Confession

"What would you like to discuss, fellow Daoist?" Yang Jian asked Richard after sitting down.

He was curious to know what this man could talk to him about.

"Does the True Lord know that someone is plotting against the Third Holy Mother?" Richard immediately unleashed his ultimate move.

"Who? Who wants to scheme against my third sister?" Yang Jian wasn't entirely convinced. Given his position in Heavenly Court, which had offended many, it was normal for someone to harbor resentment, but would they dare to retaliate against him?

It wasn't that he looked down on the gods and immortals of Heavenly Court; they might not even have had the guts.

Richard had no idea what Yang Chan was thinking; why wasn't she telling Yang Jian about such a big matter?

You think you can handle it all by yourself? You can't, and in the end you'll just end up hurting your brother.

It would be better to tell Yang Jian sooner rather than later. It's better to take advantage of your brother than to cause him trouble, right? It's not like Yang Jian is forbidding him from taking advantage of you.

Now he finally understood why a single misunderstanding in those TV dramas from his past life could be dragged out for eight hundred episodes.

It turns out there are quite a few mute people in this world. They have a mouth, but they don't know when to speak, right?

The best solution to this problem is to tell Yang Jian, right? It would be much better for him, a high-ranking official of Heavenly Court, to investigate this matter than for Yang Chan to be forced to passively defend herself.

There's no such thing as being able to guard against wolves for a thousand days straight.

"Fellow Daoist—" Yang Chan sighed helplessly. Richard spoke too quickly; she didn't even have time to stop him. How could he have told her second brother about this?

She originally intended to handle it herself, so as not to trouble her second brother.

"You're thinking too simply. Do you think ignoring Liu Yanchang will solve everything? But will it necessarily be Liu Yanchang then? Can't you just switch to someone else? When the Karma Law become intertwined and lust arises, can you control it?" Richard said.

Seeing Yang Jian's blank expression, he simply projected the general plot of The Lotus Lantern onto Yang Jian's screen, allowing him to quickly go through it.

"Impossible! How could Third Sister have an affair with a mortal? And even get married and have children?" Yang Jian exclaimed in disbelief.

She knew all too well the consequences of a love affair between a celestial being and a mortal. For example, wasn't her mother imprisoned under Peach Mountain for violating heavenly rules by falling in love with a mortal?

His third sister knows how much effort he went through to rescue their mother back then; how could she dare to do it again?

So he suspected that this guy might have put on a fake image to fool him?

"Don't be anxious, True Lord. This is just one possibility for the future," Richard told Yang Jian, trying to calm him down.

"So, isn't this a consultation with the True Lord? Let's be clear first, the Third Holy Mother wouldn't be foolish enough to knowingly violate the Heavenly Court Rules and Precepts, right?"

"If this still happened even though the Third Holy Mother wouldn't have done it knowingly, does that mean someone was trying to scheme against Third Holy Mother?"

"Does the True Lord know which powerful beings in your world are skilled in the Dao of Karma Law or the Dao of Passion?" Richard asked.

Yang Jian frowned. "Fellow Daoist, do you mean there's a powerful expert skilled in this area at work? That's not impossible."

"Second brother, tell me, I want to know too," Yang Chan said.

As for the Howling Celestial Dog, he was almost numb; how could he possibly listen to that? He quickly got up and ran out to guard the gate.

I'm not listening anymore. If I keep listening, my owner might want to eat dog meat hot pot when I get back.

Yang Jian merely glanced at him indifferently and did not stop him. After he left, he even set up a soundproof barrier to prevent what was to come from being transmitted.

There are too many powerful beings in the Three Realms. Supernatural abilities such as Clairvoyant and Clairaudient are essential for them. It's best to be careful.

"There are countless immortals and gods who are skilled in the art of Karma Law. Every immortal and god who has achieved success in cultivation knows a little bit about it."

But if we're talking about what they excel at most, it's the Buddhism that they're better at.

"The path of lust, that's rather obscure. In the Heavenly Court, the ones who are more skilled in this are Su Nu and Yue Lao." Yang Jian glanced helplessly at Yang Chan. He had no idea that his sister was hiding such a huge problem, so he could only try his best to analyze it first.

Let's see if someone is really plotting against our girl.

"Isn't the Joyous Buddha skilled in the ways of desire?" Richard asked.

"Where did you learn, fellow practitioner, that the Joyous Buddha is skilled in the path of desire? That is prejudice."

The word "joy" refers to the joy of Dharma and liberation, not the joy of worldly desires.

The dual-bodied form of the Joyous Buddha symbolizes skillful means (male) and wisdom (female), not worldly union. Yang Jian glanced at him curiously, but considering his status as an outsider, he wasn't surprised.

Otherwise, he'd think this guy is ignorant and incompetent; isn't that common sense?

"Okay, I see." Richard said, suddenly understanding.

There was nothing he could do; nine out of ten fanfictions he'd read portrayed Buddhism as the main villain, and he'd gotten used to it.

The Joyous Buddha of Bliss was particularly targeted and vilified.

Unexpectedly, this "Joyous Buddha" is actually a serious Buddha; he's been unfairly maligned.

Judging from the original ending of the Lotus Lantern, the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother of the West were the biggest losers, and the Heavenly Court's prestige was greatly damaged.

The Buddhism emerged as the biggest winner. The Demon Race also seemed to have profited, otherwise they wouldn't have been so eager to fight against the Heavenly Court alongside Chen Xiang.

According to conspiracy theories, whoever benefits the most is the most suspicious, and of course, the Buddhism is the most suspicious.

Besides, didn't Yang Jian also say that powerful figures in Buddhism are particularly adept at the Karma Law?

"Does fellow Daoist suspect that the Buddhism is behind this sabotage against Third Sister?" Yang Jian asked.

"Is it impossible?" Richard countered.

Yang Jian remained silent, though it couldn't be said that he had absolutely no response.

If that's the case, then the conspiracy behind it is much deeper.

Was there anyone behind his mother's sudden love for a mortal? Was there anyone behind the Seven Fairies ' yearning for mortal life?

Why do those around His Majesty and His Majesty always seem to get into trouble? And are they all involved in illicit affairs between immortals and mortals?

This is something I shouldn't think about too much. The more I think about it, the more I feel it's a huge whirlpool that will eventually bury everyone.

But if it's the Buddhism sect, it's much more troublesome than those in the Heavenly Court who cause trouble because they don't like them.

He didn't know how to resolve it. It involved a power struggle between Buddhism and the Heavenly Court, a struggle for dominance in the Three Realms, which was beyond his control.

I wonder if His Majesty and the Empress have noticed this matter?

If that doesn't work, reporting the matter to higher authorities is also a possible solution. If you can't resolve it yourself, you can try asking His Majesty and the Empress to help.

No, that's just a possibility for the future; there's no evidence.

What I fear even more is that His Majesty and the Empress will use Third Sister as bait to lure out those people hiding in the shadows. At that point, they might not care about Third Sister's feelings at all.

Yang Jian was filled with countless thoughts, yet he didn't know how to proceed.

"Do you know the exact time of what just happened?" he asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, I only know a general timeframe. It's been almost five hundred years since the end of Journey to the West, hasn't it? I reckon it'll be soon," Richard said.

In the past few days, Yang Chan has also taken him to explore the area around Mount Hua and visit the mortal city. The mortal dynasty seems to have arrived at the Northern Song Dynasty.

"Five hundred years after the end of Journey to the West?" Yang Jian remembered this time point and silently calculated in his mind. According to mortal time, five hundred years have passed since the end of Journey to the West.