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

Chapter 140: The Holy Infant defeats Wukong for the second time, and the Monkey King seeks help from Guanyin

But let’s talk about the Fire Cloud Cave in the Withered Pine Valley.

Sun Wukong went to the East Sea to ask for sailors. The Dragon Kings of the Four Seas received the order and assembled the shark in the front, the vanguard bream, the marshal carp, the admiral bream, the general mackerel, the commander bream, as well as turtles, crocodiles, tortoises, crabs and shrimps. A group of sailors followed Sun Wukong and descended on the "Hao Mountain" in the clouds.

The Monkey King stepped on the clouds and mist and saw the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas. He said, "Brother Lao Ao, come and help. The demon here is hiding in a cave. The demon is quite powerful. If the sailors go forward, they will inevitably be injured. I will go to the cave and lure it out. If the guy sets fire, you all can spray rain together to put out his fire."

The dragon kings said, "Great Sage, rest assured. We will obey your orders. However, we are only bringing rain. We do not have the help of Thunder God, Lightning Mother, Wind Master, and Cloud Boy. Therefore, we can put out the fire, but we cannot do anything else. The Great Sage must go to heaven and ask for your orders. The Three Officials must raise their pens and Taiyi must transfer the documents before we can obey."

The traveler said, "Just put out the fire, don't do anything else."

The dragon kings bowed and said, "We will obey the command of the Great Sage."

The traveler said, "Thank you for your help, thank you for your help."

Say it.

The Monkey King said no more. He pulled out the golden cudgel from his ear and swung it until it was as thick as a bowl. He leaped forward and landed in front of the Fire Cloud Cave. Seeing a little demon guarding the gate, he shouted, "Go and tell the Holy Infant King to come out."

The little demon then went into the mansion to report.

After a while, five chariots were pushed out and formed into a formation, and Red Boy came out again with a flaming spear in his hand.

Red Boy pointed at Monkey and asked, "Why are you here again?"

The traveler said, "Give me back my master."

Red Boy said, "My mountain is a barren mountain, but it can't stop you. If you want to save Tang Monk, it depends on whether you have the ability. I guess you don't have the ability to save him. If that's the case, leave quickly and don't stay in the mountain."

The Monkey King said, "My nephew, you definitely don't know how to count. Look at my golden cudgel."

The traveler said nothing more and started hitting him with his stick.

Red Boy knew that he was no match for Monkey King in martial arts. He was not strong enough, and his martial arts skills were shallow. Monkey King was a strong man, so he did not fight him. He shook his flaming spear, fired a fake shot, retreated into the car, and used the same trick again, blowing out a breath of fire.

Fireworks burst into the sky, red flames billowing, at first, like blazing golden snakes, then, like mighty bloody horses, the fire was enormous, just like "better than the night battle at Red Cliff, better than the fire in the Afang Palace".

Sun Xingzhe turned quickly and shouted to the sky, "Where are the Ao brothers?"

The four sea dragon kings appeared with their sailors and said, "Great Sage, we are here."

The traveler said, "Rain quickly to put out the fire!"

The Dragon Kings did not dare to make any mistakes and led their sailors to spray rain, but the heavy rain was unable to put out the fire. Instead, it was like pouring fuel on the fire, which actually fanned the flames.

The Monkey King thought that this was not good and decided to find Red Boy, capture him, and then jump into the fire while practicing the Fire-avoidance Technique. He had caused a great disturbance in the Heavenly Palace in the past and had eaten countless treasures. He had also forged an immortal body using the Samadhi Fire, so how could he be afraid of fire?

When Red Boy saw the Monkey King, he used his hidden flame, and the fire grew larger, and a thick smoke sprayed onto the Monkey King's face. The Monkey King was not afraid of fire, but smoke. Now he was harmed by the smoke, his eyes were dazzled, and tears fell like rain.

The traveler couldn't bear it and fled away on a cloud.

When Red Boy saw that Monkey was retreating and did not catch up with him, he put away his weapons and returned home. This was because he knew that Monkey was very skilled in martial arts and if he caught up with him, he would definitely be killed.

……

The story goes that the traveler was covered in flames and was in great pain, so he jumped into the stream to put out the fire. However, he found that water and fire cannot coexist, and the cold water made him so angry that he almost passed out and fell into a coma.

