[Journey to the West] The Poor Monk Xuanzang

I stood at the foot of the mountain for a long time, looking at the temple surrounded by bamboo forests on the mountain, I couldn't tell what it was like.

I have lived here for 17 years and was brought up by my master like a real child.

The old monk always looked like a calm and breezy outsider, but he had an extremely soft heart.

When I was a child, I was bullied by my seniors until I cried.

The master punished them for sweeping the courtyard with a straight face, then squatted down and hugged me into his arms, and patted my back clumsily.

The various small animal masters I always picked up from outside at that time never reprimanded them.

Even though I hate the Buddha, I still have to admit that I have indeed had some inexplicable relationship with the Buddha in my life.

When I left Chang'an that day, the old monk was very pleased.

As a teacher, I never thought that you, Xuanzang, would have such an ambition. The journey to the west is far away, so we need to take care.

I can't bear to let him down, and I don't want to see loneliness from that aging face.

When I set foot on the westward journey that day, I really wanted to make this old monk happy from the bottom of my heart.

The Buddha you want to see, the Buddhist scriptures you want, the Tianzhu in your dream.

What you want, I'll get it for you.

However, the development of all this exceeded everyone's expectations.After all, I have never been to the west, and I have never obtained the scriptures.

I don't care about Tang Wang, but how should the master explain here?

I stood at the foot of the mountain for a long time, not knowing what to do.

I miss this old monk.I guess the old monk must miss me too.

It has been five years since I left Chang'an.

Master, he must not live for a few years.

But I failed his expectations after all.

"Master?" the monkey asked, "Why did you stop here?"

I smiled with some difficulty: "Master expects me to come back from learning the scriptures, but now..." How can I face him?

"This matter is easy to handle," the monkey waved his hand nonchalantly, "Let's go to the Western Paradise to find Tathagata, ask him for the scriptures and then come back."

... I just offended the Tathagata thoroughly yesterday, and now I am afraid it will be difficult to ask him for scriptures.

"Master?" the monkey asked again.

I sighed lightly: "Don't worry, let me think about it."

The monkey head said with a smirk: "Master, don't you think you can lose face?"

I didn't answer, just looked at the temple on the top of the mountain in silence.

"Master, if you want to go, just go, why bother looking forward and backward."

This monkey head is easy to say!

I walked to the side of the road and knelt down, stretching out my hand to beckon the monkey to come over: "Master is dedicated to the Buddha and treats me like his own child. Now..." I paused and said, "Now he is old——"

"Master, do you want Master to live forever?" the monkey head interjected.

But I never thought of this verse. Hearing what he said, I hurriedly asked: "Is it possible?"

The monkey sat on the tree with its legs crossed and said, "It's difficult."

"The flat peaches of the Queen Mother, the ginseng fruits of Zhen Yuanzi..." It is indeed difficult.Jin Chanzi's meat is convenient, but it's a pity that my master is a vegetarian, tsk, picky old man.

The monkey said with a smile: "Old Sun says it's difficult, but it's not for this reason."

"How do you say that?" I asked.

The monkey said: "Master, I forgot that the master is a mortal after all, and he may not wish to live forever."

I think the monkey's words are reasonable, but he still said: "You traveled across the ocean to worship Subhuti as your teacher to learn the art of immortality, how did you come to my master——"

As I was talking, when I saw the monkey looking straight at me, I stopped talking.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" I said.

The monkey giggled and said, "Master and I have bickered enough to reach the top of the mountain a hundred and eighty times."

I fell silent suddenly, looked at the monastery hidden by the bamboo forest on the top of the mountain, and finally shuffled forward.

The monkey jumped trees and climbed branches without stopping, and from time to time provoked passing birds and animals.

I shook my head and laughed.

It just rained yesterday, and the stone steps are as clean as washing.

I climbed up the stairs, stood in front of the temple gate, and changed into the same way I used to learn Buddhist scriptures before pushing open the temple gate and stepping into the temple.

For a while, more than a dozen pairs of eyes looked over at the same time.

A little monk put down the wooden fish and came forward, clasped his hands together and saluted: "Elder, the poor monk is polite."

I was returning the salute when the little monk asked, "Where did the elder come from?"

I froze and didn't know what to say.

"Nonsense." An old voice suddenly sounded.

I looked up and saw an old monk walking tremblingly on crutches.

My brain went blank for a moment, and when I came back to my senses, I had thrown myself into his arms and called Master.

He patted me on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Xuanzang is back." Then he walked over and patted the little monk's head and said with a smile, "The little guy is messing around. Where did the elder come from? This is your uncle."

The master's beard was completely white, his face was full of wrinkles, and his eye sockets were deeply sunken. Only a pair of smiling eyes remained the same as before.

I helped him walk in: "I haven't seen Master for a long time."

