Volume 3: A Long Journey Chapter 292: The Tongtian River

Leaving the capital of Chachi Country, they traveled day and night, eating when hungry and drinking when thirsty, and before they knew it, autumn had arrived. That day, as dusk fell, Tang Seng urged his horse forward and said, “Disciple, do we still have to sleep in the wilderness tonight?” Wukong replied, “Master, since we are monks, we should not think of warm beds and soft quilts. It is our duty to travel under the stars and moon, wherever the path leads.” Tang Seng said, “That makes sense. But as the weather gets colder, I really want to drink some hot tea.” Wukong said, “In any case, we must find a household first.”

As the sun set in the west and stars began to appear, Tang Seng, hungry and thirsty, said, “Wukong, let’s stop and rest for a while.” Wukong replied, “Master, I can hear the sound of water ahead. Let’s go take a look. Perhaps there’s a ferryman we can ask for some tea on board.”

Before long, they reached the water’s edge. Sitting on his horse, Tang Seng saw the roaring water and felt distressed. The river was filled with layers of waves and undulating ripples, with the moonlight reflecting endlessly across its surface. It looked no different from an endless ocean!

Wukong soared into the air and looked ahead carefully. Even with his sharp eyes, he couldn’t see the other side. He landed and laughed, “Could it be that we’ve reached the Western Ocean?” Tang Seng was terrified, “Have we taken the wrong path and passed by the Spirit Mountain?” Wu Ping said, “Master, this road has been straight westward all the way with no branches.” Wukong looked again and saw a stone stele standing in the water by the riverbank. He ran over to take a look. On it were three large characters—Tongtian River! Below them were two lines of smaller characters: “It stretches for eight hundred li; few people have traveled it throughout history.”

Seeing these characters, Wukong felt a strange sensation. Most of the texts he had seen in this world were distorted, resembling tadpole script. Although he had read some ancient texts in his past life, these characters were quite unusual. They resembled seal, bronze, and clerical scripts to some extent but were not exactly the same, like something that didn’t quite fit any category. Yet these thirteen characters on the Tongtian River stele were clearly standard seal script! It was the first time since arriving here that he had seen something related to his past life.

He vaguely remembered a miscellaneous book stating that the Tongtian River was a pivotal point in both terms of route and time for the pilgrimage. The entire journey took fourteen years, with the seventh year ending at this place. Out of a total distance of 108,000 li, 54,000 li exactly was covered by the time they reached the Tongtian River.

At first, Wukong didn’t believe these words. Who would go to measure such things? It was likely just made up by the author. But today, after seeing the Tongtian River, for some reason, he felt deep down that it was probably not an ordinary river.

I remember in “Journey to the West,” Guanyin sent the golden fish spirit from the lotus pond to stop Tang Seng from crossing the river. Back then, Guanyin was probably not yet Buddha’s confidant and was still helping others. In this life, Guanyin wholeheartedly supports the pilgrimage, with no pretense at all, so that golden fish spirit surely won’t appear.

Tang Seng shouted from the shore, “Wukong, what does it say on the stele?”

Wukong jumped onto the shore and said, “This river is called the Tongtian River, eight hundred li wide. The wind is strong and the waves are high tonight. It’s better to try crossing it tomorrow.”

Tang Seng asked, “With such strong winds and roaring waves by the river, how can anyone sleep?”

Wukong replied, “I flew around earlier and saw a village to the northeast, only six or seven li away. How about we go there and find a place to stay?”

Tang Seng was overjoyed. “Six or seven li is just a short distance. It’s better than suffering all night.”

Wukong looked at Tang Seng. The moonlight shone on his face, still showing the dignity of a Buddhist monk, though he seemed to have changed a bit since before. After thinking carefully, Wukong thought, Hmm, Tang Seng has been chanting “Amitabha” much less recently. This change seems to have become more apparent since after the Wubijian.

Wukong led the way northeast toward the village. There was no proper path along the riverbank, so the four of them and the horse trudged through sand and stones, and soon they saw a large village.

The village had four or five hundred households, but every door was closed, and not a single light could be seen. Tang Seng said, “The people in this village go to bed early.” Wukong replied, “It’s just getting dark. How could the whole village go to bed so early? There must be something strange going on.”

Seeing several houses along the road, Wukong said, “With just the four of us and one horse, we can’t fit into small households. We need to find a larger one.” He went forward and knocked on the doorbell three times, but there was no response from inside.

Wukong used his supernatural hearing to listen carefully and heard a young boy in the backyard say softly, “Dad, someone is knocking at the door.” Then an old man shouted, “No, no! Don’t make a sound! Be careful—the Dragon King might catch you!”

The Dragon King? Why would the Dragon King be involved here?

After listening for a while longer, there was no sound inside. He guessed that although the Dragon King wasn’t visible now, some other deity or monster must be in control of this village, and not allowing lights at night was probably part of their rules.

Tang Seng, impatient, also knocked on the door a few times, but still got no response. Wukong said, “There are people inside, but they’re probably too afraid to open the door.”

Tang Seng shouted loudly, “Good sir, we are monks passing by. We’ve come to this blessed place, but it’s already late. We need a place to stay for the night. Please help us out.” Still, there was no response.

