Rescue the Bhikshu Kingdom (19)

Meanwhile, Guanyin Bodhisattva descended upon the Bhikshu Kingdom.

The King of the Bhikshu Kingdom, seeing the ethereal beauty of Guanyin Bodhisattva, felt a sense of blasphemy and asked, "Where do you come from, Fairy, and why have you come to my palace?"

Guanyin Bodhisattva, seeing through the deception, said, "You don't recognize me? I am the Bodhisattva of the Southern Sea."

Upon hearing this, the King of the Bhikshu Kingdom suddenly awoke from his reverie and hurriedly bowed:

"It is indeed Guanyin Bodhisattva descending! I was unaware of her divine presence, and I am filled with fear and trepidation!"

Guanyin Bodhisattva ignored it.

The King of the Bhikshu Kingdom thought he had been forgiven, and then boasted to himself:

"I have long heard that the Bodhisattva is a wise and compassionate deity, possessing unparalleled beauty, but I have never seen her. I have a beautiful queen who is said to resemble Guanyin, but today, having seen her true face, I realize how foolish mortals are, utterly incomparable to her."

Guanyin Bodhisattva ignored it and simply said:

"I came from the south and saw that two thousand soldiers on Willow Grove Slope had all been captured. You are wicked and have lost the king's command; you should surrender the city as soon as possible."

Upon hearing this, the King of the Bhikshu Kingdom paced back and forth in a panic, forgetting all about the beauty in his eyes. He exclaimed, "How could this be? My two thousand soldiers are gone just like that? No, no! I must raise a new army as soon as possible to protect my State Altars!"

Guanyin Bodhisattva listened, shook her head, and turned to leave.

Although the Old King harbored blasphemous thoughts, Guanyin Bodhisattva, with her great compassion, would not easily punish a Mortal.

Guanyin Bodhisattva went straight to the Qinghua Manor in Willow Grove Slope.

Vishnu Bodhisattva and others saw this, they knew that Guanyin Bodhisattva had already seen through the Old King's lack of virtue, and they quickly stopped him, saying, "Bodhisattva, wait! If you wish to leave, please leave the Treasure Banner behind first!"

Guanyin Bodhisattva unfurled her banner, and ten thousand Golden Lotus and a hundred Golden Light appeared, pushing aside the the Monks and departing in the blink of an eye.

A moment later, they entered Qinghua Manor.

Ao Tu was already waiting outside the manor.

Guanyin Bodhisattva smiled and said, "How did you know I was coming?"

Ao Tu invited her in, saying, "I cannot fathom it, but I know that you, Teacher, will not support a wicked ruler, so I have been waiting outside for Teacher to come."

Guanyin Bodhisattva smiled, took out a small yellow flag from her bosom, and handed it to Ao Tu.

Ao Tu looked at it with delight, put the flag away, and took Guanyin Bodhisattva's arm, saying, "Teacher, please!"

The two then went inside the house.

Ao Tu went to prepare the tea.

Guanyin Bodhisattva pulled Ao Tu back and casually said, "When I arrived in that country, I saw that the people could not live in peace and prosperity; when I went to the Palace, the King did not respect me at all, but instead had lustful thoughts towards me. Therefore, I know that he is not a wise ruler."

Ao Tu said, "I erased him."

Guanyin Bodhisattva smiled and stretched out her finger, poking Ao Tu's forehead, saying:

"You! Although the King was somewhat disrespectful, a slight punishment would have sufficed. Why did you have to erase him? By erasing him for no reason, you will also suffer the consequences."

Ao Tu said, "How much karmic retribution can I bear? Besides, that King is a clay sculpture; he has long since lost the Monarch. He has occupied the Throne for several years, and even if I don't erase him, he will crumble."

Guanyin Bodhisattva was slightly surprised and said, "I did not see this before. I wonder whose trick this is?"

Ao Tu smiled and helped her sit down, saying, "You don't need to worry about these Teacher; I'll take care of everything."

Guanyin Bodhisattva nodded, then brought up the matter of borrowing the flag from the Jade Void Palace, saying, "Disciple, the Sage said, ' Dao Yi,' but do you know what that means?"

Ao Tu listened, frowned and thought for a while, then shook his head and said, "I don't know either. Sage are unfathomable. I'll ask them myself later."

Guanyin Bodhisattva nodded and drank her tea.

Meanwhile, the King of the Bhikshu Kingdom ordered the forced Troops.

The Bhikshu Kingdom was neither too big nor too small; it was considered a middle-to-upper-class country in the Western Ox Continent.

The country has a total of six or seven thousand soldiers of various types, making it a very powerful force.

