# 689
Chapter 690: Beneath the Buddha's Robe
How to deal with Sun Wukong had always been a difficult problem in Lin Qiye's heart.
This Great Sage had apparently gone through something unimaginable, transforming into his current state. He simply couldn't communicate normally, let alone invite him out for a meal...
If he wanted to open his heart, it would still depend on Lin Qiye grinding away bit by bit.
Lin Qiye sighed.
"By the way, Bragi." Lin Qiye seemed to remember something and turned to look at Bragi, who was devouring his food. "Have you been in contact with Idun lately? How's that going?"
Bragi put down his bowl and smiled. "Rest assured, Director, we write to each other every night. I tell her about my life here, and she shares her daily routines in Asgard with me. We've also made plans to invite you to Asgard together someday, to treat you to the Youth Fruits she grows herself. She seems very grateful to you."
Lin Qiye raised an eyebrow and said with a smile, "Well, I'm looking forward to that then."
He glanced up at Bragi's head. The treatment progress had reached 79%, and his recovery was going quite well. Meanwhile, Merlin beside him was at 90%. If one ignored his increasingly thinning hair, he was still a spirited God of Magic.
However, Lin Qiye was somewhat worried that Merlin's recovery progress was too fast.
He was worried that before long, Merlin would have to leave this hospital just like Nyx had... Merlin was his second patient and also an elder who had taken good care of him. Lin Qiye's usual "Praise the God of Magic" wasn't just talk. In some aspects, Merlin's help to him was no less than what Nyx had provided.
Still, good recovery was a good thing. Lin Qiye couldn't very well grab him by his few remaining hairs and make him have a few more episodes just to keep him here, could he?
"You guys eat first. I'm going to check on Room Four."
After inspecting Merlin and Bragi's conditions, Lin Qiye walked straight toward the tightly closed Room Four across the hall. He gently knocked twice on the door, then slowly pushed it open...
The ancient ape draped in a cassock still sat motionless in the center of the room, like a stone statue.
Lin Qiye's gaze swept across the surroundings. The food delivered by the attendant remained untouched, but when his spiritual sense swept over the fruit wine jug nearby, his brow slightly lifted.
The fruit wine... had been finished.
Was he secretly drinking?
Lin Qiye glanced at his head. The treatment progress had jumped to 2%, an increase of one percent compared to the last time he'd seen him...
Since their last conversation with Sun Wukong, when the latter had given him the [Somersault Cloud], Lin Qiye had been constantly on the move outside and had barely had time to check on his recovery. Now, it seemed that during this time, he had figured some things out on his own?
Mm, a good start.
This time, Lin Qiye had brought two more jugs of fruit wine. He sat down across from Sun Wukong and placed one of the jugs in front of him.
"Brother Monkey, this time I've come to thank you." Lin Qiye smiled as he spoke. "It was all thanks to your [Somersault Cloud] that I was able to fly to that person's side..."
Hearing these words, the ancient ape sitting across from him trembled slightly. Those two eyes slowly opened, gazing at Lin Qiye.
His cracked lips parted slightly as a low voice came out:
"Did you... save the person?"
Lin Qiye hesitated. "No... but I left behind a glimmer of hope."
The ancient ape was silent for a moment. "That's fine too."
"Yeah, at least I gave it my all."
Lin Qiye smiled as he raised the fruit wine in his hand and lightly clinked it against the wine jug before the ancient ape. "Brother Monkey, drink!"
The ancient ape stared at the wine jug before him. After hesitating for a moment, he still reached out to grab it and drained it in one gulp.
A flicker of joy flashed in Lin Qiye's eyes.
"Brother Monkey, isn't it true that Buddhist practitioners can't drink alcohol?" he asked, seemingly casually.
"Buddhism?" The ancient ape coldly snorted. "What has that got to do with me?"
"Aren't you the Victorious Fighting Buddha?"
The ancient ape held the empty wine jug, lowering his head to look at the light-flowing cassock on his body. His eyes slightly narrowed.
"Victorious Fighting Buddha..." he murmured to himself. "Piece of trash."
He heavily set the wine jug in his hand on the ground and looked into Lin Qiye's eyes, slowly saying: "Kid, this wine... is too weak. Next time, get me something stronger."
"No problem." Lin Qiye readily agreed. "But... all our strong liquor here is stored in big vats."
He stretched out his hand, pointing toward the door of the ward. "This door is too narrow. It won't fit through."
The ancient ape's brow furrowed. He stared at the narrow door for a while, then spoke again:
"Then just leave it outside the door. I'll go out to drink."
"Deal."
A smile spread across Lin Qiye's face.
Finally, the first step in tricking Sun Wukong out of the ward had been taken.
As long as he could communicate and could go outside, Lin Qiye was confident he could cure him little by little.
He stood up holding the two empty wine jugs and walked toward the door. Just as he stepped out, he hesitated for a moment before stopping.
"Brother Monkey." Lin Qiye stood there in his white coat and turned back to give him a meaningful look. "If you want to tear apart this layer of Buddhist robe, drinking alone... won't be enough."
After saying this, he walked out and closed the door behind him. The ward fell into darkness once more.
In that darkness, a faint ripple stirred in those deep, dead eyes of the ancient ape.
...
Lin Qiye walked out of the ward and let out a long breath.
Through this contact and the previous one, Lin Qiye had roughly deduced Sun Wukong's situation.
From his words, it wasn't hard to see that he didn't identify with his identity as the Victorious Fighting Buddha. Moreover, it seemed that like himself, deep in his heart there was profound guilt—likely someone important had died within his reach, leaving him in his current state of despair.
But who was this person?
Lin Qiye could see that beneath that shimmering Buddhist robe, what was hidden was a heart full of defiance and fury.
And the reason his treatment progress had improved last time was precisely because he had torn a corner of his cassock. In other words, if he wanted to help Sun Wukong recover, the key was to get him to tear off the Buddhist robe himself and completely release that demonic heart?
Strip away the surface, and see the true self...
While Lin Qiye mused internally, he walked toward the kitchen.
He had promised to provide Sun Wukong with stronger wine, but at the hospital, the best they had was fruit wine. To make stronger liquor would require quite some effort.
Fortunately, he no longer needed to personally worry about such minor matters. After the seven major departments of the Asylum of the Gods were established, there was ample staff, each with their own duties. For something like brewing wine, he just had to leave it to the Catering Department...
Lin Qiye walked to the kitchen door. Inside the kitchen, only two people remained—a cute, short-statured A Zhu and a tall, imposing white bear.