Soon, the two came out of the forest and came to a mountain villa with only dozens of people.
Nie Changchuan followed Liu Bochin home and found that this guardian of the mountain was not bragging.
His family was quite well-off. In addition to his old mother and his lovely wife, he also had four or five servants and a large house.
According to Liu Bochin himself, he enjoyed great prestige in the surrounding area. These young and middle-aged servants in his family were actually younger generations sent by the village elders to serve him and serve as his apprentices, learning some skills in the mountains from him.
This skill is not only about hunting, but also about making money and making a living.
Nie Changchuan originally thought that this so-called livelihood was hunting, but when he saw the scene in the courtyard, he realized that he was too narrow-minded.
Although Liu Bochin had never been to school, he had a good brain. He even knew how to raise some young roe deer, tigers and leopards in the yard. After taming their wildness, he would take them to the Tang Dynasty city and sell them to nobles.
Seeing this scene, Nie Changchuan couldn't help but stand in awe.
No wonder he has such a wealthy family, his mentality is very different from that of hunters who only know how to skin and slaughter animals.
Afterwards, Nie Changchuan stayed at Liu Bochin's home for one night.
After having vegetarian food in the evening, Nie Changchuan heard that Liu Bochin's father had passed away not long ago, so he volunteered to recite the mantra for his deceased father, and then prepared enough incense, paper money, and performed a complete set of rituals.
The next day, Liu Bochin and his family were waiting at the door of the guest room before dawn. When they saw Nie Changchuan coming out, they thanked him gratefully, saying that their father had appeared in their dreams last night and asked them to thank the holy monk for his salvation.
Nie Changchuan had expected this. After all, he had enjoyed considerable respect in the underworld since the Land and Water Conference.
When the King of Hell in the underworld sees him reciting the "Nirvana Mantra" for others, he must serve him well to avoid the holy monk's wrath.
He smiled slightly and declined the gifts given by Liu Bochin's family, and only asked Liu Bochin to lead the way for him today.
Liu Bochin tried to persuade him again and again, but Nie Changchuan remained firm in his attitude. Liu Bochin had no choice but to take back the gift of thanks and agree to lead the way.
After breakfast, Liu Bochin's mother and wife hurriedly prepared some coarse flour cakes and gave them to the holy monk as dry food.
Liu Bochin himself picked up a strong bow and took a steel fork, and diligently escorted Nie Changchuan out of the villa.
On the way, Nie Changchuan looked at the mountains in the distance and couldn't help asking, "What is the name of this mountain?"
Liu Bochin sighed and said, "This mountain is called Liangjie Mountain. The eastern half is under the jurisdiction of our Tang Dynasty, and the western half is the territory of Tatar. There are wolves and tigers over there, brave and fierce. Although I am not afraid of them, I have a wife and children at home, so I dare not cross the border easily..."
At this point, Liu Bochin's face showed hesitation and embarrassment.
Nie Changchuan knew what he meant, and immediately said with a smile: "No problem, I will leave on my own when we reach Liangjie Mountain."
Liu Bochin bowed in shame, too embarrassed to say anything else.
Nie Changchuan didn't care and continued to ask, "Donor, you have lived here for a long time, do you know where the Five Elements Mountain is?"
Liu Bochin was slightly startled, and then explained: "Elder, don't you know that the Two Realms Mountain was formerly called the Five Elements Mountain? According to the old people in the countryside, this mountain fell from the sky when Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, and a divine monkey was pressed under the mountain."
"When the Tartars were busy at war and had no time to look east, I went with my father to the foot of the mountain to see him!"
"Oh?" Nie Changchuan's eyes lit up, "So it's right in front of me!"
Sure enough, he knew why a hunter suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He must be an important plot NPC!
Nie Changchuan was very excited and immediately followed Liu Bochin to the Five Elements Mountain.
As soon as I got closer, I heard a thunderous cheer coming from the bottom of the mountain.
"My master is here! My master is here!"
Nie Changchuan smiled knowingly, and immediately went down the mountain regardless of Liu Bochin's dissuasion. When he reached the foot of the mountain, he saw a monkey head covered with weeds and dust.
Seeing Nie Changchuan coming, the monkey's cheering stopped abruptly, and the ecstasy on its face froze.
After a moment, he blinked his fiery eyes and looked in surprise at the bald strong man in front of him. He was nine feet six inches tall, holding a heavy wrought iron weapon, with a cassock draped over his shoulders, revealing his strong pectoral muscles. It was said that a horse could run on his arms and a person could stand on his fists.
"…Who are you?"
Nie Changchuan laughed and said, "You call me Master, but then you ask me who I am. Isn't that contradictory?"
The monkey looked Nie Changchuan up and down and asked suspiciously, "You are the monk sent by the King of the East to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures. How come your appearance is so different from what I imagined..."
Nie Changchuan laughed dumbly: "What do you think I should look like?"
The monkey smacked his lips and said, "Kind eyes, compassionate and sympathetic?"
Nie Changchuan shook his head: "How can someone so kind and gullible as this be able to withstand the various disasters on the journey to the West?"
