Journey to the West: The roadblock!

Chapter 175 A Perilous Crossing of the Tongtian River (Fifteen) [Bonus Chapter by Alliance Leader Bai]

Meanwhile, the Ten Kings of Hell inquired about the purpose of the visit.

Wukong said, "Let's investigate a few wandering spirits."

Upon hearing this, the Ten Kings of Hell hurriedly invited Wukong inside to offer tea and asked, "Great Sage, which spirit do you wish to investigate?"

Wukong said, “In previous years, there were twenty-six children sacrificed in Chenjiazhuang, Tongtian River. Now one has been rescued, leaving twenty-five. You need to investigate for me which one of these souls was taken, where they are now, whether they have been reincarnated, and how the one that was rescued was rescued. Report to me one by one.”

Upon hearing this, the Ten Kings of Hell hurriedly ordered the judge in charge of the case to retrieve the Book of Life and Death to check.

The judge searched through the records carefully and found the Chen Family Village. There, he saw that the twenty-six children Wukong had mentioned had all died violent deaths, their souls not in the underworld and not yet reincarnated. As for the one who was alive, he didn't know how he had come to be alive. He then reported this to the authorities.

Wukong asked, "Then where are their souls now?"

King Yama said, "These people all died violent deaths, and their souls are probably still wandering in the mortal world. Great Sage, do not worry. Let me order Ox-Head and Horse-Face to hold the Soul-Summoning Banner and call back their souls."

Wukong said, "Go quickly! Go quickly!"

Yama, the King of Hell, immediately ordered Ox-Head and Horse-Face to summon the soul.

Ox-Head and Horse-Face, carrying the soul-summoning banner, walked to the entrance of the Yellow Springs, raised the banner, pointed it at the location of Chen Family Village in the mortal world, and chanted incantations to summon the soul.

As the magic was activated, the summoning banner danced up and down, but it could not summon the soul in.

Ox-Head and Horse-Face reported back: "Reporting to King Yama, there are no souls of these people in the mortal world."

King Yama said, "Nonsense! It must be that your magical powers are insufficient. I will summon them myself!"

After saying this, Yama, the King of Hell, personally went to the entrance to the Yellow Springs to summon the soul.

And yet, it was still soulless.

Seeing this, the other nine Kings of Hell also went over and activated their magical powers.

At Chen Family Village, the entrance to the underworld was wide open, with gusts of cold wind blowing. Soul-summoning banners fluttered in the air, gathering the souls of all creatures—naked insects, hairy insects, feathered insects, worms, and scaly creatures—from an unknown radius of thousands of miles. Some souls had already been summoned by the underworld officials and forcibly torn away, but the souls of the twenty-five children that Wukong wanted were still missing.

The Ten Kings of Hell had no other choice but to say to Wukong, "Great Sage, we really can't find the souls of these people."

Wukong frowned and said, "Strange! Strange!"

Yama, the King of Hell, said, "Great Sage, our magical powers are weak. Why don't we ask Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva to listen to our teachings?"

Wukong asked, "Who is Di Ting?"

Yama said, "Di Ting is a beast under the seat of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. If it lies on the ground, it can hear and distinguish all things. The mountains, rivers and states of the four continents, and the blessed lands and grottoes, none can escape its ears."

Wukong said, "Alright, let's go!"

So they went with the Kings of Hell to the Cuiyun Palace, where a golden-robed boy led them. The group bowed and paid their respects to Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, recounting the events that had transpired. After listening, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva summoned Di Ting to listen.

Di Ting lay prostrate under the scripture table, listened intently, and immediately understood the reason for the Tongtian River.

Di Ting rose up and said to Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, "Bodhisattva, I have heard where the souls of those twenty-five children have gone, but I cannot tell you in person."

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva asked, "How about saying it to his face?"

Di Ting said, "The Buddha's teachings state that all things arise from causes and conditions and are empty of inherent existence. There is some reason for this matter as well. I fear that speaking of it would disrupt the cause and effect and disturb the practice. I would rather you go and see somewhere else, Great Sage."

Upon hearing this, Wukong's eyes flickered, and he said, "So this matter is indeed not simple. Thank you! Until we meet again!"

Wukong turned around, somersaulted on his cloud, and returned to Chen Family Village.

When Tang Sanzang saw Wukong return, he quickly stood up and asked, "Wukong, how is it? Do you have a solution?"