However, due to the tyrannical rule of the King of the Bhikshu Kingdom, about half of the people fled over the past three years and sought refuge in the Qinghua Manor at Willow Grove Slope.

Only about Three Thousand people remained in the city.

Apart from the Imperial Guards stationed in the city and protecting the Palace, very few soldiers could be mobilized.

In this situation, the King of the Bhikshu Kingdom's mobilization of two thousand troops could definitely be considered a mobilization of the entire nation's resources and an act of militarism.

Now that all two thousand soldiers have been wiped out, the King of the Bhikshu Kingdom is in a panic and has ordered the conscription of Three Thousand soldiers.

Half of the able-bodied men in the city had already fled, and the people were suffering greatly. Now, with the conscription of soldiers, public resentment was boiling over.

The King of the Bhikshu Kingdom did not want to hear about these grievances of the people, and therefore did not care.

On the Vishnu Bodhisattva and the others, seeing that Guanyin Bodhisattva had surrendered to the Demon Dragon with her Treasure Banner, and that the King of the Bhikshu Kingdom was not Wise Ruler, they truly had no chance of winning at all.

The Horse-Head Arhat said, "Bodhisattva, going to war now is tantamount to suicide!"

All the the Monks echoed his sentiment.

The Vishnu Bodhisattva said, "I've heard that the Demon Dragon is always narrow-minded. We had some misunderstandings with him before. If we go to him for refuge, we probably won't be able to explain ourselves and will be killed first. The only way now is to return to Spirit Mountain and find the Tathagata."

The Monks agreed wholeheartedly and returned to Spirit Mountain together.

Upon arriving at the Mountain Gate Spirit Mountain, the Vishnu Bodhisattva called out:

"Shakyamuni, come out! Come out!"

The Tathagata Buddha appeared within the Golden Lotus and asked, "What is it?"

The Vishnu Bodhisattva said, "The Guanyin Bodhisattva has taken the Treasure Banner and surrendered to the Demon Dragon. Isn't this your fault for not investigating?"

The Tathagata Buddha smiled and said, "I already knew about this. Guanyin Bodhisattva did not side with the Demon Dragon, but rather assisted a wise ruler. What wrong has she done?"

The Vishnu Bodhisattva said, "Very well, release the Golden Lotus and let us in. We won't go down the mountain."

The Tathagata Buddha said, "That won't do."

The Vishnu Bodhisattva said, "Shakyamuni, this Spirit Mountain is my Western Heaven Land, how can it belong to your family? We want to enter, why are you stopping us?"

The Tathagata Buddha said, "I instructed you to descend the mountain and assist a wise ruler, but you disobeyed my orders, aiding and abetting a tyrant and Tyrant. If I now release you back up the mountain, once the wise ruler ascends the throne, he will surely send messengers to punish you. Wouldn't that implicate me, a monk?"

The Vishnu Bodhisattva angrily said, "Shakyamuni, you've tricked us! Golden Cicada stayed for four years, Kirtimukha returned every year. How could you not know where the Demon Dragon was? You deliberately tricked us into coming down the mountain so you could seize our property!"

The Tathagata Buddha nodded and said, "I have no such intention!"

Upon Vishnu Bodhisattva and others were enraged and lost their reason. They rushed forward to attack the Golden Lotus, but could not break it in the slightest.

The Tathagata Buddha raised his hand and pointed, causing dozens of leading Bodhisattva Arhat, including the Vishnu Bodhisattva Enlightenment, to fall to the ground, saying:

"You are so disrespectful! How dare you defy your superiors? This is a capital offense!"

The Vishnu Bodhisattva and others were even more enraged. They tried to get up, but the Tathagata pressed them down Tathagata his finger, preventing them from rising. Helpless, they could only beg for mercy.

Seeing that everyone was begging for mercy, the Tathagata Buddha laughed and said:

"The Buddha has great compassion, and I cannot bear to kill you. So be it, I forgive you."

The Monks repeatedly knelt and bowed in gratitude.

The Vishnu Bodhisattva wept and said, "What should we do now? That Demon Dragon has a grudge against us, and Buddha will not let us in. We can only kneel outside the door and never get up."

The Tathagata Buddha said, "Do not kneel. If you kneel outside the Mountain Gate, it will bring bad luck to those who come to offer Incense Offerings, and they will have less money to donate. Besides, when that Demon Dragon comes to attack in the future, you will have nowhere to go and will eventually die. But I have a way to teach you how to survive."

The Vishnu Bodhisattva and Human Way said, "We beg the Buddha for mercy."