Chapter 42 Asking for Directions
Zhen Yuanzi laughed and said, "You wicked and unruly devil, you are extremely rude. How dare you spout such nonsense!"
He refused to release Bao'e, brandishing his jade whisk, intending to kill the earth demon.
Unfortunately, this demon absorbed his accumulated distracting thoughts over the years and also possessed boundless magical power, no different from his own supernatural abilities.
The thousands of golden rays he unleashed vanished into the darkness in the blink of an eye, disappearing without a trace.
Pian Bao'e struggled wildly in his sleeve. Zhen Yuanzi said, "This naughty thing is so unruly. We must beat her to death before we'll stop."
The earth demon said, “Great Immortal, your heart is righteous, but your cultivation is so bitter and lonely. In this boundless darkness, why not travel with someone? It would be better than traveling alone.”
Zhen Yuanzi meditated and laughed, "As the saying goes, 'When everyone is bustling about, it's like enjoying a grand feast or climbing a spring terrace. But I alone am still, and there is no sign of it.' Enough said. My heart is calm and I do not envy the joy of others enjoying a grand feast or appreciating spring. You wicked demon, you are not worthy of my heart."
The earth demon heard it too.
He laughed and said, "He's a restless fellow. Just like the one you saw when you were discussing Taoism in Shangqing Heaven that day."
Zhen Yuanzi was momentarily distracted.
He once discussed the Dao with Bao'e's master. At that time, she had not been an immortal for long and was still in the mortal world, often traveling with her master.
He is a lazy person who loves to idle.
While her master was discussing the Dao, she leaned to one side and dozed off.
The immortal was used to it, letting her use him as a chair or his legs as a pillow, seemingly without finding anything wrong with it.
He laughed and said, "If we continue to indulge him like this, how can we raise such an unruly disciple?"
The immortal replied with a smile: "Her nature is like water, flowing freely in all directions. Just don't let her go into that filthy and muddy water."
Zhen Yuanzi simply smiled and remained silent.
This kind of teaching method made Bao'e lose her sense of hierarchy. When she woke up, she would rummage around in his sleeves, looking for something to eat.
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Zhen Yuanzi regained his composure and said, "It is his nature, and he cannot be restrained."
The earth demon asked, "Is such unrestrained lust also part of one's nature?"
Zhen Yuanzi's expression darkened slightly, but he didn't think about the scene he had just encountered. Instead, he recalled a time when he was playing chess with his master on a certain mountain rock.
Bao'e somehow got herself into a romantic entanglement and was being chased by a fairy with a sword.
She mumbled that she had practiced some kind of magical turtle technique that allowed her to shrink back when she needed to, and that she wanted to use her master as a turtle shell.
The wandering immortal then led her to a cave, with the little immortal carrying a sword following closely behind.
Knowing that this wandering immortal possessed many magical treasures and rarely saw him wielding his powers in combat, he went along to take a look.
Unexpectedly, the cave contained such a scene.
The wandering immortal tied up the little immortal and placed her aside, but then he held the precious fairy and made her sit on his hands.
He casually ground the millstone with one hand, slightly rubbing it, and asked her, "Where did you just fall off the bed? You're so disheveled that you didn't even remember to take a bath before rushing off in all directions."
Bao'e gasped, "Master, it's too late! I was sleeping with his brother when he tried to kill me. He swung his sword down, and I was so frightened that I almost forgot where my legs were or how to use them. I didn't have time to bathe. Good brothers, truly good brothers, only those two have real feelings for me, treating me like a lump of soft mud that can be hacked at will."
"Don't talk nonsense!" the little fairy shouted. "That sword fell on my brother's head, how could it have struck you? My brother and I are about the same age, how can you only see my brother? Bao'e, Bao'e, good sister, marry me, and I'll pretend this never happened. The Great Immortal is here, I'll be your protector."
The immortal didn't look at him, but asked only, "Have you had your fill?"
Bao'e replied truthfully, "No, no. He arrived when we were only halfway there."
The immortal's expression remained unchanged, as if he were dealing with nothing more than a trivial matter.
He simply rubbed his hands together, making a sticky, grinding sound.
This made Bao'e tremble and feel numb, and she groaned as she wrapped her arms around his neck, waiting until she was satisfied.
-
Zhen Yuanzi composed himself.
Before the commotion in his sleeve had subsided, he suddenly asked, "Zhu Bao'e, with your master being so indulgent, why do you want to distance yourself from him?"
There was no response from within the sleeve; it only struggled more fiercely, as if trying to break free.
The earth demon said, "Why not follow the natural order like that wandering immortal?"
Zhen Yuanzi closed his eyes and sat in meditation, remaining silent for a long time.
