I am a fairy in Journey to the West

Chapter 140: The True Lord is conferred in Lingxiao Palace

Daluotian, Lingxiao Palace.

The divine sound of the jade chimes resounded through the heavens; all the immortals gathered above the nine-colored sky to pay homage.

The Jade Emperor sits high in the sky, with a mysterious light behind him that penetrates the universe and illuminates all three realms.

After all the gods returned to their positions and the immortals lined up, the Jade Emperor slowly spoke, "Xuanlingtai Xianmiao Shenjun Zhuang Yan entered the palace to be conferred the title."

Taibai Jinxing immediately stepped forward and sang to the outside of the Lingxiao Palace: "The Great Celestial Lord has decreed that the Immortal Lord of Xuanlingtai Xianmiao enter the palace to be conferred the title."

"Your servant Zhuang Yan is here to see you." Zhuang Yan's voice came from outside the Lingxiao Palace, and then he stepped into the Lingxiao Palace.

On the immortals on both sides of the hall, Nezha looked at Zhuang Yan who was slowly entering the hall with a look of surprise, and couldn't help but said to the fifth Marshal of the Thunder Department beside him: "How come this kid got promoted so quickly? He caught up with us in the blink of an eye."

Marshal Deng said with a smile: "Who can blame him for being so capable?"

Marshal Xin said: "Sun Wukong, who caused havoc in the Heavenly Palace, is still the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, a super-ranking official."

Nezha said: "Even if I stay in the Heavenly Palace, if I also go down to the mortal world to serve, in a few years I can also make countless contributions and become a super-grade immortal official."

Marshal Pang said with a smile: "Then you must have sucked out all the dragon tendons of the Four Seas Dragon Clan, right?"

Nezha glared at Marshal Pang and said, "Old Pang, this is not funny."

Hearing Nezha's words, the gods around him all grinned.

At this time, Zhuang Yan had already arrived at the palace. He bowed to the Jade Emperor and said, "Your Majesty, I, Zhuang Yan, pay my respects to the Jade Emperor, the Great Heavenly Venerable, the Mysterious Sky High God. I wish Your Majesty a long life and eternal peace."

The Jade Emperor spoke kindly, "Stand up."

Zhuang Yan bowed again and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty," then stood up.

Afterwards, the Jade Emperor said to Zhang Tianshi, the leader of the Four Heavenly Masters, "Announce the decree."

Zhang Tianshi bowed and said, "As you command."

Then Zhang Tianshi stepped forward, unfolded the imperial edict, and sang loudly: "According to the will of heaven, the Dao has established the court. Here is Lingtai Xianmiao Shenjun Zhuang Yan. According to his merits and achievements, he has been honored by heaven and promoted to the fourth-rank immortal official of Zhongyuan. He is named 'Lingtai Xianmiao Yuji Zhenjun' and is in charge of the affairs of Xiniu Hezhou in Taixuan Zhenfu. He is directly under the jurisdiction of Shenxiao Yufu."

In the Lingxiao Palace, the gods were a little surprised when they heard the Jade Emperor's promotion of Zhuang Yan.

But those who reacted quickly have already understood.

"The Great Celestial Venerable wants to spread his power and virtue to the Xiniu Hezhou." Marshal Zhao Gongming of the Xuantan Dynasty said to Marshal Ma Tianjun of the Huaguang Dynasty.

Ma Tianjun said: "I just don't know if Lingshan has any objections."

The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King said: "There is definitely no objection from Lingshan, but it is hard to say for the human world in Xiniu Hezhou."

Zhao Gongming and Ma Tianjun nodded when they heard this. At this time, Zhuang Yan had already accepted the order and expressed his gratitude.

The Jade Emperor called out, "Where is the Grand Envoy of the Taixuan Province?"

Emperor Wenchang immediately came out holding a jade tablet, bowed and said, "I am here."

The Jade Emperor asked, "Are the ceremonial carriages ready?"

Emperor Wenchang bowed and said, "Your Majesty, everything is ready and I am waiting for your orders outside the Lingxiao Palace."

The Jade Emperor nodded and said, "Send Lingtai Xianmiao Yuji Zhenjun to Taixuan Zhenfu to take up his post immediately. There must be no mistakes."

Emperor Wenchang bowed and said, "As ordered." He then called the Taixuan Envoy and said, "Send Lingtai Xianmiao Yuji Zhenjun to Taixuan Zhenfu to take up his post."

The Taixuan Envoy bowed and accepted the order, then stepped forward and said to Zhuang Yan, "True Lord, please."

Zhuang Yan immediately bid farewell to the Jade Emperor, and then followed Tai Xuan out of the Lingxiao Palace, where he saw a huge ceremonial team surrounding a canopy chariot waiting there quietly.

