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

Chapter 283 Return to Chang'an City

Time flies, summer goes and winter comes, and suddenly the new year comes again.

It is said that the immortals came out of Mount Wudang, bid farewell to Emperor Xuan, and walked in the human world. Before they knew it, a year had passed. They went around in circles and arrived at Chang'an City. There was no place for the immortals to stay along the way.

When the immortals saw Chang'an City, they all stopped to look.

Zuo Liang led the white deer and looked out at Chang'an City from afar. He was quite emotional and said, "Master, I came to this city a long time ago and met Emperor Taizong of Tang. It has been a long time since I came here. Things in the world have changed. Emperor Taizong of Tang has long since returned to the underworld, but this city has not changed much."

Jiang Yuan smiled and nodded, saying: "Zhengyuan, you should be familiar with this. Don't let your mind be disturbed. Once you start practicing, you will no longer have anything to do with the world."

Zuo Liang turned around and bowed, saying: "Master, I will remember your teachings and will never forget them. However, if I practice this for a while, I will learn things that have been lost in the human world for generations. This makes me feel terrified, so I said this."

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "This is a common thing. When I was still a weak practitioner, I had the same thought as you."

The Bull Demon King swung the Black Dragon Piyue Spear, turned around and said, "Zhengyuan, for all cultivators, this is a must. For cultivators, time is not a factor."

Zuo Liang bowed to the Bull Demon King again and said, "Thank you for your advice."

The Bull Demon King turned to look at the Immortal and asked, "Master, shall we go in and take a look?"

Jiang Yuan heard this, and after a moment's silence, he said, "Let's go in and take a look. In the past, when Emperor Taizong was on the throne, the Tang Dynasty was prosperous. Now, many years have passed, and Chang'an City is the same as before, but I don't know if it is still as prosperous as before. Let's go in and take a look."

Niu Mowang and others took the order and followed the immortal into the city.

They entered Chang'an City without being stopped. Once inside the city, they saw the prosperous scene in the city. It was truly a city where 'Hu girls danced with Persian wine, merchants gathered to listen to Arab silk, the pipa music was crisp by the Qujiang Lake, and the Sanskrit was quiet in front of the Ci'en Pagoda'.

The real person saw the situation in the city and had an idea of ​​what was going on.

Zhu Bajie stepped forward and said, "Master, although this city is prosperous, it is slightly inferior to the previous years when Emperor Taizong was in power."

Seeing this, the Bull Demon King nodded and said, "Master, what Zhu Bajie said makes sense. In the past, when we were close to Chang'an City, we saw the atmosphere of Chang'an City. Its prosperity was real. But now it is different. Chang'an City is still prosperous, but the prosperity here is just for show and is not as good as before."

Zuo Liang said: "Perhaps the strategies are different because the emperors in power are different. After all, not everyone has the courage of Emperor Taizong."

Jiang Yuan said with a smile: "Niu'er, go and find out who is in power in this court."

The Bull Demon King obeyed the order.

Zuo Liang immediately walked forward, helped the immortal get off the white deer, supported the deer with his hand, and helped him walk to the side, inviting the immortal to rest.

The Immortal smiled and agreed, and went with Zuo Liang to the side to rest, with Zhu Bajie and others guarding them.

The Bull Demon King put away his Pi Yue Spear and walked forward in the appearance of a big man to get information. He had not traveled more than two miles when he saw a stall set up at the intersection, selling simple food and tea.

The Bull Demon King walked up and took a closer look. He saw that the man had set up a stall, boiling tea leaves, adding water, and selling them together with melon seeds, peanuts, etc.

When the man saw the Bull Demon King, he greeted him, "A bowl of coarse tea will buy you strength. Come over here quickly and have a bowl of coarse tea. I'll give it to you at half the price."

Upon hearing this, Bull Demon King stepped forward, fumbled around in his waist for a long time, took out a few copper coins, and asked, "How much is a bowl of your coarse tea?"

The vendor smiled and said, "My coarse tea costs one cent a bowl. If you want to pair it with some side dishes, it will be two cents. But I'll give you half the price. Just have a bowl of coarse tea and some side dishes, and I'll give you one cent." Hearing this, the Bull Demon King took out a copper coin, handed it to the vendor, and said, "In that case, give me a bowl of coarse tea and some side dishes."

The vendor took the copper coin, smiled happily, and served Bull Demon King a bowl of coarse tea and some side dishes. He also took a stool and said, "Sir, please sit down and have some tea."

The Bull Demon King laughed and scolded, "How come you called me 'man' just now? Now that I'm buying your rough tea, you call me 'master'. You are so multi-faceted."

The vendor said, "Sir, don't blame me. It's hard to make a living today. If I don't say something nice, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep you if my mouth is not smooth."

The Bull Demon King said: "If you want to be more eloquent, when I come over, you can call me master, then I will be more likely to stay and buy your coarse tea."

The vendor sighed, "I used to be very good at talking, but these days, my words are useless, so I feel a little resentful. When I came here just now, I didn't address you respectfully."

The Bull Demon King said: "Is the resentment due to the difficulty in doing business?"

The vendor nodded and said, "That's right, that's right."

The Bull Demon King did not understand what he meant and asked, "I see that the city is very prosperous, how can you say that business is difficult? But your coarse tea is not delicious?"

The vendor said, "Sir, it's not that my coarse tea is not good to enjoy, but business in the city is not good. It's hard to say whether this city is prosperous or not."

The Bull Demon King said, "Why is it difficult to explain? I am an outsider, but when I entered Chang'an, I saw all the prosperity. As the saying goes, 'Hearing is false, seeing is believing', so why is it difficult to explain here?"

The vendor looked around for a long time and said, "Sir, you are an outsider, so you don't know the ins and outs of this. I will tell you a thing or two, but you are not allowed to tell others. If you tell others, I will not tolerate it."

The Bull Demon King said, "Just keep talking. I won't tell the city officials."

The vendor said, "If that's the case, then I'll be at ease. Let me tell you, the prosperity of this city is not the real prosperity you think, but an empty and false prosperity."

The Bull Demon King said: "Is prosperity or truth or falsehood?"

The vendor said, "There is a saying about whether prosperity is real or fake. You see the prosperity in the city today. I have heard the officials in the court talk about how magnificent and great the country is, how prosperous it is, but I cannot feel that. I only see that business is difficult and taxes are heavy."

The Bull Demon King asked, "Why is it so prosperous? I heard that Chang'an was prosperous, but I didn't know there was such a trick."

The vendor said, "The prosperity of Chang'an City that you have heard of was during the reign of Emperor Taizong. It was prosperous then, but things are different now."

The Bull Demon King asked again: "Who is the emperor in power now?"

The vendor replied, "It is now the Yongchang Year, and the one on the throne is Emperor Dan."

When the Bull Demon King got the news, he stopped asking questions and instead chatted with the vendor about family matters.

After a long time, the Bull Demon King finished his tea, stood up, said goodbye to the vendor, walked back, and told the Immortal what had happened.

After hearing what the Bull Demon King said, the Immortal Master knew what was going on and said, "As the Bull King said, this year is the Yongchang Year, and the one in power is Li Dan."

The Bull Demon King responded, "Master, that's right."

(End of this chapter)