Chapter 2194: The Truth

“You're the third phase?” Zu An’s expression grew serious. This giant statue was way too mysterious. He hadn’t even seen its real appearance yet. He couldn't help but feel as if he had been caught completely off guard in a dangerous situation.

“There is no need for you to feel nervous. In this phase, you only need to answer some of my questions.” The giant statue seemed to be smiling.

“Will you let me pass if I fail to answer them correctly?” Zu An asked.

The giant statue froze before saying, “Of course not. When I created this trial in the past, the one thing I prioritized the most was fairness.”

“Are you kidding me? There’s only death waiting for me if I can't win. Is there a way for this situation to not be so tense?” Zu An asked in annoyance.

“The fact that you participated in this trial despite knowing all of these things proves that you have great courage and wit. That is why I have confidence that you can pass this trial,” said the giant statue.

“Compared to words of encouragement like that, why don't you give me some tangible help? Weren’t we friends?” Zu An grumbled.

“And how do you know that I did not offer you any tangible help?” the giant statue suddenly asked in return.

Zu An was stunned.

When have you directly helped me?

He knew that there was no need for this individual to lie. Could it be the reminder he had been given near the Naihe Oblivion River?

He suddenly thought of a few things, but he didn’t ask about them and tried to calm down instead. “Then let’s start.”

“Alright.” The giant statue’s voice filled the world. “The questions for this phase are actually closely related to the two previous phases.

“After the last two phases, what do you think is the true story behind the death of the Jing River Dragon King?” The giant statue paused for a moment before adding, “You must think carefully before you answer.”

All kinds of things appeared in Zu An’s mind. This was actually something that he had been thinking about the whole time. At first, he had experienced it all from the Jing River Dragon King’s perspective, and then he had viewed it again from Li Shimin’s perspective. Those seemingly complicated and confusing bits of information finally seemed to connect and reveal a possible truth. He replied seriously, “The reason why the Jing River Dragon King died was because he was caught up in the Buddhist Western Paradise’s grand plans to move east. The Buddhists had scriptures they wished to pass onto the eastern Tang Dynasty, and the bodhisattva volunteered to search for someone who could go on that journey. If I'm not mistaken, Yuan Shoucheng or someone at his side might be an incarnation of a bodhisattva, which is why he was so powerful and could foresee the mysteries of heaven in advance.

“The Jing River Dragon King was so stupid that he didn’t know a thing. Advisor Shad and the Yaksha at his side were likely both Buddhists. Even his daughter-in-law was saved from under him and placed at Li Shimin’s side. He went against the imperial edict and violated heavenly law, and yet he even went to plead for mercy from Yuan Shoucheng. It was as if he was scammed, but ended up counting money for them too.

“Once he perished and reported what happened to the underworld, the kings of hell brought in Li Shimin’s soul for questioning. As a result, the Buddhists were able to have all kinds of sworn enemies and vengeful spirits demand his life in Hell, such as Li Jiancheng, Li Yuanji, and all of the bandits and criminal leaders from the City of Tragedy. Those terrifying scenes in hell definitely scared Li Shimin badly. They taught him about reincarnation, and they advised him to hold a great Buddhist ceremony to help the spirits cross over so that in the future, he wouldn’t enter Hell with karmic hindrances. That way, the journey to send Xuanzang to the Western Paradise to fetch the scriptures would go smoothly.”

Zu An suddenly frowned as he spoke. He just felt as if he was missing some crucial piece of information here. But even after thinking over the situation carefully, he just couldn't figure it out.

“Judging from what you are saying, would you say the ones who arranged all of this from the shadows were the Buddhists?” ahe giant statue asked.

Zu An was about to answer 'yes' when he was stunned. He finally realized what was wrong. In the underworld manor, why was it that whether it was Underworld Judge Cui or the Ten Kings of Hell, they had all been extremely friendly toward Li Shimin?

At first, he'd thought that it was because Li Shimin had the heavenly blessing of the human emperor. But after he passed through the Hell Gate, he'd met Li Yuan. Wasn’t that person also a human emperor? Why had he been brought away by a random lesser ghost instead of by Underworld Judge Cui? They hadn’t treated him like an emperor at all!

That meant there had to be a difference between him and Li Shimin that caused such a difference in treatment. Li Shimin was indeed much more capable than Li Yuan, but would a difference in ability between mortals really be that important to these ghostly deities?

