From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

I remember that back then, the Great King Linggan froze the Tongtian River to capture my master. Many people then pushed their goods across the river to the Western Liang Women's Kingdom to trade, so they must have had boats to cross it regularly.

"Alright."

Jiang Liu nodded and instructed Bajie to lead the way.

Before the group had walked a mile along the river, they encountered a fisherman carrying a bamboo and wood woven fishing cage, inside which a four-foot-long golden carp could be vaguely seen.

The fisherman, dressed in a dark blue robe with a white belt around his waist and sleeves rolled up, was humming a tune and said happily, "I am from the Chen family of this village, and my family has been fishing for generations. Today I caught a golden-tailed fish, and I'll take it home and make a pot of offal soup."

"Brother, walk slowly!"

Jiang Liu called out to the fisherman.

The fisherman, who had been so delighted that he hadn't noticed the passersby, now snapped out of his daze and stared at the group of strange-looking people. He was so frightened that he fell to the ground and cried out, "Monster! Monster!"

"Don't be afraid!"

Pigsy stepped forward, helped the fisherman up, and refused the fishing cage the fisherman offered, laughing, "Are we bandits? Why would we want your fish? Look at me and see who I look like."

Although the fisherman was still trembling, he calmed himself down, carefully examined Bajie for a while, and tentatively asked, "You look like Grandpa Pig Bajie from the Salvation Temple."

"I am Zhu Bajie!"

Bajie laughed heartily, and seeing that he was still somewhat afraid, he couldn't help but mock, "You've worshipped that Buddha statue many times before, but now that you've seen the real one, why are you afraid?"

"..."

The fisherman remained silent, only trembling, much like Lord Ye who loved dragons but was terrified at first sight. Yet, upon seeing the river's appearance, he was no longer afraid and asked, "Are you the Monkey King?"

Hey! The monkey's name is definitely bigger than the pig's!

Bajie complained, but he wasn't angry; he just patted his belly and laughed.

Jiang Liu shook his head and said, "I am not the Great Sage, but his descendant, named Yuanjue. I wish to follow the will of my ancestor and open up a path, so I headed west. I passed through Chenjiazhuang and saw a large river. May I ask if there is a ferry nearby?"

“There used to be a ferry.”

The fisherman, seeing that he looked different from others, was no longer afraid and explained the situation: "Ever since the Tang Monk and his disciples crossed the river and returned from their pilgrimage, my Chen Family Village has set up a ferry and boats to ferry people from east to west to practice or do business. It's just that you've come at an inopportune time."

Four hundred years after Tang Sanzang and his companions left, a monster emerged from the river. It resembled a dragon but was smaller, with two horns on its head, long wings on its back, and a long tail, like the mythical beast that often coiled and straddled the top of a bell.

But it was an evil dragon that stirred up storms, flooded crops, and demanded that Chenjiazhuang build a temple to worship it, and that a beautiful young woman be offered to him every year as his wife or concubine.

If they disagree, he will speak, and the sound waves will vibrate, killing countless fish and shrimp in the river, and causing the villagers to suffer from splitting headaches and never have peace.

A century has now passed!

Therefore, the ferry business on the river ceased, and there was no more trade between east and west…

Chapter 1497 Sandalwood Resides in the Temple of Salvation

"So, there must be a wicked dragon causing trouble in this river."

Pingping suddenly realized.

After saying this, the fisherman bowed deeply and said, "Heroes, I have explained the reason. Would you please let me leave?"

This attitude—

Although he believed that Jiang Liu was not a bad person, he still did not believe that Bajie was one of the four righteous gods in the Salvation Temple, and remained vigilant.

This is also human nature.

Therefore, Pigsy did not say much, but asked, "Please tell us where the Temple of Salvation is. Since I went on the journey to the West, I have rarely come here to check since I returned, and I have forgotten the exact location."

The fisherman pointed in a direction.

The group thanked the fisherman and followed his directions for about ten miles. There they found a temple called the Salvation Temple, with mud walls, white tiles, vermilion lattice doors, exquisite seven treasures, and incense smoke rising from it.

It really is——

The merits of the journey to the West in those days have brought forth abundant incense offerings to this day!

"The deities inside the hall have come to life!"

Inside the temple, some people were offering incense. As they stepped outside, they noticed that Jiang Liu and Bajie looked remarkably similar to the statues of Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie enshrined in the temple. They were so frightened that they quickly kowtowed and bowed in worship.

Seeing the pilgrims in disarray, the temple keeper came out from the main hall, holding a string of prayer beads, eighty-one beads, each made of sandalwood. Because of his high moral standing, he waved the crowd away and invited Jiang Liu, Bajie, Bajing, Hu Yuan, Hu Jue, Liang Luzhen, and Pingping into the back hall, where he served them tea and food.

After the meal.

Jiang Liu and the others expressed their gratitude, but the old temple keeper waved his hand, carefully examined Jiang Liu, and exclaimed in amazement, "So alike! So alike!"

Bajie assumed the old temple keeper was marveling at how Jiang Liu looked like the Sun Wukong statue in the main hall, and chuckled, "How could he not look like him?"

He is a descendant of the Great Sage, and I, Old Pig, am Marshal Tianpeng and the Clean Altar Messenger!

"Don't say any more of this. Just arrange lodging for us. Tomorrow, after we've rid the river of that evil dragon, have the people of Chenjia Village build a large boat to take us across."

The temple keeper smiled without saying a word, and was about to arrange rooms for everyone when he heard someone shouting outside the temple gate.

The crowd followed the temple keeper out to take a look. There were more than ten people from two families who came to pray to the temple keeper, hoping that he would perform a ritual to prevent the death of their sons and daughters.

