Just then, Zhang Yun arrived and shook his head, sighing, "Judging from Wen Jiao's condition, she's likely to have a difficult childbirth. It's fortunate that I happened to be there, otherwise both mother and child would have been in danger."
With a sigh, Zhang Yun waved his hand, and starlight fell on Wen Jiao's delicate body, causing Little Xuanzang to roll to the ground.
In a daze, Wen Jiao heard Zhang Yun's voice.
“Mantangjiao, you must heed my instructions. I am the Antarctic Star Lord, and I have been sent to you by the decree of Guanyin. His reputation will be extremely great in the future, and he will be no ordinary person.”
"But if Liu Hong returns and sees this, he will surely harbor ill intentions and want to kill this boy. You must protect him carefully."
"As for your husband, he has been rescued by the Dragon King, so you don't need to worry. In the future, you will surely be reunited as husband and wife, father and son, and the day of revenge will come. Remember what I said and wake up soon."
As the voices faded into the distance, Wen Jiao finally woke up from her dream. She remembered everything Xingjun had said. She picked up the child in her arms, but for a moment she didn't know what to do.
However, at that moment, Liu Hong suddenly returned and, upon seeing the newborn baby, tried to drown it.
In the midst of the chaos, Wen Jiao suddenly had an idea.
"It's getting late today, so I'll throw him into the river tomorrow, just as you wish."
Liu Hong's eyes were fixed on the newborn in Wen Jiao's arms, though he was still somewhat skeptical.
"If you do not drown this boy by tomorrow, I will personally take action."
After uttering those harsh words, Liu Hong turned and left. The reason he didn't kill Wen Jiao on the spot was that he didn't want to push Wen Jiao too far.
Even a rabbit will bite when cornered. If Wen Jiao were to reveal everything and act with the intention of taking everyone down with her, it would be a losing proposition.
Just then, Liu Hong heard a faint, ethereal voice – Zhang Yun's voice.
"There will be flooding near Jiangzhou tomorrow. You should go there quickly to prevent the disaster. It would be a great service."
"Flood?" Liu Hong's heart skipped a beat. He looked around but couldn't find anyone. Just as he was wondering what was going on, he heard a voice again, giving him the detailed address.
"How can you expect me to trust you?" Liu Hong wasn't stupid, and he questioned him.
"When you come here tomorrow, you'll know whether I've lied to you or not." Zhang Yun didn't say much more. He knew that, given Liu Hong's personality, he would investigate whether what he said was true or false.
In this way, he could achieve his goal: to get Liu Hong away and give Wen Jiao the opportunity to send the child away.
Sure enough, the next morning, Liu Hong hurriedly led a group of men away.
Wen Jiao saw all of this.
“If this thief returns, my child’s life will surely be in danger. It would be better to send the child into the river as soon as possible. As for whether he lives or dies, it is up to fate. If this child can be saved by a destined person, then my child and I will have a chance to be reunited in the future.”
With no other option, Wen Jiao had to send the child to the riverbank. Fearing that they would not be able to recognize each other in the future, she bit her finger and wrote a letter in blood, recording the child's birth date and the names of the parents.
After doing all this, she bit the little toe of the child's left foot to mark it, then took out her personal clothing, wrapped the child in it, and carried him out of the yamen.
Fortunately, the government office was not far from the river. When Wen Jiao arrived at the riverbank, she cried bitterly before reluctantly throwing the child into the river, which greatly surprised Zhang Yun.
"Damn, this woman seems pretty smart, but how could she be so foolish in this important matter? If she just throws things like this, even a god couldn't save her. If it weren't for me, sigh..."
In his haste, Zhang Yun didn't have time to reflect. With a wave of his hand, a plank floated down from upstream, which was spotted by Wen Jiao.
Wen Jiao was overjoyed when she saw the wooden plank. She knelt down and prayed to the sky for a while, then placed her child on the plank, tied it with a strap, tied the blood-written letter to her chest, and put it into the river to drift away. Finally, she returned to the yamen with tears in her eyes, intending to continue to endure and stay by Liu Hong's side.
The child rode on a wooden plank downstream until he reached the foot of Jinshan Temple.
While the monk Faming was meditating, he suddenly heard a child crying. His heart skipped a beat, and he quickly got up and went outside.
"Could it be that the swaddling clothes were arranged by the immortals?"
A baby was sleeping on a wooden board. Monk Faming quickly picked him up, opened the blood-written letter on the child's chest, and slowly nodded.
"Indeed, he is the child arranged by the immortal."
"Jiang Liuer, you are the hope of my Jinshan Temple."
The monk Faming gave the baby the nickname Jiang Liuer and entrusted him to someone to raise. When he turned eighteen, he was then instructed to convert to Buddhism.
"Eighteen years later, you will tell him his true identity and guide him to seek revenge." Zhang Yun's voice drifted into the ears of Monk Faming, causing him to be slightly startled. As a member of the Buddhist community, he also knew the principle that revenge only leads to endless cycles of vengeance.
But he dared not disobey Zhang Yun's wishes, so he could only put his hands together, recite a Buddhist chant, and respectfully see Zhang Yun off.
On Huaguo Mountain, near Aolai Kingdom, Zhang Yun stood atop the peak, gazing at the birthplace of Sun Wukong.
"It seems we're too late; there's not a single clue." Zhang Yun narrowed his eyes slightly, then looked into the distance.
Calculating the time, more than four hundred years have passed since Sun Wukong caused havoc in the Heavenly Palace and was suppressed under the Five Fingers Mountain by the Buddha. The time for his release is not far off.
"Master."
Just then, when Guanyin and Huian Xingzhe entered Chang'an by imperial decree, they heard that the great god Zhang Yun was there, so they made a special trip.
"Master, that fellow is so young, how can he be worthy of being called a master?"
Huian held a mixed iron rod and carried a brocade cassock on his back, and asked with some doubt in his heart.
"How dare you presume to speak of such a great deity?" Guanyin gave Huian a disappointed look before stepping forward to pay her respects.
"Great God, I am on the Buddha's orders to travel to the Tang Dynasty in the East to find the person who will retrieve the scriptures. May I ask why, Great God?"
“Xuanzang has already arrived at the foot of Jinshan Temple, and will be here in eighteen years.” Zhang Yun nodded slightly and said, “So your most important task now is to get Emperor Taizong of Tang to agree to go on a pilgrimage for the Tang Dynasty. I don’t need to teach you how to persuade him, do I?”
"That's for sure," Guanyin replied respectfully, still vaguely remembering the plan Zhang Yun had offered.
Sending Emperor Taizong of Tang to the underworld would, aside from anything else, scare him half to death.