Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 191 Memorial from the Underworld, Gourd of Turbid Qi

Niu Yi, holding a whisk and carrying the Ghost Token, arrived at the foot of the mountain. Before long, a Yin Road rift appeared out of thin air not far in front of him, and the Ox-Head and Horse-Face, their bodies shrouded in Yin energy, slowly walked out from it.

Upon seeing Niu Yi, the two men immediately stepped forward and bowed in greeting.

"Brother Niu Yi".

Niu Yi returned the greeting with a cupped hand and smiled:
"Both of you are usually very busy with official duties, so what brings you to see me today?"

Niu Tou A Bang hurriedly said:
“It was the ferryman who told us to come and find Brother Niu Yi.”

"The ferryman asked us to tell the brother that we can go to the river crossing again now. If we are ready, we will lead the way for Brother Niu Yi."

Upon hearing this, Niu Yi was startled. How could he not know that the gourd seeds planted at the end of the river had probably already fully grown?

"Then I'll trouble you, Brother Abang and Brother Mamian, to guide me once again."

The ox-headed and horse-faced demons looked at Niu Yi, their expressions hesitant, but they still spoke sincerely:
"Brother Niu Yi, you are too kind. However, we know that you are very capable, far beyond our imagination. But you should still be careful on this trip, as the underworld has not been peaceful these days."

Niu Yi felt a little strange, but he smiled and said:

"Rest assured, both of you. But what has caused unrest in the underworld recently?"

Upon hearing this, Ox-Head and Horse-Face showed a hint of fear on their faces. They exchanged a glance, then turned to Niu Yi and said:
“Brother Niu Yi, the road to the underworld is long. Why don’t we go up the road first and we’ll tell you the story slowly?”

"Alright, alright, you two, please~"

In the underworld, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, holding white bone lamps, guided Niu Yi towards the netherworld, recounting the events of the past few days.

According to these two, a few days ago, a hairy-faced, thunder-mouthed man suddenly stormed the Yama's Palace, and no one could stop him. This startled the Ten Kings of Hell, who then temporarily persuaded him to stop.

As Niu Tou A Bang spoke, Sen Lü's eyes filled with fear, and he shuddered, saying:
“Brother Niu Yi, you don’t know. We don’t know where Sun Wukong came from. His staff almost collapsed the entire Yama Palace. Even the ghost generals in the palace tried to stop him, but they died instantly when hit by his staff. Even those who were hit by it died on the spot. Even if they were grazed, they would only suffer broken skin and tendon injuries.”

"Upon seeing this, who would dare to stop Sun Wukong from running rampant in the Underworld? If we hadn't run fast enough, you wouldn't be seeing us today, brother."

The horse-faced Rakshasa took over the conversation, saying:

"Even when the ten Kings of Hell appeared together, they could only be polite and dared not provoke him. They took out the Book of Life and Death and let him cross out all the names of himself and monkeys in the book before sending him away."

"Brother, you don't know, this time the ten lords were really angry. When have they ever suffered such a loss? They were all smiling and watching as others crossed out the Book of Life and Death."

"As soon as the monkey left, these people discussed it and went together to the Cuiyun Palace to pay respects to Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, intending to submit a memorial to the Heavenly Court and demand that the monkey be punished!"

Niu Yi listened from behind the two men, his expression strange, and remained silent for a while.

It was clear that his junior brother Wukong had instilled great fear in these two, and had also frightened the Ten Kings of Hell. As for Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, he couldn't say for sure.

Although they had only met once before, Niu Yi felt that this Netherworld Lord was no ordinary person, and the fact that he could control such an important place as the Netherworld Palace also showed that the Great Celestial Venerable trusted him.

Regardless, Niu Yi could already foresee that it wouldn't be long before the Great Celestial Venerable would send Taibai Jinxing with a memorial from the Underworld to find him.
Niu Yi, standing behind the two, rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. In front of him, Ox-Head and Horse-Face continued to sigh:

"According to Lord Yama, this monkey is a born deity, a body nurtured by heaven and earth, a body conceived by the sun and moon, a primordial energy, and somehow learned the Dao and became an immortal, with the ability to subdue dragons and tigers. Although he has not attained the Dao fruit, with the divine iron rod in his hand, even an ordinary Great Luo Immortal would probably be unable to do anything to him."

Niu Yi nodded with emotion and said:

That's truly remarkable.

Aside from those few people and his fellow disciples, no one else probably knew that his junior brother Wukong had gone from nothing to becoming an immortal in just three years, and had already achieved such abilities.

Although they are both at the same level of Taiyi True Immortal, the difference between them is extremely large.

Even if the six brothers of Meishan joined forces, they would never be a match for their junior brother. Only when Erlang Shen Zhenjun arrived could they fight each other to a standstill.

