The Rotting Buddhas of Journey to the West - chapter 1

“Eldest Senior Brother!”

“Wukong!”

Master and I cried out in anguish.

“Hey, White Dragon Horse, stop shouting for now. Escaping is the priority. Let’s go find help to rescue Monkey King.”

Second Senior Brother tried to calm Master and me.

Just an hour ago, we were still receiving our rewards, each of us having attained enlightenment. But who could have imagined that such a catastrophe would befall Vulture Peak!

First, when we went to the Sutra Depository to retrieve the scriptures, we were obstructed by Ananda.

When Monkey King went to complain to Buddha, Buddha was stunned.

He looked at us very seriously and said:

“There is no such person as Ananda at Vulture Peak…”

While everyone was confused, I noticed Buddha’s face growing paler, his lips turning black, and a strange laughter-neither male nor female-echoing from his body.

His laughter became increasingly exaggerated, and with that eerie sound, the bodies of the other Buddhas began to rot and collapse.

Eldest Senior Brother seemed to realize something. After saying a few words, he rescued us and got us out.

“What… what should we do now!”

Though Master had already become a Buddha, at this moment he reverted to his anxious mortal self, as if facing a demon.

You can’t blame him. In truth, everyone was afraid. Eldest Senior Brother is the Great Sage Equalling Heaven, and above him are the Bodhisattvas and Tathagata Buddha.

But now, they are either dead or decaying.

I couldn’t believe it. How could there be such a powerful demon or ghost in this world!

We fled far away, only stopping when Vulture Peak was no longer in sight.

“Disciples, think of a way to save Wukong and the Buddhas.”

We all hung our heads. Pig Senior Brother and Sand Senior Brother were both of mediocre ability, and as for me, the White Dragon Horse, I was even less capable than the two of them.

“Right, Eldest Senior Brother said there was a dead person following us all the way. What did he mean by that?”

I thought of this, puzzled.

Second Senior Brother shook his big ears and replied casually:

“Bah, maybe Monkey King was just scared and talking nonsense. What’s so scary about a little ghost?”

Sand Senior Brother also said:

“Yeah, just a dead person. In other words, a ghost.”

But I remained silent, thinking deeply.

In our Scripture Retrieval Team, even the most useless one-me-possesses the True Dragon Body. If it were just an ordinary ghost, a flick of my finger would make it vanish without a trace.

But Eldest Senior Brother’s last words were definitely not nonsense!

Perhaps… it was a ghost even more powerful than the Great Sage Equalling Heaven and Tathagata Buddha…

Boom!

A thunderclap exploded in my mind.

How could this be possible!