Volume 3: A Long Journey, Chapter 245: The Struggle Between Buddhism and Taoism

Wukong was speechless upon hearing that Hou Tu would think of matters between men and women. Seeing that the situation wasn’t ripe yet, he kept things ambiguous and said, “This… Senior Dayu… really can’t be told!”
Hou Tu glanced at Wukong, a sly look flashing in her eyes, and said, “I know what you’re thinking. You want me to go find him, huh? Dream on!”
Wukong replied, “Senior, how could I lie? Senior Dayu truly has his reasons.” Pretending to be sorrowful, he sighed heavily and said, “The power of fate is unparalleled; it’s not something that can be resolved so easily.”
Hou Tu was shocked and asked, “What? Is there still some hidden danger?” She had been probing earlier, but upon hearing it was related to fate’s retribution, she immediately became concerned.
Wukong acted helpless and said, “Senior, if you don’t want to see him, it’s useless for me to say anything.”
Hou Tu pretended to be angry and said, “If you don’t talk, I’ll really get angry.” Though she feigned anger, it added to her charm. Hou Tu was naturally very gentle, with a soft and melodious voice. Seeing her expression, Wukong knew that if he didn’t speak, she wouldn’t give up, so he said, “Sigh, since you insist on asking, I’ll tell you. Back then, Senior Dayu killed the Divine Ape of Fate by mistake and was overwhelmed with guilt. He already resolved to die while inside the Kunpeng’s belly. He severed his meridians for tens of thousands of years. Although I share his essence of fate with him, his life force is now extremely weak. Describing him as in his final years is no exaggeration—how could he have the strength to seek you out?”
The more Hou Tu listened, the darker her expression became. She murmured, “This fool… how could he be so stupid?” She clenched her hand so hard that she crushed a highly rare pearl on the armrest of her throne, with powder falling softly to the ground.
Seeing Hou Tu’s reaction, Wukong smiled inwardly but remained serious and said, “Senior, don’t worry. I’m trying to find a way to save Senior Dayu. There are many miraculous herbs in the world—”
Hou Tu looked deeply saddened and said, “If even his current cultivation level can’t help, what miraculous herb could save him? Enough. If it’s fate, they’ll meet again; if not, seeing each other would only bring pain.”
Her words surprised Wukong. He had thought Hou Tu would be extremely anxious and rush to see Dayu, but instead, she had become pessimistic.
Wukong looked at Hou Tu and saw a determined and unyielding expression on her face, so he felt relieved. Hmph, tens of thousands of years of longing could create a force that shook the heavens and earth—how could it be so easy to forget?
Hou Tu said calmly, “Since you’ve come, it wouldn’t be right to go back empty-handed. I see you’ve also practiced the Five Elements arts—only Earth magic is missing. How about I teach you some Earth magic?”

Wukong was overjoyed. Dayu had once said that to fully unleash the power of his Xuan Kong Fa secrets, he must master all five elements spells. He bowed and said, “Wukong would be honored to learn them.”
Hou Tu added, “With good aptitude, one can achieve some success in two or three hundred years with these spells.”
Hearing this, Wukong felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him. The five elements spells were certainly not that easy to learn. And it took exactly that much time—he was on a mission to obtain the scriptures now; where could he find the time to learn skills here?
He replied, “Elder, I’m currently on my way to obtain the scriptures and don’t have so much time.”
Hou Tu didn’t insist. “Very well. In that case, I’ll teach you a mantra for laying the foundation. You can ponder it slowly when you have time. If you practice it daily, it will make learning spells easier later on.”
This was indeed a solution that satisfied both parties, and Wukong thanked her repeatedly. Hou Tu then taught Wukong a mantra that was extremely complicated—no less than seven or eight thousand characters. It took Wukong over half an hour to finally memorize it, though he still didn’t understand its meaning.
Hou Tu said, “Everything I’ve learned in my life is contained in this mantra. Don’t underestimate it.” Wukong replied, “I will surely remember your kindness and never treat it lightly.”
Hou Tu said, “Good. Since you’re in such a hurry to obtain the scriptures, go then.”
Wukong still had one important question left. How could he leave now? He asked Hou Tu, “I still have something unclear and would like to ask.”
Hou Tu asked, “Are you asking about the Tongbi Divine Ape blocking your path to obtain the scriptures?”
Wukong confirmed, “That’s exactly it.”
Hou Tu replied, “Since you’ve asked, I won’t hide anything from you. Although obtaining the scriptures seems like a matter involving just four people, countless forces are involved. Though I’ve lived underground for a long time and am indifferent to worldly affairs, I know that Buddhism and Taoism are incompatible, with an irreconcilable conflict between them. There have been no overt conflicts over the years, but it’s only because a pretext is lacking.
“I wonder what the Buddha in the West thinks. Such a major task shouldn’t be undertaken lightly. In my opinion, he’s being too hasty. Although Taoism seems weak on the surface, it has ruled the world for many years and surely hides great strength. Though it seems that Buddhism is gaining ground, it’s still Buddhism that’s struggling to catch up.”
Hearing Hou Tu’s assessment, Wukong couldn’t help but ask, “Elder, have you ever heard of the Three Thousand Buddhas and the Infinite Bodhisattvas?”
Hou Tu replied, “Of course. This isn’t just empty talk. But since you’ve heard of that, have you ever heard of the Infinite Dao?”
Wukong was confused. “What is the Infinite Dao?”
Hou Tu explained, “That’s the most secret force within Taoism—the Infinite Dao, the Eight or Nine Golden Immortals. Among these seven thousand two hundred Golden Immortals, there are equal numbers of Taiyi Hunyuan. I don’t know how many of them have become saints by now.”

