All Heavens: Starting with Panlong's Transcendence, Devouring All Heavens

Chapter 154 Acting

Unfortunately, just as Xuanzang had his moment of enlightenment, the woman selling geese discovered that the Buddha was stealing her goose leg. She stood with her hands on her hips and angrily shouted, "What are you doing eating my goose leg? Did you pay me?"

Her words interrupted Chen Xuanzang's sudden enlightenment, and Buddha sighed, putting down the goose leg: "No money!"

"No money?" The aunt suddenly slapped Buddha on the back of the head, almost knocking off his wig.

Buddha and Xuanzang took off running and ran for several streets before they finally shook off the old woman chasing them.

When he returned to the place where the Buddha usually stayed, Chen Xuanzang, panting heavily, discovered the content about the pig demon carved on the wall.

"Master, so you knew about the pig demon all along?"

There was surprise in his voice.

The Buddha avoided mentioning this and instead began to tell the story of Zhu Bajie, who, driven by love, turned to hatred and ultimately fell into the demonic path.

After listening, Chen Xuanzang sighed thoughtfully, "So he was a pitiful person too. Master, I'm no match for such a powerful demon. Why don't you step in?"

"Alright," Buddha replied, but then immediately added with a flick of his sleeve, "But I'm very busy lately."

Before Xuanzang could speak, he continued, "To deal with such a bewitching demon, you need to have the courage to find a king of kings who is even more powerful than the demon. He might be able to teach you the way to subdue demons."

"who is he?"

"It is Sun Wukong, who was suppressed under the Five Fingers Mountain by Buddha for five hundred years."

"Sun Wukong?" Chen Xuanzang shook his head. "Master, he's just a legend. No one has ever found him."

"It's actually very simple," Buddha instructed. "Go to the foot of Five Fingers Mountain, find an old temple, and in front of the temple is a Buddha statue that is 1,300 feet tall and 256 feet wide. Sun Wukong is there."

"Is it really that easy?"

"That's right, it's right there. Even a blind person could see such a huge Buddha statue." Buddha impatiently pushed Chen Xuanzang. "Let's not delay, let's get going."

He thought for a moment and then reminded him, "Also, that Sun Wukong is fierce, cunning, treacherous, and harbors deep resentment. You must be careful."

"Why should I ask him to help me?" Chen Xuanzang asked helplessly.

"With your wisdom, you also have this." Buddha took out a book of three hundred children's songs.

Upon seeing the Buddha produce "Three Hundred Children's Songs" again, Xuanzang helplessly clutched his head: "Master, is this really useful?"

In the end, he still took "Three Hundred Children's Songs" with him and set off.

……

Along the way, Xuanzang clashed with the exorcism team led by Miss Duan, who was actually Guanyin in disguise, and also fought a fierce battle with Zhu Bajie. In the end, three masters—Five Elements Fist A-Qiang, Heavenly Crippled Kick, and Empty Void Prince—appeared and drove away the pig demon, leading to a farcical farewell.

The relationship between Miss Duan and Xuanzang also underwent a very subtle change.

The seeds have been planted and have quietly taken root and sprouted; all that remains is to wait for the final result.

In the end, Xuanzang set off alone to Flower Fruit Mountain to ask the Demon King Sun Wukong for help in subduing the pig demon.

Seeing Miss Duan toying with Chen Xuanzang like a dog, Lynn was speechless: "Great Master, why are you teasing Xuanzang like this?"

Guanyin, regaining her composure, shook her head slightly: "Since Xuanzang is determined to obtain the scriptures, the mystery of his birth cannot be solved now, lest it attract interference from the Taoist sect. However, along this journey, there are demons and monsters, rampant materialism, and the temptations of beautiful women emanating from demons. If he doesn't give up on love, trouble is inevitable, so I have no choice but to resort to this measure!"

"Alright!" Lynn watched Chen Xuanzang's departing figure without saying anything more, then turned to ask the other three, "What about the Void Prince, the Crippled Leg, and the Five Elements Fist?"

Guanyin nodded, confirming Lynn's guess: "Those three are actually the manifestations of Xuanzang's inner demons, separated from him before his reincarnation. The Empty Prince represents vanity, the Crippled Leg represents jealousy, and the Five Elements Fist represents impulsiveness! When the three of them are finally killed by Sun Wukong, and I also die in front of Xuanzang, then Xuanzang will have a perfect state of mind, without any flaws, and will be able to shoulder the heavy responsibility of the pilgrimage!"

Lynn nodded and continued watching the grand spectacle jointly created by Buddha and Guanyin.

……

Several days later, after traversing mountains and valleys and enduring hardships, Chen Xuanzang finally arrived at the foot of Wuzhi Mountain.

Standing at the foot of the mountain, looking around, all the peaks, apart from bare rocks, show almost no trace of green.

