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

Chapter 108: Family Affairs, Fate and Law
It has been a year since the Immortal and the Bull Demon King acted as shepherd boys and yellow cattle, guiding Wukong at the stone gate at the foot of the mountain.

The Immortal rode a deer and traveled eastward with the Bull King, leaving the Han Dynasty territory of the Jambu world and entering the territory of a small country.

It is the time of spring here, and one can see that in front of you 'the grass is soft with the traces of the jade horse's hooves, the willows are swaying with golden threads and fresh dew, the peach and apricot trees are full in the forest competing for beauty, and the ivy is winding around the path in full bloom'.

Jiang Yuan rode a deer to enjoy the scenery, with Niu Wang leading the way.

When they were halfway along the road, the Bull King asked, "Sir, I visited that monkey over a year ago. Do you think that monkey can see clearly?"

Jiang Yuan looked back, pointed at the Bull King, and said with a smile: "You bull, I don't know how far this place is from the Five Elements Mountain. Why are you asking me now?"

The Bull King smiled and said, "Master, you don't know. It's because I've traveled thousands of miles that I know all kinds of things. That's why I ask you again."

Jiang Yuan said: "The only thing I can do to help Wukong is to give him these words. If he doesn't understand, I can't help him. As the saying goes, 'The way is under your feet.' If it's clear, it's clear. If it's not clear, it's not clear. If you ask me to give you more words to remind you, I'm afraid disaster will come to me."

The Bull King nodded, not quite understanding, and said, "Master, we are heading east now. We have been traveling for a long time, passing through many countries in the Western Niuhe Continent, and then to the Southern Zhanbu Continent, and then passing through many countries again. I really don't know where to go."

Jiang Yuan pointed to the east and asked, "Just go east."

The Bull King took orders and led the deer forward.

After walking for a long time, they suddenly saw a black cloud rising up in front of them. Jiang Yuan focused his eyes and took a closer look. In front of them was a dense bamboo fence and a lot of thatched houses. Towering wild trees greeted the door, and winding streams and bridges reflected the house. It should have been a good place, but it was surrounded by black clouds. There must be evil spirits in it.

Jiang Yuan stopped the white deer and pointed to the front and said, "Niu'er, there are evil spirits causing trouble ahead. Go in and ask them. They will tell you that we are wandering practitioners who are good at subduing demons and monsters. If you need us to exorcise the evil spirits, ask their elders to go out and meet us. If they chase you away, we will leave."

Hearing this, the Bull Demon King looked towards the mountain and used his 'seeing qi' ability. He saw the black qi, and he laughed, "My Lord, this kind of evil spirit is really uneasy. It is causing trouble here, so why doesn't it change into a human form? If it changes into a human form, it will take an experienced person to recognize it."

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "Don't say too much, just ask."

The Bull Demon King took the order and stuck the iron stick into the ground, then rode forward on a cloud. After a while, he saw a big farm in front of him, which must be a wealthy family. He walked to the door and knocked on it.

The sect member pushed one of them away and asked, "Who is coming?"

Say it.

The man looked out the door and saw that the Bull Demon King had a ferocious look, a bloody mouth, and sharp teeth. He was so frightened that he stumbled and ran into the house, shouting, "Close the door! Someone! The monster is here to eat people!"

The Bull Demon King reached forward and grabbed the man, saying, "I am a cultivator. How can you judge me by my appearance? I am ugly, but I can still cultivate. What are you afraid of?"

The man said tremblingly: "How can you look like a cultivator? You are such an ugly monster!"

The Bull Demon King said: "I was a demon in the past, but now I am practicing cultivation. How can I not be practicing cultivation?"

The man argued with the Bull King, but the Bull King held him back and would not let him escape.

The people in the village were informed of the commotion here. An elder and a servant came out, but when they saw the appearance of the Bull King, they were so frightened that they fell back and dared not go forward to say hello.

