From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

Another monk exclaimed, "He must be a great master like my three masters!"

"I dare not accept the title of Grand Master."

Jiang Liu, being modest, only asked the two, "You are monks, and they are Taoist priests; you are both Buddhist monks. Why did you hit them?"

The two monks hurriedly said, "Master, you don't know, they are incompetent and couldn't subdue the demon. They were punished by the king and that's why they became our slaves."

"Alas~ Just because you can't subdue monsters, you have to become a servant. How pitiful."

Jiang Liu sighed and said to the two men, "I have a relative who used to make a living in Chechi Kingdom. I heard he became a Taoist priest. I wonder if the two masters would be willing to make an exception?"

"Are the master's relatives among these five hundred Taoist priests?"

"Exactly."

“Then the master will take your relative away, shave his head, and make him appear as a foreign monk after entering the city. We two will then deliver your medical report to your three masters, and we’ll even fake a death so that the authorities can’t investigate.” The two monks said in unison.

"You make it sound so easy, but you must have done this kind of thing quite a lot."

Pigsy chuckled.

"These five hundred Taoist priests probably can't afford the money, and they probably don't have any relatives in the city, so they can't become 'monks'."

Ba Jing chuckled.

Upon hearing the ugly and handsome monks speak, they were displeased, but dared not throw a tantrum in front of Jiang Liu, who had twelve ordination scars on his head.

It was simply because their three masters held monks in the highest esteem.

This eminent monk from Jambudvipa has twelve precept scars, just like the three masters. Moreover, he has traveled from Jambudvipa to Chechi Kingdom, which is at least ten thousand miles away. He must be a capable man, and we must not offend him. He asked Jiang Liu, "Master, hurry up and acknowledge our relatives. They still need to work. If they are negligent and are seen by the inspectors, or if they are reprimanded by the king, it will be troublesome."

"Then let them all go."

Jiang Liu pointed to the group of five hundred people and said.

"They've all been released?"

"Master, are you perhaps joking?"

The two monks stared at each other.

Jiang Liu laughed and said, "They are all my relatives."

The two monks felt that this outsider was making fun of them, and anger rose in their hearts. Ignoring the many ordination scars on his head, they said sarcastically, "You must not be a monk born in a brothel. How come you have so many relatives?"

"In terms of bloodline, our ancestors were all created by Nuwa, so aren't we all relatives?"

Jiang Liu argued vehemently, "In terms of cultivation, it's all because of the primordial energy that transforms into all things. We are all born from the primordial energy, so in a sense, we are all just one person. How can we not be relatives?"

Upon hearing such righteous teachings, the two of them regarded it as fallacy, saying that Jiang Liu and his group were fake monks, and that they would not let any of them go, but only tell them to get lost.

"You really won't let me go?"

Jiang Liu asked with a smile.

The monk sneered, "No! No! We won't stop you from entering the city, but you must release the person—"

The monk chuckled and said, "If you want to go to the West to worship Buddha, then go ahead. Don't try to be a hero!"

Instantly.

Jiang Liu revealed his true form, and Bajie, Bajing, Huyuan, Hujue, Liangluzhen, and Pingping also transformed into their original forms, frightening the two monks so much that they fell to the ground, but they kept crawling towards the city gate, shouting "There's a monster!"

"Senior brother, why didn't you kill those two monks?"

Seeing Jiang Liu grasp the rake he had raised, Bajie was puzzled.

"After all, he has a human body; how can he be so easily killed?"

Jiang Liu shook his head, then turned to the Taoist priests who were equally afraid but dared not run far and said with a smile, "Why don't you run away?"

One of the Taoist priests said, "If you catch us, we'll just be eaten. But if we escape and are caught by those monks, we'll be punished again."

Hearing this, Pingping was speechless, muttering, "Before, when I taught them about reincarnation, they were afraid of dying; now that they've met us, they'd rather be eaten..."

Are you not afraid of dying again?

People are so strange!

Jiang Liu ignored her, plucked five hundred hairs from his body, and said to them, "I was just transforming into a monk to explore the origins of Chechi Kingdom. Now that I understand what happened, I will travel in my true form."

Come here! Take a single hair from me!

We are not man-eating monsters, but cultivators.

Now that we know about the events in Chechi Kingdom, we will surely be able to restore order to the country.

Upon hearing this, the Taoist priests mustered their courage, stepped forward tremblingly, and followed Jiang Liu's instructions, each accepting a hair.

"Since I attained enlightenment, I have cultivated 84,000 acupoints, each with its own spirit! I can transform into a human form using a hair. If you encounter danger, grab it, clench your fist, and shout 'Victorious Fighting Buddha,' and I will come to save you!"

Jiang Liu explained to them how to use the hairs.

"Victorious Fighting Buddha!"

The Taoist did as Jiang Liu said, and the hair truly transformed into the Monkey King, wearing a cassock, holding a ruyi scepter, and looking exactly like Jiang Liu. He was angry and had the ability to subdue dragons and tigers, and the power to overturn rivers and seas. After wielding the staff for a while, he stirred up the heavens and earth.

The Taoist priests were so frightened that they all knelt down, praising Jiang Liu's extraordinary abilities!

This is precisely—

The monk asked Wukong to cultivate Taoism first, and the Great Sage Equal to Heaven came to his aid.

The Tao cultivates the body by refining the mind; the Victorious Fighting Buddha saves all sentient beings.