When Hu Yuan saw the couple dressed in bright red, his eyes were full of confusion. He asked the temple keeper, "I have only ever heard of rituals being performed when someone dies. I have never heard of any rituals being performed for newlyweds before their death. Why is that?"

Before the temple keeper could answer, Hu Jue guessed, "Brother, you don't understand. I spent some time in the village and know the customs of the people."

Perhaps the customs here are different from other places, where joyous occasions and funerals are held together, so that people can live a peaceful life in the future.

When I get old, I'll probably just go to the mountains, my body returning to nature, my soul going straight to the netherworld, without troubling my children with any more arrangements.

"Does such a custom still exist in the world?"

Although Pingping rarely traveled to the human world, she had seen the little demons under the Bull King's command getting married when she was at home—how could they hold such a wedding ceremony at the same time as a funeral?

Pigsy scolded, "You two, stop talking nonsense!"

Ba Jing also advised, "There must be a hidden story behind this."

Jiang Liu laughed and said, "If everyone in the world celebrates both great funerals and great joys at the same time, then there will be no distinction between them. Not to mention a peaceful world, it would be easy to turn this world into paradise!"

"Let's go inside and talk."

Hearing the two tiger brothers' question and answer, the others started arguing again, and the temple keeper couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

Although he felt that Jiang Liu's words were closer to Buddhist principles, how could he say such things in front of others? Therefore, he couldn't keep a straight face and had no choice but to lead the group to the backyard.

After entering the house.

The two families were surprised and suspicious of Jiang Liu and Bajie's appearance, but they didn't ask any questions. They just assumed that they were ugly relatives who had come to seek refuge with the old temple keeper, and that they only looked like the statues in the temple. Afterwards, they talked to the temple keeper about the arrangements for the "pre-death ritual".

"Master, just proceed as usual. Teach our two families' children to get married, to perform the wedding ceremony, and to hold the funeral. Then we will prepare a small boat and send them into the river."

One of the elders said with a bitter expression.

"Didn't I tell you it was a local custom?"

Hu Jue had a look of certainty on his face.

Hu Yuan nodded vigorously: "They still need to send the newlyweds to the boat and sail them into the river before they can consummate their marriage!"

Liang Luzhen suddenly realized: "As the saying goes, 'One's environment shapes one's character'! That's absolutely true!"

Upon hearing this, the elder's face turned ashen, and he cried out, "What are you talking about? Chenjia Village is like other places; there is no custom of holding funerals and weddings at the same time. It's just that although the children of my two families are married, they will die soon afterward, so we have to hold both a wedding and a funeral."

"Look at what you're saying, old man. They're so young, how can they be dying?" Pingping said, puzzled.

"I've never seen anyone like you in the village before, so you must be from out of town. You don't know, a monster has come to the Tongtian River. It wants us to build a temple to worship, but it doesn't want incense or blood offerings. It only wants young girls, every year!" The old man wiped away his tears, hugged his sixteen-year-old son, and cried out, "My son!"

The elderly woman from the other family also held onto her daughter and wept bitterly.

Don't cry!

After they had been crying for a while, Pingping stopped them and asked the old man who had come first, "When we came here, we heard that there was a monster in the river who wanted to marry a beautiful young girl. But he wanted a woman, while you gave birth to a son. So why are you crying?"

If your son loses his wife, he can just find another one.

That's incredibly heartless.

However, Pingping was the daughter of the Bull Demon King, and also an illegitimate child. She had been influenced by what she saw and heard, and knew that men were superior to women. If she lost her daughter, she could just marry another one.

Just like her father, perhaps due to some misunderstanding with her mother, Princess Jade Face, he sought out her mother...

Therefore.

That's when Pingping blurted it out.

The daughter's elders, though displeased by this, could only sigh at the state of the world.

But the elders of the son's family said, "You don't know, although that monster likes young girls, he also likes married women!"

During the sacrifice, not only women must be offered, but also men. They must be instructed to engage in sexual intercourse on a boat in the river before the men will agree!

"It seems that the monster in the river is truly shameless!"

Hu Yuan and Hu Jue were astonished.

Liang Luzhen then asked, "If that's the case, then you must be stingy."

"What are you saying?"

Both families exclaimed excitedly, "If we were stingy, why would we ask the temple keeper to perform some kind of premonition ritual? We would just go to the village entrance, buy some yellow paper and tin foil, fold them into ingot shapes, and burn them!"

"If you're not stingy, why don't you spend money to buy a pair of 'children' from his family?"

Liang Luzhen spoke with conviction, “On our journey, we have passed through Baoxiang Kingdom, Wuji Kingdom, and Chechi Kingdom, and have witnessed many cases of child and girl trafficking.”

This shows that children are worthless.

If you can't bear to part with your own children, why don't you buy from his store?

In this world, people are worthless.

"They must be stingy!"

Upon hearing this, both families were helpless and angrily said, "Why don't we want to buy a pair of children to replace them? But when the monster in the river comes, it comes to investigate every household and recognizes them all. If we buy a pair of people from elsewhere, it will definitely know and will do some kind of noisy magic to scare us so much that we can't sleep and have splitting headaches!"

"Please don't be angry, my junior brother has just been reborn as a human and is not good at social etiquette. He is also clumsy with words. Please don't take it to heart."

Jiang Liu then spoke, instructing Liang Luzhen to practice silent meditation, and said to the two families, “We are not distant relatives of the temple keeper, but are practitioners heading west. We are blocked by a great river and cannot cross it for the time being, so we came here to ask for lodging and to inquire about ferry services.”

However, since there are evil spirits in the river, and such vile ones at that, we will take pity on you and go to the river in place of your children…”

Chapter 1498 Clarifying the Mind Requires the Skill of Relaxation and Tightness