Traveling Through Journey to the West: I Am the Dragon King

Yun Chonghua asked, "What evil deed did he do?"

Upon hearing Yun Chonghua's question, the City God sighed and said, "Although that fellow has helped some people, the evil deeds he has committed cannot be explained in just a few words. First of all, he grants every request from believers, regardless of whether it is good or evil, right or wrong."

"Mortals are greedy and seek wealth from him, so he turns stones into gold and distributes it to them. This causes prices in the city to skyrocket. A single grain of gold cannot even buy a bowl of rice. Mortals who ask him for children will immediately have offspring delivered to them."

"And those who sought his help were not only the greedy, but also some extremely wicked people. He granted their requests as well, helping these evil people escape the punishment of the law. Also, the city's prison collapsed at some point, and more than a hundred wicked people escaped. These people wreaked havoc in the surrounding towns and villages, and indeed committed many evil deeds such as murder, arson, rape, and plunder."

"He even gave a euphemistic name to this kind of wicked behavior, saying, 'There is no one in the world who cannot be saved,' 'A prodigal son who returns is more precious than gold, and no one is perfect. We should give them a chance to reform.' He also said that as long as one worships him and believes in him, no matter how many sins one has committed, one can be forgiven."

"If a reasonable person speaks out against such fallacies and heresies that confuse right and wrong, they will be attacked by the group of those who have been 'forgiven.' They will be called 'heartless' and 'lacking in kindness.' They will also seize upon any minor transgressions these reasonable people have made in the past, using them to portray them as 'hypocrites' to block their voices. In the end, these reasonable people will be seen as 'hypocrites are worse than true villains,' and will be condemned by everyone, suffering disgrace and ruin."

"A 'gentleman' who spends half his life doing good deeds and accumulating virtue, but makes a few minor mistakes, ultimately has a worse reputation than a 'true villain' who commits murder, arson, rape, and plunder, and whose evil deeds are beyond measure. He lays down his butcher's knife, does a few small acts of kindness, and calls it 'repentance' and 'abandoning evil for good.' Without receiving the punishment he deserves to atone for his sins, he wipes away all his previous evil deeds. What kind of absurd logic is this?"

"Later, these reasonable people, in order to protect themselves and avoid being branded as 'hypocrites,' all kept silent. Some even felt that their previous good deeds were 'foolish,' and, disheartened, joined the ranks of that evil spirit, no longer doing good but indulging in evil."

"This policy of strict punishment for the good and leniency for the evil has led to the current situation where 'right and wrong are indistinguishable, black and white are reversed, and cause and effect are reversed!' As a result, the basic principles of morality have been lost and ethics have been completely abandoned."

"If it were just reciting some fallacies and heresies, that would be one thing. But later, the little god's underworld messengers investigated and found that the gold and silver he gave away were illusions created by magic. They could be used near Jimo City, but once outside the city, as long as it wasn't within the protection area of ​​his temple, the money would turn back into stone. His explanation for this was that we mountain gods, local deities, and city gods had taken the money he gave away."

"As a result, all the temples of the mountain gods, local deities, and city gods around Jimo were demolished by those mortals who failed to profit from them, and all were converted into his temples. And the money that the stones turned into, under the protection of his temples, retained its magical power and remained in the form of gold and silver. This made those mortals even more convinced that we, the mountain gods, local deities, and city gods, had taken the money."

"Even merchants who went to Jimo to do business, after receiving this gold and silver and leaving the temple's territory, turned back into stone, would hold us, the local earth gods and city gods, responsible for this sin."

Xiao Lilong then said, "The City God is right. This matter has a wide impact. Jidu, where I am stationed, is not far from Jimo City, but it is not close either. Many merchants sold their goods at high prices in Jimo City, but when they returned home with the money they earned, they all turned into stone. Now, there are even cases of our temples being demolished near Jidu to build temples to worship that demon."

