Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 363 Nuwa’s Divine Skills Awakening Again
Maitreya Buddha was not angered by Yang Jian’s words, instead, he chuckled twice, "General Yang Jian, you are mistaken. Although I’m drinking and eating meat now, I haven’t let it interfere with anything I ought to do. On the contrary, it seems that those of you who do not abstain have been delayed a great deal by drinking and eating meat."
Yang Jian was taken aback by this remark.
"General Yang Jian," Maitreya Buddha continued, "even if you hadn’t spoken up, I would have known what you’re keeping inside your heart, but to lash out at others because of what’s hidden in your heart—doesn’t that seem somewhat unreasonable?"
Yang Jian was startled; he had not expected Maitreya Buddha to see through the thoughts in his heart.
"However, you needn’t worry, I won’t do anything to you because of your concerns," reassured Maitreya Buddha, "as long as you don’t act inappropriately."
"I naturally won’t," Yang Jian snorted coldly, "I don’t need your advice on what is right and what is wrong. But that saying of yours that ’the wine and meat pass through the gut, but the Buddha Ancestor remains in the heart,’ I think there’s a big problem with it."
"Please, do tell," said Maitreya Buddha with a smile.
"Your cultivation is undoubtedly high, and this saying may truly apply to you," said Yang Jian. "But if those newcomers to Buddhism were to break their precepts because of this saying and be tempted, who would bear the burden of that?"
"Ha ha, General Yang Jian, you have certainly thought this through," Maitreya Buddha laughed. "This isn’t merely a phrase. It is about survival of the fittest. If cultivators fall from Buddhism because of this one saying, it instead shows that their hearts are not steadfast enough. If they were to be tempted after their cultivation levels rose later, it would be better if they hadn’t entered the door in the first place."
It must be said that Maitreya Buddha did have some valid points. Despite still feeling unconvinced, Yang Jian found himself without words to retort and simply lifted the wine cup in front of him and drained it in one gulp.
Maitreya Buddha continued to smile, poured himself another cup of wine, and drank it down with Yang Jian. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
The Imperial Kitchen was bustling with activity, and the aroma of their cooking spread far throughout the Heavenly Court, eventually reaching the grand hall.
Maitreya Buddha thought of Chen Nuo’s cooking skills. With Chen Nuo crafting such delicious dishes, his disciple certainly couldn’t be far behind, especially since he had just had a few bites of Sun Wukong’s cooking.
The roasted gluten was spicy and chewy, a premium dish with a refreshing spiciness; the tofu also tasted more than ten times better than those made in the human world.
Given the aroma wafting from the Imperial Kitchen, the flavor of this dish must surely be even better.
With these thoughts in mind, Maitreya Buddha had already drunk several cups of wine, enticed by the fragrance.
The scent of this dish carried so far that it must have taken considerable effort to make; truly something to look forward to—a feast, indeed.
"General Yang Jian, do you smell that? It’s wonderful," said Master Zhenyuan, who had just returned from a round of drinks upon catching the aroma and hurried back.
Even though the dish had not arrived yet, relying solely on this rich aroma, the upcoming dish was certain to be the most delicious of the whole banquet.
Several immortals were sitting up straight, anxious they wouldn’t be able to get a portion once the dish was served, ready to scramble for it as soon as it arrived.
Maitreya Buddha was still smiling and sipping wine when Master Zhenyuan, puzzled, said, "Maitreya Bodhisattva, the dish is about to be served. Why aren’t you taking your seat? If you’re too late, maybe the other immortals will snatch it all away. Don’t you want to eat?"
"I do want to eat," Maitreya Buddha replied.
Master Zhenyuan was even more confused, "If you want to eat, why not hurry to your seat?"
"It’s precisely because I want to eat that I’m not taking my seat," said Maitreya Buddha.
Master Zhenyuan was bewildered, "What are you talking about?"
"This dish has an intense aroma; one sniff tells you it’s not vegetarian," Yang Jian glanced at Master Zhenyuan and explained.
"Ah, right," Master Zhenyuan clapped his hands and couldn’t resist mocking those from Buddhism, "Indeed, how could vegetables and tofu smell so enticing? It seems I’ve been muddleheaded from drinking."
No sooner had he finished speaking than he suddenly felt something was even more amiss,
"Hey, no, no, no, no, this is all wrong."
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Yang Jian was somewhat speechless; he hated drunkards the most.
"Isn’t Maitreya Bodhisattva a person of Buddhism?" Master Zhenyuan looked towards Maitreya Buddha, then had a sudden realization, "Oh! I get it now. It’s because this dish isn’t from the Buddhist side, so you came out of curiosity, right?"
"I am indeed curious, but I’m more interested in tasting this dish," said Maitreya Buddha.
"Haha, you really have a sense of humor," Master Zhenyuan, having drunk, made every gesture exaggeratedly, "You can look, but you can’t eat, right? If you ate meat, wouldn’t that be breaking the precept?"
Maitreya Buddha just smiled without saying a word.
Yang Jian also didn’t speak; in this kind of situation, he preferred not to talk much.
Seeing that both were silent, Master Zhenyuan looked from one to the other and suddenly widened his eyes, "Maitreya Bodhisattva, you aren’t planning to dine here at this table, are you?"
"I won’t," said Maitreya Buddha.
Master Zhenyuan breathed a sigh of relief, "That’s what I thought, you really are joking."
"The dish is here; I’ll carry it over to eat," Maitreya Buddha continued.
Master Zhenyuan’s mouth, which had just closed, now opened even wider. "You, you, you wouldn’t be breaking the precept?!"
...
Nuwa felt as if she was in the midst of Chaos. The sensation was both familiar and foreign.
The last time she felt this way was when she had just been born into this world, unable to distinguish sky from earth, nor black from white; everything in the universe was mixed together like dough.
Nuwa stretched out her hand, her jade-white fingers standing out distinctly and clearly in this Chaos.
"What’s happening to me?" Nuwa closed her eyes to recall.
Just a moment ago, she had only been eating a bowl of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall at Chaos Residence, the flavor lingering on her lips and teeth. Reminiscing, she couldn’t help but swallow, but how did she, in the blink of an eye, arrive at this place?
Could this be one of Chen Nuo’s traps?
Nuwa thought of this first, then laughed at herself in a self-mocking way. It was absurd.
Not to mention her identity, but just based on her cultivation level alone, it was absolutely impossible for her to be deceived.
Although the extent of Chen Nuo’s cultivation was not apparent, he definitely wasn’t so divinely skilled to this degree. If she could be fooled by this young man, then the world might truly be doomed.
Although Nuwa was utterly confident that Chen Nuo wouldn’t do such a thing, why she ended up in this strange place was indeed puzzling. For now, all she could do was to explore carefully.
Nuwa lifted her leg and took a couple of steps forward.
Suddenly, two streaks of colorful light came from nowhere. Nuwa raised her head, her neck was slender and fair, a rare beauty in all the world.
The colorful light slid over her head and then disappeared into the unknown.
Although she couldn’t see or distinguish anything in this Chaos, it didn’t instill fear or discomfort in Nuwa, just curiosity.
With each step she took, more streaks of colorful light swept over her head like shooting stars before vanishing.
Nuwa seemed to understand that the colorful light followed her steps. With every few steps she took, few streaks of colorful light appeared, and as she walked more and more, the colorful light streaking overhead increased.