In fact, Niu Yi was also a little puzzled. His junior brother Wukong was a stone monkey born of nature, outside the Three Realms and outside the Five Elements, not to mention that he had already learned the Dao and become an immortal. So how could he be recorded in the Book of Life and Death?

However, what truly angered the Ten Kings of Hell was probably that his junior brother Wukong had crossed out all the monkeys and the like from the register, allowing these monkeys to live forever and disrupting the cycle of yin and yang.

Niu Yi didn't know how many famous monkeys were on that list, but he figured that the two red-bottomed macaques and the two gibbon monkeys from Flower Fruit Mountain must be among them.

The Ten Kings of Hell were probably still thinking of asking the Heavenly Court to send troops to capture the monkey, but Niu Yi knew that in the end, this matter would probably just end without any resolution.

Niu Yi followed Ox-Head and Horse-Face all the way. After entering the Gate of Hell, they used magic to bring Niu Yi directly to the riverbank. Ox-Head and Horse-Face then cupped their hands and said:
“Brother Niu Yi, we will be waiting by the Bridge of Helplessness. If you are done with your work, just call us.”

"Alright, thank you for your hard work~"

Niu Yi smiled and nodded, took the stone token out of the Chaos Green Gourd, and looked at the silent, misty, blood-red Yellow River flowing in the Naihe River.

The token in Niu Yi's hand trembled and flew into the mist, disappearing without a trace.

Before long, a small fishing boat and the figure in black robes on it slowly poled their way toward the shore.

As the small fishing boat reached the shore, Niu Yi did not communicate with the ferryman. He boarded the boat with a normal expression, and the ferryman waited for Niu Yi to stand still before rowing away.

The Naihe River was exactly the same as when he last visited, with countless ghosts wandering inside, poisonous insects and copper snakes writhing within, and a heavy, fishy stench wafting from the river.

The ferryman silently poled the boat, carrying Niu Yi along without uttering a sound, and the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha did not reappear this time either.

The two of them calmly made their way to the deepest part of Naihe, the lake that was also the source of Naihe.

But at this moment, a blood-yellow, withered gourd vine emerged from the lake, and hanging from the withered gourd leaves at its tip was a small gourd that was entirely blood-yellow.

The ferryman lowered his hood, revealing his face, and used his bamboo pole to bring Niu Yi to the gourd. He then picked the gourd and casually tossed it to Niu Yi behind him.

Niu Yi quickly took it and held the blood-yellow gourd in his hand.

Although this gourd was only half the size of the Chaos Green Gourd at his waist, Niu Yi did not dare to underestimate it in the slightest.

"Junior brother, this gourd can be called the Gourd of Helplessness, or the Gourd of Turbid Qi. Legend has it that in the beginning of time, pure Qi rose and turbid Qi sank, and this gourd was nurtured by the turbid Qi of the earth, only it took longer than I expected." "This turbid Qi can corrupt one's magical power and magical treasures, junior brother, you should use it with caution!"

Niu Yi looked at his second senior brother, holding the blood-yellow gourd in his hand, and solemnly cupped his hands, saying:

"Thank you, Second Senior Brother."

Niu Yi could sense that the turbid air contained in the gourd corresponded to the pure air in his hand that had transformed into a whisk.

The ferryman laughed heartily, looked at Niu Yi, and said with satisfaction:
"Junior brother, there's no need for such formality. But judging from the whisk in your hand, it must have been a gift from our master. Have you already completed your apprenticeship?"

Niu Yi gripped the whisk in his hand, a look of nostalgia flashing in his eyes, and said:
"Reporting to Senior Brother, Master did not directly say that I had completed my apprenticeship. He simply handed me this whisk and said that I could leave the sect."

The ferryman, however, said with some emotion:
"In that case, your master has approved of you, and you can now be considered to have completed your apprenticeship."

“When you first came here, I saw that you had a better character than me. I thought your future path would be much easier than mine. I never imagined that so many years would have passed and you would have already graduated.”

The ferryman, at this point, looked curious again and said:

"Speaking of which, could that monkey who caused such a ruckus in the underworld a few days ago be a fellow disciple of yours and mine? I heard the commotion and went to observe for a while. I noticed that he seemed to have the shadow of Master's Great Celestial Immortal Technique?"

Upon hearing his second senior brother mention junior brother Wukong, Niu Yi nodded and said:
"That's right, that junior brother was taken in by Master a few years ago, and his name is Sun Wukong."

The ferryman nodded and sighed:

"It seems that another restless person has emerged in our sect."

The ferryman only asked Niu Yi a question before changing the subject and chatting with him about other things. Little did he know that this conversation would last for three days.

