Yang Xue stepped over the high threshold and pushed open the exquisitely carved wooden door. In front of her was a huge and unique screen.
The incense burning in the room was refreshing. She walked around the screen and looked at the large tea - room. To her surprise, all the furnishings were in light colors. The room was well - lit, and even the wooden floor emitted a faint fragrance of wood.
The setting sun outside the window poured in and shone on the low table. The smooth chess pieces refracted a special luster, which made people feel as if they had traveled through time.
Yang Xue thought to herself that the Buddha really had good taste.
Footsteps came from afar, neither too light nor too heavy. The sound of the beaded curtain being lifted was clear and crisp. Yang Xue turned her head and saw a figure in bright yellow approaching from behind the half - hanging partition curtain, imposing.
She couldn't help feeling a bit nervous. Would the Buddha really attack her on his own territory?
However, she soon regained her composure.
Since she had come, she might as well stay calm. Being here, she somehow felt that the Buddha was not such a person.
In fact, if she were in his shoes, she could understand him. As a suddenly unpredictable demon, she was indeed very dangerous.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting. Please sit down," the person lifted the curtain and appeared in front of Yang Xue. He was tall and broad - shouldered, looking imposing even without getting angry. He looked about thirty years old. His face was not as exaggerated as the Buddha statues seen in temples, but there was still a faint resemblance.
"I just arrived," Yang Xue couldn't help smiling and clasping her fists in greeting, "I've long admired you."
He walked straight to the cushion in front of the window and sat down. With a wave of his hand, the chessboard on the table was replaced by a tea tray.
"Seeing is believing. You're really different from what I imagined," he also smiled and motioned for her to sit down. His tone was amiable, "It's a pity that you still have earthly attachments and have gotten together with Sun Wukong. It's really unexpected."
After Yang Xue sat down, she stared carefully at his expression. Could it be that he really couldn't tell that she had traveled through time?
But thinking of her real purpose this time, she no longer concealed it.
"Can you tell that I'm not the real White Bone Demon?" she asked directly and bluntly.
The Buddha's emotionless gaze swept over her whole body. "I didn't. It's not surprising. If you were really the White Bone Demon, I wouldn't have lost my mind when searching for your whereabouts. She's just a low - level spirit and can't achieve much."
"However, recently I've learned that the real White Bone Demon has appeared. She's under Xuan You's command on Daqing Mountain," Yang Xue stared at him carefully, not wanting to miss any clues. She was full of vigilance. "Have you noticed?"
"Oh?" His clear and bright black eyes met her gaze. "Really?"
Didn't he really know?
At this moment, the once deeply - rooted lofty image of the Buddha in her heart completely disappeared.
It seemed that he wasn't all - knowing and all - powerful.
He lowered his eyes and thought for a moment. Yang Xue looked at the Buddhist beads in his hand. Their shadows in the sun were slightly illusory.
"You're not in your real form?" she said affirmatively. "You're using a clone to meet me?"
"Yes," he raised his eyes faintly. "It doesn't affect our conversation."
"Oh," Yang Xue nodded in understanding. "You're right. This is a Buddhist pure land. It's already quite an exception for me to be able to come to your meditation room. I'm just a woman..."
"That's not the reason," he put down the teacup and interrupted her with a smile. "That doesn't matter. You said you're not the real White Bone Demon. Then who are you and where do you come from?"
"I come from beyond the sky," her clear eyes were always on him. "Maybe one day I'll disappear from this world. So I'd like to ask you not to separate me from Sun Wukong and not to confer any godly titles on him. After the pilgrimage, allow us to live in peace on Flower - Fruit Mountain."
"Why?" He seemed quite puzzled by Yang Xue's words. "You don't want to go to the Heavenly Court?"
"No. I just want to be an ordinary person. It's really fate that I'm with Sun Wukong. With me around, he'll behave himself from tonight on and won't cause any trouble to the Three Realms. Please don't push us too hard." Her attitude was very sincere. After all, she was an outsider and didn't want any trouble.
It would be best if they could live in peace. The incident of the Six - Eared Macaque before had made her want to fight, but three years had passed, and now she just wanted to cherish the present days.
The Buddha thought for a moment and removed the solemn atmosphere around him. "That's good. But I'm afraid you can't live a small - life with that monkey. I don't think you came here by accident. You're burdened with a mission and can't stay out of it."
"What do you mean?" Yang Xue's eyelids twitched. Seeing his mysterious smile, her tone rose slightly.
"I just checked. As you said, the White Bone Demon is indeed on Daqing Mountain, but she was driven into madness because of you. It may not be as you wish if you want to stay out of it." He spread out his broad palm, and a lotus flower faintly stained with black air floated in his palm.
"A mental demon?"
"Exactly," he couldn't help smiling self - deprecatingly. "I'm really a fool. You really have no great ambitions, but you made me over - cautious and gave me a mental demon."
"If I relieve you of it, from tonight on, will you stop targeting us?" she brought up the old matter again. "It was all thanks to you that I had to hide for a long time before."
"A sin, a sin," he smiled slightly. "From now on, you can freely enter and leave Spirit Mountain, and I won't pursue Sun Wukong's incident of making trouble in the Heavenly Court. Let's not mention the past, shall we?"
...
When Yang Xue walked out of the room, she saw the anxious look on the Great Sage's face instantly turn into a beaming one. He quickly rushed in front of her.
"How was it? Did he make things difficult for you?" He grabbed her shoulders and looked her up and down. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Great Sage, don't worry," she smiled faintly and put her hand on the back of his hand. "It's okay. Let's go back."
The Avalokitesvara, who had changed back into women's clothes, stared at her eyebrows and eyes. She keenly sensed something different and couldn't help asking, "What happened?"
"What? Did the Buddha really bully you!" Sun Wukong said and grabbed his golden cudgel, ready to rush in. "Tell us if there's something wrong. We don't have to be afraid of him. At worst, I'll be pressed under the Five - Finger Mountain again!"
Yang Xue was helpless and quickly grabbed his arm. "Great Sage, you can't be pressed under the Five - Finger Mountain again. If I have to wait for five hundred years, I'll have long left you."
"This..." He immediately stopped in his tracks, looking extremely anxious. "What on earth happened?"
"It's a small matter. Let's talk about it when we get back," Yang Xue turned to look at the Avalokitesvara and solemnly nodded to thank her. "Thank you for taking care of me these three years."
"You're being too polite," she was slightly at a loss. She suppressed her doubts and smiled calmly. "Since that's the case, you two may go back."
"Okay," Yang Xue took Sun Wukong's arm. "Let's go. Great Sage, you still have to continue the pilgrimage. As the saying goes, a good deed should be carried through to the end. Tang Seng is still waiting for you."
"Then I'll see you off..." Sun Wukong almost forgot that Tang Seng and his two junior brothers were still waiting for the alms he had gone to get.
"No need. If you don't go back soon, they'll be worried," Yang Xue pushed his back. "It's almost time to reach Spirit Mountain. Go and come back quickly."
"Then I'm leaving," Sun Wukong reluctantly grabbed her wrist. "It won't be more than a month before I come back to find you."
"Okay, I'll wait for you," Yang Xue watched Sun Wukong leave, and her smile gradually disappeared.
The Avalokitesvara stood on one side and saw her emotions clearly.
Presumably, the conversation between her and the Buddha didn't go as she had hoped.
She wanted to comfort her, but suddenly saw a tear roll down from Yang Xue's eye.