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

Chapter 138: The Monkey Heart Walks the Middle Way, the Wood Mother Is Foolish and Stubborn, and Greedy and Gossipy

But when Tang Monk saw Red Boy transformed into a fair-skinned child hanging on a tree, he was so stupid that he could not see through the transformation and he just went forward to save the child.

Tang Seng approached and saw clearly, and said, "Wukong, what demon is talking about hurrying? It's obvious that he is lazy. This is clearly a person, how can he be a demon?"

Tang Seng felt a little resentful.

The traveler remained silent. As the saying goes, "Three times is enough", he had advised the child more than three times. How could there be such a child in the mountains? This was strange. It must be a monster.

Tang Seng approached and pointed at the child, asking, "Whose child are you from? Why are you hanging here? Tell me what's going on and I'll rescue you."

The child that the Bull Holy Infant transformed into had tears in his eyes and cried out, "Elder, I am a child from the Dry Pine Stream in the west of the mountain. Because I was not good enough in learning the art, my father hung me here as a punishment. I have realized my mistakes and repented. I have been hung here for a long time and I am feeling unwell. My father does not know and cannot let me go. But please rescue me, elder. When I return home, my father will definitely give me a huge reward."

Tang Seng asked again: "What do you mean if you are not good at learning?"

The child said, "Elder, you don't know. What we are learning is arithmetic."

Tang Seng asked: "You are only seventy or eight years old, how can you learn arithmetic?"

The child said, "Elder, my family is a very wealthy family. We have countless gold and silver, and a huge fortune. Listen to me carefully. We have yellow buffaloes, mules, horses, pigs and sheep, totaling tens of thousands. We also have silks that can't be worn out for a hundred years, gold and silver that can't be used up for a thousand years, and fine wine that can't be drunk for ten thousand years. Because my father only has me as his son, he made me learn arithmetic so that he can teach me to inherit the family property when he is old."

Hearing this, Bajie smiled and said, "What a great family fortune! What a great family fortune! If I had such a fortune, I would have enough food every day and still not be able to finish it all."

Tang Seng said: "You are so young, how could you be like this? I will save you and send you home so that you can have a good talk with your father."

The child said happily: "Thank you, Elder. Thank you, Elder."

Tang Seng then ordered Bajie to rescue the child.

Bajie said, "I have saved you now, you must remember my kindness, send you home, and give me a full meal to repay my kindness."

The Monkey King stepped forward to stop him and said, "Bajie, Master, please take a closer look. How can there be such a child in the mountains?"

The child knew that the walker had some abilities, so he said, "My family is very wealthy, and my father likes quietness, so he lives in this mountain. How can it be that people can't live in the mountains?"

The traveler was about to say something else.

Bajie shouted, "Brother, he is just a child, why are you so cautious? Don't be lazy. Once we rescue him, we will go to his house and talk to his father. We will eat together for a few days. Even if we have a big appetite, we can't eat up the price of his 100 acres of land."

Say it.

Bajie untied the rope and rescued the child.

As soon as the child came down, he shrank to Tang Seng's side, as if he was afraid of Monkey and the other three.

Bajie said impatiently: "You are so rude, little boy. I, the old pig, saved you, why are you afraid of me?"

The child said, "You three are a little ugly. I have never seen such ugly monks. I didn't look closely at them when they were on the tree before. Now that I see them, I am afraid I will have nightmares."

Tang Seng stopped them and said, "My disciples, the three of you look a little scary. So, you should step back and follow behind to avoid scaring this boy."

Upon hearing this, the traveler and the other three retreated a little, about three feet.

When the child saw Monkey and the other two retreating, he said, "Elder, please ask them to retreat a little further. Their appearance is really intimidating. They are not as good as you. One can tell at a glance that they are great monks."

Tang Seng then asked the three Monkey Kings to move away.

The three travelers had no choice but to retreat.

