The Monkey King

The candlelight in the main hall swayed, the huge pillars were bathed in the firelight, and the dragon-shaped relief sculpture seemed to come alive, showing its teeth and claws.

The Taoist disciple who was lying on the ground slowly raised his head and stared at Zhen Yuanzi, who was sitting motionless.

After a long while, he asked softly: "Master, what should we do next? I'm afraid the demon monkey is going to attack. Should we...should we ask Sanqing for help?"

Hearing this, Zhen Yuanzi slowly shook his head, stroking his long beard and said: "What's the use of asking Sanqing for help? As soon as we met, my master had already explored the monkey's strength. Although the cultivation of the way of heaven has been lost, but Compared with when I fought with my master in the underworld, I am afraid that my strength has increased. Even if the Sanqing comes, I am afraid they will be helpless. Besides, if they really want to take action, they have already taken action, so why wait for me at Wuzhuang? Looking for help?"

"Then what should we do next?"

"Gather all the disciples." Holding his knees, Zhen Yuanzi stood up slowly against the wind coming in from outside the hall, with a calm expression.

…

There was a loud bang in the room, and the two door panels were kicked out and hit the opposite wall heavily. In a short time, many furniture and furnishings in the house were damaged.

The monkey quickly rushed into Xuanzang's room with the canopy and the little white dragon.

At this time, Xuanzang was sitting on the couch, holding scriptures in his hands and studying them carefully by candlelight. In the other hand, he still held half of the uneaten ginseng fruit.

Seeing everyone filing in, he couldn't help but be slightly surprised.

Before he could say anything, the monkey had already knocked the ginseng fruit in Xuanzang's hand to the ground with one swift movement. He grasped the pulse gate of his left hand and closed his eyes to examine it carefully. At the same time, Tianpeng also came to Xuanzang's side with a quick stride and grasped the pulse gate of his right hand.

The two of them just grabbed Xuanzang tightly from left to right.

At this time, Xuanzang was completely stunned.

"what happened?"

"Spit out the ginseng fruit."

"ah?"

"Spit out all the ginseng berries!"

The monkey roared loudly. He reached out and grabbed Xuanzang's collar.

Canopy on the side quickly stopped him and said: "It's useless to spit it out. The ginseng fruit melts in the mouth, and the spiritual energy has already entered the body. It's better to think of other solutions."

"Other solutions..." Turning his head, the monkey looked at the little white dragon behind him and asked sternly: "How do you know that eating ginseng fruit requires exercising spiritual power? Just based on the feeling after eating it?"

Xiao Bailong was so frightened that he quickly shook his head and said, "This is it. I asked Third Sister this."

"Third sister?" Monkey's eyes slowly narrowed into a slit: "Xihai Ao Cunxin?"

Xiao Bailong nodded in panic. Said: "My brother-in-law once asked for a ginseng fruit from Zhen Yuanzi for Sister Yang Chan, so he also asked for the method of eating it. The third sister once heard Sister Yang Chan talk about... I also felt a little uncomfortable after eating it just now, so I I thought of using the jade slip to ask Third Sister."

The corners of the monkey's eyes twitched sharply, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it, Zhen Yuanzi did it on purpose! If you give it to Yang Jian, tell him how to eat it. If you give it to us, just pretend to be stupid!"

Said. He slammed his palm on the round table nearby.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise, and the round table made of solid wood turned into sawdust and filled the whole room. The little white dragon was frightened and backed away. Even the black bear spirit who came after hearing the news was stunned on the spot.

Xiao Bailong forced a smile and comforted him with some anxiety: "Great Sage, you don't have to be so angry...it's nothing serious. It can be resolved with a little action. This is not really poisoned."

But after he finished speaking, he realized that the expressions of Monkey and Canopy were still solemn.

As for Xuanzang, he still doesn't know why.

His eyes widened. The monkey said angrily: "This is more serious than poisoning!"

…

At this time, sixty or seventy Taoist disciples from Wuzhuang Temple had gathered in the main hall.

Two Taoist disciples were working together to carry a bamboo basket and distribute the small blue packages in the bamboo basket to the Taoist disciples.

The Taoist disciples who got the package all looked confused.

Zhen Yuanzi, who was standing on the main seat, stroking his long beard, sighed lightly and said: "The elixir, magic weapon, and ginseng fruit in this package are the gifts given to you by the master. From now on, you must have Practice hard. Don’t let down your expectations as a teacher.”

"What happened?"

"I don't know, senior brother just called me over."

"Master, are you going to drive us down the mountain?"

The Taoist disciples looked at each other in confusion, not knowing why.

Taking a deep breath, Zhen Yuanzi continued: "The demon monkey will come to see me soon. In order to avoid harming Chi Yu, I order you to go down the mountain immediately. No matter what happens to the Taoist temple, you are not allowed to come back."

As soon as these words came out, even the most uninformed Taoist disciples had already realized that a major change had occurred.

The whole hall suddenly felt like death.

After a long time, a voice as small as a mosquito in the crowd asked: "Master lets us go, then... what will happen to Wuzhuang Temple next?"

no answer.

The entire hall was so silent that only the sound of the wind blew through the windows.

The two Taoist disciples carrying the bamboo basket took out the package and handed it to the people on both sides, but found that no one reached out to pick it up.

