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

Chapter 261: Fear of Luzhou to the North, Tianpeng's Past

The old man welcomed the immortals into his house, served them tea and food, and let them enjoy it.

The Immortal and others had tea and food, and then sat in the courtyard to chat with the old man and others.

The immortal asked the old man about his surname and age.

The old man did not dare to refuse, so he bowed and said, "My surname is Wang, and I am sixty-one now."

The immortal smiled and said, "At the age of sixty, you still have children and grandchildren. You are a blessing, old man."

Wang Laodao: "I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it."

The son of Mr. Wang stepped forward and said, "My father was blessed. If I had not been injured while repairing the house at my father's order, I would have followed the villagers and died."

Old Wang stopped talking and said, "Don't say such things. In the past, the villagers treated you very well and were as close to you as a family. Now that you are still alive, it will make people hate you if you continue to say such things."

Wang Lao's son said, "I dare not say any more."

Old Wang said, "Master, this is my son, his name is Wang Min, he has no knowledge of etiquette and speaks rudely, but please don't blame me, Master."

Jiang Yuan said: "How can I blame him? Wang Min is a person of true character. What he said makes sense. It is just like 'A blessing in disguise'."

Wang Min asked: "What does it mean that a blessing in disguise?"

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "Once upon a time, there was an old gentleman who raised a horse. One day, the horse was lost, and the old gentleman sighed all day long. One day, the old horse found the way and returned home, bringing a fine horse with it. The old gentleman's son was overjoyed and loved the fine horse very much. He rode the horse every day, but he never expected that he would have an accident and broke his leg. The old gentleman regretted it. However, one year, the army was called up, and his son was exempted from service because of his disabled leg. On the other hand, eight out of ten of the sons of the neighbors who served in the war died, but the old gentleman's son was able to save his life because of his disabled leg. This is called misfortune and fortune depend on each other."

Wang Min heard this and said, "This is very similar to me."

Jiang Yuan smiled and nodded.

Wang Min said, "Master, my father said that you are truly practicing, but I wonder if you have the ability to exorcise demons and monsters?"

Jiang Yuan was about to answer.

Old Wang hit Wang Min and said, "How can you say that? Even if the Immortal is truly practicing, this matter has nothing to do with the Immortal. No matter whether the Immortal has the ability to exorcise demons or not, you cannot invite the Immortal."

Wang Min asked Wang Lao to hit him and he dared not say anything else.

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "Old sir, I have some skills in exorcising demons, but Beijuluzhou is very far away from here. I have never been to Beijuluzhou and I don't know where the Cold Marrow Pond is. But if someone can show me the way, I will go there."

Wang Min was shocked and said, "The one who knew the place of the Cold Marrow Pond was Wang Yu. He escaped from Beijuluzhou, how dare he go there again?"

Old Wang asked, "Master, please don't be so arrogant. The demons there are very dangerous. Master, please don't let us ruin your cultivation."

The Bull Demon King stepped forward and said with a smile: "Don't worry too much, the real person is a Taoist immortal. Whenever the real person goes there, all the demons will surrender, and there will be no one who will disobey."

Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, "You can go and ask the boy who escaped back if he is willing to lead the way to Beijuluzhou. If he is willing, I will go and subdue the monster."

Wang Min was overjoyed when he heard this, and ran outside, saying that he wanted to ask Wang Yu if he was willing to go again.

Mr. Wang chased after him.

Jiang Yuan watched the old man and the young man leave, and asked with a smile: "Niu'er, King Si, Zhengyuan, what do you think, is the boy who escaped back willing to go again?"

The Bull Demon King shook his head and said, "Even ants are greedy for life, let alone humans? Now that I have survived a great disaster, how dare I go?"

The green ox remained silent and just ate the oranges.

Zuo Liang said, "Master, I think that person will dare to go again."

The Bull Demon King said, "How is this possible? How can someone not fear death? Zhengyuan, your words are totally unfounded. If he were a cultivator, it would be fine. Subduing demons is his duty. He would go even if he knew it was dangerous. But he is just an ordinary person. Zhengyuan, how can you say that he dared to go?"

Zuo Liang smiled, pointed at the grains on the ground, and said, "Master, I will teach you the divination technique of the Shuzi Sect."

The Bull Demon King was speechless.

Seeing this, Jiang Yuan smiled and asked, "Zhengyuan, have you learned the Five Thunder Technique?"

Zuo Liang bowed and replied, "I haven't learned all of them yet, but I can use some of them."

Jiang Yuan smiled and nodded.

A group of people waited for one or two people at home.

Not long after, the father and son of the Wang family came again, accompanied by a large group of people, all of whom were in mourning.

A large group of people came over, all kneeling and knelt before Jiang Yuan, crying non-stop, and praying to the immortal to exorcise the demons and avenge their sons.
The real person was unmoved, but he saw a man next to the Wang father and son.

Old Wang then said that this man was Wang Yu, who had escaped back from Beijuluzhou.

Wang Yu bowed and said, "I have heard that the Master has the ability to subdue demons and monsters, and can avenge the men in my village. I hope the Master can go there."

