Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 286 Testing the Mind of Zen Again
At night, Daojun came to the stables of Daojun Palace.

Upon seeing Daojun appear, the white dragon horse immediately lowered its head and was about to kneel on its front legs when Daojun stopped it.

"Your current appearance is not convenient, so there's no need for such formalities."

Daojun waved his hand and approached the white dragon horse, saying:
“I know your journey will be quite arduous, but this is something your father fought for for you. If you can carry Tang Sanzang to Mount Ling, you will be able to achieve enlightenment.”

The white dragon horse nodded gratefully, knowing that this man had been a close friend of his father for hundreds of years and was also one of the key figures in the eastward transmission of Buddhism.

He made a mistake back then, and it was only with the help of this person and Venus that he had the opportunity he has today.

Daojun chatted with the white dragon horse for a while before leaving. At the same time, a figure jumped down from the stable, came to the white dragon horse's side, touched its body, and looked in the direction Daojun had left.

"This Daoist Master is quite mysterious~"

Sun Wukong scratched the back of his hand, his eyes darting around. He had no ill intentions toward this Daoist Lord, but he was curious about his origins and the growing sense of familiarity that clung to him.

Daojun was naturally aware that Sun Wukong was on the stable roof, but he didn't pay much attention to it. Instead, he returned to the incense space to meet another guest of the day.

"Bodhisattva, you have been waiting for a long time."

As soon as Daojun entered the pavilion, he saw Guanyin Bodhisattva standing in front of it.

Guanyin Bodhisattva smiled and nodded. When the Daoist Master came to her side, they walked together into the pavilion, and she said with a smile:

“The lotus pond in my mountain has recently seen golden lotuses bloom again, so I brought three of them here as a gift for you, Daoist. Please accept them.”

This was also her way of showing respect. After all, although this person had a grudge against the Golden-Winged Roc, he had also practiced Buddhist mental techniques back then, and he had helped a lot in spreading Buddhism to the East.

Daojun smiled and said:

"Since it was personally given to me by the Bodhisattva, then I will accept it without shame."

The Bodhisattva nodded with a smile and said again:
"I think Sun Wukong has already realized something, but he just hasn't figured out the identity of the Dao Lord yet."

"Continue like this."

Daojun shook his head indifferently and smiled:

"He will find out about my identity sooner or later, it's just a matter of time."

“He was impetuous and didn’t know how to restrain himself back then, but now he is wholeheartedly escorting Tang Sanzang on his journey to the West to obtain the scriptures and achieve enlightenment. I am happy to see him helping others.”

"Speaking of which, the Bodhisattva has come here this time for..."

At this moment, Daojun and Guanyin Bodhisattva had arrived at the third level. The two sat down, and the Bodhisattva said:

"This humble monk has come here, actually, for the sake of Pigsy."

"Oh?"

"As Daojun surely knows, this humble monk previously set up a challenge with the Bodhisattvas Manjushri and Samantabhadra, along with the Old Mother of Lishan, to test the Zen minds of these four people."

"The other three are steadfast in their Zen minds, but only Pigsy's lust remains unchanged. Now that we've come this far, I would like to ask the Daoist Master to use his magic to set up a challenge in my dream so that he can test my Zen mind once again."

"I believe that with Daojun's current progress on the Great Dao of Dreams, he can easily accomplish this."

Daojun looked at Guanyin Bodhisattva and nodded slowly.

"As expected, nothing can be hidden from the eyes of the Bodhisattva~ Then I will use my magic to test this Pigsy again."

He spent over two thousand years in the Lingtai Mind Realm, and his progress in comprehending the Great Dao of Dreams was extremely rapid. He has now fully comprehended this Great Dao, and the method he used to bring the three demons of Chechi Kingdom into the dream realm came from this.

"Thank you for your trouble, Daoist Lord."

Daojun nodded, forming a hand seal. The Great Dao of Dreams was activated, causing an invisible ripple to spread rapidly outwards.

In the backyard of Daojun Palace, in a room, Pigsy, who was snoring and sleeping soundly, was soon pulled into a dream.

Pigsy slowly opened his eyes, looking around in confusion. The scene before him seemed extremely familiar; it was the entrance to a mountain cave.

"Huh? Old Pig, weren't I just eating apricots? Where am I?"

Pigsy subconsciously looked up and saw three very familiar characters written on the cave in front of him: Cloud Stack Cave.

"Cloud Stack Cave? Cloud Stack Cave in Fuling Mountain? How did I get back here?!"

Just then, Pigsy suddenly felt a pain in his ear, thinking it was Monkey King pulling it, and exclaimed:
"Oh dear, my good brother! I don't know why I'm here. I didn't run away!"

"What good brother? Pigsy, have you gone mad from drinking?"

Hearing a familiar, delicate shout, Pigsy was startled and quickly turned around, only to see a beautiful woman dressed in white looking at him with disdain.

"Second Aunt?! Weren't you dead?! Ouch! Don't pull, it's going to break!!"

Sister Egg said angrily:

"Well, you little pig, Pigsy! I just agreed to let you take that Gao family's sister as your concubine, and you're just hoping I die so she can take her place, aren't you?!" Although Pigsy was puzzled, the pain in his ears made him blurt out:

"How could that be? I'm the husband you found for me, Second Aunt! Everything I have comes from you, Second Aunt!"

