Volume 4: The Revelation Unveiled Chapter 411: The Scapegoating Plan
The Chakravartin King finally regained his senses and said, “Empress Earth, is that monk… from the Spirit Mountain?” The Ten Kings of Hell had long resided in the netherworld and rarely went outside, so they were not well-informed about the affairs of the world. The Chakravartin King was shocked not out of fear of ghosts, but because he could not believe who the Buddha of Infinite Life actually was. In his mind, the Spirit Mountain in the Western Heaven had always maintained good relations with the Heavenly Court; even if there were occasional disagreements, things generally stayed on good terms. What had happened today was truly earth-shattering.
Empress Earth replied coldly, “He is the Buddha of Infinite Life from the Western Heaven!”
“Ah! The Buddha of Infinite Life?” Though he lived in seclusion, the Buddha of Infinite Life was extremely famous. How could the Chakravartin King not know of him? He couldn’t help but glance at Sun Wukong several times, thinking to himself, Could this monkey be none other than Sun Wukong? He never expected him to be so powerful, able to defeat the Buddha of Infinite Life with just a few moves!
The Chakravartin King continued, “Empress Earth, I must go to the Heavenly Court to report this. But it seems there’s a fight up there. I wonder…” Empress Earth understood his intentions and said, “Good. Wukong and I will protect you as you go!”
The two of them flanked the Chakravartin King, protecting him as they rose from the depths of the netherworld. When they reached the clouds, they saw that Vairocana had been beaten by the Holy Mother of Lishan, spitting blood and unable to fight back.
The Holy Mother of Lishan knew that Vairocana could only be injured, not killed, otherwise it would lead to endless troubles, so she did not use excessive force. The Buddha of Returning to Truth realized that the situation was already resolved and began to think of retreating. Seeing Wukong and Empress Earth protecting the Chakravartin King, he shouted, “Capture that Chakravartin King!”
The Chakravartin King was terrified upon hearing this. With his limited cultivation, how could he withstand even a single move from a Buddha? Hearing this, Wukong thought, This is a witness. How can I let you kill him? He brandished his Heavenly Fate Staff, shielding the Chakravartin King behind him.
Realizing the importance of the Chakravartin King’s safety at this moment, the Holy Mother of Lishan also came to protect him. Vairocana finally managed to catch his breath. Seeing that the forces on both sides were roughly equal, the Buddha of Returning to Truth concluded that continuing the fight was pointless. He shouted, “Sun Wukong, I’ll come for you another day!”
Hearing this, Wukong cursed inwardly, calling the Buddha of Returning to Truth cunning. It turned out that his claim of capturing the Chakravartin King was just a pretext. The Buddha of Infinite Life possessed the cultivation of a sage, while the Ten Kings of Hell were merely Taiyi Golden Immortals. If they really wanted to kill him, none of them could escape. The Chakravartin King was deliberately allowed to live. It seemed that Tathagata had planned this all along—this incident was meant to inform the Jade Emperor.
Since the Buddhas were leaving, Wukong knew he couldn’t stop them. He regretted not seeing through Tathagata’s intentions and falling for his scheme. Wukong and Empress Earth said, “We lost today.”
Hou Tu’s expression was also extremely grim. Though she was not from the lineage of Creation, she understood that the Netherworld held great significance for the Heavenly Court. With the Netherworld destroyed today, balance between the East and West would be lost, and chaos would truly reign over the world. When gods fought, it was always the mortals who suffered.
Hou Tu asked, “What should we do now?”
At that moment, Dayu and the others also stopped fighting and let the Buddhas leave. They still didn’t know what had happened below and came to inquire, each lost in deep thought.
Wukong said, “Today’s events were completely unexpected. We’d better return to Qitianling first. Hou Tu and I will take the Chakravartin to the Heavenly Court first, then go look for you.”
Dayu also had no idea what to do. He sensed that this matter was extremely serious, so it was better to observe for now. Thus, he took Zhu Rong and Wu Zhiqi back to Qitianling.
The Holy Mother of Lishan said, “I can also serve as a witness for this matter.”
Wukong replied, “It would be perfect if the Holy Mother could bear witness.”