Wukong rolled his eyes and glanced back at Wuhui, giving him a wink. Wuhui blinked, not understanding Wukong’s intention. Wukong had no choice but to send a message through telepathy. Wuhui burst into laughter, opened his small hands, and tapped a few times in the air. Instantly, flames appeared in the sky, casting bright light over half of the village! Wukong shouted, “There’s a fire!” In the quiet night, this cry sounded like thunder, startling everyone in the village. People rushed to open doors and windows to look up at the sky. Although the fire created by Wuhui was frightening, it hovered high in the air, about fifty feet above the ground, with the flames rising upward, so nothing below was affected. Yet this sight terrified the ordinary people, who thought it was divine punishment and knelt in the courtyards in worship. Hearing movement inside one of the houses, Wukong started knocking on the door again. Finally, a trembling voice came from inside, “Stop knocking! We dare not open the door!” “Why not?” As soon as Wukong spoke, several huge figures flew in from the west, moving swiftly—they were indeed dragons! These dragons had been resting in the Tongtian River when they saw the flames rising from the village and immediately came to investigate. The lead dragon roared and spat out a stream of white vapor, but Wuhui used his magic to dissipate it, and the flames vanished instantly. The villagers, frightened by the roar, fled back into their houses, and soon everything was quiet again. Seeing the dragons circling in the sky, Tang Seng asked Wukong, “Are those the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas?” Wukong couldn’t help but laugh. There were actually five dragons, but Tang Seng thought they were the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas. The dragons naturally saw Tang Seng and his companions and flew over, asking harshly, “Who are you? What are you doing here?” Seeing the villagers’ plight, Wukong realized that these strange rules were most likely set by these evil dragons. He stepped forward and said, “We’re just passersby. What’s the problem?” The dragons replied, “Ahead lies the 800-li-long Tongtian River. Birds cannot cross it in spring, summer, or autumn; only in severe winter can they cross. If you want to cross, it’s probably too early!” Wukong said, “I have my own way to cross the river. You don’t need to worry about it.” Instead of getting angry, the dragons laughed and said, “Haha, I really want to see how you’ll manage to cross.” With that, they turned and flew away. Wukong thought there would be trouble, but to his surprise, the dragons flew away. With his sharp eyesight, he saw that the dragons had landed by the Tongtian River. He understood that dragons had an advantage when in water, and since they weren’t troubling him now, they must be waiting to harass him while he crossed the river. There was no need to worry about tomorrow. Wukong turned around, used a little magic to open the door, stepped into the courtyard, and said, “I’ve driven those evil dragons away. Master, come out!”

Now that he had entered the yard, it would be unreasonable for the host to hide inside. A crack was opened in the main house, and an old man peeked out. Although Wukong had a strange appearance, the monk wearing a hat behind him seemed kind-hearted and did not appear evil.

Tang Seng pulled Wukong behind him and said, “Elder, I shall take action now.”

The old man replied, “It’s fine for you to come in, but you’re about to endanger the lives of my entire family!”

Tang Seng was stunned and asked, “Elder, welcoming passing monks is a virtuous act. Even if you’re reluctant, at most you’d give them a little rice—what does that have to do with lives?”

The old man said, “Enough, enough. Since you’re already inside, let’s go inside and talk.”

They entered the house and sat down. The old man glanced at them. Aside from Wukong, the other three looked acceptable, especially Wuhui, who was as delicate and lovely as a fairy boy.

The old man was quite wealthy. He called two servants to prepare tea and said to Tang Seng, “This place is under the jurisdiction of Yuanhui County in the Country of Cheti. It’s called Chen’s Village.”

“The king of this country has always believed in Buddhism, so everyone in the country burns incense and offers sacrifices, and Chen’s Village is no exception. My surname is Chen. I’ve studied scriptures since childhood and have always been devout to Buddha. Whenever there are passing monks, no matter how far away, as long as I’m informed, I’ll surely provide them with food and have it carried to them.”

Wukong laughed and said, “Elder Chen, we haven’t eaten or drunk anything all day. Since you’re so generous, why not offer us some food?”

Elder Chen sighed and said, “Alas, in times of crisis, please forgive my rudeness.” He then ordered the servants to bring some vegetarian dishes and plain rice for Tang Seng. Tang Seng recited a passage from the “Scripture for Initiating a Feast” before starting to eat.

Elder Chen continued, “A few years ago, the king of Cheti abandoned Buddhism in favor of Taoism. He took all the Buddhist scriptures from his house and demolished the temples in the village. Alas, I had to hide the scriptures and only hand over a few to cover it up. Later, I learned that several Taoist advisors had arrived in the country, each more powerful than the last.”

“To the west lies the Tongtian River. You must have seen it—its waters are like an insurmountable barrier, making it difficult for boats to cross. Only during the severe winter when it freezes over can one cross. This spring, five giant dragons appeared out of nowhere in the river, causing chaos. Once they settled there, they refused to leave.”

“Such a serious matter naturally required reporting to the king. I sent a few strong young men on fast horses to the capital to inform the king. Upon hearing that demons were at work, the king sent three Taoist advisors here to investigate.”

“Who would have thought that after those three national advisors arrived, they spoke a few words to the five giant dragons and then fled in panic, never to be heard from again. When the dragons learned that we had sent the message, they naturally became displeased and set a rule: the people of Chen’s village must not leave the village within twenty miles during the day, and after sunset, every household must keep its doors closed without lighting any lights. Those who dare break this rule will suffer complete destruction!”
Wukong immediately understood that those dragons were likely sent by Taoist deities. So he said with a smile, “Elder Chen, why don’t you go burn incense?”
The old man was stunned. “Why burn incense?”
Wukong replied, “Just by meeting me, you’re already fortunate. If you don’t burn incense, I won’t help you get rid of the demons!”