The Immortal smiled and said, "I don't know the way to Beijuluzhou, but if you go there, I can go there to subdue the demons and monsters."

Wang Yu gritted his teeth and said, "I am willing to go and lead the way for the Master."

The Immortal said: "If so, I can go and subdue the demon."

Wang Yu bowed to Master Yu and thanked him with tears of gratitude.

Outside the house, a large group of villagers knelt down to express their gratitude.

The Immortal accepted it calmly, and then asked Wang Yu to go with him to Beijuluzhou.

Upon hearing this, Wang Yu went back to collect the things.

The group stayed in the village for a while, then left and headed north.

Wang Yu was carrying a bag and following behind the white deer. They were walking on the road together and felt a little afraid.

Jiang Yuan rode on the white deer, looked at Zuo Liang who was leading the deer, and said, "Zhengyuan, when we reach Beijuluzhou, I will teach you how to subdue the monster."

Zuo Liang bowed and said, "Yes, Master."

He knew that the real person wanted to test his ability.

The Bull Demon King swung the Piyue Spear, transformed into a big man, turned around and said: "Master, Beiju Luzhou should not be underestimated, but if Zhengyuan goes there, he must be careful, for fear of being harmed."

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "Niu'er has a heart, I will protect Zhengyuan myself."

Zuo Liang said, "Master Niu, I have some skills now, not like before."

The Bull Demon King said, "You can go if I am here to protect you, but you must not go alone. In the past, Emperor Xuan wiped out the demons in Jiazi, but he could not wipe them out completely. Now the demons and evil spirits have risen together, and it is difficult for Chang to control them."

Zuo Liang said, "If that's the case, there are many demons in Beijuluzhou, but when I was in the human world, I never heard of Beijuluzhou." The Bull Demon King replied, "The Emperor Xuan is the Great Emperor Zhenwu. He is in charge of Mount Wudang, and the demons in Beijuluzhou are afraid of him, so they dare not attack him."

When Zuo Liang first heard this, he was surprised.

Jiang Yuan smiled but said nothing, and did not say what difficulties Bei Juluzhou had.

Moving forward together.

……

Time flies, and before I knew it, more than two years have passed.

The Immortals and their group traveled north, resting every two days. Taking Wang Yu into consideration, they finally arrived near Beijuluzhou. As they moved forward, Wang Yu was very confused. The group clearly asked him to show the way, but as they moved forward, they never asked him for directions and just kept moving forward.

But as they traveled along the way, Wang Yu realized that these people were truly practicing cultivation and all had the power of immortals and gods. This taught him that there was hope for revenge.

The immortal looked forward and saw that he had entered Beijulu Island. He stopped the white deer and took a closer look. He saw northerly winds blowing across the ground and frost flying in June. He also saw thousands of peaks lined up like spears and thousands of feet high. There were many icicles hanging from the cliffs like fangs and the caves often spewed out black smoke like ghost faces. It was indeed an evil place.

Wang Yu saw this, his face flushed, and he pointed to the way ahead, saying, "This is it, this is it! Master, just go ahead and cross this mountain, and you will reach the Cold Marrow Pond."

Jiang Yuan said, "Don't worry, prepare enough warm clothes, and don't let this evil wind harm you."

Upon hearing this, Wang Yu immediately untied his bag, took out his clothes and dressed himself.

Jiang Yuan looked at the Bull Demon King and said, "Niu'er, call the local gods and mountain gods to ask them about the origins of the monster in the Cold Marrow Pond."

The Bull Demon King responded and chanted a spell to cast a magic spell to drive away the gods.

After a while, an old man came out from the ground and said, "Lord of the Hansui Mountain, I pay my respects to you, the real master."

Say it.

The land god performed a grand ceremony and worshipped everyone.

Wang Yu was shocked when he saw the land. Land and the like were mostly legends. He had never seen one before. Seeing the land now made him feel confused and at a loss.

Jiang Yuan returned the greeting and asked, "I heard that there is a demon haunting this place, and it has harmed many people. I am here to subdue it, but I don't know the way of this demon. I hope the local god can tell me."

The land god panicked and said, "I dare not accept your courtesy. I have heard of the monster here. If you want to know, I will tell you. You, there is an icy pond behind this mountain, called the Cold Marrow Pond. There is a dragon in the pond. It has been doing evil here for many years and enjoys eating people. It especially likes to eat human brains. The dragon has a trick. When it looks at people, it can make them lose their minds and commit suicide by jumping into the pond and being eaten by it. In recent years, there are few people here, so the evil dragon releases passers-by and spreads rumors that there is a treasure here to trick more people to come. I am incompetent and cannot stop it, but whenever there are passers-by passing by, I warn them with the spirits in the mountain and persuade them to leave, but most of them do not obey, so I can only let them do what they want."

Upon hearing this, Wang Yu asked in surprise, "When I came here with the boys from the village, there was a tiger blocking the way in the mountains. Could it be that the earth god stopped us?"

