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

Chapter 9: Jiang Yuanyang's Life Ends

Since the monkey mind was trapped, Jiang Yuan began to slowly calm the monkey mind under the guidance of the master. He recited the mantra every day and absorbed spiritual energy to purify the monkey mind.

There is a method to gather spiritual energy. It is not just about sitting somewhere and expecting spiritual energy to come to you.

The master taught Jiang Yuan to drink mountain dew in the morning and eat the last wisp of mountain breeze in the evening.

Eat wind and drink dew.

Jiang Yuan did as instructed every day, and indeed, the Yin and Yang fish calmed down a lot. He felt that his body was getting lighter every day.

This day.

Jiang Yuan could jump up to a height of four meters. He didn't know how much time had passed. Every day, he served the master, ate wind and drank dew, chanted mantras to calm his mind, and lived freely and carefree in the mountains.

Since he severed the cause and effect and moved away from the secular world, he seemed to be much more indifferent to time and did not care much about it.

Jiang Yuan was fighting on the master's chessboard in front of the cave, this time playing the game of Go.

In terms of chess, Jiang Yuan could win slightly, but in terms of Go, the same could not be said. The master could easily beat Jiang Yuan in every game.

No matter what Jiang Yuan did, it would be useless.

"Master, weren't you playing chess earlier? Why are you playing Go these days?"

Jiang Yuan wondered if his master had been defeated too many times in chess, so he returned the favor in Go.

It is what is called 'tit for tat'.

The master just said: "After playing chess for a long time, wouldn't it be better to play Go?"

Jiang Yuan said, "Master, I beat you by a few moves in chess, but I lost to you by a lot in Go."

The master didn't agree and just made his move.

Jiang Yuan had no choice but to accompany him.

Play three or four games.

Jiang Yuan was defeated one by one.

It's getting late.

Jiang Yuan found an opportunity, ate a wisp of wind, and then went back to the cave with the master.

He served the master into the quiet room, and then returned to his own quiet room.

It is said that not long after Jiang Yuan returned to his quiet room to meditate, he heard a sound.

"Jiang Yuan, Jiang Yuan!"

"Come with us, and your life will end."

"Jiang Yuan!"

The sound in the ear is sometimes loud and sometimes soft, which is a very enchanting sound.

Jiang Yuan was awakened from his meditation. He walked forward, opened the door, and saw two dead-hunters in black robes waiting outside the cave, holding noose in their hands, ready to make a move.

The man who was trying to catch the dead had a document in his hand. He looked at Jiang Yuan and said, "Jiang Yuan, your life is about to end. The two of us have the document and are here to catch you. Please follow us quickly."

Jiang Yuan was shocked. He ran away at the age of sixteen, became a disciple at the age of twenty-nine, and was now over thirty. How could his life be over? How could he let the dead man take him away? He took the Yu Ding and was going to smash it.

"You are a wild ghost from anywhere. How dare my disciples bully you?"

The master's voice came from the quiet room.

Two golden lights flew over and hit the man who was about to die.

He beat the two dead men into a pulp.

Jiang Yuan turned around and saw the master coming out. He went up to him and asked, "Master, are these two the soul-collectors from the underworld?"

The master nodded and flicked his sleeves gently. A breeze blew away the meat paste in front of the cave. He said, "That's right. I didn't expect your life span to be so short. You'll die in your early 30s. There are many people who die young in the Southern Continent, and you are no exception."

Jiang Yuan was secretly afraid. He hadn't even entered the Tao and hadn't attained the secret of immortality, so how could his life span end so soon?

If he hadn't had the protection of the ancestors, he would have been captured and taken to the city of darkness.

He said, "Master, what should I do when my disciple is like this?"

The master shook his head and said, "Don't be afraid, boy. You have become my disciple, and the local government is recruiting the dead, not you. It's because the underworld doesn't care about Jambudvīpa. Many people die young, so they don't remember other people's affairs and only care about recruiting. Boy, since you have become my disciple, just practice with peace of mind." Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuan kowtowed again to thank him, feeling grateful in his heart.

He said with emotion: "If the disciple had not been able to worship the master, he would be in danger."

The master smiled and said, "My boy, would you like to see what would happen if I didn't become your disciple?"

