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

Chapter 180: The Monkey King Advises Bajie, the Father-in-law is the White Deer
At the inn of the Kingdom of Bhikkhu, Tang Monk heard the innkeeper telling him that the king wanted more than a thousand children's hearts and livers as medicine to prolong his life because of his debauchery. He was furious and cursed, "Stupid king, stupid king! You think that your greed for pleasure and love of beauty has caused damage to your body, and the root cause is not strong, but you want to use children's hearts and livers to treat it. How can this be absurd, how can this be absurd!"

The postmaster remained silent for a long time and dared not speak.

The walker's teeth were clenched.

Zhu Bajie stepped forward and shouted, "Master, why do you care about this? There is a saying that goes, 'If the king wants his subjects to die, the subjects must die. If the father wants his son to die, the son must die.' His king is hurting his people, and we are not from his country. Don't pay attention to it, don't pay attention to it, just keep moving forward."

Tang Seng said, "Bajie, how can a monk not have a compassionate heart? If you don't have the heart to save others, you will never reach the sacred mountain even if you walk for hundreds or thousands of years. Wukong has often told you this principle, why don't you remember it?"

Zhu Bajie was scolded and dared not say anything more.

The Monkey King said, "Master, the father-in-law wants to use the heart and liver of a child as medicine. I don't think he has any good intentions. Why don't I go to the court with you tomorrow to find out what's going on. We can put an end to this matter in the country and never let those children's lives be harmed."

Tang Seng asked: "Disciple, do you think that the emperor's father-in-law is a demon?"

The Monkey King shook his head and said, "I have never seen him, so I don't know. But I think that the father-in-law is either a demon or an evil spirit. If he is a human, he is an evil person who practices unorthodox methods. If he is a demon, he is an evil demon who commits murders and causes trouble. I will know his true appearance tomorrow."

Tang Seng bowed and said, "Disciple, your practice is before mine. I am sorry to trouble you this time."

The traveler said he dared not.

Sha Wujing stood up and said, "Master, Senior Brother, you two have never thought about what would happen if the tyrant emperor ignored us and just said it was a rumor, and even refused to let us see the father-in-law?"

The Monkey King said, "If this is the case, why don't I find a way to take the child in the goose cage away and leave the city? If the king finds out, he will be very worried and will go to the king's father-in-law to discuss countermeasures. Then we can report to the court and see him."

Tang Seng asked: "My disciple, there are so many children in the goose cage, and you only have your hands. How can you take them away and make them leave this city?"

The Monkey King said, "I have some tricks of my own, but I am afraid I may alarm you, Master. I will go outside to cast my spell. Please stay here for a while. If there is any wind outside, it means that the boy in the goose cage has left the city."

Tang Seng clasped his hands and said, "My disciple, please go now. Please go now."

The Monkey King walked out of the room, chanted a spell, and performed a method to summon all the gods and ghosts around him. After a while, he had captured the City God, the Land God, the Community God, the Five Directions Jie Di, the Four Valued Officials, the Six Dings and Six Jias, and the protectors of the religion.

The fruit is a magical power.

When the gods arrived, they bowed to the traveler and said, "We pay our respects to the Great Sage."

The Monkey King then explained the whole story to him and ordered the gods and others to cast a spell to capture the child in the goose cage and take care of the child.

The gods heard the order and praised the Monkey King for his kindness. They then cast a spell and sent a dark wind to blow away all the goose cages in the city. The gods took the child in the cages away and left, looking after the child, not daring to disobey the Monkey King’s orders.

The Monkey King just turned around and met with Tang Monk to talk about the matter.

When Tang Seng heard that Monkey had rescued all the children, he breathed a sigh of relief and went into the room to rest. Before resting, Tang Seng told his three disciples not to make trouble and to go to bed early.

The Monkey King wanted to go into the guest room to rest, but Zhu Bajie stopped him.

The traveler lowered his head and asked, "Why are you holding me, you idiot?"