All the Taoist disciples stared blankly at Zhen Yuanzi, who was standing in the main position, with expressions of astonishment on their faces.

For a long time, a disciple whispered: "How is this possible? The master is the ancestor of the earth immortals. Even the Sanqing people have to give the master a bit of trouble. How is it possible... who can force the master into such a situation?"

"It's the monster monkey today."

"Who is he?"

"Sun Wukong, the King of Demons..."

An extremely pessimistic atmosphere quickly spread.

Perhaps not everyone present had witnessed the earth-shattering battle more than 600 years ago, but they had more or less heard of it. More importantly, they would not think that Zhen Yuanzi, who had always been serious, would play such a strange joke with them.

Gradually, the Taoist disciples began to whisper.

"We're all gone. What will happen to the Taoist temple?"

"Perhaps, it will be burned, together with the ginseng fruit tree."

"How is this possible... The ginseng fruit tree is a treasure given by God, and the monster monkey..."

"That's the kind of temper he has. Back then, wasn't he the one who burned down the Moon Tree and the thousands of palaces in heaven? Even the Golden Crow was killed by him once. What else can't he do?"

Amidst the commotion, one of the Taoist disciples suddenly knelt down on the ground with a plop, kowtowed and said: "Once a master, a lifelong father. I am willing to live and die with the Taoist temple! I beg the master to let the disciple stay!"

Before he finished speaking, the Taoist disciples around him also dropped their packages one by one. Fall to your knees. He shouted loudly: "Disciples are willing to live and die together with the Taoist temple!"

After a while, all the Taoist disciples in the hall knelt together, crying and begging Zhen Yuanzi to let them stay.

"Be quiet--!"

With a shout, the entire hall suddenly became quiet, and everyone looked at Zhen Yuanzi blankly.

He pursed his lips and said sternly at the top of his voice: "That monster monkey is not something you can handle. Even if you stay, it will only increase casualties."

Pointing in the direction of the gate, Zhen Yuanzi roared: "Take the package and go down the mountain immediately for the master's order! Get out of here! This is the master's order and cannot be violated! If a cultivator can't even think of such a simple truth, It’s clear that all these years of being a teacher have been in vain! From now on, don’t mention to anyone that you are my disciple of Wuzhuang Temple!”

Say it. Zhen Yuanzi flicked his sleeves, turned around and left.

All the Taoist disciples in the main hall were stunned.

…

"Great Sage, it's really nothing serious." In the attic, Xiao Bailong said cautiously: "It's just a disorder of the meridians. I just took care of it in less than a stick of incense."

Hearing this, Monkey snorted coldly and said, "You use inner breath to adjust. What adjustment does he use?"

This question immediately confused Xiao Bailong.

Canopy's expression on the side became increasingly ugly.

Xuanzang reached out and touched his chest and said softly: "I feel nothing wrong, poor monk."

"It's just that the attack hasn't happened yet. I just ate it and it didn't go that fast." Holding the golden cudgel, the monkey widened his eyes and laughed slowly, sighing leisurely: "This Zhen Yuanzi just deliberately set a trap. You have neither become a Buddha nor practiced Taoist techniques, so where does your inner breath come from? This is to force you to either let go of your obsession and become a Buddha immediately. Or... abandon the Buddha and follow the Tao."

After silently self-perceiving, Xuanzang asked with some confusion: "What will happen if the meridians are disordered and not treated?"

Canopy on the side said softly: "First his limbs were cold, he stammered when speaking, then he felt weak all over, and finally his whole body was paralyzed. He couldn't speak, couldn't see, and couldn't hear. He was like a dead person."

After he mentioned the serious consequences of this meal, Xuanzang just frowned and asked softly for a long time: "Then, how long does the poor monk have?"

"It can take as long as one year, or as little as three months. If you practice Taoism, it's still too late. To adjust your breath, you don't need to have a very advanced practice. It's just that you can't continue this journey to the west."

"I think he's tired of living!" With that said, the monkey turned and left.

"Where are you going?" Tianpeng asked quickly.

Stopping at the door, the monkey turned back and said: "Where else can we go? Go and find the culprit. He will definitely have a way to solve it."

"But, is he willing to solve it?" Looking at the monkey, Tianpeng said slowly: "Zhen Yuanzi is also a Taoist master, and it is impossible to do things without measure. Since he just took the risk of irritating you, he either Later. Or, we have already made up our minds to die together."

The monkey snorted coldly, strode across the threshold, turned into a golden light and shot straight into the sky. In the blink of an eye, it landed at another place in the Wuzhuang Temple.

…

In the breeze, the giant trees emitting light like fireflies slowly swayed their branches, and individual ginseng fruits were faintly visible among the green leaves.

Under the tree, Zhen Yuanzi stood quietly.

After a long while, he lowered his head slightly, smiled and sighed: "Coming?"

Behind him, the monkey pointed directly at the back of his head with a golden cudgel, and said sternly: "I'll give you two choices, either hand over the rescue method, or hand over your life, choose one!"

Turning around slowly, Zhen Yuanzi stroked his long beard and raised his head and said: "The poor Taoist also gave Master Xuanzang two choices, either to become a Buddha immediately, or to abandon the Buddha and follow the Tao." (To be continued~^~ )

PS: Well, I owe another 20,000 words, but if I can stick to this pace every day, I can pay it off soon. Please give me a monthly pass to encourage me. Okay, go to bed...