Demon-slaying at Lion Camel Ridge (XXI)

Meanwhile, the Golden-Winged Great Peng, acting on Ao Tu's orders, soared through the sky, joyfully coming to devour people.

There, spirits gathered in great numbers, their activities novel and varied. Some flew in the air, others walked on the ground; all sorts of beings, varying in size and build, numbering about a hundred.

The Golden-Winged Great Peng laughed and swooped down, grabbed a Yaksha, and ate it.

The other Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons were terrified at the sight and fled in panic.

The Golden-Winged Great Peng chased after them, unhurried, occasionally swooping down to snatch one person at a time. In no time, about ten people had been eaten.

Great Brahma King, riding a swan and following behind the Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons, saw this scene and recognized that the Golden-Winged Great Peng was Tathagata the Buddha's disciples. He was furious, and his five heads each displayed one of the five emotions: wrath, anger, rage, fury, and rage.

His Mount mount cried out and flew over, spreading its enormous white wings like a canopy in the Heaven, protecting the Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons who were scattering and fleeing.

When the Golden-Winged Great Peng saw it, it recognized it as Great Brahma King Mount. But the Golden-Winged Great Peng was always arrogant, and even knowing that Great Brahma King had come, it was unwilling to back down easily. With a strange cry, it pounced with its claws to grab the swan.

The swan flapped its left wing, creating Gale that sent the Golden-Winged Great Peng flying backward.

The Golden-Winged Great Peng has returned.

The swan flapped its right wing, creating Gale that sent the Golden-Winged Great Peng flying backward.

Using the wind, the Golden-Winged Great Peng circled back, then swooped down again, its Steel Claws gripping and tearing four strands of down from the swan's head.

Enraged by this, Great Brahma King threw the Sacred Pot at the head of the Golden-Winged Great Peng, knocking Golden-Winged Great Peng to the ground.

Golden-Winged Great Peng then covered his head and fled back to Lion Camel City.

Great Brahma King knew that the Golden-Winged Great Peng was acting under someone's orders, so he didn't bother to chase after it. Instead, he had the swan carry the remaining Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons in its mouth and return to Spirit Mountain to seek an explanation Tathagata the Buddha.

In a short while, they arrived at Spirit Mountain.

The swan spat out the Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons.

The Great Brahma King, "You will all come with me to the Precious Hall and serve as witnesses!"

Having narrowly escaped death, the members of the Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons readily agreed.

Just as Great Brahma King was about to lead his people inside, he was stopped.

It turned out that the old Bhikshu Monk at the entrance was holding a string of tattered Buddhist Prayer Beads and had stopped the crowd.

The old Bhikshu Monk, "Great Brahma King, I've lived here for a long time. Let me give you a piece of advice: don't go against Shakyamuni. He's not someone to be trifled with!"

Great Brahma King, retorted angrily, "Where are you from, you old monk? How dare you interfere with me!"

With that, he pushed the old Bhikshu Monk aside and led the group inside.

Upon arriving at the Precious Hall, the Tathagata Buddha was already waiting on the Lotus Throne.

The Great Brahma King, "Tathagata! Your Golden-Winged Great Peng has devoured my Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons, what is your punishment!"

The Tathagata Buddha said, "I know nothing about this matter. When was it eaten?"

The Great Brahma King, "Still dare to deny it! He ate all Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons! Their corpses are piled up all over the ground. If I hadn't been secretly following them, he would have eaten the rest of them too!"

Upon hearing this, all the Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons came forward to testify, recounting the ferocity and madness of the Golden-Winged Great Peng before the the Monks.

The Tathagata Buddha said, "Since it is indeed the Golden-Winged Great Peng who committed the evil, I will not tolerate it. That Great Golden-Winged Great Peng is the younger brother of the Mahamayuri Bodhisattva. Great Brahma King, I trouble you to go to the Snow Mountain and ask the Mahamayuri Bodhisattva to subdue the Golden-Winged Great Peng and bring him back to Spirit Mountain, where I will punish him severely according to the Precepts."

The Great Brahma King was somewhat satisfied with what he heard and said:

"That's more like it. But Tathagata, once we capture that Golden-Winged Great Peng, you can't be biased!"

The Tathagata Buddha laughed and said, "Never protect your own! Never protect your own!"

