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

Chapter 238 Emperor Xuan comes in person, where the Nine Cauldrons are

The story goes that in Wudang Mountain, in the Taihe Palace, the Heavenly Venerable Dangmo lived there and enjoyed peace. One day, the Heavenly Venerable heard the sound of the thirty-six palaces of golden chimes, and saw millions of guests coming to burn incense, so he stood up and personally checked the incense, with his own fairy children standing by to help him check the incense.

The Demon-Subduing Heavenly Lord checked and found that Chen Yu from Liangjiang Village had offered three sacrifices to repay his vow to pray for peace in previous years. Zhang Tao from Wan Village had offered incense and made complete offerings to pray for blessings and fortune, and Wen Qing from Baishi Village had received a document to pray for a child.

The Heavenly Venerable of Subduing Demons points out the urgent and the urgent. If there is a life-threatening situation or evil spirits causing trouble, he will call out his subordinates to go and treat or subdue the demons. Since the Heavenly Venerable took charge of Mount Wudang, there are very few disasters that require him to go in person to solve the problems. Most of the time, his spiritual officials and subordinates can go.

All the generals under the command of Lord Subduing Demons are brave and good at fighting. For example, the two generals, the tortoise and snake, the five thunder generals, the giant lion, the ferocious poisonous dragon, the five divine dragons and so on are all generals of war.

If ordinary demons and evil spirits cause trouble, there is no need for the Lord of Subduing Demons to go there in person; just send troops and horses.

After the Demon-Subduing Heavenly Lord had finished checking, he was about to close the incense book when he suddenly heard a voice accompanied by a breeze.

"Xiniu Hezhou Lingtai Fangcun Mountain Xieyue Sanxing Cave Guangxin, please come to Qingzhou Donglai Xuandi Temple to see it!"

When the Heavenly Lord of Subduing Demons heard the voice, he knew that something was up with the Immortal, and he passed the message to him using incense, burning candles and statues in the Taoist temples that worshipped him.

Upon hearing this, the Heavenly Venerable immediately sent the fairy boy to say, "Send to the Xuan Emperor Temple as soon as possible."

The fairy boy took the order and checked the Taoist temples that worshipped Emperor Xuan in the world. He took out two books. The one on the left recorded the Taoist temples that were established with the kindness of Emperor Xuan. The one on the right recorded the Taoist temples that were established privately without the kindness of Emperor Xuan.

Xuan Di Guan is the name that most people who worship Xuan Di in the world use this name, so you need to look through the two books to know the specific details.

The fairy boy thoroughly checked the book on the left, and after reading it, he did not see the Xuan Emperor Temple in Donglai, Qingzhou. He then thoroughly checked the book of Taoist temples that were set up privately on the right. It didn't take long for him to find out where they came from.

The fairy boy bowed and said, "Master, I have now found out that the Xuandi Temple in Donglai County, Qingzhou was set up privately. The incense of the Taoist temple is not very prosperous, scattered, and has never been well-known. When the temple was first established, the master and you had no affinity, but seeing your reputation and many people worshipping you, he borrowed your name to set up the temple."

The Demon-Subduing Heavenly Venerable said, "Since the Immortal is offering incense to invite me to come, there must be something going on."

The fairy boy said, "Master, you can send your generals to go, but it will be too tiring for you to go in person."

The Demon-Subduing Heavenly Venerable shook his head and said, "Since the Immortal has invited you, there must be laws that need to be repaired. I invited the Immortal to walk the mortal world and asked him to repair the laws. I couldn't go in person due to some matters, but now that the Immortal has been walking for a long time, if there is something he wants to do, I have to go."

The fairy boy asked, "Master, do you need to gather the soldiers and go with me?"

The Demon-Subduing Heavenly Venerable shook his head and said, "No need. I will go there, and you will call the spiritual officer to stay in the Taihe Palace and prevent any chaos in the palace."

The fairy boy accepted the order and bowed.

The Demon-Subduing Heavenly Lord immediately left the Taihe Palace and rode on a auspicious cloud to Donglai County in Qingzhou.

