I am a fairy in Journey to the West

Chapter 261 Returning to Lingshan to Search for the Root

The Buddha returned to the Vairocana Temple with Yuan Ao, and immediately issued a decree to summon all the Bodhisattvas to discuss important matters. The Bodhisattvas quickly gathered in the Great Hall, paid homage, and then sat on the lotus throne.

The Great Sun Tathagata Buddha waved his sleeves lightly, and a beam of fairy light flew out of his sleeves, placing Yuan Ao, who was covered in chains, in the hall. As soon as Yuan Ao appeared, he became the focus of everyone's attention. The boundless Buddhist Dharma and the overwhelming pressure made Yuan Ao's shoulders sink. He looked around and saw the bright Buddha light and the lingering Sanskrit sound, illuminating the three realms and ten directions.

The Great Sun Tathagata Buddha sat on a golden lotus, with a compassionate face and deep eyes. Yuan Ao's eyes swept across the Bodhisattvas and finally fixed on the Great Sun Tathagata Buddha. Although the Tathagata Buddha did not appear majestic, the Buddha light around him was like the sun, making it difficult for Yuan Ao to look directly at him. Yuan Ao looked away, and the Buddha light disappeared immediately.

Yuan Ao was brought here from the Thunder Department. He was still confused about the identity of the Great Sun Tathagata Buddha. He bowed and asked, "Is the one sitting here the Great Sun Tathagata Buddha of Buddhism?"

Mahavairocana Buddha smiled and responded: "Do you know me?"

Yuan Ao replied: "In the Three Realms, the only monk with such supernatural powers is Mahavairocana Buddha."

Mahavairocana Buddha praised: "Little golden dragon, you have an extraordinary vision."

Yuan Ao then asked: "Buddha brought me from the Thunder Department to Lingshan. What did you teach me?"

Mahavairocana Buddha smiled and said, "I want to find out who is behind you."

Yuan Ao was surprised: "What does the person behind me have to do with Buddhism?"

Mahavairocana Buddha said sternly: "I am afraid that some foreign Buddhas and demons may use you to endanger our Buddhist tradition."

Yuan Ao laughed and said, "Buddha has misunderstood. Although the person behind me calls himself the Demon Lord, even I don't know his true identity."

Mahavairocana Buddha smiled and said, "It is precisely because you do not know that you need to find out more."

Yuan Ao questioned: "Even if we search his soul and memory, it will be difficult to find his trace."

Mahavairocana Buddha comforted him, "Buddhism has its own wonderful methods, so there is no need to worry."

Mahavairocana Buddha then announced to all the bodhisattvas: "Today I have gathered you all together to trace the origins of the matter."

The Bodhisattvas and Arhats put their palms together and responded, "Please show us, World Honored One."

Vairocana Buddha instructed: "When you cast the spell, there will be strange phenomena in heaven and earth. You must comfort the sentient beings in Lingshan and not disturb them." The Bodhisattvas and Arhats took the order and left.

Mahavairocana Buddha turned to Yuan Ao and said with a smile: "Donor, I will begin to cast a spell."

Yuan Ao responded calmly: "Please do as you wish, Buddha. If you can find out the truth about the Demon Lord, Yuan Ao will be grateful."

Mahavairocana Buddha was curious: "Why do you say that?"

Yuan Ao smiled and said, "Since I followed the Taoist master, I have never seen his true appearance. If I can learn it with the power of Buddha, I will die without regrets."

Mahavairocana Buddha sighed: "You are stubborn and refuse to change your ways. Today's disaster is destined for you."

After saying this, the Buddha of the Sun and the Tathagata glowed with nine colors of Buddha light, pointing at Yuan Ao. A precious jade-colored Buddha light enveloped Yuan Ao, turning him into a human-sized Nine Heavens Golden Dragon. As the Buddha light grew stronger, Yuan Ao's figure gradually disappeared in the nine-colored Buddha light. The Buddha of the Sun and the Tathagata cast another spell, and ripples appeared in the space of the Great Hall, and the causes and conditions of the past appeared one by one.

At this time, countless strange phenomena also appeared in the Western Paradise of Lingshan. Fortunately, they were comforted by the Bodhisattvas and Arhats, so there was no disturbance.

