Journey to the West: The roadblock!

Chapter 129 Encountering the Blackwater River (Fifteen)
Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Fadi ceased hostilities, and the two countries reconciled.

Tang Sanzang used his scriptures to stop the war between the two countries, which made him famous and he was followed by the people.

The King of Fadi bestowed upon Tang Sanzang the title of "Great Virtuous Monk" and personally sent people to escort Tang Sanzang and his disciples back to Huoluo Kingdom.

After Tang Sanzang returned to the Kingdom of Huoluo, the kingdom bestowed upon him the title of "Holy Monk" and treated him with the highest national honors.

Despite the King of Huoluo's attempt to persuade him to stay, Tang Sanzang did not linger. After briefly thanking the King, he headed towards the Blackwater River.

It has been more than two months since the trip.

The bridge over the Blackwater River has been completed.

A giant log, hundreds of feet wide, spans a river over sixty miles long. There is a bridge pier every twenty feet, totaling four hundred and sixty-two piers. Constructed of huge stones, they are piled up in the river and remain as stable as Mount Tai, despite the erosion of the river water.

The giant tree on it is incredibly wide, allowing more than ten carriages to pass side by side without any obstruction. Its roots are deeply embedded in the ground, so even if the earth shakes, it cannot be moved in the slightest.

The migrant workers on the riverbank had already settled their wages and left, leaving only the empty sheds behind, creating a sense of things being different now.

However, during their journey, Tang Sanzang and his disciples encountered some local families who had worked at the Blackwater River. They recognized Tang Sanzang and his disciples and warmly welcomed them, giving them dry food and supplies free of charge.

Tang Sanzang ate these common people's coarse grains, which were far better than the royal palace feasts.

The king of Huoluo Kingdom once told Tang Sanzang that he wanted to designate a piece of land here to build a city so that goods could be transported. He wondered if the laborers would be able to settle down in the city after it was built.

Even if they can't settle down, doing some moving work would probably be a way to make a living.

The four of them walked onto the bridge.

There were many soldiers patrolling the bridge. These were all the imperial envoy's men. When the war broke out with the Kingdom of Fadi, the imperial envoy was afraid that spies would burn down the bridge, so he blocked the riverbank and sent soldiers to guard it day and night.

Just as Tang Sanzang was about to cross the bridge, Bajie said, "Master, look, there's a temple over there!"

Looking around, Tang Sanzang saw a small temple next to the workers' shed.

When they arrived, they only noticed the work shed and did not see the temple.

Tang Sanzang went to the temple to investigate.

The temple is not large, with four halls: a main hall, a rear hall, and two side halls on the left and right.

Upon entering the main hall, the first thing you see is a majestic statue, the Blackwater River Dragon King. The Dragon King stands on a giant tortoise, with the Blackwater River Goddess on his left and two tiger generals and two wolf generals behind him.

Behind the statue are stone carvings and murals depicting the scene of the Dragon God leading the gods, using their divine power to transform wood into a bridge and gather soil into stone to build a bridge.

Tang Sanzang bowed and headed to the right hall, which contained a row of statues of gods, including two tiger generals, two wolf generals, a giant tortoise, and a goddess.

Behind them is another mural depicting scenes of a tiger general leading people to cut down trees, a wolf general leading people to dig, a giant tortoise building bridge piers, and a goddess cooking food.

Tang Sanzang also bowed and went to the left hall.

Upon arriving at the left hall, they saw a statue of a deity dressed in a kasaya and wearing a monk's hat, with a compassionate expression. Tang Sanzang felt a sense of familiarity upon seeing it.

Pigsy said, "Master, it's you!"

Upon hearing this, Tang Sanzang suddenly realized that the statue was indeed himself.

Wukong said, "Bajie, look, you're right behind us!"

Pigsy said, "Brother Monkey, you're here too! And Brother Sandy is here as well!"

The statues of the four figures are all arranged in the mural, with Tang Sanzang's statue at the very front, and the other three statues at the back. Behind them is a mural depicting Tang Sanzang discussing the construction of a bridge with the Dragon King; Tang Sanzang writing letters for the laborers; and Tang Sanzang, Pigsy, and Sandy traveling to a foreign land to stop an attack.

