Journey to the West: The roadblock!

Chapter 146 The Battle of Wits in Chechi Kingdom (Sixteen)
The old abbot then revealed the Taoist priest's conspiracy.

Because of differing perspectives, some embellishment is inevitable.

Upon hearing of the Taoist's actions, Wukong pressed for details, asking, "What happened next? As the abbot, why are you imprisoned here?"

The old abbot said, "Alas, it was because of my carelessness at the time that I failed to see through the Taoist's conspiracy. I thought that although the temple repairs had cost most of the money, apart from the deposit, the rest could be paid after the temple was repaired. My Zhiyuan Temple is a large and wealthy family with many temple properties, so I was not afraid of these small debts. But I never expected that those Taoists would use tricks and collude with those corrupt officials to directly embezzle my temple's property."

Wukong asked, "How much temple property did they embezzle?"

The old abbot said, "My Zhiyuan Temple originally owned more than 8,000 mu of fertile land outside the city. Those three immortals deceived the king and made him take back the land, causing my Zhiyuan Temple to lose all its property."

Moreover, when Zhiyuan Temple was prosperous, it often performed charitable deeds and lent out a great deal of money. Now, twenty-four years have passed, and not counting those who have disappeared without a trace, there are still tens of thousands of taels of IOUs remaining. Every IOU is in black and white, with fingerprints as proof, but we still cannot get them back. This is simply because those officials make empty claims that they are not credible.

Wukong said, "This is outrageous! Paying back debts is a matter of course. How dare those people not pay?"

The old abbot said, "Those officials are in cahoots, and with the Taoist priests backing them up, they dare to bully us like this."

Wukong said, "Don't worry, I'll take care of this case for you!"

The old abbot was overjoyed upon hearing this and immediately knelt down to kowtow.

Wukong said, "Get up, there's no need for that. Continue, how did you end up locked up here?"

The old abbot said, “Because the temple property was seized and we incurred debts, the Taoists are powerful and I have no choice but to lead the monks to live frugally to save money to pay off the debts. However, while we old monks are alright, the young monks cannot bear the hunger and cold, and their Buddhist faith is not firm. One of them, named Alu, changed his allegiance and secretly joined the Taoist sect. He is now the abbot of Zhiyuan Temple and a disciple of the Tai Xi Zhenren.”

Wukong said, "So that's how it is. No wonder this temple looks so Taoist. Why did you pass the abbotship to him?"

The old abbot said, "Where did I transmit this? I saw that Alu's behavior was improper, so I wanted to correct him. Who would have thought that he would be afraid of being punished and bribed the other monks to imprison us old monks here. He seized the foundation of Zhiyuan Temple and took the position of abbot for himself!"

Wukong said, "That Lu, how dare he commit such a rebellious act!"

The old abbot said with tears in his eyes, "I am sixty-eight years old this year, almost seventy, but I am imprisoned in my own temple, unable to see the light of day. Every day I receive a bowl of coarse rice and a few pieces of bitter vegetable soup, which will be the end of my life."

Upon hearing this, all the monks wept.

Wukong said, "Don't be impatient, wait here. I'll go and settle this for you. I'll make sure that Alu personally invites you out."

Upon hearing this, the old abbot repeatedly bowed in gratitude.

Wukong squeezed out of the quiet room, went outside, and leaped in front of the two monks, releasing them from the immobilization spell. He said:

"Hey, you two monks, what are you doing sneaking around like that?"

When the two monks saw Wukong, they were startled and said, "We, we've come to bring you food."

Wukong asked, "So, the leftover food in that bucket was left for us?"

The two monks replied, "That's right."

Wukong stepped forward, grabbed a monk's robe, and angrily said:

"Still lying? If you really were bringing us food, you should have served it when you passed by our room. Why would you come back? I saw it all clearly from my room. When you two passed by our room, you glanced inside, saw that we were both there, and then left. How could you possibly hide it from me?"

Upon hearing this, the two monks stammered and were unable to speak.