The Dragon Kings of the Four Seas panicked and called Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing, and after a lot of trouble, they finally woke up the Monkey King.

The Monkey King called back the Four Dragon Kings, but he only felt his skin and flesh tingling and he had no strength to fight anymore.

Zhu Bajie said, "Brother, how could you let that fellow do such harm?"

The Monkey King said, "The fire of the Holy Infant King is not an ordinary fire. The rain from the four sea dragon kings cannot put it out. It is like adding fuel to the fire. Since I made trouble in Heaven, an old man has had an eye disease and is extremely afraid of fireworks. The fire of the Holy Infant King was damaged. When he entered the stream, the water and fire conflicted and he almost lost his life."

Bajie said, "Brother, you have suffered a great defeat today. When will Master be able to save you?"

The Monkey King said, “The Holy Infant King is in a very bad state. We must ask for help. The Dragon Kings of the Four Seas cannot come down. If we go to Heaven to ask for help, it will not work either. This is because when I caused a great disturbance in Heaven in the past, the gods could not do anything to me. I was not able to defeat them, and the same was true for those gods. So we must go elsewhere to ask for help.”

Wujing asked, "Big Brother, where should we go?"

The traveler said, "It is said that 'the direction comes from overseas'. We should go overseas to ask for help. There are only a handful of capable people overseas. We have been guided by the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara of the South China Sea to travel west. The Bodhisattva has also promised us that the heavens will respond when we call upon them and the earth will respond when we call upon it. So we should go and ask for help from the Bodhisattva."

Wujing asked worriedly, "Big Brother, can you ride the cloud away now?"

The traveler held his waist and said, "It is still possible to drive, it is still possible to drive. You two take care of the horses and luggage, and don't cause any trouble."

They both responded.

The traveler was riding a cloud, heading for Luojia Mountain in the South China Sea. The traveler was injured and stumbled all the way. After an hour or two, he finally saw Luojia Mountain.

The traveler pressed down the cloud, and the Venerable Hui An appeared. He supported the traveler and said, "Great Sage, why are you like this?"

The traveler said, "Go and inform the Bodhisattva."

The Venerable held the traveler's hand in front of Chaoyin Cave, and he went inside to report.

After a while, the Venerable returned and helped the traveler into the cave.

The practitioner approaches the lotus platform, straightens his clothes and bows.

The Bodhisattva sat on the lotus platform, lowered his eyes and asked: "Wukong, if you don't protect Tang Monk on his journey to the west, why are you here with me?"

The Monkey King recounted what had happened before, saying that Red Boy tried to capture Tang Monk, but his timing was right and he was defeated twice by him. The Dragon Kings of the Four Seas could not capture him, and now he was at a loss, so he came to ask the Bodhisattva for help.

Upon hearing this, the Bodhisattva said, "How come I have never heard of this Holy Infant King?"

The traveler said, "Bodhisattva, you don't know that the Holy Infant King's real name is Cow Holy Infant, and his nickname is Red Boy."

The Bodhisattva asked, "But he is the son of the Bull Demon King, the guardian deity of Master Guangxin?"

The traveler said, "That's right."

The Bodhisattva pointed at the traveler and said with a smile: "You monkey, that is your original home. You don't go to find the real person, but come to find me."

The traveler said, "When we met last time, I only asked you to stay in my house, saying that you had returned with a successful mission. Now it has only been two or three months, and I am ashamed to ask you to stay again."

The Bodhisattva said, "Red Boy, I have heard that you once practiced cultivation with Master Guangxin. You and him are from the same family, so why don't you speak openly?"

The traveler said, “I have been told this before, but he did not believe it.”

The Bodhisattva asked, "Since he had been practicing with the Immortal, he was definitely not an evildoer, so why did he capture Tang Monk?"

The Monkey King said, "Bodhisattva, you don't know. I sent the local mountain gods to tell us something. Red Boy wanted to let us go because he didn't want to embarrass us. It was Zhu Bajie who said some bad words to irritate Red Boy, and that's why we have this difficulty."

The Bodhisattva said, "Red Boy is right in what you say. If I follow you and take Red Boy away, wouldn't that be an offense to the Immortal?"

