Journey to the West: The roadblock!

Chapter 145 The Battle of Wits in Chechi Kingdom (Fifteen)
Meanwhile, Wukong was rebuked by the monk and felt angry, but since the other party was an ordinary person, there was nothing he could do.

The monk left, and with no one to guide them, the four of them had to walk to the guest rooms at the back on their own.

Fortunately, the layout of temples across the world is roughly the same, so it's not impossible to get lost.

After passing several Buddhist temples, I saw some craftsmen moving stones and wood to build a Sanqing Hall.

Wukong said, "There really are the Three Pure Ones worshipping here."

Tang Sanzang sighed, "Is it a good thing for Buddhism and Taoism to be confused?"

Bajie said, "Who cares? Let him make his own offerings; it has nothing to do with us."

The four of them continued walking until they reached the guest room, where they settled into a meditation room.

As dusk approached, two monks carrying food came by, each carrying a rice bucket. Passing by Tang Sanzang and his companions' quarters, the two monks paused briefly, peered inside, and upon seeing them, continued on their way without lingering.

Seeing this, Pigsy patted his stomach and said, "I've offended the monks here, and now I don't even have any food to eat."

Sha Wujing said, "As the saying goes, all temples and monasteries in the world are one family, and they share three liters of rice when they meet. But the monks here don't even provide a meal."

Tang Sanzang said, "Sigh! Let's bear with it for now. Let's see if we can meet the king of this country tomorrow, exchange the travel documents, and then we can leave."

Wukong couldn't bear to see his master go hungry, so he said, "Master, you stay here for now. I'll go and see if I can beg for some food."

Tang Sanzang said, "Wukong, don't cause trouble!"

Wukong said, “Master, don’t worry. I’m not going to cause trouble. I still have a few coins in my pocket. If they don’t give us food, I can use the money to buy two bowls. Otherwise, if we go hungry all night, even if we have the opportunity to meet the king tomorrow, it would be improper to go to the palace on an empty stomach.”

Tang Sanzang said, "Alright then. But if they refuse to sell, don't argue with them, just come back."

Wukong said: "Disciple, don't worry."

Wukong went out and chased after the two monks.

After passing several meditation rooms, we arrived at the back, where there was a row of quiet rooms.

Two monks carrying rice buckets passed by the meditation room. The people inside stretched out their hands, and the two monks served them rice in bowls.

The two large buckets of rice were almost empty in no time.

The person who had finished eating was still sticking the bowl out, saying, "I'm not full, please have some more rice."

The two monks said, "Amitabha, as my senior brother said, the temple is currently operating at a loss, and we haven't saved enough money to repair the temple. You meditate every day and don't do any work, so please eat less."

The person inside angrily retorted, "Eat less, eat less, eat less every day! Today I clearly saw there were still leftovers in the bucket, why won't you give me any! If you take them back, aren't you just lining your own pockets?"

The two monks said, "The food in this bucket is for other purposes, we cannot give it to you."

After saying this, the two monks ignored the shouts of the people inside, took away their bowls and chopsticks, put them in one of the empty buckets, and then carried them back.

Upon seeing this, Wukong thought to himself, "There's definitely something fishy about these monks. Why are they locking people up in rooms? I'll have to find out."

After the two monks had walked a distance, Wukong shouted "Freeze!" and froze them in place.

Wukong turned and walked towards the row of meditation rooms. Reaching the outside, he peeked inside and saw a group of elderly monks with half-white or completely white hair and beards. Wukong called out, "Old monks, old monks, why are you locked up here?"

The old abbot inside heard this, looked out the window, and was startled to see Wukong's appearance. But then he recognized him and exclaimed with delight, "You are the Great Sage Equal to Heaven!"

Wukong asked, "How do you recognize me?"

The old abbot said, "Grandpa Great Sage Equaling Heaven, you've finally arrived! We've suffered so much."

Upon hearing this, Wukong realized that something was indeed wrong. He pushed his way forward and squeezed into the quiet room, saying, "Tell me quickly what happened."

Upon seeing this, all the old monks knelt down before Wukong.

The old abbot said, "I was originally the abbot of Zhiyuan Temple, but now I have been imprisoned here because we have fallen into the Taoist priest's trap!"

Wukong asked, "What kind of treacherous scheme is it?"

The old abbot said, "It was because twenty-four years ago, there was a drought in our country. We don't know where three immortals came from, they could summon wind and rain, they deceived the king, they suppressed the monks and promoted Taoism, and they gave us monks to those three immortals to do their work."

Wukong said, "That king is too muddle-headed. He can only summon wind and rain, how could he suppress monks and promote Taoism?"

The old abbot said, “Not only can they summon wind and rain, but they can also turn stone into gold and water into oil; there is also some so-called Tai Xi Zhenren who can refine elixirs to make the king immortal, which is why he gained the king’s trust. We were careless and fell into their Taoist’s treacherous scheme, which is why we have ended up like this.”

Wukong said, "Tell me quickly, tell me what kind of treacherous scheme we've fallen for!"

The old abbot said, "At that time, there were more than two thousand of us monks working for those three immortals to build the Sanqing Temple. More than 1,500 of us died from exhaustion, were beaten to death, or committed suicide. Only 500 survived because of divine protection."

Wukong interjected, "What deity is protecting us? The Buddha of Mount Ling or the Heavenly Venerable Fuzhu? No, they should all be dead by now..."

The old abbot said, "No, no, it was the Dharma Protector who protected us. He told us to endure this hardship while a great Tang Dynasty monk on his pilgrimage to the West passed by. He said that the great Tang Dynasty monk had a Great Sage Equal to Heaven under his command, who was very powerful and could save us. He also told us what the Great Sage Equal to Heaven looked like, which is why we recognize the appearance of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven."

Upon hearing this, Wukong asked, "Does this matter only involve a few of you, or do all of you monks know about it?"

The old abbot said, "All the monks know that they are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven!"

Wukong's eyes darted around as he said, "I see... then I understand. Continue."

The old abbot said, "Originally, we monks were all patiently waiting for the arrival of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, but who would have thought that those Taoist priests would use such a treacherous scheme. Those three immortals petitioned His Majesty to release us and allow us to return to the temple."

Wukong said, "Isn't this a good thing?"

The old abbot said, "It was originally a good thing, but unfortunately the Taoists have been secretly harming us."

Wukong asked, "How was the harm inflicted?"

The old abbot said, “When we returned to the temple, the king, remembering the injustice we had suffered for so many years, bestowed upon each of us ten taels of silver. With more than five hundred people, that amounted to more than five thousand taels. After returning to the temple, the monks elected me as abbot. Because the temple had not been maintained for more than twenty years and was in a state of disrepair, I decided to first hire craftsmen to repair the temple, firstly to make it more convenient for residents, and secondly to ensure it receives more offerings.”

Wukong said, "It's nothing."

The old abbot said, “But those Taoist priests took advantage of this to harm me. Somehow, they bribed the artisans in the city to inflate their wages. I was caught off guard and not only spent most of the money, but also incurred a debt of more than nine thousand taels.”

(End of this chapter)