In the main hall, Vairocana Tathagata was pulling at a thread, checking Yuan Ao's past and the causes and consequences.

Vairocana Tathagata saw every detail very clearly, but he did not find any trace of the foreign Buddha or demon in Yuan Ao's past.

But as the method of tracing the source became more and more in-depth, Vairocana Tathagata discovered a trace of other clues.

"Huh?" Vairocana Tathagata made a surprised sound. He looked at Yuan Ao's past and his expression suddenly changed. "Not good."

As soon as Vairocana Tathagata finished speaking, a mysterious and clear fairy light suddenly appeared on Yuan Ao's body. As the mysterious and clear fairy light appeared, Vairocana Tathagata's magic power immediately dissipated from Yuan Ao's body.

Immediately, a Taoist with a fairy-like appearance and a strange face walked out from Yuan Ao's past, holding a whisk in his hand.

The Taoist priest is clothed in five-colored azure, wears a purple-gold hibiscus crown on his head, has a long beard hanging down to his chest, and steps on the spirits of the five elements.

"I bow my head to you." The Taoist bowed his head to Vairocana Tathagata and said.

Mahavairocana clasped his hands together in a salute, and with a hint of surprise in his eyes he said with a smile: "I never thought that this 'Demon Lord' is actually a Taoist friend."

After saying this, the face of the Tathagata turned serious, and he said, "I used the 'searching for roots' method on Yuan Ao, just to see if there was the power of the Buddha Demon Po Xun behind him. Now that I have found out, I will not pester you any more. If I have disturbed you, please forgive me."

The Taoist nodded slightly, then waved his whisk and said, "I'll take my leave."

Afterwards, the Taoist waved his whisk again, turned around, took a step forward, and disappeared in an instant.

After the Taoist disappeared, there seemed to be a faint sword light falling from the sky. Vairocana Tathagata only heard a faint sword chanting sound coming from the void, as if something was cut off by the sword.

As the Taoist disappeared completely, the magic power of Vairocana Tathagata receded, and Yuan Ao's past karma was quickly taken back.

At this moment, Vairocana Tathagata withdrew his Buddha power, and the nine-colored Buddha light completely dissipated. The strange phenomena in the Main Hall and in Lingshan also quickly subsided and disappeared.

The moment Yuan Ao opened his eyes, a trace of confusion appeared on his face. He felt as if he had lost something, but he didn't know what he had lost, because his memory of the past was complete.

Only Vairocana Tathagata knew that the sword light that fell after the Taoist left just now was the Taoist who severed all causal connections between Yuan Ao and him.

If you want to cut off the cause and effect between yourself and others, one party must bear the responsibility and bear the consequences for the cut off cause and effect.

There is no doubt that the Taoist took responsibility for all the causes and effects between Yuan Ao and him, and took Yuan Ao out by severing the cause and effect.

And in this way, even if there are magical powers such as "tracing the source" in the future, they will no longer be effective on Yuan Ao.

As for why the Taoist waited until the Great Sun Tathagata used the "Searching for the Roots" before severing the cause and effect? ​​This was because before the Great Sun Tathagata used the "Searching for the Roots", Yuan Ao's cause and effect were not obvious, so the Taoist could not sever it.

Therefore, the Taoist also used the method of "tracing the root" to let the cause and effect appear on Yuan Ao first, and then appeared to cut it off.

In addition, he was not afraid that Mahavairocana would see through him, because this had nothing to do with Buddhism. If Mahavairocana wanted to meddle in other people's affairs, he would have to carefully weigh the consequences.

At this moment, Yuan Ao raised his head and asked the Great Sun Tathagata with a puzzled look on his face: "Did the Buddha see the true form of the Demon Lord?"

Mahavairocana Buddha smiled and said, "I see it."

Yuan Ao was stunned for a moment, then asked: "May I ask the Buddha, who is the true form of the Demon Lord?"

Mahavairocana shook his head and said, "It cannot be said."

After saying this, Vairocana Tathagata issued a decree, summoning all the Bodhisattvas and Arhats to come.

The Bodhisattvas and Arhats entered the main hall, paid their respects, and then flew down to the lotus pedestals.