The child watched the traveler go away with a triumphant smile on his face. He rode the clouds to mid-air and used his power to create the wind, causing a whirlwind with flying sand and rocks. The wind was whistling and uprooted the trees on the hilltop, and the yellow sand made it difficult for people to walk.

The Monkey King and his companions were hit by an evil wind. Pigsy and Sha Seng were blown back by the wind. Only Monkey King had great magical powers. He chanted some incantations and used his heavy body skills. His body became as tall as a mountain. The evil wind could not shake him. Knowing that it was a demon, he drew out his golden cudgel and came to rescue Tang Monk.

Red Boy revealed his true form, half cloud and half fog. He saw that Monkey was not afraid of the evil wind, so he was secretly surprised and said, "He is a capable man. I will not fight him, but capture Tang Monk and see what he can do."

Say it.

Red Boy created a fierce wind that blew away Tang Monk, and he followed the clouds into the Fire Cloud Cave.

The Monkey King arrived in a hurry and hit the monk with his stick, but only the tail of the stick was hit by wind, allowing Red Boy to capture Tang Monk.

The wind blew away and the traveler turned back, but saw the White Dragon Horse trembling with fear, Pigsy was lying on his back, groaning at the foot of the cliff, and Sha Seng was stumbling around, not knowing where he had gone. His luggage was thrown on the side of the road and no one cared about it.

The Monkey King stepped forward, picked up the baggage, and helped Bajie and Sha Seng up, saying, "What do you two say?"

Bajie came up and said, "Brother, what a strong wind! Where does this wind come from?"

Sha Seng looked around frantically, unable to find his master, and said in surprise, "Big Brother, Second Brother, our master is gone."

The Monkey King laughed and said, "I told you long ago that it was a demon. Just hurry on. I have good eyesight and I know it can't get close to me. If it did, I would have killed it with a stick. But Master didn't believe me. So now the demon must have taken it away."

Sha Seng panicked and asked, "Big Brother, what should we do?"

Bajie was at a loss and sat on the ground in a daze.

The Monkey King went up to him and grabbed Bajie, saying, "Bajie, what are you doing sitting here? Why don't you get up?"

Bajie asked, "Brother, where are you sending me to?"

The traveler said, "You always talk about dividing the luggage. Now is the right time to do so. You have carried more luggage along the way, so I'll give you 10% more. The white dragon horse has done a lot of good, so I'll give you some. I have some family property, so I'll give you less."

Bajie smiled and said, "Okay, okay, okay! Let's go and divide it up now. We will each find a mountain top and get together again when we have free time."

The traveler said, “That’s exactly it.”

Upon hearing this, Sha Seng pulled the two men aside and said in surprise, "Big Brother, Second Brother, how can you say that? We have been enlightened by the Bodhisattva and converted to Buddhism. We are determined to go west to obtain the true scriptures and achieve the right results. We will defeat demons and monsters on the way and dare not make any mistakes. How can you give up now?"

The traveler said, "Master, you never listened to me. You always ignored me and only cared about your worldly thoughts. I became lazy and discouraged, so I just left."

Bajie hesitated for a long time and then advised: "Brother, we can't divide the luggage today. It's my fault for talking nonsense. I will listen to you one day."

The traveler asked, "Is it true?"

Bajie said, "It is true."

The Monkey King smiled and said, "Well, well. Since the two brothers are of one mind, let's rescue our master. You two gather the horses and luggage, and I will send the mountain gods and the local gods to find out who the demon is."

Bajie and Sha Seng received the order and went to collect the troops.

The Monkey King chanted a spell and arrested the local mountain gods and land gods. He saw a group of local gods and mountain gods being sent over. Some were tall, some were short. There were about sixty of them. The local gods and mountain gods bowed and said, "We are here to see the Great Sage. We should have come earlier, but because there were so many of us, we couldn't gather together at once, so we are a little late. Please forgive us, Great Sage."

