Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

The mountains and hills are green and the cliffs are steep and rugged, this is Wudang.

The vast expanse of clear sky and the white birds flying tiredly are the Tai Chi Lake at the foot of Mount Wudang.

Amid the beautiful scenery of lakes and mountains, a small boat floats with the waves. On the boat is a middle-aged couple, wearing bamboo hats, cloth clothes and straw sandals. Although they are dressed simply, their brows are indescribably relaxed and comfortable. They do not use poles or oars, but sit lazily in the boat. The man holds a fishing rod and the woman fiddles with the lotus pods piled on her knees, breaking one open and taking out the fresh lotus seeds inside to peel and eat.

"Old Yin..." A Taoist in black walked over to the shore and called out.

Although the voice was not loud, it was heard from far away. So the couple on the boat heard his loud voice at the first moment: "Old Yin, how much did you catch today?"

The man called Lao Yin's hand trembled, and the fish gathered around the bait immediately scattered and fled. The woman put down the half-eaten lotus pod and laughed softly, "Hey, your enemy is here?"

The man's mouth turned down instantly, and his smile was extremely bitter. After saying this, the woman stood up and said loudly: "Lao Xuan, thanks to you, I caught two big whitebait!" As she spoke, she compared with her two hands and showed a two-foot-long fish.

Whitebait is a specialty of Fangzhou, and has always been known as the world's best delicacy along with Songjiang perch and Yellow River carp. Its meat is extremely tender. A freshly caught fish, especially a fresh whitebait, is enough to make any gourmet salivate.

The black-robed Taoist called Lao Xuan nodded: "I just brought a bottle of nectar wine, just right for a drink!"

"It's beautiful!" the woman praised, her eyes flicking towards her husband. Under her gaze full of ridicule and sympathy, the man shook his head sadly, put away his fishing rod, stood up and rowed the boat towards the shore.

An hour later, the three of them had enough food and drink, and set up the chess scale in the pavilion outside the bamboo house. The woman slowly waved her silk fan and watched her man playing chess with the Taoist in black. At this time, the man's two thick black eyebrows were tightly twisted together, his lips were tightly pursed, and his expression was painful as if he had a stomachache. The Taoist in black was in high spirits, and he made moves with great vigor, knocking the white jade chess scale with a loud clapping sound.

Just looking at the expressions of the two men, one would certainly feel that the former was losing ground while the latter was invincible - if one ignored the black and white pieces on the chessboard themselves.

In just a cup of tea, the Taoist in black had already lost a round badly, and was about to lose the second round. However, his black eyes were gleaming with brilliance, and he exclaimed "It's so enjoyable" with a look of joy, and urged: "Old Yin, why are you so slow? You play too slowly!"

The man looked anxious: "Lao Xuan, this is not the way to play fast chess!"

He simply made moves without thinking. He wanted to make the last round not have time to think carefully. But he didn't even have time to think carefully, and he couldn't lose a single round. What a terrible chess player this Xuan Daoist is!

The woman beside him waved her fan like a butterfly flying through flowers, laughing so hard that she fell backwards: "I told you to despise my poor playing skills on weekdays, but now you have met your nemesis. Just bear with it slowly."

The man had a sad face, knowing that every time this Taoist came, unless he had something to do and asked to leave, he would not be able to get rid of him for three to five days. Seeing how interested he was this time, he had to burn the midnight oil to accompany his chess friend.

Heaven and earth, where can we find a savior to save him from this dire straits?

Speak of the devil, and here he comes. I heard a gentle laugh swaying in the swaying bamboo wind, and the next moment he was outside the bamboo pavilion: "Father, mother, are you meeting guests?"

The man's eyes lit up, and before he could say anything, the woman had already rushed over: "My dear, you are not busy outside, why did you come back so late?"

It turns out that this couple is none other than Wen Jiao's biological parents, Yin Kaishan and Madam Yin. After the news of Wen Jiao's immortality spread back to the Tang Dynasty, the two elders could not stand the harassment from people who came to ask for medicine and immortality, so they simply pretended to be dead and went to live in seclusion in Wudang Mountain.

The bamboo house they lived in was built by Wen Jiao when she went into the mountains to practice asceticism. Later, she renovated it to welcome them. From the outside of the fence, it looked like a neat bamboo house, but inside, the floor was paved with warm jade, the walls were inlaid with pearls, the steps were surrounded by fragrant grass and ganoderma lucidum, and the flowers were ever-blooming all year round. It was truly a paradise on earth and a paradise outside the world. There were also several mountain spirits who worshipped Wen Jiao and volunteered to serve as servants. They took care of food, clothing, housing and transportation.

The two elders didn't have to worry about anything, and they spent their days in the mountains, forests, and lakes. Wudang Mountain was the location of the Taoist temple of the Demon-Dangling Heavenly Venerable. Although it was said to be a secluded place, it was actually quite prosperous. There were many immortals, Taoists with profound practices, hermits with good conversation, and spirits who practiced cultivation. The two elders lived in seclusion here and made many good friends who shared the same interests with them. In addition, after taking the elixir and nectar brought by Wen Jiao, they had gained immortality. There was nothing lacking in their lives, and they lived a very comfortable life.

The only thing they were concerned about was their children and grandchildren, but Wen Jiao would come to visit them every now and then, bringing them news about Yin Yuan and Yin's grandchildren, so this little worry seemed unnecessary.

Wen Jiao stood at the bottom of the stairs, raised her head slightly and looked at them, her eyes trembling slightly when they passed by the Taoist in black.

At this time, Madam Yin had already rushed to her, took her hand and led her inside. Her fingertips were a little cold, and when touched by Madam Yin's hot body temperature, she actually felt a bit of burning pain.

Madam Yin was unaware of the ripples in her heart, and she immediately poured out a bunch of words: "This is the chess friend your father met last month, Taoist Xuan. Old Xuan, this is the first daughter of Old Yin and me, Mantangjiao."

Considering the difference between immortals and mortals, Madam Yin only vaguely mentioned Wen Jiao's identity, and then said with great interest: "Your father's fishing skills have improved a lot recently. He just caught two whitebait today. The three of us ate one and left one. I'll ask the kitchen to prepare it for you to eat."

Wen Jiao nodded and said softly, "I just happened to bring some Tianzhu fruit wine. I hope you won't say that I ate your fish for nothing."

"Go away, go away. I'm not your mother, a cat. I'm not living by guarding a dried fish. I value it more than my own eyeballs." Madam Yin scolded with a smile, lightly tapped Wen Jiao's nose with her fan, and turned to walk towards the kitchen.

After being interrupted by them, Yin Kaishan finally found a good opportunity to escape. He threw the chess piece away and said with a smile: "Lao Xuan, it's rare for my Mantangjiao to come back. We have a lot to say. How about we stop playing chess today and play it again another day?"

"No big deal." Xuan Daoist's eyes were fixed on the chess scale. "The chess field is like a battlefield. How can I run away when the women in my family come to visit me?"

Wen Jiao looked at this familiar scene and held her forehead with her hand: "Then I, your daughter, will go to the battle on your father's behalf."