"Hmph! Come on in! You smooth talker, get inside!"

As she spoke, Sister Luan grabbed Pigsy's ear and led him into the Cloud Stack Cave.

"Hey, hey, be gentle, Second Aunt, be gentle!"

As soon as Zhu Bajie entered the cave, he saw a woman in a long dress doing her hair in front of a mirror. When the woman heard the voice, she turned around and, seeing that it was Zhu Bajie returning, she happily got up to greet him.

"My lord, my sister, you're both back!"

When Pigsy saw the person he had been longing for day and night, his eyes widened and his mouth gaped open. He blurted out instinctively:
"Huh??? Cuilan? What are you doing here?"

Gao Cuilan asked in confusion:

"Didn't my husband come to my house to propose marriage? Now I am yours."

Upon hearing this, Pigsy was momentarily stunned, but looking at that stunningly beautiful face and the graceful demeanor of a well-bred young lady, he felt a surge of joy and chuckled foolishly:
"Haha~ Cuilan is right, Cuilan is right~ Look at my memory, I completely forgot~"

Am I dreaming?
If this really is a dream, I hope I never wake up again in this lifetime!!!

"Humph!"

Hearing the cold snort beside him, Pigsy was startled, only then remembering that there was an Egg Sister by his side!
Pigsy quickly grabbed Egg Sister and coaxed her:
"Second wife, I had a momentary lapse of judgment and said the wrong thing. I'm so sorry, please forgive me~"

"Oh? Lost your mind? Hmph, I think you've definitely lost your mind lately, always spouting nonsense about going to the Western Paradise to fetch scriptures."

"Looking like you, if you went to the Western Paradise, you'd definitely just be doing good deeds for those bald monks!"

"Ah? The journey to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures."

Upon hearing this, Pigsy was stunned, as if he had thought of something.
Gao Cuilan stepped forward slowly, looking at Zhu Bajie with a pitiful and charming expression, and said with concern:
"My lord, are you alright?"

Pigsy looked at the girl before him, his heart melting, and shook his head repeatedly, saying:
"It's nothing, it's nothing. I'm overjoyed, hahaha~"

Pigsy stayed in Cloud Stack Cave for three days, but his days were not as carefree and happy as he had imagined. He seemed to have something on his mind and often spaced out.

Three days later, he suddenly picked up his nine-toothed rake and quietly slipped away from the Cloud Stack Cave. But when he arrived at the foot of the mountain, he was suddenly caught in a net and hung from a tree!
"Ouch! Again!"

Pigsy was tightly bound by the net and couldn't break free, which was very uncomfortable for him. He quickly shouted:
"I'm not playing anymore! Daojun! We're not playing anymore. I'm definitely going to follow Master, without any other intentions!"

Sister Luan Er appeared beside the net without anyone noticing, accompanied by Gao Cuilan, and angrily said:

"Pigsy! I think you've really gone mad! You actually want to abandon me and my sister and go follow some master!"

Pigsy shouted:
"Second Aunt, I was truly heartbroken and cried when you died of illness back then, but I know it was all a lie. You died in Old Pig's arms long ago and have already been reincarnated."

"Daoist Master!! Old Pig is done playing! At worst, I'll just go back to Gao Village after I've achieved enlightenment!"

Upon hearing this, Gao Cuilan and Luan Erjie, who were standing in front of Zhu Bajie, were both stunned. Their figures slowly disappeared, as if they had never appeared at all.

Looking at the two people before him, Pigsy's eyes were filled with reluctance and regret, and he even regretted not waiting a few more days before saying those words.
"Bajie."

Upon hearing this gentle yet authoritative voice, Pigsy quickly turned around and saw Guanyin Bodhisattva standing before him.

"Bodhisattva? Oh! Bodhisattva, please save me! I, Old Pig, don't know where I offended the Daoist Lord, he set up this dream to fool me!"

Guanyin Bodhisattva said solemnly:
“Bajie, stop talking nonsense. It was this humble monk who asked the Daoist to set up this trial to test your Zen mind.”

"Bodhisattva, so it was your idea! Oh dear, please save me! You saw it just now, I will definitely follow my master to the west, I have no other intentions."

The Bodhisattva shook his head and said:
“Bajie, you knew from the beginning that this was a dream, but you still craved beauty and enjoyed yourself for three days before leaving.”

"Although you have passed this test, you are still unrepentant in your lustful desires. So hang you here for one night as punishment."

After Guanyin Bodhisattva finished speaking, her figure slowly disappeared into the forest, leaving only the shouting Pigsy hanging there.

In the space where incense burns.

Daojun slowly opened his eyes and looked at Guanyin Bodhisattva opposite him, and smiled:
"This Pig Wuneng is indeed a wise man who appears foolish."

Of the three disciples chosen by Guanyin Bodhisattva for Tang Sanzang, his junior brother goes without saying. In fact, Zhu Wuneng and Sha Wujing were not just there to fill the quota; if they had entered the Buddhist order, they would have been exceptionally talented as well.

Especially this Zhu Wuneng, who seems to be cunning, lazy, greedy and slippery, is actually a wise fool.

Guanyin Bodhisattva nodded with a smile and said:

"Along the way, they all underwent significant changes and made great progress."

"If it were the original Zhu Wuneng, even if he knew it was a dream, he would just pretend to be stupid and act as if he didn't know anything about it."

(End of this chapter)