Journey to the West: Starting with the Hunting of the Three Demons of Twin Fork Ridge

Before Sanzang could speak, the monk snatched the staff from his hand.

Then the pilgrim blew a breath, and the lights in the hall were restored, allowing everyone to finally see the tin staff.

Although Li Fa was in the dark, he saw everything very clearly.

This staff is about nine feet long, with nine sections at the top. The top is shaped like a lotus bud and divided into three prongs, corresponding to taking refuge in the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

Each share has three rings, making a total of nine rings, which alludes to Tang Sanzang's nine lifetimes of cultivation and also represents the perfection of Buddhism.

The traveler took the staff and shook it, making a clattering sound. He said, "My staff has a handle made of nine sections of immortal vine, each section is three feet long, and it is inlaid with copper and iron."

It has three tufts on its head, which are made of real gold;

Each piece has three rings, each unique, including: copper ring, silver ring, gold ring, coral ring, pearl ring, giant clam shell ring, glass ring, bodhi ring, and agate ring. All of these were bestowed by the Buddha of the Western Great Thunder Temple.

Wearing this robe, one is spared from the cycle of rebirth; holding this staff, one is protected from harm. Wherever one walks, countless gods pay homage; when one sits, seven Buddhas accompany one!

The monks looked over and indeed saw a glittering golden light and heard chanting.

Upon seeing the two treasures, Jinchi's wicked intentions were indeed stirred again. He stepped forward, knelt before Sanzang, and said with tears in his eyes, "My disciple is truly unfortunate!"

Sanzang helped him up and asked, "What does the old abbot have to say?"

He said, "Master, I just took out these two treasures, but it's getting late, and my eyesight is failing me, so I can't see them clearly. It seems I've missed out!"

Sanzang said, "Bring a few more lamps so you can see them again."

Elder Jinchi said, "Grandpa's treasure is already bright. If you add more lights, it will be too dazzling, and you won't be able to see it clearly."

The traveler asked, "How should I view this?"

Jin Chi said, "If you, sir, are so kind and at ease, please allow me to take it to the back room and examine it carefully throughout the night. I will then return it to you tomorrow morning. What do you think of that?"

When Sanzang heard this, he was startled and blamed Wukong, saying, "It's all your fault! It's all your fault!"

The pilgrim laughed and said, "What's there to be afraid of? I'll wrap up my cassock and give it to him along with my staff so he can take a look. If there's any oversight, I'll take care of it."

Unable to stop him, Sanzang could only say to Jinchi, "Go ahead and look, but return it to me as before tomorrow morning, and do not damage or soil it in the slightest."

Elder Jinchi was overjoyed. He instructed Xingtong to take the kasaya inside and told the ascetic to take the staff away as well. He then ordered the monks not to let the master and disciple sleep in the woodshed anymore. He sent someone to clean the Heavenly King Hall in the front courtyard, bring two rattan beds, set up bedding, and invite the two to rest. He also instructed them to arrange a farewell meal for the next morning. Then everyone dispersed.

The master and his disciples closed the doors of the Heavenly King's Hall and went to sleep.

Li Fa also quietly disappeared, but now was not a good time to make a move. Sun Wukong's six senses were sharp, and if he were to discover him, it would probably cause some trouble.

Now, Jinchi tricked his way into getting the cassock and staff, and held them under the lamp in the back room. He neither wept nor shed tears, but simply had someone call Guangmou and Guangzhi over.

When the two monks arrived, the old monk's eyes gleamed, and he said, "This Tang Dynasty in the East truly has a treasure. We just saw off Fahai, and now Tang Sanzang has arrived. In my opinion, son, how should we handle this matter?"

The two monks exchanged a smile and said, "The Heavenly King's Palace is definitely on fire!"

The old monk was overjoyed and, following the instructions given at noon, prepared firewood and kerosene, then set fire to the Hall of Heavenly Kings.

Meanwhile, the monks and their disciples had settled down for the night.

The traveler was a clever monkey; although he was asleep, he was merely concentrating his energy and keeping his eyes half-closed.

Suddenly, they heard people walking around outside. A question arose in their minds: "It's so quiet at night, how can there be footsteps? Could it be thieves plotting against us?"