The land god took a closer look and recognized the man. He said, "Are you from the village who escaped a few years ago? I remember that most of your team are young and strong men, most of them are surnamed Wang, but this?"

Wang Yu said, "That's right, that's right."

The land god sighed, "When I saw you coming, I sent tigers from the mountains to block your way and persuade you to leave, but you didn't listen and even killed my tiger spirit. The water dragon threatened you that day, so you stayed away. Therefore, I used a magic to protect you and save your life."

Upon hearing this, Wang Yu knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the land god countless times, expressing his gratitude for saving his life and feeling ashamed of his greed.

The Bull Demon King said, "Land God, is that dragon very powerful?"

The land god bowed and said, "Bull King, the water dragon is capable, but not as capable as the Bull King. However, the water dragon is a general under the command of a great monster in Beijuluzhou. If we subdue the water dragon, we will surely attract the monster."

The Bull Demon King asked, "What did the great demon say?"

The land god pointed to the direction of Beijuluzhou and said, "Behind this mountain is the Cold Marrow Pond. Three hundred miles to the west is the White Bone City. The great monster lives in it. He is called the Great Sage Shuangpo. He is a spirit that was formed by the resentment of a corpse. This monster has some origins. He was originally a god general in heaven."

Jiang Yuan asked, "What does the God say?"

The land god said, "This monster was once a brave general under the command of Marshal Tianpeng. Because the Monkey King caused a commotion in the Heavenly Palace and fought to the Tongming Palace, this general was in charge of the troops and refused to move forward, so he was implicated and demoted to the lower world. A strong wind blew him down to Beijuluzhou. His soul no longer exists, but his corpse still holds grudges, so he became a great monster."

Jiang Yuan said: "Frost is the essence of snow, and soul is the essence of corpse. Great Sage Frost Soul, there are some tricks."

The Bull Demon King said, "Now that my master is here, the Great Sage Shuangpo must be in trouble."

The land god bowed and said, "When the real person comes, all demons will be subdued and no devil dares to stop him. But if the Great Sage Shuangpo still holds grudges, we will kill him. After a thousand or hundred years, the grudges will gather again and he will come out to cause trouble. So if the real person wants to subdue him, he must disperse the grudges before he can kill him."

Jiang Yuan asked, "Why does he feel resentful when he is in charge of the army but does not move forward?"

The land god said, "I have heard the great monster's words of resentment. He was ordered by Marshal Tianpeng to stop his troops from advancing. However, Marshal Tianpeng was not punished, but he was. He is dissatisfied."

Jiang Yuan said: "I don't know the reason, but you can ask Marshal Tianpeng to come and resolve his grievances."

The Bull Demon King bowed and said, "Master, I would like to go to Fuling Mountain and summon Zhu Bajie."

Jiang Yuan said, "Go ahead, Niu'er. Go quickly and come back soon."

The Bull Demon King took the order and rode his cloud towards Fuling Mountain.

The immortal said, "Let's find a place to wait for a while. Earth God, please show up and answer my questions."

The land god hurriedly said that he dared not, and waited by the side, looking for a quiet place to be with the real people.

……

It is said that the Bull Demon King rode a cloud to Fuling Mountain. He walked for a long time and finally arrived at Fuling Mountain. He just arrived in the mountain and used his ability of looking at the air. After a closer look, he saw some black air in the Yunzhan Cave and Zhu Bajie was in it.

The Bull Demon King thought to himself, "This Zhu Bajie, my good brother came to advise me in the past, but now it seems that Zhu Bajie didn't listen to a word. How could the former Tianpeng Water God become like this now?"

Think about it.

The Bull Demon King descended from the cloud, walked to the front of the Yunzhan Cave, and patted the door of the mansion with his hand.

After a while, Zhu Bajie opened the door of his house with sleepy eyes, but saw the Bull Demon King outside. He was frightened and fell down, saying, "You Bull King, why are you here in my house? We have settled our grudges, why are you looking for me?"

The Bull Demon King said: "I came to look for you today not because of past grudges, so you can rest assured."

After hearing this, Zhu Bajie felt relieved and said casually, "If it's not about the old grudges, why are you here?"

The Bull Demon King said: "The real person wants to see you, you must go and see him."

Zhu Bajie said with a smile: "Why did you come to me for something, Master? Did you encounter some difficult demons and ask me to conquer them? Master, you have a discerning eye and know that I am capable. I will pack up and follow you."

The Bull Demon King said: "That evil spirit is related to you. If not, the real person would not come to invite you. But if the real person invites you, who in heaven and on earth would not come to help? Why would he come to invite you?"

Zhu Bajie didn't understand what he meant and asked, "Is it related to me? How can a monster be related to me?"

The Bull Demon King said: "There is a monster in Beijuluzhou. It is rumored that he was a brave general under the command of Marshal Tianpeng in the past. So I am here to find you. Go and defeat him. You..."

Before the Bull King finished speaking, Zhu Bajie turned around and left, closing the door of the cave. Not long after, snoring sounds were heard from inside.

(End of this chapter)