Journey to the West: Beginning with the Apprenticeship of Bodhi Patriarch

Chapter 103 How can we see the real Monkey King now? The real man's magical power descends upon the Great Sage (4k)

But it is said that in the Water Curtain Cave in Huaguo Mountain.

The Great Sage had just returned from a battle with the traveler Hui'an and was getting very restless, knowing that he was being recognized.

A monkey came and asked, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty! Today the soldiers could not stand up to us and we are at ease. Why are you so frightened?"

The Great Sage scratched his head and cheeks, impatiently saying, "You don't know, I am not afraid of this heaven. The Jade Emperor is afraid of me. He gave me the title of Great Sage Equaling Heaven and promised me everything. I am afraid that it is not the Jade Emperor, but my master."

Everyone asked, "Master? Is this the place where the king sought a master in the past? Now that the king has achieved supernatural powers, can he not defeat this master?"

The Great Sage said, "How do you know what my master is capable of? My master has boundless magical powers. The Jade Emperor cannot compare to him, and no one in the Three Realms can defeat him. Not to mention my master, even my eldest brother has great magical powers, and can kick the sky and dig a well."

The others asked again: "What do you mean by supernatural power?"

The Great Sage said, "My eldest brother has countless magical powers. They are innumerable and indescribable. One of his skills is the ability to hide the world in his sleeves. He only needs to open his sleeves, and even if I have seventy-two transformations and various magical powers, I can't do anything to him. I will just hide them in his sleeves."

Everyone was surprised and asked, "How can the sleeves be used to hold people? They are soft, won't they break if hit?"

The Great Sage said, "It's not what you think. Although the sleeves are soft when you twist them, they are harder than iron when you hit them. You can't hit them! You can't hit them!"

Everyone said: "There is such a magical power."

The Great Sage looked around and asked again, "Where are my six brothers going?"

Everyone answered, "I don't know."

Upon hearing this, the Great Sage gave up and only lamented that his six brothers had left and he could not join them in fighting the heavenly soldiers and generals.

……

It is said that in the camp outside the Flower-Fruit Mountain, eighteen nets were set up to trap the inside of the mountain.

Jiang Yuan and Bull Demon King came riding on clouds from Lingtai Fangcun Mountain. It didn't take long for them to arrive outside the camp, but they were stopped by heavenly soldiers and generals.

Jiang Yuan pressed down the cloud, and the Bull Demon King stepped forward and shouted, "The celestial guard at the camp gate, quickly report that the Immortal Guangxin of the Slanting Moon Three Stars Cave in Lingtai Fangcun Mountain in Hezhou, Xiniu, has come here by order to capture the demon monkey."

The soldiers guarding the camp gate were the Five Sacred Mountains. Upon hearing what had happened, they passed the message into the camp and delivered it to the central army tent. Li Tianwang and the Four Heavenly Kings heard about it and went to the camp gate in person to welcome the immortal.

Jiang Yuan saw the camp gate open and Li Tianwang and the Four Heavenly Kings approaching. He bowed and waited with them.

Li Tianwang and the four heavenly kings returned the greetings. After the ceremony, Li Tianwang asked, "I didn't know that your majesty invited the real person to come. I am sorry for not welcoming you from afar."

Jiang Yuan held up the whisk in his hand and said with a smile: "The Heavenly King holds an important position and came to the camp gate to greet me. I am deeply grateful. How could I fail to welcome him?"

Li Tianwang invited the Immortal to his camp and held a banquet for him, but the Immortal declined, saying that it would not be too late to talk about it after the demon monkey was subdued. Li Tianwang had no choice but to agree. Just as he was about to ask the Immortal how he needed help, he suddenly saw the Bull Demon King, and he looked familiar, but he could not remember where he had seen him before.

It turned out that when Li Tianwang was defeated at the Flower-Fruit Mountain for the first time and the Monkey King proclaimed himself the "Great Sage Equaling Heaven", he had seen this Bull Demon King.

The Heavenly King did not recognize the Ox King, but the Ox King remembered the Heavenly King. He lowered his head, trembling with fear, and was panic-stricken, fearing that the Heavenly King had caught him and something was wrong.

Li Tianwang looked at Niu Wang and thought to himself, "It is strange that the guardian of the real person is actually a demon."

Think about it.