After a while, the Demon-Subduing Heavenly Venerable arrived at the location of Donglai County. His eyes were as fast as lightning. He looked around the city for a long time and said, "There is some resentment in this city. It is not a place for doing good. The Xuan Emperor Temple is mostly evil, not good."

The Demon-Subduing Heavenly Lord knew what was going on and headed towards the west of the city.

When Tianzun arrived at Xuan Di Temple, he was a little puzzled, but when he saw that there were no practitioners in the temple, he walked into the main hall.

The Demon-Subduing Heavenly Lord entered the main hall, but saw a group of Immortals standing there.

When the Immortal saw the Heavenly Venerable coming, he stepped forward to pay his respects and said, "Mysterious Emperor, thank you for coming here."

The Demon-Subduing Heavenly Venerable smiled and said, "Since the Immortal has invited me, I know that I have something important to do, so I will come."

Jiang Yuan said, "I shouldn't have invited Emperor Xuan to come, but this temple is a place for worshipping Emperor Xuan, and I can't handle it on my own. I will invite Emperor Xuan to come. If there is anything I can say, please forgive me."

The Demon-Subduing Heavenly Venerable said, "I don't know what happened in this Taoist temple. Please tell me, Immortal."

Jiang Yuan had never concealed anything. When he heard the Demon-Subduing Heavenly Venerable asking him, he told him the whole story.

When the Demon-Subduing Heavenly Venerable heard about what happened in the Taoist temple, he became very angry. People worshipped him and recited Buddhist scriptures, had affairs with women in the back hall where he was worshipped, and defecated in the Lingguan Hall. The temple master took the lead in doing evil, digging out the blood from the hearts of boys and girls, taking women and feeding them red lead, and taking human lives lightly. He did all kinds of evil, and even acted in the name of worshipping him.

The Demon-Subduing Heavenly Lord said angrily, "How dare you do this! You have committed many evil deeds, and you must be punished!"

Jiang Yuan said: "This is a place to worship Emperor Xuan, Emperor Xuan can deal with it personally."

The Devil-Subduing Heavenly Venerable said, "Thank you, Immortal. Since this place is a place for worshipping me, I will take care of it."

The two were talking.

Suddenly, a Taoist priest came forward, but seeing the group of Taoist priests in the main hall, he scolded them, "Where did you come from? Why are you here? Don't you know that pilgrims are not allowed to enter this part of the temple? Since you have trespassed, give me some money."

The Demon-Subduing Heavenly Master looked at the Taoist priest with his eyes wide open and full of majesty.

The Taoist saw this and was about to scold again, but he saw some divine light coming from the statue of Emperor Xuan in the main hall. He also saw that Emperor Xuan looked very much like the statue. The Taoist was startled and his heart was trembling. He said in panic, "You, you are Emperor Xuan!"

The Devil-Subduing Heavenly Venerable pointed out the Taoist priest and said, "How dare you commit so many evil deeds in the name of worshipping me? Don't you know that I have taught you that 'If you do evil in secret, the gods will see through you like lightning'? If you commit evil deeds, you should know that you will be punished for your evil deeds when the time comes."

The Taoist said tremblingly: "Who on earth are you? You are playing tricks here. How can there be a Xuan Emperor in the world?"

The Demon-Subduing Heavenly Master angrily said, “You are ignorant and fearless!”

Tianzun then looked at Zhenren and said, "Please stay here for a while. I will take care of this."

Jiang Yuan asked: "Emperor Xuan, do you need my help?"

Tianzun shook his head and said, "No need. Since this place is a place to worship me, I will take care of it myself." After saying that.

Tianzun grabbed the Taoist and went out.

Jiang Yuan bowed to Tianzun.

The real people were waiting behind the main hall.

Zuo Liang asked, "Sir, if Emperor Xuan comes in person, will he start a massacre?"

The Immortal laughed and said, "Zuo Liang, what do you think of Emperor Xuan? Why would Emperor Xuan kill so many people?"

Zuo Liang was puzzled and asked, "If they don't kill people, how can they be dealt with?"

