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

Chapter 269: The origin of Xuanming Old Mother, Wukong asks for heavenly soldiers
But Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva asked Di Ting to inquire about the whereabouts of the Mysterious Mother.

The beast obeyed Ksitigarbha's order and prostrated itself on the ground. After a moment, it raised its head and said, "Bodhisattva, I know the origin of the Mysterious Mother, but she has something to do with the Heavenly Palace, so you can't talk nonsense."

Sun Wukong could not hold back any longer and stepped forward and said, "Since you know his origins, why don't you tell me? Don't worry about who is from the Heavenly Palace, just tell me clearly."

The beast paid no attention to Sun Wukong and only obeyed the orders of Ksitigarbha.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva smiled and said, "Let's be frank. Although most of the gods of the netherworld have little magical power, that fellow is causing trouble in Beijuluzhou and cannot enter the underworld."

The beast said, "The Xuanming Old Mother is the Jade Maiden beside the Queen Mother. During the Peach Banquet in the past, she was the Jade Maiden holding the pot. She stole the golden elixir that Laojun had given to the Queen Mother during the chaos. Later, she was discovered and fell down the North Heaven Gate in panic. She then made trouble in Beijuluzhou. She has a treasure, which is the Queen Mother's clothes. She told me to steal it from the lower world as well. Holding this clothes will help conceal my whereabouts."

Sun Wukong said: "How can it be the Queen Mother's fault that she allowed a fairy to do such a thing and make so many people tired!"

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva said: "In the past, Fighting Buddha caused a disturbance in the Heavenly Palace and disrupted the Peach Banquet. I don't know how many people suffered."

Sun Wukong scratched his head and said, "How does this have anything to do with me?"

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva said: "At that time, Fighting Buddha made a big fuss in the Heavenly Palace, and many practitioners lost their minds and became confused, committing many mistakes."

Sun Wukong said: "If that's the case, then it's really my fault."

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva smiled and said, "Now that Fighting Buddha has inquired about this news, he is going to subdue it, but there is a theory of cause and effect."

Sun Wukong bowed and said, "No matter what you say, I am grateful for your kindness. Now that I have learned the news here, please accept my greetings."

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva helped Sun Wukong up and said, "Fighting Buddha, there is no need to be polite. Now that you know this strange way, what should you do? Do you need the gods of the underworld to help you?"

Sun Wukong shook his head and refused, saying, "The God of the Netherworld is not very capable, so there is no need. I will go to the Heavenly Palace, report this matter, and tell him a way to rescue me, and then report to my eldest brother."

Upon hearing this, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva immediately made way for Sun Wukong to leave.

Sun Wukong rode his somersault cloud to the Heavenly Palace. In a moment, he arrived at the South Gate of Heaven. He stopped on the cloud and saw the four marshals guarding the South Gate of Heaven. He stepped forward to greet them.

The four great marshals responded by saying, "Great Sage, I have heard what Zhu Bajie said long ago. If you had not gone with the Immortal to subdue the demon in Beijuluzhou, how could you have entered the Heavenly Palace now?"

Sun Wukong said, "You may not know, there is a monster causing trouble in Beifuluzhou. This monster is extremely vicious. When the Immortal heard about it, he went to subdue the monster, but he did not know where the monster came from. He asked the Bull King to look around and find a local mountain god to ask. But the local mountain god ate all of them. He did not know where the monster came from, so he went to the underworld to ask. After much effort, he learned from Di Ting that the monster came from the Heavenly Palace."

The four marshals asked, "Could it be that a star has gone down to the mortal world?"

Sun Wukong shook his head and said, "No, no. It's no use talking to you. Just let us go and pay our respects to the Jade Emperor."

Upon hearing this, the four great marshals dared not disobey and quickly ordered all the officers and soldiers to clear the way to welcome the Monkey King into the Heavenly Palace.

Sun Wukong smiled and said, "When I have some free time, I will come back to chat with you four."

Say it.

Wukong bid farewell to the four people and entered the Heavenly Palace. He rode the cloud all the way to the Tongming Palace, but he did not dare to make any noise and stopped the cloud.