"Grandpa Monkey, I once heard an old man say that Sun Wukong gave each of the five hundred monks a hair. I wonder what your relationship is with him?"

A Taoist priest, whose ancestors were monks who had left the monastic life, inquired out of curiosity.

“I am a descendant of Sun Wukong, named Guyue Yuanjue. I am neither a monk nor a Taoist, but simply a cultivator. The old man Wukong now resides in my heart and is one with me.”

Jiang Liu laughed.

Upon hearing that "Gu Yue Yuan Jue" was a descendant of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, the Taoists lost all fear and kowtowed, praying that Jiang Liu would restore order to the country.

"This is not difficult. You just need to use these hairs to rescue the princess and ask her if she has the will to exorcise the demon."

Unlike the Monkey King, Jiang Liu not only wanted to protect these five hundred Taoists, but also needed them to contribute their strength. "When the country is peaceful and prosperous, you can go to the West City and return the hair to me."

None of the Taoists dared to disobey. They bid farewell to Jiang Liu and his group, and scattered into the forest to find the princess of Chechi Kingdom and carry out Jiang Liu's orders.

Seeing them walk away, Pigsy asked, "Brother, I remember you told them to call him 'Great Sage Equal to Heaven' back then, but now you've changed your mind and want them to call him 'Victorious Fighting Buddha'?"

"The Victorious Fighting Buddha is the Buddha I have attained enlightenment, which is different from the Buddha position of immortality given by the Tathagata of the Western Paradise."

Glancing at the puzzled Pigsy, Jiang Liu said leisurely, "Everyone has two minds: the consciousness mind and the desire mind. The consciousness mind is full of thoughts, so it needs to be purified and refined into a wisdom mind to understand Bodhi; the desire mind is full of desires, so it needs to be refined into a Buddha mind to attain Buddhahood."

The Monkey King, the Victorious Fighting Buddha—

There is no conflict between them.

It's just that 'I' haven't been able to unify these two yet.

Pigsy scratched his head, not quite understanding.

Ba Jing, Hu Yuan, Hu Jue, Liang Luzhen, and Pingping also did not understand.

Let's leave that aside for now.

Meanwhile, the two monks, having escaped with their lives thanks to Jiang Liu's compassion, fled into the city and ran into a Three Buddha Temple. In the main hall, where the Three Buddhas were enshrined, they cried out, "Master! Disaster has struck!"

"What trouble?"

The three monks emerged from the main hall and, seeing their disciples so flustered and unsteady, only to be mocked by the newly initiated novices, angrily retorted, "So rash and unruly! What kind of place is this? How dare you two be so disheveled?"

"Master, disaster has struck! Six monks and a nun have arrived outside the city gate. We treated them with courtesy and explained the story of how the Kingdom of Chechi respected monks but suppressed Taoists. But we never imagined they were such demons in disguise, trying to kill us and kidnap those five hundred Taoists! They want to eat us!"

The monk then recounted what had happened.

"Master! Fortunately, we were brave and fought them for three hundred rounds without a clear winner. However, they outnumbered us and our strength was limited. In the end, we were no match for them and were defeated. That's why we came to report to you, Master, and hope that you will uphold justice for us!"

The monk embellished the story.

"How dare you! This mere wild demon dares to kidnap our servants! You truly have no regard for your own life!"

The head monk was a burly man, wearing a black checkered robe with gold trim. He was furious and called his second and third monks to leave the temple together and head to the palace to report the matter to the king.

Upon hearing what had happened, the king dared not delay in the slightest and immediately ordered his men to lead troops to search the mountains and forests outside the city, determined to capture the monsters disguised as monks and the five hundred Taoist priests who had escaped.

I don't know.

Jiang Liu and his group had already entered the city. Because it was dark, they had Ba Jing transform into a white horse again, pretending to be merchants traveling west to trade horses, and found an inn to stay at.

Although they have strange appearances, most of the people who open their doors to make a living are looking for money. As long as you give them gold and silver, they will accept anyone, whether they are human, ghost, immortal or Buddha.

"What would you like to eat, sir?"

The innkeeper was a woman who was originally beautiful, but because the country revered monks and suppressed Taoism, women were also required to shave their heads, with their hair no more than five inches long, making them look like peacocks with their feathers cut off.

She saw that Jiang Liu and his group looked strange, but she wasn't afraid; all she could see was their passion for making money.

What dishes do you have here?

Jiang Liu inquired.

"If guests do not order a la carte, we have three dishes to choose from."

The proprietress said with a sweet laugh.

Which three?

"Divided into three categories: upper, middle, and lower."

The proprietress gestured with her thumb, "The menu is a fine feast of five fruits, five vegetables, and five soups, with a lion and fairy sugar table, two people per table, and the dishes are mainly beef and mutton."

Jiang Liu laughed and asked, "Are there any ladies to keep you company while you drink?"

Hearing him say that, the proprietress felt relieved and, without suspecting anything, smiled and said, "Yes, but you'll need to pay an extra five coins per table."

"How is the sample?"

Jiang Liu continued to ask.

The proprietress continued, "For the medium-sized dishes, there will be a set of dishes and a table. There will be only vegetables, no fruit, but there will be hot wine. You can play drinking games and guess the numbers yourself. It will only cost two coins per person. The meat dishes will mainly be pork and dog meat."

Jiang Liu laughed again: "What's the next sample?"

The proprietress hesitated slightly and said, "I dare not say this in front of our distinguished guest."