Yang Xue was puzzled. Why did they have to go on the pilgrimage for scriptures? Why did they strive to become Buddhas?
Since celestial beings in the Heavenly Court were allowed to marry, with Tang Seng's boundless merits, he was fully qualified to be a celestial being with the right to marry.
But she was nothing at present. Could she really change their fates?
Just by standing beside the Bodhisattva and changing Sun Wukong's fate trajectory, she already felt deeply guilty.
If she were to arrange for Tang Seng to marry the queen of the daughter - country, wouldn't she become a disaster to the Three Realms, just as the Tathagata had worried?
Yang Xue had always been aware of why she had become a mental obstacle to the Tathagata.
Her uncontrollability, the unpredictable and ungraspable future, was like an atomic bomb capable of destroying the world, weighing heavily on the Tathagata's mind.
He had always secretly sent people to look for her. Now, although she no longer hid, she appeared beside Sun Wukong, whom they also worried about and wanted to get rid of...
Such a variable made the entire Three Realms uneasy.
Looking at the dejected Tang Seng, Yang Xue seemed to see the future of herself and the Great Sage.
An unprecedented sense of unease welled up, along with the feeling of being rootless and like a speck of dust in this vast world.
She wasn't the kind of person with a calm heart. Those who were attached to the mortal world only felt fear.
"Tang Sanzang, since Sun Wukong has returned, take a few days to rest and then continue your westward pilgrimage for scriptures," the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva said with a touch of pity, looking at Tang Seng. "I hope you can cut off the ties of the mortal world, abandon your desires, and never forget your original aspiration."
Never forget the original aspiration...
Tang Seng's original aspiration was to whole - heartedly follow the Buddha.
But now, with his budding romantic feelings, how could he so easily devote himself to the Buddha?
Suddenly, Yang Xue thought that being whole - heartedly devoted to the Buddha was no different from being a kind but emotionless robot.
"Bang!"
"Boom~"
The world spun around. A thunderbolt struck from the void, and Yang Xue was suddenly enveloped in a visible golden light.
She achieved enlightenment.
Everyone was shocked. Yang Xue had so simply and rather casually endured the Heavenly Tribulation!
That was the Heavenly Tribulation!
Normally, when people endured the Heavenly Tribulation, they had to withstand at least ten thunderbolts, each of which was almost unbearable. Only one or two out of ten could actually survive.
It could be said that the Heavenly Tribulation was a near - death experience.
Sun Wukong knew that Yang Xue's cultivation had long passed the stage of enduring the Heavenly Tribulation. This sudden thunderbolt was strange and suspicious.
What had she enlightened to?
The Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva looked at the faint golden light on her body in great surprise. "You... you are actually..." She didn't finish the rest of the words.
Even the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, who had existed for tens of thousands of years, had never seen such a strange person.
"No wonder the Tathagata Patriarch has been so wary of you," she finally understood why the Tathagata had tried every means to get rid of this seemingly insignificant White Bone Demon.
Sun Wukong was puzzled. He stepped closer to the Bodhisattva and asked, "Bodhisattva, what do you mean by that?"
"It cannot be said," she replied with a faint smile and slowly walked up to Yang Xue.
Yang Xue looked down at herself. That thunderbolt had truly struck beside her feet and grazed her arm, but she was unharmed. She only felt a slight tingling sensation.
"Bodhisattva, why are you looking at me like this?" Yang Xue was puzzled. Thinking of the cold - hearted words the Bodhisattva had said to Tang Seng just now, she felt a sense of resistance. "Bodhisattva, don't you want to persuade me to separate from the Great Sage? Don't even think about it."
"No, no one will persuade you to leave anyone. They are not qualified to do so," the kind - faced Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva looked at Yang Xue carefully, smiling.
"Ah?" Yang Xue suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. "Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, your smile like this really makes people have impure thoughts."
"What are impure thoughts?"
"Cough cough!" Sun Wukong stepped in between them and turned to the Bodhisattva. "You don't need to know. The Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva should be pure and flawless. Why do you need to know such things?"
"Yes, right," Yang Xue understood. Looking at the master and his disciples not far away, she said, "Since that's the case, the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva can go back. We'll rest here for a few days. After we get the official document from the copper coffin, we'll naturally go on the pilgrimage to the Western Heaven for scriptures."
"You're going too?" the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva asked in surprise.
"Of course," Yang Xue took Sun Wukong's arm. "I will definitely accompany the Great Sage."
"..." Tang Seng was in a very complicated mood.
Why was there such a big gap between people?
"But..." The Bodhisattva wanted to say that with Yang Xue's current status, she didn't have to go on this journey. She could perhaps ask for a leisurely post in the Heavenly Court or be given a proper position in the Western Heaven, and the Tathagata would stop making things difficult for her.
But thinking of the Tathagata's mental obstacle, she said no more.
She had to go back and report to the Tathagata. What she had seen today was truly a wonder.
...
In the evening, the four disciples and Yang Xue sat around a large round table in silence.
The female officials who usually flocked around them were now quietly staying at their posts. They were sad for their queen.
Sure enough, men were all bad. To them, women were just delicious fruits. Once they had tasted them, that was it.
Maybe many years later, they would still remember the taste of the fruit, but they wouldn't care whether the fruit tree was still alive.
But they also didn't understand that Tang Seng was so sad that he couldn't control himself, yet he had to pretend to be calm and unaffected.
"Master, are we really leaving?" Zhu Bajie noticed Tang Seng's silence. Knowing that he had feelings for the queen, he turned to hate Sun Wukong. "Brother Monkey, why don't you just be the demon king? Why did you come back and force us to continue the pilgrimage for scriptures?"
"Do you think that if I hadn't come, you wouldn't have to continue the pilgrimage?" Sun Wukong said impatiently. "I asked the Bodhisattva. If you hadn't come to find me, you would have continued westward in two days. Master would still be like this, losing his appetite."
Tang Seng put his hands together. "Amitabha. I haven't lost my appetite. I have no romantic feelings. I just played chess and enjoyed the flowers with the queen. There was no intimacy. Tomorrow, I will ask her for the official document and get the seal on the copper coffin document."
Sun Wukong shook his head. "Master, master, this is nothing to be ashamed of."
Yang Xue patted him. "But this is a sad thing. Don't mention it."
"Okay," Sun Wukong obediently changed the topic. "This banana is very sweet. Try it."
"Brother Monkey, could you two please leave? Master is feeling sad, but you're showing your affection right under his nose. It's really too much!" With that, Zhu Bajie stood up. "I'm going to say goodbye to the female general. Sha Seng, come with me."
"Okay," Sha Seng's face also showed a look of sadness as he followed Zhu Bajie out of the room.
...
"You mean she has extraordinary talent, is surrounded by golden light, and is a predestined person of the Western Heaven?" the Tathagata exclaimed. "This is impossible!"
"Absolutely true. I saw it with my own eyes," the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva said gently. "She is not a disaster. Maybe she is the savior of the changes in the Three Realms."
"Impossible," the Tathagata gently twirled his fingers. "If she is the savior, why do I have no sense of it?"
"Maybe it's because of her special identity. Patriarch, you don't hope that in the future..."
"Presumptuous!" the Tathagata interrupted her loudly. "There's no such thing as not hoping. Avalokitesvara, watch your words."