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

Chapter 211 Wedding Banquet, How to Study for Fame [asking for monthly ticket]

However, the immortal and his entourage asked the Fox King to welcome them into the house. After they entered, the Fox King sent all the foxes in the house, big and small, to carry lotus lanterns and line up in two rows to welcome the immortals.

The monsters, both big and small, in the house did not recognize the real person and were surprised that the Fox King treated this person with such courtesy.

The Fox King welcomed the Immortals to the main table, treated them politely, and asked them to take the main seat. The Fox King said, "When the Immortals come, they should take the main seat to show their honor and suppress the evil spirits."

Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, "Don't turn it upside down. I am a guest. Now that you are marrying off your daughter, how can I take your seat? This is absolutely unreasonable, so you should take the host seat."

The Fox King was helpless and said, "In that case, please take a seat, Master."

The Fox King invited the Immortal to sit at the main table, and then invited Sun Wukong and others. He asked, "Please take your seats. I will take the deer to the back for you."

Sun Wukong and the others responded with a smile, handed the white deer to the Fox King, and sat down in the main seats.

After a while, the Bull Demon King and others were invited to sit at the main table. Many monsters were puzzled as to why the Fox King was so respectful to these people and even invited their followers to sit at the main table.

The Fox King left and came out again, bringing with him an old woman who was over 40 years old. He said, "Master, this is my wife. I have met you today and specially sent you to pay homage to you."

Jiang Yuan said, "No need to be polite. I am here to share the good fortune. You can just continue as usual."

The Fox King dared not disobey, so he asked the woman to do the work while he stayed beside the immortal himself.

The immortal said with a smile: "You said you have the ability to see the aura. You can see my aura, so you must have some ability."

The Fox King panicked and said, "I dare not talk about my abilities in front of a real person. I only have a few tricks. I looked at the aura and saw the auspicious clouds outside the door. I knew that the real immortal had arrived, so I went out to greet him."

Jiang Yuan asked, "How long have you been practicing now?"

The Fox King replied, "I have been practicing for more than a thousand years."

Jiang Yuan nodded and said, "Just concentrate on your cultivation and don't cause any trouble. I see that you have pure energy in your body, so you have never eaten anyone."

The Fox King said, "No, no. To be honest, I have never eaten anyone and I always help others. I have also married my daughter to a stranger, so how could I have the intention to harm others?"

The Bull Demon King asked in surprise, "You are marrying your daughter to a stranger?"

The Fox King bowed and said, "That's right. Sir, my daughter is now marrying a scholar from Yingchuan County, Yuzhou."

The Bull Demon King said: "Is that scholar willing to marry your daughter? As the saying goes, humans and demons are on different paths, how can this have a good ending?"

The Fox King shook his head and said, "I had no intention of letting my daughter marry a stranger, but the two fell in love with each other and decided to spend their lives together. I had no choice but to agree. The scholar didn't know that my daughter was a spirit, and he didn't know that everyone here tonight was a spirit. So please don't expose her."

Jiang Yuan smiled but did not answer.

The Bull Demon King said: "How can you ask the real person for such a small matter? No, no!"

The Fox King was busy confessing his crime.

As they were talking, they suddenly heard the sound of music and a spirit shouted, "The son-in-law is here!"

Everyone looked outside the door and saw two or three people holding lanterns, leading in a man in a red robe.

As soon as the man entered, he was told to walk to the main table and pay his respects to the Fox King. Then he saw the Bull Demon King and others. He wanted to pay his respects and hear the news, but when he saw the Bull Demon King, he was fine because he had turned into a human. But when he saw Sun Wukong's hairy face and thunder god's mouth, he was frightened and fell down.

The man was surprised and asked, "Where did this person come from? Why does he look like this?"

Sun Wukong scratched his head and said with a smile: "Don't be afraid, I am a foreigner, I look a little strange, but I am not a bad person."

The man was relieved after hearing this and said, "You are a foreigner. No wonder you are so strange."

The Fox King shouted, "He'er, don't be rude. This is an honored guest."

The man immediately apologized to Sun Wukong and said, "Liu He is being polite, please don't be offended."

Sun Wukong waved his hands and said, "I don't blame you, I don't blame you!"

As they were talking, they saw several maids escorting the bride out of the house, with the sound of jade pendants ringing pleasantly.

Liu He stepped forward and the banquet began. The Fox King asked the immortal for permission and stepped forward to take charge of the banquet.

Jiang Yuan and others were drinking at the table. The immortal took a golden cup and drank it, then turned around and looked around, and saw Bull Demon King and Sun Wukong were also drinking.

The Bull Demon King held the cup and said, "My dear brother, you are still a monk, can you drink?"

Sun Wukong said with a smile: "Brother, why do you ask me this? Why can't I drink wine now? I can still get the golden hoop on my head by myself, so why can't I eat meat and wine? If I ask the host to get vegetarian wine because I don't eat meat and wine, it would be a sin."

Zuo Liang said, "Sir, Grandpa Buddha, Grandpa Niu, this place is full of monsters. Is it really okay for us to eat and drink here?"

Sun Wukong said, "Zuo Liang, just eat and drink here peacefully. Nothing will happen. I, my elder brother, and my eldest brother are here. Let alone this banquet, the world is so big that you can eat and drink anywhere. No one will dare to hurt you."

Zuo Liang thanked Yu Wukong and others.

He and others were having fun at the banquet. The Fox King did not dare to invite anyone to the banquet, so he and a few others were the only ones sitting at the main table.

The wedding ceremony lasted for a long time and was very lively. Countless spirits cheered and congratulated the Fox King on marrying his daughter.

