When Tang Seng came to the Flower-Fruit Mountain, Sun Wukong was extremely delighted. He then negotiated with the Bodhisattva and decided to stay here for three days.
After three days, they would set off on their journey to the Western Paradise to fetch the scriptures.
However, Sun Wukong hadn't decided whether to entrust the task of escorting his master to the Western Paradise to the Six-Eared Macaque or to go himself.
Yang Xue knew that he didn't want to continue this errand. After all, the Tathagata had been so excessive. It didn't make much sense for him to go.
But if he didn't go, Sun Wukong wouldn't be at ease.
In the evening, Tang Seng and his three disciples, the White Dragon Horse, and the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva were all there. Yang Xue thought of preparing a sumptuous vegetarian meal for everyone.
Zhu Bajie was the happiest to hear this. He had been longing for Miss Yang's vegetarian meals. Although there were no meat dishes, he was extremely satisfied with them.
So when Yang Xue proposed to cook, he volunteered to go to the kitchen to help Yang Xue light the fire and do odd jobs.
How could Sun Wukong let Zhu Bajie accompany his wife in the kitchen? So he followed them to the kitchen and hovered around Yang Xue to help, leaving no chance for Zhu Bajie.
Helplessly, Zhu Bajie finally left the kitchen.
Coming to Tang Seng, he began to complain, "Master, eldest senior brother is a typical example of forgetting his family once he has a wife. He doesn't even want to go on the journey to the Western Paradise with us. What's so good about staying here? Even if the Six-Eared Macaque is as capable as him, he's not eldest senior brother!"
Tang Seng lowered his eyelids and said nothing.
Sitting far away by the window, playing chess with the Six-Eared Macaque, the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva saw Tang Seng's expression and knew that he was actually not happy.
"Tang Seng, come here." The Bodhisattva raised his hand and motioned. The Six-Eared Macaque was very sensible and got up from his seat.
Tang Seng was flattered and quickly walked to the opposite of the Bodhisattva. "Disciple..."
"Take a seat. Play chess with me." The Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva in a simple white robe slightly raised his head. His gaze swept past Tang Seng and he said gently, "Do you have any doubts?"
"Disciple... has many doubts and doesn't know how to start." Originally, it was just a simple journey to subdue demons. But since Miss Yang appeared, everything had changed. She had taken away his eldest disciple.
"I thought you would blame the Tathagata Buddha for trying to embarrass him with the Six-Eared Macaque."
"?" Tang Seng looked up. Besides fear, there was also a bit of panic. Was the Bodhisattva reminding him?
How could he not blame!
Although the Tathagata's plan had failed and Wukong hadn't fallen into the trap, his heart had already turned cold.
In the past few days, he had lost his appetite and had become thinner day by day. It was not only because he had to part with the Queen of the Daughter Country, but also because he knew that the Spirit Mountain he was about to reach was not the pure Buddhist land he had thought it was!
There was no pure land in the world!
The Western Paradise was not as pure as he had imagined.
But he still had to continue his journey, using those pure Buddhist scriptures to bring the path of inner purification to those who were suffering.
Noticing that Tang Seng had fallen into deep thought and casually placed a white piece, the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva casually said again, "Did you really fall in love with the Queen of the Daughter Country, Tripitaka?"
Tang Seng suddenly woke up and quickly got up and knelt in front of him. "Disciple is terrified. Disciple didn't fall in love..."
"Don't be in a hurry. So what if you fell in love? It's not your fault, Tripitaka." The Bodhisattva's tone was calm, which made Tang Seng feel at ease.
Tang Seng slowly got up, wiped the sweat off his forehead and continued to play chess.
"Tripitaka, I'd like you to do me a favor."
"?" Tang Seng suddenly stopped and looked up at the Bodhisattva in surprise. For a moment, he thought he was dreaming.
...
When the vegetarian meal was ready and everyone sat around the big round table, they all had different thoughts.
The scene in front of them was real yet illusory. These people would never have such a peaceful experience. They were like an ordinary family in the human world, gathering together and chatting and laughing.
Among them, the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva and the Six-Eared Macaque felt the most.
