Wang Xuan feigned surprise and turned around to look. A burly man suddenly appeared and thanked him, saying, "Thank you for saving my life, benefactor!"
The big man claimed to be a hunter from the mountains and even invited Wang Xuan to his house to rest.
But Wang Xuan was speechless; this hunter was clearly a celestial being in disguise!
The Journey to the West, a grand undertaking to obtain Buddhist scriptures, involves accumulating a vast amount of merit. When a deity disguises himself as a hunter to rescue "Tang Sanzang," it's simply to gain a share of that merit!
Wang Xuan didn't expose him. He honestly played the role of Tang Sanzang, went to have a meal with the hunter, and then continued on his way.
Not long after, he encountered the old man disguised as Venus. In a few words, the old man deliberately pointed out that there was a stone monkey on the Five Finger Mountain ahead, and how powerful it was.
Human nature dictates that upon hearing that a strange monkey has been suppressed ahead, one would naturally be curious and run over to investigate.
Wang Xuan acted in this way, and after spending a lot of time, he finally arrived at the foot of Wuzhi Mountain.
From a great distance, he heard Sun Wukong shout, "Master! Master!"
Wang Xuan was furious. He was Sun Wukong's first master, but Sun Wukong soon became the disciple of Bodhi Patriarch, and now he wanted to become the disciple of Tang Sanzang. Where was Wang Xuan supposed to put his face?!
Now that Wang Xuan has replaced Sun Wukong, he's actually going to make things difficult for that monkey, making him recite the golden headband and such more often.
What? You're saying Wang Xuan is petty?
Wang Xuan said that he was just playing an ordinary person, and he wouldn't recite it too much. What if he forgot it?
Chapter 268 The Monkey Joins the Team
Sun Wukong had no idea of Wang Xuan's true identity, nor what Wang Xuan was thinking. Even with his Fiery Eyes of Truth, he couldn't see through Wang Xuan's changes.
Although Wang Xuan's Fiery Eyes of Truth was very strong, his supernatural transformation techniques were also quite impressive. More importantly, the difference in strength between the two was too great.
"Master, please save me! I'll protect you on your journey to the West to retrieve the scriptures. A few days ago, Guanyin Bodhisattva came and persuaded me to become your disciple!" Sun Wukong only knew that Wang Xuan was a pilgrim from the Tang Dynasty in the East, and he shouted at Wang Xuan.
Wang Xuan walked over expressionlessly and said calmly, "What evidence do you, monkey demon, have to prove that you are the disciple that Guanyin Bodhisattva arranged for me?"
Sun Wukong opened his mouth, but he had no evidence whatsoever.
Previously, Guanyin Bodhisattva had only spoken to him briefly before leaving.
This is not what Sun Wukong expected. The other party is clearly just an ordinary monk. Shouldn't he be happy that such a powerful expert like himself is willing to become his disciple and protect him on his journey to the West to obtain the scriptures? Why is he talking so much nonsense?
"You claim to be a disciple sent to me by Guanyin Bodhisattva, but you have no proof. Who knows if you're a monster with malicious intentions?" Wang Xuan said calmly, expressionless. "Maybe if I release you, you'll turn around and eat me. Who can I reason with then?"
Despite Sun Wukong's oaths and vows, Wang Xuan simply closed his eyes, adopting an attitude of "I won't listen, I won't listen, you bastard chanting sutras," which made Sun Wukong scratch his head in frustration.
A moment later, a beam of light flashed across the sky; it turned out that Guanyin Bodhisattva had appeared on her own initiative.
Wang Xuan feigned surprise, clasped his hands together in a gesture of respect, and chanted Amitabha. In truth, he had already discovered that Guanyin Bodhisattva was hiding nearby, and his deliberate questioning of Sun Wukong's identity was also intended to annoy Guanyin Bodhisattva.
“Sanzang, what this monkey god said is true. He committed a terrible crime in the past, so he was imprisoned under the Five Fingers Mountain for five hundred years. From today onwards, he will protect you on your journey to the Western Paradise to obtain the scriptures, which can be considered as washing away his past sins.” Since Guanyin Bodhisattva had come out to confirm Sun Wukong’s identity, Wang Xuan naturally could no longer pretend to be stupid.
So, under the "guidance" of Guanyin Bodhisattva, he climbed to the top of Wuzhi Mountain and bowed to the six-character mantra left by the Buddha.
With Wang Xuan's bow, the six-character mantra that the Buddha used to reinforce the seal of Five Finger Mountain instantly vanished.
Without the Buddha's six-syllable mantra to suppress him, the Five Finger Mountain alone was no match for Sun Wukong. With a powerful jerk, Sun Wukong unleashed a deafening roar, causing the entire Five Finger Mountain to tremble and burst forth from its base.
After Sun Wukong escaped, he did not regret it and became Tang Sanzang's disciple, obediently escorting Wang Xuan, the imposter Tang Sanzang, to the Western Paradise to obtain the scriptures.
There was an unexpected incident during this time: Sun Wukong attacked without warning, killing six bandits with extreme ruthlessness, turning them into a bloody pulp.