The traveler smiled and said, "No wonder, no wonder."

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and counted the heads.

A land official said tremblingly, "Great Sage, what do you say?"

The traveler said, "Count how many of you there are."

The land god said, "Great Sage, this mountain is called 'Six Hundred Li Zuantou Mountain'. There is a mountain god every ten miles, and a land god every ten miles. There should be thirty mountain gods and thirty land gods, a total of sixty."

The Monkey King said, "Sixty is just right. It's getting boring here. Thirty of you mountain gods, stretch out your crutch and hit me once each. Thirty of you land gods, carry your flower dew on your back and hit me once each. Let's relax and unwind."

Everyone panicked and said, "Great Sage, spare our lives."

The Monkey King said, "If you want to spare me, tell me the origin of the demon who kidnapped my master here."

The crowd said, "Great Sage, that demon lives by a stream in the mountains. The stream is called Dry Pine Stream. There is a cave by the stream called Fire Cloud Cave. The demon lives in the cave and gathers demons from the area. He calls himself the 'Holy Infant King'. He has great magical powers and can use fire magic that is very impressive. But this demon has a sense of righteousness and has never done evil. Instead, he restrains demons and does many good deeds. We are very grateful to him and have had dealings with him for a long time."

The Monkey King asked, "You are familiar with this demon and you said that the demon is kind, so why did you take my master away?"

The crowd said, "Great Sage, you don't know that this is not the evil done by the Holy Infant King, but the evil done by you all."

The Monkey King was a little annoyed and said, "Since I left Fangcun Mountain, I have been traveling west with a single-minded purpose. I have achieved righteousness and walked the path of goodness. How could I have done evil?"

The land gods and mountain gods said, "It was not the Great Sage who did the evil, but Marshal Tianpeng."

The traveler asked, "How did that fool do evil?"

They said, "Earlier, the Holy Infant King knew that the Great Sage and the others were crossing the mountain, and he wanted to let them pass. But he heard Marshal Tianpeng say that the mountain was a desolate mountain with incompetent monsters, which angered the Holy Infant King, so he captured Elder Jinchan."

The traveler said, "It is so. Come here, idiot!"

The Monkey King called Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing to come and explained what had happened.

When Zhu Bajie heard that it was he who said that, he had the demon catch Tang Monk and shouted, "This demon is absolutely magnanimous. How could he say a few words to harm us?"

The Monkey King grabbed Zhu Bajie's palm-leaf fan and said, "For those who practice cultivation, their spirit will be scattered when they open their mouths, and trouble will arise when they move their tongues. You have caused trouble like this. Come with me to Fangcun Mountain and ask my senior brother to teach you."

When Zhu Bajie heard about Fang Cun Mountain, he became afraid and said in a panic, "Brother, I won't dare to do it again. Please forgive me."

The Monkey King let him go after hearing his plea for mercy. He then looked at the God of the Land and the Mountain and asked, “What is the real name of the Holy Infant King?”

The crowd replied, "The Holy Infant King's real name is Cow Holy Infant, and his infant name is Red Boy. It seems that he is related to the Great Sage."

The traveler asked, "How can we be related?"

The crowd said, "The father of the Holy Infant King is the Bull Demon King. He and the Rakshasa woman gave birth to the Bull Holy Infant. It is said that the Great Sage and the Bull Demon King are brothers, so they are related."

When the Monkey King heard this, he didn't know what to say and asked everyone to leave.

Sha Monk stepped forward and asked, "Big Brother, why are you worried instead of happy when you heard that he is related to you?"

The Monkey King scratched his head and said, "Brothers, you don't know that the Bull Demon King and I were sworn brothers. There are usually seven of us. I was born small, so I called the Bull Demon King my eldest brother. In the past, I caused chaos in the Heavenly Palace, and 100,000 heavenly soldiers were helpless. It was my eldest brother who came to subdue me. At that time, I learned that the Bull Demon King was a practitioner under my eldest brother. So when my eldest brother came to subdue me, the Bull Demon King also came to help. Now I hear that this Holy Infant King is the son of the Bull Demon King. He must have a relationship with my eldest brother. I won't say too much."

