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

Chapter 11 Leaving the Mountain and Heading West

Jiang Yuan saw the totem in the sky dissipate and the golden light scattered. He didn't understand why, and seeing that this light was not coming towards him and his master, he took the Yu Ding.

The Patriarch walked forward, looked toward the horizon, and saw a golden road with four barbarians, and said, "The southern continent is in chaos."

Jiang Yuan asked in confusion: "Master, why?"

The master said, "My boy, you have been cultivating for more than fifty years. The southern continent of Zhan is not at peace. The Zhou Dynasty was destroyed and the Zhou Dynasty rose. Today, the Zhou Dynasty exists in name only. The fate of the Zhou Dynasty is completely in the four barbarians."

The Zhou Dynasty existed in name only; the fate of the Zhou Dynasty depended on the four barbarians!

Jiang Yuan was shocked when he heard this. He had been practicing for more than fifty years, and the Zhou Dynasty was at the time of a change of dynasties.

He knew that the Zhou Dynasty lasted for 800 years and that it was in name only during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. However, during the time he had been practicing, dynasties had already changed. How could he not be surprised by this feeling?

Moreover, he witnessed with his own eyes that the fortune of the Zhou Dynasty was moving in all directions.

"When the emperor loses his office, learning will spread to the four barbarians"!
These words emerged in Jiang Yuan’s mind.

This is no different from the fate of the Zhou Dynasty.

Jiang Yuan raised his head and asked, "Master, that light is the destiny of the Zhou Dynasty. I have no power and my fate is shallow, so how can I see it?"

The master replied, "My boy, your soul is different from others. Your soul is full of spirit, and your mind is half-returned. Your soul helps you, so you can see it."

Jiang Yuan asked in surprise, "Other people's souls are not like mine. Master, I saw in the cauldron that their souls were seriously ill and could not get up. This was the sign of a serious illness."

The master extended his hand from under his sleeves, pointed at Jiang Yuan's mud palace, and said with a smile: "People born in the Southern Continent do not cultivate their primordial spirits, so they have symptoms of illness. However, there are evil diseases, serious diseases, and minor diseases. Evil diseases are difficult to treat, serious diseases are difficult to cure, and minor diseases are difficult to maintain. Your primordial spirit is a minor disease. With the Heart Monkey, Yu Ding, and Taixuan Qingsheng Fu, you are now spiritually sufficient."

Jiang Yuan suddenly realized that his clear mind and healthy body were due to his powerful spirit, which endowed him with such supernatural powers.

He is different now than he was in the past.

Jiang Yuan looked into the distance again, but the magical scene had disappeared without a trace.

But he vaguely felt that there was something mysterious about the four barbarians.

Zhou Dynasty...

He grew up there.

He felt regretful but said nothing.

The master suddenly said, "Boy, go inside and gather your things. It's time to leave this place. We should have waited for you to enter the Dao before leaving, but something has changed here. Let's go to Xiniu Hezhou in advance. When we get to Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, I will build a cave and practice in peace."

Jiang Yuan didn't ask any more questions, just replied "yes", and went back to the cave to pack up his clothes, cushions, etc.

But after he cleaned up a few things, he was at a loss.

The cave was simple, with two quiet rooms. Apart from the futon and clothes, there was not much else to take with us; we could not move the bed away.

The master approached and said, "Boy, there is no need to move the bed. Leave it here so that travelers who have nowhere to go can have a place to stay."

Jiang Yuan responded.

The master took the cushion and clothes from Jiang Yuan's hand, flicked his sleeves, and the futon and clothes disappeared.

Jiang Yuan's eyes widened. What kind of method is this? He asked, "Master, what method is this?"

The master pointed at his wide sleeves and said with a smile, "It's the 'Universe in the Sleeves' method, a side door. There are 360 ​​side doors in the word Tao, which can lead to the true fruit. Do you regret it, boy? If you regret it, I can teach you the side door. Not to mention the Universe in the Sleeves, I can teach you all the side doors that you can learn."

Jiang Yuan waved his hands and said, "No, no! Just learn the correct way of the golden elixir. If you don't have the correct way, it's like fishing for the moon in the water. It's hard to achieve immortality, like the Taixuan Qingsheng Fu."

