You Won

High above the clouds, Taibai Jinxing rode an auspicious cloud.

"Chaos! Everything's in chaos!"

Old Li stamped his feet in fury. "That Pilgrim has truly lost his mind! A bodhisattva was ready to help, and he wouldn't ask! A treasure could subdue the monster, and he wouldn't use it! He insists on feeding himself to that demon instead! If he gets swallowed whole, how am I supposed to answer to the Jade Emperor?!"

As he grumbled, auspicious light blazed ahead.

Guanyin Bodhisattva of the South Sea came sweeping through the sky, standing on the Lotus Pedestal, her expression grave.

Beside her followed a venerable figure wearing a Five-Buddha Crown and strings of jeweled ornaments, holding a gleaming golden Flying Dragon Staff-it was Lingji Bodhisattva of Lesser Mount Sumeru.

Overjoyed, Taibai Jinxing hurried forward and bowed:

"Great One! Great One, you've finally come! That Pilgrim of yours... he... he's throwing his life away!"

Guanyin Bodhisattva halted her cloud. Her gaze pierced the cloud cover and settled on Yellow Wind Ridge, and she sighed softly:

"Do not be anxious, Jinxing. I already know."

Taibai Jinxing froze. "You know?"

Guanyin nodded slightly. "Ao Lie just sent word to me through a secret art of the Dragon Tribe. He said Xuanzang had refused Lingji Bodhisattva's aid and insisted on returning to the cave to keep his appointment."

"I knew then that something had changed, so I urgently invited Venerable Lingji to accompany me."

Beside her, Lingji Bodhisattva's brows were tightly knitted, and the Flying Dragon Staff trembled faintly in his hand.

Guanyin Bodhisattva said, "Do not rush to intervene. Sanzang has become an unpredictable factor. First, watch how this trial unfolds with me, then we will decide."

Outside Yellow Wind Cave.

The last glow of sunset was about to be swallowed. The sole remaining thread of light between heaven and earth shone on Great King Yellow Wind's yellow-furred face, at once ferocious and desolate.

He had already raised the Steel Fork in his hand, and the last trace of hope in his eyes was slowly cooling.

"Liars... all liars..."

He murmured under his breath. Behind him, the demonic wind began to howl-the prelude to the slaughter he was preparing to unleash.

Just then-

"ROAR!!"

A tiger's roar tore through the air.

Great King Yellow Wind abruptly looked up.

Amid the raging wind, A-Hu folded its wings and landed heavily on the rocky ground before the cave, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Xuanzang climbed down from the tiger's back and straightened his wind-tossed robes.

His face was calm, without the slightest fear.

Behind him, a streak of golden light arrived close on his heels.

Sun Wukong lowered his cloud, holding the Golden Cudgel across his chest, his Fiery Golden Eyes fixed fiercely on the Yellow Wind Monster.

Though his face was full of anger, he still obeyed Xuanzang's instructions and forcibly suppressed the urge to attack, standing half a step behind Xuanzang like a guardian god at a doorway.

Xuanzang raised his head and looked at Great King Yellow Wind on the high platform.

"Your Majesty."

Xuanzang's voice rang clear above the wind:

"This humble monk has returned before sunset."

The Steel Fork fell from Great King Yellow Wind's hand with a clang.

He stared blankly at Xuanzang, his golden pupils contracting sharply, as though he had witnessed some inconceivable miracle.

"You... really came back?"

"A monk does not lie."

Xuanzang stepped forward, every footfall utterly steady.

"This humble monk has returned." Xuanzang stopped before him and pressed his palms together in greeting.

"Now it is Your Majesty's turn to honor your promise and hear this humble monk finish this sutra."

Great King Yellow Wind looked at him, then suddenly laughed.

"You won... you won."

He waved a hand, turned into the cave, and dismissed the bewildered lesser demons around him. His voice was hoarse:

"Come, then. Let me hear what scripture you, the victor, intend to use to deliver me."

Inside Yellow Wind Cave.

Great King Yellow Wind slumped in his tiger-skin chair, supporting his head with one hand as he stared at Xuanzang, seemingly considering how to eat him later-or pondering things he had never anticipated.

Sun Wukong continued to watch Great King Yellow Wind warily, guarding against an attack.

Xuanzang sat cross-legged on the rubble-strewn ground and calmly looked up at Great King Yellow Wind.

