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

Chapter 181 There are two copies of the true scripture, the chess game in the mountains (asking for monthly tickets)

It is said that the God of Longevity had conducted a thorough investigation in the Kingdom of Bhikkhu and learned that the white deer was planning to commit a crime by taking the hearts and livers of children, but it had not yet succeeded. Apart from that, it had not committed any crime. The daughter of the white deer was actually a fox. The reason she had sought out the King of the Kingdom of Bhikkhu was because his heart was not right, so he was invaded by evil.

The God of Longevity beat the white deer a hundred times, and then ordered the fox to do good deeds in the country of monks. He could leave when his sins were forgiven.

When the king saw Monkey's supernatural powers, how could he dare to slack off? He made careful arrangements, exchanged the pass, and invited Monkey to join the banquet, refusing to let him go.

The Monkey King did not say much to him, but only invited Tang Seng, Bajie and others to join the banquet. After sending the gods to send a child back from the country, he walked on the clouds and mist to a mountain to meet the God of Longevity.

The God of Longevity was riding a white deer. When he saw Monkey coming on a cloud, he bowed and said, "I have troubled you, Great Sage, but you have not taught my deer to commit a serious sin. If my deer had really eaten people's hearts and livers, then it would be beyond redemption."

The traveler smiled and said, "Brother Shouxing, there is no need to thank me. But I don't know why you called me here."

The birthday star said, "It's about the journey to the west to obtain Buddhist scriptures."

The traveler asked, "What do you mean by this?"

The God of Longevity said, "Great Sage, you are not far from the Holy Mountain, and your mission will soon be accomplished."

The Monkey King waved his hand and said, "Brother Shouxing, don't say such things. If we are only one step away from the Holy Mountain and have not yet entered it, then we cannot say that we have achieved success. How can we say that we are about to achieve success?"

The birthday star smiled and said, "The Great Sage has really made progress. His magical powers are growing stronger day by day. He is very different from before. I remember when the Great Sage was in the Heavenly Palace, he shouted and yelled when he saw us. How could he be like this now?"

The traveler said, "I was ignorant in the past and didn't know the true number. Brother Shouxing, please don't laugh at me."

The God of Longevity said, "How can you be so funny? I am really praising the Great Sage for his success in cultivation. People like Tianpeng have been walking for a long time but have not made any progress."

The traveler shook his head and said, "I have often advised him, but he never listened. No matter how many words I have said, it is useless."

The God of Longevity said, "That's exactly the reason. Tian Peng's worldly mind was still there in the past, but he also practiced cultivation. But he is not like today, where his cultivation is gradually weakening and his worldly mind is blinding him."

The traveler said, "Let's not talk about that. The sacred mountain is right under our feet. If that fool can wake up, he will have some practice. If he can't wake up, he can't blame others. I have walked with him for many days, and we have some brotherly feelings. If he can wake up, I will be happy."

The God of Longevity sighed and said, "Let's not talk about this. I am talking to the Great Sage for another reason. Great Sage, do you know that Buddhism has the concepts of Zen and Nirvana?"

The traveler replied, "I know that Zen was founded by my elder brother. Many people call my elder brother the founder of Zen. Nirvana is the method of the Tathagata Buddha. Although the two methods are different, they are both Buddhist sects."

The God of Longevity smiled and said, "That's right. There is no two ways in Buddhism. These two are both Buddhist sects. In Lingshan, both methods have true scriptures. When you succeed, you should take the true scriptures. But you have never thought about whether to take the true scriptures of Nirvana or the true scriptures of Zen. Now that we are not far from Lingshan, the Great Sage should know it earlier."

The traveler blinked and said, "There are two true scriptures in Lingshan? Is this true?"

The birthday star said, "Why should I coax you?"

The traveler asked, "What is the difference between the two scriptures?"

The birthday star shook his head and said, "Great Sage, I am a disciple of Daluo. How would I know what the true scripture looks like? It is only because of the grace of the Great Sage that I was able to tell you."

The traveler nodded and said, "In that case, thank you for your help, God of Longevity. I will now go home."

The God of Longevity said, "Great Sage, please go now. When you have accomplished your mission in the future, please do not forget me and come and sit with me."

The traveler agreed and was about to leave on a cloud.

The God of Longevity stopped him again, took out three red dates from his sleeve, and said, "Great Sage, I was playing chess with the Emperor Donghua, and he gave me a few red dates. I'll keep them for you to quench your thirst."

The traveler accepted the jujube and said, "In that case, thank you very much, brother Shouxing."

The birthday star said with a smile, "Great Sage, there is no need to thank me. If you find the fire dates tasty, come to my place someday and I will give you a few pounds."

The traveler said, "Okay, okay."

The God of Longevity said no more and left on a auspicious cloud. The traveler also turned back and went to the country of monks.

The Monkey King rode his cloud to the inn of the Kingdom of Bhikkhus, only to see the king sending people delivering gold and silver. He knelt on the ground and begged Tang Monk to accept the gold and silver.

Tang Seng only said: "As a monk, I am determined to travel west to obtain Buddhist scriptures and I dare not covet gold and silver."