Afterwards, Cundi Bodhisattva bowed eleven times and asked, "Buddha, have you seen the true form of the demon lord?"

The Great Sun Tathagata nodded and said, "Today I have seen the true form, but I cannot describe it in words. You do not need to ask, you will know it in the future."

Upon hearing this, Avalokitesvara bowed and said, "Yes, World Honored One."

Then the Great Sun Tathagata opened his mouth and called out, "Where is the majestic Vajra?"

I saw a golden helmet and golden armor on the top of the hall. He was ten feet tall and wore a golden helmet. He walked up to the hall and bowed to the Bodhisattva Cundi and said, "World Honored One."

The Great Sun Tathagata raised his hand and pointed at Yuan Ao, saying, "I order you to send Yuan Ao to the Thunder Department immediately, without any mistakes."

The majestic Vajra put his hands together and bowed, saying, "I obey the command of the law."

Afterwards, the majestic Vajra turned around, raised his hand and threw out a chain to tie up Yuan Ao, and then dragged him out of the main hall.

As Yuan Ao was taken away by the Majestic Vajra, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva asked: "Buddha, is the person behind Yuan Ao not related to the foreign Buddha demon?"

The Great Sun Tathagata nodded and said, "The people behind Yuan Ao and others have nothing to do with the Buddhas and Demons outside the domain, and have nothing to do with our Buddhist sect. You should not interfere in this matter in the future."

Samantabhadra bowed and said, "Yes, disciple understands."

At this time, Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta asked again: "May I ask the Buddha, the Eight Great Vidyaraja Bodhisattvas were captured by the Spiritual Platform Master. I wonder when they will return?"

When Mahavairocana heard this, he looked a little helpless and said, "I have also reported this matter to the Jade Emperor, but it was messed up by Lingtai Zhenjun."

Having said this, Vairocana Tathagata informed all the Bodhisattvas about what had happened in the Tongming Palace.

The Bodhisattvas were also shocked when they heard this, but they soon realized that this was a duet between the Jade Emperor and Lingtai Zhenjun.

"It seems that the Jade Emperor wanted to use this incident to establish his authority, so he allowed Lingtai Zhenjun to do this." Lingji Bodhisattva said slowly.

The Bodhisattvas all nodded, and then Manjusri Bodhisattva said to Cundi Bodhisattva: "Daoyou has a very good relationship with Lingtai Zhenjun. Why don't you go and talk to Lingtai Zhenjun and ask him to release the Eight Great Bright King Bodhisattvas."

Zhunti Bodhisattva smiled bitterly and said, "No matter how good the relationship is, Lingtai Zhenjun will not agree to this matter."

Bodhisattva Vimala smiled and said, "Daoyou, you can go talk to Lingtai Zhenjun. What if he agrees? At most, you will just owe me a favor."

Hearing this, Guanyin Bodhisattva pondered for a moment, then nodded and said with a smile: "Okay, then when this matter is over, I will go to the Jade Extreme Master's Mansion."

In the Tongming Palace in the Heavenly Palace, the fairy Yun'e walked up to the steps of the palace carrying a plate of spiritual peaches and gently placed it on the imperial table.

Her beautiful eyes were full of caution and seriousness, as if serving this plate of peaches was more important to her than anything else.

After she placed the peach on the imperial table, she did not retract her pair of snow-white slender fingers immediately, but secretly observed the Jade Emperor's expression with her eyes.

Seeing that the Jade Emperor's expression had not changed at all within three breaths, Fairy Yun'e finally breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew her hand from the jade plate.

But her mission was not over yet. Instead, she bowed her head respectfully and stood beside the imperial desk waiting.

At this time, the Jade Emperor reached out and picked up a piece of cut peach meat and put it into his mouth. After slowly tasting it for a moment, he suddenly paused. Fairy Yun'e's heart immediately rose to her throat, but after a moment, the Jade Emperor chewed the peach meat slowly and swallowed it.

Afterwards, the Jade Emperor raised his hand and waved, frowning and saying, "Take it away and bring another plate." Fairy Yun'e quickly knelt down and apologized, "I know my crime, Your Majesty, please tell me, what is wrong with this peach?"

The Jade Emperor said, "It's too sour. This peach is still green and not fully ripe."

