Bajie scratched his head and said, "So, from what you're saying, it really pulled it off. Those Rakshasa Women were all being led around by the nose, their resentment growing heavier and heavier, making it stronger and stronger. Once they all died off, this place would belong to it?"
Guanyin, however, shook her head gently.
"If everything could truly go as it wished, the Great Kalpa would be no tribulation at all."
Bajie froze, and Wukong raised his head as well.
Guanyin continued slowly, "Once a tribulation begins, all living beings are caught within it. Even immortals and Buddhas must suffer its influence once they enter it, and demons are no exception."
"That demon manifested through the Great Kalpa, and Kalpa Qi already clung to it at the moment of its manifestation. Later, it used that aura as a veil to evade the vajra guardians and me."
"But once caught in the tribulation, how could everything go as it wished?"
Wukong grinned and chuckled twice. "Now that's more like it. This Great Kalpa puts us through hell every time. Why should a demon get smooth sailing and everything its heart desires?"
Bajie immediately perked up too. "Bodhisattva, did something go wrong afterward?"
Guanyin nodded. "At first, there was nothing unusual."
"According to the demon's original plan, as more and more people died without anyone truly returning, they would naturally direct all their hatred toward Lodikalang and rise up against her."
Guanyin said, "At that point, it intended to wait until those Rakshasa Women lost control completely before releasing its hold over Lodikalang. Lodikalang would remember everything she had done-that she herself had led the entire Rakshasa Woman Kingdom down a road to ruin."
"If she died at her people's hands, her resentment would naturally far exceed theirs."
"If she survived,