So he jumped up, wanting to open the door and go out to see, but was afraid of waking Tang Sanzang.

But then it transformed into a bee, crawling out from under the rafters to see everything clearly.

The monks were seen carrying firewood and straw, surrounding the meditation hall, about to set it on fire.

The pilgrim chuckled to himself, "Just as my master said, he intends to kill us and steal my treasure, hence his vicious intentions. I wanted to beat him with my stick, but alas, he's too weak; one beating would kill him, and then my master would blame me for being murderous. Oh well, oh well, oh well! I'll just let him steal what he wants, turn the tables on him, and teach him a lesson he won't be able to stop!"

So he somersaulted to the South Heavenly Gate, causing Pang, Liu, Gou, and Bi to bow low, and Ma, Zhao, Wen, and Guan to hunch their backs, all exclaiming, "It's terrible! It's terrible! That troublemaker from Heaven is here again!"

The traveler waved his hand and said, "Please don't be surprised, everyone. I've come to see the Heavenly King Virupaksha."

Just then, the Heavenly King arrived and greeted the Monkey King, saying, "Great Sage, it's been a long time. I heard you were ordered by Guanyin Bodhisattva to protect Tang Sanzang on his journey to the West to retrieve the scriptures. What brings you here today?"

The pilgrim said, "Enough of this idle talk. Tang Sanzang has encountered some villains on the road who want to set him on fire. He's in dire need of help and has come to borrow your fire-resistant cover to save him. Bring it to him quickly and return immediately."

The Heavenly King said, "If you want to put out the fire, you need to borrow water. How about I lend you my fire-resistant cover?"

The pilgrim said, "That villain is burning down your Heavenly King's Palace. If we borrow water, it will just pour water on your head. Besides, borrowing water to save it won't actually cause it to burn, which would only benefit him. This shield will protect Tang Sanzang and your statue from harm. As for the rest, let it burn. Hurry, hurry! It might be too late now. Don't delay my work below!"

The king laughed and said, "This monkey is still so malicious, only caring about himself and not others."

The traveler said, "Hurry up, hurry up! Don't talk nonsense, or you'll ruin everything!"

The Heavenly King reluctantly took out the fire-resistant shield, muttering, "Then you better not let his fire burn my idol!"

The traveler said, "I understand, I understand, you're too long-winded!"

Leaving aside the matter of borrowing the treasure, Li Fa, seeing that Sun Wukong had left, quickly transformed himself into the appearance of Fahai, created a gust of wind, and rushed straight to the back hall.

In the back room, the old monk looked at the treasure with delight in his eyes.

Suddenly, the candlelight in front of me flickered.

Elder Jinchi subconsciously looked up, only to see that in the flickering candlelight, Fahai, who should have been dead, had somehow appeared silently in the hall, staring straight at him without saying a word.

"Abbot Fahai?" Jinchi's throat went dry, and a sudden panic gripped his heart. "You...you weren't already...?"

Li Fa remained silent, but simply floated forward half a step.

A chill ran down Jin Chi's spine, and the cassock in his hand slipped to the ground with a "whoosh".

His eyes widened as he saw Fahai's facial features rapidly shifting, and his clothes gradually changing as well.

In the blink of an eye, he transformed into Tang Sanzang!

"Lord Dongtu?!" Jin Chi was terrified, his heart and soul shattered.

Shouldn't Tang Sanzang be in the Hall of Heavenly Kings? How come he's here? Could it be...?

Before he could finish his thought, Tang Sanzang's face changed again, transforming into a hairy face and a thunder god's mouth, just like Sun Wukong!

"Grandpa, spare me!!" Jin Chi was terrified. He felt a heat in his crotch and was drenched in filth. He immediately collapsed to the ground, rolling and crawling backward.

But then Sun Wukong floated forward again, his figure swayed, and his body shone with black light, transforming into the golden statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva in the main hall of the Zen temple!

In an instant, greed, deception, blasphemy, fear... all intertwined in Jin Chi's heart.

"Uh... Ah!"

Elder Jinchi made a gurgling sound in his throat, and before he could catch his breath, he collapsed to the ground, literally scared to death!