474: Four traitors, kneeling in a row!

"Little Nezha, don't think this has nothing to do with you." Lu Jiuyuan glanced at him.

"You're always thinking about helping your second brother, stirring up trouble, fearing the world won't be in chaos. Your reputation as a 'little rebel' is no smaller than theirs."

Nezha stuck out his tongue and quickly lowered his head to act obedient, but muttered in his heart: I'm just feeling sorry for Second Brother...

Just then, a familiar, impatient sound like scratching ears came from outside the hall, accompanied by hurried footsteps:

"Old Jade Emperor! Old Jade Emperor! Old Sun is here! I heard that three-eyed Erlang Shen came to cause you trouble? Oh my, how could such excitement happen without Old... Sun..."

Monkey King flipped into the Hall of Miraculous Mist with a somersault. Halfway through his sentence, his fiery eyes swept the room, and he was immediately stunned.

He saw a large pit in the center of the hall, and two people were kneeling in it—it was Erlang Shen and Nezha!

One had a pale face, blood at the corner of his mouth, and looked disheveled but was stubbornly holding on;

The other was making faces, wanting to laugh but not daring to, looking ridiculous.

And on the throne, Lu Jiuyuan was watching him with leisure, his mouth seemingly carrying a trace of... playfulness?

Monkey King blinked, looked at Erlang Shen, then at Nezha, then looked up at the Jade Emperor, and scratched his cheek: "Old Jade Emperor, how is this play being performed?"

Erlang Shen closed his eyes and said nothing. Nezha quietly winked at Monkey King, but unfortunately, the monkey didn't understand.

"Monkey, you came at the right time! Three brothers from the same sect, I cannot favor one over the other!"

Lu Jiuyuan raised his right hand and pressed down gently again.

"Ouch, my...!"

Monkey King only felt a familiar and irresistible overwhelming force descending from the sky, as if the weight of the entire Thirty-Three Heavens was pressing on his shoulders!

He tried to use his power to resist, but his boundless magic power entered the sea like a clay ox, his indestructible golden body felt like paper, and the golden-hooped rod in his hand fell to the ground with a "clatter."

"Thump!"

The dignified Great Sage, Equal to Heaven, Victorious Fighting Buddha, Monkey King, without any suspense, had his knees soften and knelt solidly on the white jade floor, exactly in the pit next to Erlang Shen, symmetrical with Nezha.

"Crack..." The incredibly sturdy floor of the Tongming Hall, centered on Monkey King's knees, cracked into a spiderweb-like pattern again.

"Now you can say why you came up!"

Monkey King looked at Erlang Shen, who was kneeling with a dark face, and then at Nezha, who was kneeling with a cheeky grin. With these two Senior Brothers accompanying him, he didn't feel embarrassed to be kneeling anymore.

He could only smile awkwardly: "Hi! Old Sun just returned from Mount Emei and thought about what Old Jade Emperor... uh, Your Majesty said, and felt it made quite a lot of sense."

"Then I saw Erlang Shen come up to heaven, and I was afraid his bad temper would offend you, so I specially came to watch the excite... uh, to mediate, yes, mediate!"

"Mediate?" Lu Jiuyuan said with a half-smile, "Are you sure it was just to mediate?"

"Hehe, Old Sun saw it was fighting very fiercely from the outside. After little Nezha rushed in, it fought even more fiercely!"

"I couldn't help it for a moment, I couldn't help it! Hehe, who would have thought these two were so useless, actually kneeling so quickly!"

"I didn't see any excitement, and I even got implicated." Monkey King said with a cheeky grin, but his eyes rolled around, glancing at the two kneeling, and whispered:

"You two, you're really useless! Kneeling so quickly! Why didn't you fight with the Old Jade Emperor? Old Sun could have helped!"

"Don't blame me, it's Second Brother who is too useless, kneeling too fast!" Little Nezha whispered:

"I also didn't expect the old man to be so powerful. Before I could react, I had already knelt down!"

"He used to shout about personally leading the army, I thought he was bragging, I didn't expect he was really that awesome!"

"Monkey, what did you see from the outside?"

"I couldn't see clearly, I just felt that it was very lively inside, and Old Sun got excited, so I grabbed my rod and ran in!" Monkey King said.