Zhu Bajie praised: "Brother, there was a gust of cold wind just now, but what are your methods?"

The traveler said, "If it's not my method, then whose method could it be?"

Zhu Bajie said, "Brother, how did you come up with such a trick?"

The traveler shook his head and said, "I asked the gods of the land and the city for help, not me personally to control the wind."

Zhu Bajie said: "Even if it is so, it is still amazing. When I first met you, you didn't have such magical powers. How can you be so powerful now?"

The traveler said, "We are practicing now, and it is normal to make some progress."

Zhu Bajie shouted, "Brother, why don't you see me making any progress?"

The Monkey King looked at Zhu Bajie and said with a smile, "Bajie, whether you make progress or not is not up to me, but you. Only by restraining yourself and keeping your heart can you make progress. If you let it go like this, do you know what kind of person you are now?"

Zhu Bajie asked, "What do I look like now?"

The Monkey King pointed at Pigsy's heart and said, "Look at it now. You have greed, fame, jealousy, calculation, competitiveness, arrogance, arrogance, murder, cruelty, fear, caution, evil, nameless and dark thoughts, but you don't have a righteous heart. How can you make progress if you have this? Pigsy, listen to me. Let go when you should, and don't worry."

Zhu Bajie remained silent.

The traveler said, "That's all I have to say. Please think carefully about this."

Say it.

The traveler walked towards the guest room.

……

At dawn the next day, Tang Seng took the pass and walked towards the palace to exchange it. Monkey King protected him and went to court together.

Tang Monk and Monkey went outside the hall and waited for the imperial edict to be announced.

Tang Seng asked: "Disciple, what might you have seen here?"

The Monkey King shook his head and smiled, "Master, you think too highly of me. I haven't even seen the person in the temple yet, but you can already tell who he is. If it were my eldest brother, Master Guangxin, he would surely know, but I don't have such magical power."

When Tang Seng heard about the "Master Guangxin", he bowed from a distance in the direction of Fangcun Mountain and said, "When I succeed, I will definitely visit Master Guangxin. Then I will ask my disciple to lead the way."

The traveler smiled and said, "Okay, okay."

While the two were talking, they suddenly heard an imperial decree. They entered the palace and saw the King of the Bhikkhu Kingdom and an old Taoist priest huddled together, whispering.

When the king of the Bhikkhu Kingdom saw Tang Monk, he was amazed by his divine appearance and asked, "Where are you from?"

Tang Monk said: "I come from the Tang Dynasty in the East, and I am sent to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures."

The king said, "The road to the west is dark and long, where can we go?"

Tang Seng shook his head and said, "There is something wonderful in it."

The king said, "Since you say so, I will not stop you. But I heard that there is a Buddha in the west. Do you know about it?"

Tang Seng replied: "Of course I know."

The king said, "I have heard that Buddha has supernatural powers. Is it possible that Buddha can be immortal and live for a thousand years?"

When Tang Seng heard this, he didn't know how to respond.

Upon hearing this, the traveler stepped forward and said with a smile, "Buddha can live forever. Let alone extend his life by a thousand years, even ten thousand or a hundred thousand years is no big deal."

The king was delighted when he heard this and asked, "Who are you?"

Tang Seng replied, "This is my eldest disciple, Sun Wukong. I have traveled all the way west and have been able to reach your place because of my disciple's magical powers, which allowed him to keep me safe."

The king looked at Sun Wukong and asked, "You said that Buddha can live for a thousand or ten thousand years. Is this true?"

The traveler replied, "Of course I take it seriously."

The king asked again: "If this is the case, can those who worship Buddha obtain longevity?"

The traveler said, "Just do good deeds and follow the right path with all your heart, and you will live forever. It is easy to prolong your life."

Suddenly, he heard the father-in-law beside him. After hearing what he heard, he sneered and said, "Do you have supernatural powers? What supernatural powers do you have? You are just talking nonsense. Doing good and doing the right thing can prolong your life. Haven't you heard that good people don't live long?"

