I am a fairy in Journey to the West

The Dragon King of the Bohai Sea helped Ao Rui up, looked her over carefully, and then nodded with satisfaction, "You feel more at ease now."

Ao Rui wiped away her tears and asked, "Father and Mother, how have you been all these years?"

"Good." The Dragon King of Bohai laughed, "You eat well, sleep well, and your mother sleeps for three years at a time, and then eats for three days at a time when she wakes up."

Ao Rui nodded, then quickly pointed to Tang Sanzang and said, "Father, this is the holy monk Xuanzang."

The Dragon King of the Bohai Sea laughed and said, "I recognize him."

After saying this, he bowed to Tang Sanzang and asked, "Holy Monk, how have you been lately?"

Tang Sanzang quickly put his hands together in greeting and said, "Thank you for asking, Dragon King. I have been well all along."

The Dragon King of Bohai said, “Holy Monk, I have come here to take my daughter Ao Rui back to Bohai. This is the document from the Buzhou Mountain Divine Palace to absolve my daughter of her sins. Please take a look, Holy Monk.”

Tang Sanzang took the document and read it carefully. He then returned it to his parents and said with a smile, "As the saying goes, a weary bird longs for its nest. How much more so should a person? Children who have been atone for their sins abroad should return home to reunite with their parents now that their sins have been forgiven. This is only human nature."

After saying that, Tang Sanzang said directly to Ao Rui, "You've worked hard all these years."

Ao Rui knelt on the ground again and kowtowed three times to Tang Sanzang, saying, "It is my great fortune to serve the Holy Monk. I am also grateful for the Holy Monk's teachings over the years."

"Master," Sun Wukong stepped forward and said, "Master, we are still a thousand miles away from Mount Ling. How can we travel without a horse?"

"Hey, Wukong." Tang Sanzang helped Ao Rui up and said to Sun Wukong, "I still have these two legs. What does it matter if it's a thousand miles? To obtain the true scriptures, I will crawl to Mount Ling even if I have to."

Upon hearing this, Ao Rui's expression changed immediately. Then, with a slight hesitation, she said to the Dragon King of Bohai, "Father, since I have already come this far, let me escort the Holy Monk a little further. At least to the foot of Mount Ling."

But the Dragon King of the Bohai Sea shook his head and said, "No, your sins have been absolved, you can no longer turn into a horse, so how can you escort the holy monk Xuanzang? You should come home with me."

Tang Sanzang also said to Ao Rui, "This place is called Huilongjian. Your return to your dragon form here means that this is the will of Heaven."

"The will of Heaven cannot be defied," Tang Sanzang said with a smile. "Let's go back with your father."

Upon hearing this, Ao Rui had no choice but to bow to Tang Sanzang and say, "Yes, Holy Monk."

Seeing that Ao Rui's departure was a fait accompli, Sun Wukong and Sha Wujing exchanged a glance and could only shake their heads helplessly.

At this moment, Tang Sanzang, Sun Wukong, and Sha Wujing of the Bohai Dragon Dynasty bowed and said, "Holy Monk Xuanzang, Great Sage, I wish you a safe journey, that you will reach the Vulture Peak soon and obtain the true scriptures, and that you will accumulate immeasurable merit."

Tang Sanzang put his palms together in return and said, "Thank you for your kind words, Dragon King."

Sun Wukong gave a light 'humph,' clearly displeased with the Dragon King of the Bohai Sea, but his gaze fell on Ao Rui.

The next moment, Sun Wukong plucked a hair from his head and presented it to Ao Rui, saying, "If anyone bullies you or wrongs you in the future, just hold this hair and call out 'Brother Monkey,' and I will hear you from thousands of miles away."

Ao Rui carefully put away the monkey hair. She wouldn't trade it for the status of an Arhat, just for the value of that one monkey hair.

"Thank you, Great Sage." Ao Rui bowed in return.

