I am a fairy in Journey to the West

Chapter 499 The Four Saints in Distress
Upon arriving at Wanhua Ridge, Maha Jiedi pointed to the village below and said, "Bodhisattvas, this is the village below."

The group descended from the clouds and landed outside the village. Looking at the stone tablet outside the village with the three large characters "Wanhua Ridge" engraved on it, the four bodhisattvas then looked into the village.

The four bodhisattvas were surrounded by shimmering Buddhist light, as if they were performing supernatural powers.

After a moment, Bodhisattva Lingji asked, "Has anyone noticed anything?"

The Bodhisattva Huayan shook his head and said, "I can't see through it."

The Bodhisattva Akasagarbha said, "It is like looking at the moon in the water or a flower in a mirror; you can only see the surface, not the inside—it is all emptiness."

Then, Bodhisattva Akasagarbha asked Bodhisattva Lingji, "Venerable Lingji, what did you see?"

"No," said Bodhisattva Lingji, shaking his head. "I can't see through it either."

At this moment, all three looked at Bodhisattva Duobao. When Bodhisattva Duobao saw that the three were looking at him, he shook his head and said, "Like the three Bodhisattvas, I also cannot see through the appearance of this village."

At this moment, the Bodhisattva Huayan said, "This village is indeed strange. Allow me to investigate it."

After saying this, the Bodhisattva Huayan formed a mudra with his hands, uttered a soft shout, and pointed the mudra in his hands toward the village.

In an instant, the mountains shook and the void trembled. The Huayan Mantra crashed down, enveloping the space where the village was located. Then, the destructive power surged from all directions, constantly shaking the space where the village was located.

All the people saw was the space around the village crumbling inch by inch, with a fierce wind of nothingness surging in from the broken void, destroying everything it touched.

However, the village alone remained unaffected. Neither the power of the Huayan Mantra nor the void winds caused by the shattered space could have any effect on it.

A moment later, the power of the Huayan Mantra was exhausted, and the shattered void was repaired by the power of heaven and earth.

The Bodhisattva Huayan sighed and said, "This village is in nothingness, and no external attack can touch it."

The Bodhisattva Akasagarbha said, "Then the only way is to break it from the inside?"

The Bodhisattva Huayan nodded and said, "That's right, we can only attack its internal organs, not its external ones."

Lingji Bodhisattva said, "In that case, let's go in and see what's so special about the place that can trap the Great Sage Equaling Heaven."

Huayan Bodhisattva nodded and smiled, "A demon who can set up such a trap must be a famous figure in the Three Realms. If we can convert him into Buddhism and guide him to righteousness and goodness, it would be a good thing."

All the Bodhisattvas nodded in agreement. Then, Bodhisattva Many Treasures said to Mahāgateti, "Māgateti, you continue to guard outside. We will go in and investigate."

Mahāgater clasped his hands together and bowed, saying, "I will obey the Dharma."

So the Bodhisattva Many Treasures and the three other Bodhisattvas were about to enter the village when Mahagateti suddenly asked, "Reporting to the Bodhisattva Many Treasures..."

The four bodhisattvas stopped and turned to look at Mahagateti. Mahagateti hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Bodhisattvas, shall we set a time?"

"Oh?" Huayan Bodhisattva laughed, "Are you afraid that we won't be able to get out either?"

"No, no," Mahagateti waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "The Bodhisattvas are naturally of boundless power, but... well..."

Seeing Mahagate's appearance, the four bodhisattvas laughed. After a moment, Bodhisattva Many Treasures said, "We will not make things difficult for you. We will give you three days. If we have not come out of this village within three days, you should return to Mount Ling and report to the Great Sun Buddha."

Mahagateti breathed a sigh of relief and quickly put his palms together in prayer, saying, "I will obey your command."

As they spoke, the four members of the Bodhisattva Duobao had already entered the village entrance, and Maha Jiedi watched their figures disappear into the village.

However, when the four bodhisattvas entered the village, the scene they saw was different from that of Tang Sanzang and his disciples and the four Jiedi who had come before them. What the four bodhisattvas saw was a huge temple.

Monks were everywhere inside and outside the temple. They were all dressed in their robes, looking neat, respectable, and full of energy.

"Isn't this a village?" Lingji Bodhisattva asked in surprise, "How come it's a temple when we come in?"

The four bodhisattvas turned around and saw that, sure enough, the road into the village had disappeared, and only the temple remained before them.

