Chapter 394

Behind the Great Hall, Sun Wukong remained unconscious, and Tai Bai Jin Xing watched Sun Wukong with closed eyes and furrowed brows, feeling worried.

By rights, Sun Wukong's profound magical power should not have left him unconscious from an injury by an obscure Buddhist disciple; he pondered, then took a cultivation pill from his own pouch and placed it in Sun Wukong's mouth.

Sun Wukong kept his eyes shut, the pill entered his mouth, yet still showed no reaction; Tai Bai pondered again and took out several more pills.

These pills were all top-grade, and refining them alone had taken twenty-seven days; he never expected Sun Wukong to show no reaction after consuming them.

Tai Bai waved his Faxing before Sun Wukong's forehead to check his condition, never expecting to find nothing at all.

Tai Bai grew somewhat astonished—could Sun Wukong's magical power have become so profound that even he could not discern it? As he gritted his teeth and retrieved another superior pill from his pouch, one refined for forty-nine days, about to place it in Sun Wukong's mouth, the Jade Emperor returned.

"Finally walked in, otherwise I wouldn't know how to bluff my way through."

Tai Bai's hand paused, "This Sun Wukong doesn't even know where he was injured by that Buddhist sect, yet he's unconscious so deeply; I've already fed him two pills, yet he shows not the slightest reaction."

"Really?"

The Jade Emperor examined Sun Wukong's complexion, his eyes darting, and instantly understood, "Enough, stop feeding him pills—I know how to wake him."

"Good."

Tai Bai prepared to withdraw his hand, never expecting Sun Wukong to open his mouth on his own and swallow that pill.

"You old miser, it's just a pill—give it to me to eat and it's eaten; why take it back?"

Sun Wukong chewed the pill; though it couldn't match his master's craftsmanship, it was still a pill refined over a long time, so not eating it would be waste.

Seeing Sun Wukong say this, Tai Bai also understood—this Sun Wukong fundamentally had nothing wrong with him; he was merely feigning unconsciousness.

After learning Sun Wukong was unharmed, Tai Bai began to lament his pills.

"Great Chef Sun Wukong, if you're fine, stop feigning illness; do you know how long I refined this pill? It was simply devoured, yet this is a superior pill I spent forty-nine days to produce—you just ate it like that."

"You said I'm miserly, and you really came at me—just one pill, look how distressed you are; this flavor isn't great either, you'd better change your ways in the future."

Sun Wukong swallowed the pill and smacked his lips.

Tai Bai now wished he could retrieve that pill from Sun Wukong's mouth, "You really are—I'm giving you a pill, what's there to quibble about flavor? It's for healing, not eating; if it's not tasty, what of it?"

Sun Wukong dodged Tai Bai's hand, "Your cooking still doesn't compare to my master's dishes—my master casually makes something that's already precious-grade; if he puts in a little effort, it becomes supreme-grade."

"What kind of person is this Manager Chen? You can't compare me to your master."

"True, then after eating your pill, when I have free time I'll cook you a few dishes to make up for it."

Although today, even without them, Sun Wukong could escape from the Tathagata's realm on his own, after all, he had incurred their favor.

Sun Wukong's words made Tai Bai's previously worried heart instantly lift; he hurriedly nodded, "Good, good, good—add more spice."

"At this age, still eating spicy?"

Sun Wukong glanced at Tai Bai's white beard and hair, unable to resist complaining.

"What's the big deal? I merely set my appearance at this age when I ascended, so it's fixed; speaking of it, my constitution isn't weaker than those young little immortals."

Tai Bai objected.

"That's correct—these immortals set their appearance at ascension and remain fixed thereafter; moreover, as long as one wishes, one can assume any desired age."

"Enough, stop idle chatter."

The Jade Emperor interrupted them, "Tell me what happened tonight."

This was an inquiry, not blame, yet it amounted to blaming Sun Wukong, who didn't fear it anyway, since he wasn't a Heavenly Court member and could simply return to his master's abode if displeased.

"Just that—surely someone of your high office wouldn't be completely unaware?"

"You caused such a major incident—have you considered how to resolve it?"

The Jade Emperor felt some anger at Sun Wukong's indifferent attitude.

"After all, this is the Heavenly Court—if you cause trouble, others will come to me for settlement; if I can't contain it, what then?"

"Ah, but you are the Jade Emperor, with such vast divine powers—what could possibly restrain you?"

Sun Wukong laughed heartily, saying: "Besides, what did I do? I merely cooked a few dishes in the kitchen; my cooking was too delicious, they couldn't resist the temptation and ate the food, then turned around to blame me—what kind of reasoning is that?"

With a few sentences, Sun Wukong cleared himself; the Jade Emperor and Tai Bai, after all, were not present in person, only hearing others' accounts, slowly deducing what had occurred.

"Your words really exonerate you completely."

"I am simply innocent—originally, I had nothing to do with it."

Sun Wukong stood, grew tired, found a place to sit, and felt quite content.

"I don't believe you did nothing and they just ate the food themselves; moreover, strangely, how did they all gather there, and how did they just happen to encounter that Buddhist disciple? If it's coincidence, how could it be so coincidental? Anyway, I don't believe it."

Sun Wukong yawned, "I truly don't know—I know my cooking falls short of my master's, but I thought, let you all taste my cooking equal to my master's, so I employed just a little trick."

The Jade Emperor regarded Sun Wukong suspiciously, "So your little trick was to make Buddhist disciples break precepts, thereby highlighting how delicious your cooking is—this ploy is truly too dark; they did nothing wrong, yet you made them break precepts—didn't you consider their feelings?"

"I never said my trick was to make them eat food."

Sun Wukong said, "I merely made the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall smell exceptionally fragrant; I did nothing else; blaming them for breaking precepts is only due to their insufficient willpower—if they were resolute, they wouldn't come eat my cooking."

The Jade Emperor laughed in anger, "Then you say this—could Buddhist disciples still have other ways to eat your cooking?"

"Exactly, that's how it is."

Sun Wukong openly admitted it.

"Then tell me—what other methods could be used to let these meat-abstaining Buddhist monks eat your cooking?"

"Naturally, it depends on them themselves."

Sun Wukong smiled lightly, "As long as their inner resolve is firm, single-mindedly devoted to Buddha, meat and pungency touching them is just contact—it will in no way affect their cultivation path."

"Conversely, if their inner resolve lacks firmness, with too many distractions, even without touching meat and pungency they cannot cultivate earnestly; this meat and pungency is merely a catalyst."

This statement sounded somewhat reasonable, yet the Jade Emperor, not being a Buddhist, failed to grasp it, and voiced his doubt.

"Then tell me—what sort of Buddhist disciple could possess such a mindset? I see no such person existing in this world."