Bodhisattva, please help me in my spiritual practice!

Five Elements Mountain wasn't large, and Ao Peng soon arrived at a cliff face where a monkey was trapped underneath, with half of its body sticking out.

Sun Wukong had already seen Ao Peng when he entered. With his fiery eyes, he naturally noticed the twelve Taoist palace lanterns above Ao Peng's head and quickly greeted him, "Little Taoist, little Taoist, where do you come from?"

The monkey was clever. When it saw the twelve palace lanterns above Ao Peng's head, it thought the same thing as Jialan: that Heaven was going to overturn its verdict on it. Otherwise, how could one person come with so many decrees?

Ao Peng laughed and said, "Instead of asking me where I come from, Great Sage, you should ask me where I am going."

The monkey scratched its ear and cheek with its exposed hand, thinking, "It really is from heaven; its speech is so convoluted, it doesn't sound like a normal person!" However, since it needed his help, it quickly asked, "Where are you going, Taoist?"

Ao Peng said, "I'm going to understand the consequences of the Great Sage's sins."

"A terrible consequence!"

The monkey was somewhat annoyed: "I, Old Sun, only ate a few peaches of immortality and golden pills, and I've been imprisoned here for hundreds of years, exposed to the wind and sun. Could I possibly have some kind of sinful fruit?"

At this time, the monkey was still full of vigor. Although he was kind-hearted, he was just like a cat with its fur standing on end.

Ao Peng stroked the monkey's fur, "Great Sage, don't be angry. You're exposed to the wind and sun every day, and you only eat molten copper and iron pills. Luckily, I brought two baskets of peaches. Why don't you try some of my peaches first?"

After saying that, he told Chi Bofu to put down the two baskets of peaches, took one out of them, and handed it to the monkey.

The monkey looked at the peach, which was surrounded by incense smoke, suggesting it might be some kind of spiritual root. However, the incense smoke was far too weak; in the past, he wouldn't have bothered eating it. But as Ao Peng had said, he was imprisoned here, only given molten copper and iron pills to eat each day. Things he hadn't cherished before, he now deeply regretted. So he took the peach, put it in his mouth, and took a bite.

The peaches are fresh and juicy, and the wisps of incense reflect the thoughts of the people who grow peaches.

Then the monkey saw the people of Sichuan praying in the temple, "Heaven has eyes, we beg the gods and Buddhas of the ten directions to save this place from the chaos of ghosts." He also saw the Taoist in front of him planting peach trees and using incense and peaches to suppress the ghosts. Only when the ghosts' hearts were cleansed of the three poisons of greed, anger and ignorance, and the karma of the incense and peaches was refined, did the peaches grow back on the trees.

Although the peach did not greatly benefit the monkey's cultivation, after eating it, the monkey gradually began to appreciate its essence. With his fiery eyes, he looked towards Sichuan, where countless ghosts wailed and dark clouds filled the sky.

Ao Peng continued, "Great Sage, you may not know this, but when you entered the Underworld, did you cross out the name from the Book of Life and Death?"

While eating a peach, the monkey said, "That's true, but I only marked the names of monkey-type spirits." Ao Peng laughed loudly, "Great Sage, you did only mark the names of monkey-type spirits, but that's not how it works!"

The monkey, being simple-minded at this moment, vaguely sensed something was amiss and frowned, asking, "Then how do we settle this score?"

Ao Peng said, "In the underworld, lifespan should be predetermined. However, the underworld is bitterly cold, and the ghosts are greedy and insane. If people in the mortal world lure them with treasures and suppress them with magic, they can change their lifespan."

At this point, Ao Peng paused and glanced at the monkey.

The monkey grinned, realizing that the boy was cursing him in secret. He had been imprisoned under this mountain for a hundred years, losing all his wealth, honor, and supernatural powers. Instead, he had the leisure to reflect on his past mistakes.

Ao Peng continued with a laugh, "You're not the only one who wants to change their lifespan, Great Sage."

