Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 12 Theory of Cause and Effect
"Hey, calm down, old man. I just want to go out and gain some experience, and find a wife to continue the Guo family's lineage."

Guo Xiuwen was dressed in silk and satin, breathing slightly, and sighed in his heart, thinking that he was getting old.
He glanced sideways at the brat next to him who was covering his head with a fawning look on his face, and snorted coldly.

"Humph! You want to run away every now and then! Don't you know how chaotic it is out there? With your mediocre skills, if you really go outside, you'll either be snatched away by wild beasts in the mountains or captured by bandits!"

When Guo Le'an heard his grandfather say this about him, he immediately cried out:

"Grandpa, please don't scare me! It's not as scary as you say it is out there."

"Besides, I'm the most talented martial artist in our family. I've mastered the Guo family's swordsmanship and footwork to the seventh level. I've heard from others that my skills are definitely second to none!"

"When you and your father were doing business, you didn't have this much strength, did you? Let alone wild beasts and horse thieves, even if there were real monsters in this world, I could kill one for you to see!"

When Guo Xiuwen heard this, a gloomy look flashed across his dim eyes, and he murmured:
"Martial arts, martial arts. What's the point of practicing martial arts to the highest level? You'll still be blinded by a gust of evil wind and become a lamb to be slaughtered."

Guo Le'an didn't hear his grandfather's murmurs clearly, and asked curiously:

"Grandpa, what did you say?"

Guo Xiuwen shook his head, turned around and stared at his grandson with a pair of tiger eyes, until Guo Le'an was frightened, then he said slowly:
"If you want to go out and gain experience, that's fine, but we have to make three rules."

Guo Le'an looked at his grandfather with some surprise. He never expected that his grandfather, who had always been strongly opposed to him going out to gain experience, would actually give in.

Guo Le'an looked delighted. He was at the age of prime vigor and had learned a lot of skills. He was really suffocated after being locked up at home for so many years!

He quickly said seriously:

"Grandpa, you say it, I promise you everything!"

"Okay! Le'an, remember this."

"First, you are not allowed to show off your abilities or wealth when you are born outside, and you are not allowed to introduce yourself or mention Guojiazhuang. Everything depends on you!"

"Second, when you're out there alone, be cautious and control your temper. Be patient if you can. If you really can't stand it and have offended someone, find an opportunity to eliminate them completely!"

"As for the third point, I want you to go north to a place called Jindou Mountain and give this item to a powerful person named Niu Yi. Tell him that this is my Guo family's filial tribute, which is five years late, and ask for his forgiveness."

"You must keep this thing close to you! Don't peek, just give it to him! Remember, don't be disrespectful to him! He has done a great favor to our Guo family!"

As Guo Xiuwen spoke, he took out the small gold-thread bag that he had kept close to his body and placed it in Guo Le'an's hand.

Guo Le'an remembered the first and second points in mind, but when he heard the third point, he looked at Guo Xiuwen in surprise.

"Respect? The mountains to the north, are you talking about the legendary place where demonic disasters occurred?!"

He remembered that his grandfather and father stopped doing business after returning from there five years ago and only did local business.

He was still young at that time, but he still remembered clearly that his father and grandfather were covered in wounds when they came back. Not only were the horses and cargoes gone, but the dozen or so martial arts escorts who were traveling with them were also gone.

It was also from that time that his tall and strong father stopped practicing martial arts and became increasingly listless.

But these two have kept their mouths shut about what happened back then over the years and have not told anyone what exactly happened. According to my grandfather, Niu Yi on the Jindou Mountain should be the key figure.

A powerful being? Could he be the legendary hermit living in seclusion in the mountains?!

Guo Xiuwen did not give Guo Le'an a detailed explanation, but just asked Guo Xiuwen to keep these three things in mind, and then waved his hand, indicating that he could go away.

"Grandpa! Wait for me to come back!"

Although Guo Le'an got what he wanted for the time being, he suddenly felt a little sad when he looked at his old grandfather. His eyes were slightly red, and he quickly knelt down and kowtowed heavily to his grandfather. Then he quickly stood up, picked up the wrapped sword, and left without daring to look back.

"Please forgive me, Le'an. Grandpa can't stay with you forever, nor can he suppress you and not let you go out forever. In this case, then go and take a good look at this world and see the true side of this world."

"At least, that Niu Yi should be a true master."

