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

Chapter 141 The Walker finally defeats the Holy Infant, and Red Boy returns to Fangcun
The story takes place in the Fire Cloud Cave in the Dry Pine Valley on Hao Mountain.

Red Boy was having a banquet with the demons in the palace to congratulate him on his second victory over Monkey King. After the banquet, Red Boy went to look for Tang Monk and was relieved to see that he was plump and white, not thin at all.

Tang Seng cried sadly, thinking about his three disciples, but none of them could save him.

When Red Boy saw this, he said, "Why are you crying, monk? Is there a demon in the palace trying to hurt you?"

Tang Seng clasped his hands in front of his chest and said in a sad voice: "Your Majesty, you advised the soldiers in the palace, and no one hurt me."

Red Boy asked: "Then you are missing some food and drinks?"

Tang Seng said: "Every meal is enough."

Red Boy said, "No one has hurt you, and you haven't been deprived of food and drink, so why are you crying?"

Tang Monk said: "I know that the king has no intention to hurt me, but I was instructed by the Bodhisattva and ordered by the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty to go to the West to seek the true scriptures. Now I am trapped here, and I don't know when I can escape. I will go to Lingshan as soon as possible."

Red Boy said, "Why don't you give up your worries early, have some tea and food in my house, and then go back."

Tang Monk said: "I will never go back."

Red Boy said, "I won't hide it from you. I wanted to let you go back so as not to cause trouble. But your disciple insulted me and caused trouble. I will definitely make things difficult for you."

Tang Seng asked: "Which disciple insulted the king?"

Red Boy said, "It's the pig demon."

Tang Seng knew immediately that it was Bajie who had caused the trouble. Tears fell down his cheeks and he thought to himself, "Wuneng, how could you insult others and cause me to suffer disasters and fail to obtain the scriptures. Wukong, you always say that you have all kinds of abilities, why didn't you come to save me?"

Seeing this, Red Boy guessed what Tang Seng was thinking, and said, "Don't think too much. I beat back those disciples of yours a long time ago. The one with the hairy face and thunder god mouth was almost burned to death, and the one with the rake mouth and cattail leaf ears ran away without a trace."

Tang Seng held back his tears and said nothing.

Red Boy turned and left, and suddenly a little demon came to report.

"My lord, my lord! That hairy-faced monk with a thunder god's mouth is here again."

After hearing this, Red Boy was secretly shocked and said, "If that monk is really powerful, I used my fire to burn him before, but he came again like this. At that time he invited the Dragon Soldiers from all over the world, I wonder who he invited now? I have my fire, no matter who he invites, they can't put out my fire."

He then said, "Come on, push the chariot out and fight that guy."

Little demons pushed five chariots out. Red Boy held a flaming spear in his hand and tied a brocade battle skirt around his waist. He walked out of the cave under the flames.

Red Boy walked outside the cave, set up the fire array, raised his head and took a closer look, only to see Monkey King arriving on a cloud, with the Dragon Girl beside him.

Red Boy pointed his spear at Dragon Girl and asked, "Are you the reinforcements that monkey invited?"

The Dragon Girl held the bottle in both hands and said, "I am a disciple of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara of the South Sea."

Red Boy said, "I have heard that Avalokitesvara is merciful. How can she bully the weak and help this monk to bully me? If this is the case, I will report it to the master and let him take charge of the matter for me."

The Dragon Girl said, "The Bodhisattva has ordered me to help the Great Sage to relieve disasters. If you release Tang Monk, I will not stay any longer and will return to the sea."

Red Boy said, "If you want me to release Tang Monk, then it depends on whether you two have the ability to do so."

The Monkey King said, "Red Boy, I understand that you and I are from the same family. Please return to my master immediately and I will not bother with you. Otherwise, you will suffer."

Red Boy was very angry and said, "You monk, you have been fooling me again and again. You can't take advantage of my young age. Look at the gun."

Say it.

Red Boy thrust his spear at the Dragon Girl to test her strength.

