From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

If his senior brother hadn't attained enlightenment within the cycle of reincarnation, those immortals and Buddhas would indeed have made their moves, but only scheming against the demon king who possessed the six senses...

What about now?

His senior brother reincarnated and retraced the Journey to the West, practicing the Great Dao. He fought several earth-shattering and ghost-weeping battles, killing countless gods and arhats from the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling. Who would dare to plot against him?

“Bajie, have those monks lead the way and take us to Fulong Temple. Since they have suffered an undeserved calamity, we cultivators cannot turn a blind eye.”

Jiang Liu had an idea and gave the order.

Pigsy dared not be negligent, so he brought the monks along and instructed them to lead the way.

Seeing the strange appearance of this group of people, especially "Gu Yue Yuan Jue," who looked exactly like a wandering ascetic, just like the image of the "Great Sage Equal to Heaven" in the scriptures, the monks became expectant and no longer doubted them, and led them to Fulong Temple.

Upon arriving at the mountain gate, one sees a plaque above with seven large gilded characters: "Imperial Construction of Huguo Fulong Temple," though the gold paint is mottled and covered in dust.

Upon entering the temple, the courtyard was deserted, except for—

The ancient hall's candles have gone out, the empty corridors are swept by the wind. A thousand-foot pagoda soars into the clouds, a few pine trees nurture one's character. Fallen flowers cover the ground, no guest passes by, spiderwebs climb freely on the eaves.

"You monks are so lazy, why don't you clean up?"

Hu Yuan said with some disdain, "Even a tiger's den in the mountains is cleaner than this place."

Hu Jue chimed in, “Exactly! Exactly! I once lived in a dry well. Though I had no bed, I polished the stone I used to sleep on until it shone brightly!”

"Grandpas! It's not that we're lazy, but with shackles around our necks and our hands bound, we can barely manage to put the food we beg for into our mouths, let alone pick up a broom."

The leading monk complained and pointed to the overgrown farmland outside the mountain gate, saying, “The monks here are different from those in other places. In the past, although they were supported by the people and sponsored by the king, they were monks who grew their own food. But now their hands and feet are tied, and they can no longer work, so those fields are gradually being abandoned.”

Most of the gold and silver they acquired was used to adopt orphans!

To prove himself, the monk led Jiang Liu and his group to the back hall, where a dozen or so young novices, all around eight or nine years old, were chained together. Some were missing fingers or toes, some had misaligned eyebrows, and some had crooked mouths; they were all born with disabilities.

Upon closer inspection of these dozens of monks, it became clear that seven or eight out of ten of them were born with congenital disabilities.

"There are many abandoned babies in the world, therefore there are many abandoned babies."

Most children born with disabilities are abandoned by their heartless parents.

We, who are born with minor disabilities, are still lucky. We only have crooked eyes, a crooked mouth, and are missing one or two fingers, which is why we have survived and can become monks in Fulong Temple.

Those infants born with severe congenital defects, such as those without arms or legs, are rarely found by the monks of our temple. When they do find them, they are either already submerged in the river or their faces are covered with thick cloths—all are dead!

Given this situation, how could anyone not believe it?

Jiang Liu asked, "Are there any patrolling soldiers coming to investigate at any time?"

“We monks are honest, but with such a muddle-headed emperor, naturally no one comes to inspect,” the monk said, shaking his head.

"Then why not untie the chains on these young novices?"

Jiang Liu asked again.

"How can we unlock it without the key?"

The monks looked bitter.

“That’s easy! Unlocking is your specialty, Senior Brother,” Bajie said to Jiang Liu. “Senior Brother, why don’t you help them unlock it?”

"Fine."

As soon as he finished speaking, the chains broke and the shackles fell off. The senior monk was freed, and the young novice was freed. Everyone was overjoyed.

The leading monk busied himself in instructing everyone to prepare food for Jiang Liu and his companions.

After the meal.

