"Hm?"
On the muddy path, Brahma Tathagata stopped abruptly. Dressed in plain robes, he looked up into the void, his brow furrowed and his eyes clouded with uncertainty.
Suddenly—
He raised a hand and gently closed it.
Several Chaotic Thoughts were caught in the monk's grasp.
They leaped and writhed like worms and snakes, even trying to burrow into his body and taint his mind!
"Wicked! This is too wicked!"
Brahma Tathagata's face grew grave.
"What happened inside the Buddha Land? Why have so many Thoughts of Chaos appeared all at once? They're even trying to taint me and throw my Buddha heart into disarray!"
"Monk, what're you doing?"
Little Pig's voice suddenly came from beside him.
Brahma Tathagata turned toward the sound.
Little Beast was flying crookedly on six beating wings, carrying Little Pig on its back, while Little Turtle perched atop Little Pig's head.
These two friends of Little Pig's had inexplicably vanished for several days after arriving at the Eastern Sea. Only after Chen Cuo had left, matters in the Eastern Sea had settled, Old Dragon King and Old Turtle's party had returned, and the cultivators throughout the Sea had resumed their places did the two little creatures reappear.
But when Little Pig asked where they had been, neither could give a clear answer. All he got was "chitter-chitter" and "ya-ya-ya." Even though he could make out a little, the rest left him lost in clouds and fog. In the end, he simply stopped asking.
Now that the monk traveling with them had suddenly looked troubled and slowed the group down, Little Pig could not help asking.
Brahma Tathagata gathered his thoughts, said it was nothing, and caught up with them.
Little Dragon Lady, walking beside Little Pig, gave the monk a puzzled glance. But she soon