Behind his head, the [Red-Blood Buddha Wheel] slowly revolved. The figure on the seat seemed to have become that golden-armored monarch once more.

Xuanzang began to speak.

It was the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's Fundamental Vows Sutra.

"Thus have I heard. At one time, the Buddha was in Trayastrimsha Heaven, preaching the Dharma for his mother..."

Xuanzang did not pause. As the scripture flowed, the crimson wheel of light behind him grew ever more vivid, as though a red lotus were blooming amid karmic flames.

"...Should any sentient being be unfilial toward their parents, or even kill them, they shall fall into Avici Hell, with no hope of release for thousands of millions of kalpas..."

"...Should any sentient being falsely pose as a monk, without a monk's heart, squander the monastery's property, deceive the laity, violate the precepts, and commit all manner of evil, such beings shall fall into Avici Hell..."

"...Again, inconceivable asamkhya kalpas ago, there was a Buddha named Tathagata King of Enlightenment-Flower Samadhi Sovereignty... During the age of semblance Dharma, there was a Brahmin Woman whose accumulated blessings were profound. All admired and respected her, and heavenly beings protected her whether she walked, stood, sat, or lay down. Her mother held false beliefs and often slighted the Three Jewels."

"When her mother died, she fell into Avici Hell."

"Enough..." Great King Yellow Wind clutched his head and growled in anguish. "Have you come to judge me? To tell me I'm going to hell again? The life I live now... isn't it already hell?!"

Xuanzang lifted his eyes and looked at Great King Yellow Wind:

"To save her mother, the Brahmin Woman sold her home, sought incense and flowers far and wide, and made abundant offerings at the Buddha's stupas and temples. So devotedly did she invoke the Buddha that her soul traveled to hell, where she met the ghost king Wudu. The ghost king said, 'It has now been three days since the sinful woman Yuedili was reborn in heaven. It is said that her filial child made offerings and cultivated merit for her mother at the local Sangharama...'"

As Great King Yellow Wind listened, his body began to tremble.

"The Brahmin Woman..."

He gave a wretched laugh, his voice rasping.

"But the Brahmin Woman saved her mother. Who will save me? Who can save my people? Turning them into rats, neither human nor ghost-does that count as salvation?"

He suddenly raised his head, a century of pent-up grief and fury erupting in his eyes:

"Holy Monk! I was wrong! I should never have eradicated Buddhism or smashed the temples! Those were my sins! But my people were innocent!"

"They yearned for the Buddha's teachings! Yet merely because of my wrongdoing, man-eating monsters burrowed out of the earth! I couldn't stop them!"

"If there must be punishment, let it fall on me! Why devour my people? Why drive them to become rats just to cling to life?!"

"Holy Monk, is this what your Buddhism calls karmic retribution? Whatever the punishment, just punish me! I'll accept it! Let me fall into the Eighteen Levels of Hell, never to be reborn-it has nothing to do with my people!"

Growing more agitated with every word, Great King Yellow Wind rushed down, seized Xuanzang, hauled him up, and roared at him.

Sun Wukong moved to intervene, but Xuanzang stopped him with a look.

"You say your Buddhism is compassionate-is this your compassion? Tell me!"

"I've admitted my wrongs! Can you tell me how to save them? Will killing me let them live?"

"Please, you're a holy monk. Save them. I can die-please save them!"

He abruptly threw himself to the ground, clung tightly to Xuanzang's legs, and began to sob with heart-rending anguish.

At the sight, Xuanzang slowly closed his eyes and pressed his palms together.

"If I do not enter hell, who will?"

"Amitabha Buddha."

A sigh seemed to descend from the highest heavens.

The voice was not loud, yet it instantly silenced every other sound.

Auspicious clouds unfurled, trailing a thousand streams of blessed radiance.

Guanyin Bodhisattva stood upon the Lotus Pedestal, her expression compassionate.

Beside her, Lingji Bodhisattva held the Flying Dragon Staff, his face solemn. Yet his once-perfect sacred form now seemed inexplicably insubstantial, as though something were missing above his neck.

Lingji Bodhisattva lowered his cloud. He did not attack, merely gazed at Great King Yellow Wind with a complicated expression:

"Do you know that you have hated the wrong target, and trusted the wrong person?"