Having said that, he rejected them all, determined not to be tempted by gold, silver, or jewelry.

Just as Tang Seng sent these people away, some of the strangers whose children were rescued came to express their gratitude and asked Tang Seng to go to their homes so that he could teach him how to repay his kindness.

Tang Monk dared not accept it. He clasped his hands in front of his chest and refused to be disturbed by anything.

The traveler stepped on the clouds and took a closer look. He saw auspicious mist above Tang Monk's head. This was a sign of a holy monk. He laughed to himself and said, "This old monk has been a good man for ten lifetimes. He was reincarnated as a golden cicada. Now he has finally achieved success in his practice. His spirit is clear and he is not easily frightened like before. Now there is auspicious mist covering his head. He has achieved success in his practice. He just needs to walk to the sacred mountain and he will achieve the true fruit."

He then looked at Sha Wujing and said, "Junior brother Sha is honest and dutiful. He has been instrumental in bringing us together on our pilgrimage. He has also devoted himself to cultivating his mind and can also achieve a positive result."

The Monkey King looked at Zhu Bajie again, but he did not make any comment. He stepped down from the cloud and met Tang Monk.

Tang Seng stepped forward and asked, "Disciple, is the task completed?"

The traveler said, "That's it."

Tang Seng said: "If the matter is done, disciples, we will set off. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can reach Lingshan. The people of Bhikkhu country will be grateful for our kindness, but we must not take the gold, silver, and jewels."

The Monkey King smiled and said, "Master, what you said makes sense. In that case, let's pack up and set off now. The sooner we reach Lingshan, the sooner we can achieve success."

Upon hearing this, everyone decided to pack up and leave the country of Bhikkhus, heading westwards.

Zhu Bajie was sharp-eyed. When he saw what Monkey was holding in his hand, he asked, "Brother, what treasure do you have in your hand?"

The Monkey King took out three red dates and said, "These are what the God of Longevity gave me to quench my thirst before he left. If you are greedy, take one and eat it."

Zhu Bajie took a red date and thanked him repeatedly.

The Monkey King took one of the two fire dates and gave it to Sha Wujing, and gave the other one to Tang Seng.

Tang Seng was about to eat it, but when he saw Monkey's appearance, he asked, "Disciple, have you eaten it?"

The Monkey King said, "The God of Longevity gave me three, but I didn't eat them."

Tang Seng handed the red dates to Monkey and said, "In that case, you can eat them, my disciple."

The Monkey King said, "Master, don't be so arrogant. I had so many treasures in my life that I didn't miss a single red date. Just eat it, Master."

Tang Seng shook his head and said, "I am your master, how can I argue with you? Just eat it. If you don't eat it, I will have the dignity to call you master."

The Monkey King had no choice but to eat the jujube. After he ate the jujube, he asked again, "Master, there is one more thing I want to ask you."

Tang Seng clasped his hands and said, "Disciple, please ask."

The traveler asked, "Master, do you know the doctrine of Zen and Nirvana?"

Tang Seng nodded and said, "Disciple, I have been practicing since I was young and converted to Buddhism. How could I not know the teachings of Zen and Nirvana?"

The traveler said, "Master, these two are both monks, but which one do you believe in?"

Tang Seng shook his head and said, "Disciple, you also know that both are monks, so why would you believe in the first one? There is a saying that 'there is no two suns in the sky, and there is no two Buddhas' teachings.'" The Monkey King said, "Since that's the case, Master, if we go to the West to obtain the scriptures and reach Mount Lingshan, and see that there are two kinds of true scriptures, one is the Zen Sutra, and the other is the Nirvana Sutra, and Master is only allowed to take one, which one would you like to take?"

Tang Seng pondered for a long time and said, "If I can only take one kind of true scripture, it would be better to take the true scripture of Zen."

The traveler asked, "How do you say that?"

Tang Monk replied: "Disciple, nirvana is hard to understand, but Zen is easy to realize. If you are a sentient being in the East, you should obtain the true Zen scriptures."

The traveler said nothing more, only that it was time to set off westward.

The group gathered their forces, left the country of Bhikkhus, and headed westwards.

……

Time flies, and before I knew it, May and June have gone by.

In the forests of Nanzhanbuzhou, Jiang Yuan played a game of chess with Emperor Donghua, which finally came to an end. Jiang Yuan won by a large margin. On the chessboard, the black and white pieces looked like two giant dragons fighting. The white dragon held by Jiang Yuan defeated the black dragon of Emperor Donghua from the belly, and the difference in chess skills between the two was immediately apparent.

Emperor Donghua looked at the chessboard carefully, pondered for a long time, and said: "Master's chess skills are indeed superb. I can't beat him."

Jiang Yuan said: "Your Majesty, you are too kind."

Emperor Donghua shook his head and said, "What a false praise! The master is much better than me in chess. Fortunately, the master let me win. If he hadn't let me win, I would have lost in a month."

Jiang Yuan was about to say something else when he looked around and saw a woodcutter watching the chess game next to the chessboard. He asked, "How long have you been watching the game here?"

The woodcutter said with a smile, "My lords, I have watched a whole game. It should take two or three hours. Please do not be surprised. It is because you two are both extraordinary chess players that I was shocked and fascinated by you. I have watched the whole game."

