Journey to the West - Chapter 25 Part 1

This is an independent project funded by no one else but our listeners. For subtitles, please visit our YouTube channel. To access all the locked content, please consider becoming a paid subscriber for a minimum of three U.S. dollars per month on Spotify, YouTube, Patreon, or drop a donation on Kofi.

Details are in the descriptions. Thank you. Journey to the West, an audio drama series. Chapter 25, Part 1 We now speak of the three brothers who upon arriving at the hall as their master, the rice will be ready soon. What are you calling us for? Sanjan said. Disciples. I'm not asking about the rice. In this temple of theirs, there is something called the Renchen fruit which looks like a child.

Which one of you stolen ate their fruit? Bazi answered. I'm an honest man, I have no idea, I never saw it. Xinfeng then said. It's he who is smiling, it's the smiling one. Xinjiao shouted. Eldersung is born with this smile on my face, are you saying that I'm not allowed to smile because you are missing some fruit?

San Tzung interrupted. Disciples, calm yourselves, we are people who have left the family, we shall not lie and consume food that betrays the heart. If you did eat their fruit, just apologize, why bother denying it? Xing just saw that his master was making a good argument, so he confessed. Master, it has nothing to do with me.

It was Bazier who heard the two Daoist youths eating some Renchen fruit next door, and he wanted to try one himself. He had elders soon go knock three off, so we brothers each had one. We already ate them, what do you want from us now? Ningya said you stole four from us and this monk is still saying he isn't a thief?

Bazia exclaimed. No more. Amitabh, if you did steal four of them, why do you only share three while you keeping one as Commission? The fool quickly turned on Wukong, rambling on about unfair events. As the two immortal youths received the truthful answers, they became increasingly vulgar towards the brothers. Agitated, the great sage gritted his steel teeth and opened wide his fire eyes, wringing his golden hood rod again and again, trying to control his temper.

Again and again, he muttered, These boys berating us to our faces. Fine, we can take that, but I'd offer them a price of no future, so no one gets to eat the fruit at all. Splendid Xinjo. So he pulled a hair from the back of his head and blew some immortal air onto it, saying change. It transformed into a fake Xinjua who stood beside the Tang monk, receiving all the insults from the Taoist youths alongside Wu Nang and Wujing. His real self, on the other hand, left in the form of spirit crossing clouds.

He jumped over and came straight into the Renshen garden. Wielding his golden hooped rod, he struck the tree with a bang. He then used his divine powers of mountain moving to push the tree over. Poor thing. Leaves fallen, branches broken, and roots exposed, the Taoists have forever lost their grass pellet of reversion.

Once the great sage pushed the tree over, he began searching for fruit on the branches. And where could he even find half a fruit? It turned out that this treasure fell when touched by gold. The tips of his rod were wrapped in gold and iron, a common metal, so the fruit fell off when the tree was hit. Once they fell, they assimilated into the earth, leaving none hanging on the tree.

He then said fine, fine, fine, let's all call it a day. So he withdrew his iron rod and came back to the front. With a shake of the hair, he retrieved it back onto his body. The rest of them have fleshly eyes and mortal bodies, so they could not tell what actually took place. We speak of the immortal youths who took their time throwing insults. Xinfeng said.

Ming Yue, these monks can really take some grievances. It's as if we were scolding chickens. We've gone on for this long, yet none have made a sound. I'm guessing maybe. Did it not steal the fruit after all? It could be that the tree was too tall and the leaves too thick that we miscounted. We should not insult them for the wrong reasons.

Let's go have another look, Mingua replied. I agree. The two of them indeed returned to the garden. What they saw was the tree fallen and its branches broken, all fruit gone and leaves scattered. They were so frightened that Xingfong's feet went numb and he fell over, and Mingua's waist went soft, and he shivered. As their souls left their bodies, the pair dropped to the ground incoherently, repeating.

What are we to do, what are we to do? He murdered the prime elixir of Wujong Temple and ended the bloodline of this immortal house. When Master comes home, how are we to explain this? Ming Yu then suggested. Elder Brother, let us know, yelled about it, we shall tidy our clothes and not disturb these monks. No one else could have done this but that creature with a hairy face and the mouth of a Thunder God. It had to be him who did some out of body trick and ruined our treasure.

If we try to blame him for it, he will surely deny it and an argument will ensue. Once there is an argument, it will lead to blows. Think about that. How can the two of us win against four of them? I think we had better fold them and say no fruit went missing. After all, we only miscounted and we shall apologize to them instead. Their food is now ready.

When they're eating, we can make some more side dishes for them. Once they're each holding a bowl, you will stand on the left side of the door and hide the right side. Before we shut the doors tight and lock them, we will lock all the gates up and not let them out. Once Master returns, we'll let him handle them however he pleases. The Tongue monk, he's an acquaintance of Master after all.

If Master forgives him, the grace has his. If he does not forgive them, we cut the thieves after all, so maybe we'll be spared from punishment. Tim Feng heard this and said, That's right, that's very right, So the two of them forced their spirits up and put on a cheerful face before returning to the main hall from the back garden.

