Chapter 362
Reencounter with Nian Nu Jiao
As the heavy treasure vault door swung open, the black bear spirit quickly sniffed around and, finding no unfamiliar scents, relaxed.
The Dragon Girl remained vigilant, and walked with her sword to the stone wall leading to the secret chamber.
The stone wall remained completely still, showing no signs of having been opened.
"I said, aren't you being too nervous?"
The black bear spirit said, "This stone wall has been imbued with divine power by the Bodhisattva, making it indestructible. Without a spell, even if I exert all my strength, I cannot budge it in the slightest. It is impossible for anyone to sneak in!"
The Dragon Girl couldn't refute these words, but a deep-seated unease prevented her from completely relaxing.
After hesitating for a moment, she chose to report to the Bodhisattva who was in seclusion.
He took out a jade Guanyin statue, then made hand gestures, chanted incantations, and knelt down, like a devout believer silently praying.
The next moment, the jade Guanyin suddenly burst forth with dazzling light, as bright as the moon.
The Bodhisattva opened its eyes, and the jade statue seemed to walk out from the bright moon, transforming into a figure flowing with flawless Buddhist light.
A golden flame adorns her forehead, her eyebrows radiating boundless compassion. Her hair is styled in a high bun, like layers of clouds and waves, with a willow branch tucked into it, as pure as the moon.
It radiated boundless golden light from head to toe, dazzling and radiant, filled with a sacred and compassionate aura.
Both the black bear spirit and the dragon girl knelt down and bowed respectfully.
Before the Dragon Girl could speak, the Bodhisattva had already made a calculation with his fingers, and then slowly spoke.
"Black Bear, you have abandoned your post. You are hereby punished to spend seven days in the ice cave to temper your impetuous nature."
Upon hearing this, the black bear spirit's massive body trembled slightly, as if the ice cave was so terrifying that even it felt afraid.
But once the Bodhisattva spoke, it dared not disobey and could only agree.
After the black bear spirit left, the Bodhisattva looked at the dragon girl.
“Sudhana, you are right in reporting this matter. The second-in-command of the Treasure Boat Society must have been made a scapegoat for someone else.”
The Bodhisattva's voice was very calm, and his eyes shone with divine light, as if he could see through all the illusions of the world.
However, the Dragon Girl, who had served the Bodhisattva for many years, keenly sensed something was wrong. The Bodhisattva's words were merely speculation, which meant that even the Bodhisattva couldn't predict the person who orchestrated the whole thing?
"Please follow me into the secret chamber for a look."
The Bodhisattva chanted a mantra and opened the stone wall. When she saw the Eight Trigrams Furnace still drawing upon the earth's fiery energy and burning fiercely, the Dragon Girl finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"You vixen, hehe, your alchemy furnace is really terrible. I, Old Sun, feel cold inside!"
"Ah!"
As they were talking, the monkey in the stove sneezed and said, "Add more fire, add more fire, I, Old Sun, am about to catch a cold!"
These words made the Dragon Girl's gaze darken, and she wanted to say something, but was stopped by the Bodhisattva.
"Witch, why are you silent? Are you afraid that I, Old Sun, will develop fiery eyes and, like the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, overturn your furnace and cause chaos?"
With a flick of his finger, the earth's fiery energy surged several times over in an instant, like boiling oil, and the raging fire made the entire alchemy furnace seem like a scorching hot iron.
Xiao Sheng's cursing suddenly stopped.
"This is not Laozi's furnace, and you are not Sun Wukong. Although you have an indestructible body, you cannot withstand the Six Ding Divine Fire. When you emerge from the furnace, you will not be the Great Sage, but an elixir of immortality."
"It's a pity that your innate indestructible bones and spiritual body will be reduced to nothing in the fire, and your hundreds of years of cultivation will be in vain. Isn't that a shame?"
"If you truly wish to become the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, then open your spiritual platform and allow me to place a restriction upon you. In this way, I will not only release you but also help you thoroughly refine the thousand-year-old spiritual energy you absorbed when you were a stone embryo, enabling you to transcend tribulations and achieve immortality."
