"I don't know, I've never seen them, and I didn't forge them."
Lord Lao flatly delivered three denials in a row, then added with keen interest, "I'd also very much like to know what fortuitous encounters those two little fellows have had."
"Hmm? Eldest Martial Uncle, are you saying someone else interfered with this trial?" Tathagata immediately seized on that crucial piece of information.
"That's probably the case."
Lord Lao nodded, neither confirming nor denying it.
But Tathagata knew perfectly well that, with so many unexpected incidents along the Journey to the West Road, it would be downright uncanny if no third party had interfered.
"Martial Uncle, do you think it was Yang Mei or Luo Hou?"
Naturally, Tathagata knew who the hidden figures behind this interference were.
"I don't know either. Take your time sounding them out yourselves. The Journey to the West has nothing to do with me," Laozi said leisurely, clearly intending to stay out of it.
However, the very fact that he had appeared here made that impossible.
Perhaps Lord Lao also wanted to use the various anomalies along the way to verify certain things?
Tathagata speculated. Those magic treasures with effects that defied common sense, for instance?
"Then, Martial Uncle, I may have to get serious with Golden Horn and the others next."
Tathagata did not press further. Saints had their own plans; his task was to ensure that the Journey to the West proceeded smoothly.
Right now, he merely wanted to ascertain Lord Lao's stance.
"There's no need to ask me. Arrange the affairs of your Western Lands yourself. When the time comes, I'll bring Golden Horn and Silver Horn back to the Heavenly Court."
Lord Lao readily made his position clear.
"Very well. Then, Martial Uncle, I shall take my leave and return