The Taixuan Envoy said to Zhuang Yan, "True Lord, this is the rule of the Heavenly Court. When a celestial official of the fourth rank or above takes up his post for the first time, he must be escorted by the Taixuan Provincial Guard of Ceremonies and the Imperial Paladin."

Zhuang Yan nodded and looked over, only to see that the ceremonial guard consisted of eighteen heavenly generals and one thousand eight hundred heavenly soldiers.

Luo umbrellas, dragon fans, jade talismans, golden flags, banners, axes, and brocade fish lanterns. They are majestic and solemn, and colorful and bright.

Under the guidance of Taixuan Envoy, Zhuang Yan boarded the five-colored jade chariot, while Taixuan Envoy boarded another three-colored large chariot.

Afterwards, with the sound of gongs and drums beating, the team slowly set off, went out of the West Heaven Gate, and went straight down to the Thirty-Three Heavens. The gods and sons of gods in the heavens flew into the sky and stopped to watch.

Three hours later, the ceremonial guard arrived outside Taixuan Zhenfu. At this time, all the immortal officials of Taixuan Zhenfu had already received the order and came to greet them.

Leading the way were the three main officials of Taixuan Zhenfu: Emperor Shaoyang of Zifu, Zhenjun Xuandu, and Zhenren Wenshi.

When the chariot stopped, Zhuang Yan stepped down from the imperial carriage. He saw the three people including Emperor Shaoyang of Zifu and the immortal officials from the human world in front of him, and immediately stepped forward.

After arriving in front of the three people, Zhuang Yan bowed and said, "Greetings to the Senior Lord and the two Junior Lords."

The three Purple Mansion Shaoyang Emperors also bowed in return, and then Shaoyang Emperor smiled and said, "From now on, you will be the True Lord of Lingtai. From now on, we can be friends on an equal footing. There is no need to be so polite."

Zhuang Yan bowed and smiled, "Yes."

Then the Taixuan Zhenfu immortal officials came forward one after another and bowed, saying, "Your subordinates pay homage to Lingtai Xianmiao Yuji Zhenjun."

Zhuang Yan glanced at the crowd and smiled slightly, "No need to be polite, everyone. Please stand up."

"Thank you, Master." Everyone bowed again and stood up.

At this time, Taixuan Envoy came over, exchanged greetings with everyone, and then handed the jade book of the Taixuan Metropolitan Provincial Party Committee's appointed immortal official to Zifu Shaoyang Emperor.

Although Zhuang Yan was directly under the jurisdiction of Shenxiao Yufu, he was still working in Taixuan Zhenfu after all, so a copy of Zhuang Yan's appointment file had to be given to Taixuan Zhenfu as well.

Zhuang Yan is now a fourth-rank immortal official. Although he is one rank lower than the three people including Zifu Shaoyang Emperor, they are at least equal in position.

To put it simply, Taixuan Zhenfu originally had three "chief officers", and now there is a fourth one, Zhuang Yan.

Afterwards, Zifu Shaoyang Emperor immediately ordered people to prepare a fairy banquet to welcome Zhuang Yan and entertain Taixuan Envoy and the heavenly soldiers and generals who accompanied him. The day after the fairy banquet, Taixuan Envoy bid farewell to everyone and led the heavenly soldiers and generals back to Taixuan Province in Daluo Heaven to report.

Zhuang Yan also officially opened a palace in Taixuan Zhenfu to handle affairs, and the main hall he was in charge of was the "Yuji Palace".

On his first day in office, Zhuang Yan only sat in the Yuji Palace for a while, and then left the Taixuan Mansion and went down to the lower world.

Guanyin Temple, a thousand-year-old temple, is prosperous with incense, the evening bells ring, and the mountains and forests are quiet and peaceful.

A white cloud slowly floated over from the sky, and on the cloud stood a young man wearing a "three-color blue sky four-elephant fairy robe", a "purple ribbon and white jade belt" around his waist, and his hair tied with a jade belt. He was Zhuang Yan who had just come down to the mortal world.

Zhuang Yan glanced at the Guanyin Temple below, and then entered the 'construction' state.

Soon a mysterious great force enveloped the entire Guanyin Temple, but the monks in the temple were unaware of it. Before they knew it, an hour had passed.

Zhuang Yan withdrew his power, closed the 'construction' state, looked down at the Guanyin Temple with satisfaction, then disappeared and sat in the clouds, keeping an eye on the situation below.

Two days later, three figures appeared on the mountain road leading to Guanyin Temple. To be precise, it was three people and one horse.

Sun Wukong walked in front, jogging a few steps from time to time to explore the way. Little White Dragon Ao Lie walked behind holding the horse rope. Tang Seng rode on the horse and lowered his head to Ao Lie and said, "Wubai, Master is hungry."

Wubai, this is the Buddhist name of the little white dragon.

