Taibai Jinxing cleared his throat, stepped forward, and smoothed things over: “Bodhisattva, calm your anger, calm your anger. In this old official’s opinion, there’s still something fishy about this matter. Although Fellow Immortal Lu Fan acted impulsively, his words showed considerable integrity; he doesn’t seem like a great villain. Why not change the punishment? Abolish his cultivation and demote him to a Mortal. That would also fulfill the compassion of a monastic. Shouting for death and destruction ultimately harms heavenly harmony.”
These words sounded like persuasion, but in reality, they were fanning the flames.
Everyone knew that the Western Religion valued its reputation above all else. Now, being cursed as “evil demons” by a Loose Immortal, if they couldn’t annihilate him body and soul, they would have completely lost face.
“Taibai Jinxing, you are mistaken!” Pure Thought Bodhisattva suppressed his fury and spoke coldly, “This fiend’s Heart-Nature is already demonic. If we merely abolish his cultivation, there’s no guarantee he won’t cultivate Demonic Technique in the ghost Dao, and then he would cause even greater havoc! How can the safety of the Three Realms be treated as a game?”
He saw the schadenfreude of the Immortals of the Heavenly Court and grew even more enraged.
He knew that the Heavenly Court just wanted to see them make a fool of themselves.
Since the Journey to the West, Buddhism had flourished, and its Luck was prosperous, which had long displeased the Heavenly Court.
“Since you Immortals feel he has extenuating circumstances, you must believe his past was pure and that he was a person devoted to the Dao,” Pure Thought Bodhisattva looked around, a cold smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. “Very well! Today, I shall let you all see clearly whether this person is righteous or evil!”
He declared loudly: “Summon the King of Hell from the Underworld to the hall!”
His voice pierced through the clouds, reaching the netherworld.
Before long, a burst of Yin Qi surged skyward. The King of Hell, dressed in royal robes, wearing a crown, and holding a thick ledger, arrived before the Execution Platform, escorted by Ox-Head and Horse-Face.
“This little king greets the Jade Emperor and bows to all the Immortals and Bodhisattvas,” the King of Hell bowed.
Pure Thought Bodhisattva said directly: “King of Hell, I trouble you to use the Karma Water Mirror to reveal this person, Lu Fan’s, past experiences to the public, so everyone can see if his hands are clean in order to achieve this Earth Immortal Dao Fruit!”
Upon hearing this, many Immortal Officials restrained their smiles.
They all knew that with the Spiritual Qi of the Three Realms dwindling, it was as difficult as ascending to the heavens for Mortals to cultivate Immortality.
Which of the vast majority of Loose Immortals hadn’t been decisive in their killings, with more or less unsavory dealings on their hands?
Killing people to seize treasures and snatching Opportunities were common occurrences.
This move by the Western Religion could be described as pulling the rug out from under them.
As long as any stain from Lu Fan’s past was revealed, they would occupy the moral high ground.
“What a clever move to pull the rug out,” Nezha whispered.
Sun Wukong’s golden eyes flickered, staring intently at Lu Fan. He wanted to see what expression this interesting young man would show when faced with this certain death situation.
The King of Hell dared not delay and responded with a “Yes.” He then took out an ancient bronze mirror from his embrace.
The mirror was only palm-sized, but its surface was like a clear autumn pond, unfathomably deep.
It was precisely the Underworld’s greatest treasure, the Karma Water Mirror, capable of reflecting the past lives of all living beings.
The King of Hell chanted incantations, activating his magic, and tossed the Water Mirror into the air.
The Water Mirror grew with the wind, instantly transforming into a giant light screen covering half of the Execution Platform.
On the light screen, ripples flowed, and blurry images gradually appeared.
The gaze of all gods and Buddhas converged on that light screen.
On Pure Thought Bodhisattva’s face, the benevolent smile of someone in complete control had returned.
Meanwhile, Lu Fan, kneeling in the center of the Execution Platform, silently recited in an angle unseen by everyone.
“System, begin editing my life history.”
【History editing initiated. Please select the entry point and event, Host.】
Lu Fan’s consciousness sank into that vast sea of memories.
......
On the light screen, the scene shifted, and the view of a small border town slowly unfolded.
It was at the junction of the Central Plains and Xiding Kingdom, where sandstorms filled the sky and the land was barren.
In a simple farmhouse courtyard, a baby boy was born with a cry.
