Volume 3: A Long Journey, Chapter 200: The Battle Between the Demon Buddha and Guanyin

Zhu Rong saw that Guanyin was radiant and extremely beautiful, yet her smile was as deep as the ocean, making it impossible for anyone to guess what she was thinking. Zhu Rong, who was usually straightforward, felt some disdain and said, “Why are you blocking our path?”
Guanyin removed her smile and said coldly, “Who gave you the order to bring rain without permission?”
Chi Songzi replied, “All mortals have a heart of compassion. How can you stand by while the people of the world suffer?”
Guanyin said, “Wind, frost, rain, and snow are all determined by heaven. When it rains and how much rain falls are all decided by the Supreme Heavenly Emperor. Even if you possess such power, you must not use it arbitrarily. Otherwise, if gods change the weather at will, wouldn’t that disrupt order?”
Chi Songzi said, “What Supreme Heavenly Emperor? You know him, but I don’t!”
Guanyin replied indifferently, “In that case, it’s outright rebellion. There’s nothing more to say.” She had made up her mind—should she have to take action, she would shift the blame onto Buddhism and let the heavenly court bear it.
The Bull Demon King said to the others, “Do you know who this woman is? She is the Great Compassionate Bodhisattva Guanyin from Mount Luojia in the South Sea, who saves the suffering. She is the kindest and most benevolent person. Haha, after meeting her today, I see she’s just someone seeking fame.”
Bodhisattva Lingji sent a message to Guanyin, “These three are powerful!” Guanyin thought, Even if they are powerful, how much can they really do? It’s the first time in history that the four great bodhisattvas of the Western Heaven have joined forces. In the entire world, who could possibly resist them? There’s no way they can lose!
The bodhisattva stepped back lightly and ordered the eighteen arhats behind her to step forward. Without needing to test them further, they could simply trap these people with golden sand. The Arhats Subduing the Dragon and Subduing the Tiger led the way and shouted, “Evil demons! Surrender quickly!”
Zhu Rong laughed, “What a bunch of bald guys! Your bodies and hair were given to you by your parents—why don’t you cherish them?” The Arhats Subduing the Dragon and Subduing the Tiger gave a signal, and eighteen grains of golden sand were thrown at once. The eighteen arhats displayed their powers in various ways—truly excellent sand!
The golden sand looked no different in the air or on the ground, a dazzling white that blinded eyes and confused minds. The Bull Demon King and Shang Yang, who had weaker powers, blinked slightly when the sand blinded them. In that brief moment, their feet sank into the golden sand, which quickly reached their waists. The Bull Demon King tried to leap upward, but before he could stabilize himself, the sand rose like a tide, reaching his chest. It seemed he would soon be completely submerged.

Zhu Rong sneered and shouted, “Trivial tricks—how dare you show them off!” She waved her arms, creating a sea of fire in the air that enveloped the sand sea. As the saying goes, fire can overcome metal, and Zhu Rong’s fire was the purest in the world. These Golden Pill Sand particles, though called sand, could not withstand the fire’s test. In a flash of flame, all the sand vanished without a trace, leaving only eighteen Golden Pill Sand particles floating alone in the air.

The eighteen Arhats hurriedly chanted spells to retrieve them, but to no avail. Zhu Rong had already reforged the eighteen Golden Pill Sand particles in that instant, and now this magical treasure belonged solely to her; no one else could use it.

The eighteen Arhats were both shocked and enraged. This Golden Pill Sand treasure belonged to the Buddha—how could it be lost? So they rushed forward together, determined to fight Zhu Rong.

The Bull Demon King loved battles the most. He immediately charged forward with his iron staff, stepping in to fight alongside Zhu Rong against the eighteen Arhats. unarmed, the Arhats had no chance to withstand the Bull Demon King’s attacks. After just a few rounds, they all retreated in defeat.

The Four Bodhisattvas and Eight Vajras looked displeased. They never expected these people to be so troublesome. The eighteen Arhats hadn’t even lasted half a minute before having their treasure taken away.

