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

Chapter 175 The pilgrim finally passes Lion Camel Mountain, and the traveler obtains the Yin-Yang Qi Bottle

But the Great Sage wanted to raise his stick to kill the blue lion and the white elephant.

The blue lion and the white elephant were unable to move. They fell to the ground, gasping for breath, and begged for mercy: "Great Sage, please spare us! Great Sage, please spare us! We will never dare to do anything rash again."

The Great Sage scolded, "You eat people, and when you caught people for fun, how could you not beg for mercy? Now that you have been caught by my brothers, you know to beg for mercy? I will never forgive you. If I forgive you, I don't know how many lives you will kill."

After saying this, he raised his stick to demand the payment.

Suddenly a local god appeared, stopped the Great Sage and said, "Great Sage, please show some mercy!"

When the Great Sage saw the land god coming to stop him, he opened his eyes wide and asked, "Where are you from?"

The land god replied, "Great Sage, I am the land god of the 800-li Lion Camel Mountain."

The Great Sage asked again, "This Lion Camel Mountain is eight hundred miles long, and you are the only one who has land there? You are here to stop me now, is it because you have a past with these two demons, and that is why you are here to stop me? If so, take my stick."

The land god was trembling with fear and said in panic, "Great Sage, please spare my life! Great Sage, please spare my life! I have no history with demons."

The Great Sage said, "Since we have never met before, why did you stop me? Why did I give you only the land in the mountain?"

The land god bowed and said, "Great Sage, there were originally more than one land god in the mountain. I was captured and eaten by the three demons, the Great Peng, the Green Lion, and the White Elephant. I had some tricks and was able to escape."

The Great Sage was puzzled and said, "This demon can even eat the gods of the land and mountains. How can you show up to stop him?"

The land god said in panic, "We didn't come here intentionally to stop them. It's just that the blue lion and white elephant are of some importance, so we came here to talk to the Great Sage."

The Great Sage asked, "What is your origin?"

The land god said, "This green lion monster is the animal of Manjusri Bodhisattva, and this yellow-tusked white elephant is the animal of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. They both have their origins. If the Great Sage kills them, I'm afraid the Bodhisattvas will be angry."

The Great Sage said: "Don't mention that they are the beasts of Bodhisattva. Even if the two demons are relatives of Tathagata, they will be killed. Can you see the appearance of the 800-li Lion Camel Mountain?"

The land god said: "Just speak to the Great Sage, and don't dare to disobey him."

After saying this, the land god stepped aside and dared not speak.

The Bull Demon King stepped forward and said, "My dear brother."

The Great Sage turned around and asked, "Brother, what is the matter?"

The Bull Demon King said, "My dear brother, you will eventually convert to Buddhism. If you kill the beasts of the Bodhisattva, it will be bad. However, these two beasts have committed many evil deeds and cannot be forgiven. Why don't I do it for you? I am a disciple of the real master. I will kill the beasts of the Bodhisattva. The master will not blame me, and may even praise me."

The Great Sage shook his head and said, "No need, brother. You came to help me in this matter. How can I ask you to do such a thing?"

The Bull Demon King said: "You and I are from the same family, and we should cultivate brotherhood. I will take care of these things."

But the Great Sage refused to answer.

The Bull Demon King refused to give in.

After discussion, the Great Sage and the Bull King each killed one beast.

The Great Sage ended the blue lion's life with one blow of his stick.

The Bull King then killed the white elephant with one blow.

After the two men killed the two beasts, the Bull King led his men to search the mountain and subdue the monsters. When there were no more monsters in the Lion Camel Mountain, the Bull King did not stay any longer. He just said that the real person was still waiting for him, so he could not stay long, and then he said goodbye.

Upon hearing this, the Great Sage insisted on seeing the Bull King off. The Bull King had no choice but to let Red Boy lead the troops ahead, while he stayed behind to say goodbye to the Great Sage.

