"Listen to my command, Tathagata! Immediately return to Spirit Mountain, apologize to all the Buddhas, admit your mistakes, and apologize to Sun Houzi. Let that Burning Lamp..."
"Let Patriarch Burning Lamp ascend. He goes up, I come down. From now on, I will definitely correct my mistakes and only beg the two of you not to truly abandon me."
"My Tathagata's heart will always be with the two of you, and with Spirit Mountain!"
The Tathagata, once again counter-attacked by Sun Kong, saw the displeased look on the face of Jieyin Daoist and heard Zhunti Daoist's seemingly earnest but also quite heartless words that claimed to be for his own good.
Despite his unwillingness a million times over.
Despite cursing Zhunti for his ruthless betrayal in his heart a hundred million times.
But there was no choice.
Circumstances were more powerful than people.
Sun Kong's schemes were far more brilliant than his own.
Helplessly, the Tathagata Buddha suppressed his anger and agreed to the matter. Then, just as he was about to rise and return to Spirit Mountain.
Unexpectedly.
Sun Kong from Spirit Mountain spoke out again.
His words were even more provocative and shocking to everyone than before!
"Wait a moment!"
"I beg the two Hegemons not to punish my adoptive father too harshly. Although he should not have been hostile towards me, regarded me as an enemy, and ignored all the Buddhas, thus incurring their wrath."
"But he is my adoptive father after all."
"To have him return and admit his mistakes, and to apologize to all the Buddhas in person, even if it is confined within Spirit Mountain, outsiders will eventually know, which will be detrimental to him, detrimental to Spirit Mountain, and even more detrimental to the two Hegemons."
"Therefore, I have a proposal. Let all the Buddhas' anger fall upon me. I will bear any punishment for my adoptive father. And let the Hegemons' anger also fall upon me."
"Although I am the destined eldest disciple of the Journey to the West, which makes it hard for you to act, I understand the principle of a son bearing the father's debt. There are no unfilial adoptive fathers, only adoptive sons who have not disciplined their adoptive fathers strictly enough."
"Thus, I will now shed all my spiritual treasures, seal my cultivation, and with this body and soul filled with filial piety, I will willingly accept beatings and scoldings."
"I ask for nothing else."
"Only that from now on, all Buddhas will unite as one, cease internal strife, and no longer regard my adoptive father, Tathagata, as a thorn in their side. If, one day, he can still achieve merit and return, I beg everyone to give him a chance!"
As he spoke these words, Sun Kong truly put away his Westward Journey Gatling, Chaos Golden Cudgel, Chaos Somesault Cloud, and other spiritual treasures.
He took off his shirt.
Revealing his dazzling muscles, inviting all the Buddhas to whip him at will!
The stark contrast of Sun Kong's words, even surpassed that of Zhunti Daoist, who had been inconsistent.
In an instant, everyone was stunned.
They all looked at him with disbelief, confusion, and puzzlement.
They did not know what Sun Kong was up to, but they were truly moved by such filial piety!
"Before, many people said this Sun Monkey was uncultured, disobedient, rebellious, and unwilling to be the Stablekeeper, to conform to fate, and to our Buddhist arrangements."
"Unexpectedly, this kid is so tough, so principled, and so filial. We Vajra and Jiedi have truly misjudged him."
"Indeed, his filial piety towards Tathagata is genuine, not fake, otherwise, why would he still protect him when he saw him losing power?"
The first group of people deceived by Sun Kong's superb acting were the numerous lower-level cultivators of Spirit Mountain, the eight hundred Vajra, and the three thousand Jiedi.
In their eyes, the Sun Kong of this moment was no longer the demon king who had courted death and shocked them countless times just a few months ago.
But a filial son worthy of praise!
Although they had been tormented and abused by Sun Kong, they had also been nourished by his holy water broth, and today they saw a different Sun Kong.
Who could not change their opinion because of this?
"Well done, Sun Monkey!"
"It is heartless and unjust to condemn one's own relatives, but to intercede for Tathagata and willingly accept punishment for him is extremely benevolent and righteous."
"How dare we not believe? How dare we not obey?"
"Now it seems that Tathagata may not have completely collapsed. Perhaps in the future, he may return. Why don't we all protect this Sun Monkey, so that he can give us more holy water broth in the future?"
"And let's also protect Tathagata. After all, he has been a Buddha for many years. He has made mistakes, but he has also made contributions. How can we only focus on the former and ignore the latter?"
The second group of people were none other than the five hundred Arhats and three thousand Buddhas.
They had also collectively resisted Sun Kong before, and in their hearts, they felt that Patriarch Burning Lamp was more suitable to be the leader than Tathagata Buddha.
However, after Sun Kong's perfect solo performance, this group of high-level Spirit Mountain cultivators was also deceived by his acting.
Some continued to support Patriarch Burning Lamp.
Others reverted to their original stance and spoke a few good words for Tathagata Buddha!
"Sun Dasheng is benevolent and righteous, loyal and filial. We admire him. Since he can do this, we dare not forget the contributions of Tathagata Buddha."
"We beg the two Hegemons to give Tathagata Buddha a chance. Even if he is not the leader, do not truly expel him. It would be better to hand him over to his adoptive son, Sun Dasheng, to look after."
"The father and son, in essence, are still for the sake of us all in Spirit Mountain, it is just that their ideologies differ, and communication was poor."
"We believe that from now on, it will be more beneficial for the Journey to the West, and also beneficial for all of us in Spirit Mountain. We are willing to plead for them, father and son!"
Hearing hundreds of Buddhas pleading for Sun Kong and Tathagata Buddha, Burning Lamp Buddha and others on the other side felt a bit embarrassed.
Originally, when Sun Kong exposed Tathagata Buddha's trick just now, Burning Lamp Buddha had strongly hoped to unite with Guanyin and others, and his subordinates, to ascend himself.
To realize his long-held dream.
But now, seeing Sun Kong's reversal again, and making many people support him, it was clear that Tathagata Buddha still had some mass base among the Buddhas.
And the attitude of the two Western Hegemons was also somewhat ambiguous.
Under such circumstances, how could a cunning old fox like Burning Lamp Buddha not understand that while he could ascend this time, he was far from reaching the point where he could completely eliminate Tathagata Buddha?
Therefore.
Without waiting for more people to "defect," Burning Lamp Buddha immediately showed his magnanimity. While imitating others and pleading for Tathagata Buddha, he also agreed to the request for Tathagata Buddha to temporarily stay at the New Flower Fruit Mountain.
"To the two Hegemons above, Burning Lamp still respects Brother Tathagata the most. Therefore, this position is only temporarily managed. In the future, if he has the opportunity, I will definitely let him return."
"And this Sun Monkey... oh no, Sun Wukong, who is both righteous and filial, is truly a rare future Buddha seedling of our Spirit Mountain."
"Burning Lamp hereby proposes that he be the Vice Buddha, and that he preside over the reception of the Seven Great Sages, as a reward and encouragement to him."
As soon as Burning Lamp Buddha finished speaking, the two Hegemons of the Western Sect decisively agreed.
The Buddhas of Spirit Mountain also largely agreed.
However, no one noticed that as Tathagata Buddha reluctantly joined the New Flower Fruit Mountain and pledged allegiance to himself, a triumphant smile flashed in Sun Kong's eyes.
This time, the reason for attacking Tathagata first and then saving him was precisely for this outcome and the next step!