Volume 2: The Path That Can Be Told – Chapter 101: Traveling Within the Realm

Wukong was devoted to his cultivation in the inner chamber, leaving Meng Ke extremely anxious outside. Since realizing his situation, he had merely sought out some young disciples he liked to teach them his teachings, gradually gaining some reputation. Yet he knew in his heart that it was easy to change the hearts of a few people but difficult to change those of thousands. Being just an ordinary person without any supernatural powers or the ability to create food, he had nearly given up hope of leaving the realm.

Fortunately, fate led him to meet an immortal, reigniting the faint spark of hope in his heart. Most people are like this: when they are at their wits’ end, they might as well give up—what harm could there be? But once hope arises, their hearts can no longer remain calm. At that moment, Meng Ke felt as if twenty-five mischievous cats were scratching at his heart. Naturally, he did not dare disturb the immortal’s rest and could only stare anxiously at the door, waiting for Wukong to emerge.

Finally, after three hours, Wukong ended his cultivation, feeling his magical energy at its peak and extremely comfortable. Knowing that Meng Ke was waiting outside, he decided to continue practicing there while creating a clone to go out.

When Meng Ke saw Wukong finally coming out, he hurried forward to greet him. Seeing that Meng Ke now behaved like an ordinary person, Wukong understood that he had lost his composure—true concern often leads to chaos.

Without beating around the bush, Wukong’s first words were, “To educate the people, one must first ensure they have enough food and clothing.”

Meng Ke replied, “I certainly understand this principle, but…” He shuddered suddenly, recalling that those three Taoists still had magical powers to obtain plenty of food. An immortal, being even more powerful, surely had a way to solve this long-standing problem. He quickly asked, “Does the immortal possess such magical skills?”

Wukong nodded. “It’s just trivial magic.”

Meng Ke was overjoyed. “If so, I thank the immortal in advance.”

Meng Ke once said, “Good governance must begin with proper land management.” By “proper land management,” he meant dividing and organizing fields according to the well-field system—in other words, addressing basic needs before discussing higher matters. For Meng Ke understood that those who listen to reason while hungry are either fools or those waiting for something in return.

Wukong said, “There’s no time to lose. First, take me to the fields to inspect them. Also, gather the strong laborers in the town to prepare for sowing and harvesting.”

Meng Ke stepped out of the house, his face glowing with excitement, and rushed around the town to announce that an immortal was about to cast a spell to ensure a bountiful harvest. The townspeople had already received plenty of white rice from the mighty Tiger Strength Immortal, far more than before, and they all knew it was thanks to the immortal scholar in white. Hearing that the immortal was about to perform another miracle, they cheered joyfully and followed Meng Ke, carrying many seeds with them.

Meng Ke led Wu Kong to the fields. Wu Kong took in the view: vast, fertile lands with clearly marked ridges, and seedlings that looked healthy, though their ears were extremely shriveled. He reached out and opened one ear, only to find it completely empty. Disappointed, he thought about using the “Flowers Bloom in an Instant” spell from his celestial techniques to make the crops mature quickly, but realizing there were no grains inside, he saw no point in it.

At that moment, about 1,800 people followed behind, too fearful to approach, with only Meng Ke by Wu Kong’s side. Wu Kong glanced back and then at the endless fields, thinking that this issue needed to be resolved quickly. Establishing authority was the top priority—only then could he command obedience in the future.

Wu Kong sat on the ground, deep in thought, wondering why the seedlings were healthy but produced no fruit. After sitting for a long time, the people assumed the immortal was about to cast a spell and dared not disturb him, speaking in hushed tones.

Since he couldn’t find an answer, Wu Kong decided to stand up. As he opened his eyes to look at the fields again, he suddenly noticed something strange—the thousands of seedlings were frozen in place, motionless. It dawned on him: there was no wind!

This world was too perfect—fertile soil, constant sunlight, and no pests—but without wind, the seedlings could only grow without bearing fruit. Wu Kong laughed self-mockingly. How could people in this era understand pollination? Without wind, pollination couldn’t occur, and without pollination, there could be no fruit.