The Monkey King laughed and said, "I have many magical powers, but I don't know what kind of magical powers you have. It's wrong to say that doing good deeds is wrong here." The father-in-law was about to scold him, but he raised his head and took a closer look, only to see that the Monkey King was not a human being, but a monkey with a hairy face and a thunder god's mouth, and very majestic. He recognized that this was the Monkey King. Five hundred years ago, who didn't know this guy? He made a big fuss in the Heavenly Palace and was very majestic. It was the real person who was captured by the Buddha himself, and he subdued him under the Five Elements Mountain.

When the father-in-law recognized the monkey, he felt scared. How could he dare to fight with the Monkey King? If it was an ordinary guy, he would fight with him. But if it was the Monkey King, he would never dare to fight with him.

The father-in-law said nothing, just said he was feeling unwell and wanted to escape.

The king stopped him and said, "Father-in-law, please go slowly. All the children in the city have disappeared. Without their hearts and livers as medicine, how can I achieve immortality? I wonder if your heart and liver can be used as medicine? If your heart and liver can be used, even 11,110 will do."

The father-in-law didn't answer and just walked out.

The Monkey King stepped forward and said, "You were here to talk about supernatural powers, so why are you leaving now?"

The father-in-law said, "You have some magical powers, I admit I am not as good as you, please let me go."

The traveler said, "Just explain it to me first, and then it won't be too late to go."

The father-in-law asked, "What do you want me to say?"

The traveler smiled and said, "Have you ever known the number of heaven and earth?"

The father-in-law asked, "What is the number of heaven and earth?"

The traveler said, "Yin and Yang, day and night, black and white, etc., are all numbers of heaven and earth. The value of human beings lies in the complete numbers of heaven and earth. Therefore, when they change, they can often become the same, and it is difficult to distinguish the real from the fake. But if it is a demon body, if it changes, there must be disadvantages. Do you know what the disadvantages are?"

The father-in-law didn't understand what he meant and asked, "What do you mean?"

The Monkey King said, "If a demon body were to transform itself into a human form, there would be a flaw. I am a monkey, so there is no way my tail could transform."

The father-in-law was a little flustered and asked, "Why are you telling me this?"

The traveler said, "You are a demon in disguise. Your body must be incomplete."

The father-in-law gritted his teeth and cursed: "You Bi Ma Wen, what nonsense are you talking about?"

The Monkey King said, "You really do know me, you monster. Why don't you show yourself?"

The father-in-law was so panicked that he fell down and was about to escape on a cloud, but the Monkey King had expected this and somersaulted into the air, pulled out his golden cudgel, and knocked him down with one blow.

The father-in-law took out a coiled dragon staff from somewhere and wanted to fight with Monkey.

The Monkey King laughed and said, "What a monster! What a monster! How dare you come to fight me! Don't run away! Take this blow from my stick!"

Say it.

The monk hit the father-in-law with a stick.

The father-in-law of the emperor fought with him. The two displayed their magical powers in mid-air. The iron rod hit his head really fiercely, while the crutch brought cheers. The two fought with all their might. After three rounds, the father-in-law of the emperor could only defend himself. How could he defeat the Monkey King?

Inside the palace, the king saw Monkey display his magical powers and fight against the father-in-law. He was so frightened that he fell down. Fortunately, Tang Monk was walking in front and said, "Don't be alarmed, Your Majesty. My disciple has magical powers and can definitely defeat the demon."

The king asked in surprise, "Is the father-in-law a demon?"

Tang Seng clasped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I have seen many strange things on my journey to the west. It is difficult to distinguish true from false. But I, your disciple, have a discerning eye. If he said it was a demon, then it must be a demon. Your Majesty's father-in-law must be a demon. If he is not a demon, why would he use a child's heart and liver as a medicine?"

When the king heard this, he was shocked and confused.