Upon hearing this, Fairy Yun'e immediately kowtowed and said, "I deserve to die. Your Majesty, please punish me."

The Jade Emperor didn't even glance at Fairy Yun'e, but asked calmly, "Where did this peach come from?"

Fairy Yun'e reported: "Your Majesty, these peaches are the sacred peaches that the Lingtai Mountain God presented as tribute this year."

"Oh." The Jade Emperor asked, "Is it the peach tree planted by the Fire Spirit Immortal on Danchi Ridge?"

Fairy Yun'e said, "Your Majesty, it is this peach."

The Jade Emperor immediately said, "Pass on the order."

Master Xu stepped forward quickly, looked at the Jade Emperor, and prepared to draft an edict with a pen in one hand.

The Jade Emperor said, "I have ordered you to punish the Lingtai Mountain God. Why are the peaches you offered as tribute this year so green? How can you be so perfunctory in your offering? I should have arrested you for deceiving the emperor, but in consideration of your past contributions, I will punish you with thirty thunder whips as a warning to others."

After Xu Tianshi finished drafting the edict, he presented it to the Jade Emperor. After checking that it was correct, the Jade Emperor ordered Xu Tianshi to send it out with his seal, and said to Fairy Yun'e, "Return all the spiritual peaches that Lingtai Divine Palace has offered as tribute this year."

"Yes." Fairy Yun'e bowed and accepted the order, then stood up, picked up the jade plate and left Tongming Palace.

Then the Jade Emperor ordered Xu Tianshi to draft an edict, questioning the Fire Spirit Immortal why she did not hand over the Danchiling peaches to a reliable person, and accused her of entrusting the task to the wrong person and being ungrateful to the emperor, and sentenced her to a ten-year salary fine.

Two imperial edicts were issued, one of which was to punish the Tiger Vanguard with a thunder whip and was sent to the Ministry of Thunder.

Tian Peng Zhen Jun, who was in the Thunder Department and Yi Sheng Zhen Jun interrogating Hun Huang Jun, also got the news. After listening to the report from his subordinate Zhi Ji Du Li, he was surprised and asked, "The peach is still green?"

"You deserve it." Yisheng Zhenjun said with a smile: "Who is the Jade Emperor? He is the supreme ruler of the heavenly way and the ruler of the three realms. You offer him green fruit as tribute? These thirty thunder whips are not unfair."

Tian Peng Zhenjun frowned and asked, "Is there any hidden reason behind this?"

When Yisheng Zhenjun heard this, he was about to speak, but suddenly understood what Tianpeng Zhenjun meant, and said, "You mean, Your Majesty wants to use this incident to attack Lingtai Zhenjun..."

"Impossible." Yisheng Zhenjun said, "If Your Majesty wants to punish Lingtai Zhenjun, the fact that he slept in Tongming Palace that day would be enough. Why bother to use the matter of Lingtao to elaborate?"

Tian Peng Zhenjun said: "It's hard to say. Although Lingtai Zhenjun was unharmed after being sent to the Thunder Department for torture, he was locked up in the Pixiang Hall by His Majesty. It is not certain that he did not intend to punish him."

"But, isn't there anyone saying that Lingtai Zhenjun is sleeping in the Tongming Palace and is playing a double act with Your Majesty?" The 'Chief Official' of the Heavenly Court nearby said in confusion.

Tian Peng Zhenjun said: "This is nonsense. Your Majesty has agreed to let the Great Sun Tathagata take Yuan Ao back to Lingshan. The Eight Great Bright Kings Bodhisattvas are not related to any important matter, so why can't they be released?"

Yisheng Zhenjun said: "But the fact is that the Eight Great Bodhisattvas have not been released back into Buddhism."

Tian Peng Zhenjun's eyes flickered, and he remained silent for a long time. Finally, he said only one sentence, "The power of heaven is unpredictable."

After that, Marshal Tianpeng said, "Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. I'll arrange for General Lei to go down to the lower world to execute the sentence. You can continue the interrogation."

"Okay." True Lord Yisheng nodded.

Zhuang Yan sat in the Pixiang Hall for seven days, during which he was completely in a state of "imprisonment".