Yang Xue was unaware of this. She was too lazy to speculate about other people's thoughts. After asking the servants to pour tea for everyone, she arranged for everyone to raise their cups!
"Everyone, this meal today is unprecedented and will never be repeated. Who would have thought that we would gather together and eat and drink like ordinary people. Let's use tea instead of wine to celebrate today's gathering." Yang Xue picked up her teacup and greeted everyone with a smile.
Except for Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie, everyone stared at the tea in front of them slowly, half believing and half doubting. They raised their cups and got up, imitating Yang Xue and clinking their cups together.
"Cheers!" Yang Xue said excitedly, "I wish everyone a bright future and carefree life."
"Miss Yang... Oh no, sister-in-law!" Zhu Bajie was overjoyed. Holding up his teacup, he said with a smile, "From tonight on, I'll call you sister-in-law! Sister-in-law is so generous and has made this meal with her own hands. No matter what happens in the future, I, old Zhu, will never forget this. It's not easy for us to get together. I'll drink first!"
Yang Xue cast an appreciative look at Zhu Bajie. She didn't expect that the first one to support her would be the gluttonous Zhu Bajie.
"Miss Yang, you're the first person who dares to challenge the Tathagata. If you can really replace Sun Wukong, I'll definitely marry you... Ah!" Before the Six-Eared Macaque could finish his words, he was hit by Sun Wukong's golden cudgel and was thrown out of the Flower-Fruit Mountain!
"Bang!" The Six-Eared Macaque was like a stone ball, breaking through the cave wall and rushing straight into the sky.
Yang Xue shook her head. What a pity! Why did he act like a drunkard when he could have a good cup of tea!
Forget it. Anyway, she felt uncomfortable seeing that face that was exactly the same as the Great Sage's. It was just as well that he was gone.
Everyone seemed to be used to this. After being stunned for a moment, they pretended that nothing had happened.
"Everyone, eat and drink well. Seize the day and enjoy it to the fullest. Since we can't drink wine, let the tea intoxicate us without it having to. We'll get drunk on our own!" After saying that, Yang Xue drank the tea in her cup and sat down to start eating.
The Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva and Tang Seng looked at each other. They really had never seen such a scene.
"What a lively scene!" Just then, a familiar voice suddenly came from outside the cave.
"All of you are here..." Yang Jian was the first to enter the door. Pushing aside the guards who tried to stop him, he suddenly stopped at the door and looked at the scene inside the room in shock. "This... is a scene that will go down in history."
The God of Wealth followed closely behind. Lifting the curtain and seeing the scene in front of him, his expression was strange. His clear eyes scanned every face in the room carefully.
"Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva... Tang Seng... Sun Wukong... White Dragon Horse..." The God of Wealth almost petrified on the spot. He turned to look at Yang Jian. Without moving his lips, he asked in a silent voice, "Am I seeing things?"
"No, no. We're late. Can we still add a couple of pairs of chopsticks?" Yang Jian put his arm around his shoulder and walked in.
"Sure, sure. All guests are welcome!" Yang Xue winked at the woman standing behind her. Soon, someone added stools and tableware.
The Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva put down his chopsticks and quietly observed everyone.
"Great Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, when did you start showing yourself in a male form? Have you encountered a difficult matter?" Yang Jian saluted with his hands clasped and casually asked, "Are you also here to win over Yang Xue?"
"Hmm?" Yang Xue was surprised. "Win me over?"
"Miss Yang has amazing talent. It's really worth winning her over." The Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva remained calm. "I'm here to visit the Flower-Fruit Mountain."
"Visit?" This time, Yang Xue was not calm. He hadn't said so before.
"The Tathagata ordered me to follow Yang Xue, learn from her and protect her safety." He said calmly, which silenced everyone.
"Protect?" Sun Wukong threw away his chopsticks, stepped on the stool and stared at the Bodhisattva unhappily. "Bodhisattva, isn't that just surveillance? If so, why do you show yourself in a male form! Could it be that you want to seduce my wife?"
"... " The Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva's eyelids suddenly twitched and his heart skipped a beat. He thought to himself: Wukong, you've guessed right.