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "Cooking does not mean killing people. You must know that death is not the most terrifying thing."

Zuo Liang didn't understand what he meant.

Jiang Yuan said: "Just wait patiently."

The Bull Demon King looked around and said, "Master, the offerings in the main hall here are also in a mess, which is enough to show that there is no intention to offer sacrifices here. None of these Taoists have returned to the right path."

Jiang Yuan said: "As the saying goes, 'If the top beam is crooked, the bottom beam will be crooked'. Even the master of this temple is doing evil, let alone these Taoist children and Taoist priests."

The Bull Demon King said, "Master, can our revision of the laws really restrain the practitioners of the world?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuan pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said nothing.

Zhenjian took the leaf fan from his waist and said, "It is extremely difficult to use laws to restrain the practitioners of the world. The elder brother once taught that the heaven and the earth have their own destiny, and good and evil are divided. How can those who follow evil be willing to be restrained by a law? The purpose of the law is nothing more than to make those who do good have a little more heart to practice."

The Bull Demon King asked, "If that's the case, isn't it useless to spend so much time and effort to revise the law?"

Zhen Jian laughed and said, "You can't say it's useless. This is just like the Venerable Sakyamuni. His intention of spreading Buddhism to the East was to save sentient beings from the sea of ​​suffering. However, saving sentient beings is so difficult that it is not necessary to do it, but they still did it. Another example is that Laojun went west through Hangu Pass in the past. Wasn't it just to save the sentient beings in the Western Niuhe Continent? It was also unnecessary to do it, but they still did it. What the elder brother is doing now is also the same."

The Bull Demon King pondered for a long time and said, "If you say so, those with great magical powers are mostly compassionate."

Zhenjian said, "Has the Bull King ever seen that powerful person who has no mercy and compassion for all living beings?"

The Bull Demon King shook his head and said, "I have never seen it."

Zhenjian said, "That's exactly the truth."

The Bull Demon King laughed and said, "If you say so, then the master must have great magical powers."

Zhenjian said: "Big Brother's practice is incomparable, and he will become a person of great magical power sooner or later."

Jiang Yuan heard this and shook his head and said, "You two should be careful with your words and don't talk nonsense."

After hearing this, Niu Mowang and Zhenjian dared not say anything more.

Everyone was waiting in the main hall.

After an hour or two, a thunder was suddenly heard.

After the thunder sounded, the Demon-Subduing Lord returned to the main hall.

Jiang Yuan stepped forward and asked, "Emperor Xuan, is the matter now over?"

Emperor Xuan replied, "The master of the temple has taught me to break the evil ways. If there are any evildoers in the temple, I will punish them. When their life span ends, the underworld will punish them. After today, this temple will be destroyed and will no longer exist."

Jiang Yuan bowed and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Emperor Xuan."

Emperor Xuan said, "Master, although the temple has taught me how to deal with things, I have found that the evil method that the temple master learned came from a place where there is a demon. It is said that he has some abilities, such as the Five Thunder Method, which he learned from the demon. The demon is also a person who has done many evil things."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuan immediately asked, "Where is that evil spirit?"

Emperor Xuan said: "The demon is in a mountain outside the city. That mountain is called 'Two Hundred Li Lan Mountain'."

Jiang Yuan noted down the name of the mountain and suddenly remembered that Qingniu had told him before he left that the Nine Cauldrons were probably in Liquan Mountain or Lan Mountain. Could this Lan Mountain be the one Qingniu mentioned?

He had no intention of making a special trip to Lanshan, but now that Emperor Xuan had said so, he had to go.

Jiang Yuan said: "Since there are still evil spirits, we should get rid of them."

Emperor Xuan said, "Master, do you want me to go with you?"

Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, "It's already tiring to invite Emperor Xuan to come here today, how dare I ask Emperor Xuan to go again. However, I have heard that one of the Nine Cauldrons seems to be in this 'Two Hundred Li Lanshan'. If Emperor Xuan is interested, you can go with me to see it."

Emperor Xuan declined politely, saying that he had no destiny with the Nine Cauldrons.

(End of this chapter)