txolops Chapter 174 Blackwater River
Chapter 174 Blackwater River
Just then, the Blackwater River God rushed in from outside and knelt down, saying, "Thank you so much, Great Sage and Marshal Tianpeng, for reclaiming my residence for me! I am deeply grateful!"
The traveler helped him up and said, "Old River God, there's no need for such formalities. Now that the monster has been eliminated, you can rest assured and guard the Water Palace here. No one will dare to cause trouble again."
The river god repeatedly bowed in gratitude.
Only then did the group escort the little demon, along with Li Fa and Sha Wujing, out of the water palace and onto the shore.
Tang Sanzang was overjoyed to see them return safely and clasped his hands together in prayer.
The Monkey King brandished his staff and demanded of the demon, "You monster, you don't know what's good for you! How dare you cause trouble here and even mistakenly capture my master's benefactor? Now that I've caught you, what do you have to say?"
Seeing that there were many Great Sages, the monster dared not be presumptuous and begged for mercy, saying, "Grandpa, spare my life! I... I am the nephew of the Dragon King of the West Sea, and my name is Little Crocodile Dragon."
Four years ago, my father was killed, and my brothers were all implicated. Only I, Little Crocodile, escaped with my life and ended up here. Having nowhere to go, I drove away the River God and seized the Water Palace. I beg you, Grandfather, have mercy and spare my life!
The pilgrim said, "I see. But how come I heard that your uncle is Ao Shun, the Dragon King of the West Sea? Explain yourself, what exactly is going on?"
Little Crocodile dared not hide anything and said, "My father is the Dragon King of the Jing River. He married the sister of the Dragon King of the West Sea—that is, my mother. Therefore, the Dragon King of the West Sea is my maternal uncle."
Tang Sanzang then said, "Amitabha, it turns out that your father was actually the Dragon King of the Jing River. Back then, your father violated the heavenly rules by changing the number of rains and was beheaded in a dream by Prime Minister Wei Zheng."
His restless spirit, refusing to rest, came seeking the life of the Tang Emperor in the dead of night, causing my father's soul to wander the underworld. This humble monk, by imperial decree, presided over a grand Buddhist and Taoist ceremony to deliver wandering souls, among whom was your father. Amitabha! The cycle of cause and effect continues; I never imagined I would encounter Your Highness today.
Upon hearing this, the little alligator dragon prostrated itself on the ground and wept bitterly, "Father! You died so tragically!"
After crying, she looked up at Tang Sanzang and said, "Elder, since you have performed the ritual to help my father pass on, you have done me a great favor. My mistake in arresting you, my benefactors, today was truly unintentional. Please forgive me, Elder!"
After saying this, he kowtowed repeatedly.
The pilgrim sneered, "You're quite adept at playing the friend! Your father broke the heavenly rules, and he only has himself to blame. But you seized the River God's residence, injured my junior brother Sha, and mistakenly captured this Plasma Daoist. How do you plan to settle this score?"
The little alligator dragon said, "Grandpa, I know I'm guilty. I was just a refugee who fled here and had no one to rely on, which is why I did these wrong things. If you spare my life, I'm willing to return the Water Palace to the River God and never dare to do evil again."
Just as the traveler was about to speak, Li Fa stopped him.
Actually, the Jinghe Old Dragon was just unlucky. Although he did break the heavenly rules and deserved to die, why was it so coincidental that the old dragon broke the heavenly rules just when Guanyin received the Buddha's decree and went down the mountain to find the pilgrim?
Moreover, the vengeful spirit of the Dragon King after his death did not haunt anyone else, but only Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin. This was clearly a targeted attempt to take his life, with the aim of forcing Emperor Taizong to enter the underworld, learn about cause and effect, and believe in Buddhism.
The ultimate goal of all this was simply to get the Tang Dynasty to actively seek Buddhist scriptures from the West, paving the way for the pilgrimage. Behind this, there was probably a meticulously planned scheme.
Thinking of this, Li Fa said, "Great Sage, although this fellow is guilty, he is also a pitiful person. His father is dead, his brothers have been implicated, and he is all alone, just trying to survive. Why not give him a chance to repent and start anew?"
