Chapter 379

The celestial official, choked and speechless, waved his hand: "Forget it, forget it—I can't argue with you. No wonder you can attain Buddhahood; I can only attain immortality. Indeed, immortals and Buddhas are different. Go on and slowly liberate them, I'm leaving the feast."

Sun Wukong's dish had been suspenseful for far too long; originally it had piqued the curiosity of all the gods, but the delay was excessive, and the immortals' curiosity gradually faded, eventually vanishing completely.

That celestial official had been prompted to leave his seat by Buddhist disciples constantly chanting "A Mi Tuo Fo"; the other immortals, thinking there were no more dishes to be served anyway, simply exchanged a few polite words and departed.

As more and more people left, Zhenyuanzi grew increasingly sympathetic toward Sun Wukong; at first he felt Sun Wukong was lifting a stone only to drop it on his own foot.

But upon further reflection, perhaps this situation truly was what he had previously guessed—that this name was given by Sun Wukong's master, and Sun Wukong would not contradict his master's words, hence he would not change the name.

Thinking this through, Zhenyuanzi looked at Sun Wukong with sympathetic eyes, and as he departed he patted Sun Wukong's shoulder: "Great Chef Sun Wukong, I understand you; don't be sad, this situation isn't something you can control."

Sun Wukong chuckled and looked at Zhenyuanzi: "What are you talking about?"

Zhenyuanzi merely thought Sun Wukong was putting on a brave front, had no intention of exposing him, and again patted his shoulder heavily, comforting him: "Rest assured, brother, I won't tell anyone; even if you haven't completed your master's task, once you know the antecedents and consequences, your master surely won't blame you."

Only then did Sun Wukong grasp Zhenyuanzi's implied meaning; he had originally intended to scold Zhenyuanzi roundly, but he said he himself didn't mind, yet he could not speak ill of his master.

For now he could only endure it, after all there were still plans ahead; disturbing those plans over this trifling matter would be most undesirable.

Sun Wukong smiled faintly, still feigning ignorance: "What are you saying? I don't understand."

Zhenyuanzi heaved a heavy sigh: "Not understanding is good, not understanding is good—at least you won't grieve over this matter."

As he spoke, he departed the Great Hall, for his thoughts were deeply sincere and moving; Zhenyuanzi was moved by his own words.

He wiped the corner of his eyes, due to physiological tears from yawning: "Alas, how kind I am—I shouldn't attain immortality; I should attain Buddhahood instead."

Yang Jian stood behind, regarding Zhenyuanzi as if he were a madman, and approached Sun Wukong: "What did Zhenyuanzi say to you?"

"Nothing at all."

Sun Wukong had already grown accustomed to feigning ignorance: "He babbled a great deal to me, I still didn't understand, and then he left; I don't know whether he despised me for not understanding."

Yang Jian gazed at Sun Wukong with deep meaning; they had met a few times, and he understood Sun Wukong was pretending, so after waiting until most people had left, he asked: "What exactly are you planning with Chen the shopkeeper?"

"What are you talking about? I seem not to understand either?"

"Don't pretend—just now Zhenyuanzi told me, this dish is called Buddha Jumps Over the Wall; you aren't trying to publicly embarrass the Buddhist Sect, are you?"

Yang Jian glanced with his peripheral vision at the Buddhist disciples who had already left the Great Hall: "Good thing you didn't announce the dish's name publicly; otherwise, no one could protect you later—no matter how skilled you are at cooking, it would be useless."

Sun Wukong laughed, his face a blank of confusion; if not for his chef's attire, Yang Jian would truly have thought him merely an adult monkey.

"You can understand what I'm saying, Chen the shopkeeper and you are clever people; clever people shouldn't do foolish things."

"Is this your reason for enduring?"

The entire Divine Palace Interior Space, aside from the table and dishes, held only Yang Jian and Sun Wukong, just as Yang Jian said—Sun Wukong is a clever person.

He no longer pretended, after all he knew that whatever he said, Yang Jian and he were on the same side.

Sun Wukong wore a cold expression, as if the smile from earlier had never appeared.

Yang Jian was stunned by these words; this indeed was his reason for enduring in the Great Hall, as he said—he too is a clever person, and clever people ought to achieve remaining unshowy and unremarkable; his current strength still cannot rival the Buddhist Sect, so naturally in such occasions he can only choose endurance.

Sun Wukong found Yang Jian's reaction highly amusing; he indeed laughed as well: "Hahaha, I knew it—you haven't let go of your grudge against the Buddhist Sect,

I still thought you didn't care at all."

"This isn't a matter of caring or not caring."

Yang Jian, laughed at by Sun Wukong, felt somewhat at a loss; clearly his approach was correct, yet the other mocked him instead: "I merely came to warn you not to do foolish things; since you don't care, then pretend I never said anything."

Yang Jian finished speaking and departed.

Sun Wukong watched Yang Jian's retreating figure, at the moment his garment's edge was about to vanish in the Great Hall.

Sun Wukong spoke: "Rest assured, though I am not refined, my master is absolutely a clever person; he would not let me do foolish things; what I do are all planned."

"Then that's good."

Yang Jian's figure paused slightly, then departed.

These were originally part of Sun Wukong's plan; he simply wanted these immortals' curiosity to reach its peak.

Although at present these immortals, due to Sun Wukong's delay, have departed, their curiosity has not dissipated; even if they have returned, they will be unable to eat or sleep peacefully because of this dish.

Sun Wukong has absolute confidence, or rather, absolute confidence in his master, for this dish is delicious enough to surely achieve the effect he desires.

In fact, when serving the dish he had already laid a layer of art upon it; the dish's aroma will stir the hunger worms in people's bellies, and whoever smells it will experience the effect.

Moreover, if one does not eat this dish but merely smells its aroma, it becomes even more extraordinary—the aroma will accompany that person in whatever they do.

Unless one inherently dislikes this flavor, otherwise, unless one eats the dish, one will never be free of this flavor; and the longer the isolation, the more one will long for this dish.

However, no one will dislike this flavor; Sun Wukong is fully confident, and when the time comes he will use the pretext of watching the cooking to summon that group of immortals to the Imperial Kitchen; that group of bald donkeys will surely come to sneak a bite, and this tactic is called... Sun Wukong scratched his head, his master said this was called what? Suddenly, Sun Wukong slapped his thigh—this tactic is called "Jar Trap the Turtle."

The Buddhist disciples who had already left the Great Hall were unaware they had already fallen into the trap; they only felt the dish's aroma constantly lingering at their nostrils, and even after leaving the Great Hall far behind, they could still smell it.

The talkative Buddhist disciple asked: "Have you smelled that dish's aroma?"

The companion nodded: "I have smelled it; even after walking this far, I can still smell it—how fragrant must this dish be? If I could eat a bite, how wonderful that would be."

The Buddhist disciple had originally just been asking casually, not expecting such a reply; hastily he covered his companion's mouth: "Lower your voice—if others hear this, how will we file a complaint upon returning? Do you want to be scolded?"

"No, no."

The companion hastily shook his head: "I was just speaking casually; who let this dish be so fragrant?"

"I actually have a method."

The Buddhist disciple leaned close to his companion's ear and whispered secretly.