Among the Eight Vajras, Yongzhu Vajra, the indestructible king of Jinxia Ridge on Kunlun Mountain, was angered by the Bull Demon King’s arrogance. He stepped forward with his demon-subduing staff and fought against him.

Yongzhu Vajra possessed great magical power and could match the Bull Demon King. But since the eighteen Arhats had just suffered a defeat and were demoralized, while the Bull Demon King had been building up anger all along, it took only forty or fifty rounds before a clear winner emerged. The Bull Demon King swung his iron staff, forcing Yongzhu Vajra to defend himself without any chance to counterattack.

Bodhisattva Samantabhadra ordered his white elephant to assist. The Shangyang Monster let out a roar and charged forward. Its wings were as hard as iron, and it swatted at the white elephant mercilessly. How could the elephant resist?

Bodhisattva Lingji raised his Flying Dragon Staff, which transformed into an eight-clawed golden dragon that twisted its body to attack the Bull Demon King. The Bull Demon King had suffered under this golden dragon before, but since he was fighting Yongzhu Vajra at the moment, he had no choice but to endure the attack and try to win this round.

Hou Yi drew his bow and released an arrow without string, firing some unknown projectile at the eight-clawed golden dragon. With a soft thud, the dragon’s fierce appearance vanished. It bowed its head and flew back to Lingji’s hands.

Lingji frowned. This eight-clawed golden dragon was his trusted magical treasure, crafted from a rare golden dragon and always invincible. Yet today, it had returned empty-handed without even seeing what magic the opponent had used. He glanced at Hou Yi—it was the same man he had seen during the time when demons migrated westward.

Hou Yi simply said, “They’re fighting nicely. Why do you insist on fighting in numbers? Then let’s fight all together!” At that moment, Yongzhu’s Golden Tiger Mouth shattered, and his arms trembled so much that he couldn’t lift them; he had no choice but to retreat to his formation. The Bull Demon King also turned back laughing and said, “Delicious!”
Hou Yi, with only a bow, slowly moved from behind to the front of the formation. Though he was alone, he appeared calm, utterly ignoring the Four Great Bodhisattvas, the Eight Great Vajras, and the rest, displaying an aura of “even if there are thousands, I’ll still move forward.”
Manjushri Bodhisattva took out a demon-seeing mirror from his bosom and waved it wildly at Hou Yi, shouting, “What kind of demon are you? Show your true form!” This action made Zhu Rong and the Bull Demon King burst into laughter, and even the calm Chisongzi couldn’t help but smile.
Hou Yi said, “I see that you all possess strange powers that are certainly not of the righteous path. It’s better if you turn back soon.” Upon hearing Hou Yi’s words, the Bodhisattvas, Vajras, and Arhats also found it amusing. The phrase “turn back is safety” was usually only said by Buddhists to others.
Two warriors stepped forward: Shengzhi Vajra from the Qingliang Cave on Mount Emei, who possessed immense magical power, and Dali Vajra from the Miluo Cliff on Mount Sumeru. Knowing that Hou Yi used archery, they first activated their Buddhist mystical powers to surround themselves with golden auras. Coupled with their fierce gazes and solemn appearances, they could indeed intimidate others.
Hou Yi drew out two small arrows and shouted, “Be careful!”
These two arrows were only three inches long. Hou Yi’s way of drawing the arrows was quite strange—he used only the bowstring, not the bow back. With a light tug of the string, the arrows slowly flew toward the two Vajras.
Shengzhi Vajra and Dali Vajra focused intently as the arrows approached. Naturally, they tried to knock them down with their demon-subduing staffs, only to find that the staffs struck empty air. In the next moment, there was a “thud”—their protective mystical auras were useless, and the two arrows had already pierced through the shoulders of the two Vajras.
Not only were the Vajras astonished, but even the Four Great Bodhisattvas were stunned speechless. They couldn’t figure out what kind of trick those arrows used. Clearly, Hou Yi had shown mercy; otherwise, even if the arrows had been aimed at their hearts, the two Vajras wouldn’t have been able to dodge them.
Guanyin Bodhisattva faintly detected a flaw. When the arrows were still a yard away from the Vajras’ shoulders, they suddenly disappeared before reappearing in the Vajras’ bodies. There was no trace of the arrows’ path during that yard-long distance.
This wasn’t a trick of the eyes—it was a technique to distort time flow. Could such an extraordinary archery skill really exist in the world? Guanyin couldn’t help but ask, “Thank you for showing mercy. May I ask your name?” Seeing Hou Yi’s formidable skills, she spoke more politely.
“Hou Yi,” Hou Yi replied indifferently.
Hou Yi!

