Chapter 1 Nightmare Assault

But unexpectedly, upon hearing the name Xuan Cong, Daoist Xuan Yi's face changed drastically. He stared blankly at Jiang Cheng, his eyes filled with shock.

Ye Qiutang naturally understood who Jiang Cheng was talking about. After the temple of Holding Vows reverted to Qingfeng Temple, the monks within also resumed their identities as Daoists. Those monks of the Hui generation were now Daoists like Xuan Yi and Xuan Cheng.

And the so-called Daoist Xuan Cong was naturally the former Monk Huicong. Jiang Cheng wanted to know what kind of state Monk Huicong had become.

"This benefactor, my junior brother Xuan Cong is... is unwell, and I'm afraid... I'm afraid it's inconvenient for him to meet you." Xuan Yi stammered as he spoke, his eyes becoming strange.

"Oh?" Jiang Cheng frowned slightly. "Daoist Xuan Cong is ill?"

"Indeed."

"It doesn't matter, I am a doctor and have some understanding of difficult and complicated diseases. I would trouble Daoist Xuan Yi to lead the way." As Ye Qiutang spoke, he took out a rolled-up cloth package from his arms. When opened, it revealed rows of silver needles.

Jiang Cheng and Fatty had seen this before; it had originally been in Song Tianming's hands. He hadn't expected Ye Qiutang to bring it as well.

Originally, he thought Xuan Yi would continue to make excuses to refuse, but after noticing the silver needles and Ye Qiutang's confident expression, Xuan Yi finally nodded. "Alright, then I will trouble this benefactor."

Xuan Yi led the three away from the Jing Shi Guan and walked in another direction, his words full of concern for his junior brother Xuan Cong. "To be honest, my junior brother's illness is very strange. He was fine before, but who knew he would suddenly go mad last night? A dozen of us senior and junior brothers joined forces to control him. The scene... alas!"

Walking on a pebble path, the four quickly arrived at a remote courtyard. The layout here was extremely simple, with only a few gray-tiled houses. In the open space in front of the houses, several wooden poles were erected, with ropes tied to them to make a clothesline, on which were hung Daoist robes.

It seemed that this was where the Daoists lived. It had to be said, they were much more simple than the fake monks of the Temple of Holding Vows.

But after only a few steps, Jiang Cheng noticed a very conspicuous place. There were actually residual bloodstains on these hanging Daoist robes.

Just then, the door of a gray-tiled house opened, and a Daoist carrying a wooden basin walked out. He was stunned to see Xuan Yi. "Senior Brother Xuan Yi, why are you here? Shouldn't you be on duty in the Jing Shi Guan today?"

"Where is Junior Brother Xuan Cong?" Daoist Xuan Yi asked directly.

"Alas!" The Daoist carrying the wooden basin looked worried. "Senior Brother Xuan Cong is still the same. He doesn't answer anything we ask him, but his eyes are wide open. He doesn't eat or drink. If this continues, I'm afraid... I'm afraid his body won't be able to hold on. By the way, Senior Brother Xuan De said he would go down the mountain to invite a powerful doctor to come back and treat him."

"Who are these three?" The Daoist carrying the basin looked at Jiang Cheng and the others.

"Oh, these three are benefactors who came to offer incense. This one is a doctor. Hearing that Junior Brother Xuan Cong is unwell, he took the initiative to come and help." Xuan Yi gestured to Ye Qiutang, who straightened his back and acted very reliable.

"Ah? That's great! Quick, quick, please come with me."

The Daoist abandoned the basin and led them inside, arriving at the innermost gray-tiled house. This room was obviously much smaller, not like a large dormitory, but more like a single room.

More importantly, the doors and windows were tightly closed, and three strong Daoists were guarding the door, one of whom was injured.

Seeing Jiang Cheng and the three strangers, the three Daoists immediately became vigilant.

However, after learning that Ye Qiutang was a doctor, their faces immediately improved, and they hurriedly invited them in.

As soon as they entered the door, the scene before them was indeed a bit unexpected. The items in the room were scattered haphazardly on the ground, and some vases and porcelain were smashed to pieces. On the wooden bed in the corner lay a person, Monk Huicong, but at this time, his attire had also changed to a Daoist's outfit.

To be precise, he was tied up. Not only were his hands and feet bound, but also a thick hemp rope was tied around his waist. Fortunately, these Daoists were considerate and wrapped two layers of coarse cloth around his hands and feet before tying them, otherwise his skin would have been worn raw.

"Alas! We... we don't want to do this either, but Junior Brother Xuan Cong suddenly went mad, and we couldn't beat him at all. Look, he injured many of our senior and junior brothers." The Daoist who brought them here pointed to one of the guards, who had a circle of white cloth wrapped around his shoulder, and blood was seeping from the wound.

"Actually, it's okay if he injured our senior and junior brothers, but... but he injured several benefactors. How can our Qingfeng Temple explain this? Alas, Senior Brother Xuan De is worried to death!"

"He also injured several benefactors?" Jiang Cheng seemed to suddenly think of something. "What are the names of those benefactors? Do we know them?"

"You probably don't know them. You weren't in the same group of incense offerings." After recalling for a while, the Daoist continued, "I'm not very familiar with most of the injured people, but I recognize one of them. She's the concubine of Wu Yuanwai from the foot of the mountain, seems like... seems like her name is Qing, with delicate features, very beautiful."

"Careful with your words!" Xuan Yi frowned. It was already impolite to comment on benefactors behind their backs.

Fatty gasped. He immediately realized that this person was Huiqing, and according to what Zhao Dutong said last night, it was he who cut Huiqing with a knife.

Things were becoming more and more bizarre. Everything was messed up last night. The memories of these Daoists seemed to have been modified by some strange force. In their minds, they had not committed evil or harmed anyone, and the people who were injured by Zhao Dutong and the others last night had also been transferred to Monk Huicong, no, no, he should be called Daoist Xuan Cong now.

Using their identities as doctors, Jiang Cheng and Ye Qiutang stepped forward and began to observe Daoist Xuan Cong. Looking at the face that was exactly the same as in his memory, and then at this completely different attire, Ye Qiutang couldn't help but feel a little dazed.

Jiang Cheng reached out and pulled open Daoist Xuan Cong's clothes. The scars inside were shocking. Sure enough, this had not changed. These were all left behind when those evil monks abused Huicong.

Just as Jiang Cheng was about to strip off Xuan Cong's clothes to check the tattoos on his back, a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door.

Just as he turned around, a familiar face appeared behind the door. Huide... no, now he should be called Daoist Xuande. Seeing Jiang Cheng and the three, he was stunned for a moment, then his brow furrowed, and he looked at Xuan Yi with dissatisfaction. "Xuan Yi, what's going on?"

"Senior Brother Xuande, these benefactors are doctors. I thought I'd let them take a look at Junior Brother Xuan Cong's madness first, maybe..."

"Nonsense!" Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Xuan De's stern voice.