Is the dog demon the Jade Emperor's beloved dog?
I never expected this!
Who knew the Jade Emperor liked keeping pets?
It seems that people of all ages, from ancient times to modern times, from ordinary folks to celestial beings, all share a love for keeping pets.
No wonder these underworld bigwigs don't dare to offend that dog demon!
As the saying goes, you have to consider the owner before you beat a dog!
How could these underworld bigwigs dare to offend the Jade Emperor's pet dog? Don't they want their official hats anymore?
Upon learning the truth, Li Yao was left speechless, both amused and exasperated.
This shows that even gods cannot escape worldly thoughts, let alone the constraints of the workplace.
To protect themselves and to save face for their superiors, they all turned a blind eye, allowing that dog demon to run rampant in the underworld and the mortal realm!
In the end, only ordinary people in the mortal world and some innocent ghosts in the underworld suffer.
How pathetic! How lamentable!
"Does the Jade Emperor not know that his beloved dog is causing trouble in the underworld and the mortal world?"
Li Yao then asked a very crucial question.
Logically speaking, with so many powerful deities around him, and given that his own magical power must be considerable, the Jade Emperor should be fully aware of his dog's actions.
Furthermore, as the ruler of the Three Realms, governing the Six Directions and ruling the Eight Desolations and Four Seas, he should maintain order in the Three Realms, the Six Directions, the Eight Desolations and Four Seas, instead of letting his beloved dog run rampant.
However, according to what Li Yao knew, that dog demon had been causing havoc in the underworld and the mortal realm for at least three hundred years.
Even if a day in heaven is equivalent to a year on earth!
Three hundred years in the human world is equivalent to three hundred days in the heavenly court.
Over such a long period of time, it's impossible for the Jade Emperor not to know the situation in the human world and the underworld.
What on earth is this Jade Emperor up to?
Next, the answer from the Emperor of Fengdu finally made Li Yao realize the truth.
The Emperor of Fengdu gave two reasons.
Firstly, after the dog demon descended from Heaven to Earth, it not only stole the Jade Emperor's Haotian Pagoda, but also the Jade Emperor's 'Sealing Heaven Seal'.
This Heavenly Seal is incredibly powerful; it can seal the heavens and earth, severing the connection between the celestial realm and the human and ghost realms.
In other words, the dog demon sealed the heavens and earth with the Heaven-Sealing Seal, and the heavenly realm had no way of knowing what he did in the human realm and the ghost realm.
However, Li Yao felt that this reason was very far-fetched.
Using the Heaven-Sealing Seal to seal the heavens and earth might be able to keep it a secret from the bigwigs in the celestial realm for a day or two.
But after so much time, couldn't the Jade Emperor have noticed anything at all?
Not to mention that the Jade Emperor and other big shots possessed extraordinary magical abilities.
The bigwigs of the underworld, as well as the various gods stationed in the human world, should all go to the Heavenly Court on time to report to the Jade Emperor!
After such a long time without these subordinates reporting their work, wouldn't the Jade Emperor become suspicious?
Therefore, it is impossible that the Jade Emperor was unaware of the dog demon's wreaking havoc in the underworld and the mortal realm because of the sealing of the Heavenly Seal.
The second reason sounds a bit unbelievable.
However, Li Yao felt that this must be the reason.
According to the account of the Emperor of Fengdu, more than three hundred years ago, there was an emperor in the human world who favored Buddhism and suppressed Taoism. He destroyed Taoist temples, burned Taoist scriptures, and suppressed Taoism.
This emperor, in particular, burned down many of the Jade Emperor Palaces.
What is the Jade Emperor Palace?
That's where the Jade Emperor is worshipped!
Destroying the Jade Emperor's Palace is disrespectful to the Jade Emperor!
It is said that when the Jade Emperor learned of this, he was furious and, in front of many gods, declared that he would severely punish the emperor and the mortal world.
Later, the Jade Emperor's beloved dog secretly descended to the mortal realm.
Then, the Jade Emperor's beloved dog came to the underworld and, by falsely conveying the Jade Emperor's decree, took the opportunity to imprison the Fengdu Emperor with the Haotian Pagoda.
Then this dog demon imprisoned all the bigwigs of the underworld, such as Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, the Ten Kings of Hell, and the Five Ghost Emperors, in the Haotian Pagoda.
Then, the dog demon occupied the entire underworld and gathered ten demon kings to control the entire underworld.
Chapter 453 The Petty Jade Emperor
Li Yao had reason to believe that the Jade Emperor must know that his beloved dog was causing trouble in the underworld and among humans.
The Jade Emperor, knowing full well that his beloved dog was behaving so recklessly, did nothing, allowing it to wreak havoc in the underworld and the human world.