At this moment, the monks in the temple had already seen the four people. A middle-aged monk stepped forward, clasped his hands in a gesture of respect to the four, and said, "It seems that you monks are not from this area, but have come from elsewhere?"

The Bodhisattva Huayan glanced at the monks before him and then said, "You are all disciples of Buddhism. How can you be local or from elsewhere?"

The middle-aged monk smiled and said, "There are gates to the Dharma and methods to the Way. May I ask which Dharma gate you masters cultivate and which sacred mountain you reside on?"

The Bodhisattva Akasagarbha said, “We cultivate the Mahayana Dharma and reside on the Western Vulture Peak.”

The middle-aged monk was slightly surprised upon hearing this and asked, "Could it be that the four masters are Bodhisattvas from the Western Paradise?"

Upon hearing this, the Bodhisattva Huayan immediately said, "You demon, you've finally been exposed, haven't you?"

After speaking, the Avatamsaka Bodhisattva immediately flew into the air, revealing his true form as a Bodhisattva, radiant with Buddha-light and possessing a dignified and majestic appearance.

The Bodhisattva Huayan stood in mid-air on auspicious clouds and said to the monks in the temple below: "I am the Bodhisattva Huayan under the seat of Vairocana Buddha. What kind of demons are you? Why do you set up dangers and harm people here? Who is your leader? Quickly call him out to see me."

When the Avatamsaka Bodhisattva revealed his true form, the Bodhisattvas of Many Treasures, Akasagarbha, and Lingji also revealed their true forms.

Four bodhisattvas stood on auspicious seven-colored clouds, their bodies shrouded in boundless Buddhist light, their majestic appearances overlooking the mortal world.

However, the middle-aged monk below and the other monks in the temple reacted calmly to this scene, showing no surprise whatsoever.

At this moment, the middle-aged monk smiled faintly, looked up and said, "Fellow Daoists, your names as Bodhisattvas may have some use elsewhere, but they are useless here. Please take a look at what our temple is called."

Upon hearing this, the Bodhisattva Huayan looked first at the temple plaque, where three large, golden characters were written: Wanfo Temple.

"Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple? What arrogance!" said Huayan Bodhisattva. "Your temple may be large, but it can't possibly house ten thousand Buddha and Bodhisattva statues, can it?"

“Who said we worship ten thousand Buddhas?” the middle-aged monk said. “Every monk in our temple is a Buddha or Bodhisattva. If there are ten thousand monks in total, then there are ten thousand Buddhas or Bodhisattvas.”

"What?!" Upon hearing this, Huayan Bodhisattva was greatly surprised, and then burst out laughing.

“You are truly ignorant of your own limitations,” said the Bodhisattva Huayan. “What merits do you have? What spiritual attainments do you possess? What magical powers do you have that you dare to call yourselves Buddhas and Bodhisattvas? You are truly shameless.”

Lingji Bodhisattva smiled faintly and said, "There are many demons in this world who call themselves Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, but it is unheard of for everyone to call themselves Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and even create a temple called Ten Thousand Buddhas."

The Bodhisattva Akasagarbha said, “Venerable ones, why bother talking so much with these demons? They have blasphemed Buddhism and offended all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. They should all be liberated.”

The Bodhisattva Huayan said, "What the Bodhisattva Akasagarbha said is very true." After saying this, the Bodhisattva Huayan stepped forward and once again formed the 'Avatamsaka Mantra'.

Suddenly, a burst of Buddhist light appeared around the Bodhisattva Huayan, followed by a thunderous roar as the Huayan Mantra crashed down, instantly enveloping the entire Wanfo Temple.

The next moment, the power of the Huayan Mantra surged, and the entire space of Wanfo Temple began to distort, but it did not break.

Just then, a beam of Buddhist light shone from within Wanfo Temple, and a monk flew into the sky. He clasped his hands together and chanted a mantra.

This mantra is very unfamiliar and obscure, or rather, it is not a Buddhist scripture or mantra that the Huayan Bodhisattva and others are familiar with.

But after the monk finished chanting the mantra, he suddenly clapped his hands together, and the next moment the distorted and trembling space returned to calm, and the Huayan Bodhisattva's Huayan Mantra was directly broken.

The Bodhisattva Huayan's expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed in surprise, "What kind of magic is this?" At this moment, the middle-aged monk, also enveloped in Buddhist light, flew into the air and said with a smile, "This is the Temple of Ten Thousand Buddhas, and everyone here is a Buddha or Bodhisattva. Why don't you all believe it?"

