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

Chapter 270: Changes in the Divine Cauldron, King Si Attends the Banquet
It is said that to the west of Beijuluzhou, there is a mountain called "Zhenxian Mountain". In the mountain there is a mansion, which is the residence of the Xuanming Mother, and the mansion is called "Xuanming Immortal Mansion".

But when he looked inside the mansion, he saw that it was like a sea of ​​blood and corpses. The two bronze doors of this cave were rusted, and the animal heads holding rings were dripping with human fat. The walls of the corridor were covered with human skin and glowed with a sad green light. The pillars in the corridor were all made of human leg bones, and there were three hundred relics embedded in the beams. After turning around the nine-turn corridor, there was a hundred-foot hall. On the high platform in the center, there was a lotus seat made of white bones, and a demon was sitting on it.

But I saw that the demon had a skull hairpin in her hair and a human tendon belt around her waist. Her face was like a peach blossom with poisonous dew, and her eyes were like autumn water with blood. Her ten fingers were hooked and black mist was generated, and her red lips were not opened but her fangs were shaking. Her white skirt was originally a ghost flag, and when she walked, she could hear the howling of hundreds of ghosts.

This is the Xuanming Mother.

Next to the Xuanming Mother was a jade basin containing an unformed fetus.

The Xuanming Mother took out the fetus, dipped it in a bowl nearby, and swallowed it into her stomach with a few gulps.

Suddenly a little demon came forward and reported, "My lord."

The Xuanming Old Mother's eyes widened with anger, and she said, "I have already said that you should call me Your Majesty. If you come in to report, you must report to my four demon generals, and you can only enter after they pass on the report."

The little demon trembled and bowed, "Your Majesty, I will report to the four generals now."

Xuanming Old Mother said, "Now that you are inside, tell me what happened. Is it related to my tripod appreciation meeting? Let me be clear with you. My tripod appreciation meeting is very important and cannot be lost."

The little demon panicked and said, "Your Majesty, there is news coming from the White Bone City. The Great Sage Shuangpo has ordered people to surrender and the White Bone City area has been wiped out."

Upon hearing this, Mother Xuanming stood up and asked, "Did the Great Emperor Zhenwu enter Northern Julu Continent?"

The little demon shook his head.

Xuanming Laomu asked: "But the Supreme Lord Lao rode a green bull into Northern Juluzhou?"

The little demon still shook his head.

Xuanming Old Mother asked anxiously, "But is it that Tianpeng Zhenjun has come down to earth?"

The little demon shook his head again.

Xuanming Old Mother asked: "Which great god is it that entered Northern Julu Continent?"

The little demon finally shook his head.

The Xuanming Old Mother was somewhat impatient and scolded, "Tell me who it is that has subdued the Great Sage Shuangpo and annihilated the White Bone City. If you are just showing off, don't blame me for not forgiving you."

The little demon replied hastily, "Your Majesty, what I saw was a pig demon fighting the Great Sage Shuangpo. It is most likely that this pig demon destroyed the White Bone City."

Xuanming Old Mother asked: "Where did the pig spirit come from?"

The little demon said, "I heard his name is 'Zhu Bajie'."

Upon hearing this, the Xuanming Mother said, "Zhu Bajie? Pig spirit? Could it be the water god of the Tianhe River in the past? I heard that he was banished to the mortal world and converted to Buddhism. Together with Jin Chanzi, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, and Juanlian, he will travel west to obtain the scriptures, intending to achieve enlightenment. I heard that he succeeded some time ago and was named the Altar Purifier. How come he has now entered the Northern Continent to subdue the Great Sage Shuangpo?"

The little demon trembled and dared not speak.

A maidservant nearby said, "Your Majesty, the Great Sage Shuangpo is very powerful. I have also heard of Zhu Bajie. On the journey to the west, a demon said that his ability was mediocre, so how could he subdue the Great Sage Shuangpo?"

