Volume 3: A Long Journey, Chapter 318: The Creative Essence

A queen? Isn’t the king of the Women’s Kingdom an ordinary person? What could be strange about him?
Zhu Rong continued, “Although this king is an ordinary person, he still seems somewhat peculiar. When I get close to her, I feel a faint discomfort, but she certainly holds no hostility toward me. Apart from divine powers related to fire, I haven’t delved deeply into other areas, so I can’t figure out why.”
Wukong was secretly amazed—Zhu Rong, with her mortal body, couldn’t discern the truth, which was extremely rare.
Wukong said, “People are divided into the five elements, and their constitutions vary greatly. It’s not strange that you can’t see it.”
Zhu Rong replied, “This queen usually never talks about love affairs. But when she heard that you were on a pilgrimage, she acted contrary to her usual behavior and insisted on marrying that Tang Seng. Don’t you find that strange?”
Wukong laughed and said, “If you want to know what she intends, just go ahead and make it happen.”
Zhu Rong smiled and said, “That’s exactly what I plan to do. I want to see what happens before going west to help Dayu in battle.” At the mention of fighting, excitement flashed across Zhu Rong’s face—she loved chaos. In the Women’s Kingdom of Xiliang, she often had nothing to do and felt bored.
Wukong said, “Hmm, since there’s nothing to do, I’ll go explore the Mother and Child River.”
Zhu Rong replied, “Go ahead by yourself. I won’t accompany you.”
After bidding farewell to Zhu Rong, Wukong left the Grand Tutor’s residence and headed toward the Mother and Child River.
The banks of the river were shaded by green willows. The midday sun in early spring cast ripples on the water’s surface, creating a serene and beautiful scene. Yet, looking at the river, which was no wider than fifty zhang, Wukong felt a strange sensation.
He stood by the river and examined the water carefully. With his divine ability to control water, he immediately realized that there was indeed something strange about it!
Without hesitation, Wukong jumped into the water, causing not even a ripple as he swam upstream.
In any water, there exists creative essence, but only because the water isn’t perfectly pure. When Wukong practiced his water-control skills at the bottom of the Northern Sea, he had discovered that the creative essence in a given amount of water was roughly equivalent to that in a single blade of grass, or even less. But the creative essence in the Mother and Child River was astonishingly abundant.
Wukong scooped up a handful of water. The creative essence in just that handful was enough to equal that in three or four ordinary people. Strangely enough, it was divided into three or four separate clusters, none interfering with the others.
Wukong was puzzled. Since it was creative essence, it should be evenly distributed in the water. Why was it grouped together? As he thought about it, he suddenly stopped moving in the water, struck by a realization—could it really be like this?

If anyone drinks the water from the Mother and Child River, whether man or woman, they will develop fetal energy, which goes against natural order. Since ancient times, only women have been able to give birth—how could men develop such fetal energy? Unless… unless this fetal energy has already formed and entered the womb, leaving only the process of growth.

Could these clusters of creative energy be the initial fetal energy of humans? Upon thinking this, Wukong felt a chill in his heart—first, because he was surrounded by countless lives about to be born; second, because who could have the power to gather so much of this creative energy into a river?

No wonder all the children born in the Land of Women after drinking this water were female. Clearly, these creative energies had been selected to ensure that only women, not men, existed in that kingdom!

Wukong’s first suspicion fell on the netherworld. In the whole world, only the netherworld had the ability and means to control matters before birth and determine whether one would be human or animal, male or female after reincarnation.

Decided, Wukong left the Mother and Child River and headed straight for the Abyss of Nine Nether Realms. He had been there several times before and reached the Hall of Yama effortlessly.

Yet, even there, Wukong didn’t know where to look for the souls destined for reincarnation. Since the Mother and Child River kept flowing, there must be another passage connecting it.

Wukong arrived at the Mirror of Sin, where little demons led the souls of ordinary people one by one. After reflecting them in the mirror, King Chu Jiang would use a red brush to decide their fate, after which the demons would lead them to the corresponding hell. Wukong was at a loss—he didn’t know the secrets of souls nor could he tell whether they were male or female. He saw these souls washed in the Pool of Creation, their creative energy emptied except for a trace of their original essence, before they crossed the six Bridges of Sorrow to be reborn.

After watching for a long time, Wukong saw no souls deviate from the usual path—they all crossed the Bridges of Sorrow to be reborn. So where did the creative energies from the Mother and Child River come from?

Wukong searched the eighteen layers of hell, the Mountain of Darkness, and the banks of the Wei River in the netherworld for a long time but found nothing unusual. Eventually, he even circled the Hall of the Ten Yamas but saw no other hidden passages. With the power of his Xuan Kong magic secrets at that time, ordinary formations couldn’t hide anything from him; if there were any anomalies, he should have been able to detect them.

In the netherworld, there were only two places with water: under the Bridges of Sorrow and along the Wei River. After thinking it over, Wukong concluded that the Wei River was the place where Li Shimin returned to life and thus had nothing to do with the Mother and Child River. So he headed straight under the Bridges of Sorrow.

Beneath the Bridge of Sorrow, the river flowed swiftly, and the path was steep and narrow. The water beneath the bridge was filled with a chilling darkness, bone-chilling cold, foul winds, and an unbearable stench. Wukong held his breath as he swam through the water under the bridge.