Bajie said, "If that's the case, then the Holy Infant King should call you uncle according to seniority. If you don't argue with him, how can he not hand over Master's hands?"

The Monkey King said, "Come on, come on, come on. I'll go for a walk, you fool. If you see me, kowtow and apologize."

Zhu Bajie said, "How can I, an old pig, kowtow to him?"

The traveler said, "You are too talkative. If not, we would have passed this mountain long ago."

Zhu Bajie had no choice but to agree, and said that when he saw him the next time, he would say something soft to please the old man and let his master go.

They picked up their luggage, led their horses, and headed for Kusongjian.

This is exactly the case of 'the monkey in the heart walks uprightly in the middle path, the wood mother is foolish, greedy and gossipy, the mind horse harbors love and desire without saying a word, and the yellow woman is worried and anxious without saying a word'.

……

Let’s talk about the other side, in the Fire Cloud Cave.

Red Boy was annoyed with the monks who were seeking scriptures and wanted to capture Tang Monk. He wanted to make things difficult for them, so he called out all the monsters in the palace, big and small, and explained to them Tang Monk's origins.

The demons in the palace cheered and said, "Your Majesty, this is amazing! This monk came from the Tang Dynasty in the East to seek Buddhist scriptures. It is said that eating a piece of his meat can prolong one's life and make one immortal. Now that Your Majesty has captured him, it is really a blessing. Why don't you cook and eat him?"

Red Boy was very angry and said, "I am a cultivator, how can I eat human flesh? Even if I have great luck, I cannot eat human flesh. If I eat human flesh, how will my master look at me? You too should not eat human flesh. You should cultivate well and take this Tang Monk down. Don't leave him without food. His disciple is angry with me, so I made him suffer."

The demon in the mansion said, "I obey your orders and will not disobey you."

Red Boy said, "Send the little demons from all over the place. If there are any ugly monks who come to ask for people, tell them to come to me. I think the monk with the hairy face and thunder god mouth has some skills. He will definitely find this place and prepare the chariot. Then I will meet that monk."

Everyone responded, pushed the five chariots and were ready to go out to fight at any time.

These five chariots correspond to 'gold, wood, water, fire and earth' and are of great use to Red Boy. The alternative magical powers cultivated by Red Boy require the use of the five chariots.

Red Boy had never practiced the right way, and the five people in his body had not subdued him, so he had no help from them. So he simply used the numbers of heaven and earth that the Immortal had taught him, and made the five chariots replace the five people in his body, helping his primordial spirit to control the fire and cultivate another kind of magical power.

Red Boy was a man of great spiritual power, and even after such mischief, he actually developed a powerful magical power of fire.

Red Boy took out a flaming spear and waited for the pilgrims to arrive.

Not long after, Red Boy had just prepared everything when he heard a little demon outside the palace reporting that a few ugly monks were coming up.

Red Boy thought to himself, "I am trying to capture Tang Monk. He is in front of the mountain, about 150 miles away from Dry Pine Stream. How come they got here so quickly? Could it be that these monks are ghosts? They know where I came from. They must have magical powers. Even if they have magical powers, they should not insult me ​​like this, saying that this mountain is a barren mountain and that I am incompetent. It is reasonable to report this to the Lord. Who knows? The Lord will make the decision for me."

He then said, "My fellow charioteers, push the chariot out, follow me out of the palace, and fight those ugly monks. We must let them know that my Fire Cloud Cave is not to be trifled with. We must burn through their bodies."

Say it.

Red Boy took the flaming spear, tied a brocade battle skirt around his waist, walked barefoot in the firelight, and went out of the mansion.

(End of this chapter)