Volume 4: Journey to the West Chapter 6 Layout: Red-butted Horse Monkey
And with the recognition of the magic world in Journey to the West, the magic luck is fully blessed.
Jiuyou's understanding of the magic way was as easy as drinking water, and he made rapid progress every day.
Moreover, Jiuyou already had a vague sense of where the Demon Realm was. Perhaps when his cultivation broke through the Golden Immortal level, he would be able to step into the Demon Realm and control it in one step.
Stepping into the realm of Daluo Jinxian and taking control of a world, Jiuyou was almost at the pinnacle of this world at that time.
Jiale and his past incarnation Jiuyou are parallel. In this world, Jiuyou's cultivation may improve much faster than Jiale's. This is the real reason why Jiale dared to agree to Taishang Laojun. Just as Taishang Laojun said, there will be many benefits in the catastrophe. If it were just Jiale alone, the risk factor would be very high. But with Jiuyou, it would be different.
It’s not certain who will eat whom.
Tushita Palace.
Taishang Laojun looked at Tathagata leisurely, as if he already knew that Tathagata was coming.
"Master Uncle!"
This was the first time he saw Laozi since he entered Buddhism after the great catastrophe.
Laojun looked at Tathagata in front of him and felt a little sad.
"It's rare that you're willing to call me Uncle Master."
There was no sarcasm, just a calm reply, Tathagata nodded, "I won't forget the cultivation of Master Uncle. If it weren't for Master Uncle leading me into Buddhism, I'm afraid I wouldn't have achieved what I have today."
"But you ultimately chose a path that made it difficult for me to face Tongtian."
When Laojun said this, he also sighed. The original intention of Laojun to lead Duobao into Buddhism was indeed to let Duobao establish Hinayana Buddhism to divide the fortune of Mahayana Buddhism. At that time, the Three Pure Ones in Xuanmen had already fallen out. He and Yuanshi bullied Tongtian. Although it was in line with the trend, it ultimately hurt the brotherhood. The Three Pure Ones were naturally more than enough to suppress the two Buddhas, but after experiencing that catastrophe.
Tongtian left, and the fortune of Xuanmen declined. Instead, the two Buddhas saved three thousand mortals, and the fortune flourished.
As one grows stronger while the other declines, if some measures are not taken, Buddhism may really rise and damage the interests of Xuanmen. That's why Duobao went to the West to establish Hinayana Buddhism. Duobao's talent was enough to accomplish this, but the two Buddhas of Buddhism were indeed very courageous. They gave the position of Mahayana Buddhism to Duobao without hesitation.
With one religion handed over, Duobao at that time, if he wanted, could even cause Buddhism to fall into decline and return to the pre-liberation era.
But Duobao didn't do that, because after becoming the current Buddha of Buddhism, he took control of the fortune of Buddhism, and Duobao's cultivation level soared, as if this was his right path.
Compared to the future, Duobao still violated the agreement between him and Taishang.
But there is nothing wrong with this. Duobao has chosen the right path, but this path may disappoint some people in Xuanmen.
In fact, Tai Shang had thought of this possibility before, but this was just an attempt. If it succeeded, Xuanmen would benefit. Even if it failed, there would be no loss for him. It was just that the Shangqing lineage would lose a talent and hope of rising again. For him and Yuanshi, it was not a bad thing.
However, he understood Tongtian's character. Seeing Duobao embark on a possibly correct path and making progress in his cultivation, Tongtian would definitely support him.
So, this is something that does not harm anyone, so even if it fails, Tai Shang will not have too many regrets, at most it is just a bit of a pity.
"Master will understand me."
Tai Shang shook his head when he heard this. Duobao understood Tongtian. Tongtian doted on his disciples too much. Perhaps this was the important reason why Duobao dared to switch to Buddhism without hesitation.
“But he will be disappointed.”
Duobao was silent. He didn't want to continue this topic. After a long moment, Tathagata looked directly at Taishang Laojun.
"Master, the monkey is missing."
Taishang Laojun's expression remained unchanged when he heard this.
"Then what!"
Tathagata could not see anything from Taishang Laojun's face. Compared with Taishang Laojun, he was still too young.
“But except for Master Uncle, no one can hide the monkey from the Buddha’s eyes.”
It seems too strong, which is also a mistake.
"I didn't hide the monkey."
Tathagata was silent for a long time, and the atmosphere became increasingly heavy. Tathagata disliked this master uncle very much because he did not like the feeling of not being able to control himself.
"Master, the rise of Buddhism is a great trend. Haven't you already recognized this? Why do you still want to get involved?"