Earth Demon: "This bet is a bit difficult for you. If you release this demon, you will win. How about it? I will reappear and bet with you on the outcome."
Zhen Yuanzi laughed and said, "Don't make a fuss about spilled things, just meditate. Even if it takes three or five years, or a thousand or ten thousand years, it won't be difficult."
“You can wait, but the demon cannot,” the earth demon said. “If too much time passes, she will probably turn into a pool of blood. Oh well, it is her fate.”
Zhen Yuanzi remained motionless, his expression unchanged in the slightest.
But the movement inside the sleeve is as small as possible.
After a long while, he suddenly said, "You scoundrel, don't try anything strange. I know you have some skills. How about I grant your wish and we have a duel?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he opened his sleeves.
Unexpectedly, his sleeves were empty; there was no Zhu Bao'e to be found.
The earth demon laughed loudly: "Zhen Yuanzi, you and I are of the same origin, and now we are together again!"
A sudden dizzying sensation followed, and then the surroundings gradually brightened.
Zhen Yuanzi opened his eyes and saw Bao'e squatting beside him, sweeping his face with a leaf.
She stared blankly and said, "Great Immortal, how could you suddenly fall asleep without telling me?"
The immortal looked up and saw that the twenty-eight fruits had reappeared on the ginseng fruit tree.
Not a single one was missing.
He calmed himself and returned to his spiritual state, silently reciting the Heart Sutra, yet his worries did not diminish in the slightest.
"Zhu Bao'e, you may go." He draped the jade whisk over his arm, turned away from her, and said, "It is time for you to go west."
He left, leaving Bao'e standing there, bewildered.
The next day, Zhen Yuanzi hosted a banquet, during which he asked Xiao Xian to fetch a few ginseng fruits for Tang Sanzang and his disciples.
When Sanzang saw that the ginseng fruit looked like a child, he dared not eat it. It was only after the immortal persuaded him that he realized it was a celestial treasure and ate one.
Good Bao'e ate several ginseng fruits in one go, swallowing them whole.
After the banquet, the three masters and their disciples, along with their four horses, set off westward once more.
As she left, Zhen Yuanzi called her: "Zhu Bao'e".
The fool looked at him and asked, "What did the great immortal call me?"
He looked at her for a moment and said, "It's nothing, go on."
Bao'e then slung the rake over her shoulder, muttering to herself, and walked away.
Bai Gu knew that Sanzang and his party were heading west and could not bear the pain of separation, so he secretly wanted to follow them.
But before they could even leave the gate of Wuzhuang Temple, they were swept away by the immortal's sleeve.
The immortal released him, but said, "You lewd and unruly demon, your mind is fickle, but you also have some ability to change. From now on, stop committing evil deeds and stay in this Wuzhuang Temple to cultivate with me and atone for your sins."
Bai Gu's face turned deathly pale, but he had nowhere to escape.
Meanwhile, Tang Sanzang and his disciples continued their journey westward. After passing White Tiger Ridge, they went through Bowl Mountain and the Kingdom of Baoxiang. However, because Wukong was not there, the journey was filled with untold hardships and endless fatigue.
On this day, as they were traveling, they were suddenly confronted by a high mountain blocking their path.
Having endured much hardship, Sanzang felt bitter upon seeing this and said, "Disciples, this mountain is treacherous, and there may be jackals and demons among them. We must be careful."
Bao'e complained, "Master, even if there are jackals and demons, you, this useless, soft-hearted monk, will probably worry that they can't walk and will rush forward to help them."
These words angered Sanzang, who frowned and sighed, "Wumiao, this journey has been full of hardships, and I only wanted to offer a few pointers. How could you treat this poor monk so disrespectfully?"
Bao'e was already in a bad mood. When the Monkey King was around, she suffered, but she was never like this now, rarely closing her eyes, living in constant fear and hunger.
Frustrated, she couldn't help but huff, "Back then, my senior brother served you wholeheartedly, but you treated him like a beast and abused him. I thought you were someone who could take a scolding, but now you can't even stand a joke."
The monk made a sorrowful expression and said no more.
After walking on this steep cliff for a long time, he suddenly said, "Wumiao, Wujing, I'm a little hungry. Let's go beg for some vegetarian food."
Bao'e happened to be hungry too, so she perked up and said, "I'll go, I'll go! Wujing, you take good care of Master, don't let him be eaten by jackals."
Sha Wujing agreed, and she continued walking, dragging her rake.
As Bao'e was walking, a woodcutter suddenly appeared in front of her.
She was exhausted from walking, so she hurried forward and said, "Good sister, don't go any further, let me ask you something."
