Chapter 74

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Tang Sen closed his eyes, his mind filled with complex thoughts. ⊥

Are all beings equal? Should they be equal?

It seems something is off. How can pandas and bamboo be equal? How can frogs and insects be equal? How can cats and mice be equal? When I can't survive without eating you, can we be equal?

No, this kind of equality can't exist! The Buddha can be equal to all beings because the Buddha can go without eating or drinking, but humans can't, animals can't, and demons can't.

Equality is fundamentally a false proposition.

But... because of inequality, is it right to lock the other party in a cage for entertainment? No, isn't that the logic of a bandit?

One strange thought after another exploded in Tang Sen's mind, many contradictory ideas colliding.

After a long time, Tang Sen suddenly opened his eyes, retracted the Heavenly Sword from Hu Nv's jade neck, and gently pushed her, saying, "Go on, leave."

"Huh?" Hu Nv was greatly surprised, "You're letting me go? Not using me as a hostage anymore?"

Tang Sen nodded, "Using a tiger-eared girl as a hostage to save my own life, it feels really despicable and shameless. You were right to scold me earlier. I must have been possessed by a demon to do such a foolish thing... But I've thought it through... So, go on, leave."

Hu Nv's beautiful face showed disbelief, her large, pointed cat ears trembled, and her tiger tail curled into a circle behind her, "Really letting me go? Without a hostage, you'll all die in the Great King's Three-Flavored Divine Wind."

Tang Sen shook his head, "If we die, we die, but we'll die with dignity, and we won't use a girl as a shield. I don't entirely agree with what Lingji Bodhisattva said earlier. Absolute equality among all beings is impossible, but I believe that humans keeping animals in zoos and animals, after becoming spirits, keeping humans in human zoos, is essentially the same behavior... This should be considered a relative equality."

"What do you mean?" Hu Nv was completely confused.

Tang Sen smiled, "Actually, I don't even know what I mean... I think all beings can't be equal, but I absolutely disagree with the strong bullying, controlling, and ruling the weak... I don't even understand myself anymore."

Hu Nv: "..."

"I'm letting you go because I have no reason to use a hostage to save my life. Doing so would only make me more of a bad guy and tarnish the name Tang Sen, which would be a disgrace to my mother who raised me and taught me to be a good person."

He turned around and smiled at Sun Wukong and the others, "Sorry, my romanticism will put you all in danger, please don't blame me."

Sun Wukong laughed, "No problem, I'm immortal. Even if I lose, what can that rat spirit do to me?"

Zhu Bajie also laughed, "Worst case, I'll be reborn, maybe as a sow, and many girls will like me."

Xiaobailong transformed directly into a bicycle without a word.

Bao Bao Xiong stopped moving and began to pretend to be a toy...

Tang Sen laughed and pushed Hu Nv, walked out of the cave, and stood in front of the rat spirit girl.

The rat spirit girl tried to open her small eyes wide to look at Tang Sen. With the black-rimmed glasses, her eyes didn't seem so small.

Tang Sen firmly said, "You heard that, right? I don't agree with complete equality among all beings, but I also don't agree with the strong bullying the weak... Now I want to fight you. This has nothing to do with justice or evil, right or wrong, or moral high ground. Now, based on my prejudice, arbitrariness, and arrogance, I want to challenge you fairly and equally. If I win, you have to release everyone. If I lose, you can lock me up in a cage."

The rat spirit girl said softly, "You know I have the Three-Flavored Divine Wind, your chances of winning are almost zero."

"Even so, I, Tang Sen, will not place myself in a position of weakness and surrender before the battle." Tang Sen smiled calmly, "If I can't win, I'll still fight. I may not be equal to you in strength, but I am equal to you in character."

The rat spirit girl suddenly smiled, "You're a good person!"

"Is this the time to give me a 'good person card'?"

"No, no, I'm not giving you a 'good person card.'" The rat spirit girl quickly explained, "Can we not fight? I've never met a good man like you. Stay and be the king of Yellow Wind Ridge, I'll be your chief wife and bear you a litter of children... I'm a rat, very fertile, I can give you seven or eight big, healthy boys at once, and you'll enjoy the happiness of having a large family."

Tang Sen: "..."

Hey, can we focus on the main point? What's the situation now? Is this the right time to talk about having children? And, do you use 'litter' to describe human children?

There's no point in reasoning with this nameless female demon. Tang Sen took a fighting stance, "Stop talking nonsense, let's decide this with a fight."

"Truly regrettable." The rat spirit saw from Tang Sen's expression that a fight was inevitable, so she said, "Then I'll have to make my move."

She took a deep breath and summoned the Three-Flavored Divine Wind.

In an instant, a fierce wind blew, a yellow sandstorm came rushing, covering the sky and earth, leaving no place to hide.

Tang Sen quickly closed his eyes. When the Three-Flavored Divine Wind blew, it was unbearable for the eyes. It was better to close them voluntarily to avoid the pain and tears, at least to prevent eye problems. The strong wind pressure pressed on his face, all the facial muscles seemed to be pushed back, and his eyelids felt incredibly heavy. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel a slight pain in his eyeballs.

He perked up his ears and listened carefully to the sound of the wind. Indeed, a sharp sound appeared, wrapped in the sandstorm, aiming straight for his chest. It was the rat spirit girl's three-pronged spear... Although Tang Sen heard the sound, he wasn't sure he could block it with his sword, as the source of the sound was very vague and it was impossible to accurately determine the position of the spear.

He twisted his body and dodged to the side, then thrust his sword in the direction of the wind.

Unfortunately, this half-blind sword technique couldn't possibly defeat the rat spirit girl. She easily avoided Tang Sen's sword, twirled her three-pronged spear, and thrust it straight at Tang Sen's chest...

And this time, Tang Sen couldn't dodge!

The sharp sound of the wind aimed at his chest, Tang Sen felt he was about to die...

But at this critical moment, Tang Sen suddenly felt his mind go blank. The divine power that had appeared when he saw through his past and present life suddenly reappeared in his body, and he didn't even know where it came from.

All the complex thoughts in his mind vanished, his mind became clear, as if he wasn't thinking about anything. In the dark, a few rows of golden characters appeared: "The Bodhisattva of Contemplation, practicing deep prajna paramita, sees that all five aggregates are empty, thus transcending all suffering and distress. Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness, emptiness does not differ from form; form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness are also like this..."

Ah, it's the Heart Sutra that Jidian Living Buddha passed on to me, with a total of 270 characters. Although Tang Sen didn't understand its meaning, he had long memorized it. Now, for some reason, it suddenly appeared in his mind.

Why did it appear at this moment? Have I already understood its true meaning? Or is it trying to tell me something?

Tang Sen was sure he hadn't fully comprehended this sutra, but for some reason, he felt he already understood it... In the realm between understanding and not understanding, a mysterious spiritual world enveloped him, making him feel as if he had lost his past and present...

In a daze, a small, delicate girl appeared in his mind. She was facing away from him, and he couldn't see her clearly, not knowing who she was...

The girl didn't turn around, but said softly, "Xiao Jin, do you think humans and demons can fall in love?"

Tang Sen answered in a daze, "Of course they can."

The girl seemed a bit happy and asked, "Then which kind of girl do you like?"

Tang Sen answered in a daze, "A mature woman!"

The girl's body trembled slightly, as if she was a bit hurt, "You don't like flat-chested little girls?"

Tang Sen answered in a daze, "Ha ha, little girls are cute, but it's not good to bring them home to warm the bed. Mature and full-figured girls are more comfortable to hold, with big chests and big butts, they can bear children."

"I will definitely become a mature and sexy woman, and I want you to willingly love me!" The girl clenched her small fists and said firmly.

Tang Sen thought in a daze, "Actually, I like you even if you don't become sexy and mature, I was just joking to tease you."

The fantasy ended there, the memory of his past life flashed and disappeared, shattering into fragments of light. Tang Sen's thoughts were instantly pulled back to his present life. The scene that flashed through his mind seemed to take a long time, as if it had been several lifetimes, but in reality, it was just an extremely short moment.

The rat spirit girl's three-pronged spear was still thrusting towards his chest... Perhaps that memory only took 0.000000000001 seconds, but Tang Sen felt as if he had crossed several lifetimes...

Because I was at the brink of life and death, the Heart Sutra could awaken my memories of the cycle of life and death?

In my past life, did I owe a woman a debt of love?

What does the Heart Sutra want to tell me?

A mysterious divine power suddenly burst forth from the depths of his soul, vast and powerful, far exceeding Tang Sen's current strength. He didn't know what had happened to him, but he could feel that the world had changed. The rat spirit girl's Three-Flavored Divine Wind and three-pronged spear had become incredibly slow. He no longer felt the wind pressure on his eyelids, so he opened his eyes. The Three-Flavored Divine Wind blew on his eyeballs, but he felt nothing, it couldn't oppress his visual nerves. He saw the entire world playing in slow motion at 100,000 times the normal speed... Everything was clear and visible.

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