At least that's what was said to the outside world. In the past few days, Zhuang Yan was sleeping soundly in the Tongming Palace, and the Jade Emperor was furious. The news had spread that he had been tortured and then imprisoned.

In addition, both of Zhuang Yan's subordinates, Fire Spirit Immortal and Tiger Vanguard, were punished, which made many immortals think about it.

Could it be that Zhuang Yan, who has always been "favored by the emperor", is really going to lose power this time?
But the gods were not stupid. Before the Jade Emperor finally announced how to deal with Zhuang Yan, everyone was waiting and watching.

Whether you want to beg for mercy or to finish off the enemy, it cannot be done too early. You have to wait until the Jade Emperor opens his mouth to judge the crime.

Eight days passed like this, and then half a month passed, but the Jade Emperor still did not mention the crime, which made the gods even more confused.

The results of the interrogation of Yuan Ao and Hun Huangjun by the Thunder Department came out, and no information about the "Demon Lord" was found.

Because the "Demon Lord" disturbed the secrets of heaven, Yuan Ao and Hun Huangjun could not find out the identity of the Demon Lord, so it would be difficult to find out the identity of the Demon Lord.

On the sixteenth day, the door of the Pixiang Hall where Zhuang Yan was was pushed open. Zhuang Yan looked up and saw two spiritual officials walking into the hall. The leading spiritual official bowed to Zhuang Yan and said, "Lord Lingtai, your majesty summons you."

When Zhuang Yan heard this, he immediately stood up.

Inside the Tongming Hall, the Jade Emperor sat high on the steps, with Taibai Jinxing standing on his left, Wang Lingguan standing on his right, and the four great heavenly masters standing in a row below.

Zhuang Yan stood in the center of the hall and bowed. The Jade Emperor smiled and said, "My dear minister, there is no need to be so polite. Please stand up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Zhuang Yan stood up.

Then the Jade Emperor asked, "My dear, have you gained anything in the past half month?"

Zhuang Yan shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, I have been sitting in the Pixiang Palace for half a month without any results."

"It seems that this method still doesn't work. That person doesn't trust you, so naturally I can't lure him out." The Jade Emperor said with a smile.

Although Zhuang Yan's plan failed, the Jade Emperor was not angry. It was a good thing that the man did not trust Zhuang Yan.

Zhuang Yan said, "Perhaps I am in the Pixiang Hall, which is your Majesty's heavenly palace, so the man dare not show up."

The Jade Emperor nodded slightly upon hearing this and asked, "What else can you do now, my dear?"

Zhuang Yan thought for a moment and asked, "Your Majesty, has the Thunder Department's interrogation of Hun Huang Jun and Yuan Ao come out?"

The Jade Emperor raised his hand and picked up a memorial, handed it to the fairy attendant Chang'e beside him, and said, "Send it to Lingtai Zhenjun for inspection."

The fairy Chang'e responded, then picked up the memorial, walked down the steps of the palace, and presented it to Zhuang Yan.

Zhuang Yan took the memorial from the fairy attendant Chang'e and took a closer look. He was very surprised and said, "The relationship between Yuan Ao and the Demon Lord has been severed? Has the relationship between Lord Hun Huang and the Demon Lord disappeared into the past time and space?"

The Jade Emperor said: "This 'Demon Lord' has some tricks. He should have used the Buddhist method of searching for roots and tracing the source to cut off his karmic connection with Yuan Ao. As for Hun Huang Jun, the traces of her karmic connection with the Demon Lord are scattered in the past time and space, and it is impossible to find her. But this requires searching in the entire long river of time in the past, which is tantamount to looking for a needle in a haystack."

Zhuang Yan closed the memorial and handed it back to Chang'e, who sent it back. Then he reported to the Jade Emperor, "Your Majesty, fortunately I had a backup plan in advance, which can be used now."

After that, Zhuang Yan asked the Jade Emperor, "Your Majesty, is Yuan Ao still in the Thunder Department?"

The Jade Emperor raised his eyebrows and said with a smile, "I didn't expect you to have other plans? Well, well, Yuan Ao and Hun Huang Jun are still in the custody of the Thunder Department, awaiting their fate. Do you have any backup plans? Feel free to use them."

Zhuang Yan bowed and said, "I obey your order."