The Bull King said, "Don't leave. How can you be so foolish as to say that I am ugly? I am ugly, but I have abilities. I am a cultivator. I will never harm you. You are beside me and I still want to harm you, but I have no intention of doing so. What are you afraid of?"

The elder in the village was trembling with fear and asked in panic, "Where are you from? Why are you paying homage to my village? Have I offended you?"

The Bull Demon King laughed and said, "No, no! I won't hide it from you. I am a cultivator. My master is waiting outside now. I passed by here and am good at subduing demons and monsters. If there are bricks and tiles thrown or pots and doors opened in your village, my master can suppress it. Just think that you are out to greet me and that my master has arrived."

The elder asked, “Really?”

The Bull King said, "Who is my master? How can I coax you?"

The elder asked again: "Where shall we meet him?"

The Bull King pointed to the west and said, "Go to the west to meet him."

The elder said nothing, went back to his house to change his clothes, and went west with the servant. The servant held a broom and swept the road, being very polite.

When they reached the middle of the forest, the elder raised his head and took a closer look. He saw a man riding on a white deer on the forest path. The man was wearing a purple robe, a seven-star crown, and holding a whisk in his hand. He looked so majestic that people were afraid of him. It turned out that he was indeed a Taoist immortal.

The elder stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Master, I am honored to meet you!"

Jiang Yuan saw the elder taking his servants out to clear the road. He came to pay his respects. He dismounted the white deer, helped it up, and said, "No need to be polite."

The elder said, "Please follow me back to the village, Master. I will provide you with tea, food, meat and wine."

Jiang Yuan nodded and followed the elder to the manor. After walking two or three miles, they entered the manor. The elder then asked his servants to tie the white deer to the pillar of the open hall, invited the immortal into the hall, treated him with courtesy, and offered him tea, food, meat, wine, and other things, without daring to neglect him.

After the meal, Jiang Yuan sat in the middle hall and asked, "What's your name, elder?"

The elder replied, "My surname is Guan."

Jiang Yuan said, "I sent a Dharma protector to ask, saying that if there is an evil spirit causing trouble, the elders will go out to greet them. Now that I am here and the elders have come to greet me, is there something wrong in the mansion?"

Guan Laodao said: "There is something strange happening in the mansion, so I asked the master to ask the Dharma protector. Please ask the master to come."

Jiang Yuan asked, "What's the matter?"

Guan Lao replied, "It's about my only son. To be honest, Master, my only son has been interested in spiritual practice since he was young, but I won't let him go. This is because I only have one son to inherit my huge family business. If he leaves, wouldn't the family business be ruined and the incense of the ancestors be cut off? This is absolutely unacceptable, so I kept the boy at home. Unexpectedly, recently, my boy found a Taoist priest from somewhere and worshipped him as his master, making the house a mess. How can there be any talk of immortality?"

Jiang Yuan asked, "What do you mean by filthy smoke and miasma?"

Guan Laodao: "That Taoist wants to eat blood every day, and also wants to take in red lead and other things, and he also taught my only son to do this. If it were this, it would be fine. Recently, he eats blood, and eats a cow a day. My family business can still be supported, but he has become crazy and wants to eat human flesh. How can I tolerate it? I only asked the servants to fight him off, but the Taoist used his ability to make sand and rocks fly, and the servants fought them off. There was nothing I could do. Recently, I had no choice but to send two cows as blood food, but he was not satisfied."

Jiang Yuan laughed and said, "If this is the case, where is the Taoist priest?"

Master Guan pointed to the outsider in the hall and said, "Master, it's in the backyard."

Jiang Yuan called the Bull King to come closer.

The Bull King said, "Master, what do you say?"

Jiang Yuan said, "Snakes have their own ways, and rats have their own paths. If we rush forward rashly, it might find a way to escape. You turn yourself into a human and become a blood meal, and I'll become a servant. Then the two of us can see where that evil spirit came from."

The Bull King sang a song, chanted a formula, and transformed himself into a farmer. Jiang Yuan smiled and shook his body, turning into a servant. Guan Lao was so frightened that he thought he was a "goddess".

