Episode 10 "Imperial Order"
It's already been four days...
It appears that the repairs to the castle have mostly been completed.
Oh, hey. How's Sanzo doing?
It appears that the herbs to help numb the pain are working,
so he's asleep right now.
I think his burns will heal soon, but the problem is his right arm.
It'll probably be quite difficult for him to move it again.
To think that Kougaiji and his crew were behind this...
Indeed. It was an uncharacteristically underhanded method.
This Kougaiji sounds rather concerning, but the biggest mystery right now
is that unknown child who came down from Heaven.
It appears that Genjo is the only one that got a good look at him.
He used a tremendous amount of power to eliminate just the demons...
It was as though he was some kind of emotionless weapon.
According to Genjo, it appeared that he was carrying out orders he received from someone.
Sharak and I both felt his qi, but it was neither human nor demon...
It was something else.
Despite the fact that he basically wiped out that whole demon army,
it is a bit concerning that we don't know who he is, let alone his motive.
But you know,
it's a bit surprising that Goku still hasn't come back even though it's afternoon.
For the past three days,
he's been helping out with repairs
as well as tagging along on their patrols saying,
"Sanzo risked his life protecting them, so I'm going to do what I can right now."
He'd usually get all depressed and never leave his master's side.
We aren't left with just one or two problems.
There's the demonic mark that appeared on Gojyo...
They sure do grow up fast...
Because things happened so fast, I lost my opportunity to talk to him about it.
It appears that he hasn't noticed it himself yet,
but it might be too late once he does.
Also, the confusion that follows may actually trigger his awakening...
Since Sanzo is on strict bed rest, should I make a decision?
Gojyo...
There's something I'd like to talk to you about.
Pardon me.
We've received a message for Sharak Sanzo from Kyokueiden.
Read it.
Yes, ma'am.
"Urgent notice. Sharak Sanzo Priest, 28th in Arhat,
we have an urgent message in regards to your mission.
You are to promptly report to the Sanbutsushin.
Furthermore, Genjo Sanzo from China,
who is currently residing in Kouten Castle along with his three followers,
is also ordered to accompany you, no matter what. That is all."
What?
It appears that they're aware that you're here.
The Sanbutsushin rarely summon people directly.
What will you do, Sanzo party?
We have no choice but to decline.
If all else fails, we'll have to have Sanzo stay behind...
How far is Kyokueiden?
Sanzo!
About thirty kilometers from here.
Lead me there, Sharak.
What the hell are you talking about in that condition?
It's move it or lose it, you know. I'll never get better lying in bed.
And...
I don't know what the Sanbutsushin want,
but I was just thinking I needed to talk to them about something anyway.
About who that kid was.
Back then... What was I going to call him?
When I saw him, I felt nostalgic, but it was sort of a weird, painful feeling, too.
I wonder if I've met him before.
But he didn't seem to know me at all...
Hey, Goku.
Get up here. We're leaving now.
Huh? Wait, where?
Indeed, where are you going?
I hope it's not hell...
Sanzo, are you okay?
Maybe you should ride in the wagon. I think it will shake less.
Shut up.
Apparently he couldn't rest in the wagon knowing his seat had been taken.
Oho... Apparently you've got a cute side.
You bastards...
But man, we just keep heading higher.
Well, considering Shayoden, apparently the almighty Sanbutsushin love high places.
Kyokueiden is the temple where the Kumari and her attendants reside.
Basically, there's a room in their basement for having audience with the Sanbutsushin.
Kumari?
"The living goddess," huh?
I've heard that they have a tradition of selecting a beautiful commoner
and worshiping her as a living goddess in this area.
The goddess Kumari's duty is to determine
the fate of a country through astral divination.
Basically, she's a prophet.
And it's said that the current Kumari, Talchie,
is a prodigy that may only appear once every thousand years.
Her ability to see the future is famous for never being wrong.
A chosen beautiful girl, huh? I'm definitely looking forward to that.
If I remember correctly, all Kumaris are young girls who have yet to reach puberty.
Oh, so she's a loli...
No thanks, then.
She might not be a little girl.
As long as she is a pure maiden who hasn't bled yet, she is bound to her duty.
Not to mention, I've heard
the current Kumari has already been serving for over eighty years.
That's an even bigger no thanks.
Wow.
Talk about atmosphere...
They do say that appearances are important, but...
What is that? An elephant?
What a weird face!
You should probably watch what you say...
Well, we'll be standing by outside.
Right.
The texts speak of a time of chaos when earth and heaven were intertwined.
All was fog and void, and mankind was nowhere to be seen.
Banko shattered the fog and void,
and heaven and earth, pure and impure were split into two.
He created all things
and was worshiped as Creator, and he saw that it was good.
It's been a while, Kumari Talchie.