This part of the story accounts for about 70-80% of the total mural. Another part depicts a divine monkey escorting silver and punishing a large rat.

Wukong laughed and said, "And there's me, Old Sun, too!"

Tang Sanzang smiled and said, "Wukong, you have done good deeds for the people, and they will naturally remember you."

The four travelers then went to the back hall, where there were three murals. The one on the right depicted a series of stories, including laborers collapsing in the scorching sun, the Dragon King sending a divine monkey to the sea to borrow salt, and the Dragon King using magic to help the laborers catch fish.

Wukong laughed and said, "You've made me look like one of his subordinates."

Bajie said, "Brother, you should be content. Sha Wujing and I only showed ourselves once, and Master even blocked half of our bodies. Unlike you, you have so many inscriptions." Wukong smiled and looked to the left.

The mural on the left depicts the story of the Dragon King distributing wages to the laborers. In the mural, the Dragon King, in his dragon form, soars in the sky, his dragon eyes gazing down as the imperial envoy meticulously distributes wages to each laborer, leaving no stone unturned.

Tang Sanzang and his companions did not experience this scene. When the bridge was completed, they were still debating Buddhist scriptures in the Kingdom of Fadi.

After looking at the mural, Tang Sanzang turned his gaze to the center. The mural in the center did not have any images, but rather a text that detailed and concisely described the entire process of building the bridge.

After leaving the temple, the four of them were in high spirits.

Of course, except for the White Dragon.

The white dragon was tied to the temple entrance and did not enter the temple...

The four of them stepped onto the bridge again.

The bridge was flat and wide, and Tang Sanzang rode his horse across it.

Halfway through the journey, suddenly waves surged up under the bridge, and a giant turtle emerged from the water.

The giant tortoise stretched its neck, looked around, transformed into an old man, went up the bridge, stood in front of Tang Sanzang and his disciples, and knelt down.

Upon seeing this, Wukong asked, "You are that old turtle from the river. What brings you here?"

Upon hearing this, the River God of the Blackwater River burst into tears and knelt down, saying:

"Great Sage, I beg you to do justice for this humble god!"

Wukong asked in confusion, "What grievance do you have that you are asking me to help you?"

The River God of the Blackwater River said, "Reporting to the Great Sage, it is I who am..."

As they were talking, a beam of light descended, and Ao Tu landed beside the River God of the Blackwater River.

The mythical voice of the Blackwater River Riverman stopped abruptly, and he was so frightened that he knelt tightly on the ground, not daring to raise his head.

He clearly saw that the monster had left before he came out to seek justice, so why is he back again?

Seeing this, Wukong frowned slightly and said, "What exactly is going on? What are you hiding from me, Old Sun?"

Ao Tu laughed and said, "Great Sage, I am not actually the river god of the Blackwater River. He is the true river god."

Ao Tu raised his hand, took out the Blackwater River God's Seal, and tossed it to the Blackwater River God, saying, "Returning it to its rightful owner."

The river god of the Blackwater River hurriedly accepted it, overjoyed.

He had thought the monster was going to steal his divine seal and not return it, which was why he complained to Wukong. Now that Ao Tu had returned the seal, he had no more worries and leaped back into the river.

Ao Tu said to Wukong, "I came to this river intending to do something great, so I borrowed his divine seal. I suppose he's afraid I'll take his position as river god, hence his panic."

Upon hearing this, Wukong couldn't help but laugh and said:

"No wonder I said you were different from those cowardly gods; it turns out you were an imposter."

Ao Tu laughed and said, "Great Sage, this is our parting, but we'll meet again someday. Remember, you still owe me three moves!"

Wukong said, "Let alone three moves, I wouldn't be afraid of you even if it took thirty moves. I'm just afraid that after this parting, I don't know when we'll meet again."

Ao Tu cupped his hands in respect and saw Tang Sanzang and his disciples off.

He did not make a move.

In fact, according to Ao Tu's original plan, if he was still a little short of the year's reward, he intended to forcibly kidnap Tang Sanzang on the bridge to buy time.

He just didn't expect that the war with the Kingdom of Fadi would allow him to easily delay for a year, and he still had plenty of time left, so he didn't stop it anymore.

Current progress: 392 days

(End of this chapter)