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

Chapter 147: The Bull King gathers his troops to challenge Sun Dasheng (asking for monthly tickets)
It is said that Master Jiang was leading the green ox and walking on the road to Xiniu Hezhou. The master had the aura of an immortal, and no demons or obstacles along the way dared to stop him, and the road was clear and bright.

The man and the ox did not ride on a cloud, but walked to Lingtai Fangcun Mountain. Along the way, they approached Cuiyun Mountain. The immortal thought for a long time that he had not seen the Ox King, so he led the green ox to Cuiyun Mountain.

The Immortal led the Green Ox to the foot of Cuiyun Mountain. He looked up and admired the beautiful scenery of the mountain. He saw that the mountain was really "so majestic that it overshadowed Peng Island, and so quiet that the fragrance of flowers was like the sea. A few tall pines were inhabited by wild cranes, and a few withered willows were chirping with mountain orioles." It was a sacred place for immortals.

Although Jiang Yuan was not here for the first time, he still couldn't help feeling emotional.

The green ox spoke in human language and asked, "Master, why are you stopping here?"

Jiang Yuan patted the cow's body and said, "This mountain is the cave of my guardian deity. Let's go up the mountain."

The green bull asked, "But what about the white bull?"

Jiang Yuan nodded and said, "It is the white bull."

The true form of the Bull Demon King is a white bull.

The green bull said, "The white bull is quite capable."

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "How does it compare to you?"

The blue bull raised its head and said, "Of course I am better than you."

Jiang Yuan asked: "What if there is no diamond cutter to help?"

Qingniu said: "It is also better."

Jiang Yuan said, "In that case, let's go up the mountain and I'll find the Bull King and give it a try with you."

Qingniu said: "Master, don't underestimate my martial arts."

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "I never underestimate you. Even if we fight, I will still call you King Si and you will call me Guangxin."

The green ox lowered its head and said nothing.

Jiang Yuan smiled and walked up the mountain with Qianniu. When he reached the mountain path, he saw a little demon with a yellow face and a pointed mouth in front of him. It was walking with a bell hanging from its waist, and seemed to be patrolling the mountain.

When the little demon saw Jiang Yuan, he shouted anxiously, "Stop, stop, you who are leading the cow."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuan stopped leading the green ox and waited for the little demon to come forward.

The little demon came forward and took a closer look. He saw that Jiang Yuan had an immortal look and the green bull had an extraordinary aura. He bowed and said, "Greetings, sir. Sir, this mountain is not easy to walk on. Ordinary people cannot come up. Leave quickly."

Jiang Yuan asked, "Why can't we climb this mountain?"

The little demon said, "My king has ordered that no one else is allowed to climb this mountain."

Jiang Yuan asked: "Is your king the Bull Demon King?"

Upon hearing this, the little demon said, "Sir, if you know my king, why did you come up the mountain?"

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "I am an old acquaintance of your king, so of course I recognize you. I have visited Cuiyun Mountain before, but you were not there at that time, and there was no talk of not allowing you to go up the mountain."

The little demon bowed deeply and said, "I didn't know that you were acquainted with my king. You should be guilty of rudely stopping me."

Jiang Yuan said: "It is said that 'ignorance is not a crime'. I should not blame you, but please take me up the mountain to see your king."

Xiao Yao said, "Sir, come this way."

Jiang Yuan said, "I saw that you had something to do in the mountains. Did you take me up the mountain and delay your mission?"

The little demon said, "No, sir, you don't know that I am not the only one patrolling the mountain. There are still eleven other people patrolling in the squad."

Jiang Yuan was a little confused when he heard this. When he went up the mountain in the past, there were some soldiers and horses in the mountain, but not so many. If there were so many soldiers patrolling the mountain, then there must be more soldiers in the center of the army. He asked, "When I went up the mountain in the past, I didn't see so many soldiers and horses in the mountain. Could it be that the Bull Demon King recruited new soldiers?"

The little demon bowed and said, "Sir, you may not have been here for a long time, so you don't know. All the soldiers and horses in my mountain were gathered by the king. There are many, many."