Jiang Yuan blew a breath of magical air, which turned into a rope, and went forward to tie up the Bull King.

Niu Wang said, "Master, don't tie it too tightly."

Jiang Yuan said with a smile: "This rope is not made of the five elements, how can it trap you? Just use some strength and it will break free."

The Bull King had no choice but to give up.

Jiang Yuan then asked one or two servants to lead the way for the two of them to the backyard. After a while, they arrived at the backyard gate. The servants leading the way were trembling with fear and dared not go forward, for fear that their lives would be harmed.

Jiang Yuan simply let the two of them go back. Seeing that the door was locked, he went forward and knocked.

A voice came from inside, saying, "Who's coming?"

Jiang Yuan changed his tone and said tremblingly: "The protagonist asked me to bring blood food."

The voice inside said, "What is the situation today? No one will eat unless they are human."

Jiang Yuan pushed Niu Wang forward and said, "It's the man, a farmer, fat and plump." Hearing the voice from inside, the tightly closed wooden door was pushed open, and a man came out. This man wore a white crown, a patchwork robe, and held a whisk in his hand. He looked like an immortal, but there was a strong and pungent smell on his body.

When Jiang Yuan smelled it, he understood clearly that it was a fox in disguise, showing off and asking for blood food.

The spirit looked at the Bull King and said, "Is this the person who feeds me?"

Jiang Yuan said: "It is this person."

Say it.

He looked into the room and saw a young man lying on the ground, his face bloodless, his eyes dull, and it was unclear whether he was dead or alive.

When Jiang Yuan saw this young man, he knew that Yuan Fa was in this young man. He came this time to save Yuan Fa and prevent his true identity from being lost.

He wondered how he could be bewitched, and it turned out that he was a young boy learning Taoism and was bewitched by a demon.

How could the demon recognize the transformation of a real person? When it saw the Bull King, its eyes turned red. The Wood Mother was causing trouble and wanted to have a quarrel with him. The demon caught up with the Bull King and said, "Since you, the servant, have brought the blood food to me, why don't you leave? If you don't leave, I will gobble up the blood food. Don't be afraid."

Jiang Yuan said: "You are like this now, you are definitely not a good person, why aren't you afraid that the master will ask someone to take you away?"

The demon just kept pulling the Bull King and said, "Why should you be afraid? The three disasters in the southern continent are at their peak, and no one is here to deal with them. Besides, I have great power, but no one can defeat me."

Jiang Yuan said, "I heard that the master recently invited someone to come and subdue you."

The spirit said, "I am kind enough to teach his only son, why would he really invite someone? Who would he invite?"

Jiang Yuan said: "They said they would ask a man named Guangxin from Xi Niu Hezhou to come and subdue you."

The monster shook his head and said, "I have never heard of him. I thought he was an unknown young man."

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "Since you have never heard of me, I won't tell you much. Do you know my true appearance?"

Say it.

Jiang Yuan shook his body, revealing his true form. His mighty aura was still there, making people feel intimidated.

The monster was frightened when he saw it, and could not bear it, so he revealed his true form, which was a yellow-haired fox, and turned around and tried to escape.

Upon seeing this, the Bull King revealed his true form, grabbed the monster and threw it to the ground.

The monster fell to the ground and tried to escape regardless of the pain.

Jiang Yuan simply threw the Yu Ding down, knocking the monster down, rendering it invisible and falling to the ground, unable to survive.

The Bull King said, "I didn't expect that I had any magical power, but I didn't expect it to be like this. I can't do anything about it."

Jiang Yuan pointed to the room and said, "Niu'er, don't say anything more. Take this man out quickly and don't let him die."

Upon hearing this, King Niu walked into the room and brought out a young man.

Jiang Yuan took it and blew a breath of immortal air, and the young man woke up. He looked around in a daze and asked, "Where am I now? Have I become an immortal?"