Upon hearing this, Chi Bofu's expression became somewhat unnatural. When he was a ghost messenger, although he did not have the ability to change the lifespan recorded in the Book of Life and Death, if a family bribed him with incense offerings, he could allow the deceased's soul to stay in the world for a few more days to handle the afterlife.

These are all unanswerable questions in the underworld, but they were only brought to a head by Sun Wukong, which is why they became the root of this chaos where humans and ghosts live together. These underworld gods were also demoted and turned into evil spirits.

"However, now this debt is all on your shoulders, Great Sage, so instead of calling yourself the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, you should be called the Great Sage Who Settles the Accounts!"

"How dare you!"

Enraged, Sun Wukong shook his body, causing the surrounding rocks to tumble down, filling the sky with dust and plunging the world into darkness, as if it were the end of the world. However, pure Buddhist light descended from the mountaintop, transforming into the Six-Syllable Great Light Mantra, which suppressed the shaking Five Elements Mountain. The Five Elements, ever-renewing, once again pressed down on the monkey, rendering him unable to move.

The monkey's face turned as red as its bottom in anger, and it exclaimed, "These hairy underworld gods, how dare they bully me like this!"

Ao Peng stood silently to the side.

If you were to persuade the Monkey King to help the people of Sichuan now, he might not necessarily take action. The current Monkey King is more like a demon immortal than the Victorious Fighting Buddha of later generations. He has all three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance in his heart. He is still the Great Sage Equal to Heaven who dared to pull the Jade Emperor off his horse.

Ao Peng didn't have enough incentive to get the monkey to help him.

However, if you provoke the monkey's anger, he will want to vent his anger.

After venting his anger and scorn, Sun Wukong looked at Ao Peng again. His eyes darted around, "You little Taoist priest aren't exactly innocent either. Telling me these things, tsk tsk, are you trying to manipulate me? Too bad I'm trapped under this Five Elements Mountain. Unless you have the ability to break the seal of the Buddha on the mountaintop, how can I help you?"

Ao Peng, unperturbed, retrieved the incense peach seed that Sun Wukong had left behind, dug a hole in the ground, buried it, and then asked Sun Wukong with a smile, "Great Sage, since the Five Elements generate each other, they can naturally also restrain each other. Which of the Five Elements can restrain the Earth element?" Sun Wukong, quick-witted and intuitive, immediately replied to the seed Ao Peng had buried, "Grow, grow, grow!"

Sure enough, as soon as he spoke, a peach tree sprouted from the ground and grew towards the Buddha's light. In no time, it was three feet tall. A small crack appeared in the surrounding ground, just enough for Sun Wukong to stretch out his other hand that had been pressed down.

Sun Wukong's eyes lit up. Although this little Taoist priest's Taoist skills were not high, his application of supernatural powers was truly wonderful!

He repeated, "Long, long, long."

However, this three-foot peach tree could never grow any taller.

Ao Peng laughed from the side, "Great Sage, I planted this peach tree to understand the cause of the calamities caused by the gods and ghosts of Shu, and also to understand the karmic consequences of your drawing in the Book of Life and Death. Now that you understand this, you can see that it can grow to three feet tall, and even the Buddha's teachings cannot suppress it, because it is your own inner will. But if you want to just dream about it and let it continue to grow, it is no different from trying to catch fish by climbing a tree. What difference is there between that and those monks in the temple who knock on the wooden fish and pray for blessings?"

Sun Wukong naturally understood this principle as well.

After their conversation, he had to admit that although the Taoist priest before him was unknown, his understanding of supernatural powers and Buddhist teachings was superior to that of many Arhats he knew. So, for the first time, he made a Taoist bow and asked earnestly, "I haven't yet asked you, young friend, what your name is and where your master is." Ao Peng returned the bow and said, "I am Ao Peng, my divine name is Wu Gong, and I take Heaven and Earth as my teacher. I greet the Great Sage Sun."