From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

The wild boar saw a village ahead and had an idea—since it was going to fetch scriptures and had even disguised itself as a monk, it would naturally have to go and beg for alms.

However, begging for alms was not always smooth sailing.

Afraid of scaring people, I covered my face, and they mistook me for a robber.

He showed his true face, but the villagers mistook him for a monster... no, they were monsters after all.

Until nightfall.

They hadn't even received a single grain of rice, and internal strife broke out among them, questioning the righteousness of their pilgrimage. Ultimately, they were subdued by a wild boar. After learning more about the specific appearances of Tang Sanzang and his disciples five hundred years ago from a child, they further altered their own image—

The wild boar picked up a rake and looked a bit like Zhu Bajie (a character from Journey to the West).

The toad, dressed in a coarse cloth robe, looked somewhat like a wandering monk.

The gorilla took a wooden stick, which was slightly different from the legendary Sun Wukong... but it still had to straighten its chest and walk forward.

The weasel picked up the load, but there were no clothes or luggage in the basket, only two large stones. And because Sha Wujing had few lines in the book, he was also forced to practice "silent meditation".

That old white horse—

As before.

Of course, the "weapons" and clothes in the hands of these four little demons were "borrowed" from people, with only firewood left as collateral.

And so, the group of little demons from Langlang Mountain set off again, leaving the village that had treated them as robbers and monsters. After traveling dozens of miles, they arrived at a small temple.

"If this doesn't work out again, I'm going back to Langlang Mountain!"

The toad complained to the wild boar, but as the Golden Toad, one of the "Four Journey to the West" and the master of his three disciples, he was the only one who could go forward to beg for alms.

The door opened.

A beautiful young woman emerged—

On her head she wore a golden-leaf-buttoned hat adorned with emerald flowers, which shone brightly in the moonlight, with a few wisps of pearl-beaded tassels exuding a sharp and spirited air; on her body she wore a light-colored, lightly made-up robe, embroidered with dragons coiled and spitting pearls, and a plain blue robe with several flying phoenixes.

She wore a jade pendant on her chest, which shone brightly in the moonlight and danced in the breeze. The pearls strung together jingled, and it carried a delicate fragrance. Around her waist was a silken skirt with gold trim, surrounded by colorful clouds that floated softly, and inlaid with a few willow-leaf-shaped brocade pieces.

A pair of delicate, jade-like hands gently cradled a lotus flower, adorned with wisps of white light, its bud about to bloom.

Upon seeing the Bodhisattva's appearance, even the four little demons, whose aesthetic sense differed from that of humans, were stunned on the spot.

Fortunately, the wild boar was the first to recover and kicked the toad.

The toad, in pain, let out a strange "croak" and quickly realized what was happening. It said, "Female benefactor, we are monks on our way to the Western Paradise to obtain Buddhist scriptures. It is getting late and we are hungry, so we have come to ask for lodging for the night and, incidentally... to ask for some alms."

"Could he be a high-ranking monk from the Great Tang Dynasty in the East?"

The woman asked.

"Exactly."

Seeing that there was a chance, the toad immediately agreed.

"Elders, please come in quickly."

The woman led the four people into the small temple and provided them with a vegetarian meal.

The four little demons' eyes lit up when they saw the food. They abandoned all manners, scattering rice grains everywhere and making the soup slosh around, looking exactly like four starving ghosts reincarnated.

These little demons were quite clever; seeing the woman holding the five mudras of Shakyamuni, they imitated them one by one and learned them.

The woman didn't mind, but asked, "I remember that five hundred years have passed since the pilgrimage to the West. Tang Sanzang has already retrieved the true scriptures, so why is the Tang Dynasty in the East sending monks to retrieve the scriptures again?"

"Forehead···"

The toad was speechless.

Fortunately, the wild boar was somewhat clever and immediately said, "Female benefactor, you don't know, although Tang Sanzang returned from his pilgrimage, five hundred years have passed. Those scriptures have long been memorized by the people of the Tang Dynasty and are no longer fresh."

But there are still more scriptures at Mount Ling in the Western Paradise, so the Tang Emperor ordered us to go and retrieve them again. This time, we must bring all the scriptures back to the East!

It's good that everyone can become a Buddha or a saint!

Upon hearing this, the woman smiled, her red lips slightly parted, and said leisurely, "But how come I heard that five hundred years have passed, and the Tang Dynasty has already perished? And the Eastern Lands have now been returned to the Song Dynasty?"

In an instant.

The four little monsters, who were shoveling food into their mouths, were stunned.

At last.

It was the wild boar that spoke first, sighing as it said to the woman, "Female benefactor, why are you listening to such nonsense? The Eastern Lands are at least..."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "Ten thousand miles. How would the people here know anything about the Tang Dynasty? We are the Tang Dynasty's pilgrims on their journey to the West!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the toad leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Aren't we just imitating the pilgrims from five hundred years ago?"

Is it really necessary to fight the Tang Dynasty to the death?

You could say we're the pilgrims from the Song Dynasty on their pilgrimage.

