[Journey to the West] Monkey, be good

"Long stay, happy... happy..."

I knelt and sat in front of the stele, looking at the familiar name on it, with my eyes wide open, letting tears flow.The wound on the shoulder seemed to heat up, and it started to hurt uncontrollably again.It was too close to my heart, which made my heart feel as if someone was holding it tightly, and it was so painful.

"Why...why the spirit and person you want to protect is...me..."

My vision became blurred, I couldn't see anything, only a piece of burning peach blossom red in front of my eyes.Covering the icy stone tablet with his hand, the biting coolness made people palpitate.I heard someone screaming hoarsely in my ear, every word seemed to be rolled on the blade of a knife, and every word was shed with blood.

"Great Sage, you don't know how long it took me to force myself to forget these...why do you insist on bringing up old things...?"

It's never my voice, I thought.

I am thin and generous, and I don't care about it.

But this voice is full of resentment and grievance, unwillingness and despair, it must not be mine.

But it really reverberated in my mind, and I couldn't get it out.

The monkey stood behind me, silent.

The mountain wind blew the hem of his clothes, and it kept flying, making a sound of hunting.He looked at the grave of strangers, his face was slightly pale, and there seemed to be thousands of emotions in his golden eyes, he hesitated to speak, but he hesitated to speak, and finally all turned into a soft sigh——

"joy…"

The wind was getting stronger, and the clear sky gradually gathered layers of dense dark clouds, turning into torrential rain.Like broken beads falling to the ground, they splashed on the bluestone at my feet, crackling, and at the same time drenched the monkey and me completely.

There was the howling wind and rain in my ears, and the rain covered everything. I couldn't even see the last bit of color, only the sky was gray and white.After a long time, the monkey took out an old paper umbrella, opened it, and put it over my head to block the rain.

The remaining oiled paper was barely glued to the umbrella ribs made of several bamboo slices with paste. On the paper were painted peach blossom branches in twos and threes. The flowers had withered and were broken all over the place. A word like a dog crawling - "Yaoguang".

The monkey put his hand on my shoulder lightly, as if wanting to suppress my grief, and said slowly: "At that time...everyone told me that your primordial spirit was broken and your immortal essence was exhausted...but I didn't believe it. Yes, I can't believe it, and I don't dare to believe it. Huanxi, look, I planted these peach trees the year you left, and now they have grown up and will bloom, and you have finally... come back..."

That's right, if the monkey hadn't reminded me, I would have really forgotten that I died once 2000 years ago.

So now even if someone secretly built a grave in this barren mountain, built a clothes tomb, and built a tomb of the living dead, and took some flowers, plants, snacks and fruits to pay homage, it is not unusual.After all, in my previous life, I lived wonderfully, and when I died, someone should remember it, and I can't live a life in vain.

Two thousand and five hundred years ago, this immortal monarch self-destructed his immortal essence in the illusion of ten directions, and only then gave birth to a golden peach and gave it to a monkey.I was still young at that time, I didn't know the benefits and harms, and I was so focused on healing the burns of the monkeys, I couldn't control the amount, and I wasted seventy-eight eighty-eight of my soul, and the remaining little was only enough to hang my breath.

I originally thought that the illusion of ten directions was set up for the demons of the monkeys. As an outsider who accidentally entered the country, even if I got hurt in it, as long as I left the illusion and returned to reality, nothing serious would happen. as a result of.I never thought that after falling asleep in the arms of the monkey, I was indeed ejected from the illusion, but returned to the physical body with almost exhausted immortal energy.

When my primordial spirit returned to the physical body, the monkey was still trapped in the illusion of ten directions and had not yet awakened.His eyes were slightly closed, his brows were tightly furrowed, and the corners of his forehead were dripping with cold sweat, as if he was caught in a nightmare.Maybe he encountered some troubles in the illusion, I guessed, knowing the rest, he can only face it alone, there is nothing I can do except to be impatient.Fortunately, before I left, I left the peach to him, so that even without my company, with the effectiveness of that golden peach, it shouldn't be a problem to save his life in a critical moment.

But because of that peach, I was seriously injured and seriously ill.The consciousness is drowsy all day long, as if falling into a state of chaos, losing the five senses, and no longer knowing the outside world.It seems that after a big sleep, I had another big dream that I forgot when I woke up.

By the time I recover from my injury, I don’t know how many hundreds of years have passed.I opened my eyes, and saw that the Marble Mountains, which had been burned to ashes by the karmic fire, were strangely covered with lush fruit trees and fragrant flowers and plants. Colorful butterflies and bees were flying on the branches, countless feet away. The cold ice, and the fire of ten feet of karma.

