Su Qing began with her usual directness, stating clearly that she had come primarily to ask for her help.
Rakshasi found this slightly strange, not understanding why someone of Su Qing's strength would need her assistance.
However, despite her curiosity, she did not refuse. "The girl is inside. Let's go in, sit down, and talk about it!"
Su Qing nodded and followed Rakshasi into the house.
Inside, Red Boy was currently balancing a large water jar on her head, kneeling to one side and facing the wall in penance... It seemed the girl had gotten into trouble again.
"She is..." Su Qing looked on, puzzled for a moment. "What did she do?"
"It's nothing, just a small matter. You don't need to worry, sister. Let's talk about your business instead." Rakshasi glared at Red Boy, who had looked up happily upon seeing Su Qing. "Keep kneeling!"
Red Boy pouted and said nothing, obediently remaining still. She didn't dare move or even speak.
Su Qing watched with a helpless smile before saying, "Alright! I've come today mainly to ask for your help, Sister Rakshasi..."
Su Qing then gave a brief explanation of the situation.
After listening, Rakshasi remained silent for a moment before nodding. "This isn't difficult. My daughter and I can both go and help you! As for my old bull... I'm not entirely sure about him. You'll probably have to go and ask him yourself."
This favor wasn't particularly demanding; it was simply a matter of spending a day or two and using some magic power...
Therefore, Rakshasi saw no reason to refuse and chose to agree.
She considered it a way to repay a debt of gratitude.
Su Qing naturally had no objections. "Understood. Then I'll head to the Great Thunder Monastery to ask him! Thank you for being willing to help, Sister."
"It's nothing... I might not even be of much help." Rakshasi shook her head. "More than that, I'm quite surprised that you're actually asking others for help! I thought that with your personality, you would definitely try to solve everything on your own!"
These words made Su Qing smile. She shook her head and said, "If I could solve it alone, I naturally would. But if I can't, I have no choice but to ask others for a hand."
Su Qing did care about her reputation, but not to the point of being stubborn.
Rakshasi smiled. "It seems I misjudged you. Well then, hurry along to the Great Thunder Monastery! I'll take this girl and head to your Changbai Mountains first! It's quite a distance from here; it'll take me a while to get there. By the time you return, I should have arrived."
Previously, Su Qing had always been the one to take the initiative, but now that Rakshasi was the one being proactive, it felt a bit unfamiliar.
Nonetheless, Su Qing nodded. "Alright, I'll head to the Great Thunder Monastery then! My thanks."
Rakshasi shook her head and said no more, simply seeing Su Qing out of the Banana Leaf Cave.
After Su Qing left, Rakshasi went to her daughter's side and took the water jar off her head. "You're lucky. Su Qing came today and happened to get you out of this. You won't be so lucky next time. And I hope you don't get into the same trouble twice..."
Listening to this, Red Boy scratched her head and gave a cheeky grin. "I promise I won't, I promise. Actually, if you just send me to Sister Su's place, I'll naturally be well-behaved... but you always make me stay at home!"
Red Boy instinctively began trying to trick Rakshasi again...
However, Rakshasi was not so easily fooled.
And Red Boy wasn't exactly a master of deception.
Rakshasi rolled her eyes at her. "In your dreams!"
Seeing this, Red Boy just chuckled and stopped bantering with her mother. "Then let's set off quickly! Let's not waste any time."
Hearing this, Rakshasi gave a light snort but said nothing more, riding a cloud toward the Changbai Mountains.
After Su Qing left the Banana Leaf Cave, she soon arrived in the Kingdom of Tianzhu and reached the foot of Spirit Mountain. She then ascended the mountain and arrived before the gates of the Great Thunder Monastery.
Several Vajras stood before the gates. Upon seeing Su Qing, they all bowed. "Greetings, Bodhisattva! The Buddha already knows you are coming and is waiting for you in the Hall of Great Might."
Su Qing wasn't surprised. She had visited Guanyin Bodhisattva first, so it wasn't strange that she had informed the Buddha of her return.
What did surprise her slightly was that the Buddha was giving her so much face by waiting for her in the Hall of Great Might in advance.
"I understand. I'll go see him now." Su Qing nodded, then entered the Great Thunder Monastery and arrived at the Hall of Great Might.
As she stepped inside, the Buddha spoke before she could.
"You have arrived?"
Su Qing nodded and bowed to the Buddha. "Greetings, Senior Buddha."
"I already know the purpose of your visit. I will lend you some people to help you handle the affairs of the Changbai Mountains." The Buddha had long been aware of Su Qing's situation, so he had already decided whether or not to help before she even arrived. He had even prepared the people for her.
Su Qing was a bit surprised and grateful. "Thank you, Senior Buddha..."
She really was taken aback...
She had expected to have to waste a lot of breath, but it turned out to be quite simple.
"It is but a small matter." The Buddha shook his head. "There are so many commoners near your Changbai Mountains; we naturally cannot allow them to suffer a disaster."
Su Qing nodded. "Regardless, Senior Buddha has done me a great favor this time. I truly don't know how to repay you..."
The Buddha laughed and shook his head upon hearing this. "You, girl, truly haven't changed your temperament one bit, no matter how many years have passed... Many other things have changed, but this point remains exactly the same! As for repayment, we can talk about that later. I've lent you the people; I hope you can successfully resolve those problems."
The Buddha didn't see anything wrong with helping Su Qing...
She had helped the Buddhist Court so much that if he didn't help with such a small matter, it would be quite inappropriate.
