Volume 3: A Long Journey, Chapter 346: The Three Warriors

When Tang Seng asked about his name, the old man chuckled and said, “I’m just a simple villager; I’ve long forgotten my own surname and name.”
Tang Seng asked, “This place is extremely far from the Eastern Land. How did you hear of the Tang King?”
The old man replied, “The Great Tang is a mighty empire. It’s not strange that some old news reaches here from time to time.”
Tang Seng said, “Our Emperor of the Great Tang brings peace and prosperity to the people. The benefits of his rule far outweigh any drawbacks. How can we judge matters in isolation? Human conflicts shouldn’t be understood in a superficial manner.”
The old man nodded and laughed, “Indeed, the words of a holy monk are extraordinary. In just a few words, you’ve enlightened me.”
At first, Tang Seng thought these three men were trying to stump him, but hearing this, he realized they truly sought guidance, and he had overthought things.
Another old man asked, “May I ask the holy monk, what does ‘neither acting nor inaction’ mean?”
Tang Seng thought for a moment and replied, “Avoid attachment; let everything follow its natural course.”
The old man asked, “Is this the same as ‘following the way of nature’?”
Hearing this, Tang Seng became wary again and said, “Our Buddhist teachings focus on karma and cause and effect, which are different from the concept of ‘following the way of nature’.”
The old man laughed and said, “You just said to let things follow their natural course, yet now you deny it.”
Tang Seng asked, “Sir, do you study Buddhism or Taoism?”
The old man replied, “I’m different from those two. They study Buddhism more, while I study Taoism more.”
Tang Seng said, “Taoist teachings contain many contradictions. If you’re willing to listen, I’d be happy to clarify the differences between Buddhism and Taoism.”
The old man said, “I’m eager to hear your insights.”
Tang Seng said, “Taoism is about the Way. May I ask, sir, in the universe, the Way is the ultimate and greatest force—nothing exceeds it. Is this statement correct?”
The old man replied, “Of course it is.”
Tang Seng smiled and asked, “Everyone knows that humans follow the earth, the earth follows the sky, the sky follows the Way, and the Way follows nature. If the Way is the ultimate and greatest, why does it follow nature? By this logic, nature itself should be the ultimate principle!”
The old man said, “The Way follows nature; the Way is nature, and nature is the Way. Thus, the Way remains the greatest.”
Tang Seng said, “Good. If the Way follows nature, and nature is the Way, then since the sky follows the Way, the Way is also the sky; since the earth follows the sky, the sky is also the earth; since humans follow the earth, the earth is also humans. By this logic, humans, earth, sky, Way, and nature are all the same. If so, why do humans need to cultivate the Way?”
The old man replied, “What the holy monk says is rather forced reasoning. Although the Way is the greatest, its principles stem from nature. How can we generalize concepts like humans, earth, and sky?”