The Bull Demon King stopped the Great Sage, pointed to the road leading east, and said, "My dear brother, this road is not easy for you to travel now. When you have accomplished your mission, it will not be too late to travel there again. I will send you here now."

The Great Sage bowed and said, "Thank you for coming all the way to help me. If you hadn't come to help me, I really don't know what I would do."

The Bull Demon King pointed at the Great Sage and said with a smile, "You monkey, you are a subterranean demon, how could you be stumped?"

The Great Sage laughed and said, "If my own family came to help me, why would I beg outsiders to help me?"

The Bull Demon King patted the Monkey King on the shoulder and said, "My dear brother, you have indeed grown a lot. In the past, the master told me that you were a face-saver and would not ask for help. Now that you say this, I feel at ease."

The Great Sage shook his head, looked towards the Holy Mountain in the west, and said, "Brother, this place is not far from the Holy Mountain. If we have not made any progress, then we will get nothing by the time we reach the Holy Mountain."

The Bull Demon King said, "My dear brother, you are not the same as before. I will leave now. When you succeed, we can drink and have fun together. Only then will we be free."

The Great Sage said, "Brother, please take your time. When I succeed, I will come to find you and we can enjoy freedom together."

The Bull Demon King said no more, and only left one sentence: if you have any difficulties, go to Cuiyun Mountain to find him, and he will definitely help you with all his strength.

The Great Sage bid farewell to the Bull King and watched him go away.

The Great Sage was just about to ride his cloud to the Lion Country when he was suddenly stopped by the local god.

When the Great Sage saw the land god blocking his way, he said, "How come you, land god, have been blocking my way all day long? What is your purpose this time?"

The land god said, "Great Sage, there are some treasures in the Lion Cave. If you leave, I don't know what to do with those treasures."

The Great Sage waved his hand and said, "I'll give you those treasures. They are meant to be yours."

The land god said, "Great Sage, if it were just any other treasure, it would be fine, but there is one treasure that I cannot accept. I cannot accept it."

The Great Sage asked, "What treasure is it that you cannot bear?"

The land god said, "It is a bottle. It is the treasure of Yun Cheng Wanlipeng in Lion Camel Mountain. It is called 'Yin Yang Two Qi Bottle'. The bottle contains seven treasures and eight trigrams, twenty-four qi, and has its own way. Therefore, the bottle is very heavy. It is a treasure that only celestial beings can obtain. I am a ghost fairy, so I can never lift the treasure. I have no chance to obtain it."

The Great Sage said, "It is that bottle. I know it. I was imprisoned in it before."

When the land god heard this, he was shocked and said, "Great Sage, don't talk nonsense. That Yin-Yang Qi Bottle is extraordinary. If someone is trapped in it, even a celestial being will turn into blood and pus in a moment."

The Great Sage smiled and said, "My own magical power."

The land god bowed and said, "Since the Great Sage has such magical powers, please take the bottle away. If it is lost in the mountains, something bad may happen."

The Great Sage said, "Don't worry, I will take the Yin-Yang Qi Bottle away."

The land god personally led the way for the Great Sage and brought him into the palace.

When the Great Sage saw the Yin-Yang Qi Bottle, he reached out and grabbed it. It was heavy, but not too heavy for him.

When the land god saw the Great Sage lifting up the Yin-Yang Qi bottle, he was shocked and worshipped him again and again.

The Great Sage said nothing more. He held the Yin-Yang Qi Bottle in his hand and went to the Lion City.

After a while, the Great Sage arrived at the Lion City. He pressed down the cloud and saw Tang Monk chanting scriptures, with Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing guarding him.

The Great Sage dared not say anything. He stood by and waited for Tang Seng to finish reciting the scriptures.

After two or three hours, Tang Monk finished chanting the sutras. Seeing Monkey, he stepped forward, supported Monkey with his hand, and said, "My dear disciple, have you finished your chanting?"

The Monkey King nodded and smiled, "Don't worry, Master. We have accomplished our mission. There are no more demons causing trouble in Lion Mountain."