He saw countless evil souls and mischievous spirits in the river—those who had committed grave sins in past lives. There were divine generals wielding steel whips, copper snakes and iron dogs biting at them, and Bull-Headed and Horse-Faced demons pulling out their intestines… It was unclear how much suffering they would have to endure here before they could be reborn.

At first, Wukong was terrified, but eventually he grew accustomed to it. He continued swimming downstream along the river beneath the Bridge of Sorrow, not knowing how far he had gone, when suddenly he saw a large black palace in the distance. This palace was much taller than the Hall of the Ten Kings of Hell. Wukong thought to himself, Could it be that I have truly found it?

Wukong moved forward cautiously. He knew that the River of Life and Death must hide a great secret. If he weren’t the Divine Ape of Fate, he would never have been able to discover it. If this palace was indeed connected to the source of the River of Life and Death, it must be guarded by extremely powerful beings. He decided to explore first and flee immediately if danger arose.

After swimming a while longer, he saw countless evil souls kneeling before the palace, seemingly praying and confessing their sins. What strange phenomenon was this? Wukong concealed himself and moved forward again. Suddenly, a gentle and kind voice came to his ears: “Divine Ape of Wisdom, you have arrived.”

Wukong was greatly surprised. He was at least dozens of miles away from the palace—how could someone have noticed him? So he stayed still from a distance, waiting for further developments.

The voice said again, “Don’t worry. I am Ksitigarbha. Come inside and talk.”

What? This is the residence of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, not the source of the River of Life and Death? Wukong was stunned. His tense nerves relaxed somewhat. He had been focused on the River of Life and Death and forgotten that there was another powerful figure in the netherworld. From Hou Tu, he had learned that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was truly unfathomable, but he was upright and honest—a rare good person.

Wukong naturally believed what Hou Tu had said. He leaped into the palace.

From afar, the palace didn’t seem very tall, but once inside, he realized it was vast. In the hall, hundreds of feet high and wide, there were only a writing desk, a chair, one person, and one beast.

The person sitting on the chair behind the desk was undoubtedly Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. The monstrous beast lying beneath the desk was Di Ting.

Wukong entered the hall and looked around. He said, “Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, since there is only you here, why is this hall so large?”

Although Ksitigarbha was the ruler of the netherworld, he had a handsome, refined appearance, resembling a scholar. He replied, “With so many evil deeds, even though this hall is large, it still can’t hold them all.”

Wukong immediately said, “As many hearts as there are, so much evil exists. To eliminate evil, one must start from within.”
Ksitigarbha King replied, “That’s true. Day and night, I recite scriptures to save the evil souls outside. Every day, thousands turn away from evil and embrace goodness, yet it still feels like a drop in the ocean.”
Wukong asked, “With your great powers, why not go to the human world to spread the Dharma? Wouldn’t that be better than trying to mend the fold after the sheep are lost?”
Ksitigarbha King said, “Spreading the Dharma in the human world is no different from what other bodhisattvas do. I dislike being worshipped by others, as it takes away their chance to cultivate on their own.”
Seeing that Ksitigarbha King truly had a kind heart, but was also somewhat stubborn, Wukong said, “Why refuse to eat just because of a choking incident?”
Ksitigarbha King replied, “Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself.”
Wukong knew that a few words of his couldn’t persuade Ksitigarbha King, and he wasn’t here to preach anyway. So he said, “I’ve come here presumptuously. Please don’t be offended, Ksitigarbha King.”
Ksitigarbha King shook his head and said, “I’m not offended at all.”
Wukong then asked, “Bodhisattva, I believe my invisibility technique makes me invisible and traceless. How did you see me?”
Ksitigarbha King replied, “Even the most powerful magic leaves traces. But this time, it wasn’t me who saw you.”
If it wasn’t Ksitigarbha King, then… it could only be Di Ting. Slightly surprised, Wukong asked, “The divine beast Di Ting… actually has such abilities?”
Ksitigarbha King smiled slightly and said, “Look at him carefully. Perhaps you’ll understand.”
Wukong bent down and examined him closely. The divine beast had a very strange appearance—only one horn on its head, two upright dog ears, its body covered in dragon scales, a head as fierce as that of a tiger or lion, and four legs that stepped on clouds like those of a qilin.
After looking for a long time without noticing anything unusual, Wukong looked at Ksitigarbha King with a puzzled expression.
Ksitigarbha King sighed and said, “It seems you still haven’t awakened.”
“What?” Wukong exclaimed in shock. Awakening! Not awakening! These were terms only known among the reincarnated divine apes. How did Ksitigarbha King also know them? Did he truly know everything about the secrets of the divine apes?
Seeing Wukong’s astonishment, Ksitigarbha King said to Di Ting, “Since he can’t see you, you should take a look at him.”
Di Ting obeyed Ksitigarbha King’s order and raised its head to glance at Wukong.
At that glance, Wukong immediately remembered the three female singers from his past life—S.H.E.
He remembered them because of their song, “A Glimpse Lasts Ten Thousand Years.” Di Ting’s glance truly felt like looking back tens of thousands of years.

It felt like the moment he met Wu Zhiqi at the Great Sage Zen Temple, yet there was a layer of distance between them; just that alone made it extremely different from anything else. Wukong remembered having a similar feeling when Kunpeng revealed to him the secrets of creation.
What was the origin of Di Ting? Weren’t there only Pangu, Kunpeng, and the Seven Divine Apes at the beginning of creation?
Wukong thought for a long time before asking King Ksitigarbha, “Bodhisattva, who is this Di Ting?”