Bowing to the tongue monk, they said, Master, we have been rather vulgar just now and greatly offended you, please forgive us, please do. San Zan asked. What do you mean? Xingfeng answered. No fruit is missing. It's only because the tree was so tall and the leaf so thick that we failed to make a clear count just now. We went to check again and the numbers are just right. Bazia quickly chimed in, saying You boys are so young and naive, throwing wild insults at us like that and cursing with our course.

You wronged us. How very inappropriate. Xing Zhua knew exactly what happened, but he said nothing, only thinking to himself, This is a lie, a lie indeed. The fruit is done with, why do they say such a thing? I guess they have a way to revive it from death. San Zhuang said. If that's the case, do bring us food so we can eat before we leave.

Bazier thereby left to bring food while Shamrock arranged the table and chairs. The two youths hurriedly brought some side dishes including pickled and hard boiled vegetables. There were a total of some 7 or 8 plates of food for the master and disciples to enjoy. They also brought a pot of fine tea and two tea cups before standing aside to wait on the guests.

The four of them had only just picked up their bowls when the boys, each standing on one side, slammed the door shut before bolting it with a double spring copper lock. Bazier chuckled and said, These boys don't know better, You've got some bad customs here, why are you making us eat inside closed doors? Mingyuh responded.

That's right, that's right, you've got to finish the food before we open the doors. Xingfeng lashed out and said, You damn gluttonous stealing bold thieves, you stole our immortal fruit and committed the crime of eating produce from our garden without permission. We even knocked over our immortal tree and broke the divine root of this Wujong Temple of ours, and you're still trying to argue with us?

If people like you want to reach the Western Sea Buddha, the only way is to wait till you die and rebirth again into the cradle. Zhan Zhang heard their words and dropped his ball, his heart instantly burdened with a heavyweight. The youths locked the 1st and 2nd layers of gates before returning to the doors of the main hall with nasty insults and calling them thieves. They cursed till it got dark and it was time to eat. Once they were done eating they returned to their rooms. The Tang monk complained to Xing Zhua saying you monkey head are always causing trouble if you stole their fruit, just take the blame, let them scold you for a bit and that would have been the end of it.

Why knock over their tree if that's what caused all this and they file a lawsuit? Even if your father was the judge, you wouldn't be able to get away. Sinja said. Don't make a fuss about it master, the boys have gone to sleep. Once they are asleep we will get out during the night. Shamak said. Oh brother, several layers of doors have been locked and shut tight, how are we to leave?

Sinja laughed and said don't you bother, Don't you bother, Odessa knows just what to do. Badya said as if we are worried you haven't got a plan, You can transform into a tiny bug and flight out from a hole in the window. It's us who can't transform, who are left shouldering your blame. The tongue monk said if he really were to do something like that and leave without us, I will recite that old time sutra and he wouldn't withstand it. Badya heard his words and laughed warily saying Master, what are you talking about?

I've only heard of the Surung Gum Sutra, Lotus Sutra, Peacock Sutra, Guan Yin Sutra, and Diamond Sutra, but never any old time sutra. Xinjo explained Brother, you have no idea. This band I'm wearing on my head was a gift from Guan Yin Bodizatwa to my master. Master fooled me into putting it on. It became rooted and cannot be taken off.

This is called the tightening band spell or the tightening Band Sutra. That's what he means by Old Time Sutra. If he recites it, my head will hurt. That's how he can give me a hard time. Master, don't you recite it. I will certainly not betray you. I will make sure we all leave together. By the time they were done talking, it was already dusk. Without realizing the moon had risen from the east. Sincho said The world is quiet now, and the moon is quite bright.

It's a good time for us to leave, Bazia said. Oh Big Brother, don't you mess with us. All the doors are locked, where are we even going? Sinto said. Watch my trick, splendid Sinto. With his golden hooped rod in hand, he used the trick of lock opening by pointing at the door. With a clinking sound, he made the double spring locks from every layer of doors drop to the ground as the gates flung open. Bazia laughed and said.

A fine job indeed. Even a Smith handling A mixing rod could not finish a job this fast, Sinjar said. What's so impressive about this door? Even if it's the southern gate of heaven, I can open it with the point of my finger. And so they helped their master out the door and on to the horse. Bhatia carry the luggage, and Shamrock stayed beside the horse as they headed westward, Sinjar said.

You can walk on slowly. The elder son take care of those two little ones, so they sleep for a month. San San said disciple, do not harm their lives, otherwise you all have committed the crime of murder after theft. Xinjiao said. I know. And so he entered the place again and arrived outside the bedroom of the youths. In his waist he kept some drowsy bucks, which he won by playing guessing games with Heavenly King Blue Duck at the Eastern gate of Heaven.

He took two out and flipped them inside through the lattices. The bucks hopped straight onto the boy's faces and made them fall deep asleep without a chance of waking up. Only then did he catch up to the Tongue Monk in cloudy strides and ran westward on the main road all night. The horse did not rest its hoofs as they walked till dawn broke.

