Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 290 Niu Yi and Daojun

Tang Sanzang put down his teacup and praised:

"This tea, Immortal Master, is undoubtedly a divine tea. Such a fine tea is rare in the world and can only be found in heaven."

Sun Wukong scratched the back of his hand opposite his master and laughed:

"Master, you don't know this, but even in heaven, fire date tea is rare, and fire date and pear tea are rare celestial delicacies even in heaven!"

Tang Sanzang nodded with a smile and resumed his conversation with Niu Yi, who was standing to the side.

As the banquet progressed, he gradually became acquainted with this Daoist Guangyi, who was also his eldest disciple's former senior brother, adding to their already close relationship.

"Speaking of which, I have never heard Wukong mention where he learned these amazing skills."

"However, I imagine that your master must be an extremely extraordinary saint to have taught you and Wukong as disciples."

Daojun smiled and said:
"Our master is a reclusive hermit, whose name is unknown in the Three Realms and whose whereabouts are difficult to find in the world. Therefore, it is not appropriate to reveal his name to the elder."

Tang Sanzang nodded, indicating that he understood, but then he heard the Daoist say:

"Elder Tang, my junior brother has been away from the sect for a long time and has been wandering alone. Although he was young and impetuous and did some wrong things, his nature is still very good."

"Now that Wukong has come to you, become your disciple, and followed you on your journey to the West to obtain the scriptures and achieve enlightenment, I, as his senior brother, am very happy to see this."

"Although my junior brother is still a bit impatient, now that he has decided to protect the elder on his journey to the west and join the Buddhist sect, he will not have any second thoughts and will definitely protect him sincerely along the way."

"Today, I will offer a cup of tea instead of wine to the elder, wishing him success on his journey, that he may obtain the true scriptures and return to the East."

"Elder, please think twice before reciting that headband spell again in the future."

Upon hearing these words, Tang Sanzang quickly raised his cup and repeatedly said that he dared not accept them.

He felt somewhat ashamed, because in the previous incident with the White Bone Demon at White Tiger Mountain, he was indeed a mortal and did not recognize the demon. He had wrongly accused his eldest disciple and insisted on reciting the Tightening-Headband Mantra to drive his eldest disciple away, which made Wukong feel wronged.

Senior Brother Guangyi
Looking at the Taoist priest in front of him, Sun Wukong felt his eyes welling up again. He quickly lowered his head to rub them and picked up the peach again to eat.

That night, Niu Yi casually built a wooden hut next to the thatched cottage for the master and his disciples to stay and rest for the night before leaving the next day.

Under the bright moonlight, Niu Yi sat in the stone pavilion, listening to the continuous snores coming from across the wooden house, and shook his head and chuckled softly.

The snoring of Pigsy (Zhu Bajie) is quite powerful.

"Buzz~~~"

Just then, the buzzing of mosquitoes reached Niu Yi's ears.

Niu Yi picked up the wine pot on the table in front of him and filled the wine glasses in front of him and opposite him.

"Come out, Junior Brother Wukong, and have a drink of this vegetarian wine with your senior brother."

Suddenly, a tiny mosquito on the other side transformed into the likeness of Sun Wukong and appeared before Niu Yi.

"Hey, senior brother~"

Sun Wukong smiled at his senior brother opposite him. He was still as unserious as ever, but he was also somewhat different from before.

Sun Wukong looked at his senior brother with a hesitant expression, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Niu Yi laughed:

"Just say what you want to say. What, are we not that estranged as fellow disciples?"

Sun Wukong chuckled twice and said, "How could that be?"

After a moment, Sun Wukong picked up his wine cup and said again:
"Senior brother, I have been away from the sect for a long time, and I don't know how Master is doing now."

"Don't worry, Master is naturally excellent."

Looking at the moonlight on the horizon, Niu Yi sighed:

"Speaking of which, it has been hundreds of years since I left my sect. These hundreds of years have really passed in the blink of an eye."

"However, Master may no longer be in the Three Realms, and has probably gone to another realm."

"Ugh"

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong sighed deeply and said sadly:

"I still angered the patriarch, and as expected, the patriarch no longer wanted to see me."

He stole the Queen Mother's peaches of immortality, falsely claimed to be acting on the Jade Emperor's decree, and then went to Laozi's Tushita Palace to steal the elixir of immortality, causing a great disaster. He never dared to reveal his master's name.

Just as his master had said, he stopped seeing him and severed ties with him.

Niu Yi comforted him:
“Junior Brother Wukong, if you and I can cultivate the Primordial Dao Fruit, then we will have endless lifespans and can go anywhere in the vast universe beyond the Three Realms.”

"At that time, we will naturally have another chance to meet our master."

"Junior brother, the most important thing now is to protect Tang Sanzang on his journey to the West to obtain the scriptures and achieve enlightenment."

Sun Wukong composed himself, looked at his senior brother and thanked him repeatedly, expressing his gratitude for his understanding.

"Senior brother, I didn't say goodbye when I left the sect back then, and I still regret it to this day. I'm overjoyed to see you again today. Let me toast you!"

As Sun Wukong spoke, he raised the wine cup in his hand and drank it down in one gulp. He then smacked his lips in satisfaction and grinned at Niu Yi.

