Journey to the West: Starting with the Hunting of the Three Demons of Twin Fork Ridge

Chapter 48 Yellow Wind Ridge - The Dharma Protector Keeps the Great Sage

Meanwhile, Wukong's eye was injured by the Yellow Wind Monster, and Li Fa suggested that they return to the Taoist temple first. So Bajie carried him down the mountain, and the three of them came down.

As they were walking, they suddenly saw a clinic ahead.

Li Fa knew that this was set up by the Dharma Protector, but in the original story, they transformed it into a farm. Perhaps it would be better to transform it into a clinic now that he, an "outsider," was present.

However, Li Fa was not worried about being exposed. Almost no one had ever seen his true form, and he had been stationed here for several months. It was impossible for these Garan to know his identity.

So he pointed and said, "Elder Pig, look, isn't there a clinic over there?"

Pigsy was anxious, and being simple-minded, he didn't doubt the presence of a clinic in the mountains. He exclaimed happily, "Excellent! Excellent! Brother, you're saved!"

Sun Wukong had no doubts, but since he couldn't open his eyes and was on Bajie's back, he didn't know how far they had traveled. So he said, "Alright, quickly take me inside to find a doctor."

So the three of them went straight into the clinic.

Although the clinic was not large, it was clean and tidy, with a wooden plaque hanging above the entrance that read "Jishetang" (meaning "Hall of Relief").

Pigsy didn't even have time to examine it closely before carrying Monkey on his back and rushing inside, shouting, "Doctor! Where is the doctor? Quickly, take a look at my senior brother's eyes!"

An old man with white hair and a youthful face turned into the house, holding a cane, followed by a boy.

Seeing that Wukong's eyes were red and swollen and tears were streaming down his face, the old man hurriedly said, "Please sit down quickly, and allow this old man to take a look."

After he finished reading, the old man said, "This patient was exposed to a strong wind, and the evil wind entered his eyes, causing him to be unable to see."

Wukong said, "What you say is true, sir. Today, when we were rescuing my master at the entrance of the Yellow Wind Cave, that monster unexpectedly blew a gust of wind at us, which made my eyes sting. Now they are a little watery, so we are looking for a doctor."

The old man said, "Excellent! Excellent! Elder, how can you lie at such a young age? The Yellow Wind Great Sage's wind is the most powerful. His wind is nothing compared to the spring and autumn wind, the pine and bamboo wind, or the east, west, south, and north winds."

Bajie said, "It must be a type of stroke, such as encephalitis, leprosy, or migraine?"

The elder said, "No, no. His name is Samadhi Divine Wind."

Wukong asked, "How do you know?"

The old man said, "That wind can darken the heavens and earth, cause sorrow to ghosts and gods, split rocks and collapse cliffs, and kill a person instantly. If you were to encounter that wind, would you still be alive? Only immortals could escape unscathed."

Wukong said, "As expected! As expected! Although we are not immortals, immortals are still my juniors. This life is in dire need of ending, yet all this blowing makes my eyes ache!"

The old man said, "If that's the case, then he must be someone of importance."

Sun Wukong said, "Let's not talk about that anymore. Can you cure him, sir?"

The old man smiled and said, "My ancestors practiced medicine for eight generations, specializing in eye diseases."

Upon hearing this, Wukong bowed his head and said, "I beg you, sir, to heal me. Bajie, quickly pay the consultation fee!"

Pigsy said, "Brother, I don't have any money for a consultation!"

Wukong sneered, "That day when we left Gao Village, I clearly saw you stuff some silver into your ears. Quickly, take it back!"

Pigsy, having been exposed for hoarding silver, could only sheepishly pluck a few pieces from his ear and mutter, "That's all I have. I was saving it to buy vegetarian meals on the road..."

The old man waved his hand and laughed, "It's hard for monks to travel, how could I possibly accept money? It's just my duty as a doctor."

After saying this, he called to the boy, "Go and fetch the 'Three Flowers and Nine Sons Ointment'."

The boy agreed and went inside, taking out a small jar of agate.

The old man unplugged the plug, dipped a little bit of the jade hairpin into it, and put it on Sun Wukong, telling him not to open his eyes, to sleep peacefully, and to be fine the next morning.

