BookMe #1985 - The fight between the big guys
#1985 - The fight between the big guys
Those celestial beings watching the spectacle naturally approved of the Eastern Sovereign Great Emperor's suggestion.
"Since we're inviting the Jade Emperor and Buddha to jointly investigate this matter, I believe going to either the Heavenly Court or the Western Paradise wouldn't be appropriate for the sake of fairness," the Eastern Sovereign Great Emperor added with some difficulty.
"No matter, we can invite the Jade Emperor and Buddha to my Wuzhuang Temple; I'm willing to provide the venue," the Great Immortal Zhenyuan readily offered.
"Then I'll go invite the Jade Emperor to come in person," Thunder God, the Heavenly Lord of Puhua, proactively volunteered to invite the Jade Emperor.
"I'll take a trip to the Western Paradise and invite the Buddha!" The Eastern Sovereign Great Emperor stated his willingness to invite the Buddha.
The others followed the Great Immortal Zhenyuan to the Wuzhuang Temple first. After the Wuzhuang Temple was cleaned and tidied up, a colorful aura soon appeared in the sky.
Then, the Jade Emperor descended from the sky in a nine-dragon chariot, accompanied by many key celestial officials from the Heavenly Court.
Originally, the Jade Emperor would rarely leave the Hall of Miraculous Mist outside, but after hearing Thunder God, the Heavenly Lord of Puhua, explain the situation, he immediately changed his mind.
The fact that Tang Monk was eaten by Guanyin's lover, a demon, delighted the Jade Emperor to no end.
"Now I'll see how Buddha tries to justify this!"
The Jade Emperor had just entered the gates of the Wuzhuang Temple when there was movement in the sky again.
Golden light flashed, and the Buddha, with a group of key personnel from the Western Paradise, also arrived.
"The Buddha's personal arrival truly brings universal illumination!" The Jade Emperor greeted the Buddha, though dissatisfied in his heart, he still had to be polite on the surface.
"The Jade Emperor's presence makes the four seas shine! Amitabha!" The Buddha also responded with superficial politeness.
After the greetings, the two entered the Wuzhuang Temple side by side, appearing quite harmonious.
In fact, those who understood could already see a sense of opposition in their eyes. This joint trial by the two bigwigs of the Heavenly Court and the Western Paradise would probably be very interesting.
The two bigwigs would inevitably engage in a round of mutual sniping, and the scene would be exceptionally lively and exciting.
The Jade Emperor and the Buddha took their seats in the main hall of the Wuzhuang Temple. Sun Wukong and his companions, as the plaintiffs, naturally presented their case first.
"Jade Emperor, Buddha, we want to accuse Guanyin of indulging her lover, King Nanshan, the leopard demon, who ate our master!" Sun Wukong said to the Jade Emperor and the Buddha.
"Monkey, cease your nonsense! How could Guanyin have a lover, and how could she let a demon eat your master?"
This matter concerned the reputation of the Western Paradise, so the Buddha naturally couldn't allow Sun Wukong to spout nonsense.
"Buddha, since Wukong says so, there must be a reason. We are here to investigate this matter, and Buddha should allow Wukong to finish speaking, without any bias," the Jade Emperor said, even though he knew the truth, he still favored Sun Wukong and the others.
Moreover, in the Jade Emperor's heart, he hoped that Sun Wukong would embellish the story as much as possible, preferably implicating the Buddha as well, which would be even more enjoyable.
Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Seng recounted the events to the Jade Emperor and the Buddha, of course, according to their own version, which naturally included embellishments.
"Alright, you've finished speaking. It's time for Guanyin to explain," the Buddha had long been unable to listen anymore, but with the Jade Emperor present, he couldn't lose his temper and could only endure it.
Having finally listened to Sun Wukong and the others finish, he immediately asked Guanyin to step forward.
The meaning was clear: to have her quickly explain the situation clearly so that the scandalous news wouldn't damage the reputation of the Western Paradise.
"Buddha, I originally went to save Tang Monk; Buddha knows this matter. Because of my eagerness to save him, I went directly to the Linked Caves," Guanyin explained, with the Buddha present, it was easier for her to explain some things.
"Yes, I know this matter, and it is in line with reason," the Buddha nodded, indicating his agreement with Guanyin's statement.
"Buddha, please wait. I find something illogical. Since Guanyin was rescuing Tang Monk, why didn't she inform Wukong and the others? It wouldn't have taken much time," the Jade Emperor questioned Guanyin.
"That's because... because I alone was enough to rescue Tang Monk, and Wukong's help wasn't needed. Saving people was the priority," Guanyin forced an explanation, as she couldn't say that the Western Paradise was trying to steal the credit.
"Very well, let's assume that's plausible, but if Guanyin was going to save someone, why would she have demon hair on her?" the Jade Emperor continued to press, a question that Guanyin had to answer clearly.
"That's because..."
Guanyin didn't know how to explain, as this was difficult to say.
"Jade Emperor, perhaps the demon's cave wasn't clean, and she inevitably got stained after entering," the Buddha defended Guanyin.
"I'm afraid that's not the case. How about this? Since Guanyin is unwilling to say, let's bring the leopard demon here and let him speak," the Jade Emperor was determined to get to the bottom of this matter.
King Nanshan was brought up. Despite his power and dominance in Hidden Mist Mountain, he was, at best, just a demon leader.
Now that the Jade Emperor was personally present, along with the Buddha and the celestial beings and arhats from the Heavenly Court and the Western Paradise, he had never seen such a scene and was immediately frightened.
"Leopard demon, if you don't tell the truth, I will send you to the eighteenth level of the Prison God's Hall, where you will suffer endless pain!" With just a threat from the Jade Emperor, the leopard demon told the truth.
"So, Guanyin was taken advantage of by the demon. That's alright, it's alright!" After hearing the leopard demon's words, the Jade Emperor laughed at the Buddha.
On the surface, he was saying that the matter was insignificant, but his words were full of sarcasm. A big shot from the Western Paradise was actually defiled by a demon.
"Despicable demon, you have actually disgraced the name of my Western Paradise!" The Buddha was naturally furious at the Jade Emperor's sarcasm.
However, unable to lash out at the Jade Emperor, he could only vent his anger on King Nanshan, waving his Buddha hand and striking the leopard demon with a palm.
King Nanshan's meager abilities were no match for the Buddha's palm, and he was directly killed by the Buddha with a single blow, turning into a meat patty.
"Buddha, are you trying to silence him?" Sun Wukong and his companions were naturally dissatisfied when they saw the Buddha directly kill King Nanshan.
The matter had only been half-investigated at this point, and it was still unclear whether Tang Monk had been eaten by the demon.
"Buddha, why did you do that? Now that you've killed the leopard demon, Tang Monk's whereabouts are unclear," the Jade Emperor was happy to see this outcome and took the opportunity to fan the flames.