"The general trend cannot be reversed, but the minor trend can be changed. Moreover, Duobao, look at the general trend now, is it still the same?"
Tathagata was completely silent, and this was also what he was most worried about.
Since the disappearance of the monkeys, the general trend has begun to change. The trend of Buddhism's prosperity remains unchanged, but it has begun to shift. If this continues, no one knows where the world will go. The general trend is not something that Buddhism can control. All Buddhism can do is to try its best to be a good helmsman and keep the ship on the right course.
Obviously, the shift in the general trend has already made some people start to have some ideas.
Taishang Laojun is just one of them.
Suddenly looked up.
"Master Uncle should know that the monkey is not indispensable."
"But without the monkey, Buddhism will suffer a great loss."
The person who is destined to obtain the scriptures is not so easy to replace. Perhaps after Buddhism takes control of the situation, it will be possible to do so. Among the five people in the journey, except the monkey, anyone can be replaced. Even Jin Chanzi was chosen by Tathagata, but the monkey is very special.
It has existed since the creation of the world, and was later used by Nuwa to repair the sky. With its merits and virtues, it developed intelligence, which is why it was able to be born today. Its merits and virtues are constantly increasing, and it is also the cause of the great catastrophe. Without the monkey, I am afraid that even Tathagata would not be sure whether the general trend can proceed smoothly.
This is the meaning of the monkey’s existence. The monkey is like a key, and only this key can open up the trend.
Even if you want to replace it, you have to wait until the monkey opens the door before you can get rid of it.
If we do something in advance, there will be a lot of uncertainties. This catastrophe is an opportunity for the rise of Buddhism, and Tathagata obviously does not dare to block it.
Tathagata couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart. It turned out that he had been controlled without realizing it.
"What does Master Uncle want?"
"Don't worry. The spread of the catastrophe will not benefit anyone. The monkey will appear, but you will need to talk to one later. Before that, you don't have to worry about it."
Talk! With whom!
As Tathagata looked at the hazy secrets of heaven, his heart began to become clouded, as if there was a hand mercilessly manipulating the trajectory of his fate.
"I hope this is as Master Uncle said."
Tathagata cannot force Taishang Laojun, nor can Bodhi, let alone him. Since he cannot change Taishang Laojun's will, he can only do as Taishang Laojun says.
This is why Tathagata doesn’t like Tai Shang.
There is an inequality in strength, an inequality in status, and an inequality in discussing things. If Tathagata was not forced to do so, he would never come. This situation was even more within Tathagata's expectations, but there was no other way. Even though he knew it was impossible, Tathagata had to come and try. This was an attitude.
Watching Tathagata leave, Taishang Laojun also laughed.
He was even thinking in his heart, wondering what Tathagata would feel if one day he saw that the person he would face was Jia Le, who practiced the Shangqing Immortal Technique.
Thinking of this, Taishang Laojun was actually a little happy. He was just a thought among the Three Pure Ones, but he was not like Taishang who had no emotions and six desires. Normal emotions could be found in Taishang Laojun.
Great Leiyin Temple.
"My Buddha!"
A group of Buddhas looked at Tathagata, waiting for his answer. The journey to the West was related to the future of cultivation for each of them. The prosperity of Buddhism would ultimately benefit them. Whether they could make further progress depended entirely on this time. How could they not care?
Shaked his head.
The Tathagata looked towards the three Bodhisattvas.
"Pangu killed three thousand demon gods and created the world. Among them, there was a demon god whose origin was divided into four parts. They drifted in the world and became four monkeys. They were no longer in the five elements and transcended the three realms. They were the four monkeys of chaos.
The first is the Spiritual Stone Monkey, who is able to change his appearance, know the weather, know the terrain, and move the stars.
The second is the six-eared macaque, who is good at listening, can understand reason, knows the past and the future, and understands everything;
The third is the Tongbi Ape, who can hold the sun and the moon, shrink thousands of mountains, distinguish good and bad, and play with the universe;
The fourth is the red-buttock horse monkey, who knows yin and yang, understands human affairs, is good at going in and out, and avoids death and prolongs life.
These four monkeys do not fall into any of the ten categories, and are not even considered to be within the two categories.
The stone monkey destined to obtain Buddhist scriptures is none other than the Spiritual Stone Monkey. Because of his contribution in mending the sky, he was sent out to meet the calamity. Originally, he should have been the most suitable key to unlock the calamity, but now an accident has happened. Although the Supreme Lord promised that the stone monkey will be born on time, since this is related to the prosperity of our Buddhism, we naturally cannot pin all our hopes on the Spiritual Stone Monkey.
Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, and Manjusri Bodhisattva, please search for the remaining three of the Four Mischief Monkeys. These four monkeys are not among the Five Elements and are beyond the Three Realms. Their whereabouts are difficult to determine and cannot be estimated.
The Six-Eared Macaque was the first to be born. In the beginning, he could not find the right path because of the Taoist ancestor's words "the teaching will not be passed on to the Six-Eared". His whereabouts became a mystery and he was the hardest to find.
The red-butted horse monkey once briefly entered the human world, but it was good at deducing yin and yang. It was the most cunning and had to be found in the water.
The Tonggi macaque has never been seen in the world, and we don’t know how many there are, so we can only rely on luck.
I will trouble you three Bodhisattvas.”
"Follow the Dharma."
Guanyin, Manjusri and Samantabhadra acted upon hearing the order. No matter which lineage they belonged to before, they were now bound to Buddhism. Although Duobao and they originally belonged to two different camps, after coming to Buddhism, they were more useful. Compared with the native Buddhist factions such as Maitreya and Medicine Master, they became Duobao's natural allies.
Huaihe River!
Jiuyou stood on the Huai River, looking at the rolling torrent, and felt a little excited.
He had just taken advantage of the magic luck to raise his cultivation to the peak of Taiyi Golden Immortal, and he had comprehended the magic laws to perfection. He was only one step away from Daluo Golden Immortal. To achieve Daluo, he still needed a trigger to break through. However, Jiuyou was not in a hurry. He could not eat hot tofu in a hurry. At this moment, he had already taken a big step forward. If he took a bigger step, it would be easy to cause trouble.
His coming to Huaishui was not without reason. What Tathagata could think of, Jiale could naturally think of as well.
Now that you have accepted the monkey as your disciple, you must maximize the benefits.
In the last world, the Buddhist sect was able to exchange the Six-Eared Macaque for Sun Wukong midway, and this world will naturally be no exception. Although the monkey is the key to the catastrophe, the Buddhist sect can't stop them from doing anything weird. So in order to eliminate future troubles, it is better to keep the other three of the Four Monkeys under control.
The Huai River is one of the Four Great Rivers, along with the Yangtze River, the Yellow River and the Ji River, and is the most powerful waterway in the world.
The status of the Four Water Gods is only half a level lower than that of the Four Dragon Kings. They are qualified to take a seat at the Yao Chi Banquet.
Floods in the world have always originated from the Four Rivers, so there are many secrets hidden in these four rivers.
According to legend, Dayu, the last of the Five Emperors, was enthroned as emperor for his contributions to flood control.
He controlled countless floods in his life, and the Huai River was one of them.
In order to control the flood, Dayu went to Tongbai Mountain three times. However, every time there was a strong wind, lightning and thunder, rocks howling, trees screaming, Tubo blocking the river, and Tianlao marching. There was an invisible and violent force that prevented Dayu from starting the flood control work.
Dayu was very angry when he found out that he had encountered a monster. He called a meeting of the gods and tribal leaders and ordered Kuilong to eliminate the monster. At this time, the tribal leaders of Tongbai Mountain and other nearby mountains were afraid that a war would harm them, so they all showed fear and begged Dayu to withdraw the order to eliminate the monster.
Seeing that the tribal leaders of Hongmeng, Shangzhang, Doulu, and Lilou were afraid of fighting and unwilling to fight, Yu locked them up.
Only then did they realize that the monster they were sheltering was actually the Huaiwo water monster - Wuzhiqi.
Wuzhiqi was eloquent and knew the depth of the Yangtze and Huai Rivers, as well as the height, distance and proximity of the terrain. He looked like an ape, with a narrow nose, a high forehead, a green body, a white head, golden eyes and snowy teeth. When he stretched out his neck, it seemed to be a hundred feet long, and his strength was greater than that of a nine-headed elephant. Whether he was fighting, jumping, or running fast, he was very fast and often disappeared in the blink of an eye.
At that time, Wuzhiqi was actually the water god of the Huai River. Dayu's main method of flood control was dredging, which was actually to disperse the essence of the Huai River's water veins to rivers, lakes and reservoirs everywhere. This was harmful rather than beneficial to Wuzhiqi's practice. In long run, his status as the water god would be diluted, so he stopped Dayu from controlling the flood.
