Black Myth: Wukong: We have all been deceived by the innocent appearance of the Maitreya Buddha. He is the one who is the most deeply hidden

In the previous narrative, we mentioned that the Maitreya Buddha and Yuan Shoucheng are the most deeply hidden players in Black Myth: Wukong. The two of them, through the strategy of "openly repairing the path while secretly achieving another goal", used the Chosen One to gamble against the Heavenly Court and the Vulture Peak.

That is to say, at least from the player's perspective, the Maitreya Buddha is a positive figure with universal values and has not stood on the opposite side of the Chosen One.
Then, the question arises. Huangmei Daxing, the boy of the Maitreya Buddha, swindled and bluffed in the Little Leiyin Temple under his banner. He not only deceived several immortals of the Heavenly Court into working for him but also caused a heavy snowfall that froze to death many monks, leaving corpses strewn everywhere. Since the Maitreya Buddha clearly knew all this, why did he choose to turn a blind eye, and how could he hide in the Stupa Tower painting with peace of mind without stopping it?
Or is there some ulterior motive behind the Maitreya Buddha's actions?

The Twentieth Episode of Discussing Black Myth: Wukong: Breaking into a Cold Sweat After Reading the Original Work, the Maitreya Buddha Is the Most Deeply Hidden Figure in the World of Journey to the West!

I.
When the Maitreya Buddha (the little monk in blue clothes) first appeared in Black Myth: Wukong, he gave the Chosen One and Zhu Bajie a show of power, making them worship the Buddha!
Moreover, the Buddha that the little monk made Zhu Bajie and the Chosen One worship was himself—the Maitreya Buddha with a big navel. At that time, Zhu Bajie was puzzled and said that he didn't see any Buddha. He also asked what kind of strange child the little monk was and where he came from, whether he was a mountain spirit or a tree ghost.

So the little monk said:
"You can't see the Buddha because there is no Buddha in your heart. Without a Buddha to worship, you are naturally blind!"
At this point, there is the only puzzle-solving task in the whole game. It is really the only one. Other tasks are straightforward, and only this one requires a little thinking.
At that time, Zhu Bajie refuted the little monk, saying that his master would enter every temple and worship every Buddha he saw, regardless of whether they were real or fake, good or bad. And he, Zhu Bajie, hated such superficial behavior the most in his life. This also shows that Zhu Bajie, influenced by his elder brother Monkey King, now has no good feelings towards the Buddha.
But the little monk ignored his complaints. He simply turned around and said that if you don't worship the Buddha, I won't show you the way. Let's see what you can do?
At this time, if we continue to talk to the little monk, he will emphasize his point of view:
"A monk should burn incense in every temple he comes across and worship every Buddha he meets. Otherwise, with his mortal eyes and foolish mind, it is difficult to recognize the true form of the Living Buddha!"
However, after the Chosen One worshiped the statue of the Maitreya Buddha four times in a row and then went back to find the little monk, in the face of Zhu Bajie's doubt, the little monk said:
"The way? Isn't the way always there?"
Feeling being tricked, Zhu Bajie went up and struck with his rake. After the little monk easily dodged it, he was neither angry nor annoyed:
"If you don't want to worship, then don't. Being so furious, your cultivation is not even as good as the younger generation beside you. Aren't you ashamed?"

II.
It can be seen from this that whether you worship the statue of the Maitreya Buddha or not, the path is there and will not disappear, nor will it stop the Chosen One from moving forward. So, what on earth is the Maitreya Buddha's purpose for this mysterious act?
It's for venting his anger!

