Great Demon Sun Wukong

The Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha seated above looked at the dissipated estrangement between the two and couldn't help but nod slightly. At this moment, Sun Wukong released the Six-Eared Macaque, and then he patted his shoulder heavily twice, saying, "Good brother, we'll continue this conversation later. There are still unresolved matters at hand."

The Six-Eared Macaque was also sensible, and moreover, he was tricked by the Tathagata—who even projected a Divine Sense illusion into his inner world—and later had his own will sealed away. If not for the rescue by the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, he feared that he would have become nothing more than a walking corpse in this lifetime.

"Bodhisattva, what exactly is going on here? I beg for your guidance."

"You both should listen carefully to what I have to say. This time, the matter originated from Tathagata Buddha's scheme to kill three birds with one stone. However, something went amiss along the way, so this scheme ended in failure."

"Kill three birds with one stone? Right, Bodhisattva, how do you know all these things? And, aren't you also from Buddhism? Why then did you come to help us?"

In fact, when Sun Wukong caused a great uproar in the Netherworld and forcefully snatched the Book of Life and Death, he had noticed that the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha seemed not to be close to either Buddhism or Heaven and even harbored some hostility.

Otherwise, at that time, with Sun Wukong merely being at the initial Emperor Level, and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva having attained the cultivation of a Saint, capturing Sun Wukong would have been as easy as flipping his hand.

But Ksitigarbha had let Sun Wukong off the hook back then and even transmitted a message to Sun Wukong before he left: "If you encounter trouble in the future, you may seek me in Nine Serenities. Great Saint, take care!"

As the Ling Ming Stone Monkey, Sun Wukong was extremely sensitive to discerning a person's good or evil intentions. Thus, he could feel that Ksitigarbha truly intended to help him without any ulterior motives or ill intent.

Just like when he first took Tang Sanzang as his master, Sun Wukong had also sensed the purely great goodness in Tang Sanzang's heart. Otherwise, had Tang Sanzang been a wicked person, Sun Wukong would have refused to acknowledge him as master, even at the risk of being branded ungrateful and treacherous.

"Great Saint, my story, if we were to fully delve into it, would be a long one. But if the Great Saint wishes to hear it, I shall briefly recount it," the Monk said.

Sun Wukong and the Six-Eared Macaque both said in unison, "We wish to hear it, we wish to hear it."

"In reality, I am not from this world but from an Ancient Realm known as the Ancient Primordial World in the Upper Realm. That world also has a Buddhism. And I was just an ordinary monk within that sector of Buddhism.

However, one day, a newly formed minor world known as the Pangu Realm was birthed below, so my sect assigned me along with several fellow disciples to establish Buddhism in this minor world and spread the Taoist Spell."

"After arriving in this minor world, my fellow disciples indeed established a new Buddhism, and after tens of thousands of years, it had spread with many disciples. Seeing that the mission was accomplished, my fellow disciples left me to guard it while they returned to the Ancient Primordial World in the Upper Realm to report back."

"But after they returned, the remaining Buddhas and Saints united against me, dissatisfied with the control of Buddhism being in my hands. They banded together and inflicted severe injuries upon me. However, as a disciple of Buddhism from the Ancient Primordial World, my Divinity was a level above theirs. Hence, they could only harm me but could neither kill nor suppress me."

"Later, using the lives of all Buddhist disciples as leverage, they forced me to make a grand vow—that so long as the Netherworld was not empty, I would not become a Buddha. At that time, I had been wounded by a special Magic Artifact and my cultivation had fallen to the peak of Buddha Level, equivalent to the peak of Emperor Level.

Thus, as long as I made this vow, unless this world were to be destroyed, there was no way for me to achieve the fruition of Bodhi."

"A Buddha at the peak level had no significant effect on them, so they let me freely develop in the Netherworld. That is my story."

After listening to what Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva had said, both Sun Wukong and the Six-Eared Macaque were incredibly shocked. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva came from the Upper Realm? No wonder the creature with acute hearing could see through the Dharma Body of the Tathagata.

After a moment of silence, Sun Wukong asked, "Then, will this bring any trouble to the Bodhisattva?"

"Haha, there is no need to worry about that. Although the Tathagata knows that it was I who ruined his plan, he wouldn't dare to confront me over this matter. Currently, the tension between Buddhism and Heaven is tight; he won't make another powerful enemy at this time. Moreover, I, as the King Ksitigarbha, am not the same as I used to be."

"That's good to hear. If the Bodhisattva were implicated in this matter, it would truly be a grave sin. So, Bodhisattva, what exactly is this situation all about?"