Jiang Yuan smiled helplessly and said, "Two or three hours? Go back quickly, don't let your family worry, and eat this date."

Say it.

The immortal took a red date and gave it to the woodcutter.

The woodcutter was filled with gratitude. He took the dates, wiped them on his clothes, ate them, and not daring to offend anyone again. He stood up and left with his axe.

Jiang Yuan said: "How could someone enter by mistake?"

Emperor Donghua had never thought of this. He shook his head and said, "Maybe he got in by mistake. The Immortal and I are here. We have the aura of immortals. We can ensure that he will not have any problem if he does not eat or drink for several months. If he left, he would have met with disaster. Fortunately, the Immortal gave him a fire date."

Jiang Yuan called the Bull Demon King who was sleeping soundly and asked, "Bull, wake up."

Bull Demon King asked, sleepily, "Master, are we going to set off?"

Jiang Yuan asked, "Niu'er, did you see a woodcutter coming in?"

The Bull Demon King replied, "Master, a woodcutter walked in earlier. I told him to watch the chess game without saying a word. Master, how come he disturbed you and the Emperor from playing chess?"

Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, "No. Forget it, forget it, forget it. Give him the red dates. I think it will be fine."

Emperor Donghua said: "Give him the fire dates, he will have the blessing of longevity, don't worry."

The two talked for a while in the mountains and introduced each other as good friends. Then they left and agreed to meet again the next day. Jiang Yuan, then, went to Jizhou with Niu Mowang and others.

……

But the woodcutter ate the jujubes and felt light and refreshed. He walked away quickly, thinking that he was lucky today as he saw two noble men playing chess. Their chess moves were beyond his reach.

The woodcutter whispered, "Not to mention me, even the worst chess player in the village, Chen, can't beat these two nobles. In just a moment, he will be defeated."

As he spoke, he walked down the mountain. Suddenly he noticed some changes in his surroundings. The trees became more luxuriant, which made the woodcutter confused. He didn't understand why, because it was clearly not like this when he came here, and he had not taken the wrong path.

The woodcutter was puzzled and thought that there were many strange things in the mountains, so he walked down the mountain. He lifted his axe and saw that it was covered with rust, which surprised him again.

The woodcutter shouted, "How come my axe is rusty? It's strange."

The woodcutter walked down the mountain, and when he got down the mountain, he saw a large crowd of people gathered in the village.

The woodcutter stepped forward and asked, "What are you waiting for here?"

When those people saw the woodcutter, they were terrified and stumbled to and fro.

The woodcutter didn't understand what he meant.

Someone asked, "Aren't you dead?"

The woodcutter cursed, "You are the one who died."

Someone else asked, "Brother, if you are not dead, why haven't you been seen for several months?"

The woodcutter said, "I was just on the mountain for two or three hours, and I saw you playing chess. And you said you haven't seen me for months?"

They said, "We are in this mountain, there are no nobles around, and you are playing chess, you must be seeing a ghost."

The woodcutter said, "That's impossible. Those two were from a wealthy family. They gave me a date to eat. I felt refreshed after eating it. If it's as you say, I haven't seen them for several months. How come I'm not hungry and tired now?"

They said, "Take us to see that you have really disappeared for several months."

Upon hearing this, the woodcutter was shocked and confused, so he took everyone up the mountain. When they got to the mountain and reached the forest, they found no trace of human beings, only the deserted one.

The woodcutter was surprised.

Everyone said, "Did you encounter an evil spirit in the mountain?"

The woodcutter shook his head and said, "That's impossible. You are really kidding me."

Seeing that the woodcutter did not believe it, the others went back to the village, found the woodcutter's mother and talked to her. Only then did the woodcutter believe that he had disappeared for several months. He had been watching a chess game for several months without even noticing it.

Everyone asked the woodcutter where he had gone.

The woodcutter said, "I have really not lied to you. I saw two nobles playing chess in the mountains. There was an old man watching the game, a big man was sleeping soundly, and a white deer was also watching the game. I watched the whole game. The chess player saw me watching the game and asked me how long I had been watching. Then he took a date and gave it to me. After I ate the date, I felt very energetic."

Say it.

In order to show off his strength, the woodcutter was able to lift a tree that required three people by himself, and even made it turn in a circle without any effort. It was truly a display of divine power.

Seeing the woodcutter's supernatural power, the crowd was so frightened that they fell down and said that the woodcutter had met a fairy and got a treasure from the fairy, so he had such supernatural power.

Upon hearing this, the woodcutter knew that the two people he met must be immortals, the old man was most likely the immortals' follower, and the white deer was the footstool of one of the immortals.

The woodcutter was filled with envy. He thought it would be great if he could follow the immortal. Even if he could just follow as a boy, it would still be much better than his current situation.

The woodcutter wanted to go to the mountains to find the immortal and beg the immortal to accept him. But before he could take any action, he suddenly saw his elderly mother in the house, his child who was not even as tall as his knees, and his wife who was busy working in the house. He was silent for a long time, and finally suppressed his thoughts and did not speak to anyone.

(End of this chapter)