Niu Yi was also infected by this smile and laughed along with him, looking relaxed. The two brothers drank and chatted under the moonlight and the starry sky, enjoying the wine and talking about everything under the sun, all their worries disappearing.

The two of them seemed to have returned to the days when they cultivated in the Cave of the Slanting Moon and Three Stars. On the Rotten Peach Mountain where peach blossoms always bloomed, a Taoist and a monkey were drinking and laughing. This scene seemed to be frozen in time forever.

“Junior brother, this Jindu Mountain is my training ground and also my home. If you have any free time in the future, or if you encounter any difficult problems on this journey to the West, you can come here to find me.”

"Thank you, senior brother! Thank you, senior brother!"

The next day, the pilgrimage group, having slept well all night, came to bid farewell to Niu Yi and prepared to leave.

“Holy monk, the journey ahead is mostly through mountains and forests with few villages. Why not rest for a few more days before continuing your journey?”

Elder Tang shook his head and said:

"Please forgive me, Immortal Master, the journey is long and cannot be delayed. I need to obtain the true scriptures as soon as possible and return to the Tang Dynasty."

Niu Yi praised him in his heart. This man was indeed determined. Compared with the outside world, his Jindu Mountain was a paradise in this winter.

If it were someone else who came, they would surely hope to live here forever, but Tang Sanzang still resolutely braved the cold wind outside and continued his journey westward.

Niu Yi nodded.

"In that case, Elder Tang, I will not linger any longer. I have four fire dates here. Please take them, Elder. Each of you can eat one, and it will surely make you feel much better in this winter."

Niu Yi flipped his hand, and four jujubes appeared in his palm. He handed them to the people in front of him.

“Immortal Master, we have already been entertained by you and have even spent the night here. How can we possibly take any more of your magical treasures?”

"Master, this is good, this is good! This is a kind offer from Monkey King's senior brother, how can we refuse?"

Upon hearing that there were fire dates to eat, Pigsy's face immediately lit up with a smile, and he was about to rush forward to grab the fire dates, but Sun Wukong grabbed his ear and dragged him away from there.

"Hey hey hey!!! You monkey!!"

"Go away! You idiot, what are you doing causing trouble here!"

Niu Yi smiled and shook his head, stuffing the four jujubes in his hand into the package that Ao Xuan handed over, and then presented the package to Tang Sanzang.

"Elder Tang, Marshal Tianpeng is right. This is, after all, a token of my goodwill. Please accept these dry rations and fire dates so that we can eat them on the road."

"Amitabha, in that case, thank you very much, Immortal Master."

Niu Yi nodded, watching Sun Wukong take the luggage.

The four of them quickly packed up and headed down the mountain with the white dragon horse. Niu Yi accompanied them all the way down the mountain before stopping.

"Wukong, wait a moment."

Upon hearing Niu Yi's words, Sun Wukong quickly turned around and came to Niu Yi. He saw Niu Yi stuff a bunch of peaches into his arms.

"Go ahead, eat on the way."

As Niu Yi spoke, he winked at Sun Wukong.

Looking at the peaches in his arms, Sun Wukong felt both moved and strangely familiar with the scene, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

"Senior brother, don't worry. When I return from my pilgrimage and attain enlightenment, I will definitely come back to Jindu Mountain to visit you."

Niu Yi nodded with a smile, watching Sun Wukong leave.

"Brother Monkey, my dear Brother Monkey~ How can you have fruit and eat it all by yourself~ Please share one with your younger brother~"

"You idiot, get out of here."

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong rolled his eyes and casually tossed one behind him. The burly Pigsy swiftly flew out and caught the fruit, then ate it with a broad smile.

Sun Wukong then distributed several fruits to his junior brother Sha and his master, and then picked one up for himself and ate it, while pondering what that sense of familiarity was all about.

For some inexplicable reason, Sun Wukong recalled the first time he was invited to heaven by Taibai Jinxing. It seemed that there was a handsome young Taoist disciple who had captured his heart.

Back then, he seemed to have stuffed many peaches from Flower and Fruit Mountain into the young Taoist's arms in the same way.

And there's that sense of familiarity.
In a flash of inspiration, Sun Wukong's mind quickly conjured up images of his senior brother, the young Taoist disciple from back then, and another divine physician who also gave him a sense of familiarity.

These three figures slowly merged together, transforming into the appearance of their senior brother.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Sun Wukong. He looked towards Jindu Mountain, then towards the Tongtian River to the east, where he seemed to see the Daojun Palace, a place of great religious significance.

"If I remember correctly, back when my senior brother was on the mountain, his understanding of pharmacology, as well as his skills in refining pills and making incense, were all extremely remarkable, and he also possessed that same familiar charm."

If he hadn't witnessed his senior brother and what had just happened, he naturally wouldn't have been able to connect these two completely different figures through that aura.

The more Sun Wukong thought about it, the clearer things became. Why did that divine physician send him eye medicine? Why were those people so quick to help him each time?

Moreover, Jindu Mountain is so close to the Tongtian River of the Divine Physician Daojun.

"Could that divine physician Daoist be my senior brother?"

Sun Wukong's eyes darted around, and he muttered to himself, but Zhu Bajie overheard him.

"Brother Monkey, what are you saying?"

"Hey, it's nothing, you idiot, hurry up and catch up."

(End of this chapter)