Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 284 The River God of the Tongtian River

Tang Sanzang and his companions boarded the treasure ship and were warmly received by the ship's manager. At this moment, the group stood by the deck, watching the large ship sail on the Tongtian River. Gradually, they could no longer see the shore.

"Master, look at this boat! It's so big and so stable!"

Pigsy leaned against the ship's railing, looked down at the waves, and patted the large ship beneath him.

Sun Wukong sat with his legs crossed on the boat railing, eating the grapes the boatman offered him, and laughed:
“Hey, you idiot, you have no eyes. This treasure ship is not made of ordinary wood. Don’t you see that this ship has a lot of spiritual energy, is hard and has no gaps? It must be made of that huge spiritual wood.”

Upon hearing this, the steward standing nearby smiled and gave Sun Wukong a thumbs up.

“Oh my, this young elder has a good eye for quality. My master said that this treasure ship is indeed made of a kind of immortal wood.”

Tang Sanzang, somewhat curious, asked:
"Oh? I wonder what kind of magical wood this ship is made of?"

The manager was now in a bit of a dilemma.

"Elder, I'm not entirely sure who this is, because this treasure ship wasn't built by my family. We bought it from a down-on-his-luck wealthy merchant back then."

"And this ship was not built by that wealthy merchant; he obtained it from elsewhere as well."

"I heard that this ship has been sailing on the river for hundreds of years, perhaps even thousands of years."

“My master once lamented that among the merchants along the Tongtian River, few could remain wealthy for over a hundred years. This treasure ship may have changed hands dozens of times, but no matter how the riverbank changes or how many times it has risen and fallen, it remains unchanged as it sails on the Tongtian River.”

Tang Sanzang said with some emotion:

"This treasure ship has been traveling back and forth for nearly a thousand years, ferrying countless people across the two banks."

"Hehe, you're about the same age as me, Old Sun~"

Sun Wukong patted the treasure ship beneath him, feeling somewhat pleased. Just then, he saw a small fishing boat slowly drifting towards them from not far away, heading east, in the exact opposite direction from theirs.

"Oh?"

There was only one man on the boat, carrying a bamboo cage behind him. With Sun Wukong's keen eyesight, he could clearly see that there were several fish thrashing about in the bamboo cage.

"I say, sir, I observe that the Tongtian River is so vast, yet the water doesn't seem to be very rapid. How dare even a small fishing boat venture into such deep waters to fish?"

The steward laughed and said:
"Young Elder, you are unaware of this. Although our Tongtian River is vast, it is protected by a river god. Many people have witnessed that if someone falls into the water, a divine turtle will lift them up and bring them to the shore."

"It is said that hundreds of years ago, the river here was very turbulent, and only large ships like this could pass smoothly. But later, we wealthy merchants worshipped the river god every year. Perhaps the river god saw our piety, and the Tongtian River gradually became calm."

"Nowadays, the river god festival on the Tongtian River is a major festival on both banks of the Tongtian River. Crowds of people gather on the shore to offer sacrifices. We wealthy merchants and fishermen then come to the river to scatter the sacrifices, hoping for favorable weather and smooth waterways in the following year."

At this point, the manager clearly felt a little regretful and said:

"It's a pity, elders, that you came at a bad time. The River God Festival just ended a little over a month ago, and the next one will have to wait until next year."

Tang Sanzang nodded with some regret, also wanting to see such a magnificent sight.

Just then, Sun Wukong looked into the river, his eyes flashing with golden light. He saw an old man holding a cane and carrying a tortoise shell on his back, leading several children who also carried tortoise shells, bowing to him.

Sun Wukong immediately saw through the old man's true form; he was an old turtle who had cultivated diligently for many years, and the aura emanating from him was that of a majestic deity.

So this is the river god? He seems to be a wild river god who hasn't received any divine ordination yet and is simply accumulating merit.
Sun Wukong chuckled twice and then ignored him, continuing to eat the grapes in his mouth.

In the Tongtian River, the old turtle watched this scene. Facing the legendary Great Sage Equaling Heaven, he was somewhat flustered, fearing that he would be mistaken for a monster and beaten by this person. However, he still obeyed Yuan Ze's advice and came to see this person.

In Yuan Ze's words, this person is now going to protect Tang Sanzang on his journey to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures, and to achieve enlightenment, no longer fighting and killing or causing havoc in the Heavenly Palace as in the legends.

Daojun also had a very close relationship with this Great Sage Equaling Heaven. In any case, it would be good to become acquainted with him.

He asked Yuanze to consult the Daoist Master to see how many more years he needed to cultivate before he could shed his tortoise shell.

But Daojun gave him another path, which was to cultivate merit and become the orthodox water god of Tongtianjiang.

Over the past few hundred years, he has followed the advice of the Daoist Master to manage floods in the Tongtian River and protect the people, accumulating considerable merit.

Of course, this also requires sufficient faith. Fortunately, Daojun Mountain helped in this matter, and the grand River God Festival held every year is the best proof of this.

In just over ten years, according to Daojun's intention, as long as he has enough merit, he will go to heaven to ask the Jade Emperor for an imperial decree to officially appoint him as the River God of the Tongtian River and bestow upon him a celestial register.