The woodcutter stopped; she was a dark-skinned, thin woman.
She laughed and said, "Where are you going, all alone in this desolate wilderness?"
“We need alms.” Bao’e asked her, “Sister Qiao, are there any houses nearby? We are starving, and we haven’t seen any wild fruits or vegetables along the way.”
"Are you really starving?"
"Exactly, it's almost deflated to the size of a thin sheet of paper, ready to be blown away by the wind. If some child who doesn't recognize it were to fly it like a kite."
The woodcutter laughed loudly, then suddenly took out a steaming hot bun from her bosom: "You lazy, good-for-nothing, can you eat this bun?"
"Yes, yes!" Bao'e nodded hurriedly and reached out to take it.
The woodcutter raised her hand, preventing her from taking it, and asked, "Is your journey to the West to obtain the scriptures tiring?"
“Sister,” Bao’e stared at her blankly, “you are actually a fortune teller who can calculate, with such supernatural powers, knowing that I was going to go on a pilgrimage.”
The woodcutter couldn't help but laugh, handed her the steamed bun, and asked, "Are you tired?"
Bao'e nodded earnestly: "It's a bit tiring."
She took the steamed bun, hurriedly threw it into her mouth, and swallowed it whole.
After she finished eating, she patted her empty stomach and said, "Good steamed buns, but there aren't enough. Eating one is like drinking the wind."
“One is enough,” the woodcutter asked her. “You’ve recklessly ventured into the mountains; do you even know where you are?”
"Is it a mountain?" Bao'e asked.
"This mountain is called Pingdingshan. There is a Lotus Cave in the mountain. There are two demons in that cave. They drew a picture and posted it everywhere, saying that they wanted to capture monks, and specifically capture monks named 'Tang Seng'. Do you know that?"
"Oh dear! You've run into trouble!" Bao'e asked anxiously. "Good girl, do you have any paper or pen?"
"What do you need paper and pen for?"
Bao'e muttered to herself, "Change my master's name and paint some patterns on his face so he won't get caught."
The woodcutter laughed and said, "Changing just your master isn't enough."
How so?
"Those two demons also want to capture a demon named 'Zhu Bao'e,' did you know that?"
"Oh dear, oh dear! We've run into trouble!" Bao'e exclaimed angrily. "When did I ever attract such a nemesis? Someone must be using my name to commit evil deeds everywhere. Well, it's still early, so let's just divide our luggage and head back home, so we don't get boiled together."
She was deep in thought when she suddenly heard the woodcutter say, “Wu Miao, it is often said that ‘the cause of all suffering is greed.’ You must earnestly cultivate yourself.”
Bao'e looked up upon hearing this, but the woodcutter in front of her had vanished, leaving only a lingering fragrance.
She looked around and nodded: "Good sister, the steamed buns you make are like the wind, and you are just like the wind, disappearing without a trace."
She was so engrossed in her mutterings that she didn't see the auspicious clouds and colorful mist floating in the distant sky.
It turns out that this woodcutter was a Bodhisattva in disguise. Now she has revealed her true form, with eyebrows like crescent moons and eyes like twin stars.
It was Guanyin, wearing a tasseled headdress, a plain blue robe, and holding a vase and willow branch in her hand.
She looked at Bao'e from afar, her jade-like face smiling, but she shook her head slightly and sighed softly.
However, in a short while, the auspicious light faded into the distance, and the Bodhisattva disappeared.
Bao'e, however, was unaware of this and, fearing the demon, turned back.
Unexpectedly, she soon encountered a group of demons.
Leading the group was a young man with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes. He held his sword to his chest, his eyes fixed on her, but he asked with a smile, "Who comes here?"
Bao'e sensed something was wrong, so she lowered her head and mumbled, "It's not a person."
The little demon hurriedly reported: "Your Majesty, she said it's not a person."
The demon asked, "If you're not human, how can you speak?"
Bao'e remained silent.
After waiting for a while, the little demon hurriedly reported again: "Your Majesty, it is a silent one."
The demon said, "Bring that silent one, the one that isn't human, and take a closer look at what it looks like."
The group of lesser demons pulled Bao'e aside, while another lesser demon took out a portrait and carefully compared it.
Remembering what the woodcutter had said, Bao'e quickly lowered her head, wishing she could hide her face inside her collar, leaving only her messy head sticking out.
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Author's Note: I've sorted things out today, and the stories I still need to write include: the Golden Horned King and the Silver Horned King, the Women's Kingdom (the Scorpion Demon), the True and False Monkey King, the Spider Demon, and the Jade Rabbit [with upright ears and a rabbit head]. However, I might have to revise or delete some parts depending on the situation.
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