Journey to the West: Demon Emperor: Beginning as a Little Toad

Chapter 26: The Path to Immortality
They didn't get to eat, and Xiao Chen and Mo Lang looked at the monkey helplessly.

The monkey smiled awkwardly, waved his hand, and said hurriedly:
"I won't do that next time. I won't do that next time."

Xiao Chen had no choice but to take Mo Lang and Monkey to find another restaurant and order a table of dishes and a table of fruits.

The three of them ate with relish, drank and had a great time.

The guests who were dining nearby, seeing how beautiful the monkey was, could not help but tease the monkey with some fruits.

The Monkey King was not angry. He took the fruit and bowed in return, which surprised everyone.

"Waiter, what is this place?"

After having a full meal and a few drinks, Xiao Chen pulled a waiter over, threw him a piece of silver, and asked.

"Sir, this is the Baohua Kingdom in the Southern Continent. We are here..."

The waiter, having received the reward, naturally answered all the questions asked, just like pouring beans out of a bamboo tube.

The monkey glanced at Xiao Chen, who understood and asked:
"Waiter, is there any immortal cave in Baohua Country?"

"Immortal Cave?"

The waiter was stunned, waved his hands, and said with a smile: "God? I have never heard of any immortal cave. We have food and clothes, why do we need gods?"

Xiao Chen waved his hand, signaling the waiter to go down, and thought to himself:

"Nanshanbuzhou... The monkey's chance is in Xiniuhezhou, but that will be more than 300 years later."

"Now that it's three hundred years earlier, who knows what will happen? Will Master Subhuti accept the monkey three hundred years earlier?"

"If you don't accept it, will you have to look for this monkey for three hundred years?"

Since he had come to Southern Continent, the monkey naturally would not let it go easily, so he wanted to explore around Southern Continent. Xiao Chen naturally let him do as he pleased.

Xiao Chen pretended to be a monkey trainer, Mo Lang acted as his apprentice, and the Monkey King just dressed up as an ordinary monkey.

The three of them traveled along the Great Wall, visited small counties, crossed states and prefectures, and visited famous mountains. Before they knew it, three or four years had passed.

The monkey followed Xiao Chen, listened to human language, saw human affairs, and learned a lot of human rules. He knew that he had to pay for meals and be polite when meeting people...

Unexpectedly, the people of the Southern Continent were all obsessed with fame and fortune, and no one considered the fate of the world. The immortals were nowhere to be found, so the three of them searched for them in vain.

So the Monkey King thought about going out to sea and looking somewhere else. Since there were no immortal caves in the Southern Continent, he decided to go further away.

In order to avoid having to eat fish for another three years, Xiao Chen bought a big ship this time and prepared a lot of dry food and fruits. He was the master of the 600-li Kanyuan Mountain, so he naturally had no shortage of gold and silver and did not need to compromise himself.

After another four or five years, the three finally arrived in Hezhou, Xiniu.

This Xiniu Hezhou was indeed different. After a short search, the three of them found several immortal caves.

The Monkey King was overjoyed and visited every family one by one.

However, the monkey didn't even get through the gate before someone grabbed its neck and threw it out, then beat it up.

The boy taunted:

"A wild monkey wants to become an immortal? How ridiculous!"

The disciples of the Immortal Sect who were watching looked at the monkey and laughed in agreement:

"Listen to this monkey, he just popped out from a crack in a rock and he doesn't even have parents, hahahaha!"

"This group of furry, horned creatures who were born from eggs in the wetlands also want to become Master's disciples? Then what are we?"

"I heard that the demon tribe has great brute force. It's not bad for Master to keep this wild monkey to be a woodcutter and grind the millstone."

“Ah, hahahahaha…”

……

This time, it should be the seventh time.

Xiao Chen, Monkey and Mo Lang, the three demons, were beaten and driven out again.

"The Dharma should not be passed on lightly!"

Only then did Xiao Chen truly understand these four words. The path to seek immortals, the way and the Dharma is so difficult.

What's more, they are the demon race, which are described by the immortals as "furry and horned creatures, born from eggs in moisture".

"Forget it, Monkey, Mo Lang, let's go somewhere else and have a look. There will always be a place that will take us in." Xiao Chen opened his mouth and comforted.

Perhaps, they really had arrived three hundred years earlier, and there was no Lingtai Fangcun Mountain and Xieyue Sanxing Cave in Xiniu Hezhou.