Guo Xiuwen watched his grandson's retreating figure with a far-reaching gaze. Back then, he and his son had been just as confident in their martial arts as Guo Le'an was now, determined to venture into the mountains plagued by demons.

As a result, just a few days after entering the mountains, they encountered a real monster!
Thinking back, more than ten of their masters became dizzy and fell to the ground with their limbs going limp when a gust of black wind blew. Only he and his son had the best martial arts and could hold out for a while, and that's how they managed to hold out under the claws of the two monsters that suddenly appeared.

Just then, the godlike young man descended from the sky, killed the two monsters with one palm each, and saved them.

Over the years, his son tried his best to stop him from going to the mountainous area again. As he was old and weak, he was also afraid of what happened to him.
Although Guo Xiuwen's life could not be described as upright, at least he had never done anything against his conscience. However, this incident had almost become a source of worry for him.

He didn't want to die feeling guilty towards his savior.

After all, although he said that he would pay tribute every year in order to save his life, these words came from his mouth after all. As a result, over the years, the Guo family never went to pay a visit again.

He only hoped that Le Ping could safely hand over the treasure he had found to that person, fulfill his wish, and repay the debt owed by their Guo family.

His Guo family really owes a huge favor to others.
On the top of Jindou Mountain, Niu Yi sat on a bench holding a golden bamboo, one hand resting on the pitch-black giant axe in front of him. Golden light flickered, and Buddhist magic power continued to surge out, constantly washing over the pitch-black giant axe.

Next to the wooden table and the giant axe, there were five small jars filled with peach blossoms, and peach blossom wine was being brewed.

I saw that on the pitch-black fine iron axe, with each wash of golden magic power, a trace of imperceptible resentment would be expelled from the fine iron axe, and once the resentment was expelled, it would disappear into thin air.

After a while, when the giant iron axe no longer emitted any resentment no matter how it was washed by the Buddhist magic power, Niu Yi finally gave up.

"It would be great if there was a way to transcend the dead. Otherwise, why would we go through so much trouble?"

Niu Yi looked at the giant iron axe whose resentment had been completely eliminated, picked it up and put it aside.

The resentment on this giant iron axe has dissipated, so it can be safely handed over to Niu Li to use.

Now that another troublesome matter has been solved, I feel happy.
Niu Yi thought for a moment, silently recited what he was thinking, took out the three cause and effect coins in his arms, injected magic power into them, and then threw them on the table.

"Xiaoji."

"No trouble, but a small gain."

"Hey~ This divination is quite good. It looks like we can get a good harvest from those monkey monsters."

"Niu Feng, that little calf, is a bit stupid, but if he keeps getting hit like this, he'll probably become even dumber~"

What Niu Yi had just calculated was naturally the group of guys who sent him spiritual fruits.

After Niu Li's surveillance, he found out that the group of people who sent him the spiritual fruit through Niu Feng were the same monkey demons that were previously under the control of the leopard demon. And judging by the hexagram, these monkey demons were almost specifically sending him benefits.
As for what they wanted, Niu Yi knew it without even having to count. They just wanted his help in dealing with some powerful enemy or simply asked for its protection.

However, you have to plan carefully.
Niu Yi stretched out his hand, and the three cause and effect coins quickly flew back to Niu Yi's hand, but Niu Yi did not take the three coins back.

I saw a precious aura with precious light slowly floating out from his palm. This precious aura quickly split into three and poured into the three cause and effect hexagram coins.

I saw that the copper rust on the three cause and effect coins seemed to have fallen off a little bit.

At the same time, the sound of the Tao reappeared in Niu Yi's mind.

"The rewards of good and evil follow you like a shadow, and the cycle of cause and effect continues throughout three lives."

As the sound of Tao echoed in Niu Yi's mind, his understanding of the cause and effect of divination continued to deepen.

Slowly, a flash of enlightenment came into Niu Yi's mind.

"The Karma Coin is the manifestation of supernatural powers. Mastering the Karma Coin is equivalent to mastering a kind of external supernatural power. However, I can fully comprehend this supernatural power by following the Karma Coin. When the time comes, the two will complement each other. That is the true way to observe the cause and effect of the three worlds and predict the good and bad luck of the future."

"By then, relying on the principle of cause and effect, even the gods and Buddhas in the sky can be counted, and this magical power will be called the Theory of Cause and Effect."

(End of this chapter)