The Monkey King

When the first ray of sunlight illuminated the Taoist temple, the wind chime opened the door of the monkey's room with food, and saw the monkey already dressed neatly and sitting on the couch.

"You got up very early, why don't you take a good rest?" As he said that, Feng Chime casually put the fruits, vegetables and water on the low table.

"Can't sleep." The monkey replied casually, looked at the fruit, and asked, "Do you eat these in the morning here?"

"Of course not. Today's breakfast is steamed buns and steamed buns." After saying that, the wind chime poured some water from the small jar into the cup, and then pushed the tray with the fruit in front of the monkey: "You are a monkey, eating is natural. I'm different."

"I'll eat the same thing as you from now on to save you trouble." After saying that, the monkey started to eat, and while eating, he asked: "What are the arrangements for today?"

The wind chime held its cheek and stared at the monkey, and said: "After eating, we will go to the master to give him an early invitation, and then go to the back mountain to meditate."

After thinking for a while, he added: "This is what Master told me last night. He said that your anger is too strong. If you practice Taoism directly, you may fall into the devil's trap. Therefore, unlike other disciples, you need to meditate and meditate."

"Meditate..." The monkey held the apple and thought to himself: "Then when can we start practicing the Seventy-two Transformations and Somersault Clouds? Maybe we have to wait for seven years... Anyway, I have never done anything like practicing Taoism. Just listen to the old man."

After devouring the food, the two went out.

Along the way, the wind chime led the monkey and kept introducing: "The place you live in is called Ling Yanli, and the kitchen there is responsible for the food of the whole temple. Further up the corridor is Qilinjiao, which is the place where the temple grows elixirs. , and also houses various materials for refining medicine. Going back is Feiyun Pavilion, which is the residence of Uncle Qingyun."

"Uncle Qingyun?"

The attic pointed to by the wind chime is the attic where the middle-aged Taoist priest is located this morning.

"Master Qingyun is your fifth senior brother. Master has a total of ten disciples, and you are the tenth one. The only ones who are still in the temple now are you and Master Qingyun. Now the one who presides over daily lectures is also he."

The monkey nodded: "Then your master is..."

"The master of Feng Ling is Qing Fengzi, the first disciple of my master. He has reached the realm of transforming into a spirit and becoming an immortal early, but he has not yet gone to heaven to become an immortal. He is also the one with the highest level of cultivation among the master's disciples. Now I am traveling in Beizhou, and I am not in the temple."

"Um."

It seems that Subhuti's other disciples have never been mentioned in "Journey to the West". You should get to know them better if you have the chance.

Following the wind chimes, the monkey visited the Taoist temple.

This Taoist temple is built against the mountain in the Sanxingyue Cave, with corridors all over the place. It can be said that it is a palace complex in scale. In the morning, it is filled with clouds and mist, making it look full of fairy spirit.

Looking down from the temple, you can see buildings looming and mountains surrounded. The scenery is so picturesque that it can be called a fairyland on earth.

It’s no wonder that Subhuti, an ancient immortal who was not born in the world, chose to establish a sect here.

"Huh? Which one is it?"

In the clouds and mist, the monkey vaguely saw a towering tower building.

"The most important place in this temple - the Sutra Pavilion. There are people guarding it day and night. Without the master's order, no one except my master Qingfengzi is allowed to enter."

"Oh? It seems that the old man has hidden a lot of tricks." Monkey touched his chin and began to wonder if there were other profound Taoist techniques besides the Seventy-two Transformations and Somersault Cloud.

If so, learn it together, and even if you make a mistake in the future, it won't be so tragic.

But the wind chime said: "How can it be said that it is hidden? The gatekeepers are just a few ordinary disciples. Even I can easily pass the test. To know that the Tao is boundless, you need to proceed step by step. If you cross the line a little, you may become possessed and become possessed, or you may lose your life. No guarantee. Master is just doing it for our own good. The reason why my master Qingfengzi can come and go at will is because there are no books in the Sutra Pavilion that he cannot read."

"oh?"

Not long after, bursts of chanting sounds came from the distance.

"This is a compulsory scripture recitation in the morning, and it is presided over by Master Uncle Qingyun every day. Most of the disciples of the inner and outer contemplation can be regarded as half of his disciples regardless of their grade. Master Qingyun was a deacon in an official government before he started practicing Taoism, and he is the most important. This is the moral principle and the order of elder and younger. If you see him, you should be more respectful."

When walking through the magnificent ashram, through the gaps in the doors and windows, the monkey could clearly see dozens of disciples sitting neatly cross-legged on the floor, with a sutra book placed in front of them, and they were reciting in unison.

And on the steps, a middle-aged Taoist priest also meditated and chanted sutras with them.

