Chapter 451: Li Jing, Come Out for a Chat!

A ruler commands a minister to die, and the minister must die; a father commands a son to perish, and the son must perish.

In those days, Nezha cut his flesh and gouged his bones to repay his parents, and later he reshaped his body with a lotus; even so, Li Jing still had a Linglong Pagoda to suppress him.

The strictness of the Li family's household management can be imagined.

Now the situation is not that a father commands a son to perish, and the son must perish.

Rather, Li Muzha wants to die, but Li Jing won't even let him die? That sounds rather miserable.

"You want to die?" Tang Luo asked, looking at Li Muzha.

Li Muzha did not immediately say "yes"; given his understanding of the "Holy Monk" before him, if he said "yes",

the other party's reaction would most likely be: "Oh, that's fine then; the poor monk enjoys helping others, I'll lend you a hand."

And then he would slap himself to death, and afterward even say to the corpse, "Amitabha."

This is not what Li Muzha wants. Now, what he wants is not merely his own death and liberation, but the overthrow of this false, corrupt world.

He wants to drag the entire world into annihilation with him.

The world is corrupt.

I, Li Muzha, want to become the demon king of apocalypse.

This demon king is having a rather rough time, even unable to maintain his form.

Moreover, it is quite obvious that Li Jing, as a father, has few methods against Nezha—just the Linglong Pagoda—but against Muzha he still has quite a few tricks.

Your father is still your father.

Of course, Li Muzha's counterattack has not yet been seen by everyone, but looking at the current state of this world, the effect is still decent.

This father Li Jing has not had an easy time either.

"No, I want to destroy this world." Li Muzha looked at Tang Luo and said seriously, "This false, corrupt world ought to dissipate."

"Don't say that; better to die miserably than to live shamefully." Zhu Bajie advised.

It is quite obvious that the hundred thousand heavenly soldiers, including Muzha and Li Jing, are only alive in this false world; some have merely become "programs."

And when this world is destroyed, they will inevitably die.

There is no possibility of reincarnation; to reincarnate, one must at least ensure that a true spirit or remnant soul does not perish.

Li Muzha did not answer, merely looking at Tang Luo.

He clearly understood that Tang Luo's words would determine what the three of them would do next.

"Don't rush." Tang Luo said, "How will the conclusion come about, and what are these awakened ones for?"

"The awakened ones are the heavenly soldiers." Li Muzha said, "It's not that all heavenly soldiers' thoughts completely follow their father's will; some heavenly soldiers, like me, instinctively seek liberation."

"They seem to know nothing." Tang Luo said.

Li Muzha's black hair swayed in the water: "Knowing too much is not necessarily a good thing."

If those awakened ones realize they are heavenly soldiers, and then gain deeper awareness that they are actually already dead,

they might directly plummet into the abyss of death.

Not everyone is like Li Muzha, clearly aware of their own death yet still able to maintain "immortal divine thought."

However, there is one point Li Muzha has not explained.

That many awakened ones are produced by his covert, continuous influence.

"Holy Monk, help me end this corrupt, false world." Li Muzha said, "I don't know how you entered, but I think you certainly won't like this place."

For many years, those who mistakenly entered this world have certainly not been only Tang Luo and his few companions.

Many people came in, and thus became part of this world, never able to leave again.

"Let me think." Tang Luo said, without immediately agreeing.

"Please hurry; Father will sooner or later notice your presence." Li Muzha said.

"Isn't that just perfect?" Tang Luo said, "Then we can have him send us away."

"Father may not necessarily let you leave." Li Muzha said.

Strangers who mistakenly enter this world will provide nourishment for the continuation of this false world.

Maintaining this false world's existence is not something that can be done once and for all merely by having the Linglong Pagoda and the thoughts of the hundred thousand heavenly soldiers.

Eternal existence?

Impossible; even a vast and mighty realm like the Mountains and Seas cannot collapse in a single night?

"We've really met face to face; whether we leave or not, is it still up to Li Jing to decide?" Tang Luo said.

Li Muzha opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing.

He had originally wanted to remind them that, since they are already in this illusory world, truly facing Li Jing would absolutely be dangerous.

Li Jing is also in a state of unyielding obsession; placed in the outside world, Tang Luo could blow him away with a breath.

But in this world, excuse me, his strength remains as before, and perhaps even greater.

But upon second thought, this is Tang Xuanzang, the Victorious Fighting Buddha.

Even with white hair and injured, he is not someone who would lose easily.

Moreover, if the two truly came into conflict, for Li Muzha it would actually be a good thing.

When immortals fight, mortals suffer.

If the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing clashes with the Victorious Fighting Buddha Tang Xuanzang, this illusory world would be extremely hard to sustain, possibly being destroyed entirely.

Then it would truly be complete liberation, a vast white expanse of pure cleanliness.

"We are looking for the Howling Celestial Dog." Tang Luo said.

"Howling Celestial Dog?" Tang Luo abruptly shifted the topic, startling Li Muzha, "Is she also here?"

"The Mountains and Seas realm shattered, and I temporarily found some people and some things." Tang Luo raised his hand; a gold brick appeared, floating above his palm.

The entire steel fortress seemed to tremble slightly; Li Muzha moved his body, almost pressing his face against the pillar.

