Others follow advice and imitate celebrities, but you start by pretending to be a god?

Tang Sanzang took a deep breath, tried to calm down, and then nodded. However, he was a little worried: "This place is still within the territory of Chechi Country. I wonder if the people here also respect Taoism and despise Buddhism like those in Chechi Country."

He listened attentively. The sound of bells coming from afar was not from Buddhist instruments, but from Taoist rituals or witchcraft ceremonies. Tang Sanzang looked worried and whispered, "If it is really from the Taoists, our trip would be in vain. We may not even get any food."

Thinking back to the experiences along the way, Tang Sanzang couldn't help but feel bitter. In Chechi, it was harder for monks like them to beg for alms than to climb to heaven. As time went by, Tang Sanzang began to feel a little sad.

"Master, don't worry. We are close to the border. The influence of Chechi Kingdom should not have reached here yet." Seeing this, Sun Wukong hurriedly comforted him, "I will go and find out who is performing the ritual."

"Okay." Tang Sanzang responded, feeling a little relieved.

Soon, Sun Wukong hurried back and reported to Tang Sanzang: "Master, it's not the Taoist sect doing this, but they are offering sacrifices to the water god of Tongtian River, and the temple priest is presiding over the ceremony."

Hearing this, Tang Sanzang heaved a sigh of relief, and the stone in his heart finally fell to the ground: "That's good, as long as it's not a Taoist uprising."

"Since it's the temple keeper's business, maybe we can even ask for some vegetarian food." Tang Sanzang showed a smile on his face, and then led his disciples to the direction where the voice came from.

Soon, they followed the sound and found a village. The village was filled with smoke and was bustling. When they got closer, they saw a family busy packing up their things. There was a banner outside the door, and the lights were on inside, with smoke curling.

"This family doesn't seem to be short of food. Let's go in and see if we can get some vegetarian food." Tang Sanzang said.

"Master, you should go and knock on the door. If we go, we might scare them." Sun Wukong and others said.

Tang Sanzang nodded and went to the door alone. Soon, the door opened and an old man came out.

"Old donor, I am honored to meet you." Tang Sanzang put his hands together and bowed respectfully.

"Monk?" The old man saw Tang Sanzang's bald head and monk's robes at a glance, and a look of disgust immediately appeared on his face.

"I am an imperial envoy of the Tang Dynasty in the East, ordered to go to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures. It is already late when I arrived at your place today. I heard that there was a sacrifice in your mansion, so I came to ask for permission to stay overnight. I will leave at dawn." Tang Sanzang explained hurriedly.

"Are you really a monk?" The old man's face turned even uglier when he heard that. "Go away, we don't welcome monks, let alone monks who come to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures."

Tang Sanzang was stunned and asked in confusion: "Why?"

"Are you still asking why?" the old man said angrily, "The Bodhisattva in the West Heaven raised a demon that eats people. Many years ago, many children in our Chenjia Village were eaten by that demon. Fortunately, the great master killed the demon with his sword, which saved us. Even so, there are still many widows and orphans in the village, all because of the demon raised by the Bodhisattva."

As he spoke, the old man spat angrily: "That's it. The people in our village wish the Buddha would die, so how can we support you monks who believe in the Buddha?"

"Hurry up and leave, otherwise the villagers will know and you may never be able to leave Chenjia Village!" The old man was furious and drove Tang Sanzang away.

When Tang Sanzang heard this, he finally understood that the boys and girls eaten by the goldfish spirit were actually children from this village. He felt mixed emotions and was speechless, so he had to turn around and hurriedly leave with his disciples.

"Master, what's wrong? You didn't even get the vegetarian meal and you're in such a mess?" Zhu Bajie asked in confusion.

"Hurry up and go. It turns out that this village is the victim left behind by the goldfish spirit." Tang Sanzang said as he walked.

Tang Sanzang and his three disciples hurriedly fled the village, and it took them a while to stop. Even the powerful Sun Wukong looked a little embarrassed at this moment, and could only flee with them in disgrace.

They stopped and looked at each other. Finally, Sun Wukong sighed and said, "This is all the sin caused by Guanyin Bodhisattva!"

"Wukong, don't be disrespectful to the Bodhisattva!" Tang Sanzang's face changed and he scolded.

However, after the reprimand, Tang Sanzang himself fell into confusion. He looked at the vast river in the distance, which stretched as far as the eye could see, and his heart could not help but ripple.

Sun Wukong pondered for a moment, and suddenly said: "I can try to summon the water god in this Tongtian River to see if it can carry us across the river."

As they spoke, they came to the river. Sun Wukong immediately displayed his magical powers, chanted magic spells, and even waved his golden hoop to stir the Tongtian River.

Not long after, a whirlpool appeared in the Tongtian River, and a small turtle floated to the surface. As soon as it came out, it asked, "Who are you? Why are you disturbing the Tongtian River?"

"There really is a water god in this Tongtian River." Sun Wukong said loudly, "I am the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, and I have ordered the water god to come to see me!"