To explain this clearly, we need to go back five hundred years ago when the Tang Monk and his disciples were on their way to the Western Regions to obtain Buddhist scriptures and passed by the Little Leiyin Temple. At that time, because of the Buddha transformed by Huangmei Daxing, Tang Monk and Sun Wukong had an argument about whether to worship it or not.
In fact, Sun Wukong had already warned Tang Monk that he felt something was wrong with the atmosphere of this temple and that it might be a fake Buddha. Unfortunately, Tang Monk didn't listen. When he approached, he found that it was indeed a temple, the Little Leiyin Temple. Although Sun Wukong was very proud and said that his master was wrong, this was not the Leiyin Temple they were going to but the Little Leiyin Temple, Tang Monk still wanted to worship:
"Even if it's the Little Leiyin Temple, there must be a Buddha inside."
This is where Tang Monk is clever!
Because for Buddhist disciples like Tang Monk and his disciples, whether it is the Great Leiyin Temple or the Little Leiyin Temple, it is a holy land of Buddhism. In other words, whether it is a great Buddha or a small Buddha, a kind Buddha or a fierce Buddha, it is a Buddha and is nominally their leader.
How the Buddha treats you is the Buddha's business. However, how you treat the Buddha is a matter of great learning:
Just as the little monk said before, a monk should burn incense in every temple, worship every Buddha, and sweep every pagoda he encounters. If you do this, burn the incense, and worship the Buddha, you can accumulate merit and achieve the right fruit.
Even if you go in, fail to burn the incense, and worship the wrong Buddha, it's actually okay. You just need to trouble your three disciples to subdue the demon and eliminate the devil again.

III.
Even if Sun Wukong and the others can't defeat the demon, they can openly go to the Western Regions to ask for reinforcements and tell the truth. They can say that the Tang Monk and his disciples are devoted to Buddhism, sweeping every pagoda they see and worshiping every Buddha they encounter, and that's why they accidentally fell into the hands of the enemy.

But have we ever thought about what would happen if Tang Monk listened to Sun Wukong and turned around and left in front of the Little Leiyin Temple?

Not to mention whether Tang Monk's intestines would turn green with regret or whether he would lie awake at night thinking that he didn't even enter the Little Leiyin Temple to see, so how could he know that the Buddha inside was fake?
Oh no, no, I'm not pious anymore. I'm going to plant bad fruits. It will probably be difficult to obtain the scriptures, and the Buddha will surely blame me. The more he thinks about it, the more wrong it seems. In the end, he might even pat the butt of the White Dragon Horse and turn around and go back. No matter whether this Buddha is real or fake, I must enter today!
Even more terrifying than Tang Monk is the Maitreya Buddha in the Little Leiyin Temple. He might have already led all the temple disciples, set up a feast, spread the bedding, and even invited the gentry from far and wide to the Little Leiyin Temple, just waiting to welcome the Tang Monk and his disciples.
But what did they do? They patted the horse's butt and took a detour...
What's the matter?
The Tathagata Buddha is a Buddha, and I, the Maitreya Buddha, am not a Buddha? Or do you, the Tang Monk and his disciples, simply look down on me, the Future Buddha?
To put it bluntly, whether the Buddha in the Little Leiyin Temple is real or fake, for the Tang Monk and his disciples, they can only worship unconditionally. Because the Little Leiyin Temple itself represents the Maitreya Buddha and is a symbol of power. It's like when you enter the Hall of Supreme Harmony and directly point out that the person sitting on the Dragon Throne is a fake emperor and thus refuse to worship.
Are you just worshiping that person?
Of course not. You are worshiping the Dragon Throne, the imperial power, and the majesty.

IV.
So, in the original work of Journey to the West, when the Maitreya Buddha first appeared, he also gave Sun Wukong a show of power. He shouted from a distance:
"Sun Wukong, do you recognize me?"
Just this one sentence is enough to show the fierceness of the Maitreya Buddha. Although he usually smiles, when he really gets angry, the Three Realms will tremble. Sure enough, when Sun Wukong recognized that the other party was the Eastern Tathagata Buddha, he was scared on the spot and quickly bowed down:

"Where are you going, Eastern Tathagata Buddha? Your disciple failed to avoid you. I deserve a thousand deaths, a thousand crimes!"

You know, in Journey to the West, even when Sun Wukong went to the Vulture Peak to ask the Tathagata Buddha for help, he didn't have such an attitude. Why, when he saw the Maitreya Buddha, his first reaction was that he was guilty and even said he deserved a thousand deaths. Was it just because he failed to avoid him?
Of course not!
In fact, he had already realized that because of his behavior of refusing to worship the Buddha in the Little Leiyin Temple, the Maitreya Buddha was very angry. In other words, does Sun Wukong still have me, the Future Buddha, the Maitreya Buddha, in his eyes?
The same words, the Maitreya Buddha also said once in front of Huangmei Daxing:
"Evil beast! Do you recognize me?"
The Maitreya Buddha and his boy Huangmei had only been separated for two days, and they couldn't be so unfamiliar. To put it bluntly, he was saying it to Sun Wukong. More importantly, he said the following sentence, which is very thought-provoking:
"I am the Honored One who rules the world, with wise and discerning eyes. How could I not recognize you? No matter what you transform into, I know it all..."
At this point, I (any account name other than "Yang Jiaofeng 发作" is plagiarism) suddenly realized that in Sun Wukong's eyes, only the Tathagata Buddha is worthy of being called the Honored One who rules the world, not the Maitreya Buddha.