Indeed. I am pleased to see that you seem well.
Huh? She's the living goddess?
She has a demon mark.
Indeed, but... her ears are normal.
You must be the Genjo Sanzo party.
It is some feat that you made it this far safe and sound.
You have my respect.
But your luck will eventually come to an end.
Even if the rut ceases,
if you are to take that determination and continue, that is also the path of the stars.
Huh?
Is that a prophecy, Talchie?
The stars are unmistakable.
Severing the ring is impossible, even with the will of the Buddha.
Man, talk about a harsh joke. What the hell is this loli hag talking about?
Do not refer to me as a loli hag.
I am an adult little girl.
If the Kumari's powers are real, I'm sure she'll be able to see
that we're not going to turn back just because some stranger gave us a warning.
I am no stranger.
The Maten Scripture that rests upon your shoulders...
Its former owner
is my other half that shares my blood.
This is the first I'm hearing of this, as well.
Wait. What do you mean by that?
Everyone, the Sanbutsushin await you.
Please hurry this way.
Let's just go for now, Sanzo.
It's not like we came here to hear some fortunetelling.
All things are in the endless cycle of life and death.
All life endlessly transfers to the next.
Misfortune cycles through and repeats itself
upon the same track as five hundred years ago.
I'm Sharak Sanzo, 28th in Arhat.
I'm Genjo Sanzo, 31st in China.
And his merry band of friends.
Yup!
Gojyo, Goku, please read the room.
We have arrived in haste.
I am glad to see that you seem well.
First, Genjo Sanzo party, splendid work arriving in the West.
Though it did take you quite a while.
You sure make it sound like it was supposed to be easy.
We went through a lot, you know?
Also, in regards to how unusually fast the balance on your card was being used up...
My apologies, but there's something we'd would very much like to inquire about.
Don't change the subject... But very well. Continue.
Three days ago, when we were in danger, a child wearing black robes
suddenly appeared at Kouten Castle and instantly eliminated the demon army.
We would like to know who he was.
Heaven has its own armies.
The eastern army in charge of quarrels within Heaven,
and the western army that handles any calamity that might befall Heaven.
But if both parties involved are inhabitants of Heaven,
killing between them is considered impure and taboo.
That seems like a very troublesome system for an army.
Just how peaceful are you people?
But there was one being in Heaven's army that was born impure and allowed to kill.
The war god.
War god?
Five hundred years ago,
that boy was involved in Heaven's gravest emergency and fell into a long slumber.
His name is Prince Nataku.
Nataku...
So why has this war god awoken and why did he come to Earth?
We have just received word of this ourselves and are bewildered.
However, Prince Nataku was the one who came to Earth 500 years ago
to subdue Gyumaou and seal away the rest of his family.
We believe this incident has something to do with Gyumaou's revival experiment.
He defeated Gyumaou?!
That brat defeated him on his own?!
And the reason Prince Nataku went down to Earth...
That is exactly the reason we asked you to gather here today.
And by that you mean...
We will relay the message we received from Heaven's upper echelon.
Genjo Sanzo party,
we will fully transfer your quest to stop Gyumaou's revival experiment to Prince Nataku.
Thus, as of this moment, we are completely relieving you of your duties.
Huh?
Please wait!
Tell Shaka Nyorai right now
that Kanzeon wants to have a chat face to face.
We advise that you return to Chang'an as soon as you can.
Genjo Sanzo is hereby ordered to resume
his duties as the surrogate high priest at Keiunin Temple.
That is all.
What?!
So that means...
To put it bluntly, "Y'all are fired."
Oh, I was right.
I beg your pardon, but I'm having a hard time understanding that order.
We fully understand your vexation.
Well, no shit!
How the hell are we supposed to understand
being told to go home as soon as we get here?!
If you don't understand, allow me to explain.
On your way here, how many times were your lives in danger,
and how often did you take unneeded detours?
You wasted time and spent money like there was no end to it.
Think of it this way. Shouldn't you consider yourselves lucky that you weren't fired earlier?
Shit. We can't argue with that.
We can understand that you're handing over our duty
to the one who was able to defeat Gyumaou.
But why are you ordering us to withdraw rather than to fight with him?
You have already heard Kumari Talchie's prophecy.
We do not intend for you to waste your lives when we know defeat is certain.
Damn that loli hag for opening her mouth.
I don't care if it's prophecy or provolone,
but why are you guys so sure we're gonna lose?
This is the imperial order from the upper echelon of Heaven.
Hey! Why are you trying to wrap things up, damn it?!
Splendid work on your long journey.
You just said that a second ago!
Please wait a moment. In regards to us using the credit card from now on...
Be careful on your journey home.
Genjo!
Uh...
What's up with this shitty turn of events?
What the hell's going on?!
