txolops Chapter 150 Wuji Kingdom: Stealing the Jade Disc
Chapter 150 Wuji Kingdom: Stealing the Jade Disc
Li Fa then bid farewell to Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, mounted his black tiger, left the Emerald Cloud Palace, and headed straight back to the mortal realm.
The black tiger, with its four feet moving with the wind, broke through the darkness and soon emerged from the ground, landing in the backyard of Baolin Temple.
It was getting late, almost dusk.
Because Li Fa had been captured, Tang Sanzang and his disciples did not make any moves.
Li Fa took in Xuanhu, straightened his clothes, and pushed open the door to enter.
Upon seeing this, Tang Sanzang was indeed horrified and said, "Daoist Master, weren't you captured by the prince's troops? How come...?"
Li Fa said, "Elder, don't be alarmed. I used the Golden Cicada Shedding Its Shell technique to escape."
Upon hearing this, Tang Sanzang said, "Amitabha, the Daoist is indeed powerful."
The traveler stepped forward and said, "Taoist, now that you've escaped, why are you only returning at dusk?"
Li Fa said, "Great Sage, you may not know this, but after I escaped, I went straight to the Eight Treasures Glazed Well and brought back the two corpses."
Having said that, he recited the incantation and pointed to the ground.
Two golden beams flew out from his sleeves, landed on the ground, and turned into two corpses.
A man and a woman; the man was just over twenty, wearing a prince's crown and a dragon robe; the woman was in her thirties, wearing a phoenix coronet and embroidered robe, with a dignified face.
It was the Queen and Prince of Wuji Kingdom.
Upon seeing this, the king knelt down with a thud and cried out, "Queen! My children! I have ruined you!"
Tang Sanzang clasped his hands together and chanted the Buddha's name, while Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing also showed reluctance.
The traveler stepped forward, examined the bodies carefully, and said, "Why would the Dragon King of the Well allow you to take these two corpses away?"
Li Fa laughed and said, "I used a little trick to transform into the appearance of Moang, the eldest prince of the West Sea Dragon Palace, and tricked the Well Dragon King out of the house. Then I changed into his appearance and that's how I succeeded."
Upon hearing this, the pilgrim exclaimed with delight, "Excellent skill! Excellent skill! But though their physical bodies have returned, where are their souls?"
Li Fa then took out a glass bottle from his robes, within which two points of spiritual light flickered faintly. He said, "The soul is here. I went down to the underworld and obtained it from Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva."
Upon hearing this, the pilgrim's eyes flashed with surprise, and he said, "Taoist Master, you can actually descend to the underworld? And even retrieve a soul from Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva? That's truly an extraordinary skill!"
Li Fa waved his hand and said, "Great Sage, you flatter me. However, the Bodhisattva said that although the soul has been obtained, it needs to be placed in the body using the Dividing Spirit Jade Tablet, otherwise it will be difficult to awaken."
The pilgrim asked, "The Jade Disc of Dividing Spirits? What is that?"
Li Fa said, "It is the treasure of the Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun, which can cause the primordial spirit of mortals to leave their bodies and return to their original positions. Someone borrowed this treasure from the Tianzun before and used it to draw out the souls of the Queen and the Crown Prince. The treasure is still in that person's hands."
The traveler's eyes darted around, and he asked, "Who is that person? Where is he?"
Li Fa pondered for a moment and said, "Who else could it be? It must be the current Queen and Crown Prince! Since the real Queen and Crown Prince were killed by them, the ones in the country must be fake. In my opinion, they are probably demons in disguise."
Upon hearing this, the pilgrim sneered, "These scoundrels have some nerve! Let's go, let's storm Chicken Cry City, storm the Golden Palace, and teach them a lesson!"
Li Fa said, "Great Sage, please calm your anger. The most urgent matter is to retrieve the Divine Transformation Jade Disc and revive the Queen and the Crown Prince. Then we can confront them in court and teach them a lesson! It's not too late to fight them then!"
The traveler said, "What are you arguing about? Explain yourself clearly."