Niu Yi discovered that his second senior brother had a profound understanding of the Yellow Springs Dao. He only needed to give him a few pointers to gain some insight. With the blessing of the whisk in his hand, he had achieved in just three days what Niu Yi had accomplished in the previous years.

After Niu Yi thanked his second senior brother, the ferryman put his hood back on, used his bamboo pole to carry Niu Yi away from the place, and traveled all the way across the Naihe River to bring Niu Yi back to the banks of the Naihe River.

After Niu Yi went ashore, he solemnly bowed to the ferryman on the Naihe River, who was about to disappear into the thin mist.

Although they hadn't known each other for long, he could clearly feel the care and affection his senior brother showed him.

"Immortal chief."

Hearing the voice behind him, Niu Yi turned around and was surprised to find that King Biancheng was leading Ox-Head and Horse-Face towards him, and behind them were many little devils carrying boxes.

"Your Highness, Prince Biancheng."

Niu Yi went up to greet the King of Biancheng with a cupped-hand salute.

King Biancheng returned the greeting with a bow and said apologetically:
"Immortal Master, I am truly sorry. The Underworld has been quite unsettled lately. I imagine that Ox-Head and Horse-Face have also told you that Sun Wukong stormed the Yama Palace and forcibly altered the Book of Life and Death. Many things are in a mess and urgently need to be dealt with, which is why I have not been able to come and greet you, Immortal Master."

As King Biancheng spoke, he pointed to the boxes being carried by the little devils behind him.

"This is the Yin Iron mined during this period. It just so happened that the Immortal Master came, so I had them deliver it along with the other materials."

Seeing Biancheng King's extremely polite manner and beaming smile, Niu Yi felt inexplicably guilty. After all, his junior brother had recently dealt with this man and several other Ten Kings of Hell.
Niu Yi smiled and agreed a few times, then put the Yin Iron boxes into his gourd and prepared to leave. However, King Biancheng, thinking that Niu Yi felt the underworld was no longer safe, said:

"Rest assured, Immortal Master! We have already written down all of that monkey's crimes in a memorial and asked Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva to submit it to the Heavenly Court. We will definitely teach that Sun Wukong a lesson!"

Upon hearing this, Niu Yi's lips twitched slightly. He bid farewell to the man and left the underworld with Ox-Head and Horse-Face.

Inside the Cuiyun Palace, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, holding a tin staff and wearing a kasaya, stands at the very top of the palace, gazing peacefully at the perpetually dark underworld before him.

Di Ting was lying prone to listen to something. After a moment, it spoke:

"Master, Daoist Guangyi has left."

"Hmm~"

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva simply gave a soft "hmm" and then remained silent, standing there quietly, watching everything before him.

After Niu Yi returned to Jindu Mountain from the underworld, another month passed, and he indeed waited for Taibai Jinxing to come to heaven to bring him the underworld's memorial, which was ordered by the Jade Emperor.
Niu Yi looked at the memorial before him, which stated that Sun Wukong, relying on his abilities, had acted recklessly and violently, crossed out the Book of Life and Death, and disrupted the cycle of Yin and Yang.
Venus chuckled and stroked his beard, saying:
"Daojun, I imagine that tomorrow His Majesty will summon the Dragon King of the East Sea and King Qin Guang to the Lingxiao Palace to inquire about this matter and discuss it with the immortals."

Seeing the helplessness on Niu Yi's face, Venus comforted him:

"Although Sun Wukong is born divine and has great abilities, he is ultimately just a monkey who doesn't know the immensity of heaven and earth. There is still some room for maneuver in this matter. His Majesty is benevolent and I think he won't do anything to him."

Upon hearing this, Niu Yi understood that Taibai Jinxing was indicating that he would help, and it was almost a clear statement that the Great Celestial Venerable would not do anything to Sun Wukong, putting his mind at ease.

Niu Yi's face immediately turned serious, and he cupped his hands towards Venus, saying:
"Thank you, Star Lord."

Venus smiled and nodded, saying:

"You're too kind, Daoist Master. It's nothing at all."

Niu Yi knew in his heart that he would be able to see his junior brother Wukong working in the Heavenly Stables as the Keeper of the Heavenly Horses at the earliest next year.

"Haha~ Is Daoist Master at home? This humble Daoist has come to pay a visit!"

Upon hearing the sounds coming from outside the main hall, Niu Yi knew that Lü Dongbin had come to ask him to drink and discuss philosophy again.

Since finalizing the matter of protecting the Dao with Lü Dongbin, the two have become increasingly close.

Both Lü Dongbin and Taibai Jinxing knew that Niu Yi was new to the Heavenly Court and didn't know many people. So, if there was a banquet for immortals, they would bring him along and introduce him to the other immortals.

Over time, Niu Yi also realized that this person had a very easygoing and carefree personality, and was quite easy to get along with.

(End of this chapter)