Chapter 704
Core Hall
All the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, regardless of their usual status, were furious and cursing because their "home base" had been destroyed and they had lost more or less.
The tragic heroism of fighting the dragons outside has now been replaced by a shared sense of "misfortune" that is closer to their own interests. However, this "shared" feeling is filled with helplessness, resentment, and overwhelming hatred for the unknown and audacious "thief"!
The core hall of the entire Western Heavenly Spirit Mountain was filled with a suffocating sense of frustration and anger that was even more intense than the battlefield outside.
Inside the Great Thunderclap Temple, the anger and grief of the three thousand Buddhas had reached their peak. The once solemn and majestic Buddhist hall was now filled with all sorts of furious roars, heartbroken wails, and teeth-gritting curses, as if it had become a bustling marketplace, and one that had just been looted by robbers.
"My Seven-Jeweled Glazed Lamp! The incense and merit crystals I've stored up for three thousand years! All gone!"
"Who the hell stole this photo of my eighty-first recitation of the Diamond Sutra, which was engraved under my seat?! That was a record of my first moment of enlightenment!"
"Spirit crystals! Those few high-grade innate spirit crystals that I painstakingly saved up! They were key materials for refining my natal Buddha treasure! Waaaaah..."
"A sacred relic! It was a wisp of pure Bodhi branch bestowed by the sage, which I sealed in a jade box and hid in the heart of the lotus throne... Gone! All gone!!"
The Buddhas beat their chests and stamped their feet in anger, some even so angry that their bodies trembled with Buddha-light and their eyes were filled with tears.
The things they lost were varied and numerous, including precious magical artifacts and materials, merit crystals accumulated over many years, sacred relics with significant symbolic meaning, and even some private items that were purely personal collections with commemorative significance... All of them vanished along with the violently demolished seats!
Although there is no direct evidence, almost everyone's intuition points unanimously and firmly to the same name—Lin Zhu!
Besides this audacious, unscrupulous, and just-outside-the-day scoundrel who had extorted them, who else would have the guts, the ability, or the motive to infiltrate the poorly defended Great Thunderclap Temple and carry out such a thorough and insane looting at the perfect moment when the Dragon Clan and the Western Paradise were locked in fierce battle and everyone's attention was diverted?
Moreover, that guy ran so fast and in such a hurry just now, he was clearly feeling guilty!
"It's Lin Zhu! It must be that damned Lin Zhu!"
"Who else could it be but him?!"
"Chase him! Go to Heaven! Get him back!"
"Yes! We absolutely cannot let this go! That's the culmination of countless years of hard work!"
"We beg Buddha to intervene! We beg Amitabha Buddha to uphold justice! We must demand an explanation from the Heavenly Court and recover the stolen goods!"
Amidst the fervor of the crowd, the gazes of all three thousand Buddhas turned to the Tathagata Buddha, who stood in the center of the ruins, his face so somber it seemed to drip with water.
Their eyes were filled with anxiety, anticipation, and burning rage, as if they would rush to the South Heavenly Gate and fight Lin Zhu to the death at the slightest command from Buddha.
However, the Buddha remained silent, his face ashen, his deep eyes gazing at the devastation with a chilling coldness, yet he did not utter a word.
"Buddha! What are you still hesitating for?!"
"Yes, Buddha! That Lin Zhu has gone too far! He stole a treasure from our sacred Buddhist land, a disgrace beyond measure! If it is not recovered, what face will our Western Paradise have left?!"
"Please, Buddha, make a swift decision!"
Seeing that the Tathagata remained silent, the Buddhas grew increasingly anxious, and their urging voices rose and fell.
The Buddha's gaze finally shifted from the ruins to Amitabha Buddha, whose face was also extremely pale, but who seemed to be suppressing some kind of emotion.
His eyes were complex, carrying a hint of inquiry, a hint of hope, and also a subtle... ulterior motive of shifting blame.
Such a major event involves too many aspects, causes too much loss, and may even shake the foundation of the Western Paradise. It is by no means something that he alone can decide.
More importantly, he needs this "teacher" to set the tone and share some of the pressure of decision-making.
Feeling the focused gaze of the Tathagata and the three thousand Buddhas, Amitabha Buddha remained silent for a long time. The commotion in the hall seemed unable to affect him; he was simply thinking quietly, or rather, suppressing the rage and frustration that was about to break through his golden body's defenses.
Finally, he spoke slowly, his voice not loud, but with a cold, ancient quality, clearly overwhelming all the noise.
"Investigate? How do we investigate?"
Instead of directly answering whether he would pursue her, he posed a practical question.
His gaze was like two cold, sharp swords, piercing straight at the Buddha.
