I start by accepting Sun Wukong as my disciple and reshape the Journey to the West

Chapter 134 Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang Summon the Dragon Soul

Rumble!
A sudden clap of thunder from nowhere must signify an injustice.

Inside Emperor Taizong's study, Emperor Taizong put down the memorial and listened to the thunderous sound with a frown.

"That's strange. It rained a few days ago, and the Imperial Observatory said there would be no rain for some time. How could there be thunder?"

"what!"

Upon hearing a sudden scream, Emperor Taizong looked at Wei Zheng and saw that Wei Zheng's brows were furrowed and his body was trembling uncontrollably, as if he were having a nightmare.

"My dear minister, why are you having nightmares?" Li Shimin hurriedly stepped forward, grasped Wei Zheng's wrist, and then made Wei Zheng's fist clench firmly.

Wei Zheng stopped trembling, suddenly opened his eyes, panting heavily, and looked at Li Shimin beside him.

"Your Majesty, the Dragon King of the Jing River has been wronged!"

These words sent a chill down Li Shimin's spine, after all, the reason he had kept Wei Zheng around today was because of the Jing River Dragon King.

"It seems that you have already slain the Dragon King of the Jing River?"

Wei Zheng rose and apologized: "I dare not deceive Your Majesty. Yesterday, I received a decree from the celestial soldiers, ordering me to behead the Jing River Dragon King at noon today. Just now, while playing chess with Your Majesty, I unknowingly entered a dream, and my soul left my body to go to the Dragon-Slaying Platform to carry out the execution."

“But I discovered that the Jing River Dragon King had been wronged, and I was shocked to find that someone was controlling the Jing River Dragon King. So I drew my sword and severed the connection behind the scenes. But the Jing River Dragon King also died under the sword light. The executioner said that my mission was accomplished and did not allow me to ask any more questions. He pushed me straight down from the clouds, which caused me to have nightmares.”

"With such means, why should we worry about the prosperity of our dynasty? But this matter is ultimately a matter of destiny, beyond our control. You should pretend this never happened."

Li Shimin's words startled Wei Zheng for a moment, and then he said, "Your Majesty, the Dragon Clan has such power since ancient times. They have controlled the clouds and rain and wielded the power of the four seas. Even such beings have been unjustly killed. Our clan is weak. If we do not fight, we will probably become pawns in the game of the upper realm."

"There is a difference between immortals and mortals. Even if we are willing to intervene and resist, how many of us have divine abilities like you, my sir?"

"Your Majesty, have you forgotten the twenty-four ministers of Lingyan...?"

"Insolence!" Li Shimin roared, and Wei Zheng immediately prostrated himself on the ground.

"I acted rashly in a moment of panic, please forgive me, Your Majesty."

"Until that person is willing to see us, let bygones be bygones. If you dare to speak nonsense again, we will not spare you."

"Yes!"

Suddenly, several shouts were heard: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

"Who is shouting and yelling outside?" Li Shimin frowned.

A eunuch entered and said, "Your Majesty, it is General Qin and Lord Xu."

"Let them in."

Then Qin Shubao and Xu Maogong entered, with Qin Shubao carrying a bloody dragon head in his hand.

Wei Zheng stepped in front of Li Shimin at the opportune moment, his eyes fixed on the double maces at Qin Shubao's waist: "General Qin, what is that in your hand? How dare you offend His Majesty like this?"

The two had a tacit understanding. Qin Shubao quickly stopped himself, threw the dragon head to the ground, and knelt on one knee.

"Your Majesty, at the crossroads south of the Thousand Steps Corridor, a dragon head fell from the clouds, causing panic among the people. The incident was urgent, hence the loss of composure."

Xu Maogong bowed deeply and said, "Your Majesty, Heaven has spread this bloody matter swiftly through rumors, saying that the Emperor's fortune has been cut short!"

Such disrespectful words enraged Wei Zheng: "Xu Maogong, how dare you! How could you utter such nonsense?"

"I am merely relaying what the people have said; please forgive me, Your Majesty."

