What kind of Journey to the West is this?

It is a good place to practice in this world: Ending Reflections

This is purely a self-reflective chat and can be skipped.

First, let me give my review: I'm actually quite dissatisfied with the plot at the end of this volume, which is about the Youzhou case. The writing is a bit poor, and the plot is too violent.

That is why we are bringing this story to a quick end today to prevent it from getting worse and worse.

Well, actually one of the main reasons why I didn’t write an end-of-volume commentary for the second volume was that I felt it was so poorly written that I was too embarrassed to evaluate myself.

Let’s talk about the second volume first. It will be more logical if we talk from the beginning to the end.

A major problem with the second volume is that An Yanxia, as the protagonist, lacks motivation. It's almost entirely event-driven: something happens, she gets involved, and then she takes action to resolve it. Simply put, it relies on the drama of the story itself.

But after watching it for a long time, you will find that it is too loose. The story lacks a goal that connects the past and the present and truly represents her own desires.

So, at the beginning of Volume 3, I wrote about Yuwang Cave Heaven. This is essentially a treasure hunt plot, which then ties in closely with the Fox King's banquet and An Yanxia's tribulation. These plots have clear objectives, so Volume 3 feels a bit more cohesive than Volume 2.

It wasn't until the story of Sanshan Shidao that I encountered a problem that I had never encountered before and was quite difficult to solve.

What should I do if there are fundamental deviations between the plot I designed and the plot I wrote, and between the plot I wrote and the plot you understand?

Just like in Journey to the West, some believe Sun Wukong learned to be humane, which is why he didn't kill him later. Others believe it was because he was trapped under Five Finger Mountain and got sick from eating copper pills, which weakened his combat power. Others believe it was simply a matter of version updates, with each new version bringing a new god.

There is nothing wrong with this, everyone is free to interpret it (emphasis added).

But the problem is that Journey to the West is a finished book.

But I haven't even finished the halfway point of this book yet, and it's still being serialized. This means I have to take your feedback into consideration and constantly optimize and adjust it.

Honestly, in my outline, Zhen Yuanzi isn't actually that scheming, and Ao Shuangtong is merely a character similar to Zhu Bajie. Ao Shuangtong's theft of the essence of the spirit and his subsequent struggle against the Dragon King of Bohai were originally meant to be a comedic plot.

But there are deviations between the outline and the main text after all, and there are problems with my own writing, which has caused the character settings to go astray and change - for example, Bohai Dragon King must die now because of my poor writing skills and the stupid things he did.

The matter is already settled and even the author cannot fix it, which shows that this problem is indeed a terminal illness.

I tried to address the symptoms and modify the outline, trying to get as close as possible to the direction I saw from the comments on the forum posts.

He was barely saved, but the Youzhou case at the end of the story became extremely violent.

This is also a lesson I learned.

Every failure makes you wiser. This is the same as setting up the plot around the goal mentioned above. It is a learning process.

It's all about the same, success or failure is all experience, as long as you remember to pick it up, sooner or later you will level up. It's probably similar to the leveling process in a game, the moment the experience bar advances is really refreshing, especially when there is a substantial breakthrough, it is even more delightful.

This book was actually a practice for me. Practicing writing requires dedication and practice, and learning through practice. One of the main reasons I didn't write a review for the second volume was that I felt I hadn't made much progress, and what I said was just empty talk.

This also includes not writing any acknowledgments for the previous book - that's not right either. I did learn a big lesson after finishing the previous book: writing a book is a mental job, not a physical job. If you really try to turn a mental job into a physical job, you will most likely end up like Bao Si.

Everyone can sit down and talk, but I'll borrow An Yanxia's words from her preaching: "I see people eating a steamed bun and feeling full, but that doesn't mean I'm full. I have to try one too." (If that's not what she said, then I'm misremembering it.)

These are mostly just my reflections and random thoughts, with many omissions and errors. Feel free to read them. If you find them inspiring and I can contribute to your leveling experience, I'd be truly happy.

Finally, I wish you all happiness.

Journey to the West by the Supreme Immortal: Chapter 265 [Jinshan Temple on the Island]

On the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, people watch the crops grow. On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, people eat rice.

A round of rain fell, and the sky was ablaze. The weather in Southern Jambudvīpa also turned cooler, no longer as scorching as it had been in June. The millet harvest was also expected to be plentiful.

The ancients said: After the middle of July, people are like iron arhats, which is indeed true.

Of course, this has nothing to do with An Yanxia drifting on the sea.

