Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 386: Lies from Buddhism Flow Smoothly from the Tongue

Chapter 386: Chapter 386: Lies from Buddhism Flow Smoothly from the Tongue

Suddenly, as if struck by inspiration, he immediately replied, "It’s like this, although I admire you, I’m still working in the estate and have no chance to learn cooking. So, I really can’t cook. Please let the God of Cookery do it."

"Is that so? Which estate do you belong to?" Sun Wukong asked. "I’ll go to your master and ask for you to be sent over. You can learn to cook by following me."

One lie must be covered with a hundred others, and today this Buddhist disciple truly understood this saying. He wanted to refuse, but he didn’t know how.

"Chef Wukong, we came to help this Buddhist find his Buddha Beads, so why don’t we talk about this after we’ve found them?" Seeing his brother stuck, his companion quickly tried to smooth things over.

"Oh, right, there are the Buddha Beads to find." Sun Wukong appeared to suddenly understand. "Searching for the Buddha Beads is no trivial matter, so hurry up and search."

"Good, then we will trouble Chef Wukong and the Immortal Officials to wait a moment while we begin our search for the Buddha Beads."

Thinking they had managed to stall for time, the Buddhist disciples all breathed a sigh of relief and began to pretend to search for the Buddha Beads.

Sun Wukong watched them fumble around pretending to search and found it somewhat amusing. After he had seen enough, he called out to them, "Wait a moment."

The disciples were startled and cautiously asked, "What’s wrong, Chef Wukong? Is there a problem?"

"You’re looking for the Buddha Beads, right?"

"Yes, is there a problem?" The disciple looked at Sun Wukong, wondering if Sun Wukong had noticed something.

"How come you’re only searching through this dish? It’s a meat dish. How could the Buddha Beads of a Buddhist end up in here?"

"Yes, right. Chef Wukong, you are correct, we were confused in our search." The Buddhist disciples laughed sheepishly, then put the small bowl they were holding onto the table, ready to search elsewhere.

"No, that’s not right," the God of Cookery said from a distance.

Their atmosphere tensed up again at his words. "What’s the matter, God of Cookery? Is there another problem?"

"Well, there really is a big problem," the God of Cookery pointed at the small bowl. "Look, has this dish been tampered with? It seems like some of it is missing. Are you really just looking for the Buddha Beads?"

"We are indeed looking for the Buddha Beads, but maybe we were too rough in our search and it spilled?"

"Really?" The God of Cookery looked around. "But I don’t see any traces of the dish on the ground. You’re stealing food!"

"No, no, we wouldn’t dare to steal this. We were truly only here to look for the Buddha Beads!"

No sooner had the God of Cookery finished speaking than the Buddhist disciples hurriedly denied it.

"Right, I wouldn’t have thought much of it if the God of Cookery hadn’t spoken, but now that he mentions it, it does seem odd. You say you are here to find the Buddha Beads for those Buddhists, so why aren’t you checking the other dishes? Why only rummage through this dish which the Buddhists haven’t even touched?"

The other Immortal Officials came forward. Seeing that there was less than half of the dish left in the small bowl, they understood immediately.

"No, we were just..."

With the evidence now undeniable, the Buddhist disciples didn’t know how to explain themselves.

"Hey, it’s just a dish after all, and no real harm’s done," Sun Wukong suddenly spoke up.

The Buddhist disciples looked at each other and then quickly figured out how they should continue their act. "We apologize, Chef Wukong; we were tempted by our appetites, please punish us as you see fit."

"Chef Wukong, didn’t you say before that this dish is of treasure level and shouldn’t be wasted like this?"

"Indeed, they are but a bunch of servants, yet they dared to steal food from the Imperial Kitchen. If you don’t punish them, wouldn’t you be treating them too kindly?"

"It’s our fault. We were just passing by the Imperial Kitchen and couldn’t resist the delectable aroma. We ended up stealing some dishes. Please, punish us," they said.

The disciples of Buddhism were clever, knowing that getting punished for the food was far better than being caught by the people of the Heavenly Court.

Sun Wukong pretended to ponder, as if he truly heeded the words of these Immortal Officials.

"Hmm, stealing food is a minor matter, but lax discipline is a major one. Well, I’m not really eager to punish you, but since everyone else says so, I guess I’ll make a gesture," he said.

The Buddhist disciples snickered, thinking their ruse had completely fooled Sun Wukong. If they were merely tasked with chores like cleaning the Imperial Kitchen, that would be the best outcome.

Such matters were easy to bluff through since, aside from particularly serious incidents, Buddhism and the Heavenly Court generally didn’t interact. By the time anyone noticed, no one would know they had stolen the dishes.

"You disregarded the Imperial Kitchen’s prohibition and stole food. Even though it was leftovers, it was without permission. So, hand over your household’s Token. I won’t trouble you much, but your family heads need to give you a proper lesson," he commanded.

Upon hearing Sun Wukong’s words, everyone present was taken aback.

The Immortal Officials felt Sun Wukong’s punishment was surprisingly lenient. They’d have expected a whipping, but the matter seemed to end with mere trivialities.

The Buddhists were truly astonished because they’d fabricated the whole story and had no family heads to speak of, let alone a Token to present.

Where could they conjure up a Token for him now? And to claim they were servants of some house would be worse than enduring a few lashes.

Seeing no one move, Sun Wukong faked dissatisfaction, "What? Is even this small matter too challenging for you? Who are your family heads? Perhaps I, Old Sun, should personally summon them?"

"This..."

The Buddhist disciples were in a quandary. In this situation, only their own luck could save them, as no one could help them.

Should they fail this test, being expelled from Buddhism for breaking the precepts would be the least of it. More crucial was the commotion in the Heavenly Court. If the Buddha Ancestor really placed blame, they feared annihilation, unable to be reborn for eternity.

"It seems I, Old Sun, have been too gentle on you, allowing you to make a fool of me in public. Fine, there’s no need to call your family heads. I, Old Sun, will punish you myself," he declared.

The Immortal Officials: Perfect, exactly what we were waiting for, otherwise these little thieves would get off too easily.

The Buddhist disciples: Perfect, exactly what we were waiting for, how else would we conclude this matter, with no one even to collect our remains.

"I, Old Sun, will have you run hundreds of laps around this Imperial Kitchen, and gather all the ingredients that I need for my dish in tenfold quantities. If you do all that, I won’t punish you further," he decreed.

After Sun Wukong finished speaking, everyone present was once again astonished. What?! Just that simple?

The Buddhists exhaled in relief, but the astute ones felt something amiss, although they couldn’t discern exactly what was off.

Sun Wukong had always been arrogant and domineering; even if someone stepped on his toe outside, he’d crash their house and smash the table in retaliation. So why was the punishment for stealing food so light? What was the reason behind it?

"Not to be rude, but Chef Wukong, you’re being far too kind, aren’t you? What’s the real reason?" an Immortal Official grumbled resentfully.

As for their resentment, it naturally stemmed from coveting the unattained ’Buddha Jumps Over the Wall’ from the Buddhist side.

To put it bluntly, that dish was leftovers, and yet, a dignified Immortal Official would consume them. But who could blame them when Sun Wukong’s culinary skills were truly exceptional?