All-rounder Artist

With this critical mindset, Li Zhenghui continued to read "The Legend of Wukong".

The rest of the first chapter is still a parody.

Strictly speaking, it's...

Nonsense?

It's utterly absurd.

Like a farce.

None of the four disciples seemed to hold a serious conversation. Even the dialogue of the demons were disjointed and disjointed.

"It doesn't make sense."

Li Zhenghui frowned deeply.

He was quickly losing patience.

However, a dialogue between the tree demon and Tang Monk was quite interesting: "Don't wish for death, but also don't live in loneliness."

Very surprising.

A literary line suddenly sprouted in the humorous narrative, seemingly raising the mood of the novel abruptly?

However, Li Zhenghui doesn't think there is any mood to this novel.

He tends to think this line was likely plagiarised by the author from somewhere else.

Just as Li Zhenghui was about to lose patience, another dialogue caught his attention.

Tang Monk actually told the female demon, "My cultivation is different from others. They practice Theravada, I practice Mahayana. They perfect emptiness, I pursue completeness."

Li Zhenghui paused.

It felt strange.

The original Tang Monk would never speak like this, even though this line carries a metaphor of the conflicts in Buddhist practices, similar to the debate between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism in Blue Star's reality.

The female demon's response was even stranger:

"I only heard that a man named Master Golden Cicada once questioned Theravada Buddhism and sought his own enlightenment, but ended up getting lost and was trapped for aeons."

Master Golden Cicada?

Of course, Li Zhenghui, who is familiar with "Journey to the West", knows that Master Golden Cicada is the past life of Tang Monk.

In the original "Journey to the West", it was mentioned that Master Golden Cicada was punished for his arrogance towards Buddhism and disrespect for Buddha, thus Buddha demoted him to go to the West to atone for his sins.

This plot point is controversial.

Everyone thought it was not that simple.

Just because the second disciple of the Buddha, Master Golden Cicada, wasn't paying attention in class, he was sent to the mundane world to fetch the scriptures from the West?

Isn't this explanation too perfunctory?

Some interpretations suggested that the conflict between Master Golden Cicada and Buddha was not just about not paying attention in class.

Everyone speculated about the real reason, but few speculations were widely accepted.

However, the current author of "The Legend of Wukong", Yi An, seems to provide a possibility:

The reason behind Master Golden Cicada being demoted by Buddha was a divergence in their fundamental Buddhist philosophies?

Was their conflict due to the difference between Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism?

Interesting!

This interpretation that combines the current situation of Buddhism in reality to analyse the conflict between Master Golden Cicada and Buddha opened Li Zhenghui's eyes!

A parody is a parody.

Nonsense is nonsense.

It seems this author does have some ideas.

Li Zhenghui finally took some interest in this peculiar Journey to the West fan-fiction.

He continued reading.

Sun Wukong eventually came to save Tang Monk. However, to Li Zhenghui's surprise, the female demon recognized Sun Wukong and seemed to have interacted with Sun Wukong before!

But Sun Wukong didn't recognize her.

He claimed that he was a demon monkey from the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, punished to Five Prison Mountain for disrespecting the Jade Emperor. After 500 years, the Jade Emperor's mercy had him promise to accomplish three tasks to atone for his sins. He mentioned the first two tasks: "The first one is to escort that bald man to the West. The second is to kill four demon kings.

They are the Bull Demon King of the West, the Peng Demon King of the North, the Monkey King of the South, and another, the Handsome Monkey King of the East..."

Li Zhenghui was stunned!

Those who have read the original Journey to the West would know what Sun Wukong went through before embarking on the scripture mission.

This Sun Wukong has issues with his memory!

Replacing Mount Wuzhi with Five Prison Mountain is one thing!

He even forgot that he himself was the Great Sage of the East, and was shouting about killing the latter!

"There is a plot!"

Li Zhenghui instantly smelled a hint of conspiracy.

Among the many interpretations of the original "Journey to the West", the conspiracy theory is the most marketable.

It seems that this novel also carries the same intent.
Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire

This author has got something!

Is he actually going to overlie the Journey to the West with conspiracy?

Li Zhenghui's interest was completely piqued.

He now wanted to see how this Yi An would interpret Journey to the West from the angle of conspiracy theories, especially considering that he himself is a faithful fan of the Journey to the West conspiracy theory.

As he continued to read, Li Zhenghui's excitement soared.

However, the subsequent plot left Li Zhenghui struggling to keep up with the author's pace...

A gloomy Sun Wukong surprisingly killed Tang Monk directly with his stick!

And the story shifted into flashback mode thereafter.

In the flashback.

Zhu Bajie had a romantic relationship with a deity called Yue;

Sun Wukong had a tie with a fairy called Purple Cloud;

Even White Dragon Horse turned into a maiden and held deep affection for Tang Monk;

If it weren't for the previous plot twists, Li Zhenghui would surely have scoffed at the author's 'creative' ideas upon reading this.

But at this moment.

Viewing this love story which runs totally contrary to the original, Li Zhenghui felt it wasn't absurd, but was even more curious...

What on earth happened five hundred years ago?

It seems that each of the disciples and their master all have secrets of their own?

This author named Yi An seems to want to lift the veil of conspiracy on Journey to the West.

But what is the true nature of the conspiracy?

Do all the disciples and their master share the same standpoint?

Li Zhenghui wanted to know how Yi An is going to resolve it.

And the plot continued along this trajectory.

Apparently, White Dragon Horse once transformed into a carp, was rescued by young Tang Sanzang, and became captivated by Tang Monk.

About this story, the novel supplied a lament:

No matter which direction you choose, will you swim into the same fate?

This sentiment left Li Zhenghui pondering.

Fate?

Is it referring to Little White Dragon and Tang Monk, or is it referring to the master and disciples who are going to take on the journey in the future?

The novel did not give an answer.

The young Tang Sanzang seemed to have the demeanor of a wise fool; he actually defeated the master by debating Buddhist scripture.

The temple abbot wanted to teach Tang Sanzang about Buddhism, but Tang Monk shook his head: "You can't teach what I want to learn."

The corner of Li Zhenghui's mouth turned up.

The young Tang Sanzang's personality was simply overwhelming compared to the original, the Tang Monk in the original could not say such a thing.

Now it was only Tang Sanzang's previous incarnation, Master Golden Cicada, who was qualified to say so.

Golden Cicada?

Li Zhenghui suddenly gasped, as if realizing something.

This Tang Sanzang, won't have inherited the will of Golden Cicada, would he?

At this moment.

The abbot asked Xuanzang: "What do you want to learn?"

Xuanzang glanced at the shifting white clouds in the sky and said:

"I want no sky to obstruct my sight; no earth to bury my heart; all living creatures to understand my intent; all Buddhas to vanish like smoke and disperse like clouds!"

This sentence rang out, like a thunderbolt out of the blue!

Li Zhenghui's eyes widened, a sudden chill ran down his spine, his hair stood on end!

Explosive!!!

————————

ps: Thanks to the generous reward from Liu Wei's account, flexing a kneel to express my deepest gratitude!!