Simultaneous traversal: All Abyss difficulty.

Chapter 564 The Sixth Person on the Journey West

On Chang'an Street, Fang Yu was squatting in front of a wonton stall, slurping up hot soup, when he suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

"Boss, two more spoonfuls of chili, please!"

He shouted without turning his head, but the stall owner, Lao Zhang, suddenly froze on the spot, and the soup ladle in his hand clattered into the pot.

Fang Yu frowned and turned around, almost spitting out the wonton soup!
A woman in plain clothes was standing three steps behind him, her eyes, which seemed to be smiling but were not, staring at him from beneath her willow-leaf eyebrows.

The woman had a bright green silk sash tied around her waist and a white jade hairpin in her hair. At first glance, she looked like a young lady who had secretly slipped away from home.

"Is there something you need, young lady?" Fang Yu wiped the grease from his mouth and suddenly noticed that all the pedestrians on the street were frozen in place, and even the falling leaves were suspended in mid-air.

The woman chuckled softly, and golden lotuses suddenly bloomed beneath her feet: "I am Guanyin of the South Sea."

"Cough!" Fang Yu choked on the last half of the wonton, his face turning red.

He instantly activated his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, and with the Taiyi Qinghua technique personally taught by Zhen Yuanzi, he was finally able to see the golden wheel of merit above the other person's head that was almost blinding!
Guanyin! It was one of the Twelve Golden Immortals!

Is the Western Paradise going to give me a quick death?

Guanyin looked with great interest at the magatama spinning in Fang Yu's eyes: "Interesting supernatural power, no wonder he dared to make such outrageous remarks in Chang'an City."

Fang Yu secretly circulated his cultivation technique and found that the spiritual energy in his body was like being trapped in a quagmire.

Since the Flying Thunder God exists anyway, he simply crossed his legs and said, "Is the Bodhisattva here to deliver me from suffering?"

"It is to guide you." Guanyin lightly tapped her fingertip, and the scene around them suddenly transformed into a purple bamboo forest. "You must take this journey to the west very seriously."

Fang Yu picked at his ear: "You think you can just go like that?"

The jade bottle in Guanyin's hand suddenly tilted, and a drop of nectar fell to the ground, transforming into a ferocious ghost general: "Buddhism, the Heavenly Court, and Wuzhuang Temple have all nodded." The ghost general's blade was pressed against Fang Yu's throat. "Aren't you going?"

Fang Yu stared at the blade tip so close to his face, then suddenly grinned: "You should have said so earlier!" He flicked the ghost general away, stood up, patted his butt, and asked, "Is food provided?"

Guanyin's eyes twitched slightly. This rascal actually treated the journey to the West as a job to make a living.
A golden headband flew out from her sleeve: "Wear it, and you will be able to..."

"No way!" Fang Yu dodged with a backflip, cursing inwardly.

'Does this woman think I'm stupid? The Great Sage went through so much trouble to remove the golden headband, does she really think I've never played as Sun Wukong in Black Myth?'

"You!" Guanyin finally lost her compassionate composure, her eyebrows furrowed as she was about to lash out, when suddenly a bell rang from the heavens.

She quickly calculated with her fingers, and her expression changed drastically!

Fang Yu seized the opportunity to lean closer: "Bodhisattva, actually I have a condition."

"explain."

"After I complete the journey to the West, I will not accept any official title from the Western Paradise. I want to be a wandering immortal."

The thought of becoming a monk after obtaining the scriptures and living under the Buddha's discipline every day made Fang Yu feel that he would rather be dead.

Guanyin stared at this grinning scoundrel and was speechless. She could only say, "Fine."

Having said that, it turned into a wisp of green smoke and vanished.

The moment time and space were restored, Old Zhang's soup ladle scooped up a spoonful of wontons.

Fang Yu finished his wontons in a few bites, then gave the middle finger to the air: "Going west, huh? Watch me turn the scriptures into a Buddhist version of 'The Essence of Christianity'."

"Wait!"

Thirty li outside Chang'an City, there was a dilapidated post station beside the official road.

The setting sun cast long shadows on the wooden fence. Tang Sanzang sat alone on a stone bench in the courtyard of the post station, stroking the gold thread on his brocade cassock.

His brow hadn't relaxed since Fang Yu's debate with him.

"Fang Yu." Tang Seng murmured the name, his fingertips unconsciously tracing circles on the stone table.

The debate in Chang'an that day always made his chest feel tight whenever he thought about it.

If Buddhist scriptures cannot relieve present suffering, what is the use of seeking them? This question was like a thorn stuck in his heart.

