It's not that I don't trust Bajie, but there are simply too many loopholes in his words.

If Wukong wanted to be harmful to me, why wait until Ling Mountain? If Ling Mountain had something strange, why would the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas like Maitreya we encountered along the way lend a hand to help?

If there is a conspiracy at Ling Mountain, why wait for me? What do I have that is worth coveting?

Just as I was deep in thought, unable to figure it out, Wukong came back.

"Master, I brought back a new candle. The two venerables also had me bring back an oil lamp."

After the conversation just now, although I didn't want to believe Wukong had some ulterior motive, I still felt resistance in my heart.

I told him to light the candle and the oil lamp on the side: "Light them both, it's getting a bit dark in here."

Wukong placed the items on the desk and lit them.

Through the firelight, I suddenly noticed a strange expression on Wukong's face, a smirk identical to the one on Venerable Kasyapa's face earlier.

Wukong's candle was another bone, and the oil in the lamp was crimson and foul-smelling.

That wasn't oil, that was blood! This thought popped into my mind.

I felt a chill in my limbs, but my senses became much sharper.

The light in the room grew dimmer, suffused with a bloody glow.

Suddenly, I felt the chair I was sitting on become hard and rugged. When I looked down, the entire chair was made of bones! My hand was on the armrest.

It turned out to be a hand supporting mine. The carpet and the surrounding ornaments in the room were all made of flayed human skin.

How was this scene any different from the earlier monster caves?

"Ah!"

I grew more frightened and couldn't help but cry out.

"Master!" "Master, what's wrong?"

Wukong and Bajie came over together, shouting loudly at me.

I felt a burning pain in my chest again. When I reached out to touch it, one of the two candles Bajie had given me earlier had already disappeared.

My mind cleared up, and looking around, everything returned to normal. Where were the bones and human skin?

I shakily got up, and the two next to me tried to help me. I quickly told them to stay back; now I couldn't trust anyone.

"Stay away from me, I'm probably just too tired, let me rest for a while."

Seeing this, Wukong scolded Bajie: "You fool, how are you taking care of master in the room?"

Bajie retorted: "Master and I were fine in the room just now. Only after you came back did master act strangely. You must have done something."

Looking at the remaining hair and half-candle, I didn't know whom to trust now. And after the earlier incident, this room made me feel unsafe.

"Wukong, when you went out just now, was the Buddha still in the main hall?"

"I wouldn't know. The Buddha should still be preaching in the main hall. Ananda and Kasyapa, the two venerables, said they would go listen to the Buddha's teachings again."

"Then we should go listen to the Buddha's teachings as well."

Bajie quickly stopped me: "Master, it's already late at night. The Buddha’s teachings should be ending soon. Going there now would be inappropriate. Besides, tomorrow we have to obtain the true scriptures and hurry back. We need a good rest."

Wukong also agreed with Bajie and didn't want me to go out.

I knew Bajie made sense, but all these bizarre events made it impossible for me to sleep peacefully.

"No worries, the Buddha is compassionate and won't blame us for listening temporarily. We also don't need to worry about the journey tomorrow, as the White Dragon Horse is carrying me."

Seeing my determination to leave, Wukong and Bajie had no choice but to escort me out of the room and towards the main hall.