Tang Seng asked again, “The Taoist scripture ‘The Scripture of the Western Ascension’ states, ‘From nothingness arises nature; from nature arises the Tao; from the Tao arises one; from one arise heaven and earth; from heaven and earth arise all things.’ I dare to ask, old man, do you hold such a view?”
The old man thought to himself, “You are a Buddhist disciple—how dare you debate me with Taoist scriptures?” So he replied, “It simply exists naturally.”
Tang Seng asked, “I dare to ask, old man, where is the Tao?”
The old man said, “Ultimately, the Tao arises from nothingness. All the fundamental principles in heaven and earth are the Tao. As for where it is, I neither know nor do I know.”
Tang Seng asked further, “What does it mean to neither know nor know?”
The old man said, “If I point at it casually, that is where the Tao lies. But if you don’t believe it, you naturally won’t accept it. So I say I know, yet for you, it’s as if I don’t know.”
Tang Seng said, “Since I have read ‘The Scripture of the Western Ascension,’ I certainly won’t argue stubbornly. If you say it’s there, then it is there. What I want to ask is, why does nature arise? And why does the Tao arise?”
The old man was stunned and said, “Before heaven and earth existed, nature arose without a cause.”
Tang Seng asked, “If it arises without a cause, is it right or wrong?”
The old man replied, “It is naturally right!”
Tang Seng asked, “Is having no cause right, while having a cause is wrong?”
The old man quickly waved his hand and said, “There’s no such theory—absurd!”
Tang Seng smiled and said, “Good. Let’s not get stuck on this. I’ll ask you again, old man. Earlier you only mentioned, ‘Man follows earth, earth follows heaven, heaven follows the Tao, the Tao follows nature.’ But ‘The Scripture of the Western Ascension’ also says, ‘From nothingness arises nature; from nature arises the Tao; from the Tao arises one; from one arise heaven and earth.’ Comparing these, where does ‘nothingness’ come from? And where does ‘one’ go?”
The old man was at a loss for words. ‘The Scripture of the Western Ascension’ was also a Taoist scripture and should be correct—so why did it differ slightly from Laozi’s teachings? And Tang Seng had pointed this out, leaving him unable to answer.
The old man praised, “I never expected the holy monk to be so well-versed in Taoist scriptures. I yield to you.”
Seeing the old man admit defeat, Tang Seng, who wasn’t vindictive, smiled and said, “Arguing verbally is pointless. There’s no need for this, old man.”
The old man said, “What a pity.”
Tang Seng asked in confusion, “What’s a pity about?”
The old man replied, “If you were just an ordinary person, it wouldn’t matter. But I see you are exceptionally intelligent. If you obtain the true scriptures from the West, the Taoist sect in the East will be in danger. That’s why I had to capture you!”
Tang Seng was shocked. Everything had been fine just moments ago—why did they suddenly change their attitude? Just as he was about to call for help, the old man swept his robe around and wrapped Tang Seng inside. The three of them opened the door and walked out.
At the door, they turned back and said, “The holy monk needn’t see us off.” They pretended there was someone inside the house.

As the three of them stepped out of the hospital, Wu Ping shouted, “Leave the Holy Monk behind before you go!” It turned out that Wu Ping had been waiting outside for a long time without hearing any noise from inside, so he hadn’t paid much attention. After all, in Zen teachings, there are often riddles. But when the three elders came out, Tang Seng wasn’t there to see them off, which seemed very strange. Having followed Tang Seng for a long time, he knew Tang Seng was never disrespectful—whether dealing with fellow practitioners or even thieves, he would always show courtesy first. Thus, he noticed something amiss.

The three elders laughed heartily. One of them waved his sleeves in all directions, and the entire village disappeared without a trace—it was actually a Taoist illusion. The fake Wu Kong and Wu Ping were shocked; the illusion was so realistic that it had even deceived them. Those who had been serving tea and food earlier had transformed into Taoist acolytes, surrounding the fake Wu Kong and his companions.

Furious, the fake Wu Kong, who had only followed Tang Seng for a few days and already made two mistakes, swung his iron rod at one of the elders. The elder flicked his sleeve, wrapping around the rod, causing the fake Wu Kong to lose balance. He quickly retracted his rod and exclaimed, “Impressive!”

Wu Ping transformed into his giant turtle form and pressed down heavily. The elder smiled, drew out a dust whisk, and swept Wu Ping to the ground. Wu Ping shouted, “Hurry and summon the Goddess of Mercy from the South Sea!”

The fake Wu Kong didn’t dare hesitate anymore. He took off and flew toward the South Sea. Wu Ping, enduring pain, got up along with Wu Hui to protect the horses and luggage. The three elders paid no attention to them, conjured up three cushions, sat down, and asked, “Goddess of Mercy from the South Sea, what is that?”

Just as they sat down, two figures flew in from the east. The one in front was the Eastern Guardian Buddha, followed by the Western Guardian Buddha. They had originally been protecting Tang Seng, but after seeing him settle in the village, they stopped paying attention and disappeared from afar. They hadn’t realized that the village was under a powerful Taoist illusion. Only when they heard the fighting did they realize something serious had happened.

