Chapter 389: Discovered, Commence Sophistry

These words were not only addressed to those eight Buddhist disciples just now, but also to the two Buddhist disciples who climbed over the wall in front of everyone.

If one's heart holds no杂念, one naturally would not think of other matters; but if one already harbored杂念 upon arrival, then naturally no one could stop them from doing what they originally wanted to do.

If these two Buddhist disciples had come following their Senior Brother, I fear they would now be standing in the same position as their Senior Brother.

Not only were they caught red-handed in public, they would also bear a mountain in their hearts because eating meat dishes broke the precept.

Sun Wukong looked at the two Buddhist disciples' reactions with satisfaction, then slowly, as if suddenly discovering something, and with a hint of surprise, said, "Ah, Old Grandson sees your garments are quite alike."

When Sun Wukong did not speak it was fine; once he spoke, the celestial officials instantly focused all their attention on those people's garments.

"Hey, truly strange. When Great Chef Sun Wukong didn't speak I didn't feel they were alike; now that he says it, they really seem to be — these garments are not merely alike, they are practically identical copies."

The Buddhist disciples were all startled; when they originally came to the immortal gate they had already planned that they absolutely could not let others recognize they were Buddhist people.

Only then did they put on the clothes for traveling in the mortal world; this set of clothes somewhat resembled the Heavenly Court immortal attendants' clothes, and after wearing them back they were just pressed to the box bottom.

If not for today's occasion, they truly could not have been made to put on this set of clothes again.

But the flaw lay in the fact that these clothes were uniformly issued, which resulted in all the Buddhist disciples standing on this side now wearing the exact same set of clothes.

"I, we, these are the clothes we wore when we previously descended to the mortal world for study travel; the resemblance to your immortal gate's clothes might just be coincidence."

Those two Buddhist disciples explained.

"Oh, so that's how it is."

Sun Wukong nodded, looking toward the Buddhist people disguised as servants on that side, "Old Grandson's eye for people isn't very accurate — everyone looks the same to Old Grandson — but these clothes, no matter how you look, are not merely 'resembling' so simply."

"Ah? Haha, that's truly a coincidence then. The places we chose for mortal study travel were poor and bitter, so naturally we couldn't wear anything too luxurious; it really is just a coincidence."

That disciple exchanged a glance with his own Senior Brother, then explained.

"Incorrect, incorrect, this is incorrect."

A celestial official walked up to the group of Buddhist disciples pretending to be servants, grabbing their clothes to examine closely.

"I said earlier I felt something was off. Your clothes' color scheme resembles the servants' color scheme, but looking closely — if another layer of monk's robe were draped over the outside, wouldn't that be a monk?"

"My lord must be mistaken. I am merely a servant; how could I be a monk?"

The Buddhist disciple whose collar was seized had celestial official's sweat streaming down his forehead, desperately trying to yank his collar back from the celestial official's hand.

"How could I be mistaken? Although I drank a little alcohol at the previous Buddhist Dharma Feast, that alcohol has long since dissipated; I am sober beyond measure."

That celestial official held the Buddhist disciple's collar, "Also, why does your garment have no cloud pattern?"

"Cloud pattern? What cloud pattern?"

The Buddhist disciple blanked for a moment.

"The garment is quite alike, but for distinction, every palace servant's costume cloud pattern is different. This is also why we can tell from the clothes which lord's household they belong to. I said from the start I felt something strange — where did the cloud pattern on your garment go?"

"I..."

What cloud pattern!

This Senior Brother is too unreliable; when we came he didn't mention the cloud pattern at all!

That Buddhist disciple signaled his Senior Brother with his eyes, but his Senior Brother, because of guilty conscience, never dared to raise his head to look at him.

Actually he knew about the cloud pattern; it's just that the cloud pattern is also something only visible upon close inspection. They also did not expect to be caught red-handed by Sun Wukong on the spot.

Naturally they would not have disclosed every detail clearly, just feeling "close enough" would do — no one would research that much. But facts told them, there really is someone who would research that much.

"I understand now."

That celestial official's gaze was extremely sharp, staring at the Buddhist disciple and interrogating, "You speak for yourself; don't make me expose you on the spot."

"This, this actually is..."

The Buddhist disciples on that side looked at each other in dismay, hemming and hawing, not knowing whether to speak or not.

"Fine, if you won't speak, I'll just say my own guess."

The celestial official coldly laughed, slowly opening his mouth to voice his deduction.

"You lot, for a single dish you actually went to such lengths. I originally felt something was strange, but adhering to not suspecting the wrong person, I kept silent — all for just one dish, truly making you go to great trouble."

The celestial official pointed at those two Buddhist disciples and the Buddhist disciples disguised as servants, "To avoid leaking which palace you're from, you specially changed into this set of clothes. And you actually even had a second plan — you specially found two more people to disguise as Buddhist disciples, thinking that way everyone wouldn't see through it?"

The crowd present felt this celestial official's words seemed to have gone off track. He seemed to have guessed right, but the direction was wrong.

"The truth is only one."

The celestial official's gaze was exceedingly wise. "Don't know which palace's immortal attendants you are. You saw this dish at the Buddhist Dharma Feast and wanted to sneak a taste while everyone was away? Pity you didn't guess one thing — that we would come to the Imperial Kitchen again."

As soon as this celestial official finished speaking, Sun Wukong and the other celestial officials present supported their foreheads. This solution approach is truly bizarre; the answer is laid out before his eyes, yet he actually thought this was a multiple-choice question.

"You shut up quick."

Sun Wukong stopped that celestial official; his own train of thought was about to be disrupted by this person.

The celestial official didn't feel anything was wrong, turned his head to look at Sun Wukong, "What's wrong, Great Chef Sun Wukong? Was what I said incorrect?"

Even the Buddhist side was stunned. Originally they were all planning to admit it on the spot; they didn't expect such a huge detour.

"You only noticed their costume has a problem. Didn't you see every single one of them has a towel on their head?"

A celestial official who had already guessed the answer powerlessly pointed out the key point.

"I saw it."

That celestial official still didn't perceive anything wrong. "But what's wrong with that? Don't the immortal attendants working in the Imperial Kitchen all wear this?"

"Fine then, you win."

That celestial official really couldn't be bothered to explain to that celestial official. As expected, immortal ascension cannot be too early.

This celestial official also counts as natural talent; he attained the Dao and became an immortal early. On major matters he's still fairly decisive; on minor matters he's far too childish.

Sun Wukong didn't want to waste time. "Matters are already like this now. No need for me to say more, right? Take off what you're wearing on your heads, let them have a good look."

"This, Great Chef Sun Wukong, this kind of matter we'd better explain in private."

The leading Buddhist disciple said, "Whatever conditions you want to set, we can accept. Just not here."

Sun Wukong laughed lightly. "You think you still have conditions to negotiate with Old Grandson? You thought Old Grandson brought so many celestial officials to this Imperial Kitchen just to cook?"

The Buddhist Sect disciple froze, then suddenly realized something, glaring resentfully at Sun Wukong, "Was this your scheme?"

Sun Wukong said with an innocent expression, "What scheme?"