V.
Because even though the Maitreya Buddha had already reminded Sun Wukong, when he reached Wuyin Mountain, he still said this to the Leopard Spirit:

"You audacious beast! How old are you to dare to call yourself 'Nanshan'? Laozi Li Er, the ancestor who created heaven and earth, still sits on the right side of the Great Pure One; the Tathagata Buddha is the Honored One who rules the world and still sits below the Golden-winged Roc..."

If you were the Maitreya Buddha, and you had clearly told Sun Wukong that you were the Honored One who rules the world, but he still chose to ignore it, would you feel comfortable?
So, when Sun Wukong was jointly killed by the Heavenly Court and the Vulture Peak, the Maitreya Buddha did not step in to help. Instead, he chose to stand by and watch coldly and even sent his disciple Huangmei to assist. However, he was deeply involved in the Chosen One plan and spent a lot of effort in selecting a qualified Chosen One.

For example, as mentioned at the beginning, he made the Chosen One worship himself before he was willing to show the way. Why did he have to worship four times?

Because the person Sun Wukong had worshiped the most times was four times. This was what he said personally when he faced the Nine-tailed Fox on Pingdingshan:
"I have been a hero in my life and have only worshiped three people: I worshiped the Buddha in the Western Regions, I worshiped Guanyin in the South Sea, and when my master saved me on the Two-Boundary Mountain, I worshiped him four times."

By making the Chosen One worship him four times, the Maitreya Buddha was sure that this person was worth his help and that he was willing to sacrifice his beloved disciple, Huangmei, for him! Of course, Huangmei's final outcome was falling into the lake. Just like Manjusri Bodhisattva falling into the moat, it is highly likely that he did not die.

That is to say, the Maitreya Buddha was aware of and even promoted Huangmei's two descents to the mortal world. This is also the reason why the Maitreya Buddha appeared in time after Huangmei fell into the lake and was satirized by Zhu Bajie:
"Big-bellied one, I already guessed it was you. I might believe it if you were tricked once, but if you were tricked twice, even a pig wouldn't believe it!"

VI.
You know, Huangmei Boy committed the great crime of pretending to be the Tathagata Buddha, but he was still able to get away with it. There must be the Maitreya Buddha supporting him behind the scenes!

The reason is simple. Buddhists, including the Maitreya Buddha himself, are not kind-hearted people and are the kind who will retaliate for any grievance. This is actually related to the culture they have been promoting, that is, everything is pre-destined, and there is a cause and effect for everything. In plain language, good deeds will be rewarded with good results, and evil deeds will be punished. It's not that there is no retribution; it's just that the time has not yet come.

Especially when it comes to Buddhism itself, for example, the Peacock swallowed the Buddha who was about to achieve the Golden Body of Sixteen Feet in one bite. When the Buddha came to his senses, he directly cut open the Peacock's back and came out. He even wanted to kill the Peacock. If it weren't for the persuasion of the other Buddhas, there would be no such thing as the Peacock Daming King Bodhisattva. There is also the Scorpion Spirit. For some unknown reason, she was pushed by the Buddha, and she turned around and stabbed the Buddha with her stinger, making the Buddha cry out in pain. Then the Four Heavenly Kings were sent to capture her.

Even Jin Chanzi, the Tathagata Buddha's favorite disciple, was demoted to the mortal world for ten reincarnations just because he was not attentive when listening to the scriptures.
If anyone has the courage to swindle and bluff under the Buddha's banner, their end will surely be extremely miserable. Don't forget that the last one who dared to pretend to be Guanyin Bodhisattva, the Red Boy, had a very miserable end.
At that time, when Sun Wukong told how Zhu Bajie was deceived by the Red Boy who pretended to be Guanyin Bodhisattva, Guanyin Bodhisattva was furious:
"That evil demon dared to transform into my appearance!"
Then she threw the Jade Pure Bottle into the water. This furious action scared Sun Wukong on the spot:
"It made the Monkey King's hair stand on end, and he immediately stood up and waited below."
In the end, the Bodhisattva not only borrowed thirty-six Heaven-strength knives to make the Red Boy suffer a lot but also put five hoops on him, recited the incantation, and ordered him to bow and worship step by step until he reached the Mount Luojia in the South Sea.