"Buddha, you have made a grave mistake. When the Dragon Clan attacked, you, as the present Buddha of Mount Ling, were in charge of the entire situation, but you lost your composure because of the White Lotus Boy incident. You actually ordered all three thousand Buddhas to come out in full force to form an array to meet the enemy, which resulted in the gates of the Great Thunderclap Temple being wide open and its defenses being weak. This is the first one."
"Knowing that a powerful enemy was outside and that a fierce battle was raging, they failed to leave behind a single capable person, set up strong restrictions to protect the core hall, or arrange for guardian deities or surveillance eyes to keep a close watch on the temple's movements. This is the second point."
Amitabha's tone grew increasingly cold, carrying a condescending and questioning tone.
"Now the temple has been completely looted. Apart from the traces of violent destruction, is there any trace of the thieves left at the scene? Is there even a single eyewitness? Even the most basic protection and early warning were not done well, which allowed the thieves to enter as if they were in an empty place and empty our foundation and dig up the ground!"
"To try and trace it now is futile; time has passed, the thieves have long since fled, and they acted meticulously, leaving no trace. How can this humble monk possibly investigate? And from whom should he turn?"
These words were like a bucket of ice water poured over the heads of some of the hot-headed Buddhas. Indeed, at that time, everyone's attention was completely drawn to the terrifying pressure of the dragon race and the life-or-death battle; who would have been distracted by what was happening inside the Great Thunderclap Temple?
Even if someone was left behind, with Lin Zhu's elusive nature, which even the Dragon Clan and Amitabha Buddha failed to detect beforehand, how could an ordinary Buddha or Bodhisattva possibly prevent him from entering the Merit Pool?
The Buddha was so severely rebuked in public by Amitabha Buddha that his face turned red and then pale with shame and indignation. But he was not reconciled! The immense loss and humiliation almost drove him to madness.
He suddenly looked up, a ruthless glint in his eyes.
"Teacher! Even without direct evidence, in the Three Realms, besides Lin Zhu, there is absolutely no one else who has the ability, the courage, and the perfect timing to do this! This disciple begs you to use your divine powers as a sage to use the Mirror of Light to go back in time and see what happened in the temple back then! We will surely catch him red-handed!" After saying this, before Amitabha Buddha could respond, Tathagata had already impatiently raised his hand, his palm gathering Buddha light, attempting to use the Mirror of Light technique to see what had happened here in the past.
However, no matter how he activated his magic power or communicated with the river of time, the Buddha's light mirror, which should have clearly reflected past images, remained blurry and chaotic! It was as if an invisible and powerful force had completely disrupted the timeline of this place, obscured the secrets of heaven, and blocked all prying eyes!
Not to mention seeing Lin Zhu's figure, even the process of how the Great Thunderclap Temple went from being intact to its current state could only be seen as a distorted light and shadow and chaotic fluctuations, making it impossible to discern anything!
"This...how is this possible?!"
The Buddha was horrified. He was already at the peak of the Quasi-Saint realm, the most outstanding existence below the Saint, and the Round Light Mirror Technique was a top-tier Buddhist supernatural power, yet it had completely failed?!
Seeing this, Amitabha Buddha's eyes flashed with understanding, followed by a deeper gloom, and he said coldly.
"There's no need to waste your energy. Lin Zhu has an unusual destiny and a chaotic fate, making him difficult to predict."
Furthermore, he must possess extremely sophisticated treasures for concealing and disrupting the secrets of heaven. At this moment, the spacetime trajectory here has been completely disrupted and shielded. Let alone you, even if this humble monk were to act personally, without a special opportunity or paying a heavy price, it would be difficult to uncover the truth in a short time. Since he dared to do this, he must have been prepared; why would he leave such an obvious flaw for you to trace?
Even saints find it hard to trace back?! Upon hearing this, the Buddhas felt a chill in their hearts, and their fear and hatred towards Lin Zhu deepened even further.
"Could it be... could it just end like this?!"
The Buddha practically spat out those words through gritted teeth, his eyes bloodshot, clearly having lost his composure.
"Teacher! In the Three Realms, only Lin Zhu! Only he could have bypassed your senses and sneaked into Mount Ling at that time, and only he had the motive and the courage! We don't need solid evidence! As long as we deduce that it was him, we can directly question him and search the Heavenly Court! We will definitely find the stolen goods on him or in the Nine-Layer Heavenly Prison!"
"presumptuous!"
Amitabha Buddha suddenly roared, like a thunderclap, shaking the entire Great Thunderclap Temple and making the Tathagata and all the Buddhas tremble with fear!
The compassionate look on Amitabha Buddha's face had vanished completely, replaced by a rare, chilling rage befitting a saint. His gaze was like lightning as he stared intently at Tathagata, his voice icy cold.
"To demand an explanation? To search the Heavenly Court? Tathagata, do you think the Western Paradise hasn't lost enough face and suffered enough losses today? Do you want to provoke a full-scale confrontation with the Heavenly Court?!"
He took a step forward, and the invisible pressure made even Buddha take a half step back.