The Xuanming Old Mother pondered for a long time and said, "Perhaps his abilities have improved since he achieved enlightenment."

The maid asked, "Your Majesty, do you need to order everyone in Northern Juluzhou to capture Zhu Bajie? I'm afraid he will enter Northern Juluzhou and disturb Your Majesty's Ding Appreciation Meeting."

Xuanming Old Mother waved her hand and said, "It's okay. A mere Zhu Bajie can't cause any trouble."

He then asked, "Have I put my sacred tripod away?"

The maid replied, "Your Majesty, it has been completely installed and is being placed in the back hall, but for some reason, the sacred tripod has been moved recently."

The Xuanming Old Mother said, "This sacred tripod was cast by King Yu himself. It is used to suppress the Southern Continent. I spent a lot of effort to place this tripod and prevent it from changing. But it is still a little short of the right time to use it. This tripod cannot change. Tell me, how is this tripod now?"

The maid said, "For some reason, the divine tripod has been emitting divine light recently, and there is a hint of vibration. We don't know why."

The Xuanming Old Mother disagreed and said, "This is a divine tripod. It is common for it to do something extraordinary. You don't need to think it's a surprise. You just need to arrange it properly. In three or four days, the great demons from all sides will arrive."

The maid responded.

……

However, after walking for a long time, the immortal and his companions finally approached the "True Immortal Mountain".

The Bull Demon King heard the name of this mountain from a little demon and reported it to the Immortal.

When the Immortal heard the name of "True Immortal Mountain", he smiled but said nothing.

Sun Wukong said: "This demon is very rude. I suppose he has some magical power, but he dares to call himself a 'true immortal' like this."

The Bull Demon King laughed and said, "She is just a jade girl, but she had the guts to steal the golden elixir and escape. I didn't expect that after years of not being taught, she would develop a heart of deceit and falsely claim such a real name."

Zhu Bajie was carrying oranges and had been teaching the immortal all along the way, so he never complained of being tired. He smiled and said, "When I subdue him, I will ask him how he had the courage to call out this mountain's name."

Green Ox was eating fruit nearby and said, "Since you are talking like that, why don't you go and challenge him later to let him know how powerful you, the Bodhisattva of the Pure Altar, Zhu Bajie, are." Zhu Bajie panicked and said, "King Si, don't talk nonsense like that. I am not even a match for the Great Sage Shuangpo, so how can I fight against the Old Mother Xuanming?"

The blue ox came forward and embraced Zhu Bajie, saying with a smile: "Zhu Bajie, you are practicing now, so you must not say such cowardly words. Even if there are difficulties ahead, you should fight against them and not be afraid."

Zhu Bajie heard this and said, "What King Si said is very reasonable. If King Si says so, I can challenge him when he arrives, but I'm afraid I can't win. Maybe I can ask King Si to protect me for a while?"

Qingniu smiled and said, "Okay, okay."

Zhu Bajie breathed a sigh of relief.

Jiang Yuan had never heard what Zhu Bajie and Qingniu said. He looked into the distance and used his ability to see the air. He saw a demonic aura rising to the sky in front of him, and he knew that the Mother Xuanming was there.

He looked around again and saw black air surrounding them from all directions, heading towards the Zhenxian Mountain where the Xuanming Mother was. Most likely, the 'Ding Appreciation Meeting' had not yet begun, so all parties were still heading towards it.

The immortal said, "Wukong, Niu'er, when you arrive later, take out the invitation and we will just say we want to attend the banquet."

Sun Wukong covered his mouth and laughed secretly, saying: "Big Brother, are you going to take those demons away in one go? Come in for the feast, those demons will definitely not be able to escape."

The immortal said with a smile: "You monkey, how can you say such things? Now that I have received the invitation, you should attend the banquet."

Sun Wukong smiled and nodded.