At that time, he will also have achieved enlightenment and be able to shed his tortoise shell.
Tang Sanzang continued his journey, staying on the boat for several days, and finally arrived at the west bank of the Tongtian River.

The four of them saw that both banks of the Tongtian River were very prosperous, everyone had a smile on their face, and the number of elderly people was far greater than elsewhere.

Whether entering a village or a city, one can see statues and temples dedicated to Daojun, demonstrating the widespread faith in the local divine healer Daojun.

Tang Sanzang heard that the most respected people in the Tongtian River region were physicians, especially the disciples of Daojun Mountain, those itinerant doctors with tiger-shaped bells hanging from their waists. Just now at the man's house on the east bank, the man had heard the sound of the Daojun disciples' tiger-shaped bells and hurriedly went out to invite the divine physician in.

The four travelers walked and stopped for more than a month before finally arriving at the territory of Daojun Mountain.

"Wukong, that old man just said that Daojun Mountain is just ahead?"

"Hey~ Master, that's right."

"The old man said that after passing this mountain, ahead lies the City of Divine Physicians, where one can see the sacred place of medicine, Daojun Medical Hall. Passing through the medical hall, one can see Daojun Mountain with its vast apricot grove."

As Sun Wukong spoke, he leaped forward a few steps on the dirt path in the mountains. He saw a divine mountain not far ahead, which he could naturally see with his eyesight. It was Daojun Mountain.

Tang Sanzang rode forward on his white dragon horse and looked at the sacred mountain. Although he could only see a hazy, verdant mountain with tall and magnificent palaces on it, he could clearly feel a sense of solemnity and reverence.

Pigsy sauntered over, glancing at the sacred mountain not far away, and grinned foolishly.

"Hehehe~ Master, we've finally arrived~"

"That's wonderful! Let's hurry over and ask that Daoist Lord to arrange a meal for us. My stomach has been rumbling for ages."

"Hey, you idiot, didn't you just eat?"

Sha Wujing, carrying the load, laughed from behind:
"Eldest brother, second brother has called out that he's hungry seventeen times since we set off, right after he finished eating."

"Hey~ Brother Monkey, Brother Sandy, don't you know how fast my stomach digests food?"

"Hehe~ This idiot."

Tang Sanzang smiled as he watched this scene and said to Sun Wukong:

"My grandmother was saved by the divine physician of Daojun Mountain. I heard that the physician later came to Daojun Mountain from the Tang Dynasty, so I have never been able to meet him. I have been longing to see him for a long time."

"Wukong, go ahead and scout the way again. Since Bajie is hungry, let's hurry on our way so that I can reach Daojun Mountain sooner and pay my respects to Daojun."

"Alright, alright, junior brothers, you two watch over Master. I'll go ahead and scout out the way again. Let's get into the city as soon as possible."

"Hey! Senior Brother, don't worry!"

As Sun Wukong traveled on, he saw that although this place was in the mountains, there were no jackals, tigers, leopards, or other mountain creatures. Instead, there were mostly pheasants, rabbits, or small deer.

He asked someone and learned that the tigers in the mountains had been driven into the deep mountains by the disciples of Daojun Mountain, and as more and more people had made use of the roads around the area, there were fewer and fewer incidents of wild animals attacking people.

At this moment, the passerby who had been stopped calmed down a bit after making sure that the elder next to him, who looked like a monster, wouldn't eat him.

Even though he was a woodcutter and considered himself to be quite brave, the sudden leap of this man from the tree, especially after seeing his face clearly, still frightened him quite a bit.

The woodcutter swallowed hard.
"Elder, if you are going to the City of Divine Healers, just follow this road for another ten miles and you will see the city walls. As for the jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards in these mountains..."

"Elder, you may not know this, but the world praises Daojun Mountain disciples as living divine physicians. However, I, who have been to the City of Divine Physicians, know that these people also possess the skills and abilities of immortals."

"When I was chopping wood on the mountain, I was almost killed by a tiger that suddenly jumped out. That big tiger was like a demon. Just one roar from it made my heart jump out of my chest and my legs tremble."

As the woodcutter spoke, a look of gratitude appeared on his face.

"I was already prepared to close my eyes and wait for death, but then I suddenly heard a clear bell sound."

"Oh?"

"So that the elders may know, it was a disciple of Daojun Mountain who happened to pass by and saw me in distress. He shook the tiger bell, and the tiger immediately howled and fled far away."

"It's clear that these people have truly inherited some of the Dao Lord's true teachings."

Sun Wukong listened to the woodcutter's somewhat excited words, asked him a few more questions, thanked him, and let him leave.

The woodcutter took a few steps, then suddenly remembered something, turned to look at Sun Wukong, and said:
“Young Elder, if you are going to Daojun Mountain, you may wish to visit in a few days. I heard that Daojun Mountain has suddenly closed today and will be closed for three days. Don’t make a wasted trip.”

Sun Wukong's eyes darted around, and he roughly understood what was going on. He thanked him again and said:

"Okay, okay, thank you so much!"

Sun Wukong waited in the same spot for a short while before Tang Sanzang and his companions arrived.

"Master, the Divine Doctor City is fifteen miles ahead. There shouldn't be any danger along the way. Let's hurry to Daojun Mountain."

(End of this chapter)