The monk became worried again: "We have been freed from our shackles and gained our freedom, which is good, but we can no longer beg in the streets, nor dare we till the fields in the mountains. If we are discovered and reported to the king, we will surely be arrested and beheaded."

"It's alright."

Jiang Liu said, “I know you are kind and good, and I also know that the loss of the national treasure is not your fault. It is because evil spirits secretly stole the treasure that you have suffered this undeserved disaster.”

"I'll stay here for the night, and tonight I'll go and sweep the tower, investigate, find any traces of the demon, capture it, and bring you justice."

The monks were overjoyed upon hearing this.

That night.

Jiang Liu also observed the sky and saw that dark clouds obscured the bright moon and the demonic aura was strong. He knew that the treasure-stealing demon had "returned to the old place" - those who have a guilty conscience will do so.

Bajie, Bajing, Huyuan, Hujue, and Luzhen Pingping were all accomplished cultivators, though far inferior to Jiang Liu. They sensed a faint stench and came to find Jiang Liu together, saying, "Senior Brother, there really is a monster!"

"Bajing, Lüzhen, Pingping, you stay here to guard the monks in case of any unforeseen circumstances. Bajie, Huyuan, Hujue, you come with me to the pagoda to take a look..."

Chapter 1515 Encountering Two Fish Demons Again in the Tower

Fulong Temple.

It was a thousand feet high, shrouded in a gray haze.

As soon as they got close, a fishy stench hit them, causing Hu Yuan and Hu Jue to instinctively cover their noses.

"How disgusting! I wonder what kind of monster stole the Buddha's relics and left behind this filth!"

Bajie couldn't stand it either, so he picked two flowers from the flower bed next to him, stuffed them into his nose, and handed two more to Jiang Liu.

Jiang Liu remained silent and refused, saying, "Your nostrils are big, you can use it yourself."

Pigsy: "..."

Pushing open the door, the tower was gloomy inside. Seeing that the steps were covered in bloodstains, Jiang Liu took out his Ruyi Jingu Bang, which transformed into three. The two golden hoops at the ends merged into three brooms, which he handed to the three men, instructing them, "Clean this tower so I can go up."

"Weren't we here to hunt demons? How did we end up sweeping the tower?" Pigsy asked, puzzled, but he still took a broom and headed upstairs.

What are you doing?

Jiang Liu caught him.

"Sweep the tower."

Bajie, on the other hand, was puzzled as to why Jiang Liu had changed his mind. "Could this be some kind of metaphor?"

"It's not a metaphor, it's asking why you went upstairs?" Jiang Liu asked.

"To sweep the tower, you naturally have to sweep from top to bottom."

Bajie said.

"Sweeping from top to bottom is like constantly wiping away dust, preventing it from settling, which is the way of ordinary people; but we are practitioners, who should originally have nothing, so where can dust settle?"

Jiang Liu chuckled and said, "Since there's no dust, we should sweep from the bottom up, and the dust will naturally disappear."

"Brother, you're such a trickster! You can even say things like that to fool a child. Fine, fine, I'll do as you say. Let's sweep from bottom to top and see if it's clean!"

Bajie did as instructed, sweeping over the first step. Instantly, one-third of the bloodstains vanished. Hu Yuan and Hu Jue followed suit, sweeping a second and third time, until the bloodstains on the first step completely disappeared.

"So that's what caused it!"

Pigsy suddenly realized.

And so, the three of them swept the floor in front, with Jiang Liu following behind. But the higher they went, the more tired Bajie, Hu Yuan, and Hu Jue became.

"Brother, if you want us to sweep the tower, then sweep the tower. Why are you playing tricks on us? This broom is getting heavier and heavier. Old Pig can hardly lift it anymore."

By the time they reached the ninth floor, Pigsy was panting heavily, and Hu Yuan and Hu Jue were also out of breath, their arms trembling and their legs shaking, as if they were carrying a huge mountain and could not move an inch.