The Monkey King scratched his head and said, "I have to ask the Bodhisattva to take Red Boy, in the hope that Tang Monk can be rescued and taught to travel west."

The Bodhisattva said, "As you said, you defeated Red Boy because you were afraid of his fire. In this case, I will help you break his fire, and you can capture him yourself."

The traveler said happily, "If the fire can be extinguished, it will be easy for me to defeat him. I wonder what method the Bodhisattva has to extinguish the fire. I asked the four sea dragon kings to rain water earlier, but it could not extinguish the fire. That fire is not an ordinary fire. If you don't have the ability, it will be difficult to extinguish it."

The Bodhisattva threw the pure bottle in his hand into the sea outside the island, scaring the monk to fall.

The Monkey King thought to himself, "The Bodhisattva has a very bad temper. I just want to ask him if he has the ability to break his temper. Why did he throw the bottle away? If I had said a few more words, wouldn't the Bodhisattva have thrown me away? What a pity! If I had given this treasure to me, wouldn't it have been great?"

While the traveler was thinking, an old turtle emerged from the sea, jumping over the waves and carrying a clean bottle.

The traveler then realized that the bottle was not missing, but there was someone watching the bottle in the sea. If the bottle went into the sea, the turtle would definitely carry the bottle back. The Bodhisattva said, "Wukong, go and fetch the bottle for me."

Upon hearing the news, the Monkey King stepped forward and stretched out his hand to grab the bottle. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not lift the bottle. It was like a mayfly trying to shake a tree. The bottle was much heavier than his Ruyi Jingu Bang.

The traveler knew that he had no ability to lift it, so he turned around and said, "Bodhisattva, I can't lift the bottle."

The Bodhisattva smiled and said, "Do you know why?"

The Monkey King pondered for a long time and said, "Bodhisattva, maybe he was injured in the fight with Red Boy and he is not strong enough for a while."

The Bodhisattva said, "You monkey, you don't know that even if you didn't damage my bottle, you still couldn't lift it with your magical power. When I dropped the bottle a moment ago, it passed through three rivers, five lakes, eight seas and four rivers. I borrowed a sea water in the bottle. You don't have the magical power to lift the sea. If a real person came, he might be able to lift it, but you can't."

The Monkey King smiled and said, "I just don't know. Bodhisattva, who is better, you or my elder brother?"

The Bodhisattva said, "They are all much better than you."

Say it.

The Bodhisattva stepped forward, picked up the bottle and held it in his palm. The turtle nodded twenty-four times to the Bodhisattva, meaning twenty-four prostrations, and then entered the sea and disappeared.

The Bodhisattva said, "Wukong, there is a sea of ​​water in this bottle. If you put it into the bottle, it will produce nectar and water, which can extinguish thousands of fires. You cannot hold this bottle, so I will ask the Dragon Girl to go with you to extinguish the fire. You must not harm Red Boy, otherwise, Master Guangxin will definitely blame you."

The Monkey King said, "I would never dare to harm him. I just want to save my master."

The Bodhisattva then called the Dragon Girl and asked her to perform a secret method and then to hold the bottle and follow the monk. He warned her, "Just put out the fire and don't worry about the rest. Don't get caught up in Wukong's teachings. This monkey is a liar. Don't talk about it or ask about it."

The dragon girl accepted the request holding the clean bottle.

The traveler said, "Bodhisattva, I am also a monk. There is a saying that 'monks do not tell lies'. I am a monk now, how can I lie?"

The Bodhisattva said, "You have always done that."

The traveler said, "I never do it again."

The Bodhisattva said, "Don't say anything more. Go to the Hao Mountain with the Dragon Girl to rescue your master."

The traveler had no choice but to agree and go to Haoshan with the Dragon Girl.

The Bodhisattva watched the two men leave and then called over Venerable Hui'an.

Venerable Hui An bowed and said, "Master."

The Bodhisattva said, "Come with me to Lingtai Fangcun Mountain and discuss these matters with Master Guangxin."

Venerable Hui An said, "Yes, Master."

The Bodhisattva rode on auspicious clouds and went to Lingtai Fangcun Mountain.

……

Lingtai Fangcun Mountain and Sanxing Fairy Cave.