"The Great Sage Equaling Heaven? I don't know." The little turtle said, "But the ancestor is not in the Water Palace. He went to Jiuji Mountain to listen to the great national teacher's teachings."

Hearing this, Sun Wukong immediately realized that his work was in vain. He waved his hand, letting the turtle retreat, and sighed: "In this situation, we can't rely on the power of the water god, but other than that, it will be troublesome for us to find a boatman to cross the river."

Tang Sanzang sighed and had to admit this. He thought to himself, "Amitabha, is the Bodhisattva testing whether my Buddhist heart is firm?"

Even Tang Sanzang could only explain the actions of Guanyin Bodhisattva in this way to comfort himself.

"Since this is the bitter fruit left by Guanyin Bodhisattva, then we should seek the help of Bodhisattva." Zhu Bajie also made a suggestion at this time, "At least let us cross the Tongtian River and leave Chechi Kingdom."

"You idiot, you are usually confused and stupid, but this time you are smart." Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong's eyes lit up and he immediately looked at Tang Sanzang.

"Master, I will go to the South China Sea to find Guanyin Bodhisattva and ask her to help us cross the river and leave Chechi Kingdom as soon as possible." Sun Wukong had been fed up with being ignored by Chechi Kingdom these days. But the people of Chechi were just ordinary people, and there was nothing he could do. So, over time, Sun Wukong had long wanted to leave Chechi.

But Tang Sanzang had his principles, so Sun Wukong could only follow Tang Sanzang step by step. Now that he encountered difficulties, Sun Wukong did not want to solve them himself, but simply passed the pot to Guanyin Bodhisattva.

Tang Sanzang pondered for a while and felt that what Sun Wukong said made sense. But on the other hand, asking for help from Guanyin Bodhisattva in this way also made Tang Sanzang feel a little weird. It was like a subordinate who saw the embarrassing things of his leader and saw the handle of his leader.

But at the moment, Tang Sanzang also wanted to leave Chechi and cross the Tongtian River. So after thinking for a while, Tang Sanzang had to nod his head: "Forget it, Wukong, you go."

"Okay!" After receiving the response, Sun Wukong immediately jumped up and flew towards the Zizhulin Taoist temple in the South China Sea with a somersault cloud.

Soon, Sun Wukong arrived at the Purple Bamboo Forest Dojo of Guanyin Bodhisattva in the South China Sea. He landed on the island and passed through a bamboo forest, but met an acquaintance.

To be more precise, it is a "familiar bear" - the black bear demon who stole the cassock and is now guarding the Purple Bamboo Forest in the South China Sea.

"Great Sage, what are you doing here?" The black bear demon saw Sun Wukong and hurried forward to ask. "Something happened to me, so I came to see the Bodhisattva." Sun Wukong said directly without hiding anything.

The black bear demon stood up and said, "Great Sage, the Bodhisattva has gone to Lingshan to listen to the sutras and is not in the temple."

"You went to Lingshan?" Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong felt unlucky. He had made such a wasted trip. "So, I have to go to Lingshan again?"

Having said that, Sun Wukong wanted to turn around and leave for Lingshan.

The black bear demon hurriedly stopped him and said, "Great Sage, what happened? Tell me, tell me."

Ever since the Black Bear Demon stole the cassock and was converted by Guanyin Bodhisattva, he has been able to listen to scriptures and practice meditation in the Purple Bamboo Forest all day long, but he is no longer as free and easy as before.

At this moment, he felt a little bored, and he wanted to find out what was going on in the outside world. However, in this Zizhulin Dojo, there were few people around on weekdays, and it was rare to find someone to talk to. Just when he was feeling bored, the figure of Sun Wukong came into his sight, which naturally made him not want to miss this opportunity to talk.

"Hmm?" Sun Wukong paused for a moment, turned around, and looked at her inquiringly. "Have you ever heard that Guanyin Bodhisattva once raised a goldfish?"

“This… I have heard of it vaguely.” The black bear nodded, frowning slightly, “But since I came here, I have never seen the goldfish. I only saw that the lotus pond was empty, as if no living creature had ever inhabited it.”

"However, I seem to have heard sighs about 'He Xi' from some fragmentary words." The Black Bear Demon tried hard to recall and piece together the fragmentary information.

"It seems that the story of the great national master killing the goldfish spirit with a sword is not groundless." Sun Wukong muttered to himself, with a solemn look in his eyes.

Upon hearing this, the Black Bear Demon's eyes flashed with curiosity, and he quickly asked, "Could the incident that the Great Sage encountered today be related to the goldfish raised by the Bodhisattva?"

"That's right." Sun Wukong nodded, his expression revealing a bit of helplessness, "Today's incident was caused by the goldfish spirit."

Upon hearing this, the Black Bear Demon immediately became interested and asked hurriedly, "Why? What happened?"

Sun Wukong pondered for a moment and then slowly said, "The goldfish spirit once jumped out of the lotus pond and swam to a place called Tongtian River."

