From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

As the gourd boat docked, a pig demon jumped down, carrying a nine-toothed rake. As it looked up, it met the gaze of Jiang Liu's white horse and muttered, "This white horse looks just like the one my master rode back then. Could it be a descendant of that little white dragon?"

"Second Senior Brother, it's been a long time."

The white horse spoke in human language, startling the pig demon. But the familiar voice delighted him, and he laughed loudly, "It really is you, Little White Dragon! But how come you've become someone else's...?"

Before the word "ride" could even finish, the pig demon locked eyes with Jiang Liu. Upon seeing that familiar face, he paused for a moment, then muttered in dissatisfaction, "You young man, how rude! The white horse you're riding is actually your uncle! How can you ride on his back? Get down!"

Jiang Liu knew the true identity of this pig, chuckled, sat sideways on Ba Jing's back, crossed his legs, and teased in a sarcastic voice, "Where did this stranger come from?"

Familiar tone...

Familiar words...

A familiar posture...

Bajie's eyes instantly welled up with tears. He rushed to Jiang Liu's side, his voice filled with a mixture of trepidation, nervousness, and anticipation. After a moment of silence, he finally asked, "Eldest Brother?"

"Hey, Pigsy, should I call you uncle?"

Jiang Liu jumped off his horse, a playful look on his face—the Monkey King was indeed a part of him, so in a true sense, he was still Pigsy's senior brother.

"You wretched horse-keeping servant!"

In that instant.

Pigsy's eyes welled with tears, but he roared out loud, then began to sob...

Chapter 1420 It's time for Pigsy to lead the horse.

"Senior Brother!"

On the gourd boat, the blue-skinned, red-haired Sha Wujing jumped off, knelt down, and was extremely excited.

"Bajie, Sha Wujing, how have you been lately?"

Jiang Liu helped Sha Wujing up and asked about their recent situation.

After attaining Arhatship, Sha Wujing returned to the Flowing Sand River and became a ferryman, helping others and himself. Although the incense offerings were few, he was able to make do with what he had to maintain his immortality.

But Pigsy was in a terrible situation.

Because the position of "Purifying Altar Messenger" was a Buddha position casually conceived by the Tathagata in this primordial world, its incense offerings were limited, and compared to five hundred years ago, the messenger's appearance has already revealed many more gray hairs...

Jiang Liu, like a monkey spirit awakening its true nature, resigned from its Buddhist position and returned to its homeland. Through its own "death," it truly awakened its primordial spirit, seeking a unity of mind and spirit.

Bajie, unaware of the mystery, thought that Bajie was unwilling to associate with the Buddhas of Mount Ling and to prove his Dao by dying, and wanted to create a bright and just world. So after learning some of the truth, he took the initiative to leave Mount Ling to help the chosen one find the right talent and revive his good senior brother, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

But unfortunately.

His first stop was Little Western Paradise, thinking that with the Turtle and Snake Generals, Prince Zhang, and the Four Generals, he could easily defeat Huang Mei.

Who would have thought that Huang Mei had actually cultivated a "sixteen-foot golden body," stolen three treasures from the boy Maitreya, and even borrowed his senior brother's talent to make his own, greatly increasing his strength. He defeated Prince Zhang and the four generals, defeated the tortoise and snake generals, and even completely killed the snake general.

Even he was trapped inside that golden gong—

"If it weren't for the recent earthquake and hurricane that shook the golden gong away, I might have turned into thick liquid inside."

After escaping from the Golden Bell, Pigsy dared not fight Yellow Eyebrow again. He headed east, passing the Flaming Mountain, but dared not venture in rashly. He continued eastward, wanting to find the chosen one first.

Now they have found the chosen one, and this chosen one even has memories of his past life.

It was his senior brother!

At this point, Pigsy said to Sandy, "Brother Sandy, why don't we come west with us to find a suitable candidate? Let's help our eldest brother return completely!"

"this···"

Sha Wujing hesitated, just like the Sha Wujing in "Journey to the West". He was an honest man who cultivated himself for "self-awareness" and not for others.

Now that he has attained the status of a golden-bodied Arhat, and since he did not participate in the struggle between the Great Sage Equaling Heaven and the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling, he is naturally unwilling to get involved in the mess.

"You old Sha, you truly have no brotherly loyalty whatsoever! If it weren't for your senior brother's journey of vanquishing demons and monsters to obtain the scriptures, you would still be back in the Flowing Sand River suffering the pain of being pierced through the heart by a flying sword. Why don't you think of repaying the debt of gratitude and lending your senior brother a helping hand? You deserve a beating!"

Seeing this, Pigsy became enraged, grabbed his rake, and prepared to teach this unrighteous golden-bodied Arhat a lesson.

Just as the rake was swung out, Jiang Liu raised his hand to stop it, saying, "Brothers, let's not hurt our harmony."

Jiang Liu said to Sha Wujing, "Brother Sha, I know your nature. You are an honest man. Just stay here in the Liusha River. When people cross the river, you will receive their worship and incense offerings. This is also the enlightenment you have achieved on your own."

"Senior Brother..."

Sha Wujing shed tears, his understanding of Jiang Liu a mixture of excitement and shame.

Jiang Liu then said to Bajie, “Bajie, when the journey to the West ended, only you and Bajing were appointed as the Clean Altar Messenger and the Eight Heavenly Dragons. You are neither Buddhas, nor Bodhisattvas, nor Arhats. These are just titles temporarily made up by the Tathagata. They are all names without substance. This time, you will come with me to the West again to cultivate the true fruit.”

