Lu Bian and the Dog

This was the third time.

As the saying goes, there is a first and a second, but no third.

If he couldn't finish the job this third time, Lu Bian would truly be angry.

It took Lu Bian twenty-seven days to complete the third attempt at sculpting the statue of the Third Holy Mother.

When the stone statue of the Third Holy Mother was finished, no strange phenomena occurred, nor did any accidents happen on the spot like the previous two times; it seemed as if nothing had happened at all.

Lu Bian looked happily at the statue of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven standing to the side. The Great Sage is truly amazing!

Could he consider this a successful completion?

Lu Bian had someone go notify the old man to come over and inspect the work he had finished.

"Oh my!"

"Good, very good! Truly excellent!"

The old man who had been summoned circled the statue again and again, examining it carefully from front to back. He only looked, however; he didn't dare touch the statue with his hands.

"Are you satisfied?" Lu Bian asked the old man.

"Satisfied, more than satisfied!"

"Next, we just wait for the Holy Mother Temple to be completed," the old man said.

"Is the construction of the Holy Mother Temple going smoothly?" Lu Bian asked the old man with some curiosity.

He himself had spent three attempts just sculpting the statue of the Third Holy Mother; he imagined the Holy Mother Temple couldn't be easy to build either.

"We have encountered some trouble."

"But this old man believes they are all minor issues. If not this year, it will certainly be built by next year."

The old man did not tell Lu Bian what kind of trouble they had encountered in building the Holy Mother Temple, only repeating that it would be built.

Listening to the tone of the old man's voice, Lu Bian felt the trouble encountered was likely not small.

"Sigh, why is there another statue here?"

After finishing his inspection of the Third Holy Mother's statue, the old man was surprised to discover another imposing stone statue in the courtyard where Lu Bian worked.

"Who is this?"

"Could the master tell me?"

"What, you don't recognize him, old man? This is the Victorious Fighting Buddha."

"Victorious Fighting Buddha?"

"Oh, it's that Pilgrim Sun, the Great Sage Son Goku, who escorted Master Xuanzang to the Western Heaven to seek the scriptures and was eventually titled the Victorious Fighting Buddha!"

"Yes, yes, yes! That's him!"

"Hmm..." The old man pondered as he looked at the statue of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

"What aspect of the Victorious Fighting Buddha is this?"

"This is the Great Sage in full battle regalia during his Havoc in Heaven," Lu Bian said.

"No wonder he looks a bit fierce and unruly."

"I suppose so."

After the old man finished his inspection, he paid Lu Bian his full wages, then went off to supervise the construction of the Holy Mother Temple.

Having received his pay and made a tidy profit, Lu Bian immediately had his stubborn donkey carry the money to the best restaurant in Luzhou to enjoy a big meal.

After finishing a wonderful feast, Lu Bian even packed a roast chicken to serve as a late-night snack to satisfy his cravings.

"Honk..." The donkey let out a cry and stopped, refusing to move.

"You stupid donkey, why did you stop?"

Lu Bian slapped the donkey's rump, but the stubborn beast didn't budge.

"Huh? You're afraid just because a dog is blocking the road?"

"Honk..." The donkey turned its head and gave Lu Bian a look.

Lu Bian walked toward the dog blocking the path.

From a distance, the stray dog blocking the way didn't seem like much, but as Lu Bian drew closer, he realized it was a very large black dog.

The black dog's fur was sleek and shiny; at a glance, it was clearly not a stray.

"A dog?"

Lu Bian felt something was wrong.

The black dog began to growl at Lu Bian, baring its full set of fangs and assuming an attacking posture.

"Hmph!"

Lu Bian let out a cold snort, and at that very moment, the dog lunged at him.

"Damn dog, you look down on people, don't you!"

Lu Bian raised his fist and struck toward the large black dog.

Lu Bian's punching speed was fast, but the black dog's movements were even faster.

The large black dog nimbly dodged Lu Bian's punch and tackled him to the ground in one motion.

Only when he was pinned down by the black dog did Lu Bian realize how extraordinary it was; its strength was absurdly high.

"Woof, woof, woof~!!!"

"Witness the power of my Nine Heavens!!"

"What is wrong with this dog?!"

Summoning the power of Magnetic Rotation: 90,000 Horsepower, Lu Bian still could not shake the large black dog off his body.

The large black dog opened its maw and bit down on Lu Bian, tearing at him frantically, deliberately aiming to wound his hands.

"I know what kind of dog you are!"

"You're the Howling Celestial Dog raised by True Lord Erlang!!"

Lu Bian clearly saw a look of intelligence in the large black dog's eyes.

Meeting its gaze, the Howling Celestial Dog seemed to ask Lu Bian: so what if you know my identity?

Indeed, Lu Bian was currently pinned down by a dog, his hands bitten so deeply the wounds reached the bone, his very bones crushed by the bite.

The large black dog leaped off Lu Bian.

Blood gushed from Lu Bian's palms, his flesh mangled; they were already in a crippled state.

His body trembled from the excruciating pain as he stared fixedly at the Howling Celestial Dog.

"Today, I've been bullied by a dog."

"I, Lu Bian, am not even as good as a dog."

The black dog, Howling Celestial Dog, spat onto the ground, ejecting half of one of Lu Bian's fingers.

The Howling Celestial Dog watched Lu Bian for a moment, then suddenly bolted, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"..."

"By crippling my hands, you ensure I can no longer carve divine statues. Is that your intent? Erlang Shen?"

Lu Bian was truly angry.

He was furious!

But, aside from being angry, what else could he do?

"Just you wait."

"I will pay this back."

Lu Bian stanched the blood from his wounds and hurried toward the courtyard where he worked.

When Lu Bian entered the courtyard, the thing he had anticipated had indeed happened.

The third stone statue of the Third Holy Mother had been destroyed, and even the stone statue of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven had been ruined.

Lu Bian saw a dog's paw print on the ground; this time, it was the work of the Howling Celestial Dog.

Three strikes and you're out—Erlang Shen must have thought the same.

He did not act personally, but sent his dog instead.

"..."

Magnetic Rotation: 120,000 Horsepower!!

Amidst his suppressed rage, Lu Bian's magnetic power underwent a breakthrough; he now possessed the power of the Twelfth Heaven.

"But this amount of power..."

"It's still not enough."

Lu Bian muttered to himself.

Recalling the situation when he was tackled by the Howling Celestial Dog, his Ninth Heaven magnetic power had been completely useless against it; he had been pinned down and mauled like a toy.

"The wages must be returned."

Lu Bian said, wrapping his horrific hand injuries in cloth, and took his donkey to find the old man again.

The Third Holy Mother statue was destroyed, and he would not carve it again. He no longer wanted the money the old man had paid him to carve the statues.

Lu Bian was in the heat of his anger.

Seeing the wages only made him angrier.

"Even the Great Sage's statue was destroyed..."

"Is he truly not afraid of the Great Sage?"

"If he isn't afraid, then so be it."

"..."

Lu Bian understood.

One can pray to gods and Buddhas for a time, but one cannot pray to them forever.

In the end, a person must rely on themselves.