Journey to the West: Please Call Me the White Bone Demon

Pingdingshan, Lotus Cave.

The cave was quite clean, with several calligraphy and paintings hanging on the stone walls and an incense burner on the table, from which smoke curled upwards.

Amidst the wisps of smoke, a subtle sense of restlessness was palpable.

King Golden Horn sat on a stone chair, holding a chess piece in his hand, but his gaze was not on the chessboard.

Silver Horn King sat opposite him, holding a chess piece in his hand, his gaze not on the chessboard.

The two had been sitting facing each other for half an hour, but not a single piece on the chessboard had been moved.

"Brother!"

The Silver Horn King finally couldn't help but speak up, "Tell me, are the pilgrims still coming or not?"

King Golden Horn put down his chess piece, sighed, and said, "If the Patriarch said he would come, then he will come, but..."

He paused, looked up at the hazy sky outside the cave, and asked, "How long have we been in the lower realm?"

Silver Horn King thought for a moment and said, "One day in heaven is one year on earth. When we came down, our ancestor said we would return in one or two days at most. Now... it seems like it has been seven or eight years."

King Golden Horn frowned and said, "The atmosphere in the mortal realm is polluted, and even the spiritual energy is much more turbid than in the heavens. After staying here for the past few years, I feel that my body has become heavier."

King Silver Horn agreed wholeheartedly, nodding repeatedly and saying, "That's right, even my favorite tea tastes bland now."

He stood up, paced around the cave a few times, and suddenly turned back and said, "Brother, why don't we burn incense and ask the patriarch again? Maybe the patriarch will take pity on us and let us go back."

King Golden Horn was quite tempted. He couldn't stay in the mortal realm for even a moment longer, so after thinking for a moment, he stood up and said, "Very well."

The two then ordered the little demon to bring an incense table, bathed and changed their clothes, and burned incense to pray.

The smoke curled upwards, passing through the cave ceiling, through the clouds, and straight up to the thirty-third heaven.

In the Tushita Palace, Laozi sat before the alchemy furnace, holding a banana leaf fan in his hand, gently fanning the fire.

Suddenly, he felt a wisp of cigarette smoke drift towards him. He looked up and knew that it was the two boys from the mortal realm who had come to ask for his help again.

He smiled slightly, not in a hurry to respond, but continued to fan the fire.

It turns out that since descending to the mortal realm, Golden Horn and Silver Horn have burned incense and prayed to return home more than once.

Laozi naturally knew all this, but he never allowed it.

However, he did not expect that the person traveling west would arrive even slower than anticipated.

"Even with the flourishing of Buddhism, unexpected changes have occurred?"

Laozi put down his banana leaf fan and did a quick calculation with his fingers, but unfortunately the heavenly secrets were dim, and he couldn't figure anything out.

He smiled slightly, ignoring the two restless children, treating it as a way to temper their character. Instead, Laozi summoned a Daoist boy.

"Child," Laozi said gently, "go to Mount Ling and tell Buddha that the travelers on their journey to the West are too slow. My two attendants in the mortal realm are getting impatient. Tell them to urge them on, so that we don't have to wait too long for a good show."

The young Taoist boy accepted the order and left.

Laozi glanced again in the direction of the mortal realm before turning his gaze away. He picked up his banana leaf fan again and slowly fanned the fire in the stove, muttering to himself, "This eastward transmission of Buddhism has been much more complicated than expected. Interesting, very interesting."

Inside the Lotus Cave, Golden Horn and Silver Horn waited for a long time, but received no response.

The two looked at each other, both feeling somewhat discouraged.

King Golden Horn waved his hand and said, "Alright, since the patriarch does not agree, then let's continue to wait. But if those little demons come to report again that someone is coming from the west, we cannot let them go this time."

King Silver Horn nodded and said, "Brother is right. Those little demons are always spreading false information. One minute they say they are pilgrims, the next they say they are passing merchants. It's really annoying."

He paused, then said, "But brother, what exactly is this pilgrim's background? Why haven't they arrived yet after so long?"

King Golden Horn shook his head and said, "How would I know? The Patriarch only instructed us to set up a trial here, saying it was to temper the character of the pilgrim. He didn't mention anything else."

The two remained silent for a moment.

The Silver Horned King suddenly said, "Brother, do you think... the pilgrims might have been eaten by other monsters along the way?"

King Golden Horn glared at him and said, "Don't talk nonsense. The Patriarch said he would come, so he will come. Let's just wait."

King Silver Horn scratched his hair and stopped talking.

Silence returned to the cave.

The incense smoke from the incense burner rose gently, passing through the cave ceiling and the clouds, but never drifted towards the Tushita Palace.

……

Meanwhile, at the Great Thunderclap Temple on Mount Ling, the Buddha was preaching when he suddenly sensed something and saw a young boy outside, carrying the aura of the Tushita Palace.

He paused slightly, then knew that Lao Tzu had something to say to him.

So he waved his hand to disperse the Dharma assembly, and let his attendant in. After a brief explanation, the Buddha learned the whole story.

He remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he couldn't help but shake his head.

Xuanzang was indeed walking too slowly. Not to mention Laozi, even he himself was getting impatient.

According to the original plan, they should have completed two-thirds of the journey westward, but now they haven't even reached one-third.

However, he couldn't directly intervene, so he had to summon Feng Xiao.

"Bodhisattva Jing'e Weiguang, what's going on with Xuanzang and his party? They haven't even reached Pingdingshan yet. You must go and urge them on."

Feng Xiao hesitated and said, "World Honored One, I'm afraid my urging won't have any effect. Didn't Xuanzang say back then that he wasn't coming to obtain scriptures, but to ask questions and discuss the Dharma at Mount Ling?"

The Buddha remained silent for a moment, then sighed, "Whether it succeeds or not, you should do it."

Seeing that things had come to this point, Feng Xiao had no choice but to accept the order and leave.

Watching the other person's departing figure, Tathagata couldn't help but recall the words that Bodhi Patriarch had spoken to him years ago.

"There's something strange about that monkey."

Now it seems that it wasn't just the monkey that was strange; even the pilgrim had a somewhat inexplicable air about him.

He shook his head, withdrew his gaze, closed his eyes, and continued to meditate.

On Pingdingshan Mountain, Jinjiao and Yinjiao are still waiting.

They didn't know how much longer they would have to wait, or when the pilgrim would finally arrive.

The sun and moon on earth revolve day by day, and the grass and trees in the mountains wither and flourish season by season.

The stream in front of Lotus Cave flows and then stops, stops and then flows again.

Two celestial attendants, having descended from heaven, waited in the mountains and fields of the mortal realm for a calamity that was long overdue.