On the Dragon-Slaying Platform, I was executed and became Yang Jian's brother-in-law.

As the scene shifts, the gloomy and oppressive tones of the underworld gradually fade away, replaced by a landscape of green mountains and clear waters in the human world.

The camera focuses on the person who appears this time—the ninth reincarnation of Jin Chanzi, whom Buddhism has high hopes for.

Seeing this scene, the previously somber atmosphere of the Great Thunderclap Temple on Mount Ling was instantly invigorated, as if injected with a powerful stimulant. The sparks of hope were rekindled in the eyes of the Western Buddhas.

"It's Jin Chanzi! And he still looks like that holy monk with profound Buddhist knowledge!"

"This lifetime is crucial! As long as Jin Chanzi can uphold his Buddhist heart, withstand the tests set by Su Bai, and even see through the 'trap within the painting,' our Buddhist sect will still have a chance to turn the tide in the future!"

Guanyin Bodhisattva also breathed a slight sigh of relief, and the willow branch holding the jade bottle in her hand stopped trembling. Jin Chanzi is the core of the Journey to the West calamity and a key piece in the rise of Buddhism. As long as the piece itself is strong enough, even if the chessboard is overturned, it can be rearranged.

However, just as the Buddhas were filled with anticipation, a discordant voice rang out in the solemn hall.

"A comeback? I think it's more like a capsizing."

The Buddhas looked in the direction of the sound and saw that Maitreya Buddha, the future Buddha who was always smiling and had a big belly, had now stopped smiling and was looking at Tathagata on the lotus platform with a cold gaze.

"Buddha, look at the current situation." Maitreya Buddha slowly stood up. Although he was not angry, he had an imposing aura. "In the underworld, Lady Pingxin has awakened and openly supports Su Bai, even promising to help him become a saint. The foundation that our Buddhist sect has built up over countless eons in the underworld is being gradually purged and uprooted by Su Bai using the power of the Six Paths."

"And you? As the Buddha of the present, you sit idly by while Su Bai stirs up trouble in the underworld, doing absolutely nothing."

Maitreya Buddha's voice echoed throughout the hall, each word piercing to the heart: "Seeing my West being pressed forward step by step, its fortune slipping away, if you are powerless to reverse the situation, for the sake of the West's grand plan, you would be better off abdicating and yielding the throne to a more capable person! Perhaps I, the Buddha of the East, can still salvage this mess!"

These words caused an uproar in the room!

Is this... a coup?!

The Western Paradise was already rife with factions, and even the powerful Buddha could not suppress all voices. The lineage of Dipankara Buddha remained silent, clearly observing the situation; while the faction of Maitreya Buddha had long coveted control of the Journey to the West.

The Buddha's expression darkened slightly, and he was about to speak to suppress it when he suddenly saw a strange change occur in the scene that Laozi had predicted!

"Gentlemen, hold your argument! Look at the screen! The Buddhist sect... has made its move?!"

The Buddhas' attention was instantly drawn back.

The scene depicts a desolate wilderness. The ninth incarnation of Jin Chanzi, though still wearing a faded monk's robe, with a handsome face and clear eyes, finds himself in a rather wretched state.

Behind him, protecting a ragged, filthy child. The child's eyes were bloodshot, and there was still blood at the corner of his mouth; he was clearly an unformed demon child.

Opposite Jin Chanzi were several cultivators riding on swords, each exuding murderous intent, their swords pointed at the demon child.

"You monk! Get out of the way! This is a man-eating monster, it must not be allowed to live!" the leading cultivator shouted sternly.

Jin Chanzi clasped his hands together, standing in front of the demon child, his face filled with compassion: "Amitabha. Heaven cherishes life. Although this child is a demon, he is still a life. If you kill him, wouldn't that only add to the sins of killing?"

"Nonsense! It was about to eat people just now. If we hadn't arrived in time, the passing villagers would have been killed!"

