Chapter 529: The Witty Jade Emperor

Purple Bamboo Forest.

"Bodhisattva, please tell old Sun where my master is. It is truly making old Sun anxious to death."

Sun Wukong scratched his ears and cheeks, and seeing Guanyin Bodhisattva so wary of the Demon Emperor, he became even more anxious.

"I must go discuss this matter with Buddha, Wukong. If it is not handled well, the entire Three Realms will suffer," Guanyin said.

"Don't go looking for Buddha; by the time we find Buddha, I fear Bajie will be cold," Sun Wukong said.

Hearing this, Guanyin closed her eyes, pinched her fingers to calculate, and then said: "Xuanzang is already a Great Luo Golden Immortal, so I cannot accurately calculate his specific location, but he should currently be in the Heavenly Court. You can go to the Heavenly Court to find him; I hope Xuanzang can stall the Demon Emperor."

"The Heavenly Court?"

Sun Wukong rubbed his head; why did Master go to the Heavenly Court? No wonder he couldn't be found in the mortal world.

"Many thanks, Bodhisattva."

Immediately, Sun Wukong led the others and left the South Sea.

Guanyin stood where she was, a look of compassion appearing on her face.

It seemed that everything was slowly slipping out of the control of Buddhism; there were too many variables.

The Demon Emperor, who had long since fallen, had suddenly appeared in the world, and he had even captured Tianpeng; this was clearly aimed at the Scripture Seeking Group.

But given the identities of Donghuang Taiyi and Dijun, why would they make things difficult for Xuanzang and his party? It made no sense at all.

Rather than doing this, it would be better to go to the Heavenly Court and directly target the Jade Emperor.

After all, the current Heavenly Court was once the Demon Court of the Demon Race, and the Demon Race was once the master of heaven and earth.

Without much thought, Guanyin used her divine powers and hurried toward the Great Leiyin Temple.

……

Southern Heaven Gate.

"This is a restricted area of the Heavenly Court; idlers keep out."

The minor soldiers Ye Lingtian and Lu Renjia blocked Sun Wukong and his party.

"..." Sun Wukong.

It was ridiculous; there were gatekeepers everywhere.

He hadn't noticed it before, but now he felt it was truly troublesome.

"Look clearly, old Sun is the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong. I am here to find my master," Sun Wukong said.

"Oh, idlers keep out," Ye Lingtian said.

That Lu Renjia was a veteran of the Heavenly Court and felt a bit of a pain in his waist. Upon hearing it was the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, his eyes lit up and he said: "So it is the Great Sage. Little Ye, watch your tone, be a bit more polite."

"Great Sage, please don't mind him. This kid only just advanced about five hundred years ago and doesn't know your deeds."

Lu Renjia was also one of the Ten Thousand Heavenly Soldiers back then and had been beaten by Sun Wukong.

Although it was acting back then, the beating was real, and the pain was real.

"Great Sage, please don't take offense. This is also our duty," Lu Renjia said.

"If old Sun wanted to make things difficult for you, I would have struck with my staff long ago. Old Sun needs to find my master. Have you seen him?" Sun Wukong said.

"The Holy Monk is indeed in the Heavenly Court at this moment, but we do not know exactly where," Lu Renjia said.

"Forget it, let us in, we will find him ourselves," Sun Wukong said.

Hearing this, Lu Renjia hurriedly let them pass.

Sun Wukong, Xiaobailong, and Baigu Furen also went in together.

After they left, Lu Renjia said: "Little Ye, the salary is only that much a month, why are you being so serious? We are just minor soldiers, gatekeepers. If something really happens, we can't afford the responsibility."

Ye Lingtian yawned and said casually:

"Whatever position you are in, you must do the work. Gatekeeping is the same; this is where duty lies."

"Heh, if the Jade Emperor knew your thoughts, he would definitely raise your salary and give you a 'Best Employee' award by the way," Lu Renjia teased.

"Salary and such don't matter; I don't have any grand ideals. Being a minor soldier is quite good.

Nine-to-five, clocking in on time, and finding a fairy to watch the Milky Way on the weekends," Ye Lingtian said.