The two sides fought fiercely at the foot of Tongbai Mountain. Yu sent Tonglu and Wumuyu to fight, but they were both unable to defeat Wuzhiqi. Finally, he sent Gengchen to fight and finally captured Wuzhiqi.
Thousands of monsters, such as Chipi, Huanhu, Mumei, Shuiling, Shanyao, Shiguai, etc., saw Wuzhiqi being captured, and they all rushed forward shouting, wanting to snatch Wuzhiqi away. Gengchen wielded the Fangtian Ji, and together with the gods, he easily killed the mob.
Although Wuzhiqi was guilty of obstructing the flood control, Dayu did not order Wuzhiqi to be beheaded. Instead, he ordered his men to lock Wuzhiqi's neck with a large iron chain, put copper bells through his nostrils, and finally pressed him at the foot of Guishan Mountain south of the Huai River.
That is where Jiuyou is at the moment.
The name of Guishan is not without reason. This Guishan was originally transformed from a giant black tortoise. Legend has it that this turtle likes to sleep. Unlike other mythical beasts, sleeping is a waste of time for other mythical beasts, but when the divine turtle sleeps it is practicing. The longer it sleeps, the better the effect of its practice. This Guishan is a giant turtle, but after one round of practice, it fell into an eternal sleep and slowly turned into a mountain.
Wuzhiqi, the stone monkey who tried to stop Dayu from controlling the flood, had already reached the level of Taiyi Jinxian.
Even if Dayu locked the meridians of Wuzhiqi's limbs and prevented him from using his magic power, he could not be suppressed in an ordinary place. The reason why he was suppressed under the Turtle Mountain was because Dayu knew that the magic of Turtle Mountain was enough to suppress Wuzhiqi.
Under Turtle Mountain .
A monkey was sitting cross-legged and practicing. It had a green body, a white head, golden eyes and snow-white teeth. Even though its nostrils were locked and its head and neck were held, it did not look embarrassed.
This monkey is none other than Wuzhiqi. He has even forgotten how long he has been practicing under Turtle Mountain. In fact, with his current abilities, he is already capable of leaving Turtle Mountain. However, Dayu suppressed it here. It was not just suppression, but also a chance for him.
The four monkeys who cause chaos in the world are doomed to fail and are not favored by luck. Wherever they go, disasters will befall them.
On the contrary, under the Turtle Mountain, because of the suppression of Dayu's luck, Wuzhiqi can avoid disaster and practice with peace of mind. Even if someone wants to save Wuzhiqi, Wuzhiqi is unwilling to go out.
In fact, Wuzhiqi is the red-buttock horse monkey among the four mischievous monkeys. He understands yin and yang, understands human affairs, is good at going in and out, and avoids death and prolongs life .
They are most sensitive to calamities, so they would rather practice here without freedom than be involved in calamities in the human world.
However, when Wuzhiqi practiced today, he always felt frightened and uneasy.
"Could it be that something big is going to happen?"
Wuzhiqi murmured, feeling somewhat restless, until a black lotus appeared in front of him, which further confirmed Wuzhiqi's guess. Looking at the black lotus that had transformed into an eleventh-grade lotus, the warning signs in Wuzhiqi's heart had already exceeded the warning line.
"Who?"
Jiuyou slowly revealed his figure, "Red-butted horse monkey, you really were suppressed here on purpose, but now you have been targeted by the Buddhist sect, and it is impossible for you to continue to avoid disaster here, so, just follow me."
Buddhism!
Wuzhiqi's heart sank even more. Among all the great forces in the world, Wuzhiqi was most wary of Buddhism. Nothing good would happen if he was targeted by Buddhism. He tried to deduced the truth of Jiuyou's words, but he didn't get any results. However, this explained everything. If the words were false, the signs would not be so vague.
But Buddhism is not good, and the person in front of him is obviously not much better. Buddhism is targeting him, but this person wants to be the enemy of Buddhism. The trouble is self-evident.
"And who are you?"
Wuzhiqi looked cautiously at Jiuyou, who looked like a cloud of fog in front of him. Looking back on what he had seen before, he had never seen anyone more dangerous than Jiuyou.
"Human, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say demon, Wuzhiqi, do you know?"
magic!
Wuzhiqi couldn't help but open his eyes wide, he suddenly felt that Buddhism seemed to be pretty good. The struggle between the demons has always existed since the Demon Ancestor established the Demon Realm. Wuzhiqi naturally knew the demons, which were not easy to deal with. However, the demons in the past only took advantage of the situation to control some greedy and ambitious people and disrupt the Three Realms.
This was the first time Wuzhiqi had seen a true demon enter the world, which made him even more vigilant.