The City God angrily said, "Using illusions to fool the people is a minor matter. What he went too far with were those children. I specifically went to the underworld to have the judge check the Book of Life and Death. The children he gave to those couples were not created by magic, but were living infants. And these infants were all stolen from various places."

"Some of these parents who lost their children went blind from crying, and several women were even beaten to death by their husbands' families because they lost their children. Others went out to search for their children but were cheated out of money and sexually assaulted by thugs. In the end, all of them ended up with their families destroyed and their lives ruined."

"I once led a group of local deities and mountain gods to confront him, but that demon was incredibly powerful. My magic was too weak for them to defeat. They were defeated in less than a single exchange. So we jointly appealed to the underworld. But even the ghosts sent by Yama could not get close to him. When we went to appeal again, the underworld began to evade us, telling us not to bother with it anymore."

"The others followed the orders of the Underworld and returned to report for duty. But I, the humble god, cannot ignore this. I have protected Jimo for hundreds of years. Although I dare not say that I have done anything of great virtue, I do not want to see my years of hard work go to waste. However, my magical power is weak and the Underworld turns a deaf ear, so I have no choice but to ask Brother Lilong to introduce me to the East Sea for help."

Finally, the City God sighed and said, "Alas! It's a pity that my diligent protection of Jimo for hundreds of years is not as valuable as the petty favors of a demon. The people actually believed in the demon, not only demolishing my temples but also indulging in unrestrained lust, making a mess of the entire Jimo. It's truly heartbreaking and disheartening."

When the City God complained, Yun Chonghua comforted him, "Alright, they were just blinded by greed and fooled by the monster's little tricks."

After listening to the City God's words, Yun Chonghua gained a deeper understanding of what the Empress had told him earlier.

It's no wonder that the Heavenly Laws forbid gods and mortals from falling in love; after all, it would be too easy for any god or demon with a little magical power to fool them.

However, Yun Chonghua did not agree to go and subdue the demon immediately, but instead turned to look at the Dragon King of the East Sea.

Yun Chonghua asked, "By the way, even if this monster is strong, it shouldn't be stronger than the East Sea, right? Leaving aside your personal strength, Dragon King, the East Sea alone has tens of thousands of dragon soldiers. Why did you come to me again, Dragon King? Did you see through the monster's origins?"

Faced with Yun Chonghua's question, the Dragon King of the East Sea frankly replied, "To be honest, Immortal, when the Li Dragon came to see me with the City God and explained the situation, I felt something was amiss. But this demon is near my East Sea, and if things escalate, I will also be guilty of dereliction of duty."

"Upon learning of the situation, Xiaolong immediately mustered eight thousand soldiers and led Lilong and the City God to Jimo to investigate. When Xiaolong used his aura-detecting technique to examine the demon, he found that although the man was full of ferocity, there was also auspicious light within that ferocity."

"It doesn't seem like an ordinary demon; it appears to be one that has undergone proper cultivation. When Little Dragon saw this, he thought about the reaction of the underworld, so he immediately withdrew his troops."

Ao Guang looked at Yun Chonghua and said, "Immortal, to put it bluntly, that demon is so rampant, wantonly bullying the mountain gods, the local deities, and the city gods, while the underworld turns a blind eye. This shows that it has some background. The world is complicated these days. Jimo City is on land and is not under the jurisdiction of our East Sea. If we were to forcibly intervene, and something went wrong in the future, I, the little dragon, would also be guilty of overstepping my authority. But this matter cannot be ignored. Therefore, I have no choice but to trouble you, Immortal."

Having said that, Ao Guang stood up, cupped his hands to Yun Chonghua, and said, "This humble dragon humbly requests that you, Immortal, go and investigate. If you can subdue that demon, all the better. But if you have any concerns, I humbly request that you go directly to the Jade Emperor's ears. Even if you do not disturb His Majesty's ears, you can still report to the Ke Han Division and ask the Taiyi Thunder God to investigate the descent of 'Wang Lingguan' to the mortal realm. Let us handle this matter officially and restore order to Qi and Lu as soon as possible."