With guidance from Red Boy, Xu Milu learned that Nezha lived in the former Qiantang Pass, now Qiantang County. There was a winding river there where Nezha used to bathe and play. Later generations built a temple for him called "Nezha Temple". Nezha usually lived there.

“Nezha is not like Yang Erlang, who only obeys orders and not commands. He and Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, have to go to the Heavenly Court every day to report for duty. If we calculate according to your earthly days, he goes to Heaven in the third month of summer and returns to the mortal world in the third month of autumn. Now it is early spring, so the Third Prince must be in the temple. My uncle and Nezha have always been on good terms. You can go and pay him a visit and ask for a section or two of the celestial lotus root. It's not a big deal.”

Red Boy, being a very responsible senior brother, instructed Xu Milu before riding his boar into the sea, saying he wanted to find the Dragon Girl and return to the South Sea together.

Xu Milu: "..."

Hopefully, your butt won't get a good spanking from Guanyin.

Wait, do Buddhist monks beat their children?

This is indeed a very serious issue.

...

...

The South China Sea Purple Bamboo Forest is shrouded in mist all year round. The green bamboo is dense and lush, and wispy clouds come from the sea in clusters. The waves are huge and the water flows to the northwest. Colorful clouds appear on the mountaintops. Peacocks dance lightly in the forest and white cranes cry loudly. There are also rare flowers and herbs, precious trees and golden lotuses. Even outsiders who see it will exclaim that it is a beautiful scene!

Amidst the towering peaks, there are thousands of exotic flowers, hundreds of auspicious beasts, majestic guardians, and a magnificent wooden fork. Birds and beasts all prostrate themselves in the forest to receive instruction, and even the fish in the pond neither jump nor leap, but float on the surface of the water to listen to the Buddha's voice.

Once the lecture was finished, all the birds and beasts kowtowed repeatedly and slowly disappeared into the purple bamboo forest, their devotion beyond words.

On the five-colored lotus platform, Guanyin Bodhisattva sits serenely, her eyebrows like crescent moons, her eyes like twin stars, her jade-like face naturally joyful, her lips a touch of red, draped in white robes, holding a pure vase, with boundless Buddha light shining behind her—truly a Guanyin Bodhisattva who saves people from suffering.

"You impudent monkey, why aren't you staying in Chang'an to look after your master? What are you doing here?"

Guanyin chuckled softly, her voice filled with compassion. Although she appeared in female form, it was only to facilitate the salvation of sentient beings.

Outside the lotus pond, in the bamboo grove, there was a bamboo stalk bent under the weight of its weight. Sun Wukong lay on his back on the bamboo, one leg raised, looking quite relaxed.

"Hehe! Now that Lady Yin has recognized my master and his mother, it has relieved me of a great worry. The Bodhisattva is all-powerful, how could he not know that I, Old Sun, have come here today to ask for something important?"

"You mischievous monkey."

The Bodhisattva shook his head helplessly:

"I suppose you've come for your two apprentices—"

Sun Wukong nimbly jumped off the bamboo, his monkey face perfectly behaving like a good boy:

"As the saying goes, 'A teacher for a day is a father for life.' I've just taken this little phoenix as my disciple, so naturally I have to plan ahead for her. The Supreme Lord Laozi said I was destined to have three disciples: the eldest would have the title but not the status, the second would have the status but not the title, and the third would have both. I didn't believe it. Now that I've taken this little phoenix as my disciple, she'll have both the title and the status. Hehe—it's clear that Laozi is getting senile and can't predict things accurately!"

"You."

The Bodhisattva sighed softly and shook his head:

"You've always been a monkey at heart, how come you haven't improved at all? The consequences of your actions today are unknown. If you take in that little phoenix, I'm afraid you'll be entangled in unresolved issues later—"

“I’ve been a rebellious child since I was in the stone womb. I find this little one pleasing to the eye and she’s extremely filial, so how could I not take her under my wing? There’s just one thing: I want to investigate her background. I was born late and don’t know many phoenixes, and I don’t usually have much interaction with Di Ting. I’m sure the Bodhisattva knows her origins.”

Sun Wukong scratched his face:

"Laojun also said that my three disciples have been born for many days and that I should just wait. I consider myself a straightforward person and can't wait to see my three disciples and pass on my skills to them!"

Guanyin lowered her eyes slightly, counted on her fingers for a moment, then suddenly frowned and said:

"Your third disciple's whereabouts are not hard to find. A few days ago, Erlang Shen's younger sister, the Third Holy Mother, descended to the mortal world and married a mortal. She gave birth to a son named 'Chenxiang'. Erlang Shen was ordered by the Jade Emperor to capture the Third Holy Mother and imprisoned her under Mount Hua. It seems that your third disciple will soon become a disciple."

Sun Wukong scratched his face:

"This was originally the Jade Emperor's family matter. Yang Jian captured his own sister and imprisoned her under Mount Hua, and had the Five Monsters of Meishan watch over her. A mortal's lifespan is but a fleeting moment. By the time she has endured enough punishment and left the mountain, that mortal will probably have already died of old age. It seems that Yang Jian truly loves his own sister. It seems that these three disciples are also destined to be with me."

The Bodhisattva seemed to have seen through everything long ago, and said with a smile:

"Speaking of which, your second disciple has quite a background. In the primordial chaos, the phoenix was the leader of all birds. The phoenix swallowed the essence of mating and gave birth to the Golden-Winged Roc and the Peacock. The peacock was violent and cruel. Buddha was once swallowed by her. Later, Buddha wanted to break free of his body, but he was afraid of hurting the peacock. So Buddha opened a mouth on the peacock's back and gave birth to her. He even called the peacock the Buddha Mother. The Roc is somewhat related to you. The little phoenix under your command is probably a descendant of the old phoenix. If we're talking about it, the Golden-Winged Roc that made things difficult for you and your disciples on the journey to the West is probably the ancestor of this little phoenix."

Sun Wukong blinked, his monkey eyes darting around, and he immediately grinned:

"Oh my! So that's how it is. These birds are actually a family! Hahaha, what a coincidence! They're all family members, yet they don't recognize each other! Tomorrow I'll take my dutiful disciple to pay a visit to the Golden-Winged Roc and the Peacock King! They lost their little rascal so badly, and now that I, Old Sun, have found him, aren't I his greatest benefactor?"

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