Chapter 292

As I leapt up, a force gathered behind the long line behind me, and the small hand at my waist suddenly shoved upward.

I was almost shoved into the Golden Dragon's mouth by their combined effort.

After that lift, I was completely severed from the line behind me.

After the Three-eyed Golden Toad's tribulation failed, their mission was already complete.

I originally wanted to lead them into Small Camp Mouth, but the appearance of the Golden Dragon shattered all that.

The Mystic Cat and the Great Lama share the same origin; it can warn me when the Great Lama creates a retrospective illusory mirror to confuse me, which shows it does not fear the Great Lama.

And it cries out to warn me at this moment, which must have a reason.

I choose to believe it.

The Rat Immortal juniors behind me cannot follow; after I break the Golden Dragon Formation, Hui Moqiong will lead them into Small Camp Mouth to do the mopping-up work.

The instant I fell into the Golden Dragon's mouth, its jaws had already snapped shut.

The Golden Dragon is made of stacked Golden Copper Coins; I thought it was merely a hollow shell with no substance.

But once I fell into its mouth, the first thing that met my eyes was living flesh.

Everything was too real; I could even see the pulse constantly jumping within the flesh and blood.

In an instant, I again felt the sensation of being unable to distinguish reality from illusion.

Just then, the sound of the mysterious cat's meow came from ahead again.

I focused my mind, no longer wavering, and walked forward resolutely.

The sensation underfoot was too real; each step felt as if I were treading on actual flesh and blood, and as I moved, the golden dragon's body kept contracting.

The flesh and blood kept squeezing, making each step forward increasingly difficult.

Looking ahead, it seemed boundless and endless.

I could see no end, nor could I see the mysterious cat.

I stopped; continuing like this wouldn't work, for the flesh-and-blood path ahead would soon be squeezed shut, leaving no way forward.

I thought, then raised my hand to touch the Golden Copper Coins hanging from my neck together with the jade pendant.

I yanked down the Golden Copper Coins and flicked it lightly in my hand.

The Golden Copper Coins gave a crisp sound, which kept echoing inside the golden dragon's body.

At the same time, a tremulous sound of Golden Copper Coins came from all around me.

I waved my hand and flung the Golden Copper Coins forward with force.

Where the Golden Copper Coins passed, the flesh and blood automatically parted to both sides, and I lifted my foot and pursued.

The trembling sound of the copper coins persisted; I ran desperately forward, fearing that the moment it fell, the flesh and blood would squeeze in again.

To my surprise, the Golden Copper Coins never fell; I seemed to be shuttling through a closed passageway.

I don't know how long I had run when suddenly ahead came another meow; the Golden Copper Coins bounced back as if hitting bottom and fell back into my hand.

I jerked my head up and came face to face with the seated mysterious cat, which slightly raised its head and kept gazing forward.

Before it… lay a huge beating heart.

That huge heart was entwined with layers of Golden Copper Coins; each beat squeezed fresh flesh and blood out of the coin's holes, giving an indescribable sense of suffocation just to behold.

And in the midst of that huge heart, Liu Junyan sat cross-legged inside.

His head drooped, his eyes tightly closed, and countless scriptural characters flowed and surged over his body.

His complexion was deathly pale, his chest showed no rise and fall, and his whole being emanated a faint… deathly aura.

That deathly aura signified that his Soul Essence and vital energies were exhausted, on the verge of collapse, even approaching the state of soul and spirit scattering.

I suddenly came to my senses.

What 'golden dragon'!

What flesh-and-blood body!

This is the 'evil monk' illusion personally created by Liu Junyan for the Great Lama.

It is the cage that imprisons the Great Lama.

It is hell!

But likewise, Liu Junyan paid a huge price for it.

The Great Lama used memory regression to confuse me, and what emerged was far more than just three lifetimes.

Besides Liu Junyan, me, and the various affairs with the Phoenix Raccoon Slave, there are also Dahui Chan Master Liu Xingyi, the Copper Coin Person, and Ah Wu.

Before, I could never understand why Dahui Chan Master's mummified flesh-body remained in the high tower of Song Mountain Gorge, while in the west room of the Dang Pu there was still a Copper Coin Person?

Are they different beings, or were they originally one entity?

Memory regression unexpectedly gave me a definite answer: Dahui Chan Master and the Copper Coin Person are one entity, albeit in different forms.

Dahui Chan Master advised Ah Wu to return to Mount Cangwu.

But the Copper Coin Person wished to ascend together with Ah Wu.

If Dahui Chan Master represents the selfless, desireless Buddha, then is the Copper Coin Person perhaps his other side—a manifestation of his desires?

Thus they say, the Copper Coin Person is an evil monk.

If the Copper Coin Person is truly a manifestation of desire, then he inherently lacks substance, which is why he needs to be wrapped in Golden Copper Coins and forged into a golden body.

Thinking this through, everything seems to fall into place.

It is obvious that Liu Junyan also realized this, which is why he dared to take the risk and let himself become an 'evil monk'.

To become an 'evil monk' means to maximize one's desires, forge armor of Golden Copper Coins for them, and simultaneously seal and imprison one's own fleshly body.

Only in this way is it more suitable and easier to undergo Body Seizure!

This is Liu Junyan's second killer move, and also the key to luring out the Great Lama.

I raised my head and looked around; this enormous golden dragon's flesh is Liu Junyan's desire made manifest, seized and occupied by the Great Lama through Body Seizure, while Liu Junyan's own fleshly body is imprisoned deep within its heart.

When desire grows strong enough to reach a certain realm, will the physical body ultimately be completely erased?

To save Liu Junyan, one cannot smash the layers of copper coins wrapped around his heart with brute force; doing so would subject him to a fierce backlash, which is his death talisman.

Otherwise, the mystic cat wouldn't need to lead me in here; it could accomplish that on its own.

What is Liu Junyan's desire?

Is it to gather the seven golden scales, retrieve his natal magic artifact, and rescue his mother?

Or is it "Ling water surges, Cangwu willows bend", to redeem the Phoenix Civet Slave?

Or, as the Empty Silence Abbott said, his final destination is still to return to the Great Dharma King Temple, then wander the world, for the Buddhist law and for all beings.

……

No.

Before we parted, he had once told me quite firmly that the time had not yet come.

This tribulation is not yet the calamity the Empty Silence Abbott spoke of.

Then Liu Junyan's desire has nothing to do with the Buddhist gate.

At the moment I handed him the willow branch bracelet brought out from Cangwu Mountain, the Phoenix Civet Slave had already become a thing of the past.

As for the golden scales, his natal magic artifact, and rescuing his mother, these are things we have been striving to do; they have never been Liu Junyan's obsession.

Otherwise, when I handed him the small box I had brought back from the Linghai Forbidden Ground, he would have opened it immediately.

Therefore, these are not his current desire.

His desire… I raised my hand and looked at the golden copper coin in my palm…

Through the hole in the golden copper coin, I saw the ultimate answer.

And this answer, long ago, Liu Junyan had personally placed it in my hand…