Jiang Yuan said: "You are not going to become an immortal, you are going to die."

The young man was shocked when he heard this and asked, "Where is my master?"

The Bull King pointed at the fox on the ground and said with a grin, "Your master is here."

The young man didn't believe it, and looked for a teacher everywhere, but he couldn't find one. Fortunately, Master Guan came and explained the whole story to him.

The young man had no choice but to believe it, so he worshipped a demon as his master, who taught him to be confused and eat blood during the day, hoping to become an immortal.

Guan Laosan bowed to Jiang Yuan, thanked him for his great kindness, and invited Jiang Yuan to stay in the manor for another day. As it was getting dark, Jiang Yuan gladly agreed.

……

The next day, Guan Lao personally invited Jiang Yuan to the central hall and offered him tea and food, not daring to make any mistakes.

After the meal, Jiang Yuan was about to leave, because his recipe had been successful. He would return to the mountain to wait for Laojun's return and learn the magical power of alchemy.

Jiang Yuan was about to leave and walked out of the hall, but he saw the young man named Guan walk out, kneel on the ground, and said, "I mistakenly worshipped a demon as my teacher, and didn't know the truth. Now I know that all these things are because I am devoted to the Tao and can't find a good teacher. Now I meet the master, please accept me as your disciple. I am willing to follow the master for life, and there will be no mistake."

Jiang Yuan, who was leading the white deer, stopped when he heard this. He looked at the young man and said with a smile, "Your father is old and you are his only son. How can you abandon your family business and practice with me? Look at your father. How can you bear to do this?"

The young man looked back at Guan Lao, feeling reluctant to leave.

Master Guan stepped forward and said, "Master, my son is eager to practice. If I leave him at home, I am afraid he will feel uneasy. But please let him practice with you."

Jiang Yuan smiled and asked, "Really?"

Guan Laodao: "It's true!"

Jiang Yuan said: "In that case, please follow me to practice. Niu'er, let's get going."

Upon hearing this, Niu Wang led the deer out of the village.

The young man was overjoyed and left home, following the deer. When he looked back, he saw Guan Lao standing at the door, seeing him off.

After walking for five or six miles, Jiang Yuan rode on the deer's back, Niu Wang walked in front, and the young man followed closely behind, looking back every ten steps, as if reluctant to leave.

The immortal suddenly stopped moving forward. The young man didn't understand what he meant, so he went forward to ask, but he saw an old wolf in the forest ahead being bullied by a wild dog. Due to old age and weak blood, the wolf was unable to fight with the wild dog. Just when the old wolf was about to die, a strong wolf attacked, drove away the wild dog, and protected the old wolf away.

The immortal said: "The old wolf protects the young wolf until they grow up, and the young wolf protects the old wolf for the rest of his life. If wolves are like this, how much more so for humans?"

The young man woke up from his dream, and then he knelt down in front of the deer and said, "Master, I just realized that I am greedy for spiritual practice, but I don't want to inherit my family business. My father is old and has no one to rely on. I only care about myself and cannot understand. I make my father worry about me. I am unfilial. Please allow me to leave and take care of my father. I dare not talk about spiritual practice again."

The Immortal laughed and said, "Are you willing to give up cultivation?"

The young man shook his head and said, "Not willing to do that."

The immortal said, "If that's the case, why are you going?"

The young man said, "My father is old, I cannot go. If I abandon my father for the sake of cultivation, my cultivation will be in vain. I have no chance to cultivate in this life, I only hope that in the next life, I can cultivate with my master."

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "Good."

The young man kowtowed to Jiang Yuan countless times, then went back home. He no longer dared to think about practicing Buddhism, and devoted himself to protecting his father and managing the family business.

Jiang Yuan watched the young man leave and said, "Niu'er, let's go home."

The Bull King was puzzled and asked, "Master, he wanted to practice, why did he leave?"

Jiang Yuan said: "If fate and Dharma are not coming, don't rush. One day you will get the chance to practice."

(End of this chapter)