Chapter 19: Saint's IOU

Lingxiao Hall over there is still waiting.

Over on Ling Shan, the show hasn't finished yet.

The Radiant Joyful Buddha flew away, turning into a shooting star on the horizon.

The scene was eerily quiet.

Aside from the wind, all that remained was the heavy panting of the Binding Saint, sounding like a torn bellows.

Everyone was looking at the old man in the worn Daoist robe standing in the middle.

That just-used "Words Follow Law" stripped the lifeforce from a quasi-Saint.

Too ruthless.

Also too extreme.

"Master."

Sun Wukong broke the silence.

He fiddled with the pile of magical treasures he'd snatched from the Pool of Merit, looking like a vendor who'd just come back from the market with supplies.

"Should we be leaving?"

"Although this place looks pretty nice right now, that foul smell really stings the nose."

Sun Wukong pointed at the still-kneeling Manjushri and Samantabhadra, then pointed at the Thus Come One, who lay like a dead dog.

A look of disgust.

The Bodhi Patriarch nodded.

"Yes, we should go."

He turned his body, his gaze falling on True Body and Binding.

The two Saints felt a jolt in their hearts.

That feeling of being stared at by a primordial ferocious beast crawled down their spines.

"However."

The Bodhi Patriarch reached into his robe.

He fumbled around for a moment.

He pulled out a yellowed scroll.

And a balding brush.

"Before we leave, we still need to settle the accounts."

The True Body Saint's face twitched, forcing out a smile uglier than crying.

"Teacher...... what...... what does this mean?"

"Just now...... weren't...... we all told to go to prison?"

"That's criminal liability."

The Bodhi Patriarch spread the paper flat, suspending it in midair.

He moistened the brush tip with saliva.

"Now let's calculate civil compensation."

He made quick dots on the paper.

The script flew like dragons and danced like phoenixes, each stroke infused with the rhythm of the Great Dao.

"Wukong was pressed down by you for five hundred years."

"Lost wages, should we count that?"

"Charging one acquired spiritual treasure per day, is that too much?"

True Body opened his mouth wide.

He wanted to speak.

But the Bodhi Patriarch's glare shot him back.

"Feeding him copper pills and iron juice for five hundred years ruined his stomach."

"Nutritional fees, medical fees—these should be counted, right?"

"The Six-Eared Macaque, posing under his name, swaggered and deceived, damaging his reputation."

"Mental damages—this is the big chunk."

The Bodhi Patriarch muttered while writing.

The Binding Saint poked his head over.

He only glanced.

His vision went black, and he nearly fainted.

The list is as follows:

Supreme Innate Spiritual Treasures, ten pieces.

High-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures, thirty pieces.

Innate Spiritual Roots (alive), three stalks.

Nine-turn Golden Elixirs (if the Western Teaching lacks them, go seize them from Tusita Palace), one hundred gourds.

And thirty percent of the Western Teaching's fortune.

"You...... you're robbing!"

True Body finally couldn't hold back.

He jumped up, pointing at that list, his fingers trembling like he had Parkinson's.

"Ten Supreme Innate Spiritual Treasures?!"

Even if you sold the whole Ling Shan, you wouldn't have this much!

And there are spirit roots? You still need three stalks?

Teacher, you're settling scores, you're digging up the ancestral graves of the Western Teaching!

The Western Teaching was inherently barren.

Back then, the two of them, as senior brothers, to scrape together this little fortune, went day and night to the Eastern lands to raid.

Is that easy?

Now just by speaking, you want to take away most of the family fortune?

Can we still live like this?

"None?"

Bodhi Patriarch stopped his brush.

Bodhi Patriarch raised their head.

Looking at Zhun Ti's face, swollen to a pig-liver hue.

"Really none?"

Zhun Ti gritted their teeth.

"None!"

"I want my life!"

"I want money…… not a single cent!"

He is a Saint.

He doesn't believe Bodhi would really dare to kill him over this trivial matter.

Heavenly Dao would not allow a Saint to fall.

"Alright."

Bodhi Patriarch put away the brush.

There was no angry expression on their face.

Very calm.

So calm it makes one's heart anxious.

He raised his right hand.

Palm facing upward.