After a pause, the Bodhisattva lowered his gaze, as if he could see through the red-hot furnace wall and see the monkey curled up in the air vent, its fur charred black.
"In the past, Guanyin guided the Great Sage to become a pilgrim, and now I also wish to guide you to attain enlightenment. Do not miss this opportunity."
"Pfft! Hahaha!"
A scornful laugh echoed from the furnace. Monkey King laughed so hard tears seemed to stream down his face, taunting, "Bah! You white-boned demon, you dare compare yourself to Guanyin Bodhisattva?" "Demon, if you can't afford a mirror, do you not need to pee? Why don't you look at yourself—"
Boom!
The flames surged again, burning Monkey King so much that his voice faltered, and he couldn't help but let out a painful groan. He even slammed his head against the furnace wall, making a series of loud noises.
The Dragon Girl felt relieved, but a ripple appeared deep in the Bodhisattva's eyes.
He could see that as the flames continued to burn, while the monkey's skin was torn and its flesh was being torn apart, the vast spiritual energy hidden within its body was being gradually stimulated.
Beneath the charred skin and flesh, the golden light of blood and flesh slowly seeped out after being squeezed to the extreme.
That was a power that even He feared.
After leaving the secret chamber, the Bodhisattva looked solemn and asked, "Has the Zhou family troupe arrived?"
"Replying to the Bodhisattva, we have already arrived."
He nodded and said, "In that case, let's set it for three days from now, and send this mischievous monkey to his death with a play called 'The True and False Monkey King'."
The Dragon Girl nodded, then asked with some confusion, "Bodhisattva, why don't we just refine this demon monkey directly? Wouldn't it be more troublesome to resort to underhanded methods?"
Upon hearing this, the Bodhisattva remained silent for a moment, then raised his eyes to look into the distance. His gaze seemed to pierce through the clouds and the night, revealing another pair of eyes filled with Taoist charm.
"Someone wants to use my fire to fulfill this monkey's destiny. I will naturally not do such a losing business."
"Moreover, this monkey has an astonishingly powerful background, and we absolutely cannot bear the consequences of killing it ourselves."
The Dragon Girl nodded and smiled, "The Bodhisattva is truly wise. Today I saw that Zhou Sheng is indeed quite capable. I was worried that he wasn't skilled enough, but now it seems that he is just right."
"I wonder if Nian Nu Jiao will harbor resentment towards you because of her lover?"
The Bodhisattva glanced at her gently.
This glance startled the Dragon Girl, who immediately lowered her head and bowed to apologize.
"The most untrustworthy thing in this world is love. Nian Nu Jiao has already overcome the tribulation of love, and she knows what to do."
……
In the courtyard, there was a sudden knock on Zhou Sheng's door.
The man knocked several times but no one answered, so he pushed the door open and saw that the room was empty. His gaze instantly turned deep and unfathomable.
Where did they go?
The man's voice seemed to have a deeper meaning, and then he turned to leave, but a figure came towards him.
"The night is beautiful tonight, so I took a walk to admire the moon. I didn't expect you to come."
Zhou Sheng, dressed in white, was handsome and refined. Gazing at the alluring figure under the moonlight, he smiled slightly and slowly extended his hand.
The other person stepped forward, and her delicate hand, with nail polish coated in spider lily juice, unabashedly placed itself into Zhou Sheng's palm.
"I thought that Zhou Lang wanted to take advantage of the night to stroll around the City of the Wrongfully Dead."
She smiled sweetly, her red dress billowing in the night breeze, revealing her snow-white legs, which were completely naked, and every inch of her skin seemed to radiate a captivating glow.
"I was delayed for a few days due to official business. I just arrived at the City of the Wrongfully Dead today and came to see Zhou Lang immediately."
After a pause, Nian Nu Jiao took that warm, large hand and gently placed it on the front of her dress.
"They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, so why isn't Zhou Lang showing any passion?"
...(End of this chapter)