"Holy Monk, did you find Nezha?"

"I didn't find Nezha," Tang Luo said. "I only found this gold brick. Even if I found Bajie and the others, it would mostly be a matter of chance."

"... I see." Li Muzha exhaled lightly and quickly regained his composure. "I always thought Nezha was immature, only causing trouble for his father. I never expected that I would become the true unfilial son myself."

"Help me find the Celestial Hound," Tang Luo said. "We can talk after you find it."

"Sure." Li Muzha agreed readily.

The three left the Steel Fortress.

In the sky, Ao Yulie sighed softly: "Father and son killing each other. Speaking of which, my old man wasn't anything good either."

He was originally the Third Prince of the West Sea, but in the end, he was screwed over by his own father.

Later, it wasn't exactly a breakout, but he also had little contact with that side, maintaining only superficial appearances.

During the journey westward, his elder brother, Prince Mo'ang, appeared a few times, helping (or just watching) on several occasions.

"Even dead, I can't die—that's really tough," Zhu Bajie said.

Li Jing's patriarchal demeanor clearly surpassed the "father wants son dead" level—he won't even let people die.

In the end, if you won't let me die, fine, then we all die together.

The three could all feel that Li Muzha's seemingly calm face hid turbulent undercurrents beneath his ragged exterior.

Like a suppressed volcano, it could erupt at any moment, harming others and himself, destroying the entire world.

"Master, what should we do?" Ao Yulie asked.

"I don't know," Tang Luo said bluntly.

Even an honest official can't settle family matters.

He's not my uncle, nor a neighborhood auntie mediating father-son relations.

This isn't some kind of drama where every plot can be tied to parent-child affection, ending in a big reunion.

"Look at Li Jing," Tang Luo said.

In the end, this still depends on Li Jing. After finding the Celestial Hound, if Li Jing agrees to let them go, then you keep fighting.

We won't interfere.

If Li Jing wants to cause trouble, then we fight.

Thinking this way makes things much simpler and clearer.

In this matter, Tang Luo and the others can afford to be somewhat passive.

"By the way, Master, besides us, could there be other gods and demons walking into this world?" Zhu Bajie asked.

What he meant wasn't limited to this mission.

Whether this mission involved other gods and demons traveling together, Tang Luo and the others couldn't tell, since everyone was scattered from the start.

But before, there were probably gods and demons who had set foot in this world.

If their mission was also to "escape," how did they leave?

Judging by the current situation, among the gods and demons walking, there is no one as strong as Tang Luo who could match Li Jing's fury in this world.

In the end, if they disagreed, they'd just smash the whole world to escape and complete the mission.

So, is there another way to leave?

Or is it that the Gods and Demons Game simply sends gods and demons walking here as fodder, to sustain this world's existence?

Thinking deeply, one can come up with many possibilities.

"Don't act like Zhuge Liang—lack of information makes this pointless," Tang Luo said after seeing Zhu Bajie finish his question and fall into thought.

The Gods and Demons Game is obviously far more mysterious than what the gods and demons walking know.

"This batch" of gods and demons walking, the oldest is only Chijing Daoist and others like him—already the level of reclusive old monsters—but none of them are over a hundred years old—mission world time doesn't count.

Meanwhile, the origin of the Martial Gods Myth clearly shows that gods and demons walking existed before this.

There's an obvious gap, a rupture, in between.

So where did the previous gods and demons walking go?

How long has the Gods and Demons Game existed?

To think deeply about this is headache-inducing and easy to overwork.

So, just follow Tang Luo's method: meet force with force, meet water with earth—if you're strong enough, many problems aren't problems.

Just like the current situation.

If there really were gods and demons walking caught up in the same father-son war, they definitely couldn't sit calmly on the Fishing Terrace like Tang Luo, nor let Li Muzha go find people.

They'd need to snatch chestnuts from the fire, seeking a sliver of life between two terrifying colossi.

And Tang Luo, saying the situation is completely opposite—Li Muzha and Li Jing seeking "a sliver of life" in reverse—would be too arrogant.

Moderate meaning, maybe half and half.

Before Tang Luo and the others could settle on a moderate meaning, a phantom suddenly appeared before them: "Holy Monk."

A complete Li Muzha.

"You appear so openly and aboveboard—aren't you afraid your father will come out and beat you?" Tang Luo asked.

"I found the Celestial Hound—it's already in my father's hands," Li Muzha said. "Holy Monk must make a decision."

Tang Luo glanced at Li Muzha. "What a coincidence?"

"I have no intention to deceive the Holy Monk, nor to sow discord," Li Muzha said.

"Alright, then let's see Li Jing's choice," Tang Luo said, waving his hand. The Buddhist beads on his wrist shifted rapidly.

The Glimmering Pure Robe was already on him.

Ao Yulie and Zhu Bajie stood on either side, their clothes changing from modern attire to ancient garb.

Zhu Bajie reached out and grabbed—his Nine-Toothed Rake was already in hand.

The gale fan also appeared in Ao Yulie's hand.

They understood Tang Luo's meaning, and since that was the case, there was no need to beat around the bush.

"Li Jing, come out and have a talk!"

Tang Luo spoke, his voice echoing through the heavens.

In an instant, heaven and earth transformed, winds and clouds surged.