Chapter 26 - Be There 3

Be There 3 is Saiyuki's twenty-sixth chapter.

Summary
Cho Gonou encounters a yokai man whose family he had massacred. Saying that he wants to give Gonou something, the yokai throws a vial containing a pair of eyeballs to the ground in front of him.

Elsewhere, Gojyo is accompanying Sanzo and Goku on their mission to capture Gonou. Gojyo asks what will happen to Gonou, and Sanzo answers that it will be up to the Sanbutsushin to decide his punishment. Gojyo says that Sanzo probably knows what the red of his hair and eyes mean, and goes on to tell him that both Gonou and himself see the color as symbolizing blood and regret. He tells Sanzo that he will not let Gonou die. Sanzo responds that blood is not the only thing that is red. Goku pulls on Gojyo's hair, checking whether it is hot since he says it looks as red as fire.

Goku suddenly catches the scent of blood and the three of them let Goku's nose lead the way.

Meanwhile, the yokai man tells Gonou that he intends to kill him in revenge for his family's deaths. Gonou responds by plucking out his right eye and offering it up, an eye for an eye. Just as Gonou is about to start on the other eye, Goku leaps up onto his shoulders and stops him. Sanzo tells Gonou that seeing red as representing penance to the gods is pointless as the only one who can save Gonou is himself. "If you die, nothing will change. But if you live then something might change."

The yokai asks them whether they are on Gonou's side, and Gojyo answers that they are not, but that if he wants to kill Gonou, then he will have to accept the consequences of being killed himself. As the yokai makes a charge attack, Gonou uses Sanzo's gun to shoot him in the head and kill him.

Gojyo, Sanzo, and Goku accompany Gonou to Hyakugan Maoh's castle in his search for Kanan's remains. The find the castle in ruins, burned to the ground along with Kanan's remains. Gonou falls to his knees in despair. Gojyo asks Sanzo to recite a sutra, and Sanzo obliges, with the concession that when he recites sutras, it isn't for the dead.

Later, at the Temple of the Setting Sun, Gonou is handcuffed and brought with Sanzo to an audience with the Sanbutsushin.

Meanwhile, Gojyo cuts his hair short.