Perhaps, the monkey was originally on the road to seek immortals and ask for Taoism. During those more than ten years of wandering, he did find several immortal caves. When he met immortals on the way, he also went to ask for Taoism.

However, no one else wanted to accept this wild monkey, except Master Subhuti.

Along the way, the monkey was rejected many times, but his eyes became brighter and brighter. The monkey smiled and said:

"It will be found."

"We will find it!"

Mo Lang's eyes were red, but he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists to agree.

At this moment, even though he had come to Xiniu Hezhou, Xiao Chen didn't know where the Lingtai Fangcun Mountain was, so he could only run around following the monkey's feeling.

"Is it really because we arrived three hundred years earlier?"

Xiao Chen said with some doubt.

But one day, the monkey suddenly had a sense of inspiration and took the two of them to a mountain to cool off.

I saw that the foothills of the mountain were deep and dark, and extremely beautiful.

It is exactly: Thousands of peaks stand in a line, and thousands of feet spread out. The sun reflects the mist lightly and locks the green, and the rain stops and the dark green is cold. Withered vines entwine old trees, and the ancient crossing is secluded. There are exotic flowers and rare grasses, and tall bamboos and pines.

"Watching chess pieces fall apart, chopping wood with clinking sounds, walking slowly at the edge of the valley. Selling firewood and wine, laughing wildly and intoxicated. Facing the moon in the high autumn path, pillowing on pine roots, sleeping until dawn. Recognizing the old forest, climbing cliffs and crossing ridges, chopping dead vines with an axe. Harvesting a load, singing in the market, exchanging for three liters of rice. There is no competition, the current price is average. Not good at scheming, no honor or disgrace, living a peaceful and peaceful life. Wherever we meet, we are either immortals or Taoists, sitting quietly and talking about Huang Ting."

Suddenly, a singing voice was heard from deep in the forest. The three looked up and saw that it was a woodcutter.

The woodcutter was wearing a cloth robe, straw sandals, and holding a steel axe in his hand. He was chopping wood and singing loudly.

Xiao Chen was stunned, feeling that this scene seemed familiar. After thinking about it, he suddenly realized.

"This singing voice, this woodcutter, isn't that the woodcutter from Lingtai Fangcun Mountain?"

Seeing this scene, Xiao Chen couldn't help but feel happy.

Finally, they found the Lingtai Fangcun Mountain!
When the monkey heard the woodcutter's words, he felt that this was another immortal cave, and he was filled with joy. He approached and called out, "Old immortal! Your disciple is ready to help."

Xiao Chen and Mo Lang also hurried forward and saluted the woodcutter.

The woodcutter was not afraid at all when he heard the monkey talking. He turned around and looked at Xiao Chen and the other two and said with a smile, "I am just a woodcutter who can barely afford food and clothing. How can I be called a god?"

The monkey scratched his head and asked, "You are not a god, how can you speak the words of a god?"

The woodcutter laughed and said, "Hahaha, what fairy words did I say?"

The monkey said, "I just came to the edge of the forest and heard you say: Wherever we meet, it's either a fairy or a Taoist. Sit quietly and talk about Huang Ting. Huang Ting is the true meaning of morality. What else can it be but a fairy?"

The woodcutter smiled and said, "To tell you the truth, this poem is called Man Ting Fang, and it was taught to me by a deity. I used it to relieve my worries, so I kept reciting it. I didn't expect you to hear it."

……

At this time, the monkey was pestering the woodcutter, saying, "Brother, would you like to go to the immortal cave with me?"

The woodcutter waved his hand and refused, saying, "I can't even take care of food and clothing, and I have to chop wood to support my mother."

Then the woodcutter pointed to the road:

"This mountain is called Lingtai Fangcun Mountain. In the mountain there is a Xieyue Sanxing Cave."

"There is a deity in that cave, his name is 'Subhuti Patriarch'. Follow that path and go south for about seven or eight miles, and you will reach his home."

When Monkey King heard the woodcutter say that he couldn't even take care of food and clothing, he quickly took off his clothes and put them on the woodcutter.

Monkey brother, shirtless, bowed and said, "Brother, thank you for your guidance."

Wait until Monkey Brother and the other two are far away.

The woodcutter looked at his clothes, was silent for a long time, and sighed softly:

"He is a kind monkey."

(End of this chapter)