Interesting Journey to the Dharma-Extinguishing Kingdom (IX)

Meanwhile, Ao Tu advised Wukong not to provoke the Patriarch Styx.

This is truly for Wukong's good.

The Minghe attacked without restraint, unlike Ao Tu who knew how to control his strength.

If Wukong rashly went to provoke them, he would really be badly beaten.

Wukong listened to this well-intentioned advice, but he didn't take it seriously. How much skill could a mere Bandits possibly have?

Wukong laughed and said, "Old man, are you still worried about that beast? Are you afraid that if I beat him to death, no one will be there to break the basin for you in your final days?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Sanzang reprimanded him, saying, "Wukong, the Old Benefactor's descendants are unfilial, which is already quite tragic. How can you speak of him like that? Aren't you deliberately exposing his shortcomings?"

Ao Tu sighed, "Teacher, please don't be offended. What this young elder said isn't wrong. Even if children are unfilial, what parent in the world would willingly blame their own child? Over the years, my Old Woman and I have visited famous temples all over the country, praying to gods and Buddhas, hoping that a deity would appear and guide our son to reform. I know he has broken the Royal Law, but if he can repent in time, even if he can't escape the death penalty, he can surely be a good person in his next life, and our efforts in raising him will not have been in vain."

Upon hearing this, Guanyin Bodhisattva grasped Ao Tu's hand, her face full of sorrow, Earthly Way, "Yes! Yes!"

Wukong asked, "What gods and Buddhas have you been praying to all these years? Have you been truly sincere in your prayers?"

Upon hearing this, Ao Tu reached into his sleeve, peeled off a few Dragon Scales, transformed them into incense sticks, and took them out, saying:

"Look, this one is from Golden Light Temple; this one is from Zhiyuan Monastery; this one is from Zhenhai Temple; this one is from Yellow Flower Temple; this one is from Baolin Temple..."

Seeing this, Guanyin Bodhisattva plucked a few willow leaves and said, "Look, this one is from Golden Mountain Temple; this one is from Huasheng Temple; this one is from Jiaoshan Temple..."

Upon seeing these fortune slips, Tang Sanzang couldn't help but sigh, "Truly, the hearts of parents are full of love and worry for their children!"

Wukong, however, clapped his hands and laughed wildly.

Tang Sanzang said, "You Monkey! These two Old Benefactor have prayed to all the gods and Buddhas for their son's good deeds. Their sincere hearts should have moved even the most precious stones. How can you still laugh? Is your heart made of Shitou?"

Wukong laughed and said, "Master, Old Sun laughing at isn't their sincerity, but rather that they're praying to the gods and Buddhas incorrectly, without knowing the proper method!"

Ao Tu asked, "Young Elder, what's wrong with your method?"

Bajie put down the fruit in his mouth and said with a chuckle, "Old Benefactor, let me, this Old Pig, tell you!"

Ao Tu said, "I humbly request this elder to enlighten me."

Bajie said, "To tell you the truth, my Elder Brother is the Great Sage Equal to Heaven reincarnated! Worshipping this god and praying to that Buddha is of no use. If you had worshipped my Elder Brother earlier, your son would have already abandoned evil and turned to good!"

Upon hearing this, Ao Tu was overjoyed and said, "Elder, you actually possess such magical power! It's truly Immortal intervention! We beg you, Elder, to have mercy on our sincere hearts and spare our son! We are willing to offer all the treasures in our home!"

Wukong said, "We are virtuous monks, we don't need your treasure. But that Fat Monk to be well-fed before he can work!"

Upon hearing this, Ao Tu hurriedly said, "Elders, please wait a moment, I will go and prepare the Buddhist vegetarian meal!"

Bajie said, "Hurry! Hurry! We need to eat our fill before we can save your son!"

Ao Tu then went out to prepare the Buddhist vegetarian meal.

When Guanyin Bodhisattva saw this, she dragged Ao Tu to the Rear Hall, her face full of reproach.

Seeing this, Wukong quietly went over to eavesdrop.

Ao Tu asked, "Madam, what's wrong? Why did you pull me over here?"