Crackle—

A clump of gray lightning gathered in his palm.

It was not ordinary lightning.

It was Chaos Divine Thunder.

That is the kind of thing Pangu used when he opened heaven and earth to slay three thousand demon gods.

Although it was only the size of a walnut.

But the destructive aura it emitted directly caused the space of Da Lei Yin Si to begin collapsing.

Black cracks spread like a spiderweb.

"Since there's no money,"

Bodhi Patriarch played with that clump of lightning, as if playing with a yo-yo.

"Then let's settle with flesh."

"Perfect, my Chaos Divine Thunder hasn't seen blood in a long time."

"I don't know if a Saint's immortal body can withstand this strike."

He said.

Bodhi Patriarch's wrist twitched.

That clump of lightning flew from his hand.

It drifted slowly toward Zhun Ti.

The speed was very slow.

But in Zhun Ti's eyes, this was practically a grim reaper's summons.

Can you withstand it?

Withstand my ass!

When this lightning strikes, even a Saint's fruition will be cut in half!

Although they won't die, they must lie in the Primordial Source of Heavenly Dao for hundreds of millions of years before reviving!

By then, even the yellow flowers will be cold!

"Sign! I'll sign!"

Zhun Ti let out a sharp cry.

His voice rose eight degrees.

His movements were so fast they left afterimages.

He snatched the IOU from mid-air.

He bit open his fingertip.

No need for ink pad.

He directly used the Saint's essence blood to press a handprint on that paper.

Smack!

Bright red and glaring.

Senior Brother Binding! Quick! You press too!

True Body grabbed the still-dazed Binding's hand.

He didn't ask if the other party agreed.

He bit it open directly.

He pressed down.

Pa!

The two red handprints were now complete.

Hum——

Just at the moment the handprints were pressed.

That IOU burst into flames without wind, transforming into two golden chains that drilled into the brows of the two saints.

This is the Great Dao oath.

It cannot be denied.

If they dare to default on the debt, their cultivation will regress and their fortune will backfire.

Even the five declines of heaven and man will come early.

Plop.

True Body sat down limply on the ground.

As if all his strength had been drained.

It's over.

Completely over.

Accumulated over countless yuan assemblies, in an instant it all went back to before liberation.

From now on, the Western Sect won't even speak of flourishing; just being able to drink the northwest wind would be considered not bad.

Bodhi Patriarch flicked his hand, and the cluster of Chaos Divine Thunder dissipated into the air.

As if it had never appeared.

If it had been this pleasant earlier, wouldn't it have been over?

You forced me to use force.

Bodhi Patriarch shook his head, wearing an expression that said, "You really don't understand."

A copy of that IOU reappeared in his hand.

He casually handed it to Sun Wukong beside him.

He casually handed it to Sun Wukong beside him.

Whenever you need money, just come to them for it.

If they dare not give it,

then burn this paper and call me Master.

Sun Wukong took the light, fluttering paper.

He glanced at the two bright red handprints on it.

He glanced at the two bright red handprints above.

This isn't paper at all.

This is a long-term meal ticket.

Hehe, thanks, Master.

Sun Wukong held the paper and fanned himself with it.

Sun Wukong held the paper, fanning beside his face.

He waved the 'fan' in his hand at the slumped True Body and Binding.

He waved the fan in his hand at the prone True Body and Binding.

From now on, this Ling Shan is my old Sun's ATM.

If one day the ATM runs out of money...

My old Sun will smash the machine.

True Body buried his face in his crotch.

He didn't want to speak.

Nor did he want to live.

Too bullying!

Sun Wukong tucked the IOU into his chest, keeping it close.

He raised his head.

His Fiery Golden Eyes pierced through the layers of mist, gazing toward the distant east.

There, a golden palace loomed faintly in the sea of clouds.

There was a golden palace there, faintly visible in the sea of clouds.

The accounts here are settled.

And over there...

Sun Wukong pointed toward the east.

There's still someone who's been watching the show.

There's still someone who's been watching the show.

"Shouldn't we also make him pay an entrance fee?"

Bodhi Patriarch looked in the direction of his finger.

A cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"It's time to go collect."

"After all."

"Originally, the one who opened a back door for Six-Ears."

"That's the Great Heavenly Venerable."