Great Xia Calendar, the year 2305
June 1st, clear weather.
The abbot brought back a rabbit from outside the temple. According to abbot Hui Lie, he saved it from a hunter's hands. Amitabha, how benevolent.
June 2nd, clear weather.
The affair of exorcising demons for the Wang family was snatched away by Qianyuan Temple again. The abbot was quite unhappy, and all the brothers dared not speak loudly all day.
June 3rd, clear skies,
One of the brothers suggested that we eat the rabbit that the abbot brought back. I secretly told abbot Hui Lie, and that brother was punished with a day without food. Amitabha, how benevolent.
June 4th, overcast.
I named the rabbit Xiu Xiu, which was the childhood nickname of the little girl who lived next door before I was sent to Yuhua Temple to become a monk.
...
June 9th, strong winds.
The old lady from the Li family in town, extremely devout in her faith, donated a considerable amount of money for oil. Abbot Hui Lie was very happy today, saying that our Yuhua Temple will certainly surpass Qianyuan Temple.
June 10th, overcast.
Xiu Xiu seems to be becoming more and more humanlike. Whenever I call its name, it comes over to me.
June 11th, clear weather.
Abbot Hui Lie announced his retreat and ordered the monks in the temple not to disturb him. He said the day he emerges will be the day Yuhua Temple surpasses Qianyuan Temple.
Recently, Xiu Xiu seems to like staring at me quite a bit, which is strangely cute.
...
June 14th, heavy rain.
The brother who found out I told on him gave me a beating, ouch, it really hurt.
June 15th, clear weather.
I awoke in the middle of the night in pain and wanted to get some water from the Incense kitchen, only to see the light on in Abbot Hui Lie's retreat room. Inside there were vague shadows, as though several people were there. I felt someone watching me from a corner. I abruptly turned around and got a scare—it was Xiu Xiu.
June 16th, strong winds.
The brother died. I'm very scared, but thankfully, Xiu Xiu is with me.
...
June 22nd, torrential rain.
Another two brothers died. They were buried under the big tree in the backyard, and the temple was forced to close. Someone suggested asking the abbot to come out of his retreat, but the idea was rejected.
June 23rd, clear weather.
The weather was nice today, and no one else died in the temple.
Thank goodness Xiu Xiu has been with me these past few days. I don't know if it's my imagination, but I feel like its eyes are getting redder. Lately, when I write my diary, it squats beside my hand as if it can understand.
...
...
"That's it, this little monk's diary ends on June 23rd." Xu Qian shook the blood-soaked stack of papers in his hand.
"What's today's date?" Jin Xu asked with a furrowed brow.
"June 28th," Xu Qian replied.
"So there's a five-day gap. We have no idea what happened in this temple. Speaking of which, the 'Xiu Xiu' mentioned in this little monk's diary must be this thing, right?"
The little Taoist said, while kicking a rabbit about a meter long on the ground.
"It must be, I've never seen a rabbit turn into a spirit before. It's really big," Xu Qian remarked as he looked down at "Xiu Xiu" on the ground.
"Young Master, can I..."
"No."
Jin Xu knew Yu Yaoer's old habit of seeing everything as food was acting up again, so he quickly interrupted—this thing was probably man-eating and repulsive.
After all, when the three of them entered Yuhua Temple, they didn't see a single living person, just this large rabbit.
"Fine, I was just thinking of taking such a large rabbit back for Little White to roast," Yu Yaoer said with regret.
Then he added, "Young Master, I almost saved a rabbit once too!"
Hmm?
"And then? Why didn't you save it?" the little Taoist asked curiously.
"Because I didn't have enough money on me at the time, I couldn't save a whole one, only half," the Little Fish Demon remarked, licking its lips and looking reminiscent.
"..."
"Pfft, you two better not tease me anymore. Little Taoist, do you still have that Fake Demon Pill you took from this rabbit?"
Xu Qian could not listen anymore.
He hurriedly shifted the topic to something more serious.
Before the three of them had entered, Xu Qian specifically pleaded with the little Taoist to try to leave a living witness if possible, or at least a whole corpse.
Jin Xu was very considerate and left a whole corpse.
He distributed his golden spiritual power in advance, and the moment he stepped through the temple gate,
The large rabbit leaped forward, attempting a sneak attack, only to be punched through the dantian by Jin Xu, who sensed a fight coming.
Seeing the crimson blood on his hands, Jin Xu felt quite uncomfortable.
He quickly cast the "Body Purification Skill" on himself.
It wasn't that the young Taoist was pretending to be clean for no reason; throughout his battles, there had been little chance for bloodshed, as the opponents would be gone before that could happen.
"Here it is," he said.