Besides, it wasn't a big deal.
It was just lending a few people.
Su Qing smiled and said nothing more.
The Buddha waved his hand, summoning twenty to thirty Bodhisattvas. "Are these enough? If not, I can call some Vajras to help you as well!"
Su Qing did a quick calculation. Counting the friends her other clone had found, this was more than enough.
"It is enough. Thank you, Senior." Su Qing nodded.
The Buddha gave a slight nod. "Since it is enough, then take them back with you!"
Su Qing simply nodded and said, "Yes, then I shall depart now."
"Go!" the Buddha said, then added, "I wish you success!"
Su Qing nodded, thanked the Buddha once more, and then led the Bodhisattvas toward the Changbai Mountains.
After Su Qing left, the Buddha's figure faded from the Hall of Great Might.
A moment later, Maitreya walked out, shaking his head slightly as he murmured to himself, "Now, even that girl's territory is starting to have problems! It seems our movements were too fast, and Heaven has sensed something... It likely wants to start that matter sooner, doesn't it?"
Randeng gave a helpless smile and sighed. "No matter. The Buddha Kingdom has been established; we can avoid the heavenly disasters at any time. The only pity is... well, there's nothing to pity. If even the Buddhas were to fall, then nothing would have meaning anymore."
"True! However, I wonder how those in the East are preparing. And whether they have sensed this..."
"They likely have some inkling as well!"
The two looked at each other and finally shook their heads helplessly.
Then, the Hall of Great Might closed.
All sound vanished completely.
After Su Qing left the Kingdom of Tianzhu, she brought the Bodhisattvas all the way to the Changbai Mountains.
On the mountain, the courtyard was already full of people.
These were all Su Qing's friends, or friends of friends, but all were individuals with whom she had a good relationship.
"The Sovereign's connections are truly vast... Immortals from both the East and the West have come to help." Looking at the Bodhisattvas who had come with Su Qing's clone, the disciple under the Old Mother couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement.
Beside her, her junior sister nodded. "Yes, it's truly impressive... Tell me, if someone were to stand against her, wouldn't they end up quite miserable?"
"Isn't that obvious?" the disciple said, crossing her arms.
Wukong overheard their conversation, chuckled, and shook his head. "Big Sister has always been kind to others and gets along with everyone. How could she have any enemies! But if anyone ever did want to go against her, I'd be the first to refuse!"
"You are? Ah, you stinky monkey!" The disciple was surprised to see him. "How are you dressed so normally?"
Wukong: "...I've always been normal! You brat, don't think that just because you're a disciple of Old Mother of Mount Li, I won't hit you!"
The disciple giggled, turned her head away, and pulled her junior sister along as they slipped away.
To the side, Bai Suzhen couldn't help but chuckle and shake her head. "Wukong, don't get upset with her. She's always had a bit of a sharp tongue."
Seeing that it was Bai Suzhen speaking, Wukong gave a couple of snorts. "I'm not that petty! But why hasn't Big Sister come out yet?"
"Refining the array plates isn't simple; it will likely take some more time. It's a pity I'm not very skilled with arrays, otherwise I'd want to go in and help too," Bai Suzhen said with a helpless smile.
Wukong scratched his head. "I actually wanted to help too, but unfortunately, I'm not very good at arrays either. If it were a fight, I could definitely charge to the front, but I'm really not skilled at this."
Although Wukong was a master of many methods and knew a bit of everything, he wasn't an expert in every field... and arrays happened to be one of his weaknesses.
"Forget it, let's just wait!" Bai Suzhen shook her head. "That girl Su Tingtong has gone in to help as well."
Su Tingtong had been personally taught by Su Qing, so she was naturally very capable with arrays...
Thus, she had been called in to help.
In fact, there were quite a few people helping...
The speed of the array production had increased significantly.
The courtyard was a bustle of activity as people chatted with one another.
After Su Qing returned, she smilingly went to her friends' side.
Naturally, the friends here were Jin Xin, Leng Xiang, and the others...
Seeing Su Qing return, Leng Xiang couldn't help but walk over. "Master... how is the refining of the arrays going?"
"It's nearly ninety percent complete. It should be ready in just a little while." Su Qing nodded. "Just wait a bit longer! I'll tell everyone what needs to be done now."
Leng Xiang and the others had no objections and nodded, following Su Qing into the crowd.
Su Qing gave everyone a detailed explanation of the specific arrangements...
After understanding exactly what they needed to do, everyone nodded one after another, saying nothing more.
Before long, the original body had finished refining the arrays.
Su Qing, Chang'e, and the others then stepped out of the Artifact Refining Room.
They quickly distributed the array plates to everyone.
"I'll be relying on all of you now," Su Qing said, looking at the crowd.
No one said much; they took their array plates and departed one by one.
Next, what everyone needed to do was go to their designated nodes and wait.
They would wait for Su Qing to activate the array.
After everyone had left, only Su Qing and Chang'e remained on the mountain.
Su Qing looked at the suddenly empty courtyard, let out a long breath, and said to Chang'e beside her, "Then let us begin as well! I hope we can succeed on the first try."
"We will definitely succeed on the first try. After all, you've called so many people. If it still doesn't work, it would be too much of a joke." Chang'e looked at Su Qing with a graceful smile. "But you really are surprising. I thought you'd spend a lot of time looking for people! Yet in such a short time, you've gathered so many. No wonder you said that while this method is difficult, the difficulty isn't that great! For you... your network of connections is truly vast."
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