When the Monkey King saw this, he drew out his golden hoop stick, blocked the tip of the spear, and hit Red Boy with his backhanded stick. What a great Great Sage, he was born from heaven and earth, with the power to move mountains and hills. His stick was so powerful that Red Boy had a hard time defending himself, and he retreated after a feint.

Red Boy repeated his old trick and landed on the brown chariot. He opened his mouth and sprayed fireworks, red smoke billowing, black smoke billowing, and the fire was very strong, spraying towards the traveler.

When the Monkey King saw Feng Yan, he was afraid. He was afraid of Feng Yan. He jumped and hid behind the Dragon Girl, saying, "Dragon Girl, give me the bottle quickly to relieve his heat."

The Dragon Girl said, "The Bodhisattva told me to just put out the fire and not talk to you any more. And you can't hold the jar."

Say it.

The Dragon Girl ignored the Monkey King and overturned the bottle. Amrita water gushed out of the bottle. Water and fire were fighting each other, but the red flame was defeated in an instant, and the amrita water was extinguished, unable to regenerate.

It turned out that Red Boy's strength was "borrowed", so he could never defeat the power of the sea.

Sun Wukong opened his flaming eyes wide, rode on the clouds and mist, swung his iron rod, broke up the black chariot and interrupted Red Boy's fire formation.

The Monkey King laughed and said, "Nephew, your chariot is damaged now. I hope you won't be able to spit fire again."

Seeing that the situation was not good, Red Boy waved his flaming spear and pretended to stab, but in fact he rode the flames into the palace.

The traveler said, "My dear nephew, this kind of trick can't do anything to your uncle."

It was precisely because Monkey saw through the clues early on that he used the cloud of light to stop Red Boy and started beating him with his iron rod.

Red Boy had no choice but to raise his spear to meet the enemy, and the uncle and nephew fought fiercely in front of the mansion.

One of them held a flaming spear, the other wielded a golden cudgel. The two of them had no affection for each other, and they fought fiercely with sticks and spears. The one was timid and fled into the mansion, while the other questioned Tang Monk. The two fought, but after less than ten rounds, Red Boy showed signs of defeat and had to fight back.

Red Boy came up with a plan. He pretended to lose and ran away with his gun. Monkey came and tried to stop Red Boy.

Red Boy bent his body and stabbed back, but Monkey King twisted his waist and dodged.

The Monkey King pointed at Red Boy and said with a smile, "Good job, nephew. I almost learned your trick."

Red Boy knew he couldn't escape, so he said, "Monk, if we fight alone and compete in magical powers, you are no match for me."

The Monkey King swung his golden cudgel and said, "It's not that I can't defeat you. Your strength can't hurt me. It's just that I have an eye disease and I'm afraid of smoke."

Red Boy said, "You have defeated me today. How did you do that? Tell me now."

The traveler said, "I have already told you that you and I are from the same family."

Red Boy scolded, "You are still trying to fool me after all this. My family is the Three Stars Immortal Cave. It is so spiritual. How could a demon like you come from there?"

The traveler said, "You don't know that I also had a spirit form in the past, but I practiced incorrectly, so I have this demon form. But you and I are from the same family."

How could Red Boy believe it?

Just as the two were in a stalemate, when the sun was high in the sky, auspicious clouds fell and Venerable Hui'an appeared.

The Monkey King saw me and said, "Venerable Hui'an, why are you here? Is it because the Bodhisattva is worried that I have deceived the Dragon Girl?"

Venerable Hui An shook his head and said, "No. I came here on the orders of the Bodhisattva to do two things. First, to help you rescue Tang Monk and bring back the Dragon Girl. Second, to take Red Boy away."

The Monkey King pounded his golden hoop and said, "Venerable Hui'an, this Red Boy and I are from the same family. Where are you taking him?"

Venerable Hui An took out his jade-handled whisk and said, "This is the order from Master Guangxin. Take Red Boy back to the Three Stars Cave."

When the Monkey King saw the whisk, he bowed and said, "I dare not stop you. Since it is my eldest brother who said so, please take it away."