She sat at the stern, huffed and puffed, then lifted the boom and hooked a red-scaled fish. She couldn't name it, but she turned and shouted, "I caught a big one! Big one!"

Miss Yu came over to take a look and saw that the little fish, which was as long as her little finger, was still a baby!

She said speechlessly: "Senior, you should just let it go. This is not enough to fill our teeth."

Yan Xia thought about it and sighed, "Alas, there are too few fish in this sea."

Throwing it into the water casually, the red-scaled fish shone with sunlight and dived into the sea with a splash. An Yanxia didn't forget to break off two pieces of bait and muttered:

"I won't offend you if you don't offend me, and two pieces of bait are not enough respect!"

It would have been better if she hadn't said anything. As soon as she finished speaking, ripples began to appear on the sea.

A small black and white tiger shark swam around the boat and swallowed the small red-scaled fish into its mouth with a roar.

An Yanxia felt that she had released the small fish and fed the tiger shark, which was at least double the merit.

She quickly took out a prayer wheel, turned it twice, chanted "Amitabha", and then threw the prayer wheel into the sea.

The tiger shark was so hungry that it bit the prayer wheel into pieces with one bite.

Seeing how hungry the shark was, Yanxia said to Yu Qinghuai, "Quickly call Xueshi'er over. It's time for her to accumulate merit and become a Buddha. Hey, I'll fish here, and Xueshi'er will be in charge of releasing the fish."

Yu Qinghuai slapped An Yanxia on the head and said angrily, "Where is the merit from this? Birth, old age, sickness and death, eating and being eaten, this is the law of nature. There is not even a penny of good deeds..."

"Stop hitting me, stop hitting me..."

An Yanxia was chased and beaten by Yu Qinghuai for a while, and then she saw Xue Shier looking relieved, jumping out of the cabin.

The lion just went to relieve himself.

An Yanxia was different, she was an immortal who had cultivated into an immortal fetus. As everyone knew, immortals didn't poop.

She had previously thought that immortals had immortal energy, so wouldn’t the urine they urinated be immortal water?

Later I thought about it and realized it was nonsense.

The immortal fetus is a whole, cleansed of dirt, and the urine it produces is at most pure water. Otherwise, when Monkey King urinated in the jar during the battle in Chechi Kingdom, wouldn't that have been an advantage for the three demons and immortals?

She was lost in thought here for another seven or eight hours, and she could almost see the coast in the distance.

In front is Donglai County, to be more precise, it is northwest of Donglai County and south of Bohai Sea.

After getting ashore, the boat was of no use, but after all, it had been anchored on Penglai Island for a long time and had some spiritual energy.

The ancients said: What people create is a demon, what happens suddenly and unusually is a monster, the spirits of things are spirits, and the spirits that are not right are evil.

With a little guidance from An Yanxia, the boat gained spirituality and became a spirit, a ship spirit.

After it drifts on the sea for a long time, perhaps rumors of a "ghost ship" or a "spiritual ship" will spread.

By then, it will become a monster.

An Yanxia released it, letting it fend for itself, thus gaining some merit. Then, she went ashore with Xue Shi'er and Yu Qinghuai, and continued on her journey west.

...............

...............

The trip is to return to Cangzhou first and then go to Chang'an.

Tired from the long journey, she rested in a county town called "Qingyun County".

It just so happened that there was a temple fair being held at Jinshan Temple in Qingyun County.

Jinshan Temple is a famous ancient temple in the area. It was built on a large scale during the reign of Emperor Wen. The temple fair here is naturally very lively.

As a result, many people were walking, many were riding horses, many were setting up stalls, and many were opening shops.

Wherever there are people, there's the Jianghu. Even though Qingyun County is small, and Jinshan Temple is a tiny spot on the map, no bigger than a sesame seed, you can still find the so-called "eight sects of the Jianghu": performers who turn gold into silver, porters who sell medicine, performers who change operas, drummers who tell storyteller troupes, and all sorts of people.

After wandering around the temple fair for a few rounds, An Yanxia felt only the bright sunshine and beautiful scenery, the red flowers and green grass. The environment was wonderful, and the people were all talented and busy.

She and Xue Shi'er were watching a magician, and the magician was quite talented:

He put a bamboo basket and threw a thick hemp rope in it, then muttered a few incantations and shouted loudly.

--thump!

The hemp rope in the basket actually stood up straight, like a snake in the hands of an Indian snake handler, swaying and then standing upright.

The master called his seven or eight-year-old son over, lifted him up with both hands, and let the child climb on the rope. As he climbed, he climbed up to the sky and dropped a longevity peach.