"Wake up, you're just a minor soldier!"

"Which fairy would take a fancy to you!"

…

Having been to the Heavenly Court five hundred years ago, Sun Wukong was very familiar with this place, but this time he was here to find his master, and only then did he realize that the Heavenly Court was truly vast, and finding someone was truly exhausting.

He asked for a long time, but there was simply no trace of his master.

Some passing immortals could give directions, while others were arrogant and simply ignored him, which infuriated Sun Wukong.

"Sun Houzi, why have you come?"

A crisp voice came, and in the distance, a little girl could be seen flying over, stepping on Wind Fire Wheels, wearing lotus-root armor, and looking as if she were carved from pink jade.

"Nezha?" Sun Wukong was overjoyed after seeing her.

"Sun Houzi, come, come, let's have another fight."

Nezha pulled at Sun Wukong, wanting to fight, but Sun Wukong had no heart for fighting and said directly:

"Nezha, old Sun has no time to fight with you. Let me ask you one thing: have you seen my master? It's Tang San, Chen Xuanzang, Jinchanzi, the Great Virtuous Monk!"

"Oh, I know, the Holy Monk. We were just drinking together earlier," Nezha said.

"Speak quickly, speak quickly, where is Master?" Sun Wukong asked.

"After we finished drinking, we parted ways," Nezha said, spreading her hands.

"..." Sun Wukong.

"Sun Houzi, what business do you have with the Holy Monk? You look quite anxious," Nezha said.

"Of course I'm anxious, it's a ten-thousand-fire emergency," Sun Wukong said.

"If you're looking for someone, why not just go find the Clairvoyant Gaoming?" Nezha said.

"Clairvoyant, Gaoming." Sun Wukong's eyes lit up; it was like a sudden enlightenment, his mind cleared, and his thoughts became sharp all at once.

"Right, right, right."

And so, Sun Wukong and his group went to find the Clairvoyant Gaoming, while Nezha followed behind, eating melon.

Haotian Hall.

Xuanzang was drinking with the Jade Emperor; after the two had become sworn brothers, their relationship grew increasingly familiar.

Setting aside the Journey to the West itself, the Jade Emperor very much wanted to poach Xuanzang for the Heavenly Court.

Xuanzang's magic power and realm were plain for all to see.

Who wouldn't want a Great Luo Golden Immortal on their side?

"Brother Jade Emperor, let me ask you something," Xuanzang said casually after finishing a cup of immortal wine.

"What is it? Speak freely." The Jade Emperor's eyes were hazy with drink, his face flushed red.

"Is that Juanlian General a mole you arranged to be by my side?" Xuanzang asked.

The Jade Emperor's expression changed abruptly; he poured a cup of wine without leaving a trace and smiled:

"Worthy brother, let me speak fairly. Juanlian did indeed violate the Heavenly Law, and he truly has a connection with Buddhism. Naturally, I wanted to fulfill his wishes; after all, having followed me for so many years, I also wanted him to attain the right fruit."

"So, is he a mole or not? Used to monitor us," Xuanzang asked.

"He is definitely not a mole. The Heavenly Court would not do such a thing. Can you not trust me, worthy brother?" the Jade Emperor said.

"I trust you, Brother Jade Emperor, but the ways of the world are unpredictable," Xuanzang said.

"Rest assured, Juanlian does things very steadily; I have it all under control," the Jade Emperor said earnestly. At this moment, no sign of drunkenness could be seen; his thoughts were clear.

"Bajie shouldn't be your mole, right? I just can't figure it out—a Heavenly River Marshal, yet he was demoted by you," Xuanzang said.

"Ahem, worthy brother. You might not believe it if I told you, but Tianpeng is an honest man. I am also pained by his misfortune. But he volunteered to descend to the mortal realm; as for molesting Chang'e, that was merely an excuse," the Jade Emperor said.

"Why would he give up being a perfectly good Heavenly River Marshal to descend to the mortal realm? What is he after?" Xuanzang asked.

"That, I do not know, but this matter has to do with the Human Sect."