Soon, recalling his master's instructions, he found the old temple.

The temple was actually a long-abandoned mud house, with dilapidated doors and windows covered in dust, and it seemed that no one had lived there for a long time.

After he found it, he searched around the temple, but found nothing. He didn't see a single Buddha statue, not even in front of the temple, nor inside or behind it.

"It is 1,300 zhang high and 256 zhang wide..."

Chen Xuanzang gazed at the rolling mountains in front of the temple, but couldn't even see a shadow of a Buddha statue.

Logically speaking, such a huge Buddha statue should be visible at a glance, even from dozens of miles away. But he didn't find anything, which was very strange.

Chen Xuanzang couldn't help but feel a little irritated. He circled the mud house several times before finally returning to the roofless room in disappointment.

In the center of the room was a large square stone table, and on the table was a stone basin. The basin was half full of water, but the water had been sitting for a long time and looked somewhat yellow.

In this remote place, surrounded by barren mountains, the water is extremely precious, regardless of its cleanliness.

Chen Xuanzang walked over, scooped up a handful of water, and washed his face.

At that moment, he discovered a problem: the four characters "Mirror Flower, Water Moon" were reflected in the water in the basin, and the original characters were carved on the inner wall of the basin, and they were even carved upside down.

Chen Xuanzang exclaimed in surprise, intuitively feeling that the four characters carved upside down must be some kind of hint.

After thinking for a while, he returned to the temple gate, sat cross-legged on the ground, closed his physical eyes, opened his mental eyes, and looked once again at the undulating Five Finger Mountain in front of him.

In an instant, the world in his eyes changed; the sky was like a calm lake, and the continuous mountain ranges were like inverted characters.

If it were reversed...

As soon as Chen Xuanzang had a thought, the world turned upside down. The sky stretched to the ground, which was now a lake. The mountains on the lake, combined with the other half of the mountains reflected in the water, formed a reclining Buddha statue.

"So that's how it is!" Once the Buddha statue is found, it's much easier to find the place where Sun Wukong is sealed, following the location of the Buddha statue.

Soon, he saw a cave whose entrance was sealed by a white lotus flower. Carrying a simple oil lamp, Chen Xuanzang climbed into the cave along the vines. Before he could carefully search the cave, a dirty-looking strange man suddenly rushed out, excitedly hugged him, and refused to let go.

Chen Xuanzang was startled and pushed the other person away forcefully, saying, "I'm here to find Sun Wukong."

"I, I am." The strange man released him, his face full of excitement, and pointed to himself: "I am Sun Wukong." In fact, before Chen Xuanzang arrived, Guanyin and Lin En had already met with Sun Wukong and given him a little hint.

Sun Wukong was incredibly clever, and he realized that the journey to the West was a good opportunity, so he readily agreed and prepared to cooperate with Guanyin in putting on a show!

While Sun Wukong and Chen Xuanzang were discussing how to deal with the pig demon, Guanyin and Lin En stood on the clouds, watching the farce below.

"Great Master, could you please tell me why these three were chosen to accompany Chen Xuanzang on his journey to the West?" Lynn suddenly asked. "And me?"

Guanyin glanced at him, made no attempt to conceal anything, and said directly, "The journey to the West is a great undertaking that benefits all people. Heaven will bestow great merit upon us, and our Buddhist sect will benefit the most, but we must also share some of the benefits with other sects!"

"Otherwise, if other factions cause trouble, this great thing will turn into a bad thing!"

"Xuanzang was chosen by the World-Honored One to retrieve the scriptures, Sun Wukong is a disciple of Amitabha Buddha, and Zhu Ganglie and Sha Wujing are from the Heavenly Court! As for you..." Guanyin smiled and glanced at the Xuanyuan Sword behind him, then smiled slightly.

"Once the journey to the West is completed, Heaven will bestow merit upon you, and the five of you will surely rise to become among the most outstanding true immortals!"

Lynn then realized that the pilgrimage was just a gilded project. Since it was initiated by Buddhism, the biggest benefits naturally went to Jin Chan, a disciple of Buddha, and Sun Wukong, a disciple of Amitabha Buddha.

In an effort to win over the Heavenly Court, the Buddhist sect allocated two more slots for Heavenly Court members within this organization.

As for him, the Buddhist sect regarded him as part of the Human Emperor's plan. In order to win over the Human Emperor's lineage, they also gave him a share of the pie of the pilgrimage.

Of the four major factions, only the Taoist sect didn't gain any benefits. Could it be that the two Celestial Masters said this was a battle for destiny between the Buddhist and Taoist sects?

"I..." Lin En thought to himself that he had nothing to do with the lineage of the Human Emperor, but when he thought about how Xuanyuan Sword abandoned Yan Chixia and stayed with him, he couldn't bring himself to say that there was nothing to do with him.