Jiang Yuan asked: "How many are there?"

The little demon said, "There are too many to count. There are six teams of people like me who patrol the mountain, with twelve people in each team. We take turns guarding the mountain, totaling seventy-two people. This is the number of people guarding the main peak. There are three more teams guarding the mountain in the front peak, totaling thirty-six people."

Jiang Yuan said: "There are about a hundred men and horses guarding the mountain. How many men and horses are there in the mountain?"

The little demon said, "I heard some time ago that there are 3,000 troops in the king's main force, 6,000 outside, and some miscellaneous troops, making a total of 10,000 troops. Cuiyun Mountain is the main force, and the front peak is Qingyuan Mountain."

Jiang Yuan was dumbfounded and asked, "Why did your king gather so many people and horses?"

The little demon said, "I don't know, sir, this way please."

Jiang Yuan went up the mountain with the little demon. He thought to himself, "Why did Niu Er gather so many soldiers? He just wanted to make trouble for the pilgrims. How could he gather so many soldiers? With Yu Ding's help, he must make it impossible for the pilgrims to succeed. Let's go and ask Niu Er."

Think about it.

Jiang Yuan led the cow forward.

When the Green Ox listened to what the little demon said, he was also surprised. He thought that the White Ox was just joking when competing with him. How come the White Ox had gathered 10,000 soldiers and horses, while he had less than a hundred? This meant that he was much weaker.

The little demon took Jiang Yuan to the banana cave.

When Jiang Yuan arrived, he saw thousands of soldiers and horses in front of the cave. They were holding spears and sticks, practicing martial arts, which was very impressive.

The little demon stepped forward and shouted, "The king's old friend is here, please let us go."

The monster who was guarding the door cleared the way, removed the obstacles, and let the little monster and Jiang Yuan approach.

When the little demon and Jiang Yuan arrived in front of the Banana Cave, two demons came forward to block the way.

The second demon asked, "Who is coming?"

Xiao Yao went up to him and talked to him, saying that the visitor was an old friend.

The two demons heard this and stepped forward to pay their respects, saying, "Please tell me your name and I will inform the king."

Jiang Yuan approached and said, "You only need to tell your king that Guangxin is here to visit, and he will know who I am."

The two demons took orders and went into the palace to report.

After a while, the gate of the mansion opened wide, and the Bull Demon King rushed out of the mansion. When he reached the gate, he saw Jiang Yuan, knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and said in surprise: "I didn't know that the master had come to visit. I'm sorry to welcome you. I'm sorry to welcome you."

Jiang Yuan took a closer look and saw that the Bull Demon King was wearing a black and blue velvet jacket and had a spirit-like face. It seemed that he had not missed his practice during this period.

He stepped forward and helped the Bull King up, saying, "No need to be polite. You are the master of a mountain today. Stand up, stand up."

The Bull Demon King stood up and supported the Immortal with his hand, saying, "Master, please follow me into the mansion."

Jiang Yuan readily agreed.

The Bull Demon King welcomed Jiang Yuan into his mansion and sent someone to lead the cow to the back to eat grass. He did not think much of it and just thought of it as the master looking for a new mount.

The green ox spoke in human language and said, "Why can't I enter?"

The Bull Demon King took a closer look and said, "Aren't you the Green Bull of Laojun?"

Jiang Yuan smiled and recounted the past events, talking to Bull Demon King about the matter of the green bull.

Upon hearing this, Bull Demon King understood the whole story and then welcomed the Green Ox into his palace.

When you enter the front hall of the mansion, the Bull Demon King sets up a banquet and invites the immortal to sit at the main seat. He serves him all kinds of delicacies. He then invites the Green Bull to transform into a human and sit at the second seat to keep him company. He listens to what he says and serves him oranges. The Bull King sits at the side.

Jiang Yuan sat down at the table and looked out at the back of the hall, where the Bull Demon King of the Yuding Orthodox Sect was enshrined in the upper seat, with incense burned and worshipped.