"To speak of this matter, I must mention the trap designed by the Tathagata. It took me an immense cost to barely break through it. First, the Tathagata Buddha transformed into an old monk and waited for the Six-Eared Macaque on his way to East Shengzhou, then he used great magical power to provoke the inner demons of the Six-Eared Macaque.

In the end, while the Six-Eared Macaque was not paying attention, he projected his Divine Sense into the Six-Eared Macaque's sea of consciousness, achieving subconscious control.

Later on, the sequence of events that the Six-Eared Macaque encountered on Flower Fruit Mountain utterly activated his inner demons, and Tathagata took this opportunity to imprison the Divine Sense of the Six-Eared Macaque, then controlled Six-Eared's flesh with Divine Sense."

"After Tathagata gained control over the Six-Eared Macaque, he rode the clouds to the location of Tang Sanzang. The Tathagata's original intent was to control the Six-Eared's body to transform into the image of Sun Wukong, and then kill Zhu Bajie, Monk Sha, and Tang Sanzang. However, he didn't expect the Divine Sense of the Six-Eared Macaque to be so tenacious.

At the last moment, the Divine Sense of the Six-Eared Macaque erupted, causing the body controlled by Tathagata to be unable to kill, ultimately only injuring Zhu Bajie and Tang Sanzang, and then snatching their luggage and documents."

"Actually, my intention wasn't to kill anyone; I just couldn't swallow that defeat. I just wanted to replace you and go on the quest for the scriptures myself. So when the Tathagata controlled me, my Divine Sense could still fight against his," the Six-Eared Macaque said to Sun Wukong.

"Bodhisattva, why would the Tathagata do this? Although there have been many difficulties before, the Tathagata has never personally taken action."

"Because he, the Tathagata, is afraid. He is afraid of Tang Sanzang, he is more afraid of the Six-Eared Macaque, and even more afraid of you, the Great Sage Equalling Heaven.

In fact, your master Tang Sanzang has died nine times on the journey to retrieve the scriptures, and if he dies once more this time, then Tang Sanzang will completely lose his divinity and never be able to attain the fruit of Bodhi. However, with the help of you brothers this time, it's very possible that Tang Sanzang could truly reach the Western Paradise.

This is something the Tathagata absolutely cannot accept. Besides, the Tathagata doesn't want the Six-Eared Macaque to ascend to Demon Emperor. If this trap were successful, the Tathagata would certainly continue to control the Six-Eared Macaque, and in the end, it's very likely the Six-Eared Macaque would become another Arhat or Bodhisattva of Buddhism.

As for you, Great Saint, if the Tathagata-controlled Six-Eared Macaque really killed Tang Sanzang and Bajie, at that time, if the Tathagata uses great magical power to transfer the sin of killing onto you, then you would become a heinous person guilty of murdering your brother and slaying your master.

Once burdened with such a sin, I'm afraid you, Great Saint, will never have the day to achieve enlightenment," said the Bodhisattva.

Listening quietly, both the Six-Eared Macaque and Sun Wukong couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat. The Tathagata, he truly has meticulous plans.

If he hadn't underestimated the strength of the Six-Eared Macaque's stubbornness, or had not been countered by Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva using the acutely hearing creature to dispel the Divine Sense of the Tathagata, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

To morph the Six-Eared Macaque into the image of Sun Wukong by sorcery and then kill Tang Sanzang before transferring the sin of the kill onto Sun Wukong, this chain of schemes truly sends shivers down one's spine.

"By the way, the Tathagata should already be a Saint, right? But the Six-Eared's Cultivation shouldn't have reached Emperor Level, so why could Six-Eared's Divine Sense fight against the Divine Sense of Tathagata?"

"One reason is that the Tathagata didn't take the Six-Eared Macaque too seriously; after all, those below Emperor Level are no different from ants to living beings, so he only projected a wisp of Divine Sense. The second reason should be that the Six-Eared has some magic artifact on him that can suppress the Divine Sense of the Tathagata."

Upon hearing what the King Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva had finished saying, the Six-Eared Macaque suddenly flipped his right hand, and the Crimson Blood Roaming Dragon Staff appeared out of nowhere. "It should be this staff, besides this I don't have anything else," said the Six-Eared Macaque.

With a flick of his finger, the Crimson Blood Roaming Dragon Staff flew into the hands of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. After examining it carefully, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva nodded repeatedly and said, "Indeed, it is this staff.

Inside this staff, not only is there a drop of True Blood from the Azure Dragon, the Dragon Ancestor, but there are also True Blood from Ying Long, Zhu Long, Qiulong, and Chilong, the four great Divine Dragons. And it also contains his essence. No wonder it can suppress the Divine Sense of the Tathagata. It's just a pity that the Cultivation of the Six-Eared is too low.

If you had the Cultivation of a Saint, this staff would definitely be able to unleash boundless power."