There were four heavenly masters in front of the Tongming Palace. When they saw Sun Wukong, they came forward to hear the news.

Sun Wukong faced the four heavenly masters and told them everything about the Mysterious Mother without any intention of hiding anything.

Upon hearing this, the four great celestial masters were shocked and said, "We have heard that there is an old lady named Xuanming who has been causing trouble in Beijuluzhou for a long time, but we did not know that she came from Heaven. Now that the Great Sage has explained it to us, we know it. Great Sage, please stay here for a while. We will then go inside and report to the Jade Emperor and let him know what we know."

Sun Wukong said: "Everyone, go quickly, go quickly."

The four great celestial masters then went into the Lingxiao Palace, met the Jade Emperor, and reported to him, saying, "Your Majesty, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven is here to report that there are demons and evil spirits causing trouble in the lower world, so he left the Heavenly Palace."

The Jade Emperor heard the report and said, "Since it is as Wukong requested, he is allowed to check the stars in the sky to see if there are any people in heaven who want to come down to the mortal world. After checking, he can report back."

The four great celestial masters bowed and said, "Your Majesty, it is not the stars in the sky who want to descend to the mortal world. The Great Sage Equaling Heaven has already entered the underworld to investigate their origins."

The Jade Emperor said: "Now that we have investigated it, you can report it to us, where in heaven you want to go down to earth."

The four great celestial masters said, "She was the jade maiden who was by the Queen Mother's side in the past. She took advantage of the chaos to steal and then went down to the mortal world as a demon. We did not notice her and do not know where she went. Now the Great Sage said that she went down to the mortal world and became a demon in Beijuluzhou, called the Mysterious Mother, and has been doing evil for a long time."

Upon hearing the report, the Emperor of Heaven immediately ordered his soldiers to go and inquire about the Queen Mother.

After a while, the soldiers returned and reported to the Emperor of Heaven.

When the Jade Emperor heard this, he said, "In the past, there was indeed a jade girl who stole the golden elixir and went to the lower world in her clothes. The spirit officials could not find her, so nothing was found. Now I heard from Wukong that she is a demon in the lower world. Let Wukong go to the palace to report and ask for details."

Sun Wukong was summoned and went in to pay his respects. He told the Emperor of Heaven one by one about the various sins that the Xuanming Mother had committed. He also told her that she had the ability to escape and that the Western Buddha had once come in person to subdue her and taught her how to escape.

The four great heavenly masters were somewhat surprised when they heard this.

Ge Xianweng asked: "That fellow has such ability, so even the Tathagata Buddha cannot defeat him?"

Zhang Tianshi was surprised and said, "In the past, the Buddha was able to subdue the Great Sage, so why couldn't he subdue the Mysterious Mother? Could it be that her ability is even greater than that of the Great Sage?"

Sun Wukong waved his hands and said, "It was because he had a treasure in his hand that he was able to escape. That treasure was the clothes he had stolen."

Zhang Tianshi said, "If that's the case, it makes sense." The four Tianshi put on their clothes and asked, "Your Majesty, please issue an order to capture this sinful monster."

Upon hearing this, the Jade Emperor issued an order: "This monster has committed many evil deeds. It was originally a jade maiden in heaven. Now that we know where it is, we must capture it. Order the two groups of gods to return to their respective duties. I will send the heavenly soldiers to capture this monster."

The four great celestial masters replied, "Your Majesty, I have heard that Master Guangxin is trying to subdue this monster. If you want to subdue this monster, there is no need to start a war. Just send the celestial soldiers to assist Master."

Sun Wukong stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, Master Guangxin is trying to subdue this monster. But if Your Majesty wants to help, you can let the Third Prince lead the troops. The Third Prince has some magic weapons to subdue monsters. He can take care of this monster and prevent it from escaping."

The Jade Emperor said, "We should follow Wukong's words. In addition to the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King leading the troops, we should also order the Three Altars and Sea Assembly Great Gods to accompany us and lead the army down to the mortal world to help the immortal capture this monster."