I know that during the hundreds of years of my sleep, the monkey's demons have been eliminated, and his sentence is about to expire. Maybe he will leave the Five Elements Mountain in a few days.

I jumped with joy in my heart, I was really happy for him, I lowered my head and called him, "Brother Changliu!" But I heard the sound of "click" and "click" dead branches breaking, and then the small branches that were not too dense on my body melted one after another. Turned into rotten powder, it fell to the bottom of the cliff, and soon there was only a crooked trunk left.

"!" I was startled, thinking that I had some incurable disease.I thought to myself, I have no flowers and no leaves, so it’s okay to be ugly, but now I don’t even have any branches left, what should I do?In addition, I was surrounded by green and bright red flowers and plants. In contrast, my appearance was too shabby.

I also thought, Brother Changliu is the best person in the world, how can I be worthy of him with my scruffy appearance?Can't help but feel sad, pursed his mouth, and drooped his head wearily.

"Little Peach Tree, are you alive again?"

At this time, the monkey called me.He was still pressed under the mountain, and there was not much space for him to move. He could only barely see me by tilting his head with difficulty.Perhaps these days he doesn't have to continue to be tortured, his expression is much brighter, and his tone is more relaxed than hundreds of years ago.

"A few years ago, I fell asleep and had a dream. When I woke up, I saw your body was withered and your branches fell off. I thought you were dead, and I was sad for a long time." The monkey said with a smile, "But now I see you. You took a new branch, so it should be fine, right?"

"New branch..." I looked at my body suspiciously, only to find that a green sprout the size of a soybean grain appeared at some point where the dead branch broke. It was itchy and seemed to be growing outward.I was overjoyed, God knows, since I was a child, I have never had a new branch, and I have always looked like dead branches and leaves.So... I also followed the newborn?

"Yeah, yeah, brother Changliu, you successfully defeated the demons and left the illusion, and I was born again, double happiness, double happiness~" I said happily, shaking my body again, wanting him to praise me, thinking about how I lived in the illusion. He has treated me so well, I think he will not be stingy with a few words of praise.

"You are very happy, little peach tree." The monkey laughed.

"Of course I'm happy!" I nodded like a pounding garlic.I thought to myself, since monkeys can’t understand what I say, let’s show him some actions. When I grow up a bit and have more magic power, I will be able to communicate with him face to face when I become an adult early.

But something seems wrong.Why does the monkey keep calling me "Little Peach Tree" instead of "Huanxi"?I clearly told him that my name is Huanxi, and he promised me that he would always remember me.

Why doesn't he call me by my name?I was wondering, what went wrong?

In the illusion, I am a peach tree demon, but in reality, I am a peach tree.

In the illusion, I said that I had known him, but in reality, I was only ten feet above his head.

In the fantasy world, I said that I admired him, but in reality, I was very enthusiastic about him shaking his body and head.

Even if I forgot to tell him directly, "Hey, Great Sage, I am actually that crooked-neck tree on top of your head!" With his cleverness, it should be the right number, right?

Hey!I'm also to blame for this, I should have told him directly, but I just forgot in my brain.

But even if I don't say it directly, even if the above three points are not enough for him to recognize me, then... what about those two golden peaches that almost killed me?Isn't it enough to remind him that the "Huanxi" in the illusion is the same person as the "Crooked Neck Tree" in reality?

Until now, I have no choice but to accept that it’s not that monkeys can’t associate, but——

I believed his words, and he...forgot about me.

"Great Sage..." I looked at him, sighed, smiled wryly, and murmured, "I seem to be a little... sad..."

Seeing that I was shaking my body vigorously, the monkey suddenly became quiet and lethargic, so it called me and said, "Hey."

"I'm fine..." I shrank back, hugged myself tightly, and smiled, "It has nothing to do with you, I blame myself for being stupid."

The monkey frowned, as if thinking about what to say.

At this time, a young monk came running from the path at the end of the valley. He looked about thirteen or fourteen years old, wearing a patched coarse cloth cassock, with a small string of Buddhist beads hanging around his neck, and holding a wooden bowl in his hand. , The bowl is filled with white rice.

When he got closer, I saw that he was thin and handsome again, with a little combing and indifference between his eyebrows and eyes.However, when he yelled "Great Sage!", he couldn't hear any indifference, and he was very intimate.

Holding the bowl in his hand, the little monk climbed up to the monkey's side with difficulty by climbing the protruding rocks on the cliff.Sitting on a relatively flat small stone, he put the bowl in front of the monkey and said, "Today a great virtuous man went to the temple to deliver incense and gave him three bags of white rice! Master steamed a pot and just filled a bowl with me. I'll bring it to you immediately, eat it quickly."