As a "Buddhist holy monk," Wang Xuan couldn't let his image crumble, so he naturally had to reprimand Sun Wukong.
Sun Wukong was always unruly and could not stand this humiliation. In a fit of anger, he turned and left.
After being persuaded by Guanyin Bodhisattva, Sun Wukong finally obediently returned, taking with him the hat that Wang Xuan had given him. Hidden inside that hat was the headband that Guanyin Bodhisattva had given him.
Wang Xuan chanted the Tightening-Headband Mantra, watching Sun Wukong writhe in pain on the ground. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "This Guanyin Bodhisattva is truly ruthless and merciless."
Throughout the entire Journey to the West, Sun Wukong was very respectful to Guanyin Bodhisattva. Even when he was somewhat presumptuous in front of the Jade Emperor, he never disrespected Guanyin.
Even Wang Xuan wondered if Sun Wukong had lacked maternal love since childhood and therefore regarded Guanyin Bodhisattva as his mother.
But Guanyin Bodhisattva did not hesitate to take out a headband and designed it to be worn by Sun Wukong. This made Sun Wukong repeatedly controlled by the headband. The once fearless Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong, had to be subservient to Tang Sanzang, who had no cultivation at all, for fear that the other party would recite the headband. How tragic this is!
It can be said that since he put on this headband, the Monkey King who was once full of pride and dared to tread the heavens has become a thing of the past.
Wang Xuan felt utterly bored. He had previously wanted to recite the Tightening-Headband Mantra more often to teach this traitorous monkey a lesson, but now he had long since lost that desire.
"Wukong, just endure it for a few more years, and you will be free after a few years." Wang Xuan sighed in his heart, recited the Tightening-Headband Mantra again, and then stopped.
Sun Wukong, bound by the golden headband, became even more eager to travel to the West to retrieve the Buddhist scriptures. He was determined to complete the journey as quickly as possible so that he could remove the headband and return to Flower Fruit Mountain to live a peaceful life.
After traveling more than two thousand miles westward with Sun Wukong, Wang Xuan's white horse was exhausted.
Starting from Chang'an, we've traveled nearly ten thousand miles to get here, without much rest along the way. Even though the white horse is a rare and fine steed, it can't withstand such a grueling journey.
Wang Xuan knew in his heart that it was now the White Dragon Horse's turn to appear.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy emanated from the stream ahead, followed by a huge white dragon that burst forth and swallowed Wang Xuan's white horse whole.
Wang Xuan hadn't reacted yet, but Sun Wukong was furious.
He, the mighty Monkey King, has now been reduced to being a bodyguard for a monk from the East. And yet some ignorant monster dares to come and cause trouble. Isn't he tired of living?
Sun Wukong immediately grabbed his golden cudgel and charged into the stream for a fierce battle.
The battle ended quickly. Although Ao Lie, the White Dragon, was a rare young prodigy of the Dragon Clan, with a cultivation level reaching the early stage of the seventh rank—making him a Golden Immortal expert—Sun Wukong had already reached the perfect seventh rank. Ordinary early-stage seventh-rank Golden Immortals couldn't withstand even two blows from his staff!
Faced with a life-or-death crisis, the little white dragon Ao Lie could no longer care about being reserved and hurriedly announced the name of Guanyin Bodhisattva, which saved his life.
Sun Wukong's eyes flashed with ferocity. This monkey had just been tricked by Guanyin Bodhisattva, and now he was ready to disregard her and kill the White Dragon with one blow.
Wang Xuan rolled his eyes. Guanyin Bodhisattva was watching from the side, how could she let you kill the White Dragon?
Just as Wang Xuan had predicted, Sun Wukong's blow failed to land, as Guanyin Bodhisattva intervened and stopped him.
Sun Wukong was afraid of the golden headband, but when he actually faced Guanyin Bodhisattva, he immediately became obedient.
Chapter 269 Pigsy is a good monster.
When Wang Xuan set off again, the white horse he had been riding had been replaced by the white dragon horse transformed from the little white dragon Ao Yin.
The White Dragon Horse is a dragon steed. Although it is subject to certain restrictions, with its magical power completely imprisoned and even its physical strength suppressed, its walking speed is still several times faster than Wang Xuan's original white horse.
After traveling for several more days, Wang Xuan led Sun Wukong to a Guanyin temple in the valley.
"Guanyin Temple was also a calamity on the journey to the West. The old monk in the temple coveted the cassock bestowed by Guanyin Bodhisattva, which later led to the appearance of a black bear spirit." Wang Xuan knew all of this clearly, but he did not hesitate at all and still walked into Guanyin Temple.
Anyway, he just needs to be a quiet and handsome man; all the troublesome things can be solved by Sun Wukong.
Upon hearing that they were eminent monks from the Tang Dynasty on their way to the Western Paradise to obtain Buddhist scriptures, the monks at the gate immediately bowed and respectfully invited them into the courtyard to rest.
Just as Wang Xuan and his disciples sat down, two young monks helped a hunchbacked monk slowly walk in.
