White Bone Demon

Watching their disciples and descendants rush about throughout the Three Realms.

Manjushri and Samantabhadra Bodhisattvas had never imagined that the two of them could cause such a huge problem.

The Buddhist Realm had nearly fallen into chaos.

As for the two of them, they were still buried underground.

By a twist of fate, they had used an earth-escape technique and fled straight out from beneath the mountain.

The moment they emerged, others immediately sensed them.

Lingji Bodhisattva, the Eighteen Arhats, and the Five Directions Guardians hurried over from different directions.

Nightfall.

At a graveyard, a man sat before a tomb, sorrowfully drinking himself numb.

Suddenly, the grave split open, and two dirt-covered men crawled out of the ground while carrying a somewhat decayed corpse.

"Ah... ghosts... save me..."

Cold sweat covered the man as he screamed, turned, and ran.

As for these two dirt-covered fellows, they were undoubtedly Little Manjushri and Old Samantabhadra.

At that moment, Lingji Bodhisattva also arrived.

Though the two were rather disheveled, they were at least unharmed. If anything had happened to them, Tathagata Buddha would have skinned him alive.

With a wave of his hand, he froze them in place.

They looked utterly ridiculous, still holding up that somewhat decayed corpse.

There was no time to worry about that. Taking them back was the priority.

This time, Lingji Bodhisattva was exceptionally cautious.

He was terrified that the two would disappear again.

Upon returning to Spirit Mountain, Lingji Bodhisattva immediately dropped to his knees. "Please forgive me, Buddha."

Tathagata Buddha's face darkened. "Lingji Bodhisattva, you have quite some nerve."

"Please forgive me, Buddha."

Lingji Bodhisattva knelt with utmost humility.

If one made a mistake, one had to admit it. If one took a beating, one had to stand firm.

"Hmph. You caused such a massive disaster. Do you think a mere apology is enough?"

Tathagata Buddha snorted, then said, "Hand it over."

"Huh?" Lingji Bodhisattva was bewildered, unsure what he was supposed to hand over. But when he saw Tathagata Buddha's expression, he instantly understood.

Heart aching, he took out a pack of cigarettes and respectfully offered it up.

Tathagata Buddha gave an arrogant snort. At least the brat knew how to behave.

As for Manjushri and Samantabhadra Bodhisattvas, let them stay frozen for now. There was no other way.

They had already embarrassed themselves enough.

Several days later.

The Nine-Colored Bewitching Flower lost its effect.

Tathagata Buddha personally gave the two Bodhisattvas a thorough whipping, then rewarded Lingji Bodhisattva with a hard slap across the face.

The two Bodhisattvas naturally understood what had happened and remembered everything.

Their cheeks burned with shame.

It was far too embarrassing.

They had disgraced themselves across all Three Realms.

But the two friends were baffled as to how they had fallen victim to it. The only thing they knew was that Guanyin Bodhisattva had cried out in alarm and fled, leaving them behind to die without lifting a finger to help.

This made the two Bodhisattvas even more displeased with Guanyin Bodhisattva.

After beating them all, Tathagata Buddha could not help shaking his hand. It had gone a little numb from all the hitting.

"Little Manjushri, go to Mount Putuo of the South Sea and see how Venerable Guanyin is doing."

Venerable Guanyin had run quickly at the time, but she had still been affected somewhat by the Nine-Colored Bewitching Flower.

Moreover, she had not returned to Spirit Mountain for so many days, so Tathagata Buddha intended to send Manjushri Bodhisattva to check on her.

"If she is fine, she still needs to keep a close watch over the Journey to the West party and accompany them at all times. As for you, Old Samantabhadra, go to the underworld, bring back Zhu Bajie's soul, and revive him."

Tathagata Buddha sat upon his lotus throne with a cigarette in his mouth.

Smoke curled upward, making his eyes narrow slightly from the sting.

At that moment, he looked profoundly unfathomable.

"We obey Buddha's decree."

After accepting Buddha's decree, the two hurried away.

Mount Putuo of the South Sea.

Guanyin Bodhisattva had indeed run quickly at the time, but she had been affected somewhat, and from time to time she still fell into illusions from which she struggled to free herself.

However, this was her territory. No matter what she did here, there should not be so many people paying attention.

As the Nine-Colored Bewitching Flower vanished, Guanyin Bodhisattva felt that she was finished.

Her state of mind had developed a major problem. If it was not resolved, she would likely remain stuck where she was for the rest of her life, with no chance of breaking through to the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm.

Only the person who tied the knot could untie it.

Naturally, Tang Sanzang was the only one who could solve this problem.

A flash of light streaked across the sky as Manjushri Bodhisattva appeared. He did not look kindly upon Guanyin Bodhisattva.

"Buddha said that if you are fine, you still need to keep watch over the Journey to the West party."

She naturally sensed the resentment in his words, but what else could Guanyin Bodhisattva have done then? It was already fortunate enough that she had managed to escape herself.

If she had called out to those two, Guanyin Bodhisattva absolutely believed that she would have gone mad alongside them.

"Mm. I understand."

Guanyin Bodhisattva responded. She now felt somewhat afraid of the scripture-seeking party.

She had originally believed that such a good assignment falling into her hands was an honor.

But apparently, that was not the case. She even felt like quitting.

The Journey to the West was already underway. Having come this far, it was impossible for her to abandon it.

Buddha would not agree to it either.

And she also had to find a way to resolve the problem with her state of mind.

Otherwise, she would truly be finished.

After delivering the message, Manjushri Bodhisattva snorted and left directly, unwilling to linger there any longer.

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva revived Zhu Bajie without saying much, then immediately sent him back down to Tang Yu's side.

In truth, Tathagata Buddha had also wanted to give Zhu Bajie a beating, but Zhu Bajie had not yet become a Buddha and was not his subordinate. How could he just strike him whenever he wanted?

Still, Tathagata Buddha had recorded it all in his little notebook. Just wait until you get to Spirit Mountain and become a Buddha or something. Let's see if I don't beat you then.

Tang Yu and his group still had not set out, waiting for Zhu Bajie's return.

When they saw the long-absent Er Daizi return, they hurriedly asked him about it.

"Er Daizi, are you alright?"

Zhu Bajie grinned smugly. "This Old Pig flew up to Western Heaven, tore through Spirit Mountain's treasure vault, and even fought Tathagata Buddha."

He began boasting wildly. If one did not know the truth, it would have been easy to believe him.

But Tang Yu had already learned what happened through the system.

What he said was indeed true: he had fought Tathagata Buddha, only to be slapped to death in a single blow.

And he still had the nerve to brag.

Sun Wukong and Sha Wujing, meanwhile, treated everything he said as utter nonsense.

What bullshit. Sun Wukong had the highest combat power here, yet Tathagata Buddha had effortlessly pinned him beneath Five Finger Mountain.

And you, Zhu Bajie, fought Buddha?

Give me a break.

White Bone Ridge.

White Bone Cave.

This was a naturally formed cave dwelling. It had originally been uninhabited, but now there were several more demons within it.

The White Bone Demon, also known as Bai Jingjing.

She did not know why she was here. It seemed that ever since she had memories, she had always been here.

In the depths of her heart, she felt that she had lost something as well, but she did not know what it was.