The Taixuan Qingsheng Talisman is extremely magical and can make one immortal. However, once it is taken away, one’s body will die and their soul will disappear, never to be restored. This is a side door.

Just as the saying goes 'A blacksmith must be strong himself', he is cultivating the Golden Elixir Dao, so why would he need anything else?

The master smiled and nodded, then walked out.

Jiang Yuan followed behind.

The two walked out of the cave, one in front and one behind. Jiang Yuan walked to the door of the cave and stopped. He turned his head and looked around. A new flower on the dead tree just bloomed at this time, as if to express his gratitude for the years of care.

Jiang Yuan smiled and followed the master's footsteps.

The new flowers on the dead tree trembled, and in the surrounding mountains and forests, mountain flowers blossomed, with the fragrance of flowers stretching for ten miles, red and fat and green and thin. With every step Jiang Yuan took, a breeze came and smoothed the path.

Seeing this, the master raised his hands and said: "You became my disciple because of this dead tree. The dead tree is alive because of you. It takes care of you for a lifetime and sends you fragrant flowers for ten miles. How wonderful, how wonderful!"

Jiang Yuan said, "Master, this tree in the mountains can bring peace. If there are travelers who come here again and encounter difficulties, this tree may help them."

The master looked at Jiang Yuan for a second and said, "It's just as wonderful as my bed!"

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "Master, we are master and disciple."

The master laughed loudly, said no more, and walked down the mountain.

Jiang Yuan followed closely behind.

……

The two men walked down Shangjing Mountain, and the journey took seven or eight days.

The Patriarch is a wonderful person and never feels tired.

Jiang Yuande's mind was more than half subdued, and his body was so light that he would not feel tired even if he walked for seven or eight days, let alone seven or eight years.

The journey was smooth and peaceful, and they walked slowly and leisurely, passing through small counties and crossing the streets. Others seemed surprised, but the master and disciple did not feel any hindrance.

Walk to the river path.

Jiang Yuan suddenly felt a purple aura emerging in the eastern sky. He looked up and realized that it was his soul helping him again.

He asked: "Master, what is this purple air?"

The ancestor looked up and said, "The noble man descended to Luoyi, descending with purple air."

When Jiang Yuan heard this, he looked twice more towards the place where the purple air was.

Luoyi is Luoyang. It is said that "the vastness of the eight directions, with Luoyang as the center, is called Luoyi". Luoyi is the center of China.

However, when he was alive, the Zhou Dynasty was in Haojing, but now it has changed a lot.

The ancestor said that a noble person had descended on Luoyi. I don’t know which noble person it was that the ancestor called him “noble person”.

The master changed direction and said, "Tong'er, go to Luoyi and meet the noble man. You also know the noble man."

Jiang Yuan followed and asked, "Master, is this Mr. Boyang?"

The only person he knew who could be called a 'noble man' by the ancestor and enjoy the purple aura around him was Laozi.

In mythology, there is a saying about Laozi that "purple air comes from the east for 30,000 miles."

It is not difficult to guess his identity, but I don't know why a deity like Laozi would go to Luoyi. In the past, Laozi said that he would go to the world for a trip, and perhaps it was related to this matter.

The master nodded and said, "Yes, it is Boyang. It's just right. You should thank Boyang again. Yu Ding promised you a lot of help. Without Yu Ding, the monkey in your heart would not have surrendered so easily."

Jiang Yuan naturally understood that Yu Ding was a sacred object. When Laozi gave it to him, he did not know how to use it. Now thinking about it, he felt that he was a little impolite and should thank Laozi again.

The Patriarch went in the direction of the purple air.

Ginger is always with you.

The two men walked very slowly, not like immortals but more like ordinary people. However, their words and actions were so natural that others did not notice anything unusual when they saw them, and this was also the reason.

Jiang Yuan never asked the master why he didn't use his magical powers. He felt that walking this way was very comfortable, and he could still calm down while walking. This kind of water-grinding skill was good because it could be done at any time, day after day...

(End of this chapter)