Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Ling Ping’an took the lacquer box upstairs and placed it on the top of the refrigerator.
He yawned and walked into the bedroom. He immediately tucked himself into the bed after putting off his slippers.
Even though he wasn’t cold.
But…
This was a habit.
Winter had arrived. He had to respect winter!
Soon, he fell into a deep sleep and entered a sweet dream.
When he fell asleep, little monsters of the size of pigeons came out of the illusion.
They surrounded the lacquer box on the top of the refrigerator.
The colorful lacquer box was surrounded by spiritual light.
Twisted tentacles extended from the bellies of these little monsters.
The tentacles slowly touched the lacquer box.
The color on the lacquer box faded, revealing its essence.
Rotten, broken and demonic mist surrounded it.
These tentacles rolled out a broken invitation card from the rotten lacquer box.
The invitation card was unfolded.
There was only one word on it.
It was written with blood and tears as ink while ghosts and souls as pens: Injustice!
As soon as this word was written, the entire living room was instantly covered with frost and snow.
“Ha!” The thin man who was completely immersed in the darkness appeared in the living room.
He reached out and took the invitation card.
“Wronged?” His expressionless face, which even his facial features had been swallowed by the darkness, showed a mocking expression.
As the messenger of his master.
As the executor of the great master’s will.
He couldn’t even be bothered with such an ant’s sentiment.
He even hated such behavior.
Overstepping his rank…
This was blasphemy!
But…
He held the invitation card, but he did not dare to tear it up.
He did not dare to destroy the evidence and simply destroyed that world as well.
Although he had done such things countless times, in the end…
He did not have the guts!
He knew his master’s temper.
He also understood the consequences of doing so.
After hesitating for a moment, he finally had to take the invitation card and kneel in front of his master’s bed.
Everything could only be decided by the great and eternal master.
Everything was the result of his random selection.
Good and evil were completely unimportant.
What was important was that he was happy.
His master, who was sleeping, turned his body gently.
Inhaled… Exhaled…
…
Mei Qing was almost personally sent out by the freak who claimed to be the Lord Jiu Ling.
“Fairy, take care…” Within the poison barrier, the nine-headed freak slowly retreated.
She raised her head and looked at the sun in the sky.
She didn’t dare believe that she was actually able to walk out alive.
She tightly grabbed the pitch-black booklet in her hand.
She knew that this was her greatest reliance.
She took a deep breath and as she thought of something, she hurriedly took out the gourd on her body and the red cloth in her bosom.
Opening the stopper of the gourd, clear water rippled in the gourd and a faint fragrance permeated the air.
She looked at the crucian carp in the red cloth.
Every single one of them was still alive and kicking!
“Let’s go back first!” Mei Qing thought.
She had to rush back to save her master’s life!
…
In a daze, Ling Ping’an felt that there seemed to be someone in front of his bed.
He turned around and opened his eyes. He could vaguely see the figure of that person.
It seemed to be a thin man kneeling in front of his bed.
“Little Ao…” He blurted out, “You’re here…”
However, the other party did not say anything.
The figure in front of his bed also disappeared without a trace.
Ling Ping’an did not think too much. He turned around and continued to sleep.
In his dreams, he had seen many strange things.
He did not even think about why he called out ‘Little Ao’.
It was because there was no need for logic in a dream.
He continued to sleep.
Everything in the dream was extremely comfortable.
Rustle… Rustle…
Crack crack crack… Crack crack crack…
Vaguely, these chaotic sounds seemed to ring in his ears again.
Like a lullaby, Ling Ping’an fell into a deeper dream.
“The Soul of Machines…” he seemed to hear the prayers of countless people.
It was as if he could see huge chimneys rising from the ground.
The steel factory spewing thick smoke appeared from nowhere in the desert.
Something seemed to be singing in the red molten iron.
The rumbling engine seemed to be right beside one’s ears.
The steel girl with wings was soaring in the sky.
Pieces of steel ingots were forged, then processed into parts and assembled into a magnificent mechanical palace.
The gears were rotating and the chains were rolling.
This was a magnificent building made of steel and machinery.
It was simply a miracle-like building!
But…
“What is this thing used for energy?” He smiled.
The dream continued to fall.
He saw a desolate planet.
On the orbit above the planet, in the huge Star Harbor, there was a huge object being assembled.
Countless huge turrets had been hoisted up.
The light of the star was projected from afar.
The armor on the Star Harbor reflected a dazzling light.
Vaguely, he seemed to hear a voice reverberating in space.
“Flesh is weak, but steel is eternal!”
In the blink of an eye, the dream world changed.
He seemed to have appeared in the depths of the mountains filled with poisonous fog and poisonous water.
“Oh…” he looked around.
It seemed to be a cave?