Okay, yeah, I quit.
You heard our handlers.
Let's just quit and head back home.
I guess it's not actually that easy.
I'm sure that Genjo's personal reason for this journey
was not to stop the revival experiment,
but rather to get the Seiten Scripture back.
Yes. So for the time being,
the problem at hand is the credit card.
You've seriously just been talking about money this whole time.
There aren't any places we can use the card around here anyway.
Regardless of whether we decide to forge ahead or head back, we're going to need money.
I at least wanted to get their word
that they wouldn't freeze our card until we got back to Chang'an.
Well, yeah, but...
First, let's head back to my castle to discuss what...
Sanzo!
That's why we told you take it easy.
Your right half is still medium rare.
Stop making me sound so delicious, you shitty water sprite...
Goku, can you carry him to Hakuryu?
Got it.
Hey, let go of me.
Huh? Why?
Hey, what happened?!
Why did they suddenly use Talchie's prophecy as a basis to lay them off?
Sorry, Hassan, but could you call Hakuryu?
Not to mention if this War God Nataku's motive is truly to subjugate Gyumaou...
Why did he come to Kouten Castle rather than Houtou Castle?
To put things in such a manner...
Wasn't it rather heartless considering they've risked their lives up until now?
Would pitying them in this situation truly bring them any ease?
Our duty is to relay orders from above.
That is true, but...
We had no choice but to follow orders from above in this case, as well.
Apparently Kanzeon Bosatsu is going to make a direct appeal about this to Shaka Nyorai.
Let us trust Buddha's decision on this matter.
I wonder how far Sharak and the others went.
We're going to check on the villages nearby.
Well, we can probably just relax and wait.
It's not like we have any reason to hurry.
Indeed. We're basically all unemployed now.
Huh?
Sanzo's not getting angry and telling us to leave him out of it.
Did the painkillers finally kick in? Just let him sleep.
It's true that we were basically on edge this whole journey.
There's probably no harm in relaxing a little.
Relaxing, huh?
Yup, relaxing.
Excuse me, teacher.
What is it?
How do you relax again?
You sound like some corporate slave.
First things first, this location sucks.
If we're going to relax,
we should be at a resort rather than stuck in the middle of nowhere.
Come to think of it, there was a hot spring town right before we entered the West.
Oh! The place I played ping pong for hours!
That town had super good food, too!
Just throw him into a hot spring and feed him some fruit-flavored milk.
I'm sure Sanzo'll be back on his feet in no time.
And that huge city we stopped in just before that had a lot of places to eat, too.
Oh, yeah! There were a lot of hot hostesses at those bars, too.
That's how we got up here, so it'll be easy enough to go back that way.
That's reassuring.
And there's no reason to hurry, so talk about the best kind of trip!
Wait, I think I might actually be getting excited.
Well, this all depends on if our card is still usable.
If the account's been frozen, we'll have to actually work.
That's when we'll just have to drop Sanzo-sama's name and have people treat us.
Oh, hey! Why don't we have some town hire us all on as bodyguards?
In that case, I wonder how long it'll actually take us to get back to Chang'an.
Well, it's safe to say that it won't be soon.
All right, why don't we talk a bit more realistically now?
There's the whole thing about Sanzo and the Seiten Scripture,
so I'm sure he'll insist on heading to Houtou Castle, with or without us.
I'm sure he will.
And, Goku, you'll probably go with Sanzo, won't you?
Yup.
I'm sure it'll be rough not having Hakuryu or a healer from here on out,
so naturally, I'll be going, as well.
And, Gojyo...
I recommend
that you do not go any further.
Yeah, that joke's definitely not funny.
Hakkai?
I'm sure it's not, considering it wasn't a joke.
I know I keep saying this time and time again,
but the negative aura from this point on is just too powerful.
Even if there aren't any issues right now, who knows when you'll—
Cut that shit out!
What the hell's your problem lately?!
Are you trying to pick a fight?!
You suck at lying at the most awkward times.
Ow!
The hell are you doing?!
Huh? Gojyo...
You've got some weird-looking mark on the back of your neck.
What?
It sure is quiet.
Is anyone here?
Sharak-sama?
Hey! Sharak-sama's here!
I'm sorry I haven't been able to come by.
Have there been any changes with any of you?
Well... For better or worse, nothing's any different here.
Deploying.
Episode 11 "Raid"
Episode 11, "Raid."
Watch without fail.
Lettering: Ishida Akira
Ura Sai
Ready, and...
Bosatsu's Spring
Well, that was awful.
Huh? Where's Sanzo?
Which Sanzo did you drop into the spring?
Actually, they both seem wrong.
Yes, I do believe he's a bit shorter.
His eyes are droopier, aren't they?
Not to mention his hair is way thinner.
I'm going to kill you all.