Wukong said, "Master, this matter is not simple. There's something wrong with that demon!"

Tang Sanzang asked, "Ah, what's wrong?"

Wukong helped Tang Sanzang sit down and closed the door.

Pigsy and Sandy also came over and asked, "Brother, what happened?"

Wukong said, “You don’t know, the deaths of those sacrificial children were suspicious. Their souls are not in the underworld, they haven’t entered the cycle of reincarnation, and neither Ox-Head nor Horse-Face can bring them back, nor can the Ten Kings of Hell summon them! I went to find Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and asked his disciple Di Ting to find out the truth, but Di Ting heard the truth, but dared not speak, saying that he was afraid of ‘disrupting karma and messing up cultivation,’ and told me to go elsewhere to look for them!”

Sha Wujing exclaimed in surprise, "Even Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva can't do anything about it?"

Bajie asked, "If that's the case, then how did that monster manage to revive the child?"

Wukong said, "That's precisely the strange thing about this matter! Even Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was helpless, yet that monster, with its mediocre skills, was able to revive the child. What is the reason for this? Bajie, come with me again to investigate that monster's background!"

Pigsy said, "Brother, we haven't eaten yet. Let's eat before we go!"

Wukong said, "Hurry up, you idiot!"

Wukong took Bajie to the Tongtian River. Wukong transformed into a pig louse and jumped onto Bajie. Bajie leaped into the water, creating waves. Before long, they arrived at the water turtle's residence. Bajie went to the gate and pounded on it.

The little demon guarding the gate hurriedly reported.

A moment later, the gates of the Water Palace opened, and Tiger Vanguard emerged riding on the back of a white turtle. Upon seeing Pigsy, Tiger Vanguard said:

"You pig demon, you've gone too far! I've never provoked you, yet you attacked me for no reason. Now I'm severely injured and no longer want sacrifices; I only want to recuperate. Why are you still coming to attack me?"

Upon hearing this, Pigsy knew he was in the wrong and didn't know what to say.

Wukong whispered in Bajie's ear, "Bajie, just say you're here to visit him, and find a way to sneak in!"

Upon hearing this, Pigsy said, "Demon, I'm not here to fight you today. I heard you were seriously injured, so I came to visit you."

Tiger Vanguard said, "You pig demon, with your big ears and fierce rake, I don't need you to visit me!" After saying that, Tiger Vanguard asked the white turtle to take him back and prepared to close the gate of the Water Mansion.

Seeing this, Pigsy stepped forward and squeezed in, laughing, "Why are you being so polite? Old Pig, let me see how your injuries are healing!"

Tiger Vanguard said, "Who's being polite with you? You pig demon, why did you come uninvited?"

Wukong whispered, "Bajie, you hold him off here. I'll go inside and check it out."

Wukong jumped off Bajie's back and peered into the underwater palace.

Bajie, meanwhile, was outside dealing with Tiger Vanguard.

Wukong went into the water palace and searched carefully. He found a room at the very back where a maid was carrying a fruit platter in and out. Wukong quickly followed her, transformed into a fruit fly, and attached himself to a grape stem.

Upon entering the room, a familiar figure was seen sitting on the couch.

Wukong was shocked to see it; it was him!
Blood Sea King!
Previously, I thought that the Blood Sea King's claim of having 48,000 lives was just arrogance, but now I never expected that he would actually be resurrected here intact.

That's right, this old demon once raised a banner that read "Great Sage of the Blood Sea and the Netherworld," and the King of the Netherworld was naturally his alias. The monster from before was probably just his subordinate.

If it were him, it wouldn't be surprising.

This old demon once severely injured Manjushri Bodhisattva with a single move, so Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was somewhat wary of him. Although it's a bit far-fetched, it's still understandable.

Wukong knew that this old demon was powerful, so he dared not fight him head-on. Instead, he transformed into a mayfly and crawled into a grape, intending to enter the old demon's belly and force him to submit.

Seeing this, Ao Tu laughed, picked the grapes, and said to the White Bone Demon:

"Peel it for me and let me eat it."

The White Bone Demon took the grapes, her slender fingers gently peeling off the skin.

Wukong thought to himself that this old demon really knew how to enjoy himself. He remembered that when he was the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, he never asked anyone to peel the grapes for him to eat. So he burrowed into the grapes again and concealed his form.

