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

Chapter 288 The Emperor Invites
The story goes that in the imperial palace of Chang'an City, the spirit of the Great Emperor Ziwei left his body and chatted with the Immortal Man and Jin Chanzi in the palace. In the middle of the night, Jin Chanzi bid farewell to the Emperor and the Immortal Man and went into a room in the palace to rest.

Now only the Immortal and the Emperor of Purple Star are left in the palace. The two of them are alone and talk for a long time.

Emperor Ziwei stood up and looked outside the palace. It was gray and gloomy, and night was about to end. He said, "I have been reincarnated into the human world and can meet with the True Man and the Buddha of Merit. This makes me happy. As the saying goes, 'All good things must come to an end.' Now it is almost dawn, and I should go back. If there is no true master in my body, there may be disasters, so I should go and return to my body."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuan bowed and said, "Please go ahead, Your Majesty. I will come back later and will definitely use the protective method to help Your Majesty."

Emperor Ziwei said, "Thank you, Master."

Say it.

Emperor Ziwei turned around and was about to leave, but suddenly he thought of something, so he stopped and said with a smile: "Master, I have a question for you, please ask it to me."

Jiang Yuan didn't understand what he meant, so he asked, "What does the Emperor want to ask?"

Emperor Ziwei smiled and asked, "To be honest, Immortal, I left the heaven and came down to the mortal world to save the human world. Many people in the heaven tried to dissuade me, but I ignored them and insisted on going down to the mortal world. Some people said that it would be difficult for me to succeed, but I didn't believe it. Immortal, do you think I can succeed this time when I go down to the mortal world?"

Jiang Yuan heard this and said, "The Emperor will surely succeed, so he will be able to cross over to the human world."

The Purple Star Emperor asked, "How can the Immortal see this? It is impossible that the Immortal can see that I personally crossed over to the human world and then say that it can be accomplished."

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "Whether it can be accomplished or not, the Emperor knows it in his heart, why should I say more."

Emperor Ziwei smiled and said, "The Immortal is indeed a wonderful person. But the Immortal cannot fool around like this. You must explain the good and the bad to me."

The Immortal shook his head and said, "This is indeed self-evident. The Emperor is very compassionate and is willing to come down to earth to save the world. I admire him very much. Regardless of whether he can succeed or not, if there is a slight chance of success, the Emperor will definitely do it."

Ziwei Emperor listened to the words, pondered for a long time, and sighed: "But if there is a slight chance of success, then it must be done. The real person knows what I am thinking."

The Immortal said: "Anyone with a compassionate heart knows what the Emperor is thinking."

Emperor Ziwei nodded and said, "What the Immortal said is very true. I feel a little relieved to have such words from the Immortal."

The immortal bowed without saying a word.

The Emperor said, "I am happy to talk to the Immortal today, but I have one request. If the Immortal has the predestined Dharma to meet me, please help me."

The Immortal said: "Please tell me, Your Majesty. I will serve you."

The Emperor said: "If a real person is walking in the human world and sees a star descending to the earth and is lost, please help him to save him."

Upon hearing this, the Immortal said, "But if I really have the Dharma that is predestined to see you, I will definitely help you save one or two."

The Emperor nodded and said, "Now there are several stars protecting me as I descend to the mortal world, but I am afraid that they will get lost and never be able to return to their positions. I am also afraid that there will be a gap between them, and when they return to their positions in the future, they will be unhappy."

As he spoke, the Emperor looked outside and said, "It's getting late. I have to go now, Immortal. I will talk to you again when I return to my throne."

The Emperor said this and stood up and left.

The Immortal looked up and saw that the Emperor Ziwei had already left, so he bowed in the direction he left. …

The next day, the Immortals said goodbye to Empress Wu and were about to leave. When Empress Wu heard that the Immortals were about to leave, she appeared in person and invited them into the palace to stay.

Empress Wu said, "Master, why don't you stay for a while longer? If it is inconvenient for you to live in the palace, I can make the decision and invite you to live in Chang'an City and serve me as I do."

The Immortal was seated in the hall. After hearing what Empress Wu said, he stood up and said, "I understand the intention of the Holy Mother and the Divine Emperor, but we are all practitioners and should not be greedy for wealth and splendor. So we should leave and practice in other places. If there is a chance, we will come here again and pay homage to the Holy Mother and the Divine Emperor."

Empress Wu said, "But the Immortal taught me the method of prolonging life yesterday, which is a favor to me. If I let the Immortal leave today, it would seem that he is heartless and disloyal."

The Immortal shook his head and said, "The method I used to prolong my life with the Holy Mother Divine Emperor is because I have an agreement with her. So how can I be said to be unkind and ungrateful when I give her the method to prolong my life?"

Empress Wu said: "Since it is as Immortal said, I have no way to stop him, so I can only send him away. However, I will give him some gold and silver to help him practice cultivation."

The Immortal refused again, saying, "No need for that, no need for that. How can a cultivator take gold and silver for use? If you want to take one coin of gold, you must practice for a hundred years to get the value, and if you want to take one coin of silver, you must practice for ten years to get the value. For the sake of cultivation, please forgive me, Holy Mother and Divine Emperor, for my rudeness. I cannot accept it."

Empress Wu had no choice but to let the immortals leave.

Jin Chanzi stood up and left like the immortal.

Empress Wu tried to stop him, saying, "Please wait a little longer, Living Buddha."

Jin Chanzi asked in confusion, "What advice does the Holy Mother Divine Emperor have?"

Empress Wu said, "I have heard that the Living Buddha is very remarkable. When Emperor Taizong was alive, he highly respected the Living Buddha. The Living Buddha is Emperor Taizong's younger brother, and Emperor Taizong has never cancelled this title. However, I cannot use this title to force the Living Buddha to stay. However, I am very interested in Buddhism, so I would like to ask the Living Buddha to stay for a while, so that I can ask him many Buddhist scriptures."

Jin Chanzi said: "I see many people practicing Buddhism in the city. If the Holy Mother and Divine Emperor has any questions, she can ask them. They will be able to solve her doubts."

Empress Wu said: "Although the monks in the temples in Chang'an have some Buddhist knowledge, most of them are not as good as the Living Buddha. There are some Buddhist doubts that can only be solved by the Living Buddha, so please wait for a while."

Seeing Empress Wu's words, Jin Chanzi had no choice but to accept the invitation and said, "Since the Holy Mother and Divine Emperor has invited me like this, I cannot refuse."

Empress Wu was delighted and invited Jin Chanzi to live in one of her palaces. She then invited eunuchs to escort the group of immortals away.

Led by the eunuchs, the immortals left the palace and walked into the city of Chang'an.

Zhu Bajie was carrying two baskets of oranges and said, "Master, the Holy Mother was so polite yesterday, but her attempt to keep you here today seems a little fake to me."

Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, "We have no intention of dealing with them. Whether it is true or false, it doesn't matter."

Bull Demon King was walking with Zuo Liang, holding the white deer. Hearing what the Immortal was saying to Zhu Bajie, he said, "Zhu Bajie, now that the Purple Star Emperor has come down to earth, it doesn't matter how powerful the Queen Mother is. When the Purple Star Emperor grows up, with his ability, he will surely be able to seize the true power of the emperor on earth. Now, no matter what the Holy Mother Divine Emperor thinks, it is all useless. The master came here to meet the Purple Star Emperor, and being able to meet him now is enough."

Zhu Bajie said: "I know this, I know this. But I am a little indignant about the behavior of the Holy Mother Emperor."

Jiang Yuan smiled and shook his head, and asked Niu Mowang to walk out of Chang'an City, intending to leave Chang'an City.

(End of this chapter)