“Running away from home?”
Jin Chanzi’s face lit up with realization.
Although he was a disciple of Tathagata, he had still disgraced him in front of everyone.
Even if he had broken through to Taiyi Golden Immortal, Tathagata could not openly shield him.
How would other immortals look at him?
What would all the Buddhas think?
“You are right.”
“This matter was originally this monk’s fault, and I must not implicate my master.”
“This monk shall leave Spirit Mountain now.”
“When my master’s anger subsides, it will not be too late for me to return!”
Jin Chanzi solemnly agreed with Sun Kong’s suggestion.
Although Jin Chanzi’s thoughts were not on the same wavelength as Sun Kong’s at all,
They had reached the same destination.
In any case, all Sun Kong wanted was for Jin Chanzi to not enter the cycle of reincarnation. As for where he went, Sun Kong did not care.
…
…
Great Thunderclap Temple.
“What? Jin Chanzi is missing?”
In the great hall, Tathagata’s voice thundered.
He, who was always composed, was truly panicked this time.
Jin Chanzi’s whereabouts were crucial to the grand scheme of the Journey to the West.
He, like Sun Wukong, was an indispensable existence.
Tathagata never imagined that not only did he fail to persuade Sun Wukong, but he was also tricked by the latter.
“Idiot!”
“A complete idiot!”
Tathagata was furious.
If he had known this would happen, he would not have listened to Guanyin’s suggestion.
Now, the problem had become even bigger!
“May Buddha calm his anger!”
“Jin Chanzi only left Spirit Mountain a short while ago, he probably hasn’t gone far.”
“If we send someone down the mountain now, we can surely find Jin Chanzi.”
“This disciple believes that the urgent matter at hand is to deal with that Sun Wukong as soon as possible.”
“If this disciple’s prediction is correct, Jin Chanzi’s sudden breakthrough to Taiyi Golden Immortal was likely also the work of that Sun Wukong!”
Guanyin said with a solemn expression.
Ever since Sun Wukong had tricked her out of her Jade Vase last time, she had held a grudge against him.
If not for Sun Wukong’s close connection to the Journey to the West, she would have personally killed this demon monkey.
However, she worried that her repeated strategies had backfired, and Tathagata might no longer trust her.
“Hmph!”
“This seat has no intention of dealing with that monkey now.”
“Finding Jin Chanzi is the priority.”
“In five hundred years, Jin Chanzi must undergo ten reincarnations. Otherwise, how can he fulfill the karmic retribution of these ten lives?”
“Only by fulfilling the karmic retribution of ten lives can Jin Chanzi achieve Buddhahood through the Journey to the West. If even one life is missing, the grand plan our Buddhist sect has meticulously planned for hundreds of thousands of years will fall through.”
“Do you all not understand the importance of this?”
Tathagata gritted his teeth, his old face flushing.
In five hundred years, Jin Chanzi had to experience ten reincarnations.
This meant one reincarnation every fifty years.
Furthermore, he had to accumulate merit in each life before he could be reborn as Tang Sanzang.
In other words, Jin Chanzi was reincarnating against the clock.
It was even more demanding than the plan for Sun Wukong’s havoc in the Heavenly Palace.
Upon hearing this, all the Buddhas were startled awake.
Without further delay, they immediately fled the great hall to pursue Jin Chanzi.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
Hundreds and thousands of golden lights shot out of the Great Thunderclap Temple, streaking in all directions.
Each golden light represented an immortal from Spirit Mountain.
Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, Venerables, and even Elders of the same rank as Jin Chanzi were dispatched.
This commotion was comparable to Great General Li leading a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and generals to surround Flower Fruit Mountain.
[Ding, the host has shocked Tathagata, reward: Universal Illumination (Divine Ability)]
The system’s voice arrived as expected.
It turned out that only Tathagata was shocked.
This far exceeded Sun Kong’s expectations.
“Could it be that only Tathagata knows the importance of Jin Chanzi to the Journey to the West?”
Sun Kong mused to himself.
He had originally thought that many participants were involved in the Journey to the West.
At least Guanyin should have been a direct participant.
After all, the ninety-nine and eighty-one tribulations were all arranged by Guanyin herself.
However, what happened today had completely changed Sun Kong’s mind.
It was likely that Guanyin was merely an executor.
The true core of the Journey to the West, Tathagata had never revealed to a second person.
“Interesting.”
“Although as the leader of a sect, it is appropriate to keep some secrets.”
“But if the Buddhas do not even know the core secret, then the room for my operations will be much greater.”
“Tathagata, thank you!”
Sun Kong chuckled sinisterly.
Then, he looked towards the east and slowly stood up.
As the somersault cloud landed beneath his feet, he immediately somersaulted and flew directly towards the east.
Leaving Spirit Mountain?
Impossible.
Sun Kong’s departure was because this action from Spirit Mountain had exceeded his expectations.
With an operation that almost emptied the entire Spirit Mountain, it could be said that the entire Three Realms would be turned upside down by the Buddhas.
Finding Jin Chanzi would be too easy.
Therefore, the direction Sun Kong was heading was precisely where Jin Chanzi was.
His purpose was also very simple.
To intercept the Buddhas and help Jin Chanzi escape.
“Elder Jin Chanzi has been found!”
“Our Buddha has decreed that Jin Chanzi be captured and brought back to Spirit Mountain!”
A group of monks, riding clouds, swarmed towards Jin Chanzi, surrounding him.
The two leading them wore kasayas and had rather lewd expressions.
“Venerable Kashyapa, Venerable Ananda?”
Sun Kong saw them from afar and immediately recognized these two distinctive bald heads.
Although Venerables and Elders were similar in status and had little prestige,
Venerable Kashyapa and Venerable Ananda were truly unique.
In fact, what truly made Sun Kong remember these two lewd Venerables was Journey to the West.
That’s right.
These were the two who asked the Tang Monk and his disciples for offerings and gave them fake scriptures.
When he was young and watched Journey to the West, he was quite angered by these two wicked monks.
Now,
He finally had a chance to teach them a lesson today!
“Good for you, Jin Chanzi, you’ve made us search so hard.”
“You can’t escape now.”
“Tell us, how will you compensate us?”
Venerable Kashyapa said with anger.
A group of Venerables surrounded Jin Chanzi, but instead of bringing him back to Spirit Mountain, they demanded benefits.
“Kashyapa, Ananda.”
“You cannot stop this monk.”
“This monk is already a Taiyi Golden Immortal, you are no match for this monk.”
“For the sake of being fellow disciples of the Buddhist sect, this monk does not wish to harm the innocent.”
“You should leave.”
Jin Chanzi remained calm, not putting the Venerables in his eyes at all.
“Arrogant!”
“What if you are Taiyi Golden Immortal!”
“We are also Golden Immortals, are we not enough to rival you when we are together?”
“You boy was just lucky to achieve Taiyi Golden Immortal before us.”
“When you were the same as us, a Golden Immortal, Tathagata took you as a disciple.”
“As an ancient demon, what right do you have to be Tathagata’s disciple!”
Kashyapa roared these words almost.
The other Venerables, upon hearing this, were not surprised but instead showed fierce expressions.
“Good heavens!”
“A group of cultivators actually cares about worldly matters.”
“It seems they have been cultivating in vain these hundreds of thousands of years.”