Master Gangga in Prefecture City was very fond of that slave girl, yet you tried to take her out of the Snowfield, making Master Gangga sick with rage."

"Master said that slaves are the most lowly people in the world, I wanted to help that lady escape slavery, what’s wrong with that?"

"If she wishes to escape slavery, she could have her family, her brother, become our Revolving Wheel Temple’s sacrifice,

one person as a sacrifice, and the whole family can leave slavery."

"I didn’t want her to die,"

Leba said, "I just thought that if I took her away, left the snow-covered Prefecture City, there would be no more slaves."

"Leba, actions must follow rules, breaking the rules is the greatest sin."

Ning Yu said coldly: "In your next life, remember that this world requires balance, the wealthy masters maintain slaves, this is the balance of the human world, as monks, we should not disrupt it,

but we don’t do nothing either, offering sacrifices to leave slavery is our task."

"You helped that slave girl escape, disrupting the balance of the masters,

you let that slave girl escape being a sacrifice, escaping slavery, disrupting the balance of the Revolving Wheel Temple.

Balance is difficult to establish, but very easy to destroy, Leba, your sins are grievous."

Ning Yu then closed his eyes, while the surrounding disciples each brandished knives, cutting Leba to death.