CHAPTER 210: CHAPTER 124: ARSON, TEARING DOWN TOWERS

"Madam’s voice..."

The incense stand at the main hall was already close at hand, but the old nun looked suspicious.

The person’s voice was quite magnetic, noticeably rougher than a woman’s. The difference with the childish tone of the young girl from before was like heaven and earth.

"Are you a man or a woman?"

Seeing the other person not responding and striding towards the main hall, the old nun instantly became alert. She quickened her pace and reached out to block Xu Qing’s path.

"What does Master Nun mean by this? Is your temple really dividing pilgrims?"

As she spoke, Xu Qing walked around the old nun and was about to continue inside.

The old nun, harboring guilt, refused to let Xu Qing in no matter what.

"This temple is mostly occupied by nuns. Since you are a man, you should know the difference between men and women. If you insist on not leaving, I will have to call for help!"

"The difference between men and women?" Xu Qing laughed cynically, as if hearing the biggest joke in the world.

"When you were at Hongxing Temple, you didn’t seem to be so noble."

"Who exactly are you?!"

The old nun’s face changed dramatically, as her past was suddenly brought up.

"Who am I?" Xu Qing reached out to push away the old nun blocking the way and stepped towards the main hall.

"This is the Child-Giving Temple, of course I’m here to seek a child."

Upon hearing this, the old nun no longer blocked the way, but frowned and said, "You are a man, even if you dress as a woman, you cannot defy nature and bear children."

"Master Nun, I don’t quite understand your words. Isn’t everyone who comes seeking a child defying nature? According to what you said, the children that the pilgrims seek should have been destined for them. If that’s the case, why do they need to come and beg the gods?"

By the candlelight of the main hall, Xu Qing looked up at the tall statue gazing down at him, as if answering the nun, or conversing with the statue.

The old nun did not dare to respond recklessly, but Xu Qing had no intention of letting her off.

Why were the Child-Giving Temples so prosperous? Could it be that the pilgrims truly believed that by worshipping the idols and listening to the nuns, they were able to conceive?

Xu Qing had gathered all the information over the past few days and already had an answer.

"Master Nun, it is said that monks do not lie. I have a question, and you must answer truthfully."

Hearing the noise in the main hall, two more nuns who were on night watch came over.

"What question does the layman want to ask?"

Xu Qing patted Xuan Yu, who broke free from his grasp and ran lightly towards the main hall entrance.

At this moment, the old nun and the two other nuns on night watch stood between Xu Qing and Xuan Yu, with an ever-stoic cold statue behind Xu Qing.

The statue’s eyes were cast down, looking compassionate and sorrowful.

"I heard that pilgrims seeking children in the temple need to have the nuns of the temple assist with childbirth. Is this true?"

The old nun was too scared to answer easily, but an older nun on night watch answered Xu Qing’s question.

"The children sought from this Child-Giving Temple should naturally be delivered by the disciples of the temple."

"But I heard that most of the children you deliver are born stillborn, and even worse, some result in the death of both mother and child?"

The nun laughed and said, "The Savior Mother only cares for those who accumulate virtues. If the child is born stillborn, it means the mother’s virtues are insufficient, causing the spirit child to refuse to be born. This has nothing to do with our temple’s disciples assisting in childbirth; it’s due to the mother’s lack of sincerity."

Xu Qing fell silent for a moment and asked again, "Have all you nuns assisted pilgrims in childbirth?"

"Of course, if the laywoman sincerely desires a child, and becomes pregnant, the monks and nuns of our temple would compete to assist in childbirth," the nun replied flippantly, looking Xu Qing up and down.

This type, they had really not seen before.

Ignoring the nun’s teasing, Xu Qing turned a deaf ear.

These nuns, being women themselves, had no maternal instinct at all.

A mother loves her child dearly, enduring hardship and savoring sweetness, with a natural protective instinct for the child.

But the nuns of the Child-Giving Temple, not only lacked maternal instinct, they had not an ounce of humanity left in them.

Xu Qing chuckled softly and suddenly reached out to grasp the nun’s neck.

The crisp sound of bones dislocating echoed, accompanied by the sight of the nun’s head tilting to the side and her body collapsing to the ground.

The other two nuns froze in shock. Before they could call out, Xu Qing moved swiftly, and in an instant, two more bone-breaking sounds were heard.

At the entrance, Xuan Yu turned his head and saw three people lying by the temple statue.

Seeing Xu Qing’s grim face, Xuan Yu walked up and asked, "Did they do something wrong?"

Xu Qing was currently using the Sutra of Salvation to examine the past of these nuns.

He saw the pious kneeling of the child-seeking couples, the pregnant women still frequently coming to kneel and thank the deities.

But when they were about to give birth, these nuns, acting like gatekeepers of death, strangled the newborn babies and sent them to the Ghost Gate.

Ten months of pregnancy, the babies never got to see their mothers, and the mothers never got to see their babies, separated by life and death, no chance for mother-child bond.

Even so, the mothers believed it was their own lack of virtue, causing the heavens to not allow it, which harmed their children.

What they didn’t know was, even if they didn’t worship at the Child-Giving Temple, they could still conceive.

Xu Qing looked at Xuan Yu who questioned him.

"They killed many people, both adults and children. Those children were just born, some adults had just become mothers..."

"Some of the living adults, if they knew their children could have lived, learned to talk, walk, gotten married, had children of their own, served their parents... they would probably be more heartbroken than if they had died."