The Bull Demon King stood up from the table and said, "Since I received the master's order, I have lived in the mountains and have never returned home. Please forgive me." Jiang Yuan said, "I asked you to wait for the pilgrim in this mountain. You are innocent. I gave you the Yu Ding in the past to teach you how to defeat the pilgrim. Why did you worship the Yu Ding?"

The Bull Demon King said: "This is the master's treasure. I am afraid that my demonic spirit will pollute the sacred object, so I worship it, burn incense every day, and nourish the precious tripod."

Jiang Yuan said, "Yes, I did. When I came to your mountain before, there were not so many demons and soldiers. How come you gather so many demons now that you live in the mountain?"

The Bull King said, "My Lord, I have been living in the mountains. I have seen many demons causing chaos everywhere, so I have taken them in. On the one hand, I want to restrain their hearts, and on the other hand, I want to make trouble for the pilgrims."

Jiang Yuan asked, "When I went up the mountain earlier, the patrolling demon told me that you ordered that no one else could go up the mountain. What's the logic behind this?"

The Bull King said, "Master, this is a long story."

Jiang Yuan asked again: "How do you say that?"

The Bull King asked, "Master, do you know that not far from Cuiyun Mountain is Huoyan Mountain?"

Jiang Yuan said, "The Bodhisattva once said something, and I heard it myself. When the monkey was making trouble in the Heavenly Palace, he kicked over the Eight Trigrams Stove, and brick fire flew out and landed in the mountain, which became the Flaming Mountain."

The Bull King said, "Just as the master said, when the Flaming Mountain falls, the living people around will have no harvest. But if the living people around offer sacrifices to the Mountain Wife, he will use a banana fan. One fan will extinguish the fire, two fans will create wind, and three fans will make rain, so that those living people will offer sacrifices. There is nothing wrong with this. My family is rich and we don't need such sacrifices. The reason why I accept sacrifices is nothing more than to use the sacrifices to ask the Mountain Wife to fan the wind as a codeword. But most living people are unwilling."

Jiang Yuan asked, "Why not?"

The Bull King said, “Many of those living beings would say that the offerings are too much, so they are unwilling to do so.”

Qingniu ate the orange fruit and said with a smile, "But are you and your wife offering too much?"

The Bull King shook his head and said, "My wife also thought so. In the past, when offering sacrifices, the living people mostly offered chickens, geese, fine wine, and exotic flowers and fruits. My wife felt pity for the living people and followed me in my practice, doing good deeds and accumulating virtues, so she didn't have to offer sacrifices. But those living people saw that there was no need to offer sacrifices, so they only needed to shout in the mountains. Over time, they became enemies, saying that if they didn't fan three or four times a year, they would be immoral. Who could have thought that they would turn against each other like this? So I ordered the little demons patrolling the mountains not to allow people to go up the mountain."

Jiang Yuan said: "It is like this."

The Bull King said, "Master, I have no intention of stopping you from going up the mountain."

Jiang Yuan said: "I know it myself, don't worry. You do good deeds, but you don't get good results. You are able to avoid violence, which shows that you have practiced cultivation."

The Bull King laughed and said, "I have followed you for some time, so I know that if the killing starts again, the demons will surely reappear."

Jiang Yuan asked, "Were you not angry?"

The Bull King said, "How can I not be upset about such matters? But I know it is useless to be upset."

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "Good cow, good cow. If it were up to you, what would you do?"

The Ox King said, "Offerings should be made once a year. If an offering is made, there will be storms. I don't need him to make an expensive offering. I have countless property, so why would I care about that? I just want him to respect me."

Jiang Yuan said: "I feel at ease when you say this."

King Niu said, "Master, I wonder when my brother will arrive. I was just thinking of giving him a hard time."

Jiang Yuan said: "It will take some time to get out of Jindou Mountain. You can only challenge him once or twice, but don't challenge him so much that he fails."

The Bull King smiled and said, "Master, I can save that."

When Jiang Yuan saw this, he said nothing more and talked to the Bull King about Red Boy. At the Bull King's invitation, he stayed in the mountains for many days.

During this period, the Bull Demon King had competed with the Green Ox in martial arts, but in terms of martial arts, the Bull Demon King was undoubtedly better. The Green Ox's martial arts were strong, less variable, and too relaxed.

