Chapter 73 The hardships of the past...
All that could be heard was the gentle tinkling of jade pendants, and the fragrance wafting in the air.
The traveler looked up.
High above, it was the Moon Goddess who stopped him.
But look at her, with her willow-leaf eyebrows and red lips, she has the appearance of a fairy untouched by the mortal world.
She raised her hand and pointed at Mao Er with her finger.
The traveler bowed and said, "Lord Taiyin, I failed to avoid you, I am so sorry, so sorry!"
“Great Sage, I have come here for this Rabbit.” The Moon Goddess first looked at Zhu Bao’e, a smile on her face, then glanced at the clouds in the sky, “Guanghan, now that you have come, why not show yourself?”
The Moon Goddess appeared in mid-air, with an elegant and refined appearance, followed by the lively Moon Laurel Goddess.
The Moon Goddess, with a calm and composed expression, descended from the clouds and said, “Great Sage, do not kill this rabbit spirit. She is the Jade Rabbit who pounds the Mysterious Frost Elixir in my Moon Palace. When she saw Tianpeng descend to the mortal realm, she secretly opened the golden lock and broke out of the palace.”
Upon hearing this, Guanghan seemed to glance at her.
Bao'e ignored him and stared blankly at the laurel: "No, laurel, you smell even more fragrant now. Come down and play with me."
The Moon Laurel Immortal also wanted to descend from the clouds, but after being glanced at by the Moon Goddess, he had no choice but to hold back and said to her, "Bao'e, hurry up and get through this tribulation, then I'll make you some syrup cakes."
Bao'e nodded: "Good laurel, good laurel, it's making my mouth water."
The Moon Laurel Immortal couldn't help but chuckle, wanting to speak to her further, but Guanghan had already spoken: "Great Sage, when this Jade Rabbit descended to the mortal realm, he was indecisive, fearing that if he became human, he would lose his memory and it would be inconvenient for him to search for people. He also feared that if he became a demon, although he would have his memories, he would be questioned by the Heavenly Court. So his soul was split in two. One half became a sickly rabbit demon, and the other half became an unconscious human. After his demon body died, he wanted to reunite his soul and wait for Zhu Bao'e to give him a wisp of demonic energy, so that he could completely hide his tracks and evade the Heavenly Court's investigation."
The traveler laughed and said, "In that case, it's thanks to Wu Miao's steadfast mind that I've achieved this."
Bao'e said, "Senior brother, I told you long ago that I am not the same as before, but I still need to remember the stance training!"
"Exactly, exactly!" the Monkey King asked with a smile. "Immortal Lord Guanghan, this cunning demon is extremely sly. How should we deal with her?"
Guanghan said, "Now that I have seen through his demonic nature, he has neither harmed your master nor caused any harm to anyone. I beg your forgiveness and allow me to take him away."
The Great Sage said, “Of course, of course! But if he disappears without a trace, the king probably won’t believe it. I hope the Immortal Lord can do me a favor and provide the king with proof.”
Guanghan: "What the Great Sage says is very true."
He then led the Moon Laurel Immortal Lord, intending to take Mao Er to the border of the Indian Kingdom.
Mao Er stared intently at Bao E, wishing he could cut out his heart and show it to her.
The simpleton stared back at him blankly and said, "Brother, what are you looking at me for?"
Although Mao Er could not move, he could still speak: "Bao'e, we will meet again someday."
Upon hearing this, Guanghan frowned slightly and casually took him away.
The king, having witnessed his son fight the pilgrim to the sky before transforming into a gentle breeze, was terrified and drenched in sweat. Even with the monk's comforting words, he was still sweating profusely.
Only when the Great Sage called him out, and Guanghan, in his presence, commanded Mao Er to transform into a rabbit with snow-white fur and red eyes, did he regain his composure and return to his divine form, bowing and thanking the sky.
Guanghan had just retrieved the Jade Rabbit.
But as soon as he held the jade rabbit in his arms and placed his hand on its head, he uncontrollably probed its sea of consciousness and saw how he and Zhu Bao'e made love day and night, enjoying their pleasure to the fullest.
His face grew colder, and in a flash, he tossed the jade rabbit to the laurel tree, brushing the rabbit fur off his sleeve as well.
Laurel hurriedly caught it.
Guanghan suppressed her anger and was about to leave, but then stopped and asked Zhu Bao'e, "Zhu Bao'e, do you have anything to say?"
“No.” Bao’e said blankly.
It turns out that back in the Heavenly Palace, she had been attracted to Guanghan because of his handsome appearance.
Unexpectedly, this man was cold-hearted, and she gradually found him uninteresting, so she associated with him less.
But there are two oddities.
First, this person often asked her if she had anything to say, but he acted like a schoolteacher.
Secondly, he couldn't say anything particularly pleasing, but if she didn't speak to him, he would show obvious displeasure, just like he was doing now.
Bao'e didn't quite understand this person, so she simply stopped talking to him.
Guanghan lowered her eyes, her expression unreadable.
Yuegui sensed that he was in a bad mood, but didn't know why, so she asked, "Immortal Lord, what should we do with this Jade Rabbit?"
"Locked in the Moon Palace," Guanghan said. "He may not leave without an order."
After saying this, he rode away on a colorful cloud and went straight to the Moon Palace.
Yuegui glanced at Bao'e a few times, but had no choice but to follow closely behind.
The Moon Goddess asked Bao'e with a smile, "Zhu Bao'e, do you find the journey to the West arduous and tiring?"
