Chapter 177: The Man in Bibotan Turns into a Dragon

Taoist Wenhua was spying nearby, but he didn't expect that a small bowl would be caught in someone's hands.

"Holy monk, please spare my life. Holy monk, please spare my life."

Sanzang gently put him down and asked, "Donor, why have you followed me all this way?"

Taoist Wenhua's face froze: "I... I admire Buddhism and have heard of the holy monk, so I want to discuss the scriptures and the Tao."

Sanzang looked at him and sighed, "To be self-disciplined, there are eight precepts. One should refrain from lying, not speak falsely, be sincere in thoughts, not speak falsely, and keep one's heart and mouth in harmony. The precepts have been given, please make it clear to the donor."

The Taoist monk was in a trance for a while, and he spoke directly: "I heard that in the Three Burials of the East, there are Buddhas born, boneless relics, and eating meat can make you immortal, and eating blood can make you immortal, so I came here to make plans."

Sanzang had anticipated this: "Has the donor ever committed any evil?"

"I have never done anything evil, but my practice is quite difficult. I took the hearts of one hundred and twenty children as medicine to make a pill. When I failed in a magic battle, I extracted the souls of hundreds of ants to make treasures. I also did not commit any evil. I just killed them..." Wenhua's face struggled halfway through his words, but he could not control himself and told everything he had done in his half life.

"You are doing evil without realizing it, and you are full of evil. You are committing crimes without knowing it, and you are killing people without any control. I hope you can go to heaven soon." Sanzang had a compassionate look on his face, and he reached out his hand to touch Taoist Wenhua's forehead while he saw his fear in his eyes.

When he raised his hand again, the Taoist was gone.

"Amitabha, another sin of killing has been added. I, the disciple, will bear it alone." Sanzang put his hands together and chanted the Sutra of Salvation.

Midday on the moon.

Sanzang set off, and only asked the executioner to follow him.

"Slayer, I see that no one has been sweeping the pagoda in the city for a long time. Come with me and go up to sweep it and see if there is any clue that the Buddhist treasures in the pagoda have been stolen. If you find anything, you can go to the king tomorrow and explain it to him."

Sun Xingzhe got down from the ground and followed obediently. They came to the front of the pagoda. The door of the pagoda was locked. Xingzhe blew out a breath and the lock fell off and the door opened.

Sanzang picked up a borrowed broom and stepped into the tower. As expected, there was a thin layer of dust inside. The glazed lamps on the doors were dusty but without fire. The white jade railings in front of the eaves were covered with dirt and flying insects. In the center of the tower and on the Buddha's seat, there was no incense. Outside the window frames and in front of the gods, there were spider webs.

The pagoda has thirteen floors and the stairs are winding. Sanzang swept one floor at a time, then went up one floor at a time, all the way to the twelfth floor. He swept very carefully without dropping a sweat. Every corner was as if it were still there in its former glory.

As they were sweeping, they heard someone talking on the top of the tower. Sanzang signaled with his eyes, and the two of them stopped walking and walked to the top of the tower. They saw two goblins sitting in the vast center of the tower, a black fish goblin and a catfish monster. They had set up a table with wine and meat on it, and were playing finger-guessing games, looking very comfortable.

The catfish monster was rowing with great interest, and a hand fell on his shoulder: "Donor, it's so fun to hang around here. There is something strange going on in this tower. I wonder if you can give me some advice?"

The catfish monster was startled and was about to stand up, but was suppressed by a big hand. When he turned around, he saw a thin monk with a five-Buddha crown, a brocade cassock, red lips and white teeth, holding his and the black fish monster's shoulders in each hand.

"What a great strength!"

Unable to break free, they had no choice but to surrender: "Master, please be merciful. We are all honest monsters and have never committed any crime. Please show us some mercy. I don't know what you are talking about, but we will tell you everything we know."

"It's about the lost treasure of the Jinguang Temple." Sanzang saw that the two monsters were honest, so he took his hands and explained the reason in detail. Without the restraint, the catfish monster was much more relaxed and sighed: "This is a bad fate. We were originally subordinates of the Wansheng Dragon King of the Bi Bo Lake in Luanshi Mountain. I was called Benboba and the black fish monster was called Baboben. It was because the old dragon king had a young daughter, called Wansheng Princess. The princess was born with a beautiful face and a top-notch beauty. By chance, she went out to play and met a monk, who was the abbot of the Jinguang Temple."

