Journey to the West: Signing in for 500 Years-Chapter 493 - 487: Tianpeng At The Door [Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets]_1
Jinzha and Old Turtle were both flabbergasted. They had not anticipated that the reincarnated Jin Chanzi would suddenly have his soul sublimated, his spirit seemingly surging. They exchanged a glance, both rising to check on him. To them, the reincarnated Jin Chanzi was merely a mortal, and any improvement in his spirit was solely due to the accumulation from his previous nine reincarnations. After all, having lived through nine reincarnations, it was no surprise that his accumulated soul strength was powerful. However, he was still alive and had not practiced cultivation. How could his spirit suddenly surge? That was simply unreasonable.
When Jinzha stepped forward to examine him, looking him up and down, he did not find anything unusual about the reincarnated Jin Chanzi. Just as he was about to reach out and touch the reincarnated Jin Chanzi’s forehead, planning to delve into his spiritual sea of consciousness, he saw the reincarnated Jin Chanzi suddenly open his eyes, slap away his hand, and scold, "Impudent! You disciple are far too disrespectful! When I, your Master, asked you to carry me across the river, you dilly-dallied. Now you’re here to cause trouble instead of resting?"
Jinzha felt utterly wronged. He wasn’t actually doubting the reincarnated Jin Chanzi’s condition; rather, he was worried something might happen to him, afraid he might be possessed. He had come with good intentions to check, only to be berated by the reincarnated Jin Chanzi.
I’m so angry, he thought, but he was helpless. It was impossible to truly fall out with Jin Chanzi; otherwise, all his efforts would be in vain. Not only would they be in vain, but he might also be punished.
The reincarnated Jin Chanzi then turned to Old Turtle, who had approached, and scolded, "You’re the most useless one! You boast about your swimming skills normally, yet a single river has you stumped."
"Master, please don’t say any more. Your disciple was truly helpless," Old Turtle pleaded, unable to take the scolding from the reincarnated Jin Chanzi.
But the reincarnated Jin Chanzi was relentless. "Helpless? When you were bragging in the past, why didn’t you say you were helpless then?"
"Just a mere Flowing Sand River, and you two are useless? If you delay my, your Master’s, great Journey to the West, I will expel you from your discipleship!"
Afterward, he ignored them and closed his eyes to rest, secretly assimilating the power of the Elixir.
Old Turtle and Jinzha didn’t dare to probe the true state of the reincarnated Jin Chanzi any further and instead hid in the shadows to communicate.
Old Turtle couldn’t help but curse under his breath, "That old Monk really doesn’t appreciate kindness and doesn’t act like a monk at all, being so rude and unreasonable."
Jinzha said, "He was expelled from Buddhism by Buddha himself and demoted to a mortal precisely because he was roguishly lazy, full of twisted reasoning, and stubbornly held onto his own views." He added, "But I also didn’t expect that after coming to the Flowing Sand River, he would become even more unreasonable."
Old Turtle asked, "So, what should we do?"
With bitterness, he continued, "I don’t want to be scolded by him any longer. His words are harsh and hurtful. I’m afraid I won’t be able to take it anymore and will end up confronting him."
Jinzha glared at him. "Just treat it as wind passing by your ears. Do you really think that if you dare to confront him, Buddha wouldn’t strike you dead with a single palm strike?"
Old Turtle instantly shrank his neck in fear and said weakly, "I was just complaining. How could I actually confront him?"
While the two were talking, they saw Tianpeng get up, so they quickly pretended to be asleep.
Tianpeng walked to the edge of the Flowing Sand River. He looked at the water’s calm, mirror-like surface, felt the cool breeze, and spread his arms wide, as if to embrace the cold wind.
Old Turtle furrowed his brow. "What is this guy trying to do?"
Jinzha remained silent but suddenly saw Tianpeng leap into the Flowing Sand River. Startled, Jinzha shot up, wanting to go and pull him out. Old Turtle was also shocked and quickly got up to check.
The reincarnated Jin Chanzi was also awakened and hurried over, only to see Tianpeng swimming around in the river. Tianpeng was effortlessly treating the Flowing Sand River like ordinary water, moving through it with ease.
He exclaimed with delight, "Wuneng is truly impressive! This skill of his is the greatest among you three disciples." After speaking, he glanced at Jinzha and Old Turtle. This nearly choked Old Turtle with frustration; he was so angry but couldn’t refute it.
Tianpeng swam in the water, ignoring the reincarnated Jin Chanzi’s calls from the shore. Then, he took a deep dive into the Flowing Sand River, intending to swim to the bottom.