But the fight in mid-air had an outcome. After the Monkey King and the Taoist priest fought for five rounds, the Monkey King hit the Taoist priest's Panlong staff with his stick. The strong force made the Taoist priest unable to defend himself, and he fell to the ground, no longer having the strength to fight.

When the Monkey King had finished subduing the demon, he pressed down the auspicious cloud and said, "Your good father-in-law, please watch carefully."

The courtiers in the hall trembled with fear and came forward to pay homage to the walker, praising his divine power.

Tang Seng stepped forward and held Monkey King’s hand, saying, “Disciple, are you hurt?”

The Monkey King shook his head and said, "Master, don't worry. This fellow has no ability and can't hurt me. Let the tyrant king come and see for himself what his father-in-law's true face is like."

Say it.

The traveler looked at the king, but saw that he was in a panic and at a loss.

The traveler stepped forward and grabbed the father-in-law who had fallen to the ground, and asked him where he came from.

Unexpectedly, the father-in-law turned over, turned into a ray of cold light, and tried to escape.

The Monkey King struck the father-in-law with his golden hoop stick, knocked him down, took out the Yin-Yang Qi bottle, and said, "If you try to escape again and I catch you, I will take this Yin-Yang Qi bottle and imprison you. In less than an hour, you will turn into blood and pus and die."

Upon hearing this, the father-in-law no longer dared to flee, and said in panic, "Great Sage, please spare my life, Great Sage, please spare my life."

The Monkey King scolded him, "Since you know me, tell me why you want to harm this child."

The father-in-law said, "The king has an evil heart and has never turned back to the right path, so I came to harm him."

The Monkey King asked, "What do you want the child's heart and liver for?"

The father-in-law said, "The beautiful queen in the king's palace is my daughter. She likes to eat human hearts and livers the most. I will take some and feed it to my daughter."

The traveler shouted, "You have harmed countless people. I will not forgive you."

After saying this, the Monkey King took the Yin-Yang Qi bottle and was about to kill the father-in-law with a stick.

The traveler had not yet put down his stick when he heard the cries of a phoenix or a crane and heard a distant auspicious light.

The traveler raised his eyes and took a closer look, only to see that it was the God of Longevity coming.

The God of Longevity came riding on a cloud and called out, "Great Sage, please spare our lives. Please spare our lives."

When the Monkey King met the birthday star, he put away his golden cudgel and waited quietly for the birthday star to arrive.

When the birthday god came closer, he said, "The Great Sage is in front of me. I am here to pay my respects. I hope you will spare his life."

The traveler asked, "Brother Shouxing, why do you say that?"

The birthday star said, "To be honest with you, Great Sage, this person was one of my helpers. I don't know how he escaped and became a monster, causing trouble here."

The traveler smiled and said, "Since it belongs to the birthday god, let him show his true appearance to me."

The birthday star pointed at the father-in-law and cursed, "You evil beast, why don't you show your true colors!"

Upon hearing this, the father-in-law trembled with fear and crawled on the ground, turning into a white deer with plum blossoms.

The traveler's eyes sparkled, and he said, "Shou Xing, it's strange that you left, but you are guilty."

The God of Longevity said, "I deserve the blame, I deserve the blame. I met Emperor Donghua and played chess on the mountain. Before the game was over, I met Master Guangxin and became friends with him. Then I saw Master White Deer and realized that my deer had escaped. I hope the Great Sage will forgive me."

When the traveler heard this, he asked, "Have you seen my elder brother?"

The birthday star nodded and said, "That's right. I met Master Guangxin before and only then did I know that the deer had escaped."

The traveler said, "Come on, come on, come on. Since you say so, I won't make it difficult for you. You can take the deer away, but you must check thoroughly to see if the deer has harmed anyone."

The God of Longevity said, "I will investigate thoroughly. I hope the Great Sage will wait a little longer. I still have something to tell you. I hope I can repay your kindness."

(End of this chapter)