However, if the blue ox were to obtain the Vajra, the Bull Demon King would definitely win and would not be able to obtain the blue ox.

After living in the mountains for many days.

The Immortal led the green ox to Lingtai Fangcun Mountain and returned after more than half a month.

When the Immortal arrived at the Sanxing Immortal Cave, he saw the Patriarch and Laojun standing in front of the mansion. He hurried forward and bowed, saying, "Disciple greets the Master."

After that, he bowed to Laojun again and said, "Guangxin pays homage to Laojun."

The ancestor stepped forward and said, "Boy, have you accomplished your goal?"

Jiang Yuan handed the rope forward and said, "Master, Laojun, I have accomplished the task and brought the green ox here."

Laojun stepped forward and took the rope. Not daring to make a mistake, he handed over the Vajra Cutter.

Laojun took it, blew a breath of magic air upwards, and it turned into a bull nose ring, which he put on the blue bull. Then he untied his robe belt, tied the nose ring, and tied it outside the mansion. He smiled and said, "You are so capable, bull. I don't know how long you have been playing in the lower world, and you never thought of me as your protagonist."

The blue ox let out a cry and lowered its head, not daring to act rashly.

When Laojun saw Jiang Yuan, he asked, "Guangxin, is this cow causing trouble?"

Jiang Yuan said with a smile: "Let's play with the pilgrim for a while."

Qingniu heaved a sigh of relief when he heard what Jiang Yuan said.

Laojun asked, "Are you really going to play around for a while?"

Jiang Yuan said: "It has not harmed the people who are seeking scriptures."

Laojun said, "Well, since that's the case, I won't bother with you. Guangxin, send someone to watch over the cow."

Say it.

Laojun and the Patriarch walked towards the mansion.

Jiang Yuan also entered the mansion and found Chongyang outside the mansion, keeping an eye on the blue ox to prevent it from escaping again.

He originally wanted to find Red Boy to look after the cows, but he was afraid that Red Boy's character was unstable and he would run away with the blue cow. In contrast, Chongyang had a steady character, so he asked Chongyang to look after the cows, and he was sure that the blue cow would not run away.

Jiang Yuan gave Chongyang some instructions.

Chongyang was ordered to look after the cattle outside the mansion.

Jiang Yuan followed Laojun and others into the palace and walked to a platform. The ancestor set up a banquet here to entertain Laojun with full courtesy.

The ancestor said, "I once invited Laojun to come to my house to discuss the Dao, but I didn't expect something like this to happen."

Laojun smiled and said, "I should have come earlier, but the cow had gone missing. I didn't know whether to go look for the cow or come to keep the appointment. Fortunately, Guangxin helped me."

The ancestor said, "Your cow is playful and restless."

Laojun said: "At the beginning, you play with your heart, and at the end, you play with your heart. To have a beginning and an end is also to have a pure heart."

The master said, "I invite you to come here and discuss the Dao with me."

Laojun pointed at Jiang Yuan and said with a smile: "I guess you can discuss the Dao in one way and help Guangxin in another."

The ancestor smiled and said, "My boy is about to achieve success. As a teacher, I should help him achieve success and make him listen to the sound of Tao."

Laojun smiled and said, "In the past, you once told me that you were not good at teaching people. Today, the disciples you have taught have great abilities."

After hearing what was said, Jiang Yuan stood up and paid great respects to the master, feeling deeply grateful for the master's kindness. Without the master's kindness, he would not be where he is today.

The master stood up and helped the real person up, saying with a smile: "Don't be like this. Since I call you 'Master', I should consider you. Boy, I know that when you received Chongyang, there were many things you didn't understand, and I felt that you were not qualified to be a master. However, now that you have just become a master, you should not underestimate yourself."

Jiang Yuan sang a yes and bowed deeply.

When the master accepted him as his disciple, he never taught him. Just like when he accepted Chongyang as his disciple, he hesitated again and again, fearing that he would mislead the student. Only after another test did he accept him as a disciple, and he should follow the principle of fate.

(End of this chapter)