The Fox King dealt with them one by one, and after a long time he brought the newlyweds to the main table and asked them to greet the real person.

Liu He and the bride did not know, but when they heard what the Fox King said, they stepped forward and bowed, not daring to disobey.

The immortal smiled and helped them up, congratulating them on their marriage.

The Fox King stepped forward and said, "It is an honor for you to receive the congratulations from the True Man."

The bride bowed. Liu He said, "True Man? Are you a Taoist who has read all the books? There is a saying that goes, 'The true man in ancient times did not go against the weak, did not dominate the successful, and did not seek advice from scholars.' Since you call yourself a true man, you must be a Taoist."

The Fox King was about to scold.

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "Taoism? I guess so."

Liu He said, "I wonder what books you have read? Why don't you study Confucianism to get a good reputation? If you don't get a good reputation, it would be a waste of time."

Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, "If studying is for fame, isn't that the host and the guest are reversed?"

Liu He said: "If you don't study for fame, then what's the point?"

Jiang Yuan said: "Studying is to teach you etiquette, not to teach you to pass the imperial examination. If you are studying for the sake of passing the imperial examination, but not for etiquette, everyone is like this. Don't you think that most officials are not of good character? Knowing etiquette and knowing the heart is the key to studying."

Liu He shook his head and said, "You are pedantic."

The Bull Demon King shouted, "How bold!"

Liu He shouted at him and frightened him so much that he fell down.

Jiang Yuan stopped the Bull Demon King, and the Fox King came forward to apologize.

Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, "It's just a casual talk, don't take it seriously."

The Fox King hurriedly thanked Master Yu.

Liu He didn't know why the Fox King was like this, but when he saw that Sun Wukong and the Bull Demon King were both strong and powerful, he didn't dare to say much and had to give up.

Jiang Yuan asked the Fox King to sit down and talk, while Liu He left with the fox girl.

The Fox King served Master Yu at the main table, bowed repeatedly to express his gratitude, and said, "Thank you so much for coming here, Master Yu."

Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, "No need to thank me like this."

The Fox King said, "I don't know the real person's name yet. May I be lucky enough to learn his name?"

Jiang Yuan said: "Guangxin."

Upon hearing this, the Fox King felt somewhat puzzled, precisely because he had never heard of the name 'Guangxin'.

When Jiang Yuan saw this, he laughed and said, "My name is shallow, and you have never heard of it. This is normal."

The Fox King didn't know how to answer, so he could only smile and bow, saying that he was ignorant. He then asked the names of Sun Wukong and others.

Sun Wukong laughed and said, "We are also unknown people. Have you ever heard of the name of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven?"

The Bull Demon King said, "The Bull Demon King of Cuiyun Mountain in Hezhou, West Niu."

When the Fox King heard the names of the two, he fell to the ground in fear and said in panic, "The Great Sage Equaling Heaven? But he is the Great Sage Equaling Heaven who caused havoc in the Heavenly Palace five hundred years ago? The Bull Demon King, is he the great demon king in the west who gathered all the demons?"

They both said "yes".

The fox demon bowed hastily and said, "I didn't know you two had come. Please forgive me for being rude, please forgive me for being rude!"

Sun Wukong laughed and said, "How come you recognize us but don't recognize my elder brother? My elder brother is a real person, how could you not recognize him?"

The Fox King trembled and said, "I am ignorant, so I don't know."

Jiang Yuan shook his head and smiled, "I am the only one who knows my name, how can you blame me? Get up now."

Say it.

Jiang Yuan helped the Fox King up.

The Fox King served everyone respectfully.

Seeing the Fox King like this, Jiang Yuan stopped talking and stayed at the table for a while longer. When he saw the east was getting light, he stood up and was about to leave, saying, "I am very grateful for your hospitality today. It's getting late, so we should leave now."

The Fox King bowed and said, "Please, Great Sage, please let the Bull King stay for a while so that I can learn how to be a good host."

Jiang Yuan was of course unwilling, but just smiled and said that they would meet again if they were destined to do so in the future. Then he left with Sun Wukong and others, led the white deer, and went back to the road.

The Fox King personally saw Jiang Yuan off and only returned home after walking ten miles.

As soon as the Fox King returned home, monsters of all sizes came forward to ask who those people were.

The Fox King said: "It cannot be said, it cannot be said."

The spirits asked, "Why don't you tell us, King Fox, so that we can know this. If we meet him in the future, we will not offend him."

Upon hearing this, the Fox King said, "Stop, stop, stop. I will tell you that the leader is a real person named 'Guangxin'."

The spirits asked, "We have never heard of such a real person."

The Fox King said, "We have never heard of it, because we are ignorant and uninformed, and we are surprised by what we have seen. Do you know who the two followers around the Immortal are?"

The spirits shook their heads and said, "We don't know, but please let the Fox King tell us."

The Fox King said, "The man-like figure on the left is the Bull Demon King of Cuiyun Mountain in Xiniu Hezhou. Many of you must have heard of his name. He is a great demon with more than 10,000 soldiers and horses. We can't compare with him. The one on the right is even more extraordinary. He is the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, Sun Wukong. Who among the spirits doesn't know this name? The Great Sage Equaling Heaven made a big fuss in the Heavenly Palace 500 years ago, and 100,000 heavenly soldiers were helpless. This demon in the world, who doesn't know that the Great Sage Equaling Heaven is the most famous demon in history!"

When the spirits and monsters heard this, they were all shocked. Many of them knew the Bull Demon King. Even if they did not know the Bull Demon King, they still knew the Monkey King. They never thought that they had seen these two great monsters before.

(End of this chapter)