When Ao Lie heard this, he immediately shouted to Sun Wukong in front of him: "Big Brother, Master is hungry."

Sun Wukong, who was exploring the way ahead, jumped back and looked at Tang Seng on his horse and said with a smile: "Master, you just had breakfast this morning, why are you hungry again?"

Tang Seng said: "Wukong, I ate breakfast this morning, but I haven't eaten lunch yet."

When Sun Wukong heard this, he looked towards the surrounding wilderness and said with a smile: "Master, it's not a big deal for a monk to go hungry. Besides, there is no place to beg for alms in this wilderness."

Tang Seng said, "Wukong, I am very hungry. Go find something to eat."

Sun Wukong scratched his hands, then nodded and said, "Okay, Little White Dragon, you protect Master, I'll go take a look ahead."

Xiao Bailong nodded and said, "Don't worry, big brother."

Then Sun Wukong leaped up and disappeared in the blink of an eye, while Xiao Bailong took out a water bag and handed it to Tang Seng, "Master, have a drink of water."

"Okay." Tang Seng took the water bag and drank a few sips. Just as he handed the water bag to Xiaobailong, he saw a white light flying in front of him. After landing, the figure of Sun Wukong appeared.

Tang Seng hurriedly asked, "Wukong, how is it? Did you get some vegetarian food?"

Sun Wukong said with a smile: "Master, why are you still eating vegetarian food? There are better ones."

After that, Sun Wukong pointed to the front and said, "There is a temple about ten miles ahead. It is very popular. Master, it is a good place for you to stay. Are you worried about not having food to eat?"

Hearing this, Tang Seng was very happy and no longer hungry. He quickly said, "In that case, let's hurry up and get going."

"Wukong, Wubai, let's go. I'll wait at the temple ahead to stay there." Tang Seng said to the two of them.

Soon the master and his two disciples arrived at the Guanyin Temple. When Tang Seng saw the four big words "Guanyin Temple", he was immediately overjoyed and hurried to pay his respects.

Afterwards, Tang Seng went forward to tell the novice monk at the gate about his homeland. The novice monk hurriedly replied that he had heard that Tang Seng was a monk from the Tang Dynasty in the East, so the abbot welcomed him warmly.

But after Sun Wukong and the little white dragon leading the purple dragon horse came over, the head of the courtyard asked in horror: "What are those two people leading the horses?"

Not to mention Sun Wukong, although the little white dragon has a handsome face, he has a pair of majestic dragon horns on his forehead, which looks extremely scary.

Tang Seng quickly said, "Don't be afraid, Master. They are my two disciples."

Upon hearing this, the head of the academy first looked at Xiao Bailong, then at Sun Wukong, and finally mainly at Sun Wukong and said, "It's too ugly."

Tang Seng laughed and said, "You can't tell, it's ugly, but it's very useful."

Then the abbot arranged guest rooms for Tang Seng and his two companions, and had the purple dragon horse led to the stable and sprinkled hay on it.

At this time, the abbot came to invite Tang Seng, and served tea to the guests in the backyard. The master and his two disciples then went to the backyard.

Just as everyone arrived at the backyard and arranged their seats, a cold wind blew over.

The cold wind made everyone's backs feel cold and their bodies felt icy. Sun Wukong and Xiaobailong immediately stood up alertly.

At the same time, a monk hurried into the backyard hall and said in horror: "Master, this is not good."

The head of the courtyard frowned and asked, "Why are you so panicked?"

The monk said, "Master, all the Buddha statues in the temple have disappeared."

"What? Is there such a thing?" The dean was shocked and stood up quickly.

At this time, a loud shout came from the back: "The Grandmaster is here."

The dean was slightly startled, then turned around and said quickly: "The old dean is here."

Upon hearing this, Tang Seng quickly stood up. Then, an old monk with a wrinkled face, a haggard complexion, and dull eyes walked in, supported by two young monks.

Tang Seng immediately bowed and said, "Old Master, I bow to you."

The old monk was helped by the crowd to sit on the chair, and then slowly said: "Just now I heard from you that there is a master from the Tang Dynasty in the East, so I came out to meet him."

Tang Monk bowed and said, "Please forgive me for disturbing Baoshan."

The old monk said, "I dare not." Then he turned to the monk who had just reported, and asked, "What did you say just now?"

The monk said again: "Reporting to the old abbot, all the Buddha statues in the temple have disappeared."

The old monk was stunned when he heard this and said, "How is this possible?" Then he stood up again and said, "Help me go and take a look."

Afterwards, everyone supported the old monk, and Tang Seng and his two disciples also followed to various halls to check. Sure enough, the altars where the statues of gods and Buddhas were originally placed were empty. All the Buddha statues in the entire Guanyin Temple disappeared without a trace in that instant.

(End of this chapter)