"The host is called Huiqing, who is handsome and in his twenties, but he is not a good person. He does not follow the rules and regulations, and he deceived Princess Wansheng with sweet words. Princess Wansheng is simple by nature, so she was deceived and her heart was moved. She got engaged secretly."

"One day Huiqing was full of sorrow. The princess saw him like this and asked Huiqing why. Huiqing said that the Jisai Kingdom did not know the true Buddha and did not worship the Bodhisattva. The Jinguang Temple did not show its magical powers and was ashamed of the Buddha. Princess Wansheng had escaped secretly and had no treasures on her, so she took the dragon ball from her belly and used it as a Buddhist treasure. It glowed every night, and the Jinguang Temple became famous and attracted many visitors."

“Who would have thought that Huiqing was such a beast in human form, secretly meeting with the dragon girl while secretly using incense to make offerings to the dragon ball. The monks in the temple covered up for him in order to gain fame and fortune, and Princess Wansheng was deceived by it. She betrayed the treacherous man with her true heart.” Benboba said with tears streaming down his face.

Sanzang also sighed: "It seems that the Dragon Girl's end is not good?"

"What the master said is absolutely right. After several years of incense and sacrifice, the mission was accomplished in one day. Three years ago, Huiqing revealed his true identity and took the dragon ball. He wanted to swallow the dragon ball and transform his human body into a dragon body. The dragon girl was heartbroken, but all her magical powers were tied to the dragon ball. Huiqing skinned her and took out her tendons and used it as his own body. The bloody rain three years ago was the blood and tears of my dragon girl!" Ba Benbo took over and said.

"So is the All Saints Dragon King just watching like this?" Sanzang asked.

Benboba shook his head, "The Dragon Lord sensed that the Dragon Girl was in trouble and showed up to pursue her. Who knew that Hui Qing had transformed into a dragon-snake god, half human, half demon, a nine-headed dragon with dragon blood, and captured the Dragon Girl's soul. The Dragon Lord felt sorry for the young girl and did not dare to kill her, so he let Hui Qing fake his own death and escape. He then occupied the Dragon Palace and abused his power!"

"The foxes and dragons still have some feelings, but that man seems like a cunning beast with almost no humanity. He is just wearing human skin. The more I travel, the more I dare not look at this world." Sanzang shook his head.

"Well, since I've heard about this, I'll go with you. If you're telling the truth, I'll take care of this matter and save you from trouble!"

Benboba and the other man thanked them quickly and led the way.

But the scene at the Dragon Palace in Bibotan is quite different.

There are no dragon species or shrimp soldiers in the Dragon Palace, only the sound of Zen. A bald man sits firmly on the dragon throne, surrounded by four pillars with golden dragons entwined around him, looking very majestic.

After chanting some scriptures, Huiqing took out a shell. There was a white jade pearl in the shell. When he opened it, he heard curses.

"Hui Qing, you are such a demon. You have committed so many evil things. Why don't you see the gods punishing you?"

Huiqing smiled and said, "My beloved wife, how could you curse me so cruelly? Don't you care about the love we have had for each other for so many years?"

"Bah, just think that I am blind. I have harmed my own life and also implicated my father. You Huiqing and I only have hatred for each other and no feelings for each other. I wish I could eat your flesh and sleep on your skin." said the dragon girl's soul.

Huiqing said calmly: "My beloved wife, your words break my heart, but you shouldn't call me Huiqing, you should call me the Nine-Headed Prince Consort, am I right, father-in-law?"

The golden dragon on the jade pillar holding up the Dragon Palace moved, and it turned out to be a living dragon: "Prince consort, I hope you will keep your promise. I will give you this Dragon Palace, and you will spare my life."

The Nine-Headed Prince Consort bent his hand, and the body of the All Saints Dragon King was entangled by golden threads, which tightened, causing the dragon scales to crack, dragon blood to flow, and the dragon roared miserably.

"Oh, why did my father-in-law bleed? What a waste." The nine-headed prince consort quickly caught the dragon blood, opened his mouth and swallowed it, his face turned cold, "I respect you and call you father-in-law. If you make me unhappy, you will be a big dragon dish!"

(End of this chapter)