Jiang Yuan suddenly had an idea and asked, "Master, do you have a method?"

The ancestor shook his head and said, "It's not that I have a method. Your Yu Ding will do. You can take the heavenly water and the earthly water and put them in the Yu Ding. You can see it at night and the Yuan Shen will lend you a hand. Three days later, there will be rain on Shangjing Mountain. It will start to rain at 5 p.m. and stop at 3 p.m. There will be a well behind Shangjing Mountain at 3:20 p.m. There is a secret well inside. You can take the earthly water from there."

Jiang Yuanying said "yes".

The master just returned to the quiet room.

Jiang Yuan also returned to the quiet room, thinking about the matters of heaven, water and earth in his mind.

……

Three days later, it really rained at 5 p.m. and stopped at 3 p.m.

Jiang Yuan received the boundless rain water, marveling at the master's magical powers, and went to fetch water from the ground. At night, he poured the yin and yang water into the Yu Ding.

Seeing the ripples on the water in Yu Ding, he blew lightly.

Ripples gently appeared on the water surface in the cauldron, and the surface of the water changed again and again.

In a trance, he saw himself returning to the year when he was four years old in the water and waking up from a big dream. However, the him in the water had not yet decided to seek the way to immortality. Instead, he was accompanied by the things he had gained in the dream in the world.

When he was sixteen, his parents passed away. He then entered the world to educate people. His every word and action made people think deeply. He improved musical instruments, created farm tools, and taught people to do good deeds.

He was a saint on earth, awe-inspiring and a man of great power, who brought blessings to the world. The princes and ministers treated him as a distinguished guest, the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty praised him endlessly, and the common people bowed down to him in worship.

There is no more contention among the Hundred Schools of Thought; he alone is all of them.

The Saint of a Hundred Schools!

Time flies, the years are like a shuttle.

Every ripple on the water surface in the tripod dances lightly, like a page in a history book.

He was in the water at the age of sixteen when he left and returned at the age of thirty, now he is in his thirties.

And he has become a person who can stand shoulder to shoulder with the 'Three Ancestors'. If the world does not have a ruler, he will be promoted to be the common ruler of the world.

The pen of history is as strong as iron, but he still left behind a brilliant article of his own.

The 'he' in the water of Yu Ding seemed to have noticed Jiang Yuan in front of the quiet room and looked towards him.

Eyes facing each other.

One is high-spirited and vigorous, the other is calm as water.

This is his life.

A difference in one thought can make a world of difference.

The greatest sage in the world! The saint of all schools of thought!
Jiang Yuan shook his head. He only had thirty-something years left to live. What could he do if he was so high-spirited?

Sure enough, he saw ripples in the cauldron rising again.

On the water surface, the scene changed again. A 30-something-year-old but high-spirited 'he' was pushed by a green-faced, fang-toothed ghost servant into a palace filled with gloomy winds and dark fog.

There was a king sitting high in the palace, moving his lips slightly and reciting the document in his hand.

Jiang Yuan couldn't hear what he said, but he could see the documents.

The letter said: I am a common man named Jiang, whose name is Yuan. Since I came into the world, I have fooled the world, causing the Southern Continent to be without justice. I have repeatedly neglected sacrifices, and the heavens are angry. I have brought disaster to the people with my perverse theories and heresies. I have made farm tools and ground medicinal stones, which have caused people to commit serious sins. I have been listed in the Book of Life and Death as one who should be killed... I deserve to be sentenced to ten thousand years in the Hanging Prison, the Prison of Injustice, and the Prison of Fire.

Jiang Yuan was shocked. He was clearly educating the world on the water surface, but how could he be considered guilty of all kinds of sins in the mouth of the king of the underworld on the surface of Yu Ding water?

He saw the 'him' in the water again, among the ripples on the water. His tendons had been pulled out, and he was hung under a shady tree, with his feet ten feet off the ground, and his face was cut by the cold wind day and night.

I saw him in the water being pierced by iron sticks and roasted in a fire pit, unable to live or die.

Jiang Yuan shuddered and took two steps back.

This is the hell of the underworld. I never thought it would be so terrifying.

(End of this chapter)