He talked to the Immortal and asked, "Immortal, how can I help you to subdue the demon?"

Jiang Yuan looked towards the Flower-Fruit Mountain and said, "Please guard the four directions and don't let the Great Sage escape. I have my own magical powers to capture the Great Sage."

Upon hearing this, Li Tianwang bowed and said, "That's great, thank you for your hard work, Immortal."

Jiang Yuan returned the greeting and said, "Since I have received the imperial decree, why should I talk about being tired?"

Li Tianwang then left with the Four Heavenly Kings and lined up to wait for the Great Sage to escape.

Jiang Yuan and Bull Demon King left the camp, rode on the clouds, and looked into the Water Curtain Cave in the Flower-Fruit Mountain from afar.

The Bull Demon King said, "Master, what do you mean by capture?"

Jiang Yuanyuan pointed to the Water Curtain Cave and said, "This time you need to take action to capture Sun Wukong."

The Bull Demon King said: "Master, you have great magical powers, why do you need my insignificant skills to help you?"

Jiang Yuan laughed and said, "You little idiot, you don't know that Sun Wukong and I are from the same school. He is my junior fellow apprentice. He knows my magical powers. If he knew I was coming, he would not fight with me. He would just close the cave tightly and would not fight with me. If the real fire burns the mountain, innocent people may be hurt, so I ask you to help."

Upon hearing this, Bull Demon King waved his iron stick and said, "Master, please tell me what to do. Although Sun Wukong and I are sworn brothers, I have now become your disciple and will obey you."

Jiang Yuan asked, "How do you compare with that monkey-headed man?"

The Bull Demon King beat his chest and said, "Master, although my abilities are not as good as yours, I am on par with that monkey."

Jiang Yuan said, "That's great. You go down and provoke a fight. Just say that you have descended from heaven. The two monkey gods here are disturbing you. You can provoke them with words. They will definitely fight you to the death. You lure them out, and I will cut off their retreat and defeat them with my magical powers."

When the Bull Demon King heard this, he took note of it and said, "Master, I understand."

……

At this time, the powerful ghost king reported back to the Jade Emperor. Seeing that there was no report of battle here, the Jade Emperor, together with Avalokitesvara, Laozi, Queen Mother and other celestial beings, went out of the South Heaven Gate and observed the lower world from afar.

At this time, Jiang Yuan was discussing with the Bull Demon King how to capture the Great Sage.

The Bodhisattva said: "This true man has received the true teachings from Brother Bodhi, and his abilities are extraordinary. He will definitely teach us how to capture this great saint."

Laojun walked out and said, "This immortal is a Taoist immortal. In the past, I transformed a barbarian into a Buddha and went west through Hangu Pass. At that time, this immortal was still a Taoist child, but his heart was unshakable and he practiced with all his heart. Now that his merits and deeds are complete, it will not be difficult for him to subdue this naughty monkey."

Upon hearing this, the Jade Emperor smiled and said, "Since the Bodhisattva and Laojun have said so, I have finally seen the magical powers of this real person."

……

Outside the Flower-Fruit Mountain, the Bull Demon King was ordered to hold the iron rod and walk to the front of the Water Curtain Cave, cursing, "That monkey, come out quickly."

As he was cursing, the Monkey King drew out his golden cudgel, adjusted his golden armor, put on his cloud-walking shoes, and came out, just to see who was challenging him.

The Great Sage took a closer look and realized that this man was none other than his sworn brother, the Bull Demon King. Among his seven brothers, each of them became a king, the eldest brother was the Bull Demon King, and he was the seventh, the Monkey King.

Later he called himself the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, and the other six brothers all called themselves great sages. The eldest brother, Bull Demon King, called himself the Great Sage Equaling Heaven.

The Monkey King couldn't find the Bull Demon King, so why did he see the Bull Demon King looking for him today?

The Great Sage put away his golden cudgel and said with a smile, "Brother, how could it be you? I have been looking for you everywhere and I don't know what to do. Now you are here to fight against the heavens with me."

Good Great Sage, seeing Bull Demon King wearing armor, thought that Bull Demon King was going to get the armor and then come to help him fight against the sky.

The Bull Demon King swung the iron rod with both hands and cursed: "Who calls you a brother, a monkey? You are rebelling against the heavens. I have been guided by the gods and have been corrected for a long time. Now I come to defeat you." The Great Sage asked: "Why do you say that, elder brother?"