After finishing his business and putting away the stone jar, he arranged for the three of them to stay at the clinic and then withdrew.

Bajie and Wukong were unaware that they were sleeping in the wilderness, but Li Fa knew. So, in the middle of the night, they got up and went back to the temple to sleep, which is another story.

As dawn broke, Sun Wukong wiped his face, opened his eyes, and exclaimed, "Indeed, excellent medicine! It provides a hundred times more light than usual!"

But when he turned around and looked back, oh! There were no houses or windows, only old locust trees and tall willows, and he found himself sleeping on the green grass.

Pigsy woke up and asked, "Brother, why are you yelling?"

Sun Wukong said, "Open your eyes and take a look."

The simpleton suddenly looked up and saw that the house was gone. He scrambled to his feet in a panic and said, "Why didn't this family call us when they moved? If Old Pig had known, we could have sent you some tea and fruit."

"Ugh! We're such heavy sleepers! How come we didn't even hear a sound when they demolished their house?"

Sun Wukong chuckled and said, "Fool, don't shout. Look at that paper sticker on that tree."

Bajie stepped forward, peeled it off, and found four lines of verse: "This clinic is not set up by ordinary people; it is a hut dedicated to the Dharma protectors. I will give you a miraculous medicine to cure your eye pain; do your best to subdue the monster without hesitation."

After reading it aloud, he was still completely confused and turned to Wukong: "Brother, what does this mean? What's with all this talk of 'Garan' and 'Dianhualu'?"

Sun Wukong then told Bajie about the matter of the Dharma Protector.

Pigsy suddenly realized, "Oh! So that's how it is! I was wondering how there could be such a powerful old doctor in the mountains, curing illnesses instantly and not charging a penny. He's actually a guardian deity!"

After exchanging a few jokes, Wukong suddenly remembered something, turned around and looked around, asking, "By the way, you idiot, where's Master Ouji? He was here last night, where did he go?"

Upon hearing this, Pigsy quickly looked around, and after a long while, shook his head and said, "I'm fast asleep! How could I possibly see him!"

Just then, they heard someone calling from the woods; it was Li Fa.

He approached the two elders and said, "Elders, I have a way to subdue that wind monster."

Sun Wukong hurriedly asked, "What method?"

Li Fa said, "The reason that Yellow Wind Monster was able to defeat you was entirely due to his supernatural wind-scraping ability. If we can devise a way to immobilize his Samadhi Divine Wind, cutting off his reliance, and then join forces to attack him, how can we not subdue him?"

Upon hearing this, Wukong said, "What the Daoist says makes sense! But the key question is, who can stop that demonic wind? Although I, Old Sun, can summon wind and rain, I unfortunately lack the ability to stop it!"

Li Fa said, "When I returned to the temple to rest last night, I suddenly remembered that my master had taught us a wind-fixing supernatural power, but we rarely use it and had forgotten about it for a moment."

"Let's fight again today. I'll go with you to Yellow Wind Cave. If he dares to blow that Samadhi Divine Wind again, I'll use my Wind-Fixing Divine Power to stop his wind. Then you can attack him without restraint. Wouldn't that be better?"

Li Fa thought to himself that the so-called "wind-fixing supernatural power" he mentioned was certainly not passed down by his master. In fact, it was the wind-crushing pestle that he had seized when he killed the Silver-Headed Jiedi.

This wind-crushing pestle was bestowed upon Jiedi by Bodhisattva Lingji. It is a treasure specifically designed to suppress wind-based supernatural powers. However, its origin is special and cannot be explained openly. Therefore, the explanation that it was passed down by the master can only be used to avoid arousing suspicion from Wukong and Bajie.

Upon hearing this, Pigsy's face immediately fell, and he complained to Li Fa, "You old Taoist priest! Why didn't you say so sooner that you had such powerful supernatural abilities? Yesterday, that demonic wind blew me so badly that I was covered in dust and suffered for nothing!"

Li Fa waved his hand with feigned helplessness and laughed, "This humble Taoist just forgot for a moment, I hope Elder Zhu won't take offense."