Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

A bird-shaped ghost emerged from the headless corpse, flapped its wings, and seemed to want to soar into the sky like it did in life, but it stopped in mid-air. Then, under the pull of the invisible power of heaven and earth, it escaped into the six realms of reincarnation.

The two Bodhisattvas continued to save the souls of the Lion Country, but Samantabhadra frowned and Manjushri lowered his eyes slightly.

"Now that Dapeng has confessed his sins, can the anger in the goddess' heart be dispelled?" Manjusri asked as he waved the green lotus to save the dead souls.

The three people present had already known that Wen Jiao was here today to convict the three demons, Lion, Elephant and Peng. Before she was convinced, even if the three demons had died, the matter would not be considered over. They had to debate and come to a mutually acceptable conclusion before the matter could be settled.

Now that the corpses of the Green Lion and White Elephant have turned into pus and Dapeng has been beheaded, Wen Jiao should stop while she is ahead, right? Could it be that she still wants to send these three to hell, where they will have to survive for the rest of their lives?

However, Wen Jiao was still angry. With a wave of her hand, clouds gathered around her, quickly covering the sky. In the darkness, dark clouds gathered into a picture of the suffering of the people.

Describes a pedestrian who looks haggard, like a walking corpse.

A blind man crying out to the sky in anger.

Refugees swallowed by the natural chasm and drowned in the waves.

A white-haired old man who was seriously ill but still had to hold his pocket and stagger towards the officer who was distributing rations.

The gorgeous beauty was engulfed by the flames, and the desperate king held her in his arms and burned to ashes...

These were all what Wen Jiao saw when she first entered Jiadi Country.

"May I ask Manjushri Bodhisattva, are the queen and king of the country of Naga who died, and the many people who were accidentally injured and died of illness in the lightless land, also reincarnations of the Naga snake clan?" Wen Jiao continued to ask.

If this is all true, we might as well just say that everyone in the world is the descendant of snakes.

As they spoke, the cloud that had transformed into a drowned corpse floated over and faced the two Bodhisattvas' faces. Their bodies were swollen and their expressions were extremely painful.

Manjusri showed reluctance, and was silent for a while before he spoke: "...only Queen Chiji was right, the others were not. It was just that the former king of Jiadi was unable to break free from the emotional barrier, causing chaos in politics and harming the country, bringing disaster to the people..." After a pause, he said, "It's not entirely the fault of the golden-winged Roc."

Wen Jiao said "Oh" and sneered: "Then the former King of Jiadi should thank him for killing his wife. It's a pity that he and his daughter don't seem to think so."

"The river of love is as vast as the sea of ​​suffering. The father and daughter of King Jiadi are trapped in love and naturally find it difficult to free themselves." Manjusri put his hands together and said, "I wonder if this explanation can dispel the anger of the goddess?"

"Not only can I not calm down, but I feel even more furious." Wen Jiao sneered and clapped her hands. The dark clouds in the sky dispersed at once, and the warm light from the sky shone down, illuminating her face full of annoyance. "According to Manjusri Bodhisattva, all the people that Dapeng wanted to kill were the reincarnations of the Naga snakes who owed the Garuda clan in their previous lives. The Bodhisattva was teaching me that the reason why Dapeng wanted to steam and eat my son Xuanzang was because my good son, who had practiced for ten lifetimes, was also a snake before the eleventh lifetime. He was blind and provoked this honorable Garuda?"

For the first time, Manjusri looked speechless.

Whether in the East or West, all the famous gods and immortals know that Xuanzang's previous life was Jin Chanzi, a disciple of the Buddha, and he became Xuanzang in this life after ten reincarnations. This resume is so clean that it can be called the light of Buddha. If he can still be linked to the old grudge with Dapeng, it is simply unreasonable and unreasonable!

"There's still one thing I don't understand." Seeing that he remained silent, Wen Jiao took advantage of the situation and pursued him. The clouds behind her changed, and it turned into the scene when she and Manjusri met in the Kingdom of Wuji that day.

"The Bodhisattva once said that it was you who predicted that Queen Chiji would become an enemy of Buddhism, and that was spread by the talkative Lion King and heard by the Lion-Elephant Peng, who then tricked Queen Chiji to death. Buddhism has always been compassionate, and Queen Chiji was just a woman in the deep palace at that time, harmless to the world, so it was impossible for her to have a grudge against Buddhism, let alone grow into an enemy of Buddhism. Could it be that the Bodhisattva deliberately pushed Dapeng to kill her? Could it be that the Bodhisattva was also a Garuda in his previous life, and is taking revenge here?"

"Don't lie, goddess!" Samantabhadra Bodhisattva changed color slightly and shouted. Cultivating to the position of the four great bodhisattvas is only one step away from becoming a Buddha. How can you compare yourself with the eight groups of people? It is really a disgrace to your status. Moreover, when you cultivate to their level, your words and deeds are full of magical powers. It is hard to guarantee that they will not be confirmed in the future because of your mistakes. Isn't Wen Jiao's words tempting Manjusri to turn to the Garuda path?

"Bodhisattva has been sitting on the lotus platform for too long. Have you forgotten the saying that the truth lies not in the loudness of the voice?" Wen Jiao said seriously, "Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, I am just asking for advice from Manjusri Bodhisattva. If there is anything wrong with what I said, just ask him for advice. Why bother to provoke Samantabhadra Bodhisattva? If Samantabhadra Bodhisattva is determined to bring down the wrath of thunder, then I will have no choice but to ask a few teachers and friends to come here to judge the matter."

Why should we rely on this? Do Taoist immortals and Buddhists remember the lies they tell?

Looking back at Manjusri, Wen Jiao asked repeatedly, "Manjusri Bodhisattva is the best in wisdom and conduct. Is it because a wise man can make mistakes even after careful consideration that he revealed this flaw? The blue lion spirit is your mount, and the white elephant spirit is the mount of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. Are they consciously sharing the worries of the master?

"Or is it that the Bodhisattva was also born from Garuda, and even after reincarnation, he did not forget his old grudges and was determined to avenge his past life, leading the three demons to be your raft? No matter which one it is, it seems that the Bodhisattva's Bodhi mind is not completely perfect, right?

"The Naga snake tribe only bullied us. It is not enough to repay them with death. They must repay them in the next life. So, shouldn't the revenge of Dapeng killing them in this life be repaid a thousand times in the next life?

"Everything has its cause in the previous life, the previous previous life, the previous previous previous life. They can all bring up the little old accounts from many lifetimes, making them so complicated that it's like a lousy accountant with a lot of bad debts. But the Bodhisattva doesn't even mention the right and wrong of this life?"

Years of indignation suddenly surged up in her heart. Wen Jiao spoke eloquently, looking at Manjusri's somewhat gloomy face, and bowed: "Taoists have always only cultivated this life, regardless of the illusory afterlife. I don't understand the karma of Buddhism. I am just asking sincerely, please help me, Manjusri Bodhisattva."

Manjusri lowered his brows for a long time, with a faint sigh lingering between his beautiful eyebrows. Only then did he raise his eyes: "In this life, Dapeng killed people because of the entanglement of karma, not the cause and effect. My careless words were also caused by the karma of the feud between the two clans, not the cause and effect. As for cause and effect, Dapeng has already owed the debt in this life, and he should repay it in the future..."

"How do you repay?" Wen Jiao pressed on. "Your Excellency killed a commoner. How can you repay him in the same way as 'Your Excellency is guilty of the same crime as the commoner? The commoner's life is worthless. If we can exchange it for a few taels of silver as compensation, he should thank us'?"