The Bull Demon King said, "You have gone against the will of Heaven, earning Heaven's wrath. Heaven's soldiers and generals have come to punish you, but you have shown no remorse and have resisted. All the spirits in the mountain have been punished with you. If I had not turned over a new leaf, I would have been a burden to you. How dare you call me your elder brother?"

The Great Sage was annoyed when he heard this and cursed, "Since my brother doesn't acknowledge me, then our brotherhood is over."

The Bull Demon King said: "If I were your brother, wouldn't I be burdened by you? If I don't recognize you, then forget it."

The Great Sage became very angry and started to hit him with his stick, wanting to fight it out.

The Bull Demon King was not afraid. He swung the iron stick in both hands and fought with him.

But in the Flower-Fruit Mountain, there was a fierce fight, the iron stick fought the golden hoop, the Bull Demon King fought the Great Saint of Heaven, one said: "You are harming our descendants, you don't know the destiny." The other said: "I don't have a brother like you." One was a disciple of a real person, doing the right thing, the other was a deceitful and righteous master. The Bull King's stick was like a dragon, the Great Saint's stick was welcoming gods and ghosts.

At first, the two men fought not far from the camp outside the Water Curtain Cave. Later, they rode in together on the clouds and mist, and used their magic powers in the air and mist. They fought back and forth to compete for victory, and the fight lasted until it was far away from the Water Curtain Cave. The clash of sticks and spears shook the earth and sky, and there was no sign of winning or losing.

The Bull Demon King beat the Great Sage back with a stick. He gasped for breath and thought to himself, "Good monkey, you have successfully refined the heavenly wine, elixir and peach. You are stronger than before. It will take more than five or six hundred rounds to see who wins. Now I must fight with this rough monkey and lure him out. Success, success."

Think about it.

The Bull Demon King stopped fighting with the Monkey King and retreated away.

The Great Sage said angrily, "Bull Demon, don't run away! Take this blow from me!"

The Bull Demon King laughed and said, "Monkey, if you don't correct your ways, you will surely lose today!"

Upon hearing this, the Great Sage felt uneasy and waved his golden cudgel, intending to leave.

Suddenly there was a sound.

"Goku."

The Great Sage shuddered, turned around in panic, looked up and saw that the one riding on the auspicious cloud in the sky, blocking his way, was his eldest brother. The Great Sage put away his golden hoop, how dare he mess around, and bowed and said, "Elder Brother, Elder Brother!"

Jiang Yuan pressed down the cloud and pointed at the Great Sage and said, "Monkey, what did I say to you before we met and left?"

The Great Sage didn't know how to answer and was too embarrassed to see his senior brother.

Jiang Yuan said, "Monkey, I often advise you to cultivate your mind, but when did you listen? When you went up the mountain in the past, you were full of spiritual energy, well-behaved and intelligent. Now I see that you are full of demonic energy and your mind is confused. You don't look like a cultivator at all."

The Great Sage seemed annoyed, and actually raised his head, very angry, and said: "Big Brother, why don't I seem to be practicing? I now have great magical powers, can perform seventy-two transformations, have profound magical powers, and have an immortal body without any flaws."

Jiang Yuan looked into the monkey's eyes and saw no sign of spiritual practice. He only saw evil thoughts such as greed, killing, and stealing. He said, "Monkey, I once said that if I knew you were causing trouble and saw me, I would definitely catch you. Now I have received the order from the Jade Emperor and I am here to catch you! Why don't you surrender!"

The Great Sage swung his golden hoop and said, "Big Brother, since you are helping the Jade Emperor, don't blame me for being ruthless. Take my blow!"

Say it.

The Monkey King and the other gods were disturbing him, wondering how his real self could be still there. He became extremely angry and swung his golden cudgel towards Jiang Yuan.

If one practices cultivation without cultivating the mind, the two spirits will come to disturb him. Even if one cultivates all kinds of methods and learns thousands of techniques, they will all be used by the two spirits, and the true self will not be seen.

Jiang Yuan held the whisk in his hand, blocking left and right, but the Great Sage was neither tall nor short, and he hit him with his stick randomly, unable to break the delicate whisk. The Great Sage was impatient, plucked a handful of hair, blew a breath of fairy air, and transformed into thousands of monkeys and descendants to harass the real person, but his real body was about to leave.