Wukong said, "Do you think I really don't know? All the monks in your temple recognize me and know that a great Tang Dynasty monk is passing through here! You clearly recognize me, but you all pretend not to. Why is that? You might as well tell the truth!"

Wukong glared with his golden eyes and bared his fangs.

The two monks were so frightened that they fell to the ground and hurriedly said, "Great Sage Equal to Heaven, we dare not hide it. These are all instructions from our senior brother."

Wukong asked, "Which senior brother?" The two monks replied, "The head monk of the West Hall, the junior brother of Abbot Alu."

Wukong asked, "What did he instruct you to do?"

The two monks said, "When he saw that the Great Tang Holy Monk and the Great Sage Equaling Heaven had arrived, he instructed us that everything in the temple is fine now. Brother Alu has been favored by the True Man of the Western Paradise and taken as a disciple. His future is limitless, and he no longer needs the Great Sage's salvation. He told us to pretend that we do not know the Great Sage and to deliberately display our Taoist skills to anger the Great Sage and make you leave."

Wukong asked, "What else did he say?"

The two monks said, "He told us to look inside when we passed the guest hall."

Wukong asked, "What are you looking at?"

The two monks said, "Let's see if you've left, Great Sage. If you have, that would be best. If you haven't, we shouldn't neglect you. Let's save some food for the old abbot and the others when they get their meals, and give it to you, Great Sage."

Wukong said, "So this meal really was for us. He knows how to do favors."

The two monks chuckled awkwardly.

Wukong asked, "Is your Abbot Alu here now?"

The two monks said, "The abbot is not here."

Wukong asked, "Where did he go?"

The two monks said, "The abbot is currently working with the True Man Taixi to refine an elixir for the emperor. They are estimating the time; the elixir should be completed sometime between today and tomorrow."

Wukong said, "Ha, what kind of elixir of immortality is he trying to make for the king? I think that Tai Xi Zhenren is probably a monster. I'll go to the palace tomorrow and find out what he's up to. You two monks are honest enough. Leave the food here and go!"

Upon hearing this, the two monks felt as if they had been granted a pardon and quickly left the food behind.

Wukong carried the food bucket back to the guest hall, met Tang Sanzang, and told him the whole story.

Upon hearing this, Tang Sanzang said, "Excellent! Excellent! Such a twist of fate. Wukong, remember not to listen to one side's words and act rashly. We'll talk about it again when we see the king tomorrow."

Wukong said, "I know, I know. But those three evil Taoists who promote Taoism and destroy Buddhism are definitely not good people. As for the Tai Xi Zhenren who refines elixirs for the emperor to achieve immortality and deceives the emperor, he is even more of a violator of the Heavenly Laws. I think he is probably not bad."

Pigsy took the rice bucket and said:
"Whether it's real or fake, when we go to the palace tomorrow, Senior Brother, you can use your Fiery Eyes to see for yourself. If it's a real Taoist priest, he will be punished according to the Heavenly Laws. If it's a demon in disguise, let us know. Junior Brother Sha and I will block the palace gates on either side, and you can use your Golden Cudgel to kill those four demons and make them reveal their true forms on the spot. That will also be a merit!"

Sha Wujing said, "Second Brother is right."

Wukong nodded as well.

Tang Sanzang didn't say anything.

Pigsy scooped the food out of the bucket and said:
"I must say, the food is not bad at all. It's fine rice topped with wild vegetables and tofu stew, but it's just a bit small in portion."

Wukong said, "Eat, eat."

The four of them ate, tidied up, and then went to bed.

The four of them went to bed, but two things happened outside.

One event was that Abbot Alu returned to the temple. Because of his meritorious service in assisting the Taoist master Taixi in refining elixirs, the king rewarded Alu with one hundred taels of gold, ten bolts of silk, and one thousand acres of land. All the monks in the temple were overjoyed and knelt down to receive the imperial decree.

The second thing was that Ao Tu worshipped the Three Pure Ones, with music played and candles flickering.

Wukong first heard the sound of Alu and the others kowtowing and receiving the order, so he jumped up and watched from the air. Then he saw the commotion on Aotu's side.

(End of this chapter)