The name shocked Guanyin, leaving her stunned. Hou Yi’s legendary archery skills were well-known throughout the world, yet he had disappeared from existence tens of thousands of years ago—unbeknownst to many, he had gone to Qitianling. Upon hearing Hou Yi’s name, Guanyin was silent for a long time before saying, “I had no idea such an ancient deity was here; I must have offended you greatly.” After witnessing Hou Yi’s archery skills, she realized she had no chance of defeating him and saw this as an opportunity to back down. As for how to handle this situation, she decided to leave it to the Buddha and Laozi to decide.

After resting for a while and regaining 30% of his strength, Chi Songzi got up to cast spells to bring rain. A generous downpour relieved the severe droughts across the land, and everyone returned to Qitianling. Along the way, the Bull Demon King admired Hou Yi greatly. How many people in the world could scare away the four great bodhisattvas just by revealing their name? He couldn’t help but feel in awe.

Guanyin returned to Mount Ling with many thoughts in her mind and explained the whole situation to the Buddha and Laozi. When the Tathagata heard that Hou Yi had reappeared, he was also surprised. After hearing about Zhu Rong’s magic, he immediately said, “That must be the Fire God Zhu Rong! And the one who controls the clouds and brings rain is undoubtedly the Rain Master Chi Songzi!”

Guanyin said, “I was incompetent and failed to capture them.”

The Tathagata replied, “It’s not your fault. Back then, all those ancient figures disappeared at once, and only three have appeared today. It seems Qitianling has a very strong foundation…”

Guanyin said, “Qitianling is located in Xiniuhuo Continent. As the saying goes, ‘One mountain cannot accommodate two tigers.’ If we in the Western Heaven yield, I’m afraid…”

The Tathagata said, “Yield? Hehe. Recalling the beginning of my religion, there were only seven or eight key figures, with no more than a hundred followers. Yet now, on Mount Ling, there are three thousand Buddhas, five hundred Arhats, countless bodhisattvas, and tens of thousands of monks and nuns. The believers worldwide are as numerous as the sands of the Ganges River, countless in number. My religion—its profound teachings are beyond comprehension, its spiritual currents are immeasurably deep. Thus, the rise of this great religion originated in the Western Lands. Sooner or later, it will shine over the Han realm and spread compassion throughout the Eastern Regions. By then, even if it isn’t declared the only true religion, surely everyone will have no other thoughts. When has there ever been any thought of yielding?”

Hearing the Tathagata’s words, Guanyin was naturally encouraged to boost morale after her previous defeat, so as not to dishearten everyone. She secretly admired the Tathagata’s skill in leading others.

The Tathagata added, “The matter of Qitianling isn’t urgent. Since he brings rain on behalf of heaven, if I don’t confront him, surely even the Heavenly Emperor won’t tolerate him!”

Guanyin quickly said, “When fighting against Qitianling just now, I acted in the name of the Heavenly Court.”

The Buddha nodded slightly, smiling in approval. Then he said, “After all, the Heavenly Emperor is the ruler of all heavens. You must show respect to him in your daily lives.”

The bodhisattvas and Arhats below all chanted, “Amitabha!”

The Tathagata only thought that the Heavenly Court would also go to Qi Tian Ling to handle matters. Little did he know that at this very moment, Li Jing, the Heavenly King who wields the pagoda, led the Heavenly Court’s naval forces, the dragon kings of the four seas, along with hundreds of thousands of soldiers, marching in great numbers toward the Sea Eye in the Northern Sea.