Bang bang! Bang bang!

There was a burst of applause and cheers, and everyone shouted, "Cheers!"

Xue Shi'er's eyes widened, and he felt that the skill was amazing. He clapped his hands and exclaimed in amazement, "How amazing!"

An Yanxia had seen many such tricks and laughed:

"This is human effort, and Xue Shi'er can see it. It's just a piece of cake to imitate. What's so amazing about it?"

Xue Shier corrected him, "That's also amazing. To be able to do something that ordinary people can't do, that's amazing."

"Makes sense."

An Yanxia nodded and gave him a few copper coins as a reward.

The two turned around and saw Yu Qinghuai coming with a string of mountain ghost coins in his hand.

Miss Yu distributed the mountain ghost money to them and reminded them like an old maid: "Wear it well on your body. I got this from the Guanyin Temple!"

Okay.

——This Zhengyi Taoist went to the Guanyin Temple to ask for mountain ghost money and gave it to monsters and immortals...

After wandering around the temple fair for a long time, I felt tired.

An Yanxia, Xue Shier and Yu Qinghuai were sitting in a restaurant. When they turned around, they could see the lively scene outside the building.

He called the waiter to take his order. After a while, a waiter came running over with a red lacquered wooden table, yelled a few times, and served the dishes to Yanxia's table.

The dishes served were fish head tofu, winter bamboo shoots and pork belly.

Freshly caught bighead carp, the fish head pan-fried until golden brown on both sides, is then simmered over low heat. Tender southern tofu is added, and a sip of the broth and its delicious flavor bursts upon the tongue. The winter bamboo shoot stew with pork belly uses dried winter bamboo shoots harvested before the Lunar New Year. The bamboo shoots are then stewed with pork belly. Unlike the fresh aroma of the fish head, the rich sauce is rich and meaty.

There are also fried spring bamboo shoots and rice for the seventh day of the seventh month.

Dried fish stewed in soy sauce and bacon dried and smoked.

They are eating here.

In the main hall of Jinshan Temple, Golden-headed Jie Di and Silver-headed Jie Di bid farewell to Elder Fa Ming and flew towards the restaurant.

What a coincidence.

The Jinshan Temple in Qingyun County is the temple where Elder Fa Ming is located. It is also the place where Monk Jiang Liu, the future Master Tripitaka, became a monk and practiced. It is what later generations called the "Jinshan Temple on the Sea Island."

The two Jiedis, the gold-headed and the silver-headed, flew into the restaurant, clasped their hands together, and said sincerely, "I'm sorry to have disturbed the Master and the two of you during your lunch."

"The Venerable Fa Ming of Jinshan Temple has a request for you. He has already prepared guest rooms and vegetarian meals for the three of you. If you are free in the evening, please come to Jinshan Temple to discuss the matter in detail."

Journey to the West by the Supreme Immortal: Chapter 266 [Purple Gold Glazed Lamp]

By evening, the setting sun was even brighter than the fire.

In the monk's quarters of Jinshan Temple in Qingyun County, Monk Faming, wearing a crimson cassock, said in surprise:

"That thief is here again?"

In front of him stood several monks in patched robes, complaining, "Abbot, the Nanshan Herb Garden has been robbed seven times this month."

A monk said: "First it was bezoar, then it was fangfeng."

Another said, "Later, it was elk fat, and also fairy spleen, mulberry parasite, and nine-hole cassia."

Finally, the supervising monk said, "They're actually stealing deer antlers now! Even if we still have some in stock in the garden warehouse, we can't afford to steal like this!"

"People say it takes a thousand days to steal, but never a thousand days to guard against it. Abbot, please think of a way to catch this thief."

Elder Fa Ming pondered for a moment, not knowing how to answer.

When he returned to the temple last month, he heard about the theft in the Nanshan Medicine Garden.

The thief ran very quickly. Every time the monks guarding the storehouse saw him, they could only see a dark shadow. Then they would say "ignore" and the thief would disappear.

To be able to run so fast, he must have some magical power to hide his breath and escape.

He once asked the three guardian gods, Fulong Jie Di, Jiangmo Jie Di and Dawei Jie Di, to guard the Nanshan medicine garden, but to no avail.

But judging from the amount he stole, he probably had some illness and needed medicine urgently, so he only stole a large bunch.

Or maybe it was transformed from a monster, its body is not big and it can't carry much.

But no matter what, this thief is indeed difficult to catch.

Elder Fa Ming said with a headache: "Let me think about it!"