The four heavenly masters and Sun Wukong took the order and left.

Before long, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing and the Third Prince Nezha reunited with Sun Wukong. They gathered a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers, marched down to the mortal world, and entered Beijuluzhou.

As they rode the clouds into the sky above Beijuluzhou, they felt a chilling north wind. Nezha saw the demonic energy rising to the sky below and said, "Great Sage, the demonic energy here is so heavy, there must be at least a million demons. Moreover, it is cold here, and the turbid air is extremely heavy. The heavenly soldiers may not be able to fight here."

Sun Wukong said, "Don't worry, Third Prince. You don't need to fight with the monster here. I heard that the monster has a way to escape. If it escapes, just take your treasures and stop it."

Nezha said: "If that's the case, I'll do my best."

While the two were talking, they had already reached above Master Li.

Sun Wukong said, "Third Prince, please follow me. If we reach the Xuanming Mother's cave, you must be careful. I will go down and talk to my eldest brother."

Li Jing stepped forward and said, "The Immortal is in front of me, so I should step forward and pay my respects."

Nezha also came out and said he wanted to worship the immortal.
Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong responded.

The three of them pressed down the clouds and walked in front of the immortal.

Sun Wukong stepped forward and recounted what had happened to Jiang Yuan.

After hearing about the story of Xuanming Old Mother and what Sun Wukong did, Jiang Yuan smiled and nodded, saying, "Wukong is very smart. He will save us from a lot of trouble in the future."

Li Jing and Nezha stepped forward to greet the immortal.

Jiang Yuan returned the greeting and said, "Please both of you come here."

Li Jing said: "It has been a long time since I last met the Immortal Master. It is an honor to be able to subdue demons with him again."

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "I should be the one saying this."

Sun Wukong said, "Big Brother, Li Tianwang, please don't say any more. Let's go and subdue the Xuanming Old Mother first, and then we can talk about other things later."

The immortal smiled and nodded, saying: "In this case, I will do as Wukong said. I will trouble you two to take care of the Xuanming Mother. If the Xuanming Mother really escapes, I will trouble you two to capture her."

Li Jing and Nezha naturally took the order and left on the clouds, commanding a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and going into hiding.

Seeing this, the Immortal said, "Now that we know where the Xuanming Old Mother came from, let's go and meet this monster."

Everyone responded.

Zuo Liang led the white deer and asked the immortal to mount the deer.

Sun Wukong drew out his golden cudgel and stepped forward to clear the way.

The Bull Demon King walked beside the deer and asked, "Master, should we hide our power and go over?"

The immortal climbed onto the deer and said, "Ox, why do you speak like this?"

The Bull Demon King said, "Master, if you don't hide your might, when we go over there, the Xuanming Mother will definitely know about it."

Jiang Yuan took out the invitation from his bosom and said, "We came here with the invitation. It was he who invited us. How can we hide it? Besides, I also have three tripods. I want to show him how to hide it."

The Bull Demon King said, "I'm afraid if I go over there, the Xuanming Mother will be scared away."

Jiang Yuan has been pondering for a long time, and with a flick of his sleeve, he hid a little of his immortal appearance.

Zhu Bajie smiled as he carried his load on his shoulders and said, "The Immortal has profound magical powers, how can he hide them? But I think there is no need to hide them."

The Bull Demon King asked, "Zhu Bajie, what do you mean by that?"

Zhu Bajie said: "The Xuanming Old Mother is inviting all parties to the banquet. She can also command most of the monsters in Beijuluzhou. Therefore, there must be many monsters gathered at the Ding Appreciation Party. If the Xuanming Old Mother runs away when she sees the real person, how can she command the monsters in the future and how can she save face?"

The Bull Demon King said: "Is face more important than life?"

Zhu Bajie said: "How could a demon think about this?"

The Bull Demon King heard this and said, "Zhu Bajie, what you said makes sense. I haven't been a demon for a long time, so I don't know what these demons think."

(End of this chapter)