The Uninvited Guest
She was an uninvited guest.
“Long time no see.”
The man with golden hair did not hide his discomfort.
“What is it? I haven’t caused any major incident lately that would make you come see my face…”
Arms crossed, he rolled his eyes brimming with golden light.
There was a strangely evasive look in his gaze.
The woman smiled faintly.
“Still the same, huh.”
“Is it because I stole some of the Jade Emperor’s wine and he came running to scold me?”
“Not just a little. They say he emptied the entire warehouse.”
“Emptied the entire warehouse? With just a few jars. Then what, the Grand Supreme Elder is throwing a tantrum because I didn’t return the pill he took?”
“If I took it, why would the Grand Supreme Elder be raging about theft?”
“I only took a little because I was hungry. It was a bit stingy, though. It seems this isn’t a small matter, so why have you come?”
“Do you think I only came to scold you?”
“Well, think about my whereabouts. How much trouble I’ve gone through because of what you ordered.”
“Thanks to you, I escaped from Wuxing Mountain and am living a comfortable life in the heavenly court.”
“Hmph. A position that doesn’t suit me. Do you see me as a Buddha?”
“The Victorious Fighting Buddha.”
“Why the sudden stern tone? My heart can’t take it, so don’t do that, okay? Thinking back, it was the same back then. You were so serious, ordering me to go to India, just like that.”
The man trembled. The golden light flickered as if dancing.
Because of that damned golden fillet that the fellow with the broken heart gave me, how much suffering did I endure for fourteen years?
“Ah, what is your scheme? Why have you suddenly come looking for me?”
The golden man rolled on the ground with a thud.
Even if he became a Buddha after his arduous journey, where did that original hasty temper go?
The woman, no, Guanyin, still smiling, spoke.
“Have you heard the news about Tang Sanzang?”
The man’s face twisted instantly.
“Ah, hearing that bastard’s name makes my stomach churn. I heard he gave up being a Buddha and entered the cycle of reincarnation.”
“He chose it himself, with the resolve to repeatedly cycle through rebirths and save the sentient beings of the lower world.”
“… So, why did you bring up Tang Sanzang’s name? A bad feeling is rising in me.”
“Tang Sanzang’s soul has disappeared.”
“…”
The heavy silence subsided, and the man shook his body violently, waving his hands.
“I don’t know. I don’t know anything. Just hearing that guy’s name makes my head spin and my stomach turn. Look for someone else.”
“This is important. In the heavenly court’s register and in the underworld’s life and death book, Tang Sanzang’s name has vanished.”
“Ah, who erased it?”
“Besides you, has there ever been a thunderclap who erased the name from the life and death book since the heavens opened? Who would dare erase it?”
“So, what, what am I supposed to do? Are you telling me to go find him?”
Guanyin nodded. The man let out a sigh and plopped down.
“… This bastard, if he was going to reincarnate, he should have lived well. Leaving me behind in the heavenly court, now he can’t even guard his soul and sells it?”
How much time had passed? While muttering to himself, he sighed deeply and refused politely.
“There are plenty of fine people in the heavenly court. There’s also the general you ordered to capture me, the one from the lower world.”
“It’s too dangerous to descend to the lower world.”
“Dangerous? Hah!”
An incredulous laugh escaped.
“The demons have all been exterminated. There are no more of the Seven Great Sages in the world. Who would dare threaten a general of the heavenly court?”
“Humans.”
“… Hah, after thousands of years of being the Buddha’s lackey, have you gone mad?”
Guanyin’s smile deepened. Every time she faced that stone monkey, she felt her own cultivation was still lacking.
In this world, who besides that monkey could make Guanyin feel killing intent?
“Just like how demons once ruled the lower world with their demonic energy, the humans of today are no different. The power of the heavenly court is flowing down to the lower world, and as time passes, the demonic energy that the great nature held has gradually weakened. Without the qi, it became pure. That’s just how nature is. But humans have refined it and learned to handle internal energy.”
“So, a human with that internal energy is threatening a general of the heavenly court? After all, they’re just humans.”
It was hard to understand. In the past, when they were rampaging wildly, humans were the ones who got slaughtered by even the lowest demons.
“No matter how strong their internal energy is, they can’t reach a general of the heavenly court. The world has changed. But when a being from the heavenly court descends to the lower world, they can’t exert their original power.”
“What nonsense restriction. Since when?”
“… Naturally, because of the mess you made in the lower world.”
“It’s my fault again? What, everything that happens is my problem. You even say I ruined Queen Mother’s peach orchard, don’t you? As expected, heavenly court trash.”
“Since you don’t know when you’ll turn the lower world into a battlefield again, the Buddha has strictly separated the worlds. The lower world and the heavenly court are distinct, and intervening in the lower world has become difficult. At least manifesting with all that power is almost impossible.”
“So?”
“Even if, the original power from the heavenly court will be greatly diminished. The problem is that there are quite a few people in the lower world who have accumulated enough power to become immortals themselves, which could be dangerous.”
“…”
“But you are different. Even if your power from the heavenly court is mostly sealed upon manifestation, who would stop your movements?”
“So, I’m the only one?”
Guanyin slowly nodded and pointed downward with her finger.
The white clouds disappeared, and the sky opened.
The figures of humans, which were just points, were greatly enlarged.
The man, startled by the flow that seemed about to drop him to the lower world, waved his hands.
“Wait, who is going? Who is going?”
“If I do, will I run to the end of the world?”
“Why is the story like this? Are you threatening me? Do you think I’m the monkey from back then?”
“After all, it’s still within the Buddha’s palm.”
“… It’s the Buddha’s decree?”
Guanyin smiled faintly. The man’s face was dazed.
The only fear and awe that the stone monkey, who had no fear of the world, had been given by the absolute being.
Shakyamuni Buddha.
His will and command.
“Finally, the last trace of Tang Sanzang’s soul reached the place called Namgung Clan Estate in Anhui Province.”
“…”
“They call their world Murim. Go there and return Tang Sanzang’s soul to its original body, and guide that child so that he does not stray from the path of reincarnation.”
“No, ha. Really. Do I have to get entangled with Tang Sanzang in the lower world again because of this? With that bastard? I have to go find that damned weakling?”
Guanyin said firmly.
“Sun Wukong, the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven, go to Murim.”