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

Chapter 65 Testing the Mind of Zen: Crossing the Flowing Sand River

Poetry:

The Bodhisattvas conspired to devise a new plan, and the Old Mother descended from the Ninth Heaven to the mortal realm.

From then on, the journey westward was fraught with even greater calamities; fate has always been the most capricious of all.

Now, Li Fa was overjoyed to receive the treasure from his mother and quickly bowed in gratitude.

But the old mother waved her hand and said, "No need to thank me, thank yourself for your good fortune."

"Keep these three treasures safe and use them to overcome that calamity."

After saying that, she turned to leave.

Li Fa quickly said, "Mother, could you leave some people to handle the errands?"

The old mother didn't turn her head, only saying, "Look back, someone will help you."

As soon as he finished speaking, he flicked his sleeves, and a cloud of auspiciousness rose from beneath his feet and slowly ascended into the sky.

Li Fa bowed deeply to see them off, and only straightened up after the cloud shadow disappeared into the eastern horizon.

Looking back, I realized that many people had appeared behind me.

The two in the lead were quite formidable.

One had a face as blue as indigo, with protruding fangs, and held a sharp, green-edged sword in his hand; the other had a face as white as snow, with eyebrows like sharp blades, and held a bright silver spear horizontally in his palm.

Behind the two were a dozen or so guardian generals clad in armor and armed with weapons, each one looking spirited and imposing.

Seeing Li Fa turn around, the two generals, one green and one white, clasped their hands in a respectful bow and said, "We are the Azure Dragon and the White Tiger gods under the command of the Old Mother, leading twenty guardian generals. We have come here on the Old Mother's orders to assist in setting up this calamity!"

Upon hearing this, Li Fa was overjoyed and quickly returned the greeting, saying, "Thank you all, esteemed gods! With your help, this matter is almost certain to succeed!"

They were then led to a secluded mountain hollow, where they began to divide the tasks in detail. Indeed:

With the aura of the Azure Dragon and White Tiger, they possess heroic spirit; with ever-changing strategies, they live by their own means.

Do not think that the journey westward is without obstacles, for difficulties here will test your Zen mind.

Since we don't know what scheme Li Fa has devised, let's leave that aside for now.

Now, let's talk about Tang Sanzang and his disciples. After crossing Huangfeng Ridge, they traveled day and night, eating and drinking as needed, and before they knew it, several months had passed.

On this day, as they were traveling, they suddenly heard a thunderous sound of water ahead, deafeningly loud.

Tang Sanzang reined in his horse and looked up, only to see a great river stretching across his path, its waves surging and towering over the mountains, with no view of the opposite bank.

But look at that river:

It connects to the desert in the east, reaches various foreign lands in the west, extends to the Ugo in the south, and connects to the Tatars in the north.

The path stretches for eight hundred miles, and the distance between the top and bottom is tens of millions of miles.

The waves surged like mountains, and the billows rolled like ridges.

Goose feathers cannot float, while reeds sink to the bottom.

Tang Sanzang was terrified and could barely sit still on his horse. His voice trembled as he said, "Disciple! How...how can we cross such a vast flood?"

Sun Wukong leaped into the air, shading his eyes with his hand as he looked around, then landed and said, "Master, this river is very wide; I can't see the end of it. But it's strange..."

Pigsy asked, "Brother, what's so strange?"

Wukong said, "Look at this river, the waves are towering, but there isn't a single aquatic creature or monster in sight, not even a water bird. It's really strange."

Just then, a loud "splash" was heard in the river, the water split in two, and a black-faced monk stepped out!

The monk, barefoot, wearing only a half-length robe, and with nine skulls hanging around his neck, ran straight towards the shore!

With lightning speed, Wukong somersaulted to Tang Sanzang's side, drew his golden cudgel—as thick as a bowl—and brandished it in the wind, shouting, "You beast! Stop! Take another step forward, and you'll get a blow from my cudgel!"

The dark-faced monk, however, was neither angry nor afraid. He simply knelt down on the beach with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly, tears streaming down his face, "Master! Master! Your disciple, Sha Wujing, has been waiting here for the pilgrims for a long time, following the decree of Guanyin Bodhisattva! Today, our long-awaited arrival has finally come!"

Tang Sanzang, who was on horseback, heard everything clearly and leaned forward to ask, "How...how did you know I was a pilgrim on a pilgrimage?"