In the alchemy room, Jiang Yuan felt something in his heart and looked outside the house. He seemed to vaguely sense an auspicious light approaching.

Zhen Jian, who was lighting the fire, saw this and asked, "Big Brother."

Jiang Yuan said: "Junior brother, please keep guarding here while I go outside the palace."

Zhen Jian bowed and said, "Big Brother, please go. I will be on guard here, so there will be no problem."

Jiang Yuan got up and left the alchemy room, about to walk out of the mansion.

Suddenly there was a sound, accompanied by the wind, and reached Jiang Yuan's ears.

"Tong'er, outside the palace is the Bodhisattva Guanyin, you can go and greet her."

Jiang Yuan bowed towards the master's quiet room before leaving. When he reached the gate of the mansion, he opened the middle door wide to welcome the Bodhisattva.

The immortal walked out of the mansion, but saw Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva and Hui'an Venerable outside.

The real person stepped forward and bowed: "Bodhisattva."

Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva returned the greeting, and Venerable Hui'an also bowed behind him.

Wait until the ceremony is over.

The Immortal welcomed the Bodhisattva and Hui'an into the tower and set up a banquet for them.

The Bodhisattva did not ask the Patriarch, but said, "Truthless man, I came here for one thing."

Jiang Yuan sat down and asked, "May I ask what the Bodhisattva wants? Is there any change in the group of people who are seeking the scriptures?"

The Bodhisattva said, "When the pilgrims arrived at the Hao Mountain, they were blocked by one person and defeated Wukong. Wukong had no other options, so he came to ask me for help. The person who blocked the pilgrims has something to do with the Immortal."

Jiang Yuan asked, "This road to the west has long been borrowed by Bodhisattvas. There are three borrowers, my junior brother Zhenjian, Bailu, and Niu Mowang. Now Zhenjian and Bailu have returned successfully, could it be that Niu Mowang went to that mountain to block the road?"

The Bodhisattva shook his head and said, "No, it was Red Boy, the son of the Bull Demon King."

The Bodhisattva then recounted the preceding events and explained the whole matter to the Immortal.

When the Immortal heard this, he realized that it was Zhu Bajie's quick tongue that caused the disaster. He laughed and said, "I saw Zhu Bajie's mother causing troubles a long time ago, and I punished her. Why hasn't she changed now? If his worldly desires have not been eliminated, then even if he succeeds in his journey to the west, it will be difficult for him to achieve the right result."

The Bodhisattva said: "Every bite and every drink has its own destiny. If you don't practice hard now, you won't get the right result in the future."

The immortal said: "As the Bodhisattva said, Red Boy was in trouble by mistake. Now with the help of the Bodhisattva, Wukong will definitely be able to cross the Hao Mountain."

The Bodhisattva said, "It is said that 'When two tigers fight, one will be injured'. I promised to help with the Pure Bottle, but Red Boy's firepower will be useless. I am afraid that Wukong will not change his vicious nature and hurt Red Boy."

Jiang Yuan pondered for a long time and said, "What the Bodhisattva said makes sense. I will go there myself."

The Bodhisattva said, "I am afraid that this will disturb the True Man's meditation. If the True Man trusts me as his disciple, he can send me to teach him and stop the war."

Venerable Hui'an stood up upon hearing the voice.

Jiang Yuan smiled and said, "Venerable Hui'an and I are good friends, so why can't I trust you? I just troubled Venerable Hui'an."

The Bodhisattva said: "Hui An was able to stop the war, which is also a merit, so why should you be burdened?"

Jiang Yuan said, "In that case, I would like to trouble Venerable Hui'an. I have something. Please hold it and talk to Red Boy. He will definitely listen."

Say it.

The immortal used magic to fetch the jade-handled whisk from his quiet room through the air.

Jiang Yuan took the whisk and handed it to Venerable Hui'an.

Venerable Hui An took it with both hands and said, "Master, True Man, I will go there right away and will not make any mistakes."

Jiang Yuan thanked Venerable Hui'an again and again.

The Bodhisattva said: "You should go quickly, then stop and bring the Dragon Girl back."

The Immortal said: "But please also bring Red Boy back."

The Immortal wanted to know how Red Boy had mastered the skill to defeat Wukong twice.

(End of this chapter)