Afterwards, the Jade Emperor issued an edict to release Zhuang Yan from "imprisonment" and pardon all his faults.

"My dear Zhuang Yan, you first defeated Manjusri and Samantabhadra Bodhisattvas, and captured Yuan Ao and Hun Huang Jun. You also defeated the Eighteen Arhats and captured the Eight Great Vidyaraja Bodhisattvas. You have worked hard and are a little sleepy. It is understandable that you fell asleep in the Tongming Palace."

The next day, at a small court meeting in the Tongming Hall, the Jade Emperor spoke the above words to the civil and military officials and the righteous gods.

"I will not be harsh on my meritorious ministers, so you can rest assured, my fellow immortals." The Jade Emperor said with a smile.

Finally, the Jade Emperor smiled at Zhuang Yan who was in the center of the hall and said, "My dear Zhuang, you can return to your position as an immortal."

Zhuang Yan first thanked the Jade Emperor, and then returned to his seat as an immortal under the complicated gazes of the civil and military gods.

Zhuang Yan had just returned to his position as an immortal when the head of the Tongchengyuan of the Taixuan Division came to report that a memorial from the Holy Lord Erlang of Guanjiangkou had been submitted.

When they heard that it was Erlang Shen's memorial, the attention of all the gods present instantly shifted away from Zhuang Yan and fell on the memorial in the hands of the head of Tongchengyuan.

The Jade Emperor also frowned, but soon disappeared without a sound. Then the Jade Emperor said, "Present it."

After a while, a fairy servant of Chang'e came down, took the memorial from the head of Tongchengyuan, turned around and walked up to the steps of the palace to present it to the Jade Emperor.

The Jade Emperor took the memorial and read it carefully. Then his face changed. He suddenly snorted coldly, threw the memorial on the imperial desk with a "pa" sound, and said, "You really don't know what you are talking about."

Seeing that the Jade Emperor was so unhappy, the civil and military officials were greatly puzzled and discussed the matter privately.

At this time, the Sun Star Lord, who was on good terms with Erlang Shen, asked, "Your Majesty, what does Erlang Shen have to propose?"

The Jade Emperor glanced at the Sun Star Lord and said unhappily, "What kind of memorial is this? It's just using public power for personal gain."

As soon as these words were spoken, the hall fell silent. The four words "using public power for personal gain" are very strong.

At this moment, all the civil and military officials had solemn expressions, their eyes fixed on the memorial on the imperial desk, wondering what Erlang Shen had said in it.

Seeing the heavy atmosphere in the hall, the Jade Emperor said slowly, "Erlang Shen requested that the Nine Heavens Golden Dragon 'Yuan Ao' be escorted to Guanjiangkou and handed over to him. This is because Roaring Sky Dog has fallen into the shackles of Taoism in his cultivation. He needs the Nine Heavens Golden Dragon as a precious medicine to refine the 'Yuhua Ascension Pill' to help Roaring Sky Dog break through the shackles."

"That Yuan Ao is a criminal in Heaven. He actually wants me to order Yuan Ao to be escorted to Guanjiangkou to make alchemy for his dog to practice."

"If this isn't using public power for personal gain, then what is this? Huh?!"

The Jade Emperor was so angry that he picked up the memorial and threw it down. With a "bang", the memorial fell heavily to the ground and scattered. All the civil and military officials in the hall were silent in an instant.

For a moment, there was silence in the Tongming Hall, and you could hear a pin drop.

It was unknown how long it took before the Jade Emperor spoke again, "Draft an edict."

Master Xu hurried forward, prepared paper and ink, held the pen in his hand, and looked at the Jade Emperor.

The Jade Emperor said, "Send an order to Guanjiangkou to reprimand Erlang Shen in person. As an official of the Heavenly Court, how can he use his power for personal gain and neglect the greater for the sake of the smaller? How can the matter of a dog compare to the important matters of the strict Heavenly Law? Tell him to stop doing such selfish things, otherwise he is not worthy of being the True Lord Erlang Xiansheng."

After Master Xu finished drafting the decree, the Jade Emperor read it and ordered him to use his seal. He also ordered the four great celestial masters to personally deliver the decree and reprimand Erlang Shen to his face.

(End of this chapter)