Journey to the West: The roadblock!

Chapter 8, Exorcising the Demon at Gao Village (Part 3)
Meanwhile, Pigsy came out to investigate, and after a quick glance, he spotted Ao Tu standing out from the crowd.

Ao Tu was dressed in a brocade kasaya, holding a nine-ringed staff. He had a dignified appearance and a compassionate face. He seemed to be surrounded by a Buddha's halo, truly like a living Buddha.

At this point, Pigsy was already fairly certain that this was the pilgrim Guanyin had asked him to wait here. But to be on the safe side, he still wanted to confirm, so he bowed respectfully and asked:

"May I ask who you are, Elder? Where do you come from? Where are you going? And how do you know my Dharma name, Old Pig?"

Ao Tu said:
"This humble monk comes from the Great Tang Dynasty in the East, a monk who wishes to travel to the Western Paradise to worship Buddha and seek Buddhist scriptures. Passing through this place, I was guided by Guanyin Bodhisattva, who told me that there is a Marshal Tianpeng who has descended to earth here, whose Dharma name is Wuneng. He is willing to become my disciple and travel with me to the Western Paradise to obtain the scriptures and achieve enlightenment. You pig demon, do you know where this Marshal Tianpeng is now?"

Upon hearing this, Pigsy stepped forward, knelt down on both knees, and kowtowed, saying:
“Master, as the saying goes, monks do not speak ill of others. How could you hurt me like this? I, Old Pig, am the reincarnation of Marshal Tianpeng. I was born into the wrong body and thus became like this. Fortunately, Guanyin Bodhisattva persuaded me to do good, and I took the precepts and abstained from the five pungent vegetables and the three forbidden foods. I am here to wait for you, Master.”

Ao Tu said, "So that's how it is. Don't blame me for judging people by their appearance. It's just that your appearance is unusual and extraordinary." He then ordered Gao Taigong to bring an incense table.

When Gao Taigong saw that the monster had become Ao Tu's disciple in the blink of an eye, he dared not disobey and ordered his servant to bring an incense table.

Ao Tu washed his hands, burned incense, and received Zhu Bajie's bow, saying:
“Wuneng, now that you have given up the five pungent vegetables and three forbidden foods, I will give you another name, Bajie, so that you can call me that morning and evening.”

Pigsy happily replied, "I will obey Master's orders."

Later, at Ao Tu's request, Pigsy released Gao Cuilan, allowing Gao Taigong's family to be reunited.

That night, Ao Tu and Zhu Bajie stayed at Gao Taigong's house for one night. The next day, Gao Taigong prepared a vegetarian meal to send them off.

After the vegetarian meal, Gao Taigong ordered someone to bring out a red lacquered plate with two hundred taels of loose gold and silver, which he presented as a fee for Ao Tu's demon-slaying.

Ao Tu absolutely refused to accept it, saying:

“Bajie is my disciple, and it is my duty to subdue him. How dare I accept gold and silver? If I accept this gold and silver, even if I go through a thousand kalpas, I will not be able to attain enlightenment.”

Upon hearing this, Old Man Gao dared not send any more gifts.

Bajie muttered from the side, "Master, you're too rigid. We've been eating and sleeping in the open along the way, and we don't know when we'll reach the Western Paradise. We could at least get some money for our journey."

Ao Tu raised his hand and tapped Bajie on the head.

Pigsy immediately clutched his head and cried out in pain, "Master, you've got a really strong grip!"

Ao Tu said, "You fool, we Buddhist disciples travel around and have our own ways of making a living and earning money. How can we accept money from others for no reason?"

Bajie said, "Master, the livelihood of monks is nothing more than performing rituals, releasing hungry ghosts, and praying for the dead. How much silver can they earn? It's not even enough for my meal."

Ao Tu said, "I won't say much, but I still have a few hundred or a thousand taels of silver!"

Pigsy exclaimed in surprise:
"So much! As the saying goes, a wandering monk is: 'He carries a bowl of rice from a thousand homes and travels alone for ten thousand miles.' Master, how did you manage to get so much silver?"