Li Fa said, "Wasn't my fake body captured by that fake prince with his troops? It's still in the Heavenly Prison. Why don't we use a diversionary tactic?"
Wukong asked, "What does 'luring the tiger away from the mountain' mean?"
Li Fa said, "My false body is connected to my mind. I can manipulate it to make some noise in the Heavenly Prison to lure the monster there. Great Sage can then sneak in, check where the treasure is, and steal it. Once the treasure is in hand, we can revive the Queen and the Crown Prince, and then we will have witnesses. At that time, we will have the truth in our hands."
Upon hearing this, Wukong clapped his hands and laughed, "Brilliant plan! Brilliant plan! I'll go right now!"
Li Fa said, "Great Sage, you must be careful and not disturb others."
Wukong laughed and said, "Don't worry, Daoist Master, stealing elixirs and imperial wine is an ancestral skill of mine!"
Having said that, Wukong leaped up and rode his somersault cloud straight towards the capital of Wuji Kingdom.
Li Fa then said to the king, Tang Sanzang, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing, "Your Majesty, elders, please stay here and keep an eye on these two corpses. I will be right back."
Everyone nodded and said, "Taoist Master, please be careful."
Li Fa mounted the black tiger and soared into the clouds, heading towards the Heavenly Prison.
Before long, he arrived near the Heavenly Prison. He was indeed powerful, and he used magic to manipulate the fake body, causing the Heavenly Prison to shake and the prison to tremble.
After Manjushri Bodhisattva and Jinzha finished interrogating Li Fa and trapped him with the Dragon-Hiding Stake, they ordered the jailers to keep a close watch on him before returning to the palace with peace of mind.
Upon returning to the palace, the Bodhisattva would meditate and practice Zen.
Just as he was about to enter a meditative state, a loud bang was heard from the direction of the prison, followed by the prison guards' cries of alarm.
Manjushri frowned, stood up and said, "Jinzha, it sounds like there's movement from the Heavenly Prison. Could it be that Plasma has escaped? You stay here and keep watch, I'll go take a look."
Jin Zha asked, "Master, would you like me to come along?"
Manjushri said, "No need. That demon is trapped by the Dragon-Hiding Stake and can't cause any trouble. The treasure I borrowed from the Celestial Venerable is still in the palace. You should guard it well and not let anyone take advantage of the situation to break in."
Jin Zha bowed and said, "Yes, sir."
Manjushri then went to the Heavenly Prison.
Meanwhile, Wukong had already sneaked into the palace, using an invisibility spell to search left and right.
Before long, they arrived at the Queen's palace.
The Great Sage looked up and saw the Crown Prince guarding outside.
The Great Sage thought to himself, "Since this fellow is guarding outside, the treasure must be hidden here. Let's see what I can do."
Great Sage! He transformed himself into a small flying insect and slipped through the crack in the window.
Once inside the palace, the Great Sage revealed his true form and hurriedly searched around.
Sure enough, there were several wooden boxes on the dressing table, all locked. The Great Sage knew that these must be treasures, and he was about to make a move.
Suddenly, footsteps sounded outside. The traveler was also quick to react; he transformed into a black cat and scurried up to the roof beam, holding his breath.
The prince pushed open the door and entered. He walked to the dressing table, opened the second wooden box from the left, took out a palm-sized jade plate, examined it carefully, put it back, switched it with the second one from the right, locked the box, and turned to leave.
The Great Sage, observing everything clearly from the beam, thought to himself, "This fellow does have some cunning, but unfortunately, he's like the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind!"
The Great Sage was showing off his supernatural powers again. He climbed down from the beam, plucked a hair from his head, turned it into an iron wire, and poked it into the keyhole.
The wooden box opened as expected, and the Great Sage took the opportunity to touch the treasure. He then plucked a hair and transformed it into a fake one, which then turned into a flying insect and flew out through the crack in the window.
This is exactly:
The cicada sheds its shell, feigning reality; a flying insect enters the house to steal precious treasures.
Let's see when the Golden Palace reopens; we'll see how the outcome is decided.