Sun Wukong waved his hand, and then the Dragon King of Bohai took Ao Rui a few steps back, and then rode away on a cloud with Zhuang Yan, who was actually Wu Daoren.

Just then, the White Dragon and Pigsy returned. They had come back empty-handed, but when they saw the three of them looking east, they asked, "Master, Monkey King, what are you looking at?"

Sha Wujing said, "Second Brother, Third Brother, the Purple Dragon Horse has left."

"What?" Little White Dragon and Pigsy were taken aback and hurriedly asked, "How did we get here?"

Sha Wujing then told Bai Suzhen and Zhu Bajie what had happened. Zhu Bajie was immediately dissatisfied after hearing it and said, "The last mile is the hardest. How dare that old dragon intercept people at this time? Let's go, I, Old Pig, will catch up with him and have a word with him."

"Bajie!" Tang Sanzang called out to Zhu Bajie, "Can't we travel without a horse? Don't cause trouble!"

Pigsy exclaimed, "We're almost at Mount Ling! Why is he taking the Purple Dragon Horse away now? Isn't he deliberately giving us a hard time?"

At this point, Pigsy looked at Monkey and said, "Brother Monkey, why did you let that old dragon take them away? Is it because your title of Great Sage Equal to Heaven is no longer effective? Or has your golden cudgel rusted?"

Sun Wukong said, "That old dragon came prepared, accompanied by a Taoist named Wu."

Pigsy asked, "What's wrong?"

Sun Wukong said, "I am no match for him."

Pigsy: "..." He looked surprised. "What kind of Taoist priest surnamed Wu is so powerful? What's his name?"

Sun Wukong said, "I don't have a name, my common name is Wu Ci...uh..." Before he could say the word "Ren", Sun Wukong fell into a deep thought.

Pigsy asked, "What's wrong?"

Sun Wukong's eyes lit up with a sense of enlightenment. When he heard Zhu Bajie's question, he smiled and said, "I already know who he is."

Pigsy and the White Dragon asked in unison, "Who is it?"

Sun Wukong laughed and said, "I can't say, but don't chase after him either. Even if you catch him, it won't make a difference." Hearing Sun Wukong say this, Zhu Bajie and the other two were still a little confused, but they knew there must be something going on, so they stopped asking.

The little white dragon said, "But Master has no horse, so doesn't that mean we have to walk to Mount Ling?"

Pigsy said, "Hey? I have a good idea."

"What's the plan?" Sun Wukong and Sha Wujing asked Zhu Bajie.

Pigsy looked at the White Dragon and said, "How about you transform into a white dragon horse and carry Master for this part of the journey, Second Brother?"

Upon hearing this, the little white dragon replied without hesitation, "As long as Master doesn't mind, this disciple has no objection."

"Nonsense!" Tang Sanzang scolded Zhu Bajie, then looked at the White Dragon and said, "This matter is absolutely unacceptable. You should not mention it again."

At this point, Tang Sanzang looked towards Mount Ling, put his hands together and said, "My heart is as firm as iron to obtain the scriptures. Do you think I will not go on the journey if I do not have a horse? Little do you know that this thousand-mile journey is a test from Buddha for me. I have made up my mind that from now on, I will walk the entire journey to Mount Ling step by step."

Pigsy asked, "How long will it take to get there?"

Tang Sanzang said, "Bajie, you don't have to go if you don't want to."

"I don't want to go?" Pigsy jumped up and said, "I've made it through fourteen years, what's a little distance to me?"

"Then stop complaining," Tang Sanzang said.

Pigsy said, “Master, you are so ungrateful. I’m only doing this because I’m worried about you. Master, you have such delicate skin. If you have to walk a thousand miles, your feet will probably get worn out.”

Tang Sanzang laughed and said, "Only in this way can we see your sincerity."

After saying this, Tang Sanzang glanced at his disciples and said, "Disciples, follow your master."