Bao'e nodded: "Good sister, I am a little tired."
“Mount Ling is right before us,” Taiyin said with a smile. “You must calm your anxious heart.”
Bao'e bowed and thanked her.
Then the Moon Goddess also rode away on a cloud.
After that night, to thank the monks for their kindness in subduing the demon, the king held a grand banquet and entertained them for four or five days.
They were so eager to obtain the scriptures that he tried to persuade them to stay, but to no avail. He then offered them gold and silver as a token of his gratitude, but they refused to accept a single penny and took their leave.
Meanwhile, the four travelers headed west, passing through Ling County in Tongtai Prefecture. As they continued westward, the scenery along the way, with its rare flowers and herbs, ancient cypresses and pines, gradually changed from their usual landscape. The people were also kind and the families were making offerings to monks.
They camped overnight and traveled by day until they came upon a tall, magnificent building, where a young Taoist boy came to greet them.
The young Taoist asked, "Are you the one who came from the East to retrieve the scriptures?"
“Master,” the pilgrim said with a smile, “he is the Golden Peak Immortal of Yuzhen Temple at the foot of Mount Ling, and he has come to receive us.”
Sanzang hurriedly clasped his hands in thanks.
The young Taoist said, "I have been waiting for you for so long, and today we finally meet."
After saying this, he led his group to Yuzhen Temple to bathe and rest, and the next day, he gave them directions again.
In gratitude, Sanzang bid farewell and headed straight for Mount Ling.
The four travelers endured hardships, climbing Mount Ling, crossing a single log and a bottomless boat, until they finally reached Leiyin Temple and obtained the true scriptures.
On the return journey, the Eight Vajras rode on clouds to escort Sanzang back to his country, and Bao'e and others accompanied them all the way.
Passing by the Tongtian River, Bao'e was overjoyed to see that a temple dedicated to the Great Queen Bao'e had indeed been built in Chenjiazhuang. She said to Sanzang, "Master, you have done a good job in escorting me on this arduous journey. Now I have a temple where you can receive incense offerings and have your image sculpted. You must go on the rest of the journey by yourself. I will not accompany you any longer. Go, go!"
Upon hearing this, Sanzang could not hold back his tears and said, "Wumiao, you must take care."
Bao'e said cheerfully, "Go, go!"
The Monkey King and Sandy also bid her farewell. The White Dragon Horse snorted and still patted her back with its tail, but not as forcefully as before.
The Eight Vajras rode the clouds again, and with the passing of the gust of wind, they transported the master and his disciples to the Eastern Land.
It was a warm spring day, with lush greenery and faded flowers. As soon as they landed, a breeze blew, causing the petals to flutter and dance in the air.
The traveler was about to leave when he suddenly stopped.
He lowered his eyes and raised his hand, only to see a small flower petal fall from his sleeve.
Sanzang looked at him: "Wukong, why aren't you leaving?"
“Master,” the pilgrim said with a smile, “now that you are escorted by the Eight Vajras riding the clouds to return from your pilgrimage, it is time for me, Old Sun, to depart as well. On my way, on my way!”
Tripitaka could not bear it any longer, and tears welled up in his eyes.
Not to mention that after the monks delivered the scriptures and attained enlightenment, a few years later, Zhu Bao'e received countless offerings from the Chen family village and even the entire Chechi Kingdom. She was sculpted into a statue and eventually became the Heavenly Marshal.
Like her master, she also became a free spirit, like drifting clouds and gentle breezes, transcending the three realms and not entering the cycle of reincarnation.
On this day, she returned from exorcising the demon and passed by a magnificent palace with the inscription "Great Sage Shrine".
When Bao'e entered the hall, she saw that the hall housed the statue of the Monkey King, and the incense was burning very brightly.
Looking at the statue, she muttered, "Good monkey, now he's not afraid of the monks chanting incantations, and he's even dressed up as a deity, receiving all the incense offerings. Good monkey, truly a good monkey."
As she was watching, she suddenly noticed that the statue's face changed slightly, transforming into a grinning expression.
The Great Sage flew out of the statue and said to her, "You ignorant fool, why don't you burn incense when you see the statue of Old Sun? Instead, you just act like a muttering idiot."
The fool chuckled and said, "Brother, you don't know, you have to be sincere to worship the gods, and I have always been the most devout."
The Great Sage laughed at her: "You want to cut it open and show it to me too?"
"A fake dissection is fine, but a real one would hurt a bit," Bao'e said. "Brother, the Peach Banquet is coming up soon, and those monks are going too. Do you want to go and have some fun?"
“No, no! The Heavenly Court Gathering is certainly interesting, but there aren’t many of those.” The Great Sage said, “My dear sister, it’s also the season for our Flower Fruit Mountain to rival Penglai. Why don’t you come with me to have some fun?”
Bao'e was overjoyed: "Good, good, good!"
The two then joined hands and rode the clouds together to Flower Fruit Mountain.
As the saying goes, "The heart is like a white cloud, always free; the mind is like flowing water, going wherever it pleases." The hardships of the past are gone, and now I am carefree.
-The End-
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Author's note: I've finished writing it. If I were to write a side story, I would release it as a bonus chapter, but I feel that ending it here is just fine.
The second part has a rewritten script, with the theme of a country girl venturing into the big city. I feel it highlights Bao'e's personality better than the previous version, and it's readable even for those who haven't read it before. It will focus on several male guests, with more detailed and complete romantic storylines. This book prioritizes speed and excitement, so it omits or skips many aspects of the romantic developments.
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