Wukong was stunned speechless by these words. Good heavens, 7,200 Golden Immortals—such a huge number! It was truly unbelievable. Wukong asked, “Is this… true?”
Hou Tu smiled faintly and said, “Eight or nine Golden Immortals are the same as the three thousand Buddhas—they exist only for show and cannot be used.”
“Cannot be used? Why not?” Wukong was confused and asked immediately.
Hou Tu replied, “There are many things you should think about on your own.”
Think on my own? Wukong had no clue at all—how could he think? He pondered Hou Tu’s words carefully. She said that eight or nine Golden Immortals were the same as the three thousand Buddhas—what did that mean? Could it be that neither of these forces could be mobilized right now? If they couldn’t be used, then what were they doing?
Wukong tried hard to find common points between the Heavenly Court and the Western Heaven, and suddenly realized, “I get it! Is it related to reversing time?”
Hou Tu was also slightly surprised. She hadn’t expected Wukong to find the answer so quickly. With a smile, she nodded and said, “Exactly!”
Only after receiving Hou Tu’s confirmation did Wukong realize that both the Heavenly Court’s principle of “one day in heaven equals one year on earth” and Ling Mountain’s principle of “seven days in the mountains equal a thousand years on earth” were maintained by human effort. No wonder such a large amount of manpower was required.
If either the Heavenly Court or Ling Mountain could freely allocate some of their forces to the struggle between Buddhism and Taoism, they would surely gain a huge advantage. It seemed there must be an extremely important reason for them to spare no effort to accelerate time in their respective realms.
Wukong looked at Hou Tu. It seemed she knew what he wanted to ask. She said, “You don’t need to look at me. I’ve also been searching for this answer, but I’ve never found it.”
With Hou Tu’s status and her connection to Dayu, she surely wouldn’t withhold information. Wukong had a hunch that this matter might touch upon the core of this world. If he could find the answer, many mysteries would be solved.
The Three Pure Ones! They must know the reason. Wukong wished he could ask them right away, but since they refused to tell him, it was clear they didn’t want him to know. The Three Pure Ones surely wanted to control the situation in their favor. Since they wouldn’t speak, asking probably wouldn’t yield any results either.
Wukong said, “Well, since even the elder couldn’t find the answer, it must be very important. Without the right timing, it’s hard to figure things out. But after all this talk, the elder still hasn’t explained why the Armless Divine Ape is blocking the journey to obtain the scriptures.”

Hou Tu said, “As I mentioned earlier, the outbreak of the conflict between Buddhism and Taoism actually only needed a pretext. The quest for the scriptures was originally a move by Buddha to provoke Taoism. Just then, a third force emerged in the world!”
Wukong laughed and said, “Qitianling.”
Hou Tu replied, “I haven’t gone outside for many years. All the news is conveyed to me by the Armless Divine Ape through telepathy. As for all those fights and killings, I really don’t care about them.”
Wukong said with a smile, “Qitianling is the place where the great Yu lived. Other figures like Hou Yi, Zhu Rong, Ru Shou, Ju Mang, and Chi Song Zi are also there. Does our elder still care about such things now?”
Hou Tu was momentarily stunned before frowning. “How have they all become involved?”
Wukong replied, “Of course, it’s because of me.”
Hou Tu said, “That makes sense. This can be seen as a form of repayment—both as gratitude and as settling debts.”
Wukong countered, “Our elder is mistaken. The ancient deities built Qitianling because they truly upheld justice in their hearts, unable to bear to see the suffering of living beings. They also despised the Heavenly Court and the Western Paradise for ignoring the welfare of all. It has nothing to do with repayment or debts.”
Hou Tu said, “Hmm, that’s even better. Originally, with the quest for the scriptures underway, Buddhism and Taoism were determined to settle who was superior. But the sudden emergence of Qitianling served as a buffer. Many who wanted to intervene might now have to pause and think before taking action.”
“But there have always been those who lack judgment, and not all those who care about the world and pity living beings are in Qitianling. As the saying goes, when gods fight, mortals suffer. There is still one person in this world who dislikes the conflict between Buddhism and Taoism and wants to end this farce of the quest for the scriptures. Since he has many ties to the West, it’s inconvenient for him to intervene directly. So he borrowed the Armless Divine Ape from me, hoping that it would sow discord between you and those monks on their quest. Without you, Sun Wukong, can their group even reach the Western Paradise?”
Wukong asked, “Is the Armless Divine Ape just a wandering spirit? Can it still be so clever?”
Hou Tu replied, “It just doesn’t like to speak. Spirits are controlled by gods, and in terms of intelligence, they are no less capable than those gods and bodhisattvas.”
Wukong nodded. Hou Tu’s words made sense. Think of the White Bone Spirit in Journey to the West—without using a single soldier, she manipulated Tang Seng, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Seng with just her own efforts. Even the Great Monkey King failed to see her schemes, and in the end, his fate remained unknown. Such cunning is truly remarkable.

Fortunately, I’m not that ignorant monkey who started on the path to awakening his talents early on. Upon closer inspection, the Armored Divine Monkey saw stars twinkling in his eyes, seemingly recalling some past events. He didn’t share the same feelings as me, but he was still in a state of unawakenedness. I still don’t know whether this Armored Divine Monkey truly can’t remember the past or deliberately chooses to forget it. But since he led me here, he must have other divine monkeys in mind. As long as his heart isn’t completely dead, there’s still a chance to teach him to return to his former self and regain his divine monkey form.
Wukong said again, “Senior, don’t ignore my chatter. Who is the person you mentioned?”