The distance from Huilongjian to Lingshan is exactly 810 li. Tang Sanzang led his four disciples on foot. At first, they could only walk 50 li a day, but later they were able to walk 40 li a day.

The main problem was that Tang Sanzang was very slow. He was fine on the first day, but by the third and fourth day, his feet were covered in blisters, his shoes were worn out, and the soles of his feet were also chafed.

Every day, in addition to begging for alms, the four disciples also had to pick herbs to treat Tang Sanzang's feet, otherwise they would swell up so much that he would be unable to walk.

Tang Sanzang was, after all, still a mortal, and he was traveling on rugged mountain paths and trails, so it was naturally very arduous for him.

The five of them walked and walked for almost a month before finally arriving at Lingyun Ferry.

Before Lingyun Ferry, the five masters and disciples boarded the ferry. When the ferry reached the middle of the river, they suddenly saw a person floating down from upstream.

The person was floating on the water, which caught the attention of Tang Sanzang and his disciples. Tang Sanzang quickly said, "Wukong, look! There's a person in the water."

When the White Dragon, Pigsy, and Sandy saw this, they hurriedly wanted to go down and save the person, but Sun Wukong stopped them.

"Don't be impatient, my three junior brothers, take another look," Sun Wukong said with a smile.

The crowd was puzzled, but when the person floated closer, they realized that the person in the water was none other than Tang Sanzang.

"How is it Master?" Little White Dragon exclaimed, quickly turning his head to look, only to see Tang Sanzang standing on the boat unharmed.

Pigsy and Sandy were also at a loss, and even Tang Sanzang himself was startled, hurriedly asking, "Wukong, what's going on?"

Sun Wukong looked at the 'Tang Sanzang' floating away and said with a smile, "Master, what just floated away was your mortal body. You have already overcome countless tribulations, and the other side is Mount Ling, so you have been reborn."

Upon hearing this, Tang Sanzang raised an eyebrow, then suddenly looked down and saw that his feet, which had been swollen and shiny, had recovered completely without any marks.

At the same time, my body felt incredibly light, as if I could leap dozens of feet high with the slightest jump, and my shoulders felt as if they had been freed from the heavy burden of worldly affairs.

After hearing Sun Wukong's explanation, the three—White Dragon, Pigsy, and Sandy—were incredibly excited. What did this mean? It meant that they had completed all their tribulations, and a smooth road to the Western Paradise lay ahead.

"Congratulations, Master!" All the disciples congratulated Tang Sanzang in unison.

Tang Sanzang himself was overjoyed. He quickly straightened his cassock and looked at the misty, Buddha-light-shrouded Ling Mountain on the opposite bank. His gaze became firm and devout.

After crossing Lingyun Ferry, the five disciples arrived at the foot of the Great Thunder Temple on Mount Ling. The Golden Peak Immortal of Yuzhen Temple, along with his celestial attendants and disciples, came to greet them.

The five members of Tang Sanzang's group, greeted by the Golden Summit Immortal, entered the Jade True Temple to stay overnight. After resting for one night, the next day Tang Sanzang and his four disciples bid farewell to the Golden Summit Immortal and went to the Bodhi Tree on Mount Ling to pay homage to the immortals.

Afterwards, Tang Sanzang bathed in the Golden Lotus Pond to wash away the dust of the mortal world. Then, the five of them made their way up to Mount Ling and went to the Great Thunder Temple to pay homage to the Buddha.

At the same time, the sounds of bells and chimes resounded throughout Lingshan, and all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Devas, Arhats, Sangharama, and Vajras came from all directions and gathered at Daleiyin Temple.

A moment later, the Central Treasure Flower Clouds rose, the Buddhist chants were magnificent, and golden light filled the sky, illuminating the entire sky of Xiniu Hezhou.

The ten powerful immortals and gods simultaneously turned their gazes toward Xiniu Hezhou, uttering the same words almost at the same moment:

"Tang Sanzang has arrived at Mount Ling." (End of Chapter)