Jin Xu handed the green pearl over to Xu Qian.
According to him, this was the Transformation Fruit that had not yet fully turned into a Fake Golden Core. With it, the patrol could trace back to the Demon Sect and turn their passive situation into an active one.
However, the subsequent investigation had nothing to do with the young Taoist.
Xu Qian also said that he would personally deliver the bounty to Qianyuan Temple on Little Platform Mountain later.
So now Jin Xu and Yu Yaoer just needed to go back and wait.
Jin Xu walked out of the meditation room with Little Fish Demon in tow.
At that moment, Yuhua Temple was bustling with constables busy at work.
The watchman was short on manpower, so Xu Qian called up all the constables from Qian Deng Town to come and help with auxiliary tasks.
Luckily, although these people feared death, they had good experience.
The stack of blood-stained diaries had been found by them.
They walked from the meditation room to the temple entrance.
"Good day, young Taoist Master."
"Young Taoist Master, you've worked hard."
"Young Taoist Master, be careful, there's blood over here; don't get your shoes dirty."
The constables were all slick operators.
Knowing that this was a worldly outsider high expert invited by their superiors, they were all very respectful.
Jin Xu responded to each one.
He actually felt quite uncomfortable with such attention; the more people there were, the more nervous he would become.
To use modern parlance, he was somewhat socially anxious.
Stepping out of Yuhua Temple's gate, the young Taoist looked back.
He wondered if he had some sort of "Conan" constitution.
How come, just in one day,
The two competing families nearby had one closed for business and the other had its members all dead?
The young Taoist shook his head, forcing himself not to overthink.
"Let's hurry up, Young Master. Before we left, I saw Little White excitedly chasing his tail. I wonder if he has stopped now," said Yu Yaoer.
"Ah right, there's a Husky at home! I almost forgot," Xu Qian replied.
...
Gusu City, East Market Street, night
In the basement of an abandoned mansion,
A white-robed cultist leaned against the wall, the corners of his mouth dripping with fresh blood.
He was beaten by the man in front of him, Hall Master Zhou in black robe, whose complexion was dark and ashen, not resembling the living.
"Hall Master Zhou, please quell your anger. It's not that I'm incompetent, but there is a mysterious person who keeps dispelling the 'Divine Fruits' we planted. However, I've left a mark on the most recently planted 'Divine Fruit'. If that mysterious person dares to act again, I will surely drag him out!"
The white-robed cultist spoke rapidly, fearing that any slowness might cause the brutal demon in front of him to tear him to pieces. He had seen with his own eyes how a colleague had instantly turned from a whole person into a pile of flesh.
Just as the black-robed man was about to scold, the Communication Jade Token hanging at his waist lit up.
He picked up the token and saw,
"There has been a change, I have other urgent matters to attend to. The affairs of Gusu City will be left to you and the other two Hall Masters to oversee. Make sure not to delay the grand plan of the Divine Sect."
The Third Elder isn't coming?
"I'll give you one last chance. If there is another mistake, you won't need to return. Get out," Hall Master Zhou said dismissively to the white-robed cultist in front of him.
He then picked up the Communication Jade Token and sent a message to the other two Hall Masters that the Third Elder had other urgent business and would not be visiting Gusu City.
"I will definitely root out the person behind the destruction of our Divine Sect's plans. Please rest assured, Hall Master Zhou," said the white-robed cultist.
After speaking, he crawled and stumbled out of the basement.
This time he was smarter and kept his thoughts to himself rather than murmuring aloud,
"No, I really should report that bastard. I heard the watchman shows leniency toward Demon Sect cultists who surrender voluntarily. Great Xia has good relations with Medicine King Valley; maybe they can release the Gu Worm restriction on my body."
Meanwhile, in another room, Hall Master Xia, who had a slender waist like a serpent and a plump figure, was sipping tea.
After receiving the message from the man in black robe, she glanced at the man on the bed who was lost in a hallucination, writhing continuously, snorted coldly, opened the back window, and jumped out.
She quickly walked into the night from the back alley,
Leaving behind her was a resplendent high-rise building with intricate carvings and jade-like decorations.
A beautifully crafted signboard hung above the main entrance of the high-rise with "Yingchun House" inscribed in large characters.
...
And the other, Hall Master Huang, whose body was covered in muscles twisted like dragons and snakes, was diligently tilling the field in bed.
Even after receiving the message from the man in the black robe,
He just glanced at it and tossed it aside.
For him, farming was more important.
ps: Tried a new writing style, not sure how the laoye readers feel about it. Fearing you might say I'm padding the word count, I've specifically written a quarter more words for this chapter. Don't worry, it's not just filler.