"Could it be stolen or robbed from somewhere? If so, we'd better be discreet and not let Guanyin Bodhisattva find out, otherwise we won't be able to retrieve the scriptures!"

Upon hearing this, Ao Tu raised his hand and tapped Bajie again.

"You blockhead! How can a Buddhist disciple do things like stealing and robbing?"

Pigsy covered his head and asked, "How did that come about?"

Ao Tu said, "I don't need to steal or rob this silver; everyone is vying to give it to me. Not only that, it also increases my merit!"

Pigsy said, "Such a good thing? Master, please teach me!"

Ao Tu said, "It's simple. Go tell Grandpa Gao to invite the elders and folks of Gao Village to the fields at the west end of the village."

Bajie said, "That's a desolate wilderness, what would we do there?" Ao Tu raised his hand and tapped him, saying, "You idiot, I told you to go, so just go now, and you'll find out when the time comes!"

Bajie had no choice but to tell Gao Taigong what Ao Tu had instructed him to do.

Although Gao Taigong was puzzled, he was afraid that Bajie would refuse to leave, so he dared not disobey.

Before long, Gao Taigong summoned all the elders and villagers of Gao Laozhuang and led them to the location Ao Tu had indicated.

It was a wilderness, overgrown with weeds and bushes, and the ground was full of stones.

Ao Tu asked Bajie:
"Bajie, how long would it take you to dig out an acre of land from here?"

Pigsy patted his chest and said:
“Master, this land is full of tree roots and rocks. If it were an ordinary person, they would work themselves to death and still not be able to turn over an acre of land. But I, Old Pig, am the reincarnation of Marshal Tianpeng. With just a wave of my hand, I can turn over an acre of good land!”

Suddenly, Pigsy thought of something and asked:

"Master, you don't mean you want me to do hard labor like tilling the land for them, do you?"

Ao Tu waved his hand and said, "No, no, how could your master bear to let you do hard labor? Your master only needs you to turn over an acre of land. Use some of your magic to turn the land over in a short while, just to show your master your skills; when you make money, your master will give you an extra 20%."

Upon hearing this, Pigsy did some calculations and decided it was a good deal, saying, "Alright, Master, watch me!"

Having said that, Bajie conjured up a precious golden rake. With a shake, the rake grew to be over twenty feet long and the head was over ten feet wide. He turned over the ground, and all the weeds, tree roots, and stones turned to dust. In a short while, a good piece of land was turned up.

The villagers who gathered around were all amazed.

Ao Tu praised, "Good disciple, excellent skills!"

As he spoke, he called Bajie to his side and whispered, "Bajie, no matter what I say later, don't make a sound. Just nod. I'll explain it to you later. Do you understand?"

Pigsy said, "Master, I, Old Pig, understand."

Ao Tu addressed the villagers, saying:
"Fellow villagers, what are the skills of my disciple?"

All the villagers said:

"Impressive skills, truly impressive!"

"Congratulations, Holy Monk, on the arrival of your wonderful disciple!"

"Wow, if this continues, we could acquire a thousand acres of fertile land in a single day!"

"Yeah yeah!"

Ao Tu said, "This humble monk is a wandering monk and it is inconvenient for me to acquire property, so this land is useless to me. Today, seeing that the people in your village are simple and honest, and every family is kind, I am willing to do a good deed and sell this land to you at a low price. Is that alright?"

Upon hearing this, the villagers said:
“It is good that the Holy Monk has such a compassionate heart, but we peasants do not have much money. We wonder how much you value this land for?”

Ao Tu said, "This humble monk is not doing this for money, but only to do good. Let's set the price at one qian of silver per mu!"

The villagers were overjoyed to hear this.

Outside, a good acre of land is worth at least ten taels of silver, and even a bad acre of land is worth several taels of silver. But now it's only priced at one mace of silver. What's the difference between this and giving it away for free?
What a virtuous and holy monk!

(End of this chapter)