As soon as these words came out, little Nezha and Monkey King looked at each other:

"He is fishing!"

"He wants to trap people!"

Then a sense of excitement rose in their hearts. Who would be the next unlucky person to come in?

"amitabha."

Immediately after, a sound of unhurried footsteps rang out, accompanied by a faint scent of sandalwood.

A young monk dressed in plain white monk robes, covered with a brocade kasaya, walked slowly into the Hall of Miraculous Mist.

He had a handsome face, and his eyebrows carried a sense of quiet compassion. A cinnabar mole between his eyebrows was as red as blood. It was Golden Cicada, the Sandalwood Karma Buddha.

Golden Cicada swept his peaceful gaze over the scene in the hall:

On the throne, Lu Jiuyuan looked indifferent.

Below the throne, Erlang Shen with blood-stained silver armor and a pale face was kneeling in a pit;

Next to him was little Nezha, who was making faces and winking desperately; next to him was Monkey King, who was scratching his ears and cheeks with an expression of "You're here too, you're going to be miserable."

The three "brothers" were kneeling neatly, and on the ground, there was a Three-Headed Flood Dragon that had fallen into a V-shape, humming softly.

Golden Cicada's footsteps paused slightly, a flash of realization crossed his clear eyes, and then he returned to calm.

He put his hands together and bowed slightly to the throne:

"Golden Cicada pays respects to the Great Heavenly Venerate."

His voice was gentle, neither humble nor arrogant.

Lu Jiuyuan looked at him, the corners of his mouth curling into a very faint arc: "Golden Cicada, you are not chanting scriptures and worshiping Buddha at Lingshan, why have you come to my Hall of Miraculous Mist?"

Golden Cicada raised his eyes, his gaze frank: "This poor monk was sitting in meditation at Lingshan when I suddenly felt a surging Qi collision in the Heavenly Court, revealing signs of fighting and slaughter."

"I also noticed the restless Qi of Erlang Shen and Monkey King rushing to the Heavenly Court, fearing trouble."

"So I came to take a look. If there is unnecessary fighting, perhaps I can mediate a little, which is also compassion."

He paused, looked at the kneeling Monkey King, and his tone was slightly reproachful: "Monkey King, since you have become a Buddha, you should know that anger and fighting are all illusions. Why did you come to disturb the peace of the Great Heavenly Venerate again?"

Before Monkey King could answer, Nezha next to him was holding back laughter and muttered in a low voice: "Golden Cicada, you came just in time, quickly help us persuade Your Majesty... Ouch!"

He received another invisible knock on his head.

Golden Cicada seemed not to have heard Nezha's muttering, and just looked at Lu Jiuyuan quietly:

"Great Heavenly Venerate, I do not know what offense Erlang Shen, Monkey King, and Nezha have committed to be punished to kneel here?"

"If there is any fault, This poor monk is willing to counsel them on their behalf, eliminate their hostility, and resolve their obsessions."

Lu Jiuyuan leaned forward slightly and said with a smile:

"No rush, no rush!"

"Golden Cicada, these three, one came to ask for guilt, one came to help, and one came to watch the excitement. All said it was for 'Dao', for 'righteousness', and for 'justice'."

"What about you? What are you here for?"

Golden Cicada's expression remained unchanged: "This poor monk came to quell the conflict and protect the peace."

"A good 'quell the conflict and protect the peace'." Lu Jiuyuan nodded:

"Golden Cicada, kneel down, and let's chat!"

As Lu Jiuyuan's words fell, he did not raise his hand or apply pressure.

The three little ones kneeling all widened their eyes. Even the Three-Headed Flood Dragon on the ground forgot to moan. Four pairs, plus one, nine eyes stared straight at Golden Cicada.

They wanted to see how this Sandalwood Karma Buddha, who had always been known for his clear Zen heart and wise compassion, would respond to this blatant "invitation to kneel."

Golden Cicada did not hesitate at all. He saw him keep his hands together, walked to Monkey King's side, bent his knees, and knelt straight down.

"Thump."

The sound was very light. He knelt extremely straight and steadily, so naturally that it didn't carry half a breath of fireworks.

He knelt straight, his spine like a pine, his neck like a crane, his joined hands as steady as a rock, and his eyes still clear beneath his lowered eyelids.