At this moment, Li Shimin had already walked up to the dragon head and was examining it carefully: "My dear minister, please stop arguing. Come forward and see for yourself. Is this the dragon head of the Jing River Dragon King that you just killed with your sword?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Zheng glared at Xu Maogong, then hurried forward to examine him closely, his face filled with shock.

"Your Majesty, it is indeed this dragon!"

The conversation between the emperor and his ministers greatly surprised Xu Maogong and Qin Shubao, who couldn't understand how the dragon head that fell from the clouds was related to Wei Zheng.

Seeing this, Li Shimin told the two of them about how he had played chess with Wei Zheng earlier, and how Wei Zheng had dreamt of slaying a dragon.

"So, Wei Zheng, you didn't actually kill the Jing River Dragon King, but he still died?" Qin Shubao also realized the information hidden in this.

"Exactly."

"What you say is true, Xianqing. The Jing River Dragon King was indeed wronged!"

"Ah? Your Majesty, why do you say that?" Wei Zheng hurriedly asked.

“Look at the cut on the dragon’s neck. The marks are obvious, and it looks like it was strangled to death. Your sword would never have such marks.”

Upon hearing this, the three people gathered around and examined the sword carefully for a long time. They finally confirmed that Li Shimin was right and that there would be no marks on the sword's edge.

"Your Majesty!" Wei Zheng suddenly knelt down, staring straight at Li Shimin: "The injustice suffered by the Dragon Clan is no small matter. The dragon head has just fallen, and there are already rumors among the people about the fate of the emperor. This is enough to show that someone wants to harm our Great Tang. I urge Your Majesty to make preparations as soon as possible."

Xu Maogong and Qin Shubao exchanged a glance and then knelt down as well: "Your Majesty, we second that proposal!"

Li Shimin paced back and forth in his study for a long time before finally saying, "Summon Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang!"

No sooner had Li Shimin finished speaking than Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang entered side by side, saying loudly, "Your humble servant has been waiting for you for a long time!"

"You two arrived quite quickly, but who gave you permission?"

The two exchanged a glance, and Yuan Tiangang spoke first: "My uncle Yuan Shoucheng told me yesterday that there was a strange change in the sky, and that someone in the capital might want to make a move against the Emperor Star. He told us to prepare as soon as possible."

"Hmm!" Li Shimin didn't delve into it further, as the two men's methods were ultimately different. His gaze fell on the dragon's head.

"Today, I would like to ask you two to perform a ritual to summon the dragon spirit so that I may inquire about his grievances."

"Yes, sir!" The two men accepted the order and went to prepare. ...

into the night!

Normally, the palace would be quiet, but today is different, with dozens of altars set up in the courtyard.

Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang erected two more high altars after these dozens of altars. Hundreds of Taoist priests were striking wooden fish around them, and the sounds of Taoist incantations were drawn into lines and fell towards the dragon head.

Li Shimin stood to his left and right in the distance, with Yuchi Gong and Qin Shubao close by, while Wei Zheng stood behind him.

Today, even Changsun Wuji, Xiao Yu, and Fang Xuanling are keeping a slightly distance.

"With such a grand display from His Majesty today, if nothing is stirred up, do you think Wei Zheng will fall out of favor?" Changsun Wuji looked at Xiao Yu and said with a smile.

"We must not say any more of this. We should all work together towards the same goal now." Xiao Yu did not respond to the challenge, and Changsun Wuji, finding it uninteresting, also remained silent.

"Open the altar!" Yuan Tiangang shouted as he saw stars twinkling in the sky.

He and Li Chunfeng both stepped into the Heavenly Dipper formation, and the Big Dipper in the sky lit up together.

The light was dazzling. The moment the seven rays of light landed on the dragon's head, Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang both cast spells on the dragon's head.

Li Chunfeng proclaimed loudly, "By order of the Great Tang Emperor, I summon the soul of the Jing River Dragon King back!!"

It is said that the soul of the Jing River Dragon King was being judged in the Yama Palace when he suddenly saw two golden lights descend upon the Yama Palace.

By order of the King of Tang, we summon the soul of the Dragon King of the Jing River back!

The emperor's power was overwhelming, and Yama, the King of Hell, rose to his feet, his eyes filled with shock.