Tang Seng clasped his hands and said, "You have done me a great favor in subduing the demons and monsters, and you have also done me a great favor to your parents. When we obtain the true scriptures and return to the East, we will definitely go to thank the Bull King and the Immortal."

The Monkey King said, "That's right." Zhu Bajie stepped forward and saw the bottle in the Monkey King's hand. He said, "Brother, where did you find a bottle? If you want to fill it with water for Master, it would be better to use a gourd."

The Monkey King raised the bottle and said, "This is the Yin-Yang Qi Bottle, the treasure of the demon from Lion Camel Mountain."

Say it.

The Monkey King then explained the benefits of the Yin-Yang Qi Bottle to Zhu Bajie, scaring him so much that he retreated repeatedly.

Zhu Bajie asked, "What is the origin of the demon from Lion Camel Mountain?"

The traveler said, "I don't know about that Dapeng, but I heard from the local god that the old demon is the beast of Manjusri Bodhisattva, and the second demon is the beast of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva."

Zhu Bajie shouted, "How could the Bodhisattva be so rude to send demons to harm us and delay our work for so long?"

The Monkey King stepped forward and grabbed Zhu Bajie's palm-leaf fan, saying, "How come you haven't changed after walking all the way here, you fool?"

Zhu Bajie cried out in pain several times and said, "Brother, can you teach me how to transform? You can tell me one of the thirty-six transformations and I will show you."

The traveler said, "Fool, don't let others deceive your heart. If the real master is deceived, it is not the real master's true face."

After hearing this, Zhu Bajie pondered for a long time and said nothing.

The Monkey King stepped forward and whispered, "Pigsy, listen to me. Why bother getting involved in the sea of ​​love and suffering? You have worries in your heart and deceive yourself all the time. How can you understand the truth? The sacred mountain is right under your feet. If you don't change your mind, it will be too late to regret. It's rare for us to have this opportunity to practice. If you regret it later, you will never have another chance."

Zhu Bajie remained silent.

The Monkey King said nothing more, walked up to Tang Seng, and said, "Master, please gather the things here, and we will continue our journey westward."

Tang Seng clasped his hands and said, "My dear disciple, as you said, we will set out on the journey to the west. I would like to trouble you to spend more energy to ensure my journey to the west."

The traveler smiled and said, "Master, why should we talk about protection or not? Let's just support each other."

The group said no more, packed their luggage, and headed west again. When they reached Lion Camel Mountain, they were not far from Lingshan.

……

The story goes that at the Huaihe River Water Palace, the Immortal came here again and met the Water Ape Great Sage.

The Water Ape Great Sage welcomed the True Man into the main hall of the Water Palace. Seeing that the True Man looked exhausted, he asked, "True Man, did you fight with anyone?"

Jiang Yuan sat down and asked, "How do you know that I fought with others?"

The Water Ape Great Sage laughed and said, "Master, I am also a veteran of many battles, so I can see that."

Jiang Yuan said: "You have good eyesight. I did discuss the Dharma with a Bodhisattva."

The Water Ape Great Sage was puzzled by what he meant and asked, "Master, do we have to take action to discuss the law?"

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "There are two types of discussions: literary and martial. If it's a literary discussion, then we'd sit at the table and talk about the scriptures, but if it's a martial discussion, then we'd have to compete in magical powers."

The Great Water Monkey Sage asked, "The True Man was discussing the Dharma with a Bodhisattva. Who was he discussing the Dharma with?"

Jiang Yuan said: "Samantabhadra Bodhisattva."

The Water Ape Great Sage said, "But is it the Samantabhadra Bodhisattva who is practicing in Mount Emei?"

Jiang Yuan nodded and said, "That's right, do you recognize it?"

The Great Sage of the Ape came closer and said, "I have never met him, but I have heard of his reputation. Since the real person is having a martial arts debate with this Bodhisattva, I wonder what the result will be?"