Sha Wujing raised his head, his face streaked with tears, and said, "Master, you don't know! I was originally a general in the Lingxiao Palace, but because I accidentally broke a crystal goblet at the Peach Banquet, the Jade Emperor banished me to this Flowing Sand River to suffer. Every seven days, I have to endure the punishment of being pierced through the heart by flying swords. How miserable!"

He wiped away his tears and continued, "Fortunately, Guanyin Bodhisattva was merciful and enlightened me, giving me the name of the river and a Dharma name, Sha Wujing. The Bodhisattva instructed me to wait here for the pilgrim to travel west and to protect him so that I could atone for my sins through merit."

Who knew that a scoundrel would come a month ago, disguise himself as the master, and make a fool of the disciple, even forcibly shaving the disciple's head...

Upon hearing this, Pigsy couldn't help but chuckle: "I've seen people swindle money and women, but this is the first time I've heard of someone swindling people into becoming monks! What's he after? Do you have some kind of treasure?"

Sha Wujing glared at him and said, "That man wasn't entirely lying. He said the real master was still behind us and told me to wait patiently."

Later, the Wooden Pagoda Walker arrived and fought him fiercely. After dozens of rounds, he finally captured him with the Flying Rainbow Rope.

Before I left, the monk Moksha reminded me that my master would arrive soon and that I should greet him well.

Sun Wukong asked, "What skills does that fellow possess that allow him to fight Muzha for dozens of rounds?"

Sha Wujing said, "That man possesses extraordinary supernatural powers; he is indestructible, impervious to swords and axes."

Sun Wukong asked, "Could it be Erlang Shen, the Little Sage?"

Sha Wujing said, "He's not Erlang Shen, the Manifestation Saint. He wields a twelve-foot steel spear, and his martial arts are quite impressive."

Sun Wukong chuckled and said, "Interesting! There really is such a person in the world. I'd really like to meet him!"

Pigsy chimed in, "Brother, that's easy. When you see him, you whack him with your stick, he stabs you with his spear. Keep doing this for three or five years, and let this old pig have a taste of being the eldest brother!"

Wukong turned around and cursed, "You rotten, stupid fool, stop talking nonsense!"

Tang Sanzang waved his hand to stop the two from bickering and asked Sha Wujing, "Are you truly willing to sincerely convert to my religion and follow me to the Western Paradise to worship Buddha and seek scriptures?"

Sha Wujing kowtowed repeatedly: "I was taught by the Bodhisattva, and then ordained by that...that fake master. Although it was all a misunderstanding, it strengthened my resolve to follow the Buddha. Now that I have met the true master, how could I not follow him?"

Tang Sanzang was overjoyed and said, "Very good! The Bodhisattva will give you the Dharma name Wujing, and I will also bestow upon you a nickname. I observe that your conduct is polite and has the demeanor of a monk, so from now on I will call you 'Sha Wujing'!"

Sha Wujing bowed again and said, "Thank you, Master, for bestowing upon me this name! Thank you, Master!"

After paying respects to Tang Sanzang, they also paid respects to Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie, and exchanged greetings.

Tang Sanzang helped him up and said, "Wujing, since the Bodhisattva asked you to wait here, did he leave any instructions on how to cross the river?"

Sha Wujing slapped his forehead and said, "Yes, yes, yes!" He then took out a gourd from his bosom, removed the nine skulls hanging around his neck, tied them together with a rope to form a nine-palace shape, and placed the gourd in the center.

In an instant, the skull and gourd transformed into a magic boat, floating on the water as steady as a rock.

Sha Wujing said, "Master, this is a Dharma boat left behind by the Bodhisattva; it can cross eight hundred li of quicksand!"

Tang Sanzang then boarded the Dharma boat and sat on it, finding it as stable as a light boat.

With Pigsy supporting him on the left and Monkey King helping him on the right, and Monkey King leading the dragon horse behind them through half the clouds and half the mist, they indeed floated steadily across the quicksand realm and crossed the Weak River in calm waters and gentle breezes.

Zhen Ge also flew like an arrow, and in no time, he reached the other shore, freed from the raging waves, without any lingering attachments. Fortunately, his feet and hands were dry, and he was free from all distractions. The master and his disciples were on the ground.

Once on the other side, Sha Wujing put away the gourd, and the nine skeletons turned into a cold wind and disappeared without a trace.