The five of them rushed to the Heavenly Court and soon arrived at the Lingxiao Palace. The Jade Emperor was leisurely sitting in the center, drinking wine and watching dances. When he saw the Chakravartin enter, covered in blood, followed by Hou Tu, the Holy Mother of Lishan, the Purple Micro Emperor, and even Sun Wukong, he knew something serious must have happened.
Realizing this, the Jade Emperor hurriedly dismissed everyone in the palace, even sending Tai Bai Jin Xing away.
The Chakravartin fell to his knees and said, “I report to the Jade Emperor—something terrible has happened!”
The Jade Emperor said, “Don’t panic. Explain slowly.”
The Chakravartin glanced at Hou Tu and then at Wukong, his face filled with terror. “This… this monkey and… Hou Tu… have destroyed the Netherworld!”
Shocked, the Jade Emperor stood up abruptly and shouted, “What nonsense are you talking?”
Hou Tu and Wukong exchanged a look, both unable to hide their shock. Wukong looked at the Chakravartin and finally understood Buddha’s plan.
It was all a lie! Intercepting Wukong along the way to seize the essence of the five elements was a lie; trying to capture the Spiritual Bright Ape was a lie; letting the Chakravartin go and ignoring the Jade Emperor was a lie. Only this act of framing was real! The Chakravartin was clearly Buddha’s pawn!
Wukong felt both angry and impressed. Buddha’s performance was truly masterful. He had been puzzled earlier—if the Buddhas of Ling Mountain wanted to destroy the Netherworld, why not do it directly? Why did they have to stop the people from Qitianling and fight in the Abyss of Nine Netherworlds just to create an opportunity to commit evil? It turned out it was all preparation for framing.
Hou Tu didn’t argue, waiting to see how the Jade Emperor would respond.
When had the Jade Emperor ever faced such a difficult problem? He demanded sternly of the Chakravartin, “What exactly happened?” The Chakravartin trembled and said, “He… he nearly killed all the Ten Kings of Hell and the judges and ghostly messengers, claiming he wanted to sever the roots of heaven’s creation! This is what I saw with my own eyes—”
“Enough,” the Jade Emperor took a deep breath to calm his unease, then turned to the Holy Mother of Lishan and asked, “The Holy Mother is here too. Did you witness what happened today?”
The Holy Mother of Lishan shook her head and replied indifferently, “I just happened to encounter these three people. Seeing that the Chakravartin was injured, I became curious and came to see what was going on.”
Hearing this, Wukong was also puzzled—why had the Holy Mother of Lishan changed her mind? He glanced at Zi Wei, who kept his head lowered in silence, and gradually understood. Few people knew about the underworld transporting elements for heaven, yet Wukong and Hou Tu happened to be aware of it. Although Hou Tu was one of the Six Imperial Sovereigns in Taoism, she hardly participated in any affairs of heaven from the beginning. Ever since she learned that Dayu had returned to Qitianling, she considered herself part of that group. With the Jade Emperor’s deep suspicion, how could he trust Hou Tu?
The position of the Holy Mother of Lishan was also very delicate at this time. Though she was a reclusive sage, she had given birth to the Great Emperor Zi Wei. Zi Wei had once plotted to seize power with Zhenwu, and the Jade Emperor had always held a grudge against them both. Therefore, if the Holy Mother of Lishan claimed the Chakravartin was lying, the Jade Emperor would surely think that Zi Wei, Zhenwu, and the people of Qitianling had long been in collusion. This would not only fail to support Hou Tu and Wukong but also lead the Jade Emperor to suspect even more.
Since the Jade Emperor got nothing from the Holy Mother of Lishan, he turned to Hou Tu and asked, “Lady Hou Tu, how do you explain this?”
Seeing the Jade Emperor’s gloomy expression, Hou Tu sneered and said, “If you believe the Chakravartin, then there’s no need to ask me. If you believe me, then there’s no need for this question either.”
The Jade Emperor said, “This matter is of great significance; I can’t afford any negligence. Does Lady Hou Tu mean that the Chakravartin is lying?” Hou Tu simply turned away, refusing to look at him.
The Jade Emperor then turned to the Chakravartin and demanded, “Are you the only one left among the Ten Kings of Hell?”