San San said You monkey head are killing me, it's all because of your mouth that I couldn't sleep at all last night. Singja said. Don't just complain, it's brightening up now, you might as well take a rest in the woods by the road. We will resume walking once you regain some strength. The elder could only get off the horse and sit leaning against the root of a pine tree as if it was a monk bed. Shaw Monk put away the luggage and began taking a nap while Bazier slept, using a rock as pillow. Only Grey Sage soon had the spirit to play around, jumping between trees and pulling on branches. The four rested up.

And we will speak no more on that. We now speak of the Grey Immortal who, having finished the lecture in Primordial Lord's Palace, let his many young immortals out of Tushta. Descending straight from the Jays skies and dropping on auspicious clouds, they soon made it back to the entrance of Wujiang Temple on Infinite Longevity Mountain. When they looked around, they found the temple gates wide open and the floor clean.

The grey immortal said. Qingfeng and Mingyu have been quite useful. Usually, they would have barely stretched their waist even when the sun is higher up in the skies, but today, while we are absent, they were willing to get up early and sweep the floors with the gate open. The many younger immortals were also happy to see this.

When they made it onto the main hall, they found all the offerings gone and not a soul could be seen. Where even were Ming Yu and Xinfeng? The immortals said. The two of them must have taken advantage of our absence and left after sweeping everything away. The great immortal said. Nonsense, One who cultivates for immortality dare not have evil thoughts like that. They must have gone to sleep last night and forgot to shut the doors.

They might still be asleep this morning. The immortals went to their rooms to check, and indeed the doors were shut and the boys were deep asleep. They knocked and shouted, but nothing managed to wake them up. The many immortals had to pry open the doors and pull them off back by the head, but still they could not wake up.

The great immortal laughed and said. Find immortal youths. People who become immortals no longer feel the need to sleep once their spirit becomes full. How did they get this tired? Could it be that someone tricked them? Quickly bring me water. Another youth hurriedly brought half a bowl of water and handed it to the great immortal. The great immortal then recited a spell, held the water in his mouth before spitting it out onto the boy's faces. The drowsy spell was instantly broken. Only then did the pair wake up suddenly. Opening their eyes, they wiped their faces, looked up and saw it was the Lord equivalent to the universe, along with their immortal elder brothers.

Panicking, Xinfeng prostrated, and Mingua kowtowed, saying. Oh master, your acquaintance, those monks from the east turned out to be a group of ferocious bandits. The great immortal laughed and said, don't be afraid, take your time and tell me all about it. Tsingfo said Oh master, soon after you left the other day, there indeed was a tongue muck coming from the land of the east.

There were 4 monks in total, 5 if you count the horse. Your disciples dare not to obey your orders, Master. So we asked why they were here before presenting 2 wrench and fruit. That elder had mortal eyes and a foolish heart, so he did not recognize the treasures of this immortal household. He said there were children barely three days old and wouldn't eat them even when we urged them to. It's your disciples who then each ate one. What we didn't know was that he had three disciples under him and one of them, called Sun Wukong Singhjia, stole four pieces of fruit to eat.

Your disciples tried to reason with him and utter some honest words. He couldn't bear it somehow and secretly played a trick where his spirit escaped. Oh how terrible. The two boys talked as tears kept falling down their cheeks. The immortals asked, did the monk beat you? Mingo answered. He didn't beat us, just pushed over our wrenching tree.

The great immortal hurt us, but do not grow angry. He said. Don't cry, don't cry. You were not aware that the one named Sun is somewhat of an unaffiliated immortal. He once caused havoc in heaven and has immense powers. Now that they have knocked over our precious tree, will you be able to recognize the monks?

Xinfeng said. We do recognize them. The great immortal said. If so, do follow me. The rest of you shall get the instruments of torture ready. Wait till I come back and give him a good beating. The immortals received their orders as the Great Immortal, along with Ming Yu and Qingfeng, rose in auspicious light to catch up to San Zang. In moments, they already crossed 1000 Li. The grey Immortal observed westward from the clouds, but could not see the town monk only when he turned around to look eastward.

And he say we are 900 Li ahead. It turned out that even though the elder did not rest his horse all night, he only managed to move 120 lead forward. When the great immortal travelled on his cloud, he went 900 lead too far. The immortal youth said, Master, that one sitting under the tree by the road is the tongue monk. The great immortal said, I see him now. The two of you shall head home and prepare some rope. I shall capture them on my own.

And so Qingfeng and Ming Yuan made their way back. We will speak no more on that. Journey to the West, an audio drama series, is an independent production by The 5th Monkey. For subtitles, please visit our YouTube channel. To access all the locked content, please consider becoming a paid subscriber for a minimum of three U.S. dollars per month on Spotify, YouTube, Patreon, or drop a donation on Kofi. If.

You are a Patreon member. You will be able to access. Art Field. Pieces and other exclusive content. Head to www.thefifthmonkey.com for links to all the platforms we're on and support us on social media. Shares, comments, emails, all are welcome. This is Lynn, see you in the next episode.

Journey to the West - Chapter 25 Part 1

Kapitelklicken springt direkt hin

Shownotes

Transkriptvom Podcast bereitgestellt · Zeitmarken springen hin