Satisfied, Great Brahma King departed and rode a swan to the Snow Mountain to find the Mahamayuri Bodhisattva. Halfway there, however, he remembered that the Peacock King had a bad reputation and feared that he might not readily admit his guilt. So he turned back and took the Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons with him as witnesses.

Before long, they arrived at the Snow Mountain.

Great Brahma King ascended to the mountaintop and saw the Mahamayuri Bodhisattva, who was practicing meditation, and questioned him:

"Peacock, your brother, the Golden-Winged Great Peng, devoured my Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons. What is his punishment?"

Upon hearing this, the Mahamayuri Bodhisattva opened his eyes and asked:

"What crime has he committed by eating a few people?"

The Great Brahma King angrily retorted, "It would be one thing if you ate Mortal, but to eat my Western Heaven deities, isn't that a sin too!"

The Mahamayuri Bodhisattva said, "The Golden-Winged Great Peng is hungry. If he starves, he will eat people. The Divine General their own bodies, just as the Buddha cut off his own flesh to feed the eagle. This is a great act of Merit. Therefore, the Golden-Winged Great Peng eats the gods to help them Attaining Buddhahood Buddhas. The gods should be grateful. Why do they come to question us?"

Upon hearing this, Great Brahma King, furious, pointed his finger at the Mahamayuri Bodhisattva and said, "The Golden-Winged Great Peng devours my subordinate gods, and I should thank him? You are clearly deliberately protecting him! Showing favoritism and bias!"

The Mahamayuri Bodhisattva said, "No matter what you say, I have my reasons and I am not afraid of what people say."

Upon seeing this, the other members of the Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons stepped forward and said:

"Mahamayuri Bodhisattva, your brother hung his sharp claws behind our heads, intending to devour our brains. If it weren't for Great Brahma King's intervention, we would all have died by his hand. Are we supposed to thank him? Is this the reasoning you speak of?"

Upon hearing this, the Mahamayuri Bodhisattva opened his mouth and inhaled, swallowing the entire assembly of the Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons whole, which was then completely digested in a short time.

Great Brahma King was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage. Ten White Qi spewed from the nostrils of his five heads, and he said, "Peacock, you have gone too far!"

The Mahamayuri Bodhisattva said, "Learning without practice leads to ignorance of principles. I devoured them so that they might understand the truth!"

Great Brahma King could not accept this, and the two fought.

After the war, half of the Snow Mountain- capped mountain was destroyed, making it even steeper.

One of Great Brahma King's heads was knocked off, leaving only four heads.

Great Brahma King could not subdue the Mahamayuri Bodhisattva, so he had no choice but to return to the Buddha Tathagata judgment.

The Tathagata Buddha said, "The words of the Mahamayuri Bodhisattva are reasonable."

Great Brahma King roared, "Tathagata, what did you say?!"

The Tathagata Buddha smiled and said, "Great Brahma King, do not be impatient." Then he said to the crowd, "The words of the Mahamayuri Bodhisattva are indeed reasonable. The Golden-Winged Great Peng eats people because of hunger. Let me cut off a piece of my flesh and feed it to the Golden-Winged Great Peng to subdue him and bring him back to Spirit Mountain."

After saying this, the Tathagata Buddha cut a piece of flesh from his thigh and gave it to Great Brahma King.

Great Brahma King hesitated for a moment, then accepted the flesh and blood, said nothing more, and left the mountain.

the Monks paid homage to the Tathagata Buddha.

Meanwhile, in Lion Camel City.

Leaving aside the fact that Tang Sanzang performed daily rituals to help the souls of the dead.

Every six days, countless Demon in the city would use Secret Method to worship the statue of Ao Tu, infusing their flesh, cultivation, Faith, and magical power into the statue.

Within the statue, the blood energy grew increasingly dense, and the malevolent aura soared to the heavens.

Its blood and energy are mixed and come from countless Demon, making it difficult to control.

Ao Tu then placed the Twelve Heavenly Gods and Demons Formation Diagram beneath the statue, and on each day of worship, he dripped twelve drops of his own essence blood, the power of the Twelve Ancestral Witches, to control the blood energy within the statue.

As time went on, the statue grew increasingly Baleful Qi, its blood-red aura turning black, and a thick layer of dark clouds perpetually shrouded Lion Camel City.

Within those dark clouds, divine demons and thunder clashed, inspiring awe in even the gods.

Ao Tu thought that the great formation was almost ready, but wondered when Tathagata arrive.