Jiang Yuan smiled and shook his head, saying, "When you have time, go to Mount Emei and ask Samantabhadra Bodhisattva and you will know. I will go and meditate in silence, so don't make any noise."

Say it.

Jiang Yuan went out of the central hall.

The Great Water Ape Sage shouted, "What a joke, Immortal! How dare I go to look for Samantabhadra Bodhisattva? I am a demon, and if Samantabhadra Bodhisattva sees me, he will surely subdue me. As the saying goes, 'A thief will not see the official.'"

At the end of the banquet, the white deer who had transformed into a human said, "How could the Great Sage be troubled by such a matter? How could Samantabhadra defeat the Master?"

The Aquatic Ape Great Sage said, "Do you know the result?"

The white deer shook his head and said, "Great Sage, I have never followed you, so how can I know the outcome?"

The Great Water Monkey asked, "Since you don't know, how can you say that Samantabhadra is not as good as the real person?"

The white deer said, "Great Sage, I don't know the outcome this time, but I have followed you for thousands of years, so how could I not know how capable you are?"

The Water Ape Great Sage asked again: "If so, tell me, who has ever been defeated by the True Man's magical powers?"

The white deer looked around and said, "Great Sage, and Old Man Zuo, I want to tell you something, but you must not tell anyone. Since I started practicing, I have fought countless people, so I will pick a few to tell you about. Do you know the True Lord Erlang Xiansheng of Guanzhou?"

The Great Ape Sage said, "Of course I know."

Bai Lu said: "Erlang Xiansheng Zhenjun was defeated by the master before. It was a contest of supernatural powers, and he was badly defeated by the master."

Upon hearing this, the Water Ape Great Sage said, "Great defeat? I have also heard of the True Lord Erlang Xiansheng, and I know some of his skills, but I have never fought him. If you say so, then isn't the True Lord Erlang Xiansheng far inferior to the True Lord?"

Bai Lu said: "The master's ability is far superior to that of the True Lord."

The Water Ape Great Sage pondered for a long time and said, "Erlang Xiansheng Zhenjun is amazing, but it is hard to say who will win when compared with me. It is normal for a real person to win over a Zhenjun."

The white deer said, "If that is the case, then what should we say about the fact that the old man once defeated the Venerable Sakyamuni in the West?"

When the Water Ape Great Sage heard this, he fell down in shock and said, "Are you telling the truth? The real person once defeated the Tathagata of the West? Do you know what kind of person the Tathagata of the West is?"

The white deer laughed and said, "Why would I lie to you? The master once debated with the Venerable Sakyamuni and never lost. We even made a bet with each other."

After hearing this, the Great Sage of the Water Ape bowed repeatedly towards the quiet room and praised the Immortal.

The group talked for a long time in the hall before dispersing.
The white deer was feeling very proud and was about to go back to his residence. He was the mount of a real person and was treated with respect by the Great Saint Water Ape.

Before the white deer returned to his residence, he heard the immortal calling him, so the white deer had to take a detour to the immortal's residence.

When they arrived at a house, Bai Lu saw Jiang Yuan and bowed to him.

Jiang Yuan smiled and helped Bai Lu up. He asked Bai Lu about his practice. Bai Lu answered one by one without daring to make any mistakes.

After Jiang Yuan asked these questions, he heard that Bai Lu had done nothing wrong in his practice, so he smiled and praised him a few times, then recited some scriptures to Bai Lu.

The white deer was overjoyed and thanked Master Yu again and again.

After Jiang Yuan finished reading the scripture, he explained its essence to him one by one before letting the white deer leave so that he could practice well.

When the white deer was about to leave the house, the immortal suddenly said, "Deer, don't say those boastful words in the future. No matter who you win or who you lose, you don't need to say anything. Be careful with your words and actions. I have taught you this principle before. It applies to everything. Do you understand?"

Bai Lu turned around and bowed again, saying, "Master, I understand. I will not mention it again in the future. Just focus on your cultivation."

Jiang Yuan smiled and waved his hand, letting Bai Lu leave.

(End of this chapter)