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墨書 Inktalez
"The Dharma Assembly will continue."
The voice of the World Honored One echoed through the Great Thunder Sound Temple, like a stone thrown into water, its ripples spreading across my silent Buddhist heart.
But I could not wait for the ripples to fade. I did not take my leave from the Buddha, nor did I spare a glance for the Bodhisattva beside me. As the three thousand Buddhas returned to their meditation in Paradise, I rose from the Lotus Throne, transforming into a beam of golden light that shot straight out of the Great Hero Hall.
This was against protocol. A Buddha should not possess such urgent desire.
Yet I could not control myself. My goal was clear: Jing Tan Shi Zhe Fu.
An old acquaintance from Xi Xing; only that fool had the shallowest Buddha nature and the heaviest worldly heart. To pry open the truth, one must start from the most decayed place.
The escape light was swift, and the three realms flowed beneath my feet. As I passed through a familiar celestial cloud, a domineering and ripe fruit fragrance forcefully invaded my nostrils.
It was Pandora Garden.
In an instant, a fragment of memory that did not belong to the Demon Fighting Buddha exploded before my eyes. It was not the grand scene of chaos in Heaven five hundred years ago, but a more subtle and violent moment.
I, clad in golden chainmail, was confronting a Heavenly Soldier over a peach pit crushed underfoot.
It was not a battle of magic; it was pure ferocity, fighting for dignity. I remembered my heartbeat at that moment, the burning sensation of demonic power surging through my veins, and how I spoke word by word to that trembling Heavenly Soldier:
"Pick it up."
That voice resonated with the roar I had just heard in the Blood Sea; they were of the same origin.
My form wavered, and the escape light beneath me flickered uncertainly, nearly causing me to fall from the clouds.
I forced myself to steady my mind, increasing my speed further.
I became more convinced that the answer lay hidden among those old acquaintances obscured by the act of becoming a Buddha.
The residence of Jing Tan Shi Zhe Fu soon came into view.
Before I even touched the ground, a strong, pungent smell of alcohol mixed with the scent of cosmetics hit me. This odor clashed sharply with the tranquility of Ling Mountain, yet it brought me a sense of comfort.
Because it is in decayed places that secrets are hidden.
I didn’t walk through the door; instead, I passed through the wall and landed in the back courtyard of the estate. Zhu Bajie was sprawled on a rocking chair, cradling an empty wine jar, his eyes bleary with drunkenness.
When he saw me, he froze for a moment. Then, all traces of intoxication vanished from his plump face, replaced by an extreme, soul-deep fear.
He attempted to stand but his legs gave way, causing him to fall back down.
“Monkey King? Y-you… what are you doing here?” His voice trembled.
Good. This fear was the answer I sought.
I didn’t waste words.
With a wave of my hand, I cast a soundproof barrier that enveloped the entire courtyard. The moment the barrier formed, I saw Bajie’s pupils constrict sharply.
I approached him, squatting down to meet his gaze at eye level.
“Bajie,” I said calmly, each word like a shard of ice, “what happened on the road to Xi Xing five hundred years ago?”
“What… what happened? Isn’t it just about retrieving the scriptures and attaining enlightenment?” His eyes darted around wildly, avoiding mine.
“Look at me.” My voice remained steady, but the air within the barrier seemed to freeze, “Do you smell it? There’s demonic energy on me.”
He shuddered violently, his face draining of color.
“I ask about the truth behind the scriptures. You will speak.” I didn’t give him any time to think or fabricate lies; this was an interrogation.
Dialogue was the knife in my hand.
He stared at me, his lips trembling for what felt like an eternity. Deep within his fearful gaze flickered a hint of struggle and reluctance. Ultimately, it seemed he surrendered to despair, closing his eyes and murmuring:
“Monkey King… don’t ask anymore; forget… just forget…”
“Speak!” I seized his collar and lifted him up.
“It’s useless! It’s useless!” He suddenly screamed, his voice breaking into sobs. “Monkey King, it wasn’t about retrieving scriptures; it was ‘soul exchange’!”
“Soul exchange?” I latched onto this term that didn’t belong to Buddhist vocabulary. “Who did it?”
Under immense pressure, his mental defenses crumbled completely. He finally looked at me with a resolve akin to facing death and mustered all his strength to utter a few words:
“Monkey King… that journey to Xi Xing wasn’t for retrieving scriptures… it was for you… set up by Buddha for you…”
Before the words had left my lips, a pure and pristine beam of "Purifying Buddha Light" silently pierced through my soundproof barrier, like an intangible needle, striking directly at Zhu Bajie's spiritual center.
The light arrived too swiftly and precisely, carrying an icy and absolute will: to erase. To erase all information that should not exist.
In that fleeting moment, I did not think. Protect the only clue. This was my sole thought.
The compassion and restraint of the "Demon Fighting Buddha" were shattered in that instant. The instincts belonging to Qi Tian, the Great Sage, which had been suppressed by Buddhist teachings for five hundred years, erupted completely.
"—Get lost!" I let out a roar that was anything but Buddha-like. Releasing my grip on Bajie, I clenched my right hand into a fist, enveloping it in dark demonic energy that surged like ink. There were no Buddhist spells or intricate transformations—just the purest, most primal, and most violent punch aimed squarely at the "Purifying Buddha Light," crashing down with ferocity!
At the moment of impact between fist and light, there was no sound.
Time seemed to freeze for an instant.
Then, a tremendous shockwave erupted from me as the center, exploding outward.
Zhu Bajie's resplendent mansion, along with the barrier I had set up, crumbled like a sandcastle under this force, disintegrating into dust.
As the smoke cleared, the surroundings lay in ruins.
I stood at the center of the wreckage, cradling the unconscious Zhu Bajie, who had fainted from the shock to his spirit.
On my right fist, demonic energy intertwined with golden light, emitting a sizzling sound until ultimately, black consumed gold.
I lifted my head, my gaze piercing through the clouds toward the distant and still serene direction of Mount Ling.
The Buddha's light was the answer given to me by the Buddha.
And that punch was mine.
I knew then that the war had begun.
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