In the cave, all the strange-looking people who looked like monsters on TV were looking at him.
These monsters kowtowed in unison, “Buddha is merciful!”
Ling Ping’an was stunned. He lowered his head and looked below him.
He found that he seemed to be sitting cross-legged on a black lotus throne.
He also seemed to be wearing a black kasaya.
“Daydreaming, night dreaming…” He thought, “It seems that I’m dreaming of my novel…”
With that thought, he laughed.
“Rise!” He quickly took on his own role.
How could he not be familiar with the characters he wrote?
It was Skyless Buddha!
He was wild, cool and domineering!
He was the typical protagonist of a cool novel!
He was the kind of character who would care about the torrential flood after his death!
“Thank you, Buddha!” The demons were overjoyed and kowtowed one after another.
A guy who seemed to have a yellow lion head walked up to Ling Ping’an with tears in his eyes and kowtowed, “Buddha is merciful!”
“The little demon, Yellow Lion, is bold enough to die. Please let Buddha make the decision!”
Ling Ping’an looked at it and understood it in his heart.
“As expected, what I experienced during the day and dream about them at night…” He thought, “I just saw the remade lacquer box invitation tonight, and I dreamed about the main character at night!”
“Moreover, it is a world view that is mixed with my novel…”
He asked calmly, “What grievances do you have?”
The Yellow Lion Spirit cried and worshiped, “Reporting to Buddha, the little demon Yellow Lion has been following the teachings of the ancestor since it had intelligence…”
“Don’t even talk about eating people…”
“Even if you want to eat meat, you have to fork out money and let the little demons go to the merchant to buy it!”
Ling Ping’an nodded. This was the truth!
The Yellow Lion Spirit in journey to the West could be said to be a model for demons.
They were actually given money to do business and were even allowed to bargain!
The monkey and Bajie in the original novel, the changing merchant, were actually allowed to enter the mountain instead of being eaten.
However…
In the end…
Under the golden cudgel, the cudgel broke free. All the demons, big and small, were killed!
In comparison, the Da Peng of Lion Camel Ridge swallowed an unknown number of people and countless heavenly soldiers but not a single hair was lost!
And that deer demon of Che Chi Kingdom took the child’s heart and liver and used it as medicine.
It was useless!
It wasn’t just a Yellow Lion Spirit!
In the journey to the West, what bad things did the three great immortal Lu Li brothers in Fengxian County do?
Well…
Perhaps letting the monks reform through labor counted!
But they did a lot of good things as they begged for rain and prayed for blessings.
And in the end?
The three brothers turned gray together…
The Yellow Lion Spirit cried and complained, “I’ve never harmed anyone in my life… But I was killed after stealing the weapons of that master and disciples…”
“Now that I’m dead and my soul is scattered, I only have a wisp of remnant will left. With the blessing of Buddha, I’m going to continue living here!”
“However, the four of them are thriving…”
“I heard that Monk Tang is now living in Chang an’s Dayan Pagoda. He is a mighty figure in the eastern lands…”
“That monkey has returned to Huaguo Mountain and is ruling that area. He calls himself the ‘Heavenly Grand Sage’!”
“That pig demon has returned to Gao Lao Zhuang. He has three wives and four concubines. How happy is he!”
“That Monk Sha is still eating and drinking blood in the Heavenly River. He is still happy!”
“Even that little white dragon has unified the four seas and become the dragon of the four seas!”
“As for the little demon, it can only guard this mountain. Every day, when it wakes up, it’s only three-quarters of an hour…”
“The rest are muddle-headed and go crazy…”
“The little demon has heard that Skyless Buddha has always been fair! The scriptures he passed down tell people to cultivate in this life and be happy with their grudges…”
“But why is Buddha so unfair?”
As he spoke, he kowtowed heavily and his eyes were bloodshot.
Ling Ping’an was stunned when he heard this because he felt that what this demon said seemed to make sense!
In that book, his settings seemed to have things like express gratitude, hatred and only ask for this life.
Now, in this dream, he suddenly woke up.
There seemed to be something wrong with the logic.
This was a little awkward.
Fortunately, there was nothing that could not be resolved by the author of the web novel.
Ling Ping’an chuckled, “You little demon, how can you be so muddle-headed!”
The Yellow Lion Spirit raised its head.
Ling Ping’an pinched his finger and casually pointed. A black spiritual light landed on its head.
“Let me show you the world from hundreds of years ago…”
With a wave of his hand, time and space flipped and the world changed.
Everything around him changed rapidly.
In an instant, green water and green mountains, birds chirping and flowers fragrant.
Ling Ping’an pulled the Yellow Lion Spirit lightly and brought it through thousands of mountains and rivers, landing on the Lion Camel Ridge.
