"Your Majesty."
Xuanzang spoke, his voice somewhat low, carrying an anxiety he could not conceal:
"This humble monk would like to ask... was my eldest disciple injured in the eyes?"
The Yellow Wind Monster froze. He had not expected this monk to ask about that rather than beg for mercy with death staring him in the face.
"Hmph, that monkey may be tough, but my Samadhi Divine Wind carries countless grains of golden sand. Even an indestructible diamond body would lose a layer of skin."
The Yellow Wind Monster sneered.
"He took my attack head-on. If he isn't blind by now, he's half crippled. As for that pighead, he's probably been blown hundreds of miles away to feed the wolves."
For once, Xuanzang's expression changed. He closed his eyes and said nothing more.
Seeing him like this, Great King Yellow Wind assumed he had been scared witless and lost interest.
"Little ones! Watch him! I'll rest in the rear chamber awhile. Tonight, wash and skin this monk, then steam him for his meat!"
With that, Great King Yellow Wind thumped his Steel Fork against the ground and turned toward the inner cave. Several lesser demons gathered around the Wind-Suppressing Pillar, laughing and joking. Some were sharpening their blades, producing a grating noise.
"Amitabha Buddha."
Xuanzang drew a deep breath and pressed his palms together before his chest.
"When Guanyin Bodhisattva practiced the profound Prajnaparamita..."
His voice was exceedingly soft, untouched by worldly smoke or the slightest intent to kill, like a clear spring flowing through the foul demon cave.
As Xuanzang began chanting, the two halos, one red and one blue-green, revolved in turn behind his head.
"Seeing the Five Aggregates as Empty, Delivering All from Suffering..."
The lesser demons who had been clamoring suddenly felt their eyelids grow as heavy as a thousand pounds.
Clang.
A steel blade slipped from one demon's hand. He scratched his head blankly and leaned against a stone pillar, his gaze turning dull and docile.
Then whole groups of lesser demons lowered their weapons. The vicious gleam faded from their eyes, leaving them dazed, as though they had forgotten where they were or why they wanted to kill.
Meanwhile, the Red-Blood Buddha Wheel slowly turned.
Mountains of corpses and seas of blood reflected in Xuanzang's eyes.
This time, he saw not only the devastation of the Sihali Kingdom, but also a solitary figure.
Within that blood-red vision, Xuanzang saw a human king clad in golden chain mail, standing in despair atop the city wall before the all-devouring Buddha-Head Monster Insect.
"Enough!"
The furious shout exploded like thunder.
Great King Yellow Wind slammed his palm against his armrest. A withered-yellow gale sprang out of thin air, scattering every trace of Buddhist light approaching him.
Not only had he failed to fall asleep, his eyes were wide open, his golden pupils filled with fury and brutality.
"Monk, put away those tricks of yours that bewitch people's hearts!"
Great King Yellow Wind rose and strode up to Xuanzang, pointing the Steel Fork straight at his throat:
"You think your paltry cultivation can deliver this king? You underestimate me!"
Xuanzang slowly opened his eyes and stopped chanting.
The two halos gradually vanished, but the compassion in his eyes deepened, as though he had seen through that yellow-furred hide to the soul imprisoned within.
"Your Majesty's cultivation is profound."
Xuanzang looked at the demon king before him, bristling with murderous intent, and said calmly, "This humble monk merely... heard what was in your heart."
"Shut up!"
Like someone whose tail had been trodden on, Great King Yellow Wind thrust the Steel Fork forward. Its sharp tip pierced the skin of Xuanzang's neck, and a thin stream of blood trickled down.
"Stop playing mystic with me!"
Ignoring the stinging pain in his neck, Xuanzang looked straight into Great King Yellow Wind's frenzied eyes:
"Your Majesty, when you stood alone atop the city wall, beating the drum to drive away the insect, yet watched the people you once protected turn into rats in their despair... were you laughing in your heart, or crying?"
Great King Yellow Wind's hand jerked.
For an instant, the uncanny golden light in his eyes scattered, revealing the pain and desolation buried deep beneath it.
Xuanzang said softly, "The king of the Sihali Kingdom disappeared, and Great King Yellow Wind took his place."
A deathly silence filled the cave.