"In Tongtian River, it committed many evil things. Not only did it eat countless people, it also required the surrounding villagers to offer young boys and girls as sacrifices." There was some anger in Sun Wukong's voice.

"In the end, it was killed by the great master of Chechi Kingdom, east of Tongtian River, with a magic sword." Sun Wukong continued, "However, after the identity of the goldfish spirit was exposed, everyone in Chechi Kingdom hated the Bodhisattva."

"My master and I arrived at the Tongtian River and wanted to cross the river, but were stopped by the villagers. Everyone was shouting and beating us, and we were in an awkward situation." Sun Wukong sighed, his tone revealing a bit of helplessness.

"It turns out that the village beside the Tongtian River was the victim of the goldfish spirit. Among the ten families, three were left without descendants, all because of the sin of the goldfish spirit." A trace of compassion flashed in Sun Wukong's eyes.

"This can be considered as the cause and effect left by Guanyin Bodhisattva. I have no choice but to come here to find Guanyin Bodhisattva to seek a solution." There was a firmness in Sun Wukong's tone.

"This..." The black bear demon was speechless for a moment, not knowing how to respond.

Sun Wukong said no more, and left the Purple Bamboo Forest directly, heading towards the Lingshan Mountain in the West.

The Lingshan Mountain in the west was a place filled with Buddhist music, auspicious clouds and auspicious auras. With a somersault cloud, Sun Wukong arrived at the Lingshan Mountain and landed steadily on the top of the mountain.

He went straight to the residence of Tathagata Buddha, bowed and said, "Sun Wukong greets the Buddha."

The Tathagata Buddha sat on the lotus platform, and his voice was loud and resounding over Lingshan: "Sun Wukong, if you don't support Tang Monk in obtaining the scriptures, why did you come to Lingshan?"

Sun Wukong's eyes turned and his gaze turned to Guanyin Bodhisattva under the seat of Tathagata.

"I came to see Guanyin Bodhisattva." Sun Wukong answered truthfully.

"Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva." Tathagata Buddha turned his gaze to the Avalokitesvara beside him, "Why are you looking for Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva?"

Sun Wukong scratched his head and looked embarrassed: "This is a long story, let the Bodhisattva follow me and we can talk in detail alone."

The Buddha did not say much. He looked at Guanyin Bodhisattva again and said, "Guanyin, please follow Wukong for a while."

"Yes, Buddha." Guanyin Bodhisattva clasped his hands together, said goodbye respectfully, and went down Lingshan with Sun Wukong.

After descending from Lingshan Mountain, Guanyin Bodhisattva asked Sun Wukong what he was doing.

"Just now on Lingshan Mountain, facing the Buddha and many Bodhisattvas and Arhats, I really couldn't say much." Sun Wukong looked at Guanyin Bodhisattva, with a bit of complaint in his tone, "Bodhisattva, you have caused us so much trouble!"

"How have I caused you suffering?" Upon hearing this, Guanyin Bodhisattva frowned and asked.

"It was your goldfish spirit in the lotus pond who ran to Tongtian River to cause trouble!" Sun Wukong said indignantly, "On our way to obtain the scriptures, we passed through Chechi Kingdom. It was extremely difficult in Chechi Kingdom. Everyone wanted to kill us. It was not easy for us to leave Chechi."

"However, when we were about to leave Chechi, the Tongtian River blocked our way and we couldn't get through at all." Sun Wukong said anxiously, "And the villages beside the Tongtian River were all victims of the goldfish spirit. Many boys and girls in the families were eaten by the goldfish spirit."

"Now, we are beside the Tongtian River. People hate us and ghosts hate us. We can't find a boatman to ferry us across the river, and we dare not go to beg for alms." Sun Wukong looked at Guanyin Bodhisattva, questioning in his tone, "So, is it because of the Bodhisattva?"

Guanyin Bodhisattva was silent for a moment, and did not admit it directly, but slowly said: "This matter is due to the special situation of Che Chi and the operation of the great national teacher Lin Nan."

"Humph." Sun Wukong snorted coldly upon hearing this, feeling slightly resentful. "That has nothing to do with the Bodhisattva. Are we to blame for this?"

Guanyin Bodhisattva shook her head slightly, her expression calm, and said: "The car should not have been delayed like this. It was all because of Mingxuan that all these changes occurred."

"Chechi was originally a place where Buddha was revered, with thousands of monks and numerous temples." Guanyin Bodhisattva continued, "However, twenty years ago, Chechi suffered a severe drought, and the whole country prayed for rain to no avail. That Lin Nan and the three monsters, Tiger Power Immortal, Deer Power Immortal, and Sheep Power Immortal, transformed themselves into national masters to pray for rain."

"Thus, they seized control of Chechi State and started to exterminate monks in Chechi State." Guanyin Bodhisattva's words revealed a bit of helplessness and regret. "Monks in Chechi State were either expelled or killed, and temples were burned down." (End of this chapter)