The Chakravartin replied, “That’s right!”
The Jade Emperor continued, “If it was Lady Hou Tu who did this, how could you have escaped?”
The Chakravartin said, “At that time, she…” He glanced at Hou Tu, but seeing that she ignored him, he continued, “She started killing from the first hall. Seeing the situation was critical, I fled from behind. On the way, she caught up with me again. It was then that the Buddha of Returning to Truth and other Buddhas from the Western Heaven passed by the Abyss of Nine Netherworlds and saved my life.”
The Jade Emperor asked, “Where did the Buddha of Returning to Truth and the others go?”
The Wheel King said, “The Buddha of Truth saved me and only said, ‘If Hou Tu dares to kill you, I will go to the Heavenly Court and expose her evil deeds!’”
The Jade Emperor’s face turned ashen as water, and he nodded firmly before saying to the Wheel King, “Go to the back of the palace first; I’ll send someone to heal your wounds.” The Wheel King rose and headed to the back of the palace, where an envoy from the Jade Emperor came to guide him in.
The Jade Emperor pointed at Wukong and shouted, “You wretched monster from Qi Tian Ling! Sooner or later, I’ll flatten your lair!”
Seeing the Jade Emperor shouting hoarsely, his face red and neck swollen, Wukong smiled silently, took Hou Tu by the hand, and said, “Let’s go, sister.” Hou Tu gave the Jade Emperor a disdainful look and muttered, “You big fool!”
The two left the Lingxiao Palace, followed by the Holy Mother of Lishan and Zi Wei. The Holy Mother of Lishan said with a smile, “Don’t blame me for fleeing the battlefield.” Wukong replied, “How could I dare?”
Hou Tu said resentfully, “That Wheel King is truly detestable. He even dares to spread lies right in front of me.”
Wukong said, “Sister, his petty tricks can’t deceive the Jade Emperor.”
“Oh?” Hou Tu said, “It seems the Jade Emperor already believes him!”
Wukong shook his head and said, “Though the Jade Emperor made fierce threats, he said them to the Wheel King. Having reached such a high position, he’s not that easy to fool.”
The Holy Mother of Lishan also agreed, “Wukong is right. This is a strategy to stabilize the situation.”
Wukong said, “We must find the Three Pure Ones now to discuss a plan—always be prepared for anything!”
The Holy Mother of Lishan said, “Well said. Go ahead then.”
Wukong, Hou Tu, the Holy Mother of Lishan, and Emperor Zi Wei bid each other farewell and headed toward Qingwei Heaven.
It had been a long time since Wukong last visited the Heavenly Court. Upon seeing it today, he found it much quieter than before, with few immortals coming and going. In truth, the Jade Emperor had neglected state affairs for a long time, leaving most immortals idle and wandering off on their own.
Just as they were about to fly out of the Thirty-Six Heavens, someone called from behind, “Great Sage Sun, Lady Hou Tu, slow down a bit.”
Wukong turned around and saw the Turtle and Snake generals from the Purple Cloud Palace at the Northern Heavenly Gate chasing after them. Wukong stopped to wait. When the Turtle general reached him, he said cheerfully, “We were just about to go down to the mortal world to look for the Great Sage. It’s a good thing we met here; it saves us a lot of trouble.”
Wukong was surprised. “Has the Great Emperor Zhenwu returned to the palace? What do you want from me?”
The Turtle general replied, “It is indeed the Great Emperor who sent me to find the Great Sage.”
Wukong knew that Zhenwu and the Phoenix were eternal enemies, and their conflict must be quite serious. So he asked worriedly, “Has the Great Emperor won this battle?”
The Turtle general smiled and said, “There hasn’t been any major battle. The Great Emperor just said he found an old friend and asked me to invite the Great Sage to the Purple Cloud Palace to talk.”
An old friend? Wukong thought for a moment and was overjoyed. Could it be that the Ancestral Dragon and the Phoenix hadn’t fought but had reconciled? This was truly wonderful news.
Wukong urged, “Hurry, let’s go!”
The four of them rushed to the Purple Sky Palace at lightning speed. Wukong hurried in, and sitting in the main hall were none other than Zhenwu and the Phoenix!