After a long while, Great King Yellow Wind slowly withdrew his Steel Fork. But the killing intent in his eyes did not fade; it grew deeper and darker.
"You know too much."
He turned his back on Xuanzang, his voice icy:
"I intended to let you live a few more hours. Now it seems you're eager to meet the Buddha."
"Your Majesty, this humble monk cannot die yet."
Xuanzang straightened his collar, his tone still steady.
"My disciple is injured."
Xuanzang abruptly changed the subject, a trace of urgency and concern entering his voice:
"If he isn't treated promptly, he may lose his sight. He is my disciple. I cannot abandon him."
Great King Yellow Wind turned around and looked at Xuanzang as though he were a fool:
"So? You want me to give you medicine? Or let you go?"
As though he had heard the funniest joke in the world, he threw back his head and laughed, his laughter full of mockery:
"Ha! Has chanting rotted your brain? You're my prisoner now! Meat on the chopping block! What right do you have to make demands?"
"Because-if this humble monk leaves and never returns, you win."
Xuanzang's voice was not loud, but every word rang clear and firm, cutting through the demon king's wild laughter.
Great King Yellow Wind's laughter stopped abruptly. He narrowed his eyes. "What did you say?"
"Your Majesty became what you are today because you believe you were betrayed. You believe there is no true compassion in this world, only self-interest and deception."
Xuanzang stepped forward, his gaze blazing. "You hate the Buddha, but you hate yourself even more."
"Let us make a bet."
Xuanzang pointed outside the cave:
"Let me go and treat my disciple's eyes. Before sunset, this humble monk will return."
"Ha?" Great King Yellow Wind scoffed, his face full of disdain. "Let you go? If you never come back, or bring reinforcements to destroy me, wouldn't this king become the laughingstock of the Three Realms? Why should I trust you?"
"Because if I fail to return, or do as you say, it will prove you right."
Xuanzang looked straight at Great King Yellow Wind, without the slightest evasion in his eyes:
"If this humble monk flees, it will prove that the Pilgrim chosen by the gods and Buddhas is merely a coward who clings to life and fears death, that this supposed holy Buddhist monk is nothing but a fraud who deceives the world and steals its praise, just as you said."
"Then your centuries of degradation, pain, and resentment will have a justification."
"Wouldn't being right give you greater satisfaction than eating a piece of my flesh?"
The smile froze on Great King Yellow Wind's face.
He stared fixedly at Xuanzang.
If the monk before him truly fled, it would be the greatest humiliation for Spirit Mountain and the greatest solace for himself.
"And if you return?" Great King Yellow Wind asked hoarsely.
"If this humble monk returns."
Xuanzang pressed his palms together, his expression solemn. "Then, Your Majesty, would you be willing to hear me recite one entire sutra?"
Great King Yellow Wind fell silent.
The air inside the cave seemed to freeze.
He looked at this monk, who lacked even the strength to truss a chicken, yet dared to gamble with his life.
A long while passed.
Suddenly, Great King Yellow Wind grinned, baring his sinister fangs. His smile held a measure of madness, a measure of anticipation, and a measure of a gambler staking everything on one last throw.
"Fine!"
"Now that's interesting!"
Great King Yellow Wind swept his broad sleeve toward the cave entrance, his golden armor flashing coldly in the gloom:
"Get out!"
"Before sunset!"
He pointed at the sun outside, already beginning its westward descent, his tone chilling:
"If you haven't appeared at this cave entrance before sunset, I'll be delighted, but I'll hunt you down. You'd better pray to the gods and Buddhas every day that I never find you, because I'll tear you apart, piece by piece!"
"If you return, I'll be even happier. I'll honor the bet and hear your sutra through, but afterward, I'll swallow you at once. Believe me."
"I'll trample that hypocritical face of your Buddhism beneath my feet and spit on it for all eternity!"
"You have my word."
Xuanzang gave Great King Yellow Wind a long, deep look and said not another word.
He turned and walked toward the mouth of the cave with resolute steps.
Behind him, Great King Yellow Wind slumped into his tiger-skin chair. Watching that retreating figure, a complicated look in his golden pupils, he murmured to himself.
"Will you come back?"
"Or will you be like those gods and Buddhas back then... gone, never to return?"
Before you continue