The Eastern Guardian Buddha stepped forward and demanded, “Who are you? Why have you captured the Holy Monk on his pilgrimage?”

One of the elders stepped forward and said, “We are Taoist priests who disapprove of this pilgrimage, so we came to stop it. What’s the problem?”

The Eastern Guardian Buddha asked, “What merits or abilities do you have to dare to obstruct the Buddha’s great mission?”

The elder replied, “In my eyes, only the Three Pure Ones and the Six Imperial Deities matter. No Buddha has anything to do with me!”

Realizing further talk was pointless, the Eastern Guardian Buddha drew out his magic staff and attacked. Seeing that the elder’s cultivation far surpassed that of the fake Wu Kong and Wu Ping, the elder also drew out his dust whisk and focused intensely to confront him. The two fought high in the sky, while the Western Guardian Buddha, wielding a magic staff, fought another elder.

The remaining old man was the one who had captured Tang Seng. He stood there proudly, convinced of his victory. Watching the four figures fight in the sky for a long time without a clear winner, he thought that although those two old men were highly skilled, the Buddha of Ages was no ordinary opponent either—this battle was truly a clash of equals.

The old man on the ground was about to go up to help when suddenly a shout came from the east: “How dare you!” Before anyone could be seen, a green light flashed and wrapped around the old man on the ground—it was Guanyin Bodhisattva.

Guanyin had been on Mount Putuo Luojia, persuading Tai Fengying to summon two divine beasts, and was on the verge of winning them over. Unexpectedly, Wukong rushed over to report that Tang Seng had been captured again, which filled her with great anger. So she passed on the magic formula for the headband to the Dragon Maiden before coming over with confidence.

The old man felt a chill in his heart. He waved his dust whisk, which entangled with Guanyin’s willow branch. Guanyin demanded, “Who sent you to kidnap Tang Seng?”

The old man felt a feminine magical force coming from the willow branch, causing extreme discomfort in his chest. He didn’t dare to distract himself by talking. Guanyin gently shook the branch and released it, saying, “It’s quite ordinary. Are all those in the Taoist sect like you, relying on strength to oppress the weak?”

Once freed from the restraint, the old man said, “It’s not out of fear of you, but because I was distracted trying to protect this innocent monk.” He shook his robe sleeve and placed Tang Seng on the ground, saying, “If you can defeat me, I’ll let him go!”

Guanyin replied, “Very well!”

The old man leaped into the air and shouted, “Let’s see what great powers the Bodhisattva has.”

Seeing that the old man couldn’t withstand provocation and actually released Tang Seng, Guanyin felt much more at ease. She retracted her willow branch and said, “What if I fight you barehanded?”

The old man sneered, “We’ll see!” He reversed his hands and held the dust whisk upside down. The iron handle was unbeknownst how heavy as he swung it at Guanyin.

Guanyin reached out and caught the handle, feeling a searing pain in her palm. She was surprised—apparently, the old man hadn’t used his full strength earlier. Given his concern for Tang Seng’s life, it was highly likely he was sent by the Heavenly Court, knowing well when to act cautiously. Yet these three Taoists had utterly unfamiliar faces—she had never seen them before. When had the Heavenly Court produced such skilled fighters?

Although the dust whisk hit Guanyin, she grabbed it firmly. The old man tried to snatch it twice but couldn’t budge it, so he gave up on the whisk and formed several gestures in the air with his fingers.

Since Guanyin had said she would fight barehanded, she also threw away her dust whisk and laughed, “Are you from Maoshan, learning to draw talismans?” The old man snorted, recited a magic spell, and suddenly a loud crash echoed as a colorful lightning bolt appeared in midair, striking at Guanyin.

Awe filled Guanyin’s heart. She had also seen Taoist talismans, which had to be drawn on yellow paper to be effective. Yet this Taoist could draw talismans in midair—such skill was truly extraordinary. Seeing the lightning approaching, she had no choice but to raise the Willow Pure Bottle in her hands to meet it. When the lightning struck the bottle, another loud explosion echoed.