"What?"

Pigsy stared wide-eyed. "Eldest Brother, you still want to go to the Western Paradise to retrieve the scriptures?"

He then looked at Kui Lang, Bai Hua Ai, and the others, and asked in confusion, "Are you escorting this mortal caravan to retrieve the scriptures?"

"No, they are just going to Baoxiang Kingdom, and I am just escorting them for a while."

Jiang Liu shook his head, "The pilgrimage... I will naturally go and retrieve those blank manuscripts without words."

"What use do you have for an empty book?"

Pigsy was even more confused.

"The book was blank, but I wrote it."

Jiang Liu revealed the origin of the story, which startled Bajie: "You don't want the Buddha's position, you want to be the Buddha yourself?"

"Bajie, you've finally developed some wisdom."

Jiang Liu exclaimed in admiration.

Bajie was speechless and asked, "Then why did you resign from your position as a Buddha back then?"

Why not just open a temple on Flower Fruit Mountain?

If one wants to write scriptures, why go to Mount Ling to find blank texts without words?

"Why don't you just buy or make some blank copies?"

Jiang Liu murmured, "I am not Sun Wukong, but Gu Yue Yuanjue."

Pigsy: "???"

Seeing his confusion, Jiang Liu was about to explain when he suddenly realized, "Oh, I see. I understand. It's enough for us to know that you are the senior brother. The others should still treat you as the chosen one."

"That's fine with you."

Jiang Liu smiled slightly, “However, the main reason is that my past self had already comprehended the word ‘emptiness’, but after comprehending emptiness, I cannot immerse myself in the realm of emptiness. Only by walking in this bustling world and practicing the Zen principles of form and emptiness can I achieve the Great Dao.”

"It's all so mystical and nonsensical; I, Old Pig, don't understand a word of it."

Bajie was speechless, but fortunately he was not the kind of person who would pry into things. Since he had already decided to help the chosen one, and this chosen one was none other than his own senior brother, he was naturally willing to travel west with him. "However, I have already traveled this road to the West once, so I am very familiar with it. I, Old Pig, will lead the horse."

"It's only right that you lead the horse!"

Jiang Liu laughed heartily.

Without him.

Regardless of the primordial era, focusing only on the Journey to the West, among the four travelers, only the White Dragon Horse and Pigsy have not truly attained enlightenment, and should therefore travel with him on the river again.

The White Dragon Horse was bestowed the title of one of the Eight Heavenly Dragons.

What are the Eight Heavenly Dragons?

In Buddhist concepts, this refers to all sentient beings.

As for the Cleansing Altar Messenger... Buddhism doesn't have this concept. There are two meanings to the term "Cleansing Altar".

Firstly, in reality, domestic pigs do the work of cleaning altars, which means they eat leftovers, which can be considered a bit of a perverse sense of humor from the author of "Journey to the West".

Secondly, it is probably because Zhu Bajie in "Journey to the West" has not yet truly attained enlightenment. Even after eating the Buddha's vegetarian meal, his appetite is still enormous and he has a strong desire to eat. Therefore, this title is used to encourage him, hoping that one day he can purify his heart and reach the altar.

And this Pigsy from the primordial era...

He still had an appetite, but his lust was even stronger.

Reproduction is a natural law and there is nothing wrong with it, but this Pigsy falls in love with every woman he sees, such as Gao Cuilan from Gao Village and Zi Zhu'er from Pansiling.

Does he have true love?

not necessarily.

It's just that he's lustful and easily captivated by beautiful women.

And what about Pigsy from Journey to the West?

Although he was also lustful, he understood the right path.

That Pigsy once transformed into a catfish at the Cleansing Spring to tease the seven-headed spider demons, but afterwards he turned on them and wanted to kill them all. However, his fighting ability was so weak it was like "adding fuel to the fire"—he couldn't win...

Bajie repeatedly wanted to divide the luggage and return to Gao Village, not because he liked Gao Cuilan, but because he missed the mundane life in Gao Village.

What is worldly?

Content with modest wealth.

Just as Pigsy in Journey to the West was willing to travel west because Guanyin gave him a guarantee: "If you are willing to take refuge in the true path and atone for your sins, I guarantee you will be freed from calamities and find a place to live."

A place to escape disaster and miasma, a place to recuperate.

That was Pigsy's dream in Journey to the West.

And right now, this prehistoric Pigsy...

They don't even have the goal of being content with a modest life.

Back then, his journey to the west was nothing more than a helpless act, living a muddled life, with lust and appetite being his means of passing the time... until he met Jiang Liu, the monkey king with a restless mind, and was attracted by his unique temperament, only then did he find a backbone.

This is why Pigsy insisted on reviving Monkey King.

Aside from the deep bonds forged during his journey to the West, it was also because he had vaguely grasped a certain truth: without Sun Wukong, he would probably have been lost in his own desires, living a muddled and aimless life until his death, or he might have become a member of the Western Paradise.

Otherwise, Sha Wujing had also traveled westward with Sun Wukong and received much help from him. Their friendship was deep, so why would he want to stay in one corner and stay out of it?

Chapter 1421 Gathering the Five Elements to Await the Holy Embryo

Once aboard Sha Wujing's gourd boat, Jiang Liu summoned the Wooden Mother from within him, placing her within Bajie's body and mind, and imparted to him the Way of the Golden Elixir and Sacred Embryo. Thus—