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

Chapter 65 Wuzhuang Temple at Wanshou Mountain
Time flies so fast that half a year has passed without me noticing.

Jiang Yuan rode a white deer and came to the foot of Wanshou Mountain. He focused his eyes and looked far away. He saw the steep mountains in front of him, the majestic scenery, the sun shining on the clear forest, the wind blowing in the dark valleys, and the flowers blooming and withering on the mountaintops, and the clouds coming and going on the peaks of the ridges. It was indeed a fairy mountain and blessed land.

Jiang Tong'er exclaimed in his heart: "Wanshou Mountain is not inferior to Lingtai Fangcun Mountain."

After thinking about it, he sent the white deer up the mountain.

When we first went up the mountain, we could see 'birds singing in the green bamboos, peacocks fighting among the wild flowers'. As we went deeper, we could see 'eagles and phoenixes gathering in the deep forest, and unicorns ruling over thousands of beasts in the ancient cave'. The boy did not disturb anyone on the way and went to the Wuzhuang Temple in the mountains.

It didn't take long before Jiang Yuan arrived at the mountain gate. He looked inside and saw a temple. To the left of the mountain gate, there was a stele with the words "Wanshou Mountain Blessed Land, Wuzhuang Temple Cave Heaven" written on it in cross words.

Jiang Tong'er knew that he had not come to the wrong place, so he got off the white deer and walked into the village.

After walking for a while, he saw two doors. He went forward and knocked on them. Three or four Taoist boys in Taoist robes came out.

The Taoist boy lowered his back and bowed, saying, "Is it Brother Guangxin who is here? I am sorry for not welcoming you in person. I am sorry for not welcoming you in person! Please come in!"

Two or three Taoist boys all bowed and invited Jiang Yuan in.

Jiang Yuan handed the white deer to a Taoist boy and walked into the temple.

Jiang Yuan asked, "Is the Immortal here?"

The Taoist boy said, "My master is in the temple. My master said earlier that Senior Brother Guangxin would come and asked us to be on the lookout. Originally, there were people waiting for us at the foot of the mountain every day, but we didn't expect Senior Brother Guangxin to arrive when it was our turn."

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "This is my fault."

The Taoist boy bowed and said, "I dare not, I dare not!"

Jiang Yuan said no more and followed the Taoist boy inside.

The Taoist boy led Jiang Yuan to the main hall, but saw that the carved lattice door of the main hall, which was bright on the top and dark on the bottom, was closed. The Taoist boy knelt on the ground and said, "Master, Senior Brother Guangxin is here."

After the Taoist boy finished speaking, a gentle breeze suddenly blew and the lattice opened.

The immortal Zhen Yuanzi walked out.

Jiang Yuan bowed and said, "Greetings, Great Immortal!"

The immortal Zhen Yuanzi supported Jiang Yuan and said, "Guangxin, don't be so polite. Your master and I are good friends. I invited you here today and disturbed your practice. Please don't blame me."

Jiang Yuan said, "Why do you say that, Immortal? I teach you 'warming and nourishing', which is a kind of water grinding skill. I have nothing to do in my spare time, so I came to Wanshou Mountain to be a mountain guard."

The immortal smiled and said, "I saw your immortal appearance in the past, and I knew that you would succeed in the path of alchemy. As expected, you have reached this stage of warming and nourishing, and the golden elixir is not far away!"

Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, "The Immortal's words are wrong. I am still far away from completing the elixir, still far away!"

The immortal took Jiang Yuan into the hall, and after they sat down, he taught the Taoist boy to serve him the seasonal fruit, and then said, "I have seen your cultivation, how far you have come? I am going to the Southern Continent to find some disciples."

Jiang Yuan asked, "The Immortal asked me to come here to guard the mountain. After the Immortal leaves, I wonder what instructions the Immortal has for me regarding guarding the mountain?"

Upon hearing this, the immortal looked outside the temple and said, "Guangxin, you have some magical powers, so you can guard the mountain safely. However, there are two places in my temple that need your careful care."

Jiang Yuan asked again: "Which two places?"

The immortal replied, "There is a garden in my temple called the 'Ginseng Garden'. The spiritual root is in it, so you need to pay attention to it. There is also a hall that contains various Buddhist scriptures, which also needs to be paid attention to."

Jiang Yuan wrote them down one by one, nodded and said, "Don't worry, Immortal."