This kind of illogical thing could only appear in a dream, and only in a dream would people not feel strange about it.
“Look…”
Ling Ping’an pointed at the Lion Camel Ridge, which was filled with demonic mist, human and demon corpses with their flesh and bones cut off.
“This is Lion Camel Ridge…”
“At the foot of Ling Mountain, at the intersection of the Western Sky…”
“Do you remember what that Tathagata once said?”
“When I look at the four major continents, all living things are good and evil, and they differ from each other. The people of Dong Sheng Divine Continent respect the heaven and earth, and their hearts are at peace; the people of Bei Ju Lu Continent are good at killing, but only because they have to make a living. They are clumsy and unemotional, and do not commit many crimes; the people of Xi Niu He Continent are not greedy and do not kill. They nourish their Qi and latent spirit. Although it is supreme and everyone has a long life, the people of Nan Zhan Bu Continent are greedy and enjoy the misfortune of others. They kill more, and as the saying goes, the battlefield of words is a sea of evil…”
“Yellow Lion, do you think this place can be considered as ‘not greedy, not killing, nourishing the Spirit’?” Ling Ping’an’s lips curled into a cold smile.
The Yellow Lion Spirit looked at the Lion Camel Ridge in front of him in a daze. This was the entrance to the Western Heaven, the country at the foot of Mount Ling.
If this place was not greedy, not killing, then…
Its Leopard Head Mountain could be considered heaven on Earth, a Buddhist kingdom on Earth!
Ling Ping’an chuckled and waved his hand.
He had already appeared in the eastern lands with the Yellow Lion Spirit.
A monk was riding a white horse as he slowly walked through the lofty mountains.
The surrounding mountains were green and the scenery was like a paradise.
Ling Ping’an smiled lightly and said, “Yellow Lion Spirit, look at this place. Isn’t it ‘greed and pleasure, killing more? As the saying goes, the tongue is fierce, but isn’t it the evil sea?’”
The Yellow Lion Spirit looked at this place. It couldn’t even see a bit of demonic fog. It shook its head. It couldn’t even see the mountain range.
“Then do you know why it is like this?” Ling Ping’an turned around and asked.
The Yellow Lion Spirit shook its head.
Ling Ping’an laughed, “There’s no other… What Tathagata said is only justified by faith!”
“Only those who believe in his Mahayana Buddhism and only those who recite his Mahayana Buddhist scriptures are righteous men. Only those who are not greedy and don’t kill, nourish their Qi and nourish their spirits!”
“Therefore, although that Lion Camel Ridge treats humans as livestock and even devours heavenly soldiers and heavenly generals…”
“Burning, killing, and plundering in broad daylight…”
“However, all over Lion Camel Ridge are the wings of Tathagata…”
“All sing his Buddhist dharma and Buddhist scriptures…”
“Therefore, even if Tathagata opens his eyes, he also wants to say ‘I, Xi Niu He Continent, am not greedy, not killing, and nourishing Qi and spirit’!”
“And this eastern land is the land of Daoism, there is no chanting of his Buddhist scriptures and Dharma, so I will open my eyes and criticize and slander!”
“I cannot stand that Tathagata’s hypocritical face, so I will smash his golden body…”
“But…”
He turned around and looked at the Yellow Lion Spirit, “There is a difference between kinship and estrangement…”
“The four master and disciples, who have received my grace, are my minions…”
“Therefore, even if they commit all kinds of crimes, they are still my claws and teeth!”
“This is the true scripture that I have taught you!”
“Break the hypocrisy and return to the truth!”
The Yellow Lion Spirit was stunned for a moment when he heard this. Then, he came to his senses and bowed his head, “The Buddha is merciful. The little demons understand now!”
Ling Ping’an chuckled and waved his hand.
He returned to the cave that was filled with poison and poisonous water.
The demons bowed their heads and worshiped him.
The Yellow Lion Spirit even kowtowed three hundred times. He was extremely grateful, “Me, little demon, thank you for your advice!”
“I will work hard and diligently cultivate the true Buddhist scripture!”
Ling Ping’an nodded. He looked like a child that could be taught, “Goodness be true! Goodness be true!”
He woke up from his dream.
The sky was already bright and the sounds of cars and people could be heard on the streets outside.
Ling Ping’an scratched his head. “That’s strange… I think I had a dream about a journey to the West…”
He recalled the dream.
“I think I dreamt that I became the Skyless Buddha in my book…”
“I think I also dreamed of a monster?”
He scratched his head. He was very clear about many details of the dream, which made him think that he was the Skyless Buddha.
It was not until he woke up that he realized that he was still himself.
An ordinary, powerless bookstore owner.
“Hehe…” he got up and shook his head, “It’s really strange…”
“It seems that it should be because the reader came to visit last night…” he said.
