Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 704 - 703: Guanyin Realizes Something Terrible is Happening
The Six-Eared Macaque wasn’t particularly curious about the reason why Bodhisattva Guanyin wanted to speak with them, as he had roughly guessed the reason already.
Eight or nine out of ten, it was for the matter of Eagle Sorrow Stream that Bodhisattva Guanyin came; presumably, the incident was mysterious and sudden. Since he and his disciple happened to be passing by this place, the Bodhisattva wanted to ask them what had happened.
Nevertheless, he indeed lacked curiosity about matters of the outside world, for nothing could hinder his path to achieving Buddhahood. Since it was not related to them, all the better; they had more important undertakings at hand.
"Since it’s not related to us, Master, let’s hurry on our way."
Xuanzang had originally intended to persuade the Six-Eared Macaque not to be curious about other people’s affairs, but to Xuanzang’s satisfaction, the macaque was already in agreement. There was no longer any need to persuade him, and they set off together.
Bodhisattva Guanyin found the situation exceedingly strange; the traces of battle were so significant that whoever fought with Little White Dragon must be extremely formidable.
But what was the purpose of it all? There didn’t seem to be anything in Eagle Sorrow Stream worth such a major conflict.
When the Jade Emperor subdued Little White Dragon, there weren’t any treasured magic artifacts on him.
Since there was such a major confrontation at Eagle Sorrow Stream with Little White Dragon, there must have been something that attracted that person. With this thought, Bodhisattva Guanyin’s expression grew grave; could it be that the person’s objective was Little White Dragon?
This was only speculation; the true circumstance was unknown to all.
Bodhisattva Guanyin felt it was best not to make a big fuss about Little White Dragon’s disappearance, especially not to alarm the Dragon Clan. Otherwise, it might very likely cause a rift between the Dragon Clan and the Heavenly Realm. The matter needed a more careful resolution. It was better to report back to his own people first.
With this in mind, Bodhisattva Guanyin went straight back to the Cauldron of Guan Shi, where Maitreya was still immersed in drinking, seemingly unbothered by anything in the world but the Peach Blossom Wine in his hands.
Guanyin almost lost his composure for a moment, troubled by his own sense of pride. He intentionally made a loud noise upon returning to draw Maitreya’s attention.
However, when Maitreya heard the tinkling sound of jade colliding, he only lifted his gaze briefly before speaking indifferently, "Bodhisattva, you have returned. Have you found anything in the mortal world?"
"Have you noticed anything here at the Cauldron of Guan Shi?" Instead of answering Maitreya’s question, Bodhisattva Guanyin posed his own.
Maitreya, not detecting the seriousness in Bodhisattva Guanyin’s demeanor, shook his head, "There has been no anomaly here."
"Not a single anomaly?" Bodhisattva Guanyin pressed further.
Ordinarily, the conversation between the two would have ended after that reply. Sensing Bodhisattva Guanyin’s anomaly, Maitreya put down his wine pot, "What is it, Bodhisattva? Did you encounter something in the mortal world?"
Bodhisattva Guanyin nodded earnestly, "Little White Dragon has disappeared."
Maitreya looked up in surprise, "Disappeared, what do you mean?"
"Literally what I said," Bodhisattva Guanyin replied, "Just now, Xuanzang and the Six-Eared Macaque were passing by Eagle Sorrow Stream. I followed them with the intention to assist Xuanzang in subduing Little White Dragon. Yet, I saw Xuanzang and the Six-Eared Macaque passing through there without a trace of Little White Dragon."
Maitreya was quite taken aback, "How could there be no trace? Wasn’t Little White Dragon always supposed to be in Eagle Sorrow Stream? Did Xuanzang and the Six-Eared Macaque simply walk past Eagle Sorrow Stream without Little White Dragon making an appearance?"
"Not only has he not shown himself, but I went to Eagle Sorrow Stream to investigate and there were signs of a fight. Underwater too, there were all marks of destruction; although I didn’t see any bloodstains, Little White Dragon has indeed disappeared. You were at the Cauldron of Guan Shi, don’t you know anything at all?"
This was a question directed at him. Maitreya straightened his posture, "The Cauldron of Guan Shi can only observe one location, and I have been naturally following Xuanzang. As for other places, unless necessary, I definitely won’t deliberately look."
Bodhisattva Guanyin didn’t intend to interrogate him; she was just somewhat angry seeing Maitreya’s unserious demeanor.
"Now that Little White Dragon has disappeared, we cannot let the Dragon Clan find out," Guanyin said. "If they learn about this, they will inevitably lose trust in us, and Little White Dragon’s safety is still unknown. We need to find his whereabouts first."
"I feel this isn’t right. Since things have already developed to this point, we should inform the Dragon Clan first," Maitreya disagreed with Bodhisattva Guanyin’s statement.
"If we inform the Dragon Clan, the Four Seas would certainly search tirelessly, which means our search for Little White Dragon would cover a broader area. Moreover, if we tell them about Little White Dragon’s disappearance immediately, then the safety of White Dragon wouldn’t be something we could bear alone."
"This isn’t appropriate," Bodhisattva Guanyin said solemnly. "The West Sea Dragon King had already refused the matter regarding Little White Dragon, only agreeing to it after we promised to let him Achieve a Golden Body in the future."
"Over the years, the West Sea Dragon King has been deeply concerned about Little White Dragon’s matters, mentioning them frequently with great care. If he learned of this, it would definitely not be good news."
"Then according to the Bodhisattva’s view, what should we do?" Once Maitreya heard Bodhisattva Guanyin’s view, he knew that she must have already thought this through, so he didn’t offer any suggestions and simply listened for Bodhisattva Guanyin’s idea.
"I don’t have any other ideas," said Bodhisattva Guanyin. "I just feel that it isn’t advisable to tell the Dragon Clan about this matter. It would be better for us to first investigate Little White Dragon’s whereabouts. He has a Tracking Spell cast by the Jade Emperor, so we should first establish Little White Dragon’s whereabouts. Once we have tracked down his condition, we can then consider how to conduct the search."
For now, that was the only option, so Maitreya temporarily agreed with Bodhisattva Guanyin’s view.
The Jade Emperor, to facilitate their task, had already imparted the incantation for the Tracking Spell when he cast it on Little White Dragon earlier.
Now they just had to use the incantation to conduct the search, but after Bodhisattva Guanyin’s investigation, they found nothing, as if the incantation was fake.
Bodhisattva Guanyin opened his eyes, his complexion even graver than before.
Seeing his expression, Maitreya sensed something was amiss and quickly asked, "What’s wrong? Has something happened to Little White Dragon?"
"I didn’t find any trace of Little White Dragon," Bodhisattva Guanyin said.
"Didn’t find any means what?" Maitreya was startled, then asked, "Could it be that the spell on Little White Dragon has been maliciously destroyed by the person who abducted him?"
After he spoke, he himself felt his own words were foolish; that was a spell cast by the Jade Emperor, how could just anybody destroy it?
"No trace at all, as if this person has ceased to exist in this world," said Bodhisattva Guanyin.
Maitreya’s heart grew heavier as he looked at his expression, knowing this was no trivial matter. If they could not find Little White Dragon, it would not just be an issue for the Journey to the West, but also difficult to explain to the Dragon Clan.
"Maitreya, try searching one more time," Bodhisattva Guanyin said. In truth, this was futile, but with no other methods available at present, Maitreya Bodhisattva closed his eyes and, following the incantation given by the Jade Emperor, began casting spells to search for Little White Dragon’s whereabouts.