Why would I play a trick on you?

Jiang Liu just smiled, "How easy is cultivation? Don't be lazy, encourage each other, and climb higher. I'll make sure you all light a lamp on your heads."

Bajie pursed his lips and had no choice but to circulate his qi throughout his body. As he climbed one more step, his broom swept across each step, and his body seemed to lose a little sensation.

Hu Yuan and Hu Jue gritted their teeth and followed on the left and right, blocking Bajie.

That's how it is.

The three gritted their teeth and struggled to keep going. The higher they went, the heavier the pressure became, but it felt as if something was about to burst forth from the ground.

hum-

When the three of them reached the twelfth floor, their five internal organs and five energies circulated, and each of them cultivated a point of light the size of a grain of rice. It was neither magic power nor qi, but a point of mysterious spiritual light, which was also proof of their enduring nature as they cultivated along with Jiang Liu!

Having received the spiritual light, Bajie, Hu Yuan, and Hu Jue were completely relieved of their fatigue, and a surge of power welled up in their hearts. After another cycle of energy, they had already achieved the initial formation of the Golden Elixir!

Jiang Liu retrieved the three brooms, combined them into one, and returned it to the Ruyi Jingu Bang. Only then did the three of them awaken from their daze, filled with gratitude.

"Those who cultivate themselves are one person; do not act in this manner!"

Jiang Liu put the Golden Cudgel into his primordial spirit, smiled slightly, then made a "shh" gesture, pointing to the thirteenth floor above his head, "There are people up there, so don't make a sound. We'll go up and capture them."

The three of them shut up and followed Jiang Liu upstairs. When they arrived at the door of the thirteenth floor, they heard shouts of drinking and playing drinking games coming from inside.

"drink!"

Inside the thirteenth floor, two evil spirits were drinking by candlelight; one was a black fish spirit, and the other was a catfish spirit.

The black carp spirit lost the game of rock-paper-scissors, picked up his wine bowl, took a big gulp, and sighed, "Five hundred years have passed, and the two of us are here again to guard the pagoda. But this time, it's not to guard against that meddlesome Sun Wukong, but to find some chosen one with the potential to succeed. There shouldn't be any problems, right?"

"That's not necessarily true."

The catfish spirit also picked up its wine bowl, took a sip, and said with a grin, "I've heard that the Chosen One was also a monkey!"

"What? It's a monkey too?"

With a loud crash, the wine bowl in the black carp spirit's hand fell to the ground and shattered into eight pieces. He couldn't help but say, "Last time we were captured, although we were lucky enough to survive, I lost my ear and you lost your lower lip... I'm already terrified of monkeys!"

"Don't worry, the chosen one is not like Sun Wukong. Sun Wukong is all-powerful. Back then, he cut off my lower lip and your ear, so that our descendants also lost their ears and lower lips."

The catfish spirit said, "But the chosen one has no such supernatural power. If he dares to come, he will never return! Bring that monkey brain to go with your wine!"

"Never mind."

The black fish spirit replied timidly, "The king only instructed the two of us to come here and guard the place. When we see the chosen one, we should go back and report so that the gates of the Ten Thousand Saints Dragon Palace can be closed."

Unable to find his way in or out, he decided to return so he could peacefully guard the Buddha's relics and cultivate himself, hoping to grow back the head he had lost years ago.

"Speaking of which, what kind of monster is our Great King? While people and spirits with two heads are rare, they do exist, but a monster with nine heads is truly exceptionally rare." Seeing the black fish spirit's cowardice, the catfish spirit scoffed but changed the subject, talking about the true form of the nine-headed worm.

"Isn't it just a nine-headed bird?"

The black carp spirit acted without hesitation.

"uncertain."

The catfish said mysteriously, “You don’t know, when the king returned, he brought a dragon with him. I heard the king tell the dragon that it was not a bird, but a dragon. Then it revealed its true form and became a vicious dragon with eight heads.”