Jiang Yuan rose up on the clouds and used his ability of 'the world in his sleeves'. He gently spread his sleeves in the clouds to face the wind and rushed forward. No matter how many monkeys there were, he covered them all with one sleeve, including the Great Sage's real body, and put them into his sleeves.

The Monkey King was captured and the winner was clear.

Li Tianwang and the Four Heavenly Kings who were watching the battle in the clouds came down from the clouds and congratulated him: "The real person has amazing magical powers!"

Jiang Yuan responded with, "Here is the monkey head."

The Immortal opened his sleeves, and the "spraying" magic was broken in an instant. He took out the Great Sage's real body, and used a "fixing" spell, and handed it to Li Tianwang and others.

He said: "I have cast a spell on this monkey head. It will be released after a period of rotation. You can take it back to heaven."

Li Tianwang then ordered the heavenly generals to capture the Great Sage, and was about to arrange for the heavenly soldiers to destroy the demons in the mountains.

Jiang Yuan stopped him and said, "Heavenly King, this is a beautiful and spiritual place. The wars have damaged its foundation. If we start fighting again, this place will be useless. The main culprit of this disaster has been captured. Why don't you ask Heavenly King to show mercy and spare the lives of those little monsters?"

Upon hearing this, Li Tianwang nodded and said, "Since the Immortal is begging for mercy, we can capture most of the snakes, insects, rats, ants, tigers, leopards, jackals and wolves, and let those monkey spirits go."

Jiang Yuan thanked Li Tianwang.

Li Tianwang said he dared not, and then said: "Please come with us and return to heaven. Your Majesty will reward you handsomely."

Jiang Yuan twisted the whisk in his hand and shook his head, saying, "No. I am just an immortal without the immortal seal, how can I enter the heaven? Please go back to heaven and tell the Jade Emperor that if there is a reward, please send a man and a horse to take me to Xiniu Hezhou, Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, Xieyue Sanxing Cave."

Upon hearing this, Li Tianwang dared not ask again. He said that he would definitely send the reward to Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, and then he returned to heaven.

Soon, the 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals returned to heaven. Huaguo Mountain was instantly peaceful, and Jiang Yuan and the Bull Demon King were in the forest.

The Bull Demon King asked, "Master, why don't we enter the heaven?"

Jiang Yuan said: "We are common people, please don't be impolite."

The Bull Demon King stopped, looked around, and asked, "Master, what are we doing here?"

Jiang Yuan looked towards the mountain and said, "We have spoken to the monkey spirits in the mountain. They are afraid and dare not show themselves. You go and join them. Considering that they have never done evil and it is not easy for them to practice, we will spare their lives. I hope they will practice well and not do evil."

The Bull Demon King took the order and walked towards the Water Curtain Cave with an iron stick.

……

But at the South Heaven Gate, the Jade Emperor, Taishang Laojun, Guanyin Bodhisattva and others saw the Immortal capture the Great Sage with one magical power, and they all praised him, saying that the Immortal had extraordinary magical powers.

Hearing that he had performed all the necessary etiquette, he dared not go to heaven without the immortal talisman. The Jade Emperor said, "The Immortal has perfected his merits and deeds, and indeed has received the true teachings, and performed all the necessary etiquette."

Laojun said: "Bodhi's true teachings, I have heard Bodhi say that when this real person's practice is complete, he will open a cave. Now I see that his practice is not shallow."

Guanyin Bodhisattva clasped his hands together and bowed, and asked, "Your Majesty, now that this great sage has been subdued by the Immortal, Li Tianwang has returned to heaven, and this great sage will be sent to heaven. What should we do?"

The Jade Emperor said: "The monkey spirit has committed evil deeds, stealing peaches and wine, stealing elixirs and falsely conveying the Jade Emperor's orders. We cannot tolerate it. Send it to the Demon Execution Platform, where it can be chopped by knives, axes, lightning, and fire."

One day, Ding received the imperial edict and went to the demon-slaying platform to convey the order.

The Jade Emperor then set out to enter the South Heaven Gate, no longer looking at the Three Realms from afar, and headed for the Lingxiao Palace...

(End of this chapter)