The reincarnated Jin Chanzi stood there with a blank expression. "Why has Wuneng gone down there? Could he have drowned? Wubie, go and check! Don’t let your elder martial brother die."
Old Turtle dared not go down. That’s where Sha Chen lives, the most ferocious person in the world! he thought.
He hurriedly said, "Master, please stop joking. If this disciple goes down there, death is certain."
The reincarnated Jin Chanzi scolded again, "You’re usually the best swimmer among us. Now you refuse to go down? If your elder martial brother drowns, how will you feel?"
How else would I feel? I’d just sit and think about it, of course, Old Turtle thought. However, he didn’t dare to say it aloud. He merely bowed his head; as long as he didn’t have to get in the water, any amount of scolding was fine. He’d just let it pass like wind by his ears.
The reincarnated Jin Chanzi then looked towards Jinzha. Before Jin Chanzi could speak, Jinzha said, "Master, rest assured, Wuneng is fine. He’s alive and well in the water. I bet he’s trying to see if there are any immortals down there who could help get Master across."
Upon hearing this, the reincarnated Jin Chanzi said, "I see. After all, Wuneng is the filial one. You two, you really don’t give your Master peace of mind."
Old Turtle’s face turned even redder as he struggled to hold back his anger; he could hardly stand it any longer. Being scolded is bad enough, he fumed internally, but to be reprimanded by someone even weaker than myself, subjected to all sorts of psychological manipulation, is more than I can bear!
Jinzha, on the other hand, appeared much calmer. He’s just talking nonsense, Jinzha thought, treating the reincarnated Jin Chanzi’s words as if they were farts—at most, just a couple of stinky ones, nothing major.
At this moment, Jinzha’s entire focus was on what was beneath the Flowing Sand River, his attention solely on Tianpeng. He didn’t understand why Tianpeng would enter the Flowing Sand River.
Perhaps Tianpeng intends to enter the Flowing Sand River because it’s rumored that Sha Chen has a connection with him, Jinzha guessed. But he felt it was unlikely. Why would Tianpeng enter the Flowing Sand River Cave at such a time? Sha Chen was too cautious and careful to open the door now.
However, Tianpeng truly did dive down to the entrance of the Flowing Sand River Cave and then began to knock. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
"Sha Chen, I’m here! It’s Tianpeng! Open the door quickly, let me in!" Tianpeng knocked on the door brazenly, without any concealment.
Jinzha grew even more puzzled. Could Tianpeng really intend to enter now? If so, this could be a serious matter. He quickly sent a spiritual message to inform those behind the scenes, urging them to prepare. The gate of the Flowing Sand River Cave was about to open. Preparations had to be made to decide whether to stand by or storm inside.
Not only Jinzha sensed what was happening below the Flowing Sand River; Old Turtle could sense it too. Equally puzzled, Old Turtle glanced at Jinzha, as if seeking his opinion. But Jinzha, just as clueless, simply shook his head, which made Old Turtle furrow his eyebrows.
What neither of them knew was that the reincarnated Jin Chanzi, who was rebuking them from the sidelines, actually saw the situation much more clearly. He had a far better grasp of what was happening at the bottom of the Flowing Sand River and was even more expectant of the events about to unfold.
Why would Tianpeng want to enter the Flowing Sand River under these circumstances? Jin Chanzi wondered, even though he was the one observing most clearly.
The reincarnated Jin Chanzi knew that Tianpeng and Sha Chen had a very good relationship; in fact, Sha Chen was Tianpeng’s junior. However, to deceive the forces of Buddhism, Jin Chanzi had taken Tianpeng as his disciple. But both he and Tianpeng knew their master-disciple relationship was a sham, designed to deceive the world.
Tianpeng continued to knock at the bottom of the Flowing Sand River, but there was no response.
In Tianpeng’s mind, Zhenyuanzi said, "Tianpeng, why hasn’t Sha Chen responded to you yet?"
Tianpeng replied mentally, "Don’t you know? Sha Chen has always been like this—utterly cautious and careful. Even if there’s no one else on the shore, he’d still leave me hanging for ten days or half a month."
Zhenyuanzi frowned. Tianpeng’s words make sense. I was too impatient, he thought.
Actually, it was Zhenyuanzi who had pushed Tianpeng to knock on the door, believing the time was right. But now he had some regrets about being so hasty. Fortunately, it was Tianpeng who did the knocking, Zhenyuanzi mused. Sha Chen shouldn’t have noticed anything out of the ordinary.