Venerable Hui An walked up to Red Boy, took out the jade-handled whisk, and said, "Red Boy, do you know what this is?"

When Red Boy saw the whisk, he put down his lance and said, "This is the master's whisk."

Venerable Hui An said, "Master Guangxin has ordered me to take you back to the Three Stars Cave of the Slanting Moon." Red Boy said, "I will go right away, I will go right away."

The Venerable Hui An rode on a cloud and was about to take Red Boy away with him.

The Monkey King stepped forward, grabbed him, and said, "Red Boy, return my Master to me, and let me go west."

Red Boy said, "You can go into the cave by yourself. I have treated him well these days and have given him good food and drink. You can tell the pig demon that I have a grudge against him. When I succeed in my mission, I will settle the score with him."

The traveler smiled and said, "Very good, very good. You and I are from the same family. If you can call me then, I can help you for a while."

Red Boy didn't understand what he meant, so he asked, "Are you and I really from the same family?"

The Monkey King said, "How can such a thing be false? My master has twelve generations, and I am the tenth. My Dharma name is Wukong. Master Guangxin is my eldest senior brother."

When Red Boy heard this, he said, "I don't know whether it's true or not. If it's true, I'll make amends to you when we meet someday."

Say it.

Red Boy said no more.

Venerable Hui'an rode on a cloud and went with him. Along the way, he called the dragon girl and went to Lingtai Fangcun Mountain together.

The Monkey King watched them go away, then rode a cloud of light into the woods and found Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing. After a while, he found the two of them.

The two were standing by a tree, one was looking after the luggage and the other was leading the white dragon horse. Zhu Bajie was lazily leaning against the tree while Sha Wujing was anxious.

The traveler came closer and dispersed the clouds and mist.

Sha Wujing came to greet him and asked, "Big Brother, have you been able to invite the Bodhisattva?"

The Monkey King told him what had happened before, and after he had finished, he went to the palace to rescue Tang Monk.

When Zhu Bajie heard about saving Tang Monk, he swung up his nine-toothed rake and shouted, "Brother, let me lead the charge and I will definitely rescue Master."

The Monkey King grabbed Bajie and said with a smile, "Fool, you have made a profit here."

Bajie asked, "How do you calculate the account?"

The Monkey King said, "The Holy Infant King remembers your insults to him, and he promised you that he would come and settle the score with you when he succeeds."

Bajie said, "That boy is too narrow-minded. I said a few words to him, but he still counts them."

Sha Wujing said: "Big Brother, Second Brother, don't say anything more, save Master first."

The three of them then went to the Fire Cloud Cave, broke into the palace, saw the demons retreat, did not cause any trouble, and saved Tang Monk. This matter will not be mentioned for the time being.

……

It is said that Venerable Hui'an took Red Boy and Dragon Girl to the Sanxing Immortal Cave, entered the cave, met on the tower, and returned the whisk to them.

When Red Boy saw Jiang Yuan, he knelt down and bowed, tears streaming down his face, and said, "Master."

Jiang Yuan was sitting at the table. Seeing that Red Boy was very smart and was not bothered by the two gods, he secretly admired him and said with a smile, "Red Boy, why do you cry when you see me? Have you been bullied by Wukong?"

Red Boy said, "It has been a long time since I last saw you. I feel very close to you now that I see you."

Jiang Yuan stood up and helped Red Boy up, saying, "Get up, get up. Did the monkey hurt you?"

Red Boy shook his head and said, "No, I just don't know if the monk was kidding me when he said that I am a relative."

Jiang Yuan said: "He never coaxed you, he is from the same family as you."

Red Boy said: "If this is the case, it would be a big mistake for him."

Jiang Yuan said with a smile: "Zhu Bajie is a quarrelsome person, so you should give him a hard time."

Say it.

He made Red Boy sit beside him, thanked the Bodhisattva, and then sat down at the table.

Over there, Venerable Hui'an and the Dragon Girl came forward.