He patted the back of my hand: "I am very relieved to see Xuanzang come back in my lifetime."

I smiled and said: "Master, you are talking nonsense." Then I introduced my monkey to the master: "This is my big apprentice Sun Wukong."

The master grabbed my arm, stared at Wukong for a long time, and sighed: "Xuanzang, you are addicted to raising monkeys."

"..." Why can't I refute.

The monkey was obviously not very happy but he didn't like to have a fit, so he could only hang behind and hum: "Master has no eyesight."

I lowered my head and laughed, finally coughed lightly and said, "Master, this is indeed my great apprentice."

"Well," the master patted Wukong's head, "it's a talking monkey." Then he asked, "Where's the three treasures?"

I was silent for a while.

The master asked, "But I lost it on the way."

"No," I subconsciously denied, "never."

"That's..." The master wanted to ask.

I pushed Wukong out: "It's not here."

"Renamed?" asked the master.

"Yeah." I nodded while stroking the monkey that was about to explode.

"It's grown so big," the master took Wukong to look at it carefully, "At the beginning, I thought that the three treasures were unusual, and they were really monkeys."

I nodded vigorously at the side and went straight to Master Shengming.

"Xuanzang, where is the scripture you brought back?" the master asked.

...Can't we talk about something else?

I sighed, "Master—"

The master suddenly said seriously: "Xuanzang, you must have come back halfway."

"...Of course not." I went around Huaguo Mountain and came back, and got married by the way.

Seeing that the master wanted to ask again, I had no choice but to divert his attention: "Master, do you know that there is a technique of immortality in this world."

"Oh?" He was obviously interested, "Xuanzang met?"

"When the disciple passed by Wuzhuang Temple, he saw two Taoist boys inside who were about [-] years old, but they were only in their twenties."

The master nodded in amazement.

The monkey smiled and said: "There is also a ginseng fruit tree in the temple, which is the first division of chaos, the beginning of judgment of the primordial, the spiritual root that was born when the world was not yet opened."

"It takes 3000 years to bloom, 3000 years to bear fruit, and another 3000 years to ripen. If you smell the fruit, you will live 360 ​​years; if you eat one, you will live 7000 years."

The master was surprised when he heard it, and sighed: "It really is a great fortune."

I said, "Master, have you ever thought about being immortal?"

"Of course I thought about it."

"It's just that now it's seen through."

"There will always be birth, old age, sickness and death in a person's life," he said with a smile, "Thousands of years are but a fleeting moment, why should life be joyful and death be fearful?"

"By the way, have you retrieved the scriptures?"

"No."

As soon as I said this, the master grabbed the room tightly, and he was anxious: "Since there is no one, how dare you come back?"

"You were ordered by His Majesty to fetch the scriptures, and now you have returned before the scriptures were retrieved, and returned to this temple. You know this is a crime of deceiving the emperor."

Seeing that he was sweating profusely from anxiety, I had no choice but to comfort him and said, "I asked someone to learn scriptures for me."

"Confused!" the master said angrily, "Your Majesty personally sent you the city and gave you the name Sanzang. This, this is something you can let others replace you if you want?"

"You have come all the way, have you done anything that attracts people's attention?"

Out

"Never." I went straight to the foot of the mountain.

"Go quickly," the master said, "while no one finds out."

"Master," I sighed, "he's just an emperor in the world, why should we be afraid of him—uh, uh, master, let go..."

"Xuanzang!" The master's face was full of hatred, "You are promising now, you are so courageous! You dare to arrange even your majesty, you—"

I saw his face livid with anger, and hurriedly patted him on the back: "Master, why are you so anxious, that scripture is not a rare thing..."

"Shut up!" He was trembling with anger from me, "Xuanzang, are you still my Buddhist disciple? How dare you say such words!"

I had no choice but to close my mouth tightly like a quail, shrinking to the side without saying a word.

"If you don't want to be my Buddhist disciple—" he stopped abruptly in the middle of his words.

After a long silence.

He let out a long sigh: "Xuanzang, you haven't obtained the scriptures and returned to your country, so I have nothing to do here, but what should you explain to Your Majesty?"

"Furthermore, everyone in Chang'an City knows that you have gone west to learn Buddhist scriptures. Before leaving, most of the people in Chang'an City saw the real body of the Bodhisattva. Now, how should you explain it?"

"It doesn't matter if the old monks in my ruined temple live a few more days or less, but if His Majesty gets angry, how can you save your life?"

"Xuanzang, I don't blame you if you are afraid of the long distance to the west and return home."

"But such charges of deceiving the emperor are absolutely unacceptable."

"It would be fine if I could find some overseas scriptures to deceive Your Majesty, but if not..."

"Xuanzang, you must not stay in my temple with your original identity. If you are discovered, you will definitely be killed."