With an answer in mind, he acted swiftly. Since the crops were already ruined, he used a spell to turn over the vast fields. He then took seeds from Meng Ke and, with a simple spell, scattered them evenly across the fields, where they sank into the soil.

“Flowers Bloom in an Instant!” With this spell, tender sprouts emerged from the black soil and quickly grew to human height. Seeing the flowers bloom, Wu Kong stopped the spell.

“Summon Wind!” Wu Kong didn’t understand natural pollination but had heard that wind played a role in it. Whatever, he just blew wildly.

He saw dust and soil flying everywhere, trees shaking, forests trembling; the world was dim and gloomy. The ordinary people were blown to the ground, covering their heads, too afraid to open their eyes or speak. The fierce wind blew for over half an hour before finally subsiding.

Wukong guessed it was time, so he used the spell “Flowers Bloom in an Instant.” The seedlings turned from light green to dark green, and large ears of grain and wheat sprouted. In no time, the heavy grains bent the seedlings.

Delighted, Wukong shouted, “It’s done! Gather our belongings and pack up.”

Meng Ke stepped forward, picked up an ear of grain to examine, and was so moved that tears streamed down his face. He immediately knelt down and said, “Your divine powers are truly immense. I will remember this forever!”

Wukong told Meng Ke to have a grain storage built in the town, where all the food should be stored, and no one else was allowed to touch it. Meng Ke obeyed without hesitation.

He sent some young men back to the town to start building the storage. Wukong returned to Meng Ke’s house, waiting to cast another spell after the harvest was done.

When Wukong entered Meng Ke’s inner room, he saw that his original self was still there studying the Tao Te Ching, while his clone remained separate. Taking advantage of the idle time, he began to ponder the mysteries of this world.

From what the three immortals—Huli, Dali, and the others—had said, this world was connected to the other two, with a gate between them, but it wasn’t always open.

This world was peaceful and served as a place for cultivation. Logically, it should emphasize the Way, but due to a lack of food, people suffered from hunger, giving practitioners like Huli an opportunity. The “Gate of Life” clearly referred to survival, but since there was no wind here, it must have been intentional by the creator of this world—to force its inhabitants to reveal their true nature in adversity.

The middle world was violent, a place of survival of the fittest. What did the “Gate of Seizure” mean? To seize life, to seize fate, to seize lives? It was hard to figure out; perhaps only by going there could one understand.

The other world wasn’t described very clearly. But the three immortals were ignored there—probably because the people there were reclusive and strange, unwilling to interact, or because there were many highly skilled beings who could see at a glance that the three of them weren’t good people, so they stayed away.

I will eventually visit those two worlds. But for now, I’ll help Meng Ke sort out matters in this unjust country first. When he leaves this world, I can look for clues, which will surely be beneficial to me as well.

The fields were vast, and it would take at least a day and night to harvest everything. I’ll wander around this world first to see what else is out there.

With that thought, Wukong hesitated no longer. He merged his clone with his original self and used his cloud-jumping technique to leave the town.

Now that he understood the wonders of the Tao Te Ching in this world, he used his magic without restraint, flying swiftly through the air. Only then did he realize how much larger this world was than he had imagined.

Wukong soared through the clouds, and upon encountering a large city, he would descend to explore it, noting its scenery and customs before continuing on to the next place. This back-and-forth journey took considerable time—six or seven hours—before he had fully explored this realm.

What an impressive scale, Wukong thought as he returned to Meng Ke’s home in the small town of Qixin Country, sighing inwardly.

This realm resembled a disk, over a hundred thousand miles in diameter. Seen from above, it looked like a Taiji diagram. The yin and yang fish were vividly depicted—the land within the yin fish was black, while that within the yang fish was white. Even the black dots within the white and the white dots within the black were perfectly precise, as if drawn with a fine brush. This represented yin within yang and yang within yin.

Wukong counted carefully and found that there were thirty-two countries in each of the yin and yang fish, totaling sixty-four—exactly corresponding to the imagery of the sixty-four hexagrams.