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

Chapter 212: Laughing at others is like laughing at yourself, goodbye Liu He
Time flies, and before I know it, five or six days have passed.

Jiang Yuan and his companions continued walking, this time they were in Yuzhou. After five or six days, they arrived at Yingchuan County. They saw that the city was prosperous, with people well-dressed and handsome. It was truly a city where 'the voices of people were bustling in restaurants and singing halls, colorful shops and teahouses hung high curtains, thousands of households were doing brisk business, and there were abundant wealth in the six streets and three markets'.

The Bull Demon King pointed the way ahead and said, "Master, this place has a prosperous atmosphere. There are many countries in the Western Niuhe Continent, but those countries are not as good as those in the Southern Continent. Among the many counties and cities in the Southern Continent, there are very few that can compare with the cities here. It is definitely difficult to compare with places like Chang'an."

Sun Wukong also sighed and said, "It really is worthy of being called Zhongtian. This kind of atmosphere is something to be envied. When I was protecting Tang Monk on his journey to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures, every place we passed by was not as good as this. The only place that can compare to it is the Baoliang Kingdom."

Bai Lu raised his head and spoke in human language, saying, "The master personally showed up to teach the Baoliang Kingdom. If not, how could the Baoliang Kingdom be so prosperous?"

Sun Wukong was shocked when he heard this and asked, "Big Brother, is this true?"

Jiang Yuan shook his head and smiled, "It's because they are willing to listen. If they are not willing to listen, no matter what I say, it will be useless. The Tao is always there, but those who hear the Tao are gone, and I can do nothing about it."

Sun Wukong asked: "Big Brother, can you please give me some details?"

The immortal asked back: "Wukong, how can you explain it in detail?"

Sun Wukong replied: "Are there any differences in the level of those who have heard the Tao?"

Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, "There is no distinction between those who have heard the Tao, and they are all the same person. If we break it down, there is a distinction between those who have heard the Tao and those who have not."

Sun Wukong asked: "Big Brother, what do you mean, what do you mean?"

Jiang Yuan said, "Those who have heard the Tao are all the same person, so let's not talk about that for now. As for those who have not heard the Tao... it is hard to say much. There is a scripture that says, 'The superior man hears the Tao and practices it diligently; the middle man hears the Tao and is uncertain about it; the inferior man hears the Tao and laughs at it.' These inferior men are all those who have not heard the Tao."

Wukong said, "Big Brother, I remember the old days when I climbed the mountain to become a disciple and entered the Three Stars Immortal Cave. Many people laughed at me, despised me, and said I was like a monkey and had no manners at all. Only you and Second Brother did not laugh at me. That is the reason. Those who have heard the Tao are the same person. Laughing at others is like laughing at yourself. Those who have not heard the Tao will only laugh at those who have heard the Tao. How can they know who is in front of them?"

Jiang Yuan smiled and patted Sun Wukong's head, saying: "You have really made great progress in your practice, not inferior to me in the past. You should practice diligently, and one day you will catch up with me."

Sun Wukong bowed deeply and said, "How can my practice be compared with that of my elder brother? But my elder brother should not speak like that."

Jiang Yuan smiled without saying anything and walked forward with the group.

When they reached a place, the Bull Demon King suddenly pointed forward and said, "Master, look over there."

Upon hearing this, the Immortal stopped the white deer and looked over there. He looked carefully and saw that there was a house there with two people in it. One of them was Liu He, the "fox marrying his daughter" in the past, and the other one had a demonic aura in her body and must be the daughter of the Fox King.

The real person laughed and said, "How come we meet them here?"

The Bull Demon King asked, "Master, do we need to go and meet him?"

The Immortal nodded and said, "Go and meet him. We have congratulated him some time ago. Now that we meet, we should congratulate him again."

The Bull Demon King replied, "Master, I will go over there and ask him if he wants to entertain us."

Say it.

The Bull Demon King walked forward and soon arrived in front of the house. Liu He saw the Bull Demon King, recognized him and asked, "Why are you here?"

The Bull Demon King said, "We are cultivators, traveling from place to place. We came to your wedding banquet earlier, and stayed there to attend the banquet. Now we are walking in the city, but we saw you here, so we came to meet you. Are you willing to entertain us?"

Liu He said: "Since you are a cultivator, why did my father-in-law invite you to the main table?"

The Bull Demon King said, "It was your father-in-law who saw that we were cultivators and knew that we were truly cultivating, so he treated us with courtesy and invited us to the main table." Upon hearing this, Liu He shook his head helplessly and said, "Why would your father-in-law invite you to the main table for this matter? Forget it, forget it, forget it. Just come over here, I have tea and food for you to enjoy."

The Bull Demon King said: "If you don't want to, then forget it, we will go away."

Liu He said, "Since you have participated in my wedding banquet, and now you have come to see me, I will certainly invite you. Where is the immortal?"

The Bull Demon King pointed to the roadside.

Liu He looked over and saw the Immortal sitting on a white deer by the roadside. He said, "Since the Immortal is there, please invite him over."

Upon hearing this, Bull Demon King turned around and walked back. After a while, he saw the real person and said, "Master, that guy wants to invite us to come over."

Jiang Yuan nodded and said, "In that case, let's go there."

The Bull Demon King came up personally, leading the white deer towards Liu He's house.

Sun Wukong had no choice but to walk behind and with Zuo Liang. Seeing Zuo Liang following closely, he lowered his head and smiled, "Zuo Liang, are you tired?"

Zuo Liang shook his head and said, "I'm not tired. Although my body hurts, my heart is relaxed."

Sun Wukong smiled and said, "You have perseverance. Keep going. You will succeed one day."

Zuo Liang thanked Wukong for his advice.

Wukong waved his hand and said it was not necessary, and then said: "When you have achieved success in the future, I will teach you some skills and teach you some magical tricks."

Zuo Liang was so grateful when he heard this that he asked, "How could Grandpa Buddha treat me like this? I have no way to repay him."

Wukong said: "Your ancestors showed me some kindness in the past, so I should repay them, but your ancestors have long passed away, so I can only repay you."

Zuo Liang was dumbfounded. How could he have known that his ancestor had such a great background? Even a Buddhist grandfather claimed to be indebted to his ancestor.

Jiang Yuan didn't know that Wukong was talking to Zuo Liang. He walked to Liu He's house, dismounted the white deer, and said, "Congratulations on your wedding."

Liu He and the fox girl both bowed and said, "Thank you, Immortal."

Liu He welcomed everyone into the house, tied the white deer to the cowshed at the back, and served tea and food to the group of immortals.

All the immortals enjoyed the tea and food, tasting just a little, fearing that they would eat up all of Liu He's wealth.

After everyone finished their tea and meal, Liu He asked, "I talked to the Immortal earlier about studying for fame, but there has been no result yet. Can we talk about it again today?"

Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, "There is nothing much to say. If you want to listen, then so be it. If you don't want to listen, then just take what you said as the truth."

Liu He was about to say something else when he heard someone knocking on the door. He had no choice but to walk outside and open the door, only to see a man dressed as a scholar outside.

When Liu He saw the man, he was a little impatient and said, "Yanchang, you come to borrow rice again? I am newly married, so I cannot borrow too much. If I borrow too much, wouldn't it be like lending you the blessings of my family?"

Jiang Yuan heard this and looked outside the room...

(End of this chapter)