No, they definitely needed Li Shimin’s help with something, and Li Yuan couldn't offer the same help. Judging from that, it had to be because Li Shimin was the present emperor and could affect the policies of the Tang Dynasty. They could expand Buddhism's reach toward the east with the greatest convenience and gain countless believers that way.

But then, that posed another problem. The underworld manor’s people were clearly subordinates of the Celestial Court, so why had they cooperated with the Buddhists in their own territory? That didn’t make sense! After all, the Celestial Court mainly consisted of Daoists. Why would they allow Buddhism to invade their territory?

Wei Zheng was also a bit strange. The giant statue had said that he had studied immortal arts since he was young, whichh was why he was chosen as the underworld judge. Additionally, the fact that he could kill the Dragon King in his dreams meant that he was clearly extremely skilled.

But why was it that, when Zu An was being haunted by the Jing River Dragon King’s ghost, Wei Zheng had claimed that because he hadn’t passed on and take up his new post, he couldn't use his abilities? With his ability as an underworld judge, would he really not be able to tell that it was the dragon woman playing the devil?

Why had he deceived Li Shimin? It couldn't be because he was getting revenge for Li Jiancheng, right?

When Zu An thought about how Li Jiancheng was berated by a lesser ghost, he immediately rejected that possibility. That meant there was one possibility left. Had Wei Zheng and the dragon woman been working together?

Zu An immediately shivered when he realized that.

To what extent had Buddhism already infiltrated the Celestial Court? If they were so powerful, why did they have to go through such trouble to set up that scenario?

In that instant, Zu An felt as if his head was spinning. His mind leaped from one possibility to another, but each one had some kind of hole in the explanation.

Wait, why was Yuan Shoucheng able to learn of the Jade Emperor’s decree ahead of time? The rain’s timing was one thing, since he could predict it through other methods, but he even knew the exact number of drops.

He had thought at first that it could be because the bodhisattva had miraculous abilities and planted spies within the upper levels of the Celestial Court. But now that he thought about it, which high officials could know about the Celestial Emperor’s personal decrees? Additionally, who would dare to do something so risky as to participate in Buddhism’s expansion to the east?

Zu An was getting a bit anxious. He realized that he seemed to have overlooked something really important. He closed his eyes and began to recall every single detail he had experienced during these two phases. Fortunately, he had already recovered his cultivation. His powerful mind could now support the overclocked thoughts he was having.

First, he had entered the Jing River Water Manor, and then he had gone to Eternal Peace City. Afterward came the Great Tang Imperial Palace and the underworld...

Wait...

A portrait from the Imperial Palace appeared in Zu An's mind. He suddenly opened his eyes. He realized what he had overlooked!

Li Shimin was the Great Tang Emperor! The Great Tang Emperor was surnamed Li, and they worshiped Laozi as their ancestor. Laozi was one of the Three Pure Ones, the leaders of the Daoist faction!

Daoism was the state religion of the Great Tang Dynasty!

No wonder the Buddhists had been acting so carefully. No wonder the members of the underworld government had shown such strange expressions; no wonder the Celestial Court...

No wonder the giant statue had claimed to have helped him!

Just then, the giant statue asked, “Have you thought through your answer?”

Zu An nodded and slowly said, “All of this was mainly prepared by the Buddhists, but they were actually just a chess piece.”

“Oh? Then who was the chess player?” The giant statue’s voice seemed to carry a hint of happiness.

Zu An was a bit hesitant. “I know that there are some powerful beings who would immediately notice me if I mentioned their names, and that would subsequently bring down an unknown, devastating power.”

“You do not need to worry about that. In this place, I can temporarily help you screen such things off so no external powers will notice,” the giant statue said.

Zu An felt relieved and said, “The one behind all of this was the Celestial Emperor. He was working with the Buddhists to direct the situation.”

“Oh? What made you come to such a conclusion? Isn’t Daoism the primary religion in the Celestial Court? Why would the Celestial Emperor work together with the Buddhists?” the giant statue asked.

“It's precisely because the Celestial Court is mainly made up of Daoists that the Celestial Emperor didn’t want one party to become too strong. Otherwise, the Celestial Court would only follow the Daoist ancestor and wouldn’t recognize the Celestial Emperor anymore. That’s why he guided the Buddhists to keep the Daoists in check,” Zu An said, having finally sorted out all of the clues.

Why was Yuan Shoucheng able to learn about the Celestial Emperor’s decree beforehand?

No matter how powerful their bodhisattva was, there’s no way she would be able to learn about a decree of that level.

That means there could only be one reason, which was that the Celestial Emperor told the bodhisattva!