Upon hearing this, the Monkey King slammed his golden cudgel into the ground, pondered for a moment, and said, "Old man, what you say makes some sense. This fellow may be despicable, but he is also a man with a tragic fate."
Having said that, he turned to look at the little alligator dragon and shouted, "Fine! Considering your father is dead and this is your first offense, I, Old Sun, will spare your life today."
But while you may escape death, you won't escape punishment! I don't have time to thoroughly determine your crime. As the saying goes, "The maternal uncle is the most powerful," so I'll send you to your uncle, the Dragon King of the West Sea, Ao Shun, so he can properly discipline you. If you dare to do evil again, I will certainly not forgive you!
The little alligator repeatedly kowtowed, weeping, "Thank you for your mercy! Thank you for your compassion! I will remember your teachings and never dare to do evil again. I will definitely repent."
Great Sage! He grabbed the little dragon and set off for the Western Sea on his somersault cloud.
They traversed the waters and waves, moving with incredible speed, and in less than half an hour, they arrived at the gate of the West Sea Dragon Palace.
The sea patrol yaksha saw it from afar and recognized it as the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. He hurriedly went inside to report.
Upon hearing the news, Ao Shun, the Dragon King of the West Sea, was startled and immediately led his dragon sons and grandsons, shrimp soldiers and crab generals, to greet them at the palace gate.
Ao Shun bowed respectfully and said with a smile, "Great Sage, your arrival is truly a great honor. May I ask what brings you here?"
The Monkey King threw the little dragon to the ground and sneered, "Old Dragon King, you're playing dumb! Your good nephew has been occupying the River God's residence in the Blackwater River in the mortal realm, stirring up trouble, eating people and killing them, and even kidnapping my master's benefactor and my friend to have as a snack! Do you know your crime?"
Upon hearing this, Ao Shun's expression changed drastically. Looking down, he saw that it was his nephew, Xiao Tuolong.
Ao Shun quickly cupped his hands and said, "Great Sage, please calm your anger! Although this wretched child is born to my sister, he has been living away from home since childhood. I truly did not know he was a demon in the mortal realm. If I had known earlier, I would have strictly disciplined him and not allowed him to run rampant!"
The Monkey King slammed his golden cudgel on the ground and shouted, "Don't you know? The Blackwater River God went to you to complain, but you ignored him and even told him to give up his water palace. What do you mean by that?"
Sweat beaded on Ao Shun's forehead as he stammered, "This...this...I did receive a complaint from the River God back then, but I thought it was just a common squabble and didn't investigate further. Great Sage, please understand, I had absolutely no intention of protecting anyone!"
The pilgrim sneered, "Since you know you're wrong, I won't hold it against you. But your nephew needs to be properly disciplined. If I hear of him doing anything wrong again, I won't let him off easily!"
Ao Shun nodded repeatedly, then turned and glared at the little alligator dragon, shouting, "You wretched creature! Quickly thank the Great Sage for sparing your life!"
The little dragon kowtowed repeatedly, weeping, "Thank you so much, Great Sage, for your mercy! I will never dare to do it again!"
Ao Shun then ordered his son to take the little alligator dragon into the back hall and keep it under strict guard. He also planned to hold a banquet to entertain the travelers.
The pilgrim waved his hand and said, "No need. My master is still waiting on the shore. I'm off."
Having said that, he leaped onto his somersault cloud and returned directly to the bank of the Blackwater River.
Meanwhile, Tang Sanzang and his disciples were waiting on the shore. When they saw the traveler return, they hurriedly asked him what was wrong.
The traveler recounted the events of the Western Sea, and everyone said, "This is a proper way to handle it."
The Blackwater River God, seeing that the matter was resolved, expressed his gratitude once again.
The group expressed their gratitude, bid farewell to the river god, packed their belongings and horses, and continued their journey.
After traveling for several days, Li Fa recovered from his injuries and was ready to bid farewell to Tang Sanzang.
Tripitaka lamented that he could not persuade them to stay, and so they parted ways.
The story of the master and his disciples going west is not discussed here.