The Dragon Girl held the bottle in both hands and said, "I am back today to return the bottle to you."

The Bodhisattva took the bottle and asked, "In the bottle is a liquid nectar made from the water of an ocean. After the fire is extinguished, can you put the nectar into the bottle?"

The Dragon Girl said, "Since I collected all the nectar, not a single centimeter has been left."

The Bodhisattva said, "This way I can feel at ease."

Jiang Yuan looked at the pure bottle and asked, "I have heard that the Bodhisattva's pure bottle can hold a square ocean. Now that I have heard the Bodhisattva speak, I know that the rumor is true."

The Bodhisattva smiled and said, "There is indeed an ocean of water in the bottle, which I borrowed from the three rivers, five lakes, eight seas and four rivers."

Seeing it, Jiang Yuan thought to himself, "It is indeed a treasure. It is somewhat similar to my magical power 'The Universe in My Sleeves'."

The Bodhisattva asked, "True Man, are you interested in looking at my pure bottle?"

Jiang Yuan said: "This is the treasure of the Bodhisattva. I dare not do such a disrespectful thing."

The Bodhisattva said, "It's alright, just look at the pure bottle."

The Bodhisattva then asked the Dragon Girl to hold the pure bottle in front of Jiang Yuan's seat.

Jiang Yuan thanked the Bodhisattva, then reached out and grasped the bottle, picked it up, held it in his palm and watched.

When the Bodhisattva saw this, he was amazed in his heart, thinking that the real person really had the magical power to span the sea.

Jiang Yuan took the bottle and looked at it for a long time, then returned it to the Dragon Girl. He stood up and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Bodhisattva. This bottle is indeed a rare treasure."

The Bodhisattva said: "The treasure of the real person is not necessarily weaker than this pure bottle of mine."

Jiang Yuan did not deny it. The only treasure he had that could compare to the Jingping was the Yu Ding. He had had the Yu Ding for a long time, so it was a magical object and had its own magical powers.

According to the theory of the five elements, Yu Ding belongs to the earth. Jing Ping has the power of absorbing the sea, and Yu Ding counteracts it. Moreover, Yu Ding is made of divine gold, while Jing Ping is a porcelain, which will be damaged if it is touched or rubbed, and is very fragile.

During the banquet, the two of them talked mostly about their journey to the west and about precious weapons. They talked for a long time before the banquet ended. The Bodhisattva, the Dragon Girl, and the Venerable Hui'an left the Sanxing Immortal Cave.

Jiang Yuan brought Red Boy to the quiet room and gave him a cushion. Seeing that Red Boy sat quietly without moving, he felt relieved. He said, "I once taught you to go out for training. How did you go to the No. 1 mountain?"

Red Boy replied, "Master, I learned martial arts and some skills from my father. I walked and stopped, remembering Master's teachings to cultivate my mind and do good deeds. Later, I walked to the Zuantou Mountain, which is 600 miles away. I saw that the monsters in the mountain were unrestrained, so I built a cave to restrain the area and do more good deeds. Master, I wanted to let the group of people who were seeking scriptures go, but the pig demon scolded me for being incompetent and scolded me for going to a barren mountain, so I captured the Tang monk just now."

Jiang Yuan said: "It is rare that you can remember to do good deeds. I have heard the Bodhisattva talk about Zhu Bajie's matter. You did a good job."

Upon hearing this, Red Boy beamed with joy, kowtowed countless times, and said, "Thank you very much, Master. Thank you very much, Master."

Jiang Yuan asked, "I heard that you have a magical power of fire control. I only taught you the fire control in the past, but not the magical power. Tell me how you learned it."

Red Boy then told Jiang Yuan about his magical power of controlling fire.

It turns out that the temperature is determined by the numbers of heaven and earth as described by Jiang Yuan, as well as the directions of the five vehicles, the Thunder Palace, the Niwan Palace, and so on, in order to achieve the right temperature.

After hearing this, Jiang Yuan was deeply impressed by Red Boy's intelligence.

(End of this chapter)