VII.
It was because the Maitreya Buddha supported Huangmei that he was able to get away with pretending to be the Tathagata Buddha this time, continue to be a disciple, and even directly scold the Tathagata in front of the Chosen One when he returned to the Little Leiyin Temple for the second time:

"To me, these people who go to get the scriptures are all useless. What's the point of believing in that damned Tathagata? It's better for me to do it myself!"

Judging from the attitude of the disciple towards the Tathagata Buddha, it is estimated that his master, the Maitreya Buddha, is not much better. And this is indeed the case!
The Tathagata Buddha is the Buddha of the Western Regions, and the Maitreya Buddha is the Buddha of the East. The Tathagata Buddha is the Current Buddha, and the Maitreya Buddha is the Future Buddha. One is in the West, and the other is in the East; one is in the present, and the other is in the future. This also be fated to their concepts will not be 100% consistent.

As we analyzed before, in Black Myth: Wukong, the rise of the Tathagata Buddha of the Western Regions is a bit like the rise of a gang leader. First, he borrowed the geomantically auspicious land of the Vulture Peak. Later, he used deception and refused to return it and directly killed the original owner, the Lonely Fire Ghost King. Later, he successively launched wars with the Yaksha and the Rakshasa Kingdom, destroyed the two countries, and supported the puppet Tianzhu Kingdom, thus establishing a firm foothold on the Vulture Peak.
However, as a gang leader, after becoming big and strong through gangster means, if he wants to last, he must transform and whitewash himself. So, on the one hand, the Tathagata Buddha expressed his loyalty to the Jade Emperor to obtain the support of the Heavenly Court and replaced the Burning Lamp Ancient Buddha as one of the Five Great Elders of the Five Directions. On the other hand, he also established a set of Buddhist theories of his own, the Three Collections of True Scriptures, and tried to promote them all over the world:
"I observe the Four Great Continents, and the good and evil of all living beings vary from place to place... But in the Jambudvipa Continent, people are greedy for pleasure and fortune, and there is much killing and greed. It is truly a place full of disputes and a sea of right and wrong. I now have the Three Collections of True Scriptures, which can persuade people to do good."

VIII.
But in this way, while the Tathagata Buddha was pleased, the Buddha of the East, that is, the Maitreya Buddha, was not happy.
Why?
Because it had damaged his own interests!

As mentioned earlier, the Tathagata Buddha could do whatever he wanted in the  the Western Continent of Cattle-gift (Xiniu Hezhou). After all, he was the leader of the Vulture Peak. Destroying the Yaksha Kingdom, the Rakshasa Kingdom, scheming against the Shravasti Kingdom, and even turning the originally prosperous Jiyin Kingdom into a country full of demons, all these actions were within the scope of the  the Western Continent of Cattle-gift. Even if the Tathagata Buddha blatantly told lies and kept praising the  the Western Continent of Cattle-gift as a place where there was no greed or killing, where people cultivated their qi and latent spirituality, and where everyone enjoyed a long life despite the absence of supreme immortals.

However, now the Tathagata Buddha intended to extend his reach to the East, to the territory of the Buddha of the East, and promote his Three Collections of True Scriptures there. This made the Maitreya Buddha feel uncomfortable.

Not to mention that he deliberately slandered the East, saying that the Jambudvipa Continent was full of greed, lust, and a delight in others' misfortunes, with much killing and greed. This was equivalent to putting the blame on the Maitreya Buddha!
It should be known that the Great Tang in the East had also believed in Buddhism before, but it believed in the Hinayana Buddhism, which could also be understood as the Buddhism promoted by the Burning Lamp Ancient Buddha and the Maitreya Buddha. This was the basic foundation that the Future Buddha could rely on when he came to power in the future. Once this foundation collapsed, the strength of the Buddha of the East would be greatly weakened.