"There are indeed capable people among mortals these days! They have actually managed to transmit the royal decree to the underworld, ordering the other Yama Kings to come quickly!"

Ox-Head and Horse-Face accepted the order and left. King Yama gently tapped the table and looked at Judge Cui beside him: "Logically speaking, in urgent situations, we should act expediently and send the Jing River Dragon King back first, don't you think?"

Upon hearing this, Judge Cui did not answer immediately. Instead, he looked down at the Jing River Dragon King and asked, "Jing River Dragon King, are you familiar with this royal decree?"

The Dragon King of the Jing River, his eyes filled with tears, said, "Reporting to King Yama and Judge, before my death, I begged the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty to help me and to guard the Human Official's Office so that I could avoid this calamity!"

"The official in charge of personnel, Wei Zheng, still appeared at the execution platform at noon. However, Wei Zheng was known for his integrity and ability to distinguish right from wrong. He felt that Xiao Long was innocent and wanted to help him. Xiao Long was about to speak..."

Before the Jinghe Dragon King could finish speaking, Yama, the King of Hell, lightly tapped his finger and cast a silencing spell on him.

"Judge Cui, you've become increasingly adept at these social niceties lately!"

Judge Cui hurriedly replied, "It's all thanks to your excellent training!"

"Since you have grievances that have not been cleared up in the mortal world, and even sought out the Emperor of Tang, then according to reason, you should settle your worldly affairs before returning to the underworld to be judged. Where are the Black and White Impermanence?"

"Your subordinate is here!" The Black and White Impermanence stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

"Send the soul of the Jing River Dragon King to the mortal realm first, and then capture him and bring him back after the Tang emperor has finished his interrogation."

"Here!"

The Black and White Impermanence immediately escorted the Jing River Dragon King away.

When King Pingdeng and his followers heard that the Tang Dynasty's decree had been issued in the Yama Palace, they rushed over. By the time they arrived, the soul of the Jing River Dragon King had already been sent to the mortal realm.

However, the royal decree here was still dazzling. Looking at the huge golden characters, the group of Yama Kings were stunned for a long time. After Yama King finished talking about the Jinghe Dragon King, everyone had different expressions.

“You’ve done very well. Since they were able to deliver the royal decree here, it means they have a powerful backer, who might even be that sage,” King Pingdeng said.

King Chujiang: "That's right. Now that the Dragon King of the Jing River has been sent back for trial, we can't let our guard down. Let's just wait here and see if we get any instructions next."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and just then, the Ghost King entered.

"Your Majesties, there is a man named Dongfang Shuo outside who requests an audience."

"Here they come! Please invite them in immediately!"

……

Meanwhile, at the palace, everyone saw seven dazzling stars and the golden light on the talisman was so bright that it was hard to open one's eyes. However, seeing Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang's faces change from rosy to pale, there was no other sign of anything else.

The crowd was getting impatient.

"Your Majesty, are these two Taoist priests just trying to fool people?" Yuchi Gong was most disdainful of such things, and seeing that the two of them had not yet figured out the trick, he couldn't help but complain.

"You're always so impatient. If they were really no good, wouldn't you have already killed them? Let's wait a bit," Qin Shubao said irritably.

They had witnessed Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang's methods in the past. Although they disdained the talk of ghosts and gods, they still held some respect for them because of the dream and the fact that these two had repeatedly performed extraordinary feats.

Roar!
Just as Qin Shubao finished speaking, a dragon's roar echoed from the void.

"Your Majesty, the Dragon King of the Jing River is innocent!"

Meanwhile, at the Jinghe Dragon King's place, Guanyin Bodhisattva, who was sitting cross-legged, suddenly opened her eyes and looked at the dragon soul in the void, her gaze filled with unconcealed coldness.

"court death!"

Immediately, fragrant clouds swirled beneath his feet, and colorful mist floated around him as he flew toward the Jing River Dragon King.

Where has Guanyin Bodhisattva gone?!

But then a shout was heard, and chains appeared in the void, aimed directly at Guanyin Bodhisattva, while nine heads spoke in unison.

"Please stop, Guanyin!"

(End of this chapter)