The group walked forward for another hour or two and arrived at the foot of Zhenxian Mountain. As they approached, they saw a huge crowd at the foot of the mountain. Many little demons were practicing martial arts and adjusting formations. There were dozens of little demons guarding the entrance to the mountain path, and dozens of little demons were patrolling in front of the mountain.

The Bull Demon King stopped and took a closer look. He saw that there were tens of thousands of demons in front of him. He said, "Master, my dear brother, there are probably a lot of demons in this mountain. There are no less than ten thousand soldiers training at the foot of this mountain, and there are even more in the mountain. Moreover, the soldiers here are more fierce than those in Xiniu Hezhou, and they are not easy to deal with."

Sun Wukong said: "Brother, what you said makes sense. When I traveled west in the past, I passed by the Lion Camel Mountain. There were also countless soldiers and horses there, but the soldiers and horses there were far inferior to those here."

The Bull Demon King said: "Beijing Juluzhou is different after all. This is the land of demons. In Xiniuhezhou, there is a sacred mountain, and the demons are restrained."

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "Don't be afraid, just follow me."

Everyone responded.

The Immortal ordered the white deer to go forward, and Zuo Liang followed beside him. Seeing this, Sun Wukong and Bull Demon King each took up weapons to protect them. When they reached the front of the mountain path, the dozen little demons came forward to stop them.

But a dozen little demons asked, "Who is coming?"

Jiang Yuan did not dismount the white deer, but only handed the invitation to Zuo Liang.

Zuo Liang came forward with the invitation, handed it to Xiao Yao, and said, "I've been waiting for the invitation to participate in the tripod appreciation meeting."

The little demon took the invitation with both hands, opened it and took a closer look, then asked, "It is indeed an invitation, but I don't know which king is coming. Could you please tell me his name so that I can report it to him?"

Upon hearing this, Zuo Liang looked back, not knowing how to say his name.

Qingniu stepped forward and said, "Just inform King Si that he has arrived."

Upon hearing this, the little demon immediately noted down the name and let the immortals go. After the immortals entered the mountain, they began to whisper to each other, wondering who the 'Si Da Wang' was.

The little demon asked, "Have you ever heard of the title of 'Si Da Wang'?"

Everyone shook their heads and said, "I have never heard of it. I have never heard of it."

The little demon said, "I have never heard of him either, but there is an invitation. Since he is invited by your majesty, he must be an extraordinary demon king. However, I have never heard of the title of King Si."

They all replied, "Maybe it's far away, so we don't know."

The little demon nodded and said nothing more.

……

The immortals and their group went up the mountain, and from time to time they saw patrollers passing by, but they knew that the immortals were waiting for the invitation and did not dare to stop them.

When they arrived in front of the cave, they saw "Xuanming Immortal Mansion" written on a horizontal stone in front of the cave, and also saw "a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood" inside the cave.

Sun Wukong was very angry and said, "This demon is rampant. He claims that the mountain he is in is a real immortal, and the mansion he is in is a fairy mansion. If it were just like this, it would be fine, but his mansion is set up like this. I don't know how many people he has harmed. I am afraid that all the people in Northern Juluzhou have been harmed by him."

The Bull Demon King said: "This place is worse than the Lion Camel Mountain. We have come all the way here, and there is no place worse than this place. The Mysterious Mother should be killed for her crime!"

The Immortal saw this, pondered for a long time, and said: "Let's go inside and see what kind of magical power the Xuanming Old Mother has."

They all took orders and walked into the mansion. They had walked a little bit when a maid came up to them and asked them where they were going.

When the maid learned that they were there to participate in the tripod appreciation meeting, she led them to the hall of the palace, walked them to a table in the hall, and invited the immortal and others to sit down.

The Immortal and others sat down at the table, and invited Qingniu to sit in the main seat, while he and others sat behind him.

Qingniu took the lead and called himself King Si. He ordered the maids in the mansion to prepare delicacies.

(End of this chapter)