Guanyin Bodhisattva said, "It was originally your job to cook, but now that guests have arrived, how can I ask you to leave them alone? Wouldn't that be impolite? If others find out, they'll say it's my fault!"

Upon hearing this, Ao Tu didn't mention a word about who would cook, but simply smiled and said, "I always thought that having a rebellious son was our fault for not disciplining him properly. Now I realize it was all arranged by Heaven."

Guanyin Bodhisattva asked curiously, "How is this arrangement by Heaven?"

Ao Tu said, "The way of Heaven is to take from those who have too much and give to those who have too little. I have such a virtuous wife, which is hard to find in the world. Is it not because Heaven favors me too much that it has sent me this rebellious son?"

Upon hearing this, Guanyin Bodhisattva couldn't help but laugh and said, "You old woman, you're good at fooling people!" Then she went to cook.

Wukong returned with a smile and said to Tang Sanzang and the Human Way, "Master, do you know why that old man raised such a rebellious son?"

Tang Sanzang said, "It seems that the Old Benefactor has had a son late in life and has been too indulgent towards him."

Wukong laughed and said, "No! No! It's just that the old man is afraid of his wife at home, so he's afraid of his son outside. This is the way of Heavenly Dao!"

Tang Sanzang said, "Nonsense, how do you Taoist's afraid of his wife?"

Wukong then laughed and repeated to the others what Ao Tu had just said.

When Ao Tu returned, he overheard Wukong mimicking his tone, saying something like, "I have found such a virtuous wife; it's hard to find one like her in this world..."

The four of them couldn't help but laugh.

Ao Tu looked at Wukong.

He hadn't actually planned anything. Firstly, there wasn't much to plan in this situation, and secondly, the four of them had grown up together and wouldn't fall for a trap so easily again.

Ao Tu was not good at planning and could not easily come up with any good strategies.

His plan was simply to have the Patriarch Styx beat up Wukong, then Wukong would ask the gods to descend to earth, and so on, thus delaying the inevitable for a while.

Now, Ao Tu was furious to hear Wukong slander him so unjustly, so he decided to come up with a plan to punish the Monkey.

After pondering for a moment, Ao Tu roughly devised a plan. He left his Primordial Spirit, while his body remained in the hall talking with Tang Sanzang and his disciples, appearing no different from ordinary people. His Primordial Spirit then soon arrived at the Minghe.

When the Patriarch Styx saw Ao Tu approaching, he asked, "What else does the Cult Leader wish to instruct?"

Ao Tu said:

"Come to my house in a little while, use some foul language to provoke Sun Wukong into a fight. During the fight, let the Monkey have a couple of moves, don't use your full strength, just win. The Monkey has already promised to convert you from evil to good, and seeing that he can't beat you, he will surely say something. You should say that you are not evil by nature, but that you learned martial arts from a master and are itching to show off, so you sought out heroes to form a sworn brotherhood with, and want to borrow some gold and silver from travelers to forge a suitable weapon. If you get the weapon, you will naturally turn to good."

The Patriarch Styx nodded and said, "Go ahead, I understand. He gave me the weapon, and I will submit to good faith."

Ao Tu said, "No! No! If he gives you a weapon, a thousand-pound one is too light, a ten-thousand-pound one is too short. If he gives you a knife, you say you don't know how to use a knife; if he gives you a fork, you say you don't know how to use a fork. I'll teach you how to put it away, then you can take it."

The Patriarch Styx listened and agreed, thinking it was over, but Ao Tu continued to give instructions, teaching him a full four or five hundred phrases.

The Patriarch Styx said, "Cult Leader, I am a straightforward person! If you ask me to catch that Monkey, it won't take much effort; I can do it with one hand. But if you ask me to say all this, it's too much, and I can't be thorough enough."

Ao Tu said, "There's no need to memorize everything; just adapt to the situation."

The Patriarch Styx then agreed.

On the other side, Guanyin Bodhisattva prepared some wood ear mushrooms, tender bamboo shoots, tofu, gluten, green vegetables, and nuts, stir-frying and making cold dishes; she also prepared some vermicelli soup with a few drops of sesame Incense Oil; steamed rice cakes and rolls; cooked millet rice with Red Date; and prepared tea.