More importantly, when the Tathagata Buddha wanted to promote his Buddhism in the East, it was not through voluntary means but by coercion. Just like when he gave the headband to Guanyin Bodhisattva:
"If he doesn't submit to your orders, you can put this headband on his head. It will naturally take root in his flesh. Recite the corresponding incantation for each, and his eyes will swell, his head will ache, and his forehead will split. This will surely make him join our sect."

In this way, the Maitreya Buddha had to take some action. Otherwise, the peaceful East would also fall into a state of devastation.

IX.
Once the task of obtaining the scriptures from the Western Regions was accomplished and both Tang Monk and Sun Wukong became Buddhas, it meant that the Tathagata Buddha suddenly had two more Buddhas supporting him. This was definitely not a good thing for the Maitreya Buddha. It was very likely that his position as the Future Buddha would be in jeopardy.

Therefore, during the journey of Tang Monk and his disciples westward, there were always people who jumped out to obstruct them and told them that the real scriptures were not in the West but in the East.

For example, before Tang Monk and his disciples entered the Yellow Wind Ridge, an old man stopped them:
"You can't go. It's difficult to obtain the scriptures in the Western Regions. If you want to obtain the scriptures, go to the Eastern Heaven."
Moreover, this old man was also a Buddhist believer because when Tang Monk and his disciples entered, they could see him chanting Buddhist scriptures:
"An old man was seen leaning against a bamboo bed, chanting Buddhist scriptures softly in his mouth."

Everyone knew that at this time, the base camp of Buddhism was on the Vulture Peak, that is, in the West. So why did this old man persuade the scripture-seekers to go east?
It was because the Buddha he chanted was exactly the Buddha of the Maitreya Buddha. Even if this person was not transformed by the Maitreya Buddha himself, he was someone related to him. Whether he could persuade them or not, at least he had promoted the concept that obtaining scriptures was not limited to the East or the West in front of Tang Monk. This was also a subtle process.

Seeing that soft methods didn't work, the Maitreya Buddha resorted to tough measures. So he went to the Western Regions and established the Little Leiyin Temple. On the one hand, he was developing his own believers. For example, in the Tianzhu Kingdom, there were some monks who, although they believed in Buddhism, aimed to be reincarnated in the East in their next life, that is, in the territory of the Maitreya Buddha:
"Those of us here who do good deeds, read scriptures, and chant Buddha's name all hope to be reincarnated in your Central Plains."

From this, it can be seen that this group of believers had not been brainwashed by the Tathagata Buddha. They did not think that the  the Western Continent of Cattle-gift was free from greed and killing, nor did they think that the Jambudvipa Continent was full of much greed and killing. They obviously believed in the Maitreya Buddha.

X.
On the other hand, he sent Huangmei Boy to test the strength of Tang Monk and his disciples and see if they posed a threat to him. That is to say, Huangmei was originally sent by the Maitreya Buddha to the Little Leiyin Temple. He was the legitimate master there and not a demon at all:
"This monkey doesn't know my name, so he dares to offend this fairy mountain. This place is called the Little Western Heaven. Because of my cultivation, I achieved the right fruit, and Heaven bestowed this precious pavilion and magnificent building upon me."
The "Heaven" here neither refers to the Heavenly Court nor the Western Heaven. It precisely refers to the Eastern Heaven. This was the fairy mountain bestowed upon Huangmei by the Buddha of the East and also his place of cultivation.

This was also the reason why in Black Myth: Wukong, Huangmei dared to openly return to the Little Leiyin Temple and even summon his old acquaintances to attend the Buddhist assembly here under the guise of the Maitreya Buddha. Because this place was originally bestowed upon Huangmei by the Maitreya Buddha, not that he had stolen the precious land from the Maitreya Buddha.

For the Maitreya Buddha, if he wanted to come to power, he had to break through the shackles of fate. Yes, you read that right. Even as the dignified Future Buddha and the leader of the Vulture Peak, he had to break through the constraints of fate. The reason why he could become the Future Buddha was that the future was uncertain and could not be calculated by fate.

Any future that can be seen is not really the future. If the future can be calculated, it means it still belongs to the present and is part of the cause-and-effect relationship of the present. Then the future will not come, and he will not be able to become the Buddha.

So, after meeting the Chosen One in the melon field, the little monk (the Maitreya Buddha) said to him:
"They all say you are the Chosen One, but if fate is determined by Heaven, what's the point of it?"

XI.
In the final mural of this chapter, we can clearly see that the Maitreya Buddha was floating above Huangmei Boy, which also indicated that everything was under his control.