A wisp of sandalwood incense wafted by on the wind. Tang Sanzang looked up abruptly and saw a figure that had appeared in the courtyard of the post station at some point.

A woman in plain clothes stood barefoot on a lotus flower, a single vermilion dot between her brows standing out starkly in the twilight. "Disciple pays respects to Guanyin Bodhisattva!" Tang Sanzang hurriedly rose to his feet and bowed, ignoring the pain in his knees as they struck the stone bench.

Guanyin nodded slightly, but her gaze went past him and looked into the distance: "Xuanzang, you will have a companion."

"Who is it?"

Guanyin gently twirled a willow branch with her fingertips, and a drop of sweet dew fell on Tang Sanzang's forehead, icy cold. "It is the person who argued with you that day. Although this person spoke wildly, he is carrying the decree of the Heavenly Court."

“Remember this,” she suddenly lowered her voice, “Don’t let him bewitch you again.”

Tang Sanzang bowed his head and agreed, but felt a tightness in his throat.

The image of Fang Yu questioning him that day reappeared before his eyes.
Is Buddha truly saving people from suffering?
Are those sufferings truly karmic retribution?

Guanyin seemed to see through his thoughts, her eyebrows furrowing slightly: "Xuanzang!"

"The disciple is here!"

"On your journey to the West, you only need to remember one thing! True scriptures can dispel the darkness of a thousand years and deliver you from all suffering."

"Disciple...understands." His voice trembled, whether from fright or lingering confusion, it was unclear.

Guanyin gave him a deep look, and her figure gradually faded away.

As the last ray of golden light dissipated, a sudden "whoosh" sound echoed in the courtyard of the post station.
"Oh, is the holy monk frightened?"

A mocking voice came from behind, and Tang Sanzang was stunned when he turned around!

Fang Yu was squatting on a branch of a jujube tree, tossing a green jujube in his hand.

"you!"

Tang Sanzang took a deep breath and suddenly stepped forward. "I have many things I haven't finished saying in the last debate!"

"Don't rush, don't rush, let's get going." He turned and walked out of the post station. "If we stay any longer, we'll be feeding the mosquitoes in the mountains."

"Wait!" Tang Sanzang hurried to catch up. "You said the Buddhist scriptures were useless, but Mahayana Buddhism can help the deceased ascend to heaven and deliver those in distress from suffering."

Fang Yu suddenly stopped, and Tang Seng almost bumped into his back.

“Holy Monk,” Fang Yu turned around, “do you know why Guanyin didn’t just give you the scriptures directly, but insisted that you travel 108,000 miles to get them?”

Tang Sanzang was speechless.

He had asked himself this question countless times, but he could never find an answer that would bring him peace of mind.

Fang Yu leaned closer and whispered, "Because suffering itself is the foundation of Buddhism's existence."

These words struck Tang Sanzang like a thunderbolt from the blue!
He stood frozen in place, watching Fang Yu hum a little tune as he walked toward the official road, a chill rising in his heart!
"Wait for me!" Tang Sanzang clutched his bundle and chased after him, not even bothering to brush off the dust from the hem of his cassock, and plopped down on the white horse that Li Shimin had given him. "Wait! Wait!"

He had too many questions to ask and too many doubts to resolve.

This companion, who was forcibly brought along, might just be a test from Buddha for him.
The two had been walking one after the other for ten minutes when Fang Yu suddenly turned around and asked Tang Seng a question.

Why are you riding a horse?

Tang Sanzang blushed, "Ah, I'll get down right now, I'll get down."

"No, that's not what I meant. If one has to kneel and kowtow three times to reach Mount Ling to be considered sincere, then the people would have been wiped out long ago."

Tang Sanzang was bewildered. "So what do you mean?"

“If you can ride a horse, then you can ride a beast! I have a beast here that can travel a hundred miles a day. If you ride it, we will arrive at Mount Ling much faster. Wouldn’t that bring forward the day when the people are freed from their suffering?”

Tang Sanzang frowned slightly, feeling that something was amiss, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"By the way, this beast is ugly, but as Buddha said, appearance reflects the heart. We shouldn't discriminate based on appearance; inner beauty is true beauty, after all, it's just a physical shell."

Tang Sanzang laughed, "Although the Buddha didn't say these things, I understand what you mean. Call it out."

"Yes, come out! Earth Grudge!"

"Ah! Ah! Ah!"

Upon seeing the appearance of the Earthly Vengeful Demon, Tang Sanzang fainted with a thud.
(End of this chapter)