Jack Sparrow stood atop the ocean, laughing like a madman.
"Wuhu~~~ My brothers' brother is back!"
"I'm no **** anymore!"
"Oh yeah…"
High on excitement, Jack opened the Ten Thousand Realms Chat Group.
Pirates of the Caribbean: "Wuhu~~~ Brothers, I'm here looking for you… Your Captain Jack has awakened supernatural power this time—requesting a fight!!!"
Li Er: "Damn… old swindler, you finally showed. Hurry up—use the portal and get to the Saint's Tomb to help!"
Portal?
Captain Jack glanced at the transport array hanging in the sky and flew straight toward it.
After a few flips through the air,
he arrived beside the Saint's Tomb.
Jack thought there would be a hero's welcome. Instead… he was handed a mess: repairing the large-scale calamity caused by the shattering of the sky.
Jack said to Li Shimin, miserable, "Brother, can't we skip the hard labor?"
"Old swindler, try it. Everyone's busy. You think you get to opt out?"
At this moment, all the newly promoted chief priests had gathered here.
The male chief priests were doing grunt work, while the female chief priests busied themselves gathering believers and placing offerings one by one on the altar.
These were stipends to the gods.
It all had to be done quickly.
So—he got roped in on the spot.
Jack wanted to complain.
But the moment he looked up and saw Orochimaru flicking his tongue at him, his stomach turned and he nearly threw up. He didn't dare make another peep.
He rushed off to work.
…
Journey-to-the-West World.
The moon and stars hung high.
The Monkey sat cross-legged on a great boulder, a faint smile on his face. The seals on Five-Elements Mountain were loosening one by one.
Of all the shackles, what pleased him most
was the tight headband.
The thing was simply vile—directly gnawing at the primordial spirit—the most disgusting contraption Buddhism ever devised.
But under the divine law now in force, he had cast off every fetter.
Were it not for his vow to accompany his master on the westward pilgrimage, Wukong would already have slipped away.
Tang Sanzang lay on the ground beside him, thick thatch beneath his back. Ever since Yang Jian questioned Guanyin three times that day, the monk had fallen silent.
Every so often, he would lower his head and ask them things.
When he learned that many demons, rather than receiving the punishment they deserved, had been taken in by Heaven or Lingshan,
the old monk looked wretched.
"Wukong…"
"Disciple is here."
"Tell me… why does the Buddha not intervene?"
As usual, Tang Sanzang paused a long moment before asking in a low voice.
The question was circumspect,
but everyone understood.
Would the Tathagata meddle in this?
He never had. On this pilgrimage westward, save for the monsters with real backing, all the rest were slain.
Why?
Because they weren't in the crew.
As for demons eating people?
Without people-eaters, how would evil seem evil? How would mortals seek the aid of immortal Buddhas?
Could he spell that out?
Bajie and Sha Wujing looked at Wukong.
They were both eyes and ears Heaven had planted to keep watch on Lingshan; they couldn't let the wind leak. As for the Little White Dragon, he'd sell it as dragon-kind benevolence if he could.
Only the Monkey could speak.
Whether he would lay it out plainly was another matter.
The Monkey chuckled
and hopped off the rock.
"Then Master, why do you think those demons can't be killed?"
Wukong didn't answer; he asked in return.
Tang Seng was speechless.
Though he was the reincarnation of the Golden Cicada, he clearly hadn't solved the riddle of the womb; it was still Tang Sanzang in charge of his heart.
"In the past, any demon with connections was whisked away by Heaven or Guanyin, and those without were slain by your disciple. If I could feign ignorance at the beginning, I'd have to be a fool to pretend later."
"That is to say—you, Master—do not see through this world…"
The Monkey's tone held a touch of sorrow,
even a hint of self-mockery.
Why had the Bodhi Patriarch never appeared?
Because he feared implication—because the sins borne on Wukong's hands were countless, and the Patriarch would not provoke entanglement.
The Monkey understood all of it.
"This world?"
Tang Sanzang shook his head. Beyond fasting and chanting, he truly did not understand the world.
He did not know money.
He did not know human favors and obligations.
Anyway, given fate, he would have food to eat.
Being a monk was easy.
But did he truly grasp that the food he begged was the hard-won fruit of others' labor?
People could hardly feed themselves. Why give to a monk who only chanted scriptures all day?
None of this Wukong spared with euphemism.
In the sky, the Six Ding and Six Jia—celestial spirit generals—watched over them, and all kinds of vajra guardians kept close watch.
Something was bound to go wrong.
"To put it plainly, beating a dog depends on its master. Master, do you think—if Yang Jian hadn't appeared that day—what would have become of the Inspiration King?"
"This… I do not know."
"Hmph. I'll tell you—he'd have stayed in the South Sea, listening to Guanyin chant."
Tang Sanzang's face changed drastically.
He had killed so many children.
And there would be no punishment?
"This is a world where the weak are meat and the strong eat. Master, your heart is set on scriptures; naturally I have not wished to burden you with this. Before, you always scolded your disciple for killing this demon and that bandit. You see only the lives I take,
but not the sins on them!"
"For example, that tiger spirit we first encountered—three hundred years of cultivation. How many did she eat? A thousand lives would not be an exaggeration. She ate flesh and tore souls asunder. All that talk of reincarnation—delusions to deceive fools!"