The immortal smiled, chatted with Jiang Yuan for a long time, and asked the Taoist boy to clear a room for Jiang Yuan to live in.

Jiang Yuan bowed and followed the Taoist boy to the Taoist room.

In the hall, the Taoist boy who served the fruit saw Jiang Yuan going away and said, "Master, why did you tell the Sutra Hall about the ginseng fruit tree? If this person has evil intentions, it will cause disaster."

The immortal pointed at the Taoist boy and said, "Don't say that. You are such a naughty boy. How can you practice cultivation? I heard that there is a Kong family in the Southern Continent who knows etiquette. Go to the Southern Continent and learn etiquette."

The Taoist boy was surprised and asked, "Master, I am a Taoist Taiyi Xuanmen, how can I learn etiquette?"

The immortal said, "How can you learn Taoism if you don't even know etiquette?" The Taoist boy didn't dare to say anything more.

……

In the Taoist room, Jiang Tong'er sat cross-legged on a cushion, looking inward below his navel. Inside the cauldron, his soul and the five others operated a gentle fire to warm and nourish the cauldron, allowing the medicinal energy to be stored inside.

After half a year of effort, not much medicinal energy has been stored inside the body, and the spirit does not feel tired either. There is no room for further effort here.

Jiang Tong'er had no choice but to give up and calm down.

The next day.

Jiang Yuan was called by a Taoist boy, saying that the Immortal was going to Jambu Continent in the south. He heard about the Taoist temple and saw the Immortal off.

The immortal was in Wuzhuang Temple with his disciples. When he saw Jiang Yuan coming, he said, "Guangxin, I'll give this recipe to you."

Jiang Yuan bowed and said, "Great Immortal, rest assured."

The immortal said, "I still have two boys in my temple. If you don't know anything, you can ask the boys."

After saying this, the immortal followed his disciples and rode on auspicious clouds, heading straight for the southern continent.

Jiang Yuan watched the immortal go away, and admired in his heart: "The immortal Zhen Yuanzi is indeed a great Taoist master, so free and at ease, coming and going as he pleases."

He looked back and saw two boys walking towards him from afar. The two boys were wearing Taoist robes and were both from Xiniu Hezhou. One was tall and the other was short. The tall one was six cubits tall and the short one was four cubits tall.

The second boy stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Senior Brother Guangxin."

Jiang Yuan nodded in return. Seeing that the two boys were powerless and restless, he asked, "Two junior brothers, have you been disciples for a short time?"

The two boys replied, "That's right, that's right! We have been disciples for less than three years, so we don't have any power. That's why the master didn't take us with him on this trip."

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "There are three of us here."

The two boys bowed and said, "Thank you, Senior Brother Guangxin. We are of no use to you. We can only prepare some tea and food for you."

Jiang Yuan said: "That's enough, that's enough!"

He talked with the two boys for a long time before leaving.

Now that the great immortal Zhen Yuanzi has left, he will have to guard the mountain.

Jiang Tong'er did not think about anything else, but asked where the ginseng garden and the Sutra Hall were, intending to pay more attention to the two places. With the guidance of the two boys, he became familiar with every place in the temple and felt relieved.

……

Time flies so fast that two years have passed without me noticing.

Jiang Tong'er would patrol Wuzhuang Temple around midnight and noon to prevent the villains from invading. However, no demons or monsters dared to invade in the past two years, which puzzled the boy. Why was it so easy to guard the mountain? He did not dare to neglect it and patrolled non-stop around midnight and noon.

However, he said that he was constantly practicing the "nurturing" technique in his body, and his soul sometimes felt tired. He used his true breath to support it, allowing his soul to breathe slowly, so there was no serious problem.

There is peace here, just waiting for the nurturing to be successful, and he will have completed the five steps of the alchemy path.

One day, the two boys had tea and food with Jiang Yuan. After the meal, the two boys asked Jiang Yuan to preach.

Jiang Yuan, who was sitting in the hall and heard this, was puzzled and asked, "You worship the immortal as your master, so why are you asking me for the Tao?"

The second boy said, "To be honest with you, Senior Brother Guangxin, our master often gives lectures two or three times a year, but we are far away from here. We have studied the scriptures and have some questions, but we don't have a way to solve them, so we asked Senior Brother Guangxin."

Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, "I can't teach you."

The second boy asked, "Why? My master once said that Senior Brother Guangxin has practiced very well and will soon become an immortal. He has magical powers, so why can't he teach us?"

(End of this chapter)