I stared blankly at the two of them, and for some reason, I remembered the scene of Jin Chan and the monkey sitting at my feet side by side in the heaven.

The monkey took the bowl, looked at me again, and then turned around and said "thank you" to the little monk with a smile.

I don't quite understand why he eats whenever he wants, but why he still looks at me.But that look made me feel quite uncomfortable, as if I had planted a vegetable garden with my own hands, watered and fertilized it laboriously, looking forward to spring and summer, and finally when the autumn harvest was about to be harvested, the vegetables were stolen by thieves at night gone.

Little bald head!Return my food!I thought to myself, Brother Changliu, why don't you eat peaches anymore?Why eat his rice?

"Eat slowly, don't choke." The little monk said, reached into his sleeve, took out a big peach, and said with a smile: "After eating the rice, there are still peaches. I went to alms in the morning, and it was also given by a good man." .”

I cried out "Wow--".

It's not that monkeys don't eat peaches anymore, but they don't need my peaches anymore.Someone delivered food and fruit, no wonder he was in a better mood than hundreds of years ago.It's all my fault that I slept for so long that that little bald man took advantage of the loophole.

"Is it raining?" The little monk touched the water droplets on his head and looked up suspiciously.

"..." I rubbed my eyes and muttered, "God damn rain, I feel bad and want to cry."

When the little monk saw me, his eyes lit up, and he said happily, "Great Sage, this little tree is alive! It's really alive!"

Why is he happier than a monkey seeing me alive?

"En." The monkey responded lightly, and said, "I just picked a new branch this morning."

"Let me just say, it will definitely come back to life, and it's not in vain for me to pick mountain springs to irrigate it every other day in the past few years, catch insects and spread a lot of manure." The little monk said, "Look It is still effective, tomorrow I will pick some water to water it."

"..." I was stunned.

On the days when I am asleep, I can vaguely feel that someone is taking good care of me, although that feeling is extremely unreal.I always thought it was a dream, but I didn't expect it to be real.

This little monk is like a monkey, he doesn't dislike my ugliness, he is the second best person to me, maybe, without his care, I would really die.Thinking of this, I suddenly couldn't hate him anymore, just like when I was in heaven, Jin Chan was also a very good-looking person, so I don't hate him either.

"Master often said that 'love' and 'kindness' can change everything, but I didn't believe it at first." The young monk said, and he looked at me with relief, "I never thought that compassion can really turn a dead tree into a spring and bring the dead back to life."

"Perhaps...it's not your compassion that brought it back to life, but your mercy." The monkey smiled, raised his hand and rubbed the little monk's bald head, and there was something in his eyes that I didn't quite understand. , and said things that people seem to understand.

The little monk was puzzled and asked, "Don't be kidding me, great sage. I'm not a god descending to earth. How could the Buddha be reincarnated and bring the dead back to life?"

"You're still young." Monkey smiled lightly, and when he was talking, he looked at me again, "There are many things that haven't happened yet, but they have already been determined, and when you grow up, you will understand. "

Indeed, I was still young at that time, and the little monk named "Jiang Liuer" was even more immature.

A few years later, Jiang Liu'er grew up and became the most famous Master Xuanzang in the Tang Dynasty.He opened an altar to teach the Dharma, and saved all sentient beings. Taizong relied heavily on him. He bestowed cassocks, staffs, dragon horses, and the title of "Yudi".

That day, he came to say goodbye to me and the monkey.He was dressed in snow-white clothes and bright cassock, and he had long lost the childishness of his childhood. The indifference between his brows was like thick ink, and it was a little thicker, exaggerated layer by layer, with a touch of melancholy and compassion.

This time, he was really cold, his temperament was the same, and so was his manner.So much so that I had an impulse, I couldn't help but feel distressed, and I wanted to reach out to rub the sorrow that was furrowed between his brows away.

He led the dragon horse bestowed by Emperor Taizong to the foot of the mountain, clasped his hands together, slightly closed his long and narrow eyes, and said, "Great Sage, Little Peach Fairy, this poor monk is going to the Western Paradise to worship Buddha and seek scriptures. It is a long journey, and it must be dangerous. , I don’t know when I can come back, I don’t know if I can come back, I come to say goodbye to you today, so let’s say goodbye.”

He looks like ice and jade, like a monkey, he is a very good-looking person, with a silver lotus seal between his eyebrows, sealing the past, sealing all the memories of him sitting down as the second disciple of the Tathagata Buddha.

I recognize him, he is Jin Chan.

I think the monkey should have recognized Jin Chan, otherwise he wouldn't have said——

"Xuanzang, take me away, and I will go with you. I have stayed at the foot of the mountain for 500 years, just to wait for today. Since you want to save all sentient beings, why not save me one more?"