"What is the root cause of today's disaster?!"
The voice of Amitabha Buddha suddenly rose in pitch, carrying a merciless rebuke.
"Firstly, the White Lotus Child descended to the mortal realm without permission, slaughtered the border city, and tortured the direct descendants of the Dragon Clan, provoking the Dragon Clan to launch a full-scale revenge, nearly destroying Mount Ling! What caused this disaster?"
"It is all because you, Tathagata, as the present Buddha, in charge of the affairs of Mount Sumeru, have failed to properly supervise and restrain your important subordinates! Even as they committed such heinous crimes, you were completely unaware beforehand, and your subsequent mishandling of the situation ultimately led to this catastrophic disaster!"
"Secondly," Amitabha Buddha pointed to the surrounding mess of the halls.
"The Great Thunderclap Temple, a symbol of Buddhism and the core of a sacred place, was actually raided and looted by a petty thief during the fierce battle! Why is this? It is all because you, Tathagata, mismanaged the situation, failed to properly guard your own gates, and allowed the thief to enter as if it were his own home! This is your dereliction of duty! You failed to guard it properly!"
He directly and unreservedly pinned the two huge blames—the disaster caused by the White Lotus Child and the shame of the theft from the Great Thunder Temple—on the Buddha's head!
Moreover, the logic is rigorous and difficult to refute—the White Lotus Boy is your responsibility, the defense of Mount Ling is your duty, and now that something has happened, who else should we turn to if not you?
The deeper reasons, Amitabha Buddha would naturally not reveal. No matter how foolish the White Lotus Child was, he was still one of the Buddha's own, personally enlightened and assigned by the Sage of Guidance.
To admit that the White Lotus Boy was a fool with low intelligence who was more trouble than he was worth is tantamount to admitting that the sage had poor judgment and made a mistake in choosing his people, and may even reveal some deeper secrets.
Therefore, this blame absolutely cannot be borne by the White Lotus Boy; it must be shifted to someone else! And Tathagata, the nominal master of Mount Ling and the current Buddha, is the most suitable and "safe" scapegoat!
It can both preserve the dignity of the saints, give a warning to the Tathagata who seems to be somewhat "restless" lately, and provide an outlet for the angry Buddhas to vent their anger.
When Amitabha Buddha so mercilessly rebuked and shifted the blame in front of three thousand Buddhas, Tathagata felt a surge of blood rushing to his head. Shame, anger, grievance, resentment... all sorts of emotions gnawed at his heart like venomous snakes.
His face turned from red to white, then from white to green, and his fists clenched so tightly that his nails almost dug into his palms.
He knew perfectly well this was a way of shifting blame, but could he refute it? No! Because Amitabha Buddha represented the will of the sages, the true supreme authority of the Western Paradise! No matter how revered his position as Tathagata was, it was supported by these two sages. If he dared to contradict them now, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Reason finally prevailed over the boiling anger and humiliation. The Buddha gritted his teeth, almost squeezing out the words from the depths of his soul, lowered his head, and spoke to Amitabha Buddha, word by word.
"Disciple... knows his mistake. It was disciple... who failed in supervision and protection, leading to this double disaster. Disciple... will remember Master's teachings and will... be doubly diligent and strictly disciplined in the future, never to repeat this mistake again!"
Every word felt like a piece of flesh torn from his heart, filled with bloody humiliation.
The three Bodhisattvas, who were standing nearby, watched all of this with mixed feelings.
They could naturally see that this matter was unfair to the Buddha; the responsibility for the theft of the White Lotus Child and the Great Thunderclap Temple did not lie entirely with him. But… this was the Western Paradise. True power and authority always resided in the hands of those two sages who lived beyond the chaos. Amitabha Buddha, as an incarnation, embodied the will of the sages. No matter how powerful the Buddha was, he could only bow his head.
Amitabha Buddha's expression softened slightly when he saw the Tathagata bowing his head in apology, but the coldness in his eyes remained.
He turned away, no longer looking at Buddha, his voice returning to its peaceful tone, yet carrying an unquestionable command.
"Enough. Now that they've acknowledged their mistake, they should atone for it through meritorious service. The most urgent task isn't to act impulsively and cause trouble in Heaven, but to rebuild Mount Ling as soon as possible, repair the Great Thunderclap Temple, appease the Buddhists, and restore order. Even more important is..."
He paused, then emphasized his words.
"The journey to the West has been delayed for too long due to the damage to Jin Chanzi's physical body. Now that the Nine-Turn Great Rejuvenation Pill has been obtained, we must immediately begin to restore it and restart the journey! This is a matter of fundamental importance concerning the rise and fall of the Western Paradise, and we cannot allow any further mistakes! Tathagata, you are fully responsible for this matter. If any further errors occur..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but the chilling tone in his voice sent a shiver down everyone's spine. (End of Chapter)