“You don’t understand. We’ve already lied. If we change our story, won’t this person doubt our identity as pilgrims?” the wild boar voiced his concerns.

"I see."

Seeing the pig and the toad plotting loudly in front of her, the woman smiled but pretended not to hear them and said, "Since you are going to retrieve the scriptures, you must know how to recite them. Why don't you recite a scripture for me?"

The four of them stood there, stunned.

Chanting scriptures?

What scriptures will they recite?

In a short time.

They were all covered in sweat.

Especially the pig demon, no matter how clever it was, didn't know how to answer. But in the end, a brilliant idea flashed in its mind, and it said to the toad, "Master, the female benefactor is asking you a question! You ate her food, so you should at least recite a scripture for her!"

The toad felt like dying, but thinking that he wouldn't be able to recite any scriptures and wouldn't be able to stay at the temple, he could only bite the bullet and say, "Uh... female benefactor, how about I recite a proper scripture for you?"

"it is good."

The woman was silent for a moment, then nodded, indicating that he could begin his performance.

So the toad put its hands together and chanted: "Chirp, chirp, chirp, Mommy, Mommy, woof, east, west, north, south winds, the standard-bearer runs to the north slope..."

woman:"???"

Sensing the awkward atmosphere, the wild boar quickly put down his chopsticks and stood up, saying, "Female benefactor, let me explain to you—"

This is the most powerful scripture in the Great Tang Dynasty of the East, and it's absolutely genuine.

It uses the local dialect of the East, where the greatest sounds are often silent.

Like the babbling of a baby, like the chirping of summer insects in the afternoon, like the sound of plum blossoms falling to the ground, like the resounding voice of an emperor attending court, or the whispering of commoners!

Sometimes reading it forwards, sometimes reciting it backwards. It was a display of brilliance, a song to express aspirations, a determination to interpret this scripture with poignant emotion, like a dream, like an illusion!

That concludes the discussion.

The toad had finished reciting.

But the wild boar asked, "What do you think, female benefactor?"

"It's okay."

The woman smiled slightly, "It's just that your heart isn't sincere."

"..."

Chapter 1522 The Little Monster in Langlang Mountain (Part 3)

"Not sincere?"

The wild boar was a little embarrassed—all those words it had just said were for nothing!

"Indeed, he was not sincere."

The woman smiled slightly, and the lotus flower in her hand bloomed gracefully. The flower had thirty-six petals, and amidst the surrounding clouds, a Bodhisattva appeared, with tassels adorned with pearls and jade, fragrant rings tied with precious stones, dark clouds cleverly layered with coiled dragons, and embroidered ribbons lightly fluttering with colorful phoenix feathers.

Her eyebrows were like crescent moons, and her eyes were like twin stars.

Her face was naturally radiant with joy, and her lips were a touch of red.

The nectar in the pure bottle overflows year after year, and the willow branch inserted at an angle remains green year after year.

"If one is sincere, what does it matter if the contents of the scriptures are fabricated? As long as they can lead people to goodness, that is enough."

After saying this, under the astonished gazes of the four little demons, the woman recited a "Six-Syllable Mantra," teaching the four little demons to calm their minds and let their Qi circulate freely within their bodies.

When they came to their senses, the temple had vanished, the sun had risen in the east, and only a lotus bud remained on the ground, sending a chill down their spines.

"Did we encounter a ghost last night?"

The toad trembled and sneezed.

"I think... she's a good person."

The gorilla was timid, but perhaps because it had eaten a meal with the woman the night before, it was unwilling to speak ill of her behind her back.

The weasel... because he wanted to follow the "Sha Wujing character" in the book, practice "silent meditation," not speaking, gazing at the lotus flower, silently picking it up, and putting it in his luggage.

"Why did you pick this up?" The toad still believed that the woman from last night was a female ghost. Because she could see that they were monsters, she thought that one ghost couldn't beat four monsters, so she was afraid and scared them all night.

The weasel remained silent, simply picking up the load.

"Never mind, the female ghost is gone anyway."

The wild boar advised the toad, "Let's continue westward! We must obtain the scriptures, become Buddhas, and achieve immortality!"

Seeing his high aspirations, and having had a hearty meal the night before, the toad decided not to give up and, together with the gorilla and the weasel, followed the wild boar toward the next village.

Before long, after walking nearly twenty miles, they arrived at a small village.

The villagers were somewhat frightened by their strange appearance, but upon hearing that they were pilgrims from the Song Dynasty on their journey to the West, they hurriedly invited them to exorcise the demon.

Yes, they have already changed the name of the Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty.

"What kind of monster?"

Seeing that these villagers truly regarded him as a pilgrim, the wild boar recalled the story of Tang Sanzang and his companions helping people subdue demons during their pilgrimage in the poem "Journey to the West." It also remembered the people of Jisaguo saying that another seven-person pilgrimage team had helped their country subdue the monster of Bibo Pool. The wild boar felt that they should also act like pilgrims.

Subdue the monster!