At this point, the middle-aged monk pointed to the monk who had broken the Huayan Mantra and said, "Let me introduce you. This is the 'Physical Space' Bodhisattva."

The Bodhisattva of Physical Space clasped his hands together and chanted loudly, "Namo Physical Buddha."

"What is this?!" Huayan Bodhisattva's face turned ashen as he shouted, "Our Buddhist school has no such Dharma at all."

At this point, the Bodhisattva Huayan suddenly realized something and exclaimed, "You are Buddha-demons sent by Mara?!"

Upon hearing this, in addition to the Bodhisattva Duobao, the Bodhisattvas Akasagarbha and Lingji also changed their expressions drastically.

But the middle-aged monk said, "Mara? That little demon dares to compare himself to my Wanfo Temple? My Wanfo Temple is the true source of Buddhism, while your Lingshan Buddhism is false. Mara is even less worthy of mention; he is just a demon and not worth mentioning."

Hearing the middle-aged monk say this, the four bodhisattvas became doubtful again. If it was really a demon sent by Mara, it wouldn't have harmed their ancestors like this.

At this moment, the middle-aged monk looked at the four bodhisattvas and said, "Since you four fellow practitioners have come, then don't leave. Stay at my Wanfo Temple to cultivate, and abandon the false teachings of Lingshan as soon as possible, and take refuge in the true teachings of Wanfo."

After saying that, the middle-aged monk shouted loudly, "Form the formation!"

The next moment, a full 108 rays of Buddhist light rose up, and 108 monks appeared in the form of Bodhisattvas, standing in various positions outside Wanfo Temple and setting up their formations.

Moreover, these 108 Bodhisattvas held the same kind of magical treasure, which was very strange and something that the four Bodhisattvas had never seen or heard of before.

At this moment, the middle-aged monk smiled and said, "Four fellow Daoists, do you recognize this formation?"

The three Bodhisattvas, Akasagarbha, Avatamsaka, and Lingji, looked bewildered. Bodhisattva Duobao also frowned and asked, "What kind of formation is this?"

The middle-aged monk laughed and said, "So you say that your Lingshan is a false Dharma? This is the 'Gatling Formation,' set up by these 108 Gatling Bodhisattvas. Once this formation is activated, it will be invincible in the Three Realms."

After saying this, the 108 monks put their palms together and chanted, "Namo Gatlin Buddha."

"Don't exaggerate your abilities." As Huayan Bodhisattva spoke, he directly formed a mudra with his hands, revealing the Huayan Dharma form.

The Huayan Bodhisattva's Dharma form was a thousand feet tall, with a dazzling Buddhist light emanating from his body. His body was of Vajra-like color, displaying divine power in all directions.

In an instant, the Bodhisattva Huayan rushed forward, and with a wave of his hand, he possessed the power to move mountains and overturn seas. He activated the Buddha's teachings and launched a deafening attack on the Gatling gun array.

At that moment, the Gatling gun array activated, with all 108 Gatling Bodhisattvas unleashing their full firepower, forming a dense net of fire that covered the void and struck towards the Huayan Bodhisattva.

The two forces collided in the void, and the endless Gatling gun fire instantly shattered the power of the Avatamsaka Bodhisattva.

The barrage of fire landed on the Bodhisattva Huayan, and within moments the Bodhisattva's image was riddled with holes.

In an instant, the Bodhisattva Huayan vanished, his Dharma form dissipated, and he reverted to his original form as a Bodhisattva, his body riddled with bloody holes as he fell to the ground.

Seeing this, Bodhisattva Lingji hurriedly took out the Flying Dragon Staff and threw it at the Gatling gun array.

The Flying Dragon Staff swept across the sky, shattering the void, and crashed down with immense power. The Gatling gun's barrage was completely unable to stop the Flying Dragon Staff.

Seeing this, the middle-aged monk made his move. He formed a mudra with his hands and shouted, "Copy!"

'Om'

A sudden hum resounded in the sky, and the next moment another flying dragon staff appeared in the sky, exactly the same in shape and power.

Two flying dragons collided in the sky, exploding with a thunderous roar that shattered the void.

However, the two dragon-shaped staffs were both severely damaged. In an instant, their spiritual light dissipated, their precious light dimmed, and they fell from the sky.

"This!!! Where did you get the Flying Dragon Staff?" Lingji Bodhisattva was also astonished and shouted at the middle-aged monk.