"During this calamity, the devil will grow and the Tao will decline. My demon world will also descend upon the three realms. Wuzhiqi, this is an opportunity for you, an opportunity to transcend. If you grasp it, you may directly enter the Daluo realm. At that time, you can control your own destiny. What do you think? Should I do it, or should you do it yourself?"
Only then did Wuzhiqi realize that while he was speaking, the black lotus had already completely enveloped him.
It turned out that Jiuyou didn't come here to discuss things with him. From the moment Jiuyou found him, he was already a fish on the chopping board. So why was he asking?
Although he was depressed, Wuzhiqi was unwilling to be bound like this. The devil was good at bewitching people's hearts. Even if Jiuyou said something fantastic, Wuzhiqi didn't dare to believe even one tenth of it.
However, just when Wuzhiqi wanted to do something, he discovered that the black lotus had already entered his soul.
Wuzhiqi was even more shocked when he saw this. How could this happen? How could it be possible that he didn't feel anything at all!
He hurriedly tried to clear the black lotus from his soul, but only after doing so did he realize how difficult the black lotus was to deal with. The more he moved, the more the black lotus entangled him, and in the end, it had the tendency to control his entire soul.
“What have you done!”
Wuzhiqi glared at Jiuyou. He couldn't help but be anxious at this moment. He heard that the demons were good at controlling all living things and turning them into puppets. This had already touched his bottom line.
"It's just to help you make the right choice."
As soon as he finished speaking, Jiuyou smiled evilly, and Wuzhiqi completely lost consciousness, and was then directly controlled by the black lotus.
"My Lord!"
Looking at Wuzhiqi standing quietly and obediently, Jiuyou nodded with satisfaction. In some aspects, the devil's way is really not comparable to the Xuanmen way, especially the domineering power contained therein.
Before he showed up, Jiuyou began to use his magic to control Wuzhiqi. However, with Jiuyou's current strength, no one could resist him unless they reached the Golden Immortal level, and Wuzhiqi was no exception.
I felt something in my heart and looked towards the Huai River. I saw a lion and a man walking towards me.
"It's really not slow coming."
Jiuyou murmured softly, and disappeared with Wuzhiqi.
Manjushri Bodhisattva looked at the Huai River in front of him.
"It should be here."
After leaving the Great Leiyin Temple, Manjushri Bodhisattva searched for a while and finally found some traces of the red-butted horse monkey. He thought that Wuzhiqi might be the red-butted horse monkey, so he did not hesitate and went straight to the Huai River to investigate whether it was the red-butted horse monkey. It should be suppressed under the Turtle Mountain.
Riding the green lion, he slowly descended.
With just one thought, he swept across the entire Guishan Mountain and found no trace of Wuzhiqi. Looking at the chains on the ground, Manjushri Bodhisattva was also a little stunned.
“Run away!”
After feeling it carefully, I didn't gain anything. It seemed as if it had really disappeared out of thin air.
"Could it be that this red-butted monkey really has such a good ability to make such calculations, and knew I was coming, so it just slipped away?"
Manjushri Bodhisattva was very skeptical.
Manjusri is not an ordinary person. His cultivation has reached the level of Daluo Jinxian, and he has also achieved fruit status. If he could be deduced by a guy who is not even a Daluo Jinxian, then this guy's ability is too great.
Reluctantly, he continued searching along the Huai River for a few more rounds, but ultimately found nothing.
Manjushri Bodhisattva then accepted this fact somewhat unwillingly, as if he had really been run away by it.
Glanced at the blue lion.
"You continue to stay here and search. I will go back and report the situation here."
Manjushri has basically confirmed that Wuzhiqi is the red-buttocked horse monkey. Otherwise, why would Wuzhiqi run away? What makes Manjushri Bodhisattva even more worried is whether there are other human traces. Manjushri Bodhisattva has always found it difficult to accept the fact that Wuzhiqi was able to calculate in advance that he would come.
The blue lion nodded and stayed, watching Manjushri Bodhisattva leave, and his eyes were filled with excitement.
The taste of freedom.
After being enslaved by Manjusri, Qingshi had no freedom, so how could he be loyal? He was originally one of the seven immortals who served under the seat of Shangqing Daozu, but now he has become a mount, and the mount of Manjusri, who is also a second-generation Jade Purity. This is simply a disgrace to his master. Looking for someone? Stop it, take this opportunity to enjoy yourself and see if there is a chance to escape. This is the most important thing.
After looking at the direction, Qingshi left directly.