Li Yao speculated that the reason why the Jade Emperor was so indulgent towards his beloved dog was very likely related to the emperor who, more than three hundred years ago, favored Buddhism over Taoism and burned down the Jade Emperor's Palace.
This reminded Li Yao of a scene from "Journey to the West".
In the original novel "Journey to the West", the Tang Monk and his disciples arrived in Fengxian County on their journey to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures, only to witness a tragic scene.
It hasn't rained here for three years. The local people are unable to survive due to the severe drought and have been forced to sell their children or even exchange children for food.
The local prefect was so anxious that he developed blisters on his lips and prayed for rain every day, but he could not solve the problem.
Seeing this, Sun Wukong readily agreed, patting his chest and declaring that the matter of praying for rain would be left to him.
He thought it was easy: which of the gods who bring rain wouldn't listen to his call? He only needed to call them and it would rain immediately.
However, once he arrived in Heaven, he discovered that things were not so simple.
They summoned the Wind Goddess and the Thunder God, who said they dared not send rain without the Jade Emperor's decree.
Find the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas, and the answer will be the same.
Sun Wukong had no choice but to go to the Heavenly Court to find the Jade Emperor.
Ever since he caused havoc in the Heavenly Palace, every deity treated him with utmost respect whenever he went to Heaven, and dared not offend him.
But this time when he went to the Heavenly Court, the Four Heavenly Masters refused to let him in, saying, "It shouldn't be raining there."
After some questioning, Sun Wukong finally learned the whole story.
It turns out that three years ago, the Jade Emperor was traveling to inspect all the heavens and the three realms. When he arrived at Fengxian County, he happened to run into the then-governor of Fengxian County, who pushed over the vegetarian offerings for the Heavenly Offering to feed the dogs and uttered foul language, thus offending the Jade Emperor.
The Jade Emperor was furious!
However, as the ruler of the Three Realms, governing the Six Directions and ruling the Eight Desolations and Four Seas, he naturally wouldn't hold a grudge against a mere prefect in the mortal world.
However, this despicable prefect was so disrespectful to him that he must be punished severely as a warning!
So he made three decisions in the Hall of Fragrant Incense.
If these three things are done, he will restore the rains to Fengxian County.
Otherwise, Fengxian County will never receive rain from heaven.
So, what exactly are these three things?
Sun Wukong originally thought these three things were no big deal.
When he arrived at the Pixiang Palace, he was dumbfounded.
Inside the Pixiang Hall, there was a rice mountain, about ten zhang high, and a face mountain, about twenty zhang high.
There was a chicken the size of a fist by the rice mountain, pecking at the rice with its beak, sometimes fast, sometimes slow.
There was a golden retriever pug on the side of the mountain, with one long tongue and one short tongue, licking the noodles.
On the left hangs an iron frame with a gold lock hanging on it. The lock is about 1.3 or 1.4 feet long and the stile is about the thickness of a finger. Below it is a lamp, the flame of which illuminates the lock.
The Jade Emperor decreed that rain would fall in Fengxian County once the chickens had finished pecking the rice, the dogs had licked up all the flour, and the lamp flames had broken the lock.
Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong was furious.
The Jade Emperor had no intention of bringing rain to Fengxian County at all!
That's so petty!
The Jade Emperor actually made the innocent people of Fengxian County suffer because a mere county magistrate in the mortal world disrespected him.
This is utterly blatant disregard for human life, treating the lives of innocent people in Fengxian County like a joke!
This is a despicable thing that a ruler of the Three Realms would do!
What's infuriating is that the Jade Emperor even went so far as to call it: "This is the calamity of Fengxian County."
That's fucking disgusting!
In the world of A Chinese Ghost Story, the Jade Emperor is also a victim of a human emperor's disrespect. He allows his beloved dog to run rampant in the underworld and the human world, making countless innocent people pay the price for the emperor's disrespect.
Uh... wait a minute!
The Jade Emperor's beloved dog!
Could this beloved dog be the golden retriever pug from the Journey to the West that licks faces?
Very likely!
Li Yao had some doubts: could it be that the Jade Emperor's beloved dog was sent down to the mortal realm secretly at the Jade Emperor's behest?
Otherwise, how could this dog demon have stolen the Jade Emperor's Haotian Pagoda and the Heaven-Sealing Seal?
Of course, Li Yao has no evidence to prove this at present.
Moreover, if it really was the Jade Emperor secretly instigating it, he wouldn't let anyone find any evidence against him.
After all, this is not a glorious thing!
Now, Li Yao finally understands why the world of A Chinese Ghost Story is so chaotic.
It turns out that all of this was caused by the Jade Emperor's petty-mindedness.
What kind of gods or rulers of the three realms are they? They're just like ordinary people, doing such petty and despicable things.