The middle-aged monk smiled faintly and said, "I am the 'Copying Bodhisattva.' No matter what supernatural powers or magical treasures you have, I can copy them exactly the same! Hahahaha."

"This is utterly heretical and evil!" Bodhisattva Lingji cursed angrily, then waved his hand to retrieve the Flying Dragon Staff. Upon closer inspection, he was immediately heartbroken.

At this moment, the Flying Dragon Staff was covered with cracks, its precious light was dim, and it was almost about to break. Lingji Bodhisattva had no choice but to put the Flying Dragon Staff into his spiritual platform to nurture it.

The next moment, the Gatling gun array surrounded them, and the Void Treasury Bodhisattva, who had just rescued the seriously injured Avatamsaka Bodhisattva, was immediately surrounded by the Gatling gun fire.

Lingji Bodhisattva used his magical power, gathering Buddha light around himself, and flew down to save Akasagarbha Bodhisattva and Avatamsaka Bodhisattva.

However, the Gatling gun's barrage was extremely powerful, breaking through the protective shield of Buddha's light on Lingji Bodhisattva in just ten breaths.

As the protective shield of Buddha's light shattered, countless bursts of blood light erupted from Lingji Bodhisattva's body, and he was instantly riddled with holes, collapsing heavily injured beside Akasagarbha Bodhisattva.

The Bodhisattva Akasagarbha had no choice but to rescue the Bodhisattva Lingji to his side, and then used his magic to cut ten layers of space around him to block the Gatling gun array's firepower.

At the same time, Bodhisattva Duobao made his move. He first summoned the 'Purple Thunder Hammer' and gently tossed it into the sky.

In an instant, countless thunderclaps resounded in the sky, followed by ten thousand bolts of lightning that crashed down, instantly reducing the 108 Gatling Bodhisattvas to dust.

As the 108 Gatling Bodhisattvas were killed, the Gatling array instantly collapsed. The copying Bodhisattva wanted to copy the Purple Thunder Hammer, but unexpectedly, the Treasure Bodhisattva had already summoned the Golden Dragon Scissors and flew towards the copying Bodhisattva.

The Golden Dragon Scissors transformed into two golden dragons, which entangled the Bodhisattva as he prepared to copy the Purple Thunder Hammer. Then, with a flash of golden light, the Bodhisattva was sliced ​​in half at waist level by the Golden Dragon Scissors. Next, another flash of golden light appeared, and the Bodhisattva's body was shredded to pieces by the Golden Dragon Scissors.

In the blink of an eye, only the Bodhisattva of the physical space remained on the scene. He hurriedly reversed space, dodged the lightning strike of the Purple Thunder Hammer, and escaped into the Wanfo Temple.

Bodhisattva Duobao said to Bodhisattva Akasagarbha, "Fellow Daoist, please take good care of the two Bodhisattvas. I will go in and investigate."

The Bodhisattva Akasagarbha had his first direct experience of the strength of this Bodhisattva Duobao, who had just joined the Buddhist sect, and immediately nodded and said, "Good, fellow Daoist, please be careful."

Duobao Bodhisattva nodded, and then chased after the physical space Bodhisattva into Wanfo Temple.

The next moment, a loud bang suddenly came from Wanfo Temple, and then the body of Duobao Bodhisattva flew out like a kite with a broken string.

With a 'poof,' the Bodhisattva Duobao spat out a mouthful of blood essence, and his body crashed heavily to the ground.

The Bodhisattva Akasagarbha was greatly surprised and hurriedly exclaimed, "Bodhisattva Many Treasures?!"

The Bodhisattva Duobao, his face pale, rose and said to the Bodhisattva Akasagarbha, "Run! It's the Buddha of the Dharma-ending Age!"

"What?" Bodhisattva Akasagarbha was startled upon hearing this, then asked with a face full of doubt, "What is meant by 'Buddha of the Dharma-ending Age'?!"

As soon as the Bodhisattva Akasagarbha finished speaking, a large black hand reached out from the Wanfo Temple. The Purple Thunder Hammer and the Golden Dragon Scissors were completely ineffective against this hand and fell upon contact.

"The Buddha of the Dharma-ending Age is the Buddha of the Dharma-ending Age." A faint, ethereal voice echoed from within Wanfo Temple.

Then the large black hand descended, and the Bodhisattva Duobao, Bodhisattva Xukongzang, and others had nowhere to escape. They were directly pinned down by the thug and dragged into the Wanfo Temple.

(End of this chapter)