Qingyunzi seemed to notice the monkey from a distance, but he just glanced at it and then closed his eyes again, pretending not to see it.

After following the wind chimes for seven or eight turns, we arrived at Subhuti's Qingxin Hall.

"Starting today, you will go to the back mountain to meditate and practice." This was Subhuti's first sentence when he saw the monkey.

"Then, master, how long do you want to meditate?" asked the monkey.

"What you meditate on is your heart. To cultivate immortality and Taoism, you must first cultivate your heart. If your heart is not cultivated, you will cultivate immortality. In the end, it will only be a disaster. When your heart is cultivated, I will teach you what you want to learn." After saying this, Subhuti waved his hand. He signaled the monkey to retreat and continued to lie half-ly on the couch, pondering over the scriptures in his hands.

"Remember Master's teachings." The monkey kowtowed in thanks.

After leaving the Qianxin Hall, the monkey asked the wind chime cautiously: "Master said that meditation is a way to cultivate the mind. What kind of practice is it?"

"This...I don't know this either. Master only told me to take you to the self-examination stone in the back mountain and let you meditate there, and he never told me anything else."

"Have you never cultivated your mind?"

"Well... To be precise, I have never heard of any disciple in this temple wanting to cultivate his mind."

At this statement, the monkey's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

"Then... am I really in a special situation, or is the old man planning something?" Looking back slightly, the monkey saw through the crack in the door that Subhuti was still half-lying, studying books and scriptures with gusto, with no trace of emotion between his brows. His expression changed, and it seemed that he had not used mind-reading skills to read the monkey's mental activities.

Forget it, let’s give it a try.

Sui Fengzhong walked around for another long time before reaching the back mountain and saw the so-called "introspection stone".

It was a huge boulder placed on the edge of a low cliff. It was three feet tall and wide, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. Sitting on it, you didn't have to worry about the boulder rolling down the mountain.

There is a deep pool on the edge of the cliff. The waterfall pours down from the top of the mountain, and the roar is deafening.

In addition to the natural landscape of birds singing and fragrant flowers, this is a place where it is difficult to talk, which is somewhat similar to the Water Curtain Cave.

Pointing to himself and then to the stone, the monkey looked at the wind chime.

"Well, go ahead." Feng Chime nodded.

When climbing the introspection stone, the monkey actually had the idea that "this stone is some kind of artifact." However, until the wind chime turned around and left him alone, there was nothing but question marks in his mind.

"Just sitting like this?" Monkey suddenly felt his balls hurt and his anus was tight.

He knelt outside the door for a year. During that year, the monkey fantasized about entering the door all the time. However, the current situation is that when you are outside the door, you kneel on the stone slab, and when you enter the door, you sit on the stone.

"It seems that there is not much difference. No! There must be a mystery in it." Monkey thought.

Closing his eyes, he began to feel it carefully.

The first thing to try is to have nothing in your mind. Of course, for normal people...or normal monkeys, this situation cannot last long.

Really unable to do anything anymore, the monkey started to try to stare at something...

But unfortunately, he didn't feel anything until his stomach growled.

There was no lunch at Xianyue Sanxing Cave, and naturally the wind chime wouldn't bring food, so he took the time to go down and pick a few wild fruits to eat, and then climbed back on the rocks to continue "meditating."

When the sun went down, the wind chime finally walked slowly along the mountain path with the basket in hand.

"How was it? Today."

"Um...just sit down." While eating, the monkey turned to look at the introspection stone and said out of nowhere: "Tell me, will the master play tricks on me?"

"Impossible! How could Master do such a thing!" The wind chime picked up the whisk and hit the monkey's head: "I'm telling you to think wildly!"

"Then tell me, why don't I feel anything? Cultivation of the mind? What kind of practice?"

"You must be not meditating enough! I said you were cultivating your mind, but you must be thinking wildly." Feng Ling said confidently.

After returning to his residence, the monkey lay on the mat and thought about it.

"Am I not meditative enough? This... seems to be correct. There is nothing to do there, so I always think about random things unconsciously. Do you want your mind to go blank? What kind of practice is to cultivate the mind? This old man actually also Don’t give me any hints…”

Thinking about it, the monkey jumped up from the bed, hurriedly put on his clothes and put on his shoes and socks, and went out to the back mountain in the dark at starry night.

This road happens to pass by Qingyunzi's Feiyun Pavilion.

If it had been anyone else, it would have been difficult to see the sneaky monkey on the steps in this dark night, but Qingyunzi was Subhuti's disciple, and his perception was child's play based on his cultivation.

Standing on the attic, he turned around silently and whispered to the young Taoist priest behind him: "Xidu, go see what the sneaky monkey head wants to do."