"Thank you for your guidance, Master!" Lynn smiled and cupped his hands in greeting.

……

Soon, after a performance by the dramatic Sun Wukong, Chen Xuanzang was also fooled and agreed to Sun Wukong's plan to subdue Zhu Ganglie.

As Sun Wukong peeled a banana, he said, "To subdue the pig demon, we must first lure him here. Although the pig demon was harmed by his wife and her lover, he still deeply loves her. He enjoys watching her dance under the moonlight, and he even wrote a poem for her as a token of their love. So it's simple: find a beautiful woman, and on a full moon night, express this poem through song and dance, and the pig demon will naturally come."

Chen Xuanzang asked in confusion, "And then?"

Sun Wukong, peeling a banana, said upon hearing this, "Then leave it to me."

He turned his head and saw that Chen Xuanzang had taken off half of his clothes, revealing half of his shoulder bone.

What are you doing?

"Mr. Sun, what do you think of me dressed as a woman?"

"Mr. Chen, please have some self-respect!"

……

Just then, Miss Duan, the incarnation of Guanyin on the cloud, leaped into the cave. She volunteered to dance and sing to lure the pig demon over.

After another round of banter, seeing that Miss Duan and Sun Wukong seemed to be getting along quite well, Chen Xuanzang felt rather uneasy and quickly interrupted them, "Alright, alright, let's go catch the pig demon!"

Seeing his behavior, Lynn knew perfectly well that he had truly fallen for Miss Duan.

……

The moon was high in the sky, its bright light bathing the mountaintop. Miss Duan, with her hair down and wearing a long white dress, danced gracefully in the moonlight.

On the mountain peak.

Chen Xuanzang held a simple hand-cranked instrument in his hand, shaking it rhythmically, and stared blankly at Miss Duan's graceful dance high above.

At this moment, all the things the two of them had experienced flashed through his mind.

Although he didn't want to admit it, he knew very well that he had feelings for Miss Duan. However, as a Buddhist disciple with the ideal of saving all living beings from suffering, he dared not love her.

Looking at Miss Duan under the moonlight, Chen Xuanzang was moved but also heartbroken. His eyes became glazed and he gradually fell into a daze.

Pa~!

The instrument in his hand fell to the ground without him noticing, making a crisp sound.

Startled, he came to his senses and quickly bent down to pick it up.

"Roar!" Just then, Zhu Ganglie also arrived at the mountain peak.

As soon as Zhu Ganglie reached the top of the mountain, he immediately locked onto Chen Xuanzang, who was closest to him and standing at the entrance of the White Lotus Cave, and roared as he charged towards him.

Of course, he had already been instructed by Lynn and Guanyin that this collision was only meant to scare Chen Xuanzang and would not actually kill him. So, in the blink of an eye, Miss Duan leaped down, grabbed Chen Xuanzang, and nimbly dodged his charge.

Just as Chen Xuanzang was still in shock, Sun Wukong's lazy voice echoed from inside the White Lotus Cave: "Zhu Ganglie, Zhu Ganglie!"

The sound echoed loudly in the air, filling the heavens and the earth.

Zhu Ganglie shook his head and looked around, finally focusing his gaze on Bai Lian.

"Long time no see, Pigsy." Sun Wukong's voice rang out again, as if he were a familiar person greeting him.

As planned, Zhu Bajie obediently pushed open the lotus flower at the cave entrance, sticking his entire head inside. Then, Sun Wukong dragged Zhu Bajie into the cave and used his magical power to transform him into a pet pig.

Before their descent to the mortal realm, the three disciples on their journey to the West—Sun Wukong, Tianpeng, and Juanlian—were all roughly equal in strength, at the peak of the Celestial Immortal level. Although Sun Wukong was suppressed for five hundred years, his strength remained unaffected, while Tianpeng and Juanlian were banished to the mortal realm, losing all their celestial bodies and cultivation.

Currently, Zhu Ganglie's cultivation level is only at the initial stage of the Dao Integration Realm, while Juanlian is in an even worse state, with his strength merely at the Void Return Realm.

Even if they weren't acting, in a real fight, Zhu Bajie wouldn't be a match for Sun Wukong.

"Mr. Sun, thank you so much. You have truly rid the people of a scourge." Upon entering the cave, Chen Xuanzang immediately spotted the little pig in Sun Wukong's arms. Overjoyed, he quickly expressed his gratitude.

Miss Duan took out her exorcism bag and transformed Zhu Ganglie into a palm-sized rag doll pig. She said to Chen Xuanzang, "In forty-nine days, this pig demon will turn to ashes. I know you have your own exorcism philosophy, so I'll leave these two monsters to you to deal with."

As she spoke, she took out another doll, which was the fish demon that had been subdued in the fishing village, and handed it to Chen Xuanzang.

(End of this chapter)