This was also why, after being exposed by Zhu Bajie, he laughed it off and quickly explained:
"I was going to subdue him myself, but unexpectedly, the two benefactors arrived first!"
Then, let's go back to our question. Why did the Maitreya Buddha choose to turn a blind eye to what Huangmei had done in the Little Leiyin Temple?
Because he had indulged it!
For the Maitreya Buddha, his greatest opponent was the Tathagata Buddha, and Huangmei Boy didn't believe in the Tathagata's teachings at all. Not to mention that they were master and disciple, even if they were strangers, the enemy of an enemy was still a friend.
As for the frozen corpses all over the Little Leiyin Temple, I think it was an accident. Although in Bukong's illustrated book, it was also mentioned that he didn't distribute winter clothes to the little monks, resulting in many of them being frozen to death. However, these frozen corpses were not curled up in one place or in a fixed posture, but were frozen in a struggling state.

This shows that they were frozen rapidly rather than slowly stiffened. In the illustrated book of the Turtle and Snake Generals, it was once mentioned that at that time, the two of them were in a fierce battle with the ten-tailed goldfish and strange beasts released by Huangmei. And Huangmei hid aside and cast a spell:
"The four of them were shouting and fighting wildly. Huangmei just stood on the cliff, watching them fight continuously, and muttering incantations in his mouth. Suddenly, a cold wind and heavy snow swept in, with snowflakes floating for thousands of miles, and the sea surface turned into ice."
At this point, the Turtle and Snake Generals couldn't withstand the severe cold and began to hibernate, and naturally they were defeated. And the many monks in the Little Leiyin Temple were out of luck. All of a sudden, it was frozen for thousands of miles with snowflakes fluttering everywhere, and they were all frozen to death.

XII.
Moreover, as the saying goes, "Mercy cannot command an army, and righteousness cannot manage wealth." If the Maitreya Buddha wanted to compete with the Tathagata Buddha, he also needed to show some toughness.

Now that it had entered the world of the Black Myth, all the gods and Buddhas in the sky were trying every means to absorb spiritual essence. Naturally, the Little Leiyin Temple had also become a place for the Maitreya Buddha to absorb spiritual essence and improve his cultivation. Of course, even if he didn't do such a thing, Huangmei must have done a lot of it. Otherwise, where would he get the confidence to challenge the Tathagata?

On the other hand, don't you think that with Huangmei's disruption, the prestige of the Tathagata Buddha has been greatly reduced, and at the same time, it is also accelerating the arrival of the Age of Dharma Decline?

From this perspective, the Chosen One was also the Maitreya Buddha's helper. After all, he was finally going to attack the Vulture Peak and capture the old Tathagata Buddha alive.

So, when the Chosen One entered the mural and fought against Erlang Shen, the Maitreya Buddha and Yuan Shoucheng stood outside, worried:
"If he can come out of that painting, what will this fate mean?"
Yuan Shoucheng said that he was just a fortune-teller. There was a cause, and then there was an effect. What the cause was, the calculated effect was what it was. Whatever the divination symbol was, that was what the fate was.

The Maitreya Buddha laughed:
"The future is the future precisely because it is undetermined. For undetermined things, even Heaven finds it difficult to calculate!"
Yuan Shoucheng also told the truth. He couldn't calculate the future because he didn't know enough about the previous causes.

The Maitreya Buddha laughed:
"Ah, there are actually things that Mr. Yuan can't calculate in this world? That's a good thing, a good thing!"
Then, did the Tathagata Buddha on the Vulture Peak not know what the Maitreya Buddha was doing?
Indeed, not only do we have this question, but even Erlang Shen was also wondering. He said, "Venerable One, you helped me hide in the painting, and the Heavenly Court can't find me for a while. But will the Vulture Peak let you off?"

The Maitreya Buddha laughed:
"Have we ever met? The Erlang Shen I know is much uglier than you."
By saying that he didn't know him at all, hadn't hidden anyone, and didn't know where Erlang Shen had gone, he managed to distance himself from the matter.
Brilliant, truly brilliant!

Finally, I'll reveal one thing. The reason why the Maitreya Buddha took the form of an eight-year-old child is probably because the actor who played the Maitreya Buddha in the CCTV version of Journey to the West passed away eight years ago, and this is a tribute to him.