He was Lu Fan.
The scenes in the Water Mirror fast-forwarded rapidly.
Lu Fan as a child was fair-skinned and delicate, unlike an ordinary farm child.
He never played and rolled in the mud with the village children, getting himself dirty.
More often, he just sat quietly on the doorstep, looking at the distant, desolate horizon, with a depth in his eyes that did not belong to his age.
He was so sensible it was heartbreaking.
When his parents worked in the fields, the little him would learn to sweep the floor and feed the chickens.
Of the meager food in their home, he always let his parents eat first, only having some thin porridge himself.
Around the Execution Platform, the Immortal Officials of the Heavenly Court began to murmur softly.
“This… he doesn’t seem like any villain.”
“Indeed, born into poverty, yet filial and kind-hearted.”
“Could there truly be some hidden truth?”
Pure Thought Bodhisattva listened to these discussions, his expression unchanged, the Buddha’s light behind his head serene.
He pressed his palms together and uttered a Buddhist chant: “Amitabha. At birth, man’s nature is good. There are no truly evil people born into this world. For this very reason, our Buddha emphasizes education. If the environment can lead people to evil, our Buddha wishes to guide them back to the right path with good Dharma.”
As soon as he said this, a Divine General from the Thunder Department couldn’t help but speak: “Bodhisattva, your words are reasonable. But since you emphasize education, why not continue to educate him instead of sending him to the Execution Platform to take his life?”
This question was direct, and many Immortal Officials cast approving glances.
Pure Thought Bodhisattva lowered his eyelids: “Our Buddha has already given him a chance. Suppressing him for ten years, listening to scriptures daily, that was education. However, his demonic roots run deep. Not only did he not appreciate our Buddha’s compassion, but he also harbored resentment and became even worse. When education is futile, only thunderous means remain, to prevent him from harming the Three Realms. This is demon-slaying, and it is also great compassion.”
His words silenced the crowd, and the Heavenly Court side was speechless for a time.
Yes, he had already been given one chance; it was he himself who didn’t cherish it.
The Immortals’ gazes returned to the light screen.
In the picture, time flowed, and Lu Fan had grown into a tall, slender young man.
His shoulders could already bear farm tools, sharing the heavy work of the family.
One evening, his parents returned home from outside, their faces showing some fatigue, yet also a strange excitement.
As soon as they entered, they carefully opened the family’s rice jar, and from the shallow bottom of the jar, they scooped out a portion of the already meager grain with their hands, wrapping it in a piece of tattered cloth.
Young Lu Fan was chopping firewood. Seeing this, he stopped his axe and asked in confusion: “Father, Mother, what are you doing? Our family’s grain might not last until next month.”
Lu Fan’s father, a dark-skinned man with a weathered face, rubbed his hands: “Fan’er, you don’t know. Today, your mother and I, to escape a wild boar, ran frantically and ended up near that strange mountain to the east.”
Lu Fan’s mother interjected: “It’s that mountain. The old folks in the village say it fell from the sky when the heavens got angry during Wang Mang’s usurpation of the Han dynasty. It’s been hundreds of years, and it’s very eerie; no one dares to go near it.”
“Yes,” his father continued, “We hid behind the rocks and looked from afar at the foot of the mountain… Good heavens, guess what we saw?”
“At the foot of the mountain, a monkey was pinned down! A monkey with a hairy face and a thunder god’s mouth! He… he could even speak human words!”
“We were too scared to move, but we heard him constantly crying out that he was hungry, in such a pitiful way. He was dirty all over, so thin he was just skin and bones; it really made one feel bad. So we decided to share some of our family’s grain and send it to him.”
His father’s words, through the Karma Water Mirror, clearly reached the ears of every god and Buddha on the Execution Platform.
In an instant, the entire white jade platform fell into a dead silence.
The Heavenly Court Immortal Officials, who had just been whispering, now all shut their mouths, even their breathing softened.
Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing’s fingers, resting on his pagoda, paused slightly.
Taibai Jinxing’s action of stroking his beard stopped mid-air.
Nezha, holding his Fire-tipped Spear, his Phoenix eyes wide open, his mouth slightly agape.
Countless gazes, all at once, converged from all directions, and finally, all fell upon Sun Wukong.
Well, well!
Watching the excitement, judging a prisoner, how did the gossip turn to the Monkey King!