"And as for those bandits—we ran into them right after leaving Five-Elements Mountain. You scolded me for braining them with my staff and then, listening to Guanyin's persuasion, you put the Tight-Fillet Curse back on me."
"But do you know
why a pack of bandits should appear in the mountains so 'coincidentally'?
Hehe… It was arranged by Great Master Guanyin."
"The trials we meet, the demons we face—these are all fixed numbers. If you don't believe me, wait till we meet the next calamity—watch for yourself. I'll cast a spell for you, and you'll understand…"
Tang Seng nodded.
He said no more.
Seeing is believing.
He, too, wanted to see what the real world looked like.
As the Monkey turned away, his eyes fixed on his two junior brothers, naked killing intent gleaming within.
Both of you understand.
If anyone leaks a word, or obstructs his elder brother—
he will kill.
Zhu Bajie bowed his head and pretended to sleep,
but fear churned in his belly.
Why did this Monkey feel even more terrifying than when he made havoc in Heaven? Had his mana been restored?
Forget it. Anyway, since Yang Jian dared strike Guanyin,
let the Monkey toss and tear as he pleased.
A few days later,
master and disciples encountered the King of Si—more commonly known as the Blue Bull.
His strength was fearsome.
With a diamond ring, he swept up every weapon.
Bajie and the rest were used to it by now—Master got captured, then they invited someone to chant and negotiate.
The Monkey invited the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King.
Pretending not to know anyone he actually knew was second nature by now.
After two rounds, their weapons were taken again.
Just as the Monkey was about to depart,
a voice came from the east.
"I hear tell there's a demon doing evil here. Is this the place?"
Judiciary God, Jiro—Erlang Zhenjun!
Everyone's expressions went a little strange.
They thought, Why are you here again? The story of his enraging Guanyin had spread through all the heavens.
This time, he had come himself.
"Erlang Shen, what brings you here?"
King Tota looked genuinely surprised to see Yang Jian arrive, but he did not know that an inner ghost had slipped a report—
"Why shouldn't I come? Since Tang Seng's in trouble, I thought I'd help, no?"
Yang Jian smiled lightly.
His fingers spread like claws.
He pressed down.
Crack.
A thunderbolt flashed.
The mountains for a hundred li around were reduced to dust in an instant. The Blue Bull stared at Yang Jian, utterly dumbfounded.
With a thump,
he dropped to his knees.
What is there left to play at? Best to surrender quickly.
"Qing Niu, do you plead guilty?!"
"Guilty, guilty! I—I plead guilty…"
Don't drag the old master into this; the old man can't help him. Better to admit it straightaway.
Had it been anyone else,
the Blue Bull would not have accepted it.
But Yang Jian was different.
The aura spilling from the other could kill him in a blink!
If he dared resist,
the next second might be the last.
"So—you plead guilty. Fine. You haven't killed anyone—only sneaked down to play. I sentence you to take a beating and go back into confinement for three hundred years."
"Huh? A beating too!"
The Blue Bull was dumbstruck.
They didn't do things like that in Heaven.
He didn't even have time to react before
Yang Jian was already before him; a casual palm landed on his body.
His eyes rolled.
He vomited blood and flew off,
turning into a meteor that vanished at the horizon.
Yang Jian looked over the surrounding kingdoms and said with an easy smile, "There's no faith here. I'll go and develop it. You apostles keep moving."
"Thank you, Erlang Zhenjun."
Monk Bajie and Sha hurried to declare their stance.
Goodness.
Even the Supreme Lord's mount got flattened this time.
That palm
had nearly killed the Blue Bull.
…
Not until Yang Jian left did Sun Wukong approach his master with a smile.
"Wukong."
"Master, I have something to report in private."
The Monkey blinked, signaling the abundance of eyes and ears nearby.
Tang Seng nodded.
He said nothing more, but turned to bow to Li Jing and the others.
Thousands of li away in the mountains,
a Blue Bull with stars circling his eyes would not be waking anytime soon.
The Supreme Lord, Taishang Laojun, brought his boy attendants to the Blue Bull's side.
His eyelids twitched.
"Luckily, this beast didn't eat anyone, or a single palm wouldn't have been the end of it!"
"But, sir—Yang Jian wouldn't give us any face. Should we speak to the Jade Emperor?"
"Forget it… the times have changed. Yang Jian's backing is bigger now."
He was no match for the Eternal God.
Marching up to his door would be pointless.
Yang Jian was picking fights now.
What could he do?
And Lingshan was finished. Since being shattered, they said Lingshan had raised a great protective array.
No one knew what was happening within.
Taishang Laojun shook his head, summoned a white cloud, and carried the Blue Bull back to his palace.
As for Lingshan—
the place was drenched in blood.
Countless Buddhas were drained by the Tathagata and made into his nourishment.
Large numbers of Buddhas were sent out to watch over the final stretch of the westward road.
Naturally, no one noticed the Tathagata's means.
"Just wait for me, you Outer-Realm Evil God… Give me a little time, and I will kill Yang Jian…"
Outside the Buddha hall,
a woman in golden robes showed open disgust when she heard this.
Then she vanished where she stood.
Her name was Kong Xuan—better known as the Peacock King Bodhisattva.
As the Buddha-Mother,
she was naturally not barred by Lingshan's defensive array; the mountain's protection did not apply to her.