The monkey thought about it and felt that there was nothing wrong with it, so he nodded and said, "That's the truth."
After that, he said anxiously: "So that Master knows, I am the Monkey King Sun Wukong who caused havoc in the Heavenly Palace five hundred years ago. At that time, I had a small feud with the Buddha of the West Heaven, so I was suppressed here by the Buddha for five hundred years."
"Until not long ago, Guanyin Bodhisattva came here and said that a man from the East would pass by here on his way to obtain Buddhist scriptures. If I become his disciple and protect him on his journey to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures, he would save me..."
"I see." Nie Changchuan nodded, looked at the monkey's fiery eyes, and asked seriously, "In that case, are you willing to follow me to the West to obtain the scriptures?"
The monkey nodded repeatedly and said eagerly, "Of course I am willing, of course I am willing!"
Nie Changchuan stared at him for a while, then suddenly shook his head and said, "I think you are just anxious to get out of this predicament, and you don't really mean it."
The monkey was anxious and assured him quickly: "Master, don't worry. I always know how to repay kindness and never say anything false. Besides, I have already promised the Guanyin Bodhisattva of the South Sea. Even if you don't believe me, you should believe in the Bodhisattva, right?"
"Avalokitesvara?"
Nie Changchuan shook his head and said honestly, "I have fought with her before, and I am afraid she may harbor jealousy. I really cannot believe it!"
"……ah?"
When these words were spoken, not only Sun Wukong, but also Liu Bochin behind Nie Changchuan stood there in a daze.
Nie Changchuan ignored Sun Wukong's dull look and continued to ask seriously, "Sun Wukong, I will ask you again, are you willing to go with me to the West to obtain the scriptures?"
Sun Wukong came back to his senses, ignoring the strange feeling in his heart, and quickly said, "I am willing."
Nie Changchuan nodded and said, "In that case, I will rescue you now."
Sun Wukong was overjoyed when he heard this and quickly said, "Master, there is a golden seal from the Buddha on the top of this mountain. You just need to go up the mountain and uncover the seal, and you can save me!"
Sun Wukong thought that his cheap master would agree immediately, but he didn't expect that this guy would glance at the golden Buddhist scroll on the top of the mountain, shook his head, and said calmly: "Why bother!"
After saying this, he flipped his right hand, took out a copper bowl, and threw it to his side.
In an instant, the copper bowl burst into golden light, covering Liu Bochin, who was standing behind him with a confused look on his face.
After protecting Liu Bochin, Nie Changchuan leaped up into the air, his whole body glowing with golden light, like a living Buddha, spanning the sky, and looking down at the mountains and rivers below with a solemn appearance.
Seeing this scene, Sun Wukong and Liu Bochin both looked stunned.
The former stared with a pair of fiery eyes and couldn't help but exclaimed: "Immaculate golden body?!"
Before he finished speaking, Nie Changchuan's eyes widened with anger, and he slammed forward with his palm, shouting, "Open it for me!"
"roar!!"
Brilliant golden light shone in the sky, and a faint dragon roar came from behind Nie Changchuan, resounding throughout the world.
As Sun Wukong stared blankly, he saw a golden palm as wide as a hundred feet falling from the sky, slamming down on the top of the Five Elements Mountain and colliding with the golden scroll with the six-character mantra of Buddhism written on it.
"boom!"
The golden post emitted Buddha's light, but in front of the golden palm print of the same origin, it lost its terrifying suppressive power.
In just a moment, the golden Buddhist post shattered, exploded into golden light spots all over the sky, and disappeared into the air.
The huge golden palm print rumbled down, starting from the top of the mountain, splitting the Five Elements Mountain with great force and smashing into Sun Wukong's body.
Fortunately, the golden palm print had no power at this time, and only made Sun Wukong feel a sense of oppression like a gust of wind.
“Boom boom—”
With a deafening roar, the tall Five Elements Mountain split in the middle and collapsed to both sides.
Sun Wukong lay on the rubble at the foot of the mountain, staring blankly at the golden monk slowly descending from the sky.
In a trance, he seemed to have turned into the helpless little monkey in Tathagata's palm that year.
This scene was so deeply engraved in his heart that a hundred years later, in the Fighting Buddha Cave Mansion on Mount Emei, Sun Wukong still told this story to Chenxiang with emotion.
"Back then, at the foot of the Five Elements Mountain, my master came to me. I asked him to take down the post and save me. He smiled and said there was no need to bother. Then he flew up into the sky, revealed his golden body, and split the Five Elements Mountain with one palm..."
Hearing the words of Sun Wukong, who was already the Fighting Buddha at that time, the young Chenxiang's face was full of longing and admiration.
But what Chenxiang didn't know was that when he left the cave and prepared to practice, Sun Wukong silently lit a cigarette and recalled the subsequent story.
At that time, the bald monk who had just split the Five Elements Mountain appeared in front of Sun Wukong, emitting golden light all over his body. He then looked into his eyes and asked him to think carefully again, whether he wanted to go to the West with his master or to be sent to the West by his master...