The two talked for a while. The old monk was very happy and then began to talk about the classics of tea. He then asked Wang Xuan if he had any treasures brought from the Tang Dynasty and asked him to take them out for a look.
Everything was just as described in Journey to the West. Seeing the old monk showing off like this, Wukong was already a hundred times unconvinced. Before his master could speak, he blurted out, "Master, let them see your cassock!"
Upon hearing about the kasaya, the old monk became even more pleased and burst into laughter. He ordered twelve boxes to be brought out, and all the kasayas inside were shaken out. There were over a hundred of them, and each one was very beautiful.
Upon seeing this, Sun Wukong remained silent, took out Wang Xuan's cassock and unfolded it, instantly filling the room with golden light that blinded everyone.
The old monk was stunned. A wicked plan formed in his mind. He found an excuse and asked Wang Xuan to lend him the robe so he could examine it carefully for one night, promising to return it the next morning. Before Wang Xuan could speak, Wukong interjected, "Just lend it to him for one night! Nothing will happen!"
Wang Xuan glanced at Sun Wukong indifferently, said nothing more, and, led by the little monks in the Zen temple, went to sleep contentedly.
When he woke up the next day, the entire Guanyin Temple had been burned to ashes, except for the guest room where Wang Xuan had been sleeping.
Needless to say, this was all deliberately set on fire by the old monks in the Zen temple, who wanted to burn Wang Xuan and the others to death so they could seize the cassock bestowed by Guanyin Bodhisattva.
Sun Wukong was no pushover either, and he added fuel to the fire, burning the entire Guanyin Temple to the ground. Even the old monk was burned to death.
"Wukong, where is my cassock?" Wang Xuan didn't pursue the matter further, but simply asked Sun Wukong to bring the cassock over.
Sun Wukong knew he was in trouble. He had already searched the entire monastery but had not found any trace of the cassock.
For someone as great as the Monkey King to lose even a single robe is utterly shameful!
The monkey gave a few perfunctory replies and volunteered to retrieve the cassock.
The cassock was lost by Sun Wukong, so he should have been asked to find it.
Wang Xuan didn't say anything. He lay down in the remaining room like a salted fish and continued to sleep.
As evening approached, Sun Wukong finally returned, still holding the cassock that Guanyin Bodhisattva had bestowed upon him.
Needless to say, Sun Wukong had just fought with that black bear spirit several times, and in the end, Guanyin Bodhisattva intervened and took the black bear spirit away to become a guardian beast of the mountain.
"Fortunately, everything in Journey to the West was within the calculations of Buddhism and Heaven. Otherwise, when Sun Wukong went to fight the Black Bear Spirit, I, Tang Sanzang, would have been captured by other monsters long ago." Wang Xuan complained before continuing on his journey with Sun Wukong.
The journey to the West is long and arduous, stretching for 108,000 li!
In fact, the distance between the Tang Dynasty in the Eastern Land of Jambudvipa and the Great Thunder Temple in the Western Land of Niuhe is more than 108,000 miles.
You must understand that this is a diverse world with an immense area. The distance between the Tang Dynasty in the East and the Great Thunder Temple in the West is at least ten million kilometers. Even if you travel a thousand miles every day, it would still take you thirty years to get there!
However, Wang Xuan also noticed that although they were only traveling on foot, their speed was only two or three times faster than that of ordinary people. Normally, they could only travel two or three hundred miles a day at most.
However, the space along their journey seemed to have been distorted in some way, shortening the original distance of tens of millions of kilometers to a mere 108,000 li!
After walking for another two days, it gradually got dark, and a village appeared in front of them.
Wang Xuan is now playing Tang Sanzang, an ordinary person without any cultivation. Ordinary people need rest, so they naturally came to the manor to ask for lodging.
Before even entering the village, Wang Xuan saw three large characters written on the gate: "Gaolao Village"!
"Hehe, isn't this Pigsy's father-in-law's house?" Wang Xuan chuckled to himself. "Looks like that lecherous fool should join the group soon."
Sure enough, as soon as they arrived at Gao Village, they heard that a monster was causing trouble there. A pig demon was staying in the village and refused to leave, and the village head was looking everywhere for a sorcerer to help him capture it.
Although Pigsy was lustful, he was actually quite discerning and never forced himself on Miss Gao. Otherwise, with his cultivation level, he would have already taken advantage of her, perhaps even getting her pregnant.
When Pigsy came to Gao Village, he worked hard to help the Gao family build a business. But one time, when he got drunk and revealed his pig head, the Gao family turned against him.
Not only did Miss Gao, who had originally agreed to marry him, lose her chance, but the manor lord also went around looking for a sorcerer to kill the pig demon Zhu Bajie. Anyone would be furious in that situation.
However, Pigsy did not take his anger out on anyone. Although he came to Gao Village every few days and even used magic to prevent Miss Gao from leaving the courtyard, he ultimately did not harm anyone in the Gao family.
If it were Sun Wukong, he would have killed the entire Gao family with a single blow. If it were Sha Wujing, it would be even worse. Before his journey to the West, Sha Wujing was a cannibal; the heads of the people in the Flowing Sand River were piled up into a small mountain.