After the White Bone Demon finished peeling the grapes, she offered them to Ao Tu to feed him, but Ao Tu stopped her.

Ao Tu reached out and smacked his lips, pulling out the mayfly-like creature that Sun Wukong had transformed into. He said, "These grapes are unclean; they're infested with worms!" Then he placed Sun Wukong in his palm, rubbed him hard, crushed him into pieces, and blew him away.

Knowing he had been exposed, Wukong no longer hid and revealed his true form, saying, "Blood Sea Demon, it's you again who is blocking the way for my master and me!"

Ao Tu cursed, "Sun Wukong, you impudent monkey! When have I ever blocked your and your master's way? Back at Broken Arm Mountain, I never provoked you, yet you took the initiative to provoke me and destroyed my cave. What kind of logic is that? Now that I'm hiding here to recuperate, you've come to my door for no reason. This is simply outrageous!"

Wukong said, "Blood Sea Demon, stop talking nonsense. Back in Broken Arm Mountain, if you hadn't bullied my nephew Red Boy and forced him to come and extract the magic from me, why would I have fought you?"

Ao Tu said, "Even if it was my fault, I later risked my life to save your nephew among the gods. By any measure, it should be even. What are you doing here now?"

Wukong said, "What brings me here? It wasn't you who plotted to block my master's path!"

Ao Tu asked, "When will I design it?"

Wukong said, "If you didn't design it, then why did you need thirteen children from Chen Family Village to be sacrificed?"

Ao Tu said, "Isn't it all because of you, you impudent monkey? You couldn't beat me, so you sought help, causing me to lose my life and my essence. Now, what's wrong with eating a few children to heal my wounds?"

Wukong said, "Well, you monster, you'll do this to heal your wounds! Tell me, did you eat those twenty-six children before?"

Ao Tu laughed loudly, "I am a demon king, not a venerable one under the Buddha or Bodhisattva. Isn't it only natural for me to eat a few people? Those twenty-six children were eaten by a demon called Linggan Dawang. He came more than ten years ago. What does that have to do with me?"

Upon hearing this, Wukong thought to himself that it made sense, and then asked, "Then why did you suddenly stop eating?"

Ao Tu said, "You impudent monkey, you blocked my way and injured my men. I'm already injured myself, how can I eat?"

Wukong said, "If you didn't eat it, how come you resurrected a child? Aren't you deliberately trying to embarrass my master and me?"

Ao Tu said, "Chen Qing, the head of Chen Family Manor, is a good man. He even saved my men. What's wrong with me resurrecting his child to repay him? You impudent monkey, you dare to criticize me. You have absolutely no compassion!"

Upon hearing this, Wukong thought to himself that what the old demon said actually made sense, and he couldn't find a single flaw in it.

After thinking for a moment, Wukong said, "That's not right. Those children who were sacrificed didn't have souls. How did you revive them? Did you capture their souls?"

Ao Tu said, "When did I arrest them? You impudent monkey, don't you dare spout such nonsense! These children's souls have nothing to do with me!"

Wukong asked, "Then how did you resurrect the manor lord's son?"

Ao Tu said, "I have my own secret methods, how can I tell you?"

Wukong said, "Without a soul or spirit, how could you possibly revive out of thin air? It must be your doing!"

Ao Tu laughed and said, "You impudent monkey, you are wrong. These souls have nothing to do with me!"

Wukong asked, "Then tell me, how did you revive?"

Ao Tu said, "I have my own secret techniques that I don't pass on to others. How can I reveal them to you? Here's what I'll do: hand over your technique, and I'll tell you!"

Wukong thought for a moment and said, "That technique doesn't belong to me, so I can't give it to you. If you want it, I'll show you the way: go to the Great Prajna Pagoda in Wuji Kingdom to study it."

Ao Tu said, "What kind of bullshit pagoda is this? I can't comprehend it. Quickly tell me the cultivation method!"

Wukong said, "I don't have the cultivation method, but I have already shown you the way. Tell me the secret method quickly!"

Ao Tu said, "What can you do if I don't tell!"

Wukong said, "Alright! Blood Sea Demon, you just said you were injured, right? If you hadn't said so, don't blame me for using my methods!"

Ao Tu laughed, "You impudent monkey, you're always bullying the weak and fearing the strong! You don't dare to go find the real culprit, so you try to bully me. How can I let you get away with this! Look at the treasure!"

(End of this chapter)