"All beings are equal. Lay down your butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot." Jin Chanzi did not back down an inch, even though the sword was already pressed against his brow. "This humble monk is willing to use the Dharma to influence him. I beg you all to show mercy."

The cultivators were furious: "Treat him with mercy my ass! What's the point of talking about compassion with this kind of monster? Have you been bewitched by demonic magic, monk? Since you won't let us, we'll beat you up too!"

Sword light fell like rain!

Although Jin Chanzi was just an ordinary monk, he seemed to possess some magical powers in this life. In order to save the demon child, he had to break the precept of "not being angered" and unleash the Buddhist Lion's Roar to forcefully repel the cultivators.

The cultivators, injured by the shock, retreated cursing and swearing. Before leaving, they spat out a final, vicious curse: "What a pushover! Protecting a demon, he'll get his comeuppance sooner or later! Let's see how he cries then!"

Jin Chanzi sighed softly, turned to look at the demon child huddled in the corner, his eyes filled with affection, and reached out to stroke the child's head: "Child, don't be afraid, they're gone..."

Pfft!

Just as Jin Chanzi's palm was about to touch the demon child, the seemingly trembling demon child suddenly sprang up, opened his mouth full of fangs, and bit down hard on Jin Chanzi's wrist!

That bite was extremely vicious, tearing off a chunk of flesh!

Jin Chanzi cried out in pain, blood gushing out, but his first reaction was not anger, but astonishment and disbelief.

"this……"

At this moment, inside the Great Thunderclap Temple on Mount Ling in reality, the Buddhas noticed something amiss.

Manjushri Bodhisattva's gaze was piercing, and he said in a deep voice, "This demon child is strange! There is a very faint trace of Buddhist light hidden within its body... This was deliberately arranged by someone!"

Following Manjushri's guidance, the Buddhas indeed saw a guardian Vajra clad in golden armor hidden above the clouds. The Vajra was coldly observing the scene below, holding a book recording merits and demerits in his hand.

It turns out that this was a "test" arranged by Buddhism for Jin Chanzi!

This was standard procedure before the Journey to the West. To temper the pilgrims' character, Buddhism often arranged various tribulations. This time, they wanted to force Jin Chanzi to understand a principle—compassion also requires ruthless measures!

A blindly do-gooder cannot save the world, nor can they become a Buddha!

"Who set up this scheme? Although the methods are a bit old-fashioned, if it can awaken Jin Chanzi, it's not a bad move." An Arhat nodded in approval.

However, what happened next left everyone dumbfounded.

In the scene, Jin Chanzi, clutching his bleeding wrist, stares at the demon child chewing on his flesh with a fierce look in his eyes, and freezes on the spot.

In a normal script, Jin Chanzi should have learned his lesson and suppressed the demon child with a single palm strike, thus gaining a true understanding of the "wrathful Vajra."

But... the karma that Su Bai had rewritten in the underworld for several lifetimes erupted at this moment!

Jin Chanzi didn't make a move. His eyes began to glaze over, and his body trembled violently, as if two souls were tearing him apart inside his body.

"Why...why did you bite me? I saved you..." Jin Chanzi murmured to himself.

Just then, a cold, mocking voice rang out in his mind without warning. It was none other than the "inner demon" that Su Bai had helped him form in his previous eight lives!

"Hehe, Jin Chanzi, look, these are the beings you are meant to save."

The inner demon materialized in Jin Chanzi's sea of ​​consciousness, transforming into a past life Jin Chanzi dressed in black with a sinister face, who was sneering at him.

"To save this man-eating demon, you injured those cultivators who were fighting to eliminate evil. In their eyes, weren't you an evil monk who aided and abetted the wicked?"

"You keep talking about the equality of all beings, but were the lives of the villagers who were eaten by this monster not equal?"

"This demon is biting you now simply because it's acting on its nature. Your so-called compassion is nothing but a self-deceptive act to move yourself! You want to be a pushover, yet you expect others to pay with their lives. You are... utterly hypocritical!"

"Shut up! Shut up! I'm not being hypocritical! I just... I just don't want to kill..." Jin Chanzi clutched his head, knelt on the ground in agony, and let out a hysterical scream.

Reality and illusion intertwine, and the conflict between discipline and saving lives is magnified infinitely at this moment.

The inner demon continued to whisper: "Look at your Buddhas, they're watching you get bitten, watching you suffer from the clouds. Is this the paradise you believe in? The so-called 'feeding the eagle with your own flesh' is nothing but a show! Do you feel pain? Do you hate it?"

"ah--!!!"

Jin Chanzi completely broke down. His eyes were bloodshot, and his expression was frantic, as if he had a split personality. He would cry one moment and laugh the next.

Upon seeing this, the guardian deity above the clouds frowned, realizing the situation was dire: "How can this Golden Cicada be so fragile? It seems the test has failed; we must end this quickly!"

The guardian deity no longer concealed himself, instantly revealing a golden body ten thousand feet tall. He descended from the clouds, his vajra pestle carrying the force of a thunderbolt, and smashed fiercely at the demon child!

"You wicked beast! How dare you harm a holy monk of Buddhism! Die!"

boom!

The demon child didn't even have time to scream before he was smashed into a pile of minced meat, his soul scattered.

The guardian deity put away his vajra, turned to Jin Chanzi, and said sternly, "Jin Chanzi, do you know your mistake? Compassion is not indulgence. For such evil demons, swift and decisive action must be taken..."

However, the Dharma Protector Vajra's words were stuck in his throat before he could finish speaking.

Because Jin Chanzi raised his head and was staring intently at him.

There was no reverence or enlightenment in those eyes, only endless disgust, fear, and... deep hatred!

"You...killed him?" Jin Chanzi pointed at the pile of flesh on the ground, his voice hoarse like that of a vengeful ghost.

"This beast that harmed people deserves to die." The guardian deity frowned.

"He's a demon, it's in his nature to harm people... But you're a Buddha!" ​​Jin Chanzi suddenly stood up, pointing at the majestic golden body of the Dharma Protector, his laughter chillingly cruel. "Didn't the Buddha say he would save all sentient beings? Didn't the Buddha say that sweeping the floor might harm even an ant's life?"

"So... the so-called Buddha, when it comes to killing, is more ruthless than a demon! More cold-blooded than a monster!"

"You orchestrated this whole drama, watching me act like a fool to save someone, watching me get bitten, and then jumping out to kill him at the end... Is this Buddhist compassion? Is this the teaching you want to impart to me?!"

"Hypocritical! Disgusting! Repulsive!!"

Jin Chanzi frantically tore at his cassock, ripping the robe that symbolized the glory of Buddhism to shreds and trampling it under his feet.

"This Buddha... I'd rather not practice it!!!"

With this roar, the pure Buddhist light surrounding Jin Chanzi was instantly corrupted by a pitch-black demonic aura. That was "the seed of demons in the heart of Buddha," a complete corruption after the collapse of faith!

At that moment, the scene abruptly ended.

The real Lingshan Mountain is deathly silent.

All the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats gaped open, dumbfounded.

This script... is so badly ruined it's completely rotten!

Originally intended to show mercy with swift and decisive measures, the plot planted by Su Bai turned into a tragedy of "forcing good people into prostitution"!

The appearance of the Dharma Protector not only failed to save Jin Chanzi, but also became the last straw that broke the camel's back, confirming the image of Buddhism as "cold-blooded, hypocritical, and double-standard."

Upon seeing the disheveled, demonic Jin Chanzi in the image, who harbored deep hatred for Buddhism, Buddha felt a wave of dizziness and nearly fell off his lotus platform.

Maitreya Buddha stopped arguing. He looked at the "Chosen One" who had been completely ruined, his lips twitched twice, and finally he let out a helpless sigh.

"It's over..."

"This chosen one... seems to have really been ruined!"

"Destroy it, I'm tired."