Chapter 86

As they walked, a ghost general led the way, and Xuan Kong and the others lazily followed in the wake of the ghost general's cold wind. In no time, they flew past the Ghost Gate of Fengdu City and headed towards the Xuanming Palace where King Qin Guang resided.

In the Xuanming Palace, dark clouds gathered, and a gloomy atmosphere prevailed.

On both sides, trembling yin judges and minor officials stood, while King Qin Guang sat in his armchair, slamming the table in anger: "Hmph, what a fine job you've done, Lord Wude!" He swept his hand across the table, knocking over a gilded box.

The box fell to the ground, spilling a variety of precious treasures, dazzling the eyes.

Xuan Kong burst into the Xuanming Palace, smiling and bowing to King Qin Guang: "Xuan Kong, a cultivator from the Laoshan Sect, pays his respects to King Qin Guang!"

Seeing Xuan Kong enter, King Qin Guang's face brightened. He ordered the irrelevant people in the palace to leave and gestured for Xuan Kong to sit beside him, smiling: "It's you, little brother Xuan Kong! Why have you left Laoshan to come to the Netherworld?"

Xuan Kong didn't speak immediately. He pulled out a wine flask from his sleeve: "Brother King Qin Guang, it's been a long time since we last met. Let's have a drink first before we talk about other things!"

King Qin Guang was somewhat moved. He looked around to ensure no outsiders were present and couldn't resist the aroma of the wine in Xuan Kong's flask. He stood up, conjured a set of wine cups, and handed one to Xuan Kong: "Hehe, your wine-making treasure is one of the best in the three realms. The wine is quite potent, and I've become addicted to it after receiving your offerings for over a decade."

Xuan Kong's eyes lit up, and he filled King Qin Guang's cup: "Actually, making this wine is quite simple. It just has an extra distillation process compared to ordinary wine. It's not that valuable when you think about it."

King Qin Guang took a sip of the wine, exhaled, and frowned: "Good wine!"

Wang Qi, standing beside him, laughed: "How can you say the wine is good while frowning? I wonder if the wine is really good or not."

King Qin Guang was taken aback and looked at Wang Qi. Xuan Kong quickly introduced him: "This is my junior brother, also a disciple of the Laoshan Sect." King Qin Guang stroked his beard and smiled: "The Laoshan Sect produces many talents. Your junior brother is quite remarkable!"

Not everyone has the courage to question the King of Hell face-to-face.

Wang Qi, known for his big mouth, blurted out the words, drenching his back in cold sweat.

Seeing that King Qin Guang didn't blame him, Wang Qi nervously smiled and toasted King Qin Guang a few times before retreating to the side, covering his mouth with both hands, and deciding not to speak further. King Qin Guang waved his hand and sighed deeply: "I've been greatly troubled by Lord Wude this time!"

Xuan Kong's heart stirred: "Is it related to Sun Wukong's rampage in the Netherworld?"

King Qin Guang sighed: "It is indeed about that!"

Xuan Kong felt something was amiss and asked: "I've heard that Sun Wukong was bestowed a Buddha position on Ling Mountain. Why would he come to trouble you, Brother King Qin Guang?"

King Qin Guang shook his head: "This is a long story. It wasn't originally our Netherworld's business, but we ended up taking the blame for Lord Wude."

Xuan Kong raised his wine cup: "Hey, I'm quite interested in this. Would you mind telling me more, Brother King Qin Guang?" Wang Qi tugged at Xuan Kong's sleeve and pouted: "Master Brother loves to meddle in other people's affairs. We should focus on our own matters instead of getting involved in these baseless stories."

Xuan Kong, though he thought his master brother was meddling, didn't criticize his senior. He just smiled and drank with Wang Qi.

King Qin Guang sighed and slowly began: "Xuan Kong, you haven't been cultivating for long. Do you know the story of Tang Sanzang's journey to the West for the Buddhist scriptures?"

Wang Qi, standing beside him, grumbled: "How could Master Brother not know?"

He was most annoyed that Xuan Kong had stopped telling the story of "Journey to the West" halfway through. Wang Qi remembered that Xuan Kong had stopped right when he was describing the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, Sun Wukong, wreaking havoc in Heaven, leaving him in suspense.

Xuan Kong ignored his junior brother's complaints and nodded: "I know this story, but could it be that Sun Wukong's rampage in the Netherworld is related to Tang Sanzang's journey to the West?"

King Qin Guang didn't answer directly but asked: "Since you know about Tang Sanzang's journey, you should also know that it was Guanyin Bodhisattva who propagated Buddhism in the Southern Continent. At that time, the human world was under the rule of the Tang Dynasty, and an unusual event occurred in the capital city of Chang'an."

Xuan Kong interjected: "Are you referring to the story of Prime Minister Wei Zheng dreaming of beheading the Dragon King of the Jing River?"

King Qin Guang smiled: "You do know!"

He and Xuan Kong could be considered old friends. His avatar had spent countless days with Xuan Kong in the back of Laoshan Mountain, and during their idle moments, he would listen to Xuan Kong's monologues. He found it strange that a mere human cultivator seemed to know more about the secrets of the three realms than he did.

However, King Qin Guang knew everyone had their secrets. As a gentleman, he wouldn't force Xuan Kong to reveal how he knew these stories.

Realizing he had revealed too much, Xuan Kong scratched his head and added: "I heard this story from a predecessor named Wu Cheng'en. I'm not sure if it's true."

King Qin Guang was curious: "Wu Cheng'en? Which sect does he belong to?"

Xuan Kong was speechless. At this time, Wu Cheng'en hadn't even been born, and his name wasn't even in the Netherworld's Book of Life and Death. Knowing he had said too much, Xuan Kong laughed and said: "I don't know. I just speculate that he might be a wandering hermit."

Xuan Kong changed the topic to the story of Wei Zheng dreaming of beheading the Dragon King: "There's quite a bit to say about the story of Prime Minister Wei Zheng dreaming of beheading the old dragon."

King Qin Guang's expression was half-smiling, half-serious: "Little brother Xuan Kong, do you know the secret behind this story?"

Xuan Kong recalled for a moment, searching his memory from his previous life, and said: "It's related to Mr. Yuan Tian Gang, the uncle of the Tang Dynasty's Astronomer Royal. The old Dragon King of the Jing River heard from a fisherman that Yuan Shoucheng was very accurate in his divinations. Unconvinced, he challenged him."

"Little did he know that Yuan Shoucheng's divinations were all in line with the heavenly decrees. The old Dragon King of the Jing River, unwilling to lose, altered the amount and timing of the rain, which led to his being sentenced to the 'Dragon Beheading Platform' and beheaded by Prime Minister Wei Zheng."

King Qin Guang's face darkened, and he nodded: "Little brother, the Wu Cheng'en you mentioned does have some skill, knowing even this. However, his knowledge is not entirely accurate!"

King Qin Guang's words made Xuan Kong jump: "What? Are you saying 'Journey to the West' is wrong